Welcome to VOOM Performance – the podcast exploring the people, stories, and ideas shaping endurance sport and outdoor adventure.
From nutrition, health, and performance to diversity on the trails, race director insights, and inspiring athlete journeys, we speak to experts, athletes, and industry leaders to uncover what it takes to perform at your best.
Whether you're training for your next event, seeking new challenges, or simply passionate about the outdoors, VOOM Performance delivers practical advice, fresh perspectives, and inspiring conversations to fuel your next adventure.
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Why does injury so rarely arrive the way you expect it to?
Ankle sprains that quietly change how you move years later. Knee pain in elite athletes that isn't really about "bad form." A right way to run that, on closer inspection, doesn't really exist.
In this episode of the VOOM Performance Podcast, running rehab specialist and coach Paul Tierney joins Mel Berry to unpack one of the trickiest problems in endurance sport: why injuries happen, why they're rarely as simple as "you're moving wrong," and what to actually do about it.
This is a deep, practical conversation about treating running as a movement skill that's continually refined rather than something fixed with a cookie-cutter drill. Paul talks through the polarised (80/20) training debate and where it breaks down for time-poor athletes, whether back-to-back long training days are worth the injury risk, why so many elite runners seem to pick up knee injuries around the same time, and the role of "movement degeneracies" - the subtle variations in how your foot hits the ground that keep you robust over decades of running. He also answers a series of listener questions from Matt, a 58-year-old masters athlete, on cycling as cross-training, isometric versus traditional strength work, and ageing as a runner.
Paul is a coach and running rehab specialist with over 20 years of experience, a former Wainwrights record holder and Lakeland 100 winner, and a former inter-county hurler with Cork in his native Ireland. He runs Missing Link Coaching in Ambleside, Cumbria, alongside his partner and fellow international mountain runner Sarah McCormack, and also works out of a physio clinic in the Lake District one or two days a week, specialising in the technical and physiological development of trail and road runners.
Whether you're managing a current niggle, trying to figure out how much of your training week should be easy versus hard, or just want a more useful mental model for injury than "fix your form," this episode has something for you.
In this episode you'll learn
Why running is better treated as a movement skill to keep refining than a "correct" technique to install
What the 80/20 polarised training debate actually means for someone with limited hours in the week
Whether back-to-back long training days help or hurt when you're training for a 50k-plus ultra
How cycling can be used to build engine and manage injury risk as a masters athlete
Isometric versus traditional strength training, and why "run-specific ISOs" can be a powerful (if divisive) tool
Why so many elite athletes seem to pick up knee injuries around the same time, and what "movement degeneracies" have to do with it
How differential learning, varying technique deliberately instead of drilling one "correct" way, can be used to teach pole technique and running form
How to build a simple traffic-light system for deciding whether to train through a niggle
Why you should listen
It's easy to go looking for the one drill, the one cue, or the one biomechanical fix that will keep you injury-free. Paul's argument is that no such thing exists, and that chasing it can do more harm than good. Instead, this conversation gives you a genuinely useful way of thinking about coordination, robustness, and why your body's ability to subtly change how it moves is a strength, not a flaw to be corrected. Paul's straight-talking, no-BS approach to coaching, backed by two decades of working with athletes of every level, makes this essential listening for anyone managing a niggle, building a strength routine, or just trying to train smarter for longer.
If you enjoy this episode of the VOOM Performance Podcast, please subscribe, leave us a review and share it with someone who would benefit from Paul's insights.
Resources & Links
Learn More About VOOM Nutrition
VOOM Nutrition creates science-backed sports nutrition products designed for endurance athletes, helping support energy, hydration, recovery, and performance across training and racing.
Whether you're training for your next ultra, marathon, sportive or open water swim, Voom Nutrition helps you fuel smarter so you can perform at your best.
Paul Tierney is a running rehab specialist and coach with over 20 years of experience, a former inter-county hurler with Cork, and the Wainwrights record holder and a Lakeland 100 winner. He runs Missing Link Coaching with his partner Sarah McCormack, working with athletes of all levels on technical and physiological development for trail and road running, alongside rehab work out of a physio clinic in the Lake District.
If you're getting into, or already established in, trail and ultra running and want coaching or rehab support, this is where to find Paul, Sarah and the Missing Link team.
What happens when you stop putting a limit on yourself?
Four hours' sleep a night, 40 degree heat, wildfires closing the trail in front of her. And somewhere in the middle of it all, the fastest human being, man or woman, ever to cross the Alps on foot.
In this episode of the VOOM Performance Podcast, record-breaking ultrarunner and coach Sophie Grant joins Mel Berry to talk through her extraordinary Via Alpina Fastest Known Time: 2,000km, eight countries, and the equivalent of climbing Everest from sea level twelve times, completed in 28 days 17 hours, smashing both the women's and men's previous records.
This is a raw, honest conversation about what it actually takes to hold together body and mind over 28 days of near-permanent movement: fuelling on 6-7,000 calories a day, running on three to four hours' sleep, navigating storms, wildfires and a genuinely terrifying lightning strike above the treeline. Sophie talks openly about how she fell back in love with her body after IVF and the grief of infertility, why consistency (not any single big session) is what actually makes an athlete, and why she doesn't want women's achievements measured only against men's.
Sophie is a UK Athletics Coach with Centurion Coaching, a GB international trail and mountain runner, and a former hairdresser turned two-decade veteran of ultra running, with results across everything from 5km to the 330km Tor des Géants and the Winter Spine Race. She also stars alongside fellow ultrarunner Stephanie Case in the documentary Off Course, which follows their parallel journeys through infertility and elite sport.
Whether you're training for your first ultramarathon, thinking about fuelling and foot care for long days in the mountains, or just want to hear what it really takes to break a record most people wouldn't attempt, this episode has something for you.
In this episode you'll learn
How Sophie went from a reluctant PE-dodging schoolkid and hairdresser to the fastest person ever across the Alps. Why consistency, not any single big session, is what actually builds a stronger runner. How she and her husband George planned and crewed a 2,000km, 28-day self-supported FKT. The realities of fuelling 6-7,000 calories a day and managing feet, sleep and decision-making on almost no rest. How going through IVF and infertility changed her relationship with her body. Why she resists the narrative that women's performances should be measured against men's records.
Run Forever: Damian Hall on Building a Training Philosophy That Lasts
For record-breaking ultrarunner, coach and author Damian Hall, the answer is yes, if you train smart, respect your body and think long-term.
In this episode of the VOOM Performance Podcast, Damian shares his approach to coaching and training philosophy, drawing on more than two decades of competing at the highest level of ultra-distance running, including the notoriously brutal Barkley Marathons, and years spent coaching runners of all abilities toward their own goals.
This is a practical, thoughtful conversation about how to build a training approach that lasts, one built on consistency, self-awareness and sustainable progress rather than short-term intensity. Damian explains why longevity in the sport matters more than any single race result, how his own coaching philosophy has evolved over the years, and why the best training plans are the ones built around the individual, not a generic formula.
Today, Damian is a UK Athletics Coach, Mountain Leader and Level 2 Gym Instructor who has represented Great Britain at the age of 40 and continues to post competitive results in some of the world's toughest races. He's also a bestselling author, journalist and co-founder of The Green Runners, bringing a rare combination of elite performance experience and coaching insight to every athlete he works with.
Whether you're training for your first ultramarathon, chasing a competitive edge, or simply want a smarter, more sustainable approach to your running, this episode offers lessons that apply at every level.
In this episode you'll learn:
How Damian's coaching philosophy has developed after decades in ultra running. Why longevity and sustainability matter more than short-term intensity. The principles behind building a training plan that lasts a lifetime. How to coach and train for the individual, not a generic formula. Lessons from competing at elite level, including the Barkley Marathons. Practical takeaways every runner can apply, whatever their level. Why you should listen
Running, Sobriety & Mental Health: Allie Bailey's Journey from Addiction to Ultra Running
For ultra runner, coach and author Allie Bailey, the answer is yes, but not in the way most people think.
In this episode of the VOOM Performance Podcast, Allie shares the remarkable story of how running became the first step on her journey out of alcoholism, depression and addiction, and how sobriety transformed not only her life but also the way she approaches endurance sport and coaching.
This is an open, honest and deeply moving conversation about resilience, recovery and the connection between mental health and performance. Ali explains why running alone couldn't fix the challenges she faced, how accepting her addiction became the turning point in her recovery, and why true performance begins with understanding yourself—not simply training harder.
Today, Allie is an accomplished ultra runner, respected coach and bestselling author, helping athletes build confidence, resilience and balance both on and off the trails. Her coaching philosophy goes far beyond pace, mileage and finish times, placing equal importance on emotional wellbeing, self-awareness and sustainable performance.
Whether you're training for your first marathon, tackling an ultra, navigating your own mental health journey or simply looking for inspiration, this episode offers powerful lessons that extend far beyond running.
In this episode you'll learn:
How running supported Allie through addiction and depression.
Why sobriety completely changed her relationship with running.
The role of acceptance in recovery and personal growth.
How mental health impacts endurance performance.
Why resilience is about more than pushing through pain.
Ali's unique coaching philosophy and why she coaches the whole person, not just the athlete.
Practical lessons every runner can apply to improve both performance and wellbeing.
Tackling Gut Issues in Ultra Running with Sabrina Pace-Humphreys
For many endurance athletes, stomach problems are one of the biggest performance limiters, and even the most experienced ultra runners aren't immune.
In this episode of the VOOM Performance Podcast, we sit down with ultra runner, author, speaker, and co-founder of Black Trail Runners, Sabrina Pace-Humphreys, for an honest conversation about the reality of racing when your nutrition plan falls apart.
After battling severe nausea during races including Ultra-Trail Snowdonia and UTMB, Sabrina shares how she's rebuilding her approach to fueling, hydration and gut health. From measuring sweat rate to rethinking carbohydrate intake, she explains why going back to basics has become the key to moving forwards.
More importantly, Sabrina opens up about the value of vulnerability in sport, reminding us that even elite athletes continue to learn, adapt and face challenges.
Whether you're training for your first marathon or your next 100-miler, this episode is packed with practical takeaways that could transform your race-day nutrition.
In this episode we cover:
Why gut health is one of the biggest performance factors in ultra endurance events.
Sabrina's experiences with nausea during Ultra-Trail Snowdonia and UTMB.
How perimenopause and hormonal changes can influence endurance performance.
Measuring sweat rate and understanding individual hydration needs.
Finding the right carbohydrate intake instead of simply eating more.
Sweet vs savoury fuelling, and why listening to your body matters.
Why gut training should be part of every endurance athlete's programme.
The importance of leaving your ego behind and returning to the fundamentals.
Why honesty and vulnerability make stronger athletes and a stronger running community.
Key Takeaways
Understanding Athlete Nutrition: Insights from Renee McGregor
Discover key insights on athlete nutrition from expert Renee McGregor, including common fuelling mistakes, recovery strategies, body composition myths, and practical advice for improving performance and long-term health.
Episode Overview
Why do so many athletes struggle with nutrition despite understanding its importance?
In this episode of the VOOM Performance Podcast, we sit down with sports dietitian and eating disorder specialist Raini McGregor to explore the complex relationship between nutrition, performance, recovery, and athlete wellbeing.
Drawing on more than two decades of experience working with elite athletes, Raini shares why underfueling remains one of the biggest challenges in sport, how recovery is often overlooked, and why athletes need to rethink common assumptions around body composition and performance.
This episode is proudly supported by VOOM Nutrition, a UK performance nutrition brand dedicated to helping endurance athletes fuel training, racing, recovery, and everyday performance. Through science-backed energy, hydration, and recovery products, VOOM helps athletes put nutrition principles into practice and perform at their best.
Whether you're an endurance athlete, coach, or simply looking to optimise your training, this conversation offers practical insights that can help you fuel smarter and perform better.
About Renee McGregor
Renee McGregor is a leading sports dietitian, eating disorder specialist, and author of six bestselling books, including More Fuel You. She has worked extensively with elite athletes across a range of sports and is widely recognised for her expertise in performance nutrition, athlete health, and disordered eating prevention.
Her work focuses on helping athletes develop sustainable nutrition strategies that support both performance and long-term wellbeing.
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Discover shows related to VOOM Performance Podcast, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
It's easy to focus on the headline number, fastest ever across the Alps, and miss everything underneath it: the years of consistency, the planning with her husband and crew, the fuelling strategy built through a decade of trial and error, and the very human moments of fear, grief and doubt along the way. Sophie's honesty about IVF, about needing her parents to only say "good things," about nearly being struck by lightning, makes this a conversation about far more than running.
If you're interested in ultra running, fastest known times, women in endurance sport, fuelling and foot care for multi-day efforts, or building a training approach that actually lasts, this is an episode you won't want to miss.
If you enjoy this episode of the VOOM Performance Podcast, please subscribe, leave us a review and share it with someone who would benefit from hearing Sophie's insights.
Resources & Links
Learn More About VOOM Nutrition
VOOM Nutrition creates science-backed sports nutrition products designed for endurance athletes, helping support energy, hydration, recovery, and performance across training and racing.
Whether you're training for your next ultra, marathon, sportive or open water swim, Voom Nutrition helps you fuel smarter so you can perform at your best.
Sophie Grant is a New Zealand-born, GB international ultra and mountain runner who set the fastest known time, men's or women's, for the 2,000km Via Alpina route across eight countries, completing it in 28 days 17 hours from Trieste to Monaco. She is a UK Athletics Coach with Centurion Coaching, working with athletes of all abilities, and has raced everything from 5km to the 330km Tor des Géants and the Winter Spine Race, with top-ten finishes at UTMB.
A former hairdresser who took up running after moving from New Zealand to London, Sophie has since built a career around endurance, coaching and advocacy for women in the sport, drawing on her own experience of infertility and IVF to push for better support for female athletes.
If you're getting into, or already established in, ultra running and want coaching support, this is where to find Sophie and the Centurion Coaching team.
Listen & Subscribe
If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to:
⭐ Follow the VOOM Performance Podcast
⭐ Leave us a review
⭐ Share this episode with a training partner or teammate
Every review helps us bring more expert conversations to the endurance community.
Too often, training advice focuses on quick fixes and short-term gains. This conversation is a reminder that the runners who go the distance, literally and figuratively, are the ones who build habits and training approaches designed to last.
Damian's insight comes from a rare mix of elite competitive experience and years of coaching others, making this an episode packed with practical wisdom for runners at every stage of their journey.
If you're interested in ultra running, training philosophy, coaching, longevity in sport or elite performance, this is an episode you won't want to miss.
If you enjoy this episode of the VOOM Performance Podcast, please subscribe, leave us a review and share it with someone who would benefit from hearing Damian's insights.
Resources & Links
Learn More About VOOM Nutrition
VOOM Nutrition creates science-backed sports nutrition products designed for endurance athletes, helping support energy, hydration, recovery, and performance across training and racing.
Whether you're training for your next ultra, marathon, sportive or open water swim, Voom Nutrition helps you fuel smarter so you can perform at your best.
Damian Hall is a record-breaking ultramarathon runner who represented Great Britain aged 40 and continues to record competitive results in the world's toughest races, including the Barkley Marathons. He is a UK Athletics Coach, Mountain Leader and Level 2 Gym Instructor who has worked with runners around the world to help them achieve their goals, from record-breaking race wins to first ultramarathon finishes.
A recovering journalist with 25-plus years' experience writing for newspapers, magazines and websites, Damian is also a co-founder of the BBC award-nominated The Green Runners and Into Ultra, and an outspoken advocate for a more sustainable approach to the sport.
Too often, endurance sport focuses solely on physical performance. This conversation reminds us that the strongest athletes aren't always those who train the hardest, they're often the ones who understand themselves the best.
Allie's story is one of courage, vulnerability and hope. It's a powerful reminder that recovery isn't linear, healing takes time, and running can become an incredible tool for self-discovery when combined with honesty, support and self-compassion.
If you're interested in ultra running, mental health, addiction recovery, resilience, women's endurance sport or performance coaching, this is an episode you won't want to miss.
If you enjoy this episode of the VOOM Performance Podcast, please subscribe, leave us a review and share it with someone who would benefit from hearing Ali's story.
Resources & Links
Learn More About Voom Nutrition
VOOM Nutrition creates science-backed sports nutrition products designed for endurance athletes, helping support energy, hydration, recovery, and performance across training and racing.
Whether you're training for your next ultra, marathon, sportive or open water swim, Voom Nutrition helps you fuel smarter so you can perform at your best.
About Allie Bailey https://www.alliebailey.co.uk/
Allie Bailey is an award-winning endurance coach, ultra runner, author and speaker. Named Coach of the Year at the 2024 National Running Awards, she is the founder of Ultra Awesome, where she helps runners build confidence, resilience and a healthy relationship with endurance sport.
Drawing on her own journey through addiction, recovery and mental health, Allie's work focuses on coaching the whole person, combining mindset, wellbeing and performance to help athletes achieve sustainable success both on and off the trails.
Order 31 Days https://www.adventurebooks.com/products/31-days-allie-bailey
Listen & Subscribe
If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to:
⭐ Follow the Voom Performance Podcast
⭐ Leave us a review
⭐ Share this episode with a training partner or teammate
Every review helps us bring more expert conversations to the endurance community.
✔️ Gut training is just as important as physical training.
✔️ Hydration is highly individual and understanding your sweat rate can significantly improve performance.
✔️ More carbohydrates aren't always better; finding the amount your body can absorb is key.
✔️ Hormonal changes can have a significant impact on endurance nutrition and recovery.
✔️ Sharing setbacks helps normalise the challenges every athlete faces.
Resources & Links
Learn More About Voom Nutrition
VOOM Nutrition creates science-backed sports nutrition products designed for endurance athletes, helping support energy, hydration, recovery, and performance across training and racing.
Whether you're training for your next ultra, marathon, sportive or open water swim, Voom Nutrition helps you fuel smarter so you can perform at your best.
About Sabrina Pace-Humphreys
Sabrina Pace-Humphreys is an accomplished ultra runner, author, public speaker, mother of four and co-founder of Black Trail Runners. She began running to overcome postnatal depression and has since completed some of the world's toughest endurance races while inspiring thousands through her honesty, resilience and advocacy for greater diversity in trail running.
To order Sabrinas book Start Where You Are - An easy to follow, 10-week training plan to get you to 5k.
Have you ever struggled with gut issues during training or racing?
Let us know your biggest challenge and the strategies that have worked for you, we'd love to hear your experiences.
Enjoyed This Episode?
If you found this conversation valuable, subscribe to the VOOM Performance Podcast and leave a review to help more athletes discover evidence-based performance insights.
What We Discussed
Why Athletes Commonly under fuel
One of the biggest mistakes Renee sees is athletes underestimating their energy requirements.
Many athletes train hard but fail to consume enough fuel to support training, recovery, and daily life demands. Over time, chronic underfueling can lead to:
Reduced performance
Persistent fatigue
Poor recovery
Increased injury risk
Hormonal disruption
Long-term health consequences
Recovery Is Part of Training
Recovery is often treated as an afterthought, but Renee explains that it should be viewed as a fundamental component of performance.
Athletes frequently focus on training volume while overlooking the body's need to repair, adapt, and rebuild between sessions.
Key recovery pillars include:
Strategic post-exercise nutrition
Adequate daily energy intake
Planned recovery days
Quality sleep
Stress management
Challenging the "Lighter Is Faster" Myth
A major topic of discussion is the long-standing belief that lighter athletes automatically perform better.
Renee highlights emerging evidence showing that muscle mass, strength, and overall robustness may be more important predictors of performance than simply achieving a lower body weight.
This is particularly relevant for female athletes, who often face significant pressure around body composition.
Turning Knowledge Into Action
One of the key themes throughout the conversation is that knowing what to do nutritionally is often easier than consistently applying it.
Athletes frequently struggle to implement effective fueling strategies around busy schedules, training sessions, work commitments, and competition demands. Having a structured approach to energy intake, hydration, and recovery can make a significant difference to both performance and wellbeing.
Individual Nutrition Matters
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to athlete nutrition.
Renee encourages athletes to:
Understand their individual energy requirements
Pay attention to performance and recovery markers
Avoid comparing themselves to others
Work with qualified nutrition professionals where possible
Prioritise both physical and mental wellbeing
Key Takeaways
✔ Most athletes underestimate how much fuel they need.
✔ Recovery is an essential part of performance, not a luxury.
✔ Body composition goals should support health and performance, not arbitrary standards.
✔ Muscle mass and strength often matter more than simply being lighter.
✔ Individualised nutrition strategies deliver the best long-term results.
✔ A healthy relationship with food is a critical component of athletic success.
Memorable Quote
"Recovery isn't separate from training, it is training."
Resources & Links
Learn More About Voom Nutrition
VOOM Nutrition creates science-backed sports nutrition products designed for endurance athletes, helping support energy, hydration, recovery, and performance across training and racing.
To learn more about Renee's work, educational resources, speaking engagements, and books, visit her website and follow her on social media.
Enjoyed This Episode?
If you found this conversation valuable, subscribe to the VOOM Performance Podcast and leave a review to help more athletes discover evidence-based performance insights.
Remember: better performance doesn't come from eating less it comes from fuelling smarter, recovering properly, and giving your body what it needs to thrive.
