To be or not to be... that is the question! In this case, we ask... to marathon or not to marathon in another listener conversation with Marisa from NYC. She is relatively new in her running journey, had a stress fracture training for her first marathon, and wants to know if she should wait a little while until her next one. We discuss all of that and more with her!  

In this episode, I chat with listener Jennifer from Georgia who is wondering if she has the ability to get faster as someone who is usually near the back of the pack. She finished the NYC Marathon in 7 hours and recently did a half in 3:30, and now she wants more.  I reassure her that she is worthy of her goals and worthy of coaching, and we give her hope that faster is still ahead of her. Jennifer's energy is bright and contagious, and she brings a great sense of humor to it all. She is an inspiration, and you will enjoy this conversation!

In this episode, Ben from Michigan joins the show to discuss his aspirations to auto-qualify for Chicago. That implies a time of 2:55 for his age group, while his current PR is 3:03 from last fall. We hear about Ben's journey to this point, and then I coach him up on taking the next step to qualify for Chicago. In addition and of course, we talk about tips for his longer term trajectory as well. As with all of these coaching conversations, there is something in here for everyone. Enjoy!  

In this episode, I cover a smorgasbord of topics and listener questions that all essentially point to how you should manage your training from the 99% to the 1%'s. Along the way, I answer two listener questions about training for a road 50K and managing weekly mileage, while also giving 3 tips on prep for the Boston Marathon with 7 weeks to go. Don't get lost in the 1% if your 99% isn't on track!

Hey everyone... we are back with another listener question episode. This one covers great questions on burnout/lingering fatigue, weight/BMI, running tangents, creatine, ketones, recovery and more! Thanks for all of the great questions! You can always email questions to me at chris@roguerunning.com.

I know. I know. Some of you will think I am a social media curmudgeon for this episode, but I don't think so. I actually love what social media has done to grow and expand and educate the running community. It's actually quite amazing and powerful, and the impact in a positive way is far reaching. That said, there is some bad info out there as well as a tendency for our perception of the fundamentals to be warped by what we see there. In this episode, I give you 9 "messages" from social that I believe to be misleading, many that will prevent you from reaching your potential. Avoid the pitfalls you see there so that you can take/absorb the good without letting the "bad" influence you in an unproductive way. 

In this episode, I have the privilege to talk to a listener who is 75 years old and just starting her running journey. She is 9 weeks into it and only beginning to think about the possibilities. She has a 5K on the docket in the spring but is also dreaming about a half marathon or more. How will I advise her to build and how might that look different because of her age? You might be surprised by my answers. I couldn't be more inspired by Deborah as she is proof that it's never too late to start and certainly never too late to dream big!

In this week's coaching conversation, I chat with listener Nicole. I have worked with Nicole before, and this is our first conversation in many months. You get to listen in as we discuss how she is trying to balance a new life stage with what that means for her running process and goals.  We talk about dreaming big and how seasons of life can cause changing priorities, especially around starting a family. Does she have to abandon those dreams? How can she keep the fire lit while balancing everything? What does this mean for her future in the sport? And where should she start now? We talk about it all, and I really appreciate Nicole's willingness to share and be open as she wrestles with what's next.

This episode was inspired by a listener question about dealing with injury before race day. Naturally, I extrapolated it to a message about staying present in all of your training and racing. Listen in to learn how to stay present in training - day by day and within a run/workout - and stay present in racing - in planning and in race execution. Staying present is key to smashing your goals!

"A hero is somebody who voluntarily walks into the unknown." - Tom Hanks I would submit that we do that everytime we step on a start line. That quote also highlights that heroism is defined independently from the outcome, which means that we can all be heroes by stepping into the unknown of race day. We can all, also, have an heroic ripple effect on others by setting big goals, doing the work, and then putting ourselves in the scary position to achieve them. In this episode, I talk about the practical side of it. How can you relate to being a hero by examining what heroes look like? How can you then act like one to bring confidence to your next big swing at a goal? Bear with me on this one y'all... it might sound cheesy, but I believe there are some really good practical nuggets inside.