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Aug
30

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Running Coach & Chiropractic Richard Hansen On Healthy High Performance

Category: Marathon, Strength & Conditioning, Track & Field

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running coach chiropractic richard hansenInjury prevention, over-training, recovery

A doctor of chiropractic and a passionate running coach – it makes for a really interesting conversation about everything from injury prevention, barefoot running to raw kale smoothies.

Richard Hansen is head of Roots Running, a Boulder, Colorado-based Olympic development group focused on distances from 1,500 meters to the marathon. Richard also leads a busy medical practice called High Altitude Spine & Sport, whose aim is to provide current, evidence-based treatment and education for athletes.

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May
17

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Marathon Expert Ed Caesar On Two Hours & World Records

Category: Marathon

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Endurance running, Kenyan marathoners
Marathon Two Hours Ed Caesar bookUK-based journalist Ed Caesar has written an excellent book taking us deep inside the world of professional marathon runners. It’s called Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon, and thanks to his meticulous, on-the-ground research, it tells you everything you’d ever want to know about running 26.2 miles at the ultra-elite level.

Ed’s expertly-told tale brings us along to the big-money races in the United States and Europe as well as to the remote villages in Kenya where the runners live and train. It’s one of the very few books I’ve come across that shows the human side and the vulnerabilities of these amazing endurance athletes.
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Topics: Marathon, Two Hours, Kenyan runners, Kalenjin runners, marathon runners, marathon world record, Ed Caesar, barefoot running, Kenyan doping, endurance running; Marathon expert Caesar on breaking the 2-hr barrier

May
29

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Marathon Legend Frank Shorter on Self-Coaching and Life’s Long Road

Category: Marathon, Olympics

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Olympic Gold Medallist; Road Racing Pioneer
frank_shorter2It’s not often we can feature someone credited with starting a revolution. But it’s true of this week’s guest. In this case it’s the fitness revolution of long distance running. Legendary Olympic Gold Medallist in the Marathon, crusader for ridding sports of illegal drugs, tireless road racing ambassador and champion of inspiring programs to help at-risk children: Frank Shorter is all these and more.
Frank Shorter
Frank struck gold at the Munich Olympics in 1972, and then silver four years later in Montreal. Of course there’s quite an interesting story about why he was denied the top slot in that very close race. You’ll hear about that later.

This interview was recorded in Frank’s home in Boulder, Colorado in August 2013. He was very generous with his time and his intellect, and accordingly we’ll be releasing the interview in two parts; part 1 now and part 2 in two weeks’ time.

Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we’d be grateful if you’d leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

May
21

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Mindful Running Expert Michael Sandler On Better Performance Being In the Now

Category: Marathon, Mental toughness

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Mindfulness in sports, breathing, recovery

mindful-running-michael-sandler

When it comes to injury and recovery, running expert Michael Sandler has been through the valley of the shadow of death and back again. He’s had several bone-crushing life threatening accidents and fought his way back to health and fitness. Once an elite distance athlete, he’s now a coach and an eloquent proponent of mindfulness in sports.

Michael’s website is mindfulrunning.org where he offers a wide range of educational and performance programs for amateurs up to elite level runners. He’s also an advocate of true barefoot running, something that long-time listeners of this show will know is an big interest of mine. Even if you’re not into running but want to know more about mindfulness in sports, this interview is well worth a listen.

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Sports Coach Radio dot com is a weekly series of interviews with world-leading coaches, sports scientists and writers. It’s hosted by Glenn Whitney, a mentor to coaches and a leadership advisor. Twitter is a good place to keep up with us – the handle is @sportscoachtalk.

Link to a video about Michael’s injury recovery: YouTube: Healing Through Barefoot Running

Topics: Mindfulness in sports, extreme injuries, repair and recovery, mindful running, breathing techniques, barefoot running, mindful running, sports meditation, visualization, mindful running,

May
3

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True Cross Country Running With Mega Marathon Man Daren Wendell

Category: Marathon, Mental toughness, Motivation

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cross_country_runner_daren_wendell100 marathons 100 days in a row

Ultra endurance, extremely fast recovery, mental toughness – we’ve got it all in this interview. Daren Wendell recently ran across America – 29 miles a day, 100 days in a row. A lot easier said than done. Yes, it’s kind of the Forest Gump thing except Daren isn’t a Hollywood invention.

In the process he’s raised nearly 150,000 dollars for the charity Active Water, which  brings safe water to people in Ethiopia. You can still donate on the website rundarenrun.com.

He’s a man with quite a bit of endurance experience including in recent years cycling 4, 400 miles across the country, walking 3,400 miles across the country, hiking the length of the Appalachian Trail and swimming 50.6 miles across Lake Michigan, and not without some negative consequences, as you’ll hear in this interview.

Sports Coach Radio dot com is a weekly series of interviews with world-leading coaches, sports scientists and writers. It’s hosted by Glenn Whitney, a mentor to coaches and a leadership advisor. Twitter is a good place to keep up with us – the handle is @sportscoachtalk.

Topics: Marathons, cross country running, ultra endurance, extremely fast recovery, mental toughness, Ethiopia, Active Water

Dec
14

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Sport Science’s Preeminent Iconoclast: Tim Noakes

Category: Marathon, Mental toughness, Motivation, Sports nutrition, Strength & Conditioning

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Central Governor, Hydration, Endurance Athletes

Sport-Scientist-Tim-Noakes-1

 Brain-Body Connections and Low-Carb Fuelling

It’s an honour to have Professor Tim Noakes back on the show. He’s one of the world’s leading sports scientists, with special expertise marathons, ultra running and other long endurance events.

Professor Noakes is as active as ever, despite retiring recently from the University of Cape Town’s Exercise Science and Sports Medicine Group, which he founded.
sports-scientist-tim-noakes-challenging-book
He’s now a particularly strong proponent of low-carb, high-fat approaches to weight loss and athletic performance. We talk about that, plus hydration and, of course, the Central Governor Model, a highly influential approach to understanding the relationship of the brain and the body in high performance sport.

He’s also co-authored a couple of books since we last spoke: The Real Meal Revolution, and Challenging Belief – Memoirs of a Career.
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Oct
28

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Sports Scientist Ross Tucker: Pushing the Limits of Human Performance

Category: Cycling, Marathon, Mental toughness, Strength & Conditioning

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Central Governor, Endurance sports, Anticipatory Regulation
human performance sports-scientist-ross-tucker-tim-noakes-central-governor
Serious but fun sports science geekery this week. We’re delighted to have exercise physiologist Ross Tucker joining us from the University of Cape Town and the Sports Science Institute of South Africa.

Ross is a close colleague of Professor Tim Noake’s and has been building on his research into pacing in high-intensity endurance sports, what is often referred to as anticipatory regulation and the Central Governor Model. Ross’s PhD looked at fatigue and the limits of human performance.

In addition to doing extensive research in the limits of human performance, particularly in cycling and running, Ross is a consultant to the South Africa Rugby Sevens Team and a wide range of other top international sports. You can find numerous interesting articles on his website: sportsscientists.com.
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Sep
13

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Marathon Coaching: Sub Two-Hour Times, Phil Maffetone Shows The Way

Category: Marathon, Sports nutrition

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Endurance strength training & fueling
marathon-sub-two-hour-maffetone-book
Endurance expert and holistic health guru Dr Phil Maffetone joins us again to talk about his fascinating new book: 1:59: The Sub-Two-Hour Marathon Is Within Reach: Here’s How It Will Go Down, and What It Can Teach All Runners about Training and Racing. There is lots to learn in this interview for not just runners, but all endurance athletes and their coaches.

As you might already know Dr Phil mentored legendary triathlete Mark Allen through his key Ironman victories, as well working with triathlete Angela Naeth and race car drivers Mario and Michael Andretti, among many others.

Sports Coach Radio is a series of weekly in-depth interviews with world-class sports coaches, leaders and scientists, hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching adviser and leadership consultant. Follow us on Twitter, where we post coaching tips and links to interesting articles just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we’d be grateful if you’d leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

Phil_Maffetone_triathlon_2

Key topics:

Marathon coaching, marathon training, sub-two hour marathon, endurance, sports nutrition, strength training for endurance athletes, triathlon, fueling, hydration low-carb, bare-foot running, Frankfurt Marathon, Kenyan runners, Ethiopian runners, genetic differences, Nike Oregon Project, Mo Farah

 

Aug
9

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Marathon Coaching: The Man Behind Meb’s Boston Triumph, Bob Larsen

Category: Marathon, Track & Field

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Boston Marathon, Meb Keflezighi

marathon-coach-meb-keflezighi_bob-larsenWe have the coach behind one of the most stunning marathon victories in recent years on the show this week. Meb Keflezighi’s longtime mentor Bob Larsen joins us again, to tell us all about how Meb triumphed in the 2014 Boston Marathon, on the eve of his 39th birthday, becoming the oldest winner of the race in the modern era.

Bob is a true master coach, a model of modesty and servant leadership, with a pedigree that goes across most track and field events, starting with UCLA in 1979. He was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame last year and in July was given the running’s prestigious Pathfinder Award.
boston-marathon-meb
We last spoke with Bob in May 2013, and that interview is still available for download.

Sports Coach Radio is a series of weekly in-depth interview with world-class sports coaches, leaders and scientists, hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching adviser and leadership consultant. Follow us on Twitter, where we post coaching tips and links to interesting articles just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we’d be grateful if you’d leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

Key topics: Marathon coaching, Boston Marathon, Meb Keflezighi, training older athletes, building strength, preventing over-training, prehabilitation, alternative endurance training methods

Jan
9

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Ultra Runner & Triple Ironman Champion Christopher Bergland on Sporting Obsessions

Category: Marathon, Triathlon

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Triathlon, 24-Hour Running Record
ultra_runner_christopher_bergland3
Christopher Bergland ran 153.76 miles in 24 hours on a treadmill and lived to tell about it – just barely. That’s an average per mile pace of 6 minutes and 24 seconds for an entire day and night – a world record that’s held up for nearly a decade.

Christopher has also won three different triple Ironman triathlon competitions, including one in a record-breaking 38 hours and 46 minutes.

Now he’s a thinker, a writer and an ultra-endurance athlete in recovery. A fascinating person, Christopher now looks closely at what makes us happy, how to stay healthy and what place sports and exercise can and should play in our lives.

Christopher is the author of the book The Athlete’s Way: Sweat and the Biology of Bliss and writes a regular blog column of the same name for Psychology Today.
christopher_bergland_book
Sports Coach Radio is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter, where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we’d be grateful if you’d leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

Sep
20

By

Marathon Man on a Mission: Frank Shorter Part 2

Category: Empathy, Marathon, Olympics

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Mental toughness, anti-doping crusader
Frank_Shorter3Here’s Part 2 of our interview with Olympic Gold Medal Winning Marathoner and distance running guru Frank Shorter, which took place at his home in Boulder, Colorado.

Aug
16

By

Power, Speed, Endurance CrossFit Expert Brian Mackenzie

Category: Marathon, Strength & Conditioning, Triathlon

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Strength training for distance runners & triathletes

brian_mackenzie_crossfit1Power, speed and endurance are the three essential components of high performance in most sports. This week’s guest is an expert on developing them in a coherent and comprehensive way.

Brian Mackenzie is the creator of CrossFit Endurance, a fitness methodology and network of gyms across the country focused on strength and conditioning for endurance athletes. And Brian is author of the book called, what else? Power, Speed, Endurance.
power_speed_endurance_coverHe is also co-founder, along with double Olympic gold medal rower Erin Cafaro, of an innovative energy supplement that uses fat and protein as well as carbohydrate called 3Fuel.
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May
7

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Marathon Master Coach Bob Larsen of Mammoth & UCLA

Category: Marathon, Olympics, Track & Field

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Meb Keflezighi, minimalist footwear, men versus women
Marathoner Meb Keflezeghi and Coach Bob Larsen
The marathon and other distance running events are in focus this week on Sports Coach Radio. We’re joined by renowned track & field coach Bob Larsen, the long-time coach of the United States’ number one marathoner Meb Keflezighi.

The show is hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching and leadership psychologist. You can follow us on Twitter where we post useful articles and coaching tips just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we’d be grateful if you’d leave a short review on the Apple iTunes page.
Bob_Larsen
Bob began achieving national-level success in the 1980s at UCLA, eventually becoming head coach in 1984. Among the gold medal athletes in the program he led are Steve Lewis, Danny Everett, Kevin Young and Ato Bolden.

Bob is a recipient of numerous coaching accolades, including the Bill Bowerman award from the National Distance Running Hall of Fame and the Robert Giegengack Award from USA Track & Field. He’s also one of the founders of the prestigious Mammoth Track Club, based at 7,900 feet (2,400 meters) in Mammoth Lakes, California.

We talk about the challenge of breaking the two-hour barrier in the marathon, working long-term with an athlete like Meb through the entire length of his athletic career, the injury-preventing potential of minimalist footwear, the performance gap between men and women in long distance events and more.