Posts by melodyfairchild
How to Choose a Summer Running Camp
Running camps are a boon for high schoolers. Here’s why, and how to choose the best one for you. In the ever-distracted world we live in, a running camp is a joyful and even healing experience for runners, because it’s immersive. Ideally, a running camp provides training, community, learning, and fun all wrapped into one…
Read MoreHow to Tackle Food and Body Issues
Runners face undue, and unhelpful, expectations around weight and eating. Here are tips to combat dangerous disorders and behaviors. I first experienced food and body issues in middle school. My home life was stressful—my mom had cancer and my dad had lost his job—and I felt an urge to control something, anything. I experimented with…
Read MoreGPS watches and other wearable tech deliver loads of metrics
Here’s what to pay attention to, especially for young runners. Splits, cadence, power—oh my! With a proliferation of running data available at our fingertips, it’s easy to dive in deep. How fast was my first mile and my last? How does my stride length stack up to last week? How do I rank on that…
Read MoreHow to Periodize Your Year, and Lifelong Career
Why runners—starting in youth—should schedule peaks, breaks and variety into their running year. Have a new year’s resolution to get faster? Periodization can unlock improvement, and lead to long-term success. Periodization is a fancy way of saying plan your training season and year in phases with different stimuli. It’s based on a loose formula that’s…
Read MoreRunners World: It’s Time to Fix Girls Sports
Melody Fairchild was quoted in a Runner’s World article on girls sports. “Fairchild has a perspective on Cain’s story few others possess—she was also heralded as a young phenom, at Boulder High. Though Cain has since broken her record of 9:55.92 in the two-mile, Fairchild will always be the first American girl to break 10…
Read MoreRunner’s World Article: Great Coaches Help Runners Thrive
“As a youth running coach and director of Girl’s Running Camp, an overnight camp designed specifically for female adolescent runners, Melody Fairchild practices the pillars of the Positive Coaching Alliance and prioritizes talking to her athletes about good nutrition and maintaining positive attitudes.” Read the full article in Runner’s World, November 25, 2019
Read MoreMelody interviewed for a Washington Post Article on Youth Coaching
“Melody Fairchild, director of the Boulder Mountain Warriors youth running club, says parents of younger children should be cautious of any program that practices more than three days a week. Fairchild, who was a high school runner, doesn’t advise kids younger than 11 to focus on a single sport. “Multisport athletes are more well-rounded mentally…
Read MoreMelody talks to Youth Running Journal about goal setting
Goals are part of youth running. There are classroom goals, like tracking on a map the miles run during PE or recess, a journey to a landmark or across the country. There are goals built around earning awards, the finishers’ medal, or the T-shirt or water bottle. And, of course, goals set by a coach…
Read MoreGirls Running – The Book
Thank you, Mary Cain, and each and every person who has spoken out about abuse. On the heels of a poignant video co-produced by Lindsay Crouse of The New York Times, we say systematic mistreatment of female athletes must stop. That’s why @elizabethwcarey and I @Melodyfairchil2 wrote GIRLS RUNNING, a forthcoming book from Velo Press.…
Read MoreMary Cain – New York Times Opinion Article
I Was the Fastest Girl in America, Until I Joined Nike Mary Cain’s male coaches were convinced she had to get “thinner, and thinner, and thinner.” Then her body started breaking down. Read the full article Photo: New York Times
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