Get Nancy's Book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LMVKmK

As I sit down with Nancy we talk about a lot of eating habits that should be common sense by now, but aren't. Her guidebook tries to keep you on track with this simple principles to healthy eating.

We talk a little about her approach to diet cults and how she helps people stuck in the diet yo-yo.

One of the common themes we continue to talk about is how the needs of athletes are vastly different than the average consumer - something that isn't often communicated in mass media.

As we jump into the middle of our chat I ask Nancy about how people can get off the diet Yo-yo that mainstream culture often promotes.

Nancy shares some very simple eating strategies that aren't expensive for people to improve their basic diet.

We try and tackle the weight obsession our culture has and how even 4th grade girls are getting the idea that they need to diet and be thinner.

Nancy shares what is one of the most simple, but profound ideas about being in shape - accentuate your own figure instead of trying to aspire to a genetic blueprint that you don't own.

In the last part of my chat with Nancy we jump right into a big topic: changing our entire culture. Nancy suggests a basic idea of how you can fix your own paradigm: responsibility.

We discuss a principle I found that I like "You can eat anything you want as long as you make it."

I ask Nancy about the idea when people say they are "too busy" to eat healthy and she dispels why that's a myth.

We move on and I ask Nancy about whether a vegetarian diet is sustainable and where vegetarians go wrong.

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In today's brief episode of the Smart Athlete Podcast I sit down with Science Journalist and Author Christie Aschwanden to talk about her new book, Good to Go.

Christie lets me know why she even took an assignment to write about recovery at all.

She shares some of the experience that her readers have had by being able to not worry about recovery anymore.

In the middle of my talk with Christie she lets me know about the reason to debunk pseudoscience, even if it has a placebo type effect and isn't harming anyone.

We talk about one of my personal missions - pushing people's ability to know RPE - rate of perceived exertion.

In the last part of my chat with Christie I ask about what to do about dangerous recovery methods - that also probably have zero positive effect for people.

Christie takes on what seems to be a big pet peeve of hers - supplements. We talk about how some big names in the triathlon world got caught up in a short ban from racing due to tainted supplements.

She does concede one specific situation where a "supplement" is useful.

Before we sign off I ask her if she has kept up with any recovery method despite it showing no evidence of real positive effect and she does have an answer for me.

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Part of the fun of doing this podcast is the pleasure in meeting not well known people doing really cool things - that's where Debbie Booth comes in.

Creator of Water is the New Gym, Debbie shares with me about her work in increasing mobility and the ability to live independently with a whole range of people. From those of us with disabilities to athletes.

We get straight into what she does and the amazing stories of the people she gets to work with.

In the middle of my talk with Debbie I ask her to share some of the most inspirational stories of clients she has worked with.

Throughout our talk Debbie shows how much dedication she has to her clients through her personal philosophy of enabling them to live a full life.

In the last part of our chat I start by asking Debbie how she got down the path of life to where she is now - helping rehabilitate people. She's done both regular training and working with clients with medical needs, but her own journey is how she got here.

I ask her if there's plans for expansions or what the dream is in creating Water is the New Gym

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Get Matt's Books on Amazon.

Life is a Marathon: https://amzn.to/2PTCKqA

Racing Weight: https://amzn.to/2HMCpQ4

Diet Cults: https://amzn.to/2LIeDWP

80/20 Running: https://amzn.to/2PR8RHA

As I sit down with author Matt Fitzgerald I have to wonder how I got to this place. I've personally had a copy of his book Racing Weight on my shelf for almost 8 years now. I certainly consider myself fortunate that Matt was willing to talk to me.

As we get going in our chat I give Matt a hard time about his bold office color - though am somewhat envious of his energetic environment choice.

Matt shares his methodology for coming up with all of the articles and books he writes. How he's become so prolific in publishing.

I ask Matt whether he thinks that being a working writer - following his passion - kills his passion for writing.

Matt and I go down a Buddhist rabbit hole and I get a little insight as to why he's had so much exposure to the religion.

We talk about the difficulty of injuries for most of us and the amazing perspective his brother has about his own running injuries. I accidentally stumble upon the topic of Matt's new book that is in the works - The Comeback Quotient.

In the middle of my talk with Matt we talk about his resilience over time and the evolution of becoming a tougher runner - even hitting a new personal best in his 40's.

We talk about the 80/20 principle - the pareto principle, and how it affects our training both mental and physical

I make a complete guess as to the role of fun in maximizing performance.

Matt and I dive down a hole on how to cultivate our own ability to suffer. Then remark on the interesting notion that it isn't fun to win a race easily.

We talk about our own love of the chase - the mental preparation of how to be the best version of ourselves we can be and how that's a lifelong endeavor.

We finally in the last part of our conversation we get onto his new book Life is a Marathon. I ask him about what kind of response he's gotten so far from the book and the reality is as expected - incredible.

His response from some of the running community on the other hand has been a little bit off - which I take objection to.

Matt shares with me what it means when he says Love is Sacrifice - one of the chapter titles in Life is a Marathon.

I pose to Matt the question "Is suffering necessary to achieve your best self?" His response is short and to the point.

This leads us to his opinion on the purpose of sport.

Before we exit the interview I ask the season 1 question about what recovery food Matt would pick. His non-answer is exactly what I was looking for from him and really one of the most insightful so far.

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In the beginning of my chat with Thomas I ask him why he's changed sports so many times. From running to cycling to duathlon back to running the onto obstacle course racing (OCR). His reasoning, makes complete sense.

We dive into some of the infrastructure and landscape differences between the US and Europe that affects training and every day life.

I then ask him how he ran his fastest 5k (sub 16) at almost 30 years of age - one word sums up his method.

In the middle of my chat with Dr. Solomon we jump into the specifics of training for obstacle course racing versus a traditional cross country race.

He lets me know about the sports changes over the last 5 years and how they hope for an olympic bid.

Thomas shares with me the importance of having child-like fun with your sport.

In the last part of my chat with Thomas we tackle the question all aging athletes are faced with - what to do after sport ends.

I give him a little time to explain how he became such a prolific researcher - publishing or co-authoring over 70 papers.

He shares with me a little insight into his unique perspective on what we should really be focusing on with scientific studies and how we can create a bigger impact.

Before I ask my season 1 question - I ask him what red flags a layperson like you or me can look for in research to know it isn't good science before being drawn in by faulty claims.

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In the beginning of my chat with Biomedical Engineer and Triathlete Fiona Mangan, we talk about here return to Brittany - a place she spent many summers as a child.

She tells me how although her dad was a triathlete, Irish culture and her own thoughts on the sport growing up made her a pretty unlikely candidate to try it out.

I get an education on Irish sports and why kids only choose a couple options of sport growing up.

She shares with me about her time in Thailand and her work on some organic farms there.

In the middle of my chat with Fiona we talk about an outsider's perspective of the US before spending time here.

How she accidentally found herself getting into triathlon at Georgia Tech and the experience of her first go at it.

I ask her about how she was qualified to be one of only 4 students chosen from her university to study abroad.

We start talking about life working at a biomedical startup.

I ask her if she knows about the other Fiona Mangan dopplegangers in Galway and she lets me know a fun fact about the name Fiona where she lives.

This leads us into a rabbit hole of how Fiona had her own startup when she was 16.

Before signing off we chat a little about plans for life if money was no object and how our perception of reality is reality itself.

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As a special treat I get to sit down with ultra runner and nutritional expert Stephanie Violett as she spends time in Europe to train and work this year.

We start our conversation with her sharing an injury that's kept her from racing Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc this year and why she traveled all the way to Sweden to treat it.

I ask her more about how she's so free to pick up and leave for Europe for the summer. She assures me despite the appearance on her instagram she does actually get work done.

She shares with me some of the research she's done with female ultra runners and the affect running has on appetite.

In the middle of my talk with Dr. Stephanie she tells me about the importance of individualizing nutrition plans for people and how this affects GI distress in many of her clients.

I ask her about a increasingly popular runner's "scientific" research into nutrition and it's controversial take on what we should be eating. This leads us into a discussion about the problems of when bad science becomes pop culture.

We trade a few stories of pushing ourselves and talk about balancing performance with being healthy and why it's important to not solely define yourself by running.

In the last part of my talk with Dr. Stephanie I get her to share her personal opinion on the best way to deal with chafing for ultra runners.

I then try to take her back in time to get her to share how she became a runner and how it was somewhat a reluctant journey because she had other plans.

In the last part of my interview with Stephanie she talks about the namesake portion of this episode - losing the layers of ego you build up when you're running an ultra.

Then also dealing with managing and checking your ego during the struggle that ultras bring to know whether you are hurting and okay or hurting and need to let this one go.

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As I sit down with Matt to chat we talk about the team of guys he coaches - a group of post-collegiate runners who are still competitive.

I have my own reasons for continuing to compete, but I ask him what do all these guys have in common that still want to push themselves to their limits for seemingly no reason?

Matt shares with him how he went from growing up in California to winding up in Idaho by choice. He also lets me know about why it's important he let his own research interests take a back seat sometimes.

In the middle of my chat with Matt we discuss the research he helped do which is often cited - how inactivity is associated with a slew of diseases.

I ask him about how we should be looking to change our cities and society to be more conducive to a healthy lifestyle.

Then he shares with me some information on how exercise even in small amounts can have an impact on health.

I ask him what the deal is with studying ultra runners and why they're so fascinating.

In the last part of my interview with Matt he tells me why ultra runners guts are so interesting. What it means for you and me may surprise you.

I dive into what can only be described as a potentially touchy subject - his own history with injury and where that leaves him now. Matt shares with me some of the difficulties he's faced and where he is now in terms of coming to peace with those things.

Before we sign off Matt gives me a quick tip on one method to aid athletes in their recovery process.

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As I sit down with Coach Lundo I jump right into a pressing matter of the summer - how to acclimate to the heat. He shares a tip he's had his runners in Minnesota use to do a winter to summer acclimation as well as how long he usually sees it take for real heat acclimation to occur.

I ask him about how he came to running and he tells me about revelations he had as a kid about where his talents lay versus where his dreams wanted to take him.

We then talk about his transition from shorter endurance races to post collegiate competition in the marathon resulting in his 3 olympic trial appearances.

I pose to him a simple question: if sprinting is largely genetic, is long distance running also genetic or is it more trainable?

In the middle of my talk with Coach Lundo I ask him about his work as head coach of Team USA Minnesota - how does he recruit athletes and what are their daily lives like?

In an effort to help feel better about my own collegiate career being constantly sidetracked by injuries I ask Chris whether his time at Stanford was derailed at all by injury - his answer was at least a little comical.

I ask him about one of his graduate research studies where he hoped to figure out how to accurately predict an athlete's marathon time through shorter distance testing.

In the last segment of my talk with Coach Lundo I ask him about another study he conducted where he tested to see if there were any significant effects of using plyometrics for recreational runners training for a marathon.

We talk a little about the problems with athletic studies - the shortfalls that are somewhat necessary and errors he sees in other studies that occur.

A new study he's helping facilitate with a grad student seeks to verify data that's not easily attributed, but often cited from hillrunner.com

As our talk winds down Chris shares a short, but funny story about adventures in modifying the default setup of a treadmill to accommodate marathon training for hilly courses.

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I sit down with former pro triathlete and head coach of the San Diego State Tri Club to chat about his student athletes and their desire to be better - despite no financial incentive for their collegiate career.

We talk about cutting his pro career short as he's only 26 at the time of this video as well as the difficulties of being a pro triathlete through financial hardships.

Zack tells me a bit about how he fell into coaching

In the middle of my talk with Coach Zack talks about his thoughts on coaching mental strategies for his athletes.

He shares with me his move from Finance to coaching and his hope to continue with Finance at the same time as coaching despite his historical distastes for all things math.

I prod him a little about his background as an undergrad and he shares more about his history in aviation as well as learning to fly at a young age.

In the last part of my talk with Coach Zack we talk about finding meaning in work and if there's a purpose to sport.

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