Episode 60: How to Run a Fast Obstacle Course Race
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 each obstacle! But there are specific ways that you can train to ensure you have a successful race. Make no mistake: whether you're running a Warrior Dash or Tough Mudder, these aren't your typical road races. It takes a particular mindset to conquer them. Here's how.
18 Maj 201814min
Episode 59: How Sam Plans to Escape His Cycle of Injuries
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 before the race I developed ITBS and ran the marathon anyways. It was a horrible race that left me sitting on the side of the road at one point. But I finished (actually setting a PR in 3:30) and could barely walk afterward. After 2 months, I started training again and decided I wanted to try triathlons. I jacked up my miles and completed a Half Ironman. But I didn't take time to recover and developed ITBS. And I've been battling with issues ever since. Listen in as we strategize how to get control over this injury cycle so Sam can focus on racing faster. Sam is a member of Team Strength Running and is able to talk over these issues with me on our live coaching calls. If you'd like that opportunity, sign up here to see when the team is accepting new members.
10 Maj 201855min
Episode 58: Superfoods, Veganism & Fasting: A Registered Dietitian's Perspective
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 legit? What's her hot take on fasting and the vegan diet? How much meat is too much? Can nutrition play a role in injury prevention? And more! This is a very wide-ranging discussion based on your answers to my Twitter question here. If you like this format of podcast, we have two more you can download here!
1 Maj 201845min
Episode 57: The Complete Guide to Hill Workouts
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 build strength, speed, endurance, VO2 Max, and every other metric runners care about! While hill sessions aren't too race-specific (unless you're training for an entirely uphill race), they have a valuable place in any training program. This episode discusses these benefits, when hills should be incorporated into your season, my 3 favorite types of hill workouts, and the type of runner who will benefit most from hills.
26 Apr 201815min
Episode 56: How to Balance Running in Your Life, with Keira D'Amato
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 freezing winter of Massachusetts. I had no time to do anything besides work, run, and ensure I slept 8 hours a night. Now that I have a family, that's not a possibility. Hard decisions have to be made... To help with those tough decisions, I want to introduce you to Keira D'Amato. She was a 4-time All-American at American University in Washington, DC, specializing in events ranging from the 5k to cross country. After college, she worked for years as the marketing director for Potomac River Running and today she's the "running realtor" for the northern Virginia and DC areas. But she never quit running. Just last month, she won the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Washington, DC. Keira is running after the Olympic Trials marathon standard of 2:45 - and she's close with her 2:47 PR! Oh, and she's married with two kids... In this conversation, we discuss: the many roles she's had in the running industry what she's learned about runners from being so involved in the sport her marathon progression from nearly 4 hours to 2:47 (!!) how her current training has gone and her strategy to get the OTQ how she manages to train at an elite level with a job and a family
17 Apr 201847min
Episode 55: How Tyler Andrews is Chasing the 50K World Record
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 this Friday, he'll be making that WR attempt in California at the Santa Barbara Easter Relays. After 125 laps on the track, we'll know if he was ready to topple the 30-year record of 2:43:38. In this far-ranging conversation, Tyler and I discuss a host of issues: The geeky nitty gritty of his training - most at 9,000+ feet altitude in Quito, Ecuador His pacing and fueling approach for a track 50k More philosophically, why is he attempting to break this record? And a lot more...
9 Apr 201853min
Episode 54: Listen in on a Coaching Call About Running a Sub-3 Marathon
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 seconds." I'm not familiar with either of these sources so we should be careful with the results. Let's take them with a big grain of salt. But still, they underscore the general idea that a sub-3 marathon is really hard! And especially for women, who weren't born with many of the biological "tools" that aid performance (higher muscle mass, more testosterone, etc.). So this coaching call was particularly exciting for me. Lindsey has a 3:14 personal best but that wasn't under ideal conditions – in other words, she knows a lot of improvement is possible. In this conversation, we discuss her training background, past race performances, and the training upgrades required to make her sub-3 marathon dream a reality.
28 Mars 201850min
Episode 53: How to Run a Fast Mile, with NCAA Mile Champion Henry Wynne
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 personal best in the mile is 3:55 (from less than two weeks ago!) - and he's going to let you in on how he prepares to race. Resources helpful for milers and other middle-distance runners: Increase muscle tension to race faster How to lift for explosivity Train your top end running speed How to run hill sprints Lift for speed and power
5 Mars 201848min
