The Running Public

Brakken describes two of his most effective workouts for Speed (30/30 Advanced) and Compromised Running (Katie E). He walks you through why and how to implement these, how to make them flat or hill based, and how to adapt them to your own needs as an athlete.

With Kirk gone, there is nothing to prevent Brakken from spending 70 straight minutes breaking down everythIng no one ever knew they needed to know about super shoes. What makes a super shoe? Are all super shoes truly super? Will any super shoe work for me? Are they legit for the trails? How do I go about finding the best one for me?

The Split Tempo & Big Foot: Two workouts with infinite variations and applications, for pure runners and OCR athletes alike! This is a short, sweet episode that breaks down exactly how to execute and implement these two Swiss Army Knife workouts.

TransRockies winner. Leadville 100 runner-up. Spartan Race OG. Almost completely unknown. Chad might just be the best trail runner you’ve never heard of!

Both Kirk and Brakken are heading overseas in the next month, so they’ve been working on adjusting their training plans in order to accommodate their travel. Seems like a perfect time to break it down on an episode! Whether you travel for work, with family, or for pleasure, this episode is for you!

Kirk and Jess are headed to Vietnam for two weeks, and there is no way they could relax and enjoy the trip knowing there are unanswered listener questions at home! So, Jess plays moderator while Kirk and Brakken get to work clearing the queue of some great questions which you all sent in over the past month or so.

We recently launched a Running specific training plan to accompany our OCR training plan and our Strength training program, and we spend some time today spelling out exactly what it contains and how to use it. We preface that conversation with some chat about our recent interval sessions.

The crossfitter who just wants to run for hours in the mountains and keeps winning World Championships joins us to discuss her training before, during, and after childbirth, what drives her, and how her mindset affects the way she trains and competes.

Brakken raced this past weekend and was pleasantly surprised by his fitness levels. The only possible explanation lies in the type of rehab work he’s done the past few months, so we dive into the nuts and bolts of it!

The last time we chatted with Mark he was building towards his 2021 season. Since then, he’s found his calling in Ultras, won a world championship, and lost a full championship season to illness. Let’s dive in!

What are some “mandatory” supplements for runners? Should I trust my HR zones when I’m out of shape? How should we gauge improvement? How do I keep my body hair from chafing? Plus, more!

What is your current Stage of Training? Is it time to repeat what you’ve done or is time to change things? Are you more of a fast twitch or slow twitch athlete? What does it matter? Should you keep doing what you like doing most? Why is my training plan working better for others? All of these are super important questions to be able to answer as a runner, so let’s dig in!

We break down Kirk’s awesome weekend of racing and talk about his takeaways from the first Spartan event of 2023 (how the course looked, what the obstacles were like, penalty loop setups, rumors for the season, etc).

DJ joins us today to discuss his wild journey from bowling to power lifting to health nightmare to world champion.

The classic form of interval training uses standing, walking, or slow jogging as the rest period following a hard/fast interval. There is an alternative means of conducting your “rest” during an interval workout and that is what we explore today!

Our last episode was aimed towards the athlete who realizes they will never be “fast”. One of our listeners who fit that description realized that we totally missed the mark with other direction we took things. Today, she joins us for an unscripted conversation about what it really means to her. This was one of our best chats. Enjoy!

As much as we like to talk about optimizing race performances, there is a whole sect of the population who will never be considered fast and who don’t really have any desire to be fast. That’s not why they run. So how do you approach running if your goal doesn’t have anything to do with speed?

This is NOT an informative Q&A. This will give no amount of running knowledge. It is probably our most ridiculous episode to date, or at least our most random. But, the questions all came from listeners so we can’t be held responsible!

We both started as track/cross country coaches. Then we found OCR and trail running. How has that impacted and changed our philosophy and understanding of run coaching?

What better way to begin our New Year’s push towards improving ourselves than to listen to a man who quit training, lost his love for the sport, lost his fitness, and then began the long road back to an eventual world championship.

Last episode was about theory. Today is about action. We walk through how to put it all into action.

As the new year approaches, people everywhere scramble to refocus their lives. Far too often, they concentrate on flashy goals while failing to acknowledge the root causes of past failings. Let’s all avoid that this year! We also clean out the few remaining listener questions from 2022!

AKA, why running is just like marriage. People expect linear progression, which isn’t possible. Here is how it REALLY works!

As we come to the end of a fantastic 2022, we’re taking the opportunity to answer as many of your questions as possible! You all sent some pretty great ones this time around!

Possibly the best current example of a hybrid athlete, Katie went from a CrossFitter who didn’t run to world champion in the 24 hour World’s Toughest Mudder in just three years. Today she breaks down exactly how and why she trains the way she does does!

You can be successful runner using a low volume, medium volume, or high volume approach. So, why do so many coaches and athletes believe that higher volume training is superior?

Kris just completed one of the most outrageous years of racing, both in terms of how many races she ran and how many different types of races she excelled in. We gave up trying to guess how she pulls it off and just decided to ask her.

The weight room is, historically, the distance runner’s nemesis. You might not feel welcome. You probably don’t know where to begin. You might not know why runners should even lift. This episode is designed to educate you and put you at ease!

Ian is an Ultra runner and also the man behind the social media accounts of some of your favorite OCR and running podcasts. Plus, he has a pretty amazing story himself!

Recently, Parker Valby took 2nd place at NCAA cross country championships despite only running (allegedly) 3 times per week. That got our little brains thinking about the non traditional approaches to becoming a better runner!

The sport of running is in a historically great place, and we’ll take the next 90 minutes to tell you exactly why!

The title says it all! Be the best gift giver this year!

Chad has a wild story that takes him from broke and fighting addiction to finding sport and becoming an Age Group champ. Enjoy this one!

It’s been two years since we released our “Get to Know Your Hosts” and we have new listeners who don’t know us as well as the OG listeners do. Since Brakken is out sick, we’re rereleasing those two episodes as one double feature episode today. Brakken is part 1; Kirk is part 2. Enjoy, and we’ll be back to our regular scheduled programming on Friday!

Is it weak to use the treadmill when the weather is cold? Is it okay to do speed work indoors rather than outdoors? How often should I force myself outside this winter? Do high level runners use treadmills?

Story hour? Race recaps? Training and racing advice? YUP.

You had random questions you wanted answered; we answer them! Be warned, these have very little to do with Training!

Fall Ultras are here. Spring Ultras are right around the corner. The single most overlooked factor for a successful Ultra race? The people crewing it! This episode breaks down everything you need to know in order to set your runner up for success.

Ryan talking setbacks, training, racing mindset, mental toughness, and finding passion year after year? Sign us up!

You keep sending great questions so we just have to keep answering them! There are some great ones today, enjoy!

What sets pros apart? How do I train through crazy life stress? Can I train for an Ultra and a hybrid race simultaneously? For a mixed terrain race, how do I choose the right shoe? Why do Ultra runners drink Coke on course? All that plus more!

This isn’t an episode about workout paces or race paces. This is an episode about pacing your life-training balance and pacing your season’s progression!

Tyler is a 2:12:40 marathoner working full time and training in Kirk’s neck of the woods, up in Minnesota. Hear how a mid-pack college runner transformed himself into a monster marathoner. Plus, he has trail and ultra aspirations!

It’s about that time y’all! Off season is quickly approaching and it doesn’t have to be an intimidating time of year! We break down how to approach preparing for 2023.

When ESPN and NBC stopped producing live coverage for OCR they left behind a need for someone to fill that role. Recently, Jason Dupree has been the technician and producer for many of the live race streams. Today he sheds light on what occurs behind the scenes, the challenges independent production companies face on race day, and his vision for the future of live race coverage.

Far too often we prepare our bodies for the exact demands of our competition and then race day throws an unexpected wrench in our plans and we’re left in a world of misery on course. Here’s how to avoid that!

Ean Caskey is smashing all the Iowa masters running records. Seeing as we just talked about the aging athlete, we had to find out how!

Racing more than once in a day or a weekend is a very imposing but very doable task! Here’s how to approach it.

Rich Ryan is the fastest runner to go all in on hybrid races (running + strength stations). Why he chose to, what he does, how he does it, and how the Everyman athlete can do it!

Training motivation ebbs and flows and there is no shame in that! Today we chat through some tried and true strategies for getting out the door, then we spend some time talking about how to keep yourself accountable during a tough workout.