In this week's episode, Coach Ruairi talks about 10 items that he can't live without as a runner. Listen now!
Is there a perfect diet for runners? What about macros? What are the common mistakes made when switching to a plant-forward diet? Kelly Jones provides her thoughts on these topics as well as body size, glycogen depleted runs, intuitive eating, and more in this episode hosted by Coach Claire Bartholic.
Kelly is a board certified specialist in sports dietetics, focusing on performance nutrition for endurance sports. She has consulted with high level organizations such as USA Swimming, the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Road Runners, and has been featured as an publications such as Runner’s World, US News and World Report, Women’s Running, and Women’s Health.
Her career began as an Associate Professor of Nutrition for nine-years in Pennsylvania and before that she was a Division I athlete in swimming. Today, as a mom and business owner, Kelly continues to compete in road races and triathlons, and creates recipes and resources that offer practical solutions to optimize physical and mental performance.
Although Kelly works with many kinds of athletes, in this episode she focuses her expertise specifically on performance nutrition for runners. She delivers a positive message about fueling properly for running as well as for living your optimal life.
Kelly uses an evidence-based nutrition approach, focusing on what she calls "plant forward performance nutrition." With so many of us quarantined right now, it’s easy for us to neglect our nutrition. Especially with the potential disruptions to the meat industry, it’s more important than ever for us to find ways to add plants to our diets in a way that optimizes performance.
2:43 You specialize in performance nutrition for endurance sports. Can you explain exactly what that means and how you work with athletes?
3:56 What is the best diet?
5:23 What’s the difference between eating for performance vs. eating for longevity?
6:53 How do you feel about eating whole foods during training and races to avoid sugar?
9:04 What’s your philosophy with macros (Carbs, Protein, Fat)?
11:59 Timing wise, when should you eat what?
14:25 What about glycogen depleted runs?
15:44 What is your experience with race-weight, performance, orthorexia, etc…?
19:07 How do you find the balance between eating for fuel and eating just the right amount?
20:50 What do you mean ‘plant forward nutrition approach’?
22:28 What are the challenges with plant-based eating with nutrient deficiency and performance?
25:10 How do you help people to trust their body when it comes to eating?
27:26 Do you find that our bodies adapt easily to new eating habits?
28:52 What advice would you give yourself back when you started running?
29:55 What is the best gift running has given you?
30:29 How can people connect with you?
“For anyone, I still would recommend inclusion of more plants no matter what you’re trying to follow”
“Could you still train and race with less carbohydrates than what might be recommended? Sure, but are you going to feel as energized physically and mentally as you should? Are you going to perform as well? That’s the question.”
“I’m a big advocate for eating your energy before you need to use it.”
“The glycogen depleted runs, while there’s a lot of people talking about them, there isn’t a lot of research to support them. And what I try to help people understand too is that you might see there’s one study on something, but that doesn’t mean that the practice is what we call evidence based.”
“I try to tell people too, if you have a run where you’re not feeling energized, where it’s mentally hard to get through, it’s physically hard to get through, how is that going to help you get closer to your goal?”
“We don’t really have good evidence that a smaller body size is actually going to benefit racing, but we do have a lot of evidence… that a smaller body size can actually impair your health in the short and long term, and may impair performance more in the long term.”
“When you’re not mentally healthy, it’s really hard to have any other areas of your health work well too.”
“You might be trying to work towards racing optimally, but what about living the rest of your life in an optimal way too?”
“It takes work to eat intuitively, but then it’s never something that you have to do again in the future.”
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The more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, the more I can reach out to and get top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!
How to tailor or optimize your training around your menstrual cycle? What female athletes can do to get the best out of their training at any time of the month? Coach Hayley explains in today's episode.
How do easy runs help you race faster? What is aerobic system and why is it so important? What pace should you run on easy days? Find out in today's podcast from Coach Hayley.
In this week's Team RC Update, Coach Michael shares details about some of the wonderful performances achieved by the athletes at last week's RC virtual race. Also, listen to find out what's new on your YouTube live sessions.
In this week's episode, Coach Dylan talks about 10 things he can't live without and how they help with his running. Tune in now!
If you watched the 2020 U.S.A. Olympic Marathon trials in Atlanta on February 29th, you may have noticed one of the men running with long, flowing. fabulous locks of hair trailing behind him. Or blowing into his face depending on the strong winds that day. And you may have thought: “Who is that guy?”
This week’s interview is with professional runner Andrew Colley. Andrew runs at On ZAP Endurance in Blowing Rock, NC where Runners Connect hosts running retreats every fall. Andrew is in the top tier of American distance runners and holds some incredible personal records, like 2:12 in the marathon, 1:02 in the half, and 13:40 in the 5k. This guy is super fast and incredibly talented.
We dive into what kinds of things he and the other men and women at ZAP are doing that helps them be so successful in endurance running. Is it just talent? Is it the shoes? Is it the food? And what is the team doing right now with the calendar wiped clean of races?
In short, Coach Claire asked Andrew how he could help us become better runners and he absolutely delivered. We talked about both mental and physical training tips, a little bit about nutrition, and more.
What is refreshing is that professional runners might not be so different from us after all. Sure, it's their job to run for a living, but we can use similar techniques and habits to get the most out of our running too. And it sounds like there are a few things Andrew thinks elites can learn from us as well!
2:08 How is everyone at ZAP handling the current quarantine situation?
3:12 How do you plan for long-term goals without any upcoming races to plan for?
4:36 How has your training changed, especially the hard to easy ratio?
5:34 How would you explain ‘strides’ to a brand new runner?
7:26 Your last race was the Olympic Marathon Trials in February where you came to the starting line with a 2:12 PR. It sounds like it wasn't your day. Can you tell us a bit about what happened?
9:19 Is this an injury you’ve had before or a new one?
10:45 What kind of company is ON?
11:04 I reached out to our audience on Facebook and asked them what kinds of topics they'd like to learn about and I think this one from Pete Fenn is great to ask you: "Do you have any tips or ideas for how to be able to really ‘go for it’ in the midst of races of any distances, to get over the intense feeling that you just don’t have any more gears to go up to?"
13:09 Do you practice mental training outside of running?
14:37 Is it as important to visualize negative race circumstances as much as positive outcomes?
15:54 One thing that I caution my athletes about is:, while we can learn a lot from elite runners such as yourself, we shouldn't train like elites for many reasons. Do you agree with that?
18:17 How much slower, by minutes, is your easy run pace than your marathon pace?
19:27 What do you do for recovery and what’s the most important?
22:32 What is the nutrition philosophy at ZAP?
25:08 How do you approach nutrient-timing?
25:47 What is your favorite indoor workout?
27:02 What’s next for you with the calendar being pretty empty?
28:38 What advice would you give yourself back when you started running?
29:29 What is the best gift running has given you?
30:30 How can people connect with you?
“The last thing you want to do is get yourself ready for a hard effort when there isn’t going to be one. So, it’s just about getting that base and keeping a mindfulness that there is purpose behind that base and that it will serve you in the long-term, even if that’s 6-10 months from now.”
“You’re not running top speed for that whole stride, but you get up to it and you touch it. Whereas when you’re finishing the stride, you should be at that speed. It should make you feel like you’re fast.”
“Recovery is not the ABSENCE of training; it IS training in itself.”
“I like to warm up into my runs, whether that’s doing drills or doing the first couple minutes walking. I like to get the body into running mode. I count that as part of recovery because it is easier on your body.”
“To look on the positive note: there are no races in the future, so if I have to miss time I guess this is the best time to be missing.”
“There’s been several times in my career when I’ve just seen the race happen in my head and when the race comes, it’s not surprising. It’s more of a habitual reaction because you’ve been there before.”
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We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top.
The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use.
The more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, the more I can reach out to and get top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!
How to find motivation when you have to run solo during this challenging times? How to choose a safe route and the distance for your solo time trail? Coach Hayley explains in today's podcast.
How to breathe easier while running? Should you breathe through your nose or mouth when running? Why chest breathing is bad for you? How to strengthen your breathing muscles? Find out in today's audio blog episode.
In this podcast, Coach Michael gives details about what kind of strength training sessions are covered each day of the week that goes live on our Youtube channel and shares more information about this Sunday's virtual race. Tune in now!
What is a fartlek workout? Why and how to do it? What are some practical ways to apply fartlek into your training? Find out in today's podcast from Coaches Ruairi and Dylan.
You probably know her best as the zany next-door neighbor on Netflix's hit show Fuller House and if you don't know her, your kids probably do.
We’re excited to have Andrea on the show, not to talk about her acting or to ask her about Hollywood, but because Andrea is a runner and the sport has completely changed her life for the better. In her new book, Full Circle, Andrea is refreshingly honest and open about her struggles with anxiety and depression and how running helped her through some incredibly difficult times in her life.
Like me, and so many of you listening, Andrea did not start running as a kid, but found it later in life. Running helped her become strong and confident and realize that she could do hard things. The simple act of going for a run, whether alone or with a friend or group, brought her much needed peace and a sense that everything is going to be okay.
As many of us are challenged with adjusting to our current situation, running can provide us with a healthy mechanism for better managing stress and anxiety. And if you’re new to running, as you’ll hear Andrea explain, don’t worry about how fast or how far you’re running. It’s OK to simply be OK. We’re here for you, no matter what.
2:02 Are you getting any runs in during quarantine?
3:40 Does your Instagram bio rank your characteristics in order of importance?
5:12 What did running give you that you needed at the time you started running?
9:10 Where does running fit into overall good mental health?
14:22 What is so special about the bond that is formed running with someone else?
18:22 What do you like and not like about racing?
20:47 What advice do you have for beginner runners just off the couch?
22:25 What did you learn most about yourself when you ran your first marathon?
27:34 Why do wish there was an ‘It’s OK to be average’ movement?
30:19 What advice would you give yourself back when you started running?
30:57 What is the best gift running has given you?
32:08 How can people connect with you?
“I found so much catharsis through running. And I didn’t expect that; I expected to suffer through the training runs, do (the race), cross the finish line and then be done and never run again. But, something happened out there on that course and I was just transformed.”
“Running made me feel like I could do hard things and that became a huge metaphor in my life. I could physically do hard things and I could do mentally and emotionally hard things, too.”
“That’s how I learned to run: I would just run until it hurt and then I walked until I felt better. And then I would run again.”
“Why as a running culture do we only celebrate the fast paces and not the slow paces? The slow runners are still Runners and they’re still out there challenging themselves and they’re still growing. It doesn’t matter if you’re running 12:00 miles or 9:00 miles or 7:00 miles. It doesn’t matter; you’re still growing and challenging yourself.”
“Pain is temporary, but Pride lasts forever.”
Take a Listen on Your Next Run
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Book: Full Circle by Andrea Barber
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We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top.
The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use.
The more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, the more I can reach out to and get top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!
How to train and what to eat to maintain a healthy immune system? Why the quality and quantity of your diet is very important now? What nutrients can supercharge your immunity? Coach Hayley explains in today's podcast episode.
What causes black toenails, cramps and pain on the top your foot? How to treat and prevent them? Coach Claire explains in this week's audio blog episode. Listen now!
In this week's episode, Coach Michael gives details about the weekday live at-home fitness challenge video sessions on our YouTube channel. Tune in now!
How to build a strong foundation for running? What things you need to focus on during your base training period? Coaches Dylan and Ruairi discuss in this week's Up-Tempo Talks episode.
Pain is a universal occurrence and is considered one of the most important factors impacting runners. How can we avoid pain in the first place? And if we are unable to avoid pain, how can we manage it to continue training safely?
Dr. Boleslav Kosharskyy is board-certified in Anesthesiology, Interventional Pain Medicine and Palliative Care. He is Associate Medical Director of Pain Medicine and Director of Anesthesia for Joint Replacement Center at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein Medical College. Dr. Kosharskyy employs multimodal therapeutic modalities to treat musculoskeletal pain of the back, neck, and joints, neuropathic disorders, and cancer pain.
In this episode, we learn about pain avoidance and management techniques as well as how Dr. Kosharskyy treats his patients in his practice. He dispels some common myths and provides clarity on using common and alternative medicines for treatment.
Dr. Kosharskyy specializes in minimally invasive therapies such as: Spinal Cord and DRG Stimulation, Kypho- and Vertebroplasty, Percutaneous Discectomy and MILD Procedure (Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression) for Spinal Stenosis as well as an alternative medical marijuana treatments. He is involved in several clinical trials as well as basic science research on neuroprotective properties of enolate forming compounds.
He completed his fellowship in Interventional Pain Medicine at Upstate University Hospital, Syracuse, NY in 2005. He completed his Anesthesia residency at Boston University Medical Center, Boston, MA in 2004. He earned his Medical Degree in 1997 from Free University of Berlin Medical School, Berlin, Germany.
He is an active member of the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA), American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA), and the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists (NYSSA).
2:16 When is it safe to run through pain?
2:49 When should you definitely not run through pain?
3:53 What about ‘Phantom Pain’?
5:04 What is your opinion on NSAID’s?
6:01 does acetaminophen work differently than ibuprofen?
6:30 Can each of these exacerbate certain conditions?
7:20 What are some pain relief alternatives can people use for day-to-day pain?
8:40 Is running bad for your knees?
10:49 How can runners prevent knee injuries?
12:24 Should runners who are very heavy do more low-impact activities?
13:35 What is your opinion on KT Tape for knees?
16:07 Platelet Rich Plasma--what is it and how can it help runners?
20:20 Are there any side-effects or people who should avoid PRP injections?
22:24 Is it a last resort treatment for injuries?
23:15 Why is it important to keep the thoracic spine flexible and the lumbar region stable?
26:05 Your clinic also is a leader in medical marijuana therapy for pain management. Can you explain how this can apply to runners?
27:42 Would you recommend topical CBD for local pain?
28:26 What advice would you give yourself back when you started running?
29:16 What is the best gift running has given you?
30:44 How can people connect with you?
“I avoid the term ‘in your head’ because I think it’s very diminishing and insulting. I think everything is in our heads, it’s true, but we always have to listen to the concerns, especially as physicians.”
“Everything is connected in your body.”
“Running is good for you if you do it recreationally; meaning if you do it 3-4 times a week and you don’t obsess over it, it’s actually good for your knees and prevents arthritis.”
“I would not use PRP injections as prophylaxis for anything because there is very little data to support the prophylactic use.”
“Biomechanics are very important when you run. If anything has shifted, it’s going to create a chain reaction. If you don’t have a flexible spine in the thoracic area, it will create an enormous increase and pressure on the unilateral joints. So instead of evenly redistributing the pressure on both knees, one knee will get a lot more of it and is more likely to get injured over time.”
Take a Listen on Your Next Run
Leave a space for libsyn link
Want more awesome interviews and advice? Subscribe to our iTunes channel
Run To The Top Winners Circle Facebook Community
We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top.
The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use.
The more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, the more I can reach out to and get top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!
What are the positives of having a period of time without racing? Why now is the right time for you to focus on the often neglected elements of your training cycle? Coach Hayley explains in this episode.
How training using your heart rate monitor can hold you back from reaching your potential? In this episode, Coach Claire shares 3 reasons to ditch HR training and then gives you the best ways to improve your running without using heart rate.
In this week's update, Coach Michael gives details about what kind of strength training videos are added each day on our YouTube channel and also provides some clarifications on our upcoming virtual race. Listen now!
In this week's up-tempo talks, Coaches Ruairi and Dylan talk about the specs of the new Nike Alpha Fly shoe and how it differs from the previous models. Listen now!
Holly Zimmermann - Running Everest
In 2018, Holly Zimmermann was the first international female to finish the Mount Everest Marathon. That’s right; a marathon. On Mount Everest. Additionally, she has completed the 257-km (160 mile) Marathon des Sables across the Sahara Desert as well as a marathon at the Polar Circle.
Born in Providence, RI, the middle child of three girls, she was active in team sports including soccer, softball, gymnastics, basketball, field hockey and even cross-country running (although she despised running then!) She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Aerospace Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1991, then at The University of Rhode Island she acquired a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering concentrating in the thermal sciences, and finally finished her education with a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) at The College of William & Mary. She then worked for several years in research and development for military applications including antenna and radar jamming systems for tactical fighter aircraft (F14s, F15s) and later acoustic damping for submarines.
In 2000, she moved to Germany with her Berlin-born husband with whom she has four children ranging in age from 12 to 18. With the birth of her first child, she gave up her technical pursuits and turned to sports and writing, while raising their children and working part-time at home as an editor for technical professional journals.
Today she is an athlete in the world of extreme sports, from mountain and desert ultras, orienteering, endurance bike and expedition adventure races to running a marathon on the Arctic ice sheet. Aside from running, one of her passions is motivating others to be active, and she encourages them by speaking in companies, at sporting events, in women’s groups and at charities or by volunteering in schools where she trains kids to take part in local races. Her first book, Ultramarathon Mom: From the Sahara to the Arctic, was released in April 2018 and her second book Running Everest: Adventures at the Top of the World in April 2020.
Holly doesn't claim to have any better-than-average athletic ability but believes her passion for running and strong mental focus are what give her the drive and ability to compete and be competitive in long-distance races in extreme environments. Becoming a role model for other women has taken her by surprise, but she attributes it to being a regular woman that many can relate to, someone who does the cooking, cleaning and child rearing, but just happens to have an adventurous spirit that puts her physical and mental limits to the test.
Questions Holly is asked:
2:27 How is life in Germany for you now during the CV19 pandemic?
3:42 Are you still able to train?
4:08 Why did you want to do the Everest Marathon?
5:41 What was the terrain like compared to a traditional marathon?
8:03 What was training like for that?
8:59 Did everyone finish despite their altitude sickness?
9:55 What were some of the surprises that you didn’t expect on your trip?
11:33 Can you talk a little bit about how training for big adventures fits in with family life?
13:12 Does your husband run, too?
14:01 You've said that your strong mental focus is what gets you through races in extreme environments. Can you talk about how to develop this?
15:43 How did your passion for running grow?
16:38 What advice would you give other parents who have young children at home that are searching for a passion of their own?
17:39 What advice would you give someone interested in running Everest?
18:17 Can anyone just sign up and run it?
18:50 What did you learn about the culture when you were there?
20:11 Are you a plant-based runner?
21:39 Did you notice a difference when you started adding in a little dairy?
22:28 What do you eat when you are in an ultra race?
23:51 Do you make your own oat milk?
24:07 What gear is essential for starting with ultra running?
25:20 What is next on the horizon for you?
26:24 What advice would you give yourself back when you started running?
27:21 What is the best gift running has given you?
29:44 How can people connect with you?
“There’s a lot of rocks, there’s some climbing, but that’s not the most difficult part because I run a lot of trail races here in the alps and they’re very similar in terms of the terrain, but what IS difficult is the oxygen. At the start of basecamp, we’re at 17,000 feet and you have about 50% of the oxygen as you do at sea level.”
“When you’re up there in the Khumbu Valley you see the rescue helicopters coming in and out all day long. And I think that’s not really heard so often in the western world, how dangerous it actually is and we witnessed quite a few visitors to the region who were evacuated. And it looked horrible.”
“I’m lucky enough to work from home, and that gives me the flexibility to spend some time training when my kids are at school. So usually I do that first thing in the morning and train nearly every day from between 1 and 4 hours.”
“A lot of it has to do with passion. If you don’t love what you’re doing, it’s hard to force yourself to do it.”
“If somebody else has done it and you have a desire and this drive there’s no reason that you can't’ do it yourself.”
Take a Listen on Your Next Run!
Want more awesome interviews and advice? Subscribe to our iTunes channel
Run To The Top Winners Circle Facebook Community
Book: Running Everest: Adventures at the Top of the World by Holly Zimmermann
Book: Ultramarathon Mom: From the Sahara to the Arctic by Holly Zimmermann
Follow Holly on:
We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top.
The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use.
If more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, it means I can reach out to and get through to the top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!