Coach Ian Sharman is one of the most consistent and successful trail and ultra runners. This year he had a few A-races that didn't go as expected. We talk through why.

We discuss knowing when to back off and how to keep running sustainable for the long term.

Some items that we discussed and we promised to link:

• The Range Report Newsletter by David Epstein
• Book: Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away by Annie Duke
• Learn more about running in Bhutan!

Find out more about Sharman Ultra Coaching

Alex Hutchinson is back to discuss some of his most recent articles he published at Outsideonline:

• The Salt in Sports Drinks May Not be as Crucial as You Think
• How Pregnancy Affects Your Marathon Time

Alex Hutchinson is an avid runner and author.  We did a series of podcasts on his book, Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance. Previous Podcasts where we discuss the specific chapters of Endure:

• Podcast #1:   The Unforgiving Minute, The Conscience Quitter, Heat, Belief
• Podcast #2: The Central Governor Theory, Pain and Training the Brain
• Podcast #3 : Oxygen, Fuel, and Zapping the Brain

Check out Alex’s other books:

• Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?: Fitness Myths, Training Truths, and Other Surprising Discoveries from the Science of Exercise
• Big Ideas: 100 Modern Inventions That Have Transformed Our World
• What Defines our Limits - with Alex Hutchinson

Follow Alex on Twitter
Check out Sweat Science

There has been a lot of hype around intermittent fasting for the last couple years but not a lot of decisive research or data.  Coach Bob Seebohar rejoins The Nation to help us understand what intermittent fasting is and what he knows about it and help us understand if there is any benefit for endurance athletes.

Bob Seebohar is a board certified specialist in sports dietetics, exercise physiology, and an NSCA certified strength and conditioning coach.  He is also the sports dietitian for the University of Denver women's gymnastic team and the University of Denver Athletics Department.

If you want to learn more about Bob and his services including his books, articles, coaching services, nutrition and more, visit ENRGPERFORMANCE.  He is also the co-host of the podcast Inside Sports Nutrition with Dina Griffin.

Check out the tasty healthy snacks he invented at All-Around Snack Company.

He has been on TRN a couple other times including these two great episodes:

EP 517: Eat to Train
EP 583: TRAINING PRINCIPLES - Nutrition

Too often we mistake the terms "Trail Runner" and "Ultra Runner" as the same thing. They are not. In fact, running shorter distances can help us become better runners at any distance and better all around athletes.

Coach David Roche joins The Nation to talk about the benefits of running the next 5k or 10k turkey trot and how it helps us physiologically and biomechanically. It actually might be a whole lot of FUN TOO!

There are more people running ultras and especially longer ultras today. Are we moving to those longer distances too quickly? Is there benefit in running the shorter distances for a while before jumping into an event that takes all day?

David Roche is a 2-time USATF trail national champion and 3-time member of team USA. He is also part of the power duo of coaches at SWAP Running, along with his partner, Megan. They also a great book, The Happy Runner: Love the Process, Get Faster, Run Longer (you can listen to our book review with Megan and David HERE). Megan and David host a very fun and informative podcast, Some Work All Play Adventure Podcast. You can also find David as a frequent contributor at Trail Runner Magazine.

As a young runner, Steve Magness was a very fast runner, holding one of the fastest high school mile times at 4:01.  He was a model for toughness, pushing through the pain until he puked.  But this strategy failed as he continued trying to break the 4:00 barrier at the University of Houston.

Steve Magness is a runner, coach and world-renowned expert on peak performance. He uncovers the science and helps us learn how to be better athletes and tougher people. In his new book Do Hard Things - Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of REAL TOUGHNESS Steve looks at the science and helps us learn how to be more resilient and learn how to do hard things.

We did a chapter by chapter review of this book leading up to this episode. If you want to learn more listen to these episodes:

• Part 1 - Chapters 2,5,6
• Part 2 - Chapters 3,7,11
• Part 3 - Chapters 1,4,8,9,10

Steve is the co-founder of The Growth Equation, an online platform dedicated to the understanding and practice of performance and well-being. He also co-hosts The Growth Equation Podcast with Brad Stulberg and On Coaching Podcast with Jon Marcus. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @SteveMagness

Andy Jones-Wilkins joins us to wrap up this great book. Hire Andy as a coach! or check out his weekly Tap Room at iRunFar

This is the part 3 and final chapter by chapter review of Steve Magness' new book Do Hard Things - Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of REAL TOUGHNESS. We encourage you to buy the book and read along as we will have follow up episodes discussing the key points in each chapter. In this episode we discuss Chapters 1, 4, 8, 9, and 10

Steve Magness is a runner, coach and world-renowned expert on peak performance. He uncovers the science and helps us learn how to be better athletes and tougher people. Every runner and parent should read this book. It's that good.

Our guest hosts are Andy Jones-Wilkins and Krissy Moehl.

Hire Andy as a coach! or check out his weekly Tap Room at iRunFar

Learn more about Krissy, preorder her book and consider her coaching services HERE 

Ryan Hall is a retired American long-distance runner.  He holds the American marathon record of 2:04:58 (Boston 2011) AND the half-marathon record of 59:43 (the first American to break the one-hour mark!)  He is a two-time Olympian and author of the recent book, Run the Mile You’re In.

Ryan joins us to talk about his transition from professional running to coaching, powerlifting, author, husband, and dad.

You can follow Ryan and learn more about

• his coaching at Run Free Training
• his web site Ryan and Sara Hall
• watch his video from the challenge “Chop Wood, Carry Water”
• follow Ryan on Instagram: @RyanHall3
• listen to his podcast Run Free

This is the part 2 of our chapter by chapter review of Steve Magness' new book Do Hard Things - Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of REAL TOUGHNESS. We encourage you to buy the book and read along as we will have follow up episodes discussing the key points in each chapter. In this episode we discuss Chapters 3, 7, and 11.

Steve Magness is a runner, coach and world-renowned expert on peak performance. He uncovers the science and helps us learn how to be better athletes and tougher people. Every runner and parent should read this book. It's that good.

Hire Andy as a coach! or check out his weekly Tap Room at iRunFar

Tapering is typically thought of as a physical reduction in ones physical stresses from training.  In today's episode, we talk about the mental part of a taper - getting ready for that big day.

Todd Larsen and Bob Crowley join us to talk about Todd's recent A-Race that didn't go as planned and his analysis of why.

This is the first part of our chapter by chapter review of Steve Magness' new book Do Hard Things - Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of REAL TOUGHNESS. We encourage you to buy the book and read along as we will have follow up episodes discussing the key points in each chapter. In this episode we discuss Chapters 2, 5 and 6

Steve Magness is a runner, coach and world-renowned expert on peak performance. He uncovers the science and helps us learn how to be better athletes and tougher people. Every runner and parent should read this book. It's that good.

Hire Andy as a coach! or check out his weekly Tap Room at iRunFar