The Running Public

The duo behind GRIT Coaching stop by today to talk about the Professional Athlete's mindset. Jess O'Connell represented Canada at the 2016 London Olympic Games and co-founded GRIT coaching with Faye Stenning. We asked Jess to talk to us about mindset during this season where most races have been cancelled, as she had her 4 year dream of qualifying for another Olympics stripped from her due to COVID-19. We got way more than we asked for, as she led us on a two hour journey through the the mindset and focus needed to be an Olympic-level athlete. 

Continuing our "Things Pros Do" series, we move from workout planning to workout execution. Pro athletes do not do ANYTHING randomly. They approach their training like a game of chess. Every workout is done for a very specific reason and is often completed in order to set up a future workout. We break down motivation, training vs exercising, using goals to create a training plan, and balancing training and life, among many other topics!

Ryan Kent has been a at the top of the OCR scene for the past 6 years, but 2020 has been unlike any other year for him. With the pandemic making it impossible to earn a living through race results, Ryan has reinvented himself. Working full time, with his first baby on the way, he is in the best shape of his life and ready to unleash that fitness upon the first race that re-opens. Today we touch upon balancing training and work, eating disorders and racing weight, his training philosophy, goals for the 2021 season, and what life will look like for him now that he is going to be a dad.

Today we kick off a mini-series: Things Pros Do. This series will shed some light on the "little things" that we all can be doing in order to maximize our running potential.   The first thing all Pro athletes do, that not everyone else does, is prepare for EVERY single workout, and not just by getting some coffee in them and stretching out! From advanced planning, to mindset and data driven workouts, the pros just do it correctly - and now so can you!

Generally, we do our Q&A episodes on Training Tuesday, but this one had so much good info that we bumped it into a full episode! The theme that emerged from the questions sent in was Recovery and Deload Weeks, but we also touch upon Pacing, Shoes, Lifting, Master's Runners, and Treadmill Training.

Races are almost a foreign concept at this point in time! It's been months since most people have toed the startline. Are you feeling mentally unprepared for the demands of race day? Mental toughness is a perishable skill - if you don't use it you lose it! Today, we talk about using it: how to schedule these days, what the workouts should look like, and our favorite "turn yourself inside out" sessions.

Kacey McCallister had both legs amputated just below his hips as a six year old. From there he became an All-State wrestler, competed as a dual sport Division 1 athlete, took 7th in the wheel chair division at the Boston Marathon, and has completed more than 20 Spartan Races. He joins us to discuss resiliency and the power of failure, as well as giving us an unintentional wake up call to be tougher than we currently believe we can be.

Our last interview with Cole Derosa brought in a boatload of questions about two things Cole does regularly: he does two workouts per day and he builds volume through circuit work. Today's episode is a breakdown of the concepts of doubling up on your workouts and using non-impact training styles to add "running" volume to your week: why you should try it, how it works, specific workouts to implement, and how to fit extra workouts in your busy schedule.

Cole Derosa is employed full time in the US Military, trains in the middle of the day in Florida heat and humidity, arrives to his hotel after midnight the night before most races, and doesn't have a hill within 200 miles of his home. How does this 48 year old man consistently show up and prove himself to be arguably the greatest Age Group athlete in the sport of OCR? Today we find out!

We recap this past weekend's festivities, highlighting top performers and handing out prizes to 4 lucky, random racers!