The Natural Running Network

Because I see so much of this malady among the athletes I meet I decided to revisit this interview done with Dr Brian Abelson, author or a great book on understanding and the treatment of Plantar issues. In order to resolve this pesky injury you first need to understand the culprit that is responsible. If you are an Obstacle Racing athlete, planning to participate in a Spartan Race or BattleFrog and have been plagued with Plantar Fasciitis, you really need to hear this!

We all want to win the races we enter; some have a reasonable chance and others feel winning is out of reach. Why not improve your chances and your Obstacle Racing finish times by following some solid advice that you can put to work immediately.  Some of this advice you may have heard before but I promise, there are a few tips you had never heard before that will get you those precious seconds you need to beat your competition.  We’ve brought on Amber Headrick, a seasoned elite OCR athlete on to help us share these pearls of wisdom with you. We’ll discuss the importance of energy management, running mechanics, finding an online coach and a few tips that will really help you in your next Spartan race.  You’ll need to listen to the entire episode to reap all of the benefits!

This episode is a rerun. It was posted late in 2015 but I felt the information was important enough to bring it back to our listeners. The discussion revolves around making the best out of the training metrics we gather from our Heart Rate Monitors.  There is a wealth of great information that is made available with the advent of GPS, heart rate, cadence etc., but it can become overwhelming at times.  In this episode we take a real world scenario of data collected by an OCR athlete and help him to make sense of the data so he can take charge of his training.  This is a great episode for any runners, triathletes and Obstacle Racing Athletes.

Obstacle Racing has grown to be the most popular recreational sport around the world by leaps and bounds over running, cycling and triathlon. There are now “Pro” athletes, who earn a living racing and through sponsorships. These “Pros” are clearly vested in the legitimacy of the sport.  Brakken Kraker is one of those athletes.  Listen as Brakken and Richard Diaz discuss the potential for an OCR/ Spartan Olympic event, the need for drug testing, clarification of the distinction of Pro status vs. Elite and the importance of speed and running form to win races.  We will also visit some podium predictions for the upcoming Spartan Monterey Race and NBC Spartan Series; who we like and why.

Should OCR Pros face mandatory drug testing and will it help legitimize the sport?  Richard Diaz has a candid conversation with Spartan Pro Brakken Kraker.

Fatigue is a common sensation for Endurance and OCR athletes, knowing when to back off and how to identify when this sensation is out of control is important because Over Training Syndrome is not just too much work, it’s a much deeper problem that no athlete wants to fall prey to, Join our host Richard Diaz and his guest Elite OCR athlete Beni Gifford as the discuss over training and off season pole dancing!  This is a show you just don’t want to miss!

When training for a marathon or your next Spartan or Battle Frog event, you are facing a running related injury, what do you do? The most common diagnosis is Overuse and Tendonitis as a result. In this short episode, Richard Diaz, Elite Running Coach and host of The Natural Running Network, sheds light on the true culprits behind running related injuries. If you finding yourself battling with reoccurring injuries and its getting in the way of your training and racing, you would be wise to listen to this episode. You may find that your remedies and diagnosis are inappropriate.  What’s really wrong may surprise you!

The United States Army Rangers are an elite military formation of the United States Army. Each year they hold a competition to determine who the best of the best are. Captain Robert Killian and teammate SSG Erich Friedlein are the current champions of this prestigious title of “Best Rangers”.  Think one percent of the top one percent of the best of the best soldiers, this is quite an honorable distinction. Add to this the title of Spartan World Champion and you now have a snap shot of the man to beat in this year’s OCR World Championship season. It was an honor to speak with Cpt. Killian as he shared his plans for this year’s OCR season and his overview of what it takes to earn the title; “Best of the Best”.

 

All OCR athletes agree, it eventually comes down to the ability to run. Miguel Medina took second at The Spartan Ultra Beast World Championships in 2015 and was a team member of “The Wolf Pack” winners of the 2014 World’s Toughest Mudder. Suffice to say he knows how important having keen running skills are to success in Spartan Racing. Join us as Miguel and I (Richard Diaz) field some questions from OCR athletes from around the country regarding running skills. We also close with a contest for those who register early for the upcoming OCR Run Clinic to be held in Ft Collins Colorado in June this year.  For details be sure to visit:www.naturalrunningcoach.net

9 year old girl Completes 24 hour BattleFrog.  So begins the Controversy.

When I first heard that a 9 year old girl had completed a 24 hour BattleFrog obstacle race it was revealed to me in a blog post written by Ekaterina Solovieva, aka., “Solo”, herself a seasoned adventure/obstacle racer/psychologist.  Her catchy title: “A 9-year old completed a 24-hour obstacle race and why I am not impressed”.  I had to better understand why someone would “go there” and needed to dig into this topic simply because, well… it’s just really interesting. Anyone one who is or has raised children must be curious.  Is this a good or bad idea, should race promoters allow this to take place? Lots to think about and we tried to cover it from all angles.  If you care to read the blog for yourself here is the link to “Solo’s” Blog page: www.solovieva.com/not-impressed/

Anyone who knows Elite Spartan Pro Rose Wetzel, aka., Wonder Woman knows she is intense. Trust me; I have had the great fortune of training her. Rose, loves to push and loves competition. Whether it be American Ninja Warrior, Obstacle racing or Track & Field she can’t get enough. We thought it would be fun to do a post-work out recap to discuss the application of Over-Speed in what many fondly refer to as “The Secret Lab”. We also discuss her recent Track & Field competition at The Stanford Invitational where she bested her previous scholastic records at 800 meters with a blistering 2:10, plans for upcoming Spartan Racing and more.

If you had not seen the videos of Rose Running intervals at 20 mph be sure to visit my facebook page to find this and others.