Topo Blog
About this time of year, I often get asked by runners to suggest or design a training plan to take them through the winter and get them ready for spring racing. While I will reluctantly create a schedule for someone who really wants it, laying out suggested miles for each day over several months, I… [view more]
My father used to tell a joke about baseball umpires. Three umpires are sitting around talking about their job. The first umpire says, “There are balls and there are strikes, and I call them as they are.” The second umpires nods and says, “I hear you, but I don’t quite share your confidence. There are… [view more]
1. Ditch the watch The first rule for the runner moving from the road or track to the trail is simple: Lose your watch. The best way to ruin a trail run is to try to quantify it the same way you would a road run. If you want to record your totals, at least… [view more]
As a cross country coach for more than a decade, I continue to learn lessons that help my own running. High school runners may be less than half my age, but they face similar challenges, and the controlled setting lets me try out new tactics and observe trends over the course of a season and… [view more]
Our youngest Topo ambassador, Chase Visser, is a competitive youth triathlete navigating the race circuit while juggling the academic rigors that come with being a high school senior (remember those days of AP classes, college applications and SATs?). During his budding career, Chase has already raced for Team USA at the Rotterdam Tri / 2017… [view more]
If you visit the Rift Valley of Kenya and spend some time among the world’s greatest distance runners, you’ll quickly notice that everywhere you look everyone is walking. They also run, of course, long miles on red dirt roads and mind-blowing speed sessions on the track. But walking is how they get around. They walk… [view more]
We caught up with pro-ultrarunner and Topo elite athlete, Paul Giblin, during his training for the Western States 100 as he attempts (for the third consecutive year) to elevate his finisher status from top-10 to the coveted top-3. Today, Paul dives into how Topo has served him well on the notorious terrain found on… [view more]
Why did you make this shoe? After a great reception to the original Ultrafly, we wanted to keep the cushioning and light guidance that people enjoyed, but make the shoe even better with some key updates: The last was modified to fit snugger in the heel and roomier in the toe box. More toe spring… [view more]
No aspect of running form has garnered more attention than foot strike. For many runners, any talk of form boils down to whether you are a heel striker or a forefoot striker. Experts agree, however, that the emphasis on your running foot strike is misplaced. Here’s why: 1) Foot strike is a result, not a… [view more]
What gets you out of bed in the morning? What drives you to run more each week, go longer on the weekends, dig deeper on speed days? For many runners, motivation comes in the form of a race goal, a date on the calendar when we want to run our best. Choosing an appropriate goal… [view more]