evokecast

Join Coaches Andy Reed and Kylee Toth for our August installment of Ask Evoke, where they answer training questions submitted by members of the Evoke Endurance community.
To submit your own training questions, or if you would like to learn more about the Evoke Endurance community, visit our Reddit forum: https://www.reddit.com/r/evokeendurance/, or contact us here.

Episode Guide
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:53 Role of plyometrics training in ultra-running
00:05:18 Improving down-hill resilience 
00:12:22 Scheduling around an inter-block break from training
00:15:14 Evoke methodology relevant to cycling 
00:22:25 Aerobic deficiency and adding weight 
00:24:55 Chronic Training Load’s relationship to volume
00:28:25 Favorite workouts
00:29:40 Pre-race capstone runs 
00:34:20 Back-to-back long runs 
00:36:57 Utilizing zone 1 for fast athletes
00:38:30 An elite’s staple workouts for 100 mile runs
00:43:38 Improving at running hills 
00:46:36 Beginner tips for improving aerobic capacity
00:48:05 Day-to-day heart rate & RPE variation  
00:53:12 LT1 speed vs LT2 speed 
00:53:55 Training muscular endurance on Zwift
00:54:48 Mitochondrial function
00:55:39 Thoughts on stretching
00:59:45 Muscular endurance benefits for flats
01:01:10 Rucking in zone 2
01:02:02 Choosing specific races
01:03:57 Thoughts on agility 
01:05:15 ME training and tapering
01:08:07 Recent Tour de France outcomes
01:12:31 Tempo vs. threshold training for ultras
01:16:19 Strength training for marathons
01:22:18 Outro and thanks

Join coach Larry Goldie for a conversation with Jam McManus. Jam is a high-altitude mountaineer who recently summited Lhotse without the use of supplemental oxygen, making him the first Irish person to do so. He has now set his sights on becoming the first Irish person to climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, in 2027.
Earth’s Edge Guides: https://earths-edge.com
To submit your own training questions, or if you would like to learn more about the Evoke Endurance community, visit our Reddit forum: https://www.reddit.com/r/evokeendurance/, or contact us here.
Episode Guide
00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:25 Jam’s early experiences with climbing  
00:10:50 First experiences climbing in the Himalayas
00:12:36 First no oxygen 8000 meter peak attempts
00:15:14 Lessons learned from climbing without supplemental oxygen
00:24:34 How being above 8000 meters without oxygen feels
00:34:23 History of altitude exposure quickens later acclimatizations
00:41:22 Attempting Lhoste instead of Makalu in 2026
00:44:35 Jam’s training and preparation for Lhotse
00:52:20 Mental training
00:58:34 Risk calculations while guiding
01:03:15 Learning from failure
01:06:11 Big picture lessons from climbing and training
01:11:43 Outro and thanks

Join Coaches Maya Seckinger and Seth Keena for our July installment of Ask Evoke, where they answer training questions submitted by members of the Evoke Endurance community.
To submit your own training questions, or if you would like to learn more about the Evoke Endurance community, visit our Reddit forum: https://www.reddit.com/r/evokeendurance/, or contact us here.
Episode Guide
00:00:00 Introduction
00:04:34 Tracking and qualifying fatigue
00:09:44 Improving aerobic base with limited training time
00:11:30 Managing down-hill volume
00:14:46 Does zone 1 training create a positive training stimulus
00:18:19 Training down-hills for a specific race
00:19:27 Aging well
00:20:05 Intensity runs during a base phase
00:22:42 Training zone 2 & intensity in the same day
00:25:03 Best trail running home towns
00:27:01 Using stair climber machines for aerobic base work
00:28:50 Usefulness of nose breathing vs. MAF
00:32:19 VO2 max vs. lactate threshold for predicting performance above 8k meters
00:36:06 Increasing durability and fatigue resistance for a 59 year old
00:39:00 Finding down-hill race pace & tactics
00:42:39 Key to aerobic base training
00:43:48 Speed during aerobic base work
00:44:57 Managing training load for both mountain biking and running 
00:47:25 Physical preparation for a professional guide exam
00:52:55 Using TrainingPeaks training stress metrics
00:56:41 Outro and thanks

Join Coaches Scott Johnston and Vince Paikowski for a deep dive on strength training for the endurance athlete, with an emphasis on muscular endurance training. See episode guide for topics covered. 
Learn more about muscular endurance:
https://evokeendurance.com/resources/muscular-endurance-all-you-need-to-know/
To submit your own training questions, or if you would like to learn more about the Evoke Endurance community, visit our Reddit forum: https://www.reddit.com/r/evokeendurance/, or contact us here.
Episode Guide
00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:42 Vince’s discovery of the importance of strength training
00:03:23 Evoke’s applied methodology
00:05:09 Discovery of the effectiveness of muscular endurance
00:11:25 Science is downstream of anecdotal evidence
00:18:22 Indicators of poor muscular endurance
00:22:23 Definition of terms: strength; power; muscular endurance
00:26:08 Applications of muscular endurance
00:29:11 How strong is strong enough?
00:42:26 Specificity and muscular recruitment 
00:50:40 Muscular endurance is not the end state, specificity is 
00:59:40 Muscle fiber types and the physiological ‘dimmer switch’
01:13:47 What is missing from an individual athlete’s training?
01:19:57 Training tools and use-cases
01:24:27 Muscular endurance training methods
01:36:06 Perceptive cues common to muscular endurance stimulus 
01:45:45 Conflating elite athletes' recent training with event success
01:58:03 Final Thoughts

Join Coach Scott Johnston for a conversation with Paul Booth, who works alongside Scott as a Performance Nutritionist on the teams of 2025 UTMB 1st-place finishers Tom Evans and Ruth Croft. In this discussion, they explore how metabolic processes are measured in the lab, and look at the latest research on carbohydrate fueling and fat utilization in ultra runners. See episode guide for topics covered. 
To submit your own training questions, or if you would like to learn more about the Evoke Endurance community, visit our Reddit forum: https://www.reddit.com/r/evokeendurance/, or contact us here.

Episode Guide
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:27 Can metabolism be measured through calorimetry?
00:04:31 Are VO2 Max tests capable of measuring metabolic equilibrium?
00:10:57 Applying lab derived energy usage to variable terrain
00:16:58 Recent study of carbohydrate utilization in ultra running
00:31:34 Does carbohydrate introduction shift substrate utilization?
00:33:22 Is high carbohydrate intake inhibiting fat utilization?
00:42:43 Fat utilization vs. carbs during races
00:46:01 Does high carbohydrate intake cause carbohydrate dependence?
00:53:32 Pitfalls of reliance on widely available metabolic testing machines
01:03:27 Tips for feeding between and during runs
01:16:16 Final thoughts