Miles Better (Run Kaizen)

After discussing the merits of schmaltz and craftmanship of artisinal chopping boards, Josh and Michael talk through the secret sauce of becoming a better runner; being consistent.

They share what's worked, what hasn't and how to get around some of the constraints of life to maximise your the time you spend running (and increasing fitness).

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

Josh and Michael talk about their training progress and setbacks ahead of the Berlin Marathon, how to improve your marathon time, and how to think about tapering for the race.

This episode includes lots of discussion about things that matter to marathon performance and the things that don't (but give people confidence to do anyway).

They also answer a question from our Discord community and Kaizen's ability to predict 5k and 10k fitness.

Josh and Michael are halfway through their training block, shooting for a sub 2:28 at the Barcelona Marathon on 16 March. Michael has had a major setback and Josh has pretty much been in a different city every day for the past week, yet he is somehow managing to continue increasing his training load.

This episode is a deep dive into how to stay motivated with you training when you're pushing your limits and things are getting hard. They talk a lot about being realistic about your situation and adjusting goals accordingly, including when it makes sense to completely ignore the big outcome goal at the end and just focus on the next day.

Reasonable amount of chat as to why sunk cost fallacy is not relevant for runners.

PSA: we are at the Barcelona Half Marathon Expo this week. Come say hi!

Kaizen

Download here: https://kaizen.app.link/milesbetter

Strava club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/runkaizen

Web: https://runkaizen.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runkaizen/

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

After Josh is forced to explain in a modicum of detail how well his training has been going in advance of some races ahead, Michael complains about exploring some new trails in the hills.

For the rest of the show, they discuss terrain and its impact of training, before moving onto elevation — including how that translates on race day.

They round it out with a listener question about training and racing in the heat and humidity.

Get Kaizen: https://kaizen.app.link/milesbetter

https://runkaizen.com/

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750?oq=josh

Michael and Josh use the upcoming Barcelona marathon to showcase tips and tricks to maximise your performance on race day.

We've got chat about preparation in the days before a marathon (correctly assessing fitness, gear check, pacing plan) as well as heaps on detail about how to make the most of race day (course optimisation, toilet trips, breakfast, + more) - all through the lens of how Josh will approach his marathon this weekend.

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Kaizen

Download the app: https://kaizen.app.link/milesbetter

Strava club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/runkaizen

Web: https://runkaizen.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runkaizen/

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

We speak to people who love running all the time. But Cole probably loves it the most.

With his sights set on a sub 2:20 London Marathon debut in 1.5 weeks (pending recovery from an altercation with an e-scooter), we hear from Cole on his recent training, running history, shared family obsession, and scientific understanding of the sport and what contributes to performance.

And for the lovers of rice pudding, we spend a good little while having Cole the connoisseur put us through our paces on what constitutes a good one. Josh and Michael have their own trips down rice pudding lane, and there's a bit of riffing on what you could experiment with to make the king of puds. Not one for the chefs.

Cole

https://www.instagram.com/colerunning/

https://www.strava.com/athletes/6113358

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Kaizen

Download the app: https://kaizen.app.link/milesbetter

Strava club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/runkaizen

Web: https://runkaizen.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runkaizen/

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

Our next guest for S3 is Rayne Holland, who ran a perfectly paced 2:48:30 at Melbourne Marathon 2024 in her first ever race.

To this day she's never run a 5k, 10k or half marathon and yet is gearing up for a big PB at the Ballarat Marathon by knocking off consistent 150k+ weeks.

Rayne's deep understanding of the factors that influence running performance, and her commitment to doing everything in her control are rare for someone with so little time in the sport.

Rayne: https://www.strava.com/athletes/63853661

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Kaizen

Download the app: https://kaizen.app.link/milesbetter

Strava club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/runkaizen

Web: https://runkaizen.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runkaizen/

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

A bonus episode where Michael and Josh discuss the good, the bad and the ugly from Josh's day at the Barcelona marathon.

What can he to better next time? What went well in this race? Michael has opinions on both.

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Kaizen

Download the app: https://kaizen.app.link/milesbetter

Strava club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/runkaizen

Web: https://runkaizen.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runkaizen/

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

Race week. Josh is ready to go large in Barcelona. He's in and around PB shape.

The chat is about the last few weeks of training including a 5k best (and second best) for Josh and a bit of detail about how to think about the taper. Conclusions: highly personalised and more art than science.

Special episode will follow on Friday or Saturday to talk about the nuance of Josh's prediction and race planning.

Stay tuned...

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Kaizen

Download the app: https://kaizen.app.link/milesbetter

Strava club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/runkaizen

Web: https://runkaizen.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runkaizen/

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

Josh is on track for sub-2:28. Michael is trending in the other direction.

This episode dives into just how well Josh's training is going and why he's so bullish about his prospects for Barcelona Marathon, and also into some of the issues Michael's facing.

Josh's banked 190k in the past week, and is on track to breach 200k in the coming weeks. Day to day consistency has been everything, and he explains a bit about how that.

Michael is firmly in a hole and thinks he has some sort of low energy availability issue from not fuelling enough. Reassessing goals and plans accordingly. He shares a bit of his roadmap to get better.

Josh explains some of the other ways that training for a marathon can go wrong. The episode wraps up with some back and forth about the sub 2:28 challenge being alive and well over the course of 2025.

Kaizen

Download the app: https://kaizen.app.link/milesbetter

Strava club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/runkaizen

Web: https://runkaizen.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runkaizen/

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

Josh and Michael talk about the upcoming episodes around Berlin Marathon, and go into detail about their training weeks before explaining how Kaizen works and how they use it to guide their own marathon training.

It's been about a month since the last episode and now less than 9 weeks til Barcelona Marathon, which is round 1 of the sub 2:28 challenge.

In this episode, Josh and Michael talk about their last month of training in Mexico and Australia respectively, being the weeks leading into the part of the marathon training block that "counts". Some details about the last week or so and Josh's run up a de-commissioned funicular and Michael doing his first trail race.

Big focus on what's coming up over the next few months of training leading into Barcelona.

runkaizen.com

@runkaizen

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

This episode features a special guest, Jake Barraclough, who is living proof of the science and principles behind what we're building at Kaizen. Running is simple. Run more to get faster.

Jake has been consistently running 200-250km per week since he moved to Japan about 18 months ago, and has improved his marathon PB down to 2:17. He reckons there's more to give (with more training) and is training towards a 2:12 at the Tokyo Marathon in just over one month's time.

We dive deep into Jake's running history, motivations and aspirations for the future.

Also some chat about Josh and Michael's ongoing training battle to see who can get into sub 2:28 shape for Barcelona Marathon on 16 March.

Kaizen

Download here: https://kaizen.app.link/milesbetter

Strava club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/runkaizen

Web: https://runkaizen.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runkaizen/

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

Find Jake

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RanToJapan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rantojapan

Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/41200754

New season incoming. Josh and Michael are keeping things interesting and going big in 2025, with both looking to knock off Josh's 2:28:19 PB set in 2018.

A first race has been set for mid-March, where they'll face off for the first time.

They dive into detail around what that means for them in terms of training, and how they will think about and set up their training over the next few months.

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

Only 2 weeks late, but we got there.

In this episode, Josh and Michael are joined by two friends of the show, Parker Harris and Rob Eves. The crew do a collective recap of their efforts at the Berlin Marathon. Could have thrown a blanket over Parker, Rob and Josh at the finish. Good chat with some diverse perspectives and interesting running backgrounds.

Berlin performances:

Parker: 2:55

Rob: 2:54

Josh: 2:54

Michael: 2:38

Follow us on Strava:

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

Rob: https://www.strava.com/athletes/14326384

Parker: https://www.strava.com/athletes/16023426

In Season 3, we're featuring a number of guests on the show. The first few are all prepping for an upcoming marathon and bring a diverse range of running stories and backgrounds to keep things interesting.

First up is Sofia Eves, 3:06 marathoner (on debut!) who has Hannover Marathon upcoming this weekend. Sofia dives into her first marathon (and training), plus her second marathon (slightly less successful).

We also dig into planning and prep ahead of Hannover Marathon where Sofia is going for sub-3.

Sofia: https://www.strava.com/athletes/39378389

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Kaizen

Download the app: https://kaizen.app.link/milesbetter

Strava club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/runkaizen

Web: https://runkaizen.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runkaizen/

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

Michael and Josh discuss their preparations for the upcoming Berlin Marathon, sharing insights on race week plans, training progress and Kaizen predictions. They are joined by special guest Rui Nogueiro, who shares his inspiring running journey and the evolution of his training. The conversation delves into the importance of tapering, race day strategies, fuelling and tips for navigating the Berlin Marathon course. The episode provides valuable advice for both seasoned runners and first-time marathoners.

Less than 8 weeks until Barcelona Marathon, so Josh and Michael are really ramping up their training. They go into their training, both recent and future, and talk quite a lot about how they are planning on building their training load and structuring their training weeks.

If they want to get close to a sub-2:28, they realise they'll need to be averaging over 100 miles per week, likely peaking at around 200km. Josh has it all in his head, and Michael is wrapping his around the idea of going to bed early enough to fit it in.

Josh gears up to get kicked out of his virtual competition and Michael decides his entire training block will be completed on the same out and back.

Find out how Josh thinks about hitting training load goals when his target is up around 200km per week, right at the end of the episode.

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

2 weeks of training plus 1 week of taper to go before the first edition of the sub 2:28 challenge at the Barcelona Marathon.

Josh has hit a 200km training week for the first time this block and is 80% sure he'll be in PB shape come race day. Michael has pulled out on the back of some rookie mistakes.

The bulk of the episode is about how to think about, plan and benefit from B races around your primary race goal (like a marathon), to take advantage of that fitness you've built.

Lots of details around responsible scheduling and some of the risks when think about additional races.

Episode wraps up with Josh musing about whether to represent Germany or the UK at the European Road Running Champs in Brussels.

Kaizen

Download the app: https://kaizen.app.link/milesbetter

Strava club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/runkaizen

Web: https://runkaizen.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runkaizen/

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

In this episode of Miles Better, Michael interviews Matt Fox, the man behind Sweat Elite. They discuss Matt's recent achievement of breaking the 2:20 barrier at the Chicago Marathon and the adjustments he made in his training regimen, including weight management and increased training load. Matt shares insights into his training, the importance of consistency, and his future goals in marathon running.

A must listen for anyone seeking to break a time-based goal in running.

Michael and Josh discuss the new algorithm developed by Kaizen, which enhances race prediction accuracy by incorporating additional factors such as cross-training and elevation. Its range extends to predictions for 5k and 10k, in addition to existing coverage for half and full marathons.

They cover how the algorithm works, its versatility across different race distances, and practical tips for users to maximize their training and predictions. They wrap up with how to tailor predictions for individual athletes and the future rollout of the algorithm.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the New Algorithm

02:45 Enhancements in Race Prediction Accuracy

04:52 Understanding Inputs and Outputs

07:54 Algorithm's Versatility Across Race Distances

10:48 Tailoring Predictions for Individual Athletes

13:42 Practical Tips for Using Kaizen

16:39 Future Updates

In this episode, Josh and Michael discuss Josh's recent 75 minute half marathon and their recent training weeks, including a training camp in Czechia.

Josh reviews some half tights and a half zip from YMR Track Club, and they delve deep into running through winter. From what to wear, to how to train, race and run like a duck.

Michael: https://www.strava.com/athletes/32067191

Josh: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1721750

YMR Track Club: https://ymrtrackclub.com/

Discount code: MILESBETTER20

Season 1 has wrapped and we are teasing what’s coming next on Miles Better

Josh and Michael give intros to their running selves, talk a bit about their training for the upcoming Berlin Marathon, and start to introduce Kaizen.

This is a bonus episode in response to a question from the Kaizen community. Josh and Michael talk about setting goals for races (and training towards them), and two different approaches. They go into detail about how sometimes time goals are purely arbitrary, sometimes not, and perhaps there's another way to think about running goals that may lead to greater motivation and/or satisfaction. Josh almost takes the conversation into the realm of metaphysics, but restrains himself.