Final Surge Podcast

On Episode 14 we have Christ Newport of Everyday Athlete Matters. Chris is a triathlete, coach, and a registered dietician. We are going to talk about fueling, recovery, and hydration.

How did you get your start in running and endurance sports?

You went through Team In Training as a coach or participant?

So what type of athletes are you training? What is the demographic of your athlete?

You do a lot with sports nutrition. What are the biggest mistakes you see endurance athlete make?

Great breakdown on hydration, but if you had someone who could not afford to get tested, what general hydration advice would you have?

There is a common formula for hydration, take body weight in pounds, divide in half and that is a general amount of ounces you should be drinking a day. Do you teach that formula?

You say you work with everyday athletes so are there differences for what a housewife who loves to run and is trying to run a slightly better 5k should be eating and how they should be eating compared to what someone training for a 10-hour ironman or a 3-hour marathon should be doing?

Do you have any thoughts on carb loading vs fat burning for varying distances such as 5k and marathon?

For fat burning, what do you recommend people do to enhance their fat burning ability?

Let's talk pre-exercise eating on training days. The housewife wakes up at 5am to get in her 45-minute run, what should she be eating before her run?

What about post race. I tell my high school kids that milk is always great because it has both whey and casein, what do you recommend for recovery post-workout?

I noticed on your website you do Sweat and metabolic testing. Can you tell us how that is and what you are finding out about athletes your testing?

With people you are testing are you finding out any common findings such as are you finding most people are taking in to many carbs or anything like that?

You mentioned everyday athlete, are any of them internet only clients or are you meeting them all in person?

How are you using final surge with your clients and what are you tracking with them?

If someone wants to reach you and find out more about you and your services, how can they get a hold of you.

Rapid Fire... 5 questions in under 1 minute

Favorite running book?

Current trainers you are wearing?

Favorite race?

Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? -

Your favorite piece of running equipment that is not your shoes?

On episode 13 of the final surge podcast we talk to Mike Caldwell, the coach of the Asics Greenville Track Club Elite. One of the reasons we have seen a resurgence in American distance running over the last few years is the emergence of post-college Olympic developmental teams like GTC-Elite. We talk to Coach Caldwell about how he got started with the GTC and he discusses why he would rather some of his athletes did not wear a GPS watch during recovery runs. Now on to the show.

How did you get your start in running?

After college did you make your transition straight into coaching or what did you do post-collegiately? - He did some training with Frank Shorter and the Florida Track Club.

How did you get your start coaching elite athletes after that?

Currently, you catch the Asics Greenville Track Club GTC-Elite, how did that come about?

As a college coach at Furman what were you finding from the athletes coming in after their high school career. Did you find them mostly overtrained, undertrained or what?

When you get collegiate runners who join your team what are you finding? Do you find they are overtrained, undertrained aerobically or anything like that?

How about with college runners? A high school coaches job is developing runners, but a college coach really needs to be competitive at conference championships. So do you think we are seeing a lot of over training or over racing with college kids these days?

We talk recovery days and how to make sure you are recovered and the importance.

What are you doing for general strength for your athletes?

You mentioned when a new athlete comes in you interview them like the recruiting process. What are you looking for as far as someone who would be a good fit for the team?

I notice that one of your parnters/sponsors is Elliptigo. I am really interested in hearing how you are using that and how you and the athletes are liking it?

I know that you started using Final Surge for your team a few months ago and wondering what benefits you are getting from it? - He talks about it as a communication tool with his athletes.

The fall racing season is coming up. What can we be watching for from your team?

Rapid Fire... 5 questions in under 1 minute

Favorite running book? - Best Efforts, Once a Runner, Science of Running

Current trainers you are wearing? Asics Gel-Nimbus

Favorite race? - Peachtree

Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? - Chocolate Milk

Your favorite piece of running equipment that is not your shoes? - Soleus Watch

Today we have a treat for you training enthusiast. Many of you may not know Coach Tom Schwartz, but a lot of you who read message boards know the poster Tinman who has some of the most read threads on training on the web.

Tom also is the coach of some of the best youth runners in the world including Drew Hunter who this past year broke the 4-minute mile on more than one occasion as a high school senior and 12-year old sensation Grace Ping who ran a 16:44 5k.

Tinman and I talk about how he would structure a new high school program and build up a runner if he had the program. We talk about the difference between tempo and CV runs, how he would structure a week and when would he add in spadework. Then we talk about Drew Hunter turning pro and he has a message for the youth runners in this country. Get your notebook and pen and ready, now on to the show.

1:10 How did you get your start in the running community - Schwartz took over coaching early in his high school career.

6:15 You have written some of the greatest training posts on Let's Run. Here is the scenario. A new local high school comes to you and says we are starting a XC program, and we want you to be the coach, and you accept. What does that first year look like as far as training to build new runners? - His number one philosophy is getting your kids up to running of one hour a day and a long run of 90 minutes.

8:55 How soon after you got them running would you start working in tempo runs, and CV runs? Can you describe to our listeners the difference between what you call a CV run, and other coaches would call a tempo run? He also talks about the difference between endurance and stamina.

11:00 Once you have a good month base going with these new runners, what does a typical week look like with you?

14:10 If you have a CV day, tempo day, long run, that leaves you probably three other days of steady or recovery running, what kind of paces do you prescribe for those days?

16:10 So let's say there is a 17:30 5k runner, he is running about 5:30/mi race pace. Are you saying on those recovery days he should be above 7:30? And is there a limit where he starts going to slow and doesn't start getting any benefit. - Talks about Grace Ping, the well known 12-year old who ran 16:44 for 5k.

20:42 You have stated there are dozens of kids in America who are running 9:10 who should be running 8:40 if they were trained right. Is that what you think they are doing wrong is training too hard?

22:37 So up until now we have not run faster than 10k pace with the exception of our races. So with a high school team that has their state meet the first week of November, when do you add in faster workouts? He starts his sharpening work about four weeks out. One workout example he gave for this would be doing your CV/Tempo workout and finishing with an 800 time trial.

23:57 How often would your team race?

24:20 You have interesting research on the 1600 which shows it is 82% aerobic, but after just 30 seconds it is 50/50 and after 90 seconds you are already at 93% aerobic so how should this effect our aerobic vs. anaerobic training for a 1600m runner?

26:20 Something that many people are going to have on their mind is one of your star pupils Drew Hunter. It is well known that you took over the coaching of Footlocker Champion and sub 4-minute miler Drew Hunter a few years ago, how did that come about?

29:18 You were coaching Drew from across the country, and we understand that you used Final Surge to help with that coaching, how did that process work?

31:48 This summer Drew decided to turn pro and continue working with you instead of running at Oregon, what went into that process? - We discuss the problem with being shuffled among coaches as you grow up.

36:45 You have a great website RunningPRs.com which I recommend anyone listening goes to check it out. ON there you have some great training calculators and also slide presentations you make available under the blog.

[email protected]

37:10 What type of message do you have for young American distance runners

Here is the LetsRun.com thread we reference with more training information.

In episode 10 we get ready for the start of track at the Olympics by talking to coach Drew Wartenburg of the NorCal Distance Project. Drew coaches Kate Grace who will be running the 800 and Kim Conley who will be running the 5k in Rio. We talk about their training, race strategies, how they use Final Surge in their training and answer some questions from Twitter.

:45 How did you get your start in running?

3:40 When you started coaching what level was that at?

4:40 Then in 2014 you started the NorCal Distance Project?

5:42 You had a pretty good showing in the Olympic trials. Let's start by talking about what Kate Grace did in the 800. What a great story this was. She ran controlled early and qualified 8th in the first round. Then in the second round, 8 make finals, and she was 6th. And then saving her best for last I believe she ran a PR in the 800?

7:25 What was the thought process on focusing on the 800 and tell us what you two were thinking going into the finals? They talked about staying safe, which if you saw the race was a wise decision.

10:00 The first lap went out quick in the finals, about a 57 first lap. Was this what you expected?

10:45 Part of being a great runner is not only being fast, but running smart. Kate seemed to do a great job kind of staying towards the back of the pack to the inside, then with about 130 left Kate really started moving, what was your thought at that point?

12:50 Drew talks about Kate's celebration moment, or lack there of.

13:55 You talked about that hand on the knees moment, you see that at the end of most of these races, but Kate finished with a look on her face like she was ready to do it again. - Drew talks about how they prepared for that moment.

15:32 We talk 800 racing strategy. I would love to get your thoughts. Most 800 races seem to go out the first lap about 2 seconds faster than the second lap. One of my favorites races ever is the 1972 Olympics won by American Dave Wottle. The first lap, the two Kenyas are out front and Wottle was like 2 second behind 200 meters into the race. Bottle is not only in last, but a good amount behind the leader. Then Kenyans run a 52 first lap, and a 54 second lap. Just like most 800s. Wottle runs about a 53.2/52.5 I believe, almost even, slight negative split by a half second and wins in a dramatic come from behind situation. Do you think that runners could do a better job by backing off a little in the first lap or do you think they need to go?

19:15 Another athlete you had make the team is Kim Conley in the 5k. She was one of the favorites in the 10k, but then, there was a shoe incident were she lost a shoe in the race. Can you tell is what your thought process was as you were watching it?

22:40 Was it her decision to drop in the 10k or did you tell her to pull out?

24:40 In the 5k there was a group of 6 girls with 400 to go including Huddle, Houlihan, Mackey, Infeld and Kim, who are all known to have great finishes. At about 300 left things were starting to spread out, how were you feeling about her chances at that time?

27:10 When preparing for the US Trials you really need to be at your best to make the team and peak at the right time. So how hard is to hold that peak for another 6-7 weeks until the Olympics starts?

29:40 Have you talked to them about what their goals are now that they are in the Olympics?

30:50 It was recently announced that Kim is making her marathon debut in NYC in November. How are you balancing the training between the 5k now and marathon debut soon?

Questions from Twitter:

34:05 First question from @DougPetrick1 - Other than the number of reps & pace, how different are your workouts for runners that do similar events?

36:30 Do you use any lactate threshold measuring devices in your training and if so do you have any recommendations?

38:10 You are using Final Surge for your training with your athletes, how is that working for you and what do you like most about it?

41:37 Rapid fire, 5 questions in under a minute ready

Rapid Fire... 5 questions in under 1 minute Favorite running book or blog? - Life at These Speeds by Jeremy Jackson Current trainers you are wearing? - New Balance 880's Favorite race? - The next one on the schedule Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? - Chocolate milk followed by a good burger Your favorite piece of running equipment that is not your shoes? - A good running hat

Drew on Twitter

In episode 11 we talk to coach James McKirdy of McKirdy Trained. James has built an amazing business in just a year starting from scratch and building up to over 100 clients and hiring other coaches to help him. McKirdy Trained coaches athletes who are brand new and never run before all the way up to Olympic Qualifiers. Now on to the show.

How did you get your start in running?

How did you transition to coaching?

So was your current coaching business McKirdy Trained the business you started 14 years ago or is that more recently?

I understand you coach everything from Olympic qualifiers to those who cannot run 5 mins. So what are you looking for in new clients?

What makes McKirdy trained special and different amongst the other programs out there?

Coaching large numbers and some internet clients I'm guessing one of the hardest parts can be communications and feedback. How are you using final surge to help with that?

Let's take an average runner. What can an average runner who contacts you look to see within their own running after they have been working with you?

What does a day look like under your training such as warmup, core strength, cool downs, strides etc?

After someone has a good base and has been working with you for a while, what does a week look like as far as run structures?

What have been some of the biggest success stories you've seen recently as far as performance improvements?

James talks about the problem with so many programs out there and combing programs without a real structure you get while working with a coach.

With the client you mentioned before, those were huge improvements from a 52-year old. Did you focus on pacing and diet or what did you focus on to get those results?

On any given Saturday we can see thousands of runners at local 5k's. What can these every day recreational runners get from a running coach?

You have huge growth in the last year, how did you grow your business so much in the last year to go from zero to over 100 clients in under a year?

Rapid Fire... 5 questions in under 1 minute Favorite running book? - Marathon Man Bill Rogers Current trainers you are wearing? - Asics Kayano Favorite race? - Philly Broadstreet 10 mile Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? - First Endurance Ultragen Chocolate Your favorite piece of running equipment that is not your shoes? - Cold Roller

Reach James McKirdy McKirdyTrained.com [email protected]On Twitter ON FacebookOn Instagram

Welcome to episode 9 of the final surge podcast. This week it is our pleasure to talk to professional runner and coach Neely Spence Gracey. Neely recently made her marathon debut and finished as the top American women in Boston. We talk about her recent coaching change, her coaching career and how she is using Final Surge to help grow her business. We also find out what she has planned for 2020.

1:10 Our first question that we always start with our guests is always how did you get your start in running? - Interesting fact, Neely was born while her father Steve Spence was running the Boston Marathon.

2: 25 You were a successful high school runner and probably could have run at just about any college, why did you decide to go to a D2 school over a D1? - Neely stayed close to home at Shippensburg University.

4:05 If you were sitting down with a classroom full of high school runners, who are deciding where to run in college, what advice would you have for them? - Neely thinks a visit to the school is important.

4:55 We know being a professional runner is not always the most lucrative career, so when you finished your college running career what was the decision process like when you decided to become a professional runner? - Neely had a unique experience by growing up around professional runners.

7:10 About a year ago you made the switch to start working with Coach Steve Magness, how is that transition going? - Neely has a unique situation where her husband works with Magness.

8:15 Most of our listeners probably know Steve from his book Science of Running. How has the training changed under Steve? - Variety in workouts is one of the biggest changes that Neely has experienced under Magness.

10:50 What is your weekly mileage and how long is your long run now? - Neely has topped out at just over 100 miles. This has changed in the last year as she has moved to marathon training.

11:35 This year you decided to make your marathon debut at the Boston Marathon where you were the top American women over running at the Olympic trials. What went into that decision? - This was not Neely's original plan. Her original plan was to run the Trials, but things do not always go as planned.

A couple of questions from Twitter 13:25 Do you have any specific events in mind for 2020 Olympic cycle? - Neely hopes to be competing for a spot on the 2020 Olympic Team.

15:25 Do you run with strider and if so how far? - Strider is her dog who is a little over a year old.

16:50 You recently started coaching how is that going? - Neely currently has 35 clients.

18:00 Are you coaching people face to face or are you doing more internet coaching?

18:10 How are you using Final Surge in your training and your coaching? - Neely has been almost able to double her business because of the use of Final Surge.

19:30 Do you accept anyone or are you looking for a certain type of person and how would someone know if they are a good fit to work with you? - The one common factor for Neely's clients is they are highly motivated.

20:40 If someone wanted to reach out to you and find out about your coaching services how could they best reach you? [email protected].

21:20 So what is next, any fall or spring marathons coming up? Not mentioned in this interview, but since the interview was recorded, Neely has announced she will be part of a star-studded NYC marathon program in November.

22:40

Rapid Fire… 5 questions in under 1 minute Favorite running book or blog - Lauren Fleshman Current trainers you are wearing - Adidas Energy Boost Favorite race or race distance - Bolder Boulder Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink - Egg sandwich on a bagel Your favorite piece of running equipment not your shoes - Sunglasses

You can find Neely at Twitter Instagram Website

In Episode 8 of the Final Surge Podcast, we talk to Iowa State Runner Nathan Rodriguez. Nathan was a multiple-time state champion runner in high school and is now one of the top runners at Iowa State in his sophomore year.

We talk to Nathan about what the recruiting process was like when he made his decision to run for Iowa State and what was the biggest factor in deciding which school to run at.

Nathan then shares some advice he would give to incoming high school freshman and then juniors and seniors who are thinking they want to run in college.

:50 First question I always ask, how did you get your start in running.

1:35 You had many great moments in high school including a state championship as an individual and team in cross country and several on the track. So what was the greatest moment to you of your high school career?

4:20 Now that you have a little experience of running in college for a few years and you can look back at it. What do you think is the most important thing you did in your high school career that set you up for success.

6:35 Sounds like you had a good aerobic base from high school, what type of milage were you doing in high school?

8:30 When did you start thinking about a college choice and what was the recruiting process like for you?

9:55 What were you looking for in a school? Location? Tradition? Coach?

11:05 At what point in the process did you narrow it down and decide on Iowa State?

12:40 There are paid recruiting services out there, did you ever use any of them?

14:00 The first time you had contact with Iowa State, did you reach out to them, or did they reach out to you?

15:10 If your high school coaches invited you back to talk to the incoming high school freshman, what advice would you have for them who wanted to maybe run in college some day?

16:50 What advice do you have to high schoolers who are coming into their junior and senior years and really thinking about colleges?

Connect with Nathan on Twitter Follow Final Surge on Twitter Follow Final Surge on Facebook

Jason Fitzgerald runs a very successful site called Strength Running. Jason has developed a reputation as an expert in strength training with his coaching of runners.

:40 Can you tell us how you got your start in running?

2:00 You now run a very popular website and coaching service called Strength Running … How did you make a transition into coaching?

3:20 Every coach I have talked to so far on this podcast has talked about the importance of consistency. And running injury free may be the most important factor in running consistently. What do you think is the key to staying injury free?

6:45 So let's start with a new runner. Maybe they just did a coach to 5k. They are still 30lbs overweight, but they finished their first 5k and have caught the running bug. What would you tell this runner they need to do to stay healthy?

9:05 You mention dynamic workouts and warmups, do you have any resources or can you lay out what that would look like? Mattock Dynamic Warm-up he mentioned Jason's IT Band Routine Jason's standard core routine

11:30 You are working with a runner who has a little experience, complete a couple of 5ks, but wants to really get serious and maybe try moving up to a marathon. How does your strength routine differ with more experience?

13:10 A lot of lower leg injuries that are common to runners are shins, knees, feet, do you find that those are often the cause of the problem or is something else in the chain the real cause?

15:10 A question from Matt Axlerod on Twitter… How many days per week to do core work and when to exercise hips/glutes?

17:00 Have you ever thought of moving your core work to pre-run instead of post?

19:30 You have a book Running for Health and Happiness, what inspired you to write a book?

Where can people find out more about you and your training programs? StrengthRunning.com

Also mentioned Tomahawk Medicine Ball Workout

Imagine if I wrote a movie about a kid who was a successful high school runner and soccer player who received a scholarship to run at a major D1 university. Before he even made it to the first college practice, he was told that his career was over become a heart issue. Then seven years later, on a bet, enters a triathlon against doctors advice and becomes hooked and would transition into leaving a successful law firm to become a professional triathlete. I would either get have a Hollywood blockbuster, or I would get laughed at for being too unbelievable. Today, we bring you the story of Justin Park, who did all of this. I hope you enjoy the story as much as I did.

You can find out more about Justin at FinalSurge.com/Podcast

Luke Humphrey (Twitter) is a professional runner with the Hanson-Brooks Running team and the owner and head coach of Hanson Coaching Services. In this interview we talk to the Coach about how he got into running, what advice he has for busy athletes and his take on the state of the U.S. men's marathon scene.

:45 How did you get your start in running?

2:40 What advice do you have for college runners who want to run post-collegiately?

5:25 What made you decide to transition from a professional runner to the owner and head coach at Hanson Coaching Services?

7:05 You have recently launched a new coaching site, Hanson Coaching Services, can you tell us about the new site and who the site and training is geared towards?

9:30 The Hanson Training system is a very well know and respected program inside the marathon and distance community. What made you decide to write a book about it?

10:45 Could you tell a new runner who has maybe not heard about what Keith and Kevin Hanson teach what makes your program training different?

12:00 As marathoning becomes more popular, more and more new first timers are turning to the challenge of running the marathon. For a new runner, who may be looking to finish a marathon to help raise money for their favorite charity, what advice would you have for them for going to from maybe 20-25 miles a week to a 26.2 in one session?

13:45 What type of weekly progression for the long run do you recommend for that 20-25 mile week runner?

16:25 Many of these recreational runners may have a spouse and three kids. They have work meetings in the morning, they have kids baseball games at night and just live busy lives. What advice do you have for someone who is finding a hard time creating the time to train to structure a weekly plan?

20:20 That runner is now running five days a week, of course, mileage will differ, but what would a typical training week look like on five days a week?

21:40 Looking at the U.S. Marathon scene, on the guys side, we have not seen a U.S. man go below 2:08 since Ritzenhein did it in 2012. Where do you see the future of the US Men's team marathon runners in the next few years?

23:05 Of course Hanson-Brooks has Des Linden who will be running the Olympic marathon on the women's side, how is she looking? 23:45A question that came in from Twitter, follow us @FinalSurge, have you thought about writing a book for a 5k runner and what differences would a book for a 5k training method have that is different than what is you your book.

25:40 A second question that came in, How would you modify the basic plan to have only two SOS sessions per week (master/veteran asking)? And maybe we need to explain what an SOS (Something of Substance) day is.

28:35 Can you let us know how you are using Final Surge to help your coaching clients?

29:55 You have made training plans available to purchase through Final Surge, who are those plans geared towards more of a beginner or an experienced runner.