The Running 'n Sh*t Podcast

Thats a wrap! For the Season 2 finale, we think back over the past interviews we've been fortunate to host, and discuss some major trends as well as unique perspectives that we learned from these talks with high level athletes and coaches. We identify what we believe are major keys to success that we look forward to adopting to our own training, competitions, and ultimately, our lives in the upcoming year!

Ryan Jackson is a Canadian Cross-Country Skier, training and racing all over the world. Coming from a competitive sport background outside of running, he offers a very unique perspective on the elite athlete life. He shares his valuable experiences moving to Norway to learn from the World's best, going from peak fitness to spending months in a wheelchair and on crutches, learning who you are outside of sport, and betting on yourself to aim for a spot in the 2022 Olympic Games. 

UTTC middle-distance and cross-country coach Terry Radchenko joins us on the podcast today. Over the past 2 decades of his career, Terry has coached numerous athletes to national teams, pro teams, and international competitions including the Olympic Games. He has helped his athletes achieve many individual and team OFSAA, OUA, USPORT, and National medals. During our discussion, we cover how growth occurs over a coaching career, coaching at the development versus the elite level, and of course workouts on workouts on workouts!

Cross training is an essential component for a long and healthy competitive season, as well as a helpful tool for dealing with injury. In today's episode, we discuss how cross training early in the season can help develop well-rounded fitness, as well as maintain motivation and energy and stave off burnout during the competitive season. We also discuss how to get the most out of cross training so that accumulated fitness will transfer well to benefit race performance.

A great follow-up to last week's episode featuring Gabriela Debues-Stafford, this week we are honoured to interview her sister Lucia Stafford! Lucia is Canada's top up-and-coming female  Middle-Distance phenom, with numerous OUA and USPORT victories. Earlier this year she held the World Lead in the 1500m indoors. Check out our awesome discussion with Lucia on her training, how she faces competing, and believe it or not, some great baking tips.

To be able to sustain participation in sport in the long run, and continue to see improvements season after season, time off from training and competition is absolutely essential. This episode discusses the importance of taking breaks from the sport in between seasons and how it will facilitate long-term success, and a successful way to structure time off.  

Joined by Gabriela and her husband Rowan, we are honoured to share a long conversation with one of Canada's top runners, and one of the fastest middle-distance runners in the world. A Nike-sponsored, Bowerman TC athlete, Gabriela holding numerous Canadian Records in the 1500m, mile, and 5000m, and placed 6th internationally in what as known as one of the fastest women's races in history. Gabriela shares her experiences of training and racing from a varsity athlete growing into a professional runner.

Meditation is growing in North America, with an increasing number of athletes implementing a daily meditation practice to improve their daily training and performance. Meditation-enthusiast and University of McGill Masters student and researcher, Austin Cooper, joins us to discuss the benefits of a daily meditation practice, how it can impact athletics, and how to get started.

Today's episode features a guest interview with Ethan Davenport, a teacher by day and a competitive track and field athlete and coach by night. Ethan has trained and competed as a Varsity Blue, earning a top 5 finish at Outdoor Canadian Nationals. Sporting personal bests of 3:46 in the 1500m and 1:50 in the 800m, Ethan is also an excellent coach with the UTTC. Listen as we discuss training, life after sport, and the challenges of being a young coach.

Following a workout, there are certain practices that can be implemented to jumpstart the recovery process and maximize the positive adaptations facilitated by the stress of the workout. By implementing this post-workout routine, you can enhance your ability to recovery in between sessions (especially for double-days) and ultimately maximize your gains!

Last episode discussed the ideal mindset for initially considering our next goals. And frameworks like "SMART Goals" are great for eliciting the details of our goals, but the real labour is in the days, weeks, and months of consistent work toward these goals! Real, effective change can be extremely difficult, and if we want our efforts to extend beyond the initiation of a plan, long enough to establish real lasting change, we need Behavioural Change Techniques.

Happy 2021! And welcome back to the show. With the new year comes new goals, and so we are launching the second half of Season 2 by discussing the mindset of goal setting. Mostly touching on personal and practical experience working as and with athletes, we discuss different characteristics and states that are conducive to creating effective goals for the upcoming training block, season, or year.  

For this episode we are honoured to be joined virtually by the All-Canadian mid-distance runner Corey Bellemore. Corey is the world record holder in the beer mile and a sub-4 minute miler. We discuss all things training, mentality, and beer!  

Plyometrics are an extremely valuable method of training that are seldom used correctly. If you are an athlete looking for optimal performance, properly programmed plyometrics and power-development exercises are crucial for running, cycling, throwing... We will cover why these exercises are important, how to progress them, and where they fit into a training plan.  

Q&A Monday aims to answer questions that you, the listener, has messaged in to us. This week we discuss key sessions you want to prioritize in the final weeks leading up to a race or time time trial, as well as workouts and qualities to focus on during winter or base training. If you have any questions you would like to hear us answer, message us!

Following the previous 2 week's topics on aerobic, anaerobic, and speed workouts, this week's episode discusses a framework for building effective workout sessions. The framework identifies key components to an effective warm-up, workout, and cool-down,  honing your efforts with purpose. This will help good workouts occur more consistently, ultimately leading to better performance.

During Q&A Monday, we aim to answer questions that you, the listener, has messaged in to us! Today we provide answers to questions about strides, when to add them into workouts and why; starting your run running uphill vs. downhill; adding mobility and activation drills throughout a run; and running body-types. If you have any questions about running that you'd like to hear answered next week, message us!  

A follow up to last week's episode on aerobic workouts for endurance athletes, this week we discuss higher-intensity workouts for developing speed and anaerobic capacity. These qualities are essential for all racers, and by defining the goal of the workout, we can build the parameters (reps, sets, rest, pace) accordingly to achieve the session's goal. We also discuss how to program these workouts across a season, for optimal race performance.

Today we are lucky enough to sit down with All-Canadian Middle Distance Runner Sacha Smart, multiple top-3 finisher at OUAs, CIS, and Canadian Nationals. As one of the top collegiate runners in Canada, we pick his brain about how his running career first began, some of his best running and racing memories, his most notable workouts run, and his mentality towards sport, exercise, and life.

Often times we hear coaches or online programs throw around terms without fully understanding what they mean. Our goal with this episode is to break down exactly what tempo, threshold, critical velocity, and VO2 max workouts entail. By understanding these workouts, we can better plan our weekly, monthly, and seasonal training.

Q&A Monday answers questions that you, the listener, has messaged in. Today we talk about factors to run effective sprint workouts in the cold weather. We discuss different footwear options for winter running, as well as our favourite routes for winter running here in Toronto. And we wrap up by discussing the differences between tempo and threshold workouts. If you have any running, training, or performance related questions you can message us and we will answer next Q&A Monday!

We launch our brand new Season 2 of the show by sharing our most funny and embarrassing racing stories throughout our sporting careers. Racing experience is essential for top performance, and there are no shortcuts! We need these experiences to be able to learn and improve. We also need to be able to laugh and not take ourselves too seriously, and enjoy athletics! We also discuss how the podcast received its name . . .

Stress is an essential part of training, where workouts tax the body in order to elicit specific adaptations. Stress can also come from other aspects of our lives (school, work, relationships) but manifest in the body similar to a hard workout. Global stress needs to be considered in conjunction with training stress to ensure the body does not become overloaded, and put us at risk for injury or burnout. Practicing stress management techniques can help us mitigate burnout and injury.

Our Q&A Monday answers questions you, the listener, has messaged in. And today our discussion focuses on things to consider when planning double-days (two workouts in one day), making progress in both strength and running simultaneously, and looking into vitamins and supplements for training. Send us your questions and we will aim to answer them for next Monday's episode!

We've all heard the phrase "quality over quantity," and this podcast breaks down exactly how that pertains to running. We discuss how quality can improve running mechanics and efficiency, while minimizing the risk of injury. Quality is also important for how a workout is designed and completed, with the focus to achieve paces and speeds specific to the goal of the workout. 

Answering questions you messaged in, this Q&A Monday focuses on the importance of routines and consistency for running and performance. We also address why we include "cool-down" in these habits. We talk about how running intensity affects fat-loss, and the similarities and differences between jump-rope skipping and running. Feel free to message us questions that you'd like to here the answers to next Monday!

For this week's topic thursday we discuss a step-by-step process to overcome chronic injuries related to running, and return to the sport better than before. We talk about how to implement and progress frequency, volume, and intensity, as well as explore ways to include rehab exercises, mobility, muscle strengthening, and running drills.

You asked, we listened. Here are our responses to questions we had messaged in to us. We answer questions about us and the club, beginning with how Blue Devils Athletic Club began, as well as the biggest learning curves we as coaches have experienced. We follow up with responses to simple strength workouts on a time crunch, and different types of "stretching" and when they are beneficial. Feel free to DM us @bluedevilsac with your questions and we'll answer next Monday!

A great follow up from last week's talk on polarized and pyramidal training, this week we discuss overtraining. There are common signs that can help us identify if we are doing too much in our weekly training, and we discuss how these effects manifest in the different systems of the body, including the CNS, ANS, endocrine system, and the mind.

For this week we answer questions regarding the differences between track, road, cross country, and trail running. We talk about helpful ways to transition from the gym to running for primary mode of exercise as gym closures have been prevalent with COVID restrictions. We also address strategies for including running, and any physical activity, into a busy life. And we finish off with the effects of caffeine on running.

An introduction to polarized and pyramidal training, we discuss optimal ways to plan your weekly workouts and how to distribute intensity throughout your training. Properly scheduling your workouts and their intensity will allow you to see more progress with your training, and ultimately faster performances.

This week we focus on the most common question we receive. This question generally has many forms, including "how can I enjoy running," "how can I feel better running," and "how can I make running not suck." Essentially this is the best episode to listen to for new runners looking for guidance on how to begin their journey! Our answer is multi-faceted. We discuss what quality means, training running as the skill that it is and improving our technical proficiency. We talk about proper warm-up and preparation so we can feel better running. And we mention progression and goals throughout the week to facilitate sustainable progress with running. 

Many times we see athletes run great workouts and build phenomenal fitness throughout a season, but still fall short of a Personal Best on race day. This is because athletes commonly miss the finals steps of an effective taper; staying sharp, mitigating fatigue, and building consistent habits so there are no surprises on race day. We discuss the key details of the 2-week period leading up to a race or a time trial, including workouts, nutrition, footwear, and clothing for optimal performance on race day.

Q&A Monday, we aim to answer questions that you, the runners, have messaged in to us! This week we cover the topics of how running volume is related to age, how running volume is related to performance, clarifying the term "recovery weights," the best recovery tips for athletes, and core workouts for runners. If you have any questions about running and performance, send us your questions and we will air the answers next Q&A Monday!

Further exploring the topic of strength training for endurance athletes, we discuss how to implement strength training into a weekly program, as well as progress sessions throughout the season. The discussion covers fundamental movement patterns to include in each session, as well as progressing exercises and set-rep schemes throughout the season. This includes a movement focus, strength focus, and speed and power focus.

As a  resource for runners, this episode we are answering questions that you have messaged in. Today we discuss answers to questions regarding what to eat before runs, changing running shoes, preparing to run during the winter, breaking through endurance plateaus, and strength training benefiting hormone profiles of both males and females. If you have any questions about running and performance, send them to us and we will air the answers next Monday!

Discussing the benefits of strength training for endurance athletes, part 1 dispels common myths endurance athletes believe about strength training. These myths include claims such as "endurance athletes do not need to be strong," "weightlifting increases muscle mass and slows distance runners down," and "high reps and low loads is what endurance runners need because it is similar to their events."