You’re about to listen to Strength Running’s first live show with author Matt Fitzgerald. If you’re not familiar with Matt, he’s written more than 20 books about sports nutrition, endurance, running, and the marathon including my favorites, The Endurance Diet, Brain Training, Racing Weight, and Diet Cults.

This was recorded in front of a live audience at the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver, Colorado.

Matt's latest book is a memoir called Life is a Marathon that chronicles his career as a coward when it comes to the suffering that inevitably accompanies endurance running. But he learns to overcome that suffering, and in doing so discovers the person he wants to become, for himself and for his wife Nataki who has severe bipolar disorder.

It’s a very different type of book about running that I highly recommend, especially if you want a moving read that isn’t heavy on training jargon.

I ran competitively against Peter while we were both in college. He was at Tufts University while I ran for Connecticut College.

Bromka was faster. In college, he was consistently a Varsity runner for their competitive Division III cross country team. But while he was a very good college runner, I wouldn't say he was a standout athlete.

Things started to change post-collegiately when Peter started running marathons. His first was 2:56 - a relatively pedestrian time by a former collegiate runner (one who was capable of running 25:xx for a 5-mile cross country course).

Soon, he dropped his time to 2:47. And then 2:41. His progression of improvement over 26.2 miles is eye-popping. After that 2:41, he ran:

• 2:36
• 2:34
• 2:29
• 2:23
• 2:19

His fastest finish came last December at the 2018 California International Marathon. His official time - 2:19:40 - missed the Olympic Trials Qualifying standard by a mere 40 seconds.

This progression gives Peter Bromka one of the most fascinating stories in marathon running today. It's rare. It's unique. And we just don't see DIII runners flirting with Olympic Trials Qualifying times very often!

I brought Peter on the podcast to talk about this progression and the mental and physical adjustments he's had to make to continue improving.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How did Peter's mindset about training and racing change as he got faster?
• What role does fear play in how you think about breaking certain time barriers?
• Did he ever think he had reached his physiological limit? What then?
• What is it about the Boston Marathon that makes it so special (and difficult!)?

Peter Bromka is like a philosopher of running. You'll love hearing him wax poetic about the marathon distance and what it means to run it well.

Brad Stulberg is a polymath whose first book with coach Steve Magness, Peak Performance, was one of my favorite reads from 2018.

His work focuses on helping athletes, business executives, and other top performers improve their chances of success by work on:

• Defining a path for long-term progression
• Mental toughness
• Developing sustainable motivation and purpose
• How to get into a deep-focus "flow" state
• Building resilience
• Development of optimal routines

His latest book is also coauthored by Steve Magness, titled The Passion Paradox: A Guide to Going All In, Finding Success, and Discovering the Benefits of an Unbalanced Life.

In this conversation, we spend time focusing on the nuances of passion, obsession, and building interest in things that we like.

His book is a defense of passion. It's a more nuanced, effective perspective on passion that acknowledges that it's hard to find, that it must be cultivated, and that too much of it can indeed be a bad thing.

You might know Craig as the 2013 Pan-American Jr. Games 1500m champion or the 4th place finisher at the 2016 US Olympic Trials in the 1500m. More recently, Craig won the USATF indoor mile and set a blazing 3:53 mile PR.

His list of personal bests is eye-popping:

• 800m: 1:46:03
• Mile: 3:53.93
• 5k: 14:20.27

Craig is a fun guy to talk with because he doesn’t take running too seriously. He’s a fierce competitor but you’ll also see how his running really took off in college when he was able to have fun with his team.

(it's funny how you perform better when you're having more fun outside of training...)

He also doesn’t take himself too seriously, which I find incredibly refreshing. He rocks a mullet and an absolutely perfect 1980’s style Burt Reynolds mustache. The RV only came after the mustache because he wanted to keep the 80's theme going.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Jason and Craig talk about how his career exploded in college, his affinity for running fast, and why your next breakthrough might require you to take running less seriously.

After college, Deena traveled to Amarosa, Colorado to train under Coach Joe Vigil. That's when her running took off.

To discover why and how this happened (it wasn't better training), Deena joined me on the Strength Running Podcast to discuss the mental journey she's taken throughout her career.

Our conversation focuses on several topics:

• How to turn negative thoughts into positive thoughts - while running or in everyday life
• Why Deena used to race "with fear" (and how she recovered from this dangerous mindset)
• The mental expectations she's had to abandon to reach higher levels of performance
• How to "participate in the process" rather than overly worry about results

These are all major themes of her award-winning memoir Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory.

You don’t have to just “hope” that your motivation to run will be there in the morning when the alarm blares…

But motivation is fickle and unpredictable. Some days, you’re ready to crush a track workout or long run. Other days, you can barely bring yourself to jog for 30 minutes.

You don’t have to be a hostage to the whims of your running motivation, though. Relying on motivation is a fool’s errand. 

Instead, you can structure your running life in such a way that missed runs or skipped workouts are virtually nonexistent.

You can do this without:

• the latest productivity app
• getting up at four in the morning every day
• joining a convent or becoming a monk…
• “biohacking” your way to the podium

I want to share with you a simple framework for automatically improving your running motivation and increasing the chances that you train hard – so you can race faster.

And it all starts with the other people in your life. Discover more about Strength Running's team.

Sanjay Rawal is a filmmaker, runner, and the man behind the documentary 3100: Run and Become.

Before becoming a filmmaker, he spent 15 years in over 40 countries working on human rights and international development. His new film is about the longest certified road race in the world: the Self-Transcendence 3100 Miler.

It's an event that boggles the mind: 3,100 miles around a single city block in Queens, New York for nearly two months in the heat of summer. To win, you have to average about 60 miles per day (for nearly two months).

A race like this is less of a race and more of a journey of self-discovery that reveals the limits of human ability.

In this wide-ranging discussion about the spiritual side of running, Sanjay Rawal and I discuss:

• Why this race is more of a pilgrimage than a race
• The mechanics of a 52-day, 3,100-mile race
• What we can learn from traditional running cultures like the Navajo and Kalahari
• How we can train our minds to be more resilient
• What separates a runner who completes 3100 miles from the rest of us
• How the mindset of a spiritual runner can improve your competitive goals

Meb's legacy is cemented as a world-class runner: he's the 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist, winner of the 2009 New York City Marathon and 2014 Boston Marathon, and 4-time Olympian.

He's also the author of three books guaranteed to get your competitive juices flowing:

• Run to Overcome: The Inspiring Story of an American Champion's Long-Distance Quest to Achieve a Big Dream
• Meb for Mortals: How to Run, Think, and Eat Like a Champion Marathoner
• 26 Marathons: What I've Learned About Faith, Identity, Running, and Life From Each Marathon I've Run

Perhaps more impactful is his approach to the sport of distance running and the marathon. Free from any personal scandal, Meb is a true ambassador to running. In 2017, he was recognized as an 'Outstanding American by Choice' by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

He's also run 26 marathons over the course of his decades long career. And anybody who has completed that many marathons at a world-class level has a lot to share.

In this conversation, Meb and I have a wide-ranging conversation about:

• His childhood in Eritrea and how it prepared him for distance running
• The surprises he learned when running his first marathon
• Why cross-training is so valuable for him
• How running has prepared him for setbacks in his personal life
• When running is particularly hard for Meb

We also talk about his new book 26 Marathons and the many lessons he's learned from each of the 26 marathons he's run over the last two decades.

Finally, I ended our conversation with a simple question ahead of next month's Boston Marathon: If you could talk to the entire field at Boston as they lined up in Hopkinton, what advice would you have for them?

Don't be surprised if a Metcon workout includes:

• Running
• Cycling
• Rowing
• Gymnastic movements
• Strength exercises
• Any combination of these forms of exercise

They're put together to condition the metabolism. In other words, to enable you to work at a near maximum intensity for a prolonged period of time.

They sound very much like a running workout - like a challenging hill workout, for example.

But the crucial difference is that they don't have to include any running. And that makes them useful for runners who may not be ready for a hard workout (or who want a different, less-specific workout).

I've brought Dr. Mike Young onto the podcast to discuss metcon workouts for runners (and more topics) in more detail.

You can also sign up here for our free course on runner-specific strength training.

Mike Young, PhD is the Director of Research and Performance at Athletic Lab. A Lead Instructor for both USA Track & Field and USA Weightlifting, he also works with elite athletes and has consulted with the MLS, MLB, NFL, PGA, and NHL.

An internationally recognized researcher, coach, and educator, Mike has the unique distinction of attending all three US Olympic Training Centers as an athlete, sport scientist, and coach.

He has degrees in exercise physiology, coaching science, and biomechanics – not to mention his prowess publishing multiple peer-reviewed journal articles.

This conversation focuses on strength training for runners and how to think more productively about certain types of strength workouts and whether or not machines are appropriate for runners.

Beth Skwarecki is the author of two books and the Health Editor of Lifehacker. She's here to dispel fitness and health myths that might be leading us astray.

Beth is a member of the National Association of Science Writers and the Association of Health Care Journalists. After getting a BA in biology from Alfred University, she received her Master's in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Rutger's University.

She also has previously taught nutrition and environmental sciences at the Community College of Allegheny County.

Her two books will interest the science nerds out there:

• Outbreak: 50 Tales of Epidemics That Terrorized the World
• Genetics 101: From Chromosomes and the Double Helix to Cloning and DNA Tests, Everything You Need to Know About Genes

This conversation focuses on the many side aspects of a healthy lifestyle that make running easier.

After all, it's critical to have a lifestyle that supports running. You can't train well if you barely sleep and drink a lot...

We're talking about:

• DNA trivia for runners
• How her job has changed her outlook on health and fitness
• How to engineer a less groggy morning (for the morning runners out there!)
• Whether elderberry supplements are a waste of money

Beth and I also discuss running in the dark, the cutoff point for running in extreme cold, and the warning signs of frostbite.

Lindsey has always been a runner. She ran cross country in high school and after running for fitness and health in college, started running marathons post-collegiately.

To date, she's run 14 marathons and is currently preparing for the 2019 Boston Marathon. She's also a RRCA-certified running coach.

Her podcast is one of the most popular running podcasts out there: I'll Have Another with Lindsey Hein has more than 160 episodes and features the most talented runners on the planet:

• Meb Keflezighi
• Paula Radcliffe
• Scott Jurek
• Shalane Flanagan

Lindsey is in a unique situation after being able to explore the training, lives, mindsets, and careers of so many world-class athletes. I couldn't help but have so many questions:

• How do we relate to elite runners who have physical gifts that we simply do not?
• What separates the best from the rest of us?
• How do we learn from these runners to enhance our own training?

In our latest episode for the Strength Running Podcast, we discuss the drawbacks and opportunities of interviewing elite runners, mindset shifts related to running when you start having kids, and a lot more.

Recovery means much more than what you do - it's also about what you don't do.

For example, many runners think foam rolling or taking an ice bath are effective recovery methods. And if you enjoy them, I won't argue! But what you're not doing is equally important:

• Are you using your day off from running to do your own taxes and run 34 errands?
• Did you plan your big (i.e., stressful) family vacation for your post-marathon recovery week?
• Do you stay out late enjoying one or several too many adult beverages?

If the answer is yes, then it almost doesn't matter what you do for your post workout recovery.

Because the addition of stress - whether physical or mental - derails our best recovery efforts. That's why when I was in college, our track coach was very understanding of poor workout splits during mid-terms. You simply can't perform physically and mentally at a high level for very long.

We previously discussed a hierarchy of injury prevention strategies and how some tactics are far more effective than others. The same is true for recovery strategies.

I want you to understand the best, most productive, and effective ways to recover from your hardest workouts.

And I'm thrilled to present you with today's podcast episode with Ms Christie Aschwanden.

Christie is the lead science writer for FiveThirtyEight and a former health columnist for the Washington Post. She's also a finalist for the National Magazine Award and her work has been featured in Discover, Smithsonian, and O, The Oprah Magazine.

A fellow Coloradan like myself, Christie was a high school state champion in the 1,6000m run, a national collegiate cycling champion, and an elite cross-country skier with Team Rossignol.

Her new book is Good to Go: What The Athlete in All of Us Can Learn From the Strange Science of Recovery.

She's on the podcast to discuss individual post workout recovery strategies but also the bigger questions:

• How do we know if we're fooling ourselves that something is working (when it isn't)?
• Why isn't it enough to simply ask, "Does this recovery method work?"
• Overall, have we made recovery too complicated?
• How do you prioritize mental recovery?
• If you were to speak to the entire Olympic Team about recovery, what would you say?

This episode is an excerpt of my full conversation with Christie for the Team Strength Running group coaching program.

Last week, I had the pleasure of spending an hour talking to Sarah Canney. She's a Road Runners Club of America and USA Track and Field certified running coach in addition to being a competitive mountain runner and member of the 2018 US National Snowshoe Running Team.

In fact, she recently placed 9th at the World Championships in Val di Non, Italy on January 5th.

Now, I've never gone snowshoe running. I don't own any snowshoes. Frankly, I don't even like the cold.

But after hearing Sarah speak more about the sport and how fun it can be, it's something I'm dying to try (and you can't get a better snowshoe running venue than Colorado's Front Range!)

And while snowshoe running might be a lot of fun, it can also be an extraordinarily helpful method of cross-training:

• There's less impact running slower on snow (and less injury risk)
• It's incredibly specific to running (in fact, it is running)
• Because it's more difficult than running on the road, less time is needed for a great workout

The more and more I think about this sport, the more that I think runners need to try it!

In this episode, we talk everything snowshoe running:

• How it's very similar to cross country
• The gear and equipment required for success
• The training: how is it different from running?
• What you need to know before getting started
• How difficult it can be and how that relates to pace and effort

We also discuss her running retreat Rise. Run. Retreat. for women and how she's making a big impact in the world of women's running.

Megan Roche is a professional runner for HOKA ONE ONE and the 2016 USA Track & Field Trail Runner of the Year at the ultra and sub-ultra distances.

A five-time national champion, she’s also the North American Mountain Running Champion and a six-time member of Team USA.

Her new book The Happy Runner: Love the Process, Get Faster, Run Longer was written with her husband David Roche (also an elite runner who contributed to our Little Black Book of Recovery & Prevention) and presents a unique and compelling view of how to excel as a distance runner.

In it, she discusses a wide range of fascinating topics for runners:

• The difference between hard and fast – and when to prioritize each
• How to define “the process”
• Why kindness can help you become a better runner

And of course, Megan and David cover the training side of things with a focus on how to get the most out of your body.

In this podcast conversation, Megan and I talk about:

• Can positivity make you a more robust runner?
• Does running make people more optimistic?
• Why is running “meaningless?”
• How her medical degree has impacted her training
• A lot more…