Running Rogue

I am excited to be back to you after a mini hiatus around the Thanksgiving holiday. This episode is inspired by Taylor Swift of all people and her documentary, "Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions" (which you can find on Disney+). You will have to listen perhaps to understand, but she inspired me to talk in more depth about the emotions and feelings that we feel in running and how to deal with and process them. In this episode, I dig in on two of them - pain and triumph. For each, I talk about the types of feelings you might have in each category, and then I give some tips on how to process those feelings/emotions. The magic of this discussion is that I believe all can relate, regardless of pace, so please let me know what you think.

In this episode, I answer a listener question: how would you define "junk miles?" Do they exist and if so under what conditions? I don't love the term "junk miles" so I give you an alternative term and two scenarios under which your miles would be considered "junk." In addition, I give my thoughts on the NYC Marathon and try to put Shalane's Project Eclipse in context. 

I often get questions about my coaching philosophy. Well, I first wrote it down and codified it in 2016, and now I am sharing it here in summary so that you can have it too. This episode represents the 12 key principles from training and racing that will help you achieve your long term potential. Are you ready to buy-in to the Running Rogue way? In summary, the core principles are... Training: 1. Do the work. Be consistent. No excuses. 2. Miles matter. 3. Go slow to go fast. 4. Respect the purpose of each day and each training phase. 5. Recovery is as important as the running itself. 6. Find strength and accountability in team (how ever you define it) Racing: 1. Trust in your training on race day. 2. Execute the plan no matter what. 3. Race without fear of failure. 4. Start slow, finish strong. 5. Leave it all on the course. 6. Do it for you and for your team.

In episode 120 in April 2019, I chatted with Molly about her aspiration to qualify for Boston and her heartbreaking near-miss in April 2018 at Mt. Charleston. In that race, she collapsed at mile 26.0 in the finishing straight and ended up in an ambulance, even though she was on track to comfortably BQ. Fast forward to October 2021 a couple of marathons and a pandemic later, Molly earned her Boston qualifier at the St. George Marathon. She did it with several ups and downs along the way, taking lessons forward from each failure. The journey wasn't easy or short, but she did it. I find her story inspiring and very relatable for many on similar journeys. Whether you are chasing Boston or not, you can learn from Molly's relentless pursuit of and eventual completion of this goal. Congrats Molly!

October 10th and 11th brought an epic return to marathon racing in the US via the Chicago and Boston Marathons. The conditions were tough for many, but the energy and magic were amazing anyway. I was in Boston to run and experience one part of that myself. In this episode, I break down my post-marathon musings that might be helpful in you processing your races too.

With fall races on the horizon again (or already done), you will soon be faced with the question: how do I continue to improve in my next training cycle? In this episode, I talk about 4 over-arching principles and 7 things to consider for finding improvement within your next cycle. For example, should you increase volume or intensity? Or should you add strength or focus on recovery?  I will answer these questions and more and also help you hone in on the incremental improvements needed to reach your long term potential.

Congrats to everyone who ran in the Berlin Marathon this past weekend. It is so amazing to see major marathons happening again after such a long break! With that as inspiration, I put together this episode with final tips for the London, Chicago, and Boston Marathons including general tips for all three races and individual tips for each one. I talk about course logistics, course strategy, and weather considerations for all three. If you are racing one of these, then this is a must-listen!

The long run might be the most important run in any half marathon or marathon training block. However if you want to get the most from your training cycle, you should be doing workouts within a few of these long runs to practice race pace, learn to run fast under fatigue, and build resilience to finish strong on race day. In this episode, I give you the do's and don'ts for building and executing these workouts and then talk about specific examples for you to try yourself. Every elite athlete is doing workouts like these, and I believe you are worthy and able to do them as well.

We have produced at least 7 episodes for this podcast on race planning for various courses throughout the country from flat like Houston or Chicago to hilly like NYC, Boston, or Austin. Those episodes have been very prescriptive and may or may not be applicable to the course you might face soon. In this episode, I give you 8 steps for building and executing your own marathon race plan in order to give you the best chance for success on race day. Listen, learn and then apply to your next goal race so that you can start smart and finish strong! Other race planning episodes include episodes 5 (general marathon), 8 (Austin), 14 (Boston), 46 (general all distances), 56 (Houston/3M/Austin), 98 (NYC), and 101 (CIM). Episode 150 talks about mental tips for race day.

So you want to do a half marathon before your marathon? Or a 10K before your half marathon? Great, but let's talk about it... In this episode, I give you all the things to consider when doing a prep race including how to define and choose your goals for it, how to execute it whether you are racing all out or not, and of course, how to make sure it becomes an additive piece to the overall path to your "A" race. It's exciting that races are back again, just make sure you get the most out of every opportunity to toe the line!