the morning shakeout podcast

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Episode 171 | Ask Mario Anything #7 Aug 10, 2021

Show notes

“A lot of athletes—especially when things are going really well—the last thing they want to do is take a break, even if their goal race is in the rearview. Trust me on this: You want to take your breaks as seriously as your training. It’s much better to take a planned break and be a little grumpy about it at the beginning than be forced to take a break sometime down the road because you’re injured, burned out, sick, overtrained, whatever it may be. I see this all the time, not only with athletes that I work with but people who reach out to me with questions, and people I train with—when things are going good, you want to keep them going, but we’re human beings. It doesn’t matter how experienced you are, how good you are, we all need breaks. You need breaks to absorb training, you need breaks to shut things down mentally as much as physically, especially if you’re someone who’s doing hard workouts and long runs and always building toward the next goal. That takes a lot of mental and emotional energy—you can’t be on all the time, you’ve got to shut it off.”This week on the podcast I’m answering listener questions in the second Ask Mario Anything episode of 2021. (You can check out the first one here.) On the other side of the mic for this one—once again—is sponsorship director, Chris Douglas. We got some good questions about about me running Boston in the fall, the importance of taking breaks in training, the controversy around Timothy Olson’s recent FKT on the PCT, channeling my own passion for running into a creative pursuit, what information you should include in your running log, and a lot more. This episode is brought to you by:— New Balance. The new FuelCell Rebel v2 is my new favorite running shoe. It’s super super light, it’s incredibly responsive, and offers good protection underfoot. I think it’s the perfect workout shoe and I’ll be using it all the time. Check it out today at newbalance.com and consider adding a pair to your rotation today.— Goodr: If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodr sunglasses, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for 15% off your order. Look good, run goodr!Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-171--ask-mario-anything/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Episode 170 | Noah Droddy Aug 02, 2021

Show notes

“I think it’s because we’re always measuring ourselves—everything we do is measured. You go out for an easy run, you see your pace, you compare it to how fast you ran yesterday. You go to a race, you finish 10th, or you’re a minute off your PB—or you PB by a minute and you’re ecstatic. You’re always comparing yourself to who you were yesterday and who you want to be in the future. And then while you’re comparing yourself to you, you’re also comparing yourself to other people who are doing the same things that you do. You see so and so run amazing and say, ‘Oh, that’s great,’ but [then] you ask yourself, ‘Why am I not running amazing?’ You’re just always asking yourself these questions and I think measuring yourself in that way really leads you to…yeah, it’s not to prescribe too much self worth to the numbers. And just being like, ‘OK, if I could just run 2:10 in the marathon I’ll be happier,” and it doesn’t feel that way because then you run 2:10 and you were fifth and somebody else ran 2:09 or whatever, so it’s hard—it’s just the nature of our sport is that we’re always measuring ourselves against each other and ourselves, and if you’re not in a good place with that you can kind of go down a rabbit hole.” Noah Droddy is one of my favorite people in the sport and it was a treat to have him back on the podcast. Our last conversation was almost exactly 3 years ago on Episode 23 so be sure to give that one a listen if you haven’t already. Noah is a blue-collar as they come and that’s part of what I love about him. The Division 3 alum from Depauw University in Indiana ran 2:09:09 at The Marathon Project last December, making him the ninth-fastest American marathoner of all-time. He lives and trains in Boulder, Colorado with the Roots Running Project, which, as we talked about in this episode, has done more with less than any other elite level training group in the U.S. In addition to being a great athlete, Noah is also a big fan of the sport! We recorded this episode just a few days ago on Friday and spent the first few minutes of the show talking about the first day of action at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. From there, Noah told me why he’s at an interesting point of his professional running career right now, what it was like to lose sponsorship after having a breakthrough race last fall, how he’s thinking about the place competitive running holds in his life right now and moving forward, and a lot more.This episode is brought to you by:— New Balance. The new FuelCell Rebel v2 is my new favorite running shoe. It’s super super light, it’s incredibly responsive, and offers good protection underfoot. I think it’s the perfect workout shoe and I’ll be using it all the time. Check it out today at newbalance.com and consider adding a pair to your rotation today.— Goodr: If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodr sunglasses, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for 15% off your order. Look good, run goodr!Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-170-with-noah-droddy/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Episode 169 | Fred Huxham Jul 27, 2021

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“If you get me talking about things that happened in college or I think about races in college I can just spiral in my own head and get frustrated and kind of disappointed with myself in the way things turned out. It’s definitely in the back of my mind. I would like to prove to myself that I do belong, whether it be at the NCAA level or the professional level, I just believe inherently that I am talented enough to do it. I just have to be patient and let it kind of come to me rather than go searching for it…I think Peachtree, although it’s just one result and doesn’t mean all that much in the grand scheme of the running world, it has meant a lot for me and validating what I’ve been doing for the last year and half, two years.” This is Fred Huxham’s first podcast and I am super excited to introduce him to you. Fred, who is 25 years old, just placed second at the Peachtree Road Race on July 4 in 28:45. That race was the 10K national championships and he finished just two seconds behind Sam Chelanga and a few places ahead of Galen Rupp, Jake Riley, and Abdi Abdirahman, the three men who will represent the United States at the Olympic Marathon in Tokyo. In this conversation, we talked about Peachtree, how it went down, and what that performance means to Fred at this point of his career. He told me how he ended up in New Hampshire, training with Ben True and Dan Curts, and what the next few months look like for him from a competitive standpoint. We talked about his high school career at Redwood in California and his relationship with coaches Laura and Jake Schmitt—both of whom I’ve had on this podcast, so check out those episodes if you haven’t already. Fred described the process of overcoming periods of frustration and disappointment during his collegiate career, explained why he’s got a chip on his shoulder, how he uses that to his advantage, and a lot more.Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-169-with-fred-huxham/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Episode 168 | Alison Desir Jul 20, 2021

Show notes

“What the marathon experience—that first marathon experience—did for me, was it gave me a perspective shift on life, which, wow, that sounds really lofty hearing myself say it back, but truly, everything was like so muddied and I couldn’t pull myself out. I had gone to really good schools and done all of the things I was supposed to do but I couldn’t pull myself out of feeling terrible and feeling like I was a failure and there was no blueprint of, ‘What am I supposed to do with my life?’ But the marathon gave me this very concrete training plan—like in 16 weeks, if you do this, you will get this—and never in my life outside of school had something been so prescriptive and easy. I mean, [it was] really difficult because you have to do that work but if even a stranger can promise me that if I do this work and I get that, then like f*ck yeah, I’m gonna do this. So I stuck to that training plan like it was my bible and what I saw was that it wasn’t magic but these physical challenges that I was doing really were very much tied to my mental ability to push through it and to stay in places of discomfort…You’re in a place of discomfort but you're moving through it—you don't get stuck in the place of discomfort, so that was a really powerful lesson for me.” I’ve been waiting a while to have this conversation with Alison Mariella Désir and it did not disappoint. Alison wears many hats: she’s a mom, athlete, and coach. She works as the Director of Sports Advocacy and an Athlete Advisor for Oiselle, she’s a co-chair of the Running Industry Diversity Coalition, co-founder of Harlem run, a community organizer, and a lot more. In this episode, Alison told me about her relationship with running, the ways in which it’s evolved over the years, and how she views her place in the sport today. We discussed how feeling out of place as a runner led her to create communities where people feel like they belong, we talked about the lack of diversity in the running industry and the work she’s doing to help change that, as well we her upcoming book, The Unbearable Whiteness of Running, due out in 2022. We also talked about identity and extroversion, competitiveness and community building, and a lot more.Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-168-with-alison-mariella-desir/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Episode 167 | Amby Burfoot Jul 13, 2021

Show notes

“One day we had a bad basketball practice. The coach was pissed off at us. He literally made us run the cross-country course as punishment. I was the worst player on the JV basketball team but I came back first when we had to run 3 miles in cross country and I just said, ‘Hey, maybe I should switch sports instead of fighting to be bad.’ And so I switched to running and running seemed to be a place where an obsessive personality and an infinite amount of work payed some benefits—and it did for me. I don't think it's quite as important now as I did 50 years ago but there's no replacement for hard work, is there?” Amby Burfoot is a legend in running and someone I’ve looked up to and admired since I first got my start in the sport over 20 years ago. A native of Connecticut, Amby won the 1968 Boston Marathon when he was a senior at Wesleyan University. After his competitive running career ended, he worked at Runner’s World, where he spent 25 years as an editor before retiring in 2012. Amby is still running strong—and writing about running regularly—as he nears the age of 75 and I just have so much respect for everything he’s done and is still doing in the sport.There’s a lot that we covered in this conversation. We talked about Amby’s competitive running career, how he got started, and what it was like to win the Boston Marathon while he was still in college. He told me about his obsessive personality and the different forms it’s taken over the course of his life. We discussed what he’s up to now, his longevity as a runner and writer, and continuing to pursue your passions as you age. Amby told me about his time at Runner’s World, he shared his thoughts on the evolution of the running media landscape over the past 2-3 decades, and a lot more.This episode is brought to you by:— Tracksmith. Tracksmith crafts performance running apparel, inspiring publications, and distinct experiences that allow runners to indulge in the sport’s rich culture. Tracksmith is offering new customers $15 off your first purchase of $75+. Just use code MARIO15 when you check out at tracksmith.com/mario.— Goodr: If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodr sunglasses, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for 15% off your order. Look good, run goodr!Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-167-with-amby-burfoot/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Episode 166 | Christine Gould Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

“When I was out there, baking along the lake where it was really hot, all I was really trying to do was just keep moving forward, and whatever that entailed. So I was just looking ahead to the next aid station—like, what can I do to keep moving forward? It really became that simple, which, for as busy as my brain can be sometimes with thinking, is surprising because I really didn’t think much beyond that because I just knew how hot it was, and how else was I going to get to the finish line? I just have to move forward…It’s not always—I think we forget this as competitive athletes that all have goals—but it’s not always about the result too, it’s just sometimes how you do the thing and get across the line. We always learn infinitely more from the struggles than we do from our successes.” We are back with a new episode of the podcast after a brief hiatus and my guest this week is a really special one: it’s my favorite person in the entire world, my best friend and biggest supporter, my wife, Christine Gould.Christine has been one of my most requested guests since I started the show 3-1/2 years ago and you’ll finally get to hear from her this week. Christine recently completed Ironman Coeur d’Alene in Idaho (it was her first swing at that distance in 14 years), and this was a good opportunity to debrief with her about that experience—why she signed up for the event, how it went, and what she learned from it—as well as to learn more about her and how she operates, us as a couple and how we operate, and a lot more.This episode is brought to you by:— Tracksmith. Tracksmith crafts performance running apparel, inspiring publications, and distinct experiences that allow runners to indulge in the sport’s rich culture. Tracksmith is offering new customers $15 off your first purchase of $75+. Just use code MARIO15 when you check out at tracksmith.com/mario.— Goodr: If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodr sunglasses, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for 15% off your order. Look good, run goodr!Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-166-with-christine-gould/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Episode 165 | Mark Coogan Jun 15, 2021

Show notes

“It's not just one workout that's going to make you have a good race. That's pretty simple. I've more come to the conclusion that I'd rather do 20 B+ workouts over 10 weeks instead of having four A+ workouts and then just go into a race. I think if I can get the consistency of this B+ type workout—when I do those, I feel like we're not stressing the body so hard that we're going to get injured—I feel like we're improving, getting physically better as a runner, but we're not getting as many little injuries or dinged up, or just soreness. And I feel like when we do that and then go to a race and try to do an A+ [effort] in the race, it just seems to be working a lot better for me. So I just think being really consistent over a long period of time, you know, you don't have to have any of these super duper workouts to prove who you are.”Mark Coogan is the coach of New Balance Boston Elite. His squad will be competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, beginning on June 18. As an athlete, Mark represented the United States at the 1996 Olympics in the marathon, he’s competed on multiple world championship teams, and he’s also the first sub-4 minute miler from my home state of Massachusetts. During his professional career, Mark was ranked top-10 in the U.S. from the mile to the marathon, which is not something that too many athletes can claim. I absolutely loved this conversation and I think many of you will too. We mostly talked coaching, how Mark got his start in it, and how he’s grown the most over the years. He told me about managing his squad’s nerves and expectations heading into Trials, how they’ve recalibrated during the pandemic, and the lessons they’ve learned over the past year. He also described the family culture that his team tries to maintain, coaching his daughter Katrina for the first time, and how he approaches working with a group that’s focusing on a wide range of events. Mark also told some great stories, like running the race of his life at the 1995 U.S. Championships against Bob Kennedy, and a lot more.This episode is brought to you by:— New Balance. The new FuelCell Rebel v2 is my new favorite running shoe. It’s super super light, it’s incredibly responsive, and offers good protection underfoot. I think it’s the perfect workout shoe and I’ll be using it all the time. Check it out today at newbalance.com and consider adding a pair to your rotation today.— Goodr: If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodr sunglasses, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for 15% off your order. Look good, run goodr!Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-165-with-mark-coogan/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Episode 164 | Lauren Hurley Jun 07, 2021

Show notes

“When I was doing triathlon I would get a workout and I’m like, ‘Oh, I can’t do that. That’s too hard. No way.’ Now Tom tells me this workout and I’m like, ‘You’re crazy, but let’s go for it. Let’s try it.’ Because I don’t care. I don’t care if I fail. So I think that’s a huge thing for people. It’s like as soon as you step away from that fear of failing you open yourself up to so many things—and for so long that just held me back. Because really, and it’s so cliche, but anything is possible. And it’s been a big lesson I’ve learned throughout this short little running journey I’ve done and I’m gonna carry that through the trials. Do I think I’m gonna make the Olympics? No. But do I think I can run the Olympic standard? Yeah, I do. And I’m not gonna tell myself I can’t, you know? So that’s gonna be cool and exciting and I’m gonna carry that to Eugene.” Lauren Hurley is a friend of mine and it’s been super fun to watch her improvement in running from afar the past few months. She recently qualified for the Olympic Trials at the Portland Track Festival, running 32:17 for 10,000m, finishing fifth in her first ever race on the track at any distance. Lauren might be new to racing on the track but she is not a novice athlete. She raced triathlon professionally for 10 years, winning 11 Ironman 70.3 events and numerous other races. She retired from triathlon in 2019 after accepting a 6-month suspension from USADA for testing positive for THC—a banned substance that was in the CBD cream she was using to treat an ankle injury at the time. In this conversation, we talked about Lauren’s suspension and why, in retrospect, it ended up being best thing that ever could have happened to her. Lauren told me about feeling burned out from her professional triathlon career and why she never thought she’d do another interval, much less compete, again. We discussed motherhood—she and her husband Matt have a 10-month old son named Wilder—and how that’s reshaped her perspective on what’s important in life. Lauren talked about growing up a swimmer, suffering from disordered eating in high school, and how finding running and triathlon in college helped her manage anxiety and get healthy. We also talked about competitiveness, entrepreneurship, how 10 years of high-level triathlon training has contributed to her current success in running, and a lot more.This episode is brought to you by:— New Balance. The new FuelCell Rebel v2 is my new favorite running shoe. It’s super super light, it’s incredibly responsive, and offers good protection underfoot. I think it’s the perfect workout shoe and I’ll be using it all the time. Check it out today at newbalance.com and consider adding a pair to your rotation today.— Goodr: If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodr sunglasses, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for 15% off your order. Look good, run goodr!Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-164-with-lauren-hurley/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Episode 163 | Thomas Reiss May 31, 2021

Show notes

“Running has been a big factor in my life. Running made me start my own business, I met my wife because of running—that’s how I ended up here. So running has always been a big factor in my life. I think that’s why I still enjoy running at my age versus just being done with it. I know so many guys who were really fast and they’re like, ‘I’m done, I don’t wanna run anymore. Why are you still running?’ [It’s because] I still love it—it has become part of me.” I first met Thomas Reiss at the Leadville 100 back in 2017 when he was crewing and pacing for our mutual friend, Brett Rivers, who I was coaching at the time. I knew Thomas as a veteran ultrarunner who had experienced some success in the sport but also that he was a badass designer whose logo and branding work I was familiar with and admired. I’ve been wanting to have a long conversation with him ever since and this one did not disappoint. Thomas, who is 53 years old, is a husband and dad to two teenage boys who is still getting after it on the road, track, and trails from the mile to ultramarathon distances. Like me, he loves it all. In 2018, he broke the American record for 50-54 year olds in the 50K on the track, running 3:39:26. Just last December he broke 5 minutes for the mile and he’s got his eye on some age-group records and national titles. Basically, I want to be Thomas when I grow up. Originally from Germany, running first came into Thomas’ life when he was a young kid. He ran his first marathon at the age of 22 and his involvement in the sport has only snowballed from there. In this conversation, we talked about growing up in Germany and playing in punk bands during his teen years, and how that experience reminds him of some of the growth we’re seeing in ultrarunning today. He told me about starting a running magazine back in Germany, how his relationship with running has evolved over the years, and what keeps him motivated and excited as he approaches his mid-50s. We also talked about competitiveness, creativity, why brands in running should do a better job of highlighting Masters runners, and a lot more.This episode is brought to you by:— BOA. BOA wants you to get dialed in, locked in, and connected to the trail in the new BOA-powered La Sportiva Cyklon. Available in men’s and women’s, every aspect of the shoe is engineered to deliver revolutionary fit and performance on the trail, and was designed and tested in BOA’s state of the art Performance Fit Lab to improve running efficiency and reduce landing impact. BOA is exclusively offering four morning shakeout listeners the opportunity to win a free pair of the Cyklon. To enter, head over to boafit.com/Mario.— Picky Bars. Picky’s products are made with real ingredients that I can pronounce and recognize—and there’s a peace of mind that comes with not second-guessing what I’m putting into my body. If you want to try some Picky products for yourself while supporting the podcast, go to pickybars.com/MARIO and enter the code MARIO at checkout to save 20% off your purchase of 25 bucks or more. You can also join the Picky Club at that link, which is a subscription service, and save 20% off your first box with the code MARIO. Super easy, amazing offer, take advantage of while you can at pickybars.com/MARIO.Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-163-with-thomas-reiss/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Episode 162 | Abdi Abdirahman May 24, 2021

Show notes

“People know me as Abdi the distance runner, the funny guy, just outgoing, and that's all good, but they don't know the reason I came to the U.S.—how did I end up here, what was my choice, that struggle behind me getting here, at the end of the day, your parents, your family, what they've been through to get here. And that's the difficult part of the book, because that just brings back some memories because of the civil war in Somalia. It’s not like one day I woke up and said, ‘Hey, I'm going to go to America.’ It wasn't that easy. It was one day you woke up and you don't know what the future holds for you, you don't know where you're going to get your next meal, what happened, because it was a civil war. At the end of the day I'm thankful for everything that I've been through, and it's made me the person who I am today, but it wasn't the easiest though.” Abdi Abdirahman is one of my favorite people in the sport and I am super excited to share this episode with you. The 44-year-old is a five-time Olympian and he’ll represent the United States in the marathon at this summer’s Games in Japan. Abdi also has a new book coming out soon. It’s called Abdi's World: The Black Cactus on Life, Running, and Fun and it’s due out in July.In this conversation, we talked about making his fifth Olympic team and how he’s feeling three months out from the Olympic Marathon. He told me about growing up in Somalia, coming to the United States when he was 7 years old, and how that experience shaped his perspective and outlook on life. We talked about his longevity in the sport, his relationship with running and what it means to him beyond just competition and his career, and why he’s gone to Ethiopia to train in recent years. Abdi also discussed his upcoming book, giving back to his community and establishing a charitable foundation built around hope, and a lot more.This episode is brought to you by:— BOA. BOA wants you to get dialed in, locked in, and connected to the trail in the new BOA-powered La Sportiva Cyklon. Available in men’s and women’s, every aspect of the shoe is engineered to deliver revolutionary fit and performance on the trail, and was designed and tested in BOA’s state of the art Performance Fit Lab to improve running efficiency and reduce landing impact. BOA is exclusively offering four morning shakeout listeners the opportunity to win a free pair of the Cyklon. To enter, head over to boafit.com/Mario.Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-162-with-abdi-abdirahman/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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