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    Some Work, All Play

    Some Work, All Play

    About

    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!

    Hosted By

    David Roche and Megan Roche

    325. The Spicy Episode! Our Fears About AI Science, The $500 Trail Shoe, Age Group Doping, Zone Compression Theory, and Hog Watch

    325. The Spicy Episode! Our Fears About AI Science, The $500 Trail Shoe, Age Group Doping, Zone Compression Theory, and Hog Watch

    August 25, 2026
    1h 28m

    We weren’t intending to have so many controversial stories this week, but here we are with some spicy topics on our hands.

    The main discussion was new research on Ethiopian athlete training, described as an “AI-assisted” study. The findings are cool, and we discuss those training points. But looking at the bigger picture, we have major fears about the use of AI writing across exercise physiology literature. The future is going to be weird and sloppy.

    We also talked about the $500 Adidas trail shoe. David thinks it’s a big “screw you” to trail runners. Megan is also concerned, but thinks he needs to chill. You know, the usual. 

    And there were tons of topics with varying levels of spice! Other topics: UTMB scores, Megan’s popsicle form, Edmonton Marathon’s mis-measurement, Kilian and Jim out of UTMB, age group doping, the blueberry recall, our problems with hog watch, Mike Macdonald’s coaching prowess through vulnerability, the Lost Soul Ultra, emails from PED companies, zone compression for speed-oriented athletes, and lots more!

    As always, remember that many of the points we make are wrong, and if so, it was a joke. But if you agree with it, we were serious.

    We love you all! HUZZAH!

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