Affairs of the heart: What does heart rate data actually mean for performance?
From the dawn of history, the heart has both fascinated and perplexed humankind. And so it seems apt that this vital organ should also be the focus of both obsession and confusion for endurance athletes today.
Whether you’re a zone training aficionado, overnight HRV obsessive or simply live for the rush of pushing to your maximum in training, you know that this muscle is an incredible wellspring of information to help guide your experience in the sport. And if you’re a runner in the digital age, there’s a good chance at least some part of your experience is shaped by data tracking the movements of your ticker.
Yet, for all the information that your heart generates for you, how much of it is really worth paying attention to? And in an age of optimization, should things like lowering your resting heart rate or elevating your maximum really impact the decisions you make around training and recovery?
To answer these questions and more, we’re welcoming back to the show Dr. Mick Leahy, professor of cardiovascular exercise physiology at the University of British Columbia’s School of Kinesiology. As an expert in all things aerobic, Mick is here to help us understand what exactly our heart is doing for us as athletes.
While it’s no guarantee that this episode will deliver the cure for your heartache over a missed PB, it just might tell you how to make the organ stronger, more resilient and higher-performing, setting you and your heart up to avoid heartbreak in the future.
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29 Oct 2026
Dayna Pidhoresky's long road back to marathon gold
For many Canadian marathon fans, when Dayna Pidhoresky crossed the finish line as national marathon champion at last week’s TCS Toronto Waterfront marathon, there was a collective feeling of deja vu.
A massive new personal best, a Canadian championship title and a calendar year of racing that went from strength to strength: all the attributes of Pidhoresky’s 2026 campaign could just as easily be used to describe her season seven years ago, when she last stepped on the top flight of the Canadian marathon championship podium in 2019 as winner of the Tokyo Olympic trials.
And, while for years setbacks kept her from returning to her 2019 form, her most recent string of races has put truth to the adage that you can't keep talent down forever. With her 2:26:01 clocking in Toronto, Pidhoresky became the third-fastest Canadian female marathoner of all time, knocking more than three minutes off her previous best from that 2019 edition of the race.
Despite the parallels with her 2019 season and the long and winding road back to the top, 2026 marks not merely a return to previous form for the Olympian, but a leap ahead. This week on The Shakeout Podcast, Dayna joins us to recap her electrifying championship performance at Toronto, the string of PBs that marked her buildup to the race and what it’s taken to return to the top, faster and stronger than ever.
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Cover Photo: Nick Iwanyshyn
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22 Oct 2026
Andrew Davies recaps record-breaking marathon debut
When Andrew Davies toed the starting line at the 2026 TCS Toronto Waterfront marathon last Sunday, he did so with the hope that his first crack at 42.2km would be a positive enough experience to justify running another marathon in the year ahead. Over the course of the next 2 hours, 8 minutes, and 48 seconds, his quest for a respectable rookie performance became a run for the record books, laying down a time faster than any Canadian debut in history and vaulting himself into 4th place on the Canadian all-time list.
Perhaps just as impressive as the time itself was the fashion in which Davies accomplished the feat, belying his novice-status at the marathon distance with a masterclass in pacing that saw him lay down a massive negative split to run away from the rest of the Canadian championship field. What's more, the performance comes at the end of a year that saw Davies lose several months to injury, graduate from law school, and begin full-time work articling.
This week on The Shakeout Podcast Andrew joins the show to recap his record-setting debut and the training block that got him there, including details on how he and coach Steve Weiler incorporated a progression of workout long runs that built towards a signature effort on the streets of Toronto.
Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts.
[This collaboration is part of an advertising campaign led by the Podpass agency for Altitude Sports]
Shop now at Altitude Sports and enjoy up to 20% off your first order with the promo code "shakeout2026" Click here to order 👉 https://bit.ly/altitude-shakeout2026
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Who has been a guest on The Shakeout Podcast
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Gabriela DeBues-Stafford
Siphelele Danisa
Jocelyn Riet
Trent Stellingwerff
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Apple Podcasts (US)
4.6 / 5
32 ratings
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4.9 / 5
67 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 59 / 100
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Quality
79
Social presence
94
YouTube
0
Engagement
51
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