Podcast
The Endurance Drive Podcast
Hosted by The Endurance Drive · EN
Welcome to the Endurance Drive podcast! Our mission is to share the key principles that structure our approach to endurance training and coaching. Visit theendurancedrive.com to learn more about our approach, our coaches, and our training plans or reach out to us at info@theendurancedrive.com.
43episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Episode 114: Training Focus Areas for 2026
Jan 1501:02:10Tap to summarizeIn this week’s episode, we outline our key 2026 training focus areas and what we’re prioritizing as we quietly build the foundation for the year ahead. We kick things off with some extended reflections on process goals: why they outperform outcome goals, how they boost self-efficacy, and how focusing on controllable actions can unlock long-term progress. From there, we share our his 2026 coaching and training priorities, including developing local muscular endurance, emphasizing sub-threshold aerobic work, using the bike trainer more intentionally, integrating respiratory training, sharpening fueling and hydration strategies to support both performance and recovery, proactively building out your performance bubble, and season planning across a multi-year time horizon. If you’re heading into 2026 with big ambitions, limited time, and a desire to train smart, give this episode a listen!To view extended show notes for this episode, visit: theendurancedrive.com/podcast To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use this form or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.
Transcribe →Episode 113: An Anecdote on REDs and Holistic Health as an Athlete
Jan 801:16:21Tap to summarizeIn this week’s episode, we share an honest, nuanced conversation about REDs (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport) and holistic athlete health. Katie opens with some reflections on navigating the decision to take a step back from running late in pregnancy, using purpose, trends, and body awareness to guide her training. From there, Elena shares her full health story for the first time: the perfect storm that led to REDs, the crash, a long and messy recovery, and what ultimately helped her heal. We talk through warning signs, blood work, compounding life stress, weight gain nuance, mental health, and why performance and health are not the same thing. This episode is an anecdote—not a diagnosis—but it’s meant to offer language, context, and hope to athletes who may recognize pieces of themselves in the story. If you’re navigating burnout, underfueling, hormonal disruption, or questioning whether your body is asking for something different, this is a deeply important listen. Check it out!Link to episode outreach form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfurpk5exg6eYh-0KBxGMoZZvEKb_UA440EGlX9ypfn7mK0mw/viewformTo view extended show notes for this episode, visit: theendurancedrive.com/podcast To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use this form or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.
Transcribe →Episode 112: Lessons from 2025!
Dec 2901:02:52Tap to summarizeIn our final episode of the year, we reflect on the biggest lessons from training and coaching in 2025. Katie shares how this year reinforced the importance of trusting feel over data, listening to the body (especially during periods of change or vulnerability), and intentionally building a strong performance bubble to support both physical and mental health. Jim expands on why performance is ultimately a systems game, highlighting the power of basic weeks, consistency, identity grounded in process, smart fueling, muscular endurance, and using data as a tool rather than a driver. Elena rounds out the conversation with insights on becoming a more flexible athlete: checking in with your mental, physical, and emotional state, embracing rest as a performance tool, and intentionally shaping your environment to support joy, sustainability, and long-term growth. If you’re looking to carry meaningful lessons from 2025 into your training, coaching, or life in 2026, this episode is for you! Check it out. To view extended show notes for this episode, visit: theendurancedrive.com/podcast To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use this form or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.
Transcribe →Episode 60: Lessons From 2024 (Part 2!)
Dec 19, 202401:07:03Tap to summarizeWe’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.
Transcribe →Episode 59: The Body Keeping Score, Practicing Self-Compassion, and Other Extended Insights
Dec 12, 202401:05:39Tap to summarizeWe’re in that awkward time between Thanksgiving and Christmas where life feels like equal parts joyful, dark, and downright weird, so Jim, Katie, and Elena sat down to chat through what’s been going on for us in coaching, training, and life in recent weeks. The result was a rich episode filled with our collective thoughts on topics that range from mechanical durability to fighting disconnection to grief processing to self-compassion to marathon pacing to mental health to super shoes and more! Come for these and other extended insights, and stay for two bougie gear picks of the week and one stocking stuffer. 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.
Transcribe →Episode 58: A Day in the Life of a Race Director With Tim Richmond
Dec 5, 202401:08:46Tap to summarizeIn 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.
Transcribe →Episode 57: Endurance as a Form of Spirituality
Nov 21, 202400:53:39Tap to summarizeWe 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.
Transcribe →Episode 56: Setting Yourself Up for Success Next Season
Nov 14, 202401:02:19Tap to summarizeThe 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. To share feedback or ask questions to be featured on a future episode, please use this form or email: Katie@TheEnduranceDrive.com.
Transcribe →Episode 55: Optimizing Wellness and Performance for Athletes with Ayurvedic Medicine Practitioner Brittni Nicolodi
Nov 7, 202400:49:09Tap to summarizeIn 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.
Transcribe →Episode 54: How Trail Running Will Make You a Faster Triathlete and Road Runner
Oct 31, 202401:10:46Tap to summarizeIn 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.
Transcribe →