Ross's story embodies the everyman: good all around athlete who leaves his athleticism and fitness behind while focusing on his career and family. 10 years and 40 pounds later, he decided to sign up for an Ultra. He started jogging in April, training in August, and toed the start line in December. Today he shares his journey of weight loss, fitness gain, mentality change, and race day performance.
Far too often, an athlete puts in a great block of training only to underperform on race day. One of the biggest causes of this is a lack of Race Specific Fitness. The ability to analyze the specific requirements of your goal race and build workouts specifically to target those is an invaluable skill to an endurance racer! We break down how to analyze your race, what aspects to focus on, and how to design workouts specifically for race day success.
The reigning Spartan Canadian National Series champion joins us for a chance to talk about how he has remained so successful on the OCR scene despite living in a completely flat, sea level city. Mik breaks down the training regimen and philosophy that gives him the ability to simulate mountains and compete on a world stage.
How many times have you thought, "If I just had one more month I would be so ready for this race!" THIS IS THAT MONTH! So often, the beginning of winter coincides with a huge loss in motivation. Unfortunately for runners, after winter comes spring. Spring means racing, so you cannot afford a lackluster off season. Today we discuss how to avoid the off season slump!
Winter cold, dark, slippery, and uncomfortable - but you still need to get outdoors and train! From what to wear, the mindset you need, how to adjust workouts, and all our rationale for "why", today is a winter running PSA.
Rich Ryan returns to for an Intro to Sports Nutrition. We cover a variety of basic nutrition terms, break down how to calculate your caloric needs as an athlete, and give an overview of the most common diets and nutrition plans. Enjoy!
When can I run again? How much volume can I do? When is it safe to begin speed work? How do I even know if my body is ready? Returning to running after missing time with an injury can be a scary and confusing process, so today we make it easier for you!
Endurance legend Amelia Boone joins us for a must listen episode of race stories, injuries, comebacks and her personal struggle with a life long eating disorder. A multiple time world champion despite enduring setbacks and challenges that most people would never come back from, Amelia delivers a message that we all need to hear.
We receive more questions about Easy Runs than any other running topic, especially after the "What Should Hard Feel Like" episode. Today will address all those questions and more! From when to run Easy and how to identify your Easy effort to what Easy should feel like both physically and mentally, this episode will give you the tools to correctly polarize your training.
We opened to doors up for ANY question to be asked! You surprised us with your maturity, as we only got two defecation based questions. From Bachelorette questions and "who would win in a fight" to actual running submissions, this episode has a bit of everything!
We seemed to have a theme amongst the questions we received this week: Easy Runs, HR Training, Fitting Workouts in on Restricted Time, and Structuring Your Season. We love that people are diving into the nitty gritty of training, so we answered them all!
If you've ever ran, biked, or hiked on a trail, this interview will hit home! Adam Buck is a professional trail builder who also happens to have been a high school track star turned pro mountain biker, sponsored by Red Bull. He's lived a wild life, most of which has taken place in the great outdoors.
Everyone talks about racing hard, a hard workout, a hard interval session, a hard tempo run. But what does Hard really look and feel like? Pacing yourself based off effort is tricky but it is a super valuable skill to develop. We cover the key feelings and mental cues to be hitting during races and training in order to nail that effort!
Rich Ryan of the Reinforced Running Podcast swings by today! Rich is a fast runner, successful podcaster, excellent endurance and nutrition coach, and has been hitting some really fast time trials lately! We chat through his transition from college running to OCR racing, eating disorders, trying to train for off road racing while living in downtown Philly, and his nutritional philosophy for endurance athletes.
We are only as tough and strong as our support system. Every successful human and athlete is held up by a clearly defined "Why" and a strong and honest Accountability Partner. Learn how to identify and establish your safety net in order to maximize your athletic potential!
Kirk interviews Brakken about Spartan's evolution as as race, brand, and company. From a grassroots movement to a worldwide phenomenon, Spartan Race has essentially created a sport out of thin air and Brakken was there to witness it from the beginning. Today is filled with nostalgic memories, old race stories, critiques and compliments for Spartan's business model, and much more!
As a runner, do you need to be on Strava? Today we dive into: What is Strava? How to use it as a training tool Is the Premium Subscription worth upgrading to? The common pitfalls athletes fall into on Strava
From collegiate 800m All-American to 100 mile Ultra Runner, Ean has worked to redefine himself as an endurance athlete. He represents the struggles of the everyman: running his own construction business and raising four kids while trying to fit in 70-80 mile training weeks. One of the grittiest athletes we have ever competed against, Ean continually seeks out races that test how far he can truly push his body.
Our mental game is the key to our performance. Far too often, our true athletic ceiling is WAY higher than we think it is. Today's episode gives you the blueprint to unlock better performances.
Race predictor workouts. Training for downhills as a flatlander. Setting your personal HR zones. Using HR for interval workouts. Are massages useful? When should I time trial? How to stay injury free as a heavier runner. Drug testing in OCR. Our thoughts on minimal shoes. All these and many more are addressed today!
As many athletes have progressed into their "off season base building" stage of training, the questions we've received have shown a growing concern that they will lose their hard earned speed during this time. Today we address that single issue completely!
IAU Trail World Champs. Skyrunning World Series Champion. 2x Skyrunning Extreme Series Champion. Ultra Skyrunning World Champion. 12x OCR World Champion. 2x Spartan Race World Champion. World's Toughest Mudder Team Champion. If is it a running race held off road, Jon Albon has probably won it. The craziest part of it all? Jon has had 2 broken bones in his foot for the past FOUR AND A HALF YEARS. Today he talks his journey from national level roller hockey player to world champion endurance athle...
Shoes. Socks. Underwear. Shorts. Compression Shorts. Cold weather tights. Shirts. Jackets. Rain gear. Gloves. Hats. Waist belts. Hydration packs. Watches. HR monitors. You asked for the gear we use; here it is!
One year into her transition from D-1 Track star to OCR athlete, Morgan Schulz joins us for an unbelievable story of success, injury, heartbreak, and resolve. She has had incredibly high highs paired with agonizingly low lows through her first 23 years as an athlete, which has set her up for future dominance in the endurance world. This entire episode is worth your time but from 70:00 to the end should be required listening for every endurance athlete - especially young women!
Running isn't as simple as just building a big engine. There are many accompanying skills that need to be developed in order to fully access your fitness during a competition. Ascending, descending, technical terrain, heat, altitude; these are all skills that need sharpening or developing in order to round out your game. When and how often should they be trained? Today we debate it all!
The fastest runner in the sport of OCR today, Mark Batres has been training as a distance runner since he was 8. From child phenom to collegiate stud to 2:19 marathoner to US National OCR champ, Mark walks us through his journey as a runner. He is also a successful endurance coach and we get to pick his brain about training volume, racing weight, and interval work.
There is a lot of buzz around Hunter McIntyre's new virtual competition, OCR Stars, so we decided to walk you through everything you need in order to prepare for and dominate this competition! We analyze Hunter's tenancies as an athlete and coach in order to flesh out the details of what the events could look like. We then give you the training specifics needed to attack those specific type of events. Get listening and then get training!
The youngest, and arguably best, athlete in the sport of OCR takes us on his journey from 13 year old wunderkind to 21 year old phenom. Get to know the young man behind the legend! Also, Brakken does his best to sabotage the episode by not knowing the start time and Matt Kempson makes a surprise guest appearance.
These three terms are always talked about, sometimes understood, and rarely implemented correctly. Today we fix that! We break down what each term means, discuss why and when you would use it, then give you real examples of how to implement it correctly!
Tuesday's Q&A episode only covered half of your questions so we are powering through today! This episode might have the most wide ranging topics we've ever covered. We start with different approaches for dealing with and sourcing sponsors, progress to a debate between OCRWC and Spartan World Championships, touch upon some training nitty-gritty, then finish up with our dream jobs and play F-M-K with Beni, Hunter, and Matt B Davis. Buckle up!
