A lot of research and empirical data (not to mention a certain book by a certain author about a certain indigenous people who run hundreds of miles seemingly effortlessly) has made a strong argument for a more natural running shoe. But the sudden transition from a traditional shoe to a minimalist shoe often causes injuries rather than prevents them. Imagine that there’s a company that makes shoes that feel great AND offers models with differing amounts of drop to ease the transition.
SPOILER ALERT: You actually don’t have to imagine it, because that company actually exists.
Ali Feller
Meet 3:51 marathoner, author of the Ali On The Run blog and host of the Ali On The Run Show podcast, freelance writer and editor, Ali Feller. Ali’s appearance on this week’s episode was suggested by listener, Angie Sherman and for that, we are certainly grateful.
Ali was not a high school track or cross country star; far from it, in fact. Growing up she found running to be punitive rather than fun. After graduating college, she became Editor-In-Chief of Dance Spirit magazine. She is a currently contributor to many women’s health and fitness periodicals.
Ali shares with us her experience living with Crohn’s Disease. As you’ll hear in more detail, Crohn’s is a chronic autoimmune disease that is unpredictable and inconvenient, yet Ali explains how she has come to terms with managing it. All while still remaining as active as she can.
Although she is now focusing on shorter distance races like the 5K, she has completed 7 full marathons and dozens of half-marathons. She also tells us how she continues to train and how she approaches goal setting. Oh, and we will also learn about her awesome husband and loving dog. Or loving husband and awesome dog? Either way… Meet Ali!
Sandy Baird, DC - Preventing and Treating Marathon Injuries
A graduate from LifeWest Chiropractic College, Dr. Sandy Baird is a certified Active RElease Techniques provider whose practice, Riverstone Chiropractic, is located in Oakland, CA. Originally a civil engineer, a persistent repetitive strain injury led Sandy to the field of Chiropractic via massage therapy.
Dr. Baird treats both elite and recreational athletes and also speaks to local running groups and clubs on topics such as injury prevention, injury treatment, nutrition and recovery techniques. The Riverstone Chiropractic website has links to a wealth of informational blog posts that cover a variety of medical and health topics.
In this episode, Sandy shares her personal journey into chiropractic care, her approach to injury prevention and treatment, nutrition, and footwear. We also learn about different self-treatment and prevention exercises to help keep us on our individual training plans and how to counteract the detrimental effects of being in a seated position for extended periods of time..
In addition to all the great content shared in this episode, you can also receive Dr. Baird’s free e-Book Eight Steps to Fix Your Plantar Fasciitis by texting the word ‘runningbook’ to 44222. (Standard data and text messaging rates apply).
“Sitting kills our running.”
It’s understood that we need to stay hydrated not only during physical activities, but in general. But how can we improve the efficiency with which our bodies use hydration?
A former collegiate track and field athlete, Vishal Patel has worked with Olympic and World Camp calibre athletes on personalizing their nutrition and hydration strategies to excel in their sports. As Senior R&D Manager for Nuun, he has developed hydration products for the past five years.
For those who are not familiar with Nuun, they make dissolvable hydration tablets. In this episode, Visah explains the science and rationale of general hydration and how Nuun has designed multiple hydration solutions that are optimized for specific types of activity plus how and why hydration is so important, even if you are not active. He shares with us the methodology and philosophy that Nuun has regarding hydration supplements and specifically the role that sugar plays in performance fueling products.
He gives us insight into an easy, visual method for determining your daily hydration level and how Nuun fits in with other training and performance fueling products.