The Drop

This week, the Trail Trio discusses considerations for choosing race day footwear - which proves to be much more difficult to come to a consensus than one would think.
Guest: Cade Michael is an up and coming trail runner who has taken some big swings this past year! He’s looking to improve on those results and continue to establish himself as one of the USA’s top prospective athletes in 2026.

Nikhil Jain is the Director of Footwear Product Line Management at Brooks Running. Thomas and Meg had the opportunity to talk all things Glycerin Flex with him at The Running Event.

We're bringing the listeners into the mix as we answer a handful of questions, including our picks for best and worst marathon medals. We also recap our snow day(s) here in Baltimore and Alex Honnold doing weird things on tall buildings before covering the just-released Hoka Cielo X1 3.0, a lighter and even more energetic race-day shoe.

Shop the Gorewear sale and save another 15% off by using code BITR15: https://alnk.to/e7anCxh (affiliate link)

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PILLAR
If you’re training hard, traveling to races, or just stacking miles week after week, you know how easy it is for your immune system to take a hit. That’s why we’ve been reaching for PILLAR Ultra Immune C. It contains a high dosage of Vitamin C (about 16-17 oranges worth in one scoop), which helps fight off illness and protects your body from the stress of intense training. Head to pillarperformance.shop or TheFeed.com/pillar and enter code BITR for 15% off first-time purchases.

LMNT
It's winter, but we're still training and sweating. Which means we still need our LMNT, with 1,000 mg of sodium and key electrolytes. If you haven't had their hot flavors yet, you need to get in on it, because they make the perfect winter treat. Order today and get an 8-count LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase, so don't miss out: http://drinklmnt.com/thedrop

Taylor and Reese prepare themselves for gross winter weather to hit by trading thoughts about the treadmill. Likewise, they chat about the upcoming Merrell Agility Peak 6.
Guest: Cole Zucker is the founder of Kila, an insole company that's built on the premise of run performance. Taylor and Cole talk about Cole's background in the lighting industry and how his experiences helped launch Kila.

Meg is back from the Move Her Mind Summit (and podium finish at the Rose Bowl Half), so we get a recap of all of that. Meanwhile, Thomas took some R&R in Charleston while Robbe got into some weird Baltimore stuff as usual. We also cover jumping beans, chicken pox, dark web stuff, and more, including the Adidas Prime X Evo and Adidas Evolution.SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!PILLARRecently, we’ve been taking PILLAR Triple Magnesium, and it’s been a game-changer for our sleep and recovery. WE take it about 30 minutes before bed each night which gives us great sleep and helps us recover better so we're ready to train again tomorrow. If you want to try PILLAR, you can head to pillarperformance.shop or TheFeed.com/pillar and enter code BITR for 15% off first-time purchases!SWIFTWICKYou already know that Swiftwick makes our favorite socks for running, from training to race day. We wear them pretty much every day, whether it's the Flite XT crew or the low cut no-show. Get yourself ready for the new year and save 15% off your first purchase with code BELIEVE15: https://swiftwick.com