#130 All your Training & Racing Questions Answered, with Run Coach Elisabeth Scott (Running Explained)

On this episode of the podcast, Nathan and Matt are joined by a very special guest: Elisabeth Scott of Running Explained! Elisabeth lends us her coaching expertise to answer all of your (and our) training and racing questions: favorite workouts, how to understand heart rate data, burnout, Strava drama, and more! Tune in for a enlightening and fascinating discussion that's sure to improve your running journey! Elisabeth started Running Explained with the mission to help runners of all experiences and abilities become students of the sport and understand the how, what, and why of running! Although active in sports growing up (including swimming, cross-country, and downhill skiing), running just to run was never on her mind! After a long stretch of inactivity through college and her late twenties, Elisabeth picked up running at the age of 29 and set the goal of running a local 5k... just to "get in shape!" Within 6 months, she had run a 5k, 10k, half marathon, and full marathon, finishing her first half in 1:56 and her first full in 4:05 (which at the time was devasting... and in retrospect is something she is eminently proud of). This "crash course" in running (including learning a lot about what not to do) fueled the inspiration for the work she does today. You can find her online everywhere @runningexplained. The Subjective: what's the best running advice you've received? Chapters 0:00 - Introduction 2:26 - Elisabeth's journey to become a run coach 8:59 - A day in the life of a running coach 15:31 - What are your favorite workouts for specific distances? 23:52 - How slow should my easy miles be? 30:58 - How much stock do you put in to heart rate data & training? 38:40 - Why you should ignore your heart rate during a race 41:44 - What to make of VO2 and race predictors on our smartwatches 46:53 - How much do you need to run before tackling your first marathon? 51:24 - What should you do when you feel burnout? 54:47 - Should you use Strava? 59:59 - What kind of splits should you try for during a race? 1:03:07 - Are post-race blues a real thing? 1:06:04 - Wrap-up This episode is sponsored by InsideTracker. InsideTracker gives you a personalized approach to health and longevity by providing highly specific, performance focused bloodwork analysis. Created by experts in aging, genetics, and biometric data from Harvard, Tufts and MIT – Insider Tracker provides personalized health analysis and clear recommendations plus an action plan on how to live healthier, longer. For a limited time you can get 20% off the entire InsideTracker store when you sign up by using insidetracker.com/doctorsofrunning.