Marathon Handbook Podcast

Traveling for a race? On this week’s episode of The Marathon Handbook Podcast, Michael Doyle, Alex Cyr and Katelyn Tocci are joined by Jessy Carveth live from Michael’s living room in Toronto. They’re there for Toronto Waterfront Marathon weekend, and the crew breaks down everything you need to know about racing away from home.SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:We love Wahoo’s KICKR RUN treadmill – go to https://⁠wahoofitness.com⁠ and use promo code MHRUN to get a free $319 KICKR Headwind Fan with your treadmill order.Marathon Handbook listeners get 15% off their entire order when shopping CEP Running online through November 15! Shop CEP Running or enter code LRL-NYC-15 at checkout. https://ceprunning.com/discount/LRL-NYC-15?utm_source=long_run_labs&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=lrl_nyc_marathon_2026&utm_content=podcast_show_notes Offer ends November 16, 2026, at 3:00AM EST. Limit one use per customer. Cannot be combined with other discounts. Orion is a personlized cooling sleep system. Right now, Orion is offering our listeners 15% off at orionsleep.com/marathonTORONTO MILE ZERO LIVE SHOW, 17th Oct:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marathon-handbook-live-mile-zero-toronto-2026-tickets-2002512056467NYC MILE ZERO LIVE SHOW, 31st Oct:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marathon-handbook-live-mile-zero-nyc-2026-tickets-2002340913574Join Marathon Handbook's RunClub for access to our members-only podcast, training plans, community rooms, merch and more: https://marathonhandbook.com/runclubShop Marathon Handbook Merch: https://store.marathonhandbook.comSend us a question:https://marathonhandbook.com/podcast/Join our newsletter:https://marathonhandbook.com/newsletter/

How do you go from job-hunting after college to a 2:05:54 marathon, run in Toledo, in one year? Vinny Mauri did it, and now he’s one of the most talked-about American runners at the 2026 Chicago Marathon.Alex Cyr caught up with Vinny at the Chicago Marathon athlete availability, two days before his first big-city marathon. Vinny explains the 45-mile day that capped his build: 2 x 50 minutes in the morning and 4 x 20 minutes in the afternoon, both on the treadmill. He also explains how he picks his workouts by asking friends and Instagram followers to “pick a number one to four.”

Nike has announced three new race day shoes, and the headliner is the Nike Apex: a zero drop super shoe with 40mm of stack in both the heel and the forefoot, built to challenge the Adidas Adios Pro Evo 3 at the front of the world's fastest marathons. Alex Cyr and Michael Doyle break down the Apex, the Alphafly 4 and the $145 Swooshfly.We sat in on Nike's briefing with the executives and designers behind these shoes and draw on conversations from this summer with Nike athletes and with Brett Schoolmeester, the VP who has helped lead Nike's super shoe program from the start. We cover the Apex's specs and $350 price, whether Nike's athletes will embrace a zero drop racer, how hard it may be to buy a pair, why the Swooshfly is aimed at beginners and at China's booming marathon scene, and whether Nike now has the best running shoe lineup in the sport.

Nike's Bret Schoolmeester has worked on super shoes since the very first prototype. Michael Doyle and Alex Cyr sit down with him just after the launch of the Nike Alphafly 4 to talk about the past, present and future of the carbon-plated racing shoe.Bret goes back to 2015, when Nike set out to help a human break two hours in the marathon, and explains how a scoop-shaped carbon plate and an experimental PEBA foam got cobbled into a Streak 6 upper and became the shoe that changed the sport. He then gets into the details of the Alphafly 4: the new ZoomX LT foam, why Nike is sticking with Zoom Air pods and a full carbon plate, why the launch was moved up for Andreas Almgren and the World Road Running Championships, and why he calls it the biggest leap since the original Alphafly.Join our Chicago Shakeout Run on 10th Oct: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2002027257420Tickets for our live show, MILE ZERO presented by Zappos: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marathon-handbook-live-mile-zero-presented-by-zappos-chicago-2026-tickets-2001880670976Join Marathon Handbook’s RunClub for access to our members-only podcast, training plans, community rooms, merch and more: https://marathonhandbook.com/runclubShop Marathon Handbook Merch: https://store.marathonhandbook.comSubscribe to our newsletter:https://marathonhandbook.com/newsletter/

What happens when the world's most popular marathon runs on two days? London Marathon CEO Hugh Brasher sits down with Jessy Carveth to talk about the 2027 Double London Marathon: 45,000 runners on Saturday, 55,000 on Sunday, and a one-time-only weekend that could be the biggest in the history of marathon running.Join our Chicago Shakeout Run on 10th Oct: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2002027257420Tickets for our live show, MILE ZERO presented by Zappos: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marathon-handbook-live-mile-zero-presented-by-zappos-chicago-2026-tickets-2001880670976Join Marathon Handbook’s RunClub for access to our members-only podcast, training plans, community rooms, merch and more: https://marathonhandbook.com/runclubShop Marathon Handbook Merch: https://store.marathonhandbook.comSubscribe to our newsletter:https://marathonhandbook.com/newsletter/

The Nike Alphafly 4 is here, the first update to the franchise in two years and eight months, and we have had our hands on it since November. Michael Doyle and Alex Cyr go through the full spec sheet, every change from the Alphafly 3, and whether Nike has done enough to stay competitive at the top of the super shoe market.The Alphafly 4 retails for $275, which is $10 below what the Alphafly 3 launched at. Stack height is 39mm in the heel and 31mm in the forefoot, an 8mm drop, and it weighs 7.33 ounces in a men's size 10, with Nike rating it for roughly 300 miles. The carbon plate is wider, the Zoom Air units are 30 percent lighter, and the foam carries a new name, Zoom XLT.That weight is where the conversation gets interesting. The Adidas Adizero Pro Evo 3 weighs 4.3 ounces, and most of the current super shoe field sits under seven. We talk through whether the Alphafly 4 can be taken seriously at the front of a race, or whether Nike has built it for everyone else and is holding its real answer back for a shoe reported to be called the Apex.Along the way: every prototype sighting from Conner Mantz in Chicago to Jacob Kiplimo in London, a power ranking of the super shoe market as it stands, the cost per mile math that makes the Alphafly 4 look like a bargain, a round of over/unders on what the shoe does this fall, and whether either of us would actually race in it.CHAPTERS(00:00) It's Alphafly 4 Day(02:03) First Impressions Holding the Shoe(05:45) What Nike Changed Underfoot(07:55) The Spec Sheet: $275 and 39mm(10:10) Rated for 300 Miles(11:41) Zoom XLT and the Pebax Reveal(12:31) The Weight Problem(14:18) How It Stacks Up Against Its Rivals(15:37) Why the Alphafly 3 Was a Gold Mine(18:30) They Finally Fixed the Squeak(20:05) Where We Spotted the Prototypes(22:00) Every Podium It Has Already Won(23:04) The Sifan Hassan Mystery(23:57) The Zero Drop Prototype(25:51) Power Ranking the Elite Super Shoes(29:29) Where the Alphafly 4 Slots In(32:04) 92 Cents a Mile vs $6 a Mile(34:30) Hot Take: Best Seller in Six Months(36:22) The Apex, Nike's Real Answer(41:41) Over/Unders and Bold Predictions(46:57) Is Nike Done?(51:28) Would We Race In It?(55:40) Coming Next: Brett SchoolmeesterOur full review is coming once test pairs arrive. Next week we talk to Brett Schoolmeester, Nike's vice president of innovation.Watch this episode on YouTube: [CHANNEL LINK]Newsletter: [NEWSLETTER LINK]

Predicting your marathon race day pace is one of the trickiest parts of training: go out too conservative and you leave time on the table, go out too aggressive and you blow up in the last 10K. This week, Michael, Alex, and Katelyn break down how to use your lactate threshold pace to dial in a Boston Qualifying goal, plus answer listener questions on half marathon pacing, shoe rotation, bouncing back from injury, and more. We also get into the NFL's first-ever regular season game in Sydney and what it teaches runners about traveling to destination majors.SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS:This episode is presented by Momentous. Use promo code MARATHON for up to 35% off your first order: https://⁠livemomentous.comOrion is a personlized cooling sleep system. Right now, Orion is offering our listeners 15% off at orionsleep.com/marathonJoin Marathon Handbook's RunClub for access to our members-only podcast, training plans, community rooms, merch and more: https://marathonhandbook.com/runclub

It's hot everywhere right now, so Michael, Alex, and Katelyn are breaking down 8 science-backed (and battle-tested) hacks for running in extreme heat and humidity. From heat acclimatization and dew point pacing to pre-cooling tricks, electrolyte hydration, and knowing the warning signs of heat exhaustion vs. heat stroke, this episode covers everything you need to train safely through a heat wave.Chapters:0:00 Intro1:52 Send Us Your Questions for Brad Stulberg4:44 Sponsor: Lagoon Pillow6:24 8 Hacks for Running in Heat: Overview15:53 Hack 1: Embrace the Heat (Acclimatization)24:05 Hack 2: Run by Feel (Dew Point)36:39 Sponsor: Marathon Handbook Run Club40:03 Hack 3: Pre-Cool Before Running45:28 Hack 4: Hydrate With Electrolytes53:57 Hack 5: Time It Right1:01:36 Hack 6: Dress for Physics1:07:24 Hack 7: Target Your Hotspots1:10:13 Hack 8: Recognize Heat Illness1:15:32 Bonus: Build Your Own Pace CalculatorSUPPORT OUR SPONSOR:Lagoon pillows help us sleep better, so we run better. Want to try? You can save 15% with code MARATHON. Go to https://LagoonSleep.com/marathonhandbook and take the 2-minute sleep quiz to find your match. Join Marathon Handbook’s RunClub for access to our members-only podcast, training plans, community rooms, merch and more: https://marathonhandbook.com/runclubShop Marathon Handbook merch: https://store.marathonhandbook.comWhether you're training for a fall marathon, running ultras in tropical heat, or just trying to survive your daily run this summer, these tips will help you run smarter — not just tougher — in the heat.Got a question for our upcoming guest, author Brad Stulberg? Drop it in the comments or send it our way, details below!https://marathonhandbook.com/how-brad-stulbergs-books-on-excellence-inspired-kipchoges-and-sawes-marathon-world-records/#RunningTips #HeatTraining #MarathonTraining