The Running Public

When should you suck it up and run in the heat? When should you avoid running in the heat? Do your race goals impact your decision? What if you run for fun / mental health?

With threshold training all the rage, there is a lot of discussion about “X Days”. Should this always be a fast, speed based session or is there more to it than that?

Today we answer fourteen of your best questions about running, training, shoes, heat, drugs, and racing!

What is the minimum turn around time needed between long races to have any chance at success? For a reasonable shot at success? For maximum chance at success?

Brakken recorded an episode on Rich Ryan’s RMR Podcast this week (go check it out!) and it prompted him to ask Kirk some questions about how his coaching started and evolved over time.

DJ joined us 300 episodes ago after winning World’s Toughest Mudder. Fast forward 3 years and he just crossed the finish line of the Cocodona 250 in third place. From OCR athlete to big time Ultra runner, he has embodied the idea of staying the course.

With the rise of hormone therapy and anti-aging medical practices, how should amateur athletes be thinking about drug use?

Fresh off his win at the Superior Trail 50k, Kirk gives us his recap, takeaways, and learnings from the race.

It’s race week! Time to break down gear choice, fueling strategy, and pacing plan. Plus a few bonus listener questions thrown in there!

Lizzie May has transformed her fitness and performance over recent years and now helps others do the same. Lizzie shares her learnings through personal experience & we also collab on a mini Hyrox Q & A! Topics covered: 

How useful is RPE for runners? Heat Training for hot races Hyrox training vs Ultra training Super shoes for downhill work? Running robots

Should you let your HR spike during trail ultras or should you double down on a set HR limit? The boys can’t agree on this one!

Natalie is the ultimate Beginner Runner. She found running as a way to cope with her anxiety and is currently training towards her first half marathon. Along the way, her personality and outlook on running and life have been captivating for others to witness. 

National and World Records are being set left and right and we just witnessed the fastest marathon in history. What is happening?!?

We first spoke to Hans in January 2024, days after his Ultra debut. Two years later, he’s arguably the fastest rising star in the sport. He recently won the JFK 50, won the Black Canyon 100k and signed a multi year deal with Hoka.

Dr Patrick Bottenfield stops by to discuss when it’s time to address an overuse injury as well as his top lower body strengthening movements for runners. 

What exactly is considered “high carb fueling”? How much water do you need? Should you use liquid or solid calories? Where and how do you even begin to formulate a fueling plan for long races?

The boys are reunited so it’s time to catch up with some training talk!

Brakken is on vacation so Kirk is doing what he loves most: cleaning out the listener questions from his inbox!

A Coast Guard veteran, medic, and hybrid athlete, Jake is running 10 miles per day for the next 50 days while raising funds for mental health. 

We send Brakken off on his trip to Poland with a light hearted episode: answering questions from a random generator but doing so with a running twist.

While we’re not always big fans of Race Simulator or Race Predictor workouts, we are definitely big fans of Race Prep workouts. Here’s how and when to implement this type of session!

We are celebrating our 600th episode the best way we know: doing a Q&A, taking way too long with each answer and thus failing to get through the entire queue! 

These aren’t workouts you could build your entire training around. These are the workouts that round out your mental and physical fitness.

Today we discuss the best and worst race choices we’ve ever made when it comes to fuel, shoes, gear, and mid-race decisions 

Today is a good ole fashioned training chat! We cover what we’re doing in our own training, some trends with the athletes we work with, some race updates, and plenty of miscellaneous rabbit holes.

A professional driver for Lexus, Aaron joins us to talk fitness, training, mental toughness, and doing whatever it takes to pursue your goal.

Zach recently won the Phoenix Hyrox Open division, running an impressive 56:39. And he did it weighing in at 110 lbs. In a sport where frame, mass, and long levers truly matter, how has he been able to achieve this level of success?

Take2Trail is built by and for runners who believe gear should keep moving long after we’re done with it. They give your like-new and gently used trail running gear a chance to see another mile. No flaky buyers. No sketchy meetups. Just a smarter, smoother way to keep quality gear in circulation — and out of the landfill.

Used doesn't mean useless.

We are joined by Sam Konowitch, a software engineer contracting for Space Force, to learn every single detail we could ever need to know about fully utilizing the capabilities of our GPS watches. From extending battery life to maximizing route accuracy in every location imaginable, this is the episode to nerd out on all things run tracking!

We fully intended to just rapid fire the remaining questions and then hit our real topic. An hour later we were still deep diving into the Q&A topics!

We pick up with your remaining questions from last week! Highlights include Heat Training, Hamstring Strengthening, Super Shoes for “Slow” Runners, and Compromised Running.

When COVID effectively ended his music career, Cody reinvented himself as a an endurance athlete. From running across the Atacama Desert to setting an FKT on the Bruce Trail in the wilderness of Canada, he’s been searching for his limit and hasn’t found it yet.

You’ve sent some great questions this month! Highlights include:

What’s holding you back, efficiency or engine? 
What supplements should you be trying?

Uphill efficiency vs flat speed efficiency.

What should you do if your HR is too high even when jogging slow?

Jared Francisca PT, DPT, joins us to talk specific processes for rehabbing common running related soft tissue injuries (tendinitis, tendinopathy, strains, tears). 

Kirk takes one side and Brakken takes the other while they debate the overall importance of Strength Training for a distance runner.

With both boys scheduled to toe the same start line in May, this marks their first time racing each other since 2021! Today they break down their lifetime head to head match ups and predict how this one will go.

Kirk takes one side and Brakken takes the other while they debate the overall importance of Long Runs in a training plan.

Exactly one hundred episodes ago, we spoke with Betsy about her plan to ran across the US despite living with MS. Here we are, one year later, to discuss her experience!

Both Brakken and Kirk entered the lottery and this week they both found out they got in! With sixteen weeks until race day, what is their plan for being ready to attack 31 miles of technical, hilly terrain??