The Strength Running Podcast

Joel smashes through goals normally considered impossible.  Recently, he completed an ambitious project to run 7 ultramarathons on 7 continents for charity to build 7 schools in developing countries. He succeeded - raising over $190,000. The 777 Project brought him to: Thailand Antarctica Australia Patagonia South Africa Finland and Chicago! Joel's philanthropic quest brought him around the world to extreme locations and terrain that nearly broke him. But his persistence led to the constructions of seven schools through Pencils of Promise, a charity where 100% of donations go toward its mission of school construction, scholarships, and trains teachers. Joel is on the podcast to talk about what it takes to run a series of ultramarathons in rapid succession, in varying climates, on very different terrain, all over the world. What are the travel logistics like for such an audacious project? How do you train for so many different races? What kind of gear is necessary to race in Antarctica? We cover that - and a lot more - on today's show.

Jonathan Beverly was the editor-in-chief of Running Times for 15 years. He’s run nearly 30 marathons and hundreds of road and trail races around the world. He’s also coached with the New York Road Runners Club, taught several college running classes, and has coached junior and high school track and cross country since 2003. Jonathan’s new book quickly became one of my favorites. Your Best Stride: How to Optimize Your Natural Running Form to Run Easier, Farther, and Faster – with Fewer Injuries is a holistic look at how to run with better form. He does not promote a certain brand of form (like Chi or POSE). He won’t make you run on your forefoot (that’s a big no-no). And he isn’t even gung-ho about “cues” that make you run slightly differently. Instead, the goal is to bring you back to when you were 10 years old. Remember back then? If not, just know that you ran with a lot better form back then. Jonathan is on the podcast today to discuss how to reclaim your youthful, smooth, powerful stride.

Tina is a professional distance runner, Great Britain Olympic hopeful, and 11-time All-America Track and Field/Cross Country athlete for Ferris State University. She's run in two British Olympic Trials, finishing 3rd in the 10k in 2012 and 5th in the Marathon in 2016. Her personal bests, as you can imagine, are out of this world: 5k - 16:08 10k - 33:24 Half Marathon - 1:13 Marathon - 2:36 Earlier this year, Tina made a stunning announcement that she was taking a hiatus as a pro runner. She's recovering from amenorrhea (she didn't have a period for 9 years) and is hoping to start a family soon. But she realized that she just didn't enjoy her running anymore. Every run was a struggle. She dreaded upcoming workouts and just wasn't excited about training anymore. I consider this to be an unspoken problem in the running community. Amid calls for consistency, putting in the work, and training "no matter what" there lies a deeper issue: once you've done that, when is it ok to stop? Tina is on the SR Podcast today to talk about her journey and give hope to runners everywhere whose hearts just aren't set on hard training anymore. This is an honest, real, and personal conversation that I hope you enjoy.

I invited Simon Marshall, PhD and his wife Lesley Patterson to talk about practical strategies for building confidence, reducing pre-race anxiety, and managing fears. Their new book The Brave Athlete is a handbook for the athlete's brain, showing you how to: Resist the urge to quit Embrace difficulty Respond positively to setbacks Build confidence and self-belief Cope better with stress and anxiety This husband and wife team is quite the duo. Simon is former professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of San Diego and a professor of sport and exercise psychology at San Diego State University. Currently, he's the performance psychologist for BMC Racing - a World Tour professional cycling team. His wife Lesley Patterson is a dominant triathlete, having won three world off-road triathlon champions and an Ironman Triathlon. A professional mountain biker, she's also a former national champion in cross country. And I think all of us get how important our brain is to our running. How many times have you been halfway through a long run and dreaded every step? How many races have you wished in hindsight that you had sucked it up and ran harder instead of settling? It's happened to me more times than I can count. And it happens to world-class athletes (like Lesley, which we talk about) all the time, too. This podcast will show you how to turn your brain into an asset, rather than a liability.

What we put into our bodies has a profound impact on our ability to train effectively. In short, if you care about you running, you have to care about your eating habits. And I've brought a Registered Dietitian on the SR Podcast to help. Over the last few weeks, I've surveyed the Strength Running Twitter and Facebook communities about dieting, weight loss, nutrition, and race fueling. I collected about a dozen of the best questions and got my friend Anne Mauney to help me answer them for you. Anne worked with me to create one of SR's flagship programs, Nutrition for Runners. She's one of the busiest RD's I know with a private practice in Washington, DC and a popular lifestyle blog. She also gives healthy eating presentations and workshops to organizations like Whole Foods. Her work has been featured in Glamour, Self, The Washington Post, and Fitness Magazine. When she's not helping athletes improve their diets, she's usually running around DC or tackling yet another half marathon. There are also two more Q&A podcasts that we did together - download them here for free. On this episode, we cover a lot of questions: What foods fight inflammation? What foods increase iron levels? Is it ok to drink alcohol while you're training for a race? What's an optimal pre-marathon fueling strategy? Are carbs from bread or pasta "better" than those from starchy vegetables? What are your favorite healthy snack ideas? Enjoy!

Usually, I fire off answers as fast as I can. Whether that's on Facebook or Twitter, I try to be as responsive as possible. But sometimes, life gets in the way. I simply don't have the time to answer all of your questions - especially when a single SR email goes out to about 80,000 runners... That does not, however, mean I'm not paying attention. In fact, I often save your running questions to get to them later. And that's exactly what we're doing today. Joining me as the SR Podcast's first co-host is my friend, fellow coach, and ultra runner Doug Hay. Fresh off his sub-15hr run at the Ultra Run of Champions (snagging him a sweet belt buckle!), Doug is helping us get to the bottom of some of your toughest questions. Let's dive in.

I met Ian in August, 2016 one day before the Leadville Trail 100. We got coffee with a friend of ours and then watched a Beer Mile (it took place on the road behind us in the above picture). Ian officiated – starting the race and cheering on runners as they raced and chugged beers. Two days later, Ian crossed the finish line of the Leadville Trail 100 in first place – his third victory. He’s no slouch in the world of ultra running. In fact, he’s one of the best ultramarathoners in the world: 3 x winner (and course record holder) of the Rocky Raccoon 100 3 x winner of the Leadville Trail 100 Completed about 200 ultras and 100+ marathons (!) Record Holder – Grand Slam of Ultrarunning 7 x silver medalist at the Comrades Marathon And over the last year, I’ve been fortunate to work with Ian on a few different projects: He contributed a training case study that highlighted his toughest workouts before Leadville. And he shared his best injury advice in the Little Black Book of Prevention & Recovery. Now he’s back to talk about running an 11+ minute personal best at the Mt. Charleston Marathon. But it’s not all training geekery. Did you know Ian has run dozens of marathons in costumes? In fact, he’s run a 2:40 marathon as Spider Man! This is going to be fun 🙂

I invited Tom Foreman on the podcast to philosophize about running, goals, and racing throughout life. You might recognize Tom as an emmy-award winning journalist at CNN. He's reported on wars, natural disasters, and political skirmishes across 20 countries. He's also quite the runner. Author of My Year of Running Dangerously, Tom has a handful of marathons and ultramarathons under his belt and is chasing a BQ soon at the Cincinnati Marathon. More than anything, Tom has a unique perspective on what running means at various stages of life. Speaking with Tom is always a treat so I hope you enjoy this conversation. I think it will bring you new appreciation for running!

Is it surprising that I don’t think strength workouts are cross-training? Rather, strength work is just part of your training as a runner. Cross-training is supplemental exercise that can be helpful to your running, like cycling. But just like form drills, strides, or dynamic flexibility exercises, I consider strength training to be an integral part of how to train distance runners. If you’re not strength training, then you’re not training. And to help you get things right in the weight room, I invited top strength and conditioning coach Tony Gentilcore on the Strength Running podcast to talk about: What are the benefits of strength training? Do runners need to lift differently than other athletes? How do you strength train without a gym membership? What are the most common mistakes in the weight room? Do women need to lift differently or tweak their programs? What are the “little things” for weight lifters? Cofounder of Cressey Sports Performance, Tony now owns his own gym outside of Boston and trains top-level athletes and everyone else. A frequent contributor to major fitness and media outlets like T-Nation, Women’s Health, and The Boston Herald, Tony also runs a popular strength training blog. Tony made my job easy as podcast host because he has a great sense of humor and can make exercise science seem easy. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I did speaking with Tony. Even if you’re comfortable in the gym, you won’t want to miss this episode.  

You might recall George from episode 6 of the Strength Running podcast. We talked about a lot: What’s the ideal length long run during marathon training? And half marathon training? Should you keep running marathons if your ultimate goal is to run a faster marathon? If your long runs are already 15+, what types of LR’s should you focus on during a marathon season? How long should you run at tempo pace during training? What is the optimal marathon pacing strategy? George wanted help planning for a PR attempt at the half marathon. Episode 6 was a “behind the scenes” coaching call where we strategized on how he could make it happen. Now, he’s back on the podcast to see if my ideas actually worked! For a long time, George’s episode was the most downloaded show because folks loved listening “over my shoulder” as we strategized. And I think you’ll enjoy this show just as much.