Today we are joined by Kayti Simonson, a 34 year old lawyer and pro hybrid athlete based in Calgary, Canada. Kayti has a massive sporting background - she ran 400m hurdles and played soccer in the NCAA, played semi-pro soccer in Florida, England, and Texas who impressively earned an undergrad and three post-grad degrees along the way! Kayti shares …

On this week's episode Grit Coaching's very own Strength Coach and former Spartan Pro Faye Stenning shares 5 tips to take your OCR racing to the next level. With a bronze medal at the Spartan World Championships and her record of the most Spartan podium finishes over the past decade, Faye has years of insight and has tested many different training …

You’ve done the work, and now it’s time to put it all together! We all know that consistent training is essential for great race day performance, but races are chaotic and wrought with unknowns. An underappreciated challenge of race day is “performing on demand” , or competing at your physical capacity in an uncontrolled environment, harnessing the…

Today we are joined by Lindsay Housman, founder and CEO of Hettas, a company creating running shoes optimized for female biomechanics. The majority of athletic shoes have been designed, researched and tested on men and the Hettas fundamentally believe that design shouldn't be unisex: if you consider design from a female perspective, you’ll end up w…

On this episode we are joined by Gwendolyn (Wendy) Bounds, an award winning journalist and author as well as a multi-time AG champ in spartan racing. Wendy is an absolute powerhouse, and we’ve had the pleasure of coaching her since 2019. Wendy recently wrote a book called Not Too Late which details her journey into obstacle racing and the power of …

With a ton of our listeners being avid Spartan racers we thought it was about time we had Joe De Sena on! As the founder of Spartan and endurance junkie himself, Joe De Sena joins us to talk about how Spartan was started, how it has evolved over the years including navigating the challenges covid brought, and shares some exciting news about the fut…

City folks this one's for you! Coach Faye spent the majority of her Spartan Race career training for some big mountain races in the middle of Manhattan so she knows a thing or two about getting mountain fit without any access to elevation. So whether you’re heading to the mountains for the last stops at the Spartan USNS or trying to nail an epic tr…

Grit coaching is 7 YEARS OLD this year, and we’ve learned a ton since Day 1. Sometimes coaches get a bit shy about admitting that they’ve changed their mind on something - there is a feeling that we must be all-knowing, and many coaches feel insecure saying “we’re looking at something differently now”. Not us! On this week's episode, Coach Jess sha…

This week we are joined by Eoin Everard, the current World and European Masters (Over 35) 3000m champion who also has a blazing sub-14 min 5km and sub-4 min mile under his belt. In addition to being an astonishing runner, but Eoin holds a PhD in Biomechanics and is a Physiotherapist and the founder of the BackAware Belt, a tool to help with back pa…

You’ve done the training, and now all that’s left is executing your race. But…..how? In this episode, we give you the nitty gritty on different pacing strategies: what works, what doesn’t, and why. We tackle this both through physiology and personal experience: everyone’s got a good pace-related story! Proper pacing is absolutely essential for grea…

This week we are thrilled to catch up with OCR superstar Nicole Mericle! Nicole is fresh off her 2nd place finish at Tough Mudder Arabia which was arguably one of the most competitive OCR races in history with a prize purse that did not disappoint! We also discuss Nicole's road to recovery after knee surgery, how the short course specialist changed…

You asked, we answered. Really nailing your endurance training can be complicated - everyone knows "how" to run, but not everyone knows how to optimize their endurance training to suit their goals and ability. This re-released podcast gave listeners the chance to ask their burning endurance questions and gave us a chance to provide insight on a bun…

We love putting together podcasts on sports performance topics we think are important but the reality is: YOU know what you know and don't know best! (whoo, that's a mouthful!) As my school teachers always told me, if you have a question, chances are that others in the room are wondering the same thing. On this re-released episode, we answer some o…

Winter training - it ain't so bad! Faye and Jess, seasoned Canadian runners with souvenir frostbite scars, share their best tips on how to thrive during the winter training season. We've made all the wardrobe mistakes and created all the weather hacks so you don't have to! This re-released episode is hosted by Jessica O'Connell, MSc, CSEP-CEP, OLY,…

Endurance racing affectinatos are faced with racing options of different lengths and types galore! In this re-released episode, we advise on how to select races and plan a season that allows for proper preparation for key goals, but still leaves wiggle room for exploration. This episode is hosted by Jessica O'Connell, MSc, CSEP-CEP, OLY, and Faye S…

Goals give direction and purpose to your efforts, but it's important that you don't confuse goals with dreams. Dreams are ideas, and goals are roadmaps. I think you can guess which one has a greater likelihood of success! In this re-released episode, we discuss why goal setting is important and how to do it in an effective and meaningful way. This …

Relative Energy Deficiency In Sport (RED-S), or chronic underfuelling, can have very serious health and performance consequences. We are joined by Dr. Alex Coates, former elite ITU triathlete and current professor of Exercise Physiology who's research has focused on what happens when we push too far or when we recover insufficiently from training. …

Two new running/fitness "hybrid" competitions are sweeping the nation and attracting runners, Crossfitters, and OCR Addicts alike. Hybrid competitions involve run intervals alternated with standardized strength exercises and challenging an athlete's strength and endurance. This week, Faye Stenning shares the Nitty Gritty on the two most popular hyb…

Runners: Does the weight room feel like the wild west? We get it, but strength training has serious benefits and doesn't need to be initmidating. As a runner, you're doing a serious disservice to your training regime if you're ignoring strength! This episode, we break down why strength training is important for runners, how much you need, and what …

Runners fall into two camps - they're either as bendy as a slinky, or they can't touch their toes. This podcast dives into the differences between mobility and flexibility, how much range you REALLY need, and the when/where/what on stretching. This re-released episode is sure to bend your knowledge on movement and performance (ha!) This episode is …

Tis the season for peak races and the inevitable recovery that follows. Everyone's heard of the big (and oddly intimidating) "Off Season", but what IS it? This week, we dive into why the Off Season is important and how a bit of rest and recovery can take your training to the next level over the coming months. Rest to progress? We say YES! This epis…

Just like it's common to hire a coach to help you reach an sporting goal and live an active lifestyle, nutrtition coaches exist to help educate and guide individuals towards health goals. It makes sense - changing habits is hard, especially if you aren't highly educated in nutrition, so expert guidance can be SO helpful! This week, we are joined by…

This week we deep dive into an athlete’s most essential piece of gear- footwear! There are A LOT of shoe options out there and we nerd out and break them down for you. Learn all about different types of footwear , what to look for when buying shoes, the best footwear for OCR races, and the newest super shoes hitting the market! This re-released epi…

Hyrox is a fitness competition that's been popular in Europe for a while and is now taking North America by storm. Hyrox involves eight standardized fitness stations alternated with 1000m of running. The 8km of total running in the event makes it appealing to OCR athletes and runners alike! (though the strength stations are no joke!) A few years ag…

If you're a female athlete, or you know a female athlete, this episode is for you! We chat about range of topics pertinent to active women including: fueling, RED-S, birth control, pregnancy, training and aging, and how to keep young girls engaged in sport. Though many of these topics aren't exclusive to women, we talk about them through a female p…