The coaches spend the first part of the podcast discussing the disastrous rain at the Marine Corps Marathon today before touching on the wildfires in California (if you are affected, please let us know!) and remind their clients that personal safety is PARAMOUNT and it does not make you a weenie. Period. This leads to an old post of Coach MK's about DNFing and DNSing, two decisions that are terribly difficult to make and don't get enough credit. It's harder to tap out, even when it's the right choice, because we only celebrate participation when it is AGAINST ALL ODDS as well as common sense.  Finally, Coach MK talks about Tillie the Terrible Swede, the OG ultraracer, who paved the way for Maggie Guterl to be ignored this week. Maggie and Camille Herron (to name a few) are redefining human capacity in ways that are meaningful to MK and her daughters in ways the broken two-hour marathon barrier never could.     Runner, Interrupted #weeklywins - self care! I went to the local coffee shop for an hour before work Friday and bought fancy coffee and wrote in my journal. It felt so good to reward myself this way after a tough week. Making it a priority now a few times a month. #weeklywins Rocking my Halloween socks at work and my Coach MK costume Also VOLUNTEERING AT MCM! You rock, they needed it!   ReBuild I am now running a lot of hills (FUCKING hills). Very steep up and downs that turn shorter runs into hill repeats every time. About 15 years ago I had a coach give suggestions about hills but I only remember the going up advice. (Lock cage, increase cadence) I vaguely remember something about sitting back when going down hills? Can you give some tips on physical technique for hills? Thank you! (pretend you are riding a unicycle) So in a recent checkup, my OB/GYN said that dual-leg strength moves that put extra pressure on the abdomen can make pelvic floor issues worse. I don’t remember if his source was a study or a book. He said old school sit-ups, Russian twists, squats and planks were all problematic. That single-leg staggered stance moves were better. My basic response was, “What the hell? You’ve got to be kidding me?!?!” What say the coaches? -Ann from TX That is correct! Most strength programs tend to be all-over body workouts, and a move like a Russian Twist is fantastic and to do it correctly you need to use a lot of muscles.    Maintain Race Shoutouts: Shara Alpern did the MC 10K, and Laura Zale and Denny Krahe did MCM! And Tamara did her WC-50 Ultra Trail Marathon!   Can you talk a little bit about tips/tricks, what to look for when choosing a therapist?  Who’s available and affordable? Do they listen? If they listen, do they validate? What kind of therapy do they do? EMDR (Coach MK on reliving trauma and triggers) Finding someone who is respectful of boundaries  I'm eyeing a 50k at the end of February (I live in the desert Southwest). What do you think about me using the marathon ramp plan to train for that? Should I just increase the distance of a few of the long runs (and train on trails, of course) Possible! We will think about extension that need to be made! Terrain MATTERS - you need some specific skills. Follow up and tell us what race this is! Antelope Canyon?Graphic from IRunFar with elevation overlaid over Boston marathon I have a tightness in my left glute/upper hamstring (I think this is the location, anyway) and so did a run in the pool instead of my regular Sunday workout. (My Sunday is the plan's Friday). My question is this: what is your opinion on doing a pool run instead of on land/treadmill on a fairly regular basis for the Friday run? Love it as long as we don’t have a race coming up where we care about performance - if we are here for fitness then SHOOT YEAH. I am going to try my first EAT this week. I've never done it before and am wondering what's the best way to figure out average pace for each of the segments? Should I be hitting my lap button after every lap or after the 5 laps at each heart rate level? Do I need to run in lane 1 of the track for it to be accurate? (I'm not very familiar with how the track markings work). And one more question- can I seriously hit 180 bpm?! What if my heart rate doesn't go that high? Isn't it limited by age? (Total newbie to this stuff) Thanks! Links to our EAT content! Please miss, can we have a reminder of the desk series strength circuits. Because we want MORE ( that we can do at the office) and our butts and legs are feeling it on the trails. Thank you as always Karen Sutton ❤️🥰 Links to desk series stuff!!!!!!!!!! Suggested exercises for shin splints Shin is tiny muscle not intended to do much - overloading the shins, pushing body harder or faster than it’s ready to go at the time, prob glutes arent firing   Links and more on the blog at https://www.coachedandloved.com/blog/