Steadfast Running

Jacob Thomson is a sub-13:30/28:00/2:16 guy who is now training in Flagstaff for the 2024 OT marathon. He’s also a coach and, through the business he and his partners have created (Thomson Training), he’s now helping other runners perform at the next level. In this episode we journeyed through his career as he went from top high school recruit, to SEC champion at Kentucky, to a 12th place finish at the Chicago Marathon. Listen for tips on training as well. One of my favorite stories he told was how a runner he coached skipped the 15s entirely en route to a 14:55 5K.————————————If you’re enjoying the podcast and want to show your support, please rate or write a brief review on Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/steadfast-running/id1457597546————————————Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/60id_STVjOo————————————-Support my work on Patreon or Venmo and receive bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/steadfastrunningVenmo: @jonathan-mederos ————————————-Subscribe to my free newsletter:www.steadfast

Laura has coached hundreds of runners and is completing her masters degree in applied exercise science. In this episode we really get into the physiology of training. What you’ll hear will either confirm what you already know or introduce you to the most novel and evidence-based approaches to training.———————————-If you’re enjoying the podcast and want to show your support, please rate or write a brief review on Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/steadfast-running/id1457597546————————————Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/6ycTWQ9x93Y————————————-Support my work on Patreon or Venmo and receive bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/steadfastrunning————————————-Subscribe to my free newsletter:www.steadfastrunning.weebly.comor send me an email and I will add you to the list —————————————To connect with Laura:Website: lauranorrisrunning.comEmail: laura@lauranorrisrunning.comInstagram: @lauranorrisrunning—————————————To connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter: @coachmederosEmail: run

Jason was a 4:48 miler in high school who went back to his alma mater as a coach and now continues their winning tradition. Jason teaches and coaches at St. Joseph Ogden High School, one of the top XC and track programs in the state of Illinois. In this episode we talked about the importance of building relationships and having fun. We also talked about consistency and the general outline of their training.—————————————Special thanks to Nathaniel Fast for helping me edit the new intro to the podcast. He offers branding and graphic design services through upwork.com—————————————Support my work on Patreon and receive bonus podcast content: https://www.patreon.com/steadfastrunning—————————————Subscribe to my free newsletter:www.steadfastrunning.weebly.com—————————————To connect with Jason Email: retzj@sjo.k12.il.us—————————————To connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter: @coachmederosEmail: run12795@gmail.comAlso on Facebook and Linked In (Jonathan Mederos)

Amanda is a highly sought after coach and lifestyle entrepreneur. Through her writing and through the online communities she’s created, people who once thought themselves to be slow and “not really a runner” have been emboldened to enjoy running for its own sake, pursue their goals, and view themselves in a new light. In this episode we talked about how she’s evolved as a runner over the past 20 years, what she considers to be important when coaching other runners, and some general training principles that have guided her work. Among these are low intensity training and the value of building strength. You can purchase a copy of Amanda’s latest book “Run to the Finish: The everyday runners guide to avoiding injury, ignoring the clock, and loving the run” here: https://www.amazon.com/Run-Finish-Everyday-Avoiding-Ignoring/dp/0738285994—————————————Support my work on Patreon and receive bonus podcast content: https://www.patreon.com/steadfastrunning—————————————Subscribe to my free newsletter:www.steadfastrunning

Dennis Barker is the author of “The River Road.” He’s coached at many different levels throughout his career. The 2:25 man from Minnesota coached at Augsburg University for 20 years. He also coached 2004 Olympian Carrie Tollefson and her Team USA Minnesota teammates. We covered a lot of ground on this episode from how he was exposed to high quality aerobic training in college to how he now prescribes training for a wide variety of athletes.————————————-Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/3OZQ_Ul-Tfs————————————-Support my work on Patreon and receive bonus podcast content: https://www.patreon.com/steadfastrunning—————————————Subscribe to my free newsletter:www.steadfastrunning.weebly.com—————————————To connect with Dennis:Website: www.coachbarker.comHis book “The River Road” is available here:https://www.amazon.com/River-Road-Becoming-Runner-1972/dp/1533191883—————————————To connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter: @coachmederosEmail: run12795@gmail.comAlso on Facebook and Linked In (Jonathan Meder

Jacob has a masters degree in kinesiology and works with a variety of athletes to improve their strength and conditioning. He’s been coaching since high school and owns his own commercial gym in Sandersville, Georgia. We talk about the training errors he made early on his career and how he’s improved over time. It’s great to hear a guy who would like to take a shot at an OTQ marathon someday talk about the importance of max velocity training and power lifting.————————————-Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/OWFLDIHBHko————————————-Support my work on Patreon and receive bonus podcast content: https://www.patreon.com/steadfastrunning—————————————Subscribe to my free newsletter:www.steadfastrunning.weebly.com—————————————To connect with Jacob: Twitter: @JBurgamy800Website: www.478-athletics.comTo connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter: @coachmederosEmail: run12795@gmail.comAlso on Facebook and Linked In (Jonathan Mederos)

Mike Fanelli’s entire professional career has revolved around track and field in one way or another. From his days as a club runner where he went 2:25 in the marathon to his days as a distance coach for Team USA to the work he’s done since then to promote the sport as an agent, commentator, archivist, and writer. Now Mike is 65 years old and his love for the sport shows no signs of decay. He is still running (in fact he’s training for a marathon on the 50th anniversary of his first one) with over 113,000 miles in his legs to date and is looking forward to coaching at the high school level soon. As always pick the coach’s brain on training and Mike, as usual, never fails to deliver to the track nerd audience. —————————————Support my work on Patreon and receive bonus podcast content: https://www.patreon.com/steadfastrunning—————————————Subscribe to my free newsletter:www.steadfastrunning.weebly.com—————————————To connect with Mike:Facebook (Mike Fanelli) To connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter:

Dante Ottolini has coached at the HS, collegiate, and professional level. He coaches Nathan Martin, the fastest black man born in the United States (2:11:05). In this episode we go deep into the experiences that have shaped Dante’s career up to this point and that have enabled him to guide the training of a potential Olympian. This is a long one but I think you’ll appreciate the breadth and depth of Dante’s reflections.————————————————————————Watch on YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LfzoJve7Rc0————————————————————————-Support my work on Patreon and receive bonus podcast content: https://www.patreon.com/steadfastrunning————————————————————————-Subscribe to my free newsletter:www.steadfastrunning.weebly.com—————————————————————————To connect with Dante:adanteo123@gmail.com(585) 820-9531To connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter: @coachmederosEmail: run12795@gmail.comAlso on Facebook and Linked In (Jonathan Mederos)

Mike is a coach for Luke Humphrey Running and an original member of the Hansons Distance Project. His personal best in the marathon is 2:14:22. He is also the Disney World Half Marathon course record holder (1:05:26). In this episode we traced through his running career and touched on his coaching/training philosophy.To connect with Mike:www.lukehumphreyrunning.com@mikemorgan (Twitter)To connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter: @coachmederosEmail: run12795@gmail.comAlso on Facebook and Linked In (Jonathan Mederos)

Peter Thompson is the performance director of the Spirit of Oregon club and is one of the world’s leading experts on coaching education. He’s been coaching for over 50 years and he worked for the IAAF for about 20 of those years. Peter believes very strongly that we need to move from knowledge-based coaching to competence-based coaching. We also touched on lactate dynamics, biokinetics, and what he calls the new interval training method.To connect with Peter:Facebook Messenger www.newintervaltraining.comTo connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter: @coachmederosEmail: jonathanmederos@hotmail.comAlso on Facebook and Linked In

David Suarez is a young high school coach in Miami, Florida but he’s already got a double state champ on his resume. In 2019 he coached Natalie Varela of Gulliver Prep to state titles in the 800m and 1600m. In this episode we speak about his high school and college running experiences. We speak about his decision to accept a coaching position at age 20 and what he’s learned since then. And of course we get into plenty of training theory!To connect with David:Instagram: @davidsuarezxcTo connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter: @coachmederosFacebook: Jonathan Mederos Email: jonathanmederos@hotmail.com

In this episode Coach Jon Mott of Lakeland Florida and RunnersFix Coaching Services returns to the show to talk about his training in greater detail. Since we last spoke to him in June of 2020 the 2:17 man improved his marathon PB and qualified for his third Olympic Trials. Jon is running up to 180 miles per week and plans on going higher. The overall mileage combined with certain key sessions (which we refer to in this episode) has worked really well for him and the athletes he works with.To connect with Jon:Strava: Jon MottInstagram/Facebook: RunnersFix Website: https://runners-fix.com/To connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter: @coachmederosFacebook: Jonathan Mederos Email: jonathanmederos@hotmail.comNewsletter: steadfastrunning.weebly.com

Mike Cunningham is the national sales manager for Gill Athletics and the host of the Track and Field Connections Podcast. He was a sprints, jumps, and hurdles coach for 10 years and much of that time was spent coaching in the SEC. We spoke about his journey and paid tribute to the coaches whom he’s crossed paths with. To connect with Mike:Twitter: @MikeCunningham Email: hurdle@gillathletics.comTo connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter: @coachmederosFacebook: Jonathan Mederos Email: jonathanmederos@hotmail.comNewsletter: steadfastrunning.weebly.com

In this episode I spoke to the coach of the No. 1 ranked team in the state of Florida. Samantha led Viera HS to a boys XC state title in 2021. Her top runner, Michael Toppi, set a new state record (14:41) and finished 30th in the country. We discuss her running background, how she got into coaching, and how she helps her runners get the best out of themselves. I apologize for the audio quality on this one. Samantha was at a conference while we were recording this episode and the wifi was not cooperating. However, she was steadfast in her resolution to make it work and we pulled through. Thank you coach!To connect with Samantha:Instagram: @runsonpizzaEmail: srgerrits710@gmail.comTo connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter: @coachmederosFacebook: Jonathan Mederos Email: jonathanmederos@hotmail.comNewsletter: steadfastrunning.weebly.com

I interviewed 13 coaches in 2021. Listen to a ~ 2-minute sound bite from each coach’s talk and decide which episodes might interest you the most. Good opportunity for new listeners to catch up on previously aired content.

Coach Mike Trees works with all levels of runners and triathletes through NRG coaching. He was a 3:45 1500m runner in college and then found a way to make a living as a pro triathlete for many years. As a masters runner he won a world title in the 10K at age 42 and was part of a record setting 4 x 800m relay at age 52. Mike uses this experience to help others perform at a higher level and enjoy their sport. To connect with Mike:Instagram: @run.nrgWebsite: nrg-coaching.comTo connect with me:Instagram: @steadfast_running Twitter: @coachmederosFacebook: Jonathan Mederos Email: jonathanmederos@hotmail.com

On this episode you’ll hear a clip from our 4th Annual SteadFast Running Clinic featuring guest speaker and coach Ryan Gregson. Ryan is the former Australian national record holder for 1500m (3:31.06) and is the founder of Gregson Running. The latter provides individualized coaching services to runners around the globe. To connect with Ryan:@gregsonrunning (Instagram)gregsonrunning.com.au To connect with me:@steadfast_running (Instagram)@coachmederos (Twitter)Jonathan Mederos (Facebook)jonathanmederos@hotmail.com

Coach Pete Magill is a legend in the masters running community. He ran 14:34 for 5K at age 46, 14:45 at age 49, and 15:42 at age 55. His club teams in Southern California have won over two dozen national championships and his books (such as “Fast 5K”) are a must read for any serious runner. In this episode we talk about the rebirth of his distance running career in his late 30s and the strategies that can help you run your best as you age.To connect with Pete:Facebook: Pete MagillBooks: https://www.amazon.com/Pete-MagillTo connect with me:@steadfast_running

Coach Ric Rojas was ranked in the top 10 US road racers from 1977 through 1981 by Track and Field News. He set a world record in 1981 at the Gasparilla 15K and defeated Frank Shorter at the inaugural Boulder Boulder race. Ric has coached a broad range of athletes over the last 50+ years. In this episode you’ll hear his thoughts on training and how he applies that to the people he works with including his daughter Nell Rojas who was the first American finisher at the 2021 Boston Marathon.To get in touch with Ric:rojasrunning.comTo get in touch with me:@steadfast_running

In this episode we talk to the coaches at ZAP Endurance. Coach Pete Rea has extensive experience working with elite athletes and he leads retreats for recreational runners as well. Coach Ryan Warrenburg is currently in charge of ZAP fitness coaching and was a former resident athlete. He was a national class steeplechaser and won Club Cross Nationals in 2007.We had a great conversation encompassing the history of our sport and best practices in coaching. You will also hear a lot of practical training advice! To get in touch with ZAP:Zapendurance.com@on.zap.endurance To get in touch with me:@steadfast_running