Athletics Ontario Running Podcast · John Shep

EP 206: Dr. Sasha Gollish - The Unstoppable Journal: For Every Practice, Game, and Goal That Matters to You

·36 min·2 clips

Sasha says Unstoppable is "not a book" but a mental performance training journal.

1. Athletics Ontario Running Podcast episode 206 centers on Dr. Sasha Gollish and her project Unstoppable. 2. Host John Shep interviews Dr. Sasha Gollish, who is introduced as a returning guest and the author of Unstoppable through Strong Girl Publishing. 3. The episode asks why a mental performance training journal was needed and how it can help runners, coaches, and young athletes. 4. Sasha says the idea goes back to her 2013 advanced coaching diploma, when she coached seven- and eight-year-olds in Alpine skiing. 5. She recalls that Alpine Canada was not supportive of the program, while the NCCP backed it, and she used the project to think about rapport and mental performance skills. 6. She connects those early ideas to Michael Phelps and the way athletes were already talking about mental performance in 2013 and 2014. 7. Sasha says the journal became real during a summer when her post-surgery injury would not heal as quickly as expected. 8. She says her injury forced her to rethink identity, perfectionism, and the gap between wanting to be at full training level and actually being there. 9. The journal is built around confidence, focus, and resilience, and Sasha says those three pieces are the backbone of performance. 10. She describes a process of checking mood before practice, naming excitement or nerves, and writing down what went well after practice. 11. Sasha says one of her biggest lessons is to start with the positive before pointing out what needs fixing. 12. She uses examples from 200-meter repeats at 1500 pace, time trials, and race nerves to show how athletes can reframe pressure. 13. She says the journal is self-contained and aimed at roughly ages 12 to 15, with a wider range from about 10 to 18. 14. Sasha notes that adults have picked it up too, which suggests the prompts are useful beyond the youth audience. 15. She stresses that the journal should stay private, and she says parents and coaches should ask permission before discussing entries. 16. Sasha adds a caution that if a parent is worried about suicide ideation, the journal should be read with care and not ignored. 17. The interview style is conversational and personal, with John Shep using his own running and injury stories to push the discussion deeper. 18. Sasha’s tone is direct, reflective, and practical, especially when she talks about groundedness, pronouns, and language choices in coaching. 19. Listeners who coach youth runners or use journaling will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting race recaps or a short, results-only conversation may skip it.

As heard by us

A training journal talk that turns self-review into a steadier way forward.

Dr. Sasha Golish returns to Unstoppable with a grounded discussion of her training journal, and the conversation keeps coming back to a plain but useful question: how do goals stay motivating without turning every workout into a judgment?

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Why you'd press play

You want a reset for goals, mood checks, and training confidence.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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