Run to the Top Podcast | The Ultimate Guide to Running

Bob Anderson / Runner’s World In this episode we speak with Bob Anderson. Bob is a native of Manhattan (Kansas), photographer, filmmaker and founder of Runner’s World, My Best Runs and finisher of a grueling year-long race challenge that consisted of one race a week for 50 weeks and averaged under 7:00 / mile pace at age 64. Bob started running at age 15 and eventually launched a 1,000 copy magazine that later blossomed into the million-plus subscription periodical known as Runner’s World. But, as successful as Runner’s World became, it was not without a cost which we learn about in this interview. Bob shares his many ups and downs with running as well as his film A Long Run, the creation of a new running event: Double Racing, and the development of an informational website, mybestruns.com which features the best runs from around the world. Bob’s passion for running is contagious and wise. We hope you enjoy our conversation with him.

A lot of research and empirical data (not to mention a certain book by a certain author about a certain indigenous people who run hundreds of miles seemingly effortlessly) has made a strong argument for a more natural running shoe. But the sudden transition from a traditional shoe to a minimalist shoe often causes injuries rather than prevents them. Imagine that there’s a company that makes shoes that feel great AND offers models with differing amounts of drop to ease the transition. SPOILER ALERT: You actually don’t have to imagine it, because that company actually exists.

Ali Feller Meet 3:51 marathoner, author of the Ali On The Run blog and host of the Ali On The Run Show podcast, freelance writer and editor, Ali Feller. Ali’s appearance on this week’s episode was suggested by listener, Angie Sherman and for that, we are certainly grateful. Ali was not a high school track or cross country star; far from it, in fact. Growing up she found running to be punitive rather than fun. After graduating college, she became Editor-In-Chief of Dance Spirit magazine. She is a currently contributor to many women’s health and fitness periodicals. Ali shares with us her experience living with Crohn’s Disease. As you’ll hear in more detail, Crohn’s is a chronic autoimmune disease that is unpredictable and inconvenient, yet Ali explains how she has come to terms with managing it. All while still remaining as active as she can. Although she is now focusing on shorter distance races like the 5K, she has completed 7 full marathons and dozens of half-marathons. She also tells us how she continues to train and how she approaches goal setting. Oh, and we will also learn about her awesome husband and loving dog. Or loving husband and awesome dog? Either way… Meet Ali!  

Sandy Baird, DC - Preventing and Treating Marathon Injuries A graduate from LifeWest Chiropractic College, Dr. Sandy Baird is a certified Active RElease Techniques provider whose practice, Riverstone Chiropractic, is located in Oakland, CA. Originally a civil engineer, a persistent repetitive strain injury led Sandy to the field of Chiropractic via massage therapy. Dr. Baird treats both elite and recreational athletes and also speaks to local running groups and clubs on topics such as injury prevention, injury treatment, nutrition and recovery techniques. The Riverstone Chiropractic website has links to a wealth of informational blog posts that cover a variety of medical and health topics. In this episode, Sandy shares her personal journey into chiropractic care, her approach to injury prevention and treatment, nutrition, and footwear. We also learn about different self-treatment and prevention exercises to help keep us on our individual training plans and how to counteract the detrimental effects of being in a seated position for extended periods of time.. In addition to all the great content shared in this episode, you can also receive Dr. Baird’s free e-Book Eight Steps to Fix Your Plantar Fasciitis by texting the word ‘runningbook’ to 44222. (Standard data and text messaging rates apply). “Sitting kills our running.”

It’s understood that we need to stay hydrated not only during physical activities, but in general. But how can we improve the efficiency with which our bodies use hydration? A former collegiate track and field athlete, Vishal Patel has worked with Olympic and World Camp calibre athletes on personalizing their nutrition and hydration strategies to excel in their sports. As Senior R&D Manager for Nuun, he has developed hydration products for the past five years. For those who are not familiar with Nuun, they make dissolvable hydration tablets. In this episode, Visah explains the science and rationale of general hydration and how Nuun has designed multiple hydration solutions that are optimized for specific types of activity plus how and why hydration is so important, even if you are not active. He shares with us the methodology and philosophy that Nuun has regarding hydration supplements and specifically the role that sugar plays in performance fueling products. He gives us insight into an easy, visual method for determining your daily hydration level and how Nuun fits in with other training and performance fueling products.  

While admittedly not a super-athlete growing up, Dr. Brett Hill was naturally drawn to distance running and the mental determination it required. And as he studied to become a successful chiropractor, he realized that his lifestyle habits directly influenced his health so he set about becoming more naturally active and fueled. In this episode, he shares with us that our bodies have an innate ability and desire to function correctly. It is critical to create the dietary and physical environment our bodies are actually designed for. He further explains what these environments are and why they are so beneficial. We also discuss the merits and proper strategies of transitioning to barefoot or minimalist shoe running. In addition to being a chiropractor, Brett Hill is a paleo-nutritionist, barefoot runner, author, podcast host, and public speaker. With all of these activities, his family and, of course, running himself, it would be easy to assume it’s overwhelming. He explains how he now manages to keep a healthy balance of it all and the adjustments he has made to accomplish this balance.

You could easily say that freelance writer, professional blogger, public speaker, coach, 3:11 Marathoner, wife and mother of three Dorothy Beal has a lot on her plate. Like many of us with busy lives outside of our training, Dorothy has had to learn how to balance it all. Oh, AND she has graced the cover of not one, not two, but THREE magazine covers! On this episode, we hear from Dorothy about the catalyst that turned her into a runner and how running has impacted so many areas of her life. Her philosophy and perspective on running are incredibly healthy and well-grounded, especially when considering how easily we can become over-obsessed with training and race results. She also shares with us her approach to balancing training and family nutrition as well as some interesting lifestyle changes she has adopted, such as her ‘Dry January’.  Dorothy has a contagious positive energy that comes through clearly in this conversation about the transformation running has made to her very full life.  

This week we introduce, certified nutritionist, award winning speaker, best selling author, running coach, certified rafting guide, AND the new host of the Run To The Top podcast, Stephanie Atwood. Stephanie is the founder of Go Wow Living and host of the “Active After 35 Thrive To 105” podcast. In this episode, we learn about her background and listen as she shares secrets she’s learned from helping other runners throughout her career. She has a great perspective on redefining success and failure and believes in creating different successes. It’s easy to forget that the very act of stretching out of comfort zone, even if we fall short of our ideal goals, is still a worthy accomplishment. Butch Cassidy counseled the Sundance Kid in the movie’s opening, “Every day you live, you get older.” and the same is true for runners. However, there comes a day, a session or a race where we have to accept that our fastest days may be behind us. This doesn’t mean we need to stop running or competing, but a healthy mental paradigm shift is sometimes needed to refocus our motivation to stay active as we age. In our busy and hectic lives, it’s easy to overemphasize training to the point where it becomes unhealthily all-consuming. Stephanie talks about the concept of “Periodization”, which allows people to build up for a couple goals, but also structure down time to enjoy other important areas of our lives. Please join us in welcoming Stephanie as we are sure her insight and experience will help you become, not just a better runner, but a better, happier and healthier you.

Pam recently completed two marathons with seven weeks of training in between, but no significant improvement in her time. She would like to reach her goal in her next race, but feels the 24-week program she used last time is too long. She wants to to know how she can maintain fitness and then ramp up for race. Coach Jeff provides context for post-race recovery and maintenance training prior to jumping into a marathon build-up and how long that build up should, and maybe shouldn’t, be. He also explains how to leverage the time between races to arrive at the start of a marathon training cycle even stronger without much additional effort. We hope you enjoy listening to this conversation and find some takeaways that help you in your training.  

We’re doing something a little different today on Run To The Top and we hope you find it helpful. One of our athletes, Wayne Jimenez, recently DNF’d a marathon at mile 16 and was not sure why. He has completed marathons and half-Iron Mans, but just over halfway through this race he could not keep going and he’s eager to get back in a marathon ASAP since he still feels pretty strong from all his training. But, he’s concerned about racing too soon.   Coach Jeff engages Wayne in a discussion to unpack what happened during, and more importantly prior to, the race to help identify the root cause of the issue and to determine when Wayne should make his way into his next corral.   We hope you enjoy listening to this conversation and find some takeaways that help you in your training. We would also love to know what you think of this podcast format as well as any suggestions you have for Run To The Top in general.