The Endurance Drive Podcast

In this week’s episode, we go over key takeaways from the 25th iteration of Ironman Lake Placid, where Katie was on course all day as a spectator and coach rather than a racer and where a dozen brave Endurance Drive athletes toed the line. Sub-topics include: creating a performance bubble, avoiding high LSS on the day before the race, chaotic swims, fueling and hydration insights, digging deep when the day becomes more mental than physical, and more. We also get an update on how recovery is going for Jim at 12 weeks post bike crash, share insights related to tapering and post-race blues, 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 podcast, use ⁠⁠⁠this form⁠⁠⁠ or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

Thanks to our awesome listeners, we were able to build out an entire episode worth of content requested by our community! We skip a single big topic in favor of a medium-dive on a bunch of really awesome ones: a six-step emotional regulation strategy to use when workouts feel rough; how to distinguish between training fatigue and "deeper" fatigue; more examples of mental work in practice; how to crush Ironman and 70.3 spectating; our favorite endurance adventures in New England; when to get a TT bike and what to be thinking about; tips for dealing with plantar fasciitis pain; 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 podcast, use ⁠⁠this form⁠⁠ or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

In this week's episode, we asked our community to tell us about their best and worst race days—what happened, what factors led to success or failure, and what lessons they learned. We then mixed in a bunch of our good and bad race day stories to come up with an episode that's full of actionable information about how you can approach racing, as well as a lot of laughs as we dig back through the racing archives. We also share coaching and training insights and answer listener questions related to mishaps on race sims, mental strategies for racing, bike care and maintenance, FTP in racing, 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 podcast, use ⁠this form⁠ or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

This week's episode covers a lot of fun topics! First up is a recap of lessons and insights from the Cohasset Triathlon, Katie's first race of 2024. We then cover more insights from Jim related to active recovery principles, swim technique, dual-sided power meters, and bike fitting. Our main content is a deep dive on some of our favorite workouts for Ironman and 70.3 in the Endurance Drive library, including paddles and buoy sets, low cadence Zwift climbing, 10" max sprints, and more, which we hope will be useful for our athletes to understand the intention of the workout and for our other listeners to try out some new sessions in their own programming. Enjoy the listen! View extended show notes for this episode here. To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future podcast, use this form or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

In this week's episode, Katie and Elena sit down for an hour of wisdom from the woman who does it all: triathlete, mom, career woman, and community champion Laura Fay. Topics include: how Laura has found and built communities in sport throughout her life as an athlete; how she built a career in executive coaching and what principles make effective leaders and athletes; how to balance career, being a parent, and endurance sports; the physical and mental effects of aging in athletics; and the mental toll and comeback process of a major injury, among lots of other topics. We also chat through when and how to effectively listen to your body in endurance training. This is a can't miss episode with one of our favorite people - check it out! View extended show notes for this episode here. To share feedback or ask questions to be answered on a future podcast, use this form or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

In this super fun episode, we're celebrating a whole bunch of big milestones including: Jim's return to riding six weeks after his crash and surgery, Katie officially earning her title of "PhD Coach Katie," and most importantly, six months and 35 episodes of our podcast! To mark the occasion, we're returning to a format we used in episode five of the podcast and reflecting on the big lessons we've learned in the last six months of training, coaching, and podcasting. This was one of the most fun episodes we've recorded, so come for the wisdom and stay for the laughs about what constitutes a recovery week. View extended show notes for this episode here. To share feedback or ask questions to be answered on a future podcast, use this form or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.

In this week's episode, Coach Jim sits down with Coach Katie and Coach Kevin to cover everything you need to know about our Beast of the East: Ironman Lake Placid. Katie and Kevin have both qualified for the Ironman World Championships not once, but twice, at Ironman Lake Placid. We chat about the history of Lake Placid and why it's such a special race; the nitty gritty details of the swim, bike, and run course; the crazy weather and conditions we have seen at Placid; the key workouts that prepared us to qualify for Kona at Placid twice; and considerations for why you should or shouldn't sign up. We also go over many general Ironman training and racing considerations you should be thinking about for any Ironman race. Check it out! View extended show notes for this episode here. Share questions and feedback for future podcasts here.

In this week's episode, we asked our community about the intersection of mental health and endurance sports. We were blown away by the vulnerability and powerful insights that people shared! We dive into how endurance sports helps optimize or manage mental health, how endurance sports can get in the way of mental well-being, and the tools that members of our community have used to help take care of their mental health. We also share stories from our own experiences with mental health and endurance sports. The upshot of all of this is that if you are struggling with mental health and sport, you are not alone. Thank you to everyone who shared experiences to help us create this episode! View extended show notes for this episode here.

In this week's episode, we had fun coming up with a long list of mistakes that we have either made ourselves or seen as coaches at some point in our endurance journeys. We hope that by sharing those mistakes with you, you can skip ahead to following the best practices for optimizing your performance and well-being as an athlete. Topics include: zone training, fueling and recovery, gear, skills and technique, racing, open water swimming, and a whole lot more. We also get an update from Jim on how his bike crash recovery is going, share a bunch of fun data-driven insights, and answer some A+ listener questions. Check it out! View extended show notes for this episode here.

In this week's episode, we welcome a very special guest to the podcast: Susan Dunklee, a 3x Olympian and 2x World Championship Silver Medalist in the sport of biathlon. Susan currently directs the biathlon program at Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Vermont, and she shares her wisdom on a ton of topics including: life as a professional athlete, mindfulness in sport, balance, sense of place, training on the east coast, highs and lows throughout her career, and what life looks like in her post-competition phase. We also catch up with Elena to hear how her 100 mile recovery has been going and share a bunch of coaching and training insights from a busy couple of weeks. We're excited for you to listen to this episode! View extended show notes for this episode here.