The V.O2 Podcast

In this episode, we sit down with the 2026 LA Marathon champion Nathan Martin. We relive his photo finish that shocked the running world and break down the exact mental grit required to pull off a late-race surge. We dive into his training approach with coach James McKirdy: managing energy over mileage, using VDOT data to adjust workouts, and his golden rules for avoiding the dreaded 20-mile wall. Whether you’re a high school athlete, a 3-hour marathoner, or a coach looking for real-world wisdom, Nathan's practical, effort-first mindset will transform how you approach race day. Follow & Connect: Follow Nathan Martin on Instagram: ⁠ @nim_i_am Start coaching or training on V.O2: ⁠ vdoto2.com ⁠ 🎵 Credit: ⁠ Mike Quinn, Reforming ⁠ Subscribe to The V.O2 Podcast on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen for bi-monthly conversations with world-class coaches, athletes, and industry leaders.

V.O2 kicks off the newly relaunched show with running coach Megan Cooke, founder of Never Give Up Coaching (NGU Coaching). Megan brings a unique background to the running world, having spent 25 years competing and coaching at the highest levels of D1 NCAA rowing (including head coach at Duke University) and representing Team USA. After transitioning to road racing, breaking 3:00 in the marathon, and launching her coaching business on the V.O2 platform, Megan built a thriving, waitlisted coaching business in less than two years. In this episode: Transitioning Elite Coaching Experience: How Megan leveraged decades of D1 rowing and high-performance physiology to launch a running coaching business without a traditional running resume. Authentic Social Media Content: Why raw "FaceTime-style" Instagram reels connect far better with athletes than polished graphics or sales pitches. Training Principles & Marathon Workouts: Megan's favorite workout structures (including mixing marathon pace with threshold work) and why aerobic patience is key to breaking goals. The "Human Edge" in Coaching: How she balances data-driven VDOT pacing on V.O2 with the emotional and mental support athletes need on race day. Debunking Marathon Myths: The biggest misconceptions around volume, injury prevention, and consistency. Follow & Connect: Follow Megan Cooke on Instagram: @runningcoachmegan Learn more about NGU Coaching: Never Give Up Coaching Start coaching or training on V.O2: vdoto2.com 🎵 Credit: Mike Quinn, Reforming Subscribe to The V.O2 Podcast on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen for bi-monthly conversations with world-class coaches, athletes, and industry leaders.

Ariane Hendrix is a VDOT Certified Coach and the 5th fastest U.S. born African American woman of all time in the marathon. She’s shown steady progress first running the event in 3:57 ten years ago. Recently, she placed third at the Bayshore Marathon in 2:42. Connect with Ari on her coaching profile page: https://coaches.vdoto2.com/ariane-hendrix-roach Follow her progress on Instagram @ari_hendrixroach . Music credit: Mike Quinn, Breakadawn

Sara Lopez is an athlete on V.O2 working with Ame For It Run Coaching. Recently, Sara has set new PRs of 1:13:53 (64 VDOT) in the half marathon and 32:59 10k (65.1). Both were road racing wins too. We learn in this episode how her pursuit to become a walk-on at BYU put her down a dark path and how she found her love of running and training again. Follow Sara's progress @saraannelilopez Music credit: Mike Quinn, Breakadawn

Blake Dircksen is a licensed physical therapist at Bespoke Treatments and assistant high school coach. In this episode we discuss the success he's having remote coaching his high school alma mater on V.O2. Blake is also offering free strength and mobility exercises for download on your V.O2 calendar. You can sign up for free here: https://coaches.vdoto2.com/blakedircksen We also discuss ankle injuries and our new Stats feature on the app.

Jason Martuscello is a researcher at BEESY Strategy, a behavioral science agency, conducting consumer and market research. After transforming his life by losing over 100 lbs. he became relentlessly determined to deeply understand the universal ingredients of behavior change. His weight loss has created a burning curiosity and passion to understand how we change and sustain behavior. In just four years Jason got into running and completing marathons. He has since completed three majors (NYC, Berlin and Boston) with a PR of 2:46. He currently works coach Dylan Belles on V.O2. Music Credit: Mike Quinn, Breakadawn

Pietro Gennenzi lives in Brooklyn, NY. Pietro is a musician and project engineer for acoustic architectural design firm Walters-Storyk Design Group. He recently completed his first marathon in 2:34:56 after only getting into running two years prior. The entire marathon build-up was a learning experience to say the least. In this episode we discuss: his background, living in Brooklyn, how he got into running, his progression as a runner to running 2:34 in Philly, how he executed the race, goals moving forward (break 2:30 in Chicago this year then complete World Majors). Connect with Pietro @ptr_gnz Music Credit: Mike Quinn, Breakadawn

Andie Cozzarelli has one of the highest VDOT scores on V.O2 for a female athlete. She represents Oiselle, UCAN, Athletes For Yoga, AltRed, and InsideTracker. Andie was a 2x All-American in the 10k at NC State and she qualified for the Olympic Trials in 2016 in the Marathon. She’s also a private coach on V.O2. You can view her coaching profile at: https://coaches.vdoto2.com/andie-cozzarelli In this episode we discuss: living and training in Raleigh, NC, her athletic story, troubleshooting and working through her health issues to get back on track, Athletes for Yoga, coaching and training towards a 2:37 marathon.

Chris Free is an athlete based out of Virginia Beach. He recently set a new PB winning the Louisiana Marathon on a negative split (2:38:56). Chris currently works with coach Dylan Belles on V.O2. In the past 10 years he's dropped almost 80 minutes off of his marathon time. In this episode we discuss how Chris got into running and what his training looks like, including the strength training routine that keeps him healthy. Currently, he's raising money for World Vision while training for the Berlin Marathon. Connect with Chris on Instagram @_cmfree . Music Credit: Mike Quinn, Breakadawn

Leah Rosenfeld is an athlete and coach based out of Flagstaff, AZ. She's a former DI college coach and now coaches online on V.O2, in-person at Team Run Flagstaff and through iFIT on NordicTrack. A longtime middle distance specialist with PRs of 4:18 for 1500m (64.6 VDOT) and 15:58 for 5k (64.7 VDOT), Leah has recently bumped up to ultra running winning her first trail races at XTERRA San Tan Trail Run, Queen Creek, AZ, the Soulstice Mountain Trail Run in Flagstaff, AZ and Imogene Pass Run in Telluride, CO. In this episode we discuss: her time coaching in Costa Rica with iFit, transitioning to trail with legend Rob Krar, how she got into running, transitioning from athlete to coach and more. Connect with Leah on her coaching profile ( https://coaches.vdoto2.com/leahrosenfeld ) and on Instagram @leahdanarosenfeld . Music Credit: Mike Quinn, Breakadawn

Tom Black is an athlete and coach based out of New York City. After working in Finance for several years Tom moved to NYC to pursue a career in fitness & fashion. He ran his first marathon in 2017 and before too long he was running every single day and going for 1-2 hour runs on the weekends. Since then, Tom has increased his mileage from around 20-30 miles to 70-90 miles and cut his marathon time down from 3:20 to 2:31. He's also gotten VDOT Certified and is now helping other athletes on V.O2. In this episode we discuss: his backstory, living and training in NYC (and vying for limited turf with cyclists), how he's improved over the years, his negative split in Houston running 2:31:54 and what he's learned along the way to now coaching athletes. Connect with Tom on his coaching profile ( https://coaches.vdoto2.com/tom-black ) and on Instagram @tom.r.black . Music Credit: Mike Quinn, Breakadawn

Christina Welsh is an athlete based out of St. Petersburg, FL. She recently set PRs of 2:33 (64.8 VDOT) in the marathon and 1:15:36 (62.3 VDOT) for a half marathon. Learn more about her incredible progression from her 3:29 marathon debut in 2019 to qualifying for the next Olympic Trials. Follow Christina @christinajwelsh . Music Credit: Mike Quinn, Breakadawn

Ann Centner lives and trains in Tallahassee, FL where she's pursuing her PhD in Nutrition Sciences. Ann also has a masters in Food Science and Technology from the University of Georgia. In the past year Ann has set personal bests of 1:13:45 (64.1 VDOT) in the half marathon and 2:38:31 (62.2 VDOT) in the marathon. In this episode we discuss: living and training in Tallahassee, her big improvement over past few years, rediscovering her joy for running after a bad experience in college and going after the Olympic Trials while trying to focus more on the process. Connect with Ann @ann_marie_ce on Instagram.

Dylan Belles is a distance runner and coach based in Flagstaff, AZ. He's currently one of the highest volume runners on V.O2 and also one of the most highly rates coaches on the platform. At the 2022 Houston Marathon he qualified for his second Olympic Trials with his 2:17:26 (6th American, 73.4 VDOT). Connect with Dylan at https://coaches.vdoto2.com/Dylan-Belles . In this episode: training leading up to Houston, living/training in Flagstaff, AZ, how he got into running/coaching, goals for 2022 and beyond and how he plans to approach them. [Please note: Due to technical difficulties volume is low on our host's audio using a back-up file].

Ron Loewen is an athlete and coach based out of Langley, British Columbia. He’s also a certified personal trainer with a specialization in biomechanics. He founded @GrittyRunClub , “running for the community,” and manages his private athletes on V.O2. In 2021, Ron was one of the highest mileage athletes on our platform so we connected to gain insights into his training. “I’m obsessively interested in optimizing my own running patterns, economy of movement, and staying injury free.” Read more at news.vdoto2.com .

Kim Conley is a professional runner and coach based out of Flagstaff, AZ. She has represented the United States eight times, including at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. She holds PRs of 15:05.20 5k, (69.2 VDOT), 31:35.88 10k (68.5 VDOT) and 1:09:44 Half Marathon (68.4 VDOT). In this episode we discuss: living and training at altitude, what it's like to now coach recreational athletes, her amazing 4-year progression from 80th at NCAA in 2008 to Olympian in the 5,000 meters in 2012, and of course, her incredible lean at the tape at the U.S. Trials. Connect on Instagram @kfconley or at kimfconley.com .

John Reniewicki is professional runner at Under Armour and a former Assistant Cross Country Coach at Arizona State University. As a collegiate athlete John broke the Arizona State University school record in the 10K and has since improved his PR to 28:15 (78.2 VDOT). He’s entering his second year of professional running and currently working hard to prepare for the national championships. In this episode we discuss: His new sponsorship and coaching influences What his training and daily routines look like His experiences dealing with and managing injuries Goals for 2022 and beyond What he’s grateful for at this time Connect with John via his V.O2 Marketplace profile at: https://coaches.vdoto2.com/John-Reniewicki or on Instagram @john_reniewicki .

Jared Hazen is an ultra runner and coach based in Flagstaff, AZ. He still holds the second fastest time ever at Western States (14:26) when he placed second behind Jim Walmsley in 2019. He’s been a competitive runner for the last 15 years, including first place finishes at Lake Sonoma 50 Miler, JFK 50 Mile and the Oil Creek 100. In this episode we discuss: -His quick transition from running in high school to ultra stardom -What his training and daily routines look like -His experience dropping out at Western States and what he learned from it -Goals for 2022 and beyond -What he’s grateful for at this time Connect with Jared via his V.O2 Marketplace profile at: https://coaches.vdoto2.com/jared-hazen

Jessica Hofheimer is the founder of Pace of Me , an online coaching business helping athletes of all ages and experience levels, including her custom artwork for runners. She is an RRCA and VDOT Certified Coach and currently coaches her private clients on VDOT O2. As a young woman fresh out of college, Jess struggled with depression influenced by a lack of self-belief and sense of purpose. Immersing herself in running empowered her to feel healthy, happy and strong. Since then she has completed over 20 marathons (ranging from 5:58 to 3:11) and countless other races from the mile to 50 miles. After a decade of being a distance runner (and getting married and having two kids), she decided to learn more about the science and principles behind running and racing your best. She got her first coaching certification in 2010 and she’s been coaching athletes of all abilities ever since. In this episode we discuss: -Her move to Raleigh and juggling work/family/virtual school during pandemic -Starting and growing her online coaching business Pace Of Me -Blending her passions, art and coaching (connect @paceofme ) -Her coaching philosophy and how she serves her athletes with a holistic approach Producer: Andre Laboy Song: Breakadawn , by Mike Quinn

Stan Linton is a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. In June 2019 he ran 2:18:45 at the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN. His 27-minute personal best at Grandma’s earned him a spot at the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials. He would go on to place 91st at the Olympic Trials despite not being ranked in the top 200. Since the Olympic Trials he has set personal bests in the 800m, 5000m, and half marathon. While training on his own as a freshman in college Linton was determined to walk onto the cross country and track teams at Florida St. University. Linton started reading “Daniels' Running Formula” to learn more about training and devise his own training plans. In March of 2014, Linton ran 15:04 in the FSU Relays, which earned him a spot on the FSU roster. During his time running for the Seminoles, Linton transformed from local high school standout, to one of the best runners in the South Region. In his senior year, Linton picked up All-ACC and All-South Region honors in cross country, helping the Seminoles win the DI South Region Championship and advancing to the NCAA Division I XC Championships. Current personal bests: -5000m (Track) – 14:25 (Nov 2020, Solo Time Trial) -Half Marathon – 1:04:31 (Jan 2021, Las Vegas Gold Half) -Full Marathon – 2:18:45 (June 2019, Grandma’s Marathon) In this episode we discuss: -His experience in the Navy and fitness standards -Settings PRs during the pandemic -His athletic story and how he trained prior to reading Daniels’ Running Formula -His success in college and beyond and his keys to going from 2:45 to 2:18 in the marathon Producer: Andre Laboy Song: Breakadawn , by Mike Quinn