Final Surge Podcast

Welcome to episode 165 of the Final Surge Podcast. Today we welcome back to the show Coach Jay Johnson. Jay has a new book coming out called Consistency is Key. In the book, Jay gives 15 key points on becoming a better runner. The book is easy to get through yet has a wealth of good take-a-ways. 1:02 Great job with the new book Consistency is Key 3:17 The book is great for coaches but very beneficial to the athlete too to reinforce what we say 5:23 I love how you have laid out chapter one and taking two freshmen characters and how they 'transcend yourself' can you talk about that phrase? 8:39 You cannot change genetics, but you can change your capacity for work 12:13 No matter how hard you work and how smart you train there will be a plateau, how do you tell the kids its ok that this happens? 14:53 You talk a lot about the aerobic engine, talk about the importance of consistency for that 20:00 Lydiard is not as well understood when it comes to running fast, it has always been important 22:34

Welcome to Episode 164 of the Final Surge Podcast where we welcome Coach Nobby of the "Lydiard Training & Academy" powered by "Five Circles".  Arthur Lydiard is a legendary coach and Nobby got to know Lydiard very well while he was still alive. We talk about the training system and he shares some personal stories about him. :44 How did you get your start in running and meet Arthur Lydiard 5:52 What is it about Arthur Lydiard that makes him such a legend? 7:06 You spent a year living with him, what was it like being around him all the time? 13:06 At that stage in his life did he spend a lot of time in education and staying up to date with the latest in training? 17:07 Lydiard you were peaking for that one big race a year, does it work as effectively when you have many races a year and not just the one big one? 20:35 What does a 3-month conditioning level look like? 22:19 Easy running is all relative, what does that look like? 25:05 Mark Allen talked about using 180-age, but t

Welcome to episode 163 of the Final Surge Podcast. Today we welcome Marc Waxman of 113 Enterprises to talk about Chi Running and specifically Chi for high school kids. Chi has an upcoming virtual clinic designed for high school athletes to get the most out of their program. :58 When did you get involved in running? 3:22 What was the most you had run before you decided to train for that marathon? 5:05 How did the transition to Chi happen? 7:32 How did that lead you to become a coach? 9:16 In what way has Chi had a positive impact? 10:57 What are some of the basic concepts that help prevent injuries? 13:29 You mentioned you used Final Surge and Hanson, how did you get involved with Hanson training? 15:52 Because of the times we are going through right now what are you guys working on to combat that lack of groups? 18:28 So what is the background of the virtual classes for student-athletes? 22:52 Are these plans predesigned training plans? 25:43 Is there anything specific you do with stude

Welcome to episode 162 of the Final Surge Podcast. Every spring the track world watches as high school boys chase the elusive sub-4 minute mile club. This year with the quarantine lockdown that chase looked more elusive than ever. In late May a group of elite runners got together for the Quarantine Clasico. In that race Leo Daschbach unleashed a 56 second last 400 to become the 11th American high school boy to break 4. We talk to Leo's coach Dave Montgomery about his career and that race. 1:10 How did you get started in running? 3:36 Leo ran a 4:44 1600 which is good for a Freshman, but not what points to a sub-4 miler someday. 5:54 With his interactions with other kids Leo seems like such a good kid 6:42 Did he run before he was a Freshman or just soccer? 8:14 Was it the Sophmore year that you really saw the potential? 11:25 Some kids are great at the 800 and some are great at the 5k, not many have the range he does. Is that something you try to develop? 12:30 He had a great cross country seas

Welcome to episode 161 of the Final Surge Podcast. This week we do something different. We talk to 5 successful high school coaches from 5 different parts of the country about this summer of uncertainty. We get their advice on how they are dealing with the current environment and not knowing what the upcoming season will be like. First I talked to Joan and Marc Hunter of Loudon Valley in Virginia. Next I had on Jonathan Dalby of Mountain Vista in Colorado. Following Dalby I talked to Doug Petrick of USC in Pennsylvania. Then Doug Soles of Great Oak in California joins us before we end with Jonathan O'Malley of Sandburg High in Illinois. :57 Joan and Marc Hunter of 13:45 Jonathan Dalby 24:16 Doug Petrick 38:12 Doug Soles 48:50 Jonathan O'Malley

Welcome to Episode 160 of the Final Surge Podcast. Today we welcome Chris Twiggs to the podcast. Chris is a long time Final Surge user and an even longer coach with Jeff Galloway. Some know Galloway for from his spot on the US Olympics Team, some know him for his writing in Sports Illustrated, but most know him as the Run-Walk-Run Coach. We talk to Christ about the program, how it can help keep you healthy and running and how fast did Galloway actually do a marathon using this method. Also head over to FinalSurgeRacing.com to see the awesome virtual racing series Galloway has going. 1:14 How did you get started in running? 4:20 What about your first marathon training plan didn't work for you? 7:40 Who is Jeff Galloway? 10:10 What is run-walk-run and how did Jeff come up with the concept? 12:55 When did Jeff run a 2:16 Marathon using Run/Walk? 14:14 Is there research that shows how the walk breaks are effective? 15:44 What is the magic mile and how does that work? 18:25 Wouldn't the aerobic de

In honor of Ameican superstar distance runner Dathan Ritzenhein retiring today, we are releasing the last podcast we did with him as our best of show. This interview with him was from the fall of 2019 when we talked about American marathon racing, his running career, and his coaching. 

Welcome to episode 159 of the Final Surge Podcast where today we welcome coach and performance lab expert Benjamin Tilus to the show. Ben is the host of the XLR8 Podcast and does work with the XLR8 Performance Lab in Iowa. We talk about how you can take your threshold and VO2 Max numbers and make them work for you. :55 How did you get started in running? 4:10 Where did you run in college? 5:30 How did you get into coaching? 11:11 You are still coaching high school? 12:20 What is XLR8 Performance Lab? 16:54 Does that $60 get you just the VO2 test? 19:07 Some people are getting these results from their watch, how accurate are those? 21:14 Do you bring your team in or do you just offer it as a service? 22:18 What are you doing with the information you are getting to benefit the athlete? 26:39 You give them paces for training? 29:06 Is one of the online running pace calculators better than others? 34:05 What are you doing now with your athletes during the shutdown? 39:16 Are your tracks o

Welcome to episode 158 of the Final Surge Podcast. We welcome back the most downloaded guest of all time, Coach Tom 'Tinman' Schwartz. We catch up on a few things including how his team is dealing with the current lockdown situation, what teams should be doing now to get ready for the fall season and we discuss the new training plans he has released which you can find on Final Surge. 1:00 How are you holding up with the Covid-19 epidemic? 2:35 You used to coach from a distance for years so that must help? 2:55 Everyone healthy? 4:04 We had a group of high school coaches talking about the long-distance until cross, so how do you plan your time? 6:21 Most programs will take 10-14 days, would you recommend they do it now? 13:53 You just recently released a couple of training plans on Final Surge 24:04 Your buildup plan you are doing workouts week one 30:06 So you a fan of speed ladders? 31:59 The other training plan is a longer non-high school buildup 33:51 With the summer training plan coul

Welcome to episode 157 of the Final Surge Podcast. Today we welcome Amanda Brooks. Amanda is a coach, but you probably know here from her running blog Run To The Finish. Amanda is one of the most successful running bloggers of all time. We talk to her about her blog, about coaching athletes, how she is coping with the stay at home orders and we discuss her new book. :59 How are you holding up during these stay at home orders? 1:28 How did you get started in running? 2:40 Did that conversation about being awkward in running, did that not lead you to track or anything? 3:19 Did you have the flexibility issues when you ran your first half marathon? 4:14 What happened after your first race? 5:16 The next year how did you come up with a training plan? 6:06 How did the blog develop? 7:14 2007 Everyone was getting a blog, was Run To The Finish the first blog? 7:47 When did you start getting involved in coaching? 8:44 You went 5 years before you made the blog your career, how did you stay with it t

Welcome to episode 156 of the Final Surge Podcast. Today we welcome back Tinman Elite runner Drew Hunter. Drew is coming off the first real injury of his running career. We talk about the setback and what that was like for him. We then get into the current Covid-19 situation and how that has impacted him and his team. Drew has some words of encouragement for everyone out there listening and some advice for those high school kids who lost their track season. :54 How are you feeling after your first real injury? 3:28 Didn't the injury come in the last 200 meters of the race? 5:40 What was the hardest part of dealing with your first injury, was it physical or mental? 7:45 You mentioned you had a race on the calendar, what was that race? 8:47 How are you and your teammates dealing with not knowing when that next race is going to come? 11:56 You mentioned you looked at why you got injured, is there anything that you are doing differently now? 14:47 Have you talked about how you don't know when the next race is so

Welcome to episode 155 of the Final Surge Podcast. Today we welcome high school coach Doug Petrick to the podcast. Doug has built one of the most successful teams in western Pennsylvania. Doug does a presentation called the 5 principles that improved our distance program. We talk about those five things and how he is dealing with current Corona Virus disruption.    5 Principles That Improved Our Distance Program Minutes over miles Speed year around (define speed work) Running by feel athletic movements Communicating and learning Final Surge round, 5 questions in under a minute Favorite endurance/running book? -  Running with Buffalos Current trainers you are wearing? -   Brooks Ghost Favorite race? – 5k Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? – Peanut butter and Jelly Your favorite workout – Fartlek Resources Doug on Twitter Clinic On Twitter

Welcome to episode 154 of the Final Surge Podcast where today we welcome Olympian Aliphine Tuliamuk. Aliphine was a surprise to some, but she ran the Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta fully expecting to make the team. We talked to her about her amazing story of growing up in Kenya, moving to the United States and the stress fracture that set her back last summer. Also make sure you check out the story of her and her NAZ Elite teammates from her coaches perspective at Blog.FinalSurge.com  1:30 How did you get started in distance running? 2:27 There is that legend that Kenyan kids all run to school 2 miles each way, so that was true for you? 3:01 How old were you when you started this? 3:30 When did you start competing in school against others? 4:09 In 3rd grade when you started competing did you realize you had a natural talent? 5:01 We know if you watch TV we see many Kenyans, so we may think all Kenyans run, how is it really? 6:34 What age did you come to America? 8:40 When you first came over how was the

Welcome to episode 153 of the Final Surge Podcast. Last week we had on a couple of experts to talk about the US Olympics Marathon Trial. On the men's side, despite a strong Chicago Marathon, Jake Riley did not get much attention. Many casual marathon observers did not even know the name. Jake had to take three years off racing after the 2016 trials because of injury. This unsponsored athlete made a comeback that had the running world talking and took home a second-place and a place on the Olympic team. Today, meet Jake Riley. 1:44 When did you start running? 6:45 Talk about your very successful career at Stanford 7:40 Having someone in front of you helps push you right? 9:06 Did you know when you were at Standford that running was something you wanted to do post-college? 10:37 You ran for Hanson out of college? 11:04 You ended up getting a long injury, when did that happen? 13:23 Was there any doubt during those three years that your running career may be done? 15:53 When did you move to Boulder and start wor

Welcome to episode 152 of the Final Surge Podcast. This episode is all about the upcoming USA Men and Women's Olympic Marathon Trials. In the first half of this episode, I have Mario Fraioli joining me to talk about the men's race. Then in the second half, Erin Strout of Women's Running joins me to talk about the women's race. We talk about some of the favorites, what race strategies to expect and more.  Mario Fraioli Joins us to talk about the men's race, the course and what to expect Mario Coaching Website  Morning Shakeout Mario on Twitter Mario on Instagram Erin Strout joins us to talk about the women's race and go over the favorites Erin on Twitter Erin on Instagram Women's Running Bio of all the athletes participating

Welcome to episode 151 of the Final Surge Podcast. We welcome in Hollie Sick who runs the popular blog Fueled By Lolz. Hollie is a collegiate swimmer turned runner and has worked in a running store for the last six years. We talk about several topics including the new World Athletic ruling on race shoes. Don't forget Final Surge is a great coaching platform and always free for athletes. 1:27 How you got involved in athletics and how that lead to running? 5:14 What was running at a D3 college like? 8:29 You went from doing 4 hours a day swimming to 90 minutes of running practice, what were some of the differences between the swim and run training? 9:36 How did that college running career go? 11:10 Did you jump in doing what others were doing or did your coach bring you along slowly? 12:14 Didn't you used to run in Newton's? 13:04 What was the transition like from college to post-collegiate running? 14:48 With the swimming and running background, what about triathlon? 16:00 How long have you been working at a s

Episode 150: Welcome to episode 150 of the Final Surge Podcast where coach and podcast host Jonathan Marcus joins us to talk about speed. In episode 145 we had Tony Holler on to talk about Feed The Cats and developing speed. Today Jonathan Marcus joins us to discuss how exactly to implement that for endurance athletes.    :57 What is new with Jonathan Marcus in the last two years? 3:58 Did you just take on too much? 7:00 You put out a tweet last August that caused a lot of uproar.. It is impossible to teach an athlete to ‘run fast when tired.’ The very nature of being in a state of fatigue negates the ability to run fast — the skill of speed is only learned when fresh. Therefore, doing a tempo run followed by ‘fast’ 200s is, in fact, a useless exercise.    9:00 If you take a body and put it through stress then allow it proper recovery time doesn't it make the body stronger? 12:04 I guess it depends on some factors like the workload, doesn't it depend on the extent of the tempo run? 17:03 We are talking about

Welcome to episode 149 of the Final Surge Podcast. In this episode, we welcome Marc Bloom to the show to talk about his new book Amazing Racers. Anyone who follows high school running knows that Fayetville Manlius is an amazing story. Their girl's team won the Nike National XC Championship 11 of the first 12 years they were there, coming in second the one year they didn't win. And the boys team, while only winning one national championship, has been one of the 22 team to qualify for the national championship 13 of the 15 years the race has been around. We talk to Mark about how a small school in upstate New York has been able to be so dominant for so long. If you are a coach or just a running fan you are going to enjoy this episode.    1:34 How did you become so interested in high school cross country? 3:40 You have been around the high school distance scene for decades, how has it changed? 5:54 What about the coaching and training side, how has that changed? 7:28 What are some of the common factors for the t

Episode 148: We welcome back 2:16 marathoner turned coach Steve Palladino. Steve coaches using the Stryd Power Meter. We talk to Steve about what power is when it comes to running, how it differs from other training guides and what has changed in the power world in the last two years.  1:37 What is running with power? 2:44 There have been some critics of power, what is it in power we measure that makes it so effective? 7:04 Is power related to perceived effort? 9:08 There are a lot of people who run with heart rate and some do off time charts based on race pace, how does power differ in training compared to those two models? 13:42 You have been using power for 4 years now, cyclist all use power meters, will this catch on like it did in cycling? 17:28 Stryd is on their 3rd generation, Polar and Garmin are putting more into power, how has power changed in the last two years since we talked to you? 19:58 If someone got a new Stryd Power Meter, what is the first thing they need to do? 23:50 We talk about some of

Episode 146: Professional triathlete Morgan Pearson was one of the founding members of the Tinman Elite club and joins us to talk about the founding of the group. We also discuss his transition to becoming a professional triathlete and his win at this past week's Club Cross Championship. 1:02 Morgan's background and how it lead to a later change to triathlon 2:50 What were your times before you made the jump? 3:49 When you made the big jump is that when you realized you may want to run at college? 5:14 Did you compete in swimming in high school too? 5:50 When did you make the college commitment? 6:08 Why did you make that transfer to Colorado? 6:57 Did you realize when you made the transition to Colorado did you realize you wanted to pursue this after school? 8:26 You were one of the founding members of Tinman Elite right? 8:51 What made you decide to join Tom? 12:00 When you started Tinman with Drew early on, did you ever even dream it could become what it has become? 13:58 You have run under Wetmore and Tom