Podcast

Episode 63: A New Season Is Underway

Welcome to the new season, athletes! We are back in full swing with training and coaching, so Jim and Katie sat down for an extended insights episode all about what we are learning from our athletes (and from ourselves!) in the first couple weeks of the new year. We cover: good and bad data, going high vs. low in Z2, workout ordering, logistics of a training week, intentions and resolutions, “gentle January,” engaging the parasympathetic state, hunger cues, and a whole lot more. We also do a deep dive on TrainingPeaks Virtual, a new online cycling competitor to Zwift, and introduce a new bonus segment. This was a fun one — check it out! 

Coaching and Training Insights & Main Content

Katie:

Why don’t program workouts in TP such that they sync to a Garmin?

  • We want you to have a good feel for work/recovery intervals and the flexibility to be aware of your surroundings! With a workout like 6 x 20” pick ups, it doesn’t matter if you take 60” or 80” or 72” between them. And some days your pickups are going to be 6:00 pace while other days they might be 6:45 pace depending on how you feel. Think about the intention of the workout, always. 

  • Another note - our run workouts are never meant to be complicated enough that you can’t remember them off the top of your head!

Going high in Z2 vs. low. 

  • Better to go low due to the same mitochondrial adaptations. 

Gordo Byrn framework for when you are ready to try an IM:

  • You’re able to swim relaxed freestyle and you’ve completed workouts up to 4,000 meters duration.

  • You’ve completed running races at 5 km, 10 km and Half Marathon distances. You do not need to have completed a marathon, but you do need to have been injury free for the last 12 months and have been running 3-4x weekly.

  • You’ve completed triathlon events ranging from sprint distance to 70.3 distance.

  • You’ve ridden a number of century rides (100 miles, or more).

Does workout ordering matter?

  • Specifically: does it matter if doubles are done back to back vs. with a rest in between? Does it matter if I e.g. swim and lift on one day and bike and run on another day, or swap to swim/run and bike/lift?

  • Workouts are like Scrabble tiles, move them anywhere they best meet your life schedule. Very few ordering rules like back to back tempo / threshold runs.

  • How to approach doubles?

    • Big rock, small rock analogy

    • For me right now: strength (2x per week), longer weekend run, and midweek run workout are my big rocks (as I’m doing a little early season run block). Big rocks need good recovery beforehand and need to be done first in the day. I am also locked into early morning BoMF run and one recovery day per week. Pretty quickly, the week is filled out with workouts, but preserve the big rocks! 

Athlete question: Can I stack volume onto Z2 runs/rides/swims if I have time? 

  • Yes. Principle: Do nothing today that will jeopardize tomorrow.

    • BUT there is a limit. If you are doing 3 hour rides on the trainer now, you will burn out and/or have nowhere to build ‘to’ unless you’re angling to do 25-30 hour training weeks at your peak

  • Talk about volume, mitochondria development, etc. 

The fifth leg of an Ironman / triathlon / ultra run is logistics

  • Reverse planning

  • Automate it

  • Laundry, food, recovery, transitions (pool/gym), packing, etc.

  • Boring and repeatable is your friend

  • If you travel a lot, think travel-friendly

  • Talk about hacks 

Some fun goals/intentions from an athlete who did a great job at goal mapping

  • Training goals

    • Train with friends at least 1/week

    • Discover a new training food that I really love

    • Have fun when I train at least 1/week

  • IM goals

    • Run the last 6 miles of the marathon

    • Race the last 6 miles of the marathon

    • Have at least one moment when I say “holy cow, I am having so much fun”

  • Process goals:

    • Focus most on fueling immediately after

    • No more than 24hrs between TP comments

    • ALWAYS do a little warm up, even if it shortens the actual run

Jim:

New Years resolutions

  • Motivation, Guilt, Shame, Self punishment 

  • May be a short term motivator but it’s not a long term strategy. 

  • Instead build friction free habits and schedules that enable long term change and transformation. 

  • Easy zone 2 is very effective because it’s easy to get out the door for a run and bike. It’s a lot easier to drive to the pool when your swim set is largely easy to moderate. 

  • And I find that once I’m doing the activity, most of the time my body and mind get primed for strides, a few hard pushes uphill or some fast 25s. And if my body isn’t up for it, no worries. You nailed the workout by just getting out the door.

Start January run program very easy

  • Everyone is pumped to literally hit the ground running in January. This is our reminder to ease gently into a run program, especially if this is your first round of structured training or you are coming from an off season. Running is very corrosive.  The first few runs might feel fine but if you overcook it, you’ll find that the following weeks, you’ll start to struggle with plantar fasciitis, achilles injuries, etc. 

  • There are a lot of macro and micro adjustments your body must make; tendons, muscles, bones, fascia, blood movement over a course of January and February. 

  • You are always rewarded for being patient and slowly building a run foundation.  It’s not linear; you’ll go along feeling not much progress but eventually hit the “hockey stick” part of the curve.

  • For January, I like to think about pacing for a 50K - super easy, all morning pace.

Focus on breath, breathing out on recovery part of interval

  • While doing structured workouts on the bike, I’ve been focusing a lot on big breaths out during the recovery and playing a game of how low can I get my HR during the recovery. I find it a bit easier to focus on the out breath than in breath but then transition to focusing on big, deep breaths from the belly during the intervals.

  • It’s good practice for outdoor riding and running.

So much strength work

  • I realized that I have so many athletes doing strength work this winter either on their own or with a trainer.  Great job, team!!!  Keep it up!  I’ve always said I’m most scared of the strongest athlete on the course.  Big Fitness along with Big Strength is unstoppable!

Parasympathetic as a normal state.

  • I usually think about the parasympathetic (rest and digest) state only for after workouts or before bed but we should strive to live in a default parasympathetic state not a sympathetic state (flight, fight, freeze). 

  • In today’s climate, it’s easy to be cranked up as a normal emotional state. I find myself checking in regularly throughout the day to ask this question of myself. 
    If I’m in a ‘fight or flight’ state, I can use a massage gun, RPR, foam roll, breathwork or brief meditation. Develop a lot of tools in your tool chest to bring about that change in state.

  • Katie: recommend Insight Timer as a solid meditation app!

Your why for racing can be simple

  • I had a new athlete say they listened to our podcast where we talked a lot about knowing your why for racing.  This left him with an impression that the why needed to be deeper than what it may need to be.  He had just finished telling me he wanted to be better this year at Ironman than in previous years and liked to set goals and challenge himself.  I replied that is enough of a reason or a why. Challenge, evolution and transformation takes many shapes and sizes. 

  • Evolution, big or small, is fundamental to the human experience. It is our birthright.

Lactate reduces ghrelin, the hunger hormone.

  • Did you ever wonder why you are not hungry sometimes after a hard workout? I was this year old when I learned that greater blood lactate accumulation is associated with greater suppression of the hunger hormone ghrelin and subjective appetite.  So, although you may not feel hungry after a long and/or hard workout, eat up.  Train hard, eat harder!

  • Katie: related to this many athletes have reported to me feeling really hungry on their off day. That’s because your body is finally feeling how much burn it’s been doing all along! Training less that day is not a cue to eat less (in fact, failing to restock the energy stores on your off day is a one way ticket to low energy availability). Instead, think of it as your day to top off the energy stores (‘fill the tank’) because it will be nearly impossible to break even on big training days! 

When it’s cold or time is limited, break up your bigger workout with an exercise snack + main workout combo on back to back days

  • We’ve been in a cold snap recently and as such, I’ve been using exercise snacks combined with a main workout on back to back days to safely build volume.  Recently I wanted to do a longer run but instead I ran 3 miles at 5pm on a Tuesday and backed that up with a 5 mile run on Wednesday morning with a friend.  Instead of doing a long run with a 36 hour time window, I did two run workouts within a 17 hour time frame.  That’s better athlete math! As we often say, frequency is our friend.

  • When it’s really cold or time is very limited, think about exercise snacks as a way to grab a little bit of fitness and then you can follow it up the next day with a more normal workout. Stacking an exercise snack with a main workout is very helpful to gain fitness and be easy on the body.

Review of TrainingPeaks Virtual

  • I’ve switched over from Zwift to TrainingPeaks Virtual. It’s free for all TrainingPeaks Premium users and it’s essentially as good, and even better than Zwift.

  • I made the switch after spending three weeks trying to get Zwift to connect to my laptop. It’s always worked with my current setup.  After trying two different bikes and three different Wahoo trainers, I gave up. FYI: Zwift’s first line of customer support are “Ambassadors” not employees. You have to work through your issue first with what seems to be a power user of Zwift and then you might get bumped to an actual Zwift employee/customer service. This was not a particular fast or helpful experience.

  • Conversely, TP emailed after download asking for feedback, saying it was a new program. They provided a direct email to a person. Clearly wants to engage the community and build out the product with user feedback.

  • I found TPV very convenient for:

    • Sorting custom workouts

    • Default screen to a lot of useful data. I appreciated the power balance as a default. (Only available if you have a dual sided power meter.)

    • Less gamification. No levels to the game. Pick your gear. Don’t have to earn it. 

    • Designed well to interact in the TrainingPeaks world. 

    • Easier graphics in general. 

    • You can ride with others, set up group meetups, etc. There is a race or event every 5 minutes.

    • There are less route choices than Zwift but assume they will build out more.

Listener Questions

How do I remember my swim workout?

  • Write it down on a piece of paper, get the piece of paper wet, and stick the piece of paper to a kickboard or the pool deck - one of our favorite Dart Tri swim hacks! 

  • Noah trick: screenshot it from TP and make it as phone background.

Challenge of the Week

Katie: Habit stacking -- if you want to introduce a new habit, bundle it with something that you already do. Some recent examples for me/ my athletes:

  • Calf stretches when I brush my teeth

  • Calf stretches when I wait for my coffee 

  • Do your TP comments while you are cooling down on trainer or stretching post run 

  • Protein shake in the shower 

Jim: Use your massage gun for run warmup, combined with RPR exercises.

New Bonus Segment -- TV show rec of the week for the trainer:

Katie: Happy Valley

Jim: Jackal (on Peacock) on trainer & David Sedaris audiobooks at night.

Gear Pick of the Week

Katie: Compression socks for air travel or long periods of standing/sitting after long/hard workouts 

Jim: HyperIce Go 2 Sold out on their site but Amazon has them available.

Episode 62: Our Coaching Philosophy

We’ve spent a lot of hours sharing ‘the key principles that guide our approach to endurance training and coaching’ on this podcast, but we’ve never sat down and distilled all of those principles into a single one-stop-shop episode that covers our coaching philosophy. In this episode, we’re doing just that: talking through ten of the biggest and most important principles that shape how we think about training and coaching. Highlights include person-first coaching, the 80/20 intensity distribution, grounding in the intention of the workout, fueling the work, preventing injuries, strength, durability, and lots more. Check it out! 

Coaching and Training Insights

Katie:

  • Avoiding coming out of the gates too hot 

    • So much enthusiasm and excitement in the first couple of weeks of a new program 

    • Keep in mind that your mind might be a little ahead of your body coming out of the off season, and it’s important to ease back into training gradually 

    • As a coach, I sometimes observe athletes being at higher risk for injury early in the season when they have the enthusiasm to really push it without necessarily having the aerobic base and/or durability foundation. This is particularly true in returning athletes who have taken a really solid off season 

  • Be aware that as your volume goes up your fueling needs are going to go up!

    • If you are not actively being intentional about your daily fueling as we start to pile on volume/intensity, you risk ending up in a deficit. We don’t want that ever, but especially not at this time of year. Fuel the work!

    • And check in with an RD if you aren’t sure how to fuel the work!

    • This is relevant for anyone who has been focused on body comp goals in the off season too (weight loss, etc.) -- those goals are often not sustainable when you shift gears to focus on performance, so think about the mindset shift as well

  • We are at the time of year where the weather will present challenges in training 

    • Last couple of weeks: 10 mile run in 14 degrees / real feel of 18; 10 mile run in 30 degrees pouring rain. Both left me borderline hypothermic 5-10’ after finishing and made the runs a little harder than they would have been in 50 degrees and sunny. 

    • Some action items:

      • Make sure to make a plan for post-run that helps you take care of your body: dry clothes, hot shower, hot drink/food

      • Modify your expectations -- very cold weather, just like very hot weather (as well as rain, wind, cold, snowy roads,  ice, etc.) will make training harder. Mindset shift = getting out here is the win even if my pace, HR, etc. aren’t perfect

      • And, as always, be gentle with yourself and use less data as needed!

Jim: 

  • My new run (and bike) warmup inside is RPR - Reflexive Performance Reset 

    • Cal Dietz taking some weightlifters through a warmup routine:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKgetbklmwk

    • Foot / arch for hip stability- use this video at minute 6’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNruAwkZOlw&t=343s

    • I focus on the Psoas, glutes, quads, hips and foot/arch pre run warmup. You will feel lighter, much more activated and may even get goosebumps!  This should take you no more than 1 - 2’ to perform. This is the largest return on investment I’ve ever seen for run performance.  I’ve yet to experiment much with it for bike and swim but stay tuned! Let me know if you incorporate this into your routine. Since my hip is still very compromised, I can attest to how well RPR works to activate that area.  If a gimpy, middle aged guy can move and run somewhat normal with this lingering injury, just think what it can do for you!

  • My latest strength routine addition is the Spring Ankle exercises. 

    • Enhancing Athletic Performance Unlocking the Power of Spring-Ankle for Efficient Energy Transfer and Stability – Triphasic Training Method 13

    • Why do the Spring Ankle exercises? 

      • Spring ankle exercises have proven to yield extraordinary results in foot and ankle development for athletes across all levels.

      • Efficient Energy Transfer: The series focuses on minimizing energy leaks and optimizing energy transfer along the entire chain of muscles and joints involved in dynamic movements. By addressing ankle stability and function, athletes can improve their power output and overall performance.

      • Ankle Instability and Performance: Ankle instability can significantly limit an athlete’s speed potential and overall performance. Weaknesses and instability in the foot and ankle can lead to compensatory movements, reduced force output, and potential injuries.

      • Impact on the Kinetic Chain: Foot and ankle instability can have cascading effects on other joints in the kinetic chain, such as the knee and hip. Weak ankles can lead to tight hips, lower back problems, and even knee pain. Addressing ankle stability is crucial for maintaining overall structural integrity and optimal performance.

    • In other words, if you want to run fast, you need STRONG feet and ankles. This is a very targeted and direct approach to achieve that sport specific strength.  Remember, your strength work should complement your sport activities.

    • Only after a few sessions, I can feel my foot / arch getting stronger leading me to have better run foot contact, stabilize my hips and allow me to relax into more hip extension.  Hip extension is a key for run speed. 

    • This is also a pillar of Lawrence van Lingen’s program.  Cal and Lawrence are coming from two very different perspectives but arriving in the same place.

    • For full information on Cal Dietz, you can check out his Triphasis books. 

  • Sprint Training: The Missing Piece in Your Endurance Program

    • Steve Magness with a great explanation of why we do strides/pickups i.e., why even as long distance athletes from Ironman to ultra and marathon runners, why fast work is fundamental.  

    • Key point: Sprinting is key to train both your slow and fast twitch muscles. Effective training engages all muscles so that you have use of both types of muscles as you fatigue in long distance events.

    • You can apply this same principle to bike, swim and strength, too.  This is why we incorporate a lot of FAST 25s in our swim program and a lot of short sprinting in our Z2 Zwift workouts (among many training blocks where focus on very high end watts work on the bike).  

    • A key principle: Absolute power is the key driver of adaptation.
      Take as much rest you need between all out efforts.

  • Run Sat / Bike Sunday

    • Usually we say there is no magic formula and order especially in BASE season. This year, however, I’m putting more of a focus on run speed development for my triathletes. As such, we want to keep the main thing the main thing and that means putting the long run on Saturday when you have the most mental and physical energy to apply the best training stimulus.  Triathlon is most often a run race with a swim and bike as a distraction.

    • This means biking on tired legs on Sunday but that’s OK.

    • Caveat: unless we are specifically targeting the improvement of your FTP if we’ve determined that is the main limiter then we will bike on Saturday and run on Sunday.

    • Guiding principle: think about your main limiter and hit that workout first in your day/week.

Main Content 

  • You are a person first, athlete second.

  • 80 / 20 intensity distribution 

  • Honor the intention of the workout 

  • Stress + rest = growth

  • Keep the recreation in recreational athlete

  • Fueling and fitness are equal partners on race day (and in training) 

  • Nail the basics without getting caught up in the 1% (sleep, nutrition, consistent/structured training, etc.)

  • Injury prevention -- 1-2 days off can prevent 1-2 months off  

  • The magic of strength training

  • Outdoor durability and time in mountains, hiking, etc. as a way to become a better triathlete. Limit indoor cat time.

Listener Questions

Why is my HR higher in morning workouts than evening workouts?

  • A couple of possible reasons include: natural spike in cortisol (stress hormone) in the morning to help you feel alert, proximity to caffeine intake. 

  • If it bothers you, try delaying caffeine until after your workout (or just having a little bit of coffee or decaf). Definitely eat something before you head out too as being in a fasted state jacks up cortisol even more.

  • For all workouts but especially morning ones, be sure to gradually ramp up HR with Z1 walking, easy spinning, or tech swimming before your main set -- even if it’s just Z2 activity. 

How do I get a good run warmup in when it’s really cold out? 

  • Katie: My go-to recently has been:

    • Inside -- lunge matrix

    • Inside -- band work

    • If still not warm -- first mile SLOW SLOW SLOW but still jogging. You can also walk 5-10’ with a big puffy on and then dump it at your house/car 

    • We have even experimented with a 10-20’ spin on trainer inside before a run to get the muscles going! 

    • Jim: See above RPR Warmup

Challenge of the Week

  • Katie: Skip or modify one workout in your first week of training. For many people there is so much excitement and enthusiasm at the beginning that  you feel like you have to absolutely crush everything perfectly, but this mindset can lead to burnout down the line if you feel like you’ve created an unrealistic standard. Tell yourself at the get-go that it’s OK (and even encouraged!) to not be perfect, and flex that muscle!

  • Jim: Learn RPR!

Gear Pick of the Week

Episode 61: Goals and Intentions for 2025

We're kicking off the new year with an episode all about goals and intentions for 2025! Katie and Elena reached out to our community for inspiration about what's motivating them this year and came back with a ton of physical and mental goals that span endurance, self-improvement, and everything in between. We also did a deep dive on coaching and training insights related to "how to solve for the right race," how to process tough race days, and how to practice shame resilience in the context of sports. Finally, we cover some of our own goals and intentions for the coming year. Happy New Year!

Links

Our goal-mapping worksheet

Our values-identifying worksheet

Brene Brown books on shame and shame resilience — we recommend starting with The Gifts of Imperfection, then trying Daring Greatly and Rising Strong.

Challenge of the Week

Elena: try a new recipe!

Katie: Start the day (or week) with an intention. Example: being kind to yourself!

Gear Pick of the Week

Elena: Generic — cross country skis! Specific — Darn tough socks

Katie: Favero Assioma UNO power meter

Episode 60: Lessons from 2024 (Part 2!)

We’re closing out 2024 with a recap of some of our biggest lessons learned and some coaching and training innovations we’re looking forward to in 2025. We cover the importance of mindset, why belief is crucial for performance, how goal mapping has helped us and our athletes, why comparison is the thief of joy, how to modify under high stress, the role of everyday nutrition vs. sports nutrition, training with the seasons, and more. We also go over some fun coaching and training insights related to Zwift, FTP tests, nordic skiing, and strength training, and we reflect on what it means to have reached our big one-year milestone of the pod. Thank you so much to all of our listeners to this point — we’re so pumped to see what 2025 brings!

Intro banter

We have passed one year of the pod! 

The podcast as an individual, coaches collective and community created project. We are creating this together!

Coaching & Training Insights

Katie:

  • Zwift free ride vs. structured workouts vs. outdoor riding. In the spirit of trying to help athletes make choices and listen to their bodies, I’ve been reminding them that any time there is, e.g., a Z2 bike workout in TP, it is equally fine to do a structured Z2 workout on Zwift, free ride in Z2 on Zwift, or go outside if the weather allows. Many people think if they don’t do the perfect “Z2: High Cadence 20 x 1s” it will compromise their race. In reality, there are *many* roads to Rome and all Z2 is good Z2 at this point. When it’s really important to stick to exactly what the workout is (e.g. hard bike intervals later on), we will tell you! 

  • Substitutions for other activities. Also true in base season - a 30-45’ Z2 run is usually fine to sub for a 30-45’ Z2 XC ski, 30-45’ Z2 hike, 30-45’ Z2 elliptical, etc. You want to get some running in, but occasional swaps like this based on availability and interest are totally OK and encouraged. Always come back to the intention of the workout (during pre-base and early base, this is HR in Z1/2, aerobic foundation base building). 

  • Piece of evidence #900 that strength training is a hack. Ankle injury + death in family + gum surgery = very low volume in the last 6 weeks. Back on Zwift now and surprised to see really high power numbers. My hunch? Strength training, the one thing I have been consistent at (plus a lot of walking by nature of my city life) has kept fitness levels pretty solid in a way not reflected by TSS/ TP but that I can feel now that stress levels are down. And all the rest was probably good for me! Excited for what’s next now in 2025. 


Jim:

  • Nordic skiing for moderate aerobic development and multi-directional glute/leg strength. If you can get out of Nordic skiing this winter, go for it. It’s very much like trail running; it organically builds your aerobic capacity and leg and glute strength. Particularly helpful is that most runners and triathletes are ‘north’ oriented with all their movement (think of north on the compass, we rarely go east/west and south). Nordic skiing is all about north, east and west movements. And it’s another great way to get upper fitness similar to swimming. And don’t worry about staying in Zone 2, cross country skiing is usually Z3 and up!

  • Ramp test vs FTP test

    • Don’t do the ramp test, it’s the least effective way to obtain FTP. It has a number of issues that we don’t need to discuss. Just say no.

    • For the best indoor FTP test, do the 73’ Zwift FTP test which will use ERG mode for warmup and ERG mode off during the 5’ and 20’ test. The 5’ part is all out to burn off some anaerobic power so your 20’ power test is more aerobic.

    • Key point: During the 5’ and 20’ test, ERG mode will go off automatically which means you will need to change gears to increase the resistance and find the level of watts that are appropriate for you.

    • With the 5’ test, go all out. Hold back a little during the first 1 - 2 minutes (95% effort) and then just go all in on the last 3’ like you are trying to win a mountain top Tour stage and Team Jumbo Visma is hot on your tail!

    • For the 20’ effort, use the first 3 - 5’ to find what is hard but sustainable. Then start to see if you can increase your effort throughout the last 15’. With racing and testing, always start a little on the conservative side and then work into the effort.

  • Swimming early season; Technical 50’s and beginner swimmer focus areas. The Base season is the best time to work on the technical part of your swim stroke. If you are an intermediate swimmer, then do a lot of 50’s with plenty of rest. Pick a focus point and work that for 5 - 10 50s. Do enough of one thing / one focus area that you can say you made progress during that swim session. A common mistake made is working too little time on stroke improvement. Your brain needs a lot of reps and time in order to learn. Take your time. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Just one small improvement is all you need for a successful swim. Progress not perfection.

    • If you are a beginner swimmer, a highly effective way to learn proper body position and tautness is kick on back with fins. This is magic. Do 10 x 50 and then start doing 25 kick on back / 25 freestyle with a catch up stroke focus.  Here are two videos:

    • Focus early season on: catch up stroke, quiet head, entering in line with shoulder and pulling back in line with your shoulder.

    • Also, I highly recommend following these folks on Instagram: 

  • Don’t stress about fitness around the holidays. Have fun with family and friends. We have plenty of time to get fit. Miss some workouts!

Lessons from 2024 / Looking forward to 2025

Check out our first installment of this series—Episode 35: Lessons From 2024 (So Far!)—as well as our lessons episode from last year (Episode 5: Lessons From 2023) to hear about everything we have learned to this point!

Katie:

  • Mindset matters

    • Check out Episode 41: Recapping Katie’s Comeback Win at the Sea to Summit Triathlon

    • S2S: Why, on reflection, getting lost and having to actively choose to race for me without chasing any outcome was so powerful

      • N = 1, but I believe your very best races come from a position of racing truly for you and knowing that you are choosing to race and want to be there regardless of the outcome, and/or that your goal is to perform the best that YOU possibly can on any given race day. 

      • Will the mindset coach: “Can you replicate it?”

      • Goal for next season: be able to use that mindset (both in training and in racing) without being forced into it 

  • Related: cultivating belief

    • Check out Episode 51: Cultivating Self-Belief in Sport and Life 

    • Our expectations create our reality

    • This is true both in terms of mindset and physiology

    • Work with the Mind and Body Lab 

    • I have a hunch that this is true with how we perform in races, which is why cultivating a positive mindset and keeping up the positive self-talk matter SO much. Looking forward to building strategies to work on this with athletes (and myself) in 2025. 

    • Note also that I’ve increasingly seen my role as a coach to help athletes cultivate belief in themselves. *Many* of us struggle with feelings of worth in sport or life and/or low confidence especially going into races. Leaning on your coach or other members of your support community can often be an important stepping stone to developing belief in yourself 

  • Targeted goal mapping

    • Check out our Goal Mapping Worksheet and Episode 49: Setting Goals in Training and Racing 

    • (1) Big goals, loosely held 

      • Don’t be afraid to set a big and scary goal!

    • (2) Roll-down of A / B / C goals

      • Small sub-point -- many athletes have A goals related to place (e.g., top 10 in AG). I usually recommend mapping those goals onto some time (which you can do by looking up times for top 10 in previous iterations of the race), since we can train to perform at a goal pace but we can’t control who shows up on race day. Remember that you could have a “‘slow’ or ‘bad’ for you day” and finish 2nd in your AG, or smash a PB and finish 11th. Which matters more to you? 

    • (3) You don’t always have to be better than last year or a previous version of yourself; important to realize that when ‘life overhead’ changes, even just maintaining your fitness or hitting 6 hours of training per week can be a huge A goal when life overhead is really high. Be realistic about what your life overhead is in a given year/season (Are you moving? Starting a new job? Taking on new responsibilities at work? Starting a family? etc.) and then ask yourself what races and what goals are appropriate for a change in life overhead. Which segways into…

  • Comparison is the thief of joy

    • A common trope but SO true in the endurance context 

    • Part of this comes from comparing ourselves to others, e.g. on Strava or other social media platforms. When you catch yourself feeling bad about your own performances or stats relative to others, take a social media break.

    • An even bigger part often comes from comparing to previous versions of ourselves, which Strava has made easier and easier in what I think is a not so good way (e.g., reminding you what you were doing 1 or 2 years go or using AI to tell you that your run was slower than average). Remember that Strava never takes into account the life overhead or context of what is going on in life, even if it tries to with weird personal comments in the AI info. 

    • When this is coming up for you, I recommend:

      • Using less data 

      • Turning inward to ask what your body needs and what the intention of the workout is 

      • Coming back to the values of joy, community, etc. 

  • Stress is stress is stress / the body keeps the score

    • Check out Episode 22: Life Stress Score (LSS)

    • Increasingly seeing in athletes now and in my own life: the body interprets stress from life stuff, work stuff, training, racing, etc. in the same way 

    • There is only so much stress you can be under at a given time before the body starts to shut you down -- and if you push this to the extreme, it can really come back after you later in life with chronic disease, inflammation, etc.

    • When LSS is high, TSS *must* come down. Keep your coach informed and lower the volume and intensity until your metrics start to come back under control and even more importantly, until you feel better. This is the fastest way to get back on track!

  • Sports nutrition is the 1% / everyday nutrition is the 99%

    • Check out Episode 53: Performance Nutrition with Chef and Registered Dietitian Megan Chacosky and Episode 9: Nutrition for Athletes with Cate Ward, PhD, RD

    • A quick one, but something I see often in athletes (and an important point that came up in our episode with RD and Chef Megan Chacosky) is that as athletes, we spend a ton of time thinking about optimizing our sports nutrition with the perfect gel or carb max, but spend less time thinking about the other 99% of our fueling (i.e. everyday nutrition). Obviously it’s important to nail your fueling strategy for racing, but what you eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks should have an equal if not greater amount of intentionality and focus. From a starting point of eating enough, you should also be thinking about eating the rainbow, getting enough protein/healthy fats/getting enough carbs, etc. *This is not an instruction to try to eat as clean as possible!* It is just that not putting any intentionality into your daily fueling while thinking extensively about everything in the sports nutrition bucket will likely create some gaps in how you feel in training and how you recover.

    • In 2024, I was glad to see many of our athletes set up appointments with an RD to dial in their everyday and workout nutrition. Will continue to encourage athletes to do this in 2025!

  • Embracing the seasons of workouts/training/life

    • Reflecting on how my season and the seasons of many of my athletes have unfolded, I think there’s something to be said for working with the seasons to structure your training/racing and movement

    • Winter is an amazing time to hunker down from a training and work perspective, get a lot done, stack base miles, get “indoor fit.”

    • Spring is a time to get outside, get outdoor durability and learn how to ride, run, and OWS LONG, prep for races, dial in mindset. Very busy time for athletes and coaches. 

    • Summer is sort of a manic happy high intensity joyous celebration of racing that results from the work you put in during the winter and spring; the time we all have been waiting for as triathletes.

    • Fall is a great time to reap the benefits of summer fitness but transition into unstructured adventuring, and, once the weather finally comes back into winter, to rest and reset physically and mentally. I am way more okay with being less nomadic than usual and “nesting” inside during this time of year than any other time. No more scarcity mindset regarding outdoor time and full surrender to a slower and sleepier place as we build for a new season. 

    • All this is to say: I don’t usually intentionally plan for seasons to unfold this way, but they generally have in the past several years and it feels good. Looking forward to following a similar progression this year and helping athletes do the same as we kick off the season.

    • Also, if you have an A race that happens to be in, e.g., December (shout out to 70.3 Worlds racers, recent IM 70.3 Indian Wells, etc.), that is OK too! Just know that your season may be a little bit unconventional with respect to usual outdoor time and structuring of life. 

Jim:

  • Fueling: We always say. Fueling and fitness are equal partners on race day. And we’ll expand that to big training days. And expand it even further to always eat enough, always daily to fuel your training and recovery. 

    • The next boundary to push is high carb fueling during training and racing. I’ll use big training days / Race Sim days to encourage my athletes to experiment with hard carb fueling and train their gut to take in even more fuel. I believe we will see breakthroughs on our team in 2025 by fueling even more. 

    • Along this same theme, I will experiment with sodium bicarbonate in 2025. There is a lot of performance evidence that sodium bicarbonate works well. 

  • Heat training: Both active and passive. Heat and humidity is always a challenge and seems to be getting more challenging every summer. It’s a huge performance killer. We need to do more to address this leading into our races.

  • More moderate / Z3 / steady running: especially after speed work. In the past, speed work has just been speed work. Will experiment more this upcoming year with speed work (at the track, for instance) into some Z3 / half marathon/15K pacing.

  • Progression runs: Developing more progression runs for 2025 for all athletes. This is mostly influenced by the runners I coach. Adding challenge at the end of a run seems to be a physical and mental boost of confidence.

  • Even more hills. We are big fans now and will incorporate hills even more. Huge believer in hills and speed combination. Examples are 30” hill intervals into 5’ flat fast running.

  • Mental training

    • Intention of workout 

    • Mechanism to invoke parasympathetic nervous system - breath work, meditation, therapy, mindfulness 

    • New favorite mantra: “It will be hard but I am capable.”

  • Level 1 - 5 athlete model focus. Don’t rush athletic development. Set a context for new athletes coming into the sport. 

Challenge of the Week

  • Katie: Get some body work done! Sports massage, sports chiro, PT, acupuncture. Sometimes the latter three can be covered by insurance. All part of establishing your local network of care providers.

  • Jim: If you’re exercising a lot outside in the cold, it’s easy not to drink much as you don’t get the same thirst sensation as you do in the warmer months. But remember to keep hydrating. (And bonus focus on hydrating pre and post workout.)

Gear Pick of the Week

  • Katie: Morph Collapsible Foam Roller

  • Jim: If you are looking for a protein powder with some vitamins/probiotics/super foods, check out Kachava. Combine with greek yogurt for a protein bomb!

Episode 59: The Body Keeping Score, Practicing Self-Compassion, and Other Extended Insights

We’re in that awkward time between Thanksgiving and Christmas where life feels like equal parts joyful, dark, and downright weird, so Jim, Katie, and Elena sat down to chat through what’s been going on for us in coaching, training, and life in recent weeks. The result was a rich episode filled with our collective thoughts on topics that range from mechanical durability to fighting disconnection to grief processing to self-compassion to marathon pacing to mental health to super shoes and more! Come for these and other extended insights, and stay for two bougie gear picks of the week and one stocking stuffer. Check it out! 

Extended show notes:

Coaching & Training Insights 

Jim:

Time on feet; basic muscular endurance training

  • I just returned from a trip where I spent hours walking in a city. It was super challenging and I got really tired! Walking is a great way to test your durability aka muscular endurance. A simple test for durability is to walk (or hike) for hours and see how tired you get. 

  • The fundamental demand of many long distance events - ultra runs, Ironman, big hikes - are time on feet. If you are eating and drinking enough then mechanical load really becomes the main challenge. You must build muscular endurance to move for many hours on your feet. You do this in conjunction with speed training, strength work, easy runs, etc but the foundation is the ability to be on your feet.  

  • If you are thinking about an Ironman, the run portion will take you 4 - 5 hours (or longer). How would you feel if you just went into your backyard and stood around for this long? If you can’t stand, or walk around a city, or go for a continuous hike, for 4 - 5 hours then you aren’t ready for an Ironman yet. Better yet, exercise for 7-8 hours then try to spend another 4 - 5 hours on your feet - that’s an Ironman!

  • If you are a long distance athlete, a simple tactic to use during the Base season is to do very long walks / hikes. This will illustrate the importance of time on feet and provide a gentle way to test your durability limit. Come back to long walks/hikes every few weeks to test your muscular endurance. It’s simple, effective and a gentle test.  

  • In 2025, I’ll incorporate some long walks/hikes into my Level 1/2/3 athletes who are training for their first long distance event.

Sign up for races that are challenging but not overwhelmingly stressful

  • There is a lot of social media pressure to work and play at the extremes. But in your recreation, do you really want it to stress you out? No!  You want to find training and racing a stretch, a challenge, but not push over into stress territory.  

  • Training is like climbing a mountain; we want it to be challenging and learn new skills along the way that are appropriate for your current experience. Get familiar with that territory and then move up to the next level. If you were an aspiring mountaineer, think of climbing Mount Monadnock, then Franconia Ridge, then the Prezis, then something bigger out West, progressing to South American volcanoes, then an Alaska expedition into the Himalayas. This would take many years but you would have the thrill of new challenges along the way and building off all your past experiences. 

  • Think of signing up for an endurance event like climbing a mountain; it’s all about the process of climbing (and descending) as you only spend a few minutes on the summit (the race) enjoying the view. If the climb and descent is bare knuckle scary and stressful, was it really the challenge you wanted? This is a nuanced question; you need a certain amount of challenge and unknown for some process to be rewarding. It’s finding that sweet spot of challenge vs overwhelming stress.

  • When you sign up for an event for which you have no experience and context, you’ll probably end up in the daily overwhelming stress category. Who needs that as a recreational athlete?!

  • When you sign up for stretch events, the training is challenging but appropriate. You have some comfort, a level of context, and experience to grow your existing skills. 

  • We are drawn to endurance events partly due to their transformative nature. Ideally the training and racing will help us gain insights into ourselves and grow as a person. Transformation can’t happen when you are under tremendous pressure and stress. It can happen when you are feeling centered and somewhat in control of your inner life and circumstances. Stretch events are the perfect opportunity to transform, grow, exercise agency and build toward even more stretch events. It’s a long road; enjoy the process of building your capabilities and growing as a person over many years.

  • Even if I don’t coach you and you are trying to decide whether an event is stressful or challenging, please feel free to reach out. I’m happy to talk through that process with you.

Disconnection

  • Is the greatest dis-ease of our time, disconnection with ourselves and others. We are splintered at every opportunity by the news, politicians and social media.

  • I’m turning down the dial on news and social media and seeing how that affects my daily stress and mindset. Turns out, it helps a lot! I find that rumination and narratives start to get quiet in my head.

  • Our brains are not designed to handle this level of news and information. We have a very primitive operating system that is conditioned to interact in person with a small group of people.

  • After turning off the noise, one of the best ways we connect is through sports. Endurance sports in particular can be a very powerful gateway into tuning into your inner voice. When you find your voice, you can move from your center out to connect with family, friends and community. 

Katie:

  • Observations on the body keeping score of tough life stuff 

    • Grief as a kind of total body experience 

    • Workout HR, resting HR, HRV, sleep all wild 

    • Needing way more rest than usual to get everything back in line

    • Grounding in the intention of the workout:

      • Fresh air

      • Lower stress levels / optimize mental health 

      • Gentle movement for the body 

    • When in doubt, use less data:

      • Oura ring on “rest mode”

      • Unlogged workouts, going by feel, etc.

  • Quarterly existential crisis questioning my why

    • Happens when I’m in a funk with training, feeling burnt out, overtired, etc. 

    • What I do to get curious: turn off Strava; do stuff with less data; text a friend / do more social things 

    • Usually comes back to me realizing that joy/health/community are big why’s (and values), and that they should drive me year round 

  • Building out some training plans for 2025 -- kudos to athletes getting started early with “pre-base” seasons 

    • Focus: 3x strength per week

    • Return to swim/bike/run consistency (1-2ish/week of each sport depending on experience level)

    • Base foundation for base season (i.e. Zone 2)

    • Jim: Shout out to all the athletes who listen to the podcast. Our conversations are deeper and more directed as a result. 

  • Against all odds, I am back in the pool

    • Going for consistency over volume: 2k, 2-3x per week, only using watch sometimes to record it

    • Focus: technical 50s and a TON of gear 

    • No real workouts; if I feel good, throw in a few fast 25s/50s

Elena:

  1. Extending on the body keeps the score→ life stress adds up, so we can ask ourselves, where can I take some stress off? 

    1. I’m still rebuilding from my body struggling with too much chronic stress

    2. Setting reasonable expectations→ time blocks. Honoring a “workout” time block with whatever your body needs. Honoring a “work” time block even if you don’t get everything done

    3. Who can I ask for help? 

  2. Sincerely taking the stigma out of mental health → I started medication! And so far so good

    1. Connecting with others more→ being more open about the struggle

    2. Being ok with the fact that things are not ok and I need more help! I’ve always believed that I can push through anything and it’s all about my mindset, but when all of my energy is going towards getting through the day, that is harder. Utilizing many different tools in the toolkit

  3. CIM this weekend, so a note on pace-based goals→ definitely shoot your shot! 

    1. It’s magical when everything comes together, and we’ve talked before about how to control the controllables to make that most likely, but marathons are also full of uncontrollables as well. When planning paces with athletes, I want to start by lifting up the goals they have and my belief that those goals are achievable. Training helps us dial that in and have conversations if needed, but I often find that people sell themselves short when it comes to their best effort potential if everything goes well. If you have a pace goal:

      1. Definitely outline your A/B/C goals so you can adjust quickly as needed. “Big goals, loosely held”

      2. Start out at or slightly slower than your goal pace. This lets your body warm up and keeps you calm and comfortable. Then you can evaluate how you’re feeling and either keep it going & speed it up in the second half or make smart adjustments early. 

      3. HR can be a very helpful barometer but is not everything

Listener Questions 

How far out from your goal race should you get on a training plan? 

Katie thoughts: 

  • Ironman: 28-32 weeks (depending on experience level)

  • Half Ironman: 20-28 weeks (depending on experience level)

  • OLY: 16-20 weeks (depending on experience level)

  • Sprint: 12-16 weeks (depending on experience level)

  • Marathons - 20 weeks (Jim)

  • Ultras - Jim: for 50/100 miles, 5-6 months.   

  • Half Marathons 

Can I still do group workouts while I’m on a coaching plan?

  • Yes! A lot of our athletes have at least one group speed run per week. We encourage you to continue for the social and speed aspect. Your cup will be filled socially and it’s a great stimulus, better than doing speed on your own.

  • Many athletes also are in a Masters swim group which is an excellent motivation to get to the pool and have fun with friends while getting swim fit. When the weather warms next spring/summer, we can get you out in open water to work on specific race skills. Until then, have fun in the water with your friends.

How do I get faster at running? I’d like to qualify for Boston (or some other big running goal). I currently run 3X per week.

  • Jim: I get asked this question frequently, usually by runners who are on a minimum effective dose plan. While there is a time and place for a minimum effective dose, it’s very hard to advance in a sport (or any skill) when you only do it 3X per week. In order to bring out your potential, we recommend doing it 5X per week. The extra two times per week do not need to be killer workouts. In fact, they can be, and in many cases should be, very easy Z1/Z2 runs of even 30’. Frequency is your friend and a 30’ run, or exercise snack, added up over time, has HUGE benefits. 

  • Check out my blog post The Power of 5X

What are you excited about in 2025?

  • Katie: Return to routine and a plan! Excited about getting on a training plan and working towards new goals. The off season has been great but I’m actually feeling like I want to be on the trainer, in the pool, etc., which is a good sign.

  • Elena: getting back to myself! And UTMB fingers crossed

  • Jim: Getting super fit on the bike, return to running and mountains. From a coaching perspective, implementing new ideas we have learned about in 2024. 

Challenge of the Week

Katie: go to bed before 9pm ;)

Jim: On Sunday evening, go through your upcoming week calendar by the hour (or chunks of hours) and specifically schedule your workouts, work, family/friends time, etc. You will be more successful getting in all your workouts if there is a written timeline for the week. And you may find you have more time in the week for an extra 30’ run or spin. 

Elena: time on feet breaks! 10-20 mins walks

Gear Pick of the Week

Elena: I’m doing a bougie one this week→ Sweat Tent portable sauna!

Katie: Skida season is upon us! Check out their headbands

Jim: RitFit Smith Machine - if I were starting over to build out a home strength system, this would be the start. It does everything and it’s very easy and safe to use. 

Episode 58: A Day in the Life of a Race Director With Tim Richmond

In this week's episode, we are joined by Tim Richmond, the Head Race Director of Max Performance, to learn a little bit about what goes on behind the scenes at a triathlon race. Tim shares how he became a race director and grew his successful family-run triathlon business, how he handles gear and equipment, how he manages and organizes volunteers, how he responds to unforeseen circumstances on race day, and how you as a triathlete can have the best race experience. Jim and Katie also reflect on some of our most fun experiences on the Max Performance race circuit in our last decade of training and coaching. Finally, we cover some fun insights and listener questions related to injury recovery, grounding in the intention of the workout, threshold testing, and more. Check it out!

Max Performance - Races:

Coaching and Training Insights

Katie: 

Ankle on the mend (and hopefully fully better by the time this airs)! Some important lessons I picked up:

  • Once again, a few days off can prevent a few months off. Hitting recovery HARD allows you to hit healing HARD. The opposite approach (half-assing recovery) usually means half-assed healing and the potential for injuries to become chronic.

  • Positive reframing – one way to handle unexpected things / disappointment: 

    • This was a great opportunity for me to step outside my comfort zone (i.e. training a lot!) into something that felt scary (lots of rest) and realize it was OK! Next time I need to take a lot of rest, I will be OK and more resilient. Jim, wondering if you have felt this way as a result of your injury?

    • Also: great opportunity to (1) take a proper mini off season and (2) lean into some good bike and (begrudgingly) swim prep.

  • Get a good PT! I was very lucky to be able to see my PT the day after this happened and get immediate care and an action plan. It was also helpful to outsource some of the decision making around what I shouldn’t do. When in doubt, call in the experts and establish that local network NOW! 

Especially in this part of the season, recalling the “intention of the workout” and selective use of data.

  • This time of year, we are in pre-season and early base. It can be tempting to recall the power/pace that we could hit at our peak fitness in the summer and want to smash that right now. (I felt this way on a ride recently where I was trying to hold the normalized power that I could do right around Sea to Summit, but the reality is that this was keeping my HR in upper zone 2 when it really should have been in lower zone 2.)

  • Consider grounding in the intention of the workout and only using the data that is helpful to you. For example, if your goal is a 90’ Z1/2 ride, do you need to have the power on the screen? Consider just average and max HR and total duration. 

  • Related to this, for athletes who are struggling to stay in Zone 2 for running, I often will give them time targets rather than mileage targets (e.g. 45’ run, HR under 150, walk breaks as needed) so they aren’t chasing pace/distance and instead are focused on just HR and the goal at hand. 

  • There will be a time when we want to use pace/power etc., but that time doesn’t have to be right now. If it’s making you feel worse about yourself to see those numbers, drop it!

Jim: 

Share some of Mick’s training advice from his fast CA IM training/race: 

  1. I've been focusing a lot more on strength training. Nov 2023 I started lifting 3-4x a week and backing off from long endurance. It is so good for the athlete(or anyone) in their 40s and beyond. It made a difference yesterday. I noted my strength in the big gears felt great. I ran out of gears and was rolling along(with a tailwind) at 26mph and cadence of 65. It felt great and kept the HR low. 

  2. Having Jack (Mick’s young son) limits my ability to be all consumed by the training. The training schedule just isn't a priority. But I've been able to structure the day to get 1.5-2hrs of exercise in without taking away from time with him. Obviously early morning workouts. But a lot more late at night, weighted vest walks when he is bed. I think it is making a difference with "durability" and strength of the legs. 

  3. Standing desk. I think this is huge. I listened to an interview from Dede Griesbauer and her build for Ultraman. She mentioned how a standing desk made a difference and I agree. I set a PR at the Alyeska Climbathon this year as well and feel this only helps. Standing for 4-6 hrs a day at work is a great hack for the time crunched. 

  4. This isn't news to you, but I'm an Alan Couzens disciple. 90% of workouts at super low intensity. So many trainer rides at 120-140watts when IM effort was 220-230. Granted my sprint/Olympic speed is not great, but I can go all day and it again the next day feeling good. 

  5. IM CA was great for me in regards to limited swim workouts. The river swim at IMCA made it short so I didn't feel the pressure to get a huge swim block in and having a decent swim background I could get 1-2  swims a week and be good. I ramped that up to 4x a week the last 3 weeks, but I knew my focus needed to be bike/run workouts. Swimming just takes so much time. 

What would I do differently:

  • More long runs.

  • Bike more. I think 10hrs a week for 10 weeks prior to race day sets you up well.

  • Better sleep

  • Try to get a training camp in about 6 weeks out.

Listener Questions

When and how often should I do swim/bike/run threshold/FTP tests?

  • General advice: Start your Base season with some level of testing for each sport. This doesn't necessarily need to be a test but rather thinking through where you are at with fitness / motivation / goals and then set your thresholds based on those factors. Most athletes have a good sense where they are at.  For example, if your FTP was 200 outside during the peak of summer training but you are moving inside to Zwift in November after a couple months off the bike, I would take say 20% off your FTP number to account for current fitness and that inside FTP is usually lower than outside FTP.  As always you can reach out to us, we will be happy to help you gauge where you are at. 

  • Swim: I tend to adjust swim threshold times in TrainingPeaks as the athlete progresses. I can see the times getting faster and use 20 TSS per 1000 as a metric to gauge progress.  I’m yet to meet a triathlete who wants to do the 400/200 swim test!  If you wanted to do a CSS swim test, I would do this every few months as most triathletes don’t have enough time in the pool to move their threshold fundamentally every 6 - 8 weeks. 

  • Bike: This one is nuanced as FTP changes from inside, outside, bike type, etc. FTP is like playing centerfield; you know which ballpark and which position you are playing but depending on the batter you may shade left or right a little or a lot. My primary indicator of an improving FTP are comments from athletes about the ease or discomfort of workouts.  Bottom line: FTP is a moving target sometimes daily and you should have a FTP RANGE not a FTP number.   If you want to take a FTP test, I would do this every 8 weeks or so using the same bike and bike setup so you have an apples to apples comparison.  During race season, it’s important to do a FTP test on the exact same bike setup as you will race. For example, you should take a FTP test on your TT bike in aero if that is the tool you are using for the race.  Then we set race pace percentages based on that specific bike setup / gear / position.

  • Run: My favorite organic run test is the local 5K race. This will tell you a lot about where you are at.  You could do a local 5K every 10 - 12 weeks and you should see progress. 

Challenge of the Week

Katie: No screens 30’ before bed to improve sleep quality.

Jim: Start setting the expectation that the holidays are coming and the focus should not be on fitness but family and community.  We have plenty of time to get in shape for 2025.

Gear Pick of the Week

Katie: JOLYN swimsuits - specifically Brandon 2

Jim: Light and radar mounts from Neat Components

Episode 57: Endurance as a Form of Spirituality

We are going full “woo woo spirituality” in this episode to talk about how endurance sports can operate as a spiritual practice. We specifically chat through why we are interested in the intersection between endurance sports and spirituality, how we define and conceptualize spirituality, spirituality at its best and worst, endurance as a vehicle for constant self-reflection, the pursuit of feeling “enough,” endurance as a way to give back to others, and how our own relationships with endurance sports have evolved over time. Our goal is not to have the final say on any of these big and complex topics, but rather to get the conversation going and “caveat the hell out of” our free-formed thoughts. We also cover some fun insights related to tempo training, the rule of thirds, and Katie’s recent ankle injury, and we share a lot of laughs about signs from the universe in the process. Check it out!

Resources we mentioned in the podcast:

Bravey by Alexi Pappas

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown

Rising Strong by Brené Brown

Episode 21: Leadership and Life Wisdom with Gina des Cognets

Gear pick of the week:

Katie: RockTape for little injuries and a little extra support
Elena: Squid Ice compression

Episode 56: Setting Yourself Up for Success Next Season

The start of the season is right around the corner, so this week we’re putting together an extended list of things that you can do to be ready to hit the ground running (and swimming and biking) once it all begins. We cover mindset and mental prep, balancing your nervous system, organizing your life logistics, hitting the gym, getting back into Zone 2 aerobic training, addressing recurring injuries, sprucing up your pain cave, and a whole lot more. We offer cover several coaching and training insights related to gravel biking, strength training, turning off Strava AI, days off, stress management, and the Ironman World Championships in Kona. This is a jam-packed episode — check it out!

Coaching and Training Insights

Katie: Gravel biking on some MTB trails as a great off season adventure

  • Zone 1 HR (at least in the trails I am on); often averages out 100-120 bpm for 1.5-2.5 hours 

  • Pace/power data completely thrown out the window which feels awesome

  • Enjoying fall weather, getting outside, exploration mindset

  • Mindfulness on technical terrain, similar to trail running

  • Focus on a new skill (very technical bike handling) which will translate to even better bike handling on road/TT later on 

  • Position of gravel bike doesn’t strain upper back in same way as aero position does 

  • Outside of comfort zone → flexing self belief muscle 

    • In the self-belief episode we talked about how for many people, self-belief is highest when you first start a sport; that has definitely been my experience. Giving myself a little “wow you crushed that!” when I eek out a 0.1 mile downhill scary section and make it through just fine. 

    • It has also helped that I’ve been doing a lot of this adventuring solo so I have really no concept of what it means to go fast or be skilled; completely on my own terms 

  • Broader reflection: If I had to sum up how I approached the off season, it was 4 weeks super chill into 8-12 weeks of mainly unstructured trail running and gravel biking Z2. Once it gets cold and I can’t get outside on trails as much, will be time to get on the trainer for intervals, get back in the pool, run on roads, etc., and I think it will be ready. There’s a lot of joy and power in letting the weather, seasons, and access shape your yearly calendar

Something else I am focusing on now -- hitting it HARD in the gym

  • “General prep phase” as part of a macrocycle 

  • Heavy weighted strength, where 2x per week in the gym is the big rock of a given day → all Z1/2 trail stuff otherwise since this is a hard and sometimes anaerobic stimulus that can leave me sore 

  • Some cool things I am noticing:

    • Strength gains happen fast and a little goes a long way. Two weeks in (total of 4 sessions) I was like “wow I have deltoids! And lats!”

    • Plug for doing this at the end of the fall to kick off your season → you will be bullet proof when it’s time to layer on volume. 

    • To progress, you need to do progressive overload: increase weight/reps over time. If you need help, work with a strength trainer, or there are many great programs online that can help you get started.  

    • Keep in mind that heavy lifting, while it doesn’t always seem like a huge stimulus, can rev your metabolism so be sure to keep up the great fueling if you want to get muscle gains 

“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good”

  • This came up in our nutrition episode with Megan 

  • Also relevant to training as many of us start to get back into it

  • The 20-minute bodyweight strength session that you do at home is better than the 60-minute heavy weight progressive overload strength session at the gym that you don’t do

  • The 20-minute walk that you do is better than the 4 mile run that you don’t do 

  • Don’t get paralyzed by not being able to optimize for everything all the time - if your schedule is too tight to make the perfect happen, see what you can fit in that’s still “good” rather than skipping perfect and good altogether 

A tip from J Smitty: We learned how to turn off Strava AI!

  • Go to the feedback page and hit “leave beta”

Jim:

  • Check out this latest article from Alex Hutchinson Aging Athletes Need to Stay Explosive. Here’s How.  Key takeaway from the study he cites: “A typical estimate is that you lose 0.5 to 1 percent of your muscle mass per year once you’re on the wrong side of 40. Strength generally follows a similar trajectory. In contrast, muscle power drops by 2 to 4 percent per year.”

    • Sports, in its simplest form, is the transfer of power.  Power is equal to force times velocity.  As Alex says, keep doing your hill sprints! 

  • On a Day Off, try to take a couple of walks and/or mobility.  I have found that the first walk / active recovery activity feels OK but the second one, later in the day feels fantastic. You can really feel the recovery happening. And that second movement of the day will help keep your recovery going through the evening / night as you roll into your next day activities. 

  • I came across these nifty eight strategies to boost your day-to-day well-being from NPR’s Stress Science 101 series. The 8 skills to manage stress are: 

    • Positive events: Notice when positive things happen in your life

    • Savoring: Relish the positive things in your life

    • Gratitude: Appreciate what brings you happiness

    • Mindfulness: Focus on the present moment without judgment

    • Positive reappraisal: Find the silver lining 

    • Self-compassion: Be kind to yourself

    • Personal strengths: Recognize your unique abilities

    • Attainable goals: Make plans that set you up for success

  • I didn’t intend to watch the men’s race at Kona but the timing worked out that I did!  It’s been a couple years since I really watched the pros race. It can be problematic to try to apply what the pros do back into age group athletes, particularly many of our Level 1 & 2 athletes (folks learning the fundamentals of the sport).  With that said, I did take a bunch of notes on what I saw which I will share below (in the show podcast notes) but not cover verbally now.  If you are curious, hit up our show notes page.  

  • T1 Transition:

    • Ice in helmet - Sam Laidlow. He started the race with a cool head, particularly after heating up the body in the swim. Smart.

  • Bike: 

    • Two bottles stacked on top of each other on aero bars. Filling the space between the hands/forearms and the body reduces drag.  They banned water bottles down the front of the suit so this is a smart adjustment.

    • Full forearm aero bars (probably custom for many) (Drag2zero)

    • Praying mantis arm position. Reduce space between hands and head.

    • Single water bottle mounted behind the seat for most. Note position.

    • Straps for water bottles (prevent launch of nutrition)

    • Stretched out to get more aero, less drop

    • Sam Laidlow with a near disc wheel. Light wind day.

    • Magnus Ditlev - deep disc rear wheel, 3 water bottles in the back. 
      Chevalier - deep disc rear wheel (HED JET 180)

    • Kona has very few turns. It is a pure aero test.

  • Fueling:

    • Carb bottle in T1

    • Importance of early carbs on the bike

  • Tri suits: 

    • White on top for most

    • Sleeves to elbow (skin is slower)

    • Aero calf sleeves (race leaders not wearing them)

  • Core body temperature unit on HR strap to control thermoregulation. 

  • Run: 

    • Ice chunks in hands, down front and back

    • Ice in headband

    • 1 gallon water bottle over head.

    • Jug of Coke drinking!  The pros know how to chug! Quickest endurance fuel.

    • It’s all about the run. Patrick Lange 8-9’ behind Sam Laidlow off the bike.

      • Many athletes ran themselves into the top 10

      • Run patience wins.

  • Here are interesting articles on the mental prep for Patrick Lange and Magnus Ditliev at Kona.  

  • Encourage everyone to check out Lawrence Van Lingen new runner / movement website.  I’m excited to re-invent my running this winter with his help. Lawrence has a holistic approach to running and overall well being. He works with many of the top pros in Boulder but more importantly he is very invested in bringing his run education to the masses. His approach is unique and goes well beyond a run form/drills approach.  His Instagram account is my top follow.

Main Content

How to set yourself up for success approaching a new season:

  • Now that you’ve had some time away from race season, what are the limiters / new skills you want to tackle this upcoming season? What are the things that feel sticky to you and you’d like to break through next year?

  • Develop a daily, nervous system management skill.  Examples are breath work, meditation and mindfulness. These are broad categories and each one has many variations. Explore which method resonates with you and develop the skill and habit of returning to your center throughout the day.  Some of my favorite methods are from the HeartMath Institute.  Kimberly Snyder offers a couple free heart aligned meditations.  Check out her book: The Hidden Power of The Five Hearts or free audiobook with Spotify Premium.

  • Get mentally refreshed → this can take many forms, but you want to prioritize self-care to the point where you are feeling really excited to get back into a structured training plan.

    • Related - settle your nervous system; if you are sleeping really well, that is a good sign. 

  • Get comfortable in the gym and develop your strength training routine.

  • Set up your Pain Cave:

    • Clean up your pain cave, make it super comfortable and a place you want to spend time.  If it’s in the garage on a cement floor, consider an indoor/outdoor rug to warm up the floor.

    • Get Fan(s)

    • Smart trainer / Zwift subscription

  • Set up your memberships and identify weekly schedule for, e.g., pool, gym, track, etc. 

  • Routine/baseline blood work and supplementation routine as needed: CBC, CMP, TSH, Vit D/25-hydroxy, Iron, Ferritin, B12, magnesium etc. Many of us have deficiencies that we may not be aware of and building stores back up takes time! 

  • Get your bike serviced post season, especially before bringing it inside for a winter on the trainer. 

    • If you have not had a bike fit, this is a good time of year to do it.

    • If you have a different bike in your pain cave than your normal training/race bike, ensure the fit is similar between the inside and outside bike.   

  • Get your gear in order. If you are planning to invest in, e.g., new bike, smart trainer, etc., now is the time (and you might find good end of season / Black Friday deals).

  • Have conversations with your primary support peeps about what the season is going to look like and manage expectations 

  • Goal mapping and identifying your purpose (see Episode 49)

Listener Questions

How do you maintain low HR zones on technical mountain bike climbs? My HR will spike pretty easily and I find it hard to mitigate unless I completely stop and let my HR come down. It ends up feeling like a high HR ride for the whole climb. What is the approach to improving this? Example: Hurricane mountain zone in North Conway.

  • Katie: For some grades of hills (and this is true for biking, trail running, etc.) it’s pretty hard to do the climb in Zone 2. While more Z2 is always helpful for building aerobic base fitness and the 20% of high intensity can help raise the ceiling of your threshold, I think my advice for technical and steep stuff like this would be to go in assuming that this ride is going to be an intense session/workout of the week that goes into the 20% bucket, and then you can balance out the rest of your week of training with easier terrain and gentler stuff that doesn’t spike your HR as much/ where it is easier to remain in control. 

  • Jim: On any bike climb, I focus on very relaxed feet/ankles and think about a very smooth pedal stroke.  The game is how little can I push to get up this hill while still moving forward and not falling off the bike. Practice this enough and you start to see hills as a place to relax and not feel like you need to push watts to get in the work. The hill is doing the work for you.

    • While your HR may be spiking during certain sections, check out your average HR at the end of such rides. You may be surprised that your HR averaged out to an aerobic ride.

Any tips for managing nutrition when you just can’t eat anymore? I try to eat a lot the first hour or two but then I am just repulsed by food for several hours. Sometimes it comes back but not for a while if I’m in a big effort.

  • Katie: Liquid is key. In every Ironman I’ve ever done, I have a plan for my run, but then I devolve into just flat coke by the end (which is an amazing source of carbs). If you are doing trail stuff/ultras, you can put coke in a soft flask. Also, plan to switch up your nutrition sources so there is something to look forward to. (Recalling Jim sending brownies/marshmallows to run special needs.) At a certain point, it is valuable to even just force yourself to nibble a little bit of something, and odds are your body will start to feel more energy and your appetite may come back a bit. 

  • Jim: The GI gods like to play tricks on us, particularly on race day. What was awesome in training is now repulsive at hour 4 of a long day.  I try to have a variety of foods with me (or in the special needs bag) so if sweet isn’t working, I go to savory.  A crushed bag of potato chips is a favorite go to for salt/savory.  In training, I try to eat a variety of foods, solid and liquid, sweet and savory, so I have many nutritional tricks in my bag on race day as there will always be curveballs.

Challenge of the Week

Katie: Thanksgiving is coming -- gratitude practice, endurance edition! Write down something you are grateful for in sport. I will share one -- grateful for the extended summer weather we have had and the ability to get outside and enjoy it!
Jim: Two walks a day, one morning, one late afternoon, on Day Off day.

Gear Pick of the Week

Katie: Assos UMA GT Spring Fall Half Knickers C2 (women); Assos MILLE GT Spring Fall Bib Knickers (men)
Jim: Lezyne Lite Drive 1200 - front bike light.  Highly recommend a Garmin Varia for the back light. It’s a light and radar system to detect approaching vehicles. Might be the single best investment you make after purchasing a bike!

Episode 55: Optimizing Wellness and Performance for Athletes with Ayurvedic Medicine Practitioner Brittni Nicolodi

In this week’s episode, Katie and Elena welcome Brittni Nicolodi (previously Gorman) to the podcast to chat all things wellness and performance for athletes. Brittni is an Ayurvedic Medicine Practitioner and a mountain athlete who combines her love for endurance adventuring with her passion for preventative wellness. She explains what Ayurveda is, her journey to becoming an Ayurvedic Practitioner, what imbalances and other health challenges she sees most frequently in the endurance athlete population, the importance of holistic health and trusting your gut, how to integrate eastern and western medicine approaches in a holistic care team, and so much more. She also shares several actionable steps that you can take today to reduce stress and optimize your own health and performance through the lens of preventative wellness. Check it out! 

Brittni’s website: https://mountainsforbreakfast.com/

Brittni’s Instagram: 

@mountainsforbreakfast.ayurveda

@mountainsforbreakfast

Gear pick of the week:

Brittni: Abhyanga - self oil massage with Sesame Oii

Katie: Patagonia Micro Puff and Macro Puff hoody jackets -- and a plug for Worn Wear by Patagonia for affordable gently used choices

Elena: Naked belt running band

Episode 54: How Trail Running Will Make You a Faster Triathlete and Road Runner

In this week’s episode, Jim, Katie, and Elena drill into why trail running will make you faster and stronger in all endurance and fitness domains, even if trail running isn’t your primary sport. We cover who should trail run, why trail running is such a secret weapon, how to get started (logistically, physically, and mentally), what data or metrics are most useful to pay attention to in trail running, how to make trail running part of your fitness routine as an urban athlete, strength training considerations, and our favorite trail running workouts, gear items, and memories. We also do a deep dive on why we (mostly) hate the new Strava AI insights and answer a listener question on how to approach racing at altitude if you live at sea level. Even if you have never set foot on a trail, this is a can’t-miss episode! Check it out. 

Intro Banter

We are dropping the knowledge with many coaches in the house! And we are bringing the heat about Strava AI!…

Katie:

  • My thoughts: really don’t like it, for multiple reasons:

    • (1) We do not need more judgment in this world about our workouts. The only people who get to evaluate your workouts are you and your coach. 

    • (2) More data/feedback can confuse us and gaslight us into adopting straight up wrong information about training.

    • (3) The algorithm is not very sophisticated! Some examples:

      • BoMF run 

        • “Your latest run was slower than usual, but you pushed hard and maintained an anaerobic effort throughout. Impressive endurance despite the challenging pace.” 11:37/mile, avg HR 105

      • Not taking vert into account 

      • Using info from your caption / sub caption to give you feedback and act smarter than it is

    • Big miss, Strava! I am doing my part by giving feedback on each AI insight as “unhelpful” or “offensive” until they shut it down ;) 

Jim - Reasons to ignore Strava AI: 

  • Humans have a negativity bias.  We tend to discard the positive comments from these AI analysis programs and instead focus, and hold onto, the negative ones.  We are rumination machines.

    • We generate enough negative comments in our own head, probably hundreds, perhaps thousand daily. The last thing we need is an outside source feeding us more doubting comments on how fit, strong or fast we are (or are not). 

  • No AI coaching app can take into account a complete 360 degree view of your life, mental and physical state and well being.  It doesn’t know anything about your Life Stress Score (LSS), it doesn’t know you are recovering from a cold, you had a bad day at work, you were up all night with your sick child or you woke up with a niggle in your calf. 

  • Strava AI isn’t there to improve your life or training. It is designed for you to spend more time in a social media app and  condition you to receive more addictive dopamine hits.  That’s it. Refuse to be a Pavlov dog!  We can’t find a deep and meaningful relationship with our sport If we need an AI dopamine hit after every workout.  No one workout is going to move the needle on our fitness and foundation.

  • What we can do instead:

    • We talked about this in Episode 20: Good data, bad data. We recommend turning off all auto generated training comments from Garmin. And now I’ll add Strava to that list.  And in general try turning off nearly all notifications on your phone and devices except for the critical ones. 

    • Do your best to hit the intention of the workout, make a quick comment in TrainingPeaks (or your training log) on how it felt and then move on with the rest of your day. As the band Boston said: Don’t Look Back!

    • Think long term: As we always preach, training is a long term commitment, not a transactional process. Long term fitness building is not extraordinary on a day to day basis.  Most workouts are just adding little bricks to your aerobic foundation.  Things like Garmin insights and Strava AI lead take us away from our greater mission of showing up, doing our best and thinking, big picture and long term gains.

Coaching & Training Insights

Katie:

  • How to approach feeling under the weather or tired within 2-3 weeks of race day / what it means to say “the hay is in the barn”

  • Updating my thoughts on the off season 

Elena: 

  • Building on our nutrition episode, checking in on carb intake relative to protein and fats. A lot of conditioning these past several years to increase protein intake and lower carbs, so good to get a sense of where you are. 

Jim:

  • Cooler weather = new PRs!

    • Safe to say, this was a tough summer for a lot of athletes. They worked super hard and were consistent at building fitness but many were not able to express this fitness on race day due to extreme heat.

    • As the weather has cooled we have seen some massive PRs in run races. 

    • This comes as a big relief to both athlete and coach.  When you work at something for months and don’t see a return, it can be hard to believe in yourself and the training. I’m super proud of all of our athletes who focus on the process, are patient and let the results come to them.  

    • One common theme running through the post race conversations was the comment I had made to the athletes pre-race that I believed they could go all in on reaching and exceeding their goal.  They said it was a very powerful reminder they can believe in themselves because they had put in the physical and mental training.  For more on that subject, shout out to Episode 51: Cultivating self-belief in sport and life

    • Another point on heat: Next year, I want to focus a lot more attention on heat adaptation and training.  I believe heat/humidity is the biggest “X” factor on race day if we have properly addressed physical and mental fitness, fueling and pacing.

    • For those who want to dive deeper into, here’s what the Norwegians have been doing in their run up to Kona:  The Norwegian Heat Training Method – Final Race Prep

  • Pre-race snacking

    • I had a call with an athlete running the New York City marathon. As we worked through the logistics of race morning, her race starts at 11am but she starts making her way to the race at 6am. This is reminder for a couple things

    • Pre-race jitters/adrenal burn a lot of glycogen.  It’s very common for athletes to feel flat and/or hungry early in races because they have burned a lot of sugar pre-race than they normally would in training where we don’t have the same nerves and extended logistics.

    • Bring lots of snacks and water bottle(s) and drink and snack as you make your way through pre-race logistics.   It’s easy to forget as there is a lot going on on race morning.  Be very cognizant that you need to keep snacking to show up 100% glycogen filled at the race start. 

  • Cold weather riding gear:

    • We were asked by one of our athletes to compile a list of colder weather riding gear we use and recommend. The list is quite long and well tested.  We won’t go into the details here but it covers gloves, shoe overboots, socks, tights, knickers (my favorite), leg and arm warmers, jerseys, jackets and headbands.  Here is the Google Doc link to the recommended products.

  • Precision Hydration Insta account:

    • This is a really helpful account for seeing brief case studies in fueling for different events. It summarizes the athlete, event and their target carbs/hydration/sodium per hour.  

    • I have not used their products so I can’t speak to that but they have been a major player in the race/training space for a time.  At the very least, you’ll learn a bunch. (And most of the information should not come as a surprise to our regular listeners.)

    • @precisionfandh

Main Content

Our agenda today is to convince you that a) trail running is the best and b) it’s a secret weapon to a faster half marathon, marathon and triathlon.  And c) maybe get you hooked on trail running at your main jam!

Who should trail run?

  • Runners

  • Triathletes

  • Cyclists

Why is trail running such a secret weapon? 

  • Organic strength, aerobic, tempo, threshold zones on nearly every run

  • Communing with nature, great for mental health

  • Super social, easy to do with a friend and people of various abilities

  • Exploration

How can someone get started trail running? What are the basics?

  • Mentally:

    • Just explore! It may be fast hiking at first, running only when it feels accessible to, but slowly you start running more and more.

    • The mental shift from hiking to trail running

    • Throw away any pace expectations. Maybe don’t even wear a watch the first several times

  • Physically:

    • For both uphill and downhill, short, faster strides

    • Agility→ look where you’re going, pick your line, trust your body

    • Strength & durability

    • Knowing when to hike vs when to run

Do you train with pace on trails, or effort/HR? What are the most useful metrics? 

  • Pretty much all perceived effort & HR, rarely ever focused on pace

  • Pay attention to a mix of vert, time, and mileage for training metrics

  • If you are keeping track in TrainingPeaks, use hrTSS and you can also add extra (10) TSS per 1000 feet of elevation gain and drop.

How much road vs. trail running should aspiring trail runners do? 

  • How do you improve technical skills on trails?

  • How to train for trail races if you live somewhere without great trail access?

  • Thoughts on, e.g., stairmaster, uphill treadmill, Harvard stadiums?

How should trail runners approach strength training?

  • Lateral movement is important! Core, side lunges, ankle stability

  • Squats & deadlifts always important for pure power

  • Weighted uphill carry (carry water uphill/mountain, dump on top if you don’t want the added eccentric load on the way down)

Favorite trail running workouts? 

  • Longer Hill repeats→ 2/4/6/8/6/4/2 mins up

  • Long adventure days!

  • 1-2 downhill stimulus workouts before big races

  • Sustained runnable uphill where you just focus on keeping running (can be done on road too!)

Favorite Trail Gear:

Elena: Salomon Adv Skin pack, Patagonia Houdini, Leki poles, Fenix headlamp, Patagonia gloves, On spandex pocket shorts, Coros HR armband, Nathan hand flask

Katie: Salomon 12L pack, Patagonia Houdini, Patagonia micro puff, Black Diamond Carbon poles, Leukotape, Skida headband, Craft hybrid weather gloves, Petzl Actik core headlamp, On running shorts, Distance spikes

Jim: +1 on the above.  A couple additions:  Bag Balm 2oz tube, Black Diamond Aluminum poles, Salomon soft flask water filter, Nathan Hipster Running Belt, Lightweight adventure medical kit

Favorite trail running areas / trails?

  • Elena: anywhere in UT (Wasatch Crest, Foothills, Mill Creek), Presi traverse, Vermont→ Mt. Mansfield, Lake Willoughby area. Seattle area→ Carkeek Park, Cougar Mountain. Basically I just am wherever I am, look at my trail map (Gaia GPS), and decide where I want to try exploring. 

  • Katie: Bay Area CA (Windy Hill, Wunderlich, Russian Ridge); Boston (Fells, Blue Hills); Upper Valley (Ballard/Bragg, Blue Ribbon, Union Village Dam); Camden Hills State Park in Maine; the Whites

  • Jim: White Mountain Pemigewasset Wilderness area (a lot of old logging railroad beds), Powerline Pass (and peaks) & Bicentennial Park - Anchorage, AK

Favorite trail running memory:

  • Elena: running down Mt. Mansfield with my dad; firstt 50K

  • Katie: So many! Fast Prezi on a bluebird 70 degree day in March 2021 stands out, also 100 MW Express (check out Episode 10: Durability)

  • Jim: Discovering my trail bliss pace in the Pemi / Owl’s Head hike. Skyline to Pacific (26 mile casual trail marathon in January!), 

Listener Questions (from AMA)

How do you approach training for races at altitude when living at sea level besides going to elevation? I’m interested in races like Hardrock or Highlonesome, if I ever get in the lottery!

  • Elena: heat training is probably the best substitute available, along with allowing yourself around a week of acclimation time if possible. If not, try to get a short but intense stimulus at altitude as soon as you get there (think 10-20 sec hill strides) to help your body adapt sooner

  • Katie: This is hard! There isn’t much of a substitute for altitude training other than an altitude tent which I have never used. Advice I give is: do a training camp, go out as early as you can (it can take a couple of weeks to acclimate), manage your expectations surrounding HR/pace and use a race strategy based on HR/overall pace, and any time you are at altitude, prioritize really good hydration, fueling, and sun protection.

  • Jim: Agreed with Katie, managing expectations is key here. For altitude races, your aerobic capacity could be reduced by 10% or more. That means your normal race pace will feel wicked hard and/or unattainable.  I would frame these races in more of ‘destination / bucket list’ race than a performance race.

Challenge of the Week 

  • Katie: Morning pages journaling exercise 

  • Elena: 10 min sun salutation

  • Jim: During off season, have multiple route options on your runs/bikes as you assess how you are feeling in real time.  Adjust your course based on what your body and mind are telling you.

Gear Pick of the Week

Episode 53: Performance Nutrition with Chef and Registered Dietitian Megan Chacosky

In this week’s episode, Elena and Katie welcome Megan Chacosky to the show. Megan is a performance dietitian and chef extraordinaire who has built a career blending her expertise in sports nutrition with her love of cooking and her passion for supporting athletes as humans. Megan served as a Performance Chef and Sports Dietician for the US Olympic and Paralympic committee before moving to Vermont to do the same at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center for the Green Racing Project’s athletes. We cover Megan’s journey into her current position, common nutrition struggles for endurance athletes, how athletes can make fueling both easy and enjoyable, how nailing the more mundane elements is the best path to longevity in sport, how athletes can build healthier relationships with food, and a whole lot more. Check it out! 

Recipes Megan mentioned in the show:

Recipe combos

Cooking class combos

Gear pick of the week:

Megan: Hot salted caramel LMNT in the morning

Katie: Craft Hybrid Weather glove

Elena: Tifosi Vogel sunglasses

Episode 52: How We Qualified for the Ironman World Championships

October means two things: it's pumpkin spice latte season and it's Ironman World Championships season! In this week's episode, Coach Katie and Coach Kevin—both 2X Ironman World Championships qualifiers—break down their respective journeys to the Kona ticket. We cover the training, budget, lifestyle, logistics, and mindsets that helped them achieve their goals, and we also offer tips for athletes who simply want to level up their Ironman game. We also answer a bunch of listener questions related to hydration, ERG mode, and saddle sores, and share coaching and training insights on mindfulness, DNFs, and when to call it quits. Check it out!

Coaching & Training Insights

Katie: Two recent and related athlete stories

DNF story at IM 70.3 Jones Beach 

  • One of my level 3 athletes had a bit of an unexpected DNF at IM 70.3 Jones Beach recently and we have been processing parts of it together; sharing this story with his permission.

  • “Water sucked. Weather sucked. It’s miserable out. Got part way through the swim and, while it wasn’t a full blown panic attack, I was physically uncomfortable. It’s not rare for me, so I went to my place to find my fight and just found nothing…As I hung onto the paddle board fighting with this decision, I rationalized that I had two personal bests this year, a very long season, and nothing to prove. I’m disappointed and sad, but this was a choice, the right one, and I’ll come back stronger…Off season is going to be refreshing so I can hit Eagleman hard in the spring…Feel like Forrest Gump when he just decided to stop running. Lol”

    • Shared a meme with the Forrest Gump quote: “I’m pretty tired… think I’ll go home now.”

  • Something I’ve talked about with Elena: the more experienced you are, the more likely you are to DNF at some point in your career (voluntarily) because you are putting yourself out there more. 

    • From my athlete: “That’s 💯 true and this is a turning point in my career as an athlete. I’ve only DNF’d once before and I was brand new and it wasn’t voluntary.” 

  • This athlete had a STELLAR season with a marathon PB in May, major Ironman PB in July, and admittedly it was a bit of a gamble as to whether that momentum would carry them to a third race mindset-wise even if the fitness was there. 

    • Proud of him for making this brave call rather than suffering through the rest of a race that his heart wasn’t in 

When to call it quits and when to keep pushing 

  • One athlete who was signed up for NYC Marathon and had some big and exciting goals

  • Unfortunately, dealing with recurring plantar fasciitis and the last several weeks have been a very delicate balance of cross-training, dry needling, a million different gadgets and devices for pain management, testing the waters, trying out a run, flaring up again, repeat

  • Really struggling with the decision to continue or not. After most recent long run (14 miles with pain miles 9-14), sent me this text:

    • “It’s sore. I think I’m ready to give up. I’m feeling defeated, sad, mad. And also can see that part of me will be relieved if I give up. Running isn’t joy now, or good hard. It’s bad hard, painful. That feels crappy…I just don’t think my body could handle running another 12 miles on top of what I just did. Not in terms of fitness. My body parts….and the self talk is as hard as the injury… Why didn’t I do more of x? Why did I even try this? Why aren’t I tougher and willing to keep pushing? … But I really do think my victory here is the striver voice isn’t winning. My inner wisdom keeps saying ‘you don’t need to do this to prove anything to anyone’ and ‘how nice that now you can focus on something different and maybe that will be more joyful.’”

  • As a coach, I am prouder of this athlete for ultimately deciding to call it quits and focus on getting better. Staying on the track is easy; stepping off into the unknown that is more aligned with your gut is hard.

Takeaways from both stories:

  • From a season planning perspective, consider truncating your season into less than ~7-8 months; it’s soon after the six-month mark that I start to see people get TIRED mentally and physically, but especially mentally. This is true even if they have a mini off season between races. 

  • “A” races are an enormous physical and mental ask. I think it’s hard to have two in one year even if spaced relatively far apart. The longer the race, the more this is true. 

  • Leading with the heart is both powerful and brave! Everyone should do it more, and I think learning how to do that will leave us more confident in any hard decisions that we have to make 

  • Overall: proud coach moments everywhere! 

Jim:

A little story about a recent easy bike ride, incorporating a lot of our training principles: Came back from 7 hours in the car and decided to go for a bike ride. 

  • Setting intention: Forgot headphones. So instead used it as an opportunity to set a mental and physical intention for the ride. that became the focus rather than listening to a podcast


  • Easy spin after travel instead of a workout - My original intention was to get in a little workout after travel but soon realized that travel had taken a toll and was not feeling it.  I resorted back to our tactic of easy spin to move blood after travel and not try to chase fitness in a suboptimal state. 

  • Bring (or buy) Snacks - At the turnaround, Istarted to get hungry because meal timing and content was off from traveling. I stopped to get a cookie at our favorite CSA farm. Even better, I bought two cookies. Like the Special Forces saying goes: One is none and two is one!

  • Think ahead to recovery and next workout - I also bought a sandwich to put in my back pocket as I was running errands right after the ride and knew I needed some real food afterward.  As a result, I felt fantastic while running errands and could have rolled into a strength session thereafter. 

  • Thinking fast is a skill, not always an effort - At the turn around, I checked mph, it was 18.4 as there had been a little tailwind on the way out.  Because I had refueled big time with the two cookies and felt fantastic, I decided to do a little fun ‘think fast’ experiment.  On the way back the goal was to keep it Z2 HR but keep up the same speed. It’s more uphill on the way back and there was a slight headwind. What was I going to do to keep up the same avg speed?  I focused on a tight, low position on the bike, emphasizing keeping my head low. Also reading the terrain; on the slight downhills, I would tuck.  On the flats, it was think fast, stay low and keep a consistent effort. On the uphills, I lifted my watts cap and gave a bit more effort.  While this wasn’t a “workout” per se, I was very mentally and physically engaged, playing a game of speed and effort while keeping it an easy ride.   As a result, avg speed actually increased to 18.5 when I hit the bottom of the big hill back to town where I then shifted into a very easy gear and spun the last 5’ really easy for a cooldown. 

  • In sum, you can engage a lot, mentally and physically on just a short recovery bike ride. What was originally just an easy, brainless ride turned into something very engaging, fun and productive.

Joy of flat pedals: Keeping on the bike theme, during my travels this week, I brought my older gravel bike and put flat pedals on it.  As we easily pedaled around Deer Isle on multiple days, I reflected on some of my favorite bike rides. And I found a recurring theme: flat pedals!  I think this is because nothing says have fun like a kid, riding around in your sneakers with flat pedals. Your intention is to go easy, explore, take in the sights, be social and not chase anything that looks like fitness or a workout. You are riding a bike because bike riding is just fun!

From Adam (runner and triathlete): “I was reflecting that ~1 year ago I couldn't manage 6:30 pace for 2x10 minutes during the threshold test and now I'm maybe one or two more training cycles away from running that for a marathon. Consistency and structured training is cool.”

Main Content

It’s that time of year again (besides pumpkin spice latte time): World Championships time!  It’s super exciting to watch the races in Nice, France and especially Kona. Nothing will get you cranked up more than watching the pros swim in Kailua Bay, rocket down the Queen K and run smoothly out of the Energy Lab heading back to Ali’i Dr to claim glory.  

It’s nearly every triathlete’s dream to compete at the World Championships. We get asked frequently: What does it take to qualify?  Today, hopefully we have some answers for you!  Our goal is to outline what it takes in the preceding years / months in order to reach Kona. Every athlete’s journey is a little different but there are some common themes that we will touch on today with Coach Katie and Coach Kevin, 2X World Championship qualifiers and racers. 

Even if you don’t dream of leaving all your bodily fluids on the Big Island, we invite you to stick around as, like with all of our episodes, we discuss broad training principles, tactics and strategies that apply across all race distances.

To give you a context for your triathlon journey, it might help to quickly recap how we think about skill and experience levels for triathletes.  This is a recap from Episode 47: How to plan your race calendar.

  • Level 1: You are new to the sport and are learning dozens of fundamental skills and building out a fitness foundation.  When you graduate from this level, you are able to swim 1500 yards in open water, sighting every 7-9 strokes, bike safely 25 miles on the open road while eating and drinking and run 6 miles in an easy, aerobic Zone 2 HR.  Typically this level is 2 - 4 years. It’s the most important and we never try to hurry out of this level as it is the very foundation for your triathlon career and success.

  • Level 2: You consolidate the skills from Level 1 while racing sprints/Olympics and even 70.3’s. Regularly training 7 - 10 hours per week.

  • Level 3: You are very familiar with triathlon and are becoming competitive in your Age Group or finish fairly high overall in local triathlons. You have been racing for 2 - 4 years and have a developed sense of racing. You have 9 - 12 hours a week to train on average, for months at a time, and ability to train up to 15 hours per week during big weeks. Level 3 athletes are doing sprint/Olympic/70.3 and Ironman races.

  • Level 4: You are a competitive age grouper and compete for top 10 positions in local to regional triathlons. You are looking to win your Age Group at local/regional Sprint/Olympic/HIM/IM races. You have 12 - 20 hours a week to train on average, for months at a time, and ability to train up to 25 hours per week during big weeks.

  • In sum, if you are a Level 4 athlete, and sometimes level 3,  it can be time to start dreaming Kona!  It might be helpful to check out Episode 49: Setting Goals in Training and Racing

*Katie & Kevin - any general advice to those athletes starting to dream about Kona qualification?  When in your triathlon journey did you start to think about World Championships?  (Insert joke here about Kevin being a complete baller and qualifying in his first triathlon.)

  • Katie - Triathlete progression from couldn’t swim across the pool to KQ

  • Kevin - Number 1: Dream it, think it, set the plan!! For me it was sort’ve after I qualified when I got obsessed with Kona… to be honest I had no idea how to qualify, or what the race really even meant besides seeing the the Vega World champs doc of Jon in 2019.

  • The number one variable on whether Kona can be on your dream list or not is time. You need time.  Kona is a 6 - 9 month huge time commitment.  Think 15 - 20 hours a week from Jan 1 onward.  You’ll need to really look at your life: Do I have the support network to do this level of training?  Are my job responsibilities flexible enough to accommodate training?  Are you willing to make the lifestyle sacrifices?  This can not be understated: You must have the time, lifestyle and systems perfectly in place to support training almost like a professional athlete.  You will be living and breathing triathlon for the majority of the year.  

*Katie and Kevin - what did your lifestyle look like during your Kona build up? 

  • Kevin: 

    • I could not agree more on the sacrifice and support network. You have to be all in, and that trickles into many other facets in your life.

    • Take a step back and think of other variables in your life, and what might hinder your training?

    • I was very lucky from 2021-2022 for my 9-month prep. I had a great support system, i was growing my fitness brand so it was a huge priority in my life, and Kona was an absolute DREAM for me once I knew more about it. I made many sacrifices during the prep, said no a lot, my work at the time I was in a more junior role so I was able to have more flexibility, and there were no other life stressors going on. 

    • Moral of the story, your environment has be PRIME for a big Kona prep (and travel!)

  • Katie:

    • Agree! Talk about what my environment looked like in 2019 and 2023. You have to lean into—and be OK with—the monk lifestyle.

*Katie and Kevin - A not so obvious factor in doing an Ironman, and particularly a World Championship, is cost.  These races are really expensive, from gear, gym memberships, travel, hotel, race entries, etc. What do you estimate your personal budget was for these races?

  • Kevin: Good question, and I think people would be surprised at the huge price tag for these. I think it is so funny when outside people in my life would be like “Oh the word championships, so Ironman pays for your trip out there and stuff?” HA!

    • Hawaii was certainly more expensive, especially when you got there. The lodging, food, dinners, etc. 

    • I was very fortunate to have local companies in my area through work and fitness that were generous to support my travels, but the price tag is big

  • Katie: Flights are a minimum 500-600 $ x the number of people you are going with. Airbnb minimum $300-400 per night and you will likely want to stay for a while so multiply by number of nights. Race registration alone is over $1K. You also need a bike bag, odd items like a swim skin, checked bags, etc. Food is very expensive too. 

    • Kona is not cheap!!!

    • And remember - they make you swipe your card to register at the awards ceremony. 

    • Think of this as a once in a lifetime vacation trip and ask yourself if this is how you would want to spend money on a once in a lifetime vacation trip.

What does a typical Kona qualifying week look like? 

  • Monday - Day Off. Probably includes a lot of meal prep for the week, running errands and generally clearing your plate so you can train the next 6 days. -Sleep!

  • Tuesday - Run and possibly double run days if you are in a run training block.  Double runs typically are intervals in the morning and a recovery/Z2 ride in the late afternoon / evening. If you are not in a run block, workout #2 will either be bike or swim.

  • Wednesday - This is the crux day of the week. You will need to allocate 3 - 4 hours today. This is usually a longer bike (2-3 hours) and possibly a swim or strength. 

  • Thursday - Workout #1: Run Workout #2: Swim (or vice versa).

  • Friday - I like to include a shorter tempo bike session on Fridays and possibly some strength.  This is a little intensity but not big hours today as Saturday and Sunday are significant training days. 

  • Saturday - Long bike, 3 - 4 hours as a standard ride Jan - April and then increasing to 4 - 6 hours regularly.  The goal is to make 100 miles feel like just another day on the bike.  Ironman run speeds are built upon BIG bike fitness. 

  • Sunday - Long run, 90’ - 2 hours are fairly standard along with a big swim. Big swims are 3500+ in the winter months and increasing to 4K+ for the last three months in the Build period. 

  • In sum, your training hours will regularly be between 15 - 20 hours starting in January.

*Katie & Kevin - How did you typically structure your week to fit in all the training time? 

  • Kevin: I will touch on my previous episode ideas of reverse planning, coordinating workouts, sacrificing certain things, etc

  • Katie: Importance of the “big rock” and “little rock” of the day when doing doubles and balancing that with work and other possible commitments

  • If you are able to arrange your life to meet the basic Kona training week, you then need to think about which race best suits you for a possible qualification.   

*Katie & Kevin - what advice do you have for picking an Ironman?  Do you look at Kona spots?  Do you look at past results?  How do types of courses figure into the equation?

  • Katie: I always err on the side of: race a race that approximates the terrain you can train in. But generally, the more competitive/well-known a race is, the harder it will be to get a slot; on the flip side, there are more slots to be allocated in harder races. In general I think there is no magic sauce to picking a goal race other than the race at which you can perform your best. 

    • For me, IMLP has always fit the bill because it is close to home and because the terrain suits me (I am a good climber on TT bike and run, swim is not my strongest suit; I also would not do as well on a very flat and/or windy course).

  • You might also find Episode 16: So you want to do an IRONMAN? helpful.

*Katie & Kevin - As we are now a triathlon / life psychology podcast now, was there specific or general mental preparation you used for tackling the massive training and also for race day?  And/or what would you use next year as mental skills training for such a big project? 

  • Kevin: 

    • Yes! It's easy to lose sight of the main idea… you are going to HAWAII! To race a freaking Ironman, which is the most iconic one. Most people who don't know ironman, know this race! You have to wear that with a badge of honor, and be grateful / honored you can do this race.

    • For the day of race, try to not focus on others' races, but only your own performance. There are people where this is their all. Kids in my age group were there for 2 weeks prior, training, it was their full time job. 

  • Katie: 

    • A few tips:

      • Honoring LSS / modifying in the short term when things get tough to avoid having to modify BIG time in the long term

      • Being intentional about process goals -- Kona goal can be in the background but you have to focus more on the day to day 

      • Celebrating mini wins along the way

*Katie & Kevin - For some people, the World Championships are a low pressure victory lap / celebration and for others, it’s about being at the tip of the spear and trying to finish high (or win) their Age Group.  How did you approach Kona and why did you approach it that way?

  • Katie: tell story of both experiences at Kona, having nothing to prove, and having a much better day than I otherwise would have 

*Katie & Kevin - Looking back on your successful project, is there anything you would do differently the next time around?   Any specific lessons you learned in the process or learned later on that would be super beneficial to the same or similar endurance project? 

  • Kevin:

    • Yes, for starters, NOT WEAR ALL BLACK TT KIT AT KONA!

    • I really didn’t have many regrets or second thoughts about my Kona experience. I was still relatively new to the sport, so there are specific workouts I wish I had done, but that's any race. 

    • I’d say more time for heat training, and hillier long runs. 

  • Katie:

    • First time vs. second time - first time I initially tried to approach Kona like a second A race, got back into training too soon post IMLP, got injured. Had a miracle day where everything worked out but the road was rocky. Second time - did some tune up sessions (a few long ish bike rides, 4-5 hours and longish runs 10-12 miles) but minimal hard/long swimming and minimal other workouts/ focused on a CHILL august and having fun. Still had a great day at Kona!

    • This advice might be different if you were to qualify WAY in advance (e.g. qualify at IM California in October, race one year later), but in my view unless you have 4-6 months between two Ironmans you can’t have them both be an A race. 

In sum, what did we learn today about Kona Qualifying? 

  • It is a gradual, multi-year buildup to handling level of training. Do not jump into this level of training if you are a Level 1 - 3 athlete. 

  • Consistency week after week, month after month is key.

  • You need 7 - 9 months to build to peak fitness.  Think >160 CTL. Peak fitness is: 

    • A 4K swim feels easy.

    • 100 miles is a standard ride. No big deal. 

    • Running 90’ off a 100 mile ride is challenging but very realistic. You are tired but have energy in the tank for more.

  • You need a very flexible schedule that allows for 2-3 hours of exercise per day on average.

  • You need to be a morning person in order to get daily workout #1 done before work/family/school. 

    • Or workout #1 and #2 before work (winky face) 

  • You need money to buy gear, travel, race entries. A lot of $$$.

  • Those who compete at the top of their age group have decided to live a different, almost monastic lifestyle. 

  • Organization, forethought and planning across your entire life is critical.

  • The physical training is hard and the mental game is just as important.

Final important tip from Katie:

  • If you think you want to try to qualify for Kona, do a really deep dive on why. Following a Kona prep plan must have a deeper purpose than “It would be cool to go to Kona” because that’s not enough when you’re 13 weeks out doing a 3 hour ride on the trainer. You have to love the process. And even more importantly, you have to know that right now, without having qualified for or gone to Kona, you are enough! Because if that’s not true, then you won’t feel like you are enough once you do it 🙂

    • Also want to shout out to one of my athletes who did an IM last year and did not qualify though she was hoping to, then did an IM this year and DID qualify but decided not to take the slot and has a lot of closure with the distance. Super proud and mature decision! 

OK, Coaches - one final question: Do you foresee Kona in your future again?  Why or why not?

  • Katie: For now, I have a lot of Kona and Ironman closure! I will never say never, but I don’t think I want to train for and race an Ironman.

Listener Questions (from AMA)

Carb intake has become straightforward but can you talk about salt tabs (or electrolytes in general) on longer rides / runs — threshold for using, how much and how often, and how much water is needed?

  • Katie: The fancy way - sweat testing, though I haven’t done it. The alternative method - trial and error! Do lots of race sims, start with something like 1000 mg sodium (one LMNT per bottle) on hot days and see if you have GI issues or cramp. If yes, probably more salt!

How do you combine enough liquid electrolytes and (liquid) carbs on the bike? Do you mix a Maurten drink mix with LMNT? Getting 60-90 grams of carbs with solids is too challenging, so I would like to switch to liquid carbs, but am concerned about not getting enough electrolytes.

  • Katie: I do bottles with both Skratch Superfuel (lemon/lime) and Citrus flavor LMNT as my endurance fuel of choice.

  • Jim: Shout out to our fake sponsor Nature’s Bakery because 2 fig bars is nearly 40 grams of carbs. 2 packages plus some carbs in your bottle get you close to 100 per hour quickly!  But for those that want to go full liquid carbs, we are super lucky now to 

Saddle sore tips? lol 

  • Katie: A lot of it comes down to the right combo of saddle and bike shorts. For me, I need minimal padding when I have a wide nosed saddle i.e. TT bike and more padding for narrower saddle (road bike). Definitely use a liberal amount of chamois cream and take bike shorts off ASAP and shower after. 

    • From a listener way back when we did our female athlete series with Elena -- Adding Hibiclens surgical scrub to my shower routine for my chamois area really eliminated all my saddle sores, and doesn't contribute to microbial resistance the way a lot of antibacterial soaps do.

    • Jim:+1 on correct saddle (my favorite is ISM saddles), high quality bike shorts (shout out to Assos), quality tri kit (my favorite is Castelli San Remo) and preventative use of chamois creme (Assos make my favorite chamois creme).

  • Kevin: i was borderline tears for some of mine saddle sores… lol.

Erg mode vs. not erg mode? What are the benefits to each and how should I be using my winter indoor training sessions to optimize my bike fitness?

Challenge of the Week 

  • Katie: Schedule 30 minutes of chill time in your calendar 

  • Jim: Take a fall foliage hike

  • Kevin: Check in on 2 of your teammates / friends / athletes. See how they are doing

Gear Pick of the Week

Episode 51: Cultivating Self-Belief in Sport and Life

In this week’s episode, we crowdsourced yet again and asked our community to share their thoughts on self-belief. As always, we are so impressed by the wisdom, vulnerability, and insights of our listeners. Thank you all! Katie and Elena summarize the findings and dive deeper into how self-belief helps our performance, how it translates into life, how we build it, how we lose it, and the tools our community members are using to maintain it. We also have our own spiritual tangents and fair share of musings on this very important yet complex topic. Whether you are feeling on the top of your game, faking it ‘til you make it, or struggling to cultivate your own self-belief right now, this episode is for you! 

Links to additional content discussed:

Gear picks of the week:

Episode 50: Celebrating 50 Episodes - Ask Us Anything!

We are celebrating 50 episodes of The Endurance Drive Podcast this week with our first ever AMA (ask me anything) episode. We are so grateful to our listener community for tuning in every week and sending in such awesome questions. Check this episode out to hear our thoughts on how our approach to training has changed over time, what advice we wish we could tell ourselves at the beginning of our athletic journey, how we balance SBR during busy seasons of life, what our favorite post-race and “my body is not a temple” foods are, and a whole lot more. We also cover a bunch of fun insights related sport psychology, serving our communities through endurance, swim technique for beginners, and dry shirt season. This was such a fun episode to record - check it out and get excited for another 50!

Coaching and Training Insights

Katie:

Strava segments as a fun off-season small-dose anaerobic stimulus 

  • Strava segments (and Zwift sprints) are a really fun way to get a short aerobic stimulus during otherwise uneventful Z1/2 rides -- tap into your competitive edge, play to the conditions, 

  • How to do it:

    • If you have a standard go-to route, keep an eye on the segments you always cross

    • Optionally, star them on Strava and download to bike computer; the bike computer will count you down and let you know your PR on that segment so you can try to beat it 

    • I’ll usually plan out an easy ride but keep an eye on a few possible segments and go for them especially if the wind is favorable

    • Note: danger is not worth the segment! Be extra cautious and aware of segments that cross intersections and of cars and people around you 

    • Also note: it doesn’t have to be about getting a QOM/KOM/CR or trophy. Chasing your own PRs is a great stimulus too! 

      • There are some areas in the US where I can get a QOM without trying (i.e. midcoast Maine, unless Ella takes it first); other areas it’s a miracle if I can break the top 10 (Stanford area CA, even some parts of the UV). Embrace both! 

  • Recent example: 1:40 z1/2 ride with a total of 2:30 in HIGH VO2/Neuro zones for segments. Super fun, works the top end, but doesn’t overload the system at all. I can push a lot harder when I’m going for a segment than if you told me to just go hard for 2:30. Feed the competitive spirit! 


It is dry shirt season. Got VERY cold after a rainy run on the car ride back and it was 59 degrees out. Have a dry shirt/sweatshirt in your car and take off any wet/sweaty/cold layers immediately after a workout in shoulder season and beyond. Hypothermia is often more common in shoulder season than in winter because we aren’t prepared!

Jim: Advice from a winter Olympian. Always change your shirt immediately after a workout.


P3 thinking to optimize performance (back to our psychology work!) -- something I have been working on with my mindset coach:

  • To be a mentally tough athlete, you have to think well. Thinking well means that you follow the P3 formula: Purposeful + Productive + Possibility Thinking.

  • When you lose focus or choke, it's from poor thinking. Self-defeating thoughts in sport come from the R3 formula: Random + Reactive + Restrictive Thinking.

  • Example -- you hit traffic on the way to your race and show up late to transition. 

    • R3 thinking:

      • Random: I feel rushed and frazzled. 

      • Reactive: This sucks!

      • Restrictive: I can’t get ready to race that quickly.

    • P3 thinking:

      • Purposeful: I’m going to complete all the tasks I need to do this as quickly and efficiently as possible.

      • Productive: Focus on preparedness of my body, experience setting up transitions before, and confidence in my training—I’m ready! 

      • Possibility: I might be better off with less time in the high-stress environment of the transition area—I won’t overthink it!

  • General thoughts on more P3 thinking:

    • Your thoughts are changeable and controllable. You don’t have to let them control you! 

    • Focus on what you want to happen or hope for.

    • Mindfulness: When R3 thoughts or negative imagery enter your mind (and they will!) try to notice it and respond with more positive thinking. 

  • Action time - journal out:

    • Specific thing that happens to me / situations that trigger me to feel or think badly

    • What I think (R3) 

    • How it makes me feel or how it hurts my performance

    • How I can think better (P3 thought)

    • How this feeling will enhance my feelings and performance 


More psychology - thoughts on scarcity vs. abundance mindset in training

  • Example 1. Once the weather starts getting colder or less consistently amazing -- feel a little more on edge or like I’m “wasting” a nice day if I don’t spend as much time as possible outside 

  • Example 2. Me thinking about long term athletic journey and life plans -- how many more years will I focus on somewhat selfishly optimizing for my own performance before I start a new chapter of life? 

  • Scarcity mindset causes us to operate from a place of fear and anxiety -- it’s the mind 

  • Abundance mindset comes from the heart and leaves more space for gratitude 

  • I am personally trying to have more of an abundance mindset in thinking about opportunities to train, get outside, etc.; and foster gratitude for good weather days and what my schedule and body allow me to do now 

  • There will always be more! And there is enough to go around

Reflections from BoMF

  • Recently got connected to a new friend in Boston who has been part of a nonprofit called Back On My Feet for the last 15 years 

  • BOMF is a nonprofit that works with people experiencing homelessness or addiction who currently reside within shelters and recovery facilities

  • Members commit to run or walk 2-3 days a week and receive access to workshops, personalized support, and a one-on-one mentor 

  • Locations all over the US -- 3 in Boston, but also NY, SF, Denver, etc. 16 cities.

  • What it looks like for volunteers: run/walk meetups held 3 days per week, sign up for a day or more, commit to meeting with the group at 5:45a on Mon Wed or Fri, intro question, walk to a local track, do laps walking or running, disperse. Less than an hour commitment

  • I went to BoMF with Jay last week and then again this week - not going to lie, the 4:30 wake up was tough, but this has so far been of the most empowering and rewarding things I’ve done in a long time

  • Have had a lot of great conversations with members, which has got me thinking about why movement can be such a powerful way to break down barriers and build connection:

    • Undivided attention to someone else -- not on our phones 

    • Volunteers run or walk the same pace as members in a shared activity, which acts as a great equalizer

    • BoMF provides running clothes and shoes for all members, so you often can’t even tell who is a volunteer and who is a member

    • Something really special about starting the day doing something badass and hard in the dark with a community -- from the conversations I’ve had, it really sets people up for success the rest of the day, and I think that’s something we can all relate to

    • More broadly, this has been a really poignant reminder that people struggling with homelessness or addiction are people too, with families and interests and highs and lows, and often they have just been fucked over by a lot of things out of their control that goes all the way back to the environment they were born into. It has been really remarkable to hear people’s stories and connect with them.

    • Broader point - endurance builds instant connection. Grateful for my new friendship with Jay as well as the relationships I am building with the other volunteers and members!

  • To check out BoMF and/or become a volunteer, see: https://backonmyfeet.org/about-us/#locations

    • Bonus: this is INCREDIBLE Z1/2 activity!

Jim: 

  • Swim tip, especially for beginners: Put on fins and kick lightly on back in a streamline position. Do 4 - 8 25s at easy effort then flip over and replicate the kick / body position while doing freestyle and / or freestyle with catch up stroke.  This is the quickest way I have seen to get a new swimmer to feel comfortable in the water as they have face up and all the air they need i.e., their brain is not screaming they might be drowning as is the case sometimes with new swimmers in a head down position. It’s also the quickest way to teach proper body tension, alignment and light kick mechanics. 

  • As we head into the off season, a reminder that technical 50s and a total of 1500 - 2000 yards/meters or 30’ - 45’ in the pool is plenty. If you are short on time/motivation for pool time in the off season, keep your sessions short and focused on technical swimming.  Think swim exercise snacks (same applies to run/bike/strength, too)

  • There’s a lot of racing going on this coming weekend (Jones Beach 70.3, Augusta 70.3) so lots of pre-race athlete calls. I’ve noticed that my pre-race calls have really changed this year. In the past, they have been primarily focused on power / pace / times and goal times.  This year, the calls start with: 

    • Nutrition plan - racing and fueling are equal partners on race day

    • Environmental conditions - what’s the weather, wind and how that relates to the course and general race plan

    • Mental approach - plan for tackling the day mentally, being part of a community, being grateful, etc

    • Reviewing past race sims/training and talking through how it felt in relation to level of effort for the upcoming race

    • And then by the time we finish the above, we might talk about specific goal times/effort/paces but usually the above leads us to more organic solutions and more flexible mental and physical plans for the day. It’s less about a specific time/pace/watts and a more holistic approach to the day and the experience.. 

  • A couple studies of interest: 

    • The Effect of Water Dousing on Heat Strain and Performance During Endurance Running in the Heat

    • Methods: Thirteen trained runners completed a 10-km time trial (TT) and 60-minute fixed-pace run in a 30.4 °C, 47.4% relative humidity environment using either water dousing (DOUSE) or no dousing (CON).

    • Conclusion: Water dousing improves 10-km TT performance in the heat but does not affect body core temperature. The positive change in thermal perception (via lower skin temperature) during the TT likely drives this benefit.

    • Takeaway: keep pouring water over your head during hot races. Like many things like ice in the hands, mouth, cooling headbands, it doesn’t change your internal body temperature but it gives you the sensation of feeling cooler and therefore your brain is probably tricked a little into letting you continue at your race pace/effort.

  • Hemodynamic Effects of Intermittent Pneumatic Compression on Athletes

    • Upshot: We sometimes wonder if using Normatec boots are effective because of the compression or because it results in us just sitting quietly on the couch for 30’ - 45’. Turns out it has a positive physiological effect! Flush the legs and quiet the mind - win/win!

Challenge of the Week

  • Katie: After your next workout, write down one thing that went well and one mental strength you exercised. [quick story on new training log and bad bike ride]

  • Jim: On Sunday evening, set your intention for the week. Keep that intention foremost in your mind throughout the week.

Gear Pick of the Week

Episode 49: Setting Goals in Training and Racing

This week, we’re diving into the process of how to set goals for your next season of training and racing. We start with identifying your purpose, which is ultimately the fuel that powers the engine of any endurance journey. We then drill into choosing different levels of outcome goals, identifying the process goals that it will take to achieve your outcome goals, mapping out goal achievement strategies, and overcoming barriers to achieving your goals. We sprinkle in some insights from our own goal-mapping journeys, as well as cover additional fun topics including: optimizing training during travel, how to approach choppy triathlon swims or windy bike courses, how culture breeds success, connections between the mind and heart in endurance sports, and a whole lot more. Check this one out and go set some goals for 2025!

Coaching & Training Insights

Katie - a couple more insights from my season closer

  • Importance of getting in and out of transition quickly - and stop at the bathrooms first! Most people spend way too much time in transition and wait on very long lines by hitting the bathrooms last

    • Also -- if you have extra time, go somewhere quiet, get out of the cold/wind, breathe deeply (before warming up). I sat in my car for 15-20’ after setting up transition because it was cold and I didn’t want to waste energy just waiting around. 

  • Importance of bilateral breathing - water can be choppy and if you can only breathe on one side, you may be in trouble 

    • This swim was in a bay and was completely calm during my practice swim the day before; it was crazy windy and 3 foot waves during. Needed to breathe on just one side throughout

  • Related - goal of triathlon swim prep: Make the swim a non-event 

    • Given how choppy it was, my swim was not going to be fast. My mantra was “I am experienced” and the goal was to just move forward, sight well (which is hard when the wind is pushing you everywhere), and not stress out. 

    • Racing can often create conditions where you can’t really express your swim fitness, and when that happens, the goal is to just be steady and keep moving forward. 

    • Also, remind yourself that everyone has to deal with the same conditions! 

  • On bike fitting - calling myself out for riding the TT bike like a roadie

    • Have had a lot of upper back pain/ scapula area

    • Didn’t experience it at all during the race when I was 98% in aero (pretty flat course)

    • Pretty sure it’s from riding my TT bike like a roadie, which is often what you have to do when riding in really hilly terrain but I’ve made a bad habit of it

    • Next season goal -- focus on staying in aero OR riding road bike

Thoughts on optimizing training during travel

  • Travel is stressful on the body, so focus on Z1/2 and less is more. This is especially true if using gear that is not familiar, such as a hotel spin bike or rental bike. A millimeter goes a mile with bike fitting and smashing threshold intervals on a bike that doesn’t fit you right is a recipe for disaster

    • Walking a lot counts as activity, so modify runs/bikes down if walking a lot and focus on swim/strength if you are able 

  • Look up local tri club websites to see if they post any routes for biking, running, or OWS. You can also use the Strava heatmap to figure out where people are running/riding near you.

  • Many pools/gyms have day passes. Plan in advance where you are going to go and figure out hours/day pass rates as part of your travel prep to reduce friction when you get to your destination 

  • My travel essentials:

  • Result: successful trip to Chicago and rec for the Lakefront Trail!

  • Finally, following up on our “levels” discussion from two weeks ago -- want to shout out to one of my athletes who started with me as a brand-new no experience triathlete in the winter, crushed it at 3 sprints this year, signed up for 1 sprint and 2 OLY next year, and has her sights set on a 70.3 the year after that and eventually (in life) an IM. So cool to see it paying off to follow the process!

Jim: 

  • Reflecting on nearly a decade of coaching the Dartmouth Triathlon Club, the number one takeaway is culture sets the tone for success. The culture is welcoming and supportive to all levels of ability, accessible practices and necessary gear, and very process oriented (which we’ll get into further in our main topic). As a result, the club has grown to one of the biggest and successful clubs on campus and is probably one of the largest triathlon collegiate clubs in the country. From this culture, depth of participation and process oriented focus, the program continues to turn out overall and age group winners at local, regional and national events. 

    • Even with a small subset of athletes this weekend at Buzzards Bay, we had the overall men’s and women’s winner and 1st & 3rd in the men’s and women’s collegiate division, along with podiums in the duathlon and our alumni in age group. 

    • Which is to say, if you are building a program, create a safe, welcoming culture, give them support to grow and show up daily. From this, your peeps will be able to live up to their potential and rise to the top.

    • And a corollary to this point: Steve Magness talks about this a lot when he was coaching the University of Houston running team, he did a simple analysis of performance and practice attendance. There was a direct correlation between the two: the students who went to the most practices did the best in competition. It’s as simple as showing up even if that is for an exercise snack. Just keep showing up and good things will happen. 

  • Related to our discussion of season planning, it’s important to read up on the type of course you have an interest in racing. There are some courses that I call “plus” courses such as Maine 70.3 is a 70.3+ course meaning that it’s harder than your average 70.3. The White Mountain Tri Olympic and Half are other examples of “plus” courses. If you are a beginner, these courses may not be the best choice for your first triathlons. And for experienced triathletes, they are good choices to get an extra training stimulus on race day. For example, the White Mountain Half is a good training day for an Ironman.  

    • And on the other end, there are favorable courses for beginners at various levels: Aside from the swim, Buzzards is a nice beginner sprint race. Patriot Half is a good first time 70.3 course. We are always happy to help you choose a race course - just reach out!

  • I’ve been re-discovering the value of foam rolling and light strength before bed a few nights a week. This consists of foam rolling mostly my quad and glutes and a little bit of my back. Light strength, if I haven’t done strength training that day, is half crunches and pike planks (inspiration from David Roche) and a few push ups. But it can be anything that lightly activates your body and uses muscles. From a blood sugar perspective, you can reduce your glucose levels significantly post meals with a walk or light strength. This will result in less spikes in energy and tends to set me up for a good night sleep. And I wake up less tight and feel more activated in the morning. 

  • Leading with the heart vs the head

    • I recently listened to a Rich Roll podcast that hit different (as the young kids say). It’s an interview with Kimberly Snyder who just released a book The Hidden Power of the Five Heart. (Free audiobook with Spotify Premium.)

    • The book premise is that the heart is much more than just a muscle. It is a sensory organ and an information encoding and processing center, with an extensive nervous system that effectively acts like a brain aka “heart brain.”

    • The heart is able to learn, remember and make decisions independent of the brain.

    • It has 40,000 neurons and talks to the brain more than the brain talks to the heart. 

    • It has an energy field 100X greater than the brain.

    • All humans are emitting this energy and we are highly attuned creatures to the energy others are emitting. In sum, the heart, in conjunction with our brain, has a central role in emotional experience.

    • This book isn’t woo woo, it’s based on science. Part of the book is based on research from the HeartMath Institute. They have shown that when you experience positive emotions, you gain coherence or synchronicity with your heart rhythm and balance in your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. The key here is the positive signals are being sent from your heart to your brain.

    • Here is Kimberly’s podcast with a doctor from the institute which provides a good overview of the book, too. 

    • Given we are an athletic psychology podcast now, I started to think through various race and training scenarios where overthinking, or leading from my ego brain was sometimes counterproductive and coming from the heart was the antidote.  

    • For example:

      • When I go into a race, I’m often very focused on my goals, my race, my experience. It’s a “me” mindset. But as we have talked about before on this podcast, especially for long distance racing or training, the sooner you go from a me - ego centric mindset to a we -community centered mindset, your day becomes more rewarding, sustainable and connected to yourself and those around you. The me centric mindset is coming from the ego/brain and the “we” is coming from my heart and gut. I literally feel the difference in my body. When I’m connected into the “we”, I feel warm and energetic in my heart and gut. Connection is “we” and attachment is “me.”

      • As I worked through the heart/gut vs brain feeling, I found so many more examples: 

        • When I express gratitude, I feel it in my heart/gut. 

        • When I think about process, I feel it in my heart/gut. An outcome's focus is coming more from my brain (and usually wrapped up in some ego.)

    • When my brain starts to spin out of control before a race, I often go to gratitude: gratitude for the opportunity to train, to have a body that is healthy. For the race director, staff and volunteers who make the race happen. For my family and friends who support the expression of my true, authentic self. For me, I can feel gratitude in my heart.

    • As we talked about in Episode 47, vulnerability to race is from the heart. Fear of failing comes from my brain. 

    • My endurance drive, the drive to be the best I can be, my internal peace and connectedness, comes from my heart.

    • This extends to my training: 

      • Trying to execute the intention of the workout, especially under adverse conditions where I know it’s not going to be exact, is from the heart. 

      • Being a perfectionist about the workout is from the brain. Perfection is a fragile, ego driven mind state. 

      • I see this a lot in TrainingPeaks comments; folks are very disappointed they didn’t hit the EXACT paces, reps, distance.  So, as my therapist says, slow down and take a few breaths. If you tried your best, that’s coming from the heart and that’s a HUGE win.

  • I have lived both sides of this:

    • Did I fear that missing one workout and getting a red box would ruin the training plan and my race? That’s perfection, fear comes from my head.

    • Did I give my honest, whole effort the last six months of training? Did I do my best given all of my time and health constraints? If so, that came from the heart. 

  • We’ve all heard about the flow state. In essence, that’s when the brain and heart are aligned. You can’t be in a flow state if you are just living in your mind.

  • So, I’m not saying to stop thinking but I am saying that the brain is really good at keeping us alive and inventing things like good training plans. And when you bring your heart more into the equation, you access something greater and deeper inside yourself.  You align your full power to be you and connected with your family, friends and community.

  • And I leave you with this: You don’t say I love you with all my brain. You say I love you with all my heart.

Main Content 

Katie: Intro - I work with a mindset coach who specializes in sport performance and psychology, and we’ve been doing some goal mapping in advance of next season. I’ve also been having a lot of conversations with my athletes on goals for next season. Today our goal is to talk more about how to set goals in training and racing. 

- First point: returning to my psychology insight and shoutout to Brene Brown two weeks ago, want to flag that goal-setting is a pretty vulnerable thing to do! So kudos if you are doing it. Classic vulnerability = emotional exposure + risk + uncertainty. If you say “I want to win!” you are expressing a desire (emotion) + risk (what if it doesn’t happen?) + uncertainty (can’t know for sure if you will win). So kudos if you are doing it and having these conversations!

Goal-mapping process:

First thing to identify, before setting any race goals. What is your purpose?

  • Examples:

    • I really enjoy training, and racing gives structure to that training.

    • I use training and racing to stay connected with others and build community. 

    • I love to learn and see progress. 

    • Etc. 

  • If you write this down, your purpose should be written at the very top of your worksheet - well above any goals.

  • Purpose should be aligned with values! 

Next thing to identify: Outcome goal - results that you as an athlete hope to achieve; the outcome that you want to happen. 

  • Examples: Break X hours in a 70.3; win age group; quality for Kona; finish an Ironman. 

  • You can break this down further into sub-outcome goals:

    • A goal -- impressive: overall podium at race

    • B goal -- achievable: top 3 age group

    • C goal -- obvious: finish at X race; thank every volunteer; etc.

  • General guidelines on outcome goals:

    • Be as specific as possible! If you want to PR, by how much? If you want to run your longest mileage ever, how many miles?

    • Ask yourself, how come this goal now? (Or another: What is about this goal that’s important to you? What does this goal mean to you?)

      • Important to make sure that this goal is internally and not externally driven

Now, we transition to process goals -- steps you need to follow in order to achieve the goal. As coaches, we can help you identify process goals!

Key question - what would it look like to achieve that outcome? If you want to PR or win your age group in a tri, what data or metrics can tell you whether you are on track to make that happen? 

  • Example: I am likely to improve my bike time at S2S if I can improve my FTP to a point where I can hit a certain NP on the bike, crush my fueling/hydration, get comfier staying in aero for even more of the ride, and follow a strength program targeting specific muscle groups. 

  • Drilling down further: what will improving my FTP look like? What does my fueling/hydration strategy need to be? 

Which translates right into: goal achievement strategies

  • What does it look like in practice to achieve that goal? Focus on the process! Break down into physical strategies (training, fueling, hydration, sleep, recovery) and mental strategies (mental work, etc.) 

  • Some examples for me:

    • Physical: keep upping the carbs; more high-end bike and swim work; >8 hours in bed every night 

    • Mental: selective data hiding; breathing/relaxation strategies; 

  • Other examples: limiting drinking and/or late nights during specific prep phase, saying “no” to more things, starting therapy, start and end workouts with a mantra., etc. 

  • Figure out the frequency that you can commit to following these strategies. Example - physical: >8 hours in bed at least 5x per week. Breathwork 1x per day 6 days per week. Etc. Write that out as part of a 7-day schedule.

Two final steps - (1) identify barriers to achieving your goals 

  • Work, family, mindset, fueling, etc.

  • Then write down strategies you can use to approach these barriers, or consider modifying goal if barriers will be impossible to get around 

  • For me: I hate getting in the pool for tough workouts and I struggle with the motivation to do it

    • Overcoming barrier: bring a friend to the pool! Makes it more fun and holds me accountable to getting the tough set done 

(2) Identify need-to-haves to make your goals possible -- this can include gear, technique/skills, support network, and more. 

  • Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

  • Example: If you want to win your AG or qualify for Kona in a flat race, you probably need a TT bike.

  • Second example: Honesty, trust, and direct communication with coach 

Something to be aware of: The big outcome goals are there, and it can be important to acknowledge, but they should not be the focus. Consider both the process goals and the goal strategies as the most optimal to focus on, with the purpose being the gas that drives that car. 

Final point: mid-season evaluations of goals are essential! It is OK to pivot. Always go back to your overarching purpose and ask yourself if you are in line with that purpose. 

Story on me doing goal mapping -- preface by saying that this feels vulnerable!

  • I started out by saying my outcome goal for 2025 was to improve individual times in swim, bike, and run for S2S. 

  • On further reflection, I realized that this goal was probably a little bit lacking on the ambition side:

    • I swam no more than 2x per week and did relatively few swim workouts in my last build

    • I got lost for 20’ on the bike - just don’t get lost and I save 20’  

    • I walked up the stairs at the end of the run because I knew I had it in the bag! 

    • Asked myself: would it actually be a big deal for me if I went 5 seconds faster on each of the disciplines? Probably not…

  • Jim knows this -- I have a tendency to say my stated goal out loud but usually pick something that’s pretty attainable/obvious, but everyone knows that I also probably have a ‘secret goal’ in the back of my mind

    • And I see this in athletes too - sometimes we don’t want to say our goals out loud because there’s less of a landing pad if we  don’t achieve them; stakes feel higher by saying it out loud

    • I also have a tendency (along with many of my athletes) to say that I don’t really care about the outcome in the weeks leading up to the race → more padding the landing. But OF COURSE I care!! 

    • Lesson: need to work on being okay with whatever the outcome is… still in progress! 

  • Anyway, then I had to go back and think about what it was that I really wanted to do and what kind of goals scared me a little bit. 

  • Turns out S2S is a fun race that I will do, but it’s going to be more of a B race for me next year

  • Building out my calendar with some other races and training objectives that are scarier - will share these once I have them fully figured out but I am excited about them! 

  • Broader point: you might find that when you do the goal mapping exercise, you realize that your goals are different from what you thought that they were 

Listener Questions

How should I approach racing if it’s windy out (especially on the bike)? Go harder into headwind and easier into tailwind, or maintain consistent effort?

  • Jim: I really struggle with wind so I feel this question!  In high winds, my HR jumps up immediately and my watts tend to drift up and down wildly. When I’m faced with these conditions, I think about staying aero and envision that I’m cutting through the wind. I try to keep effort steady and disregard HR and watts and stay in the mental aero mindset. As we discussed a couple of podcasts ago, you can use the off season to practice an aero bike position either on your TT or road bike while going at Z1, easy Z2 watts. This takes a lot of practice and now is a low pressure time to do that. 

  • And as part of your race prep, you should analyze where the prevailing winds are on course and incorporate this into your race plan. There are a lot of courses that have a headwind on the way out and a tailwind on the way back or vice versa. In those instances, we will plan to bike a little above our goal race watts/effort on the headwind section and use the tailwind section to bike below race watts and really focus on a tight but relaxed aero position. Think effort on the way out and speed on the way back. Speed is a mind set!

Challenge of the Week

Katie: This should go without saying, but map some goals! And ask your coach for help :)

Jim: A challenge I have set for myself starting this week is no social media before noon. It’s really tempting to dive into social media first thing in the morning to see what the world is presenting but I’ve found it’s anti-productive and anti-creativity.  The dopamine hits will have to wait! 


Gear Pick of the Week

Katie: XLAB Mini Bag as a sleek and small saddle bag option. And double plug for the sleep mask that I talked about previously!
Jim: 10 Pack 304 Stainless Steel Universal Quick Release Bike Wheel Skewer Springs  Everyone loses their skewer springs. For $7, you can have a stash of 10.

  • Another pro tip: keep random bike odds and ends in your car. Bar plugs for Molly!

Episode 48: Adventure, Risk, and Trauma with Catherine Rocchi

In this week’s episode, Katie and Elena welcome Catherine Rocchi, a competitive gravel cyclist, backcountry skier, climber, trail runner, triathlete, all-around adventurer, and longtime friend to the podcast. Catherine shares about how she developed from a runner in the suburbs of New York to an Alaskan multi-sport adventurer; how optimizing her training for joy, social connection, and unstructured adventure has helped her excel in races; how beginners can start to get involved in adventure sports; and how to build community through endurance and adventuring. We also dive into some heavier but incredibly important and relatable topics, including how movement can impact our brain chemistry (for better or for worse) and how to manage risk and handle emergencies in the backcountry. The interview culminates with the story of how Catherine survived a grizzly bear attack in northern Alaska while biking the 800-mile Alaska Pipeline route just a month ago, and how encounters like that—and any experiences of trauma—can impact us physically and mentally. This is a very profound interview, and we are so grateful to Catherine for sharing her story! Check it out. 

Gear pick of the week:

Catherine: Yoga TuneUp Therapy Balls
Katie: Hoka Mach 6
Elena: Patagonia Capilene Cool Daily Hoody

Episode 47: How to Plan Your Race Calendar

A lot of our athletes have had their eyes on signing up for races next season, so in this episode we're deep diving on the most important things to think about when planning your race calendar. Highlights include: an honest evaluation of your skills and experience level, your life commitments, finding your why, race logistics, cost, and more. We also answer some fun listener questions on aligning high-volume training with busy lives, how to tap into different swim speeds, how to get more comfortable on the bike, and what our podcasting process looks like. Check it out!

Coaching & Training Insights

Katie: Thoughts on ways to “touch” speed without overloading or taxing the body as the off season progresses 

  • 4-8 x 25 fast in the pool

  • 4-6 x strides at the end of a run 

  • 4-6 x 30” high cadence pickups at end of ride 

  • 4-6 x 20-30” sprint pickups during a ride

  • All organic and only if feeling like it, but realizing that ALL Z1/2 ALL the time can leave you feeling a bit sluggish 

  • Jim: Speed is easy come, easy go. Light touches 2X-3X per week keeps the brain-to-fast twitch muscle connection.

My pool/gym is a 15’ walk away from my apartment. Didn’t realize, but this has been an incredible organic warm-up for swimming and strength. Recently I was in a situation where my gym was close by and I rolled right into strength without the 15’ walk and felt terrible! 

  • Warm-ups do not have to be complicated; if you can walk for even 5-10’ before you start any activity, it makes a huge difference with how the entire workout is going to feel. If short on time, better to shorten the main set than skip the W

  • Jim: My favorite run warmup is a 10’ walk uphill.

Psychology segment of the podcast: thoughts on vulnerability in sport 

  • I’ve been listening to a lot of Brené Brown (professor and researcher at UT Austin, motivational speaker, etc.) -- studies courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy

  • Vulnerability is: uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure

    • Unstable feeling we get when outside of our comfort zone

  • Racing is vulnerability in a huge way!

    • Uncertainty: we don’t know what the race outcome is going to be

    • Risk: we may have a good outcome and we may have a bad outcome; we may win, we may lose; we may PR, we may blow up. Toeing the line is a risk

    • Emotional exposure: if anyone else knows that we are racing (most of the time, people do!), they will see us perform (and will see the emotions associated with that) -- joy, disappointment, fear, etc. 

  • Vulnerability can take two routes:

    • If met with secrecy, silence, judgment → can lead to shame (feeling of not being enough; not being worthy of connection; etc.)

    • If met with empathy and understanding → can lead to connection, joy, etc. 

  • So! What do we do? In racing and life context:

    • Self-kindness and compassion -- what would you say to a friend? 

    • Common humanity -- everyone deals with this in different ways! 

    • Mindfulness (without over-identification) -- observe feelings but don’t judge them 

    • Lean on your support squad to accept empathy 

Jim: Following up on racing and vulnerability, I was talking to one of my athletes this week about racing and looking at the big picture. We talked about how you want to feel in 5,10,20 years. This puts a one day event in perspective and context. What I ultimately want from sport in three buckets in this priority order: 

  • Bucket 1: Fitness, wellness, social connection and adventure - probably drives over 80% of motivation

  • Bucket 2: Strength, mobility and longevity - ~20% of motivation.

  • Bucket 3: Race results. Less than 1% of motivation!

Fun weekend watching UTMB - 100 mile trail race around Mont Blanc and listening to follow up podcasts with David Roche breaking down his Leadville 100 win. This is my reminder that long course triathletes can take a lot of lessons from ultra runners particularly around building run durability, fueling for long distance, pacing, strength training, etc. 

  • And reminders that big breakthrough performances like David at Leadville and Katie Schide at UTMB have been over a decade in the making. See the 10,000-Hour Rule: “the ten-thousand-hour research reminds us that the closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play."

  • Or as Brad Stulberg writes: 

    • Pick your thing.

    • Pick a good system for your thing.

    • Surround yourself with people who support you doing your thing.

    • Do your thing for a decade.

Bike maintenance: Regular ride went from 1:15 to 1:10 to 1:05 with some basic bike maintenance. 

  • Also, you can use off season easy rides to work on skills. I’ve been working on a better aero position on the road bike. Thinking and acting fast is a skill not necessarily more watts. 

I receive a weekly email from a very reputable podcast platform which often includes swim/bike/run workouts. The run workout this week was:

  • 16 miles with 8 miles at threshold pace

  • A 5K pyramid workout that had nearly 30’ at 5K pace

  • Both of these workouts are VERY advanced. No context was given for the workouts and there was no mention of scaling them for various levels of abilities. While I respect this platform and benefit from their knowledge, these types of workouts can lead one to think they aren’t doing enough or don’t have the ability to do hard workouts. Just remember, we are all at a level appropriate for us now and working toward a better athletic self at our own pace. Take a big grain of salt when looking at workouts from elites. 

Quick reminder: Often September races start quite cold. Bring a warm jacket, hat, gloves and tights for race morning. 

Main Content 

Start with an honest assessment of your current triathlon skills and experience. This is critical to choosing the appropriate goals and races for the upcoming season.  

To provide some guidance, here are five levels with corresponding goals:

Level 1:

Overview: You are new to the sport of triathlon. You may know nothing about any of the sports or gear or you may have come from one of the sports in HS / college.  This is the most important level in your development as a triathlete. Do not rush through this phase. It’s OK to be at this level for 2 - 3 years. 

You have 4 - 8 hours per week to train.

Swim Skills/Gear: 

  • Learn how to swim

  • Learn how to open water swim

  • Learn how to open water sight / navigation

  • Own a wetsuit

  • Swim goals: 

    • You should be able to swim 1700 yards continuously in open water in a wetsuit sighting every 7 - 9 strokes. 

Bike Skills/Gear:

  • Own a road or TT bike. 

  • Able to clip in/out safely with clipless pedals

  • Comfortable riding on the open road

  • Able to drink from water bottle and eat while riding

Bike Goals:

  • You can safely ride 25 miles on the open road, navigating traffic, other riders and be able to drink from your water bottle and eat while riding.

Run: You can run at least 6 miles at a Z2 HR.

Appropriate races: Complete your first Sprint and Olympic triathlons

After you have completed 2 - 5 Sprints and 1-2 Olympics and all of the above skills, you advance to Level 2.

If you take away one thing from this podcast today, it is this: Level 1 athletes should NOT sign up for Half Ironman or Ironman races.

If you sign up for an IM as Level 1, you will spend 6 - 9 months fighting your physical and mental skills and being. We want to see you have long term enjoyment and success in your sport. Our recreational pursuits should make us happy, not stressed. Happy = long term, sustainable fun.

Level 2: 

You have a fundamental grasp on the above skills and fitness and are confidently doing triathlons. You are consolidating the skills from Level 1. This level is mostly about accumulating experience and starting to see the nuance of your sport. You might spend 1 - 2 years at this level. Lots of racing at sprint/Olympic level will provide you with a solid foundation to move to the next level. We often see these triathletes doing other races like run and bike races to improve their skills/experience and transfer that single sport race/focus back into triathlon.

Regularly training 7 - 10 hours per week.

We recommend sprint/Olympic races at this level. A Half Ironman is also an appropriate stretch goal.

Level 3: 

Overview: You are very familiar with triathlon and are looking to become competitive in your Age Group or finish fairly high overall in local triathlons. You have been racing for 2 - 4 years and have a developed sense of racing.

You have 9 - 12 hours a week to train on average, for months at a time, and ability to train up to 15 hours per week during big weeks.

Level 3 athletes are doing sprint/Olympic/70.3 and Ironman races.

Level 4: 

Overview: You are a competitive age grouper and compete for top 10 positions in local to regional triathlons. You are looking to win your Age Group at local/regional Sprint/Olympic/HIM/IM races.

You have 12 - 20 hours a week to train on average, for months at a time, and ability to train up to 25 hours per week during big weeks.

Level 5:

Overview: You are an elite or professional triathlete.

You have 20-30 hours a week to train on average, for months/years at a time.

Through all levels you also want to consider the following factors:

  • Finding your WHY: Deep--and specific--dive on what you actually enjoy doing. Fun and enjoyment is key for sustainability. If you really don’t like one of the sports then maybe consider other types of events. (A person who really doesn’t like to swim but loves to run maybe focuses on becoming a better marathoner, ultra-runner, etc)

    • Helps to get really specific. Why are you swimming? Why are you biking? Why are you running? Why are you strength training?

  • Honest evaluation of your schedule and life commitments. How much are you actually able to train? Do you have regular access to a pool? Do you have a safe place to ride your bike? Is your support network in alignment with your goals?

  • Related: Calendar mapping in the context of work, travel, life commitments 

    • For many of our late 20s through 30s audience, weddings, bachelorette parties, baby showers, graduations, etc., take up a LOT of weekends. Keep in mind that if you have many of these events during the specific prep phase and work full time M-F, it will be hard to get your big days in for IM and 70.3 and it may be better to focus on shorter distance training.

    • I usually look at my calendar for the entire year and add in when big weekends will happen (i.e., 4, 8, and 12 weeks out from race day). There is some flexibility (big days 3-5, 7-9, and 11-13 weeks out can work) but in general the specific prep phase should be pretty protected.

    • Do not underestimate the LSS toll of weekend travel, especially air travel or car trips over 3 hours. 

  • Cost--keep in mind the many hidden costs of races. Budget considerations are HUGE in triathlon. It is a very expensive sport initially and all along the journey. That giant sucking sound you hear is the triathlon industry taking away all your disposable income!

    • Figure out your budget in advance and then add 1.5x what you think you are going to spend. 

  • Race logistics--driving vs. flying, international vs. national vs. local

Check out Episode 16: So you want to do an Ironman? and Episode 1: Season Planning for more!

Listener Questions

How do you improve balance/stability on the bike? I find fueling and hydrating on the bike very awkward, so would love any tips!

  • Getting reps in is the best way to get comfy with fueling and hydration on the bike. I recommend finding a flat and quiet road (even in your neighborhood) and going out and literally practicing taking a hand on and off, then hand to touch bottle and back, hand to touch back pocket and back, take bottle out and put it back in, take bar out and unwrap it, etc. etc. etc., “leveling up” in difficulty once the previous step feels easy and comfortable. Once all of that is smooth, you can experiment with doing it at faster paces or on other roads. Like all things, taking it slow and getting reps in (even with short 15-20 min “technique” rides) can lead to some pretty fast progress.

I heard there are 3 paces when it comes to swimming. How can I determine my « fast » pace other than « if i swim x more meters like this I’m gonna be in cardiac arrest »?

  • Fast - Do as fast as possible 25s. 

  • Threshold - do a Critical Swim Speed test to set your swim threshold.

  • Moderate/aerobic - ~3-5” slower than your threshold. You probably do most of your training in this area. 

  • Easy - At least 10” slower than your threshold pace and preferably even slower.

I would be interested in how your work/life balance has evolved as you yourselves have evolved as endurance athletes. As a beginner I’m currently doing after school/ after work training and just one of the three sports a day. How did you transition to multiple sessions a day (not sure if you do this necessarily, but i do see other triathletes doing this a lot on instagram) or just generally finding the optimal time that worked for you? Did you find yourselves choosing jobs that allowed you the flexibility to train?

  • Jim: Great question. Everyone has a little different situation so I encourage athletes to start with the question; what do you really want to accomplish in sport? 

  • And then start work to align your schedule, priorities and actions with those goals. If I’m clear with my mission, my daily decisions and actions just seem to fall into place.

  • All of my athletes are super busy with work, family, school, and social commitments. If you really start to granularly look at your schedule you probably have more time than you think you have. This might mean going from a non-morning person to a morning person - that’s super hard!
    Think about exercise snacks for times of the day that have short windows. A 30’ run done dozens of times per season adds up to HUGE gains. An exercise snack is a great way to enable double workouts in your day.

  • Another consideration: Does social media give you inspiration or anxiety? If the former then it can provide inspiration to get out there when your motivation is lagging. If the latter then consider curating your follows. The last thing you need is to feel bad about your recreation which is supposed to be fun and uplifting.

What is your podcasting process?

  • One of us will usually come up with an idea and pitch it to the other (for me, those ideas flow the best when swimming, biking, or running). Note that way back in December when originally started the podcast, we made a list of probably 15-20 ideas, but somehow we still keep coming up with fresh ones or new takes on a similar theme.

  • Next we build out our outline together -- if you didn’t know, we put all of our outlines on our website in the extended show notes so you can see what we’re working off. It isn’t a script but we do spend a lot of time sketching out the points we want to make and refer to it throughout the recording

  • We record on zoom at least four days before release date because it takes a lot of time to get the episode ready. Katie edits using a platform called Descript. Usually editing takes around 3x the length of the episode, so 3 hours for a one-hour episode! Good excuse to sit in Normatec boots

  • Then we send off the edited content to an audio engineer who smooths out the audio, normalizes the volume, edits out any stray background noise (dogs etc.)

  • Finally we prep the episode on Spotify for Podcasters, prep our show notes for the website, and set everything to release at 3am eastern on Thursday mornings 

  • It’s a labor of love! But we love it so we’re rolling with it for now :) 

Challenge of the Week

Katie: Something I've done in the last couple of weeks - delaying caffeine intake for about an hour in the morning (not the first thing I do) and having coffee with food. good for cortisol reduction and generally feeling more chill/calm. We often see high HR in our athletes in the morning and some of this could be proximity to caffeine intake! 

Jim: Staying on the breakfast / morning routine, I’ve been focusing on big protein in the morning which seems to set me up very well for the rest of the day. My go to is eggs with cottage cheese. Good cottage cheese is my favorite. Their one serving Strawberry Chia and Pineapple make for fantastic snacks or additions to eggs, salad, on toast, post workout, etc.

Gear Pick of the Week

Katie: Snake & Pig goggles -- won these at S2S and was skeptical but love them! Super comfortable goggles (I have graduated from the kids’ speedo goggles I found in the Stanford lost and found in 2019) 

Jim: Massage Lacrosse Balls - incredibly effective for muscle massage and release. Try it on your glute max!

Episode 46: The Olympics, Athlete Development, and Storytelling in Sport with Mac Morse

Fresh off a summer in Paris with Team USA, Mac Morse joins Katie and Elena this week to share her perspectives and wisdom gained from a career working in athlete development with the best of the best. We cover Mac’s own career as an elite athlete, her entrepreneurial path to creating The Sideline Perspective—a platform for injured and retired athletes to find support and community—and her current role in Athlete Development with the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee. We dive deeper into the business of sport and how we can unpack the nuances of its impact through owning our narratives, both internally and externally. And we get a bonus treat of her poetry! This episode is about humanizing all athletes, from the recreational runners to the Olympic champions, and it isn’t one to be missed!

Check out The Sideline Perspective on Instagram, online, or through their podcast!

Gear pick of the week:

Mac: Desitin for anti-chafe

Katie: Socks! For running - Lululemon Power Stride Crew; For cycling - Rapha Pro Team socks

Elena: Hex bar!


Episode 45: How to Get Fast With Swim, Bike, and Run Intervals

In this week's episode, we are bringing it back to basics with Intervals 101. We cover what intervals are (and what they are not), why do intervals, when to start doing intervals, how to determine what intervals are appropriate for you, basic considerations and mistakes with intervals, and examples of a basic interval progression in our programming. We also cover lots of fun coaching and training insights related to the off season, using repetition as a way to track progress, overcoming workout anxiety, positive mindset tools, defining race goals, the magic of high-carb fueling, and more. We had so much fun with this episode—check it out!

Intro Banter

Katie is feling recovered! Talk about how great it has been to lean into the off season / recommendations to other athletes to do this (many of my athletes have started to feel the effects of a LONG season) 

  • Physical metrics: HRV, RHR, sleep, overall good energy 

  • Mental metrics: excited to get outside and move! 

  • How I’m approaching next few weeks:

    • Still a recovery phase – no hard workouts 

    • Strength: stability, anti-rotation, etc. and fixing the listing things

    • Endurance: whenever I can, switching things up in terms of movement planes and activities

      • Yoga 

      • Pickleball (lol)

      • Harvard stadiums 

      • Hiking 

      • Some SBR because it is convenient, but all fun and social Zone 1/2 

Coaching and Training Insights

Katie: 

  • A useful way to track progression - repetition 

    • Can be exciting to do lots of different workouts and keeps things interesting, but sometimes the best way to check in on how you are performing day to day is via repetition 

    • Examples:

      • Doing the exact same swim set for a series of weeks – sometimes you will be faster, sometimes you will be slower, but on average you should be trending faster as you build fitness

      • Doing the exact same route multiple times and seeing what your pace/HR is – I especially like this for trail running (example from trail run over the weekend)

    • For me, this feels less stressful than regular “testing” for benchmarks. It’s just part of your regular training, but a nice way to see progress over time

    • On the flip side, big declines can give you a window into challenging conditions: are you getting sick? Tired? Weather is hot/humid? Etc. 

      • Weather is a big pitfall here so be sure to use the JAHI!

  • Jim: High performers thrive on boredom and repetition. If you constantly need a new workout or variation, you are probably more focused on entertainment than process and performance.  High performers keep it simple, low stress. They practice the fundamentals over and over and over. 

    • Great read: The Mundanity of Excellence

      • “Excellence is mundane. There's nothing 'special' about high performers. They just have a set of habits, practices and mindsets that individually aren't particularly groundbreaking, but when added together and compounded over a long period of time, result in the phenomenon of excellence. It's all very mundane.”

    • Jim: Organic fitness testing is way more enjoyable than a formal threshold test.

  • Some athletes reporting anxiety about executing HARD workouts

    • Many of my former IM or 70.3 athletes are closing out their seasons with sprint/OLY training and racing which is hard in a different way 

    • One athlete remarked: a run that had 20’ at OLY race pace off the bike felt more intimidating than a run with 60’ at 70.3 race pace off the bike!

    • This is totally normal – short and intense workouts often hurt a lot more. One day in the spring I told my coach that I would rather race an Ironman tomorrow than race a mile on the track (and as a result she had me do a LOT of hard track and tempo workouts until they weren’t so scary)

    • Anything new/uncertain often causes anxiety. Exposure is one of the best things you can do. Worst case you don’t hit your intervals, and that is OK! Will help us make a race plan going forward. In my experience the anticipation is so much worse than the real thing (true for racing too) and the more you do it the less scary it is.

    • Jim: “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” - Seneca

  • Advice for life that is also advice for racing and pre-race mindset: how to not catastrophize 

    • Catastrophizing = assuming the worst case scenario will happen

    • In a race: well I’ll probably get a flat; I’ll probably walk the marathon; I’ll probably have GI issues

    • From a psychological standpoint, the more we do this, the more we create neural pathways that do this in the future. Imagine it like a groove in a piece of wood from a knife

    • One way to work against this is to force yourself to also imagine that the best case scenario happened

      • I PR’ed 

      • I had no GI issues

      • I won the race 

      • Etc.

    • You might not believe it, and that’s fine. Even if you don’t believe it, the PRACTICE of imagining the best case scenario is usually because it creates new neural networks. Eventually, you may always think of both the best and worst case scenarios automatically (or bias towards better scenarios) which can help manage pre-race stress and anxiety 

    • This is a life skill too! Any time you catch yourself assuming the worst, try to imagine the best.

    • Jim: Humans have a natural negative bias because this is a survival instinct. We are alive now because generations before us were cautious and probably weren’t full sending out on the plains or on the farm.  But, luckily, we have a very evolved frontal part of our brain that can distinguish between real danger and imagined danger.  Defining and drawing that line is a mental skill that requires a lot of conscious practice.  

  • A listener (athlete) question that could also be an insight: if you are sick, when should you take extra rest and when should you push through?

    • General rule of thumb: if you have a fever, aches, any symptoms below the neck (chest congestion, cough, etc.) or GI issues, take the day off and focus on resting and hydrating 

    • If you have a cold and are just congested but energy levels are OK, I sometimes find that an easy Z2 ride or run can help flush things out. I would still avoid hard workouts and shut it down if you start to feel worse 

    • Also helpful to track metrics like RHR and HRV - this can tell you something about how deep the sickness is or if it’s more just a nasal congestion situation

    • Remember our rule for injuries / niggles: sometimes 1-2 days off can prevent 1-2 weeks or months off! Going all in on recovery can pay off and get you back on your feet faster than half-assing it for weeks 

Jim: 

  • The difference between strength and coordination. You can be strong but if you are not coordinated, you will not move efficiently or even properly. Your muscles need to fire in the correct order.  This underscores the importance of technique development, particularly with swimming and running. Don’t skip your drills!

  • The importance of defining your race goals especially for some of these late season races. Some athletes are using late season short races to really test their well earned summer race fitness. They are going all out to race it before they take an off season. It’s a high risk / high reward strategy.  Typically these athletes have achieved their goals for the year and are really just letting it all hang out before the off season.

    • Some athletes are using these short races to set themselves up for their last long race of the year. Their approach is a bit more conservative and they aren’t necessarily looking to PR at a Sprint or OLY.

    • Whatever your late season race goals are, take a moment to really define what you want out of your last races as this will most likely be what you remember the most heading into next season. Your brain will often consolidate on your last reps.

  • Fueling: The difference between 60 grams of carbs vs 80 grams can be HUGE. We are seeing so many athletes this year hit new performance levels just by increasing their carb intake by 10 - 20%. That may not sound like much but it’s the difference from feeling sort of like you are fading at the end of a race to finishing really strong.

Main Content: Intervals 101: Get fast with swim, bike and run intervals. 

What are intervals?

Let’s start with a typical one hour workout. 

An easy run of 60’ is not an interval. And often this run is Z3 for uncoached athletes. It’s not easy enough or hard enough to stimulate an adaptation.

An interval happens when we begin to slice up the time pie into smaller chunks to target certain adaptations.  For example, the 60’ run becomes a Z1/Z2 20’ warmup, 2 x 10’ at threshold pace with 2’ easy between and 15’ cool down.  

We commonly think of intervals as the times when we are doing the actual work.  In the above example, we focus on the 10’ work increments, however, the interval and workout structure changes A LOT based on the recovery interval. A 2 x 10’ threshold pace workout with 1’ recovery is very different from a 2 x 10’ threshold pace workout with 5’ recovery. The first interval set is a near continuous interval of 20’ of work. 1’ is not a lot of time to recover and is really just a psychological break as your HR and lactate will remain high going into the 2nd 10’ interval.  

But if you add a 5’ recovery interval between the 2 x 10’ intervals, you get full recovery and it is two distinct 10’ intervals. 

You may use the 1’ recovery intervals as you get closer to race day to mimic race demands and use the 5’ recovery intervals earlier in the year or Base period to challenge but not overload the athlete. 

Important point: While we talk about Zone 2 a lot, there is only one energy system. There are no silos or zones in the body. Training in one “zone” will have an effect on all other “zones”.   An easy run not only helps build out your aerobic foundation, it also helps raise your threshold and VO2 max. When we include intervals within a workout, we challenge the body to work more in multiple physiological “zones” or levels.

Why do intervals? 

Recruit slow and fast twitch muscles

Turn on all motor units; you need muscle engagement to grow a muscle.

Challenge the heart / aerobic system to increase stroke volume. Deliver more blood and oxygen to your muscles.

Mental race preparedness - mimic race demands

As a coach, we are programming around what are we trying to improve with this athlete.  What is their current fitness, skills and capabilities and how do we best use the time we have to move them to the next level specific to their “A” race demands?

When should I start doing intervals?

It is important to have a basic foundation of fitness and aerobic training before you start intervals.  Intervals are powerful medicine and you will do more damage than good if you start them too early in a season and/or in your athletic development.  

When in doubt whether you are ready for interval training, do more Base work. You can never be too robust!

For example, I have a returning triathlete / marathon runner who just started this week on a marathon plan for Philadelphia marathon which is in late November.  Her average weekly miles are ~15.  Given this is fairly low volume heading into a marathon plan, our first priority is frequent, easy runs. Over the next 4 - 6 weeks we will focus on ramping up easy run volume with some 20” pickups/strides before we introduce any type of run interval or speed training. 

How do I determine intervals appropriate for me?

Need to first measure your current thresholds. In other words, what is my current fitness level and set a baseline to measure your improvement.

Swim: 400/200 best effort, take average time to determine your Critical Swim Speed (CSS)

Bike: Functional Threshold Test - 30’ warmup, 5’ all out effort, recovery into a 20’ best effort. Take .95% of Normalized Power from the 20’ test.

Run: 2 x 10’ best effort. Average times and add 30”. 

Lactate / HR / pace / watts testing in a lab.

Garmin Guided Lactate Threshold Test.

Main considerations for intervals: 

There are three levers for intervals: 

Duration - how long is the work and rest interval 

Frequency - how often are we doing intervals in the week/micro/mesocycle

Intensity - the primary adaptation we desire will dictate the level of intensity. 

Important: As coaches, we value them in that order. 

If the intervals are too hard, we lose training time.  We value volume and consistency more as this will serve you best in the short and long run. 

You will probably do 50-150 interval sessions per year. As such they need to be sustainable. If you are destroyed or discouraged every time you do intervals you will stop doing them. 

Think accumulated work duration (AWD) over a period of months as the goal.

For coached athletes, we emphasize commenting on how it felt in TrainingPeaks as it is important for us to learn what is happening during this work. It’s not always about the numbers.  

Beside the numbers, we are looking for: 

  • How it felt

  • Consistency 

  • Where was your mental game when things get tough

When in doubt, keep your intervals simple. You should be able to easily remember your interval workout. A workout that needs extensive notes that you have to refer to during the workout is probably too complicated. Less is more.

Always leave one rep in reserve. End every interval session knowing you could have done at least one more.  Frequency and sustainability are the keys to long term athletic development and performance. 

Is Training Stress Score (TSS) a good measure of interval effectiveness?

No. TSS is not the arbiter of a good interval workout as TSS really favors volume. 

Basic Interval workout progression:

*Activation: This happens before you even begin to swim/bike/run. Particularly with running, we recommend a few minutes of glute activation.

*Warmup:  It is very important to transition your body from resting HR to active HR to very active HR. The longer and gentler the warmup, the better you will perform your intervals. This physically and mentally prepares you for the work. 

*Primers: Wake up the body / muscles / mind. Prime the pump for the hard work. 

Swim - 4 x 25’s FAST with 20” rest.  

Run - 2 x 2’ at tempo / half marathon pace. 

Bike - 6 - 20” hard effort / 40” easy

*Main set:

This is where the fun happens! Intervals combinations are endless. Use the above guidelines to develop your interval training. 

Some common interval workouts we like during the Specific Phase:

Swim:

  • Fast 50’s - 100s.

Run: 

  • 6-10 x 1-2’ at 10K / 5K pace

  • 2 x 10’ at half marathon pace

  • 200/400s on track

Some of our favorite half marathon and marathon intervals in our How to crush your best fall marathon or half marathon podcast.

Bike: 

  • Sweet Spot - 5-7 x 7-10’ at 92% FTP

  • Threshold - 5-10 x 5-20’ at 100% FTP

  • VO2 max - the classic 3-5 x 5’ at 125% FTP with 5’ recovery is a staple. The goal is to accumulate time at ~90% of max HR. Rarely are most athletes going 95-100%.

  • You can download our Zwift workout trainer sampler for Zone 2, Tempo, Sweet Spot, Threshold and VO2 max workouts.

*Cool down: Keep it simple, easy 100-200 in the pool, 3-5’ walk at end of run, 5’ - 10’ easy spin on bike.  A good cool down will set you up for recovery from this workout and set you up for the next workout.

For additional reference, you can check out Our Favorite Ironman and 70.3 Workouts podcast.

Common Interval Mistakes: 

Modifying the intervals such that you don’t get the stimulus / adaptation that you intended. For example, if you have 2’ at 5K run intervals but then modify them to .5 mile at half marathon pace, that is a very different workout. 

Once you have a plan, try to stick to the plan.  (Unless the plan is inappropriate for that day for whatever reason.)

In general, athletes who modify their workouts a lot, are the athletes who most underperform at races. 

Burying yourself on the first interval and then slowing down on subsequent ones. You want to do the opposite of this.

Too much, too soon, too fast.

Challenge of the week:

Katie: End of season best practice – organize and label all of your tri gear that you won’t use until next spring/summer. You will thank yourself later so you don’t have to buy a new race belt for the 19th time. 

Jim: End of the season - check out the sale prices on gear you want for next summer! What better way to celebrate your off season but with a little retail therapy.

Article/movie/podcast rec of the week:

SWAP podcast on David Roche at Leadville 100. Key themes:

  • Adversity during race week and training cycle won’t necessarily kill your race 

  • Major self belief (bolstered by his wife and coach Megan’s belief in him)

  • Quality over quantity training (lower mileage than many peers in the sport) 

  • Fueling drives performance. ~120-140 grams of carbs per hour.

Gear Pick of the week: 

Katie: Fins! Endless entertainment in the pool

Jim: Peacock subscription to watch (and re-watch) Olympics, Tour de France (Men’s and Women’s race) and Vuelta a España and of course, The Office.  Winter inspiration!

Episode 44: Training Lows, Athlete Health, and Going All In

In this week's episode, Katie and Elena chat about a bunch of different topics that have featured in both of our lives in recent months, including highs and lows in training, health struggles as an athlete, and the idea of going "all in" on something you love. We specifically dig into Elena's decision to start and DNF the Lavaredo Ultra Trail in the Italian Dolomites, important insights she has picked up about health and fueling in the last several months, and an exciting next chapter of focusing on endurance training and coaching as a primary career objective. We hope this episode is relatable for listeners out there going through the ups and downs of training and life, and we close with an important lesson: when you commit, magical things happen! Check it out.

Nike ad we talked about

Gear Pick of the Week

Katie: Boco visors (bring back visors!)
Elena: Janji hyperlight hat (but don’t wear it backwards)