The Controversy Around Eric's Sub-5 + How This Podcast Is Affecting Families

No, Claude, I Don’t Have a Stress Fracture

Discussed in this episode: – Faith Jenkins, winner: Eric's sister Faith won the Margarita 5K in New Hampshire this weekend. A win is a win. Big weekend for the Faiths — Faith Kipyegon and Faith Jenkins, both coming away with 5K victories. – Aisha's screen detox: Deleted Instagram from Saturday through Thursday. Twitter stayed because she needs her track gossip and Giro updates. – Rail Riders come through on the Giro: After last week's public request for HBO logins, multiple listeners sent actual username and password credentials. – Giro update: Jonas Vingegaard won a stage this week, completing the set — he's now won a stage at all three grand tours. – One-year anniversary incoming: Probably early June. Eric floats the idea of baking cupcakes. – Hantavirus update: Contained. Ten total cases, one false positive. We are not entering another pandemic. – Drake's three-album drop: Aisha cannot get through the Iceman tracklist. – Kit rankings — the Met Gala of track and field: Every brand drops their new racing uniform at the first Diamond League of the season, and women's training groups will discuss nothing else on long runs for weeks. Aisha gives her full rankings. – Mark English wins the men's 800: 1:43.8 in Shanghai. – The most redheads discussion – Molly Huddle and Emily Infeld sidebar: Two premature celebrations in the first Diamond League prompts a detour to Beijing 2015 and the bronze medal that got away. – Men's 3K: Fourteen athletes under 7:30 in a field of nineteen. Five national records. – Women's 1500: Birke Haylom wins. Tsige Duguma takes second in only her second-ever 1500. Top eleven under four minutes. – Jessica Schilder throws 21.09: The Dutch shot putter breaks the Diamond League record, sets a world lead, and becomes the first woman to break the 21-meter barrier since 2012. – Women's steeple: Peruth Chemutai celebrates early, barely holds on by one hundredth of a second. – Looking ahead: Track Fest at UCLA on May 23rd — Emma Coburn's first steeple in two years (since her ankle injury in the 2024 Shanghai water jump), Parker Valby, Gabbi Jennings, Josh Kerr, Donovan Brazier, Bryce Hoppel, and a stacked women's 800 all racing. – Kirkland Signature sweatsuit interlude: Aisha is wearing a full Costco fit. She is a fourteen-year Costco stan and would quit her job to become a Costco influencer if given the chance. Voicemails: A mom of a ten-month-old asks: What would your grift be? A caller from Portland, Maine, wants Portsmouth restaurant recommendations after a string of bad experiences. A listener asks whether the culture of the sport has meaningfully changed post-Alberto — Aisha and Eric give a thoughtful yes-and-no. A listener named Rachel has been Clorox-wiping her stationary bike three times and Googling whether mouse poop five feet below her deck could give her hantavirus. A caller asks for three book recommendations. 📞 Call in to (856) 279-0080‬ to leave us a voicemail with any question you may have, whether it’s running-related or not. 📲 Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or follow the show on Spotify to stay up-to-date with all the latest episodes. 🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@OffTheRailsWithEricandAisha Follow your hosts on Instagram: 🗣️ Follow Eric Jenkins: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@_ericjenkins⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🗣️ Follow Aisha Praught-Leer: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@aishapraughtleer ---- ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ Listening to “Off The Rails with Eric and Aisha” while running may result in uncontrollable laughter, side stitches, funny looks from strangers, and the occasional trip hazard due to snort-laughing mid-stride. Proceed with caution—and maybe stretch your abs beforehand. Use caution when wearing earbuds in public places—people will wonder if you’re okay. You are. You’re just having a really good time.

The Controversy Around Eric's Sub-5 + How This Podcast Is Affecting Families

No prepared notes this week, which means full chaos. Discussed in this episode: – Eric's sub-five mile controversy: Someone DM'd Aisha the Strava elevation profile – Aisha is now up to three miles straight at 9,000 feet in Crested Butte; a barre class that cost $25, which was $8 above her personal tipping point. – Giro d'Italia access rage: HBO Max has put live sports behind an additional paywall. Aisha's cutoff is $17/month. – Hantavirus on a Dutch cruise ship: Three deaths, eight total cases, a very long incubation period, and the Canary Islands said absolutely not, you are staying at sea. Aisha spent the majority of her non-working, non-painting hours this week on hantavirus memes and UFO memes – Pentagon UFO files: Released with minimal fanfare. Eric is not buying it as anything other than a distraction from the Epstein files. – Spencer Pratt is running for mayor of LA: Won 89% of a debate poll. Reality TV people are built for these moments. – Met Gala recap: Mondo Duplantis and fiancée Desiré Inglander attended. Desiré has been described by a mutual friend of Aisha as the hottest female elf from Lord of the Rings that could ever exist in the world. – Cocodona 250: Rachel Entrekin becomes the first female winner in race history with a time of 56:09:48. – Denver airport Frontier plane incident: A person breached the tarmac fence and was sucked into a plane engine, causing it to burst into flames. – Track roundup: Simeon Birnbaum runs a dominant 1:44 800m, including working past two Oregon teammates in the final stretch. Marco Langon runs 3:32. Quincy Wilson debuts in the 300m hurdles and wins in 38.77 — nobody saw hurdles in his future. – Shanghai Diamond League preview: May 16th — six days away. The meet features five Americans in the women's steeple. The women's 1500 field is stacked: Tsige Duguma, Dorcas Ewoi, Gabija Galvydytė, Jess Hull, Emily MacKay (who apparently ran a 1:59 800 at altitude recently), Gracie Morris, Claudia Hollingsworth and more. – Aisha's Monaco/Tour de France vacation: World Athletics meeting in Monaco at the end of June, followed by the first two days of the Tour de France in Barcelona. – The Wout van Aert DM: When Aisha was training in Leuven, she noticed on Strava that Wout van Aert was doing afternoon jogs at around the same pace as her. She DMed him on Instagram to see if he wanted to run. – Sarah Hall's audiobook: Aisha is halfway through For the Love of Running on Audible. Sarah Hall narrates it herself. Beautifully written, very open about relationships, spirituality, family, and her internal world. – Voicemails: A fan notes that Mac and Chris could not have anticipated inviting Aisha and Eric onto their team and watching them dog group runs; travel recommendations for the Northeast and Boulder; a listener calls to give Centro's wife Lindsay her flowers — she's the PT for an all-women's running team in Chicago; and a dad reports that his two-year-old now says "love you, bye" as his farewell phrase, which he learned from this podcast. 📞 Call in to (856) 279-0080‬ to leave us a voicemail with any question you may have, whether it’s running-related or not. 📲 Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or follow the show on Spotify to stay up-to-date with all the latest episodes. 🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@OffTheRailsWithEricandAisha Follow your hosts on Instagram: 🗣️ Follow Eric Jenkins: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@_ericjenkins⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🗣️ Follow Aisha Praught-Leer: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@aishapraughtleer ---- ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ Listening to “Off The Rails with Eric and Aisha” while running may result in uncontrollable laughter, side stitches, funny looks from strangers, and the occasional trip hazard due to snort-laughing mid-stride. Proceed with caution—and maybe stretch your abs beforehand. Use caution when wearing earbuds in public places—people will wonder if you’re okay. You are. You’re just having a really good time.

Show Me the Athlete Biological Passport, Harry Styles

Aisha Praught-Leer and Eric Jenkins are back in their home studios for a May 3rd episode with a lot on the docket. Discussed in this episode: – Walk-jog redemption arc: Aisha is back on a run streak — five days this week, two days of lifting, all done at a sensible 20 minutes on pure vibes with her nine-year-old lab – Aisha becomes a tech bro – Banksy goes 3D – Tom Cruise confession, Scientology speed-running – Devil Wears Prada 2 – Sydney Sweeney and Scooter Braun's hard launch – Cam Hanes vs. Sage Canaday and the ultra doping discourse: "If you really want to grind, do it raw and feel how much it sucks." – World Relays took place in Gaborone – Allyson Felix is coming back – USATF Road 5K Championships: Drew Hunter wins and gets absolutely obliterated by the confetti cannon at the finish line – Mary Cain's book, This Is Not About Running: Eric has been listening to the audiobook and gives a detailed account — the manipulation by Alberto Salazar, Darren Treasure's fraudulent credentials (not a licensed psychologist, it turns out), the toxic scarcity-mindset environment among the women in the group, and Mary's mental health crisis and how it was handled. – Abby Steiner sues Puma: Steiner is suing Puma and the Mercedes F1 team for alleged negligent products liability, claiming the shoe designs — plate geometry, foam composition — contributed to her injuries. Puma denies. – Voicemails: A new mom calls in on her son's first day of daycare; the New Balance indoor relay recap; Noah Kahan's "Standing Still" and its Harvard track team lyric promprs a request for Eric to write a diss track; Is Yomif Kejelcha the best distance runner to never win a global outdoor gold? 📞 Call in to (856) 279-0080‬ to leave us a voicemail with any question you may have, whether it’s running-related or not. 📲 Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or follow the show on Spotify to stay up-to-date with all the latest episodes. 🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@OffTheRailsWithEricandAisha Follow your hosts on Instagram: 🗣️ Follow Eric Jenkins: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@_ericjenkins⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🗣️ Follow Aisha Praught-Leer: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@aishapraughtleer ---- ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ Listening to “Off The Rails with Eric and Aisha” while running may result in uncontrollable laughter, side stitches, funny looks from strangers, and the occasional trip hazard due to snort-laughing mid-stride. Proceed with caution—and maybe stretch your abs beforehand. Use caution when wearing earbuds in public places—people will wonder if you’re okay. You are. You’re just having a really good time.

Maybe They Ran Sub-Two Because the Robots Are Coming for Their Jobs

Aisha Praught-Leer and Eric Jenkins are back in their home studios the Sunday after Boston Marathon weekend and are still buzzing from the first-ever Off the Rails live show but were immediately blindsided by the London Marathon results. Discussed in this episode: – The Boston hangover: How the live show felt like a fever dream, why Aisha couldn't get drunk despite an open bar, and the definitive low point: a three-mile morning shakeout run the day after the show, with 800 people, the New Balance relay, and a Brooks event all stacked on the same day. – London Marathon recap: Sebastian Sawe's 1:59:30 world record. Yomif Kejelcha's 1:59:41 marathon debut. Jacob Kiplimo third in 2:00:28. Two athletes sub-two in the same race. Nobody was expecting this. – Adidas' out-of-competition testing program: The AIU tested Sawe 25 times before Berlin in 2025 — funded in part by Adidas to the tune of $50K — to proactively remove any doubt. No one has ever heard of a brand doing this.  – Tisgt Assefa’s women's-only world record: 2:15:41, with Hellen Obiri second at 2:15:53. The Sharon-Helen rivalry discussion continues. – Vincent Mauri, 2:05:53 in Toledo: He's just a guy. He ran at ASU and Notre Dame, he's 25, and he soloed a 2:05:53 debut at the Glass City Marathon in Toledo, Ohio. Eric has never heard of him. He has never heard of the Glass City Marathon. Toledo makes a lot of glass, which Aisha almost figured out. – Penn Relays: The Simeon Birnbaum vs. Marco Langon rivalry delivers twice. Oregon/Birnbaum win the DMR (featuring the classic slow-it-down anchor move), Villanova/Langon wins the four-by-mile in an electric finish. Marco's post-race interview is unhinged perfection. – US Road Mile Championship: Yared Nuguse wins. Vince Ciattei second. Drew Hunter third. Yared needed some wins and momentum. He got one. – Addie Wiley, Lauren Johnson, and Nick Johnson's revoked probation: A full explainer on the Nick Johnson case for new listeners — trafficking, forced injections, assault — and why Addie Wiley's non-answer to Jonathan Gault about her coaching situation isn't landing well. Update: Johnson's probation has been revoked for failing to comply with a sex offender treatment program and refusing a polygraph test. – Noah Lyles' wedding first-look video: He did not say the right thing. He talked about the dress logistics. – The Robot half marathon in China: The winner crashed 100 meters from the finish. There were pit stops. The announcer was concerned the robot might be hurt. Aisha can’t stop watching these videos – Voicemails include: Gary Martin's body composition (disputed); Sharon Lokedi borrowing Steven Pfifer’s Garmin on Boston morning; speed golf and the time Will and Aisha spotted balls for Nick Willis at the World Championships; running a marathon on 4/20; a canceled Carmel Indiana half marathon that sent two listeners to Wilmington, Delaware; and the ongoing fallout from Aisha's Olympic ticket take. 📞 Call in to (856) 279-0080‬ to leave us a voicemail with any question you may have, whether it’s running-related or not. 📲 Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or follow the show on Spotify to stay up-to-date with all the latest episodes. 🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@OffTheRailsWithEricandAisha Follow your hosts on Instagram: 🗣️ Follow Eric Jenkins: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@_ericjenkins⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🗣️ Follow Aisha Praught-Leer: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@aishapraughtleer ---- ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ Listening to “Off The Rails with Eric and Aisha” while running may result in uncontrollable laughter, side stitches, funny looks from strangers, and the occasional trip hazard due to snort-laughing mid-stride. Proceed with caution—and maybe stretch your abs beforehand. Use caution when wearing earbuds in public places—people will wonder if you’re okay. You are. You’re just having a really good time.

Our First-Ever Live Show In Boston Covered RFK's Raccoon Story, Trump vs. The Pope, and an International Warehouse Full of Piss

Eric Jenkins and Aisha Praught-Leer go live for the first time — recording in front of a packed house at Dillon's in Boston on the Friday before the 2026 Boston Marathon, with an open bar, a drinking game, merch giveaways, and a special guest. Many thanks to Under Armour for making this happen! Discussed in this episode: – Sharon Lokedi joins live: The reigning Boston Marathon champion and course-record holder (2:17:22 in 2024) stops by for a wide-ranging conversation including her visit to Kenya with the Under Armour team, her photoshoot shoot in Flagstaff, bucket-list major goals and what the hills of Boston mean to her on race day. – Sharon's signature Under Armour shoe: The design details — gold laces, Lake Mary Road and Katagat references, and an accidental Kansas Jayhawk color palette – Boston trivia: Eric runs a live trivia game with Velociti Elite 3s on the line – RFK Jr. and the raccoon: A new book reveals a diary entry in which Kennedy describes cutting off a road-killed raccoon's anatomy "to check it out later." – Trump vs. the Pope: Both hosts are taking the Pope – Mike Vrabel affair headlines & Diana Russini saves a man from an overturned Jeep – Noah Lyles on the Time 100 Most Influential People – Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in the SI Swimsuit Edition – Jakob Ingebrigtsen's Achilles setback – Diamond League Plus prize structure: Aisha explains it. Eric thinks it sounds like a streaming service he accidentally subscribed to. – World Athletics halts transfers to Turkey: You don't just all of a sudden feel a bit more Turkish. – Boston picks – Live voicemails: Where does WADA store a decade's worth of drug samples? What would Eric's karaoke song be? What is Aisha's skincare routine? can Eric break five minutes in a mile the morning after picklebacks?