Kristen Schindler's Performance Psychology for Endurance Athletes Gear & Expert Recommendations
Mental Performance Consultant & Run Coach
Arizona / South DakotaDo what matters.
Kristen Schindler is a mental performance consultant, run coach, and former collegiate athlete who specializes in working with runners and endurance athletes. She holds a Master’s degree in Sport Psychology and combines evidence-based mental performance strategies with a deep curiosity about what drives people to chase hard things in the first place. Kristen works with athletes on performance anxiety, confidence, burnout, motivation, identity, and the mental demands of endurance sport — always with the belief that the human matters more than the outcome sheet.
Discipline: Performance Psychology for Endurance Athletes
Specialty: Trail Running, Road Running, Endurance Athletes
Master's Degree in Sport and Performance Psychology Owner at Integrated Stride Coaching & Integrated Stride Mental Performance
Expert Gear Picks from Kristen Schindler
Expert performance psychology for endurance athletes gear recommendations from Kristen Schindler, Mental Performance Consultant & Run Coach, based in Arizona / South Dakota.
Kristen Schindler's Pacing + Crewing an Ultramarathon
Pacing and crewing an ultramarathon is one of the strangest and most meaningful roles in endurance sports. It’s exhausting, emotional, and incredibly important. A good crew or pacer can completely change someone’s race experience, not because they eliminate suffering, but because they help create steadiness, clarity, humor, and support when things start falling apart. This list is a collection of things I recommend for pacers and crew members because they genuinely make long race days more manageable, functional, and fun, especially when there's glitter.
Kristen Schindler recommends the Mountain Hardwear Mountain Hardwear Women's Ghost Whisperer Down Hoody Purple S
Kristen Schindler recommends the REI Co-op REI Co-op Flexlite Camp Chair Blue
Kristen Schindler recommends the Black Diamond Black Diamond Storm 500-R Rechargeable Headlamp Black
Kristen Schindler recommends the YETI YETI Tundra 45
Kristen Schindler recommends the Coleman Coleman Cascade 3-in-1 Camp Stove Green
Kristen Schindler's Return to Running After Birth
Returning to running after birth can feel surprisingly...emotional. Even for experienced athletes, the postpartum period often comes with a strange mix of gratitude, impatience, grief, identity shifts, exhaustion, fear, and pressure to “bounce back” before your body or nervous system is actually ready. As a run coach, mental performance consultant, and new mom, I’ve seen and experienced how important it is to support the whole athlete during this phase and not just with mileage or fitness, but recovery, stability, confidence, nervous system regulation, sleep, nourishment, and self-trust. This list is a collection of products I’ve either personally found helpful, recommended to athletes, or consistently seen make a meaningful difference during the return-to-running process after birth (especially after a C-section). None of these products are magic fixes, obviously. They’re simply tools that can make the process feel more supported,and actually sustainable.
Kristen Schindler recommends the REI Pro-Tec Athletics Resistance Bands
Kristen Schindler recommends the Pro-Tec Athletics Pro-Tec Athletics The Orb Massage Ball Blue 5 In
Kristen Schindler recommends the Reformer Loops 9" Squishy Ball - Lilac
Kristen Schindler recommends the rabbit rabbit Women's Speed Leggy 4" Shorts Black XS
Kristen Schindler recommends the Janji Janji Women's Groundwork Long Bra Black M
Kristen Schindler's Mental Recovery Essentials
This is a collection of tools, products, books, and practices I recommend to athletes not for performance optimization alone, but for mental recovery, nervous system support, and sustainable high performance. Endurance sport asks a lot of people physically and psychologically. These are the things I’ve found genuinely helpful for reducing friction, supporting recovery, and helping athletes stay connected to themselves through hard training, big goals, burnout, transition, and everyday life.
Kristen Schindler recommends the Oura Oura Ring
Kristen Schindler recommends the Waking Up Waking Up Meditation App
Kristen Schindler recommends the The Feed Hyperice Normatec Elite
Kristen Schindler recommends the Apple Neuro Performance Technology
Kristen Schindler's Postpartum Athlete Essentials
These are the tools, supports, and resources I consistently recommend to postpartum athletes figuring out how to return to training in a way that feels grounded, sustainable, and honest. My perspective is shaped not only by my work in sport psychology and endurance coaching but also by my own postpartum experience, including an emergency C-section, which challenged and reshaped my understanding of recovery, patience, and performance.
Kristen Schindler recommends the Wild Strides Paper Co. Training Log + Planner
Kristen Schindler recommends the Apple Natal: Pregnancy & Postpartum
Kristen Schindler recommends the Perelel Mom Multi Support Pack
Kristen Schindler recommends the Speedland RX:CCD
Kristen Schindler recommends the Audible Audible Membership Benefits
