podcast

What’s it mean to be fit? What about to perform? Is there a meaningful difference? In this episode, Steve and Jon explore the continuum from fitness to performance. As we make our way from fitness to performance, the psychological demands shift. From high control to low. From low threat to high. Give this episode a…

What’s it mean to improve the lactate threshold? What about lactate buffering capacity? In this episode, John and Steve take you down the rabbit hole of workouts designed to improve every part of the lactate curve. You’ll learn why traditional tempo runs push the lactate curve up, but you can also pull the curve. You’ll…

The NCAA and college sports are in disarray. Facing a mass pandemic, postponement and cancelation of fall sports, and a growing understanding by the athletes the leverage that they have. With many of us wondering what in the world is the future of college sports, this week we brough on an expert, Dr. Roger Pielke…

It’s time for a deep dive into training. This week begins a multi-part series on the development of an athlete. We start with the intake process and deciding where to go with the athlete, and move on to what kind of training the athlete should do. For this week, we focus on the 5k and…

Fartleks, the wonderful invention of Gusta Holmer in the 1930’s, is something we are all familiar with. Run hard for a minute, jog for a minute, repeat twenty times. But in today’s world where everything is measured and coaches rely on that feedback to adjust workloads, the fartlek is becoming a lost art. In this…

Do the fastest athletes always win? The ones who come in with the best seed time. The athlete who threw down that fast mile at Mt. Sac or a blazing 5k at Stanford? If not, how come? In episode 114, we explore the world of racing. What does it mean to be competitive and can…

“He’s really fit! They’re going to run really well!” How many times have you heard a coach excitedly proclaim that, only to see their athlete perform poorly? It happens to all of us. We’re left scratching our heads after the race. They were crushing workouts, we might think. How could they not put it together?…

One of my pet peeves when discussing endurance work is the concept of losing speed. In the middle distance world, this concept of losing speed is widespread. Go to any coaching conference, hang around enough coaches, or just talk to your athletes and you’ll hear this concept over and over. It’s used as an argument…

Highly motivated athletes are the best to coach. You don’t have to worry if they got their run or workout in, they are always eager to train, perform, and do what’s necessary to get better. But, there are pitfalls that even the most well-intentioned athletes need to be aware of. The higher the motivation, the…