Before getting into the running, I was actually a SMOKER who couldn’t even run down the block. I used to hold onto the belief that marathons and races in general were for people who were not like me. I genuinely didn’t know that it was physically possible for me to build up to be able to run long distances let alone a FULL MARATHON. Now I have 27 marathons under my belt and have helped thousands of people go from beginner runners to marathon finishers. In this episode we are going to talk about what it takes to build up to a marathon and how to do it safely so that you can continue to run for a lifetime and not just be a ‘one and done’. 

Marathoning maybe USED to be just for elite, but with the recent running BOOM we are starting to see that normal every day people with no experience can achieve amazing things and build up to a marathon.

1. If your goal was to run a marathon in the next 6-9 months and you had NEVER done a run before, where should you start?

   1. Start with walking 

   2. Run/Walk intervals every other day

   3. Start with 10-20 min and build up

   4. Cut back weeks every 2-3 weeks

   5. Find a half marathon half way through the training

   6. Join a a group or find someone/something to be apart of community is everything

   7. Don’t worry about workouts- go at a zone 2 pace

2. How do you know if you are running the correct pace?

   1. Zone 2 is going to be the safest place to be- grab a HR monitor and 60-70% of your max HR

   2. Another way to do this is think of a pace that you are not needing to take breaks from- should feel super easy. Breathing is light

   3. Your long run pace should be the same as your easy run pace

3. How to build the long run

   1. You have to have increase long runs to be able to finish a marathon

   2. Old rules state to not have a long run be more than 30% of your weekly mileage, but these rules may not apply if you are newer to the sport and just can’t run high mileage yet. - to balance out the fact that it is risky to have such a long run relative to weekly mileage (ie a 12 mile long run when you only run 20 miles a week) we will want to keep these long runs extremely slow.

4. Confidence is key

   1. Everyone is nervous about the marathon distance

   2. I’ve done 27 marathons and still freak out about long runs

   3. It’s good to find something to distract yourself and remain calm in the early miles

5. FUELING!

   1. This is no joke. You can get ‘away’ with faster on shorter runs but when you make the jump to doing 60-90 min runs, it’s going to hit different. Fueling is EVERYTHING

   2. Eat a carb rich breakfast

   3. Take 60 grams of carbs PER HOUR minimum. 

   4. Aim for 1000mg of sodium PER HOUR

   5. Train the way you plan to race

6. Don’t ruin your race by putting too much time goal pressure

   1. It’s fun to push yourself but it’s not fun to overshoot your capabilities and end of hitting the wall.

As we approach a new year, there are tons of athletes setting new years goals and resolutions for 2025. But in order to really achieve goals in the future, it is important to reflect back on what we have done in the past. Is there anything we want to change going forward? How can we become a better version of ourselves in the future? Many people set intentions to become better in the future but they fail to recognize the things that have held them back in the past. We often repeat the same patterns over and over again without realizing the issue at hand.

1. Stuck in a rut of the same old training over and over

   1. Comfort zone

      1. Over training?

      2. No workouts?

      3. Same goals every year

   2. Law of diminishing returns

   3. Juggling kids practices & working out

2. Too many goals in too many directions

   1. BQ

   2. PR

   3. Orange Theory

   4. Ironman

3. Lack of accountability for when things get challenging

   1. Anyone can stay on track for a few weeks or months- what happens when you get sick or are not feeling great?

4. Process drive goals vs outcome based goals

   1. You have to commit to the process

1. How do you fuel a marathon

Need to fuel every 20-30 min 

60 grams of carbs per hour

1000 mg of sodium per hour

This is not something that should be new, This should be practiced

1. How to handle upset stomach due to gels during the marathon

   1. Fueling during training

2. How much speed work should you do in the offseason: I won’t actually run a 5k until the spring

3. Type of training during the offseason from the marathon training

   1. Lots of ways to approach this

   2. Consistency is most important: not just runs but workouts/specifics

   3. Not overdoing it

   4. Depends on your long terms goals

1. How to get into the right mindset before a race

   1. Practice race mindset during workouts

   2. Do races in the build up

   3. Visualization

2. How do you incorporate heavy lifting

   1. Start light- make sure you have proper form

   2. Do it on hard days or day after hard running workouts

   3. Consistency is key

   4. You don’t build during peak marathon training

   5. Offseason

3. How do you know whether or not you need a trainer/coach

   1. No one really needs to have a coach just like no one needs to have a financial advisor or needs to have a house cleaner

   2. It is a benefit to you because it can save you time/stress

   3. It is a perk you can give yourself

   4. This is your hobby, why would you not invest in it?

   5. Better results, less chance of injury, part of a community

1. If VDOT says I should run 8:00 pace for a marathon pace but I plan to run 9:00 pace, when do I practice/switch to running 9:00 pace in training?

2. If my goal is to run a faster marathon (I am a new-ish runner_ would you recommend doing shorter races during the spring OR focus on building mileage/base and long runs. I am currently running 25 miles per week and ran my first marathon in 2019 but not since

3. Do you believe sub 3 is achievable for most runners?

ASK THE COACHES. Here are the questions covered in the episode:

Racing specific 

1. HRV has been great but tanked during the taper

2. How to run CIM

3. Top 3 things to consider when buying marathon training shoes

Training specific 

1. How important is strength during the winter months?

2.  If I can hold threshold for 1-1.5 hours, how long can i sustain zone 3 work (lower HR)

262. STRENGTH TRAINING BENEFITS)

Runners love to go hard. We love to keep moving and push ourselves. When we get into different exercises practices that are not as ‘fast paced’, it can feel strange. I have heard runners describe strength training as ‘boring’ or not feeling like they are ‘doing anything’. I have also heard runners say that they are ‘too sore’ from strength training to do their workouts. Even in my own experience, I have had my ego hurt when I visit the gym for strength training only to realized I am weaker than 90% of the other people strength training. It is tough when you are considered ‘advanced’ in one sport IE running and then novice/beginner at another. These feelings and experiences with lifting can hold people back from doing what needs to be done in the weight room. So often runners neglect strength training and it ends up coming back to bite them later in life through an injury or low bone density or inability to stay active.

1. How should a runner start strength training

   1. If you don’t have a lot of consistent experience: BODY WEIGHT

   2. Always do less than what you should 

   3. Do NOT go to failure

2. You need to REST between sets

   1. You should be doing a strength workout NOT a cardio workout

   2. HR shouldn’t be that high

3. Lifting with a purpose

   1. Follow a plan!

   2. Don’t overdo certain muscle groups

4. Progressive overload

   1. How many sets and reps

5. Total body vs lifting every muscles group

   1. 2x a week 20-40 min of total body

   2. Repeating the major lifts like deadlift and squat can give you amazing results

Breaking down the barriers to tri

Jason and I recently finished Ironman California. We were asked to do a podcast episode of our experience and answer some of the FAQs we have been getting. I think many runners and endurance athletes have a bucket list goal of doing a tri or an ironman, and we wanted to shed some light on what it might look like to take the dive. I did my first ever tri less than 3 months before the ironman and learned how to swim as an adult. If I can do it, I am confident others can too!

1. At what point in the last year did you decide you wanted to train for an ironman?

   1. Do you think you will do another one?

   2. Why did you not share the training on social media?

2. What is the time limit for each event and the whole thing?

   1. Did you listen to music?

3. How did you learn how to swim as an adult?

4. How did you fuel for the event?

5. What is the hardest part?

6. Biking: did you do most inside or outside?

   1. What is a tri bike vs a road bike

   2. How do you prevent butt from hurting?

7. How many hours per week did you train?

8. How was sleeping after? How sore were you?

261. ASK THE COACHES

1. Muscle cramps at 38k. How much sodium an hour should I be taking? Only drank water and 1000mg of sodium in gels

2. Best snacks during carboloading & traveling

3. My HR zones and different in training peaks vs Garmin: which is accurate?

https://help.trainingpeaks.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017420092-Zones-Calculator-Overview

4. What are your personal favorite gel brands to use?

https://www.cranksports.com/comparisons/gu-energy-gel/

5. How to ideally pace a 5k. I struggle to nail negative splits!

You may have heard the phrase the ‘reverse taper’ lately. It can be all the rage on social media to use the term, but what does it really mean? I personally don’t love to use this term because after a goal race you don’t literally reverse the taper. If you did literally reverse the taper, you would probably end up injured and burnt out. The idea behind the reverse taper is that you would gradually get back into training slowly. It is important to take time off after a goal race. Sometimes athletes will experience a ‘come down’ or ‘post race blues’ after a goal race because the endorphins all start to wear off and the building towards that big goal has stopped. It can feel like a strange time, but this is a great time to start planning for your future and not get lost in the post race blues

1. Have you ever had ‘post race blues’

   1. Using the reflection time as a place where you can find ways to improve for next season

   2. Come up with a plan for the next 6-18 months blueprint

   3. Sign up for or research your next race

2. What if you don’t feel like running after the first 1-2 weeks off?

   1. This is a normal feeling 

   2. Sometimes you need to take more time off but sometimes you do just need to ACT before you get the ‘feeling back’

3. Seasonal changes can make you feel weird during an already weird time

   1. Don’t focus too much on how you ‘feel’ during this time of year

   2. Consistency is the key to success

4. Don’t do too much too soon

   1. A reverse taper is not a literal thing

   2. You want to take time off then rebuild mileage back to 50-70% of peak marathon mileage

   3. Workouts should be 1 month after race and very short like 6x 1 min ‘effort based’ pick ups

5. Don’t focus too much on comparing

   1. Don’t look at your marathon training cycle through rose colored glasses

   2. You can’t peak forever