Running science with jokes still attached.
Some Work, All Play is a rapid, warm running show where science papers sit beside shoe experiments, race controversy, and everyday family absurdity. It suits athletes who want evidence translated into usable training ideas without losing the jokes.
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Some Work, All Play is a high-energy running conversation where training science, endurance culture, and personal chaos all share the same lane. It is not a clipped expert monologue. It feels more like two familiar training partners moving fast through a list, interrupting each other, laughing at the detours, and still finding their way back to the physiology. The show’s center of gravity is performance. Recent episodes spend serious time on heat adaptation, hemoglobin mass, altitude, caffeine genotypes, bone density, downhill running, morning versus evening training, metabolism, fueling, bicarb, ketones, testosterone, VO2 max, strides, cross training, and cramp prevention. The explanations are practical. A study is rarely left as a study; it becomes a question of when to use a sauna, how to run downhill without overthinking it, what to do the day before a race, or whether a shoe is worth changing plans for. Gear talk has the same obsessive charm, from carbon-plated road shoes to trail shoes getting improvised modifications. Race news can bring a sharper edge, especially when athlete fairness and leadership are on the table. The show also lets in the rest of life. Parenting, illness, crying at movies, Strava moods, driveway mishaps, hot tub experiments, and relationship banter all become part of the training ecosystem. That looseness is the point. Serious ideas land because they are surrounded by the kind of joking, teasing, and oversharing that makes them feel tested in real life rather than polished for a clinic. Some Work, All Play is best for runners who like evidence, but do not need it delivered with a lab-coat posture. Trail runners will feel especially at home, though road runners, marathoners, ultrarunners, and physiology-curious athletes all get plenty to use. It is warm, fast, occasionally blunt, and deeply invested in the strange joy of trying hard.
Made for: For trail runners, road runners, ultrarunners, and training-curious athletes who want science translated into workouts, gear choices, and race-day habits. It especially fits listeners who like serious coaching ideas delivered with fast banter.
What sets it apart: The show’s edge is the mix of detailed endurance science and lived-in rapport. It can explain hemoglobin mass or downhill adaptations, then pivot through family chaos, shoe tinkering, and race-world accountability without losing momentum.
Five to ten topics, sometimes about running, with lots of love and enthusiasm and science. We dig deep into training, races, studies, pop culture, and much more! With Megan Roche, M.D. and David Roche!
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Endurance research becomes practical coaching guidance through sharp physiological reasoning, candid uncertainty, and an irreverent two-host exchange.
Some Work, All Play turns endurance science into a lively working conversation between Megan Roche, M.D. and David Roche. Training questions arrive with real specificity, from pre-race hill strides and downhill running to threshold work, passive heat, bone density, and the…
A race-day stride prescription arrives between hot-tub experiments and jokes your training log cannot legally explain.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A steak-knife shoe test leads into a grounded look at passive heat, altitude, and what actually changes performance.
The episode finds its bite in a trail-shoe experiment: the hosts compare an older Adidas Agravix Speed Ultra with its heavier follow-up, then resort to trimming the newer pair's lugs with a steak knife after a $5 sander fails to do the job.
A Noah Kahan debate leads into a useful case for downhill practice, odd physiology, and loose but memorable training talk.
Some Work, I'll Play opens with a Sunday Strava title and Noah Kahan's "The Great Divide," then moves into a practical case for downhill running.
A playful race-week debate links uphill strides, training theory, and the odd emotional logic of sport.
A comic hot-tub safety dilemma opens into a practical race-week question: what should runners do the day before they compete? The hosts start with the dubious mechanics of a child-sized neck floatie for an oversized head, then move into the case for four to six short uphill…
A running podcast channels outrage over Jess McLean's lost national championship into pressure on USATF leadership.
Some Work, All Play turns anger over Jess McLean being robbed of a national championship into a broader question of what leadership owes athletes.
Hot-tub caution, VO2 nuance, and a Baby Bash detour make the exercise science feel close to home.
Some Work, All Play turns exercise physiology into a spirited, approachable debate about what VO2 can and cannot say. The hosts treat a low score less as fate than as a sign of sedentary underdevelopment, then open with a practical warning about hot-tub risk: a recent study used…
Fast talk for serious runners.
Running talk with room for real life.
Women, endurance, and the work of carrying on.
Endurance coaching for crowded lives.
Marathon racing, explained at running pace.
Practical running talk with the tangents left in.
The hosts discuss a running meme about 'elf on the shelf' variations and share a funny story about posting a photo on Strava.
David and Megan of Some Work, All Play examine sodium bicarbonate, endurance training, and athletes’ mental approach to racing.
David and Megan open with a trail-shoe experiment on the Adidas Agravix Speed Ultra 2, where a steak knife, a $5 Amazon sander, and a fast run on Green Mountain in Boulder end with a split sole.
David and Megan open with a long bit about Noah Kahan’s “The Great Divide,” Strava song titles, and why “sad boy music” can still be useful during runs and rides.
The hosts discuss a recent ankle sprain incident and preview topics including steady running, pregnancy, sponsorships, TUE dashboard, heat and heart rate, post-exercise ketones, and bicarb.
The hosts discuss wearing space suits for an IMAX screening of Project Hail Mary, with playful banter and anticipation for the movie.
The hosts discuss their week, including a review of Puma R3 running shoes and their impact on running economy and plantar fasciitis, before diving into listener questions on various fitness topics.
Megan links her Canyons 100K plans to heart symptoms that returned after quad dipsy and a hard ALP effort.
USATF admitted the course was misdirected but still said the results were final.
David Roach spends the cold open on a hot tub experiment, a Wi-Fi thermometer reading 104.7 F, and a $169 immersion heater he compares to "putting a toaster in the hot tub." Megan and David then move through year-end trail-running lists from Single Track and Free Trail, including Megan's Quad Dipsy course record and David's Leadville documentary "Full Circle." The middle of the episode turns into fueling and gear adjustments, with David eating larger dinners, using beta recovery, and rethinking the heavier Adidas Terrex Agravix Speed Ultra 2 after buying nine pairs of the ASU1.
The hosts discuss a failed track workout attempt, a new study on Kilian Jornet, the story of US Skimo, a shoe review rant, VO2 max, and 'Hot Girl Sweating'.
David and Megan recap the Javelina 100 mile race, including David's decision to give up his golden ticket to Western States to third place finisher Canyon Woodward.
The hosts discuss the Tour de France Femmes, aging athletes, and a bike crash before introducing a Q&A on creatine, elite athletes, electrolytes, and cross training.