Transcript
Speaker: All right. Welcome to the runner's podium podcast. Honored to have the amazing Brady Homer on the podcast today. Brady is super fast runner.
Speaker: I think you did. Did you run 224 in Boston? Is that right? Yep. Correct. ah Yeah. Last year. to So 2025. Okay. Boston. And then, yeah, I saw you did grandma's this year also in like the two twenties. Like, so you're obviously you're putting up incredible times, but more than that, Brady, I just, you know, following you on Instagram and just the wealth of information on your page and what you're offering people out there that are learning runners to advanced runners. Everyone, I feel like could take a lot from your page and everything that you're teaching people and talking about it. I find it really great. And I even saw you, were you on Rhonda Patrick's podcast?
Speaker: I was, yeah, twice actually. So couple, I think like a year or so ago, I went on and we chatted about, oh gosh, what was the first thing we chatted about? We've done like two like journal club style podcasts where we'll like find like an interesting study that we think is like relevant. And we, yeah, we recorded it a podcast on it. um I actually, that's kind of like my full-time job. So I work with her as like ah like the head of like out of science and, you know, helping with curate science content.
Speaker: what we're going to cover helping with the podcast. So that's like actually my full time job in addition to sort of the science communication stuff that I'm that I'm doing on the side. But yeah, it's been fun.
Speaker: It was fun to appear on her podcast to chat about science because, you know, i was a fan of her for a long time before we started working. yeah I started working for So, yeah, it was cool to get to kind of talk to such a large audience. You know, my audience is decent, but it's nowhere near the ah the scope of of hers. So it was a lot of fun.
Speaker: Yeah, I saw you had that science background, so that makes sense. Yeah, I've been like i've had her newsletter for, I can't even, I don't know how many years. like She's been doing it. I heard her probably on the Rich Roll podcast like maybe 12 years ago, maybe more. I don't know, a long time ago. And ah so I've always followed her and looked to her for advice. So I think that's so cool that you get to link with her. And she is really...
Speaker: a wealth of information as well. much, just like an an encyclopedia. And I think, you know, it's, it's just fun to kind of work and collaborate and like, oh here's the new science we're going to share. And, uh, you know, keep her at the top of like some of like these big health podcasters. I think, you know, I'm a little bit biased, but you know, I think we're, she tends to put out some of the the better content. That's a little less biased, you know, because we're not, uh,
Speaker: No supplement yeah yeah advertisers or anything behind that, which is always nice. Yeah. No biased backing of studies. She's just coming at it. Just trying to give the the real information out there. Awesome, Brady. Well, let's get into our categories here. We're going to start with your top three most memorable running moments.
Speaker: Cool. Oh boy. So I think, yeah, I mean, number one, It's got to be, we just brought up Boston, but I think, you know, I went into Boston last year, 2020, or not, yeah, too I guess last year, 2025. That was my first Boston Marathon. And I guess the most memorable part of that race, just like going going down, finishing on Boyle's history and just that ah crowd. I mean, it was absurd. Like I had...
Speaker: no idea what to expect and when i turned that corner granted you know i was in a substantial amount of pain at that point as most people are but like just going down and kind of then forgetting about all the pain you're just like wow this is like a moment to kind of soak it in and just uh put your finishing and kick in for this race. So that was, that was certainly, um memorable there. yeah I think number two would probably be in high school. Uh, so my junior year, my senior year of high school, um, I actually won the conference championship and the district championship for cross country. So those were certainly memorable because, you know, you can have races where you PR, but like it's, it's rare,
Speaker: winning a race is rare i've only won a few real races like in throughout my career and so in high school when i did that it was like coming first across the line and a huge cross country race is just like there's really no other feeling uh like that one totally so i think that would probably be number two. And then number three, I'll go with something a little bit counterintuitive. So this won't be necessarily a my number via top third best memorable experience, but it was memorable for a different reason. But my my first marathon I ever ran, it was the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon, I think 2024.
Speaker: four Oh, wow. um And that one, you know, i wouldn't say I was underprepared, but my mileage wasn't super high. It's a very hilly course. So I hit, I hit the last three to four miles in that course and really like legs started cramping up. So that finish was just,
Speaker: it was brutal to like actually get across the finish line. So I'll always remember that and ah use it as sort of ah a stimulus to train and make sure you're ready for the the marathon, not only the marathon, but like the course, the demands of the course that you're going to be running on. Cause I was just, you know, i was averaging about like 545 per mile. And then the last couple were at like a seven minute pace just because I was fighting off these calf cramps the entire time. So certainly memorable, not necessarily for the best of reasons, that one.
Speaker: Totally, man. But you know, sounds like you learned a lot from that. Yeah, definitely. First marathon is always a humbling one for a lot of people, I think. Absolutely. The marathons, it's a beast. It's a long, a long journey of learning how to run the marathon properly. Totally. Totally. What about your top three running shoes?
Speaker: Oh, top three running shoes. Gosh, that's so hard late, like recently, because there are just, there are so freaking many running shoes out there and they're all very good. So, man, I think my top one, and I'm just, this is my recency bias is probably coming into play, but I think the Nike Zoom Fly 6 was a shoe that I was really impressed with and almost like surprised with because i i just don't think it's gotten a lot of the credit that it deserves in terms of being a super trainer, but like something you could probably also wear as a super shoe. So Zoomfly 6 as far as the training shoe goes, that's definitely top of my list.
Speaker: The ASICS Super Blast 3, one that I'm really enjoying right now, is also again, like a just all around daily trainer. And then um also right now, again, kind of my three most recent ones, but the Brooks Hyperion Max is a really, really good shoe, really durable. It's a workhorse. It's very heavy, but I find that you can run fast in it. You can run long in it. So I've been really impressed with that. ah Those are my top three right now.
Speaker: can i Can I save my top overrated shoe before we move on to the next Please. Let's hear And I say overrated. I've been enjoying this shoe, and every time I run in it, I kind of change my mind a little bit. But the ah Adidas Evo SL, the shoe that everybody seems to be wearing, I just think – It's a bit overrated. I mean, there's nothing really special about it. Maybe that's why people enjoy it so much. It's like decently priced. It's got some cushion in there, but I just heard so many like raves about that shoe. And then I bought myself a pair and I ran in it and I was like, kind of unimpressed. I mean, it's okay for what it is, but it's certainly not like the best shoe on the market in my, in my opinion. I don't know if you've tried it, tried it, but. I have not. I used to rock the Adios Pros. Okay.
Speaker: But not the Evos. Yep. Yep. what What shoe did you use in um grandma's? In grandma's, I wore the Alpha Fly. That's basically been my marathon. Every marathon I've run, I've run in the Alpha Fly 3. I just think it's it's not the fastest super shoe out there. That's for sure. I mean, all many brands are making better super shoes right now in terms of lightness and speed but what i found is that it's the best kind of middle ground for me it's comfortable i know it's gonna work it doesn't give like my feet pain in weird areas because it doesn't cause me to run weird so i just think i'm like i'm gonna go with what's tried and true i think maybe next time i race a marathon i'll try something new alpha fly four will probably be out by then but yeah every every marathon i've run has been in the alpha fly four so far
Speaker: Or three, sorry. Solid. Solid. Got you. right. So we kind of went there a bit with your Cincinnati flying pig, but what about your top three running moments that didn't go as planned? Yeah, that would definitely be probably number one. And again, it was like a decent, a decent race. So, um, let's see what else I, I,
Speaker: Houston, i can't even remember what year it was. They kind of all blend. But the Houston, I ran the Houston half marathon in, i guess that was 2025 because I used it as kind of a tune up for the Boston marathon.
Speaker: That day, I just kind of woke up and it was cold, super cold that day. um I don't really race that well in the cold, but I think I psyched myself out a little bit. And I just went into that race and it was like, it was just one of those flat races. And I'm sure you've had one of those where you're like,
Speaker: you're well trained. It's not that you're out of shape. It's not that you really did anything wrong. But from the moment the gun went off, you're just like, i just don't have it today. So it was kind of the whole time I was like, I really can't wait to be done with today. It wasn't painful, but it was like i was on a tempo run that I couldn't speed up from. So that definitely didn't go as planned because I wanted it to be I was trying to run like sub 110 to try to be like a nice tune up for Boston, which was going to be couple months later, i ended up running, i don't even know, mid 112 at the Houston half And then it was like, I ran faster than that for double the distance at Boston. So it was just one of those weird days where you're like, what's going on here? So that one definitely didn't go out as as planned. um
Speaker: I've wanted to do Houston. I've heard it's great. It's great. It's great. It sells out to every year. if that's any indication of, you know, how good of a race it is. um I've not done the full, but the half marathon is a lot of fun. Very competitive too. Yeah. A ton of great runners go there because it's in like January. Right. And there's, there's not a ton of marathons, especially there's some in like Florida, but in a place that might not be super hot. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And it's kind of the weather can be, you never really know, like it could be 50 or 60, could be 20 to 30 degrees yeah in Houston. So it was just an unlucky a year there, I guess. The year before that, I ran a 109 there. So that's, I wanted to go back and try to run faster, but yeah, not my day. Third third was going to be...
Speaker: my junior year in college i was doing the 3000 meter uh on indoor track it was the conference championship and don't know what i ate but i ate something for lunch the day before that gave me food poisoning um in the funny thing of how indoor track works or track at any level i guess is you know if it's a multiple day event so i was scheduled to run the three k uh, Friday, maybe it was. And then the 5k on Saturday. And if you scratch your first race, then you're not allowed to run your second race the next day. You're basically done for the meat. So i'm like, well, I got to run this 3k cause I want to run the 5k the next day. So I ran it.
Speaker: Um, and I mean, slowest race that I've ever done in my entire life. And I felt like my stomach the entire time was just like, I wasn't barfing or like, you know, nothing was coming out, but it was like, I had this just huge, like almost like gas bubble in my stomach the entire time. Got lapped before the second lap of the race. um I think I ran on 11 minutes and 30 seconds. I mean, for a 3000 meter, which is just just a terrible time um for me at that time. So I did it. And then but ironically enough, I didn't even end up running the 5k the next day because I was like so sick and I just couldn't run. So that, that weekend sucked. That race was like one of those where you're like, Oh, I never want to feel like that again. Luckily nothing like that's ever happened, but yeah, not really sure what I ate. think it was like firehouse subs the day before. So four off that forever. Yeah. Well, that's some grit that you got it done. You still tried to make it happen, bro. Yeah. I can't believe I finished it. ah People were like, why did you finish? I'm like, I have to, so I can run the 5k tomorrow. But yeah, not the smartest decision ever. What about your top three pieces of essential gear outside of shoes? Yeah. Number one, um,
Speaker: definitely a heart rate monitor i'm a big fan of the koros that i mean other brands make it but i have a koros the armband heart rate monitor but i also do have the chest strap so i think every runner i mean you need either get an armband or get a chest strap heart rate monitor please don't use your if you want accurate heart rate data not every runner does but if you do get the uh get a strap and don't rely on kind of the heart rate from your watch because it's just nipped obviously inaccurate especially the faster you go so heart rate monitor is going to be number one number two it's called the naked running band so it's essentially like this waist it's a belt that goes around your waist but it's called a band because it's not like a clip like a belt it's basically just this
Speaker: single piece of elastic that you put around your waist and it has four pockets all around and you can fit mean you can fit so much stuff in this thing and there is zero bounce so i will put my phone in it i'm going to have a iphone 17 pro max so the biggest phone it fits in there i can fit like a half liter soft flask in there a couple gels And you run and it feels like there's nothing there. Of course, it weighs a little bit because you got stuff. But that has been just the single best like piece of running gear that I've probably bought. And it's 50 bucks. And it's just um yeah essential for carrying stuff on run. So that would be that's probably number one.
Speaker: Maybe number two is going to be ah the heart rate monitor, I think. And number three would be shocks headphones. That's something I've recently invested in.
Speaker: I used to run in just, I mean, other brands of like earbuds and stuff on runs, but I got a pair of shocks a couple years ago and they're great. Like I love them. I didn't think I'd like the whole bone conduction sort of technology, but those have been essential now and I have like all three they make like three different models and I have all three so I'll I'll switch them out but yeah love love the shocks they're open ear so you know you can you're kind of like aware sure yeah while you're running but the sound quality is still pretty good so yeah those are my top three awesome I'm I'm on that band is interesting because yeah I'm like I get the half tights with you know all the pockets and I'm kind of stuffing stuff and all the gels and everything but maybe the band would be no trust me you'll you'll love it because I mean, yeah, the the pockets are fine, but I just don't, I don't like having stuff in pockets. It feels weird to me. I can do a couple of gels, but the band is great and it's, it's just very tight. So it like, as long as you get the right size and stuff, um, it's tight, there's zero bounce at all. And yeah, you fit a whole, I fit a whole water bottle in there and it's, uh, you can barely feel it. So yeah, definitely take a look at that. I, uh, I would highly recommend it. Beautiful. What about your top three running pet peeves?
Speaker: That could be with your personal training, with running culture, stuff you see on social media. Oh, man. So i think number one is going to be, you know, people are who are running, I don't know, if you're running on a shared trail or like a shared track or pavement, wherever it is, and you're playing music or a podcast out loud on your phone and not wearing headphones. That's just got be number one. I mean, I go down to the lake here in Austin, run all the time, and there's just somebody like running, it's like you have like a boom box and you're just playing your music out loud. I just think it's kind of the height of just ignorance. Like the lack of social awareness, I think would be of number one. So that, I don't know, that's a, that's a huge pet peeve of mine.
Speaker: i think number two, um, just a personal pet peeve of mine is stopping on runs. This is something I've actually gotten better about, but like, I just really hate stopping on runs, whether it's for water, whether it's at a traffic light, just, I don't think I used to think that it was like doing something for my fitness to stop. Like, Oh, the run was like less effective. I don't believe that.
Speaker: I just, I don't know. I just don't like to do it. So it's a personal pet peeve. And so I'll sometimes get, irritated if I'm running with a group and I'm on a group run because they always want to stop. If it's a traffic light, you got to stop. They stop for water. You're taking like five minutes at a time. That's that really annoys me. So maybe that's one of the reasons I i run alone all the time. But stopping on runs would would certainly be number one.
Speaker: Nice. I hear that. Totally. i can relate And so, yeah, you'll see me. I'll be the one like jogging around at a traffic light, not like stopped and jogging, but I'll just like take a turn and run back and forth until until the light changes. What about your top three favorite races? That's a really good question. So number one is going to be the Indy Monumental Marathon. um I ran that in 2024.
Speaker: And I was just, I think that race is the perfect balance of competitiveness So, and you know, Indianapolis is a big city. There's a lot of competitive runners there. The field's huge, but it's not the big city marathon like a Boston or in New York where it's just chaotic. I mean, I can get a hotel for a decent price a block away from the start line. I can walk to the start line.
Speaker: run the race. Like it was great. Weather's good. It's in November Indianapolis and the Midwest. So fantastic race put on very well. did that 2024. would really like to do that again. So I think, yeah, that's definitely my number one. Nice. They do that the same day as New York, I believe, every year. So I always run New York because it's like my home city. But one day I think I want to check that out because I've heard great things. For sure, for sure. Number two would be the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. I think I'm a bit biased because Cincinnati is my hometown. That's where I grew up. But it's just a really great race in terms of
Speaker: It's certainly not the fastest. You don't really go there to PR. It's a hard course, which is fine because it it challenges you. But the the energy on that course is definitely unlike any of the other races I've run where you just, well, other than like Boston, where, yeah, you have fans like five deep the entire time. Um, so yeah, the energy of that course, um, it's just like a fun race to run, I think. So, and I actually think it was voted, um, like one of the top marathons in the country, just from like a, you know, consumer type of thing. So, um, so that would be number two.
Speaker: Number three would be the, uh, OUC half marathon. So that's in Orlando, uh, Orlando. I've only run that once. That was gosh. almost a decade ago at this point, but just like a really it's in December, the first week of December, really fast course. It's going to be hot. You know, it can be hot because it's in Orlando, Florida, but really fun race, pretty competitive too, but just like a good atmosphere, good weather. So that one's definitely another one that's on my list to, uh, to go back to. Nice.
Speaker: Nice. That's one I haven't heard of. What about just your top three favorite places to run? Hmm. So number one, I'm going to go back to Cincinnati, Ohio. I just, there's like a nice little kind of, it's, I think it's a kind of an underrated running city, just the running culture, but like also the places to run. It's very hilly, but just like running around, you know, down by the Ohio river, you can kind of run over bridges and stuff. It's just like a very, you can make for a pretty good run if you avoid the actual downtown area where there's a lot of, a lot of cars and stuff like that. So um I love that.
Speaker: there's a route out in San Diego, California running along the ocean. I'm trying to think of like what road it is, but, um, we go out to San Diego a couple of times every year and it's all along like Solano beach is kind of like an area out there, but I've done that route multiple times while we're out there, sort of just an out and back gorgeous, gorgeous route, lots of runners out there. So I think San Diego is probably a pretty good running city too, but, um, I don't know much about the whole running scene there. So yeah, there's a route out there that I've run a couple of times. Love running there in San Diego. So that was a lot of fun too.
Speaker: And then honestly, here in Austin, Texas, we have this 10 mile kind of crushed gravel slash dirt loop that goes around Lady Bird Lake or Town Lake, depending on what you want to call it. But, um, that's, I had a post about this last week on my Instagram. I'm like, I think Austin is like one of the most underrated running cities, at least in terms of just that little loop. i mean, where else can you find 10 miles of uninterrupted trail around a Lake?
Speaker: Um, like it's a pretty, it's a, such a decent route. Um, so I love that. So I'll go with that route there and Austin, Texas. Yeah. Even though i remember dealing with the heat, I definitely had that experience of loving running in Austin and feeling like there was Just a ton of great runners everywhere and there was great routes. for sure There's always a lot of people down there too. And I just like, i don't necessarily enjoy running with a group of people, but I like running where people are around me. So going down there on like a Saturday morning in the lake, like everybody's down there. So it's it's nice to have like company versus running a alone, which I actually do most of the time at, you know, 530 in the morning.
Speaker: Dude, me too. I'm a 5.30 a.m. solo runner myself. Yeah, you're like, it's dark, nobody's here, but you know that's when you got to get it done. so Yeah, totally. Work, kids, the whole life. It's like the morning is the sacred time to do it.
Speaker: What about top three recovery essentials for you? Yeah, number one um is going to be, you know, these mine aren't going to be the sexy recovery essentials. And I think recovery for most people, they should think about it as being simpler versus like high tech, I guess. But you know, number one is just going to be food. I think my top recovery food there is like, like a bowl of Greek yogurt with some granola and bananas and dates. That'll like, I do that literally after every run. I think that's like the perfect recovery snack slash meal because it's got
Speaker: Decent amount of protein, lots of carbs in there. You're getting your fruit, you're getting your, some of your electrolytes. So recovery, that's like my, you know, recovery technique, if you're going to call it, just get it in like a good carb heavy meal with some protein in there. Number two,
Speaker: I'll use like a supplement here, but ah ketones are something that I've been supplementing with. There's some research out there lately on exogenous ketones, taking them in like this little bottle. It's like a shot, essentially. um I've been taking those to help with recovery and help some of the training adaptations. I think that's one of the my secrets lately i guess or something i've been using to to sort of help my my training um maybe like boosting epo they've shown some studies on that so it's kind of interesting research there i think that's uh that's my number two number three would just be a lot of like low intensity movement and walking and this is
Speaker: It's something I wish I realized when I was like in my early running days like in college. and you know You typically think, like oh, you do a long run or you do any sort of workout and you really just want to lay on your couch and like put your feet up for the rest of the day, but I think...
Speaker: Low intensity movement is actually better for it. And I always find that I'm better. I feel better and my legs feel like less heavy and sore if I am up and walking around throughout the day versus just laying on my couch, doing nothing after a run. So walking is my, my third recovery hack. Motion is lotion.
Speaker: Yep. Yep. Definitely. Keep the blood flowing. I'd like to end the podcast just to ask Brady, if you can just leave one last thought for runners. Yeah. Yeah, my last thought. So this will be something I'm going kind of like maybe draw on some of the research that I've been reading and writing about on my my sub stack and like posting about on Instagram. But a lot of runners will think about how how am I going to become better as a runner? And I think a lot of newer runners or experienced runners will think that just means like getting quote unquote faster, like a faster speed or boosting my VO2 max. Those are kind of like the two things most runners think about. But
Speaker: There's a lot of this research now on what scientists and researchers are calling physiological durability or resilience. And it's like essentially your ability to degrade less as the race goes on. So yes, it's kind of similar to fatigue, but it essentially means like you can hold on to your running capacity as you continue to run further. And so I think if runners shifted their mindset into thinking, how can I just become the fastest that I can.
Speaker: Well, what about instead you shifted your mindset to saying, well, how long can I hold on to my speed as this race goes on or make sure that I'm still running economically at mile 20 of the marathon as I was at mile, you know, the first 5k of the marathon. And you can train that in different ways. But like, you know, kind of train your fatigue resistance versus just focusing on running faster all the time or boosting my VO2 max. So I would say there are many ways to get faster. And if you can think about how you can improve your resilience as a runner, whether that's like mental resilience or fueling, right, that those are ways to to also become better. So um it was it can kind of be like a mindset shift for maybe some runners and, and thinking about how you're how you're going to train. So ah maybe a less like philosophical thing. But i think it's something interesting for runners to think about. I like that idea. it's sort of maybe takes it a little bit away from being so results-oriented and a little bit more awareness of your body and and your overall performance, not just a result. For me, there's...
Speaker: The metric of, of having a good time at the end of a marathon is only one metric for me of like a successful day. Another huge one is like, how am I feeling in that last five K? And I, I'm not saying I get it every time, but I've had some races where I'm really feeling great and I'm continuing to run. at the pace, my desired pace, but I'm feeling good. I'm like smiling. I'm actually smiling. You know, I'm, I can soak in the energy. I'm not just like in like the pain tunnel cave of my head. And that's another huge metric for success, even if I'm not PRing that day, but just be able to sort of enjoy and soak in those last few miles without seeing a huge drop off in, in my performance. For sure. And I think that maybe like one more piece of advice is like, I think no matter what race you're trying to run, maybe not for like a 5k, but most everything else,
Speaker: aim for a negative split. Like you will run better if you aim for a negative split. All of the research would support that. All of the pacing analyses of world records would support it. Like running a negative split, you will have a more fun race in your way, more likely to set a personal record than if you try to quote unquote bank time. Banking time never works for any runner who's ever tried to do it, especially in the marathon. You do not bank time really. It doesn't work like that.
Speaker: You're going to fail. So run up, run an even split, run a negative split. You'll end up feeling like you said, David, at the end, like want to be smiling at the end of the race and like passing people. versus being the one that's getting passed. I think a lot more fun.
Speaker: Exactly. Brady Homer, thank you so much for doing this. This was so cool. And yeah, to all the listeners out there, please check out Brady on Substack, Instagram, wherever. ah I'm sure you're popping up in all kinds of places online, but you're doing really great stuff. So thank you so much for joining. Thanks, David. This was a lot of fun. Totally, man.
