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By Dr. Angie Brown
Dr. Angie and Kevin Brown are here to help runners reconnect to themselves to become physically and mentally stronger runners through conversations about training, mindset, nutrition, health and we
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The podcast currently has 512 episodes available.
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What happens when something you’ve always used to define yourself suddenly disappears? In this episode, Angie talks with Heather Lacey about identity, running, career changes, injury, and the uncomfortable process of figuring out who you are when a familiar title no longer fits. Heather spent 20 years as a healthcare executive before being laid off. Running became an important coping tool during that transition, but she eventually realized she had transferred the same achievement-driven identity into running. From chasing career titles to chasing PRs, Heather shares what she learned about going all in, the pressure to prove yourself, and what happens when running is temporarily taken away by injury. Heather also shares the story of her son Luke’s scoliosis surgeries during COVID and how running helped her manage the stress of months in the hospital. Her experience ultimately changed how she viewed racing, performance, and success. This conversation is a reminder that you are more than your job, your pace, your race results, or any other title you give yourself. Heather Lacy is a healthcare executive turned running coach, advisor, and author of The Other Side of the Mirror: What Happens When Your Title Disappears. After spending 20 years building her career, Heather experienced firsthand what happens when a title that has shaped your identity is suddenly gone. Her journey led her to explore who we are beyond our careers, achievements, and even our identities as runners. Through her story, Heather encourages others to embrace change, let go of past versions of themselves, and find freedom in discovering who they are in each season of life. If you want to connect with her, you can find her at the links below! Website: [email protected] Instagram: @heather.lacy Book: The Other Side of the Mirror: What Happens When Your Title Disappears 00:28 Heather's running origin story 05:18 Taking a pause to figure out what's next 07:10 From chasing career titles to chasing PRs 08:51 “You're faster than you think you are” 10:37 Becoming a running coach 13:10 Does a coach have to be fast? 16:18 When running becomes your identity 17:19 Injury and losing the ability to run 19:34 The Other Side of the Mirror 23:05 It's never too late 24:22 Giving yourself time before you pivot 26:05 Luke's scoliosis journey 32:33 When a marathon isn't about the PR 35:45 The power of the running community 37:30 Why Heather wrote her book 40:55 Authenticity and being yourself 42:20 What running means to Heather now Gain access to my new secret podcast, Unbreakable: The Runner's Guide To Injury-Proofing Your Body After 40. Click here: https://www.realliferunners.com/secret Join the Team! --> https://www.realliferunners.com/team Thanks for Listening!! Be sure to hit FOLLOW on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player Leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one! Come find us on Instagram and say hi! Don't forget: The information on this website is not intended to treat or diagnose any medical condition or to provide medical advice. It is intended for general education in the areas of health and wellness. All information contained in this site is intended to be educational in nature. Nothing should be considered medical advice for your specific situation.

Ever feel tired and wonder what to do about it? With the recent shift from daylight saving time, a lot of runners are feeling the effects of disrupted sleep—and that small change can actually increase fatigue, slow reaction time, and even raise injury risk. That’s why we wanted to walk through how we think about fatigue as coaches and runners ourselves. One of the biggest things we see is that not all fatigue is the same, and learning to recognize the difference can help you make better decisions about your training. We break fatigue into three main categories and address our stoplight framework: Normal training fatigue = Green light. This is the kind that comes with good training. Your legs might feel heavy at the start, but once you warm up and settle into the run, things start to feel better. Accumulated fatigue or stress overload = Yellow light This is when training stress combines with life stress. Poor sleep, irritability, higher resting heart rate, brain fog, and easy paces feeling harder than usual are all signs your body might need an adjustment. Red-flag fatigue = Red light This is when your body is clearly asking you to stop. Sharp pain, illness symptoms, deep exhaustion, lingering soreness, dizziness, or severe brain fog are signs that pushing through could do more harm than good. To help runners decide what to do on days like this, we share a simple three-question filter we use ourselves: • Is this physical fatigue or nervous-system fatigue? • If I start slow, does it start to feel better? • What is the intention of today’s run? From there, the choice usually becomes clear: push through, adjust the workout, or take a full rest day. We also talk about why you almost never need to “make up” a missed workout. Trying to cram it back in usually creates more fatigue than progress. In our experience, chronic overload is far more damaging than the occasional missed run. The goal isn’t perfect training. The goal is consistent training that respects your body, especially as we get older and recovery matters more. If you’ve ever wondered whether you should rest, adjust, or push through a run, this episode will give you a simple framework to help you decide. Gain access to my new secret podcast, Unbreakable: The Runner's Guide To Injury-Proofing Your Body After 40. Click here: https://www.realliferunners.com/secret Join the Team! --> https://www.realliferunners.com/team Thanks for Listening!! Be sure to hit FOLLOW on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player Leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one! Come find us on Instagram and say hi! Don't forget: The information on this website is not intended to treat or diagnose any medical condition or to provide medical advice. It is intended for general education in the areas of health and wellness. All information contained in this site is intended to be educational in nature. Nothing should be considered medical advice for your specific situation.

Gain access to my new secret podcast, Unbreakable: The Runner's Guide To Injury-Proofing Your Body After 40. Click here: https://www.realliferunners.com/secret How to Enjoy Running More: Overcoming Pain, Letting Go of Judgment, and Finding the Fun in Every Run In this week’s episode, Kevin and I dive into something every runner wants more of—joy in running. Because let’s be real, not every run feels amazing. Some days are light and fun, and others feel like a grind. But with the right approach, running can be something you actually look forward to. We share some of our own stories (the good, the tough, and the funny!) and talk through practical ways you can bring more enjoyment into your miles. Here’s a little sneak peek of what we cover: Eliminating pain – Strength training and mobility aren’t just “extras”—they’re the keys to feeling good in your runs.Letting go of judgment – You are not “too slow.” You’re a runner, exactly as you are.Creating a plan that fits you – Adjusting speed work, long runs, and strength sessions so that training feels sustainable and fun.At the end of the day, running doesn’t have to feel like punishment—it should build you up, body and mind. We also share some exciting resources to help you along the way, including our new secret podcast (yep, you heard that right!) and our 30-Day Strong Runner Challenge—a simple way to start combining running and strength so you can enjoy running more, with less pain and more confidence. 👉 Tune in now and let’s make running something you truly love again. 02:25 The Reality of Enjoying Running 05:26 The Inconsistency and Injury Cycle 12:20 The Hamster Wheel of Chasing PRs 20:18 Consistency is Key: Health and Running 27:43 Making Running More Enjoyable 29:45 Understanding Discomfort vs. Pain in Running 30:42 The Importance of Strength Training 32:22 Letting Go of Judgment 37:39 Finding Enjoyment in Running 42:18 Creating a Personalized Running Plan 46:08 The Non-Negotiable Need for Strength Training 50:15 Listening to Your Body's Signals 51:45 Making Running Fun and Enjoyable Gain access to my new secret podcast, Unbreakable: The Runner's Guide To Injury-Proofing Your Body After 40. Click here: https://www.realliferunners.com/secret Join the Team! --> https://www.realliferunners.com/team Thanks for Listening!! Be sure to hit FOLLOW on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player Leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one! Come find us on Instagram and say hi! Don't forget: The information on this website is not intended to treat or diagnose any medical condition or to provide medical advice. It is intended for general education in the areas of health and wellness. All information contained in this site is intended to be educational in nature. Nothing should be considered medical advice for your specific situation.

New year, new you! It’s time to go all out on training. You have signed up for a race and it’s approaching rapidly so you need to get your running cranked up. Enthusiasm is great, but can lead to some major issues involving overtraining. In this episode let’s cover some signs of overtraining, how to avoid it, and how it may sneak up anyway. Overtraining can pop up whether you are a new or seasoned runner and it’s signs can be subtle at first. If you are not paying attention, you can find yourself wiped out and burnt out and probably hurt. Some early signs to looks for include rating heart rate and generally how you feel on a run. Keep daily track of your resting heart rate and notice if it seems like the number stays elevated for several days. It will likely pop a bit after a hard workout, little sleep, or an extra drink or two on a night out, but will come back down. When it does not come back for a few days, that is a sign to pull back. The most subtle sign is being in touch with your body on a run. If your legs feel like lead day after day, or the motivation seems to have disappeared, you could be overtrained. This can also show up as a normal run, that just feels harder than it should. Also, maybe your run feels the same as always for a recovery run, but the pace is much slower than normal. By tuning into your body, you can spots very early signs of overtraining. Some less obvious signs are the mental ones. If you find yourself with a constant short fuse with everyone and everything around you, it’s possible that you spent all of your mental capacity on the run, and have nothing left. The same thing applies if you feel like you are walking around with a bit of a foggy brain. The last couple of signs are the fairly obvious and the not so obvious. First is the hard to deny injuries such as shin splints, runner’s knee, and plantar fasciitis. Second, is just getting sick. You can blame travel, the cold weather, or visitors, but if you seem to always be going from one sickness to the next, you’re likely taxing your body so much through training, that the immune system cannot fight off any bugs coming your way. To avoid overtraining, keep three things in mind. Listen to your body, rest and recover, understand safe changes in intensity. Runners naturally tune out their body’s messages during a race to overcome pain and fatigue. During normal training, tune back in and understand that rest days do not ruin training plans. Make sure you are getting plenty of rest through actual sleep. The general population needs 7-8 hours of sleep to function optimally. If you are training for a higher mileage race, and cutting down to 6 hours so you can fit in the morning run, you are setting yourself up for a letdown. Also, make sure that your recovery runs are actually recovery and not some predetermined pace that you feel is required. The third way to avoid overtraining is to keep track of your intensity and understand that you can increase mileage or speed, but it is a little dangerous to increase both simultaneously. There is an old adage about increasing mileage no more than 10% per week, but as we cover in the episode, that is more of a nice round number that have been repeated over and over, rather than scientifically backed. Finally, we discuss the ways that you can fall into overtraining without realizing it. You may be maintaining the same level of mileage and speed, but other items in your life can be ramping up the intensity way too much. We talk about sleep deprivation and other stresses in your life such as work, family, and friendships contributing to fatigue and causing a normal run to become intense. We also discuss the ideas of fasted workouts, and how Gain access to my new secret podcast, Unbreakable: The Runner's Guide To Injury-Proofing Your Body After 40. Click here: https://www.realliferunners.com/secret Join the Team! --> https://www.realliferunners.com/team Thanks for Listening!! Be sure to hit FOLLOW on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player Leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one! Come find us on Instagram and say hi! Don't forget: The information on this website is not intended to treat or diagnose any medical condition or to provide medical advice. It is intended for general education in the areas of health and wellness. All information contained in this site is intended to be educational in nature. Nothing should be considered medical advice for your specific situation.

Gain access to my new secret podcast, Unbreakable: The Runner's Guide To Injury-Proofing Your Body After 40. Click here: https://www.realliferunners.com/secret Join the Team! --> https://www.realliferunners.com/team Thanks for Listening!! Be sure to hit FOLLOW on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player Leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one! Come find us on Instagram and say hi! Don't forget: The information on this website is not intended to treat or diagnose any medical condition or to provide medical advice. It is intended for general education in the areas of health and wellness. All information contained in this site is intended to be educational in nature. Nothing should be considered medical advice for your specific situation.
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