This is easily one of my favorite episodes of the Run Faster podcast.

Drew Ryun, son of Jim Ryun, is a student of the sport and someone who I love talking track with. Drew and I meet through running camps as he asked me to speak at the Jim Ryun Running Camp roughly 10 years ago. What a treat.

In this interview we are simply two track geeks talking track, which should be informative for both the long term running fan and new runners alike. We talk a bit about our own running, but obviously much of the conversation is Drew sharing stories about his father, one of the greatest milers of all time.

Thanks so much for your time Drew!

This episode is a recording of a webinar I recently had the pleasure of doing for readers of my newsletter. While the focus of the webinar is on 5k and 10k training, many of the questions apply to all distances. Many of the questions focused on how to organize a week of training and/or a training cycle, which are both important if you're going to race to your potential.

This webinar was a lot of fun and I will definitely be doing more webinars in the future.

If you like this format, email me at [email protected]. 

Enjoy!

Noah Droddy is a thoughtful, serious and colorful character in US distance running. While most people know more about his race day looks - long hair, sunglasses, backwards hat and mustache - than his PRs, Noah is quickly becoming one of the top distance runners in the US, with great performances at the US 10-mile championships in 2016 and the 2017 Houston Half Marathon.

This interview was a lot of fun and I look forward to watching him and his fellow Root Running Project teammates in some workouts in Boulder this spring.

If you want to read some fun articles about Noah and his appearance at the 2016 US Olympic Track and Field Trials, go to CoachJayJohnson.com and search for this episode.

My favorite podcast thus far - which saying something as I love them all - due to the content and banter with one of my dear friends, Zach Hancock. 

Zach was the primary editor for my Simple Marathon Training book. We walk through the various parts of the book, with lots of tangents, which I think you will enjoy.

Zach is thoughtful and fun and funny and smart, which makes for a great interview - conducted in his Air Stream trailer in Boulder, CO, no less.

As a former 3:45 1,500m runner and huge track fan - he took his wife to the Prefontaine Classic a few years ago as the vacation for the summer - Zach has many thoughts on the sport, which I'm confident you'll enjoy.

Zach and I conclude the podcast with his retelling of visiting Arthur Lydiard in his home. Again, if you are a student of the sport you'll love hearing about his visit.

Thanks so much Zach for your thoughtfulness and care editing the book and thank you for a wonderful interview.

Enjoy!!!

Dr. Carwyn Sharp is, in my opinion, one of the brightest minds in endurance sports. He is the Chief Science Officer at the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Carwyn contributed significantly to my Simple Marathon Training book and in this podcast we discuss the topics he covered in the book: the importance of the long run, how concurrent strength training - where you do some strength training immediately following your run - improves running performance, the importance of sleep, and finally DOMS - delayed onset muscle soreness.

Thanks so much Carwyn for your time!

A 7-minute PR in the half marathon since the last podcast! "You couldn't punch the smile off my face" is how Mark describes his post race excitement. In this podcast we talk about the eight weeks of training leading up to the race. We focus on the importance of long runs, the role of half marathon pace running and the crucial role of Strength and Mobility (SAM) in his training. I love Mark's honesty about disliking SAM work, yet he attributes much of his success on race day to having no lower body issues in the final 3.1 miles of the race. Thanks Mark for your time. You're a joy to coach.

In this episode Jay explains his 4-week marathon recovery cycle and why it is essential to recover fully from a marathon to ensure that the next training cycle goes well.

Scott Bliss is a fantastic coach who has a great deal of success at Champlain Valley Union High School, in Vermont.

In this excerpt from his full-length interview from HighSchoolRunningCoach.com, he talks about the importance of consistency, how he uses hills to his advantage and why it's so important to be able to run the last part of any race fast.

Thanks Scott for your time and best of luck to you and your athletes both this fall and in the coming years.

Mark Hansen is one of Jay's online clients, and like all of Jay's online clients, he's a busy adult who leads a hectic life. Mark ran competitively in high school, learning some good habits and some no so good. In this podcast Mark talks about the things he's learned from Jay and how many of the things he now does in training differ from his pervious approach to training.

Dr. Richard Hansen (@DrRichardHansen) joins us again and speaks on a variety of topics. Not only is he a world class chiropractor, but he's also the coach of the Roots Running Project, a group of elite post collegiate runners based out of Boulder, CO. They have a great Instagram feed - @roots_running .

Thanks Dr. Hansen for your time and best of luck to your athlete competing in Eugene at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials.