The Running Public

Three months ago, Nick was preparing to prove his ranking as one of the most promising young racers in North America. Then, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. The toll it immediately took on his body has been severe, and he is actively fighting to regain control of his dreams of being a professional athlete. This interview will leave you rooting for Nick while realizing how lucky we are to be able to run in the first place.

The people have spoken: It is time to dive into training and racing distances over 30 miles! 

• How much volume do you need?
• Back to back long runs?
• How long is long enough in training?
• Do I need speed work?
• Gear, fueling, shoes, etc

• Slovenian National Gymnastics Team Member for 10 years
• Spartan Ultra World Champion
• 2x World's Toughest Mudder Champion
• 2nd Place at ECO Challenge: Fiji
• Undefeated at OCR Races 8 Hours or longer
• Bachelor’s Degrees in Physics and Astrophysics from Cal-Berkeley
• Master’s Degree in Science and Engineering from Stanford.

This woman is one of the top endurance athletes on the planet but has taken the long, broken road to get here. Her story is incredible, as are the life obstacles she has overcome.

If you're going to swing the hammer, swing that thing hard! That was a big take away from the Dr Fred Clary interview, as he talked at length about preparing for 110% or even 120% of the demands of your next competition. Today we explain what that means, why it matters, and how it works / what it looks like in training.

Fred Clary is a Chiropractic Neurologist, World Record holding Power Lifter, and a goldmine of knowledge about maximizing the potential of the human body. Today we look into the role strength training plays in unlocking your endurance potential. Be warned: Brakken filled an entire page with notes while recording this episode. This is one you will want to listen to with a pen and pad in hand!

The super-shoe era is officially here, so Doctor Kraker went into the lab to test out the Nike Alphafly against two "typical" racing shoes in order to get clear data that shows exactly how much these new shoes affect your running. Along the way we hit the following:

• What is a super shoe?
• How does the carbon plate work?
• How do they affect pace at Mile, 5k, 10k, Half Marathon, and Marathon distances?
• Should they be legal?

Brakken's wife, Lisa, finally joins us today! Lisa hates racing. Hates it. She also can't stand easy runs, training schedules, and scripted quality workouts. We discuss how she structures her training and life in order to keep running a purely enjoyable and therapeutic exercise. 

Kirk raced in Las Vegas this past weekend while Brakken commentated the Savage Race in Georgia. They have several takeaways from the two races that could be difference makers for athletes moving forward!

• The power of purposeful cross training
• How truly awful it is to race in sand
• The importance of a plan for attacking rigs
• Having the correct mentality for racing under the new pandemic style of races

Glenn is a self taught runner who didn't even begin training until after college. Learning on the fly, he progressed to a low 15 minute 5k and 4:12 mile over the course just a few years. From there, he was signed by the Spartan Pro Team in 2014 and has been an OCR racer ever since. 

Our longest episode yet, and you will not regret staying until the end! Glenn is one of the best people we have ever met in this sport, but he has also overcome some pretty incredible life obstacles along the way. If you don't know Glenn's story, buckle up!

We've noticed a few trends with the athletes we work with over the past few months. We want to go over them right now and hopefully help out anyone who is starting to exhibit similar behaviors in training! A few highlights:

• Rushing injury rehab in order to be ready for a "B" Race
• Forcing a specific pace on Easy / Recovery Runs
• Cutting weight too aggressively / restricting too many calories
• Trying to hit a monster workout too close to a race in order to feel mentally prepared