The Science & Soul of Sport

Coach Liz co-hosts a conversation with Mike Reilly, the longtime Voice of Ironman, and Sarah Wassner Flynn, his co-author on Finding Your Finish Line. Liz opens with what makes racing at Kona special. Then the authors share how Mike’s famous finish-line call came to be, the stories behind the book, and why naming your fears and taking small, intentional steps matters.

Coach Liz and Sarah welcome Angie and Trevor Spencer of Marathon Training Academy for a practical guide to 26.2. They cover when you’re ready to take it on, how to manage training anxiety, why a “fed” runner is a better runner, and how to pace both training and race day. Essential listening for anyone eyeing a first marathon.

Heat physiologist Christopher Minson, Ph.D., of the University of Oregon joins Coach Liz and Sarah to explain what heat does to the body and how to train and race smarter when temperatures climb. One surprising takeaway: heat training should start in midwinter.

Coach Liz and Sarah talk with Coach Dimity McDowell and three participants about the Grand Traverse, a one-day trail event in Duluth where you choose your own distance and pace. They cover how to train for a long day on your feet, how hiking 21 miles compares with running a half marathon, fueling on the trail, and the power of companionship.

Sport psychologist Dr. Erin Ayala joins Coach Liz and Sarah with practical strategies for getting your brain on board with training. She also explains why “scary, joyful, and new” challenges are worth pursuing. It’s useful whether you’re preparing for a first 10K or a world championship.

After nine years away from the full Ironman distance, Coach Liz returned to race Ironman Florida — and came back with a story worth hearing. She shares the building blocks of her preparation, how curiosity drove her training, and her novel approach to race day execution. An honest, behind-the-curtain look at what it actually takes to show up at a start line after a long time away — and what a coach learns about herself by becoming the athlete again.

A candid reflection on Coach Liz’s local sprint triathlon season — five races, four overall wins, and one powerful lesson about not minimizing your own accomplishments. A reminder that whether it’s a local sprint or a world championship, showing up and giving your best is worth celebrating — especially as we get older and the culture tells us to expect less.

One of the most common and most mishandled transitions in endurance sport — coming back after injury. Coach Liz breaks down how to approach the return with patience and intention rather than urgency, and why athletes who rush this phase almost always pay for it later. Practical, honest, and grounded in years of coaching athletes through exactly this challenge.

Recovery isn’t the absence of training — it’s where adaptation actually happens. Coach Liz makes the case for treating easy days and rest with the same intentionality as hard workouts, and explains why so many athletes are unknowingly working against themselves. If you’ve ever felt guilty for taking a rest day, this episode will change how you think about what recovery is actually doing for your fitness.

Coach Liz offers a refreshing perspective on how to approach a new training year — not with resolutions, but with clarity about what actually matters and why. Less noise, more intention. If you start every January with big plans that fade by February, this conversation is for you.

Coach Liz explores the unexpected benefits of stepping outside your primary sport — not as a distraction from your goals, but as a way of developing athleticism, perspective, and the beginner’s mind that makes you better at everything. A conversation about curiosity, cross-training, and the surprising things you learn about yourself when you’re not the most experienced person in the room.

An underutilized tool in the endurance athlete’s toolkit. Coach Liz shares how to do deep water running effectively and why it’s worth taking seriously as a training and recovery modality. Practical guidance for athletes navigating injury or looking for a genuinely effective low-impact training option.

The mental side of performance is often the last thing athletes address — and the first thing that breaks down on race day. Coach Liz offers accessible, practical strategies for building mental toughness grounded in how the mind actually works under pressure. No abstract platitudes. These are tools you can use in your next hard workout.

A thoughtful, warm conversation about what it means to be a back-of-the-pack runner and why that experience is filled with its own kind of courage and insight. Coach Liz brings her signature perspective on why everyone is an athlete. If you’ve ever felt like you didn’t belong at a start line, this episode is for you.

Perfectionism is one of the most common — and most costly — habits in endurance sport. Coach Liz and a sports psychologist explore how the drive for perfection quietly undermines performance, and what a healthier relationship with your own standards actually looks like. A conversation that will make you think differently about effort, failure, and what it means to do your best.

How do athletes with large families find the time, the energy, and the mental space to pursue their own goals? Coach Liz joins a conversation about the logistics and the deeper question — what does it mean to prioritize yourself when others depend on you? Honest, funny, and deeply relatable for any athlete training inside a full family life.

A Q&A following Coach Liz’s return to Kona — one of the most iconic events in endurance sport. She reflects on the preparation, the experience, and what the race taught her about showing up fully after a long journey to get there. Candid and thoughtful. A rare look at what competing at a world championship actually feels like from the inside.

One of Coach Liz’s most resonant pieces — a meditation on letting go of the perfect race, the perfect season, the perfect version of yourself as an athlete. Written with warmth and hard-won perspective from years of competing and coaching. If perfectionism has ever cost you joy in this sport, this is required reading.

Pre-race nerves aren’t a problem to be solved — they’re energy to be redirected. Coach Liz shares how to reframe anxiety as readiness and use the physiological state of nervousness to actually perform better on race day. Practical and psychologically grounded. A short read that changes how you think about the start line.

Heat is one of the most misunderstood variables in endurance performance. Coach Liz shares what athletes need to know about training, racing, and pacing in extreme temperatures — and the mistakes most likely to derail an otherwise well-prepared athlete. Evidence-informed and experience-backed. Essential reading before any summer race.

A thoughtful self-assessment that goes well beyond pace and mileage. Coach Liz poses the questions most runners never stop to ask — about motivation, identity, goals, and the relationship between sport and the rest of their lives. The kind of reflection that makes you a more intentional athlete. Worth revisiting at the start of every season.

One of Coach Liz’s most personal and philosophically rich pieces — about releasing what no longer serves you in sport and in life. A meditation on change, growth, and the courage it takes to let go of the version of yourself you’ve outgrown. Beautifully written. The kind of piece you return to.

Ten pieces of marathon wisdom from a coach who has prepared athletes for races at every level — from first-timers to Boston qualifiers. Practical, specific, and grounded in what actually makes a difference on race day. Save this one for the 8 weeks before your next race.

A quiet, necessary reminder about the cost of constant motion — in training and in life. Coach Liz makes the case for building recovery and stillness into your schedule not as a luxury but as a non-negotiable part of sustainable performance. Short and worth reading slowly.

A personal and expansive piece about what it means to have athletic ambitions as an adult — the dreams we carry, the ones we let go, and the ones that quietly reshape who we are. One of her most human pieces. Recommended for any athlete who has ever felt the gap between who they are and who they want to become.

Recorded in front of a live audience at the first FeistyFest, this episode explores Shawn Achor’s The Power of Beliefs. Coach Liz unpacks how self-belief, community, and gratitude shape performance, and she shares six strategies for changing the beliefs that hold athletes back.

Daniel Coyle’s Flourish is a book about meaning, joy, and connection. Coach Liz connects it to the athlete’s life: softening your grip, building deeper relationships with training partners, and practicing presence in the final miles of a race. Feeling fully alive turns out to be a skill you can train.

Coach Liz pulls four books off the shelf: Winning the Mental Game, Built to Finish, Inner Excellence, and Elite Minds. She discusses pre-race fear, how expectation shapes performance, and why excellence comes from incremental growth rather than perfection.

In a shift from her usual performance-focused picks, Coach Liz discusses Maya Shankar’s The Other Side of Change, a book about who we become when life makes other plans. She talks about the power of awe to get you out of your own head, ways to reframe time away from sport after an injury, and a garden metaphor from the book that stays with you.

What separates athletes who rise to the moment from those who shrink from it? Coach Liz breaks down Performing Under Pressure and explains how to see a big moment as a challenge rather than a crisis, and how to make a high-stakes moment feel smaller. She also tells the story of a solo pre-race pep talk in a port-a-potty.

Elizabeth Svoboda’s The Art of Pacing is about balancing short-term demands with long-term thriving. Coach Liz discusses choosing rest as a form of principled dissent. She also explains why the “struggle phase” at the start of a run or a project is normal, and why it’s not a sign to quit.

David Epstein’s Inside the Box argues that constraints make us better and that more freedom doesn’t mean more possibility. Coach Liz shares how that applies to training: cutting distractions during workouts to sharpen focus, and why limits can lead to better races. Plus, find out whether you’re a “satisficer” or a maximizer.

Nir Eyal’s Beyond Belief is about getting out of your own head and making forward progress. Coach Liz explains why beliefs aren’t facts, how anticipation affects what the body can do, and why stacking small wins builds the confidence big goals require.

Leslie John’s Revealing: The Underrated Power of Oversharing makes the case that openness deepens connection. Coach Liz explains how sharing thoughts and feelings helps carry the emotional load of striving, what silence communicates, and why sharing makes us more human.

Jennifer Breheny Wallace’s Mattering is about the need to feel seen and to know we add value. Coach Liz talks about recognizing the difference you make, how she defines success, and the “impact file” she keeps for hard days.

Brad Stulberg’s The Way of Excellence argues that excellence feels more like ease than strain. Coach Liz explores why values matter, and how curiosity, discipline, and reflection help athletes, leaders, and parents keep growing. She also explains why this book stands out from the crowded personal-development shelf.

The first non-fiction episode of Miles of Books. Coach Liz dives into Olga Khazan’s Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change and what it means for athletes: why openness helps on race day, how conscientiousness supports consistent training, and how being a little more outgoing can deepen your connection to the sport. She also shares three more favorites on change and time: How to Change, Four Thousand Weeks, and Unwinding Anxiety.

A discussion of two books exploring the relationship between courage, possibility, and what gets in the way of both. Coach Liz connects the themes to endurance sport and the mental architecture of athletic growth. For athletes who want to think bigger about what they’re capable of.

Built around Warren Berger’s book on the power of inquiry, this episode explores how asking better questions changes outcomes — in sport, in coaching, and in life. A natural fit for a coach whose entire philosophy is built on curiosity.

Two books about the science and practice of small changes that compound into meaningful results. Coach Liz draws direct lines between behavioral research and the daily decisions that determine whether athletes actually reach their goals. The framework for building consistency that doesn’t rely on willpower.

Two of the most acclaimed books on elite performance and mastery. Coach Liz explores how the principles of mental performance and deep skill development apply to endurance athletes at every level. Essential reading for any athlete serious about the inner game of sport.

A pairing that explores creativity, identity, and reclaiming the parts of yourself that get lost in the grind of performance. Coach Liz connects these ideas to the athlete who trains so hard they forget why they started. A meaningful conversation for anyone who has ever felt the joy draining out of a sport they once loved.

Will It Make the Boat Go Faster? is one of Coach Liz’s most-referenced books — a framework for ruthless clarity about what actually matters. This episode explores legacy, decision-making under pressure, and the one question every athlete should ask before every training choice. If you only listen to one Miles of Books episode, make it this one.

A timely conversation about stillness, solitude, and the lost art of being alone with your thoughts — which endurance athletes do more than almost anyone. Coach Liz reflects on what long training hours have taught her about the value of quiet. Unexpectedly profound.

A fitting close to the inaugural year of Miles of Books — two works about inner direction, purpose, and the journey of becoming who you are meant to be. Coach Liz reflects on a year of reading and what it has clarified about coaching, competing, and living well.

Coach Liz joins Dr. Carrie Pagliano for a wide-ranging conversation about coaching female athletes across life stages — from pregnancy and postpartum return to sport, to fueling, strength training, and raising young female athletes with healthy relationships to their bodies. A must-listen for any active woman navigating performance alongside the demands of motherhood.

A deep dive into Coach Liz’s journey through 25+ years in endurance sport — as a competitor, a coach, and a business builder. In this conversation with Coach Michelle Lake, Liz shares what she has learned about the long game of athletic development, the evolution of her coaching philosophy, and what it means to build something that lasts. For coaches and athletes alike, this is a rare and honest conversation about what a life in this sport actually looks like from the inside.