Doctors of Running Podcast

Today to the roundtable we welcome Stuart Jenkins, a seasoned innovator in the running shoe industry who has worked with independent inventors across brands, led Deckers' innovation team, and now has started BLUMAKA. We dive into what he has found makes innovation work and how companies can fail at innovation, all while considering his newest endeavor with BLUMAKA, which has a focus on high performing and sustainably produced product with foam created out of a majority of recycled material. Hear his initial takes on sustainability in the run shoe industry and things to consider as inventors and innovators.  To learn more about BLUMAKA, visit www.blumaka.com. For 20% off your first order, use promo code DOR20 (note that we do not receive a kickback for these purchases, it is simply a discount for our listeners). Listener discretion advised: please note that there is swearing in this episode of the Doctors of Running Virtual Roundtable.

We will be taking a break for 2-3 weeks on the Roundtable but will still be producing all our website content, so feel free to check that out at www.doctorsofrunning.com. After our break the podcast will be full steam ahead! Happy New Year!

The hosts reflect on community engagement and announce a new charitable initiative supporting families affected by children's cancer. They dive deep into Achilles tendinopathy, discussing its implications and effective management strategies. The conversation covers the differences between tendonitis and tendinopathy, emphasizing tailored rehabilitation approaches. Additionally, they share insights on footwear choices that can alleviate stress on the Achilles tendon, guiding runners on how to maintain activity while healing.

We are in the final episode of our DPT Approved Awards for 2021. Our team has tested over 110 shoes and ran over 15,000 miles in 2021 (so far) and we are ready to dish out our picks for numerous categories of shoes. Our final category is a fan-favorite: Best Road Racing Shoes. We talk through our individual contributor picks for both shorter and longer distance road racing with a focus on "super shoe" options. We are believers in more traditional road racing flats, but those will be reserved for another time. 2021 was a sneaky year that brought a lot of very solid road racing options, and we talk about many of them in this episode.

Today we are continuing our run through our DPT Approved Awards. Our team has tested over 110 shoes and ran over 15,000 miles in 2021 (so far) and we are ready to dish out our picks for numerous categories of shoes. Today's roundtable focuses on one of our favorite topics, which is stability within running shoe construction. We are dishing out two awards today. First is the "Best Stability Shoe", which is defined as "a shoe that has intentional design to help guide the foot as it moves across the platform by utilizing some formal stability construction". The second award is "Best Stable Neutral Shoe", which we define as "a shoe that was not built with formal stability measures, but its construction lends it to being more stable compared to other shoes within the neutral category." If you're looking for our nitty gritty through on the nuance found in stability footwear design, you won't find it here, but you can get a start by going to www.doctorsofrunning.com and checking out our "Stability Guide".

Ready for about 100 tangents? Well here they come. Today we are continuing our run through our DPT Approved Awards. Our team has tested over 110 shoes and ran over 14,500 miles in 2021 (so far) and we are ready to dish out our picks for numerous categories of shoes. We break down the best plated performance trainers in 2021 while presenting our individual picks and our team's consensus pick. We define performance trainer as "a shoe that specializes for uptempo running, workouts, and can even double as a racer for some. It's even better if the shoe can handle warm-ups well and do a few easy miles on the ends of workouts, but typically isn't as comfortable for daily milage." We discuss that some plated shoes designed for racing may function well (or even better) for some in a performance trainer capacity, but that does come with a higher price tag. This was the first time where all three members had the same three shoes in their top 3 (albeit in different orders). 

Today we are continuing our run through our DPT Approved Awards. Our team has tested over 110 shoes and ran over 14,500 miles in 2021 (so far) and we are ready to dish out our picks for numerous categories of shoes. Today we break down the best non-plated performance trainers in 2021 while presenting our individual picks and our team's consensus pick. We define performance trainer as "a shoe that specializes for uptempo running, workouts, and can even double as a racer for some. It's even better if the shoe can handle warm-ups well and do a few easy miles on the ends of workouts, but typically isn't as comfortable for daily milage."

It's that time of year! Our team has tested over 110 shoes and ran over 14,500 miles in 2021 (so far) and we are ready to dish out our awards. Up first is the Best Daily Trainer Award. We define daily trainer as "a shoe that can eat up a lot of your training miles, is reliable and consistent, has mild versatility, and can function as a workhorse shoe." In other words, which shoe do you just keep reaching for day after day? Our team gives each of our individual picks, what we like about them, and then finish with our team's consensus pick for the year. 

In today's episode we had the privilege of sitting down with Tina Danforth, Product Manager of Running Footwear and Apparel for Mizuno USA, to talk in depth about the supply chain issues within the running industry. We talk about how the supply chain works, what areas have been affected, what consumers can expect (in terms of availability and price), and some tips for shopping in the future. Then Tina pulls back the curtain for the future of Mizuno and also we take a closer look at design elements of the Rebellion. 

Today Matt and Nathan sit down to break down the changes that happen to a crowd favorite (Endorphin Speed 2) when you slap a RunShield upper onto it. They then discuss two shoes within the Solar Glide series and certain design patterns that muddy clean transitions and mechanics. Finally they dive into staying safe in darker and colder weather, while pointing out some of their own favorite gear.