The Natural Running Network Live

It’s a pretty well known fact in most running circles that heel striking and over striding leads to injury. Many runners have made the shift to forefoot running and in doing so have migrated to zero drop shoes.  Unfortunately for many, this transition has not come easy and has lead to a variety of new problems such as debilitating calf and achilles soreness. Coach Richard Diaz addresses these concerns, and offers some advice on how best to approach this transition and sheds light on the likely culprits that lead to these problems, what to do when these problems arise along with an opinion on the decision regarding zeros drop as a shoe selection.  Is zero drop right for you? How long should this transition in running style take?  When obstacle course racing, should you train in one style of shoe and race in another? These answers and more in this episode.

We decided to take more questions on training was we often do, our favorite this time relates to our children in sports.  Are we doing the right things to encourage their enjoyment, desire to compete? Are we trying to live through our kids and causing more harm then good?  Coach Diaz has had years of experience in this arena and shares his insights. He also touches on his preferred shoe selection for racing OCR, heart rate training and how to fit it all in if you have a life and a 40 hour work week.  As a bonus, we share what it will take to get you a date with Zoe!    

The Bone Frog Challenge Race series aere obstacle course races designed and directed by Navy Seals.  These obstacle course races are gaining widespread popularity on the eastern seaboard due to their quality and unique challenges many drawn from Navy Seal Training.  Richard Diaz has invited Brian Carney, former Navy Seal and founder of the Bone Frog Organization to share what makes these events so unique. If you enjoy Spartan Races or Tough Mudder, you'll love The Bone Frog Challenge!  Learn more... www.naturalrunningnetwork.com  www.bonefrogchallenge.com  

Back to back OCR events 100 miles apart and I hit them both to show support for a few of my athletes in Veejay Jones and Hunter McIntyre. I invited a few talented athletes in Mike Ferguson and Race course expert Steve Hammond on the show to share their views on the weekends competition. The Rock Stars this weekend were Rea Kobal, Ryan Woods and Hunter McIntyre.  Tune in to get our views on two distinctly different challenges. Learn more... www.naturalrunningnetwork.comwww.diazhumanperformance.com

Veejay Jones is the youngest athlete to win a Spartan Race overall and is currently a member of The Spartan Pro Team. He is also an athlete coached by Richard Diaz.  In this episode, we discuss the prospects winning against the competition at the NBC Spartan Series season opener in San Jose California on March 24th, 2018. This season, Veejay has posted two wins and a second place finish in Spartan Race elite competition with his last event being 2nd (by just over a minute) behind Cody Moat last years Spartan world Champion. Veejay shares his insight relating to the contenders he’ll face and his hopes of eventually making his mark as a pro in the sport.

Have you been talked into making a change in your diet? Decided to go Vegan, Paleo or Keto? Did someone sell you on the promise of weight loss and greater performance as a benefit of making this radical change in your diet? Are you hoping to become “fat adapted”?  Richard Diaz asked Matt Fitzgerald, author of The Endurance Diet, Diet Cults and Racing Weight to come on and share some thoughts on the topic of fad dieting.  Before you do anything you may regret learning into you're “A” race, you may want to hear what he had to say.

Ever wonder about the use or potential benefits of wearing compression wear in a Spartan Race or Tough Mudder? Does it help circulation while running, does it help with recovery? Whats your take on the subject?  Zoe Szczepanek asks these questions of Coach Richard Diaz. Be warned these are opinions and they may not be shared or validated by any of the manufactures in question. Many claims are made on the increase of circulation, recovery and injury abatement, you be the judge. Learn More at www.naturalrunningnetwork.com   

The most common questions presented to me (Coach Richard Diaz) is “what Running Shoes Should I Buy”?  One would expect that my answer might be to name off a particular brand.  In this episode, we try to address the How to and what to look for when looking to purchase your next pair of running shoes so that you the inquisitive OCR athlete or Runner can make a better informed decision.  One that makes sense for you, beyond all the marketing hype you have to sift through.  The answer may surprise you or maybe not.  If you’ve been a follower of this podcast, you may already know the answer.  If not, it pays to listen as Zoe Szczapanek poses the questions and Richard Diaz provides his opinion.  This was a fun episode! Learn More... www.naturalrunningnetwork.com   

Have you ever asked yourself… "Am I doing too much, training too hard too often?” In this episode, Richard Diaz interviews Lennard Zinn and Chris Case the authors of - The Haywire Heart a book that reveals… How too much exercise can kill you, and what you can do to protect your heart. We all take pride in our athletic accomplishments, participating in Spartan Race and Tough Mudder, Ultra Marathons etc., we work hard to achieve lofty goals. This interview will make you pause and think which was my goal, not to scare you to death but to simply consider the consequences of pushing your body to hard too often.

Kirk DeWindt is the real deal. He may have done his stint on reality TV on various episodes of The Bachelor but when it comes to athletic prowess, Kirk is ready to bring it.  He has had some success early in Spartan Race events but this is the year he intends to show the world what he’s capable of.  Of course, I had to dig to satisfy my curiosity regarding the reality show experiences so regardless what may be your curiosity where Kirk DeWindt is concerned this is an unvarnished interview with “The Bachelor turned Spartan”.

Meet Zoe Szczepanek, the new co-host to the Natural Running Network Podcast. Anyone who has attended a Spartan Race or Tough Mudder has most likely seen her.  What you may not know is that she has an on going battle with a debilitating hip injury associated with her lust for competition.  Zoe comes clean and shares her story, how she was injured, The mistakes she’s made and how she has taken an aggressive approach n her road to rehabilitation so that she can get back to running and the sport she loves, intelligently and for years to come. www.naturalrunningnetwork.co

One of most favorite things to do and most popular for our audience is to answer questions!  At the end of the day, most obstacle course racing athletes who tune into our show do so to pck up training tips and pearls of wisdom.  What could be better than to come ont our show and pose your questions live?  If you're too shy, simply write your questions down on our social media feeds @zoeszcz or @diazhp and we'll try to address them during the show. The best questions qqualify to win a free Virtual Video Gait Analysis by Coach (Me) Diaz, a $175.00 value.  if you love Spartan race or Tough Mudder, even if you just love Running.  You don't want to miss this show!

Faye Stenning is arguably the fiercest competitor on the Spartan Race circuit. Aside from her racing career, she runs a successful OCR coaching business.  To her credit, her openness to step outside her experience to learn from her colleagues provided some powerful insight for her leading into the 2018 OCR Race Season. Faye recently attended Richard Diaz's OCR Run Clinic in Southern California in this episode Faye shares her opinion as it relates to this experience and visit to "The Secret Lab".  This also marks the introduction to our new Co-Host Zoe(whats her name)Szczepanek who we are pleased to have onboard.

Its been weeks since our last podcast, forgive me.  I had a big birthday and left the country to celebrate followed by a few weeks on the road putting on running clinics but... We're Back!  In this episode (to be continued in the next episode) we discuss: What it feels like to hit the wall in a Marathon and how to avoid it.First steps in prepping for the new OCR season, what to do and why.Its a relatively short episode but we're coming back to nail the New Season topic in just a few days, don't miss it!

The Natural Running Network has consistently delivered cutting edge information for endurance athletes for a bit over 5 years with over 300 episodes doled out weekly.  As a show of gratittude we decided to host a Black Friday "Best of Episodes" contest. The winners will recieve gifts ranging from free entry into diaz human performance's OCR Run Clinics (valued up to $500) and gift certificates to Human Octane, the finest OCR Training and Racing apparel.  Three episodes were elected, during this show we will announce the winners and play snippets from these three episodes.  If you are a fan of our podcast, you'll enjoy hearing three of the best by popular demand. #naturalrunningcoach  #diazhumanperformance  #humanoctane

What do you get when you mix an American flag with a Canadian? You get an US “Ay” instead of a USA!  Team US-Ay members Miguel Medina and Austin Azar join us to share thoughts on their 2nd place finish at Worlds Toughest Mudder and the conversation goes way of point. For example, whats the dating scene look like for the studdly Canadian?  Will he move to the States? Listen to shared comments about the state of Worlds Toughest Mudder given the shift in prize purses and a whole lot more.  Honestly, this was a fun conversation.  I dare you to listen and keep a straight face!

It may seem like a heavy statement to say “The Fittest Runner I’ve Ever met” but in all the years of assessing the fitness of athletes (over two decades) this runner, Blue Benadum has consistently tested off the charts in a VO2max test, I’m talking over 85 mls/kg/min!  To put this in perspective,  a score that high would rank in the top 1% of the fittest athletes in the world. This does not necessarily mean the top performer in a category but, Blue is no slouch. He won the Lake Tahoe Triple Marathon (3 consecutive marathons over 3 days) with an average finish of under 2:55 each. At the conclusion of the final marathon (which was the fastest) he executed 100 air squats and 100 pushups on there finish line!  This weekend he’ll participate in an IronManTriathlon with less than 9 weeks of preparation on a borrowed bike.  You got to hear the entire story~

I’ve often spoke of the importance of dedicating time to MSD sessions in each training week. They will not only keep you sharp, fine tune your running skills but if you’re not already doing them, it may be the reason you can’t seem to break through your performance plateau’s. If you are currently dong what you’ve been told are speed workouts at the track and you are not doing or don’t understand the nature of the motor skill development drills explained in this podcast, all of your hard work will ultimately yield little progress. The process I’ll explain in this episode, taken to heart has the potential to bring your performance to the next level and well beyond expectation.  If you’re a runner, if you compete in Spartan Races or Tough Mudder, you do not want to miss this episode.  

The beginning of this episode starts out with some high opinionated commentary about the state of OCR, bad decisions made by Tough Mudder, followed with curiosities regarding the direction taken by Spartan Race.  Once thats done, Shan Kahn and I discuss the importance of getting the numbers right with training; how much volume to take on, the intensity, how heart rate plays into all of this when planning for a race, diet and a lot more!  If you stick through the opening chatter, you’ll get some good advise to help you train smarter, not harder!

It may seem like a play on words but Allison Tai is one Tough Mudder in every sense of the phrase.  Just recently coming off of the win at The Spartan Ultra Beast World Championships this year (2017), she is setting her sites on the win at The Toughest Mudder World Championship in a matter of weeks.  Her story is one of fables, having been taken out by a car while riding her bike, suffering a broken back, hip and arm to return to ultra endurance racing is simply amazing.  We talk with Allison about her goals, her desire to break 100 miles at WTM and the competition.