Off The Couch

You’ve probably encountered the adage that running is 90 percent mental, yet despite this feeling (and how true it may be), most runners dedicate the majority of their training to making sure they’re physically fit. But the brain fatigues too, so we talked with running coach and licensed clinical social worker, Danielle Snyder, about the importance of mindset training and the connection between mental well-being and physical performance.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Women Who FKT update (1:38)
• Hardrock 100 pacing (6:13)
• Danielle’s background (8:30)
• Combining social work with athletics (10:27)
• Why athletes are an underserved population (11:40)
• Founding Inner Drive Wellness (12:42)
• Mindset training (14:55)
• Ultrarunning & mental health (16:25)
• Mental toughness vs. psychological flexibility (18:47)
• What a healthy relationship with running looks like (20:40)
• Why we shouldn’t run to destress (22:36)
• Processing injury (25:13)
• Thoughts on social media (27:06)
• Has Covid changed how we talk about mental health? (30:16)
• Rewarding failure (33:31)
• Taper tantrums & post-race blues (39:42)

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS

• Blister Podcast
• GEAR:30 podcast
• Bikes & Big Ideas podcast

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Tailwind Nutrition’s story starts with Co-founder Jeff Vierling’s head in a trash can, losing his breakfast after the Leadville Trail 100 MTB. Following years of dealing with gut issues during endurance events, and having exhausted just about every sports nutrition product on the market, Jeff and his wife, Jenny, did what every frustrated endurance athlete would do — they designed their own. Tailwind products are now some of the most popular fueling options for trail runners and mountain bikers alike, so we had Jeff on the show to hear all about how he went from mixing powders in his kitchen to outgrowing one production facility after the next.  

TOPICS & TIMES:

• How Tailwind Nutrition was born (1:44)
• Jeff’s background & “kitchen chemistry” (9:53)
• Why nailing flavor is so important (14:10)
• How Jeff turned his idea into a business (18:27)
• Tailwind’s tie to Durango, Colorado (22:23)
• Tailwind’s Hospital Support Program (25:26)
• How many pounds of product do they ship a year? (31:06)
• Why runners deal with “gut bombs” (31:50)
• Tailwind’s current line of products (37:05)
• Advantages of powder-based products (42:52)

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS:

• Blister Podcast
• GEAR:30 podcast
• Bikes & Big Ideas podcast

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After finishing 6th at this year’s Western States 100, Salomon athlete (and sometimes co-host) Leah Yingling returns to the show to give us a play-by-play of how her day panned out. Along the way, we talk about the race’s rich history; helpful strategies for assembling a crew; the best hour in all of sports; what it was like for Leah to sprint the final 100 meters with her dad; and a whole lot more. 

TOPICS & TIMES:

• A brief history of Western States (1:21)
• How Leah organized her crew (10:12)
• Finding “all day pace” (21:25)
• What to look for in a pacer (28:30)
• Running 30+ miles on a torn calf (32:34)
• Using family as motivation (34:57)
• “Hunting” in the dark (38:38)
• Leah’s last 6 miles (44:25)
• Stories from the drug testing tent (51:39)
• Golden hour (53:33)
• Will she be back next year? (56:15)

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

• Blister Podcast
• GEAR:30 podcast
• Bikes & Big Ideas podcast

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Paddy O’Leary’s path from the farm he grew up on in Wexford, Ireland to becoming an elite runner for The North Face is by no means a linear one. Long before he started running, Paddy spent much of his early 20s growing the sport of lacrosse in Ireland. It was only after an opportunity to pursue cancer research led him to San Francisco that he found his knack for racing on trails. So, we sat down with Paddy (and his charming Irish brogue) to talk about all of that and more — including, how he ended up racing on the trails (with and without a horse); the Wicklow Round; community building; and toeing the line at the oldest trail race in North America.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• What is “ride & tie” racing? (1:33)
• Growing up on a dairy farm (6:31)
• Lacrosse abroad (9:36) 
• Fell running & jailbreaks (13:37)
• A brief history of Irish mountain running (22:48)
• How Paddy ended up in San Francisco (33:15)
• Building community (35:54)
• Western States 100 & the Dipsea Race (40:45) 
• What’s next? (50:36)

RELATED LINKS:

• Ride & Tie Association
• Coming Home film

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS

• Blister Podcast
• GEAR:30 podcast
• Bikes & Big Ideas podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Endurance training has come a long way from handwritten logs and fax machines, and we owe a lot of that progress to web-based platforms like TrainingPeaks. Founded in the late 90s by endurance coaches Dirk Friel and his father, Joe, TrainingPeaks has helped modernize the way athletes can track, analyze, and plan their training. So we sat down with Dirk to hear more about how better data leads to better performance; artificial intelligence; growing up with a world-renowned endurance coach as father; and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• What is TrainingPeaks? (4:38)
• Thoughts on coaching (6:55)
• Expanding TrainingPeaks to cover multiple sports (9:59)
• Coaching as a family business (11:42)
• TrainingPeaks users: athletes vs. coaches (16:53)
• Data & endurance (20:42)
• Artificial intelligence (23:13)
• What Dirk learned from his dad (29:08)
• Power meters & performance (34:20)
• Podcasting (37:10)
• Dirk’s skimo success (39:43)
• Tech trends in the endurance world (42:45)

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

• Blister Podcast
• GEAR:30 podcast
• Bikes & Big Ideas podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Naked Sports Innovations’ line of products has evolved a lot from the popular Running Band that started it all, and this month they announced plans for their first trail running shoe, the Naked T/r. So we sat down with Naked’s President and Co-founder, Lindsay Dakota, to break down their debut model, from (laceless!) upper to outsole; the challenges of growing a small brand sustainably; the future of footwear; how the notion of “simplexity” drives Naked’s design process; and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Starting with the Naked Running Band (5:40)
• “Was the Naked Band’s popularity a surprise?” (6:50)
• Exopower mesh & “simplexity” (8:52)
• Naked products on non-affiliated elites (12:49)
• How Lindsay thinks about fit (15:04)
• The importance of supporting athletes (16:11)
• Striving for sustainability (17:20)
• Expanding Naked’s line of products (21:18)
• What is a “cooling face fabric?” (22:43)
• Working with Vibram (25:26)
• The Naked T/r Trail Racing Shoe (26:57)
• Small brands & the state of trail running (46:20)

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

• Blister Podcast
• GEAR:30 podcast
• Bikes & Big Ideas podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ultramarathons are sometimes called eating competitions with a bit of running thrown in, and with so many different nutrition products and approaches at our disposal these days, it can be hard to know how to fuel properly. So, we talked to GU Energy Labs’ Nutrition and Performance Research Manager, Roxanne Vogel, about the ins & outs of eating on the run; how GU’s line of products fit into that equation; the importance of “flavor scientists;” and a whole lot more — including Roxanne’s lightning ascent of Mt. Everest and living in a hypoxia chamber.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Roxanne’s background (1:37)
• Her lightning ascent of Mt. Everest (5:02)
• What to eat above 20,000 ft. (9:18)
• Using herself as a human guinea pig (10:37)
• Nutrition tips from the top of Everest (12:09)
• Roxanne’s next challenge (14:28)
• The history of GU Energy Labs (15:35)
• Going high octane with GU Roctane (18:33)
• Can you consume too much caffeine? (20:47)
• GU’s R&D process & flavor science (22:52)
• Sports nutrition vs. general nutrition (27:19)
• What’s the deal with “gut training”? (29:56)
• Why not to sweat sugar consumption (32:31)
• Eating for different distances (34:13)
• The future of sports nutrition (37:16)
• Running in extreme heat (39:41)
• A primer on fueling for endurance events (43:13)
• Training for the Leadville 100 (46:40)

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

• Blister Podcast
• GEAR:30 podcast
• Bikes & Big Ideas podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you grow up in Portland, OR, running is practically a birthright, and for David Laney, it quickly became a way of life: he was already running 5 to 6 days a week by the time he turned 10. After a successful collegiate career followed by a brief stint racing on the roads, David burst onto the trail scene in the early 2010s and has gone on to build an impressive resume of race results on the strength of an unmatched dedication to training in the mountains. 

This past year, David left his longtime sponsor and joined a relatively new player to the trail space in Craft Sportswear. Soon after signing to run for Craft, he doubled down and took a full-time job helping them launch footwear in running shops across the US. Not too many athletes have that kind of relationship with their sponsors, so we talked to David about how it came about and what to expect out of Craft Footwear in the years to come. Along the way, we also get into his signature ice bath routine; running a self-supported 100-miler to raise money for Charity: Water; his breakout performance at UTMB in 2015; shoe surgery; and much more. 

TOPICS & TIMES: 

• Growing up in Portland, OR (1:52)
• David’s running career (5:25)
• Why run specialty shops matter (7:13)
• Ways to grow the sport of trail running (7:42)
• Turning “pro” (9:21)
• How to get sponsored: then vs. now? (10:30)
• Adventuring in the North Cascades (11:48)
• Truck living & mice attacks (13:29)
• What David does when he’s not running (14:38)
• Thoughts on coaching (16:57)
• 2015 UTMB: highs & lows (17:57)
• COVID & a year without races (23:04)
• Running 100 miles for charity (23:58)
• Craft Sportswear (26:35)
• Creativity & shoe design (31:04)
• A meditation on ice baths (33:00)
• What’s next (35:09)

RELATED LINKS: 

• Support Charity: Water
• Billy Yang’s film capturing David’s 2015 UTMB

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

• Blister Podcast
• GEAR:30 podcast
• Bikes & Big Ideas podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this “Running Through the News” edition of Off The Couch, Salomon athlete Leah Yingling stops by to catch us up on current events in the running world, including — a debate around Tom Cruise’s running form; the rise of 200-mile races; what mountain runner Joe Gray is doing to make trails a more equitable space for people of color; course records at the Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon; and Kilian Jornet’s new shoe brand, NNormal.

TOPICS & TIMES: 

• Leah’s Golden Ticket at Canyons 100k (1:46)
• Jazmine Lowther’s breakout performance (5:13)
• Western States nears! (6:36)
• Fitness comes in many forms (9:29)
• Leah’s Western States Training Camp (11:06)
• Heat training & trash bags (15:05)
• Zegama is Zegama (17:13)
• Kilian Jornet & NNormal (22:34)
• Rise of 200+ mile races (27:22)
• Why women have the upper hand (36:32)
• Climbing all 247 Sierra peaks (38:22)
• Redemption on the Arizona Trail (41:05)
• Joe Gray on diversity & inclusion (43:47)
• Track star Tom Cruise? (47:08)

RELATED LINKS: 

• SPS FKT Live Tracking 
• NYT Article on Joe Gray
• Tom Cruise runs. But is he any good at it?
• Sara Alonso Downhill Running 

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

• Blister Podcast
• GEAR:30 podcast
• Bikes & Big Ideas podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over half of all runners will deal with an injury each year, but run enough miles and you’ll know that number is a lot closer to 100%. The irony is most running injuries are easily preventable, so as folks ramp up their summer training, we had Dr. Hal Rosenberg on to talk us through some simple tips for staying healthy out on the trails (and off the couch). Along the way, we get into Hal’s own experience racing ultras; how 100-milers make him better at treating athletes; and a whole lot more — including, a very hot take on standing desks.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Hal’s background in sports medicine (2:17)
• His current practice (4:44)
• What exactly is a sports chiropractor? (5:16)
• Getting into ultras (9:35)
• The Javelina 100 (11:40)
• Desert magic (13:29)
• Running & treating athletes (14:42)
• Favorite part of his job (17:23)
• Thoughts on injury rates (20:31)
• Pain & stoplights (24:27)
• Common running injuries: trail vs. road (25:47)
• How to beat the odds (31:51)
• Graston, KT taping, & ART (37:15)
• “What shoe should I run in?”(45:57)

RELATED LINKS:

• Hal’s practice: Mt Tam Sport & Spine

OUR OTHER BLISTER PODCASTS

• Blister Podcast
• GEAR:30 podcast
• Bikes & Big Ideas podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.