Office Hours: Coach Juli Benson On Two Decades Of Working With Runners Of All Levels + U.S. Greats Like Jenny Simpson And Nikki Hiltz

“[Coaching] is fulfilling, but it also sincerely does make me better. It makes me a better athlete. Miguel (Marin), just the way that he wanted to get better as a person and as a runner. He was a young person, didn't have life figured out and was still trying to figure himself out. I'm still trying to figure myself out. Just seeing him put the effort into himself that he did. There were so many times that made me be like, ‘I can do this. I can be better and improve upon things about myself and my emotional stability, my mental stability.’ All these things improve just by the relationship that we had.” My guest for today’s episode is CJ Albertson. Just three weeks after setting a personal best of 2:08:17 at the Chicago Marathon, CJ came into the New York City Marathon and delivered another stellar performance, finishing 10th in 2:10:57. CJ's year has been nothing short of extraordinary—top American at both the Boston and Chicago Marathons, a 5th-place finish at the Olympic Trials, and now, another top-10 finish in New York. No American had ever run sub-2:11 marathons so close together, but CJ isn't one to shy away from a challenge. We'll talk about his mindset, his breakout year, and his relentless pursuit of faster times. Plus, CJ also shares a bit about how he was running in memory of Miguel Marin, who was one of his athletes who ran track and cross country at Clovis Community College. The 22-year-old died in a car crash over the weekend. A GoFundMe has been set up to assist with his family’s expenses. You can find the link to it here. Plus, we do our overrated/underrated segment on training elements with CJ to close out the show. Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram Guest: CJ Albertson | @cjalbertson on Instagram Time stamps: 3:24 - Reflections on his past year of marathoning 8:07 - Which of his marathons was the most satisfying this year  10:14 - How he approached racing both the Chicago and NYC marathons 13:10 - Factors that led to his improvement 15:13 - Hopes for what’s next in his career 22:25 - Race breakdown: 1st Ave 24:51 - Race breakdown: 5th Ave 28:32 - Thoughts on how to close the gap on becoming top American  30:24 - How he hopes to continue improving  36:30 - Race weight + fueling strategy while racing  41:08 - Going after the 2025 World Championships team  50:02 - Reflecting on Miguel Marin, his athlete who just passed away 56:40 - Answering listener questions  1:02:02 - How coaching others makes him a better athlete 1:04:24 - Overrated/underrated: training methods SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS WAHOO: KICKR RUN - a new revolutionary treadmill offering the freedom and form of outdoor running at home, from Wahoo Fitness. Run hands-free and focus solely on the joy of running with the innovative RunFree Mode - which adjusts to your stride and pace automatically. For the first time runners can now fully benefit from indoor training apps such as Zwift Run and the Wahoo app for an immersive training experience that delivers unmatched realism and results. Learn more at WahooFitness.com OLIPOP: For the past year, we’ve redefined Olipop as more than just a healthy drink known for its gut microbiome with a low sugar content and a much better alternative to regular soda. You know there are more than 16 flavors, including classic root beer, cherry cola, and lemon-lime. You know it as The Runner’s Soda. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 25% off your orders by using code CITIUS25 at drinkolipop.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

6 Marras 20241h 26min

“You never know which build you're pulling from on race day. The most recent build is the most important build and indicator of what you can do on race day, but there's no reason why you can't be pulling from the Paris build, the Chicago build, and the Olympic Trials build. Fitness stacks over years and that lifetime fitness is just getting really, really big for me. I tried to lean into that. I think I did alright.”  Within the past 14 months, Clayton Young and his training partner Conner Mantz have become synonymous with performing in high stakes marathon racing, finishing neck-and-neck at four marathons. Now, most recently at the New York City Marathon, Clayton crossed the finish line in an impressive seventh place finish just 21 seconds behind Conner Mantz, clocking 2:09:21. This year has been nothing short of remarkable for Clayton, from the Olympic Marathon Trials to the Paris Olympics and now New York. We've got episodes with him after each one of those. We decided to keep the tradition alive as we dive into how New York City played out and reflect on Clayton's emotional and triumphant year in marathoning. Plus, we get to thinking about what's next in 2025. Time stamps: 3:46 - Returning to training post-marathon 5:51 - Reflection coming off the NYC Marathon  8:18 - His build leading into NYC: overcoming his achilles injury 11:56 - Pre-race plans with Coach Ed Eyestone 15:19 - Thoughts on the depth of the men’s field 18:57 - Breaking down the first part of the race  22:19 - What happened after crossing the Queensboro Bridge  32:01 - Tracking power (watts) during the race  36:04 - “What ifs” from the race  38:01 - Looking ahead to trying to qualify for the World Championships marathon  42:17 - Future training plans with Conner Mantz  48:08 - How this year transformed his running career  51:10 - Being in the midst of the good ol’ days  56:50 - Underrated/overrated  Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram Guest: Clayton Young | @_clayton_young_ on Instagram SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS WAHOO: KICKR RUN - a new revolutionary treadmill offering the freedom and form of outdoor running at home, from Wahoo Fitness. Run hands-free and focus solely on the joy of running with the innovative RunFree Mode - which adjusts to your stride and pace automatically. For the first time runners can now fully benefit from indoor training apps such as Zwift Run and the Wahoo app for an immersive training experience that delivers unmatched realism and results. Learn more at WahooFitness.com OLIPOP: For the past year, we’ve redefined Olipop as more than just a healthy drink known for its gut microbiome with a low sugar content and a much better alternative to regular soda. You know there are more than 16 flavors, including classic root beer, cherry cola, and lemon-lime. You know it as The Runner’s Soda. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 25% off your orders by using code CITIUS25 at drinkolipop.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

6 Marras 20241h 9min

In a fitting theme for the city of Broadway, the 53rd edition of the New York City Marathon was all about breakout stars finally getting their time in the spotlight. Both winners of the men’s and women’s elite races in NYC are frequently recurring characters near the front of major races, but neither had completed a signature performance before today.  Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands and Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya won their first World Marathon Major titles by defeating fields full of former NYC champs, with Nageeye outkicking 2022 champ Evans Chebet down the homestretch and Chepkirui beating 2023 champ Hellen Obiri at her own game with a late surge through Central Park. Time stamps: Women’s race: 2:10 - Breaking down Sheila Chepkirui’s win 5:03 - Hellen Obiri talking a big game + reflecting on her career 13:20 - Kudos to Vivian Cheruiyot for her third place finish 16:10 - Sara Vaughn’s top American performance 19:42 - More top results: Jess McClain, Sharon Lokedi, Kellyn Taylor, Tristan Van Ord, Dakotah Popehn 22:38 - Reflecting on Jenny Simpson’s career Men’s race: 26:47 - Breaking down Abdi Nageeye’s win 31:24 - Evans Chebet’s performance, 30th career marathon  33:18 - More top results: Albert Korir, Tamirat Tola 35:19 - Conner Mantz and Clayton Young’s races 39:45 - Kudos to CJ Albertson More thoughts: 44:27 - 2028 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials  48:40 - Valencia Half Marathon recap 54:50 - What’s ahead on the CITIUS MAG Podcast 56:18 - Sydney Marathon becoming the newest World Marathon Major Mentioned in this episode: Watch: NYC Marathon Watchalong Read: Parting Thoughts From The 2024 NYC Marathon: Abdi Nageeye and Sheila Chepkirui Win + More Listen: 2024 NYC Marathon Pre-Race With Conner Mantz, Clayton Young, Hellen Obiri, Dakotah Popehn, Jess McClain + More Listen: Jenny Simpson Reflects on Her Career from High School to 2019, Shares 2020 Plans and Hopes Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram + Isaac Wood | @isaacew on Instagram SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS WAHOO: KICKR RUN - a new revolutionary treadmill offering the freedom and form of outdoor running at home, from Wahoo Fitness. Run hands-free and focus solely on the joy of running with the innovative RunFree Mode - which adjusts to your stride and pace automatically. For the first time runners can now fully benefit from indoor training apps such as Zwift Run and the Wahoo app for an immersive training experience that delivers unmatched realism and results. Learn more at WahooFitness.com OLIPOP: For the past year, we’ve redefined Olipop as more than just a healthy drink known for its gut microbiome with a low sugar content and a much better alternative to regular soda. You know there are more than 16 flavors, including classic root beer, cherry cola, and lemon-lime. You know it as The Runner’s Soda. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 25% off your orders by using code CITIUS25 at drinkolipop.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

5 Marras 20241h 6min

We opened up The CITIUS MAG Podcast to have ANYONE join us to share their NYC Marathon stories. It’s a rapid-fire, live podcast recording where we don’t know the guests and just want to connect and hear cool stories from the community. Thanks to HOKA for creating a safe and welcoming space for all these people to share their stories with us. The race kicks off on Sunday, November 3rd with the women’s race starting at 8:35am E.T. and the men following at 9:05am E.T. (Don’t forget to set your clock back an hour the night before!) The race will be streamed nationally on ESPN and locally on ABC. You can read our full NYC Marathon preview here. CITIUS MAG is proud to partner with HOKA for our coverage of the 2024 NYC Marathon.

2 Marras 202447min

NAZ Elite's Paige Wood (née Stoner), Abby Nichols and Katie Wasserman join us for a live interview ahead of the 2024 NYC Marathon. The race kicks off on Sunday, November 3rd with the women’s race starting at 8:35am E.T. and the men following at 9:05am E.T. (Don’t forget to set your clock back an hour the night before!) The race will be streamed nationally on ESPN and locally on ABC. You can read our full NYC Marathon preview here. CITIUS MAG is proud to partner with HOKA for our coverage of the 2024 NYC Marathon.

2 Marras 202412min

"The marathon is the longest event. You have to believe in yourself: 'I can do this.' It gets tough at the end. If you don't have that belief, if you don't believe in your training, it's going to get tough. It's just the mindset that, 'I can do this, but I need to be patient enough so that I can finish strong." Wesley Kiptoo of NAZ Elite sits down with us for a live interview ahead of the 2024 NYC Marathon. He shares about transitioning from college racing to the marathon, his reflections from his debut marathon, how he prepared for the NYC course, and his race plan for tomorrow. The race kicks off on Sunday, November 3rd with the women’s race starting at 8:35am E.T. and the men following at 9:05am E.T. (Don’t forget to set your clock back an hour the night before!) The race will be streamed nationally on ESPN and locally on ABC. You can read our full NYC Marathon preview here. CITIUS MAG is proud to partner with HOKA for our coverage of the 2024 NYC Marathon.

2 Marras 20248min

"It's more me against the distance instead of me against the field. That's how I like to think of the marathon." Futsum Zienasellassie of NAZ Elite sits down with us for a live interview ahead of the 2024 NYC Marathon. He shares about how his training block for NYC compared to his training for the U.S. Trials, what it's been like training with teammate Wesley Kiptoo, how he hopes to improve upon his 2:09 PR, and his race plan heading into tomorrow. The race kicks off on Sunday, November 3rd with the women’s race starting at 8:35am E.T. and the men following at 9:05am E.T. (Don’t forget to set your clock back an hour the night before!) The race will be streamed nationally on ESPN and locally on ABC. You can read our full NYC Marathon preview here. CITIUS MAG is proud to partner with HOKA for our coverage of the 2024 NYC Marathon.

2 Marras 202410min

"I want to reach the goals that I know I'm capable of reaching. It's going to require me to do things I have not done in the past. I feel like I just kept doing the same thing over and over in the past where I'm just coming top three, top four, top five. Sometimes I was satisfied with that. But I think if you want to be a champion, you can't be satisfied with that." Ahmed Muhamed of NAZ Elite sits down with us for a live interview after winning the 2024 Abbott Dash To The Finish Line 5K in 13:38. The race kicks off on Sunday, November 3rd with the women’s race starting at 8:35am E.T. and the men following at 9:05am E.T. (Don’t forget to set your clock back an hour the night before!) The race will be streamed nationally on ESPN and locally on ABC. You can read our full NYC Marathon preview here. CITIUS MAG is proud to partner with HOKA for our coverage of the 2024 NYC Marathon.

2 Marras 202420min