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Dear Chaskis, I'm lonely in quarantine and I'm thinking about getting a dog. Is a dog a great running partner or will my new four-legged friend drive me crazy? ~ Don G. Our answer, a.k.a., My Liberal Stance on Running with Your Dog from Chaski Coach Maggie Fox

Below you’ll find this week’s discussion questions, which cover Chapters 3 and 4 of Haruki Murakami's "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" (about 57 minutes worth of audiobook/slow reading). Note, that since these chapters are short, we'll have a separate post for each chapter's questions (below). A reminder that you can see all the posts easily in one place by following #ChaskiBookClub or signing up for our Book Club email list.

In the first installment of our series highlighting our Chaski-coached athletes, we put the spotlight on Benaleo Daniels, a 23-year-old middle-distance runner from Buffalo, NY who is working with Coach Alicja Konieczek. Benaleo competed in track and field and cross country for Buffalo State College and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health. In addition to running, he is a gardening and landscaping enthusiast, and loves to work in the yard with his girlfriend Jaclyn, who has also been his training partner for the past five years.

Below you’ll find this week’s discussion questions, which cover the intro and first 2 chapters of the book (about 65 minutes worth of audiobook/slow reading). Note, that since these chapters are short, we'll have a separate post for each chapter's questions (below). A reminder that you can see all the posts easily in one place by following #ChaskiBookClub.

We're honored to be featured on LetsRun.com - the premier running website out there with a great profile by Jonathan Gault (full text copied below). This event is all about community and sharing our passion for sport with fans and athletes everywhere. You can register for our open race for free or follow along with our elite competition on Saturday, June 6. Visit the Chaski Challenge page for all the details.

Dear Team Chaski, I'm constantly waking up feeling like I'm 100 years old and having trouble feeling fresh for my harder workout days each week. What can I do? Achily yours, Franklin T.

Andrew Dawson of Runner's World (full text copied below) recaps a hugely successful #ChaskiChallenge weekend. Highlighting professional runners Sara Hall, Mario Mendoza, Chaski's own Tyler Andrews and others, these athletes all came out charging and walked away with several new world records. By Andrew Dawson June 7, 2020

Chaski Coach Calvin Lehn recaps his big half marathon PR at the loaded 2019 Houston Half Marathon. This photo comes from the 2019 US Cross Country Championships.

The idea was to run up and down Hang-glider Hill, a large hill or small mountain in our backyard. I’d done a 35km long run the weekend earlier (similarly just running up and down this one hill) and had mapped out a route that was short and steep on the way up, rising over 200m in just over 1km, and then more gradual on the way back down (about 2.5km) for about 3.3km per “lap”. All of this was super arbitrary but I figured it would be nice to run at least 30 miles. And if I still felt okay, shoot for 30,000 ft of combined elevation gain/loss (about 4600m of gain). This would require about 24 laps or about 50 miles total. So, I figured that was a good big goal: 50 miles.

This post is part 2 of our recurring Chaski Race Reports series, which we'll be publishing every week. With racing put on hold all across the world, we'll be spotlighting past races from our Chaski coaches. Week 2 is Ryan Miller's 2:14:27 marathon at California International in December of 2018, which hit the Olympic Trials A Standard for 2020. Ryan is taking on new coaching clients and will also be helping with the Track/Road/Marathon Week of Camp Chaski.

This post is the first in our recurring Chaski Race Reports series, which we'll be publishing every week. With racing put on hold all across the world, we'll be spotlighting past races from our Chaski coaches. Week 1 is Kris Brown's impressive 100-mile debut, in which he got the win at the San Diego 100 in June of 2017. Originally posted on the Run In Rabbit blog.

We’ve all been there - maybe because of COVID quarantines, maybe you’re in a hotel on a business trip, maybe there’s an inch of fresh ice on the streets, maybe it’s 120F outside. Maybe you're setting one of eight world records in a treadmill-based event. Whatever the reason, you’re facing a workout on the treadmill. Some people love it, some people hate it; some will never touch it, some swear by it. Whatever your attitude, here are some tips from some of Chaski's coaches about how to make the most of your treadmill workouts.

At 05:40am on Saturday, August 1st, Chaski Coach and HOKA pro athlete Mike Wardian set off for an attempt at the un-supported Fastest Known Time (FKT - an unofficial record on a common trail) across the Shenandoah National Park stretch of the Appalachian Trail. The route covers over 107 miles (172 km) of rough, rocky, rooty trail with approximately 20,000 ft (6000m) of elevation gain. He finished successfully a non-stop 36 hours later, saying “it was for sure one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.” Ty and Mike caught up on Instagram Live. The full video is here (33 minutes), with our 5 quick takes below that.

With racing put on hold all across the world, we'll be spotlighting past races from our Chaski coaches. Week 4 is Josh Sadlock's recap of his experience racing the 2013 USA Half Marathon Championships. Josh's original post was featured on The 2:18 Grind blog here.

Whether you’re trying to run your first 5K, hoping to make the Olympic Team, or just trying to be a better friend, goals are important. They give your running, and more importantly, your life, a meaning and sense of purpose. Goals help set the process and shape your training. Whether they realize it or not, every runner who sets out to put one foot in front of the other, is working towards some goal, however vague. It’s an important part of being a runner, but it can be a challenge setting the right kind of goals. Ultimately, a goal should be attainable so as to provide motivation and excitement, not a sense of intimidation or fear of failure.

Dear Team Chaski, When in-person races begin again, how do you recommend traveling like an experienced pro? I've never raced outside of the country and want to be prepared for that opportunity. Anxiously, Veronica V.

It was yet another chilly, rainy morning that made me giddy as it greeted me with unapologetic briskness immediately upon leaving the doorway. This was the day that my countdown had been steadily marching through for about the last 15 weeks; the 2019 Tokyo Marathon.

Continuing our Mighty Masters series, Jon Waldron, Director of Coaching Programs and veteran runner, muses on the importance of time spent running. So many of us are constantly thinking about pace and attributing the value of a run or workout to speed and number of miles on our watch. Jon's words are especially impactful as we are all navigating running in a pandemic that has upended feelings of stability in every part of our lives.