The Running Explained Podcast

What's the deal with running and KNEES? Why are knee injuries so dang common in runners? Is running actually bad for your knees? Dr. Lauren LaPierre, DPT (@thepersonalizedrunningdoc) joins the show to talk ALL THINGS KNEES! Knee anatomy & function Why knee issues are so common in runners "Runner's knee" pain IT Band Syndrome How to reduce your risk of knee injury How to address knee pain Using ice vs heat, or NSAIDS What should a PT appointment look like & what to expect and more! Dr. Lauren LaPierre is a doctor of physical therapy by trade, runner rehab specialist and running coach! Dr. Lauren personally has over a decade of competitive running experience, competing throughout high school and later for the University of Rhode Island as a Division I athlete. Her personal journey with running is the reason she went to PT school and later started her business, The Personalized Running Doc. Her mission is to help other runners overcome training-related injuries when all else has failed, empowering them to continue running for themselves and crushing their goals as they do. Since 2020, her comprehensive approach and hybrid training model have helped runners all over the world return to running pain-free and reach their maximum running potential!

RUNNING IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH, but how & why? Health versus performance; is it an either/or? Dr. Elizabeth Knight joins the show to talk all things health & running, including the cardiovascular benefits of regular exercise, health vs. performance, health AND  performance and more! Running to be healthy: how much running do we need to do? The cardiovascular benefits of regular running What is chronic inflammation and why is it bad? Health vs. performance: MORE exercise isn't always better Creating peak performance through good health Yes, testing the limits of your ability can be healthy! And more! Elizabeth lives and runs in Portland, Oregon. When she’s not on the trails in Forest Park, she works as a nurse practitioner and owns an integrative health coaching practice, Flower Power Health, where she works with runners. She’s passionate about science, inclusivity, and helping people approach their bodies with kindness and curiosity. A few of her favorite things are dogs, rock and roll, and pizza. You can find her online at www.flowerpower.health and on Instagram @flowerpower.health.

Can you quantify EVERYTHING? Are you relying too much on "the numbers"? Are you DEVASTATED when you can't hit your exact target splints in a workout? Coach Nick Klastava has some wisdom to share about how runners should focus way less on "the numbers", and what they should focus on instead! What numbers do runners tend to overemphasize? How important is pace? Are there any ways to guarantee your race day results with specific workouts in training? Why tying your self-worth to your performance is a path to unhappiness What to focus on INSTEAD of the numbers And more! 🕶️🦩This episode is sponsored by GOODR SUNGLASSES! Get 15% off (my favorite) running sunglasses in the world & support the show using code RUNEXP at www.goodr.com! 🕶️ Nick Klastava has been a runner on and off for almost 25 years, running in High School and College back in the early 2000's and then taking some time off and finding the sport again in a different more joyful, less pressure-filled way in 2009. Nick's journey has gone from a runner filled with mental blocks that plague all runners to becoming a runner filled with joy and belief in himself and not some numbers. He now helps runners as a USATF/RRCA certified coach at Lift Run Perform to help runners learn to truly believe in themselves, adapt their training to their hectic lives, and become the best runner possible while enjoying the process that is life along the way. INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nklastava WEBSITE: https://liftrunperform.com/pages/about#nick

TAPERING is a vitally important, integral part of your race-specific training, yet many runners struggle to taper properly! In this episode, Coach Elisabeth outlines the basics of... What is taper is What a taper does HOW to taper properly What's normal (& not normal) in a taper How to deal with the anxiety of "running less" Strength & cross-training in your taper And more! Visit runningexplained.co for training plans, 1:1 run coaching, group coaching, and more! 🕶️🦩This episode is sponsored by GOODR SUNGLASSES! Get 15% off (my favorite) running sunglasses in the world & support the show using code RUNEXP at www.goodr.com! 🕶️

STRENGTH TRAINING - always a hot topic with runners! Physical therapist and running coach Dr. Kate Bochnewetch (@the_running_dpt) joins the show to discuss the different kinds of strength training and what "heavy lifting" means (and why YOU should be doing it!) What is "strength training" & why is it important for runners? When your "strength" training actually is cardio in disguise Circuit training What is HIIT, actually? Why "heavy" lifting is relative! How to figure out YOUR appropriate weight/load  The importance of rest between sets PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD 101 Periodizing your strength training Muscle soreness The "minimum effective dose" of strength training and more! Kate Bochnewetch PT, DPT, CSCS (@the_running_dpt) is a Western NY based physical therapist and lifelong runner. Kate is also an RRCA Run Coach, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and Level 1 Certified Running Gait Analyst. Kate provides personalized running and strength coaching for beginner and amateur runners to achieve their goals while minimizing risk for injury, as well as group strength coaching for runners who are new to strength training through her Strong Beginnings Group Program.

Coach Marcus Brown (@marcus_runs) joins the show to discuss the evolution of goals & goal-setting, 'race day' pace goals, chasing long-term goals, setting non-time running goals, and keeping the spark alive in running. They also reflect on the impact of interviews with elite runners on the host's personal growth.

Have you ever had to defer a race? Are you worried about whether you SHOULD race? What about DNFing - why don't we talk about this more? Coach Tucker Grose joins the show for a thoughtful and personal discussion on when to defer, when to DNS, when to DNF, and how to make smart decisions so the worst-case scenario doesn't come to pass. When to defer your goal race? Back-up planning & adjusting your race day goals Why you might (or should) DNS When you SHOULDN'T DNS (& overcoming fear of failure!!) Racing even when you aren't going to PR DNFing for safety DNFing because of poor planning/poor execution How to AVOID a DNF Tucker Grose has been running for as long as he can remember and ran his first 5k at the age of 8. He competed in Track and Cross Country through High School in Newtown, Connecticut. Tucker became interested in endurance events in college, completing his first half marathon and sprint triathlon. For the past 10 years, Tucker has been a student of endurance sports, reading many books and learning from other coaches. He experimented with different training methods throughout that time and has developed a formula for long term success. Tucker has been coaching youth and adult athletes since 2012 and has helped teams and individuals make improvements and build confidence with his energetic and positive approach to coaching. Whether you are moving up to a new distance, have seen your results plateau, simply want to get into better shape or run a Boston qualifying time, individualized coaching with Tucker will help you get there!

We all want to be healthy, right? We all want to be faster, better runners, right? What happens when our quest to "be healthier" becomes something more dangerous and restrictive? In this deep and wide-ranging discussion with sports dietitian Kelsey Pontius, RD (@sportdietitiankelsey) about "clean eating", orthorexia, food rules, and more, we cover... Why it's so hard to change our deeply held beliefs and emotional ties to certain ways of eating The spectrum of orthorexia and the choices we make around food The aspirational/socio-economic factors of "clean eating" The allure of restrictive diets Unintentional underfueling "Clean race fuel" options Injury risk with underfueling RED-S and why weight loss "works" to make you faster at the beginning (before causing serious issues later on) How to unpack your own relationship with food and more! 🕶️🦩This episode is sponsored by GOODR SUNGLASSES! Get 15% off (my favorite) running sunglasses in the world & support the show using code RUNEXP at www.goodr.com! 🕶️ Meteor Nutrition arose after lifelong athlete, Kelsey Pontius RD, LDN  wished to pursue her passion for the impact of nutrition on the human body in motion. Kelsey grew up playing competitive soccer, and eventually ended her career as a D1 soccer player to transform into a distance runner who since has qualified for the 2020 and 2024 US Marathon Olympic Trials. Through several instances of her athletic background, she felt the ebbs and flows with nutrition on performance.  She knew she was destined to help other athletes benefit from the implementation of optimal nutrition. Aside from working with ambitious athletes, Kelsey has worked in the clinical arena with a multitude of different medical complexities, and has out an emphasis on injury healing and gut function.  Having a variety of different experiences in dietetics has given Kelsey the necessary tools to allow wholesome food heal and fuel the remarkable human body.

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO FIND A SPORTS BRA THAT FITS??? Sports Bra expert Laura Tempesta (@bravolution, www.bravolution.com) joins the show to educate us all about sports bras, why it's so hard to find a sports bra that fits, and HOW to find one that fits you! Why sports bras are a piece of athlete equipment, not 'apparel' Compression & encapsulation How sizing ACTUALLY works Finding your sister sizing Features you SHOULD look for in a sports bra Marketing buzzwords & features you should AVOID Companies that offer inclusive sizing in well-designed bras How to properly care for your sports bras and more! -- Laura Tempesta is a bra expert, apparel innovator, and an inventor of multiple patented products. After receiving her BA in Medical Anthropology from Stanford University, she began her career in business strategy. Realizing her true calling is in product creation, she later pursued apparel design and development, working at Nike in apparel innovation for over a decade. During her tenure as Sports Bra Innovation Director at Nike, she helped guide and develop sports bra innovation, and is the only person in North America with a master’s degree in lingerie design. Laura is the only person in the world who has studied bra technical design, aesthetic design, and biomechanics all in one degree. She serves as a consultant to the bra and sports bra industries in the areas of design, fit, strategy, costing, manufacturing, testing, supply-chain, and innovation. She is the founder of Bravolution®, a consumer advocacy group and resource providing sports bra reviews and education.  Laura is considered one of the world’s leading sports bras experts and has been featured as a bra expert in Vogue, Teen Vogue, Insider, NBC Today, and Better Homes & Gardens. Her TED talk about bras has over 2.4 million views. She enjoys domestic and international travel and has visited thirty-eight countries and all fifty states. She lives in Vancouver, B.C.

Not all advice, however well-intentioned, is good advice. And some advice is downright bad! Coach Elisabeth addressed some "bad running advice", from the misguided to the misunderstood & misconstrued, to the downright dangerous.  How NOT to train effectively When NOT to push through the pain What DOESN'T determine your readiness to run a marathon Why it's BAD when your body stops sweating Taking hydration/fueling DOESN'T slow you down There's NO one size fits all plan for your goals Coach Elisabeth is the founder and Head Coach of Running Explained; her goal is to help educate runners of all abilities and experience levels whatever their goals are to become better, smarter, faster runners! Visit runningexplained.co for Fall Training Groups, training plans, and 1:1 run coaching options!