Alex Hutchinson is a former professional Canadian Athlete (a 1500m runner) and is now an award-winning writer specializing in the intersection of science and athletic performance. Holding a Physics PhD, he brings an exacting scientific mind to endurance performance and much more to his work for Outside magazine, Runner's World, The New York Times, and his own books, 'Endure' and 'The Explorers Gene.'

For serious endurance athletes and practitioners, Alex's work can be trusted for rigorous research, analysis, and extrapolation. His first interview with a Sport Psychologist, we explore his own athletic experience and interaction, and work with Sport Psychologists over the years. We chat about everything from British Cross Country to belief effect, elite performance, and his writing. We hope you enjoy the conversation and can apply it to your own endurance activity.

Thibo David is a personal trainer and coach based in London, who works with global stars in sport, business, and touring musicians. Most famously, he has been working with pop star Harry Styles, who surprised both the running (and non-running!) world a few weeks ago in the Berlin Marathon, posting a hugely impressive sub-3 marathon in only his second attempt at the distance.

While Harry's efforts have rightly garnered the plaudits - he did the work himself after all - there has been less coverage in the press about the man behind creating the sufficient training, fitness, and resilience to allow Styles to smash his personal best by 25 minutes, on a stifling and unseasonably hard day. To find out more about the specific training, protocols, and workouts of his success, go to https://substack.com/home/post/p-174321236 but if you want to find out about the man and methods behind the success and learn how to run like Harry - then this is a completely different way of seeing the World, run training, and how to think about yourself as an athlete and performer. Thibo's approach using 'The Pouvoir method' is based on his time in the Green Berets in the French army, which might surprise you. As a sport scientist, it makes perfect sense, but this is very different from what you might expect!

His ethos is: "We assist ambitious Humans in recalibrating their bodies and minds so they can lead with clarity and precision under pressure."

We hope that your pre-conceptions are challenged and that you enjoy the show.

To find out more about Thibo, follow him on instagram at:

https://www.instagram.com/thibo_david

or go to his website to go in more detail and sign up to work with him:

https://pouvoir-method.com/

A one off special collaboration between ‘The Slice of Pie’ Psychology podcast and The Focused Mind. Host of SOP, Pete Jackson, interviews Endurance Mind Coaching founder, Stu Holliday, about his unique Endurance Mind management programme for runners, cyclists, and triathletes, called ‘The Unbreakable Athlete.’

Pete delves into to ask:
What is the programme?
Who is it for?

What psychological problems does it solve for endurance athletes?

How long does it take?
Why did you develop it?

What are the results like?

And, how does it benefit people who take the course and implement the training?

As a specialist in Sport Psychology for endurance athletes, Stuart has worked in the field for over 12 years and the modular course that athletes complete at the same time they are doing their training for endurance races, he knows what techniques from mainstream and sport psychology best help athletes ‘get out of their own way’ and maximise their potential to deliver their best results under pressure, with true confidence and consistency.

In the episode, Pete uses his psychological training and socratic questioning to find out the methodology behind Stuart’s approach to test it’s validity against research findings and best practice for elite sport with a programme that can benefit all.

If you are chasing targets for marathons, triathlons, sportives, or criteriums, this is an episode not to miss.

You can find out more about Stuart and about the Unbreakable Athlete programme at https://endurancemindcoaching.com or on instagram @endurancemindcoaching

You can listen back to Stuart’s first appearance on Slice of Pie at:

https://www.sliceofpiepodcast.com/987202/episodes/16876016-32-the-psychology-of-endurance-stuart-holliday

Professor Andy Lane’s article in the New York times, can be read here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/well/mind/sport-psychology-performance-tips.html
The R.E.S.I.S.T project can be found at:

https://resiststopping.wixsite.com/resist

More about Pete, his work as a Psychologist, and of course a link to his podcast, can be found at: https://www.petejackson.co.uk/

This was my previous episode with him:

Episode 32: https://www.sliceofpiepodcast.com/987202/episodes/16876016-32-the-psychology-of-endurance-stuart-holliday

Endurance Mind Coaching Founder, Stu Holliday, talks with Fraser MacDonald Oulds again, about the mental capacity that endurance athletes build not just in terms of physical, but also psychologically during build phases. We discuss practices that free up space, such as limiting social media, as well as growing capacity through emotional flexibility and broadening our training opportunities to allow for performance bests and improvements to occur.
A lot of what we discuss was covered in the classic book: Endure: Mind Body and the Curiously Elastic limits of Human Performance by Alex Hutchinson. In his opinion, one of the major factors we should consider endurance pain non-judgementally and as emotion free as possible. We hope that our conversation helps you think a little differently than before.

Endurance Mind Coaching Founder, Stu Holliday, talks with athlete, Fraser MacDonald Oulds again, about the mindset shift that has to occur when an athlete gets injured and needs to mentally pivot to rehabbing. As a Sport and Exercise Psychologist, sadly injury is an occupational hazard, but we can help athletes get favourable outcomes, expedited by individuals treating their rehab just like training, cultivating an optimistic mindset, avoiding spiralling into a mentally bad place. In this interview we explore how Fraser will use the Unbreakable Athlete training course to help him get back to competitive racing in a different way to most. The lessons within are universal, wherever you are in your training.

Endurance Mind Coaching Founder, Stu Holliday, talks with all round athlete, Fraser MacDonald Oulds, about how he has cultivated mindset shifts associated with improving his performance across his swimming, water polo, and running. Within running, from track and road transitioning more to hill, fell, and ultra distances.

Steve Hobbs (of The Milestone Pursuit run coaching company), speaks to Stu (Founder of Endurance Mind Coaching) about the benefits and things to learn about goalsetting, whatever level of endurance athlete you are.

Paul Benney describes himself as having spent 30 years at the coalface of music, media, and acid house.

If you’re into electronic music, you’ll likely know his work as a co-founder of seminal 90s magazine Jockey Slut and its associated club night, Bugged Out!, which began in Manchester 30 years ago. Since then, Bugged Out! has held residencies in Liverpool and London and now hosts a weekender event, next taking place in March 2026 in beautiful Bognor. Most recently, Bugged Out! curated a day celebrating its 30th anniversary at the Stonebridge tent at Glastonbury Festival.

After Jockey Slut folded in the 2000s, the spirit of the brand was revived post-pandemic as Disco Pogo — a more grown up electronic music print magazine published twice per year. It’s a coffee-table-quality publication featuring long-form writing on all things electronic music, both past and present. Disco Pogo has also published books on Andrew Weatherall, Daft Punk, and Aphex Twin.

As a journalist, editor, promoter, manager, record label founder, publisher, and distributor, Paul has remained constantly active. For the last five years, he has been developing a hybrid artist services company and media platform DMY.

In our conversation, we explore the mental health challenges that come with maintaining such boundless energy, especially after burning the candle at both ends in his 20s and early 30s. He shares how becoming a father, moving out of London to Leigh-on-Sea, and taking up cycling helped him adopt more sustainable physical and psychological habits.