152. Olympian Carrie Tollefson on Why Runners Are So Awesome
Release Date: 08/13/2020
10x National Champ Sara Hall on the Secrets to Running Longevity for Decades
The Strength Running Podcast
Sara Hall has been competing at the highest level for nearly 30 years. She was the 2000 high school national cross country champion before earning 7-time All-America honors at Stanford University. Not only has she won 10 US National Championship titles, but she’s the only American to win national titles in both the mile and the marathon. Her incredible range is also demonstrated by her gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games in the steeplechase, while also being the second fastest American female marathoner with a time of 2:20:32. She was previously on the podcast when I interviewed 5...
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How ‘Coach of the Year’ Sean Brosnan Revolutionized Newbury Park’s Cross Country Team
The Strength Running Podcast
Coach turned around a struggling Newbury Park high school cross country team that hadn't qualified for a State Championship in 25 years. Soon, they had won three consecutive National Championships. How did he do it? Sean shares the psychological and physical strategies he used to instill belief, develop fitness, and build the bond between teammates. His all-in, often unorthodox approach, raised eyebrows but undeniably got incredible results. Himself a distinguished endurance runner, Sean was a collegiate All-American in both cross country and track and holds a personal best of 3:44.33 in the...
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The 7 Best Recovery Strategies (Learned From 15 Years of Coaching)
The Strength Running Podcast
What are the most effective recovery strategies for runners? In this episode, Jason distills his 15+ years of coaching and 27 years of running experience into the most important lessons about the recovery process. Hindsight is 20/20! For more on recovery, download our free and you'll hear advice from 9 elite athletes including Dathan Ritzenhein, Amelia Boone, and more. Thank you for listening and subscribing to the Strength Running Podcast! Thank you Previnex! After resisting most supplements for the better part of my life, I’m cautiously changing my tune. I’m now a Masters runner and in...
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How to Improve the 3 Running Thresholds (Z2, LT, and VO2 Max), with Phil Batterson, PhD
The Strength Running Podcast
Phil Batterson is a competitive runner, former running coach, and the founder of Critical Oxygen. Phil has a PhD in human bioenergetics and a love for all sorts of endurance sports, from rowing to track and field and ultras. His goal with Critical Oxygen is to teach athletes and coaches how to optimize their physiology to maximize endurance performance. This episode is important and is a repost of episode 330 from 2023. Phil breaks down some of the complex physiology behind the three different thresholds to make it more accessible, as well as providing practical ways to apply it in training....
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How to Create a Marathon Breakthrough: A Coaching Call on Massive Marathon Improvement
The Strength Running Podcast
Dan joins us on the podcast today: a runner who recently improved his marathon from 3:38 to 3:08. In this conversation, Dan shares what he did to improve by a massive 30 minutes over 26.2 miles. But what if he wants to keep going? What if Dan wants to run another 30 minutes faster and start flirting with a sub-2:40 marathon? We'll cover what training changes need to happen to break 3 and run a much more competitive marathon finish time. Thanks to Dan for coming on the podcast and sharing his story! More resources: Thank you Previnex! After resisting most supplements for the...
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The Path to Going Pro: How Annie Rodenfels Went from D3 to Elite Runner
The Strength Running Podcast
is a 7x All-American in the steeplechase and 5,000m, national champion, Drake Relays 3,000m steeplechase champion, and 2x Olympic Trials qualifier. Annie is also one of the few pro runners to come from a Division III school. In this episode, we discuss her path to going pro: The evolution of her career from college to now Her experience with the new pro team Meridia How she trains today (mileage levels, long runs, etc.) Her approach to double workouts in one day How she manages energy and caffeine for 8:30pm races A lot more! You can support her team Meridia by registering for their virtual...
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Inside the Science of Wearable Tech with Dr. Peter Tierney (Hardware, Metrics, & More)
The Strength Running Podcast
When you get a new smart watch, heart rate monitor, or other type of wearable, do you know how it will help your running, specifically? is a health and performance researcher, consultant, and coach who’s worked with many professional sports organizations across Europe. He joins us today to discuss the science behind wearable tech. We discuss: The wearable stack that Peter recommends Most important metrics to focus on Recommended hardware (specific products) What you can safely ignore Why the actual metric may not be as important as the trend over time Peter first joined the...
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Heat Training Q&A: How to Structure & Benefit from Heat Training
The Strength Running Podcast
Runners are heat training more often with saunas, hot tubs, and hot weather runs. How much do we need to realize the full benefits of heat training? What are the best options and how do we structure it into our training? In this episode, coach Jason Fitzgerald shares how to think about heat training from duration to frequency to type of heat training. Resources: article Thanks Boulderthon! is a top 10 race in America according to USA Today and one of the best fall marathons according to Runner’s World. With a 5k, 10k, half marathon, and marathon, Boulderthon offers an...
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Dr. Phil Skiba on Breaking2, How to Build Critical Power, and the Secret to a Fast Kick
The Strength Running Podcast
Dr. Philip Skiba is a physician, performance consultant for the Breaking 2 project, coach to dozens of world class athletes, and author of . Phil is a world-class expert on running physiology and how to race faster. His groundbreaking research into Critical Power, Critical Speed, and the "W Prime" model of fatigue help the best runners in the world plan their training. And the best coaches seek him out for guidance. In this conversation, we discuss: How to determine and improve your "critical speed" His work with Avelo (get your pair of !) The under-discussed "battery" of speed...
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American Record Holder Keira D’Amato on Setbacks, Being a “Bulldozer,” & Fun Running
The Strength Running Podcast
holds the American record in the 10-mile and is the former half-marathon and marathon American record holder. Her new book, , is now available for preorder. She was a 4x All-American at American University in both Cross Country and Track but took about a decade off from running seriously in her 20's and 30's. Keira joined us on the to discuss her comeback to running. Now, she's back to discuss what that comeback looked like and how she made it happen. Keira and Jason discuss: Her mental relationship with running How it felt not being able to jog to the end of her street...
info_outlineOur guest is none other than 2004 Olympian Carrie Tollefson.
You might recognize her as a 3-time national champion, or the 1998 NCAA Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, or maybe you’ve just seen her on TV a lot. She’s been a broadcaster for years, having commentated on races for ESPN, NBC, ABC, and USATF TV. Her commentary has appeared in numerous world class races from the Boston Marathon to Footlocker Nationals, to the Tokyo Marathon.
In our conversation, you'll hear about her many accomplishments in the sport. But beyond those, she's a very engaged member of the running community and an active mom of 3 kids.
We discuss what us recreational runners can learn from the pros and her advice to new runners on how they can become more involved in the running community. She also shares her experience about the advantages of long and short runs, depending on where you are at in your running career.
Show Links & Resources:
- Carrie's social: Instagram and Twitter
- Learn more on her website
- Join the conversation on Instagram
- Become a member of the Strength Running community
Thank You PATH Projects!
PATH Projects continues to be a great supporter of this podcast! I'm grateful for their partnership and want to share more about their products that I've been loving because they so durable and comfortable.
PATH Projects is an online-only retailer of high-quality running gear and apparel. That means there is no retail markup, making their products quite affordable.
In particular, I’ve just started wearing their 3” Sykes shorts and they’re a little different from the 5” Sykes shorts (you can see those in action here). The material is thinner and lighter, which is perfect in a performance short, and they’re obviously shorter. I’m not sure if my wife thinks they’re too scandalous or loves them, but I’m wearing them constantly.
PATH uses new technical fabrics, like the Japanese fiber called Toray Primeflex, to create award-winning apparel for endurance athletes. In fact, their Brim shorts and Tahoe base liner won Runner’s World’s 2018 Gear of the Year award. And the Pyrinees hoodie was named one of the best six sweatshirts for running in the cold by Gear Patrol.
You know you'll be wearing the best when you select PATH Projects!