• EndurancePlanet – Terrific podcast site – particularly for triathletes
• BBC SPORT Athletics – The BBC covers track and field very well.
• track-and-field.net website directory. The motherload of track and field links.
• Are today’s running shoes the problem, or the solution? – A very well done history and analysis of the history + effectiveness of athletic shoes. Are they helping or hurting us?

Running is an anomalous modern-day sport in that its fans may know everything about the stars of the sport but have never seen them run. The connection between fans and athletes, far too often, consists of a results page online. That page, of course, can never tell the story of how the race went, nor the strain in the third lap of a 3:50 mile. Needless to say, very few people follow elite-level distance running: it might be easier to just become a world-class runner.

Flocasts is unable to provide race footage where those races are televised and instead posts interviews. Seeing athletes that were once names on a web page speak candidly about their races and their hopes for the season allows us to appreciate them as individuals and become fans. It might be hard to be a fan of a name on a page, but it’s hard not to be a fan of Craig Mottram after seeing him run and then speak.

We’re starting off with a hot site that people interested in fitness will love.

Fitsugar is a great site that posts terrific stuff very frequently. Stuff like this link to a great new way to buy running shoes. Check ‘em out!

When we think a link is especially good (like Fitsugar!), it will also make its way into our right-hand sidebar.

Do you have a quick link you want to share? Let us know!

Logs for tracking/planning 2007

I did a Google search and got a list of over 40,000 some odd logs for tracking training. Here’s a few to chose from. If you have one you would like to suggest, leave a comment with the details.

• Excel Spreadsheets to download, designed by me, the Pink Chick. Details on my blog.
• BreakingTheTape. We featured this site at the beginning of December. You can read more about it here.
• Dolphinstreet Running Log. It is free, quick and simple to fill out and it gives you instant reports and statistics.
• Cool Running Log. A free online running journal that makes it easy to keep tabs on your progress.
• Road Trip. With this site you log your distances as if traveling somewhere.

Races & Other Events

Of course your plan will include the races and such that you decide to challenge. Not sure what you want to tackle or when it is happening. Here’s a few Web sites that list that information.

• Marathon Guide. Lists Canada/U.S.A. marathons for the upcoming year.
• Calgary Roadrunners. Lists local and nearby events as well as some further away.
• Events OnLine. Lists a variety of events for athletes.

Training Plans

Now that you have your log and your races you need to plan what training is required. For that you might want to a number of sites that offer training plans for various distances. Some of these are listed below.

• Cool Running. Offers a number of plans from 5k to marathon
• Hal Higdon. Has training plans from the beginner to the ultramarathoner.
• Jeff Galloway. Promises that you can “run injury free.”
• Beginning Triathlete. Training and tips for the new triathlete.

How Far Did I Run

Not sure how far you ran or cycled? Don’t have a fancy GPS tool to help you? Then check out these links.

• GMaps Pedometer. Map where you ran or cycled and see your mileage.

Remember when planning your training calender to always allow for flexibility. Pick what works for you, your family and your lifestyle. If you’re new to any of these activities, please consult your family doctor.

Sometimes what we plan for doesn’t always happen. Don’t beat up on yourself—just be prepared to change things as necessary. No matter what you decide or plan for in 2007, have a great year and remember the Complete Running Network gang will be here with great articles to help you along the way.

Got more you would like to suggest for planning, logging or training in 2007? Leave a comment with the details.

All the best in 2007.

1. Extreme Ultrarunning is David’s Horton’s site. He is legendary in the world of ultrarunning and known for being the only American to ever complete the nearly impossible Barkley Ultra and setting the Pacific Crest Trail speed record (66 days – 2,659 miles).
2. Charlie Engle has a blog and website and is currently in the middle of running 4,000 miles across the Sahara Desest.
3. Krissy Moehl chronicals her running adventures in her personal blog. She is on fire and has set 4 course records this year, including the new women’s record at the grueling Santa Barbara 9 Trails last week.
4. Ever controversial Dean Karnazes has a blog, a website, and you can currently track him as he runs across the United States on the way back home from running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days.
5. Known for a 7 year winning streak at Western States and a current 2 years streak at Badwater, Scott Jurek is a force to be reckoned with.
6. Stehpanie Ehret may only be 100 pounds (according to her site), but she was first overall (men & women) at the 2003 Javelina Jundred.
7. Photographer, runner and now race director – Luis Escobar’s site is called All We Do Is Run
8. Peter Bakwin is Stephanie Ehret’s husband and recent finisher of the impressive double Hard Rock.

That is the list I have come up with. Who am I missing? It’s hard to determine who is considered “elite” in ultra running circles. I tried to stick to well known names and runners who finish in the top 5 or 10 of their races. I’m sure I’ve missed some. A listing of some ultra runners web pages can be found here.

Related Articles

1. 25 Celebrity Marathon Runners
2. Blogs by Elite/Famous Runners Courtesy of Runner’s World
3. Runners on MySpace
4. Elite/Famous Runner Web Sites

The site was developed by Jeff (aka Aginghipster) and Reece. They were tired of using different applications to track workouts, blog about them, analyze them, map them and display them. So, rather than wait for something to be developed, they created their own one-stop place and decided to share it with other athletes. The site offers blog hosting, workout tracking, mapping links, analysis tools and creative ways to display your workout information in the body of your blog entries.

With BreakingTheTape you can:

• Add workouts including time, location, workout type, weather, notes, etc. Pace is calculated automatically and values are stored to allow the athlete to display their data in imperial or metric format.
• Include gMaps pedometer links to your workouts, or upload an XML document (coming soon!) from your favorite GPS and have gMaps map it for you.
• Graph your sports, workouts, routes and distances in numerous ways. A number geek’s wildest dream!
• Drop easy to use scripts into the sidebars of your blog to show accumulated distance, projected race paces or into the body of a blog entry to show your last workout.

The home page includes:

• A center area listing recent posts by bloggers using BTT as their host.
• A Main Menu on the left with Home, News, BBT Blogs, Links, About BBT, Sign Up! and Contact Us.
• A Login area at the bottom of the left sidebar.
• The Right sidebar list recently logged workouts by members.

Sign up is quick & easy, just click the link in the Main Menu on the left. I’ve been using it since early 2006 and love it. Definitely worth checking out to track your 2007 workouts.

Got a Web site to recommend? Leave me a comment with the details.