For Better Or For Worse
by Marathon Handbook
For Better or for Worse: the show where a beginner and an elite runner, engaged to be married, try to survive training, racing, and each other.Meet the Hosts:Alexis D’Souza: Beginning runner, Gilmore Girls fanatic, real estate agent. 5k PB: TBD.“Alex catfished me into this whole running thing - 100 mile weeks was never part of the deal. But my siblings are into it, and my friends are racing marathons; so I’ve finally decided to see what this fuss is all about. It can’t be that hard, right?”Alex Cyr: Running nerd, writer and journalist, 63-minute half-marathoner.
Episodes
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How Much Time Off Should Runners Take After a Race Season?
Your race season is over. Now what? This week on For Better or For Worse, Alex and Alexis talk about one of the most underrated skills in running: taking time off the right way. Alexis took a break after her first 5K race season and now feels stuck in running’s “no man’s land.” She’s unsure when…
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I Ran a PB in the World’s Deepest Half Marathon | For Better or For Worse From Spain!
Alex Cyr takes on the Valencia Half Marathon, which may be the deepest half marathon field in the world. Recording live from Barcelona, Alex and Alexis break down the whole race weekend. This episode is brought to you by ASICS: Sign up for a free OneASICS account over at ASICS.com to get 10% off...
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Biggest Takeaways from my First 5k
Alexis ran her first 5K at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon weekend, and it went better than either of us expected. In Episode 22 of For Better or For Worse, Alex and Alexis go through the race one step at a time to show how Alexis crushed her goal time! This episode is brought to you by ASICS…
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Alexis’ First 5K Race: Pacing Strategy & Race Nerves
Alexis’ first 5K race is five days away, and the nerves have arrived. In this episode of For Better or For Worse, Alex and Alexis go through her race week. They cover how to pace a sub-26 5K, whether to bank time or run even splits, handling a crowded start line with no pacer, and what to do when...
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Should You PR in Training? Our "Prove It" Workouts Before Race Day
Episode 20 of For Better or For Worse! Alex and Alexis mark the milestone with a game of Two Truths and a Lie. In training updates, Alex goes way too hard in his "Prove It" workout three weeks before the Valencia Half Marathon. He runs an unofficial 10K personal best of 28:56 in practice, and the...
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I Raced My First Ever Mile (It Didn't Go to Plan)
Alexis has finally raced. Just 26 hours after the first-ever Bloor Street Mile in Toronto, Alexis D'Souza Cyr and Alex Cyr go through her first race, from start to finish: the race-morning nerves, the porta-potty standoff, the imposter syndrome at the start line, and Alex's pacing job (he admits…
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A 14:13 5k for Alex, Alexis Chooses Her 5k Race Pace
On Episode 18 of For Better or For Worse, Alex and Alexis kick things off with the ultimate runner's hypothetical: 300 meters from the finish line, in the lead, and your body betrays you... do you hold the line or take the L? Then it's training-update time: Alex breaks down his Yorkville 5K…
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Should Your Partner Have to Attend Your Races?
On this episode of For Better or For Worse, Alex and Alexis kick things off with a truly disgusting round of "worst first impressions" (snot rockets, projectile vomit, and a barrata tomato incident) before rehashing the real story of their own disastrous first date. Then it's into the training:...
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A 97-Mile Week, a Bee Sting, and Should Marathons Have Time Limits?
Alex is coming off the biggest mileage week of his life (97 miles / 154K!) and just signed Alexis up for a surprise race, while Alexis is nursing a bee sting and celebrating a new 5K race-pace PB. Then we get into the big one: should marathons have stricter time cutoffs, or should courses stay…
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We Ranked All 7 World Marathon Majors (Alex Is Back From Sydney)
Alex just landed back in Toronto after covering the Sydney Marathon, and Alexis has news of her own: she signed herself up for her very first race ever, without telling Alex first. They break down what actually makes a marathon a "major," the six-star (now seven-star) finisher medal, Boston's...
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We Play "Kiss, Marry, Kill" (Long Runs vs Workouts vs Easy Runs)
Today, we're playing Kiss, Marry, Kill... running edition. Alex and Alexis each pick which type of run (long run, workout, or easy run) they'd keep forever, marry for life, and never do again. Along the way: Alexis completes her first full week of real training for her October 5K, the two debate...
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I DNF'd My World Championships Qualifier... Here's What I Learned
Alex heads to Edmonton for the Canadian Half Marathon Championships with one goal: run fast enough to punch his ticket to the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen. What actually happens is a start-line scare over recording gear, a rough patch at 5K, and a DNF at 6K after throwing up…
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Building a Sub-27 5K Plan: Can a Husband Coach His Wife?
In this episode of For Better or For Worse, Alex walks Alexis (and you) through the 10-week beginner 5K training plan he built her from scratch, easy pace vs. threshold pace vs. race pace, how many days a week she should actually run, strength training, warm-ups, heart rate zones vs. running by...
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Her First 5K Time Trial Shocked Us Both | For Better or For Worse
Alexis just ran her first-ever 5K time trial and blew past everyone's predictions with a 28:53. In this episode of For Better or For Worse, Alex and Alexis break down the splits, the pre-race chaos (forgotten cameras, a Diet Pepsi "fueling strategy," and a rookie pacing mistake), and what it...
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How to Pace Your First 5K Time Trial
Alexis is running her first-ever 5K time trial and the whole Marathon Handbook crew is showing up to document it. In this episode of For Better or For Worse, Alex and Alexis break down exactly how a beginner runner should prepare for a race-pace effort: pre-race fueling, sleep, shoe choice, and a...
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Post-Wedding Running Motivation & Our Fall Half Marathon Plans!
What happens to your running motivation after a huge life event? We got married a few weeks ago, and while Alex went straight back into his toughest training block ever, Alexis hit a full week of "bride blues" and zero desire to run. We break down why that split happened, whether running couples...
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Our Wedding Recap! a 5K, Burnt Veil, and Wedding Crashers
After 8 episodes of wedding-season training talk, Alex and Alexis are officially married! In this episode of For Better or For Worse, the running couple breaks down their entire wedding week in Prince Edward Island: a 16-act talent show, a surprise 5K run for 90 guests, a burnt wedding veil, an...
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It's Been 6 Months... Alexis' 6 Running Lessons | For Better or For Worse
We're recording from Prince Edward Island, Alex's childhood home and the site of our wedding in ONE WEEK! Alex walks Alexis through 6 key categories every new runner struggles with: building mileage, nutrition, run intensity, Strava and the social pressure of running, sticking to a routine, and...
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Should You Run at Your Bachelor Party? + AI Coaches & Can Runners Dance?
We're two days out of our bachelor and bachelorette parties and Alex ran through his. Every morning. Hungover. Was that crazy, or completely reasonable? Alexis has strong thoughts, and you get to decide who's right in our new "His or Hers" segment.This week on For Better or For Worse, Alex Cyr…
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Alex FAINTED at a Dinner, Got 5 Stitches & Raced a National Championship
Alex and Alexis are back, and this might be their most chaotic week yet. Alex face-plants at a sushi restaurant two days before racing the Canadian 10K Championships in Ottawa, then has a close encounter with Hell's Angels on the highway. Somehow, he still finishes 7th... his best-ever national...
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Learning to Eat for My Biggest Running Week | For Better or For Worse
Alex Cyr and Alexis D'Souza are back for Episode 4 of For Better or For Worse, the show where a beginner runner and an elite runner, soon to be married, chase goals together (and occasionally argue about hockey and boiled eggs).This week, Alexis just finished her biggest training week ever…
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I've Just Started Running: Do I Have What it Takes? | For Better Or For Worse
For Better or for Worse is a weekly podcast following Alex Cyr and Alexis D'Souza: a couple soon to be married, each with a goal to run the best race of their lives this fall. Alex is an experienced competitive runner. Alexis is just getting started. Together, they're navigating wedding planning,...
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Wedding Planning Chaos: Are We Actually Ready? | For Better Or For Worse
For Better or for Worse is a weekly podcast following Alex Cyr and Alexis D'Souza: a couple soon to be married, each with a goal to run the best race of their lives this fall. Alex is an experienced competitive runner. Alexis is just getting started. Together, they're navigating wedding planning,...
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The Pilot! Planning our First 10k, First Podcast, and ...Wedding
For Better or for Worse is a weekly podcast following Alex Cyr and Alexis D'Souza: a couple soon to be married, each with a goal to run the best race of their lives this fall. Alex is an experienced competitive runner. Alexis is just getting started. Together, they're navigating wedding planning,...
About this show
For Better or for Worse: the show where a beginner and an elite runner, engaged to be married, try to survive training, racing, and each other.Meet the Hosts:Alexis D’Souza: Beginning runner, Gilmore Girls fanatic, real estate agent. 5k PB: TBD.“Alex catfished me into this whole running thing - 100 mile weeks was never part of the deal. But my siblings are into it, and my friends are racing marathons; so I’ve finally decided to see what this fuss is all about. It can’t be that hard, right?”Alex Cyr: Running nerd, writer and journalist, 63-minute half-marathoner.
Hosted by
Marathon Handbook