Relentless Effort: Winning the LA Marathon by 0.01 Seconds, Training Tactics, & Marathon Mindset with Nathan Martin

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

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