My guest this week is Allie Kieffer. Allie is a distance runner, running coach, and advocate for inclusivity in the sport of running. She came out of nowhere to place 5th in the 2017 New York City marathon and placed 7th the following year. She’s also finished in the top 6 at National Championships on five different occasions.
Allie and I discuss her amazing NYC performance, the typical runner’s body, finding runner friends, and even veer off-topic more than a few times to discuss dating other runners, living in different places, and the life of a nomadic runner.
My guest this week is Jonathan Levitt. Jonathan is a runner, cyclist and hosts his own podcast for runners called "For The Long Run."
He’s also the Sales and Endurance Team Manager for InsideTracker, a personalized nutrition system that analyzes your blood, DNA, and lifestyle to help you optimize your body and reach your goals.
In this episode, Jonathan and I discuss the stress of moving (he's moving this week) and how that impacted his Boston Marathon performance, the importance of sleep and why people just don't get enough, and the highs and lows of running a 50K.
My guest this week is Andrea Kooiman. She's a wife, mother, coach, and ultra runner.
She's run Badwater135 three times, Western States two times, LAVS 500K, UTMB, HURT, CJ100, LT100, Mount Gaoligong and she's a part of the Grand Slam Class of 2016.
In our discussion, Andrea opens up about the emotions involved with running an ultra, why she prefers coaching kids over adults, being ready to run wherever life takes her, and how to spot the perfect pooping bush during an ultramarathon.
Scheduling issues and guests going into labor means no new episode this week but enjoy this replay of one of our earliest shows - episode #8 - all about the weird rules marathon runners have to follow during races.
In his 20s, Trevor Fuchs was out of shape and smoked cigarettes daily.
Now 38, Trevor is an accomplished plant-based ultrarunner, having won the Wasatch 100 twice, winning the Hurt 100 in 2020, and setting a new FKT on Moab’s White Rim in November 2021.
In this episode, Trevor discusses his love of cooking and baking, losing and finding himself in running, being a dad, and all his old worthless baseball cards.
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This episode of the show is sponsored by Ekrin Athletics. Listeners of this podcast can get 20% OFF any massage therapy gun by using the promo code RUN20 at checkout. Check out their entire line of massage therapy guns at https://ekrinathletics.com.
This week, I’m joined by my first TWO TIME guest on the show, Hollie Sick.
The last time Hollie came on the show, I dubbed her the “Sneaker Geek” and the name stuck. Hollie’s written a running shoe ebook and done hundreds of reviews on sneakers and gear on her website, FueledbyLolz.com
This time around, we’re taking a deep dive into buying running shoes and discussing the common mistakes people make, how to find the sneaker for your running needs, and the pros and cons of being loyal to one brand or sneaker.
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This episode of the show is sponsored by Ekrin Athletics. Listeners of this podcast can get 20% OFF any massage therapy gun by using the promo code RUN20 at checkout. Check out their entire line of massage therapy guns at https://ekrinathletics.com.
My guest on the show this week is Dr. Anna Tanner.
Dr. Tanner is Vice President of Medical Services for Veritas Collaborative and a Board Certified Pediatrician who has spent the last 22 years of her career working with complicated adolescent patients with a special emphasis on treating patients with eating disorders.
In this episode, Dr. Tanner talks about when eating disorders start, teaching proper nutrition in school, the overwhelming feeling people experience during grocery shopping, why people should get rid of the scale in their house, and how to safely try new eating plans.
For the intro of this week's show, I'm joined by Madeline Hewitt of The Madeline Brand.
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This episode of the show is sponsored by Ekrin Athletics. Listeners of this podcast can get 20% OFF any massage therapy gun by using the promo code RUN20 at checkout. Check out their entire line of massage therapy guns at https://ekrinathletics.com.
I'm back! My guest this week is Nick Thompson.
Like many of us, Nick is an extremely busy guy. The 45-year-old dad is the former editor in chief of Wired magazine and current CEO of The Atlantic. Nick has always been a runner, he ran competitively in high school and college and decided a few years ago he wanted to run the fastest marathon of his life. Well, he did something even better.
On a brisk Tuesday morning in Oregon, Thompson etched his name in the American running record books. He ran a 50K in 3:04:36 - just under 6:00 pace - to break the age 45–49 record.
I talk to Nick about why, at the age of 44, he decided to push himself to new limits. We also talk about the sport of running, how his father coming out affected him and his need to run, his keys to time management when trying to hit a goal, and his son now becoming interested in the sport.
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This episode of the show is sponsored by Ekrin Athletics. Listeners of this podcast can get 20% OFF any massage therapy gun by using the promo code RUN20 at checkout. Check out their entire line of massage therapy guns at https://ekrinathletics.com.
My guest this week is author, podcaster, and former NBA G-league star Kevin Owens.
Kevin is a former Division I basketball player and the author of the book “Overseas Famous: The Travels and Tribulations of a Basketball Globetrotter,” where he chronicles his life playing professional basketball in different countries and then coming home only to have to rebuild his life over again.
While Kevin isn’t the typical runner that we have on the show - though we do talk about his reasons for not running as much - everyone will get something out of this interview because of the life transition Kevin had to make when his playing days are over.
In this interview, Kevin talks about his training regime during his playing days and now, why he doesn't (or can't) run as much, his life overseas, and coming home to start his life over again.
My guest on the show this week is Beatie Deutsch.
Beatie is the Israeli national champion in the marathon and half marathon.
Beatie took up running just four years ago and recently went pro with the goal of qualifying for Tokyo 2020 and representing Israel in the Olympics.
More than anything else, her journey has empowered her to dream big and keep pushing, a message Beatie is passionate about sharing with other women.
As a mother of five young kids, she has learned to apply her training to the real marathon of life.
In this episode, Beatie talks about her path to becoming a runner, juggling being a mom with running, and how her faith helps guide her in life and in training.
Running is often thought of as a young person’s sport, but at the age of 39 Bernd Heinrich won his first marathon, as a complete unknown.
It was only the third marathon he had ever run and his first in five years.
Since then, the now 81-year-old has done everything from holding American records in four different distances – and the world records for those same distances in the masters category – at age 45, to outrunning a spitting cobra on the African plains.
Bernd joined the show to talk about running and his new book - Racing The Clock - an in-depth look at running, aging, and the body, exploring the unresolved relationship between metabolism, diet, exercise, and age.
Our guest this week is ultrarunner, skydiver, and nurse, Rachel Belmont.
Rachel never stops moving. She's run the NYC marathon four times, the Boston Marathon, and a marathon on 4/7 of the continents, in locations such as Ireland, Tunisia, and Jordan.
Prior to the pandemic, the New Jersey native was training to run the Mount Everest Ultramarathon. Just 24 at the time, Rachel would have been the youngest person to ever run the race. Unfortunately, the race was canceled because of the pandemic, and Rachel was forced to shift her focus to another race.
She's now training for the Volcano UltraMarathon in Iceland at the beginning of September.
In this episode, Rachel discusses her love of challenging herself, training for the Mount Everest Ultramarathon, living with the disappointment that the race wouldn't happen, and setting her sights on Iceland and the Volcano UltraMarathon.
This week, we're talking to professional long-distance runner and the 2020 USATF Athlete of the Year, Natosha Rogers.
She was a 2020 Cross Country National Champion, 2012 Olympic Trials Silver Medalist, and former Half Marathon National Champion.
In her recent bid to make the US Olympic team, she placed 7th at the Olympic Trials in the 10k. While not making the Olympic team is a setback, it’s nothing compared to the other obstacles life has put in Natosha’s way over the years.
Just over three years ago, the 30-year-old thought her running career was over.
After a knee injury came out of nowhere, and surgery left her barely able to walk, she lost her and had to get a job in tech sales to pay the bills.
She temporarily gave up on her dream of competing professionally until those setbacks helped Rogers discover an inner-strength that helped pull her through even the darkest times.
In this interview, Natosha talks about her injuries, the power of mantras and manifesting, getting into some dark moments, and her climb back to being a professional runner.
At 23 years old, comedian Dan LaMorte found himself in a hospital bed suffering from a fatty liver and tipping the scales at over 354 pounds.
Besides the liver issues, Dan also had gastrointestinal issues. Celiac disease was a possibility, and even though the tests came back inconclusive, the New Jersey native decided to cut gluten from his diet.
Dan saw results quickly and after shedding some pounds decided to take up running.
With the pandemic shutting comedy clubs across the country, Dan had plenty of time to focus on his running. Eventually his short runs became longer distances, putting in 20 and then 30 miles a week.
And then one day, Dan ran an ultra marathon.
In this episode, Dan talks about his early days playing baseball and blowing out his arm, getting into stand-up comedy, putting on and eventually losing 171 pounds and using weed as a pre-workout.
This week, we’re joined by “The Ultramarathon Man” himself, Dean Karnazes.
Stop during any moment of the day today and think to yourself “I wonder if Dean Karnazes is running right now.” The answer is probably yes. We’re not sure Dean Karnazes ever stops running.
One named by TIME magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World,” Dean Karnazes has pushed his body - and mind - to inconceivable limits.
Probably most well known for running 50 marathons in 50 states for 50 consecutive straight days, Karnazes has logged miles in places people wouldn’t dream of stepping foot. He’s run racing in the hottest, driest, windiest, and coldest places in the world including across Death Valley in the middle of summer, and ran 26.2 at the South Pole.
Karnazes is also a New York Times best-selling author and his latest book - "A Runner’s High: My Life in Motion" - might be his best work yet.
In this episode, Dean some of the amazing stories in his new book, running and age, the mind of the runner, his diet, endurance and sleep, and how long he plans on running.
It’s impossible to cover every part of Latoya Shauntay Snell’s life in an hour-long discussion but damn if we didn’t try.
She’s a chef, podcaster, writer, and a self-proclaimed “accidental activist”, pushing back against body shamers and anonymous keyboard warriors.
Latoya has done just about everything in life and experienced the joys and sorrows which accompany each new barrier she breaks.
Latoya followed her early love of cooking to culinary school. After graduating, Latoya worked as a freelance food stylist and photographer and explored the world of corporate dining while working for several different restaurants.
While her career was reaching new heights, so was her weight, and in October 2012 Latoya found herself in the hospital with disc degeneration, moderate level sciatica, a herniated disc, and a crashing immune system.
“I was well over 265 pounds thanks to depression and other factors thrown into the picture,” explained Latoya. “My doctor didn't think I'd make it to see 30 years old.”
So began her weight loss journey, at one point dropping close to 170 pounds, though this isn’t the typical story of “fat person gets skinny” and the world falls in love with the story.
In this interview, Latoya discusses her early life with her dad and his love of cooking, the backlash she received for dropping so much weight, rising above the online hate that comes her way on a daily basis, the insane story of meeting one of her online bullies in real life, and her ability to remain positive - and funny as hell - in the face of constant adversity.
Some athletes would give up after suffering a major health setback. Eric Esposito isn't one of those athletes.
Eric is a triathlete an Iron Man competitor. He is also a traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivor. In 2017, Eric was hit by a car and thrown off his bike.
In this episode, Eric discusses his accident, how the TBI has changed him as a person and athlete, getting back to training after the accident, and staying focused during races and training.
Amanda Brooks wants people to be content with being a “middle-of-the-pack” runner.
She created her website - Run To The Finish - back in 2007 as a place to support those middle-of-the-pack runners and help them enjoy running regardless of the time on their watches.
Amanda is a certified running coach, certified personal trainer, and has over 26,000 of running experience herself.
Amanda feels running is about so much more than just pace and PRs.
She also knows people don’t have the time or energy to keep up on all the latest research on running so she does all of the heavy lifting on her website. She’s written over 200 researched articles on running in the last ten years.
In this episode, Amanda discusses imposter syndrome and runners, recovery runs, her transition from just a runner to a coach, and the importance of strength training. Amanda also discusses her work with women and training during menstrual cycles.
Taping nipples. Knowing where to find all the best public bathrooms. Wearing medals.
Runners do have some quirks but can any of this behavior be classified as “weird”?
In this special episode, Chris and Gina review a recent list published on Runner’s World listing the 30 weird things runners do as compared to other athletes and just regular people.
Chris and Gina review the list and discuss which behaviors, quirks, ticks, and superstitions seem weird and which sound completely normal, even to just casual runners.
The hosts even admit to their own weird running quirks and habits on rest days, during training, and on race days.
**This episode is supported by Manscaped. Go to Manscaped.com and use the promo code WERUNTHIS20 to get 20% OFF and Free Shipping on your order.**
Recovery is important for athletes of all skill levels and abilities but in recent years the actual science behind how our body recovers has gotten a little confusing.
People are bombarded with ads for “cutting edge” recovery products and services: from drinks and recovery shakes to compression sleeves, foam rollers, electrical muscle stimulators, smartwatches, sleep trackers, and cryotherapy.
Christie Aschwanden is here to set the record straight about which the real ways to recovery and all of the unnecessary - and expensive - recovery products and promises to avoid.
Christie is the author of “Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery” and the former lead science writer at FiveThirtyEight. She’s also a frequent contributor to The New York Times and a former columnist for the Washington Post.
A lifetime athlete, Christie has raced in Europe and North America on the Team Rossignol Nordic ski racing squad and enjoys trail running, bicycling, skiing when she’s not investigating or debunking the newest recovery fad.
In our talk, Christie talks about the true science of recovery and discusses some of the findings in her book like whether drinking Gatorade really helps or hinders performance, how long a person should wait to get back into training after injury, the honest truth about ice baths, and much more.
**This episode is supported by Manscaped. Go to Manscaped.com and use the promo code WERUNTHIS20 to get 20% OFF and Free Shipping on your order.**