I’m a proud omnivore. I firmly believe that eating a balanced, “whole-foods” diet is the key to both long-term health and improved running performance. But the issue isn’t which diet is best, but the results that a certain diet can give to you. Over the past decade, I’ve been borderline obsessed with discovering the optimal diet for running performance. I’ve read many of the best diet books, interviewed Registered Dietitians, pro athletes, and best-selling diet authors: Q&A Podcast with Anne Mau...
Jun 21, 2018•15 min
Angie and Trevor Spencer are the hosts of the Marathon Training Academy podcast and have helped thousands of runners over the years successfully run their first marathons. Angie ran her first marathon in 2008, promptly got injured, but turned things around in a big way: since then, she's run 51 marathons and 4 ultras with not a single injury (!). A Registered Nurse, she also has USATF-Level 1 and RRCA-Level 2 coaching certifications. Trevor followed in his wife's footsteps and went from couch po...
Jun 18, 2018•46 min
Over the years of coaching hundreds of athletes to new personal bests from 1.5 mile military fitness tests up to the 50-mile ultramarathon distance, I’ve been given a “private look” inside how runners approach their training. And most of the time, I’m horrified! There’s no progression. They avoid race-specific workouts. I see pacing mistake after pacing mistake. If you want to run faster you need to take the next logical step in how you prepare and plan your training schedule. Even though you mi...
Jun 07, 2018•16 min
Alex Hutchinson holds a PhD in Physics from Cambridge, a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia, and is a former national-class runner in Canada. He’s written for Runner’s World, Outside Magazine, The Globe & Mail, Popular Mechanics, and many other major media. I’ve been pestering Alex to write another book after Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights? became one of my favorite exercise science myth-busters (if you haven’t picked it up yet, I highly recommend it). And he finally delivered! His new b...
May 21, 2018•48 min
Warrior Dash is a fun vacation from more traditional road racing. If you’re bored and need a new challenge, an obstacle race might be just the cure. They’re fun – but you need the right training to prepare yourself for the challenge of completing a difficult obstacle course. With obstacles every few hundred feet on courses that are almost always hilly with uneven terrain, it’s downright difficult to maintain your pace and get in a groove. For most runners, it’s a challenge just to run in between...
May 18, 2018•15 min
Sam started running in 2002 to lose the weight he put on in college. But his training really picked up years later when he started racing more in 2015. He told me: I set a goal to run another marathon in December, 2016 with a goal of a BQ. I dumped weight lifting and boot camps, to focus on running. I jacked up my miles going from running 10-15 miles and week quickly to running 30-40 miles a week. Leading up to the marathon I developed plantar fasciitis but was able to train through it. A week b...
May 10, 2018•55 min
Heather Caplan is a Registered Dietitian, certified running coach, and host of the RD Real Talk Podcast . She’s also the former Head of Nutrition and Coaching at tech startup Spright, Inc. She’s also worked in corporate wellness coaching and public health nutrition counseling. Her work has been featured in national media such as Runner’s World, The Washington Post, Women’s Running, Outside Online, and others. Heather is on the podcast today to answer YOUR nutrition questions: Are superfoods legi...
May 01, 2018•46 min
Running uphill (against gravity) stresses your body in a unique way that you can’t mimic on flat land. That stress results in some fantastic adaptations and benefits: There’s less impact running uphill so it’s easier on your joints and connective tissues Hills “force” you to run with better form, reinforcing a more efficient stride Running up steep grades builds power more safely than running fast on flat terrain Hills provide the most specific strength work runners could ask for Hill workouts b...
Apr 26, 2018•15 min
In reality, we have to make time and shuffle our schedules to accommodate all of our responsibilities: Kids and family Work and professional obligations Social events Sleep? Maybe? It's no easy feat to train well, work, have a family, and find some free time to read or have fun. I remember back to one of the most challenging times of my life: the year after college when I had a 75-minute commute and a 9-hour work day. That meant I was running 80-85 miles per week at 5:30am in the dark, in the fr...
Apr 17, 2018•47 min
Tyler Andrews was a competitive Division III runner - but certainly not a multiple All-American or other kind of standout performer. But that never stopped him from chasing big goals. After graduating from Tufts University, Tyler kept training and improving. He's since qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials and currently holds the world record for the fastest half marathon ever run on a treadmill (63:38). Now he has his sights set on another world record: the 50K ultramarathon distance. And t...
Apr 09, 2018•53 min
It’s no easy feat to run a marathon under three hours. It’s faster than the fastest Boston Qualifying time of 3:05 (for young men) and according to one analysis, only 4% of men and just 1% of women achieve this level of performance. An article from LiveStrong notes that: “the nonprofit organization RunTri used the times of 230,251 finishers in 25 races to determine that in the 2011-2012 marathon season the average time for any person, regardless of gender or age, was 4 hours, 24 minutes and 0 se...
Mar 28, 2018•50 min
Henry Wynne has an unusual origin story: he’s a former lacrosse player who had no interest in running but his parents encouraged him to stick with the sport in high school. Fast forward about 10 years later and today, he’s an elite middle-distance athlete sponsored by Brooks . A former runner for the University of Virginia, he's had several notable accomplishments over the years: 2016 Indoor NCAA Mile - Champion 2016 Outdoor NCAA Mile - 3rd 4 x All-American School Record Holder, 1500m His person...
Mar 05, 2018•49 min
I had the pleasure of getting to know Maggie last fall when she modeled the exercises for our new strength training program . We spent a few hours at a weight lifting gym called Barbell Strategy in Boulder, CO. Maggie and Addie Bracy (2x Mountain Runner of the Year) demonstrated 40+ exercises and we had a videographer to capture all of the magic. During her time at the University of Arizona, she won the PAC-10 Steeplechase Championship (she'll also tell you that she's twice won her beer in weigh...
Feb 26, 2018•38 min
Dimity is the cofounder of Another Mother Runner - one of the largest communities you'll find for women runners. Besides the blog, the AMR ecosystem includes a helluva lot: The Another Mother Runner podcast AMR retreats Run Like a Mother Train Like a Mother Tales From Yet Another Mother Runner The AMR store I'm publishing this episode as an excerpt from Team Strength Running (if you're not sure what that is, sign up here and I'll give you all the details next week). Dimity is on the Strength Run...
Feb 15, 2018•41 min
Two years ago, I was interviewed for an event called The Running Summit. I spoke about wide-ranging topics: How I started running My injury prevention philosophy The biggest areas of improvement for runners Strength training do's and don'ts Warm-ups and cross-training My favorite aspects of coaching How running "scales" My favorite running authors The two principles of sound form you must remember Who benefits from getting a coach? How to build your mileage more safely than the 10% rule Why 'Run...
Feb 06, 2018•58 min
You might recognize Jesse as the dude who races in Aviators (there's never an inappropriate time for Aviators). He was an All-American and school record holder at track and field powerhouse Stanford University. After graduating with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering, Jesse started a company and got an MBA before going pro in triathlon in 2011. You might say that Jesse likes to stay busy. Today, he's the CEO of Picky Bars - a company he cofounded with his wife Lauren Fleshman - and an elite tri...
Jan 31, 2018•57 min
I've fielded hundreds of lifting questions from runners who all want to know, " How do I lift the right way? " It's a great question. In fact, it's THE question! Knowing how to lift properly will: Save you a lot of wasted time Give you the actual results you want Reduce your injury risk But without knowing WHY runners should lift then it's impossible to answer HOW runners should lift. Do runners need to build strength? Or power? Or neuromuscular coordination? When is the right time to work on ea...
Jan 24, 2018•1 hr 3 min
Cross-training is supplemental exercise that can be helpful to your running, like cycling. But just like form drills , strides, or dynamic flexibility exercises, I consider strength training to be an integral part of how to train distance runners. If you’re not strength training, then you’re not training. Running by itself only gets you so far. It’s a fairly one-dimensional form of exercise, after all. If you look at how pro runners train (hell, even high school runners), you’ll see a lot of “ot...
Dec 19, 2017•18 min
I’m doing something a little different today in that I’d like to share with you what I think are the best gift ideas for runners this year. Now as a running coach, my focus is on improvement so I’m only going to recommend things that are going to help you improve. That’s why I won’t be suggesting sweatshirts, socks, shoes, or anything like that. Those are “nice to haves” but what’s in this episode are gifts that will help you get to the next level. I also want to be completely transparent on thr...
Dec 07, 2017•18 min
I invited Nick to share as much detail as possible about his marathon training, race strategy, and post-race recovery so you can understand how an elite marathoner tackles the race. Just recent he posted on Instagram : To run your best, you have to put in the work, know your body, and keep reminding yourself that you can do it. Train both your mind and body. And today, you'll hear what "the work" means to a professional marathoner. You'll learn: How many weeks Nick prepares for the marathon Why ...
Dec 04, 2017•46 min
Depending on whether you started running today or last year, today's podcast will clarify the most high-impact training available to you. Because certain training strategies and workouts are either too easy for some runners - or too difficult. Like Goldilocks , it's important to plan training that's "just right." And new runners are at an interesting time in their running careers. There's so much potential and improvements will come quickly as long as runners stay healthy and focused. So first, ...
Nov 27, 2017•56 min
If you can replicate the principles (not necessarily the exact workouts, mileage, etc.) that lead to personal bests then you can keep improving and setting personal bests. The alternative is hitting a performance plateau . Stagnating. Running the same times over and over again... And nobody wants that! After working with a lot of runners for the better part of a decade, I've come to understand that there are three areas that most contribute to declining performances. In this episode, we go over ...
Nov 20, 2017•22 min
The best runners know when to get help and work together. If you're a Lone Wolf , some things are inevitable: Have a question? Prepare to spend hours going down the Google rabbit hole... Feeling unmotivated? Sorry, you're on your own. Not sure how to break through your plateau? Time to " try everything! " But the runners who get the support, guidance, and camaraderie they need always seem to reach their goals. Which one are you? Today, my friend Mario Fraioli is joining me on the podcast to help...
Oct 23, 2017•54 min
For a lot of runners, what started as a way to get in shape or lose a few pounds turns into a lifelong passion. Soon, you're going on running retreats and flying across the country to run a marathon. What did we do with all of our free time before running?! Alas, not every runner gets to experience a lifetime of running bliss. Some of us over train, burn out, or get so injured that we simply give up. But I will not let that happen to you! Instead, let's learn from lifelong competitors who are st...
Oct 17, 2017•48 min
Last August, we witnessed the most electrifying track race in history at the World Championships: the women's 3,000m Steeplechase. Before this race, no American woman had ever won a medal in the steeple at the World Championships. Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs changed that with an historic 1-2 finish, decimating a field that included the current World Record holder and Olympic Champion. This was also the first time any Americans had taken home both gold and silver at the World Champions or t...
Oct 02, 2017•37 min
But we almost never discuss the failures of the world's best runners. What does it feel like to never achieve your biggest goal throughout your entire career? How does an elite keep perspective? Do they ever think about quitting? Most importantly... how do elites bounce back from setbacks? Do they have a different mindset than us normal runners? What enables them to continue training at high levels for years? How do they overcome a bad workout, long run, or race? These are the questions that I c...
Sep 12, 2017•48 min
Meet Devon Yanko . On August 19, 2017 she won the Leadville Trail 100 - a race where 9,200 feet altitude is the lowest you'll experience on the course. She finished in 20:46:29, averaging 12:28 per mile - a half hour ahead of her nearest competitor. With nearly 16,000 feet of elevation change through Colorado's gnarliest mountain terrain, the course is so difficult that in most years, less than half of the field finishes the race. Having run in similar places , I can vouch for how strenuous this...
Sep 05, 2017•59 min
Alexi's talents extend far beyond the track and screen. She's been a... columnist for Women's Running Magazine improvisational comedy performer in Los Angeles author of a one-act play As you can see, Alexi has done a lot more than just running. That's why, in this interview, we don't talk much about running. I didn't ask her what it was like being a multiple All-American for Dartmouth College. Or how it felt to set the Greek Record at the Rio Olympics of 31:36 in the 10,000m. Instead, we talk ab...
Aug 30, 2017•46 min
You might know David from drdavidgeier.com where he simplifies the complex area of sports medicine. David's most notably an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist in Charleston, South Carolina. He was Director of MUSC Sports Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina for eights years and is currently the Communications Council Chair for the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Board of Directors. Major media have featured his advice in interviews from The New Yor...
Aug 14, 2017•51 min•Ep. 36
In Episode 33, I introduced you to Joel Runyon who recently ran an ultramarathon on every continent - and raised a staggering $190,000 in the process. Today, we're diving deeper into the obstacles he faced, lessons learned, and what he'd change if he were to do it all over again. In part two of our conversation, Joel opens up about the obstacles he faced while attempting to finish the 777 Project. They included injuries, unrelated lawsuits, brutal trail races in the mountains of Thailand, and th...
Aug 07, 2017•55 min
