The Multifaceted Athlete with Coaching Klutz

I am SO EXCITED for my guest this week - Diane Lauren! Diane is an avid runner and also a software engineer in tech. We got connected in social media a while ago, and somehow this conversation was the first time we chatted "in person."

This conversation felt to me like two friends catching up, and I hope you enjoy coming along with us.

Some topics we chat about:

• How Diane got into software engineering
• How Diane got into running
• Walking onto the XC team in college
• How starting running later helped her retain her love of the sport
• Comparing college experiences in Canada vs the States
• Geeking out about different areas of running
• Completion vs time goals
• The importance of sharing failures
• Getting criticism on social media as a woman
• Heart rate training
• Why she doesn’t depend on her watch
• Why she loves time based runs
• Will she venture into trail running?
• Her 2024 running goals
• Marathon racing strategy vs 5k racing strategy

Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH DIANE:

A short lil episode for you today - some thoughts about experimenting with your training, inspired by Parker Valby's training methodology.

Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH ME:

Do you love women's cross country like I do? Well, good. That's what we're talking about today!

Specifically: the NCAA DI championships that occurred this past weekend, Parker Valby vs Katelyn Tuohy, NC State vs NAU, and my experience walking onto the DI cross country team at Hofstra in 2010.

Enjoy!

This week on What's What with Klutz #11, I chat about 3 main topics that are top of mind for me: - intrusive thoughts that cropped up from not being able to run as much - goal setting with competing goals - the NCAA XC showdown this weekend between Parker Valby and Katelyn Tuohy

Note: when I was talking about the race where Parker beat Katelyn, I said it was the ACC championships, but it was the Nuttycombe Invite. Apologies!

Today, Jake Tuber joins me on the podcast! Jake founded the Endeavorun retreats, which is where we met a little over a year ago. He's also an injured runner who has been dealing with injury for over 4 years.

We spend this episode chatting about:

Dealing with an injury for 4+ years

Grappling with the loss of running

Dealing with feeling angry, bitter, jealous and resentful

Being a dad to 2 girls

Running vs racing

Being competitive as an amateur athlete

Favorite track and field events and athletes

Jake’s most controversial track and field opinion

Creepy AI photos

Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH JAKE:

I debated not recording a podcast this week but remembered that I committed to staying consistent, just like I preach for my runners!

I chat through my feelings about staying consistent with content creation vs running and the progress (however small) of my foot injury.

Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH ME:

Spoiler alert: it's probably less than you think.

I'm big on helping runners break into ultramarathons, and one of the biggest barriers is how much time per week you need to train for one. Many assume that you need 8+ hours per week to run a 50k, and that's just not true.

I break down how long you need to train for a 50k, a good starting point before training, and take you through a typical training block progression leading up to race day.

Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH ME:

It's less than 2 weeks after my ultra, so let's talk about recovering post race. I discuss my three different ultra races, how I went about recovery for each, and what I'm dealing with right now.

Enjoy!

I feel like I've been talking about the DC Peaks 50 forEVER, and the day finally arrived this past weekend. This race was....wild. And much harder than I could have ever anticipated. I ended up dropping at the mile 37.5 aid station and am really proud of how far I got and how long I was moving. Listen in to hear how the day went, why I DNFed, and how I feel now.

CONNECT WITH ME:

Join Alyssa and I as we chat about who we think an "athlete" is and why we think it's beneficial for you to identify as one if you're someone who participates in a sport!

We chat about some reasons folks don't identify as athletes, our history with sports, gatekeeping in climbing and running, how social media affects who we consider to be an "athlete," benefits of identifying as an athlete, and more!

I wasn't sure if I would get an episode out this week with my recent travel schedule, but WE DID IT! Today I chat about what's been top of mind lately: traveling during the taper period.

Taper week could be a great time to go on a trip, and I also chat about some considerations to make when booking your travel.

Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH ME:

Join me in this solo episode about all the runs: long, group and easy. I riff on how to make long runs less daunting, fitting in group/social runs into your training and shame around easy run paces.

Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH ME:

Lucie is back on the podcast today after an AMAZING debut 100 mile race at Leadville last month (she got second place!!). As her coach and friend, it was so special being there, and I can’t wait for you to hear her perspective on the day, preparation and aftermath.

We chat about logistics going into the race (crew and pacers - how to choose), a section by section recap of what happened during all 23 hours of the race, how Lucie's dealing post race and more.

Ahhh a weekend in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, relaxing and running.... 17 miles? I was originally signed up to run the 50k but dropped down last month due to one of my various niggles, and boy am I glad about that decision. Enjoy this recap of the Continental Divide Trail Run and the whole weekend in Steamboat!

CONNECT WITH ME:

A solo episode about my experience crewing and pacing Lucie at the 2023 Leadville 100.

Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH ME:

Join me on today's What's What with Klutz episode to chat about my frustrations and feelings around ultra training and dealing with a lack of motivation.

CONNECT WITH ME:

This week I welcome Drew Mulvey to the podcast to chat about fueling and RED-S. Drew is a board certified nutrition specialist and certified integrative sports nutritionist and has been through RED-S (relative energy deficiency in sport) herself. She's extremely passionate about helping female athletes transform their performance through individualized testing and whole foods.

We chat about:

Learning to use food as fuel

Shifting perspective from external motivators to performance

Getting diagnosed with RED-S

Fueling on rest days and during injury cycles

Indicators of RED-S

When and where to seek help

Blood markers to check & alternative tests

Increasing food intake for busy folks

Fueling around workouts

Biggest struggle she sees with endurance athletes

Eating before an early run

and so much more.

Enjoy!

Join me in answering some listener questions this week!

I answer:

What are your thoughts on the proper way to increase volume (10% rule?)? How does cross training fit into that?

How long should I take off of running after a race?

Should a 7 min/mi runner and a 13 min/mile runner do the same length (distance) long runs?

Have a question you want answered? Email it to me or ask me during Tuesday Q's Day over on Instagram!

In true What's What with Klutz fashion, today is all about some random topics that have been on my mind lately.

On deck today is:

Reflecting on 50 mile training and why I don't run ultras every year

Dealing with running in the heat

How is your sleep

Reflecting on having access to all the data all the time

Enjoy!

This week I'm so excited to be joined by one of the cohosts of my favorite podcast, Joy Parrish! Joy is a cohost of This is Joy and Claire, a licensed professional mental health counselor, and a puppy raiser. When I first discovered Joy and Claire (formerly the Girls Gone WOD podcast), Joy was REALLY into Crossfit and fitness (she's run 4 marathons!). Through the years, her relationship with fitness has changed a lot, and that's exactly what we chat about today.

We dive into:

Her mindset around exercise and diet in college

The influence of societal messaging on her journey

How Graves' disease changed everything

Revamping with way she looked at exercise

Motivation for working out in 20s/30s (aesthetic) vs now

Identity wrapped up in fitness

How social media affected her relationship with exercise

Initial thoughts on Threads

Joy’s favorite hair products

What movement brings her joy now

and so much more.

Enjoy!

Listen to This is Joy and Claire wherever you listen to podcasts

I'm so excited to be joined by Sarah Scozzaro for this episode! I invited Sarah to come on to talk about her recent experience (finally) running Western States 100 - something shes's been dreaming about for over a decade.

We dive into:

- The 10 year lead up to getting into States

- How she approached race day

- Her racing superpower

- Focusing on having an “experience” rather than an “event”

- Being fully present all day and having joy be the driver

- The experience of finishing during Golden Hour

and so much more!

Enjoy!

You may know I have strong feelings about using heart rate to steer training for running BUT I know lots of people love it, so let's talk about it.

I cover: why I don't love using heart rate by itself, the typical zones, how I recommend calibrating your zones, and how I like to integrate heart rate into training.

Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH ME:

Join me this week as I answer these listener questions:

• how to schedule strength to keep hard days hard and easy days easy especially with a full time job and other life responsibilities?
• how to taper?
• how far out should I start training for my 50k?

Got more questions? Send them over to me via email or Instagram, and I'll answer them on a later episode!

CONNECT WITH ME:

Welcome to the first episode of Lifting, Running & Living with Kelly and JK!

We're so excited to announce that after many collaboration episodes on our individual podcasts, we've committed to starting this third one together. Kelly is a running coach and host of the Multifaceted Athlete with Coaching Klutz podcast. JK is a strength coach and host of the Help Me Understand podcast. Join us every other Friday and be a fly on the wall of our conversations!

This week we chat about training & life updates, books we're reading, unfollowing and muting people on social media, adjusting training when you're "short on time", and trash TV we're loving right now.

Enjoy!

Welcome back to another What's What with Klutz! On my mind today is a couple really exciting and inspiring stories from the women's track world and the runner's knee I've been dealing with for 3 weeks.

Enjoy!

Race links:

I am SO honored to have Joe Corcione, the host of the Everyday Ultra podcast, on the podcast this week! I asked Joe to come on to chat about his big scary goal of getting a golden ticket to Western States and was pleasantly surprised at all the twists and turns we took along the way. I know you're going to absolutely love this conversation.

We dive into:

How Joe got into running/ultrarunning

Substance abuse & getting sober

Embodying growth mindset

Pain + reflection = progress

Using pain to inspire change

Fear of failure & a different way to view failure

Taking action vs preparation

“Everything is my fault”

Shooting for a golden ticket for Western States

The power in putting words to your goals

Lessons from Javelina Jundred last year

and so much more.

Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH JOE:

JK is BACK for another crossover episode! In true JK and Kelly fashion, we had a loose plan of what we wanted to talk about that was taken off the rails by many tangents and stories.

Here's what we covered:

- what is an influencer?

- are we influencers?

- dealing with gymtimidation 

- gym layouts

- intimidation around running groups

- how to find running groups

- that one time JK ran a half marathon

- considerations for training while traveling

- vacation travel vs work travel vs visiting family

- running in an unfamiliar area 

- 75 hard

and so much more.

Enjoy!

Long time no talk! It's been over 2 months since our last What's What with Klutz episode, so it was time for a catch up episode.

This week I’m ecstatic to be joined by my friend, Lauren Clement. Lauren came on the podcast to share her story of her last year: from training hard for CIM to breaking her ankle in a freak accident to running at the Boston marathon.

Whether you’re currently injured or have been before, Lauren’s story is sure to inspire you.

We chat about:

Why she got into marathons

What the heck happened to her ankle

Reflecting on the cause of the break

Staying positive through injury

Mentally dealing with a broken ankle

Staying in the present

How her first run/walk post injury felt

Leaning on positivity, gratitude and curiosity

Training for Boston while returning from injury

The Boston Marathon experience

Adjusting training to optimize recovery

This week on the podcast I’m delighted to be joined by Jason Fitzgerald of Strength Running to chat more about one of my favorite topics - strength training!

Jason and I dive into:

How Jason discovered the benefits of strength training

Sandwiching runs with a dynamic warmup and core/strength work

How strength training helps injury prone runners

Why warming up for your runs behooves you

Simplifying your strength routine

Shifting mindset from runner to athlete that specializes in running

When to sacrifice time running for strength training

Using hills to supplement strength

Thinking long term instead of short term

The importance of strength training for longevity

Groups that may need to strength train more than others

What it means to be a performance oriented runner

Minimum equipment for strength at home

What does “heavy weightlifting” mean

Periodization for weightlifting

Plyometrics for higher cadence & running economy

How strength may differ for road vs trail athletes

Tips for when you’re dreading your long run

Jason’s new performance training journal

and more!

Enjoy!

This week, I have a very special guest! I invited one of my athletes, Mack Nia, on to the podcast to share her story of going from struggling to complete couch to 5k in 2020 to completing multiple ultramarathons. I think Mack's story is so inspiring and think you will too.

We chatted about:

- how her fascination with running started

- attempting couch to 5k multiple times

- making couch to 5k stick

- what being a runner means to her

- running her first 5k, 10k and half marathon

- jumping from the half marathon to the 50k

- finding a coach (me!)

- running Zion 50k

- finishing her first ultra

- her latest 12 hour race

- switching from ultras to shorter distances and speed

- how she deals with Tiktok haters

- why she continues to run

and so much more!

CONNECT WITH MACK:

Guess who ran another 5k this past weekend?! This is the final 5k to wrap up my winter of 5k training, and I was so excited going into this race. Race day was the day before my last day in corporate, so it felt serendipitous for 5k training and corporate work to end at the same time.

I was aiming, yet again, to run a sub 24 after running 24:04 in January in Carlsbad and 25:03 in December at the same course as the Donut Dash.

Race day, however, did not go how I wanted. This episode I recap the race, the struggles, how I prepared mentally for it, how to bounce back from a bad race result, and more.

Enjoy!

The long awaited story of how I got into coaching is here! Just kidding, this isn't long awaited, but at least one of you did request this!

The seed that would become my running coaching business was planted back in grad school, morphed into a baking business, and somehow we ended up here. Listen in for the full story and some questions from you! I talk about how I prepared to go full time in coaching, how I knew I was ready/that it was time, my coaching offers, how many athletes I'm aiming to acquire, and the biggest mindset shift from going from salaried to self employed.

Enjoy!

Iiiiiiiiit's time for another What's What with Klutz episode!!!

Today I talk about:
- my big news!!
- can you run a race for fun?
- can you walk for a run streak?
- thoughts on coaches having sponsors
- thoughts on coaches calling out other coaches on socials
- tips we can take from Sally McRae

Enjoy!

I'm so excited for you to listen to this week's episode with RD Alyssa Leib.

Alyssa is a climber and runner (she comes to the group runs most months!) and a registered dietician who works with athletes. The bulk of our conversation centers around intuitive eating: what it is, the 10 principles that guide intuitive eating, what it isn't, why Alyssa recommends it for everyone, and how athletes can utilize this. We end the podcast by musing about what we've seen in the climbing and running spaces related to diet culture and disordered eating, how this isn't just something that the pros deal with, and encouraging others to share their stories.

We do talk about eating disorders and share parts of our own experiences in this episode, so take care if that is hard for you.

This week I'm delighted to be joined by fellow running coach, Bertrand Newson (aka Coach B) for an amazing conversation.

We talk about:
* how Coach B got into running later in life
* getting into coaching
* the importance of community
* dealing with a running rut
* falling back in love with running
* his annual sabbatical
* the importance of his brother to his running

and so much more.

This is a very genuine, sometimes raw, conversation that I think you'll love.

Enjoy!

Let's answer some questions that I got on my recent survey!

I answered questions about my training/coaching philosophy, how I incorporate strength training with running (which included an update on my personal training), which strength training exercises I would choose at the top 5 for runners, my goals with coaching, and what I've learned as a coach so far.

Enjoy!

Can you believe we're already at 50 episodes?! 

I've been in San Diego for the better part of the past week at the Endeavorun running retreat and running my second 5k race of the winter! Listen in to hear about the San Diego Endeavorun retreat (my second Endeavorun retreat), my comparison between my 2 experiences at the retreat and how my 5k went.

Welcome to season 3 and the first WWWK of the year! Top of mind for me on this episode is how I'm approaching 2023, how I came up with my words for this year, and more content that I'm not loving (inspired by the news).

Goodbye 2022, and goodbye season 2!

For this final episode of 2022, it's another What's What with Klutz episode, featuring a follow up discussion on burn out with running, my break from social media/content I'm currently hating, and my 2 cents on New Years Resolutions.

See y'all next year for season 3!

Welcome to the first episode of the What's What with Klutz series!

This series will be just as the name says - random things that are going on in my brain at the time of recording (similar to the Friday Four on the Help Me Understand podcast with JK McLeod if you're familiar - hi JK!).

On my mind this week has been 2 main topics:

1. Feeling resistance to running lately
2. Seeing people focus on chasing marginal gains instead of focusing on the basics (specifically my thoughts around syncing your training to your menstrual cycle)

Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH ME:

This past weekend (12/11), Kelly ran her favorite 5k race - the Jingle Bell Run in Denver! Listen as she recaps her training leading up to the race, how she felt going into race day, her goal, and what actually happened.

If you're enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a rating and review and sharing with your friends! Tag @coachingklutz if you share on Instagram!

Tis the season for catching a cold! How do you adjust your training when you catch something? What about getting back into training once you feel better?

JK and Kelly chat all about what they take into consideration for themselves and their athletes when thinking about these questions.

Enjoy!