Run to the Top Podcast | The Ultimate Guide to Running

Marathon Season is here and this is Chicago Marathon week (did you read our  Chicago marathon race guide ?).  One of the runners who will take part in it is my guest on this episode and he shares his incredible story of bravery and overcoming the odds to lead a life that inspires others. It is the most emotional interview I've done and I am certain you will be as inspired by Fernando Cabada as I a...

We've all heard the expression - when one door closes, another opens. For my guest that expression had lasting meaning. Carrie Tollefson, a 2004 Olympian, had trained and planned for a spot on the 5K team, but as fate would have it she didn't make the team. Carrie came back and surprised everyone, including herself, by earning a spot on the 1500m team. For Carrie, being an Olympian changed her lif...

In today's episode, we'll be debunking a few fitness myths and learning some important tips with certified personal trainer and running coach, Meghan Kennihan. Meghan has loved sports for as long as she can remember, including: being on every sports team in her school and running several marathons and triathlons, but hitting several bumps along the way. These are some of the topics we covered: Meg...

My guest today is Janae Jacobs who writes a daily blog,  Hungry Runner Girl . Not only does Janae give advice and share her journey of running, but her blog also serves as a community for runners to encourage and support one another. Hungry Runner Girl has grown in popularity and now receives a million views a month. Janae ran her first marathon in 2010 and fell in love with running and racing. To...

Today I am excited to welcome Max Prokopy to the show. Max has his masters degree in exercise physiology and a member of the  UVA Speed Clinic . At the Speed Clinic they help people runners and walkers optimize their gait to remain injury free and increase their performance. Max and his team have helped both elite level runners to age groupers, and from age 10 to 80 come through their 2.5 hour eva...

Our guest today is a nutritionist and authority on using proper nutritional habits to get your body race day ready. Her name is Pip Taylor, a professional dietitian, sports dietitian, and triathlete. She has been competing internationally for 15 years. She has won the ICU World Cup and many Ironman Triathlons. She has also represented her home country of Australia numerous times on the internation...

I try to listen to your requests for podcast guests. One request that comes up often is to interview other coaches who are interested in sharing their coaching philosophies. Another is to hear from elite athletes to find out what life is like for them. In this interview we will be doing both. So expect to hear about what the life of an elite athlete is and how our guest coach prepares his group of...

Today's guest is someone who brings fun to the sport but isn't looking into breaking a world record. Liz Miele is a seasoned marathon runner, a stand-up comedian at Comedy Central including "Live at Gotham", she's been on "Late Night with Conan o'Brien" and Access TV. She's been featured in many press publications like the NY Times, Time at New York and the New Yorker, winner of the 2008 Gilda's C...

Dr. Steve Pribut will be bringing something new to the table. A Podiatrist based in Washington D.C., he mainly specializes in Podiatric Medicine and Surgery. Aside from that he is also a well-known expert of Podiatric Sports Medicine and Biomechanics. In short, he is an expert on a variety of runner's injury and its treatment. Aside from his profession, he has also served as the President of the D...

For today's show, I have no guest because I am getting married in a few days! So I decided to share my story for anyone who is interested in learning more about me. I was interviewed on  Marathon Training Academy  a few months ago by Angie and Trevor, and you can listen to that episode  here . For those of you who weren't aware, I am originally from England, and moved to the States in 2007 to purs...

Today on the show I am excited to welcome Michele Gonzalez of the blog  NYC Running Mama . First and foremost, Michele is an amazing person who puts her kids first, but also makes the time to run. She is a mother of two, Ironman finisher, ultra, and marathon runner. To top that, she has also completed 3 tours in Iraq as a military intelligence officer, later became a captain. Michele writes for Wo...

Dr. Mark Cucuzzella is an accomplished marathon runner. He is also an Associate Professor at West Virginia University, a family physician, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserves, the Chief Medical Consultant for the Air Force Marathon, and the owner of  Two Rivers Treads ,  the nation's first minimalist shoe store which is located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia . We cover a lot of ground...

I have been thinking for a while that it is time to change it up. I loved the idea of having panel of experts on at the same time, I just needed a topic that would allow it. Recently on my personal blog, I wrote about why runners need to cross train, even if they are not injured, and it got me thinking about cross training more and more. Until recently I was scared to cross train, I thought I was...

With the running boom that has been going on for a few years now, we have learned more and more about running, and added so many things that we need to pay attention to in order to get the best out of our running, but are we making things too complicated? My guest today has so much research and knowledge behind him, but is encouraging runners to go back to basics, keep things simple and focus on t...

We all have to run on our own sometimes. Those moments where you can be alone with your thoughts, and your mind runs wild. It is always fascinating to reflect on the places your mind goes, and what you end up thinking about. Do you ever find that you come up with a crazy idea, something you would like to challenge yourself to do, but then you swat it away, nah, I could do that. What a silly idea y...

The Chicago marathon: one of the 6 marathon majors that almost every marathon runner wants to complete during their running career. One of the fastest, and most recognized marathon races in the world, it is one to watch every year. Last year, I was given the opportunity to race in it as an elite, and while in the elevator a few days before the race, I met the driving force behind it; race director...

I have always been fascinated with the minds of runners. At one point in my life I even looked into becoming a sports psychologist. Today, I had the opportunity to ask those questions I have always wondered with a well known sports psychologist, who has studied distance runners in detail, and has come to some fascinating conclusions on why we act the way we do. You are going to learn so much in th...

There are many topics that are covered over and over again, and some that you can ask someone about, or type into a search engine, and almost hear the crickets as you realize there is nothing on that topic. Runners are dedicated, determined, and love to research what they can do to run faster, so why is there absolutely nothing on women's issues and running. If you are a guy, you may want to switc...

One of my favorite quotes is by Neal Donald Walsh; life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Even though this quote is very well known, and we often tell ourselves that we are great at taking those leaps of faith, I often wonder, are we really? One person who has embraced this to the fullest is my guest today. She is one of the figureheads of womens running, and a photo of her in the Boston Mar...

We know you love the science. We know you love diving deep into topics within running where other podcasts and running blogs wont go. We even know most of you are very skeptical of the big companies.  That's why today we are talking to a professor who completed a research study on a pair of shoes that can increase your running economy, and actually make you run faster.  No. This podcast has not be...

Inspiration. We can find it almost anywhere. The running world is surrounded by it. However, there are some people that just give off so much energy and passion that they inspire you just by being around them. My guest today is one of those people. From not knowing what a marathon was at age 35, to qualifying for the Olympic trials within a matter of years, my guest today is the textbook example o...

If you are listening to this podcast, unless you are my mum or dad, you have probably been bitten by the running bug. It can be hard to describe, and maybe you did not see it coming, like my guest today, but running is addictive, and it will change your life in ways you never imagined. Sure it gives you toned muscles and the ability to get out of the pouring rain quicker than you would have otherw...

My guest today is honest. Not interested in telling you what you want to hear, but instead using his knowledge as a doctor to teach you how to make yourself more healthy, rather than giving you something to treat the symptoms, but never really addressing the true source of the problem. Today I am talking to Steve Gangemi, also known as the Sock Doc. Dr Gangemi is doctor who focuses on holisitic he...

Before we reintroduced the podcast, Jeff and I created a survey for our subscribers to give their feedback on how we could improve the podcast, and what you would like to see in the future of the podcast. I was a little confused by one guest request that came up over and over; Matt Fitzgerald. Matt had already been on the show twice, would listeners not want someone different? It was only once I l...

Today we are going to chat with Jason Fitzgerald (Founder of Strength Running) and Anne Money, the creators of the Nutrition for Runners Program. Nutrition is complicated, and can be a somewhat confusing topic, so we are going to focus on actionable tips that you can use right away to start eating better. Jason and Anne are going to give you two awesome tips for exactly what it means to eat real,...