The Natural Running Network

Veejay Jones is the youngest athlete to win a Spartan Race overall and is currently a member of The Spartan Pro Team. He is also an athlete coached by Richard Diaz.  In this episode, we discuss the prospects winning against the competition at the NBC Spartan Series season opener at San Jose California on March 24th, 2018. This season, Veejay has posted two wins and a second place finish in Spartan Race elite competition with his last event being 2nd (by just over a minute) behind Cody Moat last years Spartan world Champion. Veejay shares his insight relating to the contenders he’ll face and his hopes of eventually making his mark as a pro in the sport.

We asked the owner and founder of MudGear to come on and share is story on how MudGear was born, his enthusiasm for the sport of Obstacle Course Racing and the love that goes into each of his products. Diaz human Performance has named MudGear as the official provider of all they’re training and racing apparel. For those interested in ordering any DHP-OCR training and racing apparel you can simply visit the online store to purchase: https://tribestores.com/collections/dhp-ocr. The infamous tagline: “You can’t win if you run like shit” is an option on the back of any top you choose.

Have you been talked into making a change in your diet? Decided to go Vegan, Paleo or Keto? Did someone sell you on the promise of weight loss and greater performance as a benefit of making this radical change in your diet? Are you hoping to become “fat adapted”?  Richard Diaz (host) asked Matt Fitzgerald, author of The Endurance Diet, Diet Cults and Racing Weight to come on and share some thoughts on the topic of fad dieting.  Before you do anything you may regret leading into you’re “A” race, you may want to hear what we had to say. 

Ever wonder about the use or potential benefits of wearing compression wear in a Spartan Race or Tough Mudder? Does it help circulation while running, does it help with recovery? Whats your take on the subject?  Zoe Szczepanek asks these questions of Coach Richard Diaz. Be warned these are opinions and they may not be shared or validated by any of the manufactures in question.

The most common questions presented to me (Coach Richard Diaz) is “what Running Shoes Should I Buy”?  One would expect that my answer might be to name off a particular brand.  In this episode, we try to address the How to and what to look for when looking to purchase your next pair of running shoes so that you the inquisitive OCR athlete or Runner can make a better informed decision.  One that makes sense for you, beyond all the marketing hype you have to sift through.  The answer may surprise you or maybe not.  If you’ve been a follower of this podcast, you may already know the answer.  If not, it pays to listen as Zoe Szczapanek poses the questions and Richard Diaz provides his opinion.  This was a fun episode!  

Have you ever asked yourself… “Am I doing too much, training too hard too often?” In this episode, Richard Diaz interviews Lennard Zinn and Chris Case the authors of – The Haywire Heart a book that reveals… How too much exercise can kill you, and what you can do to protect your heart. We all take pride in our athletic accomplishments, participating in Spartan Race and Tough Mudder, Ultra Marathons etc., we work hard to achieve lofty goals. This interview will make you pause and think which was my goal, not to scare you to death but to simply consider the consequences of pushing your body to hard too often.

Kirk DeWindt “The Bachelor” turned Elite SpartanKirk DeWindt is the real deal. He may have done his stint on reality TV on various episodes of The Bachelor but when it comes to athletic prowess, Kirk is ready to bring it.  He has had some success early in Spartan Race events but this is the year he intends to show the world what he’s capable of.  Of course, I had to dig to satisfy my curiosity regarding the reality show experiences so regardless what may be your curiosity where Kirk DeWindt is concerned this is an unvarnished interview with “The Bachelor turned Spartan”.

Meet Zoe Szczepanek, the new co-host to the Natural Running Network Podcast. Anyone who has attended a Spartan Race or Tough Mudder has most likely seen her.  What you may not know is that she has an on going battle with a debilitating hip injury associated with her lust for competition.  Zoe comes clean and shares her story, how she was injured, The mistakes she’s made and how she has taken an aggressive approach n her road to rehabilitation so that she can get back to running and the sport she loves, intelligently and for years to come.

One of our most favorite things to do and most popular for our audience is to answer questions!  At the end of the day, most obstacle course racing athletes who tune into our show do so to pick up training tips and pearls of wisdom.  What could be better than to come on to our show and pose your questions live?  If you’re too shy, simply write your questions down on our social media feeds @zoeszcz or @diazhp and we’ll try to address them during the show. The best questions qualify to win a free Virtual Video Gait Analysis by Coach (Me) Diaz, a $175.00 value.  if you love Spartan race or Tough Mudder, even if you just love Running.  You don’t want to miss this show!

Faye Stenning is arguably the fiercest competitor on the Spartan Race circuit. Aside from her racing career, she runs a successful OCR coaching business.  To her credit, her openness to step outside her experience to learn from her colleagues provided some powerful insight for her leading into the 2018 OCR Race Season. Faye recently attended Richard Diaz’s OCR Run Clinic in Southern California in this episode Faye shares her opinion as it relates to this experience and visit to “The Secret Lab”.  This also marks the introduction to our new Co-Host Zoe (whats her name)Szczepanek who we are pleased to have onboard.

20017 was the year of change in the sport of OCR there seems to have been a power struggle between the Spartan and the Tough Mudder camps. The Television Networks have taken note of this explosive popularity and have answered the call by providing massive coverage of the sport.  NBC has virtually molded the race calendar for Spartan and CBS has thrown their support behind the opposing  camp Tough Mudder with the hugely successful TMX competition and unheard of cash purses and made game changing commitments moving forward.  Suffice to say, the elite athletes are wise to develop a strategy that makes financial sense for their future careers.  Hunter McIntyre for one, quickly saw the opportunity unfold and has made the commitment to dedicate his training and racing plans to do what ever he can to dominate in this exciting short course arena that is developing.  Listen as Coach Richard Diaz speaks on what he considers prudent preparation, that will lead into a successful season for athletes like Hunter who are planning to “go hard in the paint” early this season.  Also, as a bonus, listen and watch the candid conversation between Hunter McIntyre and his coach/advisor for the past few seasons during his preseason assessments and planning.      

In most all other endurance sports, training is periodized over a race season.  Join us as we walk you through a step by step approach to effectively arranging your training and race season for 2018.  Are you simply grabbing a season pass and planning to race according to whats close or what your friends are doing?  Do you find yourself planted with injuries, assuming that that is just what OCR racing is all about?  In this episode you’ll learn how to decide when to race and how to create a progressive training Strategy that will change the way you race and provide you with the success you had always hoped for… as the saying goes: “Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail!”

Its been weeks since our last podcast, forgive me.  I had a big birthday and left the country to celebrate followed by a few weeks on the road putting on running clinics but… We’re Back!  In this episode (to be continued in the next episode) we discuss: * What it feels like to hit the wall in a Marathon and how to avoid it. * First steps in prepping for the new OCR season, what to do and why. * Its a relatively short episode but we’re coming back to nail the New Season topic in just a few days, don’t miss it!

The Natural Running Network has consistently delivered cutting edge information for endurance athletes for a bit over 5 years with over 300 episodes doled out weekly.  As a show of gratitude we decided to host a Black Friday “Best of Episodes” contest. The winners will receive gifts ranging from free entry into diaz human performance‘s OCR Run Clinics (valued up to $500) and gift certificates to Human Octane, the finest OCR Training and Racing apparel.  Three episodes were elected, during this show we will announce the winners and play snippets from these three episodes.  If you are a fan of our podcast, you’ll enjoy hearing three of the best by popular demand. #naturalrunningcoach  #diazhumanperformance  #humanoctane

What do you get when you mix an American flag with a Canadian? You get an US “Ay” instead of a USA!  Team US-Ay members Miguel Medina and Austin Azar join us to share thoughts on their 2nd place finish at Worlds Toughest Mudder and the conversation goes way of point. For example, whats the dating scene look like for the studdly Canadian?  Will he move to the States? Listen to shared comments about the state of Worlds Toughest Mudder given the shift in prize purses and a whole lot more.  Honestly, this was a fun conversation.  I dare you to listen and keep a straight face!