Wish you were tougher mentally?  Tough enough to achieve some goals that may throw mental or physical road blocks in your way?

Dr. Duncan Simpson  is Assistant Professor in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology and is the Coordinator of the Undergraduate Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology Program.  He joins The Nation to explain how research has uncovered 10 ways you can become mentally tough.

Here is our first podcast with : "Getting in Your Head"

Keira Henninger is a Mom, elite ultra-runner, race director, nutritionist, coach and amateur chef.  Whew! 

She joins The Nation to talk about her struggle, diagnosis and recovery from adrenal fatigue.  You can read more about her story HERE.  She praises her Doctor, Dr. Alex Tuggle for listening and showing her a path to repairing her adrenal glands and return to the activity level she loves.

Find out more about 

Divas & Dudes Running Club

Women's Trail Running & Nutrition

Join her at one of her many RACES

This is the first in the series of podcasts talking about SIMPLE RULES.  Let's face it, trail and ultrarunning can be very complex, especially when the adrenaline is pumping, the legs and mind are weary, or the sun sets on a early morning start.  Kathleen Eisenhardt, a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford, explains the advantages of developing simple rules for life and business in a podcast that we recently listened to.  We extrapolated her premise to the sport we love.

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iRunFar.com has been entertaining and educating trail and ultrarunners for 11 years.  Founder, Bryon Powell, joins The Nation to discuss his latest book, co-authored by Meghan Hicks, "Where the Road Ends: A Guide to Trail Running"  Meghan and Bryon rely on their decades of trail experience to help the beginner and the veteran trail runner excel and enjoy the trail more.

 Meghan and Bryon working hard at Western States 100

Find more information about "Relentless Forward Progress"

Check out the photos on TrailPorn.com

Warren Pole reporting on his 3.3 Lessons Learned from the 33 Shake American Tour.

The Nation's East-Coast producer and favorite headmaster, Andy Jones-Wilkins, joins a lively discussion on over training.  

• How to recognize it (in yourself and your friends) 
• How to avoid it
• How to come back from it

Some key words that we talk about:

• Puddle of Muck
• Eeyore-ish
• Blitzkrieg
• Brain Housing Group
• Conditioning
• Blubber

Join AJW in his Taproom here

Author, nutritionist, endurance athlete and coach,MattFitzgerald, joins The Nation again.  Mattrecently competed in the grand daddy of them all, Boston Marathon,again just a few short weeks after completing his first 50-milerace, American River50,  We discuss his transition to 50 and itrolls into what is different between a marathon and 50 miler.

Check out Matt's DQS App.

Here is the link to his latest book, if you haven't read hislatest book, "How Bad Do you Want It?Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle"

Warren and Erica Pole, co-founders of 33Shake (no, not a European dance move), join The Nation on their North American adventure tour to educate us on the nutrition industry and introduce us to their revolutionary new gel.

This face to face interview in Studio G to talk about their tour, how 33 shake can help your performance, and some of their experience on the tour thus far.

Follow the tour HERE and the latest from 33 Shake on social sites: Facebook and Twitter

Every runner has a mentor.  Dan Williams is a mentor for more people than he realizes.  Imagine your training partner is Ann Trason, as you work through strategies to negotiate a 100 Miles through heat, hills and miscellaneous chaos. After countless miles, mishaps and success you end up with some serious trail knowledge.  

Now imagine sitting down and talking to them.  One wearing a 2000 mile silver buckle and the other, owner of a a-one-of-a-kind 1000 Mile silver buckle converted by WS into a bracelet.  Dan and Ann drop some of this knowledge on this podcast.  This is one for the archives.  Thank you Dan and Ann!  

Special co-hosts Sally McRae and Ann Thilges. 

We start with the premise, "There must be more to this, it can't be just exercise."  We hear takes from guests Ann, Zach, Mike and Karis.

We love to run.  What else do we love about our sport?

Has your crew or pacer ever stretched the truth to get you to perform better?  Have you ever wondered if you could push yourself just a little bit more?  Matt Laye is an endurance athlete and PhD in medical physiology and an assistant professor of health and human performance at The College of Idaho.  In his recent article in Ultrarunning Magazine, Matt explains that our mental potential might still be underestimated.

Visit Matt's Blog: Laying It Down

Follow Matt on Facebook and on Twitter

Here is the Working Memory and Spacial Attention Training Game