Can Foam Rolling Give You a Mental Boost?

Some runners think of foam rolling as a necessary evil at best, a tortuous experience at worst. Elite distance runner Chelsea Reilly Sodaro, however, views the 30 to 45 minutes she spends daily on rolling and other forms of self-therapy as a much-needed release from the stress and tension of hard training. Read the full article for Runner’s World.

9 Tried-and-True Approaches to Recovery

In the field of recovery science, evidence supports the use of both cutting-edge gadgets and old-fashioned chestnuts. When choosing from this menu of options to develop your own personalized R&R recipe, consider not only what you have access to but also what fits into your lifestyle and sounds fun—for instance, yoga won’t calm your muscles or your mind if you feel anxious about getting on the mat. Check out the following nine approaches to recovery, see when to use them, and discover what elite runners do to maximize the benefits. Read the full article for Runner’s World.

Heading to Chicago Marathon, Deena Kastor and Joan Benoit Samuelson are Fast Friends

In 1984, 11-year-old Deena Kastor sat in her living room with her parents, eyes glued to the first women’s Olympic Marathon. American Joan Benoit Samuelson emerged from the tunnel into the Los Angeles Coliseum to claim the gold, waving her white hat. “No matter what my profession turned out to be in life, her performance that day would’ve inspired me to be better,” Kastor said during a recent visit to Chicago. Read the full article for Runner’s World.

5 Things No One Tells You About Running As You Get Older

Even if you’ve never had the urge to lace up a pair of running shoes, you can’t help but feel inspired by 42-year-old Deena Kastor. This fall, she’ll return to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon—a race she won a decade ago—aiming to run 26.2 miles faster than any American woman age 40 or older ever has. Over more than 20 years of logging miles and winning races, Kastor has absorbed a lesson or two about running. Read the full article for Prevention.com.

The Green Flash Blazes Through Chicago

Lionel Sanders doesn’t swim that well — at least, not for an elite long-distance triathlete. He typically comes out of the water about four minutes after the race leaders. But just wait till the run portion of the swim-bike-run event — about 10K in, he’ll catch up. That come-from-behind strategy has served him well, making the 27-year-old Canadian — who visited Chicago on Monday — the youngest top-10 Ironman in the world. This year alone, he’s won four out of his six half or full Ironman races and has his sights set on the Ironman World Championship in Kona in October. Read the full article for A Sweat Life.

How to Blast Past Your Biggest Fitness Challenges

On Sunday, 25-year-old Tatyana McFadden will line up with 45,000 other runners in the starting corral of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. But this champion marathoner (she’s won Chicago four times and holds the women’s wheelchair course record, in addition to being a Paralympics sprinter) has had to work harder than most of her fellow competitors to get where she is today. Read the full story on Shape.com.