Kenny Rogers' song “Know When to Fold ‘Em,” has nothing to do with endurance sports training, however, when it comes to training and racing, it’s important for athletes to know when to hold and when to fold.

Recently, one of our athletes was in a training block preparing for an event that was only about three weeks away.  Her knee began bothering her.  As athletes, we hate when our training is interrupted by injury.  We are constantly talking with each other about this or that ache or pain and deciding whether to push through or halt training.  It’s hard for us to halt our training, but we’ve learned the hard way, that if precautions aren’t taken at the onset of pain, what may have been a sideline from training for a few days, becomes weeks or months of recovery.

I (Paula) am the poster child for why pain should not be ignored.  In 2013, I did my first intense marathon training cycle with a time goal in mind.  I...

Many of our readers know that I (Paula) consider myself an "adult starter" when it comes to playing the violin.  I took violin lessons when I was nine years old for about nine months.  As the fourth of five children, you can only imagine the ribbing I received from my siblings as I tried to squeak through the pieces in Suzuki Book One.  I didn't stick with it long, but at age thirteen, my dad brought home my very own violin. I messed around on it some, and then stowed it away.  The violin remained in its case until my daughter, Bethanie, began playing in the school orchestra in the 5th grade. 

This past year (February of 2020), I decide I wanted to learn to play.  At first, I found tutorials in YouTube, and while I was learning some, there seemed to be no logical progression in my learning.  I decide to hire a violin teacher, and it's made all the difference.  I am finally getting better!

The past few weeks I've been frustrated that I have...

In working with our athletes, we design workouts that will address building fitness holistically.  Our goal is to increase aerobic threshold, lactate threshold, and VO2 max (AKA aerobic capacity).  If you are a coached athlete, you won’t necessarily need to know how to build fitness in a variety of areas, as your coach will put together plans that address all areas.  However, if you are self-coached, you’ll need to understand the type of workouts needed to improve all areas and how to put together a plan that finds the right balance between improving and not over-fatiguing the body’s systems.

VO2 max

One area in which athletes gain fitness and performance is by improving aerobic capacity or VO2 max.  VO2 max refers to the maximum volume of oxygen the body can deliver to working muscles per minute.  It is measured in millimeters of oxygen consumed in one minute per kilogram of body weight (mL/kg/min).  There are some fitness clubs and...