The Fast and Free Podcast

By Brant Stachel

The Fast and Free Podcast with Brant Stachel explores the intersection

of endurance training and mental performance. Each week, Brant—an

endurance coach, Registered Psychotherapist, and mental perform... more

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FAQs about The Fast and Free Podcast:

How many episodes does The Fast and Free Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 37 episodes available.

The Fast and Free Podcast episodes:

April 17, 2026 She Quit Running… Then Came Back and Ran 2:34 at McKirdy, with Jess Donohue
In this episode of the Fast and Free Podcast, I sit down with Jess Donohue to talk about her return to high-level marathoning and the breakthrough performance that followed. After years of battling injuries, stepping away from the sport, and rebuilding her relationship with running from the ground up, Jess has gone from simply wanting to run healthy again to qualifying for the Olympic Trials and dropping a massive personal best of 2:34:40 at @McKirdyTrained . We get into how that comeback actually happened, what it took to rebuild confidence after years of setbacks, and why this version of her as an athlete is stronger than the one that came before.

This conversation goes well beyond splits and race results. Jess opens up about her experience in the NCAA system, the physical and mental toll that came with disordered eating and chronic injury, and what finally allowed her to break that cycle. We talk about identity, the danger of tying self-worth entirely to running, and why learning that there was more to her than the sport ended up being one of the biggest reasons she was able to return to it in a healthy way.

We also get into the practical side of what has helped her make this jump in the marathon. That includes higher mileage, better recovery, consistent strength work, weekly physical therapy, better fueling, and a more mature long-term approach to training. Jess shares why the marathon ended up being a better fit for her than the intensity-heavy structure of college racing, how she learned to stop chasing more for the sake of more, and why the less glamorous parts of training are often the ones that move performance forward the most.

Happy Training!

⸻

Relevant Links

Get coached by Brant Stachel
https://teamrunrun.com/coach/brant-stachel-kingston-ontario-running-coach/

Get coached by Jess Donohue
https://tinyurl.com/3zwswzce

Get my Book, “Fast and Free”:
https://a.co/d/00twBZ6d

⸻

Follow Brant Stachel Fast & Free Performance Coaching

https://www.youtube.com/@UC4Nd1yg5n94puosXxjeL5FQ
https://www.instagram.com/fastandfreecoaching
https://www.instagram.com/brant_stachel
https://www.tiktok.com/@BrantStachel

Visit My Website: http://runfastandfree.com

⸻

Follow Jess Donohue

https://www.instagram.com/jess.emily.donohue/
https://www.tiktok.com/@jess.emily.donohue
https://www.strava.com/athletes/15254503
...more
50min
April 17, 2026 Time vs. Mileage: Which One Actually Makes You Faster?
I’ve always believed that the time vs mileage debate creates waaaaay more confusion than it should. Runners are constantly asking whether they should run for 60 minutes or 10 miles, what elites are doing, and why every training plan seems to pick one without ever explaining the reasoning behind it.

What a lot of runners don’t realize is that these two approaches can create completely different training stress, even when they look identical on paper. In this video, I wanted to break down what’s actually happening when you train by time versus distance, from the physiological side, how your body responds to metabolic stress and fatigue, to the psychological side, including pace pressure, overtraining tendencies, and the obsession with hitting arbitrary numbers.

I also walk through why time-based training has become more prominent in modern systems, how it better accounts for terrain, fatigue, and real-world conditions, and where mileage-based training still has a place. From there, I give you a practical framework for structuring your training blocks, including when to use time, when to use mileage, and how to combine both into a hybrid approach that actually makes sense for your goals, your schedule, and how you train.

This is the same approach I use with athletes across all levels, from first-time marathoners to high-performance runners, to remove guesswork, reduce unnecessary stress, and build training that’s consistent, adaptable, and sustainable. If you’ve ever felt pressure to hit certain numbers or questioned whether you’re structuring your runs the right way, this should give you clarity.

Happy Training!

DISCLAIMER: I'm in the middle of home renos right now, my apologies for some of the background noises in this video!

⸻

Relevant Links

🚨 FREE TOOLS I CREATED FOR RUNNERS 🚨
https://www.runfastandfree.com/free-tools

⚠️ TAKE THE MARATHON READINESS QUIZ NOW ⚠️
https://marathon-readiness-quiz.scoreapp.com

Get coached by Brant Stachel
https://teamrunrun.com/coach/brant-stachel-kingston-ontario-running-coach/

Get my Book, “Fast and Free”:
https://a.co/d/00twBZ6d

⸻

Follow Brant Stachel Fast & Free Performance Coaching

https://www.youtube.com/@UC4Nd1yg5n94puosXxjeL5FQ
https://www.youtube.com/@FastAndFreePodcastClips
https://www.instagram.com/fastandfreecoaching
https://www.instagram.com/brant_stachel
https://www.tiktok.com/@BrantStachel

Visit My Website: http://runfastandfree.com

⸻
...more
14min
April 17, 2026 Why You Feel TERRIBLE During Taper Week (And Why That’s Good)
In my years of coaching runners, I've found that many tend to think that the taper is when things should start feeling easy. However, in reality, it’s when everything starts to feel wrong. Your legs feel heavy, your fitness suddenly feels VERY questionable, small aches feel like catastrophic injuries, and your confidence starts to spiral right before race day.

What I wish these runners would realize is that this is not a sign that something is going wrong. It’s a predictable physiological and neurological response to reducing training load after weeks or months of consistent stress. In this video, I wanted to break down what’s actually happening during the taper, from glycogen supercompensation and neuromuscular restoration to immune system recovery, and why these adaptations are essential for peak race performance.

I also walk through what I call “taper madness,” the psychological side of the taper that almost every runner experiences but very few understand. We get into why your brain starts scanning for problems, why your routine disruption creates anxiety, and how to reframe those thoughts so you don’t sabotage your race before it even starts. From there, I outline a practical taper structure, how to reduce volume while maintaining intensity, and the key behaviours during race week that actually impact performance, including sleep, nutrition, movement, and managing your mental environment.

This is the same framework I use with athletes across all levels to help them arrive at the start line confident, prepared, and ready to execute. If you’ve ever felt worse during your taper than you did in peak training, you’re not alone. You’re right on track.

Happy Training!

⸻

Relevant Links

🚨 FREE TOOLS I CREATED FOR RUNNERS 🚨
https://www.runfastandfree.com/free-tools

⚠️ TAKE THE MARATHON READINESS QUIZ NOW ⚠️
https://marathon-readiness-quiz.scoreapp.com

Get coached by Brant Stachel
https://teamrunrun.com/coach/brant-stachel-kingston-ontario-running-coach/

Get my Book, “Fast and Free”:
https://a.co/d/00twBZ6d

⸻

Follow Brant Stachel Fast & Free Performance Coaching

https://www.youtube.com/@UC4Nd1yg5n94puosXxjeL5FQ
https://www.youtube.com/@FastAndFreePodcastClips
https://www.instagram.com/fastandfreecoaching
https://www.instagram.com/brant_stachel
https://www.tiktok.com/@BrantStachel
https://www.strava.com/athletes/12318637

Visit My Website: http://runfastandfree.com
...more
13min
April 12, 2026 PRing at 42 at the Tokyo Marathon, with Jess Hadley
In this episode of the Fast and Free Podcast, I sit down with Jessica Hadley after her breakthrough performance at the Tokyo Marathon, where she ran a 3:20 at 42 years old and set a new personal best. We talk through what changed in her training, how she worked through the belief that she may never PR again, and why this build felt different from the ones that came before it. This is a conversation about performance, but it is also a conversation about identity, confidence, and learning how to stop letting fear dictate your ceiling. We also get into the practical side of what helped move things forward: higher mileage, better recovery, double-threshold sessions, improved fueling, and shifting away from obsessing over exact pace targets in workouts. Jess shares how she stopped spiralling after off days, how she learned to trust effort over the watch, and why that mindset shift helped unlock a completely different level of racing. We also talk about the reality of racing majors, the complications she had navigating chronic pancreatitis while in Tokyo, and the mental resilience it took to still step to the line and execute. If you’re a master's runner, a marathoner questioning whether your best is still ahead of you, or someone who tends to tie too much self-worth to training splits and race results, this episode should hit home. There’s a lot in here about performance, but even more about how runners grow when they stop placing limits on themselves.

Happy Training!

⸻

Relevant Links
🚨 FREE TOOLS I CREATED FOR RUNNERS 🚨 https://www.runfastandfree.com/free-tools
⚠️ TAKE THE MARATHON READINESS QUIZ NOW ⚠️ https://marathon-readiness-quiz.scoreapp.com
Get coached by Brant Stachel https://teamrunrun.com/coach/brant-stachel-kingston-ontario-running-coach/
Get coached by Jessica Hadley https://teamrunrun.com/coach/jessica-hadley-detroit-running-coach/

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Follow Brant Stachel Fast & Free Performance Coaching https://www.youtube.com/@UC4Nd1yg5n94puosXxjeL5FQ https://www.instagram.com/fastandfreecoaching https://www.instagram.com/brant_stachel https://www.tiktok.com/@BrantStachel https://www.strava.com/athletes/12318637

Visit My Website: http://runfastandfree.com

Follow Jessica Hadley https://www.instagram.com/jessbug1122/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-hadley-15776b25 https://www.strava.com/athletes/22447135
...more
57min
April 08, 2026 2500 YouTube Subscriber AMA
When I started the YouTube channel, I figured I’d be talking into a camera and maybe a few of my athletes would watch. Instead, I've been blessed to have runners from all over YouTube almost daily send in in a wide range of thoughtful, specific, and genuinely phenomenal questions, so I wanted to use this this channel hitting 2500 subscribers as a chance to give something back

A big part of this channel is trying to cut through the noise and give runners useful, grounded information they can actually apply. So whether you’re training for your first marathon, trying to understand your easy days better, figuring out how to structure your training across a season, or just curious how I think through coaching decisions in real time, this one should give you a pretty good look at that.

➡️ Watch my “Running: Explained” Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSHy1fG_CEMUOxJD_2cYeSJZmUIdIDro

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Relevant Links

🚨 FREE TOOLS I CREATED FOR RUNNERS 🚨
https://www.runfastandfree.com/free-tools

⚠️ TAKE THE MARATHON READINESS QUIZ NOW ⚠️
https://marathon-readiness-quiz.scoreapp.com

Get coached by Brant Stachel
https://teamrunrun.com/coach/brant-stachel-kingston-ontario-running-coach/

Mental Performance Coaching with Brant Stachel:
https://calendly.com/cepadminteam/15-minute-intake-call-clone?month=2026-01

Get my Book, “Fast and Free”:
https://a.co/d/00twBZ6d

Learn More about Team RunRun:
https://teamrunrun.com/

Fuel Your Training (Affiliate Link):
https://fuelgoods.com/?ref=Brant

⸻

Follow Brant Stachel | Fast & Free Performance Coaching

https://www.youtube.com/@UC4Nd1yg5n94puosXxjeL5FQ
https://www.instagram.com/fastandfreecoaching
https://www.instagram.com/brant_stachel
https://www.tiktok.com/@BrantStachel
https://www.strava.com/athletes/12318637
https://www.facebook.com/FastandFreeWithBrant
https://www.twitter.com/BrantStachel
https://www.LinkedIn.com/Brant-Stachel

Visit My Website: http://runfastandfree.com
...more
44min
March 30, 2026 A 2:09:24 Finish and a Place in the Record Books. The McKirdy MicroOTQ Breakdown, with Thomas Nobbs
A 2:09:24 marathon. Solo. On a looped course. Off a treadmill-heavy build. Yup. He did that.

In this episode of the Fast & Free Podcast, Brant and Elaina sit down with Thomas Nobbs less than 24 hours after running 2:09:24 at the McKirdy Micro OTQ, becoming the 4th fastest marathon ever run by a Canadian. What makes this performance even more wild is that this was in no way shape or form the plan. Thomas came in targeting something closer to 2:11…, and within a few miles, that plan was gone. We break down how the record-setting race actually unfolded in real timef from the early pacing decisions, to managing effort completely alone, to the moment it became clear this was going to be something special. We also dive into the build behind it: a largely treadmill-based winter, subtle but important changes in training, and how stacking marathon cycles led to a massive jump from 2:12 to 2:09 in just a few months. Beyond the performance, this is a conversation about what it actually takes to reach this level of training without sponsorship, balancing work and coaching, trusting the process over years, and understanding that breakthroughs like this aren’t random… they’re built.

Happy Training!

⸻ Relevant Links
Get coached by Brant Stachel: https://teamrunrun.com/coach/brant-stachel-kingston-ontario-running-coach/
Get coached by Elaina Raponi: https://teamrunrun.com/coach/elaina-raponi-kingston-ontario-running-coach/
Get coached by Thomas Nobbs: https://teamrunrun.com/coach/tom-nobbs-ottawa-running-coach/

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About the Fast & Free Podcast The Fast & Free Podcast with Brant Stachel explores the intersection of endurance training and mental performance. Each episode, Brant—an endurance coach, Registered Psychotherapist, and mental performance specialist—talks with athletes and coaches about training smarter, thinking clearly under pressure, and building sustainable performance over time.

⸻

Follow Fast & Free Coaching http://instagram.com/fastandfreecoaching http://youtube.com/FastandFreeCoaching https://www.tiktok.com/@brantstachel Website: http://runfastandfree.com

Follow Elaina Raponi http://www.instagram.com/elainaraponi Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/59776119 Website: http://runfastandfree.com

Follow Thomas Nobbs https://www.instagram.com/nobbs.not.knobs/ https://www.threads.com/coach.nobbs/ https://www.strava.com/athletes/28521910
...more
59min
March 30, 2026 What I Wish All Runners Knew About Cross Training
Most runners are leaving progress on the table without realizing it by underutilizing cross-training. If you’re constantly dealing with injuries, struggling to increase your mileage, or feeling stuck despite consistent effort, it’s likely not your effort that’s the issue; it’s how you’re structuring your training load.

There’s been a lot of noise lately around cross-training (and a lot of it coming from people chasing clicks and conversions in their Shopify store more than results and athlete safety), so I wanted to break this down properly. In this video, I explain how cross-training can dramatically increase your aerobic development without the added mechanical stress of running, how I used it to run 2:46 in the Mississauga Marathon in 2022 while hitting lifetime bests across multiple distances, and why this approach is becoming more common at both the elite and age group level.

I also walk through how to actually implement cross-training into your week—whether you’re injury-prone, trying to safely increase volume, or coming back from time off. We’ll cover why low-intensity cross-training is often more valuable than high-intensity, how to stack training hours without breaking down, and why this might be one of the most underused tools for long-term endurance development.

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Relevant Links

🚨 FREE TOOLS I CREATED RUNNERS 🚨
https://www.runfastandfree.com/free-tools

⚠️ TAKE THE MARATHON READINESS QUIZ NOW ⚠️
https://marathon-readiness-quiz.scoreapp.com

Get coached by Brant Stachel
https://teamrunrun.com/coach/brant-stachel-kingston-ontario-running-coach/

Mental Performance Coaching with Brant Stachel:
https://calendly.com/cepadminteam/15-minute-intake-call-clone?month=2026-01

Get my Book, "Fast and Free":
https://a.co/d/00twBZ6d

Learn More about Team RunRun:
https://teamrunrun.com/

Fuel Your Training (Affiliate Link):
https://fuelgoods.com/?ref=Brant

⸻

Follow Brant Stachel Fast & Free Performance Coaching

https://www.youtube.com/@UC4Nd1yg5n94puosXxjeL5FQ
https://www.instagram.com/fastandfreecoaching
https://www.tiktok.com/@BrantStachel
https://www.strava.com/athletes/12318637

Visit Our Website: http://runfastandfree.com
...more
11min
March 25, 2026 Explaining: Marathon Pace: For Beginners
Most beginner marathoners are sabotaging their race before training even begins by choosing a goal pace that has nothing to do with their current fitness. If you’ve picked a time because it sounded good, matched someone else’s result, or felt like the “right” number, there’s a good chance every run in your build is being anchored to the wrong pace. That leads to workouts that feel too hard, easy runs that aren’t actually easy, inconsistent training, and ultimately a race day that doesn’t reflect your true ability.

There’s been a lot of conversation around marathon pace on this channel, but I wanted to approach this specifically for beginners and first-time marathoners who don’t have a clear reference point yet. In this video, I break down what marathon pace actually is (and why it’s not a goal), how to calculate it using real performance data instead of guesswork, and how to use tools like VDOT, RPE, heart rate, and the talk test to triangulate your correct pace. We also cover how to build that pace into your training properly so it becomes automatic by race day.

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Relevant Links

🚨 FREE CALCULATOR AND CARB GUIDE I CREATED RUNNERS 🚨
https://www.runfastandfree.com/free-tools

⚠️ TAKE THE MARATHON READINESS QUIZ NOW ⚠️
https://marathon-readiness-quiz.scoreapp.com

Get coached by Brant Stachel
https://teamrunrun.com/coach/brant-stachel-kingston-ontario-running-coach/

Mental Performance Coaching with Brant Stachel:
https://calendly.com/cepadminteam/15-minute-intake-call-clone?month=2026-01

Get my Book, "Fast and Free":
https://a.co/d/00twBZ6d

Learn More about Team RunRun:
https://teamrunrun.com/

Fuel Your Training (Affiliate Link):
https://fuelgoods.com/?ref=Brant

⸻

Follow Brant Stachel Fast & Free Performance Coaching

https://www.youtube.com/@UC4Nd1yg5n94puosXxjeL5FQ
https://www.instagram.com/fastandfreecoaching
https://www.tiktok.com/@BrantStachel
https://www.strava.com/athletes/12318637
https://www.facebook.com/FastandFreeWithBrant
https://www.twitter.com/BrantStachel
https://www.LinkedIn.com/Brant-Stachel

Visit Our Website: http://runfastandfree.com
...more
16min
March 24, 2026 Explaining: Why Your Easy Runs Should Feel Embarrassingly Slow
Most runners are sabotaging their progress without realizing it by running their easy runs too fast. If you feel constantly fatigued, stuck in a cycle of bad workouts, struggling to hit your paces, or plateauing in your race performances, your easy day pace is likely the problem.

There has been a lot of conversation in the running community (and specifically the comment section of my videos haha) regarding Easy Runs, so I wanted to approach the topic again from a different angle than I have in past videos and break down why your easy runs should feel EMBARRASSINGLY slow, how running too hard on recovery days limits aerobic development, and why this mistake is one of the biggest reasons runners fail to improve in the 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon.

I hope I can clarify for you how elite runners approach easy runs (hint: I can almost guarantee it's slower than yours), why Zone 2 training and low intensity running are critical for endurance performance, and how slowing down improves consistency, reduces injury risk, and allows you to accumulate more weekly mileage without burnout.

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Relevant Links

🚨 FREE TOOLS I CREATED RUNNERS 🚨
https://www.runfastandfree.com/free-tools

⚠️ TAKE THE MARATHON READINESS QUIZ NOW ⚠️
https://marathon-readiness-quiz.scoreapp.com

Get coached by Brant Stachel
https://teamrunrun.com/coach/brant-stachel-kingston-ontario-running-coach/

Mental Performance Coaching with Brant Stachel:
https://calendly.com/cepadminteam/15-minute-intake-call-clone?month=2026-01

Get my Book, "Fast and Free":
https://a.co/d/00twBZ6d

Learn More about Team RunRun:
https://teamrunrun.com/

Fuel Your Training (Affiliate Link):
https://fuelgoods.com/?ref=Brant

⸻

Follow Brant Stachel Fast & Free Performance Coaching

https://www.youtube.com/@UC4Nd1yg5n94puosXxjeL5FQ
https://www.instagram.com/fastandfreecoaching
https://www.tiktok.com/@BrantStachel
https://www.strava.com/athletes/12318637
https://www.facebook.com/FastandFreeWithBrant
https://www.twitter.com/BrantStachel
https://www.LinkedIn.com/Brant-Stachel

Visit Our Website: http://runfastandfree.com

...more
12min
March 17, 2026 Explaining: Why Vo2 Max Is Overrated
Most runners are told that VO2 Max is the ultimate predictor of performance. But a recent meta-analysis led by Dominique Hansen challenges that idea and the results potentially flip traditional run training advice on its head.

Today I wanted to take a deeper look at what this research actually means for your training, and why focusing on threshold and not VO2 max, is what actually drives real performance on race day. The study looked at how athletes respond to different training prescriptions and found that threshold-based training consistently outperformed percentage-based models built around heart rate and VO2 max.

If you’re training for a marathon, chasing a Boston Qualifier, or trying to improve your running performance, this is a shift in thinking that can change how you train for the next 5–10 years, not just your next race.

Study referenced in this video: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40613962/

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Relevant Links

🚨TAKE THE MARATHON READINESS QUIZ NOW🚨
https://marathon-readiness-quiz.scoreapp.com

Get coached by Brant Stachel: https://teamrunrun.com/coach/brant-stachel-kingston-ontario-running-coach/

Mental Performance Coaching with Brant Stachel: https://calendly.com/cepadminteam/15-minute-intake-call-clone?month=2026-01

Get my Book, Fast and Free!
https://a.co/d/00twBZ6d

Learn More about Team RunRun: https://teamrunrun.com/

Fuel your training: https://fuelgoods.com/?ref=Brant

⸻

Follow Fast & Free Coaching

http://instagram.com/fastandfreecoaching
http://youtube.com/FastandFreeCoaching
https://www.tiktok.com/@brantstachel

Website: http://runfastandfree.com

⸻

Listen to the Fast and Free Podcast on Your Favourite Podcast Platform:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2jI6TBvBPYihSf9FhQFZAv
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fast-and-free-podcast/id1867807916
...more
8min

FAQs about The Fast and Free Podcast:

How many episodes does The Fast and Free Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 37 episodes available.