The Hobby Jogger Podcast · Hosted by: WeeViews & Branch Sauce

E58 | Happy Tendons, Better Runner

·1 hr·4 clips

At Laurel Highlands, Abu says aid-station “carnage” is the part he loves most.

1. The Hobby Jogger Podcast episode with Abu Girgis centers on running, chiropractic care, and tendon health. 2. Casey Koza and Rob Myers host Abu Girgis, who is a Doctor of Chiropractic, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and a coach of nine years. 3. The episode asks what running, rehab, and ultra racing have in common for Abu Girgis. 4. Abu says chiropractic gets a bad rap, but he works as a “rehab chiropractor” who uses adjusting, massage manual therapy, exercise, rehab, and education. 5. He says he never sends a patient out with only hands-on treatment and that “Everybody gets homework.” 6. Casey describes a personal chiropractic visit with Dr. Rook in Ohio, where pain relief was immediate. 7. Abu says his own running began as a kid in soccer, basketball, lacrosse, wrestling, and boxing. 8. He says he quit one season of JV cross country as a high schooler and later returned to running through college and boxing. 9. Abu says running became his “safe space” after his father died when he was 11. 10. He describes a route from his house in East Brunswick, New Jersey, to a church that is exactly 5K away. 11. He says he still runs that route at least once a week and sometimes stops by the church and a nearby pond. 12. Casey and Rob connect the story to the idea that a familiar route can feel like “home on the trail” or “home on the road.” 13. Abu says Laurel Highlands and the Route 38 aid station showed him how much ultra running depends on aid-station rescue. 14. He calls aid-station work “carnage” and says helping someone off the ropes and out of personal hell is what motivates him. 15. Abu says “The struggle is the story” and argues that races are remembered for hardship, not only splits or placement. 16. He describes a 10-mile trail race on Long Island, where he tripped early, learned to power hike, and ran into a tree on switchbacks. 17. He says that experience led him toward trail running, 50Ks, Laurel Highlands 70, Vermont 100K, and future 100-mile plans. 18. Casey and Abu’s tone stays conversational and technical, with running stories mixed into practical explanations of physiology and training. 19. Listeners who like trail running, ultrarunning, rehab, and tendon loading will probably enjoy this. 20. Listeners wanting a purely entertainment-first episode may skip the biomechanics section.

As heard by us

Practical runner talk with a loose, easygoing rhythm.

The Hobby Jogger stays loose and useful as Casey Koza and Rob Myers return after a missed week and bring in friend of the show Abu Girgis. The talk moves from chiropractic work to strength and conditioning, then into the difference between isometric and eccentric ideas, while…

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Why you'd press play

A runner chat about a chiropractor-strength coach, isometrics and eccentric work, and the grind of getting into big races.

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