Science of Running

Jon and Steve take on popular ideas that have stuck around but need some updating. From energy system domination to various forms of training, we take you down a rabbit hole of what needs to be updated in the running coaching world. Steve & Jon Visit our Sponsor The Scholar Program is our one-stop-shop for…

In Nassim Taleb’s book Antifragile, he introduces the concept of the barbell strategy. At one end of the barbell, you’ve got low-risk low-reward, don’t he other end high risk, high reward. Taleb believes that you stack a bunch on the low risk/reward side and take strategic shots on the outliers, while staying away from the…

“Lactic Acid” is horribly misunderstood. It’s been cast as a demon for far too long. It’s time to set the record straight. In this episode, Steve and Jon break down new research that shows lactate’s true rule in the body. Hint: It’s not harmful, but helpful! Study: Tracing the Lactate Shuttle Steve & Jon Visit…

We all know about the big things you have to worry about for marathon training: the long run, the mileage, the longer tempo runs, but what are the small things that make a difference? In this episode we go over fueling, strength training, sprinting, pacing, and recovery; The ‘small’ things that can make a difference…

An exclusive interview with NAU coach Mike Smith! This is part 1 of a 3 part series. Part 2 and 3 are exclusive to our running scholar program. If you’d like to listen to them (and get access to courses, discussion groups, and more!) join today and receive $10 off your first month! Use the…

Does your belief in your fitness feel like a ping pong ball, bouncing back and forth wildly, dependent on whether your latest workout went well or not? In this episode we cover the fallacy of equating a single workout or measure as the be all end all marker of whether we are ready to go…

What’s it take to become a great coach? In this episode, we breakdown three essential skills for great coaching:1. Thinking and Observing 2. Problem Solving 3. Collaboration If you haven’t yet, check out Steve’s new book: Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and The Surprising Science of Real Toughness. Steve & Jon Visit…

In this episode, we reflect on what we’ve learned over nearly two decades of coaching. What did we think was important but quickly realized wasn’t? What actually matters in preparing athletes to perform? We cover all of this and more in today’s episode. Topics covered include: Building Buy-In Stabilizing Lifestyles Getting Comfortable with asymmetrical progress…

What’s new in training? Not much! But, alternations, flux training, lactate dynamics, natural fartleks…or whatever you call it is underutilized in modern training. In this episode, we break down the physiology, psychology, and history of emphasizing and manipulating the recovery portion of the workout to great effect. If you haven’t yet, check out Steve’s new…

Training is about balancing opposing demands: speed and endurance. What happens when you mess up the balance? It’s often a disaster. In this episode, Jon and Steve go through how to find the balance point, and what to do to correct it. If you haven’t yet, check out Steve’s new book: Do Hard Things: Why…

We often get lost in the details. Arguing over the final 1%, whether we should run at lactate threshold or critical velocity? Whether 200s or 300s are best for milers? In this episode we outline 10 timeless principles that stand the test of time. If you follow these, you’ll succeed! Nail the basics! If you…

Every sport has the items that many of us seem to believe, that are ingrained in the history of the sport, that have no foundation or backing. In this episode, we explore those half-truths. We’re aided by a pamphlet written fifty years ago, with insight that we’ve forgotten. If you haven’t yet, check out Steve’s…

Athletes stress out…a lot! And once you are in stressed mode, it’s hard to get out of it. You can’t sleep hours after competing because your mind is still racing and your body is still buzzing. You can’t let go of the tough loss. It lingers. In this episode, we talk about how to move…

Welcome to this special bonus issue. Steve does his best revisionist history impression, telling you the story of Paul Bear Bryant’s famous Junction Boys football camp, while discussing the origins of ‘old school toughness.’ This is adapted from his new book Do Hard Things, which you can check out wherever books are sold. It’s currently…

Individualizing training is easy at the professional level. You’ve got a handful of athletes, all very good, and can adjust as needed. In larger settings, it’s much more difficult. The athlete’s abilities are spread out, there’s only one of you, and practice can be more akin to herding cats. In this episode, we explore how…

Racing is a skill. How do we get comfortable in a pack? Running from the front, or perhaps stuck in the back? How do you deal with the rising tension of a tactical race? Steve and Jon discuss all of this in more in helping your athletes develop the skills of racing! If you haven’t…

How do you handle pain, fatigue, and discomfort? Do you look for a hole to step into or do you work your way through? In this episode, we discuss Steve’s new book Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and The Surprising Science of Real Toughness. The book is out and available now! If…

What game are you playing? We all may think we are all running the same race. A 1,500m race in high school is the same as in college, and the same as in the pro’s. That’s incorrect. In this week’s episode, we use an obscure book on tennis, written by the developer of Intercontinental Ballistic…

One piece of advice I always give coaches is: Always have somewhere to go. The younger your athletes, the more important this is. We should leave room to develop and grow. In this episode, we take on the debate on whether we should maximize everything, or if we should leave something in the tank for…

“He’s a headcase!” We’ve all heard it as coaches. Maybe we’ve even said it. In this episode, Jon and Steve discuss why this is the wrong approach to take. It’s a self-limiting mindset, that allows the coach to blame the athlete, shirk responsibility, and in doing so defer their responsibility to help figure out what’s…

We are all an experiment of 1! We often talk about individualization in coaching. In this episode, we talk about the contrast between applying your training program to a group, versus adapting your training program to the individual. We discuss how to let go of your preferred philosophy and try something different. Steve & Jon…

If running is going bad do you feel crushed? In this episode, we discuss the importance of letting go, of diversifying your sense of identity, in order to free you up to perform. Steve & Jon Visit our Sponsor The Scholar Program is our one-stop-shop for all things coaches education. And we’ve added a new…

How does your viewpoint impact your coaching? In this episode, we discuss how sometimes we get comfortable employing the same style of training, and it makes it where we aren’t open to considering or exploring new ideas. In this episode, we talk about how to keep open-minded, to adopt an explorers mindset Steve & Jon…

Often, in racing we play it safe. We don’t take the risk. We focus on times instead of competing. In this episode, we talk about how to be brave in racing. How do we train athletes to take appropriate risks, to go for it, to attempt the breakthrough. Steve & Jon Visit our Sponsor The…

In this episode, we take on an important but difficult topic: the differences between coaching men and women. In this episode, we cover differences in biology and psychology, and how that impacts what you do in training. From handling bodily shifts and changes and creating appropriate expectations, to understanding the impact of comparison and competition.…

Training is messy. Progress is not linear. In this episode, we get real. We talk about the messiness of training. How do we handle setbacks, what do we do when things go wrong, and when a workout is going rough? We cover it all in this week’s episode! Steve & Jon Visit our Sponsor The…

In the 1960’s Percy Cerutty made the claim that 1/3 of your training should be non-running. Does this hold up or not as a useful heuristic? In this episode, we examine the training aspects outside of running to see where they fit in, and what they may entail. From weights to hills to bounding to…

What workouts give you the biggest bang for your buck? In this episode, we go through the best workouts for the mid-distance, track distance, and long distance races. What workout has the biggest bang for your buck for aerobic or anaerobic development? We’ve got you covered. Learn why Jon says, “when you don’t know what…

How do you know what’s right? Do you buy into a particular program or coaching style, neglecting anything that runs counter? Or do you get lost in the complexity of training? In this episode, we go back through history, looking at how coaching and training evolved so that we can better understand how to deal…

Too often in coaching, we get stuck. We tie ourselves to one training method, one training system. We approach things from an energy systems model, neglecting the biomechanical, neuromuscular, or psychological. In this episode we discuss how to get unstuck. We need to diversify our thinking, be able to go against our bias. We discuss…

What do you do when an athlete is headed in the wrong direction, when their performance doesn’t match up with their training? You give them a down week. This oft-neglected component to training is essential. Too often, we schedule in down weeks once every 4 weeks, when we should have more flexibility for when we…

How do we desing workouts? Designing workouts is something we all have to do, but there’s a science to it. In this episode, we go through how manipulating rest, interval length, speed, and more impact the adaptation an athlete has to a workout. It’s one of those nerd out type podcasts, so get on board!…

In this episode, we look at some of our cognitive biases that can help or hurt our performance. From optimism bias to our illusion of control, how does our psychology impact our performance. That’s what we cover! Steve & Jon Visit our Sponsor The Scholar Program is our one-stop-shop for all things coaches education. And…

What do you do when it all goes wrong? When an athlete is struggling, overtrained, or just not feeling good anymore? In this episode, we provide strategies for how to get athletes back on track from an emotional and psychological standpoint, as well as a training and physiological standpoint. Steve & Jon Visit our Sponsor…

In this episode, we take on the importance and value of measurement. Should you wear a GPS watch, measure HRV, heart rate, power, or lactate? We break down the balance you need to have between measurement and feel. Steve & Jon Visit our Sponsor The Scholar Program is our one-stop-shop for all things coaches education.…

How do we get the most out of our athletes? How do we help them get as close to their potential as possible? In this podcast, we talk about striving for excellence and giving people the freedom to perform. Steve and Jon outline the attributes needed and what we should do as coaches to develop…

Coaching is about balancing contrasting forces, the coach who relies on intuition and feel with the part of you who relies on objective data and science. The best coaches in history, from Lyrdiard to Cerutty to Bowerman, find a happy middle place, knowing when to stick with history and what’s worked, and when to push…

Athlete + Event = Training Model. We don’t train for events, we coach athletes, with their unique abilities, to be able to take on an event. In this episode we dive into how to classify different athletes based on their physiology and psychology. This athlete profiling will help determine what type of workouts you do,…

We tend to simplify training into either hard workouts or easy days. In this episode, we bring you the nuance of training. Instead of hard and easy, we like to classify training as either building, maintaining, or restoring. You’ll learn why Canova includes a lot of ‘in-between’ moderate days. And why Alan Webb’s ‘easy days…

You can have the perfect training plan, but it won’t work unless you have buy-in. In this episode, we break down the keys to getting trust, buy-in and belief with your athletes. Steve & Jon Visit our Sponsor The Scholar Program is our one-stop shop for all things coaches education. Join the Scholar Program! From…

Famed high school coach Joe Newton used to have his team run for 45 minutes, take a 5min break, run for 30 minutes, another 5-minute break, and finally run for 15 more minutes. Ninety minutes of total running, but split up. It’s an idea that few other teams copied, yet seems to have helped York…

What does it take to perform on race day? The physical components are the easy part. But setting someone up to have the right expectations, the correct mindset, to be able to choose to the difficult path when you’re mind is yelling at you to quit, is often the difference-maker. In this episode, we outline…

The long run is a staple of the runner’s diet. In this episode, we explore how the long run became a weekly staple and whether that still holds true. We dive into the function and physiology of the long run, and how you may want to gradually wind it down as the season comes to…

Training is messy. You are dealing with human beings. In this episode we dive into adaptability, aiming for mastery, and giving your athletes autonomy to grow and develop. How do we manage the messiness of competing and racing and not just fall for the temptation of the training plan. Steve & Jon Visit our Sponsor…

Leibig’s Law of the Minimum states that “growth is dictated not by total resources available, but by the scarcest resource.” In this episode we discuss how to identity your limiting factor and what to do about it. Our limiting factor shifts as you adapt to training. That’s the reason why the same training for an…

How many times have you had an athlete who has fantastic workouts, yet when it comes to race day, it’s like a different runner shows up? In this episode, Jon and Steve dive into what is going on here. Why did what’s going on in practice not translate? From not having time to absorb the…

How do you handle failure? Do you freak out, let your anger get the best of you, or wallow in despair? Failure is a normal and expected part of racing. In fact, we ‘fail’ far more often than we succeed. In this episode, we dive into how to create an environment that frees athletes up…

How do you survive heat and humidity? In this week’s episode, we delve into the science and practice of training in hot and humid conditions. From heat acclimatization and strategies to mitigate the deleterious effects of heat and humidity, we keep you informed on the latest research and best practices. Steve & Jon Visit our…

In this episode, we welcome coach Danny Mackey to the show to discuss the training and preparation of Olympic Bronze medalist Josh Kerr. We dive into everything that went into preparing Josh for the games. From the training decisions, and workouts leading into the race to the psychology. How did he prepare Josh for the…

Warming up should be simple. Go jog around for a bit, do some drills and strides and you’re ready to go. In this episode we break down the science of two staples of running that are often afterthoughts. You’ll learn how warm-ups and cool downs aren’t just about priming your body to perform and then…