Running Reconnected with Dr. Angie and Kevin Brown

Pain and injury can be incredibly frustrating as a runner, especially when it feels like the pain came out of nowhere. In this episode, I’m sharing the three-part framework I’ve used throughout my 20 years as a physical therapist to understand pain and determine what to do next: Evaluate, Assess, and Treat.

We’ll look beyond the painful body part and consider the bigger picture, including training load, mobility, strength, sleep, stress, fueling, hormones, and previous injuries. I’ll also walk you through how I decide when to modify running, how much pain may be okay during recovery, and why complete rest usually isn’t the answer. The goal is not just to get you out of pain, but to help your body become stronger and better able to handle the demands of running long term.

00:00 Understanding Running Pain and Injury

03:00 The EAT Framework: Evaluate, Assess, and Treat

06:00 Understanding Your Pain Story

08:00 Running Injuries and Your Training Load11:00 Sleep, Stress, Fueling, and Recovery

00:16:00 Pain and Injury Red Flags

18:00 Screening for Bone Stress Injuries

22:00 Testing Mobility, Stability, and Strength

26:00 Assessing What Needs to Be Addressed First

29:00 Making Your Nervous System Feel Safe

32:00 How Much Pain Is Okay?

33:00 The 24-Hour Rule

35:00 Mobility, Stability, and Strength

40:00 Modifying Your Running During Recovery

43:00 When to Return to Running

45:00 Fixing the Root Cause

47:00 Building Your Body’s Capacity to Handle More Load

49:00 What’s Next in the Injury Series

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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.

What do you think would happen if you completely ruptured your Achilles tendon with two kilometers left in a marathon? Most of us would probably assume the race was over. But Tigst Assefa’s 2026 Berlin Marathon story forces us to ask a much more interesting question: how could someone experience a significant injury and still keep running at an incredibly fast pace? Assefa developed pain around 31K, eventually completely ruptured her Achilles around 40K, and still finished the race, won, and set a course record. That doesn’t mean she somehow didn’t have an injury or that pain is “all in her head.” It gives us a fascinating look at how the brain processes pain and how much context can influence what we actually feel.

In this episode, Angie and Kevin break down the idea that pain is an output created by the brain based on much more than tissue damage alone. Your brain is constantly taking in information about what is happening in your body, along with your stress level, sleep, emotions, attention, past experiences, expectations, social environment, and how important the current situation is to you. They talk through examples ranging from phantom limb pain and the famous construction-worker nail story to elite athletes, childbirth, war injuries, and their own experiences with running and pain. The bigger takeaway is that pain isn't simply an on/off switch. It's more like a volume dial that can move up or down depending on the context.

And this is where the conversation gets really practical for everyday runners. You can learn to change some of the inputs that influence your pain experience. Better sleep, reducing chronic stress, having a meaningful goal, shifting your attention outward, social connection, gentle movement, and slow breathing can all help turn the volume down. But Angie and Kevin also emphasize an important warning: becoming really good at ignoring pain isn't the goal. Pain is still a protective signal, and turning that signal down too far can allow you to continue running through an injury that needs attention. The goal isn't to become someone who never feels pain. It's to develop more nuance around what you're feeling, understand the context, and learn when to listen, when to adjust, and when you can safely keep going.

00:00 – Berlin Marathon Shock

01:44 – Achilles Rupture Details

03:34 – Pain Comes From Brain

04:34 – Phantom Pain Stories

05:54 – Pain Inputs Explained

08:48 – Turning Pain Down

09:43 – Achilles Anatomy Q&A

12:29 – Descending Modulation

16:23 – Stress and Pain Effects

20:40 – Elite Athletes and Pain

23:51 – Research on Pain Tolerance

27:01 – Training Builds Nuance

29:42 – Trauma And Ultra Running

31:54 – Stress Kills Pain Edge

33:43 – War And Survival Analgesia

39:03 – Childbirth Expectations Shift

41:28 – Everyday Pain Amplifiers

47:59 – How Pain Spirals In Races

48:49 – Tools To Turn Pain Down

54:30 – When Tuning Out Backfires

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

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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!

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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.

If you’ve been told that women in perimenopause or post-menopause should stop doing easy, steady-state cardio and replace it with HIIT, sprinting, and heavy lifting, this episode is for you. Angie and Kevin continue their Running Myth series by unpacking where this idea came from, what HIIT actually does well, and why replacing your easy running with high-intensity training misses a much bigger picture.

The problem isn’t that HIIT is bad. In fact, Angie and Kevin talk about plenty of reasons to include higher-intensity work in a well-rounded training program. HIIT can be a time-efficient way to improve VO2 max, provide a strong metabolic stimulus, develop neuromuscular power and coordination, and provide the impact needed to stimulate bone remodeling. The problem comes when one tool gets treated like the entire toolbox. What helps one specific outcome does not automatically replace everything your body gets from other types of training.

For endurance runners, easy running provides the foundation that allows everything else to work. It helps build aerobic capacity, mitochondrial and capillary density, metabolic flexibility, running economy, and connective-tissue resilience while creating a much smaller recovery demand than repeated hard sessions. And especially as recovery needs change with age, being able to accumulate consistent training matters. Angie and Kevin also discuss how recommendations from researchers like Stacy Sims can lose important context when they are reduced to short social media clips. The takeaway is not “never do HIIT.” It’s to build the foundation first, then layer intensity onto a body that is prepared to handle it.

00:00 – HIIT Myth Setup
02:36 – Why Nuance Matters
03:11 – TLDR: Keep Both
05:44 – Where the Myth Came From
09:32 – Training Is Individual
12:42 – What HIIT Actually Is
13:20 – HIIT Benefits Breakdown
18:52 – Why Easy Runs Matter
21:37 – Recovery and Volume
26:03 – Volume Builds Economy
27:11 – Connective Tissue Resilience
29:46 – Easy Runs Feel Better
31:36 – Cortisol and Cooldowns
33:22 – The Gray Zone Trap
34:19 – Miles Beat HIIT Alone
35:35 – Injury Risk and Base
39:21 – Safe Speed Progression
40:14 – Effort Levels Simplified
43:03 – Strength and Mobility Foundation
45:48 – Stacy Sims Advice Misread

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.

If you're a woman in perimenopause or postmenopause, you've probably seen the claim that running is bad for your hormones because it raises cortisol. Maybe you've even wondered if you should be doing less cardio, switching entirely to walking, or giving up running altogether.

In this episode, Kevin and I unpack that idea and talk about what cortisol actually does in the body. Yes, exercise temporarily raises cortisol, but that's a normal and useful response. The bigger issue is chronic stress, poor sleep, under-fueling, and inadequate recovery. And while menopause can change how our bodies respond to stress, that doesn't mean we need to stop doing something that's incredibly valuable for our cardiovascular health, fitness, and brain health.

I want you to walk away from this conversation feeling less afraid of running and more confident about how to balance running, strength training, fueling, recovery, and the rest of your life.

00:00 – The Menopause Running Myth

02:50 – Where the Claim Comes From

07:08 – Cortisol Isn't the Villain

11:08 – Menopause and Cortisol Regulation

13:41 – What Actually Drives High Cortisol

15:20 – Research Says Aerobic Exercise Helps

18:11 – The Real Risk Is Heart Health

21:35 – Why Walking Isn't Enough

25:09 – VO2 Max and Longevity

29:03 – Measuring VO2 Max

33:01 – Training to Boost VO2

34:16 – Brain Benefits of Cardio

38:44 – Cortisol Fearmongering

40:24 – Strength Plus Running

43:11 – Walking Versus Aerobic Exercise

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.

Have you ever looked at your schedule and thought, “I only have 20 minutes, so it’s not even worth running”? I get it. As runners, we can easily fall into the trap of believing that a run only counts if it’s long enough, fast enough, or fits perfectly into our training plan. But in this episode, Kevin and I are kicking off a new series where we bust some of those common running myths, starting with the idea that short runs aren't worth it.

I actually got a real-life reminder of this when a few short 20-minute run/walks with our rescue dog, Jasper, ended up having more of an impact on my training than I expected. It made me think about how often we dismiss the training we can do because it doesn't look like the training we think we should be doing. We talk about the mindset traps behind this, including all-or-nothing thinking, comparison, productivity, and even the hassle of showering and doing more laundry.

We also dig into what the research tells us about maintaining fitness when you have less time to train. The goal isn't to turn every short run into a hard effort. It's to understand that shorter runs can still provide a meaningful stimulus, and sometimes a little running is much more valuable than skipping it altogether.

01:37 – Why We’re Busting Running Myths

02:28 – Are Short Runs Actually Worth It?

03:56 – My Short Runs With Jasper

07:17 – What My Garmin Data Taught Me

10:00 – Why Running Isn’t the Same as Walking

13:23 – The All-or-Nothing Trap

16:54 – When Showering and Laundry Become the Barrier

18:12 – Consistency Over Distance

19:45 – Can Long Runs Increase Injury Risk?

20:59 – What the Research Actually Says

23:19 – What the Hickson Study Says About Frequency

25:39 – What Happens When You Reduce Duration?

26:56 – Why Intensity Still Matters

30:00 – How to Add Intensity When Time Is Short

31:04 – Short Runs Still Count

32:12 – The Jasper Principle

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 

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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!

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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.

What if you stopped asking, “Do you think I can do this?” and started asking, “Who do I need to become to do this?” That’s the conversation Kevin and I are having in this episode. We’re talking about how we are all constantly becoming, whether we’re intentional about it or not. Our circumstances, past experiences, injuries, relationships, and even the opinions of other people can quietly shape who we believe we are and what we think is possible.

I want to help you start looking at your running and your life differently. You don’t have to wait until you feel ready to become a marathoner, a stronger runner, a trail runner, or whatever version of yourself you want to grow into. The decision can come first, and then your actions begin to build the evidence. We also talk about giving big goals enough runway, planning ahead while staying flexible, protecting new goals when they’re still fragile, and understanding that sometimes becoming a new version of yourself means making different choices in your life.

01:37 – What Does “Becoming” Really Mean?

05:11 – When Your Circumstances Start Defining You

08:52 – “Do You Think I Can Do This?” & Borrowed Belief

12:00 – Giving Big Goals Enough Runway

14:41 – Planning Your Training When Life Changes

20:33 – Kevin's Journey From Marathoner to Ultramarathoner

25:09 – Becoming the Mom I Want to Be

28:00 – Becoming a Business Owner & Choosing a New Path

29:22 – Why I’m Choosing to Become a Trail Runner

31:45 – The Real Time Commitment Behind Big Goals

32:28 – Choosing Before You Feel Ready

33:45 – What Kevin Didn't Expect About Running 100 Miles

36:23 – Borrow Belief, Then Make It Your Own

40:58 – Protecting a New Identity & New Goals

45:17 – How Growth Can Change Your Relationships

49:31 – Choose Your Identity, Then Let Your Actions Follow

55:46 – Adjust Without Quitting

57:02 – The Power of Intentional Becoming

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

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Be sure to hit FOLLOW on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player

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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.

In this episode, I’m introducing the newly rebranded Running Reconnected Podcast, formerly Real Life Runners. The name reflects what I’ve always loved about this work: helping runners reconnect with their bodies, understand what their bodies are telling them, and recognize how running connects to the rest of their lives.

I also share a surprisingly useful lesson from learning to make sourdough with my daughter. Building a starter took patience, consistency, and a willingness to trust the process even when it looked like nothing was happening. Running is the same way. Sometimes the most important progress is happening underneath the surface. We talk about the four foundations I believe runners need most: mindset, training, nutrition, and recovery, along with why progressive overload, sleep, and hard efforts all have their place.

Most importantly, I want you to walk away remembering that your training doesn't have to be perfect to be valuable. Every season, every race, and every training cycle can teach you something.

00:00 Welcome to Running Reconnected

01:03 Why I Chose the Name Running Reconnected

02:53 Why I'm Focusing More on Pain and Injury

03:50 A Solo Episode and a Sourdough Story

06:15 Building Your Running Base

09:06 When Progress Seems to Disappear

11:59 Your Body Is the Variable

14:13 The Four Ingredients for Running Progress

19:45 Progressive Overload and Stretch & Folds

28:08 Sleep, Recovery, and Adaptation

33:27 Why Your Training Plan Matters

36:34 Easy Running, Hard Efforts, and Performance

39:36 Learning From Every Training Cycle

41:49 Keep Feeding Your Starter

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

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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!

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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.

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!

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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.

What story are you telling yourself before you even get to the starting line?

In this episode, Angie and Kevin talk about pre-race anxiety, the stories we create around hard runs, and how those stories can influence both our experience and our physiology. They explore how negativity and confirmation bias can cause us to look for evidence that a run is going badly before it even starts.

They also dive into research connecting pre-race anxiety and mood disturbance with changes in immune response after a marathon. Most importantly, this conversation isn't about pretending everything will be perfect. It's about creating a realistic, intentional story, understanding your stress bucket, and learning how to respond when things don't go according to plan.

Read the main study referenced in the episode here.

Get in before the Team membership closes — special deal here. 

04:24 – The Stories We Tell Ourselves 

09:38 – How Your Brain Predicts What Will Happen 

13:45 – Anxiety, Mood & Immune Response 

17:28 – Understanding the Stress Bucket 

25:14 – Training Your Mindset 

30:45 – Anxiety Is Not the Problem 

34:17 – Challenge vs. Threat 

37:30 – Reality vs. Toxic Positivity 

42:42 – Create Your Race Story 

45:37 – “What Is True Right Now?” 

50:51 – Building a Pre-Run Routine 

56:05 – How Your Story Shapes Performance

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.

Breathing is something we do every moment of every day, yet most runners never give it a second thought. If you've ever found yourself gasping for air during an easy run, battling a painful side stitch, or wondering whether you're "supposed" to breathe through your nose, this episode is for you.

In this conversation, Angie and Kevin explore why breathing is one of the most overlooked skills in running—and one that can have a surprisingly big impact on how your runs feel. They explain why breathing isn't about chasing perfection or overthinking every inhale and exhale. Instead, it's about helping your body work more efficiently so running feels smoother, easier, and more sustainable.

You'll learn how your breathing influences everything from endurance and running economy to nervous system regulation and recovery. Angie also shares why learning to use your diaphragm changed her own running experience, while Kevin explains the simple techniques that helped him overcome side stitches early in his running journey. Whether you're a brand-new runner or someone who's been logging miles for years, this episode offers practical tools that can improve both your running and everyday life.

00:00 Why breathing deserves more attention in running

04:00 Research on dysfunctional breathing in endurance athletes

09:00 How breathing affects endurance, effort, recovery, and performance

12:00 Common breathing mistakes runners make

16:00 Side stitches: why they happen and what current research says

23:00 Preventing side stitches before they start

26:00 What to do when a side stitch strikes mid-run

30:00 Diaphragmatic breathing and 360-degree breathing explained

35:00 Breathing, core stability, strength training, and mobility

39:00 Nose breathing vs. mouth breathing

43:00 Step-by-step breathing drills to practice

48:00 Box breathing, 4-7-8 breathing, physiological sigh, and pursed-lip breathing

55:00 How to incorporate breathing practice into your training without overthinking it

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.