Running Rogue

We have produced at least 7 episodes for this podcast on race planning for various courses throughout the country from flat like Houston or Chicago to hilly like NYC, Boston, or Austin. Those episodes have been very prescriptive and may or may not be applicable to the course you might face soon. In this episode, I give you 8 steps for building and executing your own marathon race plan in order to give you the best chance for success on race day. Listen, learn and then apply to your next goal race so that you can start smart and finish strong! Other race planning episodes include episodes 5 (general marathon), 8 (Austin), 14 (Boston), 46 (general all distances), 56 (Houston/3M/Austin), 98 (NYC), and 101 (CIM). Episode 150 talks about mental tips for race day.

So you want to do a half marathon before your marathon? Or a 10K before your half marathon? Great, but let's talk about it... In this episode, I give you all the things to consider when doing a prep race including how to define and choose your goals for it, how to execute it whether you are racing all out or not, and of course, how to make sure it becomes an additive piece to the overall path to your "A" race. It's exciting that races are back again, just make sure you get the most out of every opportunity to toe the line!

Training paces and race paces are correlated, but they do represent separate and distinct decisions on the path to your goal. In this episode, I talk about 6 factors to consider when choosing your race pace - purpose, experience, race history, training results, risk tolerance, and of course, the conditions on the day.  Consider these factors, and then once you lock in a target, develop a race plan around it, put the blinders on, and go for it! Here is the link to the AIU decision on Shelby Houlihan: https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/downloads/pdfs/disciplinary-process/en/7977-Award-Reasoned-FINAL.pdf

In episode #240, I talked about the importance of slowing down in order to achieve your full potential. Unfortunately, that is so much easier said than done for many athletes. In fact, I think this is the single hardest concept for any runner to embrace fully in their training. As a result, countless runners are hitting plateaus or are chronically injured. In this episode, I give you 6 things to do in order to internalize and execute on this core training principle. I promise it is simple, but that doesn't make it easy!

This topic might be the single biggest topic for questions that I get as a coach. What paces should I train at? How do these paces change with weather? What if I can't hit them? How should my training paces inform my race pace? What does this race result mean for my training paces? And I could go on... These are all good and valid questions, but many of them are underpinned by common misunderstandings about how training paces work. In this episode, I try to bust some of those myths while laying out 9 truths about training paces and how you should use them.

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 mental toolkit is locked and loaded for the big day.  Listen once now and then again in Sept, October, or November in your final weeks of training for that fall race!

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 paces, goals, and workouts so that you are properly peaked for race day. You want to step right up to the edge but without going over it. That is easier said than done, but this episode will help you find that fine line.  To redeem the offer in this episode, go to manscaped.com and use code 20ROGUE for 20% off and free shipping.

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 talk about the goals of the work during this phase and specifically how to accomplish them with workout examples.  This phase is perhaps the most important in your training cycle so do make sure you are optimizing it! To redeem the offer in the episode, go to manscaped.com and use the code 20ROGUE for 20% off and free shipping.

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.com and use the code rogue50 for 50% off on your first order.

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 you will find breakthroughs in your running for many years to come. 

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, Heather MacLean, Elle Purrier, Emma Coburn and Abbey Cooper for the inspiration! To redeem the offer code from the episode go to: greenchef.com/rogue100 and use code rogue100 for $100 off and free shipping.

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 Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).  In this episode, I discuss why I don't believe Houlihan's story to this point, but also why I think you should still have hope in the sport. True or not, please, please don't let this make you jaded. There is too much inspiration to still be had. Instead, dig in, get educated, and then choose who to invest in. As a fan, you have that choice, and I encourage you to use it.  To join the She Squad, go here: https://www.roguerunning.com/womenhalfmarathon To use the care/of offer code, go to: takecareof.com and use code rogue50 for 50% off on your first order. 

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 you 5 tips to do so as you learn to embrace the suck! Links to Podcast Training Options: Renegades She Squad Links to Craft Baselayer Tanks: Men's Women's

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 are things you can do every single week to get faster in the long term. There are no hacks, and you won't see instant progress, but you will be investing in the goal smashing of your future self. Here's my list of drills: - Heel-toe walks - Heel-toe skips - Walking high knee - Full speed high knee - Regular skipping (A Skip) - Skipping with pawbacks (B Skip) - Butt flicks - Backward butt flicks - Rapid turnover - Bounding - Side to side (up and back) - Over/under or carioca (up and back)

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 deal with them productively.  To redeem the offer in the episode, go to: greenchef.com/90rogue and use code 90rogue for $90 off on your order plus free shipping.

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 Hutchinson article: https://www.outsideonline.com/2422605/perfectionism-athlete-burnout-research To redeem the offer in the episode: Go to www.takecareof.com and use code rogue50 for 50% off on your first order. 

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 the what, when, how often, how long, and how fast of the long run. Plus, at the end, I talk about ways to optimize this most important run of the week. 

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 some of the adventures behind the scenes making this dream a reality. You will walk away from this conversation with a smile along with lessons for business, life, and of course, running.  You will also want to immediately book a trip and get your hands on the book! You can pre order the book here starting on May 1st: https://www.roguexpeditions.com/venture