The Running Explained Podcast

Runners are great at ignoring pain. That is exactly the problem. In this episode, physical therapist Dr. Lisbeth Hoyt joins Coach Nick and Coach Amanda to break down bone health, the injury continuum, and how to actually catch a bone stress injury before it becomes a 12-week stress fracture.We get into why women are not small men, how hormonal shifts across your life (adolescence, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause) change your risk, and why the least exciting habits (strength, fuel, sleep) are the ones that keep you running. If you have ever pushed through a nagging shin or told your doctor you "jog occasionally," this one is for you.

IN THIS EPISODE

● Why bone is a living, dynamic tissue, and how running builds it stronger

● The number one warning sign that shows up BEFORE the aches and pains

● How to tell a normal bad run from an early bone stress injury

● Why running-specific PT matters, and how to advocate for yourself

● The life stages when women need to train and fuel differently

● The three "boring" basics that prevent most injuries: strength, nutrition, sleep

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Welcome and introductions

00:26 Meet Dr. Lisbeth Hoyt, PT (and the fitness enthusiast title)

04:18 Today's topic: starting with bone health

05:09 Bone as living tissue: how it breaks down and rebuilds

07:00 Why male-centric research fails female runners

07:56 Nutrition habits that build bone early in life

11:52 The injury continuum: early warning signs runners dismiss

15:07 Why runners swing between panic and pushing through

17:51 Running-specific PT vs. generic PT, and advocating for yourself

21:56 Why we keep you running instead of shutting you down

25:07 The comprehensive intake: sleep, stress, nutrition, life load

30:32 The biggest red flags: sleep and nutrition

32:34 Life stages that demand more intention around bone health

37:00 Perimenopause, misdiagnosis, and the research gap

39:48 Training through pregnancy and the postpartum rush back

42:00 Why postpartum needs strength, pelvic floor PT, and honest expectations

45:10 The three things to start today: strength, nutrition, sleep

49:27 Rapid-fire questions with Dr. Hoyt

52:30 Where to find Dr. Hoyt and work with her

CONNECT WITH DR. LISBETH HOYT

Lisbeth is a running specialized physical therapist at Custom Performance, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, RRCA-certified running coach, and certified mat Pilates instructor. She's been working exclusively in the running world at Custom Performance for the past 10 years. Lisbeth has been a lifelong athlete who found her way to distance running following the end of organized team sports (aka college graduation).As a physical therapist Lisbeth believes running should be fun and part of a balanced, active lifestyle, and meets each client where they are in their running journey. Her goal is to help runners build the strength, movement skills, and confidence they need to keep doing what they love.Lisbeth is a 4 time marathoner, many times half marathoner and a mom of 2 toddlers which requires more energy than any race she's run before.

● Custom Performance, Midtown Manhattan (41st and Madison)

● Email: lisbeth@nycustompt.com | Front desk: info@nycustompt.com

● Free phone consults available

● Instagram: @lisbethh.jennings

CONNECT WITH RUNNING EXPLAINED

● Website: runningexplained.com

● Instagram: @running.explained @amanda.katzz

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Running one marathon used to be the whole goal. Now it’s normal to stack two or three in a single fall, chase every world major, and call the easy one “party pace.” This week Coach Nick and Coach Amanda sit down with New York marathon coach Corky (@CoachCorkyRuns) to ask how many marathons is actually too many. We get into what the research says about performance and mental health, why party pacing rarely works the way runners think, the REDs and rhabdo reality behind the highlight reel, and what real recovery looks like. It’s a love letter to the marathon and to your long-term relationship with it.

WHAT WE COVER

• How marathon culture changed, and why stacking races got normal
• How many marathons a year is actually too many
• The “Berlin goal, NYC party pace” trap and who it really works for
• What party pace actually costs your body
• REDs, rhabdo, and the toll behind the highlight reel
• What real marathon recovery looks like, day by day
• Fueling your race to protect your recovery
• The questions to ask if you’re chasing likes instead of the goal
• Building a running life that lasts decades, not seasons

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Welcome and meet Coach Corky

01:11 Who is Coach Corky

04:45 How marathon culture changed over the last decade

06:34 Why the marathon became “the event”

08:32 Social media, algorithms, and FOMO

10:15 What the research says: 2 to 3 marathons a year

11:01 The “Berlin goal, NYC party pace” trap

15:04 Intention vs impact

16:46 Love of running vs external validation

18:44 Why pros can stack races and most runners can’t

21:04 What “party pace” really means (and fueling for it)

23:03 The influencer highlight reel: REDs, rhabdo, and what you don’t see

25:26 The hidden mental toll of chasing marathons

28:17 Mental recovery and the marathon hamster wheel

31:45 What good marathon recovery actually looks like

34:30 Reintroducing running and the reverse taper

35:04 Muscle memory, a 31-mile run, and fueling for recovery

37:33 Training your gut and fueling for longevity

38:45 Staying flexible: adjust your calendar, respect the big picture

40:30 Questions to check your real motivation

43:30 Why DNS and DNF should always be options

44:03 Racing for yourself vs racing for the feed

46:31 Building a lifelong relationship with running

48:25 Super secret guest interview questions

51:03 Where to find Coach Corky

51:54 Wrap-up

Corky has been coaching and supporting runners since 2014, when she launched Coach Corky Runs. Her favorite distance to coach and race is the marathon, though she has extensive experience on the roads from the 5K through Ultra distances. While Corky coaches clients virtually anywhere in the USA, in person she's made a name for herself in the treadmill group fitness world. She was a full time coach at Mile High Run Club from 2015-2019, and joined Precision Run at Equinox in 2019, and is still currently coaching in person in NYC. She's also one of the Precision Run coaches on the Equinox+ app, guiding members through treadmill and outdoor programs. Corky is still competing, and while she loves to race, her favorite part of being a runner is truly the training. coachcorkyruns.com, @CoachCorkyRuns on Instagram and Threads, and teaching at Equinox NYC.

Amanda IG

Nick IG

Email - Hello@runningexplained.com

Ready to finally train with a plan that’s built around YOU?

✅ Personalized training

✅ Weekly support + adjustments

✅ Strategy, structure, and accountability

✅ Expert coaching to help you actually hit your goals

Not ready for a 1:1 Coach

📝PDF Training Plan Templates available

🤝Group Coaching, Strength Training and Unlimited access to

all Training Plans available in The Run Club App to find the right training plan for you!

Run clubs get called dating apps with cadence, influencer marketing for the warm-up, and content farms in matching kits. Some of that is fair. Most of it misses what these groups actually do every week.

Coach Nick sits down with two founders running clubs on the ground: Sydney Hara of Slow Girls Run Club in Vancouver, BC, and Will Walker of A Tribe Called Run in Baltimore, MD. They get honest about the criticisms and the parts nobody talks about.

In this episode:

• Whether the "dating app" reputation is fair, and why intention is the whole game
• Brand partnerships and content: building a community vs. farming your runners for a free commercial
• The pace problem, and what "all paces welcome" actually requires (caboose crews, walking trails, wolfpack long runs)
• The runners who never would have started without a club to show up to
• What run clubs do for mental health that has nothing to do with fitness
• Giving back: diaper drives, beach cleanups, back-to-school drives, and rallying around members in hard moments
• Starting your own club: two things to do, one thing to never do
• The question to ask any club before you join

Find the guests:
Slow Girls Run Club (Vancouver, BC): @slowgirlsrunclub. Runs Wednesdays at 6 PM.

Sydney Hara is the founder of Slow Girls Run Club, a women's running community in Vancouver built around one idea: movement should feel good, not intimidating.
What started as her own search for a space without pressure or pace expectations has grown into an active community of women who show up every week to run, connect, and have a genuinely good time. Events sell out. Friendships form. People come back.

A Tribe Called Run (Baltimore, MD): @atribecalledrun. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

Will Walker is the founder of A Tribe Called Run, a BIPOC lead running group based in Baltimore, MD. Will is an engineer by day, but in his free time, he loves spending time with his family, connecting with friends through food and building communities focused in wellness! Will found the sport of endurance running during one of the most challenging times of his life and recognizing how much it helped with his mental health, wanted to share that gift with others. This lead will to only create an amazing Run community, but also to become an RRCA certified coach!

More from Running Explained: runningexplained.com and @runningexplained on Instagram. Rate, review, and subscribe if this one hit.

You can run well on too little fuel for a long time. Right up until you can't.

This week, Coach Amanda and Coach Nick sit down with Dr. Melissa Lodge (PhD in exercise science and sports nutrition, RD-in-progress, and the mind behind @fed_collaborative) to unpack REDs: Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. It's one of the most misunderstood, under-screened issues in endurance running, and it does not have a look.

We get into why low energy availability sneaks up on runners (intentional and inadvertent), why weight is a terrible way to diagnose it, and the hidden biomarkers worth advocating for on your next blood panel (hi, T3). Melissa breaks down what's actually happening beneath the surface when you underfuel: bone loss, suppressed hormones, disrupted cholesterol, and a body quietly triaging which systems it can afford to keep running.

We also cover:

• Why a "withdrawal bleed" on hormonal birth control isn't a period, and what you lose as a vital sign
• The adolescent window for bone development that you genuinely cannot get back (essential listening for parents and coaches)
• Within-day energy deficits, backloading calories, and why "I fueled my long run" isn't the finish line
• How to raise concerns with a teammate or friend without pointing fingers
• The carbohydrate revolution in endurance sport, and the trap of nailing one thing while ignoring the other 22 hours of your day

The throughline, in true Running Explained fashion: nail the basics first. Eat enough, eat often, and stop making fueling harder than it needs to be.

Bio: Melissa Lodge, PhD, is an exercise physiologist and soon-to-be RD. Her research focuses on the physiological and psychological impacts of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs), particularly in female athletes. As a former elite runner, Melissa is especially interested in REDs prevention to improve the health and performance of athletes across the lifespan. Melissa also runs the social media platform @fed_collaborative, where she translates complex research on exercise physiology, REDs, and sports nutrition. 

Find Melissa on Instagram at @fed_collaborative.

This episode touches on disordered eating and bone health. If any of it hits close to home, please reach out to a sports-medicine-informed physician or dietitian.

Amanda IG

Nick IG

Email - Hello@runningexplained.com

Ready to finally train with a plan that’s built around YOU?

✅ Personalized training

✅ Weekly support + adjustments

✅ Strategy, structure, and accountability

✅ Expert coaching to help you actually hit your goals

Not ready for a 1:1 Coach

📝PDF Training Plan Templates available

🤝Group Coaching, Strength Training and Unlimited access to

all Training Plans available in The Run Club App to find the right training plan for you!

It's getting hot out there, and your fueling and hydration plan needs to keep up. Registered dietitian and board-certified sports nutritionist Stevie Lyn Smith (fresh off running 460-ish miles from Buffalo to Brooklyn, as one does) joins Coach Nick and Coach Amanda to break down what actually changes when the temperature climbs.

We get into why more electrolytes isn't automatically better, the real reason carb-based sports drinks help you absorb water faster, and how to run a simple sweat test at home so you can stop guessing. Stevie walks through her own half Ironman fueling strategy (carbs, caffeine timing, and cooling tricks included), what to grab on course when your gut says no to one more gel, and how to think about caffeine dosing without ending up with heart palpitations on the treadmill.

Then we go down a couple of rabbit holes you asked for: iron and ferritin (when to supplement versus when to dig into the why), and peptides (spoiler: the human research is thin, and we aren't rats). Evidence-based, occasionally unhinged, zero filler. Exactly how you like it.

Find Stevie on Instagram, stevielynrd.com, and on her podcast Real Fuel with SLS. Grab her book Power Up: A Young Woman's Guide to Winning with Sports Nutrition wherever books are sold.

Amanda IG

Nick IG

Email - Hello@runningexplained.com

Ready to finally train with a plan that’s built around YOU?

✅ Personalized training

✅ Weekly support + adjustments

✅ Strategy, structure, and accountability

✅ Expert coaching to help you actually hit your goals

Not ready for a 1:1 Coach

📝PDF Training Plan Templates available

🤝Group Coaching, Strength Training and Unlimited access to

all Training Plans available in The Run Club App

 to find the right training plan for you!