In this conversation, which was recorded in early October 2024, Vincent Bouillard told me what life's been like since his big victory and what may or may not change for him moving forward. We discussed his life as an athlete and how he honed his focus from a young age. He told me about his relationship with his wife, Kamilah Journét, who appeared on this podcast in 2020, why he shifted his focus to ultras a a few years ago, how he trained for UTMB, and a lot more.
This week on the podcast I sat down with my right-hand man Chris Douglas and answered reader and listener questions about the updated Boston Marathon qualifying standards, balancing gym sessions with running workouts, how to better manage long runs when you’re an older athlete, what is exciting me most in running at the moment, advice for aspiring coaches, and a lot more.
In this episode, which was recorded in August while the men's 1500m final at the Paris Olympics was taking place—if nothing else, listen in for our live reactions during that race—we spoke about pressure: what it is, where it comes from, and how we navigate it in running, work, and other aspects of our life. It was an insightful one, and we hope you feel the same way, so tune in wherever you listen to podcasts.
This latest episode is my quarterly conversation with Like the Wind magazine co-founder and editor Simon Freeman. We recorded the episode back in April and I put it out yesterday. Ordinarily it coincides with the release of a new issue of LtW, in which an excerpt of the conversation usually appears, but the latest edition of the magazine is “by women, about women, for everyone,” so Simon and I sat this one out. (You can buy a copy or subscribe here.) We still had a great chat, however, about a few topics that both of us have spent quite a bit of time thinking about: how we handle change, shifting priorities over time, defining our values, and emphasizing quality in our work. We quite enjoyed it, and hope you do to, so tune in wherever you listen to podcasts.
In this episode Simon Freeman and Mario Fraioli talk about what it means for an amateur athlete to adopt a "professional" mindset when it comes to training and racing: being intentional with your time and workouts, taking the work seriously, not giving into your feelings, eliminating excuses, not overcomplicating things, and a lot more. We also discuss what professionals and elites can take away from us amateur athletes: the benefits of a well-rounded life, having interests, hobbies, and other "productive distractions" outside of the sport, dealing with failure, maintaining a healthy relationship with running, and a lot more.
This week's conversation with Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows is a follow-up to Episode 226, which was released back in August. In this one, we discuss how Jennifer spent her sabbatical over the summer and what she experienced visiting various run crews around the country (and even a couple internationally). She told me about what she hoped to get out of the trip, the feelings of culture, connection, and belonging she experienced along the way, how it all impacted her, what surprised her, and a lot more.
The Mona Fartlek can also serve as a good 20-minute benchmark session every 4-6 weeks by simply comparing your total distance and overall average pace (and heart rate and power, if you’re into those sorts of things) from one attempt to the next. What I love about this session is that it’s efficient and versatile: it can be done anywhere and you can make it as hard or an easy as you need/want it to be.
We're in the midst of marathon season which means the long run takes on an extra level of importance if you're training to race 26.2 miles. The 3 x 3 Cutdown is one of my favorite go-to long runs to help develop the specific fitness and skills necessary to succeed on race day. Here are the details:
One-mile repeats are a bread-and-butter session for distance runners prepping to race 5K, the marathon, or anything in between. Every once in a while I like to mix up the intensity and recovery a bit to work on both stamina and speed while also keeping my athletes more engaged throughout the workout.
