The Endurance Drive Podcast

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!

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The start of the season is right around the corner, so this week we’re putting together an extended list of things that you can do to be ready to hit the ground running (and swimming and biking) once it all begins. We cover mindset and mental prep, balancing your nervous system, organizing your life logistics, hitting the gym, getting back into Zone 2 aerobic training, addressing recurring injuries, sprucing up your pain cave, and a whole lot more. We offer cover several coaching and training insights related to gravel biking, strength training, turning off Strava AI, days off, stress management, and the Ironman World Championships in Kona. This is a jam-packed episode — check it out!

View extended show notes for this episode here. 

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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: [email protected].

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: [email protected].

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! 

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To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use ⁠this form⁠ or email: [email protected].

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.

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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:

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We are celebrating 50 episodes of The Endurance Drive Podcast this week with our first ever AMA (ask me anything) episode. We are so grateful to our listener community for tuning in every week and sending in such awesome questions. Check this episode out to hear our thoughts on how our approach to training has changed over time, what advice we wish we could tell ourselves at the beginning of our athletic journey, how we balance SBR during busy seasons of life, what our favorite post-race and “my body is not a temple” foods are, and a whole lot more. We also cover a bunch of fun insights related sport psychology, serving our communities through endurance, swim technique for beginners, and dry shirt season. This was such a fun episode to record - check it out and get excited for another 50!

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: [email protected].

This week, we’re diving into the process of how to set goals for your next season of training and racing. We start with identifying your purpose, which is ultimately the fuel that powers the engine of any endurance journey. We then drill into choosing different levels of outcome goals, identifying the process goals that it will take to achieve your outcome goals, mapping out goal achievement strategies, and overcoming barriers to achieving your goals. We sprinkle in some insights from our own goal-mapping journeys, as well as cover additional fun topics including: optimizing training during travel, how to approach choppy triathlon swims or windy bike courses, how culture breeds success, connections between the mind and heart in endurance sports, and a whole lot more. Check this one out and go set some goals for 2025!

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: [email protected].

In this week’s episode, Katie and Elena welcome Catherine Rocchi, a competitive gravel cyclist, backcountry skier, climber, trail runner, triathlete, all-around adventurer, and longtime friend to the podcast. Catherine shares about how she developed from a runner in the suburbs of New York to an Alaskan multi-sport adventurer; how optimizing her training for joy, social connection, and unstructured adventure has helped her excel in races; how beginners can start to get involved in adventure sports; and how to build community through endurance and adventuring. We also dive into some heavier but incredibly important and relatable topics, including how movement can impact our brain chemistry (for better or for worse) and how to manage risk and handle emergencies in the backcountry. The interview culminates with the story of how Catherine survived a grizzly bear attack in northern Alaska while biking the 800-mile Alaska Pipeline route just a month ago, and how encounters like that—and any experiences of trauma—can impact us physically and mentally. This is a very profound interview, and we are so grateful to Catherine for sharing her story! 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: [email protected].