While admittedly not a super-athlete growing up, Dr. Brett Hill was naturally drawn to distance running and the mental determination it required. And as he studied to become a successful chiropractor, he realized that his lifestyle habits directly influenced his health so he set about becoming more naturally active and fueled.

In this episode, he shares with us that our bodies have an innate ability and desire to function correctly. It is critical to create the dietary and physical environment our bodies are actually designed for. He further explains what these environments are and why they are so beneficial. We also discuss the merits and proper strategies of transitioning to barefoot or minimalist shoe running.

In addition to being a chiropractor, Brett Hill is a paleo-nutritionist, barefoot runner, author, podcast host, and public speaker. With all of these activities, his family and, of course, running himself, it would be easy to assume it’s overwhelming. He explains how he now manages to keep a healthy balance of it all and the adjustments he has made to accomplish this balance.

You could easily say that freelance writer, professional blogger, public speaker, coach, 3:11 Marathoner, wife and mother of three Dorothy Beal has a lot on her plate. Like many of us with busy lives outside of our training, Dorothy has had to learn how to balance it all. Oh, AND she has graced the cover of not one, not two, but THREE magazine covers!

On this episode, we hear from Dorothy about the catalyst that turned her into a runner and how running has impacted so many areas of her life. Her philosophy and perspective on running are incredibly healthy and well-grounded, especially when considering how easily we can become over-obsessed with training and race results. She also shares with us her approach to balancing training and family nutrition as well as some interesting lifestyle changes she has adopted, such as her ‘Dry January’. 

Dorothy has a contagious positive energy that comes through clearly in this conversation about the transformation running has made to her very full life.

This week we introduce, certified nutritionist, award winning speaker, best selling author, running coach, certified rafting guide, AND the new host of the Run To The Top podcast, Stephanie Atwood.

Stephanie is the founder of Go Wow Living and host of the “Active After 35 Thrive To 105” podcast. In this episode, we learn about her background and listen as she shares secrets she’s learned from helping other runners throughout her career. She has a great perspective on redefining success and failure and believes in creating different successes. It’s easy to forget that the very act of stretching out of comfort zone, even if we fall short of our ideal goals, is still a worthy accomplishment.

Butch Cassidy counseled the Sundance Kid in the movie’s opening, “Every day you live, you get older.” and the same is true for runners. However, there comes a day, a session or a race where we have to accept that our fastest days may be behind us. This doesn’t mean we need to stop running or competing, but a healthy mental paradigm shift is sometimes needed to refocus our motivation to stay active as we age.

In our busy and hectic lives, it’s easy to overemphasize training to the point where it becomes unhealthily all-consuming. Stephanie talks about the concept of “Periodization”, which allows people to build up for a couple goals, but also structure down time to enjoy other important areas of our lives.

Please join us in welcoming Stephanie as we are sure her insight and experience will help you become, not just a better runner, but a better, happier and healthier you.

Pam recently completed two marathons with seven weeks of training in between, but no significant improvement in her time.

She would like to reach her goal in her next race, but feels the 24-week program she used last time is too long. She wants to to know how she can maintain fitness and then ramp up for race.

Coach Jeff provides context for post-race recovery and maintenance training prior to jumping into a marathon build-up and how long that build up should, and maybe shouldn’t, be.

He also explains how to leverage the time between races to arrive at the start of a marathon training cycle even stronger without much additional effort.

We hope you enjoy listening to this conversation and find some takeaways that help you in your training.