What Every Athlete Can Learn from Elite Distance Runners

What Every Athlete Can Learn from Elite Distance Runners

From excellence, actually by Steve Magness, Brad Stulberg, & Clay Skipper

April 16, 2026 · 46 min

About this episode

The episode explores insights from elite distance runners that can benefit all athletes, covering training methods, mindset, and coaching dynamics.

Today, Clay taps into Steve's wisdom as a long-time running coach—which doesn't mean you have to be a runner to get something out of it. The episode covers the most efficient type of aerobic training for any athlete (hint: it's not Zone 2 or HIIT), the mindset and mentality that sets elite runners apart, what makes for a great coach-athlete relationship, how much mileage you need to maximize your performance, super shoes, and, yes, even running influencers. Plus: Steve talks about his truly unhinged high school treadmill workouts. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase:  drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling) - Subscribe to  The Growth Equation newsletter -  Join The Growth Equation Academy - If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android PocketCasts YouTube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

People in this episode

Hosts: Steve Magness, Brad Stulberg, Clay Skipper

Topics covered

  • aerobic training
  • elite runners
  • coach-athlete relationship
  • performance
  • running influencers

Keywords

  • aerobic training
  • elite runners
  • performance
  • super shoes
  • running influencers

Sponsors

LMNT

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