Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

This episode is brought to you by Lever Movement, the bodyweight-support treadmill system that has been key in keeping Carolyn injury-free this build.

With just a few weeks to go, Johnny and I sit down to talk about how our training is really going heading into The Marathon Project — aka “The Project.” We break down the latest race updates (celebrity pacers, HOKA as presenting sponsor, free Rocket X 3s for the Gold Wave, and the Privateer program), plus:

• our race goals (Sub-2:39 for Johnny + sub-3:20 for me)
• what’s working in our training
• staying healthy (Lever!)
• the Puma Fast R3 shoe fiasco 😂
• why committed amateurs care so much about performance

Language warning! There’s some swearing (thanks Johnny), so headphones might be a good call if little ears are around.

Partner:
Visit levermovement.com and use Inspired20 for 20% off OR use this link: https://levermovement.com/discount/Inspired20

Connect with Johnny:

• Previous Inspired Soles episodes:
  • EP 240: Sub-35 10K & Ottawa Race Weekend Recap
  • EP 230: Ask Carolyn Anything + Colour Commentary from Johnny
  • EP224: Do You Control Strava, or Does It Control You?
  • EP 211: Coffin's Chicago Marathon Recap: The Bodily Fluids Episode
  • EP 202: Paris Olympic Track & Marathon Recap
  • EP 55: Road to the 2021 Boston Marathon
  • EP 12: Slow the BLEEP Down
• Instagram: @bestjohnnyever

Connect with Carolyn:

• Instagram: @inspiredsolescast or @carolyn.c.coffin

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to inspiredsolescast@gmail.com.

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

In this episode, Carolyn sits down with Kristian Warwick — host of The Marathon Podcast, filmmaker, and 2:47 marathoner living in Oslo. Kristian shares how a lifetime in competitive speed skating shaped his rapid rise in the marathon, why he’s dreaming boldly about running 2:25, and what it’s like being coached by Jon Green. He also opens up about his unique approach to supporting emerging professional runners through direct athlete sponsorship, backed by his creative work at Wiild Studios. Kristian’s zest for life, belief in giving back, and passion for storytelling make this a truly inspiring conversation you won’t want to miss.

Connect with Kristian:

• Podcast: The Marathon Podcast
• Instagram: @the.marathon.podcast & @warwick.runs
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Warwickruns

Connect with Inspired Soles & Carolyn:

• Instagram: @inspiredsolescast or @carolyn.c.coffin
• Browse 260+ episodes in the archives
• Subscribe, rate & review to support the show

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to inspiredsolescast@gmail.com.

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

Today’s guest is 39-year-old Rachel Hannah, the newly crowned 2025 Canadian Marathon Champion from the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Rachel is a six-time national champion, PanAm Games bronze medallist, Registered Dietitian, and Sports Nutrition Consultant for Maurten.

In this episode, we talk about how she’s running some of her best performances nearly a decade after setting most of her PBs, the role proper fueling has played in staying healthy after past bone stress injuries, and how she’s trained her gut to handle 80+ grams of carbs per hour on race day. Rachel also shares common nutrition mistakes she sees in runners, practical guidelines for everyday athletes, and mindset strategies she leans on when racing gets tough.

Rachel is now preparing to chase a new personal best at The Marathon Project on December 21st in Arizona.

Topics We Cover:

• Winning the 2025 Canadian Marathon Championships
• Gut training & carb targets for marathoners
• Avoiding under-fueling and RED-S
• Mindset and self-talk under pressure

Connect with Rachel:

• Instagram: @rachelhannahrd
• Website: https://rachelhannahrd.com/

Connect with Inspired Soles & Carolyn:

• Instagram: @inspiredsolescast or @carolyn.c.coffin
• Browse 260+ episodes in the archives
• Subscribe, rate & review to support the show

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to inspiredsolescast@gmail.com.

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

Today I sit down with I’ll Have Another creator and Sandyboy Productions founder Lindsey Hein to announce that Inspired Soles is officially joining the Sandyboy Productions podcast network.

Lindsey interviews me about:

· The mission behind Inspired Soles

· What’s happening in Canadian distance running

· Why runner storytelling matters

· My background in coaching, physiotherapy & kinesiology

· The importance of chasing your dreams (no matter your age)

• What Sandyboy x Inspired Soles collaboration means moving forward

If you love conversations about performance, coaching, and community, this episode is for you.

Connect with Lindsey

Instagram: @lindseyhein626
Sandyboy Productions: @sandyboyproductions
Website: https://sandyboyproductions.com

Connect with Inspired Soles & Carolyn:

• Instagram: @inspiredsolescast or @carolyn.c.coffin
• Browse 260+ episodes in the archives
• Subscribe, rate & review to support the show

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to inspiredsolescast@gmail.com.

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

Kevin Smith is a 56-year-old masters runner and multiple Canadian record holder from Mississauga, Ontario. When he turned 55, Kevin set out on an audacious mission: to chase 12 Canadian road running records in 12 months. He achieved 6 of them — and “failed” at 6 — but Kevin doesn’t see that as a setback. For him, failure is simply the toll we pay for chasing big dreams. And nobody, he claims, has failed more than he has!

Kevin discovered his potential as a high school athlete under the guidance of a coach who helped him fall in love with the sport. But his journey has been far from linear. Kevin has battled more than his fair share of injuries over the years — any one of which could have ended his running career. A physiotherapist once told him he should have never taken up the sport in the first place! Instead, Kevin doubled down on understanding his body, created what he calls "exercise snacks," and learned the importance of the other 23 hours a day when he’s not running.

Those decades of perseverance have paid off. Kevin is now one of the top masters runners in North America… and even the world. Along the way he built a business — Marathon Dynamics Inc.— to help others train smarter, stay healthy, and keep chasing their own finish lines.

If you're an injury-prone runner or someone who feels like you’ve had more setbacks than successes, this episode will inspire you to keep going. Because with enough patience, curiosity, and grit, you too can become a “pretty old runner who runs pretty fast.”

In This Episode, We Talk About:

• How Kevin reignited his passion for running later in life
• The mindset behind his “12 records at 55” quest
• Why failure is a critical ingredient of success
• How he gamified Strava and embraced “exercise snacks”
• The key lifestyle habits that matter more than mileage
• His role as coach and founder of Marathon Dynamics
• Why it’s never too late to get faster

Kevin’s Canadian M55-59 Records

• 5 Mile - 27:51 - Waterloo Runway 5 Miler - Aug 2025
• 15K - 53:19 - (within the) Cherry Blossom 10 Mile (Wash/US) - Apr 2025
• 10 Mile - 57:29 - Cherry Blossom 10 Mile - Apr 2025 (had broken/set the record previously in Dec 2024 at the Boxing Day 10 Miler in Hamilton)
• Half Marathon - 1:15:42 - Toronto Waterfront Half - Oct 2024
• 30K - 1:54:02 - (within the) Toronto Waterfront Marathon - Oct 25

Connect with Kevin:

• Instagram: @marathondynamics
• Website: marathondynamics.com

Connect with Inspired Soles & Carolyn:

• Instagram: @inspiredsolescast or @carolyn.c.coffin
• Browse 250+ episodes in the archives
• Subscribe, rate & review to support the show

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to inspiredsolescast@gmail.com.

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

When Ben Flanagan announced he’d be making his marathon debut at the 2025 Toronto Waterfront Marathon, the Canadian running community took notice — and he didn’t disappoint. On an unseasonably warm and windy day, Ben captured the Canadian Marathon Championship title, adding another major milestone to his already impressive career.

I sat down with Ben just 11 days before race day to talk about his hopes and dreams for the marathon distance, why he chose Toronto for his debut, and what it’s been like working remotely with his new coach, Jon Green. We also discussed his stressful Olympic experience in Paris 2024, how life has changed since becoming a dad to baby Nora, and whether he pays attention to what other top Canadian marathoners are doing.

It’s a thoughtful and entertaining conversation with one of Canada’s brightest distance running stars.

Connect with Ben:

• Instagram: @ben_flanagan

Ben’s Past Appearances on Inspired Soles:

• Episode 193: With Rory Linkletter Breaking Down the Canadian 10K Champs
• Episode 151 - Deep Dive on World Championships
• Episode 95 - Canadian 10k Champion

Connect with Inspired Soles & Carolyn:

• Instagram: @inspiredsolescast or @carolyn.c.coffin
• Browse 250+ episodes in the archives
• Subscribe, rate & review to support the show

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to inspiredsolescast@gmail.com.

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

My guest today is Kristin Paterson, a 39-year-old runner from Ottawa, Ontario, who’s been married to her husband and coach for 18 years. Together they’re raising four kids, all of whom Kristin also homeschools!

Kristin started running shortly before the pandemic, and has steadily chipped away at her goals ever since. On October 6, 2025, she lined up at the P'tit Train du Nord Marathon in Quebec chasing a Boston Qualifying time — but Mother Nature had other plans. With temperatures soaring to 28℃, Kristin’s race began to unravel before the halfway mark.

In this episode, she opens up about what it felt like to watch her goal slip away, how she found the strength to keep going when it would’ve been easy to quit, and what it means to process disappointment in real time. Kristin shares the role of sheer stubbornness, the example she wants to set for her kids, the energy of the spectators, and the power of connection with fellow runner and social media friend Bronwyn in getting her across that finish line.

She also reflects on the wisdom of her mentor and friend of the pod, Ana Laura Fray, who reminded her that running journeys aren’t linear.

If you’ve ever had a marathon go sideways in the second half, this conversation will remind you that you’re not alone — and that sometimes the hardest days teach us the most.

Connect with Kristin:

• Instagram: @mamakris_

Connect with Inspired Soles & Carolyn:

• Instagram: @inspiredsolescast or @carolyn.c.coffin
• Browse 250+ episodes in the archives
• Subscribe, rate & review to support the show

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to inspiredsolescast@gmail.com.

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

Landon Hildebrand is an Edmonton-based Registered Psychologist, trail runner, and co-owner of Approach Psychology.

When Landon first joined me on the podcast, he introduced the idea of joy as a motivator. This time, he takes that concept further — reframing joy as a litmus test for psychological health in both running and life.

What makes this conversation especially powerful is the perspective Landon brings. Last time, he spoke mainly as a psychologist who happens to be an athlete. This time, he shows up first as an athlete — one who also happens to be a psychologist. With honesty and vulnerability, Landon shares the personal health challenges and stresses he’s faced over the past year, and how they’ve forced him to re-examine his relationship with sport, self, and well-being.

Together, we explore:

• Why being psychologically healthy doesn’t always look like PRs or “successful” races
• How big, unplanned life events can be catalysts for deeper healing and growth
• How therapy buzzwords — safety, trust, peace, freedom, vulnerability, curiosity — play out in real life
• Why applying these principles often takes much longer than simply learning them
• How joy can serve as a compass when we feel stuck or lost

Landon’s blend of humour, insight, and personal reflection makes this a deeply relatable episode for anyone navigating the ups and downs of running and life beyond the pursuit of PRs.

Connect with Landon:

• Register for his Endurance Mind online workshop Nov 19th: https://tinyurl.com/53bub6ek
• Instagram: @approachpsychology and @landon_ approachpsych
• Website: approachpsych.ca
• Landon's first episode on Inspired Soles: Elevating Your Mental Game

Connect with Carolyn:

• Instagram: @inspiredsolescast or @carolyn.c.coffin

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to inspiredsolescast@gmail.com.