In this week’s episode, Katie and Elena sit down with coach, elite runner, physical therapist, and friend of the pod Hanna Prunty. Hanna shares some exciting news—that she and Coach Kevin are expecting their first child in June!—and dives deep into the journey she followed in order to optimize her hormonal health for pregnancy. Hanna shares powerful reflections on why more isn’t always better, how challenging it can be to make major changes to your fitness and fueling routine when you are operating at peak performance in endurance sports, and the lessons she learned about balance and herself along the way. She also tells us about how she integrates her training and career as a physical therapist with her current coaching role, and how she approaches helping athletes achieve their goals from a standpoint of health, wellness, and longevity in sport. This inspiring episode has something for everyone. Check it out!
Coaching and Training Insights:
Katie:
Value of looking for patterns/trends rather than single instances to track fitness and recovery.
Goal: identify **patterns** that signal a yellow flag before anything turns into a red flag
Metrics I find useful -- workouts:
Objective -- HR, pace during workouts
Objective -- Relationship between HR and pace
Subjective -- overall ‘how did this feel?’
Subjective -- motivation to get out the door
Subjective -- words/energy in TP comments (how many exclamation points, how many times I’m saying the word ‘tired’)
Metrics I find useful -- recovery:
Sleep quality and quantity
Resting HR + HRV
Bonus -- Oura ring daytime stress, ‘recovery index’
Newly tracking weekly -- subjective ratings of:
Mood (1-10)
Training enjoyment (1-10)
Fatigue (1-10)
Fueling (1-10)
Related: Shout out to athletes crushing their TP comments!
Elena:
How to think about cross training→ what style resonates most with you:
1) Fully basing on seasons
You like to focus on one thing at a time and go all in on that
2) “Bonus-joy” approach
You have limited access to some of your favorite cross training modalities
You trust yourself to listen to your body and mind when you need to mix it up
Some helpful ways to support this→ planning ahead for when you have time blocks for skiing/cross training, having a strong multisport community of people planning fun activities that you can hop in on
3) Multi-sport consistency (kind of the life of a triathlete)
Great for injury prone athletes
Great for balancing different goals
From my blog: There is certainly no “right” approach to cross-training. I’ve learned that it’s an ever-shifting individual journey defined by asking myself the same questions over and over again: Am I having fun? Do I feel good? What sounds exciting to me this week? What do I want out of this season? This year? And what obstacles do I know I have to work around? My hope is that I can use cross-training as a tool to embrace the child athlete in me, finding play in a variety of ways. And maybe, by having fun with the journey, we all can continue to surprise ourselves with our performances as well.
Challenge of the Week:
Elena: 10 minute morning walk first thing!
Katie: Post-workout stretch!
Hanna: Get out of bed as soon as your alarm hits to a less stressful morning
Gear Pick of the Week:
Elena: Leki Ultratrail fx.ones
Katie: Patagonia Micro Puff hoody