Methodical coaching for thoughtful runners.
Running Rogue turns training theory into usable coaching language, moving from base building to aerobic strength, race-specific work, tapering, and recovery. Chris McClung and James Dodds keep the tone conversational while staying rooted in the real decisions runners face before big races.
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Running Rogue is a coaching-first running show with marathon training at its center. It favors depth over speed. Chris McClung and James Dodds talk through training slowly, repeatedly, and with a lot of care for context. A topic like tapering is not treated as a simple mileage reduction. It becomes a discussion about confidence, race-pace practice, workout timing, and how one hard session can affect a runner's head before the start line. The same pattern shows up in episodes on base building, aerobic strength, race-specific preparation, polarized training, and post-race recovery. Each phase gets translated into decisions runners can recognize. Effort is a major theme. The show keeps returning to the idea that weather, humidity, sleep, stress, and accumulated fatigue can change the meaning of a pace on the watch. That makes the advice feel especially useful for real training cycles, where workouts rarely unfold in perfect conditions. Marathon examples from Boston, Eugene, London, and other spring races give the conversations a concrete shape. Austin-area running also appears naturally through references to Rogue athletes, the Capital 10,000, and local coaching. The hosts are comfortable getting technical, but they usually bring the language back to something felt in the body. Lactate threshold, aerobic threshold, race simulators, and 80-20 training sit beside stories about missed workouts, rough long runs, and the discipline of sleep. The show is also willing to let a bad workout become useful evidence instead of a verdict. That gives the coaching a grounded, reassuring quality. Listener episodes, such as a conversation with April from Michigan about chasing a sub-four-hour marathon, broaden the lens beyond already-fast runners. The show takes personal goals seriously at many levels. It also follows the evolving Rogue Running ecosystem, including video episodes, book-led discussions around Running the Rogue Way, and recurring Friday Q&A touchpoints. For runners who like to know the reason behind the assignment, Running Rogue offers a steady education in training judgment.
Made for: Running Rogue is for runners who want coaching depth around marathon training, race preparation, and long-term development. It especially suits athletes who care about effort, pacing, recovery, and the mental side of the training cycle.
What sets it apart: The show stands out by turning coaching principles into repeated, concrete examples from actual race builds and athlete scenarios. It is less about hot takes and more about learning how to think like a coach during imperfect training.
Running Rogue is a podcast produced by Rogue Running in Austin, TX. We are here to talk about all things running and help you become a better runner along the way! Check us out at www.roguerunning.com.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Running Rogue makes endurance training legible by connecting workout design, changing conditions, and race preparation to the judgment behind a coaching plan.
Running Rogue turns training theory into decisions a runner can use, with Chris McClung and James Dodds working through the reasoning behind each phase of preparation.
A blown race rehearsal gets a defense from Chris McClung; your panic can take five.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A clear taper episode that treats race-week confidence as part of marathon preparation.
Running Rogue closes its training-phases series by framing the taper as more than reduced mileage. Chris McClung and James Dodds turn from Boston Marathon weekend chatter to a focused marathon-race-week plan, with one last touch of speed, two by two miles at race pace two weeks…
A grounded race-specific coaching discussion about treating a bad workout as preparation, not proof of marathon trouble.
Running Rogue looks at the race-specific phase as the awkward stretch before the taper, when runners often want one workout to prove the whole build is working.
A grounded guide to aerobic strength, where steady pace meets shifting effort, weather, and training stress.
Running Rogue brings the aerobic strength phase out of training-plan haze and into usable coaching language. Chris McClung and James Dodds explain what the phase is meant to do, how it fits after base work, and what its workouts can look like.
A clear argument for protecting easy miles so faster work can actually count.
Running Rogue makes polarization feel less like jargon and more like a workable trade: keep the easy running easy enough that the harder work has somewhere to go.
Race-specific work becomes a rehearsal for restraint, late-race pressure, and the imperfect days that test both legs and judgment.
Running Rogue's Episode #397 treats the race-specific block as the last real training phase before taper, and its clearest point is that good racing asks for restraint as much as effort.
A grounded coaching conversation about chasing speed later in life without letting age become the whole story.
Running Rogue frames aging not as a hard stop for speed, but as a coaching problem worth looking at closely. Pete from Michigan brings useful texture through his 2021 mile PR and a 1:37 half, where he nearly negative-split and held steady in heat.
Trail running, told from inside race week.
Running Rogue episode 397 focuses on the race-specific phase of training, the final phase before taper, with Chris McClung and James Dodds walking through marathon, half-marathon, and 10K examples.
Chris McClung introduces Paul Esteso, a runner who achieved a breakthrough in marathon performance after changing his approach, with insights from his coach James Dodds.
Host Chris McClung coaches listener Pete, a 49-year-old runner from Michigan, on how to qualify for the Boston Marathon as he approaches 50.
75-year-old listener Debra shares her inspiring journey of starting running at age 75 and dreaming big.
James Dodds and co-host discuss launching a new book and transitioning to video podcasting, focusing on core training principles.
Chris McClung interviews his sister Lori Smiley about missing the Boston Marathon qualifying standard by a five-minute buffer and how to process and move forward.
Running Rogue host Chris McClung frames 100-plus grams of carbs per hour as the new endurance-fueling push, not a universal target.
Running Rogue episode 398 with Chris McClung and James Dodds centers on taper and post-race recovery, framed by Boston Marathon weekend and the show’s approach to race preparation.
Running Rogue episode 397 centers on the race-specific phase, which Chris McClung and James Dodds describe as the final training block before taper.
Running Rogue episode 396 pivots from taper reminders for Boston, Eugene, London, Glass City, and Jersey City into the aerobic strength phase of training.
Chris McClung and James Dodds discuss the importance of base building and sleep in running training.
Chris McClung and James Dodds continue their discussion on polarized running training with five more questions, and James shares his experience from a recent stage race.
Running Rogue Episode 393 with Chris McClung and James Dodds centers on “polarization,” following last week’s discussion of periodization and framing the chapter “is your training polarized enough?” Chris McClung, from Austin, Texas, and co-host James Dodds connect running to agency, “modern psychology,” and the idea that coaching gives purpose through other people.
Coach Chris welcomes listener April to discuss her goal of breaking four hours in the marathon while balancing motherhood.