One of the biggest advantages of running is that you don’t need a whole lot of equipment to do it.
But because we rely so heavily on the little equipment we do need, most of us would rather go for another run than try to choose between the wide array of activity trackers, GPS watches, and power meters available to us within the ever-growing sport tech market.
That’s where Ray Maker’s tech review blog, DC Rainmaker, can save you the time and energy not only picking the best product for you but also getting the absolute most out of that product.
A longtime runner and triathlete, Ray is arguably the most respected sport tech guru out there, and his climb to the top isn’t what you’d probably imagine.
During his spare time in high school, Ray started a one-man software company developing “programs” we now call apps - programs that garnered quite a lot of interest in Ray’s skills.
Long story short, Ray went directly from his high school graduation to a full-time career in technology consulting just 36 hours later.
Yeah. You might say he found his calling.
After 15 years working in the Fortune 500 world, Ray left his job at Microsoft to devote his time to a new passion: helping runners like himself optimize their performance by getting the most out of their gadgets.
From its honest product reviews to its exhaustive how-to guides, DC Rainmaker is an invaluable resource for runners everywhere, and Ray gives us an inside look in today’s episode.
Questions Ray is asked:
4:09 What prompted you to start running?
5:12 What difficulties did you experience on your way to your sub-3:00:00 marathon?
7:50 Are you training for anything right now?
9:21 What did you do before you began tech reviews and your blog?
10:35 How has your blog grown and evolved?
12:26 How does your local Parisian running community engage with you?
14:00 Are you recognized and stopped when you’re back home?
16:41 What does “DC Rainmaker” mean?
18:01 How much time do you devote to reviewing a product?
19:14 How can fitness trackers be used for running and which ones are the best?
21:28 Do you think there are discrepancies between different software platforms and, if so, why?
23:43 Why is there so much variability with accuracy, even with devices from the same manufacturer and what environmental conditions may pose challenges for accurate data capture?
26:38 Which Garmin do you believe has the highest Bang-For-Buck ratio?
28:43 How does Optical Heart Rate monitoring differ from traditional methods and is it more accurate?
31:01 How much weight do you assign to using heart rate for pace-setting?
33:06 What are some of the pros and cons of the Apple Sport Watch, Garmin and GPS Watches and what would you recommend overall?
37:04 What other tips can you share to get more accurate data from our devices?
38:51 How can we prolong the lives of our running watches?
40:04 What is your opinion on power meters and how do they differ from GPS watches?
43:24 Do you think running by power units will ultimately replace running by heart rate?
45:29 Are power and heart rate best used in conjunction with each other?
45:37 What is the most common question runners ask you on your website?
46:45 What’s next for DC Rainmaker?
Quotes by Ray:
“If you’ve got all your friends on Fitbit, then get a Fitbit device. If you’ve got all your friends on Garmin, then get a Garmin device - for activity tracking anyway.”
“For runners, you may want to use an activity tracker actually differently, which is to focus on recovery….because [fitness trackers] can hold you to kind of a limit, so say instead of trying to walk 10,000 steps today, I’m going to try to keep it below two or three thousand steps today.”
“How different watches have their antennas designed usually around the face of the watch or the base of the watch is without the question the biggest thing that will impact accuracy on that watch.”
“I’d say the biggest bang for your buck right now is probably the vivoactive HR or the new vivoactive 3 that was just announced.”
“I think like anything else, you want to keep doing new and innovative things. And so as different areas of the market place stagnate or kind of become the same, I’m going to find other areas to dig into - whether that be running power or running efficiency metrics or whatever it may be - I’m going to dig deeper into those areas and see what pops out of them.”
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Mentioned in this podcast:
Garmin Watch and Wearable Collection
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Contrary to popular belief, losing or even maintaining weight while training for a marathon can be incredibly difficult.
Many marathoners either find they can’t quite achieve the weight loss they want, or, on the flipside, they’re able to lose weight, but at the cost of performance.
It’s a hard balance to strike, but with the latest research it’s becoming much easier.
The research in question revolves around the two concepts of Nutrition Periodization and Metabolic Efficiency Training. Together they increase the body's ability to use fat as fuel during exercise and thus optimize both body composition and performance.
Joining us in this episode is Bob Seebohar, the creator of these two concepts.
Bob is a registered dietitian, exercise physiologist, NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, USA Triathlon Level III Elite Coach. He also traveled to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games as a sport dietitian for the US Olympic Team and the personal sport dietitian/exercise physiologist for the Olympic Triathlon Team.
In this episode, Bob walks us through his findings on dietary efficiency and sheds some light on how best to achieve both the body composition and race day results you’re after.
Oh and for those wondering, here’s a breakdown of the “alphabet soup” behind Bob’s name:
M.S. - Bob has three college degrees. His undergraduate is in Exercise and Sport Science. His two graduate/Master's degrees are in Health and Exercise Science, and Food Science and Human Nutrition. He successfully defended two theses during his graduate studies and knows his way around interpreting research and aligning it with real-life applications.
R.D. - Registered Dietitian. A college degree studying food science and human nutrition is required to be able to sit for this national examination. Of course, this is after successfully completing a 9 - 12-month nutrition internship after graduation.
C.S.S.D. - Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics. A certification only given to Registered Dietitians who have years of experience working with athletes. A rigorous national examination must be passed and frequent continuing education credits upheld to acquire and maintain this certification.
C.S.C.S. - Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Bob has worked as a trainer/strength coach since the mid 1990's and specializes in creating strength programs for endurance athletes.
M.E.T.S - Metabolic Efficiency Training Specialist. Bob explains this in his interview. :)
Questions Bob is asked:
5:06 Can you tell us about who you are and what you do?
7:45 What is Metabolic Efficiency Training and how does it relate to your concept of Nutrition Periodization?
11:50 How does Nutrition Periodization come into play with all the training variability runners experience?
14:34 How does Metabolic Efficiency Training work with runners who are trying to lose weight while increasing performance?
21:43 Why does eating become less intuitive to us over time?
24:40 How difficult is it for your athletes to change their nutrition philosophy?
27:45 How can runners adjust their macronutrient intake ratios to use fat as fuel more efficiently?
32:40 What is your opinion of Low-Fat, High-Carb and other ‘extreme’ diets?
39:01 Have you been able to get significant research yet into the role genetics plays with this?
40:39 Is the long-term goal to see where trends are and individualize athletes’ diets based on gender, genetics, etc.?
45:14 Has there been any research on Nutrition Periodization and how it relates to menstrual cycles and menopause?
47:06 What do you mean by the ‘Metabolic Efficiency Point’?
53:28 How would someone go about manipulating this efficiency point via nutrition?
56:54 Is it hard to do Metabolic Efficiency Training with Vegan, Vegetarian and Paleo diets?
1:00:50 Do you offer personal consultations?
Quotes by Bob:
“Even for the leanest of the lean marathon runner, these elites that are almost breaking the 2-hour barrier, they still have about 30,000 calories of fat in their body but we’re very limited in our carbohydrate stores.”
“Metabolic Efficiency Training is really looking at the opportunity to use the fat that we have stored already, preserve our very limited carbohydrate stores and do that by altering the daily nutrition plan.”
“Nutrition Periodization is simply combining the right type and amount of nutrition to support physical training. So when you’re going through the ebbs and flows of physical training (running), you go through ebbs and flows of nutritional support.”
“The best thing about Metabolic Efficiency Training is that it’s not a diet. The worst thing about it is that it’s not a diet.”
“When we’re young kids, we have this intuitive eating; we eat when we’re hungry, we stop when we’re not hungry. …The environment shapes us… into becoming less intuitive eaters and more either habitual eaters… or (more) emotional eaters.”
Take a Listen on Your Next Run
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Mentioned in this podcast:
Book: Nutrition Periodization for Athletes: Taking Traditional Sports Nutrition to the Next Level
Bob's Author page on Amazon.com
If you’ve ever been out running by yourself and felt a little unsafe, you’ve likely either had to change your route or cut the run short to head to a more secure environment.
This fear is one many runners know well, and that’s why runners David and Ellen Caren decided it was time to invent something that could offer peace of mind and keep runners safe.
Run Angel is the first personal safety wrist wearable that not only sends SMS messages and emails to loved ones in the event of an emergency, but it also emits a 120 decibel, high-pitched siren when activated to shock unsuspecting attackers and notify passersby of your whereabouts.
In this episode, David shares how the idea, company, and product were developed, as well as some additional safety tips all runners should keep in mind.
To get a Run Angel for you or a loved one, go to runangel.com and use coupon code RUNCON20 for 20% off your purchase.
4:28 Can you tell us a little about your background? How did you first get into running?
6:05 How are the running venues in County Cork, Ireland?
8:45 What prompted you and your wife, Ellen, to launch Run Angel?
12:44 What’s it been like to start your own company and were there any hiccups along the way?
16:10 What was the prototype phase like for such a unique device?
20:20 How loud is 120 decibels?
22:11 What was / is the testing process like?
23:41 How does the silent alarm / Guardian Alert system work?
26:07 What sets Run Angel apart from other wearables on the market?
29:13 How is the device powered?
32:59 What other advice do you have for staying safe while running?
37:09 Is it not enough to simply be aware of your surroundings if you wear earphones when running?
39:19 How did you expand your market to the US through the Ignite Start-Up Program?
42:24 Is Run Angel available globally and how can people buy it?
45:21What is Run Angel working on now?
“No matter where you run, you still have that sense of vulnerability that something could happen or you could fall down or trip over something.”
“I was knocked to the ground by someone who wasn’t obviously out running, and instead of exchanging apologies and helping each other up, this guy just ran back in the direction he came from.”
“I remember having aspirations of bringing Run Angel out in 12 months and we were quickly told that you’d want to add 2-3 years onto that and we kind of snickered at that. But it did take that long.”
“When you’re dealing with a safety wearable, you’re dealing with a life element.”
“(Other wearable safety tech) isn’t notifying your attacker that you’ve just activated anything other than you’ve let nearest and dearest know that you’ve been attacked or had a fall.”
“Once we reached the threshold of 120 decibels, we went back and said, ‘OK, can we tune this frequency so that it will resonate in the human hearing zone?’”
“120 decibels is DISTRACTINGLY loud and that’s the goal. It is LOUD.”
“Each Run Angel is put into an acoustic chamber and it’s sound tested, so before it goes into a box we make a record of what the sound is.”
“There’s a few clever things you can do with Run Angel with or without the sound and a few remote activities you can do as well.”
“In the event of an attack, you have to know where your safety wearable is and the wrist is the first place you will invariably go to.”
Want more awesome interviews and advice? Subscribe to our iTunes channel
We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top.
The best way you can show your support for the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use.
If more people know about the podcast and download the episodes, it means I can bring on more and more top running influencers, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!
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Go to runnersconnect.net/train to start your FREE two week trial today
We know that’s a sensational title, but hear us out.
A study published by RunRepeat.com, an independent review aggregator for running shoes, analyzed 34,680,750 race results over the course of 21 years to conclude that American runners are steadily getting slower across distances from the 5K up to the marathon.
We know what you’re probably thinking: with Olympians like Galen Rupp and Molly Huddle continually setting national records, how can that be?
While it’s clear US elites are steadily advancing, the study found that the remainder of the field is, on the whole, slower than it was in the 90s.
Now this could be due to a variety of reasons, and some argue one of those reasons might just be that the sport has gained a lot of popularity in the last couple decades.
More runners of varying age and gender? We like the sound of that.
While this is certainly plausible, others argue there’s another, less favorable culprit behind the trend: the rising rate of obesity in America.
This is the hypothesis behind the study in question led by Danish statistician, runner, and founder of RunRepeat.com Jens Jakob Andersen.
While Jens believes the correlation between slowing race times and the deteriorating health in America is too close to deny, he’s quick to remind us that correlation is not causation.
When it comes to statistics, Jens says it’s always easier to debunk something that’s not true rather than prove something that is, and that’s exactly what he aims to do in this episode.
Listen in and decide for yourself. Whichever way you end up leaning, you’re bound to learn something interesting about yourself and your fellow runner along the way.
2:28 Tell us about yourself and how did you become passionate about running?
4:30 What prompted you to start RunRepeat and what does your day-to-day entail?
7:02 How is RunRepeat’s Run Score calculated?
11:23 How should runners go about choosing a shoe that’s really right for them?
12:32 What did you find in your study of American runners becoming slower and what do you think the implications are?
21:43 Could it be that there just aren’t as many Americans in the top 1% to compensate for the greater number of people towards the back of the pack?
23:38 What would it take for Americans to reverse this trend?
27:02 Where are some of these Blue Zones located?
27:41 In your study on marathon results, what were some of the key takeaways you saw and what did the study entail?
31:58 Why do you think there has been such an increase in female runners over 50 taking up running within the last decade ?
33:38 Why do you think men tend to go out faster than they probably should when racing?
35:38 Why do you think runners ages 35-45 make the best pacers?
37:02 Based on the studies you’ve done, what advice would you give us on tackling our next marathon?
39:42 What’s next with you at RunRepeat?
“It bothered me how 90 percent of people bought the same five pairs of running shoes, and I thought, ‘Why is this happening?’ It’s happening because these brands...promote specific models, and so there becomes a hype around specific models.”
“We looked at the finisher number (number 100, number 1,000, number 2,000, number 5,000) for each race distance, and what we found was that across this all were getting slower.”
“It’s always hard with statistics to come up with a clear cut conclusion. It’s always easier to debunk something that’s not the case.”
“Americans (as well as most other nations) are getting more and more obese, and their finish times are getting slower. But this is a correlation: two parameters that follow each other. It’s not necessarily a causation….So this is our hypothesis, but we cannot conclude it for sure with 100 percent certainty.”
Want more awesome interviews and advice? Subscribe to our iTunes channel
RunRepeat Article: American Runners Have Never Been Slower (Mega Study)
RunnersConnect Race Pace Calculator
NPR Article: Longevity Diet Tips From the Blue Zones
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!
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