We Run This

Running is often thought of as a young person’s sport, but at the age of 39 Bernd Heinrich won his first marathon, as a complete unknown.  

It was only the third marathon he had ever run and his first in five years. 

Since then, the now 81-year-old has done everything from holding American records in four different distances – and the world records for those same distances in the masters category – at age 45, to outrunning a spitting cobra on the African plains. 

Bernd joined the show to talk about running and his new book - Racing The Clock - an in-depth look at running, aging, and the body, exploring the unresolved relationship between metabolism, diet, exercise, and age.

Our guest this week is ultrarunner, skydiver, and nurse, Rachel Belmont.

Rachel never stops moving. She's run the NYC marathon four times, the Boston Marathon, and a marathon on 4/7 of the continents, in locations such as Ireland, Tunisia, and Jordan. 

Prior to the pandemic, the New Jersey native was training to run the Mount Everest Ultramarathon. Just 24 at the time, Rachel would have been the youngest person to ever run the race. Unfortunately, the race was canceled because of the pandemic, and Rachel was forced to shift her focus to another race.

She's now training for the Volcano UltraMarathon in Iceland at the beginning of September.

In this episode, Rachel discusses her love of challenging herself, training for the Mount Everest Ultramarathon, living with the disappointment that the race wouldn't happen, and setting her sights on Iceland and the Volcano UltraMarathon. 

This week, we're talking to professional long-distance runner and the 2020 USATF Athlete of the Year, Natosha Rogers. 

She was a 2020 Cross Country National Champion, 2012 Olympic Trials Silver Medalist, and former Half Marathon National Champion.

In her recent bid to make the US Olympic team, she placed 7th at the Olympic Trials in the 10k. While not making the Olympic team is a setback, it’s nothing compared to the other obstacles life has put in Natosha’s way over the years.

Just over three years ago, the 30-year-old thought her running career was over. 

After a knee injury came out of nowhere, and surgery left her barely able to walk, she lost her and had to get a job in tech sales to pay the bills. 

She temporarily gave up on her dream of competing professionally until those setbacks helped Rogers discover an inner-strength that helped pull her through even the darkest times.

In this interview, Natosha talks about her injuries, the power of mantras and manifesting, getting into some dark moments, and her climb back to being a professional runner. 

At 23 years old, comedian Dan LaMorte found himself in a hospital bed suffering from a fatty liver and tipping the scales at over 354 pounds. 

Besides the liver issues, Dan also had gastrointestinal issues. Celiac disease was a possibility, and even though the tests came back inconclusive, the New Jersey native decided to cut gluten from his diet.

Dan saw results quickly and after shedding some pounds decided to take up running. 

With the pandemic shutting comedy clubs across the country, Dan had plenty of time to focus on his running. Eventually his short runs became longer distances, putting in 20 and then 30 miles a week. 

And then one day, Dan ran an ultra marathon. 

In this episode, Dan talks about his early days playing baseball and blowing out his arm, getting into stand-up comedy, putting on and eventually losing 171 pounds and using weed as a pre-workout.

This week, we’re joined by “The Ultramarathon Man” himself, Dean Karnazes.

Stop during any moment of the day today and think to yourself “I wonder if Dean Karnazes is running right now.” The answer is probably yes. We’re not sure Dean Karnazes ever stops running.

One named by TIME magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World,” Dean Karnazes has pushed his body - and mind - to inconceivable limits. 

Probably most well known for running 50 marathons in 50 states for 50 consecutive straight days, Karnazes has logged miles in places people wouldn’t dream of stepping foot. He’s run racing in the hottest, driest, windiest, and coldest places in the world including across Death Valley in the middle of summer, and ran 26.2 at the South Pole.

Karnazes is also a New York Times best-selling author and his latest book - "A Runner’s High: My Life in Motion" - might be his best work yet. 

In this episode, Dean some of the amazing stories in his new book, running and age, the mind of the runner, his diet, endurance and sleep, and how long he plans on running. 

It’s impossible to cover every part of Latoya Shauntay Snell’s life in an hour-long discussion but damn if we didn’t try. 

She’s a chef, podcaster, writer, and a self-proclaimed “accidental activist”, pushing back against body shamers and anonymous keyboard warriors. 

Latoya has done just about everything in life and experienced the joys and sorrows which accompany each new barrier she breaks. 

Latoya followed her early love of cooking to culinary school. After graduating, Latoya worked as a freelance food stylist and photographer and explored the world of corporate dining while working for several different restaurants. 

While her career was reaching new heights, so was her weight, and in October 2012 Latoya found herself in the hospital with disc degeneration, moderate level sciatica, a herniated disc, and a crashing immune system. 

“I was well over 265 pounds thanks to depression and other factors thrown into the picture,” explained Latoya. “My doctor didn't think I'd make it to see 30 years old.” 

So began her weight loss journey, at one point dropping close to 170 pounds, though this isn’t the typical story of “fat person gets skinny” and the world falls in love with the story. 

In this interview, Latoya discusses her early life with her dad and his love of cooking, the backlash she received for dropping so much weight, rising above the online hate that comes her way on a daily basis, the insane story of meeting one of her online bullies in real life, and her ability to remain positive - and funny as hell -  in the face of constant adversity. 

Some athletes would give up after suffering a major health setback. Eric Esposito isn't one of those athletes.

Eric is a triathlete an Iron Man competitor. He is also a traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivor. In 2017, Eric was hit by a car and thrown off his bike. 

In this episode, Eric discusses his accident, how the TBI has changed him as a person and athlete, getting back to training after the accident, and staying focused during races and training. 

Amanda Brooks wants people to be content with being a “middle-of-the-pack” runner. 

She created her website - Run To The Finish - back in 2007 as a place to support those middle-of-the-pack runners and help them enjoy running regardless of the time on their watches. 

Amanda is a certified running coach, certified personal trainer, and has over 26,000 of running experience herself.

Amanda feels running is about so much more than just pace and PRs. 

She also knows people don’t have the time or energy to keep up on all the latest research on running so she does all of the heavy lifting on her website. She’s written over 200 researched articles on running in the last ten years. 

In this episode, Amanda discusses imposter syndrome and runners, recovery runs, her transition from just a runner to a coach, and the importance of strength training. Amanda also discusses her work with women and training during menstrual cycles. 

Taping nipples. Knowing where to find all the best public bathrooms. Wearing medals. 

Runners do have some quirks but can any of this behavior be classified as “weird”? 

In this special episode, Chris and Gina review a recent list published on Runner’s World listing the 30 weird things runners do as compared to other athletes and just regular people. 

Chris and Gina review the list and discuss which behaviors, quirks, ticks, and superstitions seem weird and which sound completely normal, even to just casual runners. 

The hosts even admit to their own weird running quirks and habits on rest days, during training, and on race days. 

**This episode is supported by Manscaped. Go to Manscaped.com and use the promo code WERUNTHIS20 to get 20% OFF and Free Shipping on your order.** 

Recovery is important for athletes of all skill levels and abilities but in recent years the actual science behind how our body recovers has gotten a little confusing. 

People are bombarded with ads for “cutting edge” recovery products and services: from drinks and recovery shakes to compression sleeves, foam rollers, electrical muscle stimulators, smartwatches, sleep trackers, and cryotherapy.  

Christie Aschwanden is here to set the record straight about which the real ways to recovery and all of the unnecessary - and expensive - recovery products and promises to avoid. 

Christie is the author of “Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery” and the former lead science writer at FiveThirtyEight. She’s also a frequent contributor to The New York Times and a former columnist for the Washington Post.

A lifetime athlete, Christie has raced in Europe and North America on the Team Rossignol Nordic ski racing squad and enjoys trail running, bicycling, skiing when she’s not investigating or debunking the newest recovery fad. 

In our talk, Christie talks about the true science of recovery and discusses some of the findings in her book like whether drinking Gatorade really helps or hinders performance, how long a person should wait to get back into training after injury, the honest truth about ice baths, and much more. 

**This episode is supported by Manscaped. Go to Manscaped.com and use the promo code WERUNTHIS20 to get 20% OFF and Free Shipping on your order.**