Run to the Top Podcast | The Ultimate Guide to Running

How to safely increase your mileage to the next level? How to know what mileage your body can handle? Coach Claire discusses 8 challenges that can help you increase your mileage to over 60 miles a week without getting injured.

With New York City Marathon also getting cancelled, what can you do now to stay focused on your running and fitness goals? Coach Michael discusses a few new great options that you can utilize to become a better runner during this time.

In today's podcast, Coach Ruairi and Coach Dylan go through 3 books each that can inspire and motivate runners and talk about how the various principles discussed in the books can help you get the most out of your running lives. Tune in now!

Adina Crawford - Yoga Can Make You a Better Runner   Running dramatically changed Adina’s life, transforming her from a non-athlete to a source of fitness inspiration. One of the keys to Adina’s athletic ability and mental strength is yoga, a practice she believes everyone can benefit from.   Adina shares with Coach Claire her approach to yoga in the classes she teaches, how to get started, some of the best poses for runners, as well as some helpful tips. She talks about what mindfulness means to her, as well as the benefits of cross training. Most of all, she teaches us that with a positive attitude and a willingness to try something new, it’s never too late to transform your life.   In addition to being a runner and cyclist, Adian is also a certified PYTT 200 and 50 YSTT yoga instructor specializing in Vinyasa, Sculpt, and Restorative. She is a mentor, motivator, advocate, and community influencer who serves as an ambassador for Black Girls Run, HoneyStinger, Nuun,  Black Girls Do Bike (Shero), and ZOOMA National. She is also a FitPro for Athleta and serves on the Board of Directors for Black Girls Run Foundation.   Adina has a fitness blog and has been featured in various online articles, podcasts, and participated with the Brooks Running shoe campaign. In addition, she has taught at various locations including Lululemon, Athleta, private events, family reunions, private schools, and local fitness centers.    In 2016, Adina completed her first Marathon (Chicago), numerous half marathons, several indoor triathlons and cycling events in various cities. She is recognized as a strong motivator and advocate for health, fitness, and wellness to her communities. Her goal is to bring more diversity and awareness to the mat and spread the love of all the benefits of yoga coupled with other activities. YOGA IS FOR EVERY-BODY.     Questions Adina is asked:   2:07 You are a runner, a cyclist, and a yoga instructor.  How do those three activities complement each other?  How did you get started?   3:09 How does yoga balance out running and cycling? What kind of yoga are we talking about?   3:32 Walk me through restorative yoga. If I show up at your class, what are we doing if I’m a total newbie?   4:48 You've been quoted as saying yoga is for every BODY. What do you mean by that?    5:47 How did you get started in yoga?   6:15 One thing I have heard people say is that you don’t want to be too flexible as a runner because you want those tight springs so that you can run fast. So some of the athletes that I’ve coached have been sort of hesitant to get super flexible. What do you think about that?   7:07 How have you changed your practice with the whole pandemic?   7:59 What do you use yoga sandbags for? Can you go into detail about that?   8:40 What are some of the best yoga moves for runners?   9:48 With pigeon pose, a lot of runners are really tight in their hips. I know that you can do a couple of variations on pigeon pose that can kind of hit you in different spots. Can you talk a little bit about that? Your hips, or sometimes it hits you more in the hamstrings. Can you talk about some variations for the hips?   10:56 You touched a little bit at the beginning talking about mindfulness. Can you talk about the benefits of mindfulness with yoga and how it relates to running, and how it’s different than the mindfulness you might experience on a good run?   12:02 Can you talk a little bit about breathing? I know breathing is really important in yoga, and obviously it’s important in running too. Can you talk a little bit about what we’re supposed to be doing when we’re breathing?   13:16 Are there any other breathing techniques that we can use when we’re not practicing yoga or when we’re not running? Just anything else besides the deep breaths? I know several yoga types have different kinds of, you know, quick breaths in and then quick breaths out, and I’m not super familiar with it, so I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about that?   14:49 Another thing kind of related to mindfulness is the idea of being present. If I think about running or if I’m in a race or something like that and if I let my head get too far ahead of worrying about, “This hurts. I should slow down,” or “I should stop. I should quit,” your brain goes a mile a minute and a lot of people who practice yoga have a better time with staying present. So how do you teach your students to stay present and what’s a good practice for someone who’s new to this?   16:07 Do you have specific thoughts about how to build your confidence? Because I know sometimes if you’re on a race for example, you might not have so much confidence that you’re going to get to the finish line in the time that you want, or whatever your goal is. Do you have a confidence practice?   17:03 You started running a little bit later in life. Can you talk about your running journey and how that all started? I think it’s an inspiring story.   18:31 How did you get started; what was that first day and first month like? 19:44 Where does yoga fit into your running journey?   20:56 I find the mindfulness stuff the hardest part of it, not so much the physical stuff. Do you have any tips for that?   22:30 I often think if we thought of running more like yoga, that we’re just practicing every day, I think we’d be a lot less hard on ourselves.   23:40 I love that you look to gratitude. Gratitude certainly helps us put things in a little bit more perspective, don’t you think?   23:55 Are gratitude and having a grateful heart things that you talk about in your yoga classes too?   24:52 Do you think doing yoga is efficient enough for a runner’s strength training or do people still need to lift some weights too?   25:45 I would love to hear some success stories about some of the people that you've inspired to get moving through running and yoga.  Do you have any of those for us to hear? Questions I ask everyone:   28:03 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you first started running, what advice would you give yourself?   28:22 What is the greatest gift that running has given you?   28:37 Where can listeners connect with you?   Quotes by Adina:   “You make yourself available, you learn those poses, and you can do it.”   “Mindfulness in my view is a nice little mental health tool to carry with you.”   “Breath is the foundation of yoga.”   “I know that it is all about me when I’m on that pavement so I can’t compare myself to the next person or next person.”   “Rejoice in the fact that you are able to move.” Take a Listen on Your Next Run     Want more awesome interviews and advice? Subscribe to our iTunes channel Mentioned in this podcast:    Yoga Sandbags Fleet Feet Black Girls Run Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community RunnersConnect Facebook page claire@runnersconnect.net   Follow Adina on: Facebook Instagram We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top. The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use. The more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, the more I can reach out to and get top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!  

In today's podcast, Coach Hayley shares top tips for running safely in hot weather and making the heat work for you. Tune in now!

What are tempo and threshold runs? What are the three different zones of threshold runs? How to know whether you are running your tempo at the right pace or not? Find out in today's podcast from Coach Claire.

Coach Michael talks about the biggest lessons that 2020 has taught us so far from the running perspective. Listen now!

What are surges in running? How to do it? What are the ways to incorporate surges into your training? Coach Ruairi and Coach Dylan explain in today's podcast.

Toby Tanser - Running to Make a Difference   How did a nordic athlete wind up living and training in Africa and becoming a huge philanthropist? Toby Tanser,  the founder and CEO of Shoe4Africa, which has evolved from providing Kenyan athletes with running shoes to a charity focused on health, education, and women’s empowerment, and which built the first public children’s hospital in East and Central Africa, tells Coach Claire how it all got started.   In this inspirational episode, Toby also talks about his experiences in Kenya, including differences between Kenyan and Western attitudes towards running, and offers up some training tips as well. He discusses his “cult classic” book  Train Hard, Win Easy: The Kenyan Way, not to mention he literally wrote the book on the New York City Marathon. He has a great take on what makes the NYC marathon unique.   In addition to his philanthropy, coaching, writing, and running, Toby has sat on the New York Road Runners Board of Directors since 2002, was on the Achilles Track Club Board for six years before moving up to the Vice President of Achilles International in 2011, and is on the Coaches Advisory Board for Runner's World.    Toby has many other achievements under his belt, but more than anything, he shows us how one person can make a huge difference in the world.     Questions Toby is asked:   2:27 You are a philanthropist, a coach, an author, a writer, and a former professional athlete. What roles of these have been your favorite?   2:58 Tell us a little bit about your charity, Shoe4Africa. How did it start and what is its mission?   3:59 Where has Shoe4Africa grown in the last 25 years?   4:34 It’s not just runners that you’re helping; it’s everyone?   5:20 Do you still go to Africa and run with people there?   6:11 You’ve also written several books about running and one of them is Train Hard, Win Easy: The Kenyan Way. I’d love to hear the story behind that book and some of the main training tips.   7:38 What are some of the tips you learned about how Westerners and Kenyans train differently?   10:52 How have things changed in the past 25 years in Kenya?   12:34 I think you’ve seen that in America nowadays people are learning from the Kenyans, and there are so many more group running programs out there as far as at the elite level. You have all sorts of training groups that you really didn’t see before, and it seems to be kind of based on the Kenyan model, don’t you think   13:48 It’s said that the Kenyans really take their jogging seriously too, which Westerners sometimes have a problem with. Can you talk about how they run easy?   17:11 You were on the board of directors for the New York Road Runners and the New York City Marathon for 15 years. Can you tell me a little bit about that experience?   18:56 Tell me a little bit about the New York City Marathon. You’ve written a book on it, so I’m sure you know a lot about it. Can you give any tips, any experiences about the marathon there?   21:06 How many times have you run it?   23:04 And after that day running the marathon for charity, pretty much that has been your whole life is running for charity in a sense?   24:50 Any thoughts about whether the New York City Marathon will go on this fall with everything that’s going on?   25:58 How are things in Kenya right now with the pandemic?   27:24 Have they started to reopen things again in Kenya?   28:44 What is next for you and Shoe4Africa in the future?   31:21 How can people help? If they’re listening to this and they’re inspired, how can people help the efforts that you’re doing? Questions I ask everyone:   32:25 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you first started running, what advice would you give yourself?   35:21 What is the greatest gift that running has given you?   Quotes by Toby:   “You rarely find a Kenyan training alone. They’re always in some form of a group, and together you have an amazing power.”   “You run a marathon in Berlin or France and people come out and cheer, but in New York, they come out to cheer the people at the back of the pack.”   “Imagine if every single person said, ‘I want to run to make a difference.’”   “I think in life if you’re given opportunities and you turn them away, there’s only a certain amount of opportunity you can turn down before you start to realize, ‘Hey, I should be doing something.’ It’s almost like an obligation.” Take a Listen on Your Next Run Want more awesome interviews and advice? Subscribe to our iTunes channel Mentioned in this podcast:  Shoe4Africa Book: Train Hard, Win Easy: The Kenyan Way New York Road Runners The Essential Guide to Running the New York City Marathon All4running Juli Anne Perry Children’s Cancer Hospital Run To The Top Winners Circle Facebook Community RunnersConnect Facebook page claire@runnersconnect.net   Follow Toby on:   Toby Tanser email Toby    We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top. The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use. The more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, the more I can reach out to and get top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!

How to increase your mileage safely? Does increasing the total miles at the rate of 10% every week work for everybody? How quickly can you increase your running mileage? Coach Hayley explains in this week's ExtraKick episode.