The Running Explained Podcast

Olympian Carrie Tollefson Chicago Marathon From the Broadcast Booth, Running Identity, and Finding Joy

Thu, 15 Oct 2026

Olympian Carrie Tollefson joins Coach Amanda and Coach Nick days after broadcasting the 2026 Chicago Marathon. Carrie made the 2004 Olympic team in the 1500m, won five NCAA titles at Villanova, and now runs her mouth more than her legs (her words) as a marathon broadcaster and host of the C Tolle Run podcast.

In this episode, we cover:

• What the Chicago Marathon looks like from the finish line broadcast position

• Why Carrie ran three marathons just to commentate them better

• The human stories behind Hawi Feysa, Clayton Young, and Vinny Mauri

• How to handle negativity and why running needs a “positive thread”

• What everyday runners can learn from pros (you deal with the same mile 21)

• Running identity after competition, plus balancing career, kids, and 20-minute runs

• Prize money, the running boom, and celebrity run clubs

• Why success comes from finding your joy, not your finish time

• The Secret Interview Questions (and a story her mom will not love)

Come Join Amanda and I for the NYC Marathon Webinar and Live Q&A on 21 October from 6-730 EST. We will answer all your questions and walk you through EVERYTHING you need to know about the NYCM from the second you arrive to when you leave. Learn more and sign up here

Today's episode is sponsored by CEP and Running Explained listeners get 15% off their entire order when shopping CEP Running online through November 15! Shop CEP Running or enter code LRL-NYC-15 at checkout.

Offer ends November 16, 2026, at 3:00AM EST. Limit one use per customer. Cannot be combined with other discounts.

Key timestamps

06:58 Chicago Marathon 2026 from the booth

19:17 What everyday runners can learn from pros

23:16 Running identity after competition

33:28 What the running community gets right

40:33 Redefining success

42:01 Secret Interview Questions

Find Carrie:

• C Tolle Run podcast, the RunDot Podcast, ctollerun.com, Instagram @carrie_tollefson

Training plans and coaching: https://runningexplained.com

The Weekly Stride newsletter: https://www.runningexplained.com/theweeklystride

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Marathon Recovery and Why Recovery Starts Before Race Day

Thu, 08 Oct 2026

How long should you rest after a marathon? Coach Amanda (fresh off her fall marathon) and Coach Nick cover marathon recovery from taper week to your first run back.

Pre-race recovery: why sleep across your whole training block matters more than the night before, packing a carb-load cooler for race travel, compression socks vs. calf sleeves on flights, protecting your social battery, and how long a shakeout run should be.

Post-race recovery: why you should eat within an hour of finishing (even when you are not hungry), how to plan food at big-city marathons, how many days off to take (10 days to 2 weeks for Amanda, 7 days minimum for Nick), why workouts can take up to 8 weeks to feel normal, the recovery tools coaches actually use, and how to handle the post-marathon blues.

Offer ends November 16, 2026, at 3:00AM EST. Limit one use per customer. Cannot be combined with other discounts.

Timestamps

0:00 Intro

2:44 Pre-race recovery and taper

7:14 Sleep before a marathon

11:00 Compression socks vs. sleeves for travel

16:13 Shakeout runs

26:08 Post-race recovery starts at the finish line

29:03 What to eat after a marathon

38:50 How long to rest after a marathon

45:59 Favorite recovery tools

50:34 Post-marathon blues

Training plans and coaching: https://runningexplained.com

The Weekly Stride newsletter: https://www.runningexplained.com/theweeklystride

Enjoyed this one? Rate and review Running Explained and share it with your running friend (or someone you do not like, maybe they will like it).

Runner Q&A with Sports Dietitian Stevie Lyn Smith: Carbs Per Hour, Ferritin, Burnout, and First Marathons

Thu, 24 Sep 2026

We did an old fashioned listener Q&A, and because you all sent in a stack of nutrition questions, we called in the big guns: sports dietitian Stevie Lyn Smith, RD, CSSD, back for round two.

Coach Amanda and I cover the coaching side while Stevie brings the fueling science. We get into how many carbs per hour you actually need on long runs (and why the answer is a range, not a flex), how to juggle fast 5Ks, marathons, and heavy lifting by building training seasons, and how to keep burnout from wrecking your year. Amanda goes on a legendary rant about lottery FOMO. I explain resiliency data points and why belief beats hard work at your absolute peak.

Then we help a first time Philly marathoner avoid the mile 20 wall, dig into the new ASH ferritin guidelines (and why ferritin alone does not tell the whole iron story), and answer the big one: can you safely cut weight before a marathon? Spoiler: Stevie said yes to cutting a bagel. That is it.

Offer ends November 16, 2026, at 3:00AM EST. Limit one use per customer. Cannot be combined with other discounts.

Listener questions answered:

1. How many carbs should I take on long runs for my December half marathon?

2. I love fast 5Ks, long distance, and lifting heavy. How do I prioritize?

3. How do you keep from burning out?

4. How can I help my brain catch up to my running and believe in myself more?

5. I'm running my first full at Philly. How do I push without hitting the wall at mile 20?

6. Why do runners need higher ferritin levels than non runners?

7. Can I safely cut weight before a marathon for performance?

Resources and links

• Ferritin, Iron, and Anemia with Callie Roseland:

• Back to Back Marathons with Coach Corky

• Stevie on Instagram: @stevielynlyn | Website:stevielynrd.com

• Running Explained coaching and training plans: runningexplained.com

• Send us your questions: hello@runningexplained.com

Check out our new Kickstart Program

Enjoyed this format? Rate and review the show and tell us. If you want more Q&A episodes, we will make it happen.

Bone Density, Menopause & Marathon Training

Thu, 17 Sep 2026

Coach Amanda and Coach Nick talk masters running with coach Kim Nedeau (Training Inclined) about how mileage, recovery, and strength work should change after 40, plus what the research really says about bone density, menopause, and weighted vests.

Kim built her coaching practice, Training Inclined, and her women's community, Train Like a Master, after her own injury-prone running years. In this episode: deload weeks and recovery science, the strength work masters runners can't skip, telling normal age-related slowdown from an actual training gap, bone density and perimenopause, training through osteopenia and arthritis, whether weighted vests actually build bone, and navigating body image and weight gain through menopause.

Offer ends November 16, 2026, at 3:00AM EST. Limit one use per customer. Cannot be combined with other discounts.

Our Guest

Kim Nedeau is a running coach, educator, and the founder of Train Like a Master, a training and education community for women 40 and over who want to keep running, get stronger, and perform well as they age.

Kim has spent more than a decade coaching runners and exploring the intersection of running, strength training, injury prevention, and healthy aging. Her work focuses on helping women understand how their training needs to evolve as they get older, which can mean setting new personal records or sometimes slowing down. Kim is also a masters runner herself, so she knows the highs and lows firsthand, sometimes finding herself running surprisingly fast for a master, and other days wondering how she got so slow.

Through her coaching, writing, and educational work, Kim brings an evidence-informed but practical perspective to topics like muscle loss, bone health, menopause, injury, recovery, and performance in the masters years.

Find Kim Nedeau:

• kimnedeau.com / https://traininginclined.com/

• Instagram: kimnedeau_traininginclined

Reach out via email at hello@runningexplained.com

Ferritin, Iron & Anemia and What the Labs Really Mean

Thu, 10 Sep 2026

A single ferritin test isn't the whole story. Coach Nick and Coach Amanda talk with sports dietitian Callie Roseland about the difference between low ferritin, iron deficiency, and anemia, why runners are especially prone to running low, and the ferritin number that actually supports performance versus the number that just clears a lab's "normal" range.

We also cover when to (and definitely not to) get iron labs drawn, how hard training affects iron absorption through a hormone called hepcidin, and why more iron isn't always better.

Guest

Callie Roseland, MS, RD, LDN, CSSD, IFNCP, EP-C is a Sports Dietitian who specializes in helping endurance and mountain athletes fuel for performance, recovery, and long-term health. She has 9+ years of experience in high-level performance nutrition, including more than 7 years as a Tactical Performance Dietitian supporting U.S. Special Operations Forces within a multidisciplinary human performance team.

Through her private practice, Fueling Upward, Callie works with adult athletes who lift, run, and climb mountains while balancing serious training with full-time work, family, and real life. Her background in exercise physiology, sports nutrition, and integrative and functional nutrition allows her to take a comprehensive approach to performance, with particular interests in endurance fueling, performance labwork, gut health, hormone health, injury recovery, and optimizing nutrition to support high-level training and performance.

Fueling Upward offers 1v1 virtual nutrition coaching, group education, and on-demand resources to help athletes have more energy, ditch gut issues, and fuel the training it takes to cross finish lines and climb mountains.

Email: callie@fuelingupward.com

IG: @fueling.upward.rd

Website: www.fuelingupward.com

Reach out via email at hello@runningexplained.com