The Strength Running Podcast

When’s the last time you got bloodwork done?

Stevie Lyn Smith is a Registered Dietitian on a mission to educate and coach athletes on how to fuel their goals without sacrificing health and happiness.

As a board certified specialist in sports nutrition, Stevie Lyn has helped hundreds of athletes fuel to improve performance, energy levels, and recovery– without feeling guilt or restriction.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Using bloodwork as a tool for performance and overall health
• How bloodwork can help identify nutritional deficiencies and overtraining
• Ideal timing for bloodwork testing
• Key biomarkers for endurance athletes, including vitamin D, B12, and iron
• Markers related to stress, muscle recovery, and inflammation
• Testosterone and estrogen in both men and women
• Reducing the risk of overtraining
• Why to get regular bloodwork every 3-6 months as an athlete

If you like this episode, go to your podcast player and scroll back to find past episodes on nutrition and performance.

Links & Resources from the Show:

• Stevie on Instagram
• Stevie’s website
• Real Fuel Podcast
• Real Fuel Group Coaching and Stevie’s membership program
• Learn more about running nutrition for free with our free nutrition myth busting resource.

Thank you to 2Before!

We are supported by 2Before, a powerful sports supplement made from New Zealand Blackcurrants designed to increase endurance, manage inflammation, support immunity, and promote adaptation. 2Before helps to boost performance by increasing blood flow, making it more efficient for the body to pump oxygenated nutrient-rich blood into the muscles.

So, if you want to try to boost your performance and immune system, use code JASON for 30% off 20 packs and multi-serve packs at 2Before.com.

Thank you to 2Before for supporting Strength Running!

Thank you DrinkLMNT!

A big thanks to DrinkLMNT for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. They are offering a free gift with your purchase at DrinkLMNT. And this does NOT have to be your first purchase. You’ll get a sample pack with every flavor so you can try them all before deciding what you like best. 

DrinkLMNT's products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day.

If you’re not familiar, LMNT is my favorite way to hydrate. They make electrolytes for athletes and low-carb folks with no Sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. I’m now in the habit of giving away boxes of LMNT at group runs around Denver and Boulder and everyone loves this stuff.

Boost your performance and your recovery with LMNT. They’re the exclusive hydration partner to Team USA Weightlifting and quite a few professional baseball, hockey, and basketball teams are on regular subscriptions. So check out DrinkLMNT to get a free sampler pack and get your hydration optimized for the upcoming season.

Many runners called The Leadville Trail 100 Run's near-20 year record "unbeatable." David Roche raised the bar with an astonishing 2024 performance.

David Roche is an elite trail runner and running coach. He's a two-time USATF trail national champion, the 2014 Sub-Ultra Trail Runner of the Year, and former Mountain Runner of the Year.

As of August 2024, David is also the new course record holder of the Leadville 100 Mile Endurance Run, finishing in 15:26:34.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How David blends consistency with fun in his training

• The recovery routine that helped him perform at Leadville

• Specific workouts he used in preparation for the race

• Weekly mileage, strides, steep hill work, bike workouts, and uphill treadmill sessions

• Fueling and pacing strategies he planned for Leadville, including precision caffeine and consistent effort levels

• Using heart rate to ensure a proper and consistent effort throughout the race, and the confidence monitoring it gave him

• The mental side of training and racing, and how the support of loved ones helped

• How a 2024 near-death bike accident impacted his mindset around both life and his running career

Share this episode with your running friends who want to apply lessons from an elite runner into their own workouts!

Links & Resources from the Show:

• Learn more about David and SWAP

• Follow David on Instagram

• Listen to my previous podcasts with David: this one on mechanical output, this one on power and speed development, and this one all about the long run. 

• David contributed his favorite injury prevention strategy to The Little Black Book of Recovery & Prevention along with 8 other elite athletes.

Thank you DrinkLMNT!

A big thanks to DrinkLMNT for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. They are offering a free gift with your purchase at DrinkLMNT. And this does NOT have to be your first purchase. You’ll get a sample pack with every flavor so you can try them all before deciding what you like best. 

DrinkLMNT's products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day.

If you’re not familiar, LMNT is my favorite way to hydrate. They make electrolytes for athletes and low-carb folks with no Sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. I’m now in the habit of giving away boxes of LMNT at group runs around Denver and Boulder and everyone loves this stuff.

Boost your performance and your recovery with LMNT. They’re the exclusive hydration partner to Team USA Weightlifting and quite a few professional baseball, hockey, and basketball teams are on regular subscriptions. So check out DrinkLMNT to get a free sampler pack and get your hydration optimized for the upcoming season.

Thank you AG1!

We’re also supported by AG1, the greens superfood mix. This is a category-leading greens mix that has 75 vitamins and minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, antioxidants, and adaptogens. It’s recommended by professional athletes and has over 7,000 positive reviews.

One scoop per day is what I’ve been doing to help me fill in any nutrition gaps in my diet. It also provide a nice boost of energy and focus throughout the day. With all 3 of my kids in school, I know I need to support my immune system or else I’m getting sick and can’t train.

I also love that AG1 has changed over the last decade. They’ve made 53 improvements to the formula based on the latest research to make these nutrients more absorbable and rigorous with the 3rd party testing that they do.

For our listeners, they are offering a year’s worth of free Vitamin D and 5 free travel packs of AG1 with your first purchase. You can sign up for single shipment or for a monthly drop – the choice is yours. Check out AG1 to redeem your offer today.

Imagine a running festival combined with a retreat plus a race thrown in there: That's Jesse Itzler's Runningman.

Jesse Itzler is the founder of Runningman and All Day Running Co., a serial entrepreneur, an author, an endurance sports enthusiast, and a 100-mile ultra marathoner.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Translating running's discipline and consistency into other areas of life

• Sharing the values of health and wellness with children

• Jesse's approach to long-term running planning

• Finding the sweet spot of having a plan while being flexible

• The parallels of 100-mile races and running a business

• What you'll find at Runningman: a track, sauna, cold plunges, yoga, expert sessions, and community

• If Jesse could ask David Roche, course record holder at Leadville, any question, what would it be?

Send this episode to a friend you'd love to go to Runningman with (and use code JASON for 10% off passes).

Links & Resources from the Show:

• Join us at Runningman: use code JASON at checkout for 10% off passes

• Follow Jesse on Instagram and TikTok

• Follow All Day Running Co. on Instagram

• Jesse's website

• Download the free Little Black Book of Recovery & Prevention featuring 9 pro runners and their strategies for recovering and staying healthy.

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 my personal life, I’m optimizing for longevity. I want to be my healthiest self for as long as possible and I’m excited to partner with Previnex to make that happen.

Previnex uses the most bioavailable, clinically tested ingredients, the optimal form and dose of each ingredient, pharmaceutical grade manufacturing, testing of raw ingredients and finished products. For every purchase you make, they also donate vitamins to kids in need.

Their new Muscle Health Plus is something I'm now taking. Turning 40 - and having a thin frame - has made me realize that I need to prioritize lean muscle mass to stay healthy and age well. Muscle Health Plus has creatine, essential and branched chain amino acids, and it's designed in a way to maximize protein synthesis and the absorption of amino acids.

Muscle Health Plus will help you prevent muscle damage, which is particularly important for aging runners who want to protect themselves from muscle loss and recover faster after hard workouts. As is true for all of their products, Previnex adheres to the highest of standards: their ingredients are clinically proven to do what they say they’re going to do.

Previnex offers a 30-day money back guarantee. If you don't feel the benefits of their product, you get your money back no questions asked. With their focus on quality and customer satisfaction, I hope you’ll try it! Use code jason15 for 15% off your first order at Previnex!

Thank you to 2Before!

We are supported by 2Before, a powerful sports supplement made from New Zealand Blackcurrants designed to increase endurance, manage inflammation, support immunity, and promote adaptation. 2Before helps to boost performance by increasing blood flow, making it more efficient for the body to pump oxygenated nutrient-rich blood into the muscles.

So, if you want to try to boost your performance and immune system, use code JASON for 30% off 20 packs and multi-serve packs at 2Before.com.

Thank you to 2Before for supporting Strength Running!

How do we develop new runners, young runners, and master's runners, into great runners?

Paul Greer is a professor of Health and Exercise Science at San Diego City College, coach of the San Diego Track Club, and the 2016 and 2024 Team USA Men’s Junior Cross Country coach.

With about 40 years of coaching experience, Paul has a lot of wisdom to share for runners from youth to master's levels. His athletes include hundreds of Boston qualifiers, several top age-group competitors, and a handful of Olympic qualifiers.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Reasons for the lack of adult cross-country races

• Resources and sponsorships for track and field vs. cross-country running

• Differences in developing new runners versus experienced and master's runners

• Consistent training and effective long runs without overtraining

• Pool running for injury prevention and fitness through injury

• Early warning signs of injuries and how to prevent them

• Tips for dynamic warm-ups and post-run stretching and recovery

• Training adjustments for older and master's runners

• The need for individualized training plans, rest days, and noticing stress load

Remember to put your name in the drawing by August 30th for the chance to win running products we love. Enter our 10 million download giveaway here! 

Links & Resources from the Show:

• Paul's book: "Going the Distance, Strategies from the First Stride to the Finish Line"
• Learn common mistakes that cause running injuries and how to prevent them.
• Enter the 10 million download giveaway!

Thank you to 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 my personal life, I’m optimizing for longevity. I want to be my healthiest self for as long as possible and I’m excited to partner with Previnex to make that happen.

Previnex uses the most bioavailable, clinically tested ingredients, the optimal form and dose of each ingredient, pharmaceutical grade manufacturing, testing of raw ingredients and finished products. For every purchase you make, they also donate vitamins to kids in need.

Their new Muscle Health Plus is something I'm now taking. Turning 40 - and having a thin frame - has made me realize that I need to prioritize lean muscle mass to stay healthy and age well. Muscle Health Plus has creatine, essential and branched chain amino acids, and it's designed in a way to maximize protein synthesis and the absorption of amino acids.

Muscle Health Plus will help you prevent muscle damage, which is particularly important for aging runners who want to protect themselves from muscle loss and recover faster after hard workouts. As is true for all of their products, Previnex adheres to the highest of standards: their ingredients are clinically proven to do what they say they’re going to do.

Previnex offers a 30-day money back guarantee. If you don't feel the benefits of their product, you get your money back no questions asked. With their focus on quality and customer satisfaction, I hope you’ll try it! Use code jason15 for 15% off your first order at Previnex!

Thank you DrinkLMNT!

A big thanks to DrinkLMNT for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. They are offering a free gift with your purchase at DrinkLMNT. And this does NOT have to be your first purchase. You’ll get a sample pack with every flavor so you can try them all before deciding what you like best. 

DrinkLMNT's products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day.

If you’re not familiar, LMNT is my favorite way to hydrate. They make electrolytes for athletes and low-carb folks with no Sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. I’m now in the habit of giving away boxes of LMNT at group runs around Denver and Boulder and everyone loves this stuff.

Boost your performance and your recovery with LMNT. They’re the exclusive hydration partner to Team USA Weightlifting and quite a few professional baseball, hockey, and basketball teams are on regular subscriptions. So check out DrinkLMNT to get a free sampler pack and get your hydration optimized for the upcoming season.

Ever catch yourself complaining about how much you paid to sign up for a race? Here's the inside story.

Phil Dumontet is a 2:42 marathoner, the founder of Boulderthon, and the CEO of race management and timing company Brooksee.

Personally, I believe Brooksee's timing technology is going to revolutionize road racing in the future.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The day-to-day of a racing management company CEO: managing races, training teams, and building partnerships

• Race marketing and differentiation, with a look at Portland and Boulderthon's strategies

• Race planning, permitting, and the economic impact Boulderthon has

• Requests runners have of races, like bringing Grammy Award-winning artists to the after-party

• Reducing race entry fees, exploring membership models, and increasing loyalty programs

• Race timing technology, including RFID mats and handheld devices

• Improving spectator experience at endurance events using real-time data and tech

Want to win some of our favorite running tools? Enter our 10 million download giveaway here! 

Links & Resources from the Show:

• Phil on Instagram

• Phil on LinkedIn

• Check out Boulderthon and sign up for a race

• Brooksee's website: Get $15 off the Las Vegas Marathon, Portland Marathon, Mesa Marathon, or REVEL Race Series through the day of the race (or end of 2024 for REVEL) with code JASON15.

• Get the Season Planner Worksheet for better planning and faster racing

• Enter the 10 million download giveaway!

Thank you to 2Before!

We are supported by 2Before, a powerful sports supplement made from New Zealand Blackcurrants designed to increase endurance, manage inflammation, support immunity, and promote adaptation. 2Before helps to boost performance by increasing blood flow, making it more efficient for the body to pump oxygenated nutrient-rich blood into the muscles.

So, if you want to try to boost your performance and immune system, use code JASON for 30% off 20 packs and multi-serve packs at 2Before.com.

Thank you to 2Before for supporting Strength Running!

Thank you MOBO Board!

Invented by renowned physical therapist Jay Dicharry, MOBO helps you stabilize your stance with an innovative rocker board that’s set up on two fins. The design effectively forces you to drive your big toe into the board to improve your stability. I was pretty arrogant going into my first session on the MOBO Board. How hard can it be to balance, right? Well, I was humbled pretty quickly!

Even if you’re a good runner, better balance, stability, and proprioception is going to help you have a more powerful stride and prevent more running injuries. You’ll learn how to improve the efficiency of the kinetic chain from your hip to your big toe. Because as Jay likes to say, it’s not just how strong you are, but how well you use that strength.

I was recently at a weekend physical therapy workshop (lol I was the only running coach) and learned how important (and rare) this simple movement is. Save 10% with code STRENGTHRUN10 at checkout at moboboard.com.