The Run4It Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, Finlay chats to professional runner for Nike and the NN Running Team, Jake Smith, about his rise in running and his challenges with Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). Jake talks openly about his history with disordered eating and obsessive-compulsive-esque training, and the toll underfuelling and overtraining eventually took on his body - causing severe injury, illness and mental distress.

Speaking to Finlay fresh off a standout stage win at the Welsh Castles Relay, Jake talks about what it’s taken to step back from the sport – recover, reset, re-evaluate – and come back stronger in pursuit of sustainable performance. 

Key takeaways:

• RED-S can affect anyone – female, male, elite or amateur regardless of age, gender, and ability – if their physical activity exceeds their caloric intake.
• High training load with inadequate fuelling or lack of recovery can contribute to RED-S.
• Aside from missing periods (female athletes), there are several other signs that you might be suffering from RED-S. Such as fatigue, frequent illness, poor bone health, low/altered mood,  disrupted sleep, hunger pangs and more. In men, a telltale sign is low testosterone levels (checked via a blood test).
• With the support of his team, coach, family and friends, Jake is returning to full fitness by following a more sustainable training programme (higher quality and less) and fuelling properly.
• 38 minutes into the episode, Jake describes his typical training week then vs now, noting his change from a hard, all-out, “more more” approach to a more rounded, balanced approach, which sees hard running replaced with low aerobic cross-training.

What’s next for Jake? Paris 5K in July and Berlin Marathon in September, where he and his sister hope to secure the Guinness World Record for the fastest cumulative marathon time run by a pair of siblings.

Follow Jake Smith on Instagram @jakeliamsmith98

For more information on RED-S follow @project_reds_

📸 @globalsportscommunication via @jakeliamsmith98.

To get in touch, email: thepod@run4it.com. 

In this episode, Finlay sits down with Matt Fox, the Founder and Content Director of Sweat Elite, a sports media company that shares incredible insight into how the world’s best athletes train and prepare for competition, in order to inspire and motivate runners at every level.

Matt has vast experience in middle distance and long distance running, having competed at an international level in the 800m and 1500m, and ran 9 marathons in times of 2:20 - 2:24.

In this episode, Matt talks through the purpose and history of Sweat Elite. He shares some of the secrets of high performance he’s observed over the years and he talks through his pursuit of a sub-2:20 marathon in 2024.

We hope you will be inspired!

Subscribe to Sweat Elite on YouTube @sweatelite and follow them on Instagram @sweatelite.

Find Matt Fox on Instagram @mattinglisfox.

📸 @missionrun_darksky via @mattinglisfox

To get in touch, email: thepod@run4it.com. 

Finlay wears his sports scientist hat in this episode while Chris grills him about heart rate variability (HRV) - the long-celebrated metric in sports science that measures the time variance between heartbeats to give an indication of stress and how prepared the body is to perform. 

The new Garmin Forerunners 255 and 955 both come with long-term HRV tracking functionality, meaning Garmin watches are now providing something recreational athletes previously needed a Whoop band and subscription to monitor. Fortunately, Finlay's been using a Whoop band for sometime, and recently upgraded his watch to the Forerunner 255, and has been using both pieces of kit to compare them.

So...

Is HRV the game changer prominent athletes make it out to be? Yes, undoubtedly. Does it apply to someone who isn't a professional athlete or an aspiring king of the hill club runner? Well actually, yes, and the more recreational your running, and the busier, more time-crunched your life is between work and family commitments, the more applicable monitoring your HRV could be, not only to your athletic performance, but to your general health and wellbeing. 

Listen to find out more.

To get in touch, email: thepod@run4it.com.

Trail running can vary from well manicured gravel roads, all the way up to braving the elements across challenging skyline routes. In many ways, it's road running without the concrete, but steeper gradients and inconsistent terrains can make the physical and logistical demands of the trails completely different.

In this episode Chris and Finlay discuss everything you need to know to get started in trail running, whether you're just looking to mix up your surroundings and break the monotony of pounding the same old pavements, or you have ambitions to take to the mountains and tackle monster distances. They're talking shoes, kit, and some key tips, both mental and technical, to make the transition away from the asphalt a little easier.

To get in touch, email: thepod@run4it.com.  

This week's episode is a first-hand recap of what it's like to qualify and compete at the IRONMAN World Championships in Hawaii from our own co-host Finlay McAndrew.

Kona is a unique event in all sports. Thousands of triathletes pilgrimage to Hawaii in October every year, each and every one of them having earned their coveted spots as professionals or in their age-groups to compete on IRONMAN's main stage.

Finlay last raced in his age-group at the world championships in 2016, but having only qualified a few months before, fell short of his own expectations. Having qualified again at IRONMAN Barcelona in 2019 with a PB of 8:42:11, with the subsequent delays due to the pandemic, the 2022 race represented the culmination of over a decade of racing long distance triathlon. It presented an opportunity to go back to Kona and race in a way that he could cross the line and feel satisfied with what he'd done. 

Regular listeners will be familiar with the extent of Finlay's preparation for his return to Kona - working on developing his metabolic plasticity through a high fat, low carb approach to nutrition, and utilising heat training protocols to prepare for Kona's unique racing conditions. If you've followed his journey at all, this is not one to miss, but even if this is your first experience of the Run4It Podcast and you're just a fan of a hard-working athletes on long pursuits of lofty goals, the same applies. 

To get in touch, email: thepod@run4it.com. 

In this episode Dr Gert-Peter Brüggemann and Andre Kriwet - two of True Motion's founders - join Chris and Finlay to talk about their challenge to the running shoe industry. 

In this episode you'll see just how deeply involved and influential Dr Brüggemann and Andre have been in the industry, get a real insight into how much work goes into developing and building new running shoes, and learn what they're doing differently to help runners now that they're running their own company. 

If you've laced up a premium pair of running shoes in the last 20 years, the chances are one or both of our guests has had some influence on their design. 

True Motion is a highly technical, science-based running shoe brand on a mission to reduce injuries for everyday runners. 

To get in touch, email: thepod@run4it.com. 

In this episode we're joined by James Dunn, a former Scottish Hill Running champ, and a 2:22 marathoner (among other distinctions). He's also a tech rep for ON running and is a long-time Run4It team member. 

James talks to Chris and Finlay about his storied running journey so far, including his recent switch from hills and mountains to the asphalt, and gives an introduction into the history and the principles behind ON Running shoes.

This edition is chock-full of practical advice, fascinating insights, and earnest wisdom from a man who lives and breathes the sport of running. 

To get in touch, email: thepod@run4it.com.

In this episode respiratory physio Andy Smith joins Chris and Finlay to talk about how to go about getting back to training after suffering from long Covid. 

As well as offering insights from his work as a respiratory physio, Andy also discusses his experience of getting back to training following a bout of long Covid at the start of the year. 

This is broad-strokes, practical advice for recreational athletes unsure of how to get back to training following prolonged bouts of Covid. 

To get in touch, email: thepod@run4it.com.

In this episode Chris and Finlay do a deep dive into how to fuel for endurance sports, from the half marathon up to ultras. 

Taking on the correct nutrition to sustain long, arduous training runs and to allow the body to execute on race day is an area frequently neglected by everyday athletes, with it too often being relegated to an afterthought. 

This episode looks at the science behind why the body needs to take on extra carbohydrates and electrolytes during longer runs and races, and lays out the tools to put into practice an effective nutrition plan.

To get in touch, email: thepod@run4it.com. 

Base miles, easy running, long slow distance, zone 2... it's got a lot of names but they all refer to the low intensity work that should make up the bulk of any endurance athlete's training.

In this episode, Chris and Finlay discuss the science behind why zone 2 training is important to long term improvement and how to effectively implement it, be that through perceived rate of exertion (RPE), heart rate (HR), pace curves, or power, and the reasons why most runners tend to get it wrong and end up training in the "grey zone" - too fast to benefit from the gains of slower running, too slow to benefit from the gains of faster running.

If you find this week's episode helpful, you may also enjoy our episodes discussing the high fat, low carb approach to fuelling endurance sports, and heat training. 

To get in touch, email: thepod@run4it.com.