Amateur
**Masters Milers**

Home of the masters milers podcast and blog

Latest Episodes:

Stephen Gnoza aka Serious Runner Sep 20, 2021

Show notes

Serious Runner on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMlxuTvpaKTpCC4mAulzeBhn8c04PYlTG

And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seriousrunner/

You can catch the latest episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts ,TuneIn and Spotify.

Olympian and Masters Champion Michelle Rohl Aug 03, 2021

Show notes

The latest guests on the show are Brock Butler and John Becker. Brock and John are Masters runners who train together and compete for the Greater Philadelphia Track Club. Even though they both tend to focus on longer distance events, they recently decided that a fun challenge for their training group would be to spend a few months focusing their training on running a fast 800m on the track and specifically to see if a few members of their training group could break 2:00 in the 800 as masters runners. This led them to create the Breaking2 challenge, which was the main topic of our conversation today. I hope you enjoy the show and make sure you check out the breaking2.run website and sign up to be a part of the group.

You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts ,TuneIn and Spotify.

Trials of Miles with Dave Alfano Jun 08, 2021

Show notes

My guest today is Dave Alfano. Dave, along with his partner Cooper Knowlton, is the founder of the Trials of Miles racing series. Last year, Dave and Cooper launched a virtual race called Beat the Heat. The idea for this event was to create a bracket like the NCAA tournament where people would match up head-to-head over a certain distance, then submit their times based on GPS data and the winners of each round would advance to the next round. It was a really fun idea and it created a lot of excitement and energy among all the participants at a time when opportunities to compete were basically non-existent. On top of coming up with a clever virtual competition, Trials of Miles also did an amazing job promoting their event online, including doing videos before each round of the series. Since that first event they have been growing like crazy. They continue to do creative virtual events, but also started to host in-person track meets where they attracted some of the top runners in the country who were looking for opportunities to run Olympic and Olympic Trials qualifying times. I’ve been really impressed with what Dave and Cooper managed to create in a relatively short period of time and by the fun and creative elements they have brought to the sport. I hope you enjoy our conversation and check out their website and Instagram feed for info about some of the cool events they have coming up in the near future.

Show Notes:

Website: www.trialsofmilesracing.com

Instagram: @trialsofmilesracing

Recent NYTimes article about Trials of Miles: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/06/sports/olympic-track-trials-qualification.html

Night at the Track July 9 at Icahn Stadium: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPd3tTiHfOo/

Tracktown USA FKT Challenge: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPqhKS0nuys/

You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts ,TuneIn and Spotify.

Breaking2 Challenge with Brock Butler & John Becker Apr 12, 2021

Show notes

Show Notes:

Website: www.breaking2.run

Instagram: Mastersbreaking2

Race prediction workout article discussed during the show: https://www.sweatelite.co/800m-5-race-indication-workouts/

Nick Symmonds’ recommended prediction workout: https://youtu.be/czGDbb5EFb4

You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts ,TuneIn and Spotify.

Nutrition for Masters Athletes with Lauren Antonucci Mar 23, 2021

Show notes

Show Notes:

Lauren Antonucci is a dietician and nutritionist with a specialty in sports nutrition. She just published a book called “High Performance Nutrition for Masters Athletes”. I read the book prior to our conversation and I highly recommend it. Her book reminded me of “Build Your Running Body” by prior podcast guest Pete Magill in the sense that it is an extremely well-researched and it’s a comprehensive reference guide that I think every masters runner should have on their bookshelf. I hope you enjoy our conversation and then go order a copy of Lauren’s book!

Where to find Lauren:

Website: www.nutritionenergy.com

Email: lauren@nutritionenergy.com

Instagram: NutritionEnergy and NutritionEnergy_fuels

Twitter and FB also = NutritionEnergy

Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/High-Performance-Nutrition-Masters-Athletes-Antonucci/dp/1492592978/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Lauren+Antonucci&qid=1610812093&sr=8-1

You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts ,TuneIn and Spotify.

Four Time Olympian Nick Willis Oct 12, 2020

Show notes

My guest today is Nick Willis. Nick is a two-time Olympic medalist from New Zealand in the 1500m and has been one of the top middle distance runners in the world for the last 15+ years. In addition to being an incredibly accomplished runner, Nick also is a student of the sport and often shares some of his insights on social media, so he’s definitely one of the pro runners worth following. In recent years, Nick developed an online running boot camp called Miler Method where he coaches runners of all ages and ability levels to prepare for a mile race. I’ve personally done the program a couple times I recommend it to anyone who wants some guidance training for a mile race. More recently, Nick started working for the running company Tracksmith and one of his projects is organizing a virtual race called “The Alumni Championships”, which is a virtual 2-mile race with prizes for both open and masters runners. Part of the proceeds from this event benefit college track & field programs that are in danger of being cut due to the financial difficulties many universities are facing in light of Covid-19. I would love it if listeners to the Masters Milers podcast would sign up for this fun event. The link to sign up is below. I hope you enjoy my conversation with soon-to-be-master Nick Willis.

Show Notes:

Follow Nick on Twitter:@nickwillis and Instagram: @willisnick

Footage of Peter Snell on Superstars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijfSeFpwT8U

You can catch the latest episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts ,TuneIn and Spotify.

Dan King: Accidental Miler Sep 11, 2020

Show notes

On August 29^th, at the South Carolina Track Fest, Dan broke the 60-64 age group world record for the mile by running 4:49.03. This bettered previous world record of 4:51.85, set by Tony McManus of New Zealand in 2012. He also broke Nolan Shaheed’s American record of 4:53.01, also from 2012. The story behind his record setting performance is a cool one. Dan has been a competitive runner since he was in high school, but has been plagued by injuries throughout much of his running career. He had some excellent results as a masters runner, particularly in cross country, but was rarely able to stay healthy for long enough to reach his true potential. I titled this episode the “Accidental Miler” because Dan always thought of himself as a longer distance runner and only ended up focusing on the mile this year due to all the changes that took place when Covid hit. We spoke about how he finally managed to get healthy, the huge changes he made at age 50 that helped his running and the circumstances and training that led to his breakthrough this year. It’s really great to see someone who has faced so much adversity in his running continue to preserve and achieve great results in his 60s. The fact that he did this during the pandemic when so many runners were forced to put everything on hold makes it even cooler. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Show Notes:

Runner’s World article about Dan’s mile WR: https://tinyurl.com/yy9qlxrs

A couple of the books mentioned: Younger Next Year: https://tinyurl.com/y4nfhkje; The China Study: https://tinyurl.com/y36bral2

Local newspaper article after Dan’s stellar run in the Brooklyn Mile: https://www.dailycamera.com/2020/06/28/michael-sandrock-kings-king-of-the-master-mile/

Article about Dan’s diet: https://www.plantbasedcooking.com/dan-king-plant-based-champion-runner/

Info on Mark Scrutton, Dan’s college teammate: https://cubuffs.com/news/2015/5/11/210081105.aspx

You can catch the latest episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts ,TuneIn and Spotify.

Allen Woodard Aug 05, 2020

Show notes

Allen Woodard

Allen Woodard is the 45-49 age group World Record holder for 400m. He was the first man over the age of 45 to run under 50 seconds for 400m. Allen’s story is a great comeback story and one of incredible perseverance. He was on a path to stardom as a 400m runner in his youth only to have his career derailed by injury. But he never lost his love for the sport or his desire to train and compete. In his 40s, he finally figured out a way to treat the imbalances that caused the injuries and pain earlier in his career and he took the masters sprint world by storm. I always learn something from the guests I have on the podcast and Allen definitely shared some great ideas that I plan to incorporate into my own training in the future.

Show Notes

Players Tribune short film about Allen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYmJr4uRkGg

Masters Track article when Allen set the current 45-49 world record for 400m http://masterstrack.com/m45-allen-woodard-lowers-400-wr-astounding-49-09/

2016 Michael Johnson Classic race where Allen ran 49.12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=ZH8ZJVy7uhc&feature=emb_logo

You can catch the latest episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts ,TuneIn and Spotify.

Sid Howard Jul 13, 2020

Show notes

My guest for the latest episode of the Masters Milers podcast is Sid Howard. I’m honored to have Sid as a teammate of mine on Central Park Track Club. Sid is an elder statesman in the masters running community and has been a mentor to many great masters runners over the years. Over the course of his 40+ year masters running career Sid won 50 national championships, set five world records and won eight world championship gold medals. Sid was the first man over age 60 to break 2:15 for the indoor 800m, and later that same year, he set the American Record in the outdoor 800m running 2:12, a record that stood for many years until Nolan Shaheed finally broke it. He was inducted into the USATF Masters Hall of Fame in 2005.

Show Notes:

Profile of Sid ahead of a recent Fifth Avenue Mile: https://www.lifetimerunning.net/2018/09/profile-sid-howard-has-finished-35.html

Podium Runner article where Sid is quoted: https://www.podiumrunner.com/training/8-secrets-of-lifetime-runners/

You can catch the latest episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts ,TuneIn and Spotify.

MCDC Meet Director Dave Milner May 22, 2020

Show notes

Dave Milner is the meet director for the Music City Distance Carnival (MCDC), one of the premier track & field events in the US. In addition to always assembling a strong elite field, Dave has been a huge supporter of masters runners since he started the meet. There have been a number of notable masters performances at MCDC over the years and we talked about some of these during our conversation. Dave is also an accomplished coach who has worked with quite a few top open and masters runners over the years. He was coached and mentored by the great Jack Daniels, so he knows what he’s talking about. Dave has also been known to jump into the occasional race as a masters runner himself. In fact, Dave is entering the 50-54 age group soon and was looking forward to competing at the World Masters Athletics Champs in Toronto this summer, but like the rest of us, those plans have now gone out the window. MCDC was originally scheduled to take place at the end of May. Dave is currently working with USATF and others to see if it’s possible to still hold the meet in August. Given his position in the sport, Dave has some great insights about ways to improve coverage of track and field at every level from HS to professional to masters and I really enjoyed discussing things with him.

Show Notes:

Music City Distance Carnival website: https://runmcdc.org/

Article about Dave coaching elite 800m runner Quamel Prince: http://citiusmag.com/quamel-prince-underdog-story/

Video of Tony Whiteman becoming only the second masters runner to break 4-minutes in the mile (and the first to do it outdoors) at MCDC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouaOaAkzRJo

You can catch the latest episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts ,TuneIn and Spotify.