Grow the Good

It's a miracle that John Joseph McGowan isn't dead or in prison.  He's escaped AR-15 gun shots from cocaine dealers, managed to just miss being arrested while AWOL, and instigated many fights himself while he was a crackhead with a violent streak. It's hard to imagine that a human could have endured so much adversity in his life and even more inspiring, come out the other side...

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.    Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week's episode, I want to talk about a technique I discovered that helps with rumination. You know- when something is bothering you and then you can't stop thinking about it. Or when someone really pisses you off and you...

I'm super excited about today's guest: Caitlin Landesberg formerly Caitlin Looney.  We aren't sure if we are related but if our interest in business, endurance sports and beer are any indication, then I'd say we are sisters!  I love today's special story because it's one of transparency, inspiration, hard work, and courage. Caitlin is a former college tennis player tu...

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.    Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  I originally had a different topic queued up for today's Crush It Monday, but in the middle of my race over the weekend, I realized that the way I think about pain during a race or during an interval workout might be helpful.  It&apos...

If you're an endurance athlete, you've probably thought about altitude.  I grew up in Albuquerque, NM and lived in Colorado for my 20s. I never thought about altitude training until I did the highest mountain bike race in the world in 2011.  The race was a 10 day race in Nepal called the Yak Attack that topped out at 17,769'.  I admit I still wasn't fully acquainted with the da...

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.    Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  This week, I want to talk about intensity.  More specifically, I want to talk about a quote I heard. I can't remember exactly where I heard this quote, but I wrote it down and recently found it.  I think it might have been from a Shar...

What secrets are your body trying to tell you? How do you know if you should keep pushing or if you should rest?  If you listen to the podcast where our unifying theme is about high performance living, then I think you'll love today's topic.  It's about measuring strain and recovery.  There's a great deal of research uncovering biomarkers to give insight to your sleep, recovery...

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.    Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  This week, I want to talk about happiness.  More specifically, I want to talk about what you are linking your happiness to.   The biggest problem is we often assign contentment to the end point of a goal. I'll be happy (or content) wh...

How to find a stage race, how to train for a stage race, how to pack for a stage race and SO much more! This one has been a long time coming! I've done over 35 stage races in 15+ countries around the world in the last decade. I've had a lot of success and I wanted to share everything I know with you!  Thanks for submitting all of your questions! Get my Travel Pack list for free. Enter yo...

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.   Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start. Today, I want to talk about doubt. There are so many times and in different areas of our lives where we have self-doubt.  The thought - "What if I'm not good enough?'  Sport is the easiest example, but it can happen any time. ...

I'm really excited about today's topic. It's something I have spent a lot of time researching and putting into practice.  A few years ago, I read a book called Mindset by Carol Dweck.  It was about the concept that things like talent or intellect are not fixed.  You've probably heard the term "growth mindset" if you've been listening to this podcast.  Someone wit...

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.   Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation in 5 minutes or less to get your week off to a powerful start.  This week, I want to talk about how to be brave enough to rest.  If you've been listening to this show for awhile, you've probably heard some conversations I've had around identity, burnout, mental fatigu...

Mark Manson is a NYT best-selling author, blogger, and entrepreneur.  You may have seen his bright orange first book, The Subtle Art of Giving a F*ck.  It has sold nearly 8 million copies and has been #1 in 13 countries- pretty much one of the most successful books in our recent history.  Mark is about effective self-help and his demeanor is humble and funny.  Mark has written articles for CNN, BB...

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays. Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation in 5 minutes or less to get your week off to a powerful start.  This week, I want to talk about comparison.  It's normal to compare yourself to other people, but with the rise of social media over the last decade, we compare ourselves on a much larger scale.  We can get the play...

If you're a cyclist and you enjoy reading about cycling or listening to podcasts about cycling, you have probably heard of Molly Hurford. Molly is like my soul sister- she even married a Canadian guy (Peter Glassford) and moved to Canada!  She is the author of 4 books, the creator of TheOutdoorEdit.com, a coach, co-host of the Consummate Athlete podcast, a badass cyclist and runner, writes fo...

Welcome to Crush It Mondays.   Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation in 5 minutes or less to get your week off to a powerful start. It's easy to get overwhelmed with all the things you feel like you should be doing.  How many times have you skipped working towards a goal altogether because riding for an hour, writing an entire article, doing 10 minutes of...

Brenda Davis is one of the top authorities and dietitians in plant-based nutrition.  As the co-author of the incredibly comprehensive book, Becoming Vegan, a Vegetarian Hall of Famer, author of x books, an expert in reducing the world's Type II Diabetes problems with Plant-Based Diets. She teaches lifestyle medicine courses all over the world, has been flown by the prince of Saudi Arabia to S...

Brad Stulberg is no stranger to my podcast. This is actually the third time I've had him on the show!  He's the co-author of two books: The Passion Paradox and also Peak Performance., a consultant and coach on topics like burnout, resilience, self-awareness, long term goal setting strategies, the linkage between mental health, wellbeing, and performance and so much more.  He also write a...

Paula Woodward is a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  In addition to her impactful life experiences, she has also spent time China with rotations in many medical departments, a lot of educational experience in Psychology, and a passion for personal development.  I first found Paula when my friend who was suffering from a "hard to treat" skin condition started drinking some Chinese...

The Cape Epic is an 8-day Mountain Bike Stage Race across the terrain surrounding Capetown’s greater mountains.  The Cape Epic is touted as the “World’s Premier Stage Race,” attracted around 2000 people each year.  There are several distances of stage races, and the Cape Epic certainly focuses on endurance with most stages taking 5+ hours. This was my second trip to South Africa and my first time...

Dan Waldschmidt is about action.  From a young age, he believed in extreme effort.  So much so that he pushed himself over the edge and found himself holding a gun to his own head.  Contemplating suicide got Dan to turn his life around and focus on what really mattered.  Dan is an accomplished speaker, best selling author of the book Edgy Conversations, an ultra-runner, and a podcast host. His goa...

Stacey Shand might be the most experienced ultra athlete on the planet. Not only has she ran over 100 marathons, but she has raced Ironman Triathlons, podiumed at Ultraman, Badwater... twice, won Double Ironman Triathlons and taken overall fastest times on running segments (faster than any man as well), raced a road bike for 508 miles straight at the Silver Stage 508, done races in the Arctic Circ...

What would you do if you went from being known as the energizer bunny to having declining health, so much so that you are diagnosed as terminally ill, idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, heart failure, sleep apnea, lung failure, and blindness?  That was the reality for Kate McGoey-Smith.  It wasn't until she watched the popular documentary, Forks Over Knives that she realized there wa...

Courtenay McFadden is a force to be reckoned with in the cyclocross world.  You may have seen her racing World Cups in Europe, on podiums at the biggest races in the United States, and also on the mountain bike.  Courtenay's success has had its share of setbacks and comebacks.  Many of us have had the experience of dealing with injuries that prevent us from riding, and it's always a chal...

Today's guests are highly experienced in both designing heat training protocols and racing in the heat themselves!  With me today is Luke Way and Stacey Shand.  Luke Way is a master bike fitter (he does all my fits), physiology enthusiast, and coach.  Luke performs the Balance Point Assessments you might have heard about in previous episodes which in my experience, is the most informative and...