Show Notes
In this episode of the Uphill Athlete Podcast, host Steve House is joined by in-house dietitian Alyssa Leib to explore the crucial role of nutrition in athletic recovery. They debunk common myths around overtraining and emphasize that under-recovery, often due to poor nutrition, is a very common issue. Alyssa highlights the importance of sufficient calorie, protein, and especially carbohydrate intake, along with timing meals around workouts to optimize performance and healing. They discuss recovery strategies like drinking milk before bed, magnesium supplementation, and using antioxidant-rich foods like tart cherry juice among others. They underscore that good nutrition and quality sleep are the foundation of successful recovery for mountain athletes.
Visit us at uphillathlete.com or write to us at [email protected] to connect with Alyssa and learn more about our nutrition offerings.
More from Uphill Athlete Podcast
Signed up for your first ultra? Coach Alexa Hasman, who has run 40+ ultras including seven 200-milers, joins Steve House to cover what first-timers need to know: why you don't need a road marathon first, how much runway to give yourself, why hiking is part of the plan, the minimum strength training that works, fueling, poles, dress rehearsals, and the two keys she wants you to remember: consistency and adaptability.
Buzz Burrell coined the term "fastest known time," and he's spent his life honoring the athletes who never tell anyone what they did. Steve House talks with Buzz about his 1969 run to Lake Michigan with no food, no water, and no one to tell; pushing multi-day FKTs on the Colorado Trail and the John Muir Trail; surviving a "widowmaker" heart blockage his doctors kept missing; and why, once goals and expectations fall away, what's left is simple: keep moving.
Trail running, climbing, skiing, riding: can you train for all of them without getting worse at each? Steve House and Director of Coaching Chantelle Robitaille share the framework Uphill Athlete coaches use with multi-sport athletes. Pick one priority per season, run an honest gap analysis, and harmonize your sports instead of balancing them. They also cover the interference effect, layering sports through the year, when to set one aside, and why strength training is non-negotiable.
Steve House talks with Dr. Eliza Sampey, a Doctor of Physical Therapy specializing in brain injury rehab, former professional endurance athlete, and concussion survivor herself about why mountain and endurance athletes so often underestimate head injuries, and what science-backed recovery actually looks like.
Steve House sits down with elite mountain athlete Kílian Jornet, calling in from his home in Norway, for a wide-ranging conversation about what draws people to high-risk mountain pursuits. They explore mountains not as a destination but as a sense of home and identity, the fine line between earned confidence and dangerous complacency, and how fear and euphoria can each distort decision-making in exposed terrain. Jornet reflects on his upbringing; being "born into the mountains," his mother's nighttime forest walks, a family trek across the Pyrenees; and how he's now passing that connection to nature on to his own children with his wife, Emily. The two discuss the blurred lines between mountaineering, alpinism, and running as labels; the philosophy behind going fast and light versus slow and immersive; and the particular psychology of "accepting" mortal risk versus fighting to survive an emergency. The conversation turns deeply personal as Kílian opens up about the loss of his friend and climbing partner Stefane Brosse and how grief and loss reshapes friendships, risk tolerance, and one's relationship with death across cultures. They close on parenthood, legacy, and the freeing realization that, ultimately, no one will be remembered. What matters is being present, honest, and good to the people around you now.