The Passionate Runner

Episode Summary

Mary Johnson is a running and strength coach and Founder of Lift | Run | Perform, an organization that specializes in teaching runners how to use time in the weight room or in your own home to optimize your running performance. Mary is a USATF certified running coach, owner of Lift, Run, Perform, mother of two and she’s going after her own goals after having babies. Recurring injuries plagued Mary for years until she found strength training and it totally changed her life and training paradigm.

Today, Mary and Whitney talk about the struggles of returning to running postpartum and what that looked like for Mary. Mary shares the origin story of her company, Lift | Run | Perform, and provides some tips and best practices for strength training. Mary and Whitney explain the Five Major Movement Patterns as well as how different workout reps spur different changes in the body. Finally, Mary talks about some of the exciting projects she’s working on, including her ‘Breaking Three’ project.

Episode Sponsor

Runner Click Pro – https://pro.runnerclick.com/

Key Takeaways

01:18 – Whitney Heins introduces today’s guest, Mary Johnson, who joins the show to share her experience as a runner, running coach, mother and the work she did to overcome postpartum challenges in order to become stronger

15:02 – Why pregnancy is so polarizing

19:20 – The origin story of Mary’s business, Lift | Run | Perform

22:55 – Pros and cons of strength training for runners

26:31 – The Five Major Movement Patterns, explained

33:36 – How different reps spur different changes in the body

38:19 – Mary provides her thoughts on what strength training should look like when marathon training

45:25 – Mary suggests some workout equipment options

48:25 – Proper form and technique while working out

50:10 – How strength training has changed Mary’s experience running

51:48 – Mary’s ‘Breaking Three’ project

55:32 – Whitney thanks Mary for joining the show and lets listeners know where to follow him

Tweetable Quotes

“I think having an easier delivery this time has made me aware of how significant and different every delivery can be.” (11:54)

“We knew that the best thing that was necessary for athletes was coaching the person as a human as opposed to coaching the person focused on a time goal. And that was our mission statement.” (21:26)

“When we’re running, we’re pounding. There’s a ton of force that’s put on our body. So, we hit the ground, it goes through our foot, to our ankle, to our knee, to our hip, to our back, and we are not stable when we hit that ground. We can absorb the shock fine but after step after step, the body doesn’t sustain that pounding very well. It needs to be strong. And that’s the simplified reason why running alone isn’t enough to keep us strong.” (23:09)

“First, I would make sure you take a month, pre-Marathon cycle, to lift. Yeah, you could run but you’re probably going to go down in mileage anyway. And this is a great time to get yourself in the gym. If you’re sore, that’s ok because it’s not gonna affect your workouts. But you have to be intentional about it.” (38:46)

“When you run without any aches or pains, it’s amazing.” (50:21)

Links Mentioned

Whitney’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-heins-02ba3b5

The Mother Runners Club – https://www.themotherrunners.com/

Mary’s Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/itsamarython/

Lift | Run | Perform Website –

Episode Summary

Laura Norris is a certified running coach, small business owner, writer, and content creator. She believes in a blended approach to coaching that utilizes both evidence-based methods of training and a holistic approach of coaching the runner as a person first, athlete second. Laura’s philosophy emphasizes sustainability, enjoyment, and long-term growth.

Today, Whitney and Laura talk all about how to predict your marathon time. They discuss pacing, pickups at the end of long runs, and the different types of running calculators, including Jack Daniels’ VDOT. Finally, Laura provides tips and best practices on tapering, fueling and when to heighten your focus on your marathon goals.

Episode Sponsor

Runner Click Pro – https://pro.runnerclick.com/

Key Takeaways

01:12 – Whitney Heins welcomes Laura Norris back to the show to discuss her CIM Training and how to predict your marathon time

12:09 – Pacing and Jack Daniels’ VDOT running calculator

20:27 – Other popular running calculators

25:12 – Best workouts to help inform what your marathon time will be

28:01 – How to determine your marathon pace

30:52 – Pickups at the end of a long run

36:12 – The Garmin Race Predictor, easy miles, and long-run pace

43:01 – The best time to focus on your goal time and marathon tapering

46:02 – Fueling and other best practices to implement prior to race day

50:21 – Whitney thanks Laura for joining the show and lets listeners know where they can connect with her

Tweetable Quotes

“Picking an arbitrary goal time is a sort of reverse engineering that doesn’t work in training, because you’re not this robot who you can input, ‘I want to run a nine minute mile pace’ which is roughly what you want for a sub-four hour Marathon. Unfortunately, training doesn’t work that way. A lot of times people see these nice round numbers or there’s some sort of excitement around them, but you just can’t program a number into your body. It’s all dependent upon where your current fitness is and where your aerobic capacity is.” (10:26) (Laura)

“For most runners, taking a 10k or longer will give them a more accurate result than taking a mile or a 5k just because those shorter distances have more anaerobic contribution. And that’s when you’re getting into differences of muscle fiber typology. So, you can have someone who really excels in the Marathon and once they get into anything above their critical speed, they aren’t as fast as the equivalent race times would predict.” (17:34) (Laura)

“Once we get to four and a half to five hours and five and a half to six, your marathon pace is gonna have a lot of overlap with your easy pace. And, when we talk about marathon pace, it’s not always this reverse engineered X minutes per mile faster than your easy pace. It’s about the pace you can sustain for a certain duration.” (25:33) (Laura)

“One workout that I find that is really great is to do ten minutes at threshold, thirty minutes at threshold, all those ones that push the upper end of threshold and really rely on the ability to control your pacing and then kinda add to thet.” (30:36) (Laura)

“Where you are eight weeks out from your marathon is not where you’re gonna be in your marathon. And, if you’re reaching peak fitness eight weeks out from a marathon, you should probably be worried. You’re probably overtraining.” (43:39) (Laura)

“Carbs are the spark that’s gonna fuel the fire of the marathon. You need that substrate. You’re putting gas in your tank. No one’s giving out medals at the end for running the marathon on the fewest carbs.” (48:19) (Laura)

Resources Mentioned

Whitney’s LinkedIn – 

Episode Summary

Dr. Haley Perlus is a sports psychologist with knowledge and personal experience as an elite athlete, coach, fitness professional, and entrepreneur. An overall wellness enthusiast, Dr. Haley Perlus provides her clients with the necessary mental toughness tools to quickly and consistently achieve their highest level of performance. Today, Whitney and Dr. Haley talk all about how we can believe in ourselves, get and maintain confidence, and overcome our mental blocks.

Episode Sponsor

Runner Click Pro – https://pro.runnerclick.com/

Key Takeaways

00:55 – Whitney Heins welcomes Dr. Haley Perlus to the show to share the remarkable story of her inspiration to pursue sports psychology

13:07 – Your ‘Three Best Words’ and giving yourself grace

20:57 – Best practices for moving on from a bad day

27:08 – Quiet confidence, achieving ‘flow state,’ and pressure

35:14 – Overcoming anxiety and mental blocks

46:06 – Three solutions for overcoming mental blocks

56:19 – The reality of sports

57:50 – Whitney thanks Dr. Haley for joining the show and lets listeners know where they can connect with her

Tweetable Quotes

“Usually when athletes call me it’s because they’ve tried everything else. They’ve tried their nutrition. They’ve tried their skillset or their conditioning. They’ve tried all of these things and nothing is helping them perform better or overcome that one thing.” (10:46) (Dr. Haley)

“You can gain the experience and the tools by doing. If you’ve been running for fifteen years without seeking out sports psychology, I guarantee you learned some mental toughness along the way. Or, you could just listen to Passionate Runner and listen to you and get educated so that you can get out on that training path and out on your run and start to utilize the tools immediately.” (11:35) (Dr. Haley)

“If you can bring back your three best words, at least one of them, often that allows you to push through a little bit more. And then, after that, if you find yourself not having your best performance, to me that’s still a sign that you put forth your best effort. And then it’s time to give yourself some grace. There’s a big difference giving yourself some grace and letting yourself off the hook.” (16:04) (Dr. Haley)

“Being upset tells me two things. It tells me, one, that you really care. And it actually, in my opinion, is a sign of confidence. If you’re upset, it means that you thought you could do better. And if you think you can do better, that’s a sign of confidence.” (21:57) (Dr. Haley)

“Pressure is earned. We don’t put pressure on ourselves for things we don’t think we’re good at. We don’t put pressure on ourselves for things we don’t care about. When we do the work - when we put in the time and the effort, and develop our skills, and see the progress - we put pressure on ourselves. It’s earned. We need to embrace it.” (34:00) (Dr. Haley)

“A mental block is also fear of success. This is huge. If you achieve a good performance, now you’ve got to keep doing it.” (45:19) (Dr. Haley)

“Every time we have a thought, we plant a neural pathway in our brain; it’s like a seed. But it’s just a seed. It’s just a thought until we start fertilizing it and giving it tender loving care. So, you have to repeat the thoughts that you like, the thoughts that help you. Repeat them and, with frequency and repetition, that seed - that neural pathway - grows. It’s a process called myelination. It grows and grows and grows and becomes your more dominant thought.” (51:11) (Dr. Haley)

Resources Mentioned

Whitney’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-heins-02ba3b5

The Mother Runners Club – 

Episode Summary

Ben Reale is the Founder of the personal training group, Condition One Fitness & Nutrition. He’s a Marathon runner, licensed attorney, and a former Marine Officer who has led more than 6,000 one-on-one training sessions and 600 small group classes. He is an expert in thoroughly evaluating someone to determine their ‘movement baseline,’ incorporating individualized corrective strategies into specific training programs as needed. Today, Whitney and Ben talk about making exercise a habit and how to overcome and work around all the potential life obstacles that can get in the way of making running a habit. They touch on rewards, ‘gaming your brain,’ and everything that supports making running a habit, like good eating, good sleeping, rest days, and strength training.

Episode Sponsor

Runner Click Pro – https://pro.runnerclick.com/

Key Takeaways

01:00 – Whitney Heins welcomes Ben Reale to the show who shares his unique career trajectory, including his time as a personal trainer and a Marine

09:44 – Habit formation and making sustainable changes by taking it slow

15:39 – The power of consistency and overcoming life obstacles

20:35 – Finding your ‘Why,’ outcome-based goals, and behavior-based goals

32:00 – The effectiveness of rewards and ‘gaming your brain’

40:16 – Bright spots and other tools for making running a habit

46:41 – Whitney thanks Ben for joining the show and lets listeners know where they can connect with him

Tweetable Quotes

“I think that the big takeaway is that if people are in that situation and they’ve come up with a Plan A and a Plan B, and they gotta get thirty minutes in, or whatever they’re trying to accomplish for a run, if it’s consistently not happening, then it’s like, ‘Hey, that’s ok. It’s just feedback that you have to change your plan because it’s not working.’ And I think that’s a powerful piece too because being able to break away and almost from a 30,000 foot view just look down on it and say, ‘Well this is not working so I need to change it’ is important.” (16:32) (Ben)

“I think at the end of the day, if it is a priority to you, you’re gonna find a way to get it done in some way, shape or form.” (19:50) (Ben)

“So a lot of times we’ll break things down in terms of outcome-based or behavior-based goals. And so, if your outcome is to run the NYC Marathon, that’s great. We can delve into why you want to do that, but then we also want to take into account the behavior-based goals that are gonna be required to ultimately get you to your outcome.” (24:45) (Ben)

“I think the rewards can be the most effective when you have intention behind them and some specificity.” (32:23) (Ben)

“Maybe you’re training for a race, maybe you’ve got a nagging injury, maybe you’re trying to institute strength training into your program. Looking at your bright spots on either a weekly or monthly basis and then picking out what went really well that’s specifically related to something that’s difficult and then asking. ‘how can I do more of that,’ is key.” (40:30) (Ben)

“I think, generally speaking, if you’re trying to change something, whether it be lifestyle, nutrition, fitness, if you’re trying to get started with running, break things down as small as possible and think about what you can do on your worst day.” (44:28) (Ben)

Resources Mentioned

Whitney’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-heins-02ba3b5

The Mother Runners Club – https://www.themotherrunners.com/

Ben’s Website –

Episode Summary

Amy Stephens is a registered dietitian, certified specialist in sports nutrition, blogger, runner and food coach. She has over twenty years of experience working with amateur and high-performing Olympic level athletes to achieve their sports performance goals using the latest science- backed approaches. Today, Whitney and Amy discuss how running affects our hormones and how our hormones affect our running. Amy delves deep into the signs you should look for that may signal that you have an imbalance and strategies to keep hormones balanced through training, recovery, and how you eat.

Episode Sponsor

Runner Click Pro – https://pro.runnerclick.com/

Key Takeaways

01:04 – Whitney Heins welcomes Amy Stephens to the show who shares her expertise as a registered sports dietician and the impact hormones have on running

08:50 – Signs to look out for when monitoring your hormones and stress level

17:15 – Low estrogen and low testosterone

19:25 – The importance of diet and nutrition

29:24 – Next steps for those experiencing a hormonal imbalance

37:26 – Whitney and Amy both open up about their shared experience with hormones, having children, and how it impacted their running

42:37 – Whitney thanks Amy for joining the show and lets listeners know where they can connect with her

Tweetable Quotes

“What does it mean to balance hormones? What does this all mean? Why is this important? Hormones kinda control everything in our bodies. They regulate all of our functions such as the menstrual cycle, bone growth, heart rate, muscle growth and repair, digestion, temperature, blood sugar, mood. They control everything.” (07:19) (Amy)

“Exercise is great, but too much or maybe not recovering well can definitely impact performance. So, you asked about signs or how to know when your body is not recovered. So let’s start there. There’s some signs that are very clear that I usually ask someone. Do they feel rested? Sometimes people can say, ‘No, I feel tired all the time. I don’t feel like I’m recovering from the workouts.’ Another big sign is there’s no appetite. If you don’t have an appetite, it means those stress hormones might still be circulating.” (10:59) (Amy)

“There are some initial studies, Adam Tenforde out of Boston has some great studies that show that low testosterone can have a similar impact on men, meaning that the bone reformation after a workout can be altered with low testosterone.” (18:41) (Amy)

“Also, it’s about getting used to trying different foods. See what works for you so you know on race day what your body feels good with and what maybe it doesn’t.” (28:54) (Amy)

“Carbs are not bad. They provide energy and help us to feel better. And that’s part of a healthy diet.” (31:35) (Amy)

“Cortisol levels can be helpful, but again if you just worked out or if you’re feeling stressed at that moment, that cortisol is going to be high. The same goes for insulin. Insulin levels are high after a meal. That’s normal.” (35:53) (Amy)

Resources Mentioned

Whitney’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-heins-02ba3b5

The Mother Runners Club – https://www.themotherrunners.com/

Amy’s Website – https://www.amystephensnutrition.com/

Amy’s Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/amystephensnutrition/?hl=en

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Episode Summary

Megan Robinson has been a competitive track and cross-country runner since high school and has competed in numerous long distance races, including the Boston Marathon. She is a Level 1 certified RRCA coach and registered dietician/nutritionist (RDN). Today, Megan joins the show to discuss why Marathon fueling can be so complicated, the physiology of fueling and the importance of hydration. Megan and Whitney discuss tips and best practices for carb loading, why there are mixed messages in the media about fueling and nutrition and what an ideal baseline nutrition plan looks like.

Episode Sponsor

Runner Click Pro – https://pro.runnerclick.com/

Key Takeaways

01:08 – Whitney Heins introduces today’s guest, Megan Robinson, who joins the show to share her experience as a Level 1 certified RRCA coach and registered sports dietician

09:21 – Why Marathon fueling can be so complicated

11:41 – Mixed media messages about fueling and nutrition

14:18 – The physiology of fueling

19:08 – The importance of hydration and the role of electrolytes

25:08 – Megan’s recommended baseline nutrition plan

33:26 – How runners should time their gels and electrolytes

41:49 – The dangers of dehydration and low blood sodium

46:41 – Megan’s thoughts on taking caffeine during races

55:41 – Tips and best practices for Carb loading

1:02:39 – Whitney thanks Megan for joining the show and wishes her luck in her next ran in Chicago

Tweetable Quotes

“It really made such a difference and impacted my life and how I saw nutrition. Especially to a teenager - especially as a female - you get those mixed messages. You look at your body type. You have negative body image often.” (06:37)

“I think the Marathon training is the hardest just because most of us are not used to eating on a run. Our gut is not used to taking in nutrition. So, when I start talking to the athletes I coach, who are training for Marathons, it’s really starting with the basics of getting your body used to taking in a little nutrition. So, I think it’s fear of taking in nutrition, lack of knowledge of how much your body actually needs, and understanding the physiology of why you need it.” (10:50)

“If you don’t have Type 1 Diabetes, your body has this wonderful regulation system. So, if your liver has enough glycogen in it, then if you start to exercise and don’t eat something and your blood sugar starts to drop, your liver will make enough sugar to regulate your blood sugars.” (15:23)

“When you’re dehydrated, your blood thickens. So, when that blood thickens, it’s increasing your heart rate, it’s increasing your blood pressure, it’s increasing your perceived effort. And it makes it a lot harder to get that oxygen to the working muscles.” (22:31)

“Once we start getting into longer runs, like Marathon training, I usually recommend taking anywhere from four to eight ounces of fluid every fifteen minutes.” (29:36)

“So don’t feel like you have to replace every amount of sodium that you’re sweating out. You just don’t want to get to a point where you’re diluting your blood sodium levels. And what I mean by that is that if you were on a long run, it’s a hot, humid day, and you’re only taking in water, your risk is lowering your blood sodium levels, and that can be dangerous. That’s what we call hyponatremia, which is low blood sodium.” (41:49)

“A general way to carb load without getting too nuts and counting grams of carbohydrate and ruining your total diet is by shifting your calories to eating more carb-based foods and reducing the fat and protein in your diet.” (56:54)

“The purpose of carb loading is to really maximize that muscle glycogen. And it’s been shown that it possibly could increase your performance by three percent. But the downside is...

Shanna Birchett is the true definition of a ‘mother runner’ with an inspirational story. A mother of six kids under six years of age, Shanna returned to running with grit, determination, and compassion for herself. Shanna believes in embracing the season you’re in, whether that’s a new runner altogether or a seasoned runner who is looking for that next level of improvement.

Today, Shanna shares her relatable transformation story, talks about overcoming a medical condition, and provides tips and advice that all runners can implement in their daily routine.

Episode Sponsor

Runner Click Pro – https://pro.runnerclick.com/

Key Takeaways

00:50 – Whitney Heins welcomes Shanna Birchett to the show to discuss her upbringing as the sixth of eight children in a military household and her running origin story

09:26 – Shanna opens up about her struggles with a health condition

15:06 – Getting gritty and overcoming the fear of her condition

16:28 – Serving a church mission, getting married and having six children (under six years old)

18:39 – A return to running as a Mother Runner

28:29 – ‘Mom guilt,’ not getting enough sleep, and other major obstacles Shanna has overcome

33:35 – Setting and defining boundaries and taking it day-by-day

37:14 – How Shanna is able to run 60 miles per week

39:24 – Asking for help and embracing the season you’re in

45:53 – Advice for those looking to enter or reenter the sport of running

47:18 – Growing into a more mature runner and mother

49:19 – Shanna’s big goals for the future

51:25 – Whitney thanks Shanna for joining the show, sharing her story, and for being so inspirational

Tweetable Quotes

“I always knew that collegiate running was something I loved and wanted to do, but on a spiritual side, I take a lot of those big decisions to heart. So, I did a lot of praying about it to try and figure out, ‘Ok, is this really my route?’ And, long story short, I ended up getting the answer of ‘No.’ I wasn’t supposed to run collegiate.” (13:30) (Shanna)

“I just had so many moments where I had gained so much resilience and so much strength from those dark periods. I felt like I just had to prove it to myself that there was still something in there inside of me of that had so much more potential.” (16:11) (Shanna)

“Mentally, I think I had to be ok with the state that I was in, and not forcing my fitness.” (28:57) (Shanna)

“If you take it day-by-day and you’re consistent at it, even in small doses, and you make the most of it, it will pay off in some way. That can vary for everybody. It could be just thirty minutes and that adds up. We don’t have to do big things all the time to make results.” (46:21) (Shanna)

“It’s hard to plan those big goals when you’ve had so many obstacles just to this point. You’ve tried to commit and then something has popped up and you ask yourself, ‘Is this my season now?’ But, as my husband has always said, ‘Don’t worry about the future. Focus on the now.’” (50:33) (Shanna)

Resources Mentioned

Whitney’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-heins-02ba3b5

The Mother Runners Club – https://www.themotherrunners.com/

Shanna’s Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/motherhood_running/

Shanna’s Website – https://linktr.ee/motherhood_running

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Mike Kiss and his wife, Kristin, are friends of Whitney that she’s known since high school. Mike and Kristin Kiss like challenges. The two former athletes set out 10 years ago to run a half- marathon in all 50 states, a goal that they accomplished in four years. Since then, their priorities have expanded to include two children, but one thing remains: their willingness to take on big, audacious goals.

Today, Mike and Kristin joins the show to talk with Whitney about his unique goals, the hardest race he’s ever competed in, and the biggest challenges he’s faced along the way.

Episode Sponsor

Runner Click Pro – https://pro.runnerclick.com/

Key Takeaways

00:54 – Whitney Heins welcomes Mike and Kristin Kiss to the show to talk about the importance of stretching, what they love about running, and why they set such lofty goals

17:43 – Mike and Kristin talk about their unique and audacious goals

21:35 – Racing in Las Vegas and running 50 half marathons in all 50 states

25:37 – The hardest race Mike and Kristin ever ran

28:47 – Getting their kids involved and another arduous goal

33:42 – How running has fortified Mike and Kristin’s relationship

41:51 – The biggest challenges Mike faced when trying to achieve his goals

52:44 – What’s next for Mike and one piece of advice for anyone looking to take on a big, audacious goal

58:23 – Whitney thanks Mike for joining the show to share his story

Tweetable Quotes

“If I’m so prescribed, I don’t enjoy it. And, at the end of the day this is all about having fun and enjoying running. I don’t want it to become work. If it becomes work, I’m not gonna want to do it. So, I’m just looking at the adventure side of it.” (13:03) (Mike)

“You plan as well as you can and then things don’t go well. And then you don’t plan, or maybe you make the wrong decision, and things can still go well. You never know.” (28:13) (Mike)

“The difference between a half and a full, as you’re aware, is that you can get by with ‘okay weather’ in a half marathon and it’s not gonna make a huge impact on the day or the time. ‘Okay weather’ for a full marathon can be a lot more challenging.” (44:45) (Mike)

“Everything is a competing priority. There’s finite resources. You have to make decisions and concessions, but I haven’t walked back from a trip that we’ve done with our kids regretting that we did it or that we spent money to do it.” (48:18) (Mike)

“I just encourage people to look at it in that light and put yourself out there. Find resources, find people that are gonna support you. I think you’d be surprised at how many people will be in your corner to help you along the way.” (56:35) (Mike/Kristin)

Resources Mentioned

Whitney’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-heins-02ba3b5

The Mother Runners Club – https://www.themotherrunners.com/

Mike's Email - [email protected]

Mike's Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mikeakiss

50in100 - https://www.50in100.com/

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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Ashley Nowe is a pregnancy and postpartum fitness specialist, nutritionist, fitness coach, and the Founder of Get Mom Strong, an organization that offers at-home fitness programs for moms. In 2022, Ashley created an app called SLAM (Strong Like A Mother), which combines science-backed pelvic floor and core exercises with sweat-inducing workouts. Ashley is on a mission to ensure that as many women as possible go through pregnancy and postpartum feeling empowered and informed.

Today, Whitney and Ashley discuss the critical role your pelvic floor plays in running, exercises you can do to strengthen your pelvic floor, and how to get back into running postpartum.

Episode Sponsor

Runner Click Pro – https://pro.runnerclick.com/

Key Takeaways

01:00 – Whitney Heins welcomes Ashley Nowe to the show to share her struggles with diastasis recti while pregnant, her decision to become a pelvic floor physical therapist and the role the pelvic floor plays in running

14:48 – Tips and moves for working out your pelvic floor

16:39 – Signs that you may have a tight or weak pelvic floor

18:48 – Advice Ashley would give to runners looking to return to running postpartum

22:01 – Why men should also take care of their pelvic floors

23:08 – Spontaneous healing postpartum

26:07 – What it looks like to learn how to breathe properly

30:27 – The inspiration to launch the SLAM app

35:47 – Ashley speaks to the importance of mobility

37:07 – Whitney thanks Ashely for joining the show and for the work she’s doing

Tweetable Quotes

“I found a magical occupation called pelvic floor physical therapy, and it changed my whole life. I learned everything I wish I had learned - everything women deserve to have learned even before we have kids. I learned how to breathe, how to engage my core, how to utilize my pelvic floor, and it was life changing.” (06:20) (Ashley)

“As a runner, fitness is an outlet. And when somebody takes that from you and your body’s not functioning as it should, it’s a loss of identity and it’s a loss of your outlet.” (07:52) (Ashley)

“Just going back to all of these basics that you probably have never even thought about or been taught can really change the way your body functions. It’s particularly important if you’re a runner because that breath is everything, right? And if your body is in a better position, you’re gonna be able to run further, faster, harder, and without issues.” (11:16) (Ashley)

“Your pelvic floor is meant to be reflexive. It’s meant to be almost like a trampoline. As you’re impacting, as you’re hitting the ground in your stride, you want that pelvic floor to gently lengthen and contract, and lengthen and contract. It shouldn’t be something you even have to think about. Your pelvic floor should just know, ‘This is what I have to do.’” (13:12) (Ashley)

“One thing I want to address because I feel like it’s a really important topic is if you’re newly postpartum - prior to twelve weeks postpartum - really legitimately take it easy and build strength before you run. You can save yourself a lot of heartache if you work on that rehab during that twelve weeks. But if you’re past that twelve week mark, and you didn’t do the pelvic floor rehab, and you went out for a run and are experiencing issues, it’s never too late. That’s the other piece of it. It’s never too late to heal.” (19:19) (Ashley)

“There was just such a need. And I felt like the real need was for the athlete population. There is nothing to rehab your core and pelvic floor that’s not boring. I want to sweat. I want endorphins.” (31:12) (Ashley)

Resources Mentioned

Get Mom Strong – https://getmomstrong.com/about-me/

Get Mom Strong...

Heather Hart, ACSM EP-C, is full time running coach, exercise physiologist, certified strength and conditioning specialist, mother of two teenagers, writer, and ultrarunner who believes that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary feats. She is also the co-founder of Hart, Strength and Endurance Coaching and the co-founder of Relentless Forward Commotion, a running resource and strength and run coaching.

Today, Whitney and Heather discuss adaptation training, the important role of recovery in getting fitter, and Heather’s passion for helping everyday athletes learn how to balance training for big athletic goals with real life.

Episode Sponsor

Runner Click Pro – https://pro.runnerclick.com/

Key Takeaways

00:55 – Whitney Heins welcomes Heather Hart to the show to define ‘adventure racing,’ to discuss her experience returning to running postpartum, and to share how she got into run coaching

14:20 – From puking after one mile to running adventure racing

19:32 – The origin story of Relentless Forward Commotion

22:03 – Understanding adaptation training

25:15 – Different techniques to bust through a plateau

32:47 – Fatigue management and the difference between functional and nonfunctional overreaching

36:45 – The benefits of taking extra rest

38:59 – The Principle of Individuality

41:22 – Listening to your body

46:44 – Whitney thanks Heather for joining the show

Tweetable Quotes

“We just like to really work with endurance athletes but really help them focus on all aspects of fitness, and helping them reach their goals.” (14:13) (Heather)

“I think all athletes kind of have a progression over time - even if they stay in the same sport - just kinda with what their goals are.” (17:59) (Heather)

“So, that’s what so many athletes who come to me, and come to you, and probably every other running coach out there, that’s often what they do is they don’t understand. They say, ‘I’ve been running. I run this far every day and I have for years and I’m not getting better. Maybe I’m getting worse.’ And that’s because there is a ton of science showing how our bodies adapt to exercise and these principles of exercise basically help you understand how you want to build a training plan to reach your goals.” (23:11) (Heather)

“I think that coaches and, for lack of a better term, fitness influencers have been doing a great job lately at emphasizing how important rest and recovery days are. Because we know that we don’t make those adaptations during training. It doesn’t happen then. It happens after training, during recovery. So we need to balance out those hard workouts with recovery days so we can actually make those adaptations.” (26:18) (Heather)

“Going back to fatigue management, when we’re trying to progressively overload, we do need to do what’s called ‘overreaching.’ And there’s functional overreaching and nonfunctional overreaching. Functional overreaching is purposeful. Nonfunctional is usually what happens to people who just have a chaotic training plan and don’t really take enough rest and they’re getting tired.” (33:40) (Heather)

“I would say the number one thing is to remember the Principle of Individuality. Just because you see another athlete - even if they’re training for the same race as you and they have the same amount of experience as you - your body and their body are not the same. Genetically, you’re not the same. Who knows how well your body is recovering compared to that athlete? They may be able to do more than you. You may be able to do more than them. That doesn’t make one right and one wrong.” (40:02) (Heather)

“Part of being an athlete is learning your body like that. This is not supposed to be easy.” (43:09) (Heather)

“I think that’s part of our job as coaches. A lot of people think...