Episode 623: Race Anxiety

Four years ago, we chatted with Dani about her recent breakout as a trail runner. Today she joins us as a full time professional runner for Adidas!

Everyone deals with this! Some runners simply get excited by race nerves while others are crippled by them. Either way, this IS something you can improve!

Kirk has been testing out shoes in preparation for his upcoming 50k and Brakken has been blown away by the rapid improvement of Hyrox athletes.

When should you suck it up and run in the heat? When should you avoid running in the heat? Do your race goals impact your decision? What if you run for fun / mental health?

With threshold training all the rage, there is a lot of discussion about “X Days”. Should this always be a fast, speed based session or is there more to it than that?

Today we answer fourteen of your best questions about running, training, shoes, heat, drugs, and racing!

What is the minimum turn around time needed between long races to have any chance at success? For a reasonable shot at success? For maximum chance at success?

Brakken recorded an episode on Rich Ryan’s RMR Podcast this week (go check it out!) and it prompted him to ask Kirk some questions about how his coaching started and evolved over time.

DJ joined us 300 episodes ago after winning World’s Toughest Mudder. Fast forward 3 years and he just crossed the finish line of the Cocodona 250 in third place. From OCR athlete to big time Ultra runner, he has embodied the idea of staying the course.

With the rise of hormone therapy and anti-aging medical practices, how should amateur athletes be thinking about drug use?