Cross-training is supplemental exercise that can be helpful to your running, like cycling.
But just like form drills, strides, or dynamic flexibility exercises, I consider strength training to be an integral part of how to train distance runners.
If you’re not strength training, then you’re not training.
Running by itself only gets you so far. It’s a fairly one-dimensional form of exercise, after all.
If you look at how pro runners train (hell, even high school runners), you’ll see a lot of “other things” in their training:
Whoever said runners just ran?!
All of this extra training makes you stronger, more efficient, and flexible with higher levels of coordination.
In other words, you become a better athlete. Because you’re not a runner – you’re an athlete that specializes in running.
I wanted to dive into the topic of strength training in more detail so you know what to do – and how to do it – to become a faster and less injury-prone runner.
I’m doing something a little different today in that I’d like to share with you what I think are the best gift ideas for runners this year. Now as a running coach, my focus is on improvement so I’m only going to recommend things that are going to help you improve. That’s why I won’t be suggesting sweatshirts, socks, shoes, or anything like that. Those are “nice to haves” but what’s in this episode are gifts that will help you get to the next level.
I also want to be completely transparent on three things:
#1 - If you follow any of the links that I mention or use the discount codes, then Strength Running is going to get a small kickback. It won’t cost you anything extra but it does help support the podcast so I can keep churning out episodes.
Ok #2. I’m only promoting products where I can give you a discount. The holidays can be a financially challenging time so I’m trying to hook you up with discounted and helpful running products.
FInally #3, I own, trust completely, or use myself all of these products and services. I will never promote something that I don’t believe in because life is too short not to be able to sleep at night.
Enjoy this episode and have a great holiday season!
I invited Nick to share as much detail as possible about his marathon training, race strategy, and post-race recovery so you can understand how an elite marathoner tackles the race.
Just recent he posted on Instagram:
To run your best, you have to put in the work, know your body, and keep reminding yourself that you can do it. Train both your mind and body.
And today, you'll hear what "the work" means to a professional marathoner.
You'll learn:
This episode goes deep into marathon training - the nuts and bolts and nitty gritty details of how an elite marathoner trains and races 26.2 miles.
Note that our conversation is just an excerpt from the full interview available to Team Strength Running members.
I encourage you to learn more about the team here (we're opening soon!).
Depending on whether you started running today or last year, today's podcast will clarify the most high-impact training available to you.
Because certain training strategies and workouts are either too easy for some runners - or too difficult.
Like Goldilocks, it's important to plan training that's "just right."
And new runners are at an interesting time in their running careers. There's so much potential and improvements will come quickly as long as runners stay healthy and focused.
So first, don't get injured!
Next, run consistently!
If you're healthy and running consistently, now you can take "the next step" and start focusing on bigger goals.
Jenny Hadfield has been helping runners accomplish their wildest goals for over two decades with a regular column in Runner's World and her promotion of adventure travel around the world.
She's a best-selling author with titles like Running for Mortals and Marathoning for Mortals and has been called "THE coach of this generation."
Even though started running later in life, she's become quite the endurance athlete with race finishes around the world:
With her coaching and running experience, we teamed up to help new runners with 0 - 18 months of running experience get their training started on the right foot.
Is that you? Don't miss this new episode of the Strength Running podcast.
If you can replicate the principles (not necessarily the exact workouts, mileage, etc.) that lead to personal bests then you can keep improving and setting personal bests.
The alternative is hitting a performance plateau. Stagnating. Running the same times over and over again...
And nobody wants that!
After working with a lot of runners for the better part of a decade, I've come to understand that there are three areas that most contribute to declining performances.
In this episode, we go over all three of those issues, simple fixes, and more strategies to help your speed keep increasing!
The best runners know when to get help and work together.
If you're a Lone Wolf, some things are inevitable:
But the runners who get the support, guidance, and camaraderie they need always seem to reach their goals.
Which one are you?
Today, my friend Mario Fraioli is joining me on the podcast to help me answer your toughest questions and give you the support needed to reach new levels of performance.
Mario and I competed against each other in college (he always beat me) while he was at Stonehill and I was at Connecticut College.
After graduation, he dove headfirst into the running industry. Some of his notable achievements:
Today, his main project is The Morning Shakeout, a weekly newsletter of commentary and thoughts on running, culture, writing, and media.
Despite his coaching, writing, and training duties, Mario made time to help members of the Strength Running community with their running questions.
For a lot of runners, what started as a way to get in shape or lose a few pounds turns into a lifelong passion.
Soon, you're going on running retreats and flying across the country to run a marathon. What did we do with all of our free time before running?!
Alas, not every runner gets to experience a lifetime of running bliss.
Some of us over train, burn out, or get so injured that we simply give up. But I will not let that happen to you!
Instead, let's learn from lifelong competitors who are still running after decades of workouts, long runs, and races.
These are athletes that have discovered the secret to unlocking a lifetime of racing, trail runs, and workouts (in other words... a lifetime of FUN!).
And Jonathan Beverly interviewed 50 of them to help you run for decades.
In his new book Run Strong, Stay Hungry: 9 Keys to Staying in the Race, Jonathan Beverly discusses the universal principles that promote lifelong running.
He spoke with 50 "lifetime competitors" like:
But more importantly, he interviewed a lot of normal runners! Not just Olympians or previous Boston Marathon winners - but average runners who don't have elite genetics.
That's why this podcast episode is so important: it's what works for all runners - not just the best runners.
Last August, we witnessed the most electrifying track race in history at the World Championships: the women's 3,000m Steeplechase.
Before this race, no American woman had ever won a medal in the steeple at the World Championships.
Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs changed that with an historic 1-2 finish, decimating a field that included the current World Record holder and Olympic Champion.
This was also the first time any Americans had taken home both gold and silver at the World Champions or the Olympics in a race longer than 400m since the 1912 Olympics.
Both Emma and Courtney also ran faster than the existing American Record.
NBC Sports called the race "shocking."
Sports Illustrated described Courtney's effort "certainly one of the biggest surprises of the world championships."
And ESPN boldly proclaimed that this was one of the best races in the history of running.
I'll paraphrase ESPN:
Before this race, Courtney' fastest steeplechase time was 9:19. She beat that time by an enormous 15 seconds to win silver in 9:03.77. That's like scoring a hat trick in a World Cup soccer game after totaling only three goals all season.
No American had won a world title in steeplechase since 1952. No U.S. women had ever finished 1-2 in any world championship distance race. Track nerds -- why isn't there such a thing as a football nerd? -- are calling this the most thrilling race of the 2017 World Championships, and one of the greatest moments in American distance running history.
You sports fans can just call it amazing. Like a football game where -- nah, forget that. After a race like this, nobody cares about football.
A 15-second improvement? Over a race that's less than two miles long? INSANITY!
That kind of PR puts Courtney in the record books. She's now the 8th fastest woman to ever run the steeplechase.
Today you're going to hear directly from Courtney about this historic race.
But we almost never discuss the failures of the world's best runners.
What does it feel like to never achieve your biggest goal throughout your entire career?
How does an elite keep perspective? Do they ever think about quitting?
Most importantly... how do elites bounce back from setbacks? Do they have a different mindset than us normal runners?
What enables them to continue training at high levels for years?
How do they overcome a bad workout, long run, or race?
These are the questions that I couldn't get out of my head.
So I interviewed six pro runners to get their hot take on failure:
They're the stars of Episode 39 of the Strength Running podcast. I think you're going to love this episode.
We talk about their own personal failures, how they bounced back, and whether their approach to failure has changed over time.
Meet Devon Yanko. On August 19, 2017 she won the Leadville Trail 100 - a race where 9,200 feet altitude is the lowest you'll experience on the course.
She finished in 20:46:29, averaging 12:28 per mile - a half hour ahead of her nearest competitor.
With nearly 16,000 feet of elevation change through Colorado's gnarliest mountain terrain, the course is so difficult that in most years, less than half of the field finishes the race.
Having run in similar places, I can vouch for how strenuous this terrain can be (even for experienced runners). With precious air at a costly premium, the steep grades and uneven footing make traversing these trails a form of slow-motion torture.
Going uphill burns the lungs after just a few steps. Each muscle contraction seems to draw double the amount of oxygen to fuel their movements.
Running downhill isn't much better. The rocky terrain is a nightmare for those with weak ankles.
Try running fast on a technical downhill trail after running for 3+ hours (in the dark, no less). It's terrifying.
To win Leadville is like single-handedly winning the World Series or the Superbowl.
Leadville is one of the top ultramarathons in the world. Winning it is a career-defining moment for trail runners.
But for Devon, it's just one more race on her long list of achievements:
Not to be outdone, she's also the owner of M. H. Bread and Butter bakery in San Anselmo, CA with her husband.
Strength Running readers will also be familiar with Devon - she joined eight other elite athletes in sharing her best injury prevention and recovery advice for The Little Black Book of Prevention & Recovery (it's free - download it now).
You're going to love my conversation with Devon - but not just because she's one of the best long distance runners in the world.
She's also hilarious.
Alexi's talents extend far beyond the track and screen. She's been a...
As you can see, Alexi has done a lot more than just running. That's why, in this interview, we don't talk much about running.
I didn't ask her what it was like being a multiple All-American for Dartmouth College. Or how it felt to set the Greek Record at the Rio Olympics of 31:36 in the 10,000m.
Instead, we talk about what it's like to pursue so many goals, what she's reading, and how she differentiates between her creative pursuits and being an elite athlete.
This conversation will show you how to pursue many goals and interests (while still prioritizing what's most important to you).
Alexi is a boundless source of quotables and wisdom that I found refreshing. I hope you enjoy this episode.
And please, don't criticize my Haiku poem at the end of the show. I'm not a poet!
You might know David from drdavidgeier.com where he simplifies the complex area of sports medicine.
David's most notably an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist in Charleston, South Carolina.
He was Director of MUSC Sports Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina for eights years and is currently the Communications Council Chair for the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Board of Directors.
Major media have featured his advice in interviews from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, NBC News, The Atlantic, Forbes, and many others.
Check out David's new book, That's Gotta Hurt! The Injuries That Changed Sports Forever.
As you can see, I was quite excited to chat with him about the best injury prevention practices for younger athletes.
I hope you enjoy our conversation.
In Episode 33, I introduced you to Joel Runyon who recently ran an ultramarathon on every continent - and raised a staggering $190,000 in the process.
Today, we're diving deeper into the obstacles he faced, lessons learned, and what he'd change if he were to do it all over again.
In part two of our conversation, Joel opens up about the obstacles he faced while attempting to finish the 777 Project.
They included injuries, unrelated lawsuits, brutal trail races in the mountains of Thailand, and the normal logistical nightmares of running races all over the world.
Of course, Joel didn't quit.
It didn't matter that he had to take 6 months off to rehabilitate a peroneal tendon injury.
He didn't care that every race - and the travel that went along with it - was self-funded.
Nor was it even an option to quit during a race (how's that for commitment?).
More important than the mindset that allowed Joel to leapfrog these obstacles is the impact and lessons learned from the 777 Project.
We cover all that and more in today's episode of the Strength Running Podcast.
To help you shatter your perception of what's possible, discover the training necessary to run 100 miles, and inspire you to chase your next stretch goal, I've invited Magdalena Boulet onto the podcast to talk about her performance at this year's Western States Endurance Run.
One of the biggest names in the world of ultramarathons, Magda Boulet has an impressive list of credentials:
She prepares methodically for challenging races, leaving no stone unturned as she strives to compete with the fastest endurance runners on the planet.
This unique "testing mindset" helped her identify potential injury warnings before this year's Western States, vaulting her onto the podium.
Using a blood analytics service called Inside Tracker, she identified biomarkers outside of her optimal zones - and then went to work fixing them through diet and lifestyle changes.
She's on the podcast today to talk more about:
Enjoy!
Joel smashes through goals normally considered impossible.
Recently, he completed an ambitious project to run 7 ultramarathons on 7 continents for charity to build 7 schools in developing countries.
He succeeded - raising over $190,000. The 777 Project brought him to:
Joel's philanthropic quest brought him around the world to extreme locations and terrain that nearly broke him.
But his persistence led to the constructions of seven schools through Pencils of Promise, a charity where 100% of donations go toward its mission of school construction, scholarships, and trains teachers.
Joel is on the podcast to talk about what it takes to run a series of ultramarathons in rapid succession, in varying climates, on very different terrain, all over the world.
What are the travel logistics like for such an audacious project?
How do you train for so many different races?
What kind of gear is necessary to race in Antarctica?
We cover that - and a lot more - on today's show.
Jonathan Beverly was the editor-in-chief of Running Times for 15 years. He’s run nearly 30 marathons and hundreds of road and trail races around the world.
He’s also coached with the New York Road Runners Club, taught several college running classes, and has coached junior and high school track and cross country since 2003.
Jonathan’s new book quickly became one of my favorites. Your Best Stride: How to Optimize Your Natural Running Form to Run Easier, Farther, and Faster – with Fewer Injuries is a holistic look at how to run with better form.
He does not promote a certain brand of form (like Chi or POSE).
He won’t make you run on your forefoot (that’s a big no-no).
And he isn’t even gung-ho about “cues” that make you run slightly differently.
Instead, the goal is to bring you back to when you were 10 years old. Remember back then? If not, just know that you ran with a lot better form back then.
Jonathan is on the podcast today to discuss how to reclaim your youthful, smooth, powerful stride.
Tina is a professional distance runner, Great Britain Olympic hopeful, and 11-time All-America Track and Field/Cross Country athlete for Ferris State University.
She's run in two British Olympic Trials, finishing 3rd in the 10k in 2012 and 5th in the Marathon in 2016.
Her personal bests, as you can imagine, are out of this world:
Earlier this year, Tina made a stunning announcement that she was taking a hiatus as a pro runner. She's recovering from amenorrhea (she didn't have a period for 9 years) and is hoping to start a family soon.
But she realized that she just didn't enjoy her running anymore.
Every run was a struggle. She dreaded upcoming workouts and just wasn't excited about training anymore.
I consider this to be an unspoken problem in the running community. Amid calls for consistency, putting in the work, and training "no matter what" there lies a deeper issue: once you've done that, when is it ok to stop?
Tina is on the SR Podcast today to talk about her journey and give hope to runners everywhere whose hearts just aren't set on hard training anymore.
This is an honest, real, and personal conversation that I hope you enjoy.
I invited Simon Marshall, PhD and his wife Lesley Patterson to talk about practical strategies for building confidence, reducing pre-race anxiety, and managing fears.
Their new book The Brave Athlete is a handbook for the athlete's brain, showing you how to:
This husband and wife team is quite the duo. Simon is former professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of San Diego and a professor of sport and exercise psychology at San Diego State University.
Currently, he's the performance psychologist for BMC Racing - a World Tour professional cycling team.
His wife Lesley Patterson is a dominant triathlete, having won three world off-road triathlon champions and an Ironman Triathlon. A professional mountain biker, she's also a former national champion in cross country.
And I think all of us get how important our brain is to our running.
How many times have you been halfway through a long run and dreaded every step?
How many races have you wished in hindsight that you had sucked it up and ran harder instead of settling?
It's happened to me more times than I can count. And it happens to world-class athletes (like Lesley, which we talk about) all the time, too.
This podcast will show you how to turn your brain into an asset, rather than a liability.
What we put into our bodies has a profound impact on our ability to train effectively.
In short, if you care about you running, you have to care about your eating habits.
And I've brought a Registered Dietitian on the SR Podcast to help.
Over the last few weeks, I've surveyed the Strength Running Twitter and Facebook communities about dieting, weight loss, nutrition, and race fueling.
I collected about a dozen of the best questions and got my friend Anne Mauney to help me answer them for you.
Anne worked with me to create one of SR's flagship programs, Nutrition for Runners.
She's one of the busiest RD's I know with a private practice in Washington, DC and a popular lifestyle blog. She also gives healthy eating presentations and workshops to organizations like Whole Foods.
Her work has been featured in Glamour, Self, The Washington Post, and Fitness Magazine. When she's not helping athletes improve their diets, she's usually running around DC or tackling yet another half marathon.
There are also two more Q&A podcasts that we did together - download them here for free.
On this episode, we cover a lot of questions:
Enjoy!
Usually, I fire off answers as fast as I can. Whether that's on Facebook or Twitter, I try to be as responsive as possible.
But sometimes, life gets in the way. I simply don't have the time to answer all of your questions - especially when a single SR email goes out to about 80,000 runners...
That does not, however, mean I'm not paying attention.
In fact, I often save your running questions to get to them later. And that's exactly what we're doing today.
Joining me as the SR Podcast's first co-host is my friend, fellow coach, and ultra runner Doug Hay.
Fresh off his sub-15hr run at the Ultra Run of Champions (snagging him a sweet belt buckle!), Doug is helping us get to the bottom of some of your toughest questions.
Let's dive in.
I met Ian in August, 2016 one day before the Leadville Trail 100. We got coffee with a friend of ours and then watched a Beer Mile (it took place on the road behind us in the above picture).
Ian officiated – starting the race and cheering on runners as they raced and chugged beers.
Two days later, Ian crossed the finish line of the Leadville Trail 100 in first place – his third victory.
He’s no slouch in the world of ultra running. In fact, he’s one of the best ultramarathoners in the world:
And over the last year, I’ve been fortunate to work with Ian on a few different projects:
Now he’s back to talk about running an 11+ minute personal best at the Mt. Charleston Marathon.
But it’s not all training geekery. Did you know Ian has run dozens of marathons in costumes?
In fact, he’s run a 2:40 marathon as Spider Man!
This is going to be fun 🙂
I invited Tom Foreman on the podcast to philosophize about running, goals, and racing throughout life.
You might recognize Tom as an emmy-award winning journalist at CNN. He's reported on wars, natural disasters, and political skirmishes across 20 countries.
He's also quite the runner.
Author of My Year of Running Dangerously, Tom has a handful of marathons and ultramarathons under his belt and is chasing a BQ soon at the Cincinnati Marathon.
More than anything, Tom has a unique perspective on what running means at various stages of life.
Speaking with Tom is always a treat so I hope you enjoy this conversation. I think it will bring you new appreciation for running!
Is it surprising that I don’t think strength workouts are cross-training? Rather, strength work is just part of your training as a runner.
Cross-training is supplemental exercise that can be helpful to your running, like cycling.
But just like form drills, strides, or dynamic flexibility exercises, I consider strength training to be an integral part of how to train distance runners.
If you’re not strength training, then you’re not training.
And to help you get things right in the weight room, I invited top strength and conditioning coach Tony Gentilcore on the Strength Running podcast to talk about:
Cofounder of Cressey Sports Performance, Tony now owns his own gym outside of Boston and trains top-level athletes and everyone else.
A frequent contributor to major fitness and media outlets like T-Nation, Women’s Health, and The Boston Herald, Tony also runs a popular strength training blog.
Tony made my job easy as podcast host because he has a great sense of humor and can make exercise science seem easy. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I did speaking with Tony.
Even if you’re comfortable in the gym, you won’t want to miss this episode.
You might recall George from episode 6 of the Strength Running podcast.
We talked about a lot:
George wanted help planning for a PR attempt at the half marathon. Episode 6 was a “behind the scenes” coaching call where we strategized on how he could make it happen.
Now, he’s back on the podcast to see if my ideas actually worked!
For a long time, George’s episode was the most downloaded show because folks loved listening “over my shoulder” as we strategized.
And I think you’ll enjoy this show just as much.
It's not every day that you meet somebody with so many varied interests.
And when you do, pay attention. Their insights and mental models are light years ahead of the average person.
Simon Donato is one of these "Renaissance Men." His many accomplishments include:
He's on the podcast today to help us find more adventure in our life.
I think runners are uniquely suited to be adventurers because of our endurance, appetite for suffering, and thirst for new experiences.
This episode is an excerpt from an interview included in Team Strength Running - affordable coaching with teammates, proven training, me as your coach, and team perks like discounts and other bonuses.
If you'd like to learn more about the team, sign up at http://strengthrunning.com/tsr/ (we're opening soon!).