RunToTheFinish

Online Running Coach | Running Shoe and Gear Reviews

About the Author

Amanda Brooks

I am a running coach with over a decade of experience helping thousands of runners to achieve their goals from running injury free to crossing that marathon finish line with a PR. I've run over 28,000 miles in my own running journey since 2002. Run To The Finish is my place to share that love and my deep dive in to researching all things running. I hold multiple run coaching certifications, as well as a personal training certification. But it's my ongoing desire to learn and progress as a coach that has allowed me to help runners from their 20's through their 70's! More ways to connect with me:

Amanda Brooks

What is Parkrun? Why This Free Event Is Worth Your Time

Have you heard people talking about Parkrun USA? Or maybe during a morning run you found yourself passing some flags and people in neon vests, wondering if it was a…

Holiday Weight Gain: Avoiding the Stress

For 6 years, from November to January 1, I hosted a free Holiday Challenge designed to keep us all moving and maybe just a bit more aware of our food…

Greenwashing Beauty Labels

I mean it sounds like a fun term… greenwashing. We’re probably talking about eco-friendly packaging or getting back to nature. But not exactly. When it comes to choosing safer products,…

10 Thoughts Runners Have All Had At Least Once

Why is it that when you’re in a bad mood, people love to tell you to smile?! Something about that makes me angry and prone to punching, but that my…

Tips to Boost Immune System: Preventing Flu Without a Shot or Drugs

You’ve finished the race, you’ve crossed 26.2 off your bucket list, you’re flying high…until the ache, the cough, the unbearable runny nose! Acccchhooooooooo. Boost your immune system with the right…

Posture Corrector Exercises: Improve Everything About Your Run

Ever felt like you couldn’t quit get a deep breath on your run? Feeling sluggish and a little unmotivated? Have a sore neck or stiff back? It could all come…

Bad Weather Running: Tips and A Hilarious Look at Our Badassery

If we weren’t runners, I swear we might be meteorologists. Running in bad weather seems to be one of our favorite things to do…I mean those Instagram photos are worth…

Running After Pregnancy: 5 Tips for New Mother Runners

I am not a mother runner, which means no matter how many books I read on running (all of them) or how many friends I have go through the experience,…

High Protein Vegan Pumpkin Bread: Single Serving Dessert

High protein vegan pumpkin bread breakfast bake dessert delicious snack. Say that 3 times fast, I dare you! What can I say, I love a tongue twister with my breakfast.…

Mobility vs Flexibility: Why You Need Both and a Workout

Mobility vs flexibility – they can seem like the same thing, which we think simply means spending time stretching. Nope. In fact, they are two different pieces of training that…

Healthy Chicken Casserole: Fall Harvest Theme

6 very hungry runners would be descending upon my house Friday night…while I’d been out all day running with them as part of the Ragnar Relay. My default was simply…

19 Running Rules: Wearing the Race Shirt? Bib Placement? Corrals?

Racing is inherently a solo activity. Only you can control your speed, your mind and your pain threshold. Sure, sure you’re surrounded by thousands of other spandex clad runners, but…

Ragnar Race Training and Team Finding

The time has come again for my merry band of ladies to pile in to 2 vans and run 200 miles across Colorado for the fun of it. A Ragnar…

About Amanda Brooks

RunToTheFinish is a place to provide motivation to myself and others in this crazy journey of living healthy. I fully believe that running has allowed me to learn more about…

Racing Weight or Underfueling? Get Lean and Strong

Is there a perfect racing weight? Can you maintain muscle mass and be a distance runner? Will being stronger make you a better runner? These are all questions that have…

SeaWheeze Race and Travel Planning Tips

When I got the confirmation email, I was all like WAHOOOOO I finally made it in to Seawheeze. I had an idea that this was a different experience, but not…

Garmin Forerunner 945 Review vs Garmin Fenix 5

When it was time to upgrade my old GPS watch, my wandering eye went straight to the top with the good looking Garmin Fenix 5s. Then suddenly I was hit…

19 Things Never Said by a Runner

There are a lot of things we can guarantee runners say, like “am I dead yet?” “are we there yet?” and “that wasn’t me“. But I bet there are a…

Seawheeze Half Marathon Review and Race Recap

Last month, I had the opportunity to run the Lululemon 10K in Edmonton, which is apparently a scaled down version of the Seawheeze Half Marathon… or so I’d been told.…

9 Reasons I Love My 30’s thanks to Running

In honor of my birthday, I thought a little round of my favorite running lessons learned over the many years of sharing information on RunToTheFinish was in order…really how else…

Tips for Shifting to a Plant Based Diet for Meat Lovers

A few long time readers might remember the 30 day Vegan challenge I did prior to the Houston marathon a few years ago, which turned in to almost a year…

Garmin Fēnix 5 Review: Taking a Running Watch to the Next Level

Last Christmas I started debating what type of new GPS watch I wanted to get…not only was this debate internal, but I of course went to social media to get…

What are Hormone Disruptors? How They Impact Your Runs?

In 2009, we discovered my body was no longer producing estrogen. After ruling out a brain tumor and the female triad (I was eating plenty and not running that much),…

Suunto 5 Review: Fitness Tracker and Running Watch Combined

An in depth Suunto 5 review on what's working, what's not working and how this GPS running watch stacks up to others over my thousands of miles running.

Edmonton Summer: An Active Travel Vacation Plan

If you’ve ever thought of a trip to Canada I bet Vancouver, Toronto, maybe Banff are the first places to come to mind…um especially if like me you wanted to…

Lululemon 10K Race Review and Recap

I haven’t raced a 10K in at least 5 years, but probably longer as the last one was part of the Runner’s World Hat Trick where I did a 5K,…

Vegan Chocolate Chia Pudding: High Protein Dessert

Previously, I told you that I was smitten with Scott Jurek’s book Eat & Run, but that post was really focused on the inspirational running component…today I bring you the…

Healthy Pasta Bake: High Protein Dinner

Welcome to another edition of the Lazy Healthy Eater, where I answer the constant question…if you don’t like to meal prep, what do you eat?! Besides daily power bowls, when…

Beautycounter Review: Going All Natural?

Ever feel like you’re one of the last kids to the party? I tend to the be person who is dubious of anything that becomes a massive hit. Take Harry…

Best Skin Care Products for Your 30s

First because I bet many of you are people who ponder random thoughts like me…. Skincare refers to the specific products that we’re going to lather on to look like…

The Glamorous Runners Life

It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of finish line emotions, those triumphant photos with our medals or even the fierce grit of having pushed ourselves to the…

Hip Stability Exercises to prevent ITBS and Runner’s Knee

Every year, I receive a lot of questions about recovering from IT Band Syndrome and I understand why…it sucks! There is the moment when you first think you can run…

Losing Weight as A Couple: Lessons Learned and Tips

How do you lose weight after 40 when your spouse is still eating all your “forbidden foods”? From personal experience (through my 20’s and 30’s) I can tell you it’s…

Eating and Exercising to Burn More Fat

After finishing my Metabolic Efficiency test, I had some action steps to take to start burning more fat and more importantly, I was committed to getting results. I really wanted…

Metabolic Efficiency: Improve Fat Burning, Endurance and Prevent Bonking

I first shared a story about metabolic efficiency in 2014, as I watched a fellow runner slowly transform her body. After listening to her talk about struggling with weight despite…

Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon Review and Race Recap

Welcome to another sunny day in California! After coming out in March to preview the Santa Barbara Wine Country race course and tell you a bit about why Santa Barbara…

Race Swag We’d Rather Have

What is the best race swag you’ve ever received? Very few runners say it was their race shirt, with the exception of those races we worked so dang hard for…

New Balance Beacon Review

In my previous life I was an eCommerce and technical consultant for Fortune 500 companies for a decade. One of the coolest projects that I had the opportunity to work…

Race Pace Envy: Stop Judging Yourself By Their Speed

Do you often describe yourself as a slow runner? Do you then judge your runs based on all those Instagram posts? Here's what you need to know.

3 Intuitive Eating Tips: Practical Ways to Get Started and Stop Counting Calories

Calories In < Calories Out = Weight loss. The formula seems simple enough and so for anyone who has undertaken a weight loss journey it starts here, but eventually it’s…

Secrets to Preventing Workout Acne

As a long time athlete and runner for MANY years, workout acne prevention has been something I’ve paid a lot of attention to. I learned that what to do post…

Why Runners Make the Best Employees

Running pretty much makes you better at life. I have no statistics to back that up, but I’m quite certain it’s true based on the amount of time we spend…

7 Secrets to Break Through

Feeling stuck? Discover which of the 7 most common runner issues is holding you back in this free program. Videos, interviews, workouts and more!