Run Culture Podcast

Today I chatted to Pete Dutton, one of the Run Culture Owl athletes I coach. It's another authentic and honest chat as he details how his athletics season has progressed so far, what he is working on and what an enlightening experience he had at, 'Falls Creek Altitude training camp' recently. Pete, has come off the mountain, in career best shape but more noticeably the biggest changes have happened off the track!!!! He seems to have grown up a little, matured a touch, seems to be a little happier, seems more open to trying new things and keen for 2023 to be full of adventure!  Athlete's are complex puzzles, there are lots of moving parts, and as you have seen with Pete, the stuff he has worked on 'off the track' has helped his performance just as much as the stuff he has done 'on it!' For those that fear failure, let's start to once again embrace and normalise trying different stuff, getting ugly and throwing yourself amongst it! We are a generation laced with fear.....A fair share of us have forgotten how to embrace the beauty of not knowing everything, being open to let life pan out a little. We should cherish imperfection, failure and mistakes as opportunities to challenge ourselves to reflect/grow and learn! Enjoy this one fellow runners! I hope you can all relate with Pete's story in some way and it helps you reflect.

I encourage all keen runners to listen to these 'athlete-coach' catch up episodes. Anecdotes and story are some of the best ways to relate, reflect and learn about your own running journey. This chat is full of honest, substantial and real discussion, between two runners that love the sport and are trying to master their craft. Today, I caught up with Peter Dutton one of the athletes I coach to reflect on the last 6 months of his running journey. It’s an authentic athlete and coach reflection about; the ups, downs and learnings for the year. We also discuss how the rest of the Run Culture Owls went at the recent Vic Milers Club 3000m event and Open Victorian 5000m Track Championships. If you enjoyed this chat be sure to follow Pete’s journey @petedutton_runs and the rest of the Owl squad @run.culture. Anyone after some running injury advice be sure to book an in person or online physiotherapy appointment with Dane through the link in the bio or www.runculture.org

On this episode of the Run Culture Podcast I had the privilege to chat to Austin Einhorn, a prominent Strength and Conditioning Coach that uses human evolution as a guiding philosophy.    ‘….Humans evolved distinct movement patterns and profound skills over hundreds of millions of years…Each human has their own evolution too, from child to adult, and during this time are finite windows of opportunity. If they invest into them, they get robust ligaments, tendons, and bones. If they don’t, the risk of injury skyrockets.…’   Austin is owner of Apiros gym- where he practices this evolved approach and is also author of a soon to be released book: The Evolved Coach- the extinction of injury and evolution of performance.    In this chat Austin discusses:   -How many modern day humans have devolved their movements?  -What 'movement banking' means?  -Why rock climbing or hanging movements could be useful practices for runners to investigate and experience?  -The complexities of skill acquisition and learning in reference to running technique.   Thanks for the super enlightening chat Austin, I really enjoyed it and I’m sure many others will too! Be sure to follow Austin on Instagram here: @apiros.team and get his soon to be released book at: https://www.theevolvedcoach.com/book

Today on the Run Culture podcast, I chat to the host of one of my all-time favourite podcasts; Joel Smith. Joel is the host of, The ‘Just Fly Sports Performance’ Podcast, he’s also the author of a book called; ‘Speed Strength’ and is a very experienced S & C Coach. Joel is driven by an intense desire to learn, he cares about the truth, he is ever curious, open and creative, he goes beyond the science, he isn’t afraid to acknowledge the; ‘art’, ‘soft skills’ and ‘difficult to quantify’ parts of human performance. 1.) Today, we discussed the idea of overcoaching… “….I think any coach who's had children and watches them …..you start to realize how well humans are wired to solve movement problems and it's more about removing things that mess us up than it is programming things to do….” 2.) He defines coaching wisdom? “….Is it the fact that you can treat a human like a machine better than the other person? Not really… Wisdom is the intuition, that helps manage the complex really well with simple story…..” 3.) He discusses the power of playing some pick up basketball or the like, to warm athletes up…. “….the human body is not a car, it is not a rocket, it is not an alarm clock we are so much more complex than that……..and that's the thing, people don't want to use basketball to warm up because it is hard to quantify …..it's social, it's emotional, there's reaction, there's present mindedness, there's flow states and it's fun, it's complex.” 4.) We then delve into the complexities at play when it comes to ‘running technique’. Here Joel shares how he works with his runners. He discusses his view on running drills and cues. He discusses how important; physical capacity, dynamic awareness, rhythm and falling are. Thanks again Joel, really enjoyed this chat! If you want to listen to Joel’s podcast/check out his book; ‘Speed strength’ or course; ‘elastic essentials’, be sure to go across to his website at: https://www.just-fly-sports.com/

Rafe Kelley has spent much of his life moving and promoting movement. Rafe is the owner of 'Evolve Move Play' and has an amazing philosophical and experiential grasp of movement. He has been involved with many different martial art forms, has been practicing parkour since its humble beginnings and is a huge natural movement advocate! His 'Evolve Move Play' podcast and views on movement have really expanded my perspective. In the health and fitness industry, all too often movement is abstracted into components of fitness. Gyms are often highly contrived environments. There is a bias to focus on all that can be measured but as Rafe says; 'not everything that can be measured is neccessary and not everthing that is neccessary can be measured'. Yes, there is a time and place for; measuring, doing isolated exercises and controlling the environment but thinking 'this is the only way' is self limiting. Sometimes we should 'just move in nature'! Why? Well, from an evolutionary standpoint, before 'the comforts of the current age', there was a time where if you couldn't;  run, climb, swim, hang, wrestle, crawl, throw, dance; you wouldn't survive. As humans we were designed to do all these general physical skills coupled with our natural environment. So, let's try some of these meaningful human movements. Perhaps overtime it helps you better couple how you perceive the environment with your movement, your rhythm, timing and co-ordination? Perhaps it challenges you to do potentially fear evoking/fun/challenging/playful things that you normally wouldn't do? Perhaps it helps push you towards better functional athleticism rather than being able to do a meaningless lift in a very controlled environment? Thanks for the enlightening chat Rafe! If you want to hear more from Rafe Kelley be sure to go to his website: About Rafe | Natural Movement Training | Evolve Move Play 

Today on the podcast, I chat to Jon Marcus an established and extremely well-versed distance running coach from the US. Jon is co-host of the ‘On coaching podcast’ with Steve Magness, this is one of my favourite running podcasts. Jon regularly questions the status quo, his blend of science, art, history and openness has been a breath of fresh air for a young running coach like myself. Besides; 'we don't know what we don't know.' Throughout the years Jon has coached hundreds of athletes, read thousands of books (his home book library is exhaustive) and has had some amazing mentors/friends and influences in the running world, including; Rob Connor, Jerry Schumacher, Alberto Salazar, Steve Magness, Mike Smith, Dan Mackey etc… It was a fantastic opportunity to chat to Jon today and pick his brain. I have been a member of his online run coaching scholar program for the past year now, this experience has well and truly helped broadened my perspective and the way I approach running/life. Today we talk about; -Why do we gravitate to linear/dichotomous ways of thought? Why is it important to keep reminding ourselves that the world is complex? -Why is it important for runners/coaches to always remain hungry to learn? -How important is individualisation/personalisation in running? -We bring into question,  the ‘mileage obsession’ in the distance running community. -and finish with what Jon learnt most from his experiences with; Alberto Salazar, Jerry Schumacher and Rob Connor? I hope you enjoy this chat, I hope it gets you to question your processes, I hope it garners a thirst to learn more and never stop learning. If you want to hear more from Jon, be sure to listen to his on-coaching podcast with Steve Magness. Thanks once again for being so generous with your time Jon!

Earlier this week I had a passionate chat with good friends; Zacca Newman and Chris Armstrong, hosts of the; ‘Better with Running Podcast’ and acclaimed Run2PB running coaches. We discuss the tendency for runners to fall prey to ‘binary bias’ or ‘black and white thinking’. We often over-simplify; running, life and the human body, for the ease of understanding. Rather than viewing things as a complex inter-related set of relationships that are ever changing. Shades of grey are hard to sit with, we get uncomfortable with not knowing and being uncertain. We are after the magic pill, that fixes/solves everything and everyone. The human body is more complex than this. Yes, we all know the pillars to optimizing human performance are a subtle interplay of; physical exercise/ sleep/ recovery/ nutrition and mental well being… but it’s the application of all of the above to the ‘individual’ in front of you, that carries all the conjecture. When ‘binary bias’ thinking is ‘self serving’ life is all merry. Life is easier to digest, we are improving or getting better, it all makes sense. Where it gets tricky is when your ‘black and white’ thinking about a certain training method is no longer ‘serving you.’ It is hard to be ‘open’ in these moments, to be less attached to a certain method/behaviour that has served you so well in the past. We finish the chat by talking about a topic all three of us are particularly passionate about:…. The lost art of listening to your body? And the concept that anything that can be objectively seen in numbers is biased as a metric these days in training…Watch aside, lets get better at ‘tuning our internal dials’…’How did you feel across the ground? How was your rhythm? How was your timing? Did you feel strong? Fresh? Springy? Snappy? Sluggish? Fatigued? Tired? Heavy? Sore? Unmotivated? Raring to go? Excited?

This is a great discussion for any runner keen to find out more about the US College system. Similarly, it's a relevant listen for any runner that feels 'stuck in their comfort zone', has a 'gut feel' that they should try something 'new/different/broaden their horizons' but lacks the gumption to try. In this chat I caught up with distance runners; Dylan Burrows and Ethan Anthony while they were back in Australia, 3 years into their US College experience at Div 2 school; Oklahoma Christian. They detail the ups n' downs/injuries/success'/experiences/growth and learnings of the past 3 years. (I was their interim coach for 6 months in 2018/19 before they left for the US.) Ethan and Dylan's exciting US college journey still has a way to go, they may achieve their goals or they may not... at the end of the day it doesn't matter.... they are having fun pursuing their passion and trying something novel......'a new experience'...they will come out the other end more worldly and experientially richer.... If you are interested in following their journey, go to: @_dylanburrows and @_ethananthony. Have fun boys and keep lighting it up.

Today on the Run Culture podcast I chat to another one of the Run Culture Owl athletes I coach; Jess Dunsmore! It’s an honest conversation about developing quite confidence and overcoming performance overwhelm. We discuss how; vulnerability, failure, uncertainty and openness should be embraced as an integral part of ones personal growth as an athlete and person. We also talk about some innovations we have added to Jess’s training this year; in a quest to bridge the gap from promising junior to senior athlete. Some of these include; working on his biomechanics and learning ‘butterfly’ in the pool. Jess has made some big improvements over the past year in his running including a super slick 30:42 for 10,000m in January this year. In 2-3 days times Jess will be running the Bundoora Open State XC 10km championships, one of his favorite races of the year, so we wish him well. Jess has been a fantastic member of the group over the years, he’s a great listener, empathetic, a real thinker, ever reliable, incredibly humble and almost selfless to a fault. So, please listen in because Jess has so much to offer and is ‘wise beyond his years’. Enjoy!

Today on the Run Culture podcast, I share stories with my good mate, Zacca Newman (Founder of Run2PB online coaching) on the ‘magic’ of fostering ‘good culture’ in the teams that you are involved in. What is ‘good culture’? Well, It’s that unbridled energy you feel, when surrounded by a cohesive group of people, that trust each other, are vulnerable together and are all working in the same direction. In terms of performance, culture isn’t mentioned enough in the running world… so often we talk about the physical and psychological components but what about the social dynamics of a group… “ Why do certain organizations become greater than the sum of their parts while other groups fall short?” “Give a good idea to a mediocre team, and they’ll find a way to screw it up. Give a mediocre idea to a good team, and they’ll find a way to make it better. The goal needs to be to get the team right, get them moving in the right direction, and get them to see where they are making mistakes and where they are succeeding.” In other words, I want more people to appreciate that establishing and working on maintaining good culture amongst the run groups you are in, when it comes to performance, is just as and (in some cases 'more' important) than the 'talent' you possess or the wiz bang ‘technology’ or ‘training schedule’ you are doing. Some view running as an individual sport but really it can be so much more than this. My entire life has been entwined with running and I attribute much of this to the fun and cohesive running groups I have been apart of over the years. They have taught me so much, I have grown as a person with them and as a result forged everlasting friendships/laughs and many special memories. Building a more cohesive, knowledgeable and joyous running ‘culture’ has been a driving purpose of everything I try to do, with my running blog/podcast/physiotherapy and coaching. Thanks once again for the stories 'old man Zacca', you could tell this topic meant a bit to you as well! If you want to hear more from Zacca Newman follow him at Run2PB on socials and be sure to tune in to the 'Better with Running' Podcast.