The Running Public

We opened to doors up for ANY question to be asked! You surprised us with your maturity, as we only got two defecation based questions. From Bachelorette questions and "who would win in a fight" to actual running submissions, this episode has a bit of everything!

We seemed to have a theme amongst the questions we received this week: Easy Runs, HR Training, Fitting Workouts in on Restricted Time, and Structuring Your Season. We love that people are diving into the nitty gritty of training, so we answered them all!

If you've ever ran, biked, or hiked on a trail, this interview will hit home! Adam Buck is a professional trail builder who also happens to have been a high school track star turned pro mountain biker, sponsored by Red Bull. He's lived a wild life, most of which has taken place in the great outdoors. 

Everyone talks about racing hard, a hard workout, a hard interval session, a hard tempo run. But what does Hard really look and feel like? Pacing yourself based off effort is tricky but it is a super valuable skill to develop. We cover the key feelings and mental cues to be hitting during races and training in order to nail that effort!

Rich Ryan of the Reinforced Running Podcast swings by today! Rich is a fast runner, successful podcaster, excellent endurance and nutrition coach, and has been hitting some really fast time trials lately! We chat through his transition from college running to OCR racing, eating disorders, trying to train for off road racing while living in downtown Philly, and his nutritional philosophy for endura...

We are only as tough and strong as our support system. Every successful human and athlete is held up by a clearly defined "Why" and a strong and honest Accountability Partner. Learn how to identify and establish your safety net in order to maximize your athletic potential!

Kirk interviews Brakken about Spartan's evolution as as race, brand, and company. From a grassroots movement to a worldwide phenomenon, Spartan Race has essentially created a sport out of thin air and Brakken was there to witness it from the beginning. Today is filled with nostalgic memories, old race stories, critiques and compliments for Spartan's business model, and much more!

As a runner, do you need to be on Strava? Today we dive into: What is Strava? How to use it as a training tool Is the Premium Subscription worth upgrading to? The common pitfalls athletes fall into on Strava

From collegiate 800m All-American to 100 mile Ultra Runner, Ean has worked to redefine himself as an endurance athlete. He represents the struggles of the everyman: running his own construction business and raising four kids while trying to fit in 70-80 mile training weeks. One of the grittiest athletes we have ever competed against, Ean continually seeks out races that test how far he can truly p...

Our mental game is the key to our performance. Far too often, our true athletic ceiling is WAY higher than we think it is. Today's episode gives you the blueprint to unlock better performances.

Race predictor workouts. Training for downhills as a flatlander. Setting your personal HR zones. Using HR for interval workouts. Are massages useful? When should I time trial? How to stay injury free as a heavier runner. Drug testing in OCR. Our thoughts on minimal shoes.  All these and many more are addressed today! 

As many athletes have progressed into their "off season base building" stage of training, the questions we've received have shown a growing concern that they will lose their hard earned speed during this time. Today we address that single issue completely!

IAU Trail World Champs. Skyrunning World Series Champion. 2x Skyrunning Extreme Series Champion. Ultra Skyrunning World Champion. 12x OCR World Champion. 2x Spartan Race World Champion. World's Toughest Mudder Team Champion.  If is it a running race held off road, Jon Albon has probably won it. The craziest part of it all? Jon has had 2 broken bones in his foot for the past FOUR AND A HALF YEARS....

Shoes. Socks. Underwear. Shorts. Compression Shorts. Cold weather tights. Shirts. Jackets. Rain gear. Gloves. Hats. Waist belts. Hydration packs. Watches. HR monitors. You asked for the gear we use; here it is!

One year into her transition from D-1 Track star to OCR athlete, Morgan Schulz joins us for an unbelievable story of success, injury, heartbreak, and resolve. She has had incredibly high highs paired with agonizingly low lows through her first 23 years as an athlete, which has set her up for future dominance in the endurance world. This entire episode is worth your time but from 70:00 to the end s...

Running isn't as simple as just building a big engine. There are many accompanying skills that need to be developed in order to fully access your fitness during a competition. Ascending, descending, technical terrain, heat, altitude; these are all skills that need sharpening or developing in order to round out your game. When and how often should they be trained? Today we debate it all!

The fastest runner in the sport of OCR today, Mark Batres has been training as a distance runner since he was 8. From child phenom to collegiate stud to 2:19 marathoner to US National OCR champ, Mark walks us through his journey as a runner. He is also a successful endurance coach and we get to pick his brain about training volume, racing weight, and interval work.

There is a lot of buzz around Hunter McIntyre's new virtual competition, OCR Stars, so we decided to walk you through everything you need in order to prepare for and dominate this competition! We analyze Hunter's tenancies as an athlete and coach in order to flesh out the details of what the events could look like. We then give you the training specifics needed to attack those specific type of eve...

The youngest, and arguably best, athlete in the sport of OCR takes us on his journey from 13 year old wunderkind to 21 year old phenom. Get to know the young man behind the legend! Also, Brakken does his best to sabotage the episode by not knowing the start time and Matt Kempson makes a surprise guest appearance. 

These three terms are always talked about, sometimes understood, and rarely implemented correctly. Today we fix that! We break down what each term means, discuss why and when you would use it, then give you real examples of how to implement it correctly!

Tuesday's Q&A episode only covered half of your questions so we are powering through today! This episode might have the most wide ranging topics we've ever covered. We start with different approaches for dealing with and sourcing sponsors, progress to a debate between OCRWC and Spartan World Championships, touch upon some training nitty-gritty, then finish up with our dream jobs and play F-M-K wit...

We had an overflowing inbox this week so it was time for a Q&A session! With virtual races coming up we have a lot a marathon strategy and pacing questions. From there we run the gauntlet from strength training and dynamic warm ups to HR zones, burn out vs fatigue, and of course a little bit of compromised running. Don't miss Kirk's bear attack story!

Hunter McIntyre swings by to announce the launch of his new Virtual Race Series: OCR All Stars. With 4 competitions and a minimum of $31,000 in prize money, this will be the biggest paying race of 2020 and it doesn't forget about the Age Groupers! We also chat about his athletic goals for 2021, his plans to run a 4:30 mile in the next few months (while weighing over 200 lbs), partying with the Bac...

Kirk and Brakken have a combined 45 years of Endurance Training between the two of them. That is a LOT of chances to screw up! Today they talk through the 6 biggest mistakes they've made in their running careers, from not testing things out until race day to trying to match their rivals in training. Some stories are funny, others are cautionary, but they all will help you avoid the biggest pitfall...

Ian Hosek is the mind behind Hosek Performance Engineering (and endurance coaching company) and the 5th place finisher at the 2019 Spartan World Championships. Ian joins us to talk about his development as both athlete and coach, starting with his mindset as an engineer and continuing through his work at the Nike Campus (where he helped test the Vaporfly and Alphafly prototypes) and as a professio...