Author Archive | Angie Spencer
Marathon Success Story with Lee and Colleen Staats
Looking good and loving life. Colleen and Lee Staats with Meb Keflezighi before the Columbus Marathon.
In this episode we bring you a marathon success story with Lee and Colleen Staats, two Academy members from Galion, Ohio, who are transforming their lives through running.
They have both lost weight since starting to run and recently completed the Columbus Marathon.
Colleen set a PR in the half and Lee qualified for Boston by running 3:21:52.
They have both battled through injury and a busy work load to achieve their goals.
It has been my great honor to be their running coach. Continue Reading →
Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon Race Recap
I’ve been thinking about doing a Georgia marathon since we’re within driving distance here in Missouri.
So after the Marine Corps Marathon I made the last minute decision to sign up for the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon in Fort Oglethorpe, GA on Nov 8, 2014.
It was around a 6 hour drive each way and we left the kids with my Mom and drove down there on the Friday before the race. I entertained myself by reading reviews of the race on Marathon Guide and was happy to see that most everything was positive. Continue Reading →
Race Recap: The Marine Corps Marathon
Marine Corps Marathon 2014. Photo credit: Elvert Barnes, Flickr Creative Commons.
In this episode we recap the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C., one of my favorite marathons to date. This is definitely a marathon I’d like to repeat!
One of the things that stands out about MCM is the exceptional organization and communication.
The Marine Corps motto is “Semper Fidelis” (always faithful) and they were definitely faithful to carry out an exceptional marathon experience. Continue Reading →
Race Recap: The Chicago Marathon 2014
Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2014
photo credit: Gregory Regalado; flicker creative commons
In this podcast episode and blog post I recap one of the world’s largest and most exciting marathons. Let me take you on a personally guided tour of this amazing race. Continue Reading →
The Aging Marathoner – How Getting Older Affects Your Running
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I envision myself running my whole life but I’d never really thought about how the “mechanics” of aging would affect my running.
Hopefully by digging into this topic now those of us who are younger can be mentally prepared and able to gracefully adjust to the natural slow-down that comes with age.
This should also be a help and encouragement to those runners who are noticing an age related slow-down in their running.
Continue Reading →
Interview with Traci Falbo – 242 Miles in 48 Hours
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Traci Falbo recently set the World Indoor 48 hour record by running just over 242 miles at an event called Six Days Under the Dome.
Traci is a pediatric physical therapist. She belongs to all 3 of the 50 states clubs and is a Marathon Maniac. She lives in Charlestown, IN, with her husband Mike and two teenage children.
Ten years ago Traci decided to lose weight and train for her first marathon. She lost 80 pounds and completed her first marathon and has since run a marathon in every state and many 100 milers.
See the before and after picture: Continue Reading →
Harnessing the Power of Habit in Your Marathon Training
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We recently read the book The Power of Habit—Why we do what we do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg.
It’s an excellent book that I’d highly recommend. In fact while I was reading it I thought of numerous examples how developing the right habits can help us achieve our running goals.
You may also be trying to implement positive habits (like running and healthy eating) in your life and working on cutting out bad habits.
This post will help you understand how to make habits work to your favor! Continue Reading →
Mental Toughness – Lisa Smith-Batchen on Completing a Badwater Quad
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She did it! In July of this year Lisa Smith-Batchen became the first woman to complete a Badwater Quad.
That’s four back to back Badwater Ultra Marathons, 584 miles through Death Valley where temperatures reached as high as 127 degrees.
Lisa is an accomplished ultra-marathoner and coach and lives with her family in Driggs, Idaho. The first time we spoke with her was on podcast episode #78.
In this interview we talk with Lisa about her record setting run, her training, mental toughness, hallucinations, her money raising efforts to provide clean water to villages and much more. Continue Reading →
Q and A with Dean Karnazes
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Dean Karnazes is author of the NY Times best selling book Ultra-Marathon Man –Confessions of an all Night Runner.
He is known for pushing the limits of human endurance, like when he ran 350 continuous miles without sleep, or the time he ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days.
Dean is also an accomplished entrepreneur and motivational speaker. He has succeeded in convincing millions of people that they can go far beyond their perceived limitations.
List of questions Continue Reading →
Race Recap: Portland’s Foot Traffic Flat + Angie Qualifies for the Boston Marathon
Trev and I at the Pumpkin Patch, Sauvie Island, OR.
On our recent trip to the Washington coast to visit Trevor’s parents we had the opportunity to run a marathon in the State of Oregon.
Since I’m always looking for ways to knock off a new state I started researching races a few months ago. We considered around four marathons during the summer and settled on the Foot Traffic Flat near Portland.
My in-laws and Trevor’s brother all came down to Portland with us and we rented a house in the Hollywood district and made a fun weekend out of it.
There were just over 422 registered for the full marathon and a total of 346 finished: 181 males and 165 females. The half marathon was obviously the most popular option with around 1,800 runners and 240 participated in the 5k. Continue Reading →
Tips For Improving Your Sleep
In a previous post I talked about the importance of getting quality sleep during your marathon training.
If you have not read this post or heard the accompanying podcast episode, the main take-a-way is this: Sleep has a huge impact on your athletic performance!
Now I want to give you nine tips on how to improve the quantity and quality of your sleep so you can be a stronger, happier runner. Continue Reading →
