Michelle Baxter on Sustainable Progression, Pre-Workout Fueling, and Finding Your Running Corner

What does it take to keep getting faster after kids and into your 40s? In Episode 5 of The V.O2 Podcast, host Brian Rosetti sits down with Minnesota-based athlete, coach, and top V.O2 Marketplace seller Michelle Baxter (@therunnersplate).Michelle shares her athletic journey from running D3 college track to running a sub-3:00 marathon and setting new PRs after age 40. She reveals the simple, single nutrition shift that eliminated years of chronic injuries, how she works with a sports psychologist to tackle marathon mindset, and what it really looks like to balance high-level training with raising a family. Plus, Michelle breaks down how she uses V.O2 to streamline training for her 1-on-1 athletes and build virtual community programs like her winter "Bring on the BRRR!" challenge.Key Topics Covered:-Sustainable Performance: Lowering race times and setting PRs in your 40s.-The Nutrition Game-Changer: Why pre-run fueling and post-workout carbs changed her injury trajectory.-Mindset & Mental Health: Overcoming negative self-talk and the impact of losing an in-person running community after a cross-country move.-Coaching & Business: How V.O2 pace calculations save hours on plan creation, allowing coaches to focus on athlete communication and feedback.-Winter Motivation: Building community through virtual group challenges and staying active during cold-weather months.Follow & Connect: Follow Michelle on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@therunnersplate Check out her coaching on V.O2: ⁠⁠ https://vdoto2.com/running-coach/michelle-baxter🎵 Credit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mike Quinn, Reforming⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to The V.O2 Podcast on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen for bi-monthly conversations with world-class coaches, athletes, and industry leaders.

In Episode 4 of The V.O2 Podcast, host Brian Rosetti sits down with 2:12 marathoner and 1:03 half marathoner Will Norris. Will details his journey from a rural Iowa high school runner and NAIA athlete to achieving a 6+ VDOT jump post-collegiately. We dive deep into practical marathon and half marathon training insights, including why stacking consistent training blocks beats chasing shortcuts, the role of long single runs over doubles, executing key 90-minute goal pace sessions, and using VDOT to train where you are today rather than where you want to be. Follow & Connect: Follow Will on Instagram: ⁠⁠@willdnorris Start coaching or training on V.O2: ⁠vdoto2.com⁠🎵 Credit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Mike Quinn, Reforming⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to The V.O2 Podcast on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen for bi-monthly conversations with world-class coaches, athletes, and industry leaders.

In Episode 3, we sit down with Renee Gunning, head distance coach at William Penn Charter School. Coach Gunning shares how she transformed a local program into the #16 team in the nation and state champions, missing a national championship berth by just three seconds. We discuss balancing high-level competitive ambitions with athlete longevity, using VDOT to streamline individualized training, avoiding the trap of social media overtraining, and why raising the floor for your JV athletes is the secret to elevating your entire team.Follow & Connect: Follow Penn Charter XC on Instagram: ⁠@pcgxctf Start coaching or training on V.O2: vdoto2.com🎵 Credit: ⁠⁠⁠Mike Quinn, Reforming⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to The V.O2 Podcast on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen for bi-monthly conversations with world-class coaches, athletes, and industry leaders.

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_amStart coaching or training on V.O2: ⁠vdoto2.com⁠🎵 Credit: ⁠Mike Quinn, Reforming⁠Subscribe 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: @runningcoachmeganLearn more about NGU Coaching: Never Give Up CoachingStart coaching or training on V.O2: vdoto2.com🎵 Credit: Mike Quinn, ReformingSubscribe 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