A marathon training program is designed to prepare your mind and body for race day and includes a variety of running workouts. These workouts range from long, slow distance, recovery runs, tempo runs and speed workouts.

Spikes gain most of their notoriety from track and field events as shoes that give runners extra traction. Different from the cleats commonly seen in sports such as soccer and football, spike shoes use removable metal or plastic spikes on the bases -- cleats typically have molded, permanent nodules on the bottoms.

Fitness means different things to different people. For some, fitness means being able to run a long way or swim quickly while for others it is the ability to lift heavy weights or do the splits.

The 13.1 miles of a half marathon is enough of a challenge without the added complication of improper running gear. Consider the factors that affect your clothing and gear choices on race day.

Blisters generally occur when an object moves across the skin in a manner that creates friction. On the hands, baseball bats and other handheld sports equipment cause blisters when they rub against delicate skin on the fingers and palm, causing the top layer of skin to separate from a lower layer.

Snowboards and snowboarding have come a long way since the late 1970s, when they were initially being designed and produced in garages and home workshops from North America to Europe. Today's snowboards are designed for various uses, styles and functions, making many of them instruments of performance.

Although many factors help determine outcomes in sports, coaches have a direct influence on players, their attitudes and athletic performance. Athletes perceive and interpret their athletic experience based on the leadership they receive, as well as their ability to perform well.

Sharpening your ball-handling skills and dribbling fundamentals gives you a decided advantage over any defensive player. It is important to learn which type of dribble to use in a given situation.

A boxer will typically punch the heavy bag while wearing hand wraps and boxing gloves. However, hitting the bag with bare knuckles has certain advantages. Punching the bag without wraps or gloves can toughen the skin while strengthening the bones, muscles and connective tissue of your hands.

Alpine and cross-country skiing are exhilarating sports, but the exhilaration may mask a muscle strain or injury. Knee pain may occur hours after skiing. Poor technique, improper equipment, muscular overuse and fatigue and injury are factors that contribute to post-skiing knee pain.

You do the splits by extending one leg forward, while extending the other leg backward and lowering your pelvis to the floor. The splits require flexibility in the quads and hamstrings as well as the hip flexors and buttocks.

The violence in boxing has led many people to question whether the sport is safe enough for people to participate in it. People have died as a result of head trauma from boxing, and some have questioned whether long-term brain damage happens as a result of the constant forces that impact the head.