Running Rogue

Who else is going through Olympics withdrawal like me?!? I'm happy to have more sleep but definitely miss the inspiration of the Games. In this episode, I talk about 5 inspiring stories and athletes from the Olympic Games and how we can apply those lessons in our own training. Yes, we can learn from the best athletes on the planet. And yes, they are more like the rest of us than we think!

To finish my impromptu series on the phases of training, here is an episode on the taper phase of training (aka peaking mode). These are the final weeks of work where you reduce volume in order to get the body fresh and the mind sharp for race day. In the episode, I talk about what that means including how to reduce your mileage, what types of workouts to do, and of course, how to make sure you me...

Last week, we talked about the aerobic strength phase of training with a focus on building endurance through primarily effort-based work. In this episode, we take the next step into the race-specific phase of training and talk about the goals, guiding principles, and workouts you might execute in the final phase of work before the taper. This is the phase where it is time to get specific with your...

As discussed in my recent episode on periodization, training should begin with a base or priming phase and then proceed to the aerobic strength phase of work. In this episode, I focus on the aerobic strength phase of work in training, including what it means and how to get the most from it. To start, we define aerobic strength and then talk about the guiding principles of this phase. Finally, we t...

I often get the question: where does cross training fit into my run training?  The answer to that question is more nuanced than you might think. In this episode, I define cross-training for you and then talk about for whom and how it might fit into your overall running routine. Spoiler alert: it may not be for everyone and that's ok. To use the offer code mentioned in the episode, go to takecareof...

In one of the most counter-intuitive concepts in sports, you can only optimize your potential as a runner by slowing down. Yes, I said it. You have to go slow in training in order to go fast on race day. In this episode, I present 5 different ways that you need to slow down in training in order to get and smash your long term goals. If you can set your ego aside and embrace these concepts, then yo...

Running is running. The elites do it more and faster, but their experiences aren't as different from ours as you might think. In this episode, I bring you 7 lessons from the first weekend of the Olympic Trials. These are lessons that you can apply in your own running and life. Thank you to an amazing group of athletes - Allyson Felix, Cory McGee, Woody Kincaid, Elise Cranny, Karissa Schweizer, Hea...

With this episode, I take a departure from my usual training content to talk to you as fans. Yesterday, we learned that Shelby Houlihan, American record holder in the 1500m and 5K, is now serving a 4-year ban for ingesting a banned substance. She claims that the banned substance - Nandrolone - was ingested via a burrito from a food truck. WADA did not buy her story and confirmed her ban via the Co...

Long distance running is an efficiency game, and far too many of us are constantly pressing the edge and running ourselves ragged instead. Relaxed running is fast running, but that's so much easier said than done. In this episode, I give you 5 tips for finding new gears by embracing this concept. Learn to relax and stay in control while running, and it will pay off. 

It's that time of year in many places where the training starts to get hard thanks to the heat and humidity of the late Spring and Summer months. In Austin, we've already seen mornings at 70+ degrees and 90%+ humidity. For better or worse, this means you have to make adjustments to your training in order to optimize your work in the summer in order to get your fall goals. In this episode, I give y...

Many will try to sell you magical ways to improve your form through various "methods" and books of wizardry. To me, it's all snake oil. No one has a patent on the best running form. There is no secret. The goal is simply to be more efficient within your body, based on how it works already, and nothing more.  In this quick-hit episode, I give you 4 simple ways to improve your form over time. These...

As a coach, I help athletes face insecurities related to their training all the time. I am here to tell you that: a) everyone faces these insecurities regardless of their pace or background, and b) these insecurities won't necessarily go away, but you will get better at managing them.  In this episode, I talk about 3 common insecurities that I see, how they might manifest, and what you can do to d...

As a by-product of the pandemic, I've seen more running burnout recently than normal. If you're in this place, it's ok. It's not your fault, but you do need to be proactive about dealing with it BEFORE you get after chasing your next goal. In this episode, we talk about the definition of burn-out, the causes of burn-out, and what to do both mentally and physically to get through it.  Alex Hutchins...

The long run might be the most important element of any training program. And yet, many of us and many training programs aren't optimizing it. Or worse, the long run is executed in a way (often by running it too fast) that is counter-productive to training. In this episode, we talk about why the long run is so important and then how to get the most out of it. I answer the important questions on th...

In this episode, I talk with the full Rogue Expeditions team, Allison Macsas, Gabe Steger, and Sean Meehan about their new book Venture, The Rogue Expeditions Story.  The book tells the story of the Rogue Running sister company from its ideation on a 2012 trip to Morocco to today with trips to 9 different destinations worldwide. The book is full of crazy and funny stories from the trips as well as...

There is nothing more inspiring to me that watching an athlete set a big goal, do the work, and then execute a plan to smash that goal. In this episode, I tell the story of Roberta Gibb, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon in 1966 and share my 5 lessons in goal smashing from her story. What's your goal and are you ready to do the work to smash it? To redeem the offer in this episode go to g...

In episode 227, we talked about priming yourself for the training to come for races in the fall. In this episode 229, we take that one step further and lay out a 22-week periodization plan for fall half marathon or marathon training, allowing you to build to a hypothetical peak in October. We answer one fundamental question: How should you sequence your training in phases in order to be most ready...

Last week, I saw a poignant letter from Lauren Fleshman to her younger self (linked below). It inspired me to think about the lessons I might share with my younger running self. In this episode, I give you (and the younger me) 8 lessons from my 20+ year running journey. Some are focused on training mechanics, while others are focused on how to understand and enjoy the journey more. I certainly don...

The birds are chirping, spring is in the air, and the virtual Boston Marathon just opened for registration. With fingers crossed and simultaneously knocking on wood, hope is building for real, live, in-person fall races to happen. If that's true, then training for those fall races starts soon! In Austin, we will be kicking off our fall training on May 8.  What does that mean? It means you need to...

Tenille Hoogland (@hooglandt) has a fascinating story in sport from growing up in Canada as a province-best synchronized swimmer to a later career as a pro triathlete. She wanted badly to make an Olympic team, but that dream never became a reality. During that time, she also spent time within the Rogue community in Austin as an athlete and coach. Now, she is still a coach, is co-founder of the Res...

Elite, amateur, and all degrees of fast, for those pushing toward a big goal, we all face self-doubt as runners. It might come as the everyday narrative in our heads or the fleeting thoughts that make you question yourself in a race or workout. Either way, it's important to develop tactics to deal with self-doubt so that you can smash your biggest goals. In this episode, I talk about types of self...

In this episode, I start with an intro discussing my perspective on the virtual race announced recently by the Boston Marathon, where all athletes are allowed to participate. Then, I turn to a discussion on tips and recommendations for building toward a breakthrough race. What will it take for you to get that PR, that milestone time, or that Boston qualifier? I have 7 ideas for you to ponder and i...

After a week off due to complications from the winter storm in Texas, I am back to you this week with 49 minutes all on the recovery run. As a coach, one of the biggest mistakes I see is runners taking their recovery runs too fast. If you do that, then it's not a recovery run, and you are asking for injury. Plus, you are likely getting suboptimal output on your long or hard day as well.  In this e...

You will commonly hear runners talk about getting to their "race weight" in order to achieve their goals on race day. I'm here to tell you that, as a running coach, I don't believe in that way of thinking. In fact, I believe it can be destructive and lead to under performance in many cases. In this episode, we talk about how to reframe the discussion around race weight both in your mind and in you...

In episode 216, I discussed a book I had discovered during my sabbatical: The Pain Relief Secret How to Retrain Your Nervous System, Heal Your Body, and Overcome Chronic Pain.  In this episode, I am excited to welcome the author of that book - Sarah Warren - to the show. Sarah is a Certified Clinical Somatic Educator who has dedicated her life to helping people live happier and more-pain-free live...