The Endurance Drive Podcast

We’re closing out 2024 with a recap of some of our biggest lessons learned and some coaching and training innovations we’re looking forward to in 2025. We cover the importance of mindset, why belief is crucial for performance, how goal mapping has helped us and our athletes, why comparison is the thief of joy, how to modify under high stress, the role of everyday nutrition vs. sports nutrition, training with the seasons, and more. We also go over some fun coaching and training insights related to Zwift, FTP tests, nordic skiing, and strength training, and we reflect on what it means to have reached our big one-year milestone of the pod. Thank you so much to all of our listeners to this point — we’re so pumped to see what 2025 brings! View extended show notes for this episode here. To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use ⁠this form⁠ or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

The hosts navigate the unique blend of joy and weirdness during the holidays, diving into the importance of casual movement for endurance athletes. They discuss tackling disconnection and embracing self-compassion while training and in daily life. Marathon pacing techniques and the role of super shoes in enhancing performance are explored. With humor, they suggest gift ideas for outdoor enthusiasts, emphasizing winter wellness. Plus, they celebrate the benefits of home workouts with a new Smith machine for versatile training.

In this week's episode, we are joined by Tim Richmond, the Head Race Director of Max Performance, to learn a little bit about what goes on behind the scenes at a triathlon race. Tim shares how he became a race director and grew his successful family-run triathlon business, how he handles gear and equipment, how he manages and organizes volunteers, how he responds to unforeseen circumstances on race day, and how you as a triathlete can have the best race experience. Jim and Katie also reflect on some of our most fun experiences on the Max Performance race circuit in our last decade of training and coaching. Finally, we cover some fun insights and listener questions related to injury recovery, grounding in the intention of the workout, threshold testing, and more. Check it out! View extended show notes for this episode here. To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use ⁠this form⁠ or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

We are going full “woo woo spirituality” in this episode to talk about how endurance sports can operate as a spiritual practice. We specifically chat through why we are interested in the intersection between endurance sports and spirituality, how we define and conceptualize spirituality, spirituality at its best and worst, endurance as a vehicle for constant self-reflection, the pursuit of feeling “enough,” endurance as a way to give back to others, and how our own relationships with endurance sports have evolved over time. Our goal is not to have the final say on any of these big and complex topics, but rather to get the conversation going and “caveat the hell out of” our free-formed thoughts. We also cover some fun insights related to tempo training, the rule of thirds, and Katie’s recent ankle injury, and we share a lot of laughs about signs from the universe in the process. Check it out! View extended show notes for this episode here.  To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use ⁠this form⁠ or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

Get ready to ramp up your endurance game! The discussion covers mental prep techniques and balancing your nervous system for peak performance. Discover the crucial role of strength training and how nutrition plans can supercharge your workouts. Explore effective recovery strategies while emphasizing the importance of gratitude in fitness. The hosts also share tips on bike maintenance and essential gear for cycling, all while keeping the mood light with personal anecdotes and humor. It's packed with actionable advice to help you hit the ground running!

In this week’s episode, Katie and Elena welcome Brittni Nicolodi (previously Gorman) to the podcast to chat all things wellness and performance for athletes. Brittni is an Ayurvedic Medicine Practitioner and a mountain athlete who combines her love for endurance adventuring with her passion for preventative wellness. She explains what Ayurveda is, her journey to becoming an Ayurvedic Practitioner, what imbalances and other health challenges she sees most frequently in the endurance athlete population, the importance of holistic health and trusting your gut, how to integrate eastern and western medicine approaches in a holistic care team, and so much more. She also shares several actionable steps that you can take today to reduce stress and optimize your own health and performance through the lens of preventative wellness. Check it out!  Brittni’s website: https://mountainsforbreakfast.com/ Follow Brittni on Instagram:  @mountainsforbreakfast.ayurveda @mountainsforbreakfast View extended show notes for this episode here.  To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use ⁠this form⁠ or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

In this week’s episode, Jim, Katie, and Elena drill into why trail running will make you faster and stronger in all endurance and fitness domains, even if trail running isn’t your primary sport. We cover who should trail run, why trail running is such a secret weapon, how to get started (logistically, physically, and mentally), what data or metrics are most useful to pay attention to in trail running, how to make trail running part of your fitness routine as an urban athlete, strength training considerations, and our favorite trail running workouts, gear items, and memories. We also do a deep dive on why we (mostly) hate the new Strava AI insights and answer a listener question on how to approach racing at altitude if you live at sea level. Even if you have never set foot on a trail, this is a can’t-miss episode! Check it out.  View extended show notes for this episode here.  To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use ⁠this form⁠ or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

In this week’s episode, Elena and Katie welcome Megan Chacosky to the show. Megan is a performance dietitian and chef extraordinaire who has built a career blending her expertise in sports nutrition with her love of cooking and her passion for supporting athletes as humans. Megan served as a Performance Chef and Sports Dietician for the US Olympic and Paralympic committee before moving to Vermont to do the same at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center for the Green Racing Project’s athletes. We cover Megan’s journey into her current position, common nutrition struggles for endurance athletes, how athletes can make fueling both easy and enjoyable, how nailing the more mundane elements is the best path to longevity in sport, how athletes can build healthier relationships with food, and a whole lot more. Check it out!  View extended show notes for this episode here. To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use ⁠this form⁠ or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

October means two things: it's pumpkin spice latte season and it's Ironman World Championships season! In this week's episode, Coach Katie and Coach Kevin—both 2X Ironman World Championships qualifiers—break down their respective journeys to the Kona ticket. We cover the training, budget, lifestyle, logistics, and mindsets that helped them achieve their goals, and we also offer tips for athletes who simply want to level up their Ironman game. We also answer a bunch of listener questions related to hydration, ERG mode, and saddle sores, and share coaching and training insights on mindfulness, DNFs, and when to call it quits. Check it out! View extended show notes for this episode here. To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use ⁠this form⁠ or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

In this week’s episode, we crowdsourced yet again and asked our community to share their thoughts on self-belief. As always, we are so impressed by the wisdom, vulnerability, and insights of our listeners. Thank you all! Katie and Elena summarize the findings and dive deeper into how self-belief helps our performance, how it translates into life, how we build it, how we lose it, and the tools our community members are using to maintain it. We also have our own spiritual tangents and fair share of musings on this very important yet complex topic. Whether you are feeling on the top of your game, faking it 'til you make it, or struggling to cultivate your own self-belief right now, this episode is for you!  Links to additional content discussed: Katie’s 2023 Ironman Lake Placid race report  Huberman Lab Podcast: How to Build Immense Inner Strength (Interview with David Goggins) Huberman Lab Podcast: How to Increase Your Willpower & Tenacity Phily Bowden Berlin Marathon Goals View extended show notes for this episode here. To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use ⁠this form⁠ or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.