For The Long Run: Exploring the Why Behind Running

Stephanie and I sat down while she was in Boston for the marathon, just after we shared a run around the Charles River.  Stephanie grew up in Minnesota, and raced Nordic Skiing and Cross Country at Northern Michigan University.  She fell in love with running on the trails after college in Bozeman Montana, where she was studying Exercise Physiology at Montana State University before she moved further West to Oregon to pursue a doctoral program at the University of Oregon studying Human Physiology and ultimately earning her PhD in Nutrition and Exercise Science.  Stephanie is the 2014 Western States champion, Course Record holder at the Lake Sonoma 50 Miler and has many other professional career highlights both academically and athletically.  Stephanie is passionate about nourishing the body through physical movement and real food. She also makes incredible pizza (trust me!) and loves cooking for and eating with friends.  We talked a lot about this some of the other components of running that fuel her passion for the sport, and what she’s seen change over the years in the trail running scene. Stephanie runs her own coaching and nutrition business, and also runs at the professional level for North Face, Clif Bar, Nathan, Squirrels Nut Butter, Julbo, Kahtoola, Drymax and InsideTracker! Enjoy!

Andie Cozzarelli is a pro runner for Oiselle, Generation UCAN, Jasyoga, Big Spoon Roasters, InsideTracker, and the newly formed Raleigh Distance Project, that she helped to create. In addition to running, Andie is a former engineer turned real estate appraiser. Andie’s been a runner for nearly 15 years, and has learned a lot over that time. Andie is all about the community aspect of running, and joining Oiselle’s Haute Volee team in 2015 helped to kick start that.  In this episode, we talked about the Andie's community focus, her health journey over the last few years, and what keeps her excited about running. We sat down while she was in Boston for the marathon, so please forgive us if we still seem to have a second hand runners high or a lack of a voice from too much cheering!

Peter Bromka is a marathoner with Bowerman Track Club Elite, a father and husband, as well as a writer and consultant living in Portland, Oregon. Peter has roots in the Boston area, attending Tufts University for undergrad, and is on a passionate journey to achieve the Olympic Trials Marathon Standard, a 2:19. In this podcast we talked about setting and striving for big scary goals, and what it takes to see progress like he's seen over the years.  We talked a lot about numbers and pace in this episode. While Peter's pace is faster than most, the goal is to help explain that no matter if you're running a 2:19 marathon to qualify for the Olympic Trials, a sub 3 marathon (or 3:30) to Boston Qualify, or twice that, you can always strive for more.

Amanda Brooks is a runner, avid traveler, coach, journalist, and much more. Amanda lives in Colorado, and has been blogging about running for nearly a decade. We talked about the progression of social media and what she's seen change over the years, her soon to be released book, her tips on recovering from injury, and much more!

Emily Saul is a mover, shaker, and hugger. As co-leader of November Project Boston and a sport psychology coach, she's all about the power of community and just showing up, for yourself, and for each other. In the podcast, we talked about sport psychology and the importance of therapy (both in and out of sport!), community, what keeps her motivated on a long day or on a morning where she'd prefer to ignore the alarm and stay in bed, where her energy comes from, and much more.  Emily can be found on Instagram at @emilysaulboston. Her new work is called E Saul Movement, and if you're interested you can message her on Instagram or through the Wellness In Motion Boston website!

Devon Yanko lives in California where she enjoys both trail and road running. Devon co owns a bakery called MH Bread and Butter. We talked about what keeps Devon excited about the running community, the Donner Party 50k that she helped support, sponsorship and how the running community has changed over the years, and all about the importance of being in control of your health and being your own strongest advocate.

Seth Waltz is a runner living in Boston with a running squad about as big as his goals. Seth, or "Common Athlete" not only knows everyone in the Boston running community, but runs with just about all of them on a weekly basis. We talked training, motivation, and how he went from nearly a 4 hour marathon to his goal of lining up in the elite corral at the Boston Marathon... and why that's important to him.

Adrienne Langelier is a sport psychology consultant and we dove into the mental side of training. We talked about how to crush anything from a 5k to a marathon and beyond, and more about the value of being able to accept that a race is going to (and should) be painful. There are some great tips for dealing with and managing injuries, as well as many other awesome takeaways from this one!

Magda Boulet is the VP of Innovation at GU Energy Labs and runs for Hoka. She has many podiums and race wins to her name, including the prestigious Western States 100, and she’s also a US Olympian in the marathon. In today’s episode we talked about how Magda got her job at GU nearly 20 years ago, and how things have changed since then. We also talked about GU’s partnership with InsideTracker, and how Magda and her team have used a science based approach when it comes to product innovation. Magda clearly loves the running community, and what got her out the door the first time was simple: to make friends. Magda shared some tips on how to manage a busy career alongside her training and family life, as well as what gets her excited when it comes to training, travel, and racing. What Magda seems to have the most pride in talking about is how she is able to inspire other runners as well as her son Owen to see that anything truly is possible, and that dreams are certainly worth chasing, no matter how big they are.

"Sometimes you have to listen that there's no fire within." I sat down to chat with Sarah while she was in Boston to get some practice on the course on a mid January weekend. We shared the magic of the Newton Hills, full of runners and volunteers handing out water, and it stoked the fire for Sarah's upcoming training cycle. We talked about motivation, taking time off, and how to keep that fire lit.