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

Portland Pilots cross country coach Rob Conner joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast to discuss the surprising runner-up finish by his men's team at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country National Championships last weekend. Conner delves into the history of the Portland cross country program, recruiting in the same state as Oregon, breaking down his coaching philosophy and much more. We also delve into the controversy that followed when some of Portland's top guys did not race at the Western Conference Championship and let to an editorial on LetsRun.com. We'll have a separate post on the site with Rob's comments transcribed. Other questions include: Do you feel closer to a national championship now more than you did five or ten years ago? Who would be on the Mt. Rushmore of Portland Cross Country runners? What is his coolest piece of wrestling memorabilia?  You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also now on Stitcher!

22 Nov 201758min

Isaac Wood, author of The Wood Report, joins the show to break down the individual and team races at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country National Championships. Isaac is also the director of track and field operations at BYU and with the Cougars being one of the best teams in the country, he's able to share some insight into their program and how they became a national championship contender.  On Thursday, Isaac released his final projections you can find the links below: Men's individual projections and All-Americans: http://citiusmag.com/ncaa-cross-country-championship-mens-projections-individuals/ Men's team projections: http://citiusmag.com/ncaa-cross-country-national-championship-mens-team-projections/ Women's individual projections: http://citiusmag.com/ncaa-cross-country-championship-womens-individual-projections/ Women's team projections: http://citiusmag.com/ncaa-cross-country-national-championship-womens-team-projections/ We take some listener questions from people on Twitter including: How would the races be different if they were both 8K as opposed to 10K for the men and 6K for the women, who could be the biggest disappointments and much more. If you have any more questions for Isaac before the championship, he can try to answer them on Twitter by reaching him: @Wood_Report. You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also now on Stitcher!

17 Nov 201742min

Get to know Jeanne Mack after she stunned us with her 24th overall (10th American woman) finish at the 2017 New York City Marathon. In addition to writing for CITIUS, Jeanne is an MFA student at NAU. She previously ran at Harvard. Jeanne shares a little insight into her running trajectory, what it's like to be coached by Stephen Kersh, a wild start to her race and what's next as an emerging sub-elite athlete. Jeanne actually just wrote her own reflection on her race, which you can find and read here: http://citiusmag.com/running-with-men/

10 Nov 201746min

Decided to share with you some of the audio from my interview with Shalane Flanagan from a story that I wrote earlier this month for Sports Illustrated. There were a couple of nuggets of information that didn't make the final edit of the story but I feel like it would be particularly interesting to our listeners.  The big story in the lead-up to New York was that Shalane revealed to me that this could be her final marathon. I'm not inclined to totally buy into that idea but we discuss her goals for New York City, what she hopes to accomplish in the remainder of her career, what still surprises her about Jerry Schumacher, training in Mammoth and more. Here's the link to the SI.com story –https://www.si.com/edge/2017/10/25/new-york-city-marathon-shalane-flanagan-career ---------- This episode was brought to you by Maurten. If you’re interested in marathon investigations then there’s a chance that you’re also a marathon or road runner. If so, you should fuel properly for those long distance races and we recommend Maurten. It’s the world’s most carbohydrate-rich sports drink and it’s being used by the top marathoners in the world. Eliud Kipchoge used it during the Breaking2 attempt and the Berlin Marathon. Kenenisa Bekele has been using it since winning the 2016 Berlin Marathon. Mo Farah even used it prior to his gold medal runs at the world championships. It worked for me at the Berlin Marathon and it could work for you. They have two drinks with 40 or 80 grams of carbohydrates and they’re now available in the U.S. Check them out today at Maurten.com CITIUS MAG PODCAST LISTENERS GET 20% OFF THEIR NEXT ORDER: Use promo code CMP20 at checkout.

4 Nov 201735min

Chris is joined by Kit Fox of Men's Journal (previously at Runner's World) to preview the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon before a live audience at the NYRR RUNCENTER feat. the New Balance Run Hub. We discuss the major players in the men's and women's race before also chatting a little bit about the celebrities running and then a little trivia for our guests. Thanks a lot to NYRR for giving us the time and space. Shout-out to the Citwits who came and then tagged along for a little shakeout run. Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a 5-star review.

4 Nov 201739min

Four-time U.S. Olympian Abdi Abdirahman joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast ahead of Sunday's TCS New York City Marathon. He is this year's top returning American after his third place finish in last year's race, which resurrected his career after a string of injuries. He's 40 years old so he shares his thoughts on how much longer he may be able to go, Meb's retirement party and what is was like missing a fifth Olympic team. Abdirahman also touches on some fun topics like his plans to develop runners in Somalia, the nutrition and hydration strategy of East African runners, what's his greatest race, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Blue Jeans Mile (people forget that he use to make his own jeans) and a heated debate on what LeBron James can run for the mile.  This episode was brought to you by Maurten. If you’re interested in marathon investigations then there’s a chance that you’re also a marathon or road runner. If so, you should fuel properly for those long distance races and we recommend Maurten. It’s the world’s most carbohydrate-rich sports drink and it’s being used by the top marathoners in the world. Eliud Kipchoge used it during the Breaking2 attempt and the Berlin Marathon. Kenenisa Bekele has been using it since winning the 2016 Berlin Marathon. Mo Farah even used it prior to his gold medal runs at the world championships. It worked for me at the Berlin Marathon and it could work for you. They have two drinks with 40 or 80 grams of carbohydrates and they’re now available in the U.S. Check them out today at Maurten.com CITIUS MAG PODCAST LISTENERS GET 20% OFF THEIR NEXT ORDER: Use promo code CMP20 at checkout.

2 Nov 201749min

I've been excited to do this episode for a while and it's probably one of the most interesting ones that we've done. Derek Murphy of MarathonInvestigation.com joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast to discuss how he got started cracking down on cheats, why he does it, how he does it and much more. Murphy tells us his process for investigating some of the red flags that come up in race results, what does it feel like to catch cheaters, his most high profile catch as well as if there is any backlash to revealing his findings. Murphy appreciates the sport much like all of us and we ask him what he likes to do for fun and how much of a runner he is.  Fun topics include: Investigating Matthew Centrowitz from the Chicago Marathon and how he would've approached the Rosie Ruiz or Kathrine Switzer situations. This episode was brought to you by Maurten. If you're interested in marathon investigations then there's a chance that you're also a marathon or road runner. If so, you should fuel properly for those long distance races and we recommend Maurten. It's the world's most carbohydrate-rich sports drink and it's being used by the top marathoners in the world. Eliud Kipchoge used it during the Breaking2 attempt and the Berlin Marathon. Kenenisa Bekele has been using it since winning the 2016 Berlin Marathon. Mo Farah even used it prior to his gold medal runs at the world championships. It worked for me at the Berlin Marathon and it could work for you. They have two drinks with 40 or 80 grams of carbohydrates and they're now available in the U.S. Check them out today at Maurten.com You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also now on Stitcher! Details for the CITIUS MAG Podcast NYC Live Marathon Preview Show Date: Friday, November 3rd @ 5:00PM Where: NYRR RUNCENTER, 320 W. 57th St. NY, NY 10019

27 Okt 201738min

There aren't too many marathoners out there who are training at a high level for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and still chasing the dream of breaking four minutes for the mile. Meet Scott Smith of Northern Arizona Elite. The 2:14 marathoner joins the podcast ahead of his race at the Frankfurt Marathon. He has not raced a marathon since the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in February 2016, where he finished 14th overall. He discusses how he felt about that performance and moved forward from it. Smith seems to love tough and warm marathons with two 26.2 races in Los Angeles and a steamy world championships in Beijing in 2015. He expresses his optimism for cool and fast conditions in his next race. Fun topics include his brother's pursuit of a 3:30 marathon without running more than five miles at a time, Thank You Meb, California high school track, Game of Thrones/TV binging and more. He's thought long and hard about the 25 shots from halfcourt/25 years in prison question and his answer is great. This episode was brought to you by ROLL Recovery. The company was founded in Boulder, Colorado with one major goal: To design and build revolutionary products to help people recover faster and improve the quality of their life. They have thoughtfully designed products to keep you moving. Be happy. Be healthy. Check them out today at rollrecovery.com

24 Okt 201749min