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

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⚠️ 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.

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.