Welcome to episode 84 of the Final Surge podcast with our guest Steve Fleck. Steve is an athlete turned announcer and you will hear him at many events including Ironman Triathlons, Rock 'N Roll Marathons and streaming online covering track meets. We talk to Steve about how he got involved in announcing after his athletic days were over and what it is like behind the scenes at these big events. Make sure you follow Steve on Twitter @SteveFleck and follow us @FinalSurge.
How did you get your start in athletics?
How did you make the transition to announcing at events?
Do you do mostly triathlons or is it a mixture of events?
As a high school coach, I go to several cross country and track meets a year. There is a huge difference between the experience at a meet that just announces the next event and a meet with an announcer giving you details about what is going on and who the players are. What do you see as your job responsibility when you announce a race?
Are most of your events large events or do you work smaller events too?
What does your preparation look like for an event and how does it differ from like a local 5k race to a big Rock n Roll?
If you are doing an Ironman triathlon what does that look like for you? You are out there so long how do you fill that space?
Any disaster or horror stories?
Do you have a favorite race to do?
Final Surge 5 questions in under a minute
Favorite endurance/running book? - David Epstein The Sports Gene
Current trainers you are wearing? - Favorite all-time is Nike Waffle
Favorite race? - Any big events like Ironman would love to do NYC Marathon
Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? - Beer and Risotto
Your favorite workout - Threshold/Sweet Spot
Resources
Welcome to episode 83 of the Final Surge Podcast where we welcome new professional runner Sam Parsons. Sam is a runner with Adidas and the new Tinman Elite running team in Boulder Colorado. In this episode, you will hear the enthusiasm Sam has for running and the running profession. We talk about Sam's high school days, his transition to running at NC State and what it is like running for Tinman, Tom Schwartz who he calls the mad genius of running. The Tinman Elite crew uses Final Surge as a training platform and it is great to hear the enthusiasm Sam and his teammates have for the sport. We dive into how the mental part of running is so important to Sam and how his training has changed under Tinman.
How did you get your start in running?
After high school, you ran at NC State. What was a harder transition, transitioning from high school to college or college to the professional ranks?
You mentioned one of the harder parts of jumping from high school to college was the milage demands, what were you running in high school?
What about the mental aspect, how has the mental part of running and competing changed as you have grown?
How do you think you changed to become a more serious runner?
Many of us follow professional runners on Instagram and see runs in absolutely stunning locations, then naps, and free shoes… What has the transition to a professional runner been like?
You are running for Adidas now, how did that relationship develop?
You did the BAA mile where you got 5th and then recently ran the mile at Drake’s. You ran a lot of 5-10ks on the track in college so is this miler thing just part of the training season you are in or what are your plans?
Let’s talk a little bit about training. You are now training with Tinman, Tom Schwartz. We have had him on the podcast in the past and this past January I had the privilege of getting to spend a little time with him while at a clinic. What has been the biggest change in your training?
Tinman is known for his CV efforts. How do you define CV effort, what pace is that for you?
One of our loyal Twitter follers MacBane, a Twitter follower wants to know
How do you have fun on race day?
Final Surge 5 questions in under a minute
Favorite endurance/running book? - Unbroken and Beyond Jogging
Current trainers you are wearing? - Adidas Solar Boost
Favorite race? - 5k
Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? - Tripple Berry Smoothie
Your favorite workout - Mile Repeats and Long Run
Resources
Podcast with Tinman
Sam on Twitter
Sam on Instagram
Tinman Elite on Instagram
Welcome to episode 82 of the Final Surge podcast with our guest this week Zach Cole. Zach has built a new website called HopDash.com which is helping connect runners to running locations and groups. It is a great way to find a group to run with when you travel, or maybe just to discover new running areas in your city.
You launched a new site called hop dash.com and I want to dig into it, but before we do that we like to introduce our listeners to our guests find out a little about who you are, if you could tell our listeners how you got started with running?
You talk about how you started running with a few groups, HopDash your new site is about running with groups, so can you give us a background on the site?
Do you find that groups are comprised of similar runners or are most groups varied in who is running with them?
When I look at your HopDash and I click on one of the cities, let’s say Boston, on the right I see interesting places to run and then on the bottom I see a calendar and each day has a different set of runs and each of those runs dots in the upper corner, one green, two yellow, three orange dots what do those mean?
How does it work, who updates the workouts?
The interesting places to run, are they user-generated too?
How do I know if the group I am looking at is more casual vs more serious?
You are relying on user feedback and people entering their information, so how do you see this growing?
Who are some of the interesting people you have met while traveling?
What is the hardest or most memorable place you ran?
We see training professional groups forming around the country, but also we see many local training groups and running communities. Why do you think these are growing?
Final Surge 5 questions in under a minute
Favorite endurance/running book? - Once a Runner
Current trainers you are wearing? - Challenger 3's
Favorite race? - Santa Cruz to Capitola Wharf
Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? - Burger and Beer
Your favorite workout - 1600 repeats
How to connect with you?
- Hopdash:
- Zach on Twitter
Welcome to episode 81 of the Final Surge podcast where today we welcome back Neely Spence Gracey to the podcast to talk about Boston. Boston is less than a week away and we talk to Neely about what a first-time runner should consider when heading to Boston and we take a look at some of the top names on the men's and women's race. We even get Neely to predict the winners of both races. Neely uses the Final Surge platform in her coaching, if you are interested in getting coached by Neely head over to NeelyRuns.com.
You were the top American Women at Boston in 2016, you want to explain why you are not running this year?
How will the weather affect the race?
If it is a little rainy like they are predicting, are those good conditions for a good fast race?
What should first-time runners know about the course?
Men's Elite Marathon
Is there someone you think can knock off the defending champ Geoffrey Kirui?
Last year Galen Rupp was runner-up and came back and won Chicago, what do you think the chance is of him winning and running a fast time?
Who will win the men's race? Lesisa Desisa
On the women's side, this is a really deep field. How will this play out?
One of the wild cards is Jordan Hasay, how do you see her playing a factor?
We have some veterans with experience in Deena Kastor and Kellyn Taylor, can one of these vets step up and surprise people?
Flanagan is coming off of NYC, can she repeat that at Boston?
Edna Kiplagat is the defending champ, is she going to be hard to knock off?
Who is someone we need to keep an eye on in the women's race?
Who will win the women's race? Kiplagat
What other advice do you have for runners to enjoy the weekend?
NeelyRuns@Gmail.com
NeelyRuns.com
Neely on Twitter
Neely on Instagram
Welcome to episode 80 of the Final Surge Podcast where we welcome medical doctor Josh Emdur to the show. Josh has an interesting practice, he works for SteadyMD which changes the way the people interact with their primary care physician. Imagine, instead of calling your primary care doctor for an appointment you texted them and shortly thereafter you were talking to your doctor via a video chat. Dr. Emdur's practice does just that and he specializes in working with runners. You can find him at SteadyMD.com/running.
Josh is doing some interesting thing around medicine for runners
If you could tell us how you got started as a runner?
What was it working with a coach that really changed things?
You are online at SteadyMD.com/running can you tell us what this site is about?
How does that work, how do you treat patients virtually?
I’ve seen on your social media that Neely Spence Gracey uses you, being in Boulder are you working with a certain level of runners or anyone?
You have mentioned you are more like a primary care doctor for athletes. Why do I need a primary care physician when it seems specialist is more of the trend these days?
Can you practice in any state?
You are obviously using technology to make this work, what do you with the future of healthcare technology such as all the data that Apple Health is grabbing, Do you or can you use and monitor that?
It seems that technology is lowering the costs for just about everything in our lives these days, but the one place it is not lowering is our healthcare costs. Healthcare costs total about 18% of our GDP last I saw, without getting into the politics of health care and ObamaCare, do you see subscription services like this as a future way to lower costs?
If someone is already paying obscene amounts for health insurance why would they spend the $79/mo on this too?
I don't go to the doctors often, I don't think I have been to a Dr. in at least 7-8 years. Last time I was there I had an appointment and all I remember is it took almost an hour longer before I was able to see the doctor. How would an appointment work with you online?
If received a prescription from you would insurance cover it?
I wake up this AM and not feeling well and want a consultation, how long would it take to get an appointment?
What does an appointment with you look like?
What do you think is running related injuries vs general health issues for your clients?
I wake up on a Tuesday morning with a race this weekend and I am feeling something coming on. You are off on your vacation for a couple weeks rock climbing in South America, what happens if i need service while you are gone?
You mentioned you can be a team member with an athlete and their coach, can you give me an example of how that would work?
Final Surge 5 questions in under a minute
Favorite endurance/running book? - Born to Run
Current trainers you are wearing? - Newton
Favorite race? - Boston or any race where people are excited to be there
Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? - Cholocate Milk
Your favorite workout - Anytime pushing myself usually on trails
Resources
SteadyMD/Running Website
SteadyMDRunning on Twitter
SteadyMDRunning on Instagram
Welcome to episode 79 of the Final Surge Podcast. Today we dive deep into training with coach and author Mario Fraioli. We spend a half hour talking nothing but the 5k. We dive into how to race a 5 and how you structure your training for that race. If you are interested in coahing for the 5k you can reach out to Mario on his website MarioFraioli.com or check out our training plans at Finalsurge.com.
We have a special training episode today where we are going to talk about 5k training. But before we do that I want to spend 2 minutes catching up. We had you on last year, people can learn more about you from episode 27. I think most of our listeners know about your Morning Shakeout Tuesday newsletter, but recently you added the shakeout podcast. I loved your recent episode with Shalane. What made you decide a podcast was where you wanted to go next?
5k Training/Racing
The 5k is unique because it is the shortest race most non-elite winners will do. It’s also my favorite race distance to coach personally because it’s a great mix of endurance and speed. What do you personally like or not like about the 5k?
For this, I don’t want to focus on the couch to 5k. There are plenty of plans and podcasts about that. I want to focus on someone who is really interested in racing a 5k. And that could be someone looking to break their 24min Pr or go sub 19 or even sub 15. We usually talk about training and then get into racing. But today I want to work backwards. I want to start with racing the 5k to understand what we need to work on in training. You take on a new athlete what general racing advice do you have for a road 5k runner?
Racing a 5k is tough. As I tell my athletes you need to learn to enjoy that ride on a pain train. If you are going for it then from 800-5k meters you are probably going to hurt. Do you find there is work you can do to get them used to that feeling or do they need to race to experience it?
If you have someone, maybe a competitive age grouper, not going for the win. How do they race it? Do you like even splits on a flat course for optimal racing?
There is usually a big pack early through maybe 2k then it starts thinning out. Is this because too many people go out to fast?
No, of course,e you mentioned experience racing is the best teacher for racing a 5k. You can be in great shape and still fall apart in a 5k so how do you ride that line between going for it and blowing up?
If you have an athlete who says I have this key 5k I want to crush how long is your recommended program and what should the base look like before they even start that?
What type of base should they be coming off, what should the training look like before the training cycle?
If someone had a 12-week block how much racing can they do before their A race?
You mention faster than race pace work, how do you structure those in?
Walking through a training week
We talked about racing on that edge, how many 'Seeing God' workouts do you do?
What percent of the total volume for the week is your long run in 5k training?
How do you work in workouts that may be specific to the course?
Interested in getting coached by Mario, check out his website
This is a replay best of episode of the podcast where we go back to Episode 39 of the Final Surge Podcast and our talk with Team MPI head coach and co-founder Mark Sortino. Mark is a USA Triathlon Level III Coach, a certified USAT Race Director, and is the head coach of Team USA Paratriathlon. In addition to coaching, Mark is a 16-time Ironman finisher.
Welcome to Episode 39 of the Final Surge Podcast where we talk to head coach and co-founder of TeamMPI, Mark Sortino. Mark is a Level III Triathlon coach and has been featured in publications such as USA Triathlon Magazine and Triathlete Magazine, and was a featured coach in Endurance Films TriMinds series. Team MPI has triathlon training plans available on Final Surge from the sprint distance through the Ironman.
How did you get your start in endurance athletics?
How did you make the transition into triathlons?
What lead to you starting Team MPI? Can you tell us about your group?
How many coaches do you currently have on staff at Team MPI?
You mentioned that you are using Final Surge in your training. How are you using it?
We want to start out with some basic training and triathlon questions for those who are looking to do their first multisport event. For someone who is looking to get started with triathlons, maybe they are someone who has done a lot of running or swimming, what do you see as the most common mistakes made?
You have a wide variety of training plans available on Final Surge, everything from the sprint distance up to Ironman training plans. Let's look at the basic first week for a beginner Olympic distance race plan. Before we talk about specifics, what type of base should a beginner have before they start training for their first triathlon?
Week #1: The first day you have 30 minutes of swimming and 30 minutes of aerobic running with strides.
The 30-minute swim workout is:
***No paces to hit, just go with feel and intention.
For someone who is coming in without a swim background, how important is it to use perceived exertion on the swim?
After the swim, you have the 30 minutes of running. Should these be done back to back, does order matter, or should they be separate so you are recovered?
Day two of Week #1 is a 30-minute active recovery swim and 30 minutes of bike base spinning. One thing I noticed on the swim is that on the second day you have:
For someone who is coming from a run background, we don't see a coach saying go hard two days in a row. How different is it training for the swim?
Then the bike workout is 30 minutes of staying in zones 1-2. Is all of your biking done in heart rate zones versus training paces?
On day three there is a Fartlek run:
Why and how often are you incorporating fartlek work into your workouts?
In week #1 you have some days that are just running or just biking, but every day of swimming has either a bike or run. Is this a normal pattern for your triathlon training?
For the new triathlete, they get to the starting line on race day and they are looking at several hundred people ahead of them waiting to get into the water. How do you prepare them for what will likely be a much rougher swim than what they practiced?
Now I'd like to look at an Ironman plan. An Ironman is going to be a lot of additional time in the water and on the roads. Looking at one of the weeks for your ironman training you have a total of 3.5 hours of running, 5.5 hours of biking and just under 2.5 hours swimming. Do you try to keep each week proportional to the amount of time they will actually be spending doing the event on race day or do you focus on what they may need the most help with?
On days where you are doing either both swimming and running, swimming and biking or biking and running, is it important that you do them in the order you will be doing them on race day? Is that not important at all or should you switch it up?
Over the last few years, there have been a lot of technical advancements that make it easier to train, such as the availability of power meters and testing your heart rate variability. How important are these tools to your coaching?
Can you tell us how you are using HRV with your athletes to monitor the overall picture of what is going on with them?
We all live with our Google calendar, our day planners and our family calendar hanging on the fridge, and they all have the same thing - 7 day weeks, which is what we seem to focus on for our normal training periods. You recently had a piece on your TeamMPI.com blog about changing the cycles up some. What do you recommend people consider when putting together a training cycle?
Team MPI has training plans available on Final Surge from the sprint triathlon distance up to the Ironman distance. I will leave the links in the show notes to those plans, but if someone wanted to reach out to you about coaching or other questions how could they best reach you.
mark@teammpi.com or coaches@teammpi.com
The Final Surge... 5 questions in under 1 minute
Favorite running book? - Born to Run
Current trainers you are wearing? - Newton
Favorite race? - Kona
Favorite meal or recovery drink? - Shakeology and Energy Lab Armor
Your favorite workout - Running: a hard trail run, Bike: short interval work, Swim: long repeats
You can find Team MPI in the following places:
Welcome to episode 77 of the Final Surge Podcast where we welcome professional runner Kellyn Taylor and her coach Ben Rosario. Kellyn is coming off her top 10 finish at the New York City Marathon last November is one of the many amazing Americans in the Boston Marathon in April. We talk to Kellyn and her coach about the training to date and what to expect in Boston. They share with us what the workouts look like, what Boston specific work they are doing and get into details about the hills and why they chose Boston for the spring marathon. Make sure you check out Ben's 10-weeks to Boston Blog and follow Kellyn online.
How did you get started in running?
You ran a great race at NYC, at what point did you decide Boston was going to be your next race?
How is your training going, where are you with it?
Ben, you have been blogging about the training, can you tell us what the weeks are looking like right now?
Arnold on Twitter asked about the mental aspect of running when you decide you did not want to do a marathon right after NYC was it more for mental reasons or physical?
Ben, when you are coaching elite runners like this, how much do you talk about the mental aspect of racing?
One thing Ben has been talking about on the blog is how different Boston is. What has been different about the Boston preparation?
Listeners love to hear about mileage, what is your mileage at right now?
Besides the training, is there anything different in your other preparation to get ready for Boston?
When you were training for NYC you were training with Steph Bruce, she is doing London this time so are you still training with her or are you doing different workouts?
Ben, is this something that was strategic or do you let them decide what marathons they are doing and just guide them?
You and Scott Smith were up in Boston and run parts of the course, what were your thoughts?
You and Scott have done three of the same races so far, does it help having Scott Smith there to do the workouts with someone?
What is a hard workout you have done recently?
Do you like running hills or would you rather have a flat course?
You have done quite a few marathons and have experience, Jonathan from Twitter asked what your diet is like leading into the race?
Ben: Going back to the Boston question, seeing it helps the athlete to see it and helps me to sculpt the workouts better. We are doing these hills not to survive Boston but to thrive on the Boston course.
If you are doing 110 miles a week, how much of that is specifically downhill so you can get used to it?
Another question we got was about easy runs, what does an easy run look like?
What are your goals for Boston?
Ben, can you talk about what is going on with the 10-weeks to Boston blog at this time?
Kellyn what Hoka's are you using for training and
Resources
Kellyn on Twitter
Ben on Twitter
Final Surge on Twitter
NAZ Elite Logs
Coach Ben's 10-weeks to Boston
Welcome to episode 77 of the Final Surge podcast where we talk to coach Steve Palladino on Power meters for runners. Back in episode 61 we addressed power with Jim Vance, today we take another look at it and dive deeper into the numbers and success stories. If you want to get even more information make sure you check out Steve's power Facebook group which you can find in the show notes.
Can you tell us about your background and how you got involved in running
A lot of questions still on power for running, why are you such a fan of running with power?
You mentioned perceived exertion. Alex Hutchinson did a piece recently in Outside Magazine that I thought was very fair taking a look at some of the issues he has with power for running. I have been using a Stryd power meter myself recently and have become a fan, but he has some good points. So why do we need a power meter when we have RPE?
If you look at Galen Rupp or Alan Webb or Kellyn Taylor these are professional runners who are having a lot of success in their sport and not needing power, so what does this really solve, what is missing?
With triathlons I can see coming off the bike your legs are tired and running with power may be able to inform how you are feeling. But for someone who is just running an open 10k on fresh legs is power that important?
We recently added your power Zones to our Final surge platform, Can you talk about how you use zones?
To get your zones you need FTP or your functional threshold power, how do you get that base number?
A key number is running that you like to focus on is running effectiveness, and I know this is something we are looking at adding to our system, what is running effectiveness?
Let’s give an example of how this can change. Let’s say you have a runner who’s running FTP is 350 at 8:00 pace and you train for a few weeks and now you get an FTP of 350 but at 7:45 pace, does that mean the running effectiveness has changed?
What can I do to improve my running effectiveness?
You mentioned running spring stiffness and vertical oscillation, and there are a lot of numbers that power looks at. So I finish a run and log in to look at my Stryd numbers? What should I be really tracking and looking at? Is it my Run Stress Score, or running effectiveness or leg stiffness or what do I need to focus on?
If someone is looking at this and wants to try it, most plans they are following on the internet are not power plans. How can they look at a workout and modify it for power?
You mentioned coaching high school athletes and that you have been using power with your high school kids, can you talk about how that has been going with them?
You have trained some athletes to amazing big PR stories using power. Can you tell us about one or two of those as a demonstration of how power really helped?
How can things like snow effect power?
Where do you think this goes from here? What needs to happen for it to make a big breakthrough like power for bikes have?
Final Surge 5 questions in under a minute
Favorite endurance/running book? - Lore of Running
Current trainers you are wearing? - Hoka Stinson
Favorite race? - Boston Marathon
Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? - Burrito
Your favorite workout - Long Run with spice
Pallidino Power Project Facebook Group
Welcome to episode 76 of the Final Surge Podcast where we welcome Chi Running founder Danny Dreyer. Danny is a competitive ultra runner who found a better way to move when he started doing Tai Chi. Danny wrote the book Chi Running which is hugely successful and we talk about his journey into Chi Running. Final Surge has started offering Chi Running Plans and you can check them out under our training plans section at FinalSurge.com
How did you get started in running?
What was it you learned about Tai Chi that you decided this could help with running
If you were speaking to everyday runners what the biggest difference is between what they are doing and Chi Running, what would it be?
You started off the answer talking about posture, paint a picture for us, what is good posture?
Many specialists say power should come from your glutes, do you think what an everyday runner does is different than elite runners?
There are three phases of the stance you talk about, can you explain those?
Do you make wholesale changes all at once or is it in phases?
The original book came out in 2004, how has the program changed since then?
One thing you talk about is race-specific training, how what is race-specific training in terms of Chi?
This week we started offering your training plans on Final Surge, can you tell us what to expect in those?
Final Surge 5 questions in under a minute
Favorite endurance/running book? - Gordon Perry Run Fast and Injury Free
Current trainers you are wearing? - Altra Lone Peak
Favorite race? - Headlands 50k
Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? - Cocoa Tropic
Your favorite workout - Hill Intervals on trails
Resources
Welcome to episode 75 of the Final Surge Podcast where we welcome back Dr. Jay Dicharry. Jay is the author of a must-have book for any coach, Anatomy for Runners. Jay has a follow-up book he has just released called Running Rewired. We have all heard of the book Born to Run, but are we born to run or is it something that we adapt to over time. Jay discusses that as well as how deliberate practice can make you more efficient. Make sure you check out Jay's book Running Rewired which you can find on his website An Athlete's Body.
We had you on episode 49 of the Final Surge podcast so welcome back. On episode 49 we talked a lot about your book must own book Anatomy For Runners. You have a new book out called Running Rewired. I am more of a wi-fi guy so what do you mean about runners getting rewired?
If someone read your book Anatomy for Runners, why should they read this too, what would they get Running Rewired too?
Are we naturally wired to run, like if I took a 4-year-old and said run, are they wired correctly or do we need to learn it?
You talk about deliberate practice in the book. How do we know if we need to work on getting rewired and if we do how do we know we are doing the right things to get there?
You mentioned everyone needs to get better, so how do we know what we need to work on?
In episode 49 we dug into your clinic and your clients. In your clinic, you don't have just elite runners, but you have many average age group runners coming in. So you see a wide variety of situations. With seeing so many people over the years are there certain things you see usually see that you can quickly narrow it down to what the issues are without even seeing the athlete. So like if a runner came in and said I have shin splints or i have pain on the outside of my knee probably from IT band, could you give them 1-2 things to work on or is it too specific to each person?
If I took 5 mid pack runners and 5 elite runners and did a video on them, could you tell just by their gate which were the elites? And if so what about the gate is different?
One thing you talk about in the book was core exercise. If I do a lot of planks, L-ups, V-ups and those type of core exercise can you explain why they may not be the best?
What does training core with rotation look like?
If a runner or coach said this was all great information, but I have 15-20 minutes to spend with my team before they start running, what should we focus on, how would you guide them on the biggest bang for the buck?
One of the things you talked about in the book was pelvis tilt and correcting it by using the stomach muscles to pull up on the front of the pelvis, this is how I was taught so can you talk about why this is wrong and what people should be doing for pelvis tilt?
One issue that gets talked about is knee dominate vs hip dominant or pushing vs pulling, what does this look like for a runner?
Welcome to episode 74 of the Final Surge Podcast where we welcome back Hoka NAZ Elite Coach Ben Rosario who talks about what he has planned for the Boston Marathon. Ben has two elite runners, Kellyn Taylor and Scott Smith who will be competing in Boston. We are just over 10-weeks out from Boston and Ben is offering three new training plans that are specific to the Boston Marathon. These three plans are tailored to the level of runner you are. In addition to the training plans Ben will have a weekly blog post which talks about exactly how to execute the training plans for the upcoming week. Make sure you check out his plans on FinalSurge.com/10weekstoboston and follow along with his professional athletes as they prepare for the unique course that is Boston.
You have two runners joining the great American field at the 2018 Boston Marathon, want to talk about them?
With Boston you never know what the weather will be like, could be 40 and raining or 75 and sunny, but if the weather is not a factor Boston can be a fast course so is the intention to run a PR at Boston?
If you look at the field, especially the women's side, it is an incredibly deep field. Was the goal for Kellyn to always run Boston?
You make your logs available for all your athletes. But for Boston, you are going a step further with 10-weeks To Boston.
You have other plans available for the marathon too, how do these differ from those plans?
Can you tell us about the blogging you have planned for these 10 weeks?
You have 10 weeks before Boston, what do some of the staple workouts look like during that time?
You have a document you include with your plans that talk about your terminology. Can you explain how you use the CV workouts in your plan?
When you get to your long runs are most of them steady or are you working quality into your long runs?
There is a lot of specific work to Boston so runners who have never run Boston can be prepared. This weekly blog is going to be able to help a lot of athletes. We want to get on again before Boston to talk about this training some more.
Welcome to episode 73 of the Final Surge Podcast. We have had some great runners on this podcast. Neely Spence Gracey, Nick Willis, Nick Symmonds, Dathan Ritzehein, Kim Conley and more, but maybe none has had a bigger influence on the running scene, especially the American running scene like today's guest. Today we welcome American mile record holder, Alan Webb. Alan retired from running in 2014 and has not been seen much around the running community since then, but that is about to change. Alan is part of a group starting a new coaching service called RunDoyen. We talk to Alan about the goals of the business and how you or anyone else can get personalized coaching from him and other professional runners. We also spend a little time talking about his training and the state of American middle distance running. Please remember to share this podcast on social media.
Before we get to some questions about your career, let’s find out what you have been up to for the last three years. How is the truck repair business?
There is a new site and Twitter account popping up called RunDoyen. It has listed yourself, Tara Welling, Ryan Vail, Aaron Braun, Jessica Tonn and more. A tweet said you are launching a new concept that reinvents the way the running community connects. Can you tell us what this project is?
Will it be a monthly membership service?
What type of training plans are you offering?
If someone is interested in working with you in a mile program, what is the timeframe?
What was it about this idea that got you excited to get involved in it?
What else can people expect?
What type of feedback are you looking for with communications from your clients?
Are nutrition and physical therapist you have listed on site included?
These are well-known professionals, what type of client you will be working with?
We know your work ethic and how hard you hit it on your workout days. What is your coaching philosophy?
Will you personally be working with someone who wants to run a longer distance like a marathon?
When you ran you were known as someone who liked to hit the weight room and hit workouts hard. Was that something specific to Alan Webb or would you incorporate this into your athletes you are working with too?
We had Jonathan Marcus on recently and talked about some of your workouts, will be dusting off your training logs to bring some of those back?
One of the workouts was a shorter 100's do you remember what your paces were?
Do you have all your old running logs?
It has been three years since you retired if you could paint a picture of what that time has looked like?
Do you have any running goals for the future?
You are arguably the greatest US middle distance runner of all time. So when you looked at retiring, why truck repair?
I want to ask you about the mile. When Steve Scott set it, it stood for 25 years before you broke it in 2007. And now it has been another decade and no one has touched it. Why do you think this has been so hard to break?
You ran 3:46, that is a well respected time. Is American middle distance running progressing the way it should be?
What do you think has been the biggest reason for the resurgence?
What advice do you have for young high school runners?
You had times in your career that you were plagued by injuries. Looking back at it now is there anything you think you would have done differently?
Final Surge 5 questions in under a minute
Favorite endurance/running book? - Perfect Mile
Current trainers you are wearing? - Nike Structure Triax
Favorite race? - American Mile Record
Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? - Spaghetti
Your favorite workout - 800's, 8x800
Resources
RunDoyen on Twitter
RunDoyen Website
Alan Webb on Twitter
Alan Webb American record mile race
Welcome to episode 72 of the Final Surge podcast where today we welcome runner and coach Jacob Puzey. Jacob and I have a great conversation about his early running career and how those experiences and the coaches he worked with influenced who he is today and how he coaches. Jacob was the top Canadian male in Boston in 2017, is the 2016 and 2017 Canadian Road 50K National Champion and has a great coaching resume. Jacob's business Peak Run Performance is teaming up with Final Surge in the coming weeks to offer new coaching services in several languages, so watch out for that.
Could you give our listeners your background on how you started running back in the day?
How did the high school career and running career after high school go?
When did you make the transition into coaching?
You have coached high school runners and ultra runners. What are the foundational principles you take in your coaching philosophy that would be applicable to all runners?
I know from your bio you took over some high school programs that did not have a history of success and you created state championship programs. What did you do to turn around and build those programs?
All coaches have influences that have an impact on them as coaches. Who are some of the influences who have impacted your coaching philosophy?
What does the typical athlete you are coaching these days look like, what is their experience level and distances they are training for?
You are going to be releasing some coaching very soon on Final Surge, how is it you ended up on Final Surge as your coaching platform?
((((30))))What can people expect to find in your packages?
How many coaches do you have?
You have 4 coaches that work on your team, what events do you focus on?
There are many tools runners use. GPS watches, heart rate monitors, HRV readings, Power Meters. What type of technology do you use?
You have a lot of running accomplishments, you were the top Canadian male in Boston this year and a lot of success in Ultras. One of your accomplishments is the 50-mile treadmill record you set. When I saw the video this was the first time I had heard of you. How hard was that to run on a treadmill for 5 hours?
Do you use a treadmill often?
You ran the TransRockies with your brother, for those who do not know what the TransRockies is can you tell them and what it was like doing with your brother?
Final Surge 5 questions in under a minute
Favorite endurance/running book? - Once a Runner
Current trainers you are wearing? - Altra Paradigm
Favorite race? - 50k-50miles (3-6 hours)
Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? - Steak, salted chocolate covered almonds
Your favorite workout - Georgetown 400's
Resources
PeakRunPerformance.com
Instagram PeakRunPerformance
Twitter @teampeakrun
Twitter @JacobPuzey
Last summer in episode 56 of the podcast we had on Jonathan Beverly who is a writer at Runner's World and an author of a few running books. He has a new book out called Run Strong Stay Healthy. This book is a great resource for any runner who is interesting in making running a lifetime habit. Most runners end up quitting the sport, but there are several who make it a lifetime habit. Jonathan found 9 keys to focus on to make running a part of your life for life. We talk to Jonathan about those keys and what you can do to stay running.
We had you on episode 56 to talk about your book Your Best Stride, and now you have a new book out called Run Strong Stay Hungry, can you tell the listeners what this book is about?
How did you collect the data for this book?
Why do people stop running?
I personally stopped a few times either for injuries or life changes but kept coming back. How many stories do you run into like mine where people fall away from it in different seasons of their life and then come back to it?
When looking at why people quit running, Do you find it different between mid-pack runners vs elite runners?
When you started thinking about the idea for this book and researching, was there anything that you discovered that really shocked you?
You mentioned key 3. In the book, you list the 9 keys to stay in the race. Do you find one of these 9 to be a key component that everything points back to?
One of the keys you have is making it a habit, with the New Year there are people who start the year with a run streaks, do you find streaks helpful or not?
What advice do you have for making it a habit?
Do these lifetime runners work a social aspect into their routine?
When I was younger racing and the competition kept me interested. Now it is running with friends and helping others with coaching that keeps me interested. The big difference now is I am very much a student of the sport. I go to clinics, I read constantly and I am always trying to learn more. Can you talk about how being a student of the sport can have an impact?
Let’s look at technology. there are things like GPS watches and Starva. I could imagine in some ways this may hurt long-term participation but it could also help it by connecting you with others in your community and creating introductions. How do these new technologies have an impact?
You are a high school coach yourself. How did writing this book change you, do you do anything different in your coaching now?
There are some aspects of this book that can help you stay healthy, what are some of the keys you learned?
Resources
www.jonathanbeverly.com
Jonathan on Twitter
Your Best Stride
Run Strong Stay Hungry
Welcome to episode 70 of the Final Surge Podcast, our first release of 2018. Today we welcome back coach Jonathan Marcus of High Performance West who is also the co-host of the On Coaching Podcast. In this episode, we find out what Jonathan is up to since our first visit over a year ago and take some questions our listeners sent in. Remember if you like the podcast please share it with a friend or on Facebook or FinalSurge where we can be found @FinalSurge.
What is going on with High Performance West?
You recently had a workout from Nick Symmonds. Jerry and Alberto Salazar are two of greatest coaches around and you have stated they are influences on you. They are big believers in lots of high-end aerobic development, but Nick's workout was anything but. Talk a little his workout and what you took from it?
What advice do you have for coaches who read your site and the workouts of the day and how they should employ them?
What is your other project Coaching With Craft
We wanted to open it up to some of our listeners and we gathered questions from them so let's get into them.
I have heard you talk about doing workouts in a way so that after the hard effort you clear lactate with more aerobic running. I have also heard you say that most of what we know about lactate acid is a myth from the 80’s. What do we know and what should we keep in mind? I do mostly 5k-10k road races with 1 track workout a week.
Father of a runner who took over the school's indoor track distance team after they were left coachless had a few questions:
What should the warmups-drills-exercises look like?
You mentioned minimum effective dose often, when do you know when that has been reached?
I am a 33-year-old runner who has been running for 3 years. I started for weight loss and fell in love with the sport. I just broke 20 minutes in the 5k which has been a goal for a year. You talk about looking at the canvass and seeing what is missing. That is what I should be working on. How do you know what that thing is?
I have been coaching xc/indoor/outdoor distance for 4 years. I have done a good job developing 1&2 mile runners on the track, but very little luck with developing 800 runners. I don’t have any of those “jump out of the gym” athletes that you talk about. What types of workouts can I add and when should I add them in?
In one of your podcast, you said Alan Webb did not go to altitude but was getting similar results from his lifting. Can you explain this?
One thing you talk about a lot is, after a workout or rep, you ask your runner to walk you through it. It is easy to talk about what happens on a bad rep, but what about ones that are “fine”? Do you dig deeper or take fine as an answer?
Recently you have talked about how you are spending more time on form and mechanics. Can you talk to us about what you have learned, what you focus on and where should we be going to help educate ourselves on this?
Resources
High Performance West
Jonathan Marcus on Twitter
Marcus from Episode 40