Conversations About Running

In this Episode of Conversations About Running we chat with elite running coach James Thie. James is a lecturer and the Director of Athletics at Cardiff Met University, where he coaches a team of runners including 2018 Commonwealth Games athletes Tom Marshall and Ieuan Thomas and the 3rd fastest British half marathon runner of all time, Jake Smith. In this episode we chat about some of the challenges (and some unexpected positives) that James has experienced as a coach during the pandemic, Jake Smith's training and racing over the past few years, including the build up to his 'off the cuff' marathon Olympic qualifying time that led to him being dubbed the 'marathon maverick', as well as James' former career as a professional runner, including a few maverick moments of his own that have gone down in history!

In this Episode your hosts, Gavin and Callum are joined by Matt Bergin, elite runner and physiotherapist. Matt has represented his country on numerous occasions and has a personal best over 5km of 13.47. He also trained as a physiotherapist at the highly regarded Witty Pask & Buckingham Physiotherapy Clinic, where he continues to work and treat runners of all levels, from international athletes to club runners. We get an insight into Matt's training and how he integrates high level running with a demanding career. We also get his views, as a physiotherapist who works primarily with runners, on the new breed of 'super shoes' and the effects these are having on athletes from a biomechanical point of view. Matt will be one of our Sports Performance Specialists at Training Focus Camps.

In this Episode of Conversations About Running we are rejoined by Head Coach of Kenya Experience camps, Hugo van den Broek. After a quick catch up and a chat about an American football player attempting the US Olympic trials 100m qualification time, we turn our attention to what is quickly becoming a very relevant topic in the domestic running world - how to mentally readjust to racing. Many runners have gone months or even years without the chance to race or put their training into practice, and now, with races starting to pop up again here in the UK, how can we make sure we are mentally best prepared for the transition from a long period of training, to suddenly having to run hard on race day. Are there things runners can do to help push through the pain of racing? Or to stay calm on the start line? How can we make sure our hard training doesn't go to waste with a bad performance when it matters most. We hope you enjoy listening to our Conversations About Running 🏃

This part two of our Conversations About Running with Myles Edwards, elite middle distance runner from Scotland who spent many months training in the Home of Champions and later set up a successful charity, the Gathimba Edwards Foundation, who's aim is to help provide children and families in Kenya with better lives and opportunities. In this episode, we talk about the journey that led to Myles setting up the Gathimba Edwards Foundation and delve into what his life, training and work was like while in Iten.

In this Episode of Conversations About Running we introduce our very first special guest - Scottish senior 1500m champion and founder of the Gathimba Edwards Foundation, Myles Edwards. In part 1 of this 2 part podcast your usual hosts, Gavin Smith and Callum Jones chat to Myles about his training during lock down and how he has approached a year of running without races. Like many other runners across the world, Myles' mentality towards running has changed dramatically, but surprisingly, almost entirely in a positive way 🤔 is what Myles talks about in this podcast something we should also aim to implement in our running even once racing and training returns to normal? In part 2 we will find out more about Myles' experience of living and training in Kenya and how his charity work has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of Kenyan families.

In this episode of Conversations About Running we follow up on our ramblings about 'How the Kenyans Really Train'. In our last episode we spoke with coach Hugo van den Broek (who lives and coaches in Iten, Kenya) about the typical Kenyan training program. This time we take a closer look at how most Kenyan athletes execute that plan and their philosophy and attitude when it comes to training. If you want to truly understand how the Kenyans train, your best bet is to join us for a Kenya Experience running camp, but second best - settle down and listen to the team behind the running camps get stuck into some Conversations About Running 🇰🇪 🏃

One of our most popular episodes of Conversations About Running so far is Episode 3: Myths of Kenyan Training, where we discussed some common misconceptions about Kenyan training methods. Of course, that begged the question, " so how do the Kenyans really train?". In this episode your usual host Gavin Smith, along with Kenya Experience coaches Hugo van den Broek and Callum Jones, discuss the typical training routines of Kenyan athletes and what runners of all levels can learn from their program 🇰🇪

In the last episode of Conversations About Running we discussed some of the things we believe are over hyped in the running community, but forgot to mention one the biggest contenders in this category: running form. Online and on social media you can find dedicated running form coaches and even entire companies dedicated solely to helping runners 'improve' their technique. But we believe this has gone too far. In this episode we talk with our coaches about why running technique should not be seen as the 'be all and end all' and how there are far better, more sustainable, and more constructive ways of improving your technique than doing complicated running drills and intricate exercises. In many cases, a more efficient running form can help improve performance, but not to the extent we see it sold online and there is certainly no magic 'one size fits all' formula.

Running is a sport that you can get the most out of by really nailing the basics. Yet many runners turn their attention to the 1%'s, the small details which, while they can help you to become a better runner if done correctly, pale in comparison to consistently executing the fundamentals. In this episode of Conversations About Running, the team behind the Kenya Experience running camps discuss the reasons why some of the finer details of the sport, such as running drills, and abstract recovery methods, have become the focus of attention for many amateur runners 🤔 are people searching for the icing on the cake when they've forgotten to buy the flour?

Join coaches Callum Jones and Hugo van den Broek alongside founder of the Kenya Experience running camps, Gavin Smith, for more Conversations About Running. In this episode we chat about the record breaking performances in Valencia which, of course, led to the hottest topic in running right now - shoes! We said we wouldn't dwell on it, but with new players in the game, the topic is just too irresistible. Hugo gives us an insiders view on the world of professional running; contracts, sponsorship, management - what's the deal? And we finish with a debate about what our sport needs to do to get people more excited! Listen to Hugo and Gavin have a good old argument about Lord Sebastian Coe 🤔