Episode 42: Stress + Rest = Growth: A Guided Breathwork Session for Mental Toughness
From The Infirmary | Fixing Broken Endurance Athletes by Campfire Endurance Coaching
March 27, 2026 · 30 min · Season 1 · Episode 42
About this episode
This episode explores the importance of managing discomfort for athletes and includes a guided breathwork session.
Most athletes swing between two bad options when things get hard: they back off because something in their brain, body, or heart says “too much,” or they panic, push too hard, and blow up. In this episode of The Infirmary we name the productive space between those two poles — the growth zone — and give you a practical tool to train your ability to stay there. Chris draws on his own racing career, including a painful lesson from Ironman Canada 2012, to explain why learning to sit with discomfort is a crucial and trainable skill, not a personality trait. The episode ends with a three-round guided breathwork session designed to put you face-to-face with that exact discomfort, so you can practice handling it before you're in a race or in a tough workout. Links mentioned in this episode: Campfire Endurance Substack: campfireendurance.substack.com Bend Camp 1:1 Coaching with Chris: campfireendurance.com
People in this episode
Host: Chris
Topics covered
- mental toughness
- breathwork
- athlete training
- discomfort management
- growth zone
Keywords
- stress
- rest
- growth
- breathwork
- endurance training
- mental skills
- athlete performance
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Campfire Endurance, Campfire Endurance Substack, Bend Camp, Campfire Endurance Coaching
More episodes of The Infirmary | Fixing Broken Endurance Athletes
- Episode 47: Justin Daerr on Intrinsic Motivation, Longevity vs. Performance, and Staying in the Game · June 4, 2026
- Episode 46: Fixing the Brick—Four Studies on Running Off the Bike · May 21, 2026 · 27 min
- Episode 45: Durability and Fatigue Resistance with Coaching Legend Joe Friel · May 7, 2026 · 1h 5m
- Episode 44: Triathlon Only Has Two Zones · April 23, 2026 · 50 min
- Episode 43: The Science of Sweat | How to Actually Fuel and Hydrate for Endurance with Tash Cooper-Smith · April 9, 2026 · 59 min
- Episode 41: “‘Metabolic Efficiency’ is Just a Fancy Term for Getting Fit w/Elite Endurance Coach Ryan Bolton · March 12, 2026 · 59 min
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