Chris Johnson is a physical therapist, Ironman triathlete, coach, and a three-time All-American triathlete.
He started studying physical therapy as an undergraduate while he was captain of the tennis team at the University of Delaware. Chris then earned his PT degree while completing an orthopedic and sports graduate fellowship before working in New York City as a physical therapist and researcher.
Chris then moved to Seattle where he started Zeren Physical Therapy. He's also a certified triathlon coach, three-time All American triathlete, two time Kona Qualifier, and is currently ranked 16th in his age group in the country for long course racing.
I’m excited to bring you this conversation focused on injury prevention. We’re exploring a lot of fascinating topics:
Chris possesses a wealth of information about movement fluency, injury prevention, and treatment. I was honored to speak with him and I hope that you get a lot of value from this conversation.
Show Links & Resources:
One of my favorite projects recently was asking nine elite athletes about their favorite injury prevention strategies.
The result is The Little Black Book of Prevention & Recovery. It features:
Each of these athletes share their most effective recovery or injury prevention strategy – and you'll see a lot of options for staying healthy.
Strategies include post-race recovery, why eating is critical for prevention, how to come back to running after you get hurt (and what mistakes to avoid), and the power of eliminating busyness from your life.
Pick and choose the tactics that most resonate with you. Start using them and you’ll start feeling a lot more resilient.
Click the image below to download the free book. Enjoy!
I first met Doug in 2012 for a trail run in Rock Creek Park. At the time, he had only been running for a few years but was quickly smitten by the peaceful grandiosity of trail running and exploring the woods.
As someone who ran his first marathon on a whim (he agreed to it after a few beers one night...), Doug quickly transformed himself into a competent and experienced trail ultramarathoner.
He's now run 100 miles (or more) five times. His idea of a fun weekend is going on a 12-hour adventure summiting peaks in the Great Smoky Mountains. And he has a 100-mile race coming up in May...
You might know Doug as the creative force behind Rock Creek Runner or as the cohost of No Meat Athlete Radio with Matt Frazier.
Or, from one of our earlier conversations about trail running.
But today we're not talking about trails or ultras. We're talking about development, progress, improvement, and growth.
We're discussing how Doug went from non-runner to ultra endurance athlete - and how you can, too.
Show Links & Resources:
I also want to thank SteadyMD for sponsoring this episode. SteadyMD pairs you with a primary care doctor, online who’s available via phone, text, or video for all of your needs.
And not just any doctor, but a fellow runner who understands the training process, your recovery needs, repetitive stress injuries, and can easily order you blood work, referrals for specialists, and more.
Visit SteadymD to learn more about this innovative medical service for endurance runners and reserve your spot.
A Senior Staff Editor and OpDocs producer at The New York Times, Lindsay Crouse's most-read and watched work includes:
Lindsay is one of the foremost voices for women in running, helping us better understand structural inequities that lead to gender inequality and power disparities in the sport.
After earning a history degree from Harvard University while competing in track and field and cross country, Lindsay moved to New York City and worked in a variety of editing and journalism awards before finally landing at The New York Times.
As a senior producer of OpDocs, she's produced memorable videos about the marathoner Memo and Walk, Run, Cha Cha (which earned a nomination for an Academy Award).
Lindsay is at the forefront of current affairs in the running world, highlighting how power is often unjustly wielded by the powerful against those with very little of it.
But she's not just a running journalist - she's a runner! And quite a fast one at that... just this past fall, she raced 2:53 at CIM, scoring a sub-3 marathon and improving on her PR by a massive 6 minutes.
In this conversation, Lindsay and I discuss her work, its real-world impact on the running community, and what draws her to these stories.
We also talk about:
Lindsay Crouse is someone to watch in the world of running. As a near-Olympic Trials Qualifier working for the "newspaper of record," breaking the biggest stories in running, she's an exciting figure in the industry.
This episode would not have been possible without Inside Tracker, who is offering a 10% discount on any of their tests with code strengthrunning.