The Middle Miles

Happy New Year and welcome to Season 3, Episode 100 of the podcast!  What a spectcular way to kick off the year!  We share listeners' favorite episodes, our favortie episodes, and then we use those themes to look forward to help get you ready for 2024. Thank you so much for listening, sharing, commenting, and emailing us over the past 2 years of this podcast.  We are grateful for your support and...

Our last episode of the year comes with a timely topic for December and for the upcoming season.  There is no success without patience.  The commitment to persistence, the belief that you will succeed with time, the acceptance to give yourself over to the process, and the dedication to keep going in a methodical, unhurried way- all of these things add up to success. This conversation helps shed li...

You ask, we attempt to answer! Your December listener questions were fantastic.  Topics covered: Swim snorkel and other toys - useful or not? Recovery tips for people who have trouble sleeping and those on night shift? Working out on crappy sleep   Tips to keep heart rate low when running Breathing while running   When should you take ibuprofen for soreness? Can you do a 5k training block if you h...

With so much information at our fingertips, it's often hard to resist the temptation to try the "next big thing." From monitoring HRV to intermittent fasting to lactate testing- you name it, there is someone out there on social media- a brand, a magazine, an influencer, a friend-  touting its benefits. We can be left second guessing our own training, fueling, or recovery methods.  Today's episode...

The race recap from Ironman Cozumel is here!   From a broken chain ring two days before the race to a cancelled swim, Angela faced some challenges in this race.   However, she ended up 4th on the day, with the fastest female bike split. We review the hectic lead up to the race,  how the day went, Angela's unique sewing skills, and Angela's top tips for racing Cozumel.  Have a listen! 

In this week's podcast, we focus on the top 5 topics that coaches often revisit over and over again with their athletes. And for good reason!  These themes are the backbone of good training: reducing injury risk, aerobic zone training, fueling, hydration, and short term goals vs long term goals.  We dive into each one of them and revisit the basics of training and the way we approach training.  Al...

Karlyn Pipes is one of the most decorated swimmers of all time. She was also inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in 2015 and now helps others swim faster. However, from the ages of 15 to her mid 30s, she was consumed by an addiction to alcohol, which she tried to juggle while also being a swimming prodigy and Olympic hopeful.   In this episode we talk about her story, but we also talk all thin...

Off-season is a tricky time in an athlete's calendar year.   Intellectually, we know we need the break from high volume training for mental and physical reasons.   Emotionally, we worry about doing too little or too much; and sometimes the lack of structure can make us feel a little off-kilter.   So what should your off season look like?   The answer is… it depends!   In this episode, we give you...

We are super excited to bring you this episode with pro triathlete Alice Alberts.  If you have not heard of Alice Alberts until this year (after her wins at Ironman Lake Placid and Ironman Maryland), you might not be alone. And that's because she took her pro card just last year in 2022, AND did her first Ironman in 2021 (and won it!).  So within the span of 2.5 years, she went from training for h...

7 off-road cycling events, spanning from April to October.  70 of the top cyclists in the world.  $250,000 dollar prize purse.  The Life Time Grand Prix Series just finished up its second season, and Angela was a part of this iconic event for the second year in a row. She finished 17th place out of 30 elite women, and was the only active pro triathlete in the field.  In this episode, we recap the...

What an amazing, epic, challenging, and rewarding race day!  From race week island vibes to pineapple rompers to the actual race day, we cover it all in this one.  This was Amy's first Kona experience as an athlete racing, and Angela's first Kona as race support, so we have two fun perspectives on the whole week.  This race is everything that they say it is. On paper, the course looks challenging...

This episode features Laura Moretti Reece, a Board Certified Sports Dietitian specializing in sports performance based nutrition as well as treating low energy availability, disordered eating, and eating disorders in athletes. She works in the Division of Sports Medicine and the Female Athlete Program at Boston Children's Hospital. Topics covered: Disordered eating vs eating disorder How many calo...

We are back with part 2 of our listener questions! We touch on topics such as managing training with a busy life, and what happens when you have to miss a workout and how to manage that. We delve into food journaling, macros, and diet trends; and we finish by talking about self-sabotage and how to overcome a negative mindset. Have a listen! 

Today we have part 1 of our listener questions! This week, we answer questions about what we did right in our best race builds; how to bounce back after a crappy race or a DNF; the benefits and drawbacks of indoor bike training; and why you may not have to take an end of season training break. Have a listen! 

Whether you are pro or age grouper, race mishaps happen.  Some of them are funny, some are embarassing, and some leave us wondering, "What was I thinking?" In this episode, Angela and Amy share their crazy race stories.  But through the laughs, we hope you learn a few things- namely how to pick yourself back up when something happens, how to deal with adversiity, how to think on the fly, and how t...

Although technically it's still summer for a couple of more weeks, we all know that Labor Day weekend signifies the symbolic end of summer. As race season winds down, athletes sometimes struggle with figuring out what to do from September to December?      Do we take a training break? Find a fall race?   Swim more? Swim less?   In this episode, we to give some direction for the fall and beyond. We...

When this episode airs, we will be six weeks from the women's World Championship in Kona. This race preview covers everything, from heat training to packing to best food spots in Kona, and then of course, we go into the race! Amy and Angela will both be in Kona this year to race and as race support, and to celebrate women in sport. Lots of great info in here, and a few surprises, as usual. Send us...

This episode revolves around the Champion's Mindset- what it is, how to find it, and more importantly, how to live it.    As coaches and athletes, we know that there are some common traits and actions that make some athletes stand apart from the rest- it's more than just "working hard." So what separates the good from the great? From grit to goal setting to flow state to risk taking, we tease out...

  Today we talk about the team aspect of sport. As we move into fall, triathlon and cycling teams will open up to application, including our own teams, I Race Like A Girl and Girls Get Gritty.  So we thought it would be great to talk a bit about our teams and why Angela started these two teams.  We also talk about why you might want to join a team and what you should look for when joining.  Mark y...

This episode will help you find ways to get faster in races without actually needing to train more in swim, bike, or run, or as we are calling it- FREE SPEED.    And yes, even though we say "FREE," some of the things we talk about do cost money, but we mean FREE in terms of "you don't have to train for for the gain." So we are not going to be talking about heart rate or power or intervals. Instead...

We are so excited to bring you our conversation with Dr. Kate Ackerman. Dr. Ackerman is the medical director of the Female Athlete Program in the Sports Medicine Division at Boston Children's Hospital and is now on the forefront of research involving female athletes and perimenopause and menopause. There are very few reliable studies involving older female athletes and Dr. Ackerman and her colleag...

What a day!  This episode recaps Ironman Lake Placid, one of the most iconic Ironman races on the circuit. Angela was 4th female pro with a time of 9:32:23 and Amy was 10th in her age group with a 12:14:50 and got a Kona slot!   We start with race week, and then head into the race. Angela shares her race strategy, her goals, and some funny moments, including Angela's T1 mishaps, getting peed on du...

This episode is your mid-season check-in. It's a good idea to take moment to stop and reflect on what your training and season has looked like so far, how you are doing now, and where you are headed. Topics covered: Amy and Angela's check-in Mid summer burnout - why it happens and how to deal with it Raced out? Skip a late season race? Mixing up types of racing Vacation and training   Dealing with...

It's time for another listener Q and A!  Topics covered: Race swim anxiety heart rate variability strength training handling the heat  liquid vs solid nutrition the best training advice we've gotten!

This episode previews the Lake Placid Ironman venue and course. Lake Placid is one of the most iconic Ironman venues, and is the longest running North American Ironman, besides Kona.   People sign up year after year to do this special race and this year, both Amy and Angela will be lining up to race.   Angela has done this race a few times and has trained up in Placid many more times, so she is we...