The running world gets to watch in awe as elites set new records and perform incredible feats. But it’s not all rainbows and unicorns for these athletes. World record holders face injuries and challenges, too. Charlie Lawrence set the record in the 50-mile distance in 2023, clocking in at 4:48:21. That’s an unbelievable average of 5:46 per mile. Charlie also ran his marathon personal record of 2:16 while qualifying for the US Olympic Trials Marathon for the second time. In this episode, Charlie and I talk about: The glute injury and hip labral tear that led Charlie to pull out of the 2024 Oly ..read more

The midstance phase of a running stride is a crucial element of running form, but many runners are ignoring it. If you have weaknesses, imbalances, or poor movement patterns, this is the part of the gait cycle that will show it. Chris Johnson, DPT is a Seattle-based physical therapist, performance coach, entrepreneur, and multiple time Kona IRONMAN qualifier who shares how midstance affects your running performance and how you can improve it. In this episode, Chris and I talk about: Midstance importance in running mechanics and injury prevention The impact midstance has on muscles and runn ..read more

What makes the biggest impact when it comes to recovery strategies and tools for runners?  Dr. Peter Tierney is a health and performance researcher, consultant, and coach who’s worked with many professional sports organizations to help athletes recover effectively from exercise. Peter’s “Big 5” recovery strategies are science-backed and possible for runners to add to their training and lifestyle. In this episode, Peter and I talk about: Recovery as part of a lifestyle, not just a post-exercise tool. The Big 5 recovery strategies for runners and endurance athletes, and how to use them. Ad ..read more

The Boston Marathon is quickly approaching! Whether you’re racing Boston this spring or have it in your sights as a long term goal, this episode will help you learn all the ins and outs of this iconic event. Today’s guest on the podcast will be headed to Boston for the 19th time! Marc Pollina has run 26 marathons and has been a fixture at Boston as both a charity runner and a sub-3 hour qualifier. Marc’s new book, The Boston Marathon Handbook, offers an incredibly thorough look at the Boston Marathon, whether you’re trying to qualify for the first time or want to be better prepared to navigate ..read more

This week I decided to take you along on my conversation with my friend and fellow podcaster, Jon Levitt. Jon is a sub-3 marathoner and a Senior Sales Executive at InsideTracker. He also hosts the popular podcast, For the Long Run, where I was a guest on episode 264. We usually have long meandering conversations on trail runs throughout Boulder, but this time we recorded it.  While we start by discussing our current running troubles (and our efforts towards solving them), we ultimately focus a lot of our conversation on the professionalization of the running industry. As the sport continu ..read more

Ryan Whited is an elite climber, personal trainer and strength & conditioning coach who owns Paragon Athletics in Flagstaff, Arizona. Together with author and coach Matt Fitzgerald he has written Pain & Performance: A revolutionary new way to use training as treatment for pain and injury.  His approach to pain is a novel one and requires you to think about it in a much different way than most of us currently do. Learning to use “training as treatment” and recognize the positive aspects of pain are just a few of the concepts we discuss today. Before pain starts, build injury resili ..read more

Andrea Pomaranski just completed the 2024 Olympic Trials marathon, finishing 27th of 117 finishers in a time of 2:34:35. Andrea ran shorter distances in college and set the American under-20 record in the steeplechase in 2001. Then 22 years later, she also set the American Master’s record in the 50k. Des Linden is currently the only woman who has recorded a faster 50k! Andrea has qualified three times for the Olympic Trials in the marathon, and finished 27th this year only 20 days after racing the Houston Marathon. She credits her success to her long term consistency in training alongside regu ..read more

My guest on today’s episode in Dr. Caitlin Alexander. Caitlin is a physical therapist, a professional triathlete, and a certified triathlon and running coach. Three years ago she joined me on episode 179 to talk about long-term injuries, and now she is here to answer reader questions on injury reduction. Caitlin owns Hü Performance in downtown Boulder, Colorado. She works with a wide variety of athletes, from weekend warriors to competitive triathletes and elite runners. In addition to physical therapy, Caitlin also offers professional bike fitting, personalized strength and conditioning, and ..read more

In recent years, runners have come to accept that strength training is a necessity to stay healthy and perform optimally. Learn how to periodize your strength work into 3 distinct phases to take your training to the next level! As a physical therapist, Jimmy Picard specializes in treating endurance runners and mountain athletes to help them stay healthy. He is also a certified running coach and strength coach. Jimmy’s experience in competitive endurance sports combined with his expertise in PT allow him to offer valuable insights to runners so they can avoid and recover from injury. On this ep ..read more

Do you want to have a monster aerobic engine? No matter what your level of experience, you can learn how to build volume safely and implement intensity to get the most from your training miles. Zach Bitter was formerly the 100-mile world record holder, and is currently the American record holder in the 100-mile and 12-hour events. He's a four time national champion at the 50-mile, 100k and 100-mile distances between 2012 and 2021. Zach has won some of the country’s most competitive ultra races and competed on Team USA’s 100k world team on three occasions. He is also a coach and host of the pop ..read more