168. Olympian Molly Huddle: How to Stay Driven, Be a Role Model, and Run Mentally Tough

I invited Simon Marshall, PhD and his wife Lesley Patterson to talk about practical strategies for building confidence, reducing pre-race anxiety, and managing fears. Their new book The Brave Athlete is a handbook for the athlete's brain, showing you how to: Resist the urge to quit Embrace difficulty Respond positively to setbacks Build confidence and self-belief Cope better with stress and anxiety This husband and wife team is quite the duo. Simon is former professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of San Diego and a professor of sport and exercise psychology at San Diego State University. Currently, he's the performance psychologist for BMC Racing - a World Tour professional cycling team. His wife Lesley Patterson is a dominant triathlete, having won three world off-road triathlon champions and an Ironman Triathlon. A professional mountain biker, she's also a former national champion in cross country. And I think all of us get how important our brain is to our running. How many times have you been halfway through a long run and dreaded every step? How many races have you wished in hindsight that you had sucked it up and ran harder instead of settling? It's happened to me more times than I can count. And it happens to world-class athletes (like Lesley, which we talk about) all the time, too. This podcast will show you how to turn your brain into an asset, rather than a liability.

25 Kesä 20171h 1min

What we put into our bodies has a profound impact on our ability to train effectively. In short, if you care about you running, you have to care about your eating habits. And I've brought a Registered Dietitian on the SR Podcast to help. Over the last few weeks, I've surveyed the Strength Running Twitter and Facebook communities about dieting, weight loss, nutrition, and race fueling. I collected about a dozen of the best questions and got my friend Anne Mauney to help me answer them for you. Anne worked with me to create one of SR's flagship programs, Nutrition for Runners. She's one of the busiest RD's I know with a private practice in Washington, DC and a popular lifestyle blog. She also gives healthy eating presentations and workshops to organizations like Whole Foods. Her work has been featured in Glamour, Self, The Washington Post, and Fitness Magazine. When she's not helping athletes improve their diets, she's usually running around DC or tackling yet another half marathon. There are also two more Q&A podcasts that we did together - download them here for free. On this episode, we cover a lot of questions: What foods fight inflammation? What foods increase iron levels? Is it ok to drink alcohol while you're training for a race? What's an optimal pre-marathon fueling strategy? Are carbs from bread or pasta "better" than those from starchy vegetables? What are your favorite healthy snack ideas? Enjoy!

20 Kesä 201750min

Usually, I fire off answers as fast as I can. Whether that's on Facebook or Twitter, I try to be as responsive as possible. But sometimes, life gets in the way. I simply don't have the time to answer all of your questions - especially when a single SR email goes out to about 80,000 runners... That does not, however, mean I'm not paying attention. In fact, I often save your running questions to get to them later. And that's exactly what we're doing today. Joining me as the SR Podcast's first co-host is my friend, fellow coach, and ultra runner Doug Hay. Fresh off his sub-15hr run at the Ultra Run of Champions (snagging him a sweet belt buckle!), Doug is helping us get to the bottom of some of your toughest questions. Let's dive in.

5 Kesä 201755min

I met Ian in August, 2016 one day before the Leadville Trail 100. We got coffee with a friend of ours and then watched a Beer Mile (it took place on the road behind us in the above picture). Ian officiated – starting the race and cheering on runners as they raced and chugged beers. Two days later, Ian crossed the finish line of the Leadville Trail 100 in first place – his third victory. He's no slouch in the world of ultra running. In fact, he's one of the best ultramarathoners in the world: 3 x winner (and course record holder) of the Rocky Raccoon 100 3 x winner of the Leadville Trail 100 Completed about 200 ultras and 100+ marathons (!) Record Holder – Grand Slam of Ultrarunning 7 x silver medalist at the Comrades Marathon And over the last year, I've been fortunate to work with Ian on a few different projects: He contributed a training case study that highlighted his toughest workouts before Leadville. And he shared his best injury advice in the Little Black Book of Prevention & Recovery. Now he's back to talk about running an 11+ minute personal best at the Mt. Charleston Marathon. But it's not all training geekery. Did you know Ian has run dozens of marathons in costumes? In fact, he's run a 2:40 marathon as Spider Man! This is going to be fun 🙂

23 Touko 201749min

I invited Tom Foreman on the podcast to philosophize about running, goals, and racing throughout life. You might recognize Tom as an emmy-award winning journalist at CNN. He's reported on wars, natural disasters, and political skirmishes across 20 countries. He's also quite the runner. Author of My Year of Running Dangerously, Tom has a handful of marathons and ultramarathons under his belt and is chasing a BQ soon at the Cincinnati Marathon. More than anything, Tom has a unique perspective on what running means at various stages of life. Speaking with Tom is always a treat so I hope you enjoy this conversation. I think it will bring you new appreciation for running!

15 Touko 201755min

Is it surprising that I don't think strength workouts are cross-training? Rather, strength work is just part of your training as a runner. 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. And to help you get things right in the weight room, I invited top strength and conditioning coach Tony Gentilcore on the Strength Running podcast to talk about: What are the benefits of strength training? Do runners need to lift differently than other athletes? How do you strength train without a gym membership? What are the most common mistakes in the weight room? Do women need to lift differently or tweak their programs? What are the "little things" for weight lifters? Cofounder of Cressey Sports Performance, Tony now owns his own gym outside of Boston and trains top-level athletes and everyone else. A frequent contributor to major fitness and media outlets like T-Nation, Women's Health, and The Boston Herald, Tony also runs a popular strength training blog. Tony made my job easy as podcast host because he has a great sense of humor and can make exercise science seem easy. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I did speaking with Tony. Even if you're comfortable in the gym, you won't want to miss this episode.

9 Touko 20171h 4min

You might recall George from episode 6 of the Strength Running podcast. We talked about a lot: What's the ideal length long run during marathon training? And half marathon training? Should you keep running marathons if your ultimate goal is to run a faster marathon? If your long runs are already 15+, what types of LR's should you focus on during a marathon season? How long should you run at tempo pace during training? What is the optimal marathon pacing strategy? George wanted help planning for a PR attempt at the half marathon. Episode 6 was a "behind the scenes" coaching call where we strategized on how he could make it happen. Now, he's back on the podcast to see if my ideas actually worked! For a long time, George's episode was the most downloaded show because folks loved listening "over my shoulder" as we strategized. And I think you'll enjoy this show just as much.

1 Touko 201747min

It's not every day that you meet somebody with so many varied interests. And when you do, pay attention. Their insights and mental models are light years ahead of the average person. Simon Donato is one of these "Renaissance Men." His many accomplishments include: A PhD in Geology from McMaster University and a Masters in Paleontology from Western University Credit as the creator and host of the television show Boundless chronicling his pursuit of adventure and ultra-endurance Creator of both Stoked Oats and Adventure Science Finishes at the world's toughest races, including 220km of stand-up paddle boarding to running 250km across the Sahara Desert He's on the podcast today to help us find more adventure in our life. I think runners are uniquely suited to be adventurers because of our endurance, appetite for suffering, and thirst for new experiences. This episode is an excerpt from an interview included in Team Strength Running - affordable coaching with teammates, proven training, me as your coach, and team perks like discounts and other bonuses. If you'd like to learn more about the team, sign up at http://strengthrunning.com/tsr/ (we're opening soon!).

19 Huhti 201740min