Trail Runner Nation

Dr. Robert Portman is and exercise scientist and coauthor of three books,

1. Nutrient Timing
2. The Performance Zone
3. Hardwired for Fitness

and has authored hundreds of articles on how nutrition can improve fitness, health and athletic performance.

Dr. Portman teaches us that there are five macro-nutrients that an endurance athlete needs to know how to use: Water, Proteins, Carbohydrates, Fats, and electrolytes. By knowing WHEN and HOW MUCH to use the macro-nutrients, we can raise our performance, avoid bonking and G.I. distress.

Once we understand how to utilize these macro-nutrients, there are micro-nutrients that can further tweak and enhance our performance.

Over the last 30 years, Dr. Portman has reshaped sports nutrition and the development of energy products with proven performance and recovery benefits, including: Endurox R4, Accelerade and now Body Glove SURGE, an energy shot for endurance athletes.

Unsure of how much hydration and nutrition to use on your next workout? Check out The Portman Calculator: easily compute your hydration and nutrition needs for a workout or race.

Here are some other interesting articles that Dr. Portman has written:

• Sleep your Way to a Better Race Time
• The Myth of Long Acting Carbohydrates
• The Muscle Recovery Mediator

Check out our new sponsor's, "Race Course in Review" by Vasque Running Shoes

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Download a free audio book at Audible

With over 20 books written for the endurance athlete, Matt Fitzgerald is one of the sport's leading authors. Some of his other best sellers are:

• Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance
• Iron War-Dave Scott, Mark Allen, & the Greatest Race Ever Run
• The Runner's Body: How the Latest Exercise Science Can Help You Run Stronger, Longer, and Faster

Matt talks to us about his book, "Run-The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel". Some topics include:

• Should a dose of suffering be included in your training?
• The Black Box of ingredients that you open on race day
• How to learn to train your body by listening to it

Follow Matt on Twitter or on Facebook

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Italian Nation Member, Monica, paints a picture of Italian trail running! Monica lives in the middle of some amazing mountain running. She explains trail running culture, race demographics and gear choices of Italian runners. One of the forty-seven ultras in 2014 is the Tour Des Geants, a 330 KM (205 mile) race with a 150 hour time limit.

Book a trip to Italy and Corri di più!!

Class is in session. Dr. Mark talks about

• Cadence: what is the most efficient, how to determine yours, does it make a difference if you are tall or short?
• Breathing: what is the most effective way to breath? How to practice and what are the benefits?
• How long does it take to change body composition?
• Treadmills
• What are the latest trends in running shoes that he saw at 2013 The Running Event

Here are some valuable links:

• Dr. Mark's video on the "Natural Running Principles"
• Natural Running Center
• The self propelled treadmill: Samsara Fitness' Trueform Running University
• Healthy Running
• Two Rivers Treads running store
• Dan Lieberman's new book, "The Story of the Human Body"

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Download a free audio book at Audible

Chris Vargo is relatively new to the trail running scene, but has quickly found his place at the front of the pack; including a 3rd place finish at the 2013 North Face Endurance 50 Mile in San Francisco. You can watch a great video of the 2013 TNF50 lead runners HERE. Chris talks about how he started in trail running, his training including pool runnning, his successes, the TNF50 race, and overcoming his alcoholism.

Chris can be found on Facebook and Twitter and will soon have a blog.

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Download a free audio book at Audible

On the evening of two of the most popular 100-mile race lotteries (Western States 100 and Hardrock 100), Andy Jones-Wilkins and Craig Thornley (race director) join the Nation to discuss the mystic and draw of Western States 100, the new 2015 qualifying standards, "micro competitions", the future of ultrarunning, and how to maintain longevity in the sport.

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Coach Sally McRae joins Trail Runner Nation and opens up the official TRN Grab Bag: running topics that are in the news or on our mind.

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Download a free audio book at Audible

Dr. Maffetone teaches us that

• the brain's role is often overlooked in training and racing,
• how to improve brain function through biofeedback stimulation, and
• how to develop and maintain a better athletic brain.

Buy Dr. Phil Maffetone's Big Book of Endurance Training and Running

Buy The Big Book of Health and Fitness

Previous Podcast with Dr. Maffetone:

• Speed up by Slowing Down
• Eat to Win
• Transcription of Eat to Win

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Ian Torrence has won 51 ultras and run over 170. He coaches for McMillan Running. Ian joins us to talk about what you need to do to prepare for cold weather running - starting from the head to the toes. He recaps his successful inauguration of the Flagstaff to Grand Canyon Stagecoach Line Ultra, a 100-mile ultra or relay event.

Here is Ian's earlier podcast:: How to Build a Bonkproof Body

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Download a free audio book at Audible

Warren Pole joins the Nation in person! The authorities let Warren and his wife, Erica, into the U.S. with their TRN work visa. We were able to not only have a great trail running discussion, but also break bread and share 18 miles of the Western States trail with him (with no bonking).

Candice Burt, RD, announces a great new RACE for 2014!

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

It has been 8 months since we last talked to Anna Frost (check out her original podcast HERE). She has been recovering from a couple debilitating injuries, but has continued to tour the globe representing TEAM SALOMON. She talks about her most recent trip to Morocco, where she trained with Mohammad Ahansal, 18-time finisher of the Marathon des Sables (winning 4 times and coming in 2nd ten times).

Anna talks candidly about how she learned to take time off so that she could heal and what kind of cross training she did to try and keep in shape. And find out what her next great adventure is.

Visit Anna's BLOG and take a look at Anna's cool JEWELRY.

You can follow Anna on Facebook or Twitter.

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Anton has come off a busy year of running and training culminating in the release of the Joel Wolpert film, "In the High Country". (A MUST have $15 purchase)

Tony talks about:

• his mountain running life-style and philosophy
• running form - efficient and quick
• making the movie
• his Nolan's 14 adventure
• running and racing in Europe

HERE is the link to the first of three videos about Tony's attempt at Nolan's 14 this summer

HERE is the link to one of our favorite videos of Tony running.

HERE is the link to his Blog, "Riding the Wind"

JB Benna, producer of the film Unbreakable, is also a heck of a runner. He proved this in October 2013 by breaking the 175 mile unsupported Tahoe Rim Trail FKT at 58h 43m 12s! JB attempted the run in honor of Michael Popov, the previous record holder, who passed away tragically in 2012. JB explains Why and his training, race, fuel, and hydration strategies, lessons learned and how he became friends with his individual body parts.

Check out the other cool films JB has produced at Journey Film

Here is a map of the Tahoe Rim Trail

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Candice Burt, elite trail runner and active blogger, recently created a glossary of terms that trail runners use. For example:

• Paleo
• Bonk
• FKT
• Minimalist

Finally, there is a simple dictionary for you to share with your non-trail running friends and family so they can join in the conversation and understand what you are trying to communicate.

Candice's blog can be found HERE

Check out the races that she directs / co-directs at Bellingham Trail Running

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Download a free audio book at Audible

Keith Hatfield Keith is a certified physician assistant of 15 years who had a 10 year career as a certified athletic trainer prior to that, including two years working in professional baseball with the Kansas City Royals organization. He discusses the following common lower leg ailments that runners might experience:

• Runner's Knee
• IT Band (stretch video)
• Meniscus Pain
• Planter Faciiatis

As an athlete, Keith suffered from planter faciiatis and tried most of the products that help stretch the foot. Out of necessity, he invented the Hatfield Strap. If you suffer from planter faciiatis, you might want to give his sit strap a try.

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Stephanie Howe, exercise physiologist, North Face elite runner, and coach, discusses nutrition with us. Stephanie is a coach with Rebound Oregon with Jay Dicharry (his podcast)

• Diet fads
• Super foods
• losing weight vs. improving fitness: how and when to focus on each
• Fish oils
• which carbs should you use when training/racing?
• iRunFar interview with Stephanie Howe after winning Speadgoat 50K on 2 weeks training after and injury.

Stephanie's Blog

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Your race is a couple days away and you find out that the temperature is going to be unseasonably hot. How should you change your race strategy? Sunny Blende discusses what you should change and how the heat will affect you. She also teaches us that heat acclimatization will benefit us in multiple ways even if our race isn't hot! We reference the article that Sunny wrote for the September 2013 issue of UltraRunning Magazine.

Here is a list of our other podcasts with Sunny:

• December 4, 2011 Unbreakable Review
• February 21, 2012 Ultrafuel for Ultrarunners
• June 5, 2012 Fueling for your First Ultra
• September 21, 2012 Metabolic Efficiency Training

We also mentioned the Australian, Cliff Young. Here is a video.

Jimmy Dean Freeman sets his sites on the 2014 Last Great Race . This race combines 6 of the toughest 100M races in the same year. In preparation JDF shares his experiences at running AC and Leadville within 13 days of one another.

Oral Hydration Salts

Jimmy Dean's Blog Inpired Running

Closing Song: Son's Gonna Rise by Citizen Cope

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Get your FREE audio book download at Audible

Start this podcast by watching this VIDEO

Sally McRae, Josh Spector, David Daley, and Billy Yang put together this training adventure challenge as a way to prepare for their upcoming race, Run Rabbit Run 100 mile race. A one day summit of the three largest peaks in Southern California - they dubbed it "The Triple Crown", but it has also been called the 8000M Challenge.

• Mt Jacinto, San Gorgonio, and Mt. Baldy
• 40 miles of running
• 14,500 vertical feet of climbing
• 18.5 hours total time
• 305 miles of driving between trail heads

Sally brings her posse (Josh, Billy, Colin Cooley, and Ethan Newberry) to talk about ADVENTURE TRAINING. It is a great way to mix up your training schedule and put yourself in a mock-type racing paradigm. It is a great way to build relationships with your friends and create some memories.

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Get your FREE audio book download at Audible

Pura vida is a characteristic Costa Rican phrase. It literally means pure life, however, the real meaning is closer to "plenty of life", "full of life", "this is living!", "going great", or "real living"

What better way to celebrate Pura Vida and trail running than to take a vacation to Costa Rica and participate in La Ruta Trail Race, a 50K or 100K of challenging trails.

• Wanna make it even better? How about inviting some Tarahumara to participate and give some of the entry fees to their struggling tribes.
• Wanna make it even better? If you are a TRN member (and let them know), you will get a $100 discount on the race entry!

Roman Urbina, a world-class multisport athlete who also puts on the Ruta de Los Conquistadore, a three-day mountain bike race that goes from the pacific to the atlantic - also named as Time Magazines, "top 10 most difficult endurance races" - has developed a trail race that you will love!

The 100K was described by famed Tarahumara, Silvino Cuberase Quimare (From the Novel Born to Run) as "one of the hardest ultras I've done". It claims 13,000-foot total elevation gain and tropical heat for the first half of the race. HERE is a fun video that Costa Rica TV produced.

If you are interested, please contact Roman and he will even help make arrangements for you, your family, and friends: rurbina@adventurerace.com

Get a free audio book download at www.audiblepodcast.com/trn

Warren joins us to talk about what has been on his mind:

• Running isn't just for runners anymore. Despite your epigenetics, there are more people running today - even those who with body types that do not lend themselves to this sport. Boils down to the nature v. nurture debate.
• His new diet: no wheat, dairy, sugar, alcohol, and caffeine. After a month, guess how he feels?
• Fell running (or mountain running) popular in Northern England. Originated in Scotland in 1040.
• Stu Mittleman, "Slow Burn: Burn Fat Faster by Exercising Slower"
• The Skinny on Obesity 7 part video series
• The new Royal prince and how that will effect trail running around the world.

Dr. Mark has had a busy summer. He recently returned from running the oldest and largest ultra marathon, Comrades Marathon in South Africa. This 89 km course started in 1921 and has nearly 20,000 participants annually. Our Dr. finished a respectable 869 out of 19,524. While he was out there, he also attended the Sports Medical Conference with Dr. Tim Noakes.

Check out our web site for more links that we talked about www.trailrunnernation.com

In 2012, Vanessa quit her job, sold all her possessions, purchased and RV and set off to live a life she had been dreaming of. She and her companion, Shacky, are traveling around the Americas " living day-to-day, bartering or trading for things that we need, sometimes doing freelance or contract work, and following our whims wherever they take us". We talk to Vanessa about her new book, "The Summit Seeker" a story of her life and how she has ventured to this point. She shares what she has learned about running from Malcom Gladwell, Alberto Salazar and Bilbo Baggins.

Ryan Green PhD has directed his mental prowess into the running shoe. Ryan Green is the managing partner in Varsity Sports, a running specialty store with 4 locations in Louisiana. He holds a PhD in kinesiology and a certified Athletic Trainer.

• How many miles should your shoes last?
• Yea or Nay to rotating your shoes?
• Shoelaces
• zero drop
• washing machines
• running gait and more

Sally McRae joins us to talk about the most common questions and issues she is asked by the athletes she coaches:

• How do I deal with injuries?
• How much do I need to run?
• What about Cross Training?
• Nutrition?
• Why are you the "yellow runner"?
• How do you balance being a Mom, business owner, coach and STILL find time for your personal training?

Dr. Steven Gangemi joins Faith, Don and Scott to talk about important trail running topics:

• Spray on tans.
• Groupon.
• Glycemic index.
• Trigeeks.
• Crossfit peeing.
• Knee pain.
• Groupon.
• Is orange the new tan?
• Running depression.
• Spray on tanning.
• Waking up at night hungry.
• Racing too often.
• Skippy Super Chunk Peanut Butter.
• Periodization.
• Groupon. Simple!

Sally McRae joins us to talk about the most common questions and issues she is asked by the athletes she coaches:

• How do I deal with injuries?
• How much do I need to run?
• What about Cross Training?
• Nutrition?
• Why are you the "yellow runner"?
• How do you balance being a Mom, business owner, coach and STILL find time for your personal training?

In the shadow of the 2013 Western States 100 mile endurance Run, Scott, Faith and Don talk about the WS100 experience. What's all the hype? Is it different than any other run? We take on the experience of the volunteers, pacers, crew and runner.

Dominic Grossman and Katie Desplinter have had the benefit of running in the lead pack for many years. What you may not know about them is that when they are not racing, they are avid volunteers pacing or crewing others. Dom and Katie record this podcast pre-Western States 100 - where Dominic paced Tim Olsen to his second win in the second hottest year.

We talk about strategies that can help you pace or crew AND how you, as a racer, can help your pacer and crew help you.

We join Ultralegend Tim Twietmeyer and Ultrarunner/Race Director Craig Thornley as we discuss the "Rules of the Trail" Who knew there are 18 rules for running Western States 100? Apparently each rule is a result of a circumstance that actually happened happened during the race.

In the Northern Hemisphere, we are now approaching the heat of the summer. Make sure you prepare yourself by listening and learning from a couple people that really know how to train for heat. Jimmy Dean Freeman, SoCal Coyotes, joins us with his friend Danny Westergaard. Danny has run Badwater 6 times and done a triple crossing of Badwater (875 miles). In seven years, Danny has crossed the Death Valley 16 times!

• How long should it take to become aclimated?
• What strategies work best?
• What advantages will you have if aclimated?

Ian Torrence has a deep resume of trail ultras:

• Finished over 170 ultras and has won over 50!
• In 1999, he finished 16 ultras and 1 marathon and won 12.
• In 2002, he completed the Grand Slam of Ultras
• 18 JFK finishes including 11 top ten finishes

He currently resides in the trail running mecca of Flagstaff, AZ where he trains and coaches for McMillan Running as their ultra-marathon coach. Ian talks to us about his experiences and how his body and training has changed over time, how he has adjusted his training to continue to race successfully and tips he feels will help you build a bonk proof body.

Gary Avery said, "Optimal Stress + Optimal Rest = Optimal Progress"

Greg joins us from McMillan Running, an online resource / coaching for runners, to discuss how important REST is in our training. He explains why "the most difficult situation is to be the fittest spectator at a race". In a recent Runner's World article, "Give it a Rest", Greg explains how better we perform when we incorporate rest into our training schedules: rest during our weekly program and after a race.

Closing Song: "Feeling Way Too Damn Good" by Nickleback.

To reach your athletic potential, Dr. Phil Maffetone shares the secret ingredient is in the kitchen. Nutrition is the foundation for performance and recovery. We open his Big Red Book and ask the author to connect his content to the trail. We discuss protein, fats and carbohydrates as we literally sit at the kitchen table with Dr. Maffetone.

Closing Song by Dr. Phil Maffetone Title Rosemary

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/we-all-need/id211046312

Join Ashey and Jimmy Dean Freeman as they share their adventure at the inagural Salon Sea Ultramarathon. Heat, rain, wind, COLD, 81 miles and 9,000 feet of climbing can make for an interesting race. What can make it more interesting? This is a team sport. Grab three of your closest running partners, strap on the same bib number and run together. This is NOT a relay.

Find Jimmy Dean Freeman at http://www.socalcoyotes.com/

Find Ashely Walsh at http://ashruns100s.com/

Follow Jimmy on Twitter @CoachJimmyDean

Follow Ashley on Twitter @Ashruns100s

Terry Orsi, aka Barefoot Terry, recently completed his first 50 mile event. We talk to Terry about how he began running barefoot, why he advocates barefoot running and how he keeps his feet "smooth as a baby's bottom".