The Running Explained Podcast

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.

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.

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

Strength Training for Runners: The 5-Move Formula You Need (w/ Natalie LaMendola, DPT)

Thu, 03 Sep 2026

Strength training gets thrown around as a cure-all for runners: fix your injury, run faster, never break down. Coach Nick and Coach Amanda sit down with Natalie LaMendola, DPT, a running-specific physical therapist and Running Explained coach, to separate what strength training actually does for runners from what the internet claims it does.

We cover the exact framework Natalie uses with runners (squat, hinge, push, pull, carry), how to know if your program is even working, the real reasons runners skip strength work, and what changes once you hit master's age. We also get into why strength training is not a quick fix for an injury, no matter what your Instagram feed says.

In this episode

• What actually counts as strength training (and what doesn't)

• Why strength training improves running economy and tissue durability

• The squat, hinge, push, pull, carry framework for building a session

• How many heavy compound lifts, single leg exercises, and plyometrics you actually need

• The weekly benchmarks that tell you your program is working

• The real barriers keeping runners out of the weight room, and how to work around them

• Strength training for master's runners: consistency, calf work, and tendon health

• Do men and women need different strength programs? (Mostly no, with one hormonal exception)

• Why strength training won't fix an active injury, and what it actually does instead

About our guest Natalie is a running-specific Doctor of Physical Therapy and certified run coach based in Kansas City. When she's not working with runners in the clinic, you can find her chasing her own goals on the run alongside her husband, twin toddlers, and hound dog. Her passion lies in helping runners of all abilities achieve their goals and get back to the miles they love.

Find Natalie: lamendolapt.com or on Instagram @runwithnat_dpt

The Carb Ceiling Myth and What Actually Fuels a Long Run

Thu, 27 Aug 2026

The 60g-an-hour carb ceiling isn't real, it was just the limit of one transporter. Sports dietitians Emma Harvie and Jaclyn Sklaver, CNS, LDN, join Coach Nick and Coach Amanda to explain the glucose plus fructose fueling strategy pushing runners past 90 to 120 grams of carbs an hour, why underfueling wrecks your hormones (yours included, men), and how to build a fueling plan months before race day instead of the week of.

Topics covered

• The real science behind the 90 to 120g/hour carb range

• Glucose vs. fructose absorption pathways, explained simply

• Gut training for race day fueling

• Low energy availability and the "low T diet"

• Hormones, iron, and fat intake in endurance athletes

• Refueling after long runs even without an appetite

Guests: Jaclyn Sklaver, CNS, LDN (Athletes Nutrition / Athleats) and Emma Harvie (board certified nutrition specialist).

Jaclyn Sklaver, MS, CNS, LDN, is a board-certified integrative sports nutritionist and founder of Athleats Nutrition, where she works with active gym-goers, competitive athletes, and everyday clients seeking sustainable performance and body composition results. Drawing on a functional medicine approach, Jaclyn goes beyond calories and macros to address the root causes behind plateaus, fatigue, and stalled progress, from gut health and hormone balance to inflammation and recovery. Her personalized nutrition programming has supported some of the world's top athletes, including professionals in the NBA and NFL, alongside a wide range of committed gym-goers looking to train harder, recover faster, and feel better in their bodies. With over a decade of clinical experience, Jaclyn pioneered the private-practice model in sports dietetics and continues to bridge performance nutrition with whole-body, functional care.

Emma Harvie, MS, CNS, LN, is a Licensed Nutritionist and Board Certified Nutrition Specialist specializing in functional medicine and sports performance nutrition. She brings a lifelong history of athletics to her clinical work, including as a former professional bodybuilder and current avid CrossFit athlete. Born and raised in Duluth, Minnesota, Emma has run Grandma's Half Marathon every year since she was 15 years old, now an 18 time finisher and one of her favorite hometown traditions. Drawing on her firsthand understanding of what the body demands under training and competition, she works with clients using a practical, realistic, and root cause approach, building highly personalized nutrition strategies that recognize the unique needs and lifestyle of each individual patient. Emma has had the privilege of working with NBA players, celebrities, and elite, collegiate, and Olympic athletes to reach their health and performance goals. She loves helping clients overcome barriers to health to achieve meaningful, sustainable, and lifelong improvements in well-being.

Hosted by Coach Nick and Coach Amanda for Running Explained.

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