Episode 63: We Went Live 5K PR, Rocket City Announcements, and Zion 100 with Rhonda Hayden, Ben Green, Chris Lott & Brian Murphy

Episode 67: From Spartan Race Bonk to a 50-Mile Course Record: How Data-Driven Training Built an Endurance Athlete - Clint Pagan

In this episode of Endurance State of Mind, hosts Anthony Herrington and Zach Vogt sit down with Clint Pagan, founder of Full Armor Fitness and the newly-minted first-overall finisher and course record holder at the Night Howler 50 Mile in Hoover, Alabama. Clint's story is a masterclass in how curiosity, community, and a growing obsession with personalized data can turn a casual runner into a competitive ultramarathoner. If you've ever wondered whether VO2 max testing, resting metabolic rate testing, lactate threshold testing, or heart rate zone training are worth your time and money, this conversation lays out exactly what those tools can (and can't) do for your training. Clint's endurance journey didn't start on a track or a trail. It started with GORUCK challenges and obstacle course races like Spartan Race and Tough Mudder back around 2011, when he and his wife were living in Atlanta. After bonking hard at a Spartan race in 2016, Clint made a simple decision: drop the obstacles and focus purely on running. A corporate wellness perk covering local 5K and 10K entries (Mobile, Alabama's "Corporate Cup" series) gave him the on-ramp, and a top-10 finish at his very first local 5K hooked him for good. From there, Clint describes a progression many endurance athletes will recognize: 5Ks turned into a hunt for a sub-20-minute 5K, which turned into training for the Mobile Marathon, which turned into chasing a Boston Marathon qualifying time. That road wasn't smooth. Clint ran his first marathon, the Mobile Marathon in 2019, with an undiagnosed stress fracture in his foot, gutting out a 3:22 finish before learning at the finish line just how injured he actually was. COVID derailed his 2020 season, and he lost significant fitness and volume during that stretch. But 2021 became a turning point: Clint got intentional about training, started watching heart rate data on every run, and used the brutal, windswept 2022 Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon (13-15 mph headwinds for 26.2 miles) to run a 2:58 and lock in his Boston qualifying time, the same race where his path first crossed with Zach's. The data obsession really took hold once Boston training began. Clint talks candidly about the misinformation loop that trips up self-coached runners, forums insisting you need 60-80 mile weeks to break three hours, when he found success on 40-45 peak miles per week by training smarter, not just harder. That meant learning what heart rate zone training actually was, cutting "gray zone" junk miles, and building the aerobic base that lets you hold pace instead of falling apart at mile 20. He crossed the Boston finish line in 2:59 and, by his own account, felt like he'd barely touched the tank, the moment that pushed him to chase his VO2 max number and eventually launch Full Armor Fitness, his own mobile lab-testing business. A significant chunk of this conversation is a deep, practical breakdown of the physiological testing tools available to serious endurance athletes today, explained by someone with a real medical background, Clint's degree is in emergency medicine, and he spent years as a paramedic and EMT in both Mississippi and Atlanta before shifting into endurance coaching and testing. Topics covered include: VO2 Max Testing: What it measures (how efficiently your body takes in and uses oxygen), why it's the gold standard for cardiorespiratory fitness, and why an individualized lab test beats algorithm-based estimates from a five-kilometer race time or a wearable device. Clint explains how his team uses clinical-grade VO2 Master equipment, the same category used to test elite athletes, to map precise heart rate training zones (zone one through five) instead of relying on generic age-based formulas. Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) and Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): The difference between the two, how they're commonly estimated using BMI-based formulas, and why a lab-measured number is far more accurate for athletes managing a caloric deficit or surplus during a training block. Clint breaks down how being off by just a few hundred calories a day can mean gaining two to three pounds despite heavy training volume, and how lean muscle mass directly impacts metabolism over time. Body Composition Analysis: How InBody-style scanning (roughly a one to two percent margin of deviation) tracks fat mass, water weight, and other biometric markers, pairing with VO2 max and RMR testing to build what Clint calls a full "physiological profile." Lipid Panel and Biometric Markers: Why tracking cholesterol and glucose matters, particularly for older or masters-level endurance athletes training hard while watching long-term cardiovascular health. Lactate Threshold Testing: Clint discusses where Full Armor Fitness is headed next, in-session lactate testing (the kind using an ear-prick sample) to pinpoint exactly where an athlete crosses from aerobic to anaerobic effort, sometimes called "threshold two." He and Anthony riff on pairing lactate data with real-time fueling recommendations by heart rate zone, a natural next step for the testing world. Beyond the science, Clint opens up about the mental and emotional side of endurance sports. He talks about running as a way to manage anger and regulate emotions long before it became a competitive pursuit, and about the powerful pull of the running community, including the story of a faster training partner who paced him to his first sub-20 5K, taking time out of his own race to help a stranger hit a goal. The conversation also covers Clint's rapid entry into ultra-distance racing. His very first ultramarathon wasn't even a race for himself, it was pacing a friend to a sub-five-hour finish at the Live Oak Ultra in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, used as a long training run ahead of "The Gambler," a last-man-standing style ultra hosted by Running Birds in Birmingham. Clint explains the unique scoring format (two miles every 40 minutes, with poker chips and a cash pot for going "all in" past 100 miles) and describes hitting the full 100-mile, 33-hour distance for the coveted belt buckle. That built directly into his next swing: a first-overall finish and course record at the Night Howler 50 Mile in Hoover, Alabama, run through the night against a field that included a sub-2:32 Boston finisher from the University of Mobile cross country program. Whether you're a data-curious runner who has never heard of VO2 max testing, a masters athlete optimizing body composition and metabolism, or an ultrarunner curious about last-man-standing race formats, this episode offers a grounded, first-person look at how far intentional, individualized training data can take you, and how much community and grit still matter along the way. Key takeaways from this episode: * A corporate wellness perk covering local race entries can be a low-risk on-ramp into running, Clint's "Corporate Cup" experience in Mobile, Alabama shows how a simple incentive can snowball into a full endurance habit. * Chasing a specific number, like a sub-20 5K or a Boston qualifying time, gives structure to training even before an athlete understands heart rate zones or periodization. * More miles isn't always the answer. Clint broke three hours at Boston peaking around 40-45 miles per week by prioritizing marathon-pace long runs over unstructured "gray zone" junk mileage. * Lab-based VO2 max testing, resting metabolic rate testing, and body composition scanning remove the guesswork of algorithm-based estimates pulled from a race time or wearable device. * Being off by only a few hundred calories a day, relative to a true resting metabolic rate, can undo weeks of training by adding two to three pounds during a heavy volume block. * Last-man-standing formats like The Gambler reward pacing discipline and mental resilience over raw speed, and can double as training stimulus for a first hundred-mile attempt. * A background in emergency medicine gives Clint a different lens on overtraining, physiological stress signals, and recovery than a typical running coach. * Full Armor Fitness is expanding into in-session lactate threshold testing, aiming to connect real-time lactate data with race-day fueling strategy by heart rate zone. Frequently asked questions this episode answers: What is VO2 max testing and is it worth doing? Clint explains how clinical-grade VO2 max testing establishes an individualized fitness baseline and heart rate training zones that are more precise than online calculators or wearable-based estimates. What is resting metabolic rate and why does it matter for runners? RMR testing helps endurance athletes fine-tune caloric intake during training blocks, whether the goal is weight loss, weight maintenance, or fueling for peak performance. How do you train for a Boston Marathon qualifying time? Clint walks through his own BQ journey, including mileage progression, long run structure, and the shift from unstructured running to intentional, data-informed training. What is a last-man-standing ultramarathon race format? Using The Gambler as an example, this episode explains how these events are structured and what it takes to reach a 100-mile finish. Endurance State of Mind is hosted by Anthony Herrington and Zach Vogt, covering trail running, ultramarathons, road marathon training, cycling, triathlon, and the mental side of pushing the body to its limits. Every episode blends personal race stories with practical insight from athletes, coaches, and experts across the endurance community. New episodes drop regularly wherever you listen to podcasts. https://www.instagram.com/endurance_stateofmind?igsh=cjBnanNobHhhYXNu

Episode 66: Hosts Only: TDF 2025 Picks, Western States 100 Recap, and Big Butts 50K Prep

This week it's just us, your two favorite hosts back behind the mics, and we are bringing the energy, the opinions, and a few questionable predictions. Anthony and Zach take you through an action packed episode covering everything that has the endurance world buzzing right now. We open with a quick story about Zach surviving twelve days without AC in the Mississippi summer (involuntary heat training is still heat training, right?) before diving into the biggest cycling story of the year: the Tour de France 2025. We break down the entire field, jersey by jersey. The yellow jersey GC race that almost everyone (us included) is calling for Tadej Pogačar to run away with. The white jersey young rider race that might be the most exciting battle of the entire tour, with Paul Seixas, Isaac Del Toro, and Florian Lipowitz all in the mix. The green jersey sprint duel between Jonathan Milan, Jasper Philipsen, and Biniam Girmay. The polka dot KOM jersey hunt with names like Lenny Martinez and Richard Carapaz. And the first stage time trial where Remco Evenepoel is the question mark of the entire race after a long time off. We also nerd out on Wout van Aert being out for Visma, Visma losing their key director to Red Bull, the UAE Team Emirates monster roster supporting Tadej, the Garmin to Whoop competitor we expect to debut, and the watches on the riders' wrists. Including a brand new Richard Mille that Tadej will reportedly wear during the tour priced at $989,000. Then we pivot to one of the most exciting Western States 100 races in recent memory. With unprecedented weather conditions, we saw record breaking performances all over the field. Zach gives a deep breakdown of the old guard versus the new guard. Jim Walmsley (the four time champion and reigning course record holder), Killian Journet, the Hoka super team of Adam Peterman, Hayden Hawks, Hans Troyer, Jim Walmsley, and Francesco Puppi all toed the line. We get into Hans Troyer running on 13:35 pace at halfway (the course record is 14:09) and blowing up at mile 78. And then the cinderella story of the entire weekend: Vincent Bouillard, the former Hoka employee turned pro after winning UTMB, who became the first Frenchman ever to win Western States. We talk about the pros who finished even when their race fell apart. Shout outs to Molly Seidel for completing her first 100 miler in 24 hours after being projected for the podium. We celebrate Zach Miller's iconic full send finish that gave us Steve Prefontaine vibes. And we discuss the wild 87% finish rate this year and the "ultra lean" moments at the line that we never want to experience ourselves. From there we get personal. The Big Butts 50K is three weeks away. Anthony reports being in the best shape he has been in two years. Zach is feeling behind on heat training. We dig into the Adidas Evo SL shoes that Anthony has converted to and why the lacing makes all the difference. We close with a real conversation about the Longleaf Trace controversy. Water fountains removed without communication. Bathrooms locked due to vandalism. The homeless and addicted populations using the trace as a safe haven. And the bigger conversation Hattiesburg needs to have about both the trace and the underlying community issues. We share ideas on patrolling staff, communication improvements, and what could come from the public meeting being held this Thursday at 10 AM. And we wrap with a quick announcement about our trip to the Rocket City Marathon in December. If you love endurance sports, you are gonna want every minute of this one. EPISODE TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome back. Hosts only this week.  01:30 Zach survives twelve days without AC in Mississippi summer  04:30 Tour de France 2025: yellow jersey predictions  07:30 Why Tadej Pogačar is the heaviest favorite in years  10:30 The white jersey race may be the best race of the tour  13:30 Polka dot jersey predictions and KOM contenders  14:30 Sportsbook odds and betting markets for the tour  15:30 Green jersey sprint duel between Milan, Philipsen, and Girmay  17:30 Wishing Jonas would just send it this year  19:30 Jasper Philipsen and the reckless sprinter mindset  22:30 Matthew van der Poel as the Tom Brady of cycling  23:30 Tadej's $989,000 Richard Mille watch  26:00 Garmin's rumored Whoop competitor  27:00 Western States 100 recap begins  30:00 Hans Troyer goes on a heater and blows up at mile 78  32:30 Vincent Bouillard, the Hoka employee turned UTMB champion turned Western States winner  33:30 France's potential summer of sport: Western States, World Cup, Tour de France  40:30 Shout outs to the pros who finished even when the wheels came off  41:00 Zach Miller's Steve Prefontaine style finish  42:00 Ultra lean moments and our biggest fears for Zion  44:00 Big Butts 50K is three weeks away  47:00 Anthony switches to the Adidas Evo SL shoes  50:30 The Longleaf Trace water fountain controversy  54:00 The bigger conversation about homelessness and addiction in Hattiesburg  58:00 Ideas for solutions: patrolling staff, board accountability, communication  01:01:00 Why the trace matters to so many of us  01:04:00 Rocket City Marathon in December  01:05:00 Mic drop TOPICS COVERED Tour de France 2025 predictions and field analysis  Yellow, green, white, and polka dot jersey breakdowns  Sportsbook odds and betting on cycling  Western States 100 recap and record breaking performances  Old guard versus new guard in ultra running  Hans Troyer, Vincent Bouillard, and the Hoka super team  The Frenchmen having a moment in international sport  Big Butts 50K race prep in the Mississippi summer heat  Heat training and pacing strategy for a southern summer 50K  Adidas Evo SL shoes and how lacing changes everything  The Longleaf Trace water fountain and bathroom controversy  Community responsibility and addressing homelessness in Hattiesburg  Rocket City Marathon December plans ABOUT THE SHOW Endurance State of Mind is a podcast for endurance athletes who want more than splits and finish times. Hosted by Anthony Herrington and Zach, we sit down with ultra runners, triathletes, cyclists, coaches, and everyday athletes to talk training, mindset, recovery, race day strategy, and the stories behind the stories. New episode every week. Follow Endurance State of Mind on Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. If this episode hit you, please rate, review, and share with a friend who needs to hear it. Further Together. https://www.instagram.com/endurance_stateofmind?igsh=cjBnanNobHhhYXNu

Episode 65: Unapologetically Extreme: Aimee Warnke on Cancer, Comebacks, and the Triple Crown

This week on Endurance State of Mind, we sit down with one of the most fearless and inspiring athletes we've ever had on the show. Aimee Warnke. Active duty Army physical therapist with over 14 years of service. Former Ironman World Championship qualifier. Collegiate cyclist at Saint Louis University. And now, one of the most exciting names in the ultra running world. But Aimee's story doesn't follow a normal endurance athlete arc, and that's exactly why this episode matters. In 2024, as a brand new ultra runner with only a handful of races under her belt, Aimee showed up at Dinosaur Valley and won the 100K and the 100 miler outright. Not the women's race. The whole field. Two days later, her pre op scans came back with a diagnosis that would have stopped most people in their tracks: chondrosarcoma, a rare malignant bone tumor in her left pelvis. Doctors initially told her she'd need a hemipelvectomy within six months. Translation: cut out a major section of her pelvis. Translation behind the translation: she'd likely never run the way she does again. She refused the standard answer. Instead, Aimee, armed with her own clinical background and a refusal to accept the first diagnosis as the only diagnosis, advocated for herself, found a team of trauma surgeons willing to pursue a never before attempted 3D printed pelvic reconstruction using her own iliac crest, and asked for time to race the Dinosaur Valley 100 first. She got it. Today she's in surveillance and watchful waiting status. The tumor hasn't grown. Her mileage has. In this conversation, we go deep on the entire journey: How a junior high counselor noticed she was getting picked on for a speech impediment and quietly handed her a borrowed bike, an entry to a sprint triathlon, and the community that would change her life. Her early triathlon career: Age group Team USA at the 2008 ITU Long Course World Championships in Holland, the 2009 Half Ironman Worlds in Clearwater, the bike crash mid race that broke her clavicle and several ribs, the compound fracture surgery, and how she ended up qualifying for Ironman Canada through a Power Bar raffle she'd entered the same weekend (yes, really). Four years racing collegiate cycling at Saint Louis University, the team time trials, the breakaways, and what it taught her about being the only woman on the start line at the top level. The pivot to the Army, fourteen plus years of active duty service, deployments, becoming an Army Baylor DPT, and the side quest into Pacific Northwest backpacking, skiing, and obstacle course racing that quietly built the engine for everything that came next. Finding trail running through the Hawaii Spartan Ohana, watching the Hurt 100 from the volunteer side and thinking "this is insane, but I'm doing it someday," and eventually returning years later to win that very same race outright. The Dinosaur Valley 100K and 100 mile sweep, including how Zach (also racing the 100K that day) watched her pull away from the entire field and realized he was witnessing something special. The diagnosis. The dark month of trying to process a cancer diagnosis alone, before she told anyone, not her parents, not her best friend. The "rage runs" through tears between patient appointments. The phone call from her ortho oncologist that quietly changed everything. Javelina 100 and the femoral nerve hematoma that almost ended her race at mile 70, and what it took to come back from it. The freak infection in spring 2025 that left her unable to walk up a flight of stairs, the ER visit, the steroid course, the 3 week reset, and the comeback timeline that took her from zero running to a 100 mile training week in under five weeks, just in time for the Tahoe 200. Inside her Tahoe 200. Competing for the women's podium, the mid race mistake that cost her hours, the throw up and shake it off low point, the 35 minute nap that saved her race, and the last 18 miles of belting out '1985' with her pacer and finishing on a high note. What's next: Bigfoot 200 and Moab 240. The second and third legs of the Triple Crown. Her honest assessment of where she left time on the table and what she's coming back for. Her take on why women are winning ultras outright at the front of the field, and the mental traits she thinks separate the athletes who endure from the ones who keep moving forward. And the moment that hits the hardest: how she's turned her own diagnosis into a fundraising platform for under insured and uninsured kids battling cancer through CHRISTUS Children's of South Texas. 70% of chondrosarcoma patients are children, and most don't have the medical support Aimee does. If you've ever stood at a start line feeling like you don't belong, listened to a doctor tell you the only option, or felt the weight of doing something hard alone, this one's for you. QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE "I've allowed myself to be unapologetically extreme in my pursuits and chase the joy and adventure that is trail running." Aimee Warnke "We've only got one shot at this beautiful, awesome life. Choose the one thing that just lights your soul on fire and go for it." Aimee Warnke "You're gonna need to figure out a better option. I really love running." Aimee Warnke, on her response to the original surgical recommendation. "Running was my outlet. 100% running was my outlet through all of that." Aimee Warnke "I am not alone, and I don't need to be alone." Aimee Warnke EPISODE TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome and guest introduction  01:30 Aimee's background: Army PT, 14+ years of active duty  03:30 How she got into triathlon (junior high counselor, borrowed bike, finding her people)  06:00 Going from sprint tri to ITU Long Course World Championships  08:00 The Half Ironman Worlds bike crash, the Power Bar raffle, and Ironman Canada  10:30 Four years of collegiate cycling at SLU and team time trials  13:00 Pacific Northwest adventure years and the road back to running  15:00 Discovering trail running through Hawaii Spartan Ohana  17:00 From 50K, to Bandera 100K, to Dinosaur Valley 100 miler  20:30 The mindset shift that turned her into a competitive ultra runner  23:30 Training at 2 AM every morning  27:00 The chondrosarcoma diagnosis, and the month she carried it alone  33:00 Rage runs as therapy  35:00 Pushing back on the standard treatment plan  37:00 The 3D printed pelvic reconstruction plan  40:00 Dinosaur Valley: from high of her life to lowest low in 48 hours  41:00 The phone call that changed the timeline  45:00 The fundraiser for CHRISTUS Children's of South Texas  48:00 Hurt 100: returning to where it all started, and winning  53:00 The freak infection that took her down before Tahoe 200  57:00 Tahoe 200: the race, the mistakes, the comeback  01:09:00 What's next: Bigfoot 200 and Moab 240  01:12:00 Why women are winning ultras outright  01:15:00 Advice for first time ultra runners  01:18:00 Closing the loop: unapologetically extreme TOPICS COVERED Ultra running training while working full time in the military  Mental tools for managing a cancer diagnosis as an endurance athlete  Self advocacy in medicine when the standard answer isn't the right answer  The 200 mile distance: what works, what breaks, and what no one tells you  Pacing strategy and aid station discipline at 200 miles  Coming back from injury or illness on a compressed timeline  Strength training as a foundation for ultra performance  Why community at the start line matters more than gear  The Triple Crown of 200s: Tahoe, Bigfoot, Moab  Women in ultra running and the shift toward overall wins  Fundraising through racing, making the miles matter beyond yourself SUPPORT AIMEE'S FUNDRAISER. RUNNING WITH PURPOSE FOR CHRISTUS CHILDREN'S Aimee races for more than herself. Through Running with Purpose for CHRISTUS Children's, every dollar raised goes directly to under insured and uninsured children battling cancer at CHRISTUS Children's of South Texas. 70% of chondrosarcoma patients are children, and the medical support Aimee has access to through the military is not the norm for most families facing this fight. Donations are pledged per mile (and per podium finish). Even $1 per mile makes a difference. Donate here: https://cbo.io/app/public/bidapp/rwp [https://cbo.io/app/public/bidapp/rwp] RESOURCES AND RACES MENTIONED Hurt 100 (Honolulu, HI)  Dinosaur Valley 100 (Glen Rose, TX)  Bandera 100K (Bandera, TX)  Javelina Jundred (Fountain Hills, AZ)  Tahoe 200 (Olympic Valley, CA)  Bigfoot 200 (Mt. St. Helens, WA)  Moab 240 (Moab, UT)  Coca Dona 250 (Sedona and Flagstaff, AZ)  Running with Purpose for CHRISTUS Children's. Fundraiser link: https://cbo.io/app/public/bidapp/rwp [https://cbo.io/app/public/bidapp/rwp] CHRISTUS Children's of South Texas Iron Fit San Antonio Heather Jackson's Coca Dona 250 documentary Rachel Entrekin's Substack on training for 200 mile races https://www.instagram.com/endurance_stateofmind?igsh=cjBnanNobHhhYXNu

Episode 64: Train Your Mind: Sports Psychology Secrets for Endurance Athletes, Dr. Ashley Sampson

What if the most important muscle you train for your next race has nothing to do with your legs? On this episode of Endurance State of Mind, hosts Anthony Herrington and Zach sit down with one of the most accomplished sports psychologists in the country, Dr. Ashley Sampson, professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion at the University of Kentucky, for a conversation that might just change the way you think about running, racing, and everything in between. Dr. Sampson's journey into endurance sports is one that a lot of us can relate to. She grew up as a multi-sport kid in Louisiana, competed as a track and field and rowing athlete in college, and then stumbled into distance running almost by accident, deciding the night before a half marathon that she was going to run it. Fast forward through graduate school, a move to California, a deep dive into trail running, and a jump straight into a 50 miler in the Marin Headlands outside San Francisco, and you've got someone who doesn't just study the psychology of endurance athletes from the outside. She lives it from the inside. These days she balances her role as a professor and private practice sports psychology consultant with competitive equestrian riding, trail running, yoga, and somehow still managing to prioritize sleep like a professional. She is the real deal. But this episode isn't just about Dr. Sampson's impressive background. It's about you, the runner, the cyclist, the triathlete, the ultra runner who wants to know how to get more out of their mind on race day and in training. And Dr. Sampson brings the science and the lived experience to back up every single thing she shares. The conversation kicks off with one of the most refreshing reframes we've ever heard on this podcast, the idea of shifting your mindset not from negative to positive, but from negative to productive. If you've ever had a coach or a well meaning friend tell you to just think positive when things are going sideways on a long run, you know how hollow that advice can feel. Dr. Sampson explains why that approach doesn't work neurologically or psychologically, and what to replace it with instead. The goal isn't to lie to yourself and pretend everything is great when your quads are on fire at mile 40. The goal is to ask a better question, what can I get out of this right now, and let that question pull you forward. From there, the episode dives into the science of mental toughness itself. What is it, really? Is it something you're born with, or something you can build? Dr. Sampson challenges the either or framing entirely and makes a compelling case that mental toughness is both a natural tendency and a trainable skill, and that the environment you put yourself in has a massive influence on which direction it develops. Whether you grew up being pushed to your limits or you're building that resilience for the first time at 35 through ultramarathon training, there is a path forward. And Dr. Sampson lays out exactly what that path looks like. One of the most practical segments of this episode is Dr. Sampson's concept of race day fire drills. Just like we practiced fire drills as kids, walking calmly out of the building, knowing exactly where to go and what to do before any emergency ever happened, she encourages athletes to think through every possible thing that could go wrong before they ever toe the start line. Shoes getting sucked off in the mud at mile 30? Plan for it. Running out of gels? Plan for it. Weather turning on you? Plan for it. The goal isn't pessimism. It's control. When you've already thought through the chaos, you don't panic when it arrives. You execute. And that sense of control, Dr. Sampson explains, is one of the most powerful predictors of endurance performance there is. We also spend real time on pre race anxiety, something Anthony opens up about from his own experience going from nervous wreck at his first triathlon to a much more grounded competitor over time. Dr. Sampson's take on anxiety is nuanced and refreshingly honest. Anxiety before a big race isn't a problem to be solved. It's an uninvited guest at the party. You planned the party, you've got your nutrition, your rest, your race strategy, your confidence, and then anxiety shows up anyway, uninvited, the way it always does. The key isn't to kick it out. The key is to acknowledge it, let it stand in the corner, and then go back to focusing on your race plan. Anxiety doesn't ruin the party. Only letting it take over the DJ booth does. Then there's the mindfulness conversation, and if you've ever written off mindfulness as too soft or too woo woo for serious athletes, Dr. Sampson is going to give you a lot to think about. She talks about her journey from pure sports psychology consultant to integrating deep mindfulness and yoga principles into her work with athletes, and explains why it changed everything for her as a practitioner. The core insight is simple but profound: if an athlete isn't self aware and present, they don't even know a problem is happening yet, let alone which mental tool to pull out to fix it. Mindfulness isn't about being calm. It's about noticing without judging, observing what's happening in your body and mind without immediately attaching an emotional reaction to it, and then making an intelligent adjustment. Attune and adjust. Attune and adjust. It sounds simple. On mile 70 of a hundred mile race, it's everything. Zach brings up something that resonates deeply in this episode, the way that visualization creates real neural pathways in the brain even without physical experience. Dr. Sampson confirms it: the science absolutely supports the idea that your brain doesn't fully distinguish between a vividly imagined experience and a real one. This is why a well prepared athlete can show up to a race distance they've never run before and still feel, not just hope, but genuinely feel, like they've been there. And it's why Dr. Sampson recommends that athletes spend intentional, focused time not just visualizing success, but visualizing the hard parts. Visualize the pain cave. Visualize the nutrition going wrong. Visualize the weather turning. And then visualize exactly how you're going to handle it. Because when it happens, and it will happen, you'll already know what to do. The episode also tackles athletic identity in a way that hits close to home for anyone who has ever been sidelined by injury or who watched their competitive career come to an end and felt completely lost on the other side of it. Dr. Sampson explains the psychological concept of athletic identity and why athletes who define themselves entirely through their sport are at much higher risk for depression and crisis when that sport is taken away, whether by injury, age, or the end of a competitive career. Her practical answer? Build a multifaceted identity now, before you need it. Be a runner and a parent and a business owner and a cook and a reader. Have other things. Not because running isn't important, but because your worth as a human being cannot hinge entirely on your next finish time. And yes, we talk about Strava. In what might be the hottest take of the episode, Dr. Sampson, who literally consulted for Strava on a campaign about why people run, admits that she doesn't use Strava and has some real concerns about what it does to athlete mental health. The comparison trap, the pressure to post good numbers on recovery days, the dopamine loop of counting kudos, it's the same psychology that makes regular social media harmful, just wearing running shoes. It's a conversation that's going to make some of you uncomfortable and all of you more thoughtful about how you engage with training platforms and the external validation they offer. This episode is for the runner who has stood at the start line of something terrifying and wondered if they had what it takes. It's for the athlete coming back from injury who is trying to figure out who they are when they can't train. It's for the competitor who wants to stop white knuckling through the hard miles and start actually moving through them with intelligence and intention. And it's for anyone who has ever wondered what the best athletes in the world are doing differently, not with their legs, but with the six inches between their ears. Dr. Ashley Sampson is the kind of guest we'd bring back every quarter, and after you finish this episode, you'll understand why. Her research is rigorous, her delivery is warm and conversational, her personal experience as an endurance athlete gives her credibility that pure academics can't match, and her ability to translate complex psychological concepts into tools you can actually use on your next long run is genuinely rare. Subscribe to Endurance State of Mind wherever you get your podcasts. Leave us a review if this episode moved you. Share it with a training partner who needs to hear it. And go out there and train the most powerful piece of equipment you own. Your mind is ready. The question is, are you going to train it? https://www.instagram.com/endurance_stateofmind?igsh=cjBnanNobHhhYXNu

Episode 63: We Went Live 5K PR, Rocket City Announcements, and Zion 100 with Rhonda Hayden, Ben Green, Chris Lott & Brian Murphy

Anthony and Zach recap their first ever live podcast recorded on location at Southern Prohibition's Big Run 5K in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. They break down race day performances including Anthony's 5K PR, reflect on what made the live format so electric, and share what's coming next for the show including bringing on a dedicated videographer named Jeremiah who was weaving through the race course all night capturing content, and their plans to do more live events moving forward. The energy at a live race is just different and after this one, there is no going back. Then stick around for four back to back guest interviews recorded straight from the event. Rhonda Hayden of Kinda Gritty joins to officially announce Endurance State of Mind's Podcast Alley partnership with the Rocket City Marathon, giving listeners a preview of what the 50th anniversary race weekend will look like for runners and fans alike. She breaks down the full podcast alley concept, the six podcasters coming in from across the southeast, and her vision for transforming both the pre race and post race experience for every runner who toes the line in Huntsville this December. Southern Prohibition owner Ben Green talks about catching the running bug at 39, what the mental side of running has meant to him in recent years, building one of the most welcoming run communities in South Mississippi through Wednesday run clubs and Fleet Feet pub runs, his Big Butts 25K goals, his obsession with finding rare sneakers nobody else has on the rack, and what's on tap literally at one of Hattiesburg's best kept secrets. Ultra endurance athlete and certified Sherpa Chris Lott stops by fresh off the 5K to talk about watching Unbound Gravel, heat training for Big Butts, the exploding ultra running scene across Mississippi, and how races like Mississippi 50 are selling out faster every single year. He also reflects on the influence of storytelling and podcasting on the growth of the sport and what it means to have a community of people pushing each other to do hard things. And finally in his third appearance on the pod, Brian Murphy makes it official. He's signing up for the Zion 100, a hundred mile race in Utah next April alongside Zach, Anthony, and what's shaping up to be the largest group of Mississippians ever assembled in the state of Utah at one time. Brian talks through the mental process of leaping from a 50 mile to a 100 mile, why the training is not as different as you might think, what it means to do a destination race with your people, and how a 5K bib number with the digits 1 0 0 on it was the final sign he needed to stop overthinking and just say yes. https://www.instagram.com/endurance_stateofmind?igsh=cjBnanNobHhhYXNu