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

Intentional training is key to success. We all know this in regards to marathon training or half marathon training. We will try to find the perfect plan leading up to our goal race. We stick with it, we train with a purpose! We practiced our fueling. We hit the mileage. We run the workouts… But marathon training blocks are usually only 12-20 weeks long. What are we doing the other 40-32 weeks out of the calender year? Those weeks add up and they matter! A lot of athletes as we head into the offseason or winter months will throw in the towel on following a plan and instead just do what feels good or run when they want to. As a runner, you may find improvements doing this approach in the early years of your running journey, but if you are inching towards wanting to reach your potential in the sport, the law of diminishing returns will come in. You will be to be more intentional about how you train during the MAJORITY of the year not just the 16 week marathon block

1. How many miles should you be running year round?

   1. MORE MILES = improved running efficiency and body adapts to the load

   2. We all know this intuitively, we think people who have been running for a long time have an ‘advantage’

2. Is it appropriate to run workouts year round?

   1. The types of workouts matter

   2. Let's say peak training for a marathon you run 6x 1 mi workout.. During offseason this may be 3-4x 1 mile

3. What are some of the key workouts you want to keep year round?

   1. Threshold

   2. Top End speed/strides

   3. Medium Longer runs 90-120 min

4. Setting & defining goals

   1. If you don’t know what your goals are with running, you can’t actually structure training

   2. You have to know the direction you want to go in

With fall marathons occurring soon, we are right around the corner to offseason training. If you follow runners on social media you will notice a few trends… Either there are the athletes who take time off after their goals races and then there are those athletes who appear to continue to train and put in some serious mileage even after 2 back to back marathons this fall. Why do some people appear to never take an offseason? Can you get away with that? Is it helpful or harmful in the long run?

Today we are going to give you the guidelines to perfect your offseason and avoid any burn out or injuries in the future. We always take a little bit more of a conservative approach for this reason. Whenever we talk about any topic in running it’s important to remember out background is to help you stay in the sport of running for decades and reach your potential along the way.

1. What is the typical protocol for the offseason after a 5k, half & full marathon

   1. Depends on how long the cycle was

   2. How does athlete feel?

   3. When was last time off?

2. How long do you need to take completely off?

   1. 1-2 weeks is typical

   2. Can get away with less 

3. Forces you to take the time before you ‘need it’

   1. It is uncomfortable

   2. Helps you get used to not doing the same thing constantly/avoid black and white thinking

4. What is a reverse taper?

   1. What is sounds like

   2. Spread out over more time than a taper

   3. No workouts for a few weeks

5. How much mileage should you run during the offseason

   1. 50-80% of peak mileage

6. How long should your long runs be?

   1. Not very long

   2. Less than 50% of your peak mileage long runs

7. What if you have a spring marathon or another goal coming up with a deadline?

   1. Doesn’t matter

   2. Plan better

8. What happens if you feel good and want to keep training at a high level without an offseason?

9. Why do some people appear to never take an offseason but yet still crush it?

10. When should I reintroduce workouts again?

11. What is it normal to feel like?

12. Should you strength train?

Pacing properly in a race is key to actually racing to your potential and being able to run a time that is reflective of your fitness. The biggest mistake more athletes make is going out ‘too fast’ in a race. There can also be the mentality of holding back too much or starting too slow, but they are rare. We want to aim for our races to be even split or even a slight negative split. In recent years, we see more elites and pros positive splitting races and some even setting records doing so, but historically the way that MOST world records were set was from negative splits. This means starting a little slower than you finish. In a marathon it might look like a 3:59 marathon splitting 2:00 the first half then 1:59 the second half. It doesn’t have to be drastic. 

The biggest barrier to pacing is not necessarily knowing where your fitness is at going into the race, but it is more the execution of the pacing plan. We need to remember that you are NOT a robot. Pacers and pace bands are a great idea in theory but today we are doing to do a deeper dive as to why it may not be the best approach

1. Does your watch help or hurt?

2. Should you use a pace band

3. Are pacers a good or bad thing

4. What if you are following the pacing plan and you feel good or you feel bad

5. How can you learn to listen to your body more?