My lass stopped watching the Running Channel because of Anna, said she couldn't relate to someone that spent the majority of her time crying for no apparent reason.
My Tom conspiracy theory is he's been told to act as the "fat bloke who's started running" rep so that other fatties can watch and be like wow, if he can do it so can I. Read the comments on a Tom video, makes me ashamed to even own running trainers.
He's also engaged to Sarah, who mogs him at running even at her usual 30km a week
this is pretty well documented, I noticed myself that sarah was a lot more into her running when she thought she was average and then implied a lot on the podcast that it was getting to her when people would comment on her runs that she can't call herself an average runner anymore. then her training mysteriously fell off and shes back to a point middle aged women don't say she isn't average anymore
Crabs in a bucket mentality, there's 8 million reels on instagram of people posting some run at 7:00/km with a caption like "easy miles" only for the comments to be inundated with "wow my sprinting pace is 8:00/km hee hee"
And if you dare to call someone "running" a parkrun in 55 minutes a walk it's like 28 days later (if the zombies were fat and slow) how quickly people jump to their defense.
That OMTIU account is getting worse and worse. I don't even follow it but it appeared in my suggested/ unasked for on my timeline - the comments are so depressing.
They were popping off at people who got tattoos with their times on it (from strava not chip). I mean I wouldn't do it but what harm does it do for gods sake, these aren't olympians. they are hobby joggers and its THEIR BODY they are tattooing. And the gleeful comments are just gross
great podcast. Listening to James is always a joy. However, on Youtube I had to drag my browser window down so the karaoke was off-screen. It was way too distracting otherwise.
So, if you're up for some constructive criticism, get rid of the karaoke captions. And maybe dig up some dirt on James so you can blackmail him into doing more of those. :-)
Hi FOD, loving the new POD too. As James is unlikely to be your co host every week, hopefully you can get some of your other local friends in the running YouTube sphere to appear as guests from time to time. I think you correspond with all of these, who I’d like to see.
1) MARM - when you appeared on his POD previously it was a great listen.
2) John Broom & Tim Grose - both guys have so much knowledge and I reckon the three of you could have a great chat. Hopefully get Tim to discuss the dismal demise of PO10 and Run Britain Rankings since his departure.
3) Donato - I know there’s lots of joke comments here but I actually think he’d be good value for masters/older runners interested in how he achieves the times he still does.
4) Andy & Brett. Maybe you’ll have to ensure their conversation doesn’t stray from running but I think it would be good fun.
5) Welsh Runner - another who gets criticised somewhat here (unfairly in my opinion) but he undoubtedly knows a lot of the sport, especially the more scientific side of things.
I think those are all great suggestions but as a balance we need to have someone like Nick Bester who is a man of the people, and and all round humble guy. I would love for you to really dig into his mindset when he's at the start line of those stacked races like the Abu Dhabi half marathon where he managed to destroy the whole field. That conversation may want to behind a pay wall as I imagine there would be alot of interest in it
this is pretty well documented, I noticed myself that sarah was a lot more into her running when she thought she was average and then implied a lot on the podcast that it was getting to her when people would comment on her runs that she can't call herself an average runner anymore. then her training mysteriously fell off and shes back to a point middle aged women don't say she isn't average anymore
Crabs in a bucket mentality, there's 8 million reels on instagram of people posting some run at 7:00/km with a caption like "easy miles" only for the comments to be inundated with "wow my sprinting pace is 8:00/km hee hee"
And if you dare to call someone "running" a parkrun in 55 minutes a walk it's like 28 days later (if the zombies were fat and slow) how quickly people jump to their defense.
Infuriates me, probably need to get over it
I hate that people, at least in the US, generally often refer to an “average runner” as someone who might pop out for a 2 or 3 mile run maybe twice a week. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s exercise and something they might enjoy, but I wouldn’t even call that a hobby. So when people start to learn about structured training and running race times that are in the thick of the bell curve, you know, statistically average by definition, it confuses the hell out of these people you’re talking about and they start thinking that a 20 minute 5k runner is a god walking amongst men and glaze Flogborg in his comment sections. People don’t like being honest to themselves if it makes them feel bad.
Hi FOD, loving the new POD too. As James is unlikely to be your co host every week, hopefully you can get some of your other local friends in the running YouTube sphere to appear as guests from time to time. I think you correspond with all of these, who I’d like to see.
1) MARM - when you appeared on his POD previously it was a great listen.
2) John Broom & Tim Grose - both guys have so much knowledge and I reckon the three of you could have a great chat. Hopefully get Tim to discuss the dismal demise of PO10 and Run Britain Rankings since his departure.
3) Donato - I know there’s lots of joke comments here but I actually think he’d be good value for masters/older runners interested in how he achieves the times he still does.
4) Andy & Brett. Maybe you’ll have to ensure their conversation doesn’t stray from running but I think it would be good fun.
5) Welsh Runner - another who gets criticised somewhat here (unfairly in my opinion) but he undoubtedly knows a lot of the sport, especially the more scientific side of things.
I think those are all great suggestions but as a balance we need to have someone like Nick Bester who is a man of the people, and and all round humble guy. I would love for you to really dig into his mindset when he's at the start line of those stacked races like the Abu Dhabi half marathon where he managed to destroy the whole field. That conversation may want to behind a pay wall as I imagine there would be alot of interest in it
I presume this is sarcastic, otherwise the description "humble" and "Bester" should never appear in the same sentence.
I know Floberg gets a lot of criticism but Fordy runs came on my YouTube and he said he’s 4 weeks out from London so I’m going to do a 16 mile ‘goal pace’ run, 20 mile race and a half marathon race. A lot of intensity so close to race day
At the 20 miler he says his easy pace is 5:08 per km. Pigs are flying
His marathon PB from Nov '25 is like a 3:28, bloke's not on this planet
Thanks, he’s offered his time once a month so it’ll hopefully be monthly and we would love to get some guests in along the way, some maybe from the original thread and others that we think will be interesting. In the mean time, I’ll get plenty of other guests on 👍
The subtitles need to stay sadly but I’ll change them from karaoke font 😂
I hate that people, at least in the US, generally often refer to an “average runner” as someone who might pop out for a 2 or 3 mile run maybe twice a week. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s exercise and something they might enjoy, but I wouldn’t even call that a hobby. So when people start to learn about structured training and running race times that are in the thick of the bell curve, you know, statistically average by definition, it confuses the hell out of these people you’re talking about and they start thinking that a 20 minute 5k runner is a god walking amongst men and glaze Flogborg in his comment sections. People don’t like being honest to themselves if it makes them feel bad.
I don't think they are being dishonest, they just don't know any better. Since the running boom of the last decade there are now millions of runners out there who never ran in school and never ran for a club. In their running bubble the guy who runs 3 times a week and does 25 minutes in a parkrun is average. If you break 20 they think you are on the verge of going to the Olympics. This is who youtube is catering to and why so much content is bottom tier slop.
I remember a while ago she had a video up they'd originally called "this workout will get you a sub 20 5km" in one of her builds to a 5km pb attempt.
As you say - varying from like 20km to 40km a week in the months before, doesn't mention that people would just want some good consistent training doing one or two of a few workout variants over the course of a few months.
Fails to dip under 20 mins, video title gets subtly changed and no more mention of it again. Make a follow up and explain that it's not the one workout that failed you, it's not being consistent. Kind of person watching the running channel would probably get a lot from some basic advice like that
In fairness to her she made a decent attempt for what would be a male sub 17:45 equivalent.
If she was consistent she could do semi decent times for a casual runner, but I get the criticism.
Potentially that's her thing though , like Rick is the couch potato , they have decent runners and Andy of course.... literally they are trying to have something for everyone, which is impossible . Not to my tastes but in the interest of fairness they do offer good advice for a section of the running world and some of Andy's vids /workouts are pretty good if you can find them in the sea of other stuff they have.
Will Bester shoot for a PB in London? And will he get it?
no one cares and no chance. the mans not broken 2:27 in 2 years, hes getting older and his recent training session paces have been woeful. the goon needs a proper period of complete rest which he never has... just keeps banging out 90 miles every week even after racing
Rumours Ben is running has been signed by ASICS to replace Clayton Young!? Any truth in this?
this is an impossible scenario. Fentons trademark is to shill out as many brands as physically possible. i think he has a hoarder type disorder where he just collects various free handouts from different companies then puts them all up for sale on ebay to afford the rent for his pokey 1 bed shed that he lives in
asics are a decent brand who do not need to support a hobby jogging scavenger in this way
Will Bester shoot for a PB in London? And will he get it?
Bester will never PB again. He was very motivated to get sub 2:20, worked really hard, failed a bunch, but eventually managed it. He has absolutely no motivation or ability to go faster. Sure, he’ll claim otherwise in videos to try and keep viewers watching his “journey”, but he’s done. I just wish he would say as much.
Will Bester shoot for a PB in London? And will he get it?
no one cares and no chance. the mans not broken 2:27 in 2 years, hes getting older and his recent training session paces have been woeful. the goon needs a proper period of complete rest which he never has... just keeps banging out 90 miles every week even after racing
will be interesting, he claims he isnt in great marathon shape due to lack of long running so you'd hope he is in good shape to smash a faster race. If it isn't super quick then you have to wonder if its worth him racing London or if he needs to truly get into the groove of training with the new team before targeting another "A race".
Hopefully the speed work pays off and he goes at least under 14 mins which would suggest that even with a little less endurance than usual he can go to London and cut it with the other elites.
OK so it's Rotterdam marathon this Sunday, April 12th.
Sarah from the running channel will be racing. She posted a workout yesterday of 3 x 1 mile at marathon pace, implying a goal time of 3:25 ish.
Posting here for posterity and accountability in case there are any sneaky edits.
Quite hard to make a prediction as her Strava is a mess of Runna slop, skiing and sporadic weight training and she doesn't race often. Looks like she ran a hilly half in Feb in around 1:45 which should make a 3:25 achievable on a flat course but she doesn't have the consistency or volume over the last 3 months so may struggle to convert well.
Not to knock his achievement - quality run for a man his age and size, I think in spite of rather than because of his training/coaching ability. But he's done it once on a swiss cheese everything aligning day, and tried to repeat the same training block non stop since then to no avail. (Although I guess he did try and fail to add extra mileage in an attempt to capture some of RTJ buzz)