The Rambling Runner Podcast

Spring is now here and with it comes in an increase in running, outdoor fun, and marathon training. Fueling our longer efforts can provide several challenges. That is especially true for those of us who are preparing for a marathon by stacking up some serious long runs. With that in mind, Holley Samuel RD, CPT, is here to guide us through the process. Holley is a registered dietitian with a BS in...

In our second conversation with Nico Montañez on the Road to the Trials Podcast, Nico shares an amazing amount about training and racing. First, Nico does a nearly 30 minute breakdown of his recent training heading into the United Airlines NYC Half and the upcoming Boston Marathon. In the second half of the podcast Nico discusses his 7th place performance, and 2nd U.S. finisher, at the stacked Un...

We are re-releasing our conversation with Andrea Pomaranski from October, 2021 after she finished as the 10th American woman at the Boston Marathon at the age of 39 because Andrea is at it again! She just won the 50K national title along with setting a new American masters record at the distance. Andrea's story is much more than merely running well as a masters athlete. Here is her post after the...

Kim Levinsky has one of the most unique running-related stories and lives that we've every learned about on the Rambling Runner Podcast. She is the owner and race director for Sassquad Trail Running, a running community based in NJ/NY. Kim has helped elevate trail running in that area by providing month "trail parties" while fostering an atmosphere of fun and inclusion that make Sassquad events en...

I am now an ultramarathoner! On Saturday I competed in the Squatchapple 33 miler at the South Mountain Reservation in West Orange, NJ. It was a muddy and glorious experience that I will remember forever. In this episode, my good friend and fellow Relay contributor Peter Bromka helps me analyze the experience. We discuss the distance, hills, mindset, running vs walking, and the mud. Oh the mud!!! S...

Jeff Cunningham has quietly become one of the best running coaches in the America over the past 20 years. The native Texan coaches some of the best athletes in the country (including recent guest Mitch Ammons) and those aspiring to complete their first marathon, or even 5k. In this episode we have a wide-ranging conversation about how he got into coaching after running at Baylor University, princi...

Jereny started running in 2015 and ran her first marathon in 5 hours and 25 minutes. Since then, she's lost over 50 lbs. and knocked 2.5+ hours off her time. Last month she ran a 2:47 in Houston and she has been smashing several shorter races in-and-around her local Orlando running scene. Jereny is in a similar position to where Stefanie Flippin was in season one of Road to the Trials - her big st...

I love all the interviews I've done on the Rambling Runner but this one may have have been one of the most fun. Chris Mancini is former college acquaintance of mine who is now preparing after for the Boston Marathon. He is a man of many passions including performing music, theater, running, his non-profit work, and his family. Above all, he is a joyous human being who goes after his goals with pas...

Today on the Rambling Runner Podcast we are introducing a new kind of episode that will become part of our normal rotation: Sport Science Corner. These episodes will feature a prominent guest who will walk us through some of the significant research that can effect many amateur runners. Our guest in this episode is Christine Yu. Christine is an award-winning journalist. She writes about sports, sc...

Two months ago Mitch Ammons achieved the seemingly impossible. He qualified for the Olympic Trials Marathon at the California International Marathon with a time of 2:16:48. In this episode we dive into everything that went into that special day. You can hear more about Mitch's tumultuous and uplifting background in episode 456. Here is what Mitch wrote about that special day. It encapsulates his j...

Carolyn Su is back for our monthly For the Love of The Run feature and we are doing a follow-up to our New Years Goals show. In this episode, we talk about where we are with our running, how that relates to our 2023 running goals (and how they've already shifted a bit), and take a deep dive into our family-related goals that are already paying dividends. For the Love of the Run is presented by Tra...

This episode featuring Abiye Okuchaba is perfect for runners who are trying to navigate the beginning of their running journeys and those who are trying to recapture the magical feeling that running first put into their lives. Abiye is a bright light in the Denver running community despite starting the his running journey a few years ago. In 2023 he improved his marathon time from 5:30 in May to 4...

In this episode we are re-airing one of the best conversations in Rambling Runner history, and for good reason. Heather Knight Pech was once told that her peak was gone. It was in a class she was taking at Stanford 18 months ago. It sparked a deep conversation with her coach, James McKirdy, and her support team. Dejected, she was reminded that there's simply no chart or metric that can measure the...

The February episode of Coach's Corner LIVE on Relay is out and it may have been our best one yet. Many Relay subscribers sent in questions about the mental side of running/racing and they were fantastic. Over the course of an hour we answered the following questions: "I enjoy running far, but am looking at making the leap from doing 50 milers as my longest ever distance to my first 100 miler in t...

We are starting off season three of Road to the Trials with one of the best and most versatile runners in the U.S. - Nell Rojas. In this episode we talk about her 2022 marathon performances and take a deep dive into the tumultuous last two months of her life that nearly ended her 2023 Boston Marathon before it began. Nell is a professional marathon runner for Nike. She grew up in Boulder, CO with...

The Road to the Trials has returned for season three and we are fired up! We will be bringing you a yearlong, behind the scenes, look at the training and racing of some of America's best runners as they prepare for the Olympic Marathon Trials on February 3, 2024. In this amazing season we will be following Nell Rojas, CJ Albertson, Sara Vaughn, Dani Moreno, Nico Montañez, Carmen Graves, Ramiro “Cu...

Miguel Peralta is the kind of enthusiastic and galvanizing person that can bring runners of all abilities together. He is also super fast! In this episode Miguel talk about how he originally pushed running away when his dad tried to get him to run as a teenager, embracing running in his 20's, how taking a "no days off" mentality fit his personality, the magic of 10 mile runs, and how he went from...

Dr. Jess Mena, DPT is here for our monthly collaboration and this time we are talking about she went from an ultramarathon newbie to dropping two hours off her 50k time. Jess breaks down her race and improvement with her unique blend of insight, wit, and high-energy. Here is a poem Jess wrote after her experience: That sound of dirt under my feet The smell of crisp mountain air Mountain rugged dir...

Today we have a special episode of Coach's Corner. Almost all of us had made running goals in our lives. Many of those are almost certainly time-based goals. These types of goals can have huge positives and just as many negatives. In this episode, James McKirdy and I dive into all of them. James McKirdy is the founder and head coach of McKirdy Trained. You can learn more about his amazing coaching...

Carolyn Su is back for our monthly For the Love of The Run feature and we are leaning into the new year. In this episode, we talk briefly about how our process of setting goals/resolutions has changed over time before getting into all of our goals for athletic and personal lives. We both bring some serious honesty and frankness in this episode as we talked for well over an hour and didn't even get...

Jason Fitzgerald, the host of the top rated Strength Running Podcast, is back on the show! Jason has been on the show several times to talk about the importance of strength training, improving as an athlete, and the various ways becoming stronger can help runners achieve their goals. In today's episode, Jason and I discuss some different and exciting topics. First we dive into the occasional impos...

Holy cow - 500 episodes!!!! For the last five and a half years I've been bringing you the Rambling Runner podcast and it's been one of the greatest joys of my life. In this episode I'm joined by my friend and fellow media member Dylan Bowman. We take a deep dive into everything that goes into the work, the joys, the challenges, and plenty of things that happen behind the scenes in our fun and inte...

Hi folks! We are a week into 2023 and I hope everyone is nailing all of their process goals and staying aligned with what you hope to pursue in new year! With that in mind, we have the fantastic guest on today's show - Alli Felsenthal. In 2022 Alli had one of the best years I've ever seen from an amateur runner. She set a PR in every distance distance she raced, including smashing her 3:00 maratho...

The new year is here and all of us are focused on the things we want to accomplish in 2023, and beyond, and the ways in which we hope to get there. With that in mind, we have the perfect guest to help us illuminate the way - Sara Manderscheid. In 2022 Sara set a PR in every distance (see the list below) and did the same in 2021. In this episode she details just how she was able to reach those heig...

Emily Heller, one of my favorite people, is back on the show! In this episode we talk all about the 2022 running shoe revolution. It was a year that was paradigm shifting in many ways. Emily's YouTube channel, Run Like Heller, has some of the best shoe reviews on the internet so she was the perfect person to help break it all down. Specifically we dove into the new super max category, the explosio...