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FKT Report: Narragansett Trail in Connecticut by Ben Nephew
Soon after I finished the North South trail in RI, I started thinking about some of the nearby Blue Blazed trails in CT. I had done an out and back on the Nehantic trail and was impressed by how well it was marked and the quality of the terrain. A few people mentioned that the Narragansett Trail was a much more interesting route,
Race Report: 4/27/14 NYC Spring Series Road Race, 2nd place by Evan Fineman
By MPF Client Evan Fineman - Breakaway Courier / CBOE Racing Team
About 100 of my closest race results opponents and I lined up for a chilly start in the Cat 3/4 race; the last of the spring series. Mike Prokopec and Chris Chapman teamed up for the fun...
Turning It Around: From Awful to Awesome!
This morning I woke up dreading my long run. Earlier this week, I planned to do my long run with a local running group. The workout was hill repeats up and down Mt. Sanitas. One loop is 5K in distance with about 1200 feet of vertical. The day before I decided I would do 4 laps, which would be about a 12 mile run with roughly 4800 feet of vertical, and take me about 3 hours to complete.
Blue Hills Skyline Trail FKT & Race Shoe Selection
By Ben Nephew
While I’m not the only one who struggles to select which pair of shoes for a race, I may be particularly challenged due to the vast number of inov-8 models I have to select from. Even after over 15 years of trail racing, I still find it difficult to decide on shoes for some races.
Ben Nephew’s Recap of Snowshoeing Racing & Family Time "2 Races and the Little Things"
After a couple years of not snowshoe racing very much at all, I decided to try and get back into it this year due to the fact that SS nationals are in VT this year and the realization that I am getting too far away from shorter races in general. While my training has been limited by family and work obligations, I thought I was doing enough quality workouts to at least run decently.
Power, Heart Rate & RPE Training Zones for the Endurance Athlete
Your Power and Heart Rate Training Zones are essential for you as an athlete to ensure that your truly making your hard days hard and your easy days easy. Establishing your zones will increase the efficacy of your training and prescribed workouts so that you are training at the right intensity levels for maximum results.
Patrick Castello's The 2014 HURT 100 Race Report “I’m Not Fast but I’m Sure Dumb”
The HURT 100 is a five-loop, 25k’ elevation gain/loss course through the Tantalus section of Honolulu. For me, this was largely a proof of concept… I was able to finish in 2013 just under the time limit and despite promising myself that I would never do this race again I found myself curious to see if I could do better
Black Diamond Distance Trekking Poles Gear Review
By MPF Athlete, Zsuzsanna Carlson
I Love the poles especially when I’m going uphill, the poles allow my upper body and core to take part in the movement. I find they also help me focus on proper hiking form, making my hiking more energy efficient
S-LAB XT 6 Trail Running Shoe Review
By MPF Athlete Jules Moore
When I bought the Salomon S-Lab XT-6 at Campmor, I was looking for a shoe that was built with solid foot protection while providing some support. I’ve never used a Salomon product and I was intrigued to give these shoes a spin. The XT-6 exceeded my expectations in protection, comfort and overall performance.
Adventure in the Catskills Slide Mountain Wilderness (29 photos)
Gearing up for the 2014 season by heading to the Catskills for the 3rd annual Slide Mountain Loop. We tackled plenty of ice while climbing up cliffs, slid down sides of peaks and worked as a team negotiating technical sections. Today was a day to be engulfed by the beauty and strength of the Catskill Mountains.
Ben Nephew's 2014 Winter Wild Wachusett Race Report "I don’t need no stinkin’ Microspikes"
Without any snow for snowshoe racing, I decided to try out one of the new NE Winter Wild events at Wachusett Mountain last weekend. These are unique races where you can select all sorts of ways to get up and down a ski mountain early in the morning before the lifts open. After consulting with Ryan Welts, the fastest way to go at these races, other than skis, seemed to be...
FKT Report: Slide Mountain Wilderness Loop in New York by Ben Nephew!
Date: October 13th, 2013
Location: Southern Catskills of NY, Slide Mountain Wilderness
Adventure: 14.2 Miles, 5,000 feet elevation gain
Len Huffman's 2014 Mountain Madness 50k Race Report "Gutting it out"
As September neared its end, I was preparing for my 3rd Mountain Madness 50k. I had mixed feelings about the race this year. Last year I had trained on the course often and had more miles in my legs but felt under trained this year. A busy schedule had kept me from but just 1 training run on the course. The course was also different this year due to pipeline construction. Never the less, I signed up and prepared to do my best.
MPF Athlete Mike Zusman's 2013 Mountain Madness 7 Mile Trail Run “Racing above Threshold!"
I wasn’t sure what to expect racing the 7 mile Mountain Madness trail run, but my hunch was that the relatively short race would be fast from the gun. While I was operating under a number of assumptions, things started off as I had envisioned. I had a quality 15 minute warm up, and I was at the front on the starting line.
Exercise Highlight 2: Push-Ups
Push-Ups are a great way to strengthen your core while enhancing upper body strength. The push-ups in the video demonstrate the involvement of the core for stabilization and performance. These are just a few examples.
Race Report: The 2013 Spartan Ultra Beast World Championship in Vermont “Ultra Obstacle” by Ben Nephew
I ran three Spartan Races last year, ending with a 4th place at the World Championships in Killington, VT. While I thoroughly enjoyed the races, I still prefer FKT’s and traditional trail races most of the time. With my schedule this fall I wasn’t able to get to the two shorter races I did last year before deciding at the last minute to return to Killington. I couldn’t do the Beast Championship on Saturday