Recovering from injuries is challenging when they keep you away from running for days or weeks. But injuries that linger for years require a special type of perspective and perseverance.
This week’s podcast guest received the kind of news you hope never to receive from a doctor - that you might never run again.
Connor Meakin had been an elite athlete long before he took up ultrarunning. He was a member of the Canadian Men’s National Field Hockey Team for four years before completing a road marathon. He quickly discovered his love for the mountains and trails and seemed to have found his calling, winning multiple races in 2014.
What began as a bad ankle sprain in 2014 quickly devolved into a much more serious injury. Connor tried to continue running and racing but the injury worsened and created new issues with his foot.
Soon, a radiologist told Connor he had one of the worst injuries he had ever seen. The doctor recommended he take up cycling and told him that he might never run again, especially in any sort of competitive fashion.
In the face of this grim news, most athletes would give up hope. But 5 years later, he's back to winning races!
Connor discusses a number of the strategies that did contribute to his recovery, including
Whether you’re struggling physically or mentally with an injury, or just trying to avoid them altogether, you’ll find something in Connor’s journey that you can relate to.
Links & Resources from the Show:
Thank you to our newest sponsor, Athletic Greens! They are a health and wellness company that makes AG1. This is a category-leading greens mix that has 75 vitamins and minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, antioxidants, and adaptogens.
One scoop per day is what I’ve been doing to help me fill in any nutrition gaps in my diet. It also provide a nice boost of energy and focus throughout the day. With all 3 of my kids in school, I know I need to support my immune system or else I’m getting sick and can’t train.
I also love that AG1 has changed over the last decade. Athletic Greens has made 53 improvements to the formula based on the latest research to make these nutrients more absorbable.
For our listeners, they are offering a year's worth of free Vitamin D and 5 free travel packs of AG1 with your first purchase. You can sign up for single shipment or for a monthly drop - the choice is yours. Check out Athletic Greens to redeem your offer today.
Geoff Burns, PhD helps us understand the changes in regulations in running footwear, as the industry figures out how to handle the performance impact of carbon-plated “super shoes.” His understanding of the technology, from both a personal and professional perspective, is uniquely informative.
Geoff has competed at the highest levels of ultrarunning and was the 2016 US national champion at 100km, where he ran 6:30. He competed at the collegiate level for the University of Michigan, and went on to represent the USA over the 50km and 100km distances, and finished 5th at both the 2016 and 2018 IAU 100km World Championships.
Geoff also has degrees in biomedical engineering and kinesiology with a PhD from the University of Michigan. His research focuses on running, physiology, biomechanics, and sport performance.
This week’s podcast delves into the science of super shoes, including what has made them such a useful tool for both elite and amateur runners and how you can use them to your own benefit. The episode is unique because all the questions that Geoff answers came directly from Jason's Twitter community.
We discuss:
Links & Resources from the Show:
Our show is supported by our longtime sponsor InsideTracker. Today, more than ever, it's essential that we’re making the right decisions to keep our bodies healthy. To help us be resilient, prevent over-training, and optimize our running to get the most from it.
InsideTracker is the ultra-personalized nutrition platform that analyzes your blood and DNA biomarkers along with your lifestyle habits to help you optimize your body and reach your goals.
InsideTracker’s patented system will transform your body's data into knowledge, insights, and a customized action plan of science-backed recommendations. The data can help you determine whether you’re running too much, not enough, or have some other issues that could be affecting your recovery or performance.
I've had my own blood drawn with InsideTracker several times and have been amazed at the valuable information that they provide. Not only are the results very detailed, but they also share guidance for how to improve any markers that are out of range.
If you’re ready to take control of your health and optimize your training, InsideTracker offers a selection of plans that best suit your needs with a limited time 25% discount.
A big thanks to Elemental Labs for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. And you can get a free sampler pack of 4 flavors and 8 individual packets when you pay $5 in shipping.
Elemental Labs' products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day.
The citrus flavor has quickly become my favorite. I’m drinking one a day now to help me get enough fluids in our dry Colorado air. It’s tasty and delicious and I find that I’m not peeing every 45 minutes throughout the day, which might be an indication I wasn’t eating enough sodium.
There’s now mounting evidence that higher sodium intake levels are not unhealthy – and athletes need substantially more than your typical sedentary person. Of course, ask your doctor if you’re worried. But for those athletes running outside in the heat, an electrolyte replacement makes a lot of sense.
They just released their first new flavor of 2021, their most requested flavor, watermelon salt. So check out Elemental Labs to try their new flavor or get a free sampler pack.
Nick Willis exemplifies longevity not only in the competitive world of elite running, but even more so in an event that typically favors young, powerful runners.
He is the 2008 Olympic silver medalist and the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist in the 1500m. Nick’s PR of 3:29 established him as one of the fastest 1500m runners in history.
Nick also holds a unique record of being the most consistent miler in history. For the past 19 consecutive years, he has run a sub-4 minute mile. On January 1st at midnight, he’ll be attempting his 20th year of sub-4 miles at the Armory in New York City.
In the podcast, we discuss many of the factors that have contributed to Nick’s success, including:
Links & Resources from the Show:
Our show is supported by our longtime sponsor InsideTracker. Today, more than ever, it's essential that we’re making the right decisions to keep our bodies healthy. To help us be resilient, prevent over-training, and optimize our running to get the most from it.
InsideTracker is the ultra-personalized nutrition platform that analyzes your blood and DNA biomarkers along with your lifestyle habits to help you optimize your body and reach your goals.
InsideTracker’s patented system will transform your body's data into knowledge, insights, and a customized action plan of science-backed recommendations. The data can help you determine whether you’re running too much, not enough, or have some other issues that could be affecting your recovery or performance.
I've had my own blood drawn with InsideTracker several times and have been amazed at the valuable information that they provide. Not only are the results very detailed, but they also share guidance for how to improve any markers that are out of range.
If you’re ready to take control of your health and optimize your training, InsideTracker offers a selection of plans that best suit your needs with a limited time 25% discount.
This week's guest on the podcast has raced distances ranging from 5k to ultras. Although he's always been willing to put in the work, he has felt challenged by trying to create a successful training structure for himself.
Chris Robinson is a Team Strength Running member and the Cross Country Head Coach at Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois. While his work as a coach has sometimes made his training take a backseat to that of his athletes, he’s setting some exciting new goals for 2022.
Chris is 49 and set some speedy PRs several years ago, including a 1:37 half marathon and a sub-20 5k. Looking ahead to 2022, he’s setting the goal of running a 5k every month to rebuild training consistency and focus on getting faster.
On this week’s podcast, we’ll take a closer look at Chris’ running background and talk about many aspects of his training:
If you'd like opportunities like this to come on the podcast, join our team!
Our show is supported by our longtime sponsor InsideTracker. Today, more than ever, it's essential that we’re making the right decisions to keep our bodies healthy. To help us be resilient, prevent over-training, and optimize our running to get the most from it.
InsideTracker is the ultra-personalized nutrition platform that analyzes your blood and DNA biomarkers along with your lifestyle habits to help you optimize your body and reach your goals.
InsideTracker’s patented system will transform your body's data into knowledge, insights, and a customized action plan of science-backed recommendations. The data can help you determine whether you’re running too much, not enough, or have some other issues that could be affecting your recovery or performance.
I've had my own blood drawn with InsideTracker several times and have been amazed at the valuable information that they provide. Not only are the results very detailed, but they also share guidance for how to improve any markers that are out of range.
If you’re ready to take control of your health and optimize your training, InsideTracker offers a selection of plans that best suit your needs with a limited time 25% discount.
A big thanks to Elemental Labs for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. And you can get a free sampler pack of 4 flavors and 8 individual packets when you pay $5 in shipping.
Elemental Labs' products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day.
The citrus flavor has quickly become my favorite. I’m drinking one a day now to help me get enough fluids in our dry Colorado air. It’s tasty and delicious and I find that I’m not peeing every 45 minutes throughout the day, which might be an indication I wasn’t eating enough sodium.
There’s now mounting evidence that higher sodium intake levels are not unhealthy – and athletes need substantially more than your typical sedentary person. Of course, ask your doctor if you’re worried. But for those athletes running outside in the heat, an electrolyte replacement makes a lot of sense.
They just released their first new flavor of 2021, their most requested flavor, watermelon salt. So check out Elemental Labs to try their new flavor or get a free sampler pack.
Sam Burke is the founder of Runner’s Tribe, one of Australia's largest running media sites. Recently he jumped into the competitive running shoe industry as the founder of Tarkine, a new startup shoe company for endurance runners.
Runner’s Tribe began in 2008 and has grown into a home for an enormous array of running-related information, including news, product reviews, podcasts, articles, and training diaries from elite runners.
Sam’s new company, Tarkine, is focused on making an environmentally responsible running shoe that reduces its ecological footprint in all stages of the shoemaking process.
Links & Resources from the Show:
Our show is supported by our longtime sponsor InsideTracker. Today, more than ever, it's essential that we’re making the right decisions to keep our bodies healthy. To help us be resilient, prevent over-training, and optimize our running to get the most from it.
InsideTracker is the ultra-personalized nutrition platform that analyzes your blood and DNA biomarkers along with your lifestyle habits to help you optimize your body and reach your goals.
InsideTracker’s patented system will transform your body's data into knowledge, insights, and a customized action plan of science-backed recommendations. The data can help you determine whether you’re running too much, not enough, or have some other issues that could be affecting your recovery or performance.
I've had my own blood drawn with InsideTracker several times and have been amazed at the valuable information that they provide. Not only are the results very detailed, but they also share guidance for how to improve any markers that are out of range.
If you’re ready to take control of your health and optimize your training, InsideTracker offers a selection of plans that best suit your needs with a limited time 25% discount.
Thank you to our newest sponsor, Athletic Greens! They are a health and wellness company that makes AG1. This is a category-leading greens mix that has 75 vitamins and minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, antioxidants, and adaptogens.
One scoop per day is what I’ve been doing to help me fill in any nutrition gaps in my diet. It also provide a nice boost of energy and focus throughout the day. With all 3 of my kids in school, I know I need to support my immune system or else I’m getting sick and can’t train.
I also love that AG1 has changed over the last decade. Athletic Greens has made 53 improvements to the formula based on the latest research to make these nutrients more absorbable.
For our listeners, they are offering a year's worth of free Vitamin D and 5 free travel packs of AG1 with your first purchase. You can sign up for single shipment or for a monthly drop - the choice is yours. Check out Athletic Greens to redeem your offer today.