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What if the key to getting faster isn't running harder — it's running smarter at the right effort? In this episode, we sit down with esteemed running coach Laura Norris of Laura Norris Running and co-host of the popular Tread Lightly Podcast, to dig into one of the most misunderstood tools in a runner's toolbox: threshold training.

We cover:

🌀The science behind why threshold work improves your body's ability to clear and buffer lactate — and why that matters for every distance, not just the 5K

🌀How threshold training builds a bigger aerobic engine without the wear and tear of constant hard efforts

🌀Why so many runners run their threshold sessions too fast (or too slow) — and how to actually find the right effort

🌀Different ways to structure threshold work: steady tempo runs, cruise intervals, and progression runs

🌀How often to include threshold sessions in a training week without overloading your system

🌀Common mistakes runners make when they first start training at threshold

🌀How to know threshold work is actually making you fitter and faster over time

Whether you're new to structured training or looking to fine-tune your approach, this episode breaks down the "why" and the "how" of threshold training so you can train with purpose — and see the results in your next race.

RESOURCES:

Website: Laura Norris Running

Podcast: Tread Lightly Podcast

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Whitney Heins is a mom of 2, a lifelong runner, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. When training for her first marathon as a mom, she found a dearth of information related to running and motherhood. She also felt extremely isolated as a new mom. As a former TV journalist and a freelance writer she decided to use her skills to fill the void with an online resource and community, called The Mother Runners. Whitney also recognized a need for run coaches who understood the demands of motherhood, so she also became a running coach—unearthing a passion for helping moms reap the rewards and empowerment of running. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, two kids, and three dogs.

• www.themotherrunners.com
• Instagram: @themotherrunners
• YouTube: The Mother Runners
• whitney@themotherrunners.com

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Most runners think pacing is either instinct or grit — but running coach Laura Norris of the Tread Lightly Podcast joins me to make the case that negative splitting is a skill you have to train, just like speed or endurance. In this episode, we dig into:

🌀The physiology behind a negative split — how a controlled start protects glycogen, delays muscle fatigue, and keeps your thermoregulation and cardiovascular system from breaking down late in the race

🌀Why fitness alone won't get you there — the specific workouts (split-pace long runs, cutdowns, fast-finish tempos) that train your body and brain to run faster on tired legs

🌀How to actually execute it on race day — from how much slower to start, to a surprising cue from a sport psychologist for how not to talk yourself out of going out too hot

🌀What to do when it doesn't go to plan — how to tell a normal rough patch from the start of hitting the wall, and the most common mistake runners make when trying to pace a negative split

Whether you're chasing a PR or just tired of blowing up in the last 10K, this conversation will change how you think about your first five miles.

& be sure to check out last week's episode with Laura on the power behind threshold workouts.

RESOURCES:

Website: Laura Norris Running

Substack

Podcast: Tread Lightly Podcast

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Whitney Heins is a mom of 2, a lifelong runner, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. When training for her first marathon as a mom, she found a dearth of information related to running and motherhood. She also felt extremely isolated as a new mom. As a former TV journalist and a freelance writer she decided to use her skills to fill the void with an online resource and community, called The Mother Runners. Whitney also recognized a need for run coaches who understood the demands of motherhood, so she also became a running coach—unearthing a passion for helping moms reap the rewards and empowerment of running. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, two kids, and three dogs.

• www.themotherrunners.com
• Instagram: @themotherrunners
• YouTube: The Mother Runners
• whitney@themotherrunners.com

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Turning 40 doesn't mean your best running years are behind you — it means the way you train has to change. In this episode, we sit down with MY running coach Nick Klastava (USATF & RRCA certified, head coach of Running Explained and co-host of the name sake podcast) to break down what the science actually says about masters running, and how to build a smarter training block after 40.

We cover:

🌀Why aerobic fitness decline after 40 is real, but mostly optional if you keep training

🌀How training should change for runners over 40

🌀Appropriate goals for runners over 50

🌀His approach to my training as a 45-year-old mom going for her fastest marathon time (low 2:50s)

🌀Why your ceiling — VO2max, lactate threshold, even PRs — stays highly

Whether you're chasing a running PR over 40 or just trying to keep showing up strong, this episode gives you the science-backed playbook for training smarter, not less.

RESOURCES:

IG: @runningexplained & @nklastava

Website & podcast: runningexplained.com

Whitney Heins is a mom of 2, a lifelong runner, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. When training for her first marathon as a mom, she found a dearth of information related to running and motherhood. She also felt extremely isolated as a new mom. As a former TV journalist and a freelance writer she decided to use her skills to fill the void with an online resource and community, called The Mother Runners. Whitney also recognized a need for run coaches who understood the demands of motherhood, so she also became a running coach—unearthing a passion for helping moms reap the rewards and empowerment of running. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, two kids, and three dogs.

• www.themotherrunners.com
• Instagram: @themotherrunners
• YouTube: The Mother Runners
• whitney@themotherrunners.com

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Ever stuck with something just because you said you'd do it--even if that goal didn't serve you anymore? I think we all have. Today's guest completely upends the perseverance culture with her new book, The Case For Quitting.

Lindsay Crouse has spent her career at the intersection of running and storytelling — and her new book will completely change how you think about quitting.

Lindsay ran at Harvard and later, came within 8 minutes of the Olympic Trials Marathon standard. But most of you probably know her name from The New York Times, where she spent fifteen years as a senior editor and producer, breaking some of the biggest stories in women's sports — including the reporting that helped push Nike to guarantee pay for pregnant athletes and the story of Mary Cain's troubling time at Nike.

Now Lindsay is channeling everything she's learned about grit, ambition, and burnout into her first book, The Case for Quitting.

We dive into:

🌀What drove her to challenge this idea that PERSEVERANCE is always the answer

🌀How quitting can be one of the most courageous & empowering thing we can do

🌀Signs (& questions to ask yourself) that it is time to quit

🌀The importance of intention in the choices we make (big & small)

RESOURCES:

Book, The Case for Quitting

IG: @lindsaycrouse

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TIMESTAMPS:

1. 00:00 — Mother runners and perseverance culture
2. 03:20 — “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”
3. 09:34 — Healthy hard work versus pointless grinding
4. 13:18 — Is your hard work actually working?
5. 17:32 — When a marathon goal stops serving you
6. 18:36 — Letting go of an Olympic Trials qualifying goal
7. 22:32 — Chasing faster marathon times and moving goalposts
8. 23:05 — Training through injury and redefining success
9. 27:25 — Running in seasons, not constant progress
10. 45:27 — Healthy striving versus detrimental striving

Whitney Heins is a mom of 2, a lifelong runner, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. When training for her first marathon as a mom, she found a dearth of information related to running and motherhood. She also felt extremely isolated as a new mom. As a former TV journalist and a freelance writer she decided to use her skills to fill the void with an online resource and community, called The Mother Runners. Whitney also recognized a need for run coaches who understood the demands of motherhood, so she also became a running coach—unearthing a passion for helping moms reap the rewards and empowerment of running. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, two kids, and three dogs.

• www.themotherrunners.com
• Instagram: @themotherrunners
• YouTube: The Mother Runners
• whitney@themotherrunners.com

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Today we are hearing from someone who has lived and breathed running pretty much her whole life.

Angela Reckart ran Division III at The College of New Jersey, where she was a seven-time All-American and part of two national championship relay teams. From there, she moved into coaching — North Florida, North Carolina, six seasons at Penn State helping lead the Nittany Lions to a Big Ten title, and Duke.

But off the track, she's 'Coach Reck' — girl mom to two daughters, a woman of faith, and someone who's had to figure out, in real time, what it looks like to build a career around running while also building a family.

Today, Angela is going for an Olympic Trials Qualifying time in the marathon in her 40s. That, after she didn’t race for 16 years, and then went from a 2:55 to a 2:45 marathon in 16 months, running her PR just this past April in Boston.

In this episode, we dive into:

🌀The transition from competing to coaching

🌀Her experience in returning to racing

🌀What her training looks like as a mom in her 40s going for the Olympic Trials

🌀Her top mother runner hacks...and mistakes

TIMESTAMPS:

1:39 — Motherhood and running’s “busy season”
12:45 — Navigating coaching, travel, and a newborn
14:23 — Why she started marathon training
15:54 — Marathon running as a personal reset
17:36 — Racing goals in your forties
18:47 — The power of stacking training cycles
20:27 — Running mechanics for stronger, more durable runners
22:53 — Think like your own coach
24:39 — Identity beyond motherhood and running
42:18 — Managing injuries without spiraling

RESOURCES:

IG: @coach_reck

Site: NGU Coaching

THANK YOU, SPONSOR!:

💗 AQUA OMEGA High-quality Omega-3s. Save 20% with code MOTHERRUNNER.

Whitney Heins is a mom of 2, a lifelong runner, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. When training for her first marathon as a mom, she found a dearth of information related to running and motherhood. She also felt extremely isolated as a new mom. As a former TV journalist and a freelance writer she decided to use her skills to fill the void with an online resource and community, called The Mother Runners. Whitney also recognized a need for run coaches who understood the demands of motherhood, so she also became a running coach—unearthing a passion for helping moms reap the rewards and empowerment of running. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, two kids, and three dogs.

• www.themotherrunners.com
• Instagram: @themotherrunners
• YouTube: The Mother Runners
• whitney@themotherrunners.com

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Fuel Goods co-founder Laura Jorgensen is on a mission to make sports nutrition simpler, and she's doing it while rebuilding her body and raising a newborn.

Laura's relationship with movement has never followed a straight line. After three ACL tears ended her collegiate basketball career at Swarthmore, she turned to running, then cycling, and rode it all the way to the pro ranks with 50+ podiums and a spot on the U.S. National Team. Along the way, she co-founded Fuel Goods, the discovery marketplace and Fuel Planner built to take the guesswork out of endurance fueling.

This January, Laura had her knee replaced. This summer, she became a mom for the first time. Now she's easing back into running through run-walk physical therapy, chasing a very different kind of comeback.

The advice that changes everything? You can do it all, you just can't do it all at once.

In this episode, we talk about:

🌀 The story behind Fuel Goods and the Fuel Planner, which turns your training plan into a fueling plan you can actually buy
🌀 How becoming a mom changes your relationship with ambition, time, and performance
🌀 The "highest and best use of my time" question Laura uses to make faster, saner decisions
🌀 Redefining what it means to be a runner in a new season of life

This conversation goes beyond sports nutrition. It's about resilience, patience, and learning how to stack hard things that fill you up instead of drain you.

RESOURCES:
IG: @fuel_goods

Grab a free personalized fueling plan at fuelgoods.com/fuelingplan.

THANK YOU, SPONSORS!:

💗 BEAM MINERALS plant based liquid minerals. Save 20% with code MOTHERRUNNER.

💗 AQUA OMEGA High-quality Omega-3s. Save 20% with code MOTHERRUNNER.

Whitney Heins is a mom of 2, a lifelong runner, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. When training for her first marathon as a mom, she found a dearth of information related to running and motherhood. She also felt extremely isolated as a new mom. As a former TV journalist and a freelance writer she decided to use her skills to fill the void with an online resource and community, called The Mother Runners. Whitney also recognized a need for run coaches who understood the demands of motherhood, so she also became a running coach—unearthing a passion for helping moms reap the rewards and empowerment of running. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, two kids, and three dogs.

• www.themotherrunners.com
• Instagram: @themotherrunners
• YouTube: The Mother Runners
• whitney@themotherrunners.com

Send us Fan Mail

What if your training week doesn’t go according to plan—and that’s actually okay?

In this special solo episode, I am breaking down why chasing the “perfect” training week can create unnecessary stress, especially for us busy moms. Fitness isn’t built from one perfect workout or week—it’s built through consistency, adaptation, recovery, and playing the long game.

I share how to handle missed workouts without guilt, when to modify or skip a workout, and why you never need to “make up” every run.

In this episode, I talk about:

• Why consistency matters more than perfect training
• What to do when you miss a workout
• The difference between green-, yellow-, and red-light training weeks
• Why recovery is an essential part of training
• How busy moms can build flexible training plans that survive real life

Because you don’t need a perfect training week to become a stronger runner—you just need to keep laying the bricks. This episode will empower you to take control of your training & handle mishaps with grace and resilience.

THANK YOU, SPONSORS:

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Whitney Heins is a mom of 2, a lifelong runner, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. When training for her first marathon as a mom, she found a dearth of information related to running and motherhood. She also felt extremely isolated as a new mom. As a former TV journalist and a freelance writer she decided to use her skills to fill the void with an online resource and community, called The Mother Runners. Whitney also recognized a need for run coaches who understood the demands of motherhood, so she also became a running coach—unearthing a passion for helping moms reap the rewards and empowerment of running. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, two kids, and three dogs.

• www.themotherrunners.com
• Instagram: @themotherrunners
• YouTube: The Mother Runners
• whitney@themotherrunners.com

Send us Fan Mail

What happens when you walk away from the “perfect” life on paper and create a life that actually feels like yours?

Today, I talk with Lisa DiNoto Glassner, a former Big Law attorney who traded her legal career for a new chapter—and eventually discovered running and runDisney. After completing more than 100 runDisney races, Lisa has become an expert on everything from race logistics and costumes to corrals, characters, and the magic of the experience.

Now, she’s sharing everything she’s learned in her new book, The runDisney Companion.

In this episode:

🌀Lisa’s journey from Big Law to becoming a runner and runDisney expert

🌀Her best runDisney tips, secrets, and race-day advice

🌀What first-time runDisney runners need to know before race weekend

🌀How to make the most of the characters, courses, and magic

If you’ve ever thought, “A Disney race sounds amazing, but I have no idea how this works,” this episode is for you!

RESOURCES:
Website & book: https://thecastlerun.com/
IG: @thecastlerunner

THANK YOU, SPONSORS!:

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💗 AQUA OMEGA High-quality Omega-3s. Save 20% with code MOTHERRUNNER.

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TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 — Lisa’s journey from Harvard Law to Run Disney

07:24 — Grief, motherhood, and feeling out of balance

09:46 — How running helped Lisa through her father’s illness

12:11 — Running a Disney half marathon to honor her dad

15:17 — From runner to Run Disney expert and author

16:17 — Why the Run Disney community welcomes every runner

25:41 — First-time Run Disney tips: train like it’s a real race

27:45 — Sleep, recovery, and managing family expectations

36:37 — The biggest mistake moms make on race weekend

51:17 — Why the pursuit of a goal matters more than the finish line

Whitney Heins is a mom of 2, a lifelong runner, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. When training for her first marathon as a mom, she found a dearth of information related to running and motherhood. She also felt extremely isolated as a new mom. As a former TV journalist and a freelance writer she decided to use her skills to fill the void with an online resource and community, called The Mother Runners. Whitney also recognized a need for run coaches who understood the demands of motherhood, so she also became a running coach—unearthing a passion for helping moms reap the rewards and empowerment of running. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, two kids, and three dogs.

• www.themotherrunners.com
• Instagram: @themotherrunners
• YouTube: The Mother Runners
• whitney@themotherrunners.com