Strength training requires planning and periodization, just like running. Learn how to optimize your strength routine to get the best possible benefits from your efforts! This week’s episode features an interview from the Elevate Your Running Podcast, where the tables were turned and I was the guest. Our discussion focused on the topic of strength training for runners, including the importance of embracing strength training and the qualities of an effective training plan. My conversation with Sara and Austin dives into the nitty gritty decisions we make around strength training, and how to fit it into run training in a way that’s beneficial and sustainable. We focus on: Barriers that prevent runners from getting into weightlifting Proactive ways to prevent injury with strength work Similarities and differences in strength training for a 5k runner and marathoner The role of strength training in muscle activation How to periodize weight training alongside your running Minimizing the impact of DOMS on your training Enjoy my discussion with Sara and Austin! Links & Resources from the Show: Check out the Elevate Your Running Podcast Let Strength Running help you get stronger Get more of your weightlifting questions answered Learn more about Coach Sarah Join our flagship weightlifting course Thank You Athletic Greens! Thank you to our sponsor, Athletic Greens! They are a health and wellness company that makes AG1. This is a category-leading greens mix that has 75 vitamins and minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, antioxidants, and adaptogens. One scoop per day is what I’ve been doing to help me fill in any nutrition gaps in my diet. It also provide a nice boost of energy and focus throughout the day. With all 3 of my kids in school, I know I need to support my immune system or else I’m getting sick and can’t train. I also love that AG1 has changed over the last decade. Athletic Greens has made 53 improvements to the formula based on the latest research to make these nutrients more absorbable. For our listeners, they are offering a year's worth of free Vitamin D and 5 free travel packs of AG1 with your first purchase. You can sign up for single shipment or for a monthly drop - the choice is yours. Check out Athletic Greens to redeem your offer today. Thank you Elemental Labs! A big thanks to Elemental Labs for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. And you can get a free sampler pack of 4 flavors and 8 individual packets when you pay $5 in shipping. Elemental Labs' products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day. The citrus flavor has quickly become my favorite. I’m drinking one a day now to help me get enough fluids in our dry Colorado air. It’s tasty and delicious and I find that I’m not peeing every 45 minutes throughout the day, which might be an indication I wasn’t eating enough sodium. There’s now mounting evidence that higher sodium intake levels are not unhealthy – and athletes need substantially more than your typical sedentary person. Of course, ask your doctor if you’re worried. But for those athletes running outside in the heat, an electrolyte replacement makes a lot of sense. So check out Elemental Labs to try their new flavor or get a free sampler pack. 

Running form is a hot topic that can often confuse runners. This week’s guest offers actionable advice to help you discover your own best form to improve your running and stay healthy. Dr. Matt Minard runs the popular Learn 2 Run account on Instagram to help runners stay healthy, strong and improve their running technique. He is a physical therapist, orthopedic clinical specialist, and certified strength and conditioning specialist.  Matt’s experience with physical therapy as a high school athlete helped him discover a love for the profession, and as both a runner and physical therapist he is dedicated to helping athletes stay healthy and strong. Matt and I explore a variety of topics related to form to give you practical advice you can apply to your own running, including: Matt’s general philosophy on running form How a tennis ball necklace might help you improve your technique The complexities of posture and how to improve it What makes a GOOD forward lean in running How to run without jumping The most helpful cues for runners working on their form This conversation is full of practical advice you can apply immediately to your own running - enjoy! Links & Resources from the Show: Follow Learn 2 Run on Instagram Learn more about Matt on LinkedIn DIY tennis ball necklace Ankle Screen Hip Screen How to film your form outside Don't miss out on my favorite form cues to reinforce proper technique! Thank you Ice Barrel! Ice Barrel makes at-home barrels you can use for ice baths that don’t take up an entire room. And they’re lightweight enough that even I can carry it without help. There’s an easy drain system and it’s made in the United States from 100% recycled material. Cryotherapy has been shown to improve mood, reduce anxiety, and reduce inflammation. It can reduce pain and blood flow to jump start the recovery process. Cold plunges are great for when you need extra recovery, like if you accidentally ran a lot longer or faster than planned.  But the real reason I love a good cold plunge is because of the profound mental benefits. It’s been shown to reduce depression and anxiety, improve mood and brain function, and even 5 minutes gives you a great shot of dopamine afterward. If you can sit in an ice bath up to your shoulders, you won't have any mental issues with racing a negative split and finishing strong! Go to IceBarrel.com and use discount code strengthrunning for $125 off your barrel. Thank you Ωmega Sports! Are you looking for a running store that has decades of experience? OMEGA SPORTS has more than four decades of running specific experience helping customers run more, move more, play more and live more. Go to omegasports.com and make sure to sign up for their faster mega rewards where you get $5 rewards on every $50 you spend and a huge 10% savings that you can use for all of your running gear. At OMEGA SPORTS, your savings are faster and go further - just like you. Learn more about them and see their wide selection at omegasports.com.

There are broad elements of training that all runners need to work on in order to improve. But if you tailor your workouts to your unique physiology, you can continue to get stronger through your master’s years and beyond. A master’s runner himself (by European standards), this week’s podcast guest is Eoin Everard. He is a physiotherapist with a PhD in Biomechanics. He’s also a sub-4 minute miler, a sub-14 minute 5k runner, and a five-time Irish National Champion in the 1500 and 3000m. As an elite runner and chartered physiotherapist, Eoin brings an incredible amount of knowledge and experience to the athletes he works with.  Having faced his own struggles with injuries over the years, Eoin has learned how to change his approach to training to get the most from his body while also staying healthy. Since becoming a European Master’s athlete, he has focused less on exact splits and more on running by effort. Eoin and I dig deep into a variety of training related topics, including: His unique insights on training and how to stay healthy The differences between neuromuscular-type runners and aerobic oriented runners, also known as finding your superpower Developing workouts that play to your unique strengths How to stay healthy as a master’s runner The importance of strength training and specific activation work Why strides are the best thing since sliced bread! Links & Resources from the Show: Check out Everard Pilates and Eoin’s book Discover the BackAware belt Follow Eoin on Facebook Connect with Eoin on Linked In Learn more about Eoin’s athletic accomplishments Learn how to incorporate strides into your training Thank you Elemental Labs! A big thanks to Elemental Labs for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. And you can get a free sampler pack of 4 flavors and 8 individual packets when you pay $5 in shipping. Elemental Labs' products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day. The citrus flavor has quickly become my favorite. I’m drinking one a day now to help me get enough fluids in our dry Colorado air. It’s tasty and delicious and I find that I’m not peeing every 45 minutes throughout the day, which might be an indication I wasn’t eating enough sodium. There’s now mounting evidence that higher sodium intake levels are not unhealthy – and athletes need substantially more than your typical sedentary person. Of course, ask your doctor if you’re worried. But for those athletes running outside in the heat, an electrolyte replacement makes a lot of sense. So check out Elemental Labs to try their new flavor or get a free sampler pack.  Thank you Ice Barrel! Ice Barrel makes at-home barrels you can use for ice baths that don’t take up an entire room. And they’re lightweight enough that even I can carry it without help. There’s an easy drain system and it’s made in the United States from 100% recycled material. Cryotherapy has been shown to improve mood, reduce anxiety, and reduce inflammation. It can reduce pain and blood flow to jump start the recovery process. Cold plunges are great for when you need extra recovery, like if you accidentally ran a lot longer or faster than planned.  But the real reason I love a good cold plunge is because of the profound mental benefits. It’s been shown to reduce depression and anxiety, improve mood and brain function, and even 5 minutes gives you a great shot of dopamine afterward. If you can sit in an ice bath up to your shoulders, you won't have any mental issues with racing a negative split and finishing strong! Go to IceBarrel.com and use discount code strengthrunning for $125 off your barrel.

While endurance may not be the sexiest word when it comes to better running, it is certainly the most essential. Endurance is a broad term that applies to every aspect of your running, whether you are looking to run longer, faster, or both! But in order to build endurance, you first need to start with consistency. While there is no magic bullet to running faster, consistency in training is about as close as it gets.   In this episode of the podcast I’ll go in depth about each of the three strategies you can use to improve your endurance. While the second and third options each carry slightly more risk since they involve faster or longer, sustained efforts, they can all be safe, useful training tools when applied correctly: Lowest risk option: Run higher mileage, especially at an easy/recovery effort. You can also supplement with aerobic cross-training to increase volume. Moderate risk: Make your long runs longer, eventually adding some pace-specific work. Higher risk: Aerobic workouts, such as lactate threshold runs, and half-marathon and marathon pace efforts.  No matter where you're at in your journey as a runner, you can always continue to build your endurance.  Enjoy this episode that offers strategies for everyone! Links & Resources from the Show: Learn more about building your baseline mileage Find out how to run consistently and avoid injury Listen to David Roche talk about running long Check out recovery strategies the pros use Thank you Impossible Sleep! We’re also supported by Impossible Sleep, a new performance sleep drink to help high performers get the most out of their nightly rest. Impossible Sleep is a melatonin free sleep drink mix that provides deep recovery while gently lulling you to sleep. It only has two ingredients, with magnesium to promote muscle recovery and deep sleep, and L-theanine for a subtle calming effect that helps you wind down at the end of the day. High achieving runners have to prioritize their sleep - it’s like a performance enhancing drug that allows us to absorb our training, improve, and race faster. The Impossible Sleep drink helps you optimize your bedtime routine so you can get as much deep recovery as possible. When you consider that studies have shown that sleep loss can lead to glucose imbalances, increased anxiety, and your risk of getting sick, it’s a no-brainer to get as much high quality sleep as you can. Learn more about Impossible Sleep drink and be sure to use code Jason20 to save 20% on your first subscription order. Thank You SAYSKY! SAYSKY is a running apparel brand from Copenhagen with a unique, urban, minimalist vibe that I love. See all of their amazing gear at saysky.us. Their mission is to elevate the apparel scene of running and nurse the next generation of athletes who love this sport, but also have a laid back mindset. Their products include long sleeve shirts, to t-shirts, half-tights, and full-length tights, base layers, sports bras, singlets, shorts… you name it. But it’s not just their selection and style that speaks to me, they also carry environmentally responsible products. Look for the ‘Responsible’ logo and you can rest assured that that product is made from at least 40% recycled material, biodegradable, organic, or with natural fibers that are processed responsibility. This year, at least 50% of their products will be labeled responsible and they hope to be at 75% by 2025. Get yourself some stylish, environmentally responsible, and incredibly high quality gear at saysky.us. 

Listeners know I'm a relentless advocate of strength training, whether you're doing bodyweight exercises at home or lifting heavy in the gym. But some runners take strength training to a level above and beyond the rest of us - and find great success along the way. This week’s podcast features a fellow running coach and one of my private coaching clients, Elizabeth Corkum. Elizabeth - who goes by the nickname Corky - is a 2:58 marathoner and 5-day per week weightlifter. Coach Corky has multiple coaching certifications, including USA Track and Field, Road Runners Club of America, and the Lydiard Foundation. She is also a certified personal trainer and specialist in sports nutrition.  Your path may or may not look exactly like hers, but you can learn a lot from her journey and our discussion, including: How Elizabeth incorporates her extensive strength work into her race training The unexpected path she took to reach her sub 3 hour marathon goal How you can go all in and have fun at the same time The importance of being patient and trusting the path you're on Why every training cycle will help you get somewhere new, even if it’s not what you planned Links & Resources from the Show: Learn more about Coach Corky Follow Coach Corky on Instagram Learn how to get strong with Strength Running Listen to a podcast about running a sub 3 marathon Periodize your weightlifting with High Performance Lifting Thank you Elemental Labs! A big thanks to Elemental Labs for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. And you can get a free sampler pack of 4 flavors and 8 individual packets when you pay $5 in shipping. Elemental Labs' products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day. The citrus flavor has quickly become my favorite. I’m drinking one a day now to help me get enough fluids in our dry Colorado air. It’s tasty and delicious and I find that I’m not peeing every 45 minutes throughout the day, which might be an indication I wasn’t eating enough sodium. There’s now mounting evidence that higher sodium intake levels are not unhealthy – and athletes need substantially more than your typical sedentary person. Of course, ask your doctor if you’re worried. But for those athletes running outside in the heat, an electrolyte replacement makes a lot of sense. So check out Elemental Labs to try their new flavor or get a free sampler pack.  Thank you Impossible Sleep! We’re also supported by Impossible Sleep, a new performance sleep drink to help high performers get the most out of their nightly rest. Impossible Sleep is a melatonin free sleep drink mix that provides deep recovery while gently lulling you to sleep. It only has two ingredients, with magnesium to promote muscle recovery and deep sleep, and L-theanine for a subtle calming effect that helps you wind down at the end of the day. High achieving runners have to prioritize their sleep - it’s like a performance enhancing drug that allows us to absorb our training, improve, and race faster. The Impossible Sleep drink helps you optimize your bedtime routine so you can get as much deep recovery as possible. When you consider that studies have shown that sleep loss can lead to glucose imbalances, increased anxiety, and your risk of getting sick, it’s a no-brainer to get as much high quality sleep as you can. Learn more about Impossible Sleep drink and be sure to use code Jason20 to save 20% on your first subscription order.

Kim Dawson is a professor of kinesiology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, ON, Canada. Her extensive education and research in psychomotor behaviour and exercise science gives her a deep understanding of the issues that affect performance. She has worked with elite athletes, Olympians and professional sport organizations for over 10 years. This episode is all about managing emotions like stress, pre-race anxiety, and nervousness, so you can transform them into ambition for a great run. Don't miss even more ideas on how to build mental skills at strengthrunning.com/brain/. Thank you Athletic Greens! One scoop of AG1 gives me 75 vitamins, minerals, and whole food-sourced ingredients including a greens superfood blend, probiotics, prebiotics, adaptogens, and more. AG1 helps me fill in any nutrition gaps in my diet - because I know I don’t eat perfectly - and gives me a nice boost of energy and focus throughout the day.  But what I love about AG1 is that it changes. Over the last decade, they’ve made 53 improvements to the formula based on the latest research to make these nutrients more absorbable and more rigorous with 3rd party testing. Go to athleticgreens.com/jason to see the great offer they’ve put together for podcast listeners: you’ll get a year’s worth of free Vitamin D and 5 free travel packs of AG1 with your first purchase. You can sign up for single shipment or for a monthly drop if you want to make AG1 a part of your regular healthy lifestyle. Go to athleticgreens.com/jason to sign up today. Thank you IMPOSSIBLE Sleep! We’re also supported by IMPOSSIBLE SLEEP, a new performance sleep drink to help high performers get the most out of their nightly rest. Impossible Sleep is a melatonin free sleep drink mix that provides deep recovery while gently lulling you to sleep. Learn more about it at impossible.co/jason/ and be sure to use code Jason20 to save 20% on your first subscription order.  The product is very simple - it only has two ingredients with magnesium to promote muscle recovery and deep sleep, and L-theanine for a subtle calming effect that helps you wind down at the end of the day. If you’re like me, you don’t have problems pushing your limits, but you may struggle to fall asleep at the end of the day. But high achieving runners have to prioritize their sleep - it’s like a performance enhancing drug that allows us to absorb our training, improve, and race faster. IMPOSSIBLE Sleep helps you optimize your bedtime routine so you can get as much deep recovery as possible. And when you consider that studies have shown that sleep loss can lead to glucose imbalances, increased anxiety, and your risk of getting sick, it’s a no brainer to get as much high quality sleep as you can. Now you can get 20% off your first subscription order at impossible.co/jason/ with code jason20. That’s 20% off your first subscription order at impossible.co/jason/ and don’t forget to use code jason20 at checkout.

Jason Fitzgerald is the driving force behind Strength Running's website, video channel, and podcast, but you may not know as much about his life behind the scenes. Today Jason gets interviewed about his history, advice for runners and entrepreneurs, his current aspirations, and more! Jason's friend and fellow coach, Sara Manderscheid, agreed to spend some time talking with him about who he is behind the microphone. Sara is a running coach and Boston qualifier with more than 15 years of competitive experience. She hosts the Elevate Your Running Podcast and Elevate Your Running camps held in Boulder, Colorado. After Jason spoke at one of her recent camps, several campers requested to learn more about him personally. So Sara and Jason sat down to discuss his history with running, how Strength Running came to be, and many of his favorite things related to the sport. Sara talks in depth with Jason about his career, his personal life, and of course all things running, including: Mindsets and mantras Favorite race distances What he craves after a long run Past training failures and what he wished he’d learned sooner Favorite types of podcast topics Advice for runners and entrepreneurs His preference for super short shorts! Links & Resources from the Show: Learn more about Coach Sara Listen to the Elevate Your Running Podcast Get even more behind the scenes info about Jason! Connect with Jason on Instagram Thank you Elemental Labs! A big thanks to Elemental Labs for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. And you can get a free sampler pack of 4 flavors and 8 individual packets when you pay $5 in shipping. Elemental Labs' products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day. The citrus flavor has quickly become my favorite. I’m drinking one a day now to help me get enough fluids in our dry Colorado air. It’s tasty and delicious and I find that I’m not peeing every 45 minutes throughout the day, which might be an indication I wasn’t eating enough sodium. There’s now mounting evidence that higher sodium intake levels are not unhealthy – and athletes need substantially more than your typical sedentary person. Of course, ask your doctor if you’re worried. But for those athletes running outside in the heat, an electrolyte replacement makes a lot of sense. So check out Elemental Labs to try their new flavor or get a free sampler pack.  Thank You Athletic Greens! Thank you to our sponsor, Athletic Greens! They are a health and wellness company that makes AG1. This is a category-leading greens mix that has 75 vitamins and minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, antioxidants, and adaptogens. One scoop per day is what I’ve been doing to help me fill in any nutrition gaps in my diet. It also provide a nice boost of energy and focus throughout the day. With all 3 of my kids in school, I know I need to support my immune system or else I’m getting sick and can’t train. I also love that AG1 has changed over the last decade. Athletic Greens has made 53 improvements to the formula based on the latest research to make these nutrients more absorbable. For our listeners, they are offering a year's worth of free Vitamin D and 5 free travel packs of AG1 with your first purchase. You can sign up for single shipment or for a monthly drop - the choice is yours. Check out Athletic Greens to redeem your offer today.

Living through the recent pandemic has made us acutely aware of the need to adapt to changing circumstances. We can only control the controllables, and there are very few of them! This week’s podcast guest has had an enormous impact on the world of high school coaching. Mr. Ryan Banta is a coach with more than 20 years of experience and the author of The Sprinter’s Compendium. At the high school level, Ryan has produced 135 All-State medalists, including 10 state champions and 15 runners-up. He also coached this year’s state championship team. A major factor in Ryan’s success comes from his ability to help others embrace the twists and turns of the training process. He is a master at reframing setbacks and teaching his runners that success comes from being adaptable. Ryan’s knowledge and experience applies to runners of all levels and with goals at any distance. Ryan’s breadth and depth of knowledge make for a fascinating conversation on so many aspects of adaptability, including Why training plans always get changed How to remain flexible, while still pushing yourself forward Why it’s so hard to change your plan even when your plan needs to change Our favorite forms of cross-training for runners Specific changes you can make to your training based on the setback you’re experiencing Practical, every day training modifications for distance runners Links & Resources from the Show: Learn more about Ryan Banta Follow Ryan on Twitter Connect with Ryan on Linked In Check out Ryan's book, Sprinter's Compendium Listen to a previous episode with Ryan Download our free Season Planner worksheet Thank You Athletic Greens! Thank you to our sponsor, Athletic Greens! They are a health and wellness company that makes AG1. This is a category-leading greens mix that has 75 vitamins and minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, antioxidants, and adaptogens. One scoop per day is what I’ve been doing to help me fill in any nutrition gaps in my diet. It also provide a nice boost of energy and focus throughout the day. With all 3 of my kids in school, I know I need to support my immune system or else I’m getting sick and can’t train. I also love that AG1 has changed over the last decade. Athletic Greens has made 53 improvements to the formula based on the latest research to make these nutrients more absorbable. For our listeners, they are offering a year's worth of free Vitamin D and 5 free travel packs of AG1 with your first purchase. You can sign up for single shipment or for a monthly drop - the choice is yours. Check out Athletic Greens to redeem your offer today. Thank you Gnarly Nutrition! What an amazing brand name! But Gnarly Nutrition don’t just sound great, they make amazing nutrition products to help athletes like you optimize their diet, fuel smarter, and reach new heights in training. Their chocolate whey protein powder blows my mind - it’s the tastiest protein powder I’ve ever had. I mix it with almond milk and it’s just amazing how creamy and sweet it tastes.  Gnarly is a trusted supplier of nutrition products to athletes because all of their protein powders, pre-workout supplements, amino acids, and fuel are all NSF-certified. That means you can trust everything from Gnarly to be safe, clean, and free of any banned substances. ​​They comply with strict standards and procedures during every stage of the product’s development, including unplanned on-site inspections, to ensure you know exactly what you’re putting in your body. Fuel better and recover smarter so that you can do more of what you love: running. Go to gognarly.com and be sure to use code GNARLY20 to save 20% sitewide on your entire order.

Ali Feller has become a beacon of enthusiasm for the sport of running and its passionate, supportive community. Her podcast, Ali on the Run, is one of the most popular running podcasts out there, with hundreds of episodes and countless fans. On her long-running podcast, Ali has had conversations with many of the sport’s most recognized runners. She is also continuing to work to make listeners more familiar with guests whose stories we don’t get to hear enough about. Ali is a marathoner, a TedX Speaker, and a race announcer for New York Road Runners and Millennium Running.  She is also a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in numerous publications including Runner’s World, Self, Fitness and Women’s Running.  But most importantly, Ali is a blast to talk to about anything related to running and beyond! As a fellow podcaster, Ali and I could talk endlessly about all things running.  Our conversation today will give you some insight into Ali’s background and her passion for the sport, including: The way that running brings us closer to the elites than almost any other sport How running provides the opportunity for limitless storytelling Why word of mouth matters so much when it comes to spreading a love for the sport How Ali’s competitive dance background prepared her for the ups and downs of training and racing The infinite opportunities to find joy in running by doing it whatever way you love most How Ali’s podcast discussions help humanize elite runners and make their stories so relatable Enjoy my enthusiastic discussion with Ali! Links & Resources from the Show: Visit Ali’s website Follow Ali on Instagram Watch Ali’s TedxBoston talk Give kudos to Ali on Strava! Thank you Elemental Labs! A big thanks to Elemental Labs for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. And you can get a free sampler pack of 4 flavors and 8 individual packets when you pay $5 in shipping. Elemental Labs' products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day. The citrus flavor has quickly become my favorite. I’m drinking one a day now to help me get enough fluids in our dry Colorado air. It’s tasty and delicious and I find that I’m not peeing every 45 minutes throughout the day, which might be an indication I wasn’t eating enough sodium. There’s now mounting evidence that higher sodium intake levels are not unhealthy – and athletes need substantially more than your typical sedentary person. Of course, ask your doctor if you’re worried. But for those athletes running outside in the heat, an electrolyte replacement makes a lot of sense. So check out Elemental Labs to try their new flavor or get a free sampler pack.  Thank you Gnarly Nutrition! What an amazing brand name! But Gnarly Nutrition don’t just sound great, they make amazing nutrition products to help athletes like you optimize their diet, fuel smarter, and reach new heights in training. Their chocolate whey protein powder blows my mind - it’s the tastiest protein powder I’ve ever had. I mix it with almond milk and it’s just amazing how creamy and sweet it tastes.  Gnarly is a trusted supplier of nutrition products to athletes because all of their protein powders, pre-workout supplements, amino acids, and fuel are all NSF-certified. That means you can trust everything from Gnarly to be safe, clean, and free of any banned substances. ​​They comply with strict standards and procedures during every stage of the product’s development, including unplanned on-site inspections, to ensure you know exactly what you’re putting in your body. Fuel better and recover smarter so that you can do more of what you love: running. Go to gognarly.com and be sure to use code GNARLY20 to save 20% sitewide on your entire order.

Running is essentially a series of one-legged hops repeated over and over again. The repetitive nature of running can exacerbate imbalances in any part of our body.  While many mild asymmetries are normal and not necessarily cause for concern, others can make you more injury prone.   This week’s guest helps runners deal with all types of imbalances. Dr. Sarah Ceschin is a physical therapist from Boulder, Colorado, who I had the pleasure of meeting in person at a recent group run. Sarah works with a variety of athletes, particularly runners and climbers.  If you ever find yourself in need of a physical therapist, try to seek out one who is familiar with treating runners! As a runner herself, Sarah understands the demands of running and helps runners stay healthy and strong. As a physical therapist, she deals with athlete imbalances on a daily basis and is a tremendous resource to learn how to address them. In our discussion, we dive deep into the topic of asymmetries and imbalances, including: How to define an imbalance, and where you may find unexpected imbalances in your body Why some imbalances are normal and shouldn’t make you worry How more pronounced imbalances may increase your risk of overuse injuries  The unexpected asymmetries you may discover in trail running How fatigue accentuates imbalances: picture mile 26 of a marathon! The importance of strength work to minimize the impact of imbalances If you're looking to maximize your strength and durability, you'll enjoy my conversation with Sarah! Links & Resources from the Show: Visit Sarah’s website Follow Sarah on Instagram and Facebook Learn how to prevent overuse injuries here Thank You InsideTracker! This episode is brought to you by InsideTracker, one of the most reputable blood testing companies in the world. They were founded in 2009 by aging, genetics, and biometrics scientists to help you analyze your body’s data and get a firm idea of how well you’re responding to training. Understanding your body’s biomarkers, from stress hormones to testosterone to Vitamin D, can help you figure out if you’re over-training, under-training, optimally training, or if you have a health issue that might be affecting your running. But the best part is that they give you personalized optimal ranges for each of these biomarkers and a host of ways to improve these markers through diet, lifestyle, or exercise changes. I’ve personally gotten three Ultimate tests from them and the process is simple, easy, and very eye-opening if you haven’t done a deep dive on your biomarkers yet.  Of all the investments you can make in your running, this one is like getting a detailed checkup or regularly scheduled maintenance for your internal physiology.  If you’re ready to take control of your health and optimize your training, get 25% off any of their blood tests with code STRENGTHRUNNING at InsideTracker.   Thank you Gnarly Nutrition! What an amazing brand name! But they don’t just sound great, they make amazing nutrition products to help athletes like you optimize their diet, fuel smarter, and reach new heights in training. Their chocolate whey protein powder blows my mind - it’s the tastiest protein powder I’ve ever had. I mix it with almond milk and it’s just amazing how creamy and sweet it tastes.  Gnarly is a trusted supplier of nutrition products to athletes because all of their protein powders, pre-workout supplements, amino acids, and fuel are all NSF-certified. That means you can trust everything from Gnarly to be safe, clean, and free of any banned substances. ​​They comply with strict standards and procedures during every stage of the product’s development, including unplanned on-site inspections, to ensure you know exactly what you’re putting in your body. Fuel better and recover smarter so that you can do more of what you love: running. Go to gognarly.com and be sure to use code GNARLY20 to save 20% sitewide on your entire order.