Real Life Runners with Angie and Kevin Brown

This episode focuses on striving for greatness.  To understand this episode, I think that it would be helpful to know where it came from.  We are coming up on the end of the cross country season and trying to put things in perspective for a group of kids with hopes of reaching the state meet.  The New York City marathon is also this weekend which gets me thinking about my friend Ryan Shay who pass...

Perspective changes everything we do and how we do it.  We naturally compare ourselves with others or with previous versions of ourselves.  We judge workouts and difficult trials before they start. We name things hard or comfortable.  We predetermine how stressful an event will be. Shaping the way we interpret every event in our lives, the perspective we bring to all situations is incredibly impor...

How can I be a better runner is a regular question for a coach, and we have spent many episodes discussing the mental and physical aspects of training.  In this episode, we take a very practical approach and cover some unwritten rules of running, what we call running etiquette.   First, we should point out that all of these answers are open for discussion.  These opinions were formed under two ver...

It’s time for a look behind the scenes of the Real Life Runners, and a chance to listen into a coaching call.  The conversation this week is between Kevin and Angie about her latest 5k race over the weekend. The results were a bit mixed as it was a personal best, but it also fell short of the goal time.   In this episode, we really look at the relationship of coach and athlete.  We cover how commu...

This episode dives into the world of the inspirational pep talk.  We takes a few tangents along the way, but really try to view the pep talk from the perspective of both the coach and the athlete.  We also cover why the speech that gets you pumped up and ready to run through a wall can be a good and bad thing depending on how and when it is applied. Coaches want to feel like they are helping the a...

This episode marks the one year anniversary of the podcast, and it has been amazing.  When we first started it was a little scary to think we would put this out to the world and people would actually want to listen.  Now, as we approach 27000 downloads around the world, we wanted to look back at some major lessons for life and running.   This past weekend we also took a family trip to Disney World...

The half marathon is said to be for those who are only half crazy.  Angie and I both tried our first half marathon to see what was possible at that distance, while knowing that we were not ready for a full 26.2.  In this episode we dive into the half marathon from several different angles. We cover: Why to run it in the first place How long you will need to train Key workouts to boost your prepara...

One of my least favorite questions to be asked is one that I also frequently get as a teacher, coach, and parent.   What do I need to do? Except it usually sounds more like:  Uunnggghhh, what do I do?!?!? Please don’t get me wrong, I love helping other people.  It’s at the core of our lives as a physical therapist, teacher, coaches, and, of course, parents.  Helping and serving others is the point...

How do I get faster?  The ultimate question for a coach and competitive runner.  While there really is no magic workout or super predictor, there are some best practices.     Different workouts are designed for different physical benefits, and those benefits have varying levels of importance at different race distances.  Longer races require the physical ability to hold up over a few hours of runn...

Are you a real runner?  Do you identify as a runner?  What are some of the benefits of finally accepting this identity, and what can be some of the downfalls of identifying this way? Over years of coaching I have watched many runners take on the identity of runner.  Some are quick to accept while others take years to accept and may secretly still think they are not actually a runner.  The issue is...

As technology improves, and the amount of information available on your wrist increases, are GPS watches helping or hurting your running?  As with most things in life, the answer is, of course, both. We require every athlete on our cross country team to get at least a stopwatch.  Other athletes we train often have gps watches. We both have gps watches. The ease of workouts improves when you strap...

With the start of a new school year, there has been a lot of talk about clean slates and fresh starts.   Today, we talk about that concept and take two different angles:  1. On one hand, we should look at everyday as a fresh start, a new chance to make choices that lead us closer to the person that we want to become, the goal we want to achieve or the milestone that we want to hit.  Why wait until...

As summer wraps up, and we gear up for another school year, it is important to make sure that the level of daily, weekly, and monthly organization increases.  Now, to be very honest, I am not the best with organization, but I see it’s incredible value. On the other hand, Angie is the master of organization and planning and keeps all of our lives running smoothly.   While I will rarely step up and...

How do I possibly fit it all in?  I feel like I am struggling to keep up right now with work and family...where am I going to find space for improved eating not to mention mental and physical personal health?  When trying to combine work and kids and fitness you can quickly feel overwhelmed. How do you make sure that every area is getting its attention? This episode covers the steps to regularly c...

What good is a running coach?  When Kevin started running, his high school coach was a coaching legend with decades of success.  When Angie began running to be a faster runner, she relied on Kevin. The coach creates the runner both physically and mentally.  They are like the artist carving the statue out of the rock. The mindset of a strong coach should be as Michealangelo stated: “Every block of...

  The marathon is quite the beast of a race.  Many runners set the marathon as a long term goal or the peak of their running achievement.   Others run a few every year while a rare few set out to run one in every state in the US or aim for global destinations.  Regardless of where you may fall on the spectrum from first race to hundredth, one thing is clear, the marathon is not easy.   Running a m...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN! The internet in filled with training plans designed for all sorts of race distances with the allure of magic paces and workouts to help you reach your peak.  In this episode we break down where these plans come from, what some of the vocabulary means, and hopefully educate you about how different paces can help you.   First, the plans come from well intentioned exercise physi...

What is a runner’s body? In the world of running, there are a lot of stereotypes about what runners look like or should look like.  Running used to be more of an elitist sport, not a sport of the masses like it is today. Today, running has become more accessible to so many more people and the “runner’s body” now takes on many more shapes and sizes.   However, that runner’s body stereotype hasn’t g...

Journaling is an incredibly healthy habit that seems to be done in some form by basically every successful person. In this episode we discuss journaling from two very different perspectives. Angie has always had her daily planner going back to at least high school.  It has helped to bring focus and structure with to-do lists. It has provided a source of reflection and a guideline to thanksgiving....

As much as we focus on training, goal setting, and lots of details to running improvement, sometimes it’s nice to step back and remember that all of this running is supposed to be fun.   There are days that we do need the big goals to get us through a rough patch that tends to show up during the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter. However, at the end of the day, your running should provi...

Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.  After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.  This Buddhist statement about chopping wood and carrying water highlights the importance of fundamentals, no matter what stage you are at along your journey.   It is important to understand that improvement in running, health, or really any worthwhile venture happen over a long period of time and through m...

What's the point of training if you're not all-in?  Do you believe in your training plan?  Do you believe in your support system?  Do you believe in yourself?? Today's society seems to be overruled by FOMO, the fear of missing out.  People are always looking for the next best thing and don't want to be left behind.  People are always second guessing if what they are doing is th...

In this world of immediate gratification and all information at our fingertips, everyone wants a quick fix and immediate results.  Want to get in better shape? Try HIIT training. Want to get faster?  Try sprints. Want to lose weight? Try extremely restrictive diets. Want more money? Click one of those online ads to make $25k this month. Running isn't like that though.  Distance running is abo...

Summer is coming!  It’s important to be aware that heat and humidity can change running in many different ways.  Down here in Florida, we understand the importance of dealing with heat and humidity, but this is important no matter where you live. Let's review of what happens to body temperature when we exercise:  Body temperature goes up so the body sweats to try to cool it body temp down Bod...

Why am I so tired? Runners know what it is like to be tired.  As real life runners, with jobs, families, and other responsibilities, we definitely know what it is like to be tired.  But what exactly is fatigue? Scientists used to try to figure out what exercise-induced fatigue was through strictly physiological models.  They figured that the body just ran out of fuel at some point, which caused us...