Martha Runs the World Podcast

Send us Fan Mail #340 - Over our years as runners, we go through A LOT of gear. Some, we find, is no longer useful to us, or we find a better product and we put the old item aside. This week, I talk about various things I no longer use in running. How does it compare with your list, if you decide to list the items you no longer use? Is it completely different or do we have similarities? I also end...

Send us Fan Mail #339 - So, you're on your run and all of a sudden, you come across a flight of stairs, either going up a trail or a hillside in the city. Do you groan to yourself before you tackle them? Do you turn around and run some place else? Or do you look forward to them with wild abandon? This week, I help you love stairs, well, OK, LIKE stairs, because they really can help to make yo...

Send us Fan Mail #338 - This week, I have a secret I want to share with you. Maybe what I tell you in this week's episode has never been shared with you before, so let me be the first! This just may change your running! If you've been struggling or if you get stressed out due to races, perhaps this episode can help. The pressure of racing is on us runners all the time, but there is anoth...

Send us Fan Mail #337 - The meteoric rise of ultraraces has created a few growing pains. Some of these are to be expected. With more and more road runners turning to trail races, it's no surprise that ultraraces are getting crowded. With crowds come problems. Some of the problems can be avoided with proper planning, but maybe not all of them. I talk about the positives an negatives in the ris...

Send us Fan Mail #336 - Yes, I DNF'd my Cool Moon 50 race last week, but my trip to Auburn and Lake Tahoe was so much more than a failed race attempt. I tell you all about it this week. I tell you why the Cool Moon races rock and why you should try them, if you want a real challenge in your running life and how important this trip was in my life. You don't want to miss it!  All links are...

Send us Fan Mail #335 - This week, I share my 20th year of sobriety with you and what it means to me. 20 years, wow! Sometimes, I can't believe it's been that long. I'm so happy in sobriety, life is so much better when I'm not fighting with myself to escape from reality. I also talk about what I think of runners who say they're "addicted" to running. I don't...

Send us Fan Mail #334 - Robyn Godfrey found her joy in running in her 40s. She tells her running story to me this week and how she decided to finish all six Major Marathons (and now there are seven). Her story is inspirational and her love of running will have you putting on your shoes, heading out the door for your own run! She also has a new book out this month and she shares why she wrote it an...

Send us Fan Mail #333 - One of my goals is to give you listeners a glimpse at some of the best trails there are, just waiting to be hiked or run. The John Muir Trail is a mid-length trail, named after the great environmental pioneer of the same name. I give you many reasons why you might want to take a day or two or more to get to know this magnificent area and see what makes it so amazing.  And d...

Send us Fan Mail #332 - There are long races, Cocodona 350, Vol State 500k, and then there's the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race. This race is like no other. It is as much a personal journey into self discovery as it is a foot race. But it is still a race and if you decide this is the race for you, it will push you farther than you have ever been before. And if you complete it,...

Send us Fan Mail #331 - This past weekend, I had the pleasure of running one of the distances of the 2025 Napa Wilderness Race. It was a great and difficult race! I had planned to run the half marathon distance, but dropped down to the 10k and I'm good with my decision. I talk about my long weekend in this episode and why this race should be on your radar for 2026!  I also have an apology to...

Send us Fan Mail #330 - You may have seen those terrific videos of Kenyan runners warming up with the various active exercises before they run. Those are plyometric exercises. This week, I talk about them; what they are and how they can help your running. And, as an added incentive: they're FUN! With only a few added minutes per session, you can reap the benefits of all that plyo can offer! ...

Send us Fan Mail #329 - Remember the phrase "Go Big or Go Home?" Yeah, I got tired of it too. Unfortunately, I still hear it and see runners suggesting that they're not doing enough. Well, first of all, who are they to judge another runner and second, anyone who says that to another runner usually is trying to sell something, be it a book, personal training, running coach services o...

Send us Fan Mail #328 - I've done previous episodes about how to stay safe, but what if things go very badly for you on your trail run? This is a guide to help prevent many of the very traumatic things from happening. Of course, we can't prevent everything from going south, but we can help ourselves by not making us easy targets for future accidents. This is not to scare you, but to help...

Send us Fan Mail #327 - David Amerland's dedication to fitness is evident as soon as we began talking. He switched careers midstream to follow what he loved rather than what he had studied for, chemical engineering. Through this, he wrote the book Built to Last: How to Get Stronger, Heathier and Happier at Every Stage of Life. He and his wife also founded the website Darebee.com I talk to him...

Send us Fan Mail #326 - One of the greatest races in the world takes place in South Africa. The Comrades Marathon can take place north to south or south to north, depending on the year. It is over 50 miles on hot pavement with a tough time limit. In my attempt to talk about all the great world running races, this week is focus on the Comrades. If you're fast and you dream of traveling to Afri...

Send us Fan Mail #325 - Over 500,000 hikers went missing in 2021. There are not numbers of runners who go missing, but they would be drastically reduced. I go over the reasons for the discrepancy. This week, I talk about a few missing runners and what might have happened to them. Some of them have been found, some of them have not. There are ways to help us prevent becoming a missing statistic, wh...

Send us Fan Mail #324 - We all have our favorite places to run. They may be the places we run every day, or they may be places we've only run once or a couple of times, but we remember them for being outrageously beautiful, or maybe standing out as one of the best runs we can remember. Today I'm talking about my favorite places to run and hike. Some of these are places I go to regularly...

Send us Fan Mail #323 - Throughout life, we're told that as we get older, we should relax, take it easy, retire somewhere in the sun and then what...... we're supposed to just fade away? I am of the opinion that there's no reason to give up running or being fierce and strong as we age. Being older is not the time to take it easy. Aging takes strength and fierceness. Sure, it make ta...

Send us Fan Mail #322 - "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints." We've heard this before, probably when visiting a national park, but we can relate to it every time we go out for a run. This week, I talk about how we can use the Leave No Trace philosophy in our running and help keep the trails and races as great each and every time we run!  Support the show Martha...

Send us Fan Mail #321 - It seems everywhere you turn today, all you hear about is AI. And in running, it's no exception. AI can help your running, but there are some downsides. Today, I go over what AI is and how it can help you, provided that you look out for the negatives. Links are on the shoe website. Also, I close the book on a running shoe company I used to love. I feel like I've b...

Send us Fan Mail #320 - I experienced something no one should go through this past week. My Facebook page, as well as my podcast page and podcast Facebook group was suspended over an Instagram account that is not mine. I replied back disputing the suspension, but I'm not optimistic about getting any results. So, while I set up a new Facebook account, it got me thinking.... do we runners rely...

Send us Fan Mail #319 - There are important moments in history that we can remember. Depending on our age, it can include the first man on the moon, the first computer, the first electric car. There are also historic moments in running that should be remembered as turning points. I go over some of these this week. There are so many, I could not include all of them, so if this is of interest to you...

Send us Fan Mail #318 - If you find yourself cutting your long runs short by a few miles every time you go out, or that you're getting DNFs more than you are finishes in your races, you may be suffering from Give-Up-Itis! But no worries! Many runners, including myself go through this, not realizing that it might be a sign of a bigger problem. This week, I'll talk about how it happens and...

Send us Fan Mail #317 - Recently, I went to Boulder City, Nevada to run the race I should have last year! It was extremely hard, but I did it! I talk all about it this week, including a rookie mistake that nearly cost me the race! I also talk about the rest of my vacation, including a trip to Death Valley! It was a wonderful time!  Support the show Martha Runs the World website https://www.buzzspr...

Send us Fan Mail #316 - We're never going to get PRs at every race. Sooner or later, we'll have a race or training run that disappoints us. The longer we go in our running careers, the more likely disappointments will happen. This week, I help both you and myself get through the Disappointment Minefield. It is a tricky one, and the bigger the disappointment, the harder that minefield it...