Run To The Top Podcast | The Ultimate Guide To Running

Visualization is a mental technique that is a staple for elite runners and superstars like Michael Jordan, Deena Kastor, and Mohammad Ali.  In this episode, Coach Claire walks you through her exact visualization strategy, step-by-step.  This way, if you’ve never done it before, you have the perfect guide; and if you already employ visualization techniques, maybe you can pickup a tidbit or two you can implement.  Visualization turned my running career around and also allowed me to relax and enjoy the days leading up to big races - we hope it can do the same for you! Guided Race Visualization for Runners Most runners quickly learn that running is just as much mental as it is physical. You can train your body, but if you neglect to train your mind, you will never reach your full potential. There are many mental techniques to train your mind for better running and racing. Some are best practiced outside of the run and some you’ll want to use during the run, right when things start to feel tough. I recommend that

Do you ever look at other runners, in person or on social media, and think “they are so much faster than me” or “they are real runners, not me”?  Well, you’re not alone and unfortunately this mindset can prevent you from enjoying everything running can be. Well, Erin Azar is on the podcast today to… Help you overcome these negative thoughts and develop a stronger mindset Document her journey as a new runner and what helped her get feel like a “real runner” How to get over comparing yourself to other runners on social media and their seemingly  perfect running accounts. Win a FREE Copy of the Easy Running Plans book written by Coach Jeff! What I love about Erin is that she is everything that a real runner really is.  So many people who are starting off say, oh I’m not a real runner because I’m not fast or skinny or experienced.  Erin is changing all of that and to be honest, she’s the only running account that I want to follow right now. I know you are going to love her as much as I do no matter what kind of

Is race day coming up?  Whether this is your first big race or you're a seasoned vet, this episode will help you be sure that you don’t miss a critical step of your race day prep! In this episode, you’ll learn: Top tips and advice for preparing for race days How to optimize your nutrition as a runner Planning your race gear & logistics: travel, lodging, strategy, and clothing The mental race: expert pacing tips & managing expectations and anxiety What to do (mentally and physically) before and after you cross the finish line Plus, get our free race day guide checklist here so you can have the peace of mind you have everything you need! If this is your first big race you don’t really know what to expect.   Hopefully, your taper has been going well and you are starting to dream about all the possibilities of how the race will go. But your actual race day is uncharted territory. So today, we’re going to go over all the things that you need to pay attention to and plan for on race day. Because when you

The three weeks before your marathon are critical to your success on race day.  If you do too much, you’ll leave your speed in training.  But if you do too little, you can start losing fitness. In this episode you’ll learn… How to taper your mileage and training with the exact workouts you need How to change your eating patterns to recover and fuel right How to create a healthy mindset and calm your anxiety about the big day Grab your free download of our exclusive Marathon Taper Nutrition Plan! Full transcript and show notes here. CONNECT, COMMENT, & COMMUNITY: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  A great FREE way to support the show! Email Coach Claire Follow Claire on Instagram Follow RunnersConnect on Instagram Join the Elite Treatment where you get first dibs on everything RTTT each month! Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community  RunnersConnect Facebook page GET EXPERT COACHING AT RUNNERSCONNECT! This week’s show brought to you by: Timeline Nutrition Improving your mitochondria is one of

There is a deep divide among runners about which is the best running shoe and the big super shoes seem to be winning.  Is this because they are better, or is it just clever marketing with a big budget?  Steven Sashen thinks it’s the latter. In this episode you’ll learn: why the barefoot/minimalist movement isn’t dead how a “natural” shoe can improve foot strength what the big brands don’t want you to know The beauty of running is that you really don’t need much more than a pair of shoes to get started. But does the kind of shoe really matter? Absolutely. Hundreds of millions of dollars has been spent on the development of running shoes that promise to propel you farther and faster than you’ve gone before, while also delivering a smooth ride and making your feet look good. Steven Sashen is the co-founder, along with his wife Lena Phoenix, of the minimalist footwear company Xero Shoes and he is also a master’s level sprinter.  He claims not only that true minimalist shoes are better for your feet, but they ar

How do you KNOW that you are ready to race a marathon?  And not just run it, but race it in your dream goal finishing time? In this episode you’ll learn… The SEVEN key signs that will tell you if you are ready The most important factors of successful marathon training How to know for sure that you’ve done enough If you are training for a marathon, now is the time that you are really starting to feel it.  The miles have been piling up, the long runs are getting longer, and race day is getting closer and closer. You’ve been keeping your head down and getting the work done and trying not to worry too much about the 26.2 miles or 42 kilometers that you will be racing soon. But no matter how confident you are in yourself and in your training, there’s a little voice inside your head that is always asking, am I ready?  Have I done enough? Okay, for some of us, that voice isn’t so little!  So how can you tell if you're ready for  the marathon in a few weeks?  And how do you know if the finishing goal that you’ve be

What if you could get faster, stronger, and more mentally sharp despite turning the corner beyond age 40?  It is actually possible. Now, if you started running in your teens or in your twenties, you are not going to be able to race or train at the same intensity or paces as you did back then.  But just because your times aren’t going to be the same doesn’t mean that you can’t run your very best and have the same sense of pride and accomplishment as you did when you were younger. In fact, you might even find more satisfaction in your running as a master. Coach Claire's guest will tell you how. Cathy Utzshcneider is an accomplished athlete and coach who did not even start her running journey until age 40.  In the years since, Cathy has won nine USA Track and Field national age group championships, a silver medal at the Nike World Masters Games, and a gold medal at the North American World Regional Championships. She was ranked No. 5 in the world in her age-group in the mile in 2005.  She is a lead faculty membe

Running strides will get you fast, fast! What if we told you that there was a way to get faster, to improve your running form, quicken your feet, better prepare for a race, and have some fun, all in less than 90 seconds of work?  The good news that such a thing actually exists.  This simple speed development drill is a staple of track and field and cross country teams all over the world, but many recreational runners are missing out on a classic tool that can massively improve their running. It’s called the stride.  Or striders, or accelerations, or stride-outs.  Lots of names for the same awesome skill.  But what it’s not is a sprint or a surge.  Coach Claire Bartholic will explain. In this episode, she investigates why strides are so amazing, what they do for you, and tells you exactly when and how to do them. CONNECT, COMMENT, & COMMUNITY:   Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  A great FREE way to support the show! Email Coach Claire Follow Claire on Instagram Follow RunnersConnect on Instagram Join the

Sha'Carri Richardson thought she was going to the Olympic this summer after winning the 100m sprint.  But when she tested positive for THC after the race, she was disqualified. Like Richardson, several elite athletes have made headlines recently, while the use of marajuana has pretty much been an open secret among the best of the best. But why?  What is the science behind this controversial plant?  What researchers are starting to learn is that the natural runner’s high that we feel when we go for a run is directly related to the one you get from THC and NOT from endorphins like so many believe. Now there’s a whole lot more to this topic than getting stoned and going for a run, I promise you, and today I’m going to talk to the investigative journalist who literally wrote the book on it. Josiah Hesse’s work has been featured in publications including Vice, The Guardian, Politico, and Esquire.  In his new book, RUNNER’S HIGH, Josiah takes us on a journey through the secret world of athletes who experience astou

Is a cool down after running really important?  Do you tend to skip your cool down when time is crunched? Coach Claire Bartholic reveals the the four biggest myths about cool downs, because even if you do one religiously, it might not be doing what you think it’s doing. Despite what they don't do for you, there are still some great reasons for incorporating a cool down into your routine after each and every run.  Claire explores how you can maximize the time at the end of your runs most effectively. CONNECT, COMMENT, & COMMUNITY:   Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  A great FREE way to support the show! Email Coach Claire Follow Claire on Instagram Follow RunnersConnect on Instagram Join the Elite Treatment where you get first dibs on everything RTTT each month! Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community  RunnersConnect Facebook page   GET EXPERT COACHING AT RUNNERSCONNECT!    

Will running a marathon in high-tech super shoes help you run faster? Nike made huge headlines when they came out with the Vaporfly series in 2017.  Featuring a new kind of foam and a flexible carbon plate, Nike promised that their expensive new shoes would improve a marathoner’s running economy by 4%. With elites and recreational runners doing everything they could to improve by just one percent, these magic new shoes were pretty tantalizing. But with all new technology comes controversy.  Nike had already been supplying its best runners with Vaporflies as early as 2016, which was an Olympic year.  Other athletes sponsored by other companies would be at a clear disadvantage if the 4% improvement numbers were really true and they complained to the governing bodies of the sport. Rules changed and the copycats followed Nikes lead.  Now in 2021, most of the major running shoe companies have some version of high-tech foam and carbon plate shoes and all of them need to be available to the public before they can be

Do you eat before a run?  Should you?  And what should you eat that will fuel your run the best? Coach Claire Bartholic explores exactly what you should eat before any type of run.  She brings back registered dietician and 2:57 marathoner Meghann Featherstun to explain the science. Coach Claire also gives you meal and snack ideas that you might not have thought of that are quick to grab, easy on your stomach, and fast to fuel your run.   CONNECT, COMMENT, & COMMUNITY: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  A great FREE way to support the show! Email Coach Claire Follow Claire on Instagram Follow RunnersConnect on Instagram Join the Elite Treatment where you get first dibs on everything RTTT each month! Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community  RunnersConnect Facebook page   GET EXPERT COACHING AT RUNNERSCONNECT!    

Sarah Clem is the director of operations and running coach at CHAARG, an organization dedicated to igniting a passion for movement in college women.   CHAARG stands for Changing Health Attitudes + Actions to Recreate Girls.  They have chapters on 115 university campuses in the US and their mission is to free young women from the elliptical and show them that fitness can (and should!) be fun.  Sarah Clem has been an avid runner for the past 16 years and started the CHAARG Run Club in order to help more women learn to love running. She's coached over 500 athletes to complete their first 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons over the past year and is looking forward to sharing the powers of running with even more young women this fall. CONNECT, COMMENT, & COMMUNITY: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  A great FREE way to support the show! Email Coach Claire Follow Claire on Instagram Follow RunnersConnect on Instagram Join the Elite Treatment where you get first dibs on everything RTTT each month! Runners Connect Winner

The tempo run is a classic workout for runners. But  what does the word "tempo" really mean?  It can mean different things to different runners and can be done at different paces. Coach Claire Bartholic brings on Coach Dylan Belles, fellow RunnersConnect coach and 2:16 marathoner to help explore the science, benefits, and different types of tempos or threshold workouts. They will go over the three main phases of intensity of tempos: aerobic threshold, lactate threshold, and anaerobic threshold.  They clear up the confusion since these terms are often used interchangeably, so you can be the smartest one at your next group run.   CONNECT, COMMENT, & COMMUNITY: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  A great FREE way to support the show! Email Coach Claire Follow Claire on Instagram Follow RunnersConnect on Instagram Join the Elite Treatment where you get first dibs on everything RTTT each month! Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community  RunnersConnect Facebook page   GET EXPERT COACHING AT RUNNERSCONN

Imagine having the opportunity to train for one of the top marathons in the world with nearly all the advantages of an elite.  You’d have access to world-famous coaches, have top of the line training gear and tools, and thousands of dollars of free stuff.  When race day comes around, you’d be whisked away to meet your teammates in person, as prepared as humanly possible for the race of your life. Sounds amazing, right?  Katie Sloane and Ivan Alonso  won exactly that. They are two of the lucky winners of a contest held by Zwift, a massively popular multiplayer online cycling and running platform.  Ivan Alonso is a 39 year old, Texas-based husband and father of two young children. Since beginning his athletic journey, he’s lost nearly 100 pounds from both running and cycling and dropped an incredible more than 90 minutes off his very first marathon to become a sub-three hour marathoner today.   Katie Sloane is a 31 year old amateur ultra runner from England who is shifting to the roads by training for Berlin. 

Strength training for runners improves performance and prevents injuries.  But when you love to run, it can be hard to add strength training into your routine, even if you know you should.  The two main benefits of strength training are that it prevents and helps heal injuries, and it enhances performance. Done properly, strength training creates a foundation for injury-free running and allows you to keep up with increasing mileage and intensity on your runs. On the performance side, studies have shown that resistance training improves running economy and endurance muscle fibers. Research has also linked weight training to better body composition and resting metabolic rates.  Not to mention, strength training is particularly important as we get older, in a way that running alone is not.  Recent studies have proven that running does not protect against the gradual loss of lean muscle tissue and, as we lose muscle, we also lose a larger percentage of our fast-twitch muscle fibers, which is part of why we slow d

Aqua jogging, also known as deep water running, is the most running-specific alternative to land running.  By using a flotation belt which keeps you vertical in the water, you can mimic a land-based running workout, with no impact.  It can effectively maintain or even build your fitness if you're injured or if you can't handle the pounding of another day of running. Jennifer Conroyd is a marathon runner who was stuck in the deep end of the pool for six weeks before the Chicago Marathon.  She had injured her calf so badly that pool running was her only option to keep her fitness and finish the race.  Not only did she finish Chicago, but she qualified for Boston. Her success led her to found her company Fluid Running, which provides a complete system to get anyone started with deep water running.  Fluid Running offers group classes that Men’s Journal voted one of the Best Workouts in America, and they also have the only app-based and coached water running workout system in the world.  Using waterproof, bluetoot

Finding the time to get in a run, let alone a warm up can be a challenge at times.  But if you are the kind of runner that thinks a little jogging is all you need to warm up, you're going to want to listen to this. A proper warm up will help you feel better on the run, be less injury prone, and with practice, run better and faster than ever.  And if you are getting ready for a speed day or a race, a warm up is essential for performing your best. In this bonus Run to the Top Podcast, Coach Claire Bartholic talks about why you shouldn’t skip a true warm up and she explores exactly how to warm up for any kind of run or race. CONNECT, COMMENT, & COMMUNITY: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  A great FREE way to support the show! Email Coach Claire Follow Claire on Instagram Follow RunnersConnect on Instagram Join the Elite Treatment where you get first dibs on everything RTTT each month! Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community  RunnersConnect Facebook page   GET EXPERT COACHING AT RUNNERSCONNECT!

In May of 2021, two ultrarunners named David Kilgore and Margot Fleming were invited to a unique event whose only rules are there are no rules and there are no spectators.  In the spirit of Hunter S Thompson’s mind-expanding trip across the desert in the iconic book Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas, The Speed Project is a race from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.  The route is anywhere from 300 to 340 miles and is a journey just as counter culture as Thompson’s book, just without the drugs. David and Margot were each supported by their crews on this multi-day race and to make things more interesting for all of us data-lovers, they had their biometrics measured the whole time by a wearable technology device called WHOOP.  WHOOP measured their heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep quality, recovery and more. You would think that after 50 to 80 mile days of running in the desert, all biometric trends would progressively get worse as each athlete deteriorated with the effort.  But that’s not what happened. A little b

Many runners are guilty of downplaying their running.  If you've ever said, "I'm not a real runner," or have gotten down about your abilities as a runner, this is for you. We are shifting the negativity about our running on The Run To the Top in this episode and owning up to our true awesomeness!  Learn how to break out of the negative self talk and comparison trap today. *GIVEAWAY ALERT* If you agree with how awesome running is, and are ready to celebrate the fact that you are an awesome runner, I’d love to hear about it.  Follow me, @theplantedrunner and tag me on instagram with your running post using the hashtag #awesomerunner.  I’ll respond to you personally and I’ll send two winners a FREE supply of LMNT hydration powders as a thank you. CONNECT, COMMENT, & COMMUNITY: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  A great FREE way to support the show! Email Coach Claire Follow Claire on Instagram Follow RunnersConnect on Instagram Join the Elite Treatment where you get first dibs on everything RTTT each month!