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

20 Healthy Salads Ideas for Lunch | Easy At Home Recipes

I used to think the only way to get a delicious quick healthy salad for lunch was a trip to the Whole Foods salad bar. Anyone else ever feel that…

Loosen Your Hips to Lose the Belly

While researching stretching for runners, I learned a crazy fact that some stretches to lose lower belly fat are what we’re already doing in our workouts. It’s important to note…

9 Solo Running Tips and Benefits

Need to work on your mental game? Running solo tips and benefits that will help you to embrace the miles without a group.

Why We Need Running Now More Than Ever

Why do you run? Why in the face of life issues do you feel compelled to lace up and get out the door? Why when there’s no race on the…

Race Cancelled: What to Do Now

You’ve been training for months with a singular focus on crossing that finish line. You managed not to develop an injuries. You squeezed in runs when it was raining, when…

Things to Do In Jaco Costa Rica

My third time to this beautiful country brought me to a new location and left me, like you, wondering what is there to do near Jaco Costa Rica. Unlike some…

Run To The Finish Book Tour and Podcasts

That’s right friends this show is going on the road!!!! The Run To The Finish Book Tour is taking shape and I can’t wait to meet so many more of…

ASICS GEL-Nimbus 22 Review

Sponsored by Zappos, all opinions are my own. In my last ASICS review, I gave you some insight to my previous history with the brand, which is to say they…

30 Tips to Enjoy a Magical RunDisney Race

While living in Orlando for 3 years, I received a lot of comments that I needed to try runDisney races…but I admit I never did! Yet, so many of you…

Common Running Injuries | Guide to Recovery and Prevention

While I am NOT a physical therapist or a sports doctor, I spend a lot of time researching common running injuries and talking to the experts to help my athletes…

Ragnar Sunset | What You Need to Know About the Newest Relay

What the heck is a Ragnar Sunset? Are we just starting our relay at night to prolong time in the darkness?? Nope, exactly the opposite in fact. We’re going to…

Merrell Trail Glove Review

If you’re in the market for a minimalist shoe, you might have come across the Merrell Trail Glove and wondered if they really know what they’re doing when it comes…

Runger | Managing Hunger After Workouts

Do you have increased weight? Irritability? Mood swings and a intense peanut butter cravings? Started working out more and always hungry?! You too may be suffering from runger {running induced…

5 Running Workouts for Beginners to Boost Confidence

Could your brain be the key to reaching your next running goal? Is running confidence just as important as speed workouts? Well, of course these are trick questions and you…

Intermittent Fasting: A Key to Running for Weight Loss?

Each time a new diet trend comes out, I find my eyes involuntarily rolling in to my skull and a sigh escaping my lips. Which is largely what I thought…

Running Challenge | 5 Days to Improve Your Runs

This isn’t a running streak. This isn’t a massive make over to everything you’re doing. This IS a running challenge that will give you tools you can put in place…

How I Finally Conquered Sugar: Stop Trying to Go Cold Turkey

I deserve this I mumbled defiantly as I bit in to a size of my face vegan chocolate chip cookie. I run. I eat tons of vegetables. I don’t smoke.…

The Year I Wrote My First Book

Funny story. Around October I started thing gahh everyone must be so tired of me posting exciting news all year. Finished my book, ran a bunch of post surgery PR’s,…

Celebratory Road Trip: Sedona, Grand Canyon to Vegas

Of all the things that have changed since we met 16 years ago, our location might be the biggest…but right after that I tend to say is technology. Looking back…

Confessions of a Fitness Blogger

When a lot of your friends are food and fitness bloggers, or gahhh healthy living bloggers, it’s easy to feel a little like the black sheep for not spending more…

10 Everyday GPS Watch Tips and Tricks Every Runner Should Know

If you’re going to splurge on a great GPS watch for running, then you might as well make the most of it! Just like when you get a new phone,…

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…

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…

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),…