We’re doing something a little different today on Run To The Top and we hope you find it helpful. One of our athletes, Wayne Jimenez, recently DNF’d a marathon at mile 16 and was not sure why. He has completed marathons and half-Iron Mans, but just over halfway through this race he could not keep going and he’s eager to get back in a marathon ASAP since he still feels pretty strong from all his training. But, he’s concerned about racing too soon.

Coach Jeff engages Wayne in a discussion to unpack what happened during, and more importantly prior to, the race to help identify the root cause of the issue and to determine when Wayne should make his way into his next corral.

We hope you enjoy listening to this conversation and find some takeaways that help you in your training. We would also love to know what you think of this podcast format as well as any suggestions you have for Run To The Top in general.

We’ve long known the biggest barriers in running are those we create in our own heads, but according to Alex Hutchinson and the latest research, there are ways we can bypass these barriers to push farther and faster.

A National Magazine Award-winning journalist, Alex’s work revolves mostly around the science of endurance, and there’s a pretty good chance you’ve read some of his stuff. He contributes to Runner’s World, the New York Times, the New Yorker, and he also has his own column in Outside Magazine called Sweat Science.

In this episode, Alex will share with us a little about his upcoming book, ENDURE: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance.

In the book, Alex explores the controversial new science of endurance that suggests our brains are just as responsible as our bodies for the physical obstacles we encounter in running.

In other words, most of the limits we experience are illusionary, and, with some groundbreaking techniques Alex will share with us today, we can actually push through these imaginary limits to unearth our true physical capabilities.

If an airplane wing is too rigid, the plane will crash, and according to author and marathoner Duncan Larkin, the same is true for us runners.

When we adhere too closely to our training plans or even, as Duncan says, the tenets of his own books, we don’t leave room for two crucial details: one, that each of our bodies is different and possesses its own unique ebb and flow and two, we’re just plain busy.

For most of us, running isn’t our number one priority and our schedules don’t always perfectly complement our training - and that’s okay.

However, to optimize our performance and steer clear of injury, it’s important to be flexible and emphasize quality over quantity in training, and that’s the basis of Duncan’s new book, The 30-Minute Runner: Smart Training for Busy Beginners.

Duncan writes for Outside Magazine, Runner's World, and ESPN to name a few,  and he was on the show in 2017 to talk about his second newest book Run Simple: A Minimalist Approach to Fitness and Wellbeing.

In this episode, Duncan shares with us a little about his new book and his tips for maximizing training when you lead a busy life (which probably applies to you if I had to guess).

The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club.

The second rule of Fight Club? You know how it goes.

Lucky for us, the opposite is true for the founders of November Project, a fitness movement popularly known as the “Fight Club” of running clubs for its intense workouts, free membership, and tribe mentality.  

Following their days rowing crew for Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, Bojan Mandaric and Brogan Graham found themselves struggling to stay in shape in the cold New England months and the absence of a structured exercise regiment.

Then one night in 2011 over a couple of beers, they decided to make a pact: every morning for that month of November, they would meet at 6:30am and workout together.

Running hill repeats, bounding up the stairs of Harvard Stadium, dropping to the ground for the occasional pushups - the city was their gym, and the results were significant.

After a few months, Bojan and Brogan decided to throw out a few invites on Twitter, and the rest is history.

November Project now has tribes in 45 cities all over the world with its biggest meetups bringing together upwards of 1500 people for a single morning workout.

Here Bojan and Brogan share a little about their story, how November Project works, and what you can gain from joining a tribe near you.

****This episode includes some inappropriate language - just a heads up.****

While most of us know we need to do strength work to truly see results, according to Jay Dicharry, this is a waste of time without also practicing movement and mobility.

One of America’s leading physical therapists and author of Anatomy for Runners, Jay established his reputation as an expert in biomechanical analysis as Director of the University of Virginia’s SPEED Clinic.

Today, athletes from all over travel to his REP Lab in Bend Oregon where Jay blends clinical practice and engineering to better understand overuse injuries.

But what sets Jay apart from traditional therapy? He works to correct imbalances before they become a problem, and to do that he helps runners rewire their body-brain movement patterns.

In this episode, Jay will share a little about his new book, Running Rewired, explain how we can rediscover our body-brain movement patterns, and dispel the myths that pervade both the shoe and physical therapy industries.