Frodeno Going Mental

For six years, Mark Allen was often in the lead late at the IRONMAN Hawaii, and he fell apart every time. He came to believe the island had it out for him. Then he won it six times. In this episode of FRODENO GOING MENTAL, Jan sits down with Mark Allen in Kona. They talk about the pickup truck that hit him on a ride and took away his reason to race, the 1989 moment his mind went quiet, the shaman...

For Kat Matthews, the mindset is just about removing the barriers. What's left, in her words, is to get a bit fitter. In this episode of Going Mental, Jan Frodeno sits down with Kat three weeks out from Kona to find out how she got there. She explains the load bucket she uses to decide when to back off a session, why she started calling consistency boring, and what changed when she handed her coac...

Molly Seidel calls her Olympic medal the coolest experience of her life. She also says it didn't fix anything. She poured everything she was into it and came out the other side the same person. In this episode of Frodeno Going Mental, Jan Frodeno sits down with Molly Seidel— in town for UTMB and to talk about blowing up at mile 55 of Western States and finishing anyway, why she left the marathon b...

What does it take to try the same trick 500 times — knowing that the next one could still go wrong? Fabio Wibmer has built a career doing things on a bike that most of us wouldn't even attempt on two feet. His videos have reached hundreds of millions of people, but behind the viral clips is an obsessive process of repetition, visualization and calculated risk. In this episode of Going Mental, Jan...

Kilian Jornet has spent decades pushing the limits of human endurance. But what happens when you actually reach them? In this episode of Going Mental, Jan Frodeno sits down with Kilian Jornet for a rare deep dive into the mind behind some of the most extreme performances in endurance sport. Kilian explains what happened when he pushed himself so far on Everest that his brain stopped forming memori...

For the first time on Frodeno Going Mental, there’s no guest. Just Jan Frodeno, a camera and 19 conversations worth looking back on. In this first solo episode, Jan revisits some of the moments from Season One that stayed with him long after the cameras stopped rolling. He reflects on how Alistair Brownlee once shattered his confidence and ultimately forced him to rebuild himself as an athlete. He...

In this episode of Going Mental, Olympic champion and Ironman legend Jan Frodeno sits down with Max Martin, CEO of the Enhanced Games, for one of the most controversial conversations in modern sport. Together they explore whether the current anti-doping system is outdated, why Enhanced Games believes athletes should have the freedom to compete using medically supervised performance enhancement, an...

Ultra running is often romanticized, but elite trail runner and physicist Francesco Puppi looks at 100-mile races through the lens of pure logic. Fresh off an incredible podium finish at the Western States 100, Francesco joins Jan Frodeno to strip away the sugar-coated heroism of endurance sports and reveal what it truly takes to survive the pain cave. From the psychological negotiation with extre...

Sam Laidlow has just rewritten triathlon history. Fresh off his record-breaking victory at DATEV Challenge Roth, the French triathlon superstar joins Jan Frodeno for an exclusive conversation on Going Mental. Recorded less than 24 hours after becoming the fastest athlete ever over the full-distance triathlon, Sam opens up about the mindset behind his historic performance, the relentless pursuit of...

In this episode of Going Mental, Jan Frodeno sits down with one of triathlon’s most iconic and polarizing figures: Chris “Macca” McCormack — 2x Ironman World Champion, 6x Triathlete of the Year, and one of the sport’s greatest storytellers. From the fierce Kona battles against Norman Stadler and Faris Al-Sultan to the psychological warfare, self-doubt and relentless determination that defined his...

Fresh off one of the most remarkable victories in professional cycling, Demi Vollering joins Going Mental to unpack the mindset behind her dramatic Giro d'Italia Women comeback. Just days after completing an extraordinary Grand Tour triple, Demi opens up about the final stage that changed everything, why she was willing to risk losing her podium place to win it all and the mentality that allows he...

Scott DeRue has climbed Mount Everest, completed the Seven Summits, led global businesses through crisis and now serves as CEO of Ironman. In this episode of Going Mental, Scott shares the leadership lessons he learned on the world's highest mountain, why reaching the summit is often the easy part and how high performers navigate uncertainty, risk, and pressure. We dive into Scott's journey from a...

What does it take to win Olympic gold after breaking your collarbone just weeks before the Games? In this episode of FRODENO GOING MENTAL, Jan Frodeno sits down with Tom  Pidcock. The two-time Olympic Champion, Tour de France stage winner,  Cyclocross World Champion and one of the most exciting riders in professional cycling reveals the mindset that helped him recover from devastating injuries, ma...

In this episode, Jan opens up a deeply personal chapter by sitting down with his own sports psychologist, Henning Thrien. Henning has spent the last 15 years working at the intersection of human vulnerability and elite performance, including guiding athletes through the high-pressure cooker of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Pulling back the curtain on the raw emotional reality of world-class sports...

Olympic Champion and MTB legend Nino Schurter joins Going Mental for a deep conversation about pressure, flow, motivation and longevity. Nino reflects on a career that shaped modern mountain biking. From Olympic gold and World Championship titles to the mental challenges of staying on top for over two decades. A fascinating conversation about mindset, resilience and what truly drives champions. En...

In todays episode of Going Mental, Jan Frodeno sits down with cycling world record holder Vittoria Bussi. The first woman in history to ride more than 50 kilometers in one hour. But Vittoria’s story goes far beyond cycling. A former Oxford PhD mathematician, Vittoria shares how losing her father changed the direction of her life, how she turned pain into performance and why obsession became her gr...

What drives someone to race four major triathlons across two and a half continents in just six weeks — and still come out sharper on the other side? In this episode, Jan sits down with Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champion Kristian Blummenfelt to decode the mindset of the "Norwegian Terminator." Kristian opens up about his "kamikaze" racing schedule, the devastating mental basement of a bad rac...

For this conversation, Jan sits down with the greatest marathoner of all time, Eliud Kipchoge. They explore the mindset that led to the historic sub-two-hour marathon and why Eliud believes that records don't belong to individuals, but to the sport itself. Eliud shares his profound wisdom on the purity of running, explaining why he still lives and cleans in a simple training camp despite his globa...

In this episode, Jan connects with entrepreneur and visionary Simon Squibb to dissect the fundamental difference between a dream and a goal. Simon, who went from being homeless at 15 to becoming a multi-millionaire, shares his radical philosophy on why "monetizing your dream" is the only path to true fulfillment. Together, they discuss the flaws of the modern education system, the trap of middle-c...

In this episode, Jan sits down with former monk and Hindu priest Dandapani to demystify the human mind. Drawing from ten years of monastic training, Dandapani explains why focus is a physical skill that must be practiced 24/7, rather than a fleeting state achieved through quick meditation. He and Jan dive into the distinction between awareness and the mind, the "Bruce Lee of distraction" trap, and...

High performance cycling and mental toughness with Tour de France Femmes winner Kasia Niewiadoma. She shares the "pain cave" secrets that led to her Alpe d’Huez and Tour victory and how she handles extreme pressure. Discover why Kasia believes that without risk, there is no top-tier sport. Get Your Own CANYON GRAIL Ready to hit the gravel? Grab Jan’s bike of choice and save extra on your next adve...

Athlete mindset and dealing with public criticism are daily realities for Lucy Charles-Barclay. Because her swim strength usually puts her at the front of every race, she is constantly under the camera's lens, meaning every mistake is broadcast to the world and judged by "armchair coaches". Lucy shares how she developed a "thick skin" to stay focused on her peak performance and why she ultimately...

How does a world champion handle the "terrible" feeling of the start gate? Downhill star Vali Höll joins Jan Frodeno to discuss the raw reality of racing at 80 km/h. From pre-race nausea and "survival mode" to navigating her team’s sudden bankruptcy , Vali reveals why she thrives under the pressure that makes her want to puke. It’s a candid look at the "handbrake" in her head and the mental shift...

What’s more dangerous: a 100-foot wave or a 30-year desk job? World record surfer Sebastian Steudtner joins Jan Frodeno to explain why he trained himself to pass out underwater just to "learn how to drown" without panic. From landlocked Germany to the massive swells of Nazaré, Steudtner reveals how he uses military-grade science to conquer the ocean’s most violent frontiers. It’s a masterclass in...

In this episode, Jan sits down with performance expert, author and coach Brad Stulberg to explore what it really means to pursue excellence — in sport and in life. Brad shares the philosophy behind his work on performance and human flourishing, from coaching elite athletes to teaching self-coaching at the University of Michigan. Together, Jan and Brad dive into the psychology of high performance,...