Run to the Top Podcast | The Ultimate Guide to Running

We’ve spent the last couple weeks learning more about the benefits of Generation UCAN and this week we have one more voice to champion the SuperStarch® that has fueled countless elite runners, recreational runners, and those of us in between. Greg McMillan and McMillan Running are names that are highly respected and have been part of the running world for many years. Greg truly believes SuperStarch® is an essential part of a runner’s toolbox. He will also share tips and tricks from his vast experience, through McMillan Coaching, with the thousands of runners who have benefitted from his methodology. Greg leverages his experience as a National Champion runner with his background in plans that are individualized to a runner’s unique traits. Renowned Coach Greg blends his exercise science to create scientifically-based, proven training by runners and coaches across the globe, he has one of the most diverse coaching resumes around, with equal success coaching new runners, age groupers, Boston Qualifiers, and Olympians. This episode is full of wonderful and helpful insight into becoming an even faster version of yourself.

A recent article in Seasons Magazine featured the incredible story of UCAN, a SuperStarch® for athletes that started from a life threatening illness that threatened a baby’s survival. Follow this story from its inception as a life-saving nutrient to its evolution as a power drink that Meb Keflezighi, Dathan Rytzenheim, and many top athletes rely on. We are now in part 2 of this amazing story that has, up to this point, introduced our listeners to Wendy Feldman, Shoba Murali, and Meb Keflezighi whose lives have been intricately intertwined by Team UCAN. In this episode, we talk with Krista Austin, a sports scientist who has been connected with UCAN from the start. She was Meb's sports scientist back in 2009 and was the one who first worked with him to try UCAN in his training. She also introduced the product to Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein in 2014.

t’s not often in sport that there is something that can fundamentally, and legally, improve training and performance. It’s even rarer that a product that was born out of a unique solution to a serious health issue can have wide-reaching applications, too. Today we speak with Shoba Murali, one of the developers of Generation UCAN (also known as Super Starch) Wendy Feldman, the mother of a child born with Glycogen Storage Disease, and (THE) Meb Keflezighi about how Generation UCAN came about, the impact it is having on athletes and non-athletes, and how Meb enjoyed tremendous success while using UCAN.

Summer’s here and the time is right for racing in the streets.  Looking for some fun races for the end of summer or early fall?  Today’s guest is Mitchell Garner, President of Road Runners Club of America and he has some favorites he will share with us. With varying distances, locations, and difficulties, Mitchell has run and raced a lot of territory and visited a lot of events around the country. He will give us enough details for you to make an educated decision on your next road race – even if you wait until next year and plan a whole vacation around it.

After only running consistently for a couple of years, newly minted Doctor in Cognitive Science, Lauren Curley ran her first ever full marathon in a brisk 2:57:58. Lauren started running to relieve stress during her doctorate program in college and her running career took off from there competing in ultra racing, trail racing, and obstacle racing. In addition to a great first marathon time, Lauren has placed first female in 2 50k’s and in the SoCal Warrior Dash. Not bad for a new-ish runner in her late 20’s.

Erin Taylor believes that yoga can save your body from injury and understands the importance of this to runners. Yoga has changed her ability as an athlete and she started a company called Jasyoga to offer yoga in a functional, fun format for runners to remain healthy and injury free. Erin says “Do some yoga today. Anything is better than nothing. Do two minutes, do thirty seconds, do something for your body and feel the difference.”  

Alex shares the science and the mysteries of endurance, a subject near and dear to all runners. From short sprints to ultra-marathons, endurance plays a crucial role and today we find out what it is and how to extend it. Alex covered Nike’s Breaking 2 project in 2017 where elite marathoner Eliud Kipchoge attempted a sub-2 hour marathon, albeit in fabricated and controlled conditions. Kipchoge came up just short, but in so doing, showed us how close the human body actually is to breaking this wall.

Katie Zaferes - #1 Triathlete What does it take to be ranked the #1 International Triathlon Union triathlete in the world? In this episode we talk with Katie Zaferes, 2016 Olympic triathlon participant for Team USA and currently competing professionally in triathlons around the world as the top ranked triathlete. Katie shares with us her athletic background from running cross-country in High School and college to becoming a professional triathlete. She discusses her mental preparation for competition and how she approaches her nutrition when travelling to so many different locations around the world. In the ITU World Triathlon Series, Katie finished her 2017 season ranked 3rd in the world and her 2018 season ranked #2.  So far in the 2019 season, Katie leads the world with a #1 ranking, sweeping the first three events of the series with victories in Abu Dhabi, Bermuda and Yokohama.  Approaching the 2020 Olympic Games, Katie has set her sights high, seeking to bring home a medal to the United States. In recognition of Katie’s ascent, USA Triathlon named her its 2017 and 2018 "Women's Triathlete of the Year."

You love running, right? Today’s episode is about ROWING and how the two fit together. Today we get some advice from an expert on how to add something new to our training regimen that might make a huge difference in our overall training. Caley Crawford, shares details on how to improve your running with rowing. We all know that cross training can be extremely beneficial. But, just like running, it needs to be done with proper form and technique to get the most out of it.

Can doing yoga make us better runners? Yoga practice has been around for thousands of years yet, there are still questions about its benefits and usefulness for runners who inevitably would rather be running than doing much of anything else with our training time.  Today we have Lindsay Junk, marathoner, triathlete, and president of YogaSix to share her thoughts and offer some specific yoga poses that benefit runners. A background in nutrition and personal training as well as her experience as an endurance athlete make Lindsay a great choice to talk about the benefits of cross training with Yoga. Lindsay already has 2 marathons completed in 2019 and we’ll find out what else she’s been up to for her own fitness. Our main focus, of course, is to receive specifics on how yoga can help us in pursuit of running excellence.