Episode 37: Our Favorite Ironman and 70.3 Workouts

This week's episode covers a lot of fun topics! First up is a recap of lessons and insights from the Cohasset Triathlon, Katie's first race of 2024. We then cover more insights from Jim related to active recovery principles, swim technique, dual-sided power meters, and bike fitting. Our main content is a deep dive on some of our favorite workouts for Ironman and 70.3 in the Endurance Drive library, including paddles and buoy sets, low cadence Zwift climbing, 10" max sprints, and more, which we hope will be useful for our athletes to understand the intention of the workout and for our other listeners to try out some new sessions in their own programming. Enjoy the listen!

Katie: Insights from the Cohasset Tri and more broadly

A question: Should you still race if it doesn’t feel like a hell yes?

• We always say if it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no

• But truthfully, I have never felt like racing is a hell yes, and that was especially true this week 

• Logistically not great because I would have preferred a big training block week for my A race 

• Coming off high LSS week of travel and little sleep 

• Coaching at the race, supporting family and friends racing, being ‘cruise director’ for all race and post-race party logistics etc. 

• Haven’t trained for a sprint tri

• I think you should in most cases still race but try your best to go in with a curious mindset.

• “I’m here to learn” / “This is a good opportunity to dip my toe in racing before my A race and practice mental strategies” 

• Ask yourself if racing is a hell yes when you’re deciding whether to sign up or not; not the week before! 

• Of course there are extenuating circumstances like illness/injury, etc., but most of the time you can always learn something from racing.

On racing in challenging conditions:

• Swim: Most chaotic I’ve been in.

• Need to hug the inside line and sight VERY often because your stroke will be continually interrupted.

• Mass starts at big races are scary and hard to simulate (Dan challenges in swim given lack of mass OWS practice). One way we have simulated this with Dart tri is putting 12 kids in a single lane line and doing fast 25s. Try to do this even with a couple of other people and it can help!

• Biking in crowds and in the rain:

• Other racers can be an issue; two novice waves started before me and I spent the whole race streaming ON YOUR LEFT and STAY RIGHT. Not much you can do about this besides be really confident in your bike handling

• Visibility is an issue; I ended up having to take my glasses off mid race and sticking them in my kit, even though they are transition lenses (fogged up). Consider not taking glasses in rainy conditions  

• NEED to be more cautious on sharp turns and bad pavement even if going hard. Not worth the risk (Connor crash) 

• Run: Humidity is tough even if it’s not that hot. Still follow cooling strategy even if you don’t think it’s that hot. 

On keeping perspective:

• Legs didn’t really show up for the run in the way that I expected them too and I crossed the finish line disappointed that I didn’t have the run turnover that I knew I had the fitness for

• Felt a little better when I looked at my times from last year -- improved across the board in swim, T1, bike, T2, run, for 90” faster overall time -- and I had thought that I had a great day last year!

• Just interesting to see how you can feel really different based on the data points you focus on and the metrics you highlight. As someone who is extraordinarily self-critical and big time on the negativity bias train, I have to work hard to focus on the positives. Three strategies for doing that:

• Journaling, writing down as many pros as I have cons and/or trying to reframe cons 

• Ask myself what I would say to one of my athletes 

• Lean on others who can help you see the positives

On not underestimating the LSS load of a day like this:

• Race day, party, Connor crash, car incident, one hour above threshold HR… I was WIPED the next day even though it was a comparatively ‘short’ training day for me. Give yourself the rest you need to bounce back quickly any time you have a high physical stress or LSS day. 

Two podcasting insights:

• Favorite moment of the day was having a podcast listener who I haven’t met before (but who we will be hopefully coaching for 2025) come up and say “I love your coaches and podcast! Are you coached by Katie?” and then realizing that I was Katie 

• A useful mantra when I was not having a good time out there: “But think of the podcasting lessons!!!”

Jim insights:

Midseason evaluation: A number of athletes recently who re-evaluated their 2nd half race season goals and made some fundamental changes. Most of the changes were to step back from structured training for the rest of the summer in order to focus more time on family and, in the end, make the sport more sustainable. We really encourage thoughtful training, or in this case, non-structured training.  If this means taking a structured break, please do. We want to have fun, keep the sport fresh and feel open to what is next for you. 

Active Recovery Principles: The two principles I use when doing active recovery are 1) I must feel better after the workout than before the workout. I should feel refreshed and rejuvenated afterwards.  2) This one comes from my attorney: can you stand in front of a judge straight faced and say you did this with honest intention?  When I start to go too hard during my active recovery sessions, I come back to can I stand in front of a judge and say I actually did an active recovery effort?!

Dual sided power meter: I’m generally not a proponent of spending the money on dual sided power meters as one sided tends to get the job done. But there are situations where having dual sided is extremely useful and informative. Coming back from this broken leg, I’m using dual sided power to see where the dead spots and weaknesses in my pedal stroke are. And specifically doing what is essentially one legged pedal drills to build back strength and technique to get back to even sided leg power.  If you have suffered a significant injury, having access to a dual sided power meter may be very beneficial.   (And this also starts me wondering how many of my beginner cyclists may have a significant pedal stroke inefficiency.)

Key takeaway: my power balance is better when I think EASY and smooth. If I think just smooth, it can lead to trying too hard and key is thinking easy, relaxed pedal strokes. 

Tension in swim recovery arm: One of the most common mistakes I see in beginner swimmers is a lot of tension in their recovery arm. It’s called recovery for a reason! And just that split second of no tension in your recovery gives enough time for your muscles to regenerate and get ready to produce force through the pull part of your stroke.  Your arms will literally recover in milliseconds.  

There are two tensions in your arms during swimming; I call them “nice kitty” and “big dog”.  Nice kitty tension in your arm and hand are like you are petting your soft, warm kitty - it’s very gentle with very little to no tension.  You should have this level of tension from the time your hand/arm exit out the back until you enter the water and have your fingertips pointed to the bottom of the pool/pond. This means that almost 220 degrees of your stroke have little to no tension.   Then when your fingertips are pointed downard you activate “big dog” tension which is the tension you use when you pet a big dog on the body.  This is the firm but gentle pet on the body of a big lab.  Who is a good dog?!  Use that tension all the way back until your hand pulls back past your hip. 

Bike Fit: If you are experiencing a lot of pain, discomfort and/or numb hands and feet, you need to get your bike fit or refitted. This is not an acceptable or sustainable position to put yourself in. Like TSA: If you see something, say something!

Main Content

Caveat: There are no secret, magic workouts regardless of what social media, publications and pros say. There are workouts that give someone an extra bump in fitness or just makes them feel good or race ready. Those are legit workouts for that specific person. This does not mean that that workout will be right for you.  Part of your athletic journey is appropriate workouts over months and years that best fit your athletic profile and address your capacities. Some workouts will just feel better than others; pay extra attention to those workouts as they are telling you something.

The secret workout is consistency with intention month after month, year after year. 

SWIM: 

Paddles and buoy - Easy 4 x 200 PB at end of nearly any main set.  Builds strength and endurance.

Tech 50s - strict technical stroke focus while doing 50’s.  Once you can repeat the same good stroke during 50s, you can bridge this up to almost any distance. 

Snorkel only, tech set. Use a snorkel to watch where your hand enters the water and how it pulls through. Enter in line with your shoulder and pull back in line with your shoulder. Use the black line at the bottom of the pool to enter on the edge of it and pull back along the edge. This is a powerful and useful visual.  These are great sessions for a recovery swim. 

Similarly, I have had some of my favorite, best swims in hotel pools focusing only on balance and messing around in the ocean on vacation focusing only on a good pull or open water swimming/sighting in rough conditions. The point is to spend a big chunk of time with a technical focus with no regard to pace or distance.

Social OWS - swim with a crew.

BIKE:

Low cadence Zwift climbing. In the winter and even during your build use the big climbs in Zwift to do low cadence - 50 - 65 rpm at Z2/Z3 watts with Z2 HR.  Grind up a big hill for 60’ - 90’.  Those racing hilly HIMs and IMs will benefit greatly from this workout. This should be a staple.

AC/ST/Neuro blocks early in the season - 20’ - 30’ warmup into: 

Main Set 3x:

• 6 x 30" at 125% FTP into 20" at 50% FTP

• 3' recovery at 50% FTP

• (Total of 18 intervals)

Z2 with 120/125% sprints - An easy Z2 ride overall punctuated with 4 x 30" sprints at 125% FTP with 90" recovery at 50%.  

Weekend coffee rides - Assemble your crew and ride social, easy and long.  These are key foundational workouts and more importantly don’t feel like workouts.
RUN:

Hills & Fast - 10 x 30” uphill fast/90% effort into 5’ at threshold pace on flat.  Many variations: 2 x 4’ threshold, add another 5x30” after 5’ threshold, etc

10” max speed - 20’ - 30’ easy warmup into 

3X: 6 x 10" at max sprint intent w/ 10" recovery (on slight uphill). Total of 2'.

Norwegian sub-max runs

4 x 3' at Sub Threshold Pace (or Marathon Pace) = Threshold pace + 30" with 1' walk recovery

3' recovery into;

4 x 1' at 5K pace with 1' walk recovery.

Group Track runs - join a group and run fast with friends!

Listener Questions
The goal is to try and keep your HR as low as you can and push as hard as you can. With caffeine, it naturally increases your HR. How do you balance that? I notice after my coffee breaks on the bike, my HR is ~10bpm higher for a while.

• Follow up Q: Do we have recommendations for a caffeine strategy on bike and run?  

Follow up to a Listener Question from last week re: graphene cooling headbands, Jason Koop Koopcast podcast had a lot of information on heat management strategies and specifically addresses the graphene headband. This is an excellent listen for anyone racing in the heat (which is all of us!)

Podcast Link

Challenge of the Week

Katie: Spent 10-15’ journaling after a race sim or race. 

Jim: Plan to volunteer at a race after your race season is over.
Gear Pick of the Week

Katie: Women’s CONCEPT Merino Wool Jersey (Velocio)
Jim: Koia - favorite recovery drink

Episode 36: Finding Balance with Lifelong Athlete and Executive Coach Laura Fay

In this week's episode, Katie and Elena sit down for an hour of wisdom from the woman who does it all: triathlete, mom, career woman, and community champion Laura Fay. Topics include: how Laura has found and built communities in sport throughout her life as an athlete; how she built a career in executive coaching and what principles make effective leaders and athletes; how to balance career, being a parent, and endurance sports; the physical and mental effects of aging in athletics; and the mental toll and comeback process of a major injury, among lots of other topics. We also chat through when and how to effectively listen to your body in endurance training. This is a can't miss episode with one of our favorite people - check it out!

Gear pick of the week:

Katie: TRIHARD shampoo/conditioner/body wash for chlorine 

Elena: Nathan exoshot handflask for hydration while running in the heat!

Laura: Shokz bone conduction headphones

Episode 35: Lessons From 2024 (So Far!)

In this super fun episode, we're celebrating a whole bunch of big milestones including: Jim's return to riding six weeks after his crash and surgery, Katie officially earning her title of "PhD Coach Katie," and most importantly, six months and 35 episodes of our podcast! To mark the occasion, we're returning to a format we used in episode five of the podcast and reflecting on the big lessons we've learned in the last six months of training, coaching, and podcasting. This was one of the most fun episodes we've recorded, so come for the wisdom and stay for the laughs about what constitutes a recovery week. Check it out!

Intro - celebration episode!

• Jim back on the bike

• Katie graduated from Stanford PhD program

• And most importantly - 6 months of the pod + 35 episodes! 

Coaching and Training Insights

Katie:

Keeping humor and joy in training and racing:

• Gigi’s pre race call “I’m tired of this Grandpa!!”

• “When you get this feeling, eat a snickers! You’re not you when you’re hungry” 

• Taylor Knibb reflections on T100: “I was reading Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act: A Way of Being on the plane to San Francisco. In his “Area of Thought” on Play, he writes, “We embrace both the seriousness of the commitment and the playfulness of being completely free in the making. Take [it] seriously without going about it in a serious way” (354). I kept thinking about this idea all week.”

• Jim: Have always loved the phrase, “you can be serious without being a serious person”

Dialing in your watch and bike computer settings before the night before the race; practice them well in advance:

• i.e. use triathlon mode in race sims; be aware of what the data screens are and change them as necessary 

Jim:

Two formulas:

• Training + Fueling = Performance

• Training + Fueling + Performance = Racing

• Performance is also experience.  The main point is we need to do a lot of training, fueling and experience in the sport before we really understand how to race. 

Training is physical, mental and relational

• Relational is concerning the way in which two or more people or things are connected.

• Relational: Location, your peer group, your support network. 

• You can have the physical and mental capacity to train but it really helps to have a low friction training universe.  A good example of this is the Dartmouth Tri Club where there is an entire practice schedule and programming easily accessible every day and lots of peers to practice with.  Then we people graduate, they have the same physical and mental skills to train but the relational part is no longer there and it can then be a struggle to find the same motivation to train. 

• Which is another way to say, we endorse Master swims, group rides and runs because they provide a relational part of your training program.

Main Content:
We did a “Lessons from 2023” episode early on in the podcast; now, we are hitting the 6-month mark of starting the podcast and the 6-month mark of 2024. Our goal is to share some bigger lessons we have learned from training, coaching, and podcasting in 2024.

Katie training lessons:

Back on my strength training soap box 

What was different:  

• Progressive overload 

• Recovery/deload weeks

• Fitness testing and benchmarking over time 

What I felt:

• Bigger breakthroughs in running especially, and same or better bike+swim with less volume than last year 

• Plan for the rest of the year:

• A more dedicated strength building season in the late fall 

Jim: You can never be too strong.

Fear of flying too close to the sun / Icarus moment 

• Minor crises averted with serious recovery

• Thoughts on how to avoid:

• If you feel like you’re having a training breakthrough, take a step back. You will eventually soar higher than you thought

• Don’t mess around with recovery weeks 

• Example of me messing around last year with Strava reminders 

• Sleep and fuel are SO important 

Jim: Always leave one interval, or bullet, in the chamber. Never do something today that will jeopardize tomorrow.

Swimming 2x per week -- “minimum effective dose”

• One tech swim + one swim workout 

• Made possible by good strength training and other years where I have majorly prioritized swim. Need to earn this! 

• An example of me tapping into what I like and maintaining joy and balance; also being strategic about the demands of my race 

Jim: great approach for experienced athletes.  Emphasize the need to earn this. If you are a beginner triathlete and swimming is new, your 3X per week investment in pool time is worth it for a few years.

Changing up coaching 

• Drivers: we have a lot of overlap and our main joint focus right now is building the business; I have learned a ton from Jim and was interested in learning more and continuing to build our experiences 

• How do I do programming? I make my own plan, work with a strength trainer/ run coach + physical therapist in person who oversees plan and helps me manage overall load; use much of the framework and principles that Jim and I have used over the years

• Works well as Jim and I can focus on the business and podcast while still of course collaborating on building out our strategy and workout library 

• Bigger point: mentorship is a journey! At a certain point the student becomes trained like the master, and then it’s exciting to branch out and see what else we can (both) learn 

Jim: A coach's ultimate job is to train their athletes so they are not necessary. You want your athletes to be able to make their own decisions in the short and long term.  One of my goals with athletes is when they leave The Endurance Drive structured training, they have the principles and tools to train themselves and even others. 

Jim training lessons:

ZO / Z1 is legit

• With this leg injury, I’m doing lots of Z0 / Z1 work to build back into fitness. While it may seem like this isn’t real training, it accumulates quickly and starts to make a significant impact over even just a few weeks.  

• Examples of Z0/Z1 you can do in your life:

  • Light, social bike or run with your family and/or dog. 

  • Brisk walking, again even better with family and friends.

  • Regular walking throughout the day and especially after meals to help regulate insulin. 

  • Snorkel only swimming, all technique focus

Big bike -> Big Fitness

• Not particularly a new insight this year but coming back from injury and watching my new triathletes, I’m reminded that big bike volume, time in the saddle really forms the foundation for fitness. 

• If you want to achieve Big Fitness, there’s no better place to start and build a foundation like bike volume especially at Z1/Z2 watts.  Ride your bike a lot!

More focus on mental health

• For many years I was primarily managing my mental health through physical activity and in many ways that is still the case. Physical activity can be a great way to manage my surface stress and refresh the body and mind. However, this year I wanted to make a deeper change in thought patterns, behaviors and world views. With the help of a professional, I’ve started to work on unlocking and revealing my deeper inside. Instead of managing stress and mental health acutely through workouts, therapy has been a better tool for long term, sustainable change. It’s not always fun to dig deep but it’s been well worth the effort. 

• And I’ve seen a number of athletes take this same journey this year and am amazed by their growth, insights and enthusiastic mental energy. We are breaking through both physically and mentally!

Katie coaching lessons:

Identifying coaching values / participated in the Coaches Collective

• My values: empathy, communication, attention to detail, enthusiasm

• Values alignment = better mental health, life harmony, etc.

• Mismatch between your values and what you are doing = messy 

• Have encouraged my athletes to identify their own values as athletes too → align athlete values and training approach (Joy? Community? Competitive spirit? etc.) 

Managing athlete load 

• 20 athletes this year; this is my max while also working full time something else to be able to provide a person first. Could probably go up to 40 if I were full time, but at a certain point you will inevitably lose what makes TED coaching so special 

Gratitude for what coaching gives you

• Can be a pretty close relationship

• Exposure to people’s deep vulnerabilities, insecurities; their lives; seen athletes go through grief, trauma, heartbreak, loss, illness, injury, so much more. This is a huge privilege 

• Comes back to values alignment: communication, empathy 

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: fueling 70-90 g carbs per hour is MAGIC! 

• So fun to see athletes absolutely crushing it by prioritizing fueling

Jim coaching lessons:

Mental side of training is HUGE

• In parallel with my own personal mental training journey, I’ve become fascinated with sports mental training. In the past, it’s been about building out the training library, Zwift workouts, collecting as much data and knowledge from mentors as possible. This is an integral and necessary step in becoming a coach. Part of coaching is loving the data, why a workout is effective and how to apply those workouts across a wide spectrum of athletes. But it’s one part of the equation!

• This year, I’ve spent more time understanding the mental side of training more.  Have just started this journey and feel like just starting scratching the surface.  

Always searching for the minimum effective dose

• Every athlete is super busy with work, family and community.  Time is precious and limited.  As a coach, I try to find what is the minimum we have to do in order to get a stimulus that is appropriate for their training and race goals.  Less is more!

Greatest variety of athletes this year

• This year I’ve had more athletes of more varieties than any other year. This is both challenging and exciting.  It means having to really dig into everyone’s plan to meet them where they are and to be very flexible on a weekly basis.

• A plug for The Endurance Drive: Our coaching staff is extremely knowledgeable, agile and adaptable.  We are not locked into one plan, one approach.  Because we have A LOT of experience with all levels of athletes, training and race distances, we have the desire and ability to work very individually.  

Play is super important

• Related to relational: This year, more than any other year, I’ve been encouraging athletes to join groups to train together.  Those workouts may not be a perfect fit for a Zone 2 model but the community and joy aspects of working hard with other people outweighs any zone considerations.  

The Endurance Drive Live

• We have a twice monthly Zoom call with all coaches and athletes.  This is a great opportunity to learn from other coaches and athletes. It’s informative to hear a variety of training and racing tactics and strategies. There is literally a brain trust of coaching and racing knowledge on these calls.  If you are not being trained by The Endurance Drive, you should!

Katie podcasting lessons:

On vulnerability

• Vulnerability is really powerful; inspires other people to be vulnerable; and can be scary but feels good too. “Sharing your story” can be as helpful for the person sharing as much as it is there to help other people 

Being in the ‘public eye’

• Surprises me when people I haven’t seen in a while say they feel like they are caught up on my life when I am not caught up on theirs -- hard to conceptualize how many people have my voice in their car or on their run in a given week even if we can see the raw numbers! 

• I would say I sometimes pay more attention to how I appear on Strava, Instagram etc.

• Inevitable (self-inflicted) pressures to be perfect; to be authentic; to be palatable; etc. 

• But I always go back to the idea that authenticity is a good place to start, and we all need to decide what level of transparency we feel comfortable with; I also like to think that our podcast is not all about my own life and that people don’t really care! 

The COMMUNITY!

• Feel very attached to our listeners and so grateful that people actually think we have something useful to say and want to listen.

• Makes my day when people reach out to say they love the podcast or when athletes mention principles/tips/tricks that we have just called out in passung. 

• Shout out to the 20 people that usually listen to new episodes that drop before 6am on a given Thursday!!

Jim podcasting lessons:

Many of the same as Katie’s insights:

• It’s a little scary to be in the public eye, knowing literally millions of people can access your thoughts, perceptions, values, actions and knowledge. 

• Podcasting is a great way to organize your thoughts on a daily and weekly basis. I write something down nearly every day that pertains to coaching, lessons learned and new knowledge or insights.  It’s way easier than a blog post and has a lot more reach and therefore effectiveness to spread our training principles, strategies and tactics.  I am a much better coach having to organize my thoughts on a daily basis. 

• Podcasting has been a great way to spread the word about our coaching collective. Many new athletes come to us now having listened and are familiar with our training philosophy and are coming to us because it resonates with them.

• Grateful for everyone who listens, provides feedback and encourages us. It feels like we, The Endurance Drive community, are on this journey together. Thank you!

Listener questions:

• Hi I have a question about what the difference is between logging your power over a swim/bike/run workout versus logging heart rate? Why do some people use one over the other? Is it beneficial to use both, and how do you usually do that for each sport (swim/bike/run)? What do you prefer? Can a garmin watch do this?

  • Swim - primarily focus on technique, then pace and superior open water navigation skills. 

  • Bike - mostly power if you have a powermeter. If not, HR works, too. And you should use power and HR in conjunction. 

  • Run - mostly HR and pace based. We don’t use running power (but maybe we’ll change our minds in the future!)

• What are those fancy cooling headbands that pros are wearing during races and should I wear them?

  • The pros are working on the last .01% gains.  Almost all age groupers need to focus on the fundamentals, the big rocks and getting to the 99%.

  • Always focus on maximal gains: consistent training, good recovery, nutrition and be immune to triathlon marketing.

• What is your process as a coach?? How do you make a plan and take into account all of the individual details of a person’s life to best support their training?

• Katie: Relevant because a group of my athletes who are friends recently remarked that all of their plans are different even though they are training for the same race, and they were curious how I keep track of all of those individual variables.
  - Jim: Coaching is art and science. As coaches we have dozens of  tactics and strategies, and hundreds of workouts, to get people fit. But each individual has a unique capacity, skill set, background, physiology, race goal(s), etc. Holding all these variables, we ground in our training principles and use all of our acquired knowledge, tactics and strategies to craft an individual training plan.
  Plans are like a Mozart composition:  Changes can be made to the melody, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, timbre, or orchestration but the theme of the song, or in our case training principles, remains central.

Gear pick of the week:

• Katie: Patagonia Black Hole 55L Duffel Bag

• Jim: Salomon 12L pack

Episode 34: A Deep Dive on Ironman Lake Placid

In this week's episode, Coach Jim sits down with Coach Katie and Coach Kevin to cover everything you need to know about our Beast of the East: Ironman Lake Placid. Katie and Kevin have both qualified for the Ironman World Championships not once, but twice, at Ironman Lake Placid. We chat about the history of Lake Placid and why it's such a special race; the nitty gritty details of the swim, bike, and run course; the crazy weather and conditions we have seen at Placid; the key workouts that prepared us to qualify for Kona at Placid twice; and considerations for why you should or shouldn't sign up. We also go over many general Ironman training and racing considerations you should be thinking about for any Ironman race. Check it out!

Coaching and training insights: 

Katie:

• Tried out a new effective mantra for training, racing, race sims: “reserve judgment” 

• Recent race sim, had urge to judge the whole ride 5 minutes in because I felt like HR was up (hot day)  

• Later on, was coming up on a coffee shop stop and kept saying “I’m definitely going to want to call it when I get there, I’ll be so close to the car anyway”

• Both times, and throughout: RESERVE JUDGMENT. Don’t judge the entire ride/race/race sim based on how you feel in any one given moment. Tell yourself to get to the next checkpoint and we will evaluate how we feel when/after we get there. 

• Feel like “reserve judgment” is easier for me than “woohooooo go Katie you’ve got this” because that the toxic positivity frame doesn’t feel as authentic for self-talk. Trying out something neutral may be helpful for our cynical athletes!

• Race sims in hot weather: Easy to overheat, under hydrate, under fuel because you don’t have aid stations, especially on the run 

• Idea: set up an aid station in your car and do loops from there. Cooler with ice, icy bottles, snacks, etc. and do 1-2 mile loops or out and backs so you can practice exactly what it will be like to have that consistent fueling/hydration/ice access 

• Using the difference between normalized power and HR as a gauge for how you are feeling. 

• For me, when I am feeling good on a long ride, there is a roughly 30-35 difference between normalized power and HR (example: 135 HR, 165-170 normalized power). 

• If I am sick, or overtired, that gap shrinks. I might see 145 HR for 165-170 NP, or 125 HR and 140 NP. 

• Recovering from a GI bug right now and I was seeing 125 HR and 137 NP. Not good! 

• Everyone’s ‘gap’ will be very different and power is somewhat related to bodyweight, but figuring out what normal looks like for you can give you more data for understanding if something is off.  

Jim:

• If you need to take time off from your sport because of work, family, injury, you will be fine!  Sometimes it’s scary to imagine life without sport as a centerpiece for identity and physical and mental health. But a break from sport will inevitably happen.  You can still focus on eating well, plenty of sleep, 10K steps, and lifting weights. This will provide a health bridge to when you can resume your sporting life.

• As you enter W8 and W4 and Race Day, start to focus on showing up 100% healthy to those sessions.  By this time in the training cycle, you are quite fit. The Monday - Friday sessions are supporting workouts but not always critical workouts.  Weekends and particularly Week 8 and Week 4 Race Sims are the most important to closely approximate race day demands. These weekends provide the most important stimulus that will allow you to adapt to race day conditions.

  • The number one thing you can do entering those weekends or race day is showing up mentally and physically fresh. If this means taking an extra day off, scaling back some Monday-Friday workouts, do it.  You want to bring your best on those days so be sure to make space in your busy life to ensure that is the case.

Kevin:

• Reverse planning to execute race sims and long runs on the weekend

Main content:

A little background on why we are doing a deep dive on Ironman Lake Placid:  

• History of this race and the Endurance Drive

• We have spectated or been to this race MANY times

• Kevin and Katie 2x KQ at IMLP

• Relevant to many of our listeners as it’s one of the closest IMs you can do (and can drive to) if you live in the Northeast

• Kevin family history in LP

All about Placid: 

• Upstate NY (5 hours from Boston, 3 hours from the UV)

• In the heart of the Adirondacks

• Hosted the 1980 olympics / Miracle on ice — a ton of sports history 

• 26 (!) years running

• The VIBE!

Let’s get to the course: IMLP is known for its amazing swim, hilly but beautiful bike and hilly, and usually hot and humid run. 

We going to give you a general description of each section and most importantly how you approach racing this section of the course:

Swim:

When you should be up at the Lake from transition
How to seed yourself
Where to swim (on the cable, of course)

How to pace each loop
How is the swim traffic on loop one vs loop two?
How to exit the water and make your way to T1 (under control, not running!)

T1/Bike:

Swim to T1: what to do, what not to do. (gear, calories, etc)

LP to top of Keene Descent

Keene Descent

Keene to Jay

New section loop / Jay climbs

Wilmington to LP (Three Bears)

Bike Special Needs

T2/Run:

T2: Any advice?

Out of T2 down Lisa G hill

Lisa G to River Rd

River Rd out and back

River Rd back to Lisa G

Lisa G hill up

Out and back on Mirror Lake Dr:

Climate — can vary (rain, heat, humidity, colder temps). Last year the weather was awesome except a freak rainstorm; Kevin’s 2021 year had low air quality; Katie 2019 was pretty hot and humid on the run

• There can be 3 - 4 different weather systems at play on race day. LP / Jay / Wilmington can all have very different weather/conditions.

Training considerations for Lake Placid

• Big piece of advice that goes for this race and any other IM: traveling to the course beforehand and ideally doing a race sim out there is one of the most valuable things you can do leading into race day. TED W4 race sims at Placid have been crucial.

• Open water sighting and general OWS skills are less important than in some other races given the underwater cable.
  But, in training, you still need to make 4K a standard weekly swim during the last 6 - 8 weeks before race day.

• Need to know how to climb on a TT bike: tons of hill training on long rides, low cadence work on the trainer.
  Placid particularly rewards the cyclist who has a smooth pedal stroke in all terrains.  Pay attention to your VI on long weekend rides and Race Sims.
  You should have a 34 cassette on your back wheel for Placid. If you don’t know what this means, take your bike to your local bike shop and tell them you are doing IMLP and need a cassette for big, long climbs.

• Hill work on the run as well. Prioritize strength running over speed.

• Talk about the 9 miler we did off 112 mile bike at W8 Race Sim with all of the Placid climbing condensed into it. 

• BRick sessions that include a lot of climbing on the bike and especially on the run.  For runs, become familiar with sustainable effort rather than pace.

• BIG bike volume during training. You need to make 100 miles feel routine.

Reasons to definitely do IMLP:

• The crowd and energy are amazing

• Climate is similar to what you are training in in the Northeast — this is a general point about choosing a goal race that has weather you can train in 

• Lake Placid is a special place and IMLP is a true classic like some of the big, famous European triathlon races.

Reasons to definitely NOT do IMLP:

• If you can’t train on hills, IMLP will be super hard 

• Lodging can be very expensive in LP and will sell out really early 

• If you are just starting your triathlon journey, get in 2 - 3 seasons of shorter races, learn the triathlon craft, build durability and then sign up for the big one.

Other races that are similar to IMLP? Any 70.3s that we think are particularly good prep races or dress rehearsals that can give you a feel for Placid terrain? Tremblant 70.3? White Mountains Triathlon - the 70.3 distance and even the Olympic is beefy.

• Key point: Ironmans are closer to 3X - 4X harder than a Half Ironman. It’s not just 2X harder because the distance is 2X longer.  It’s an exponential curve.  The best way to be prepared for an Ironman is to do Ironmans. Be prepared to do many Ironmans if you want to get good at Ironman.

Gear pick of the week

• Katie: Hypervolt Massage Gun with Heated Head Attachment

• Jim: Roka Sim shorts - not for the pool but for OWS when the water warms up and it’s too hot for a wetsuit.

• Kevin: foam roller and bands

Episode 33: Mental Health and Endurance Sports

In this week's episode, we asked our community about the intersection of mental health and endurance sports. We were blown away by the vulnerability and powerful insights that people shared! We dive into how endurance sports helps optimize or manage mental health, how endurance sports can get in the way of mental well-being, and the tools that members of our community have used to help take care of their mental health. We also share stories from our own experiences with mental health and endurance sports. The upshot of all of this is that if you are struggling with mental health and sport, you are not alone. Thank you to everyone who shared experiences to help us create this episode!

Episode 32: Top Mistakes Triathletes Make

In this week's episode, we had fun coming up with a long list of mistakes that we have either made ourselves or seen as coaches at some point in our endurance journeys. We hope that by sharing those mistakes with you, you can skip ahead to following the best practices for optimizing your performance and well-being as an athlete. Topics include: zone training, fueling and recovery, gear, skills and technique, racing, open water swimming, and a whole lot more. We also get an update from Jim on how his bike crash recovery is going, share a bunch of fun data-driven insights, and answer some A+ listener questions. Check it out!

Extended show notes:

Coaching and training insights:

Jim: 

• Having a professional network to support your training & recovery: Shout out to PT Neil for putting me back together again and making room in his busy schedule for me.  

• Importance of including some play in our recreation; do it for our brain health.  “Engaging in playful activities during exercise, rather than repetitive tasks like running on a treadmill, activates different brain networks, enhancing cognitive functions such as mental flexibility. This approach to exercise trains the brain in a dynamic and enjoyable way.”

  • Example of play on your runs: during pickups, pick a tree/driveway/pole to run fast to. Repeat. Keep the pickups fun and dynamic.  

  • Replace one of your road runs with a trail run. During your trail run, bound up some hills, or play fast feet on the way down. Mix it up!

  • Challenge a friend to a town line sprint. Or play chase on the bike where one person goes up the road for a count of 5 - 7” and you have to chase them down. 

  • Race in the pool with friends.  Slower people start first and the faster people try to catch them. 

  • Play and get smarter!

• Check out a couple videos on how to put on your wetsuit: 

  • Video 1

  • Video 2

  • Katie: recently had an athlete who thought their wetsuit didn’t fit but then used Trislide and it went right on!

Katie: 

Why it is SO great to be a triathlete:

• Recently had a calf niggle come on after a long tempo run 

• No pain swimming/biking —> dialed back run for 2-3 days until the niggle cleared up and dialed up the bike/swim 

• Magic of 1-2 days off! 

• Runners talk about how awful it is to cross train but as a triathlete we are just training for our sport/shuffling around days and flavor of intensity  

• Also on the calf niggle: this was a good reminder to get new shoes! 

Difference between TT bike and road bike:

• My go-to loop in Cohasset MA is 28 miles. Comparing two recent rides:

• 2 loops (56 miles) on road bike: 173 NP, HR 137, 17.3mph

• 2 loops (56  miles) on TT bike: 173 NP, HR 142, 19.1 mph

• 1 loop recovery ride on TT bike: 146 NP, HR 122, 18.1 mph

• Upshot: TT bikes are “free” speed. Close to 2 mph difference for me on a flat course 

Another point on the power of comparing the same workout 2x: 

• Have been doing a lot of tempo running recently 

• Tempo on a cooler day vs. hotter day - HR was pretty different 

• Upshot: as we transition to hotter weather, you’re going to need to dial down pace/power to keep HR in the same place. That is OK! You will acclimate as you do it more. 

When data is not all that helpful:

• Comparing Chronic Training Load (CTL) of previous seasons to this one 

• What TrainingPeaks CTL doesn’t capture: gains from better strength training, better fueling, better sleep; the idea that volume volume volume isn’t everything; all about keeping in perspective

Main Topic: Top Mistakes Triathletes Make

TRAINING

Ignoring Z2 or 80/20 (often this manifests as too much gray zone, too much intensity, or occasionally not enough intensity) 

Putting too much weight on the outputs (training) and not enough weight on the inputs (sleep, nutrition, recovery, functional/safe gear) Specifically -- not fueling your fitness during training and especially racing.

Using too much data (i.e. not listening to your body) or too little data (usually results in overtraining unless you know your body very well)

Ignoring strength training (i.e. just smashing endurance all the time)

Ignoring technique and skill development -- this is especially true for Open Water Swimming (OWS) and bike. Related: not training on TT bike but trying to race on TT bike, or not training in open water but racing in open water. 

This is a tough one but most triathletes don’t swim enough to make the swim a non-event. As the weather warms, make sure you are getting out for some long swims that replicate your race distance.

Get outside in the heat of the day. Nearly all races will be hot and humid. If you only train when it’s ideal or early morning, you won’t get the necessary training / racing adaptation. You have to learn what you can and more importantly what you cannot do in the heat of the day.

GEAR

Not investing in the bare minimum of gear that will allow you to train and compete comfortably and safely. You do not need to break the bank, but you need to have new running shoes, a bike that is properly fitted to you (and service it when needed), a good helmet, a Garmin or other sport watch (we do not recommend Apple Watch or something that doesn’t give you good data or dies), a chest HR strap, a triathlon-specific wetsuit, and a comfortable kit. Also: quality nutrition products. 

MINDSET, APPROACH, LIFE

“Not seeing the forest for the trees”

• Easy to get caught up in the minute details (“the swim workout says 2600 yards but when I did the set I only came in at 2450!”) 

• Probably because the minute details seem more controllable and tractable than the bigger questions 

• SO much more important to focus on the big picture / ground in the intention of the workout 

Inflexibility with training. Breeds a lot of anxiety when things don’t go according to plan (i.e. the pool is closed, your car broke down, you have a niggle and don’t ignore it). Important to try to hit 80%-90% of your workouts, but be OK with the occasional yellow, orange, or even red box (and embrace it), and to learn how to listen to your body (also related to our point on using too much data). Also important for avoiding burnout. 

Focus on process not outcomes. Focus on the day to day consistency and developing Performance Standards that you control. Examples of performance standards are quality of mind i.e., developing a positive mindset and mantras, effort based level standards i.e., give your best effort even if you are falling off your desired pace and positive attitude.
RACING 

Racing too much OR racing too little. We see both -- racing too much leaves you in a chronic state of high cortisol, will probably lead to overtraining, and makes it hard to focus on things like aerobic base building. Racing too little makes it hard to develop the skills you need on race day and can lead to a lot of extra pre-race anxiety if you put all of your eggs in a single racing basket. Related: how much racing do we think makes sense from a season planning perspective?  

Signing up for races that aren’t appropriate for your experience and fitness level. Build to longer races over years.  Resist the marketing of long distance racing until you are ready.

Racing on TT bike but not practicing on TT bike. Your last 12 weeks before your “A” race should be on your race bike.

Pacing - be disciplined during training and especially during a race as you are tapered and the watts will be coming easy. Stay within your target range early in the race when it’s so easy to go too hard/fast. 

Listener questions: 

Why don’t we program strength for our athletes?

• Strength is individualized and should ideally work on your imbalances and limiters - we aren’t PTs/strength trainers so we don’t know what those are!

• Wide variance in exposure/abilities to strength training 

As an athlete, how should you go about building your strength routine?

• Hire a strength trainer if you need one. As a general principle, focus on areas that get neglected for triathletes: core, side-to-side motion (glute medius, etc.), some plyometric work, etc. 

What makes an athlete coachable? How to improve coach/athlete relationship so it’s beneficial for both parties?

• Katie: Communication/transparency and open-mindedness

• Jim: Communication and a positive mental attitude.

As an athlete I like to set relatively competitive goals for myself when it comes to races--i.e. Running under a certain time, placing in my age group, getting a podium finish etc. This places a certain amount of stress on me mentally and I’ve learned to love it. I let it drive me to be consistent with my workouts and push me on days when I’m feeling lazy. However, as a coach, when an athlete approaches you with competitive goals, do you feel a certain stress? How do you handle it? Does it get worse around race day, similar to an athlete’s stress? Have you ever turned away an athlete if their goals would cause you too much stress?

• Katie: I try to help athletes focus on process goals over outcome goals, and I have process goals for myself as their coach. Not “I want my athlete to PR” but “I want to deliver flexible, individualized, dynamic training plans on time; I want to communicate clearly; I want to show empathy; etc.” I do get some race day stress around uncontrollables -- bike crashes on course, rip currents on swim, etc., and I FEEL for my athletes when this type of thing happens. But I try to remind myself that when those things happen, a coach is often the person who can understand it the most and support, so I have an important role to play.  

How do I use my power meter while racing?

• We target a range of power, not a specific number. For example, if you are targeting 170 watts for an Ironman, aim to spend most of your time in the 160 - 180 range.  In other words, target +/- 5-10% of your watts target.

• On hills, don’t go above your threshold if you can help it.  Think smooth and relaxed up hills. Don’t push up hills. Let the hill do the work.  You can think of the hill as almost a break as you don’t need to work to generate watts.

• Use your Race Sims to work on a smooth pedal stroke.  Your Variability Index (VI) in TrainingPeaks should be between 1.01 and 1.05.  If you are above 1.05, you are spiking your power and that is burning matches and killing your run legs. 

• For an IM, we are aiming for ~72% of your FTP as NP Lap.  With that said, that's theory.  90% of the time we see NP lower, more in the 65-70% of FTP.  And depending on the course and environmental conditions along with focusing on staying in aero, a 65% NP can still be a very fast IM bike split.  In the end, it's all about the avg MPH and the best way to get that is to develop superior aero position and durability. 

• For HIM we are targeting 85% of FTP but all of the above applies.  You can still do a very fast HIM at 75-80% if you are holding a good aero position. 

• On my Garmin bike computer, I have the following on the main screen: Time / Cadence / 3s Power / Heart Rate / Speed.  

• On the 2nd screen:  Lap Distance, Lap Time / Speed / Cadence / 3s Power / Lap NP - I use this screen mostly when doing intervals. 

• 3rd Screen: Distance / Avg Speed / Total Ascent / NP (for the entire ride)

Why use speed when we use watts / % of FTP most of the time? 

• We use watts / % of FTP primarily inside where all variables are controlled. 

• Outside we have to interact with many more variables such as: 

  • Heat, Humidity, Wind (head, cross & tail), pavement surface, other racers, frontal drag, aero position, not aero, downhills/hills, etc.  In other words, riding outside is VERY dynamic and just paying attention to one variable - watts only tells a part of the story. You need to factor in MPH especially on courses where you aren’t familiar with the wind, false flats or race course. 

• You should spend some time paying attention to MPH while you are training and think fast. Always be thinking where can I gain free speed?  How can I reduce my frontal drag?  Can I sneak out low watts but fast speed on this part of the course because of wind, for example.  

Challenge of the week

• Katie: 3-5 mins of breath work 

• Jim: Check in with your primary support peeps. The season / training is now very busy / time intensive.  See if you can do anything for them.

Gear pick of the week:

• Katie: Scicon bike bag for travel 

• Jim: Aquasphere Kayenne swim goggles for open water

Episode 31: Training, Coaching, and Life with Olympic Biathlete Susan Dunklee

In this week's episode, we welcome a very special guest to the podcast: Susan Dunklee, a 3x Olympian and 2x World Championship Silver Medalist in the sport of biathlon. Susan currently directs the biathlon program at Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Vermont, and she shares her wisdom on a ton of topics including: life as a professional athlete, mindfulness in sport, balance, sense of place, training on the east coast, highs and lows throughout her career, and what life looks like in her post-competition phase. We also catch up with Elena to hear how her 100 mile recovery has been going and share a bunch of coaching and training insights from a busy couple of weeks. We're excited for you to listen to this episode!

Links to things we mentioned in the show:

Bike MS: Cape Cod Getaway 2024 ride

Follow Susan on Instagram!

Book recs from Susan: Demon Copperhead, Gather

Episode 30: How to Crush Race Day + Coach Jim's Injury Update

On our 30th (!) podcast episode, we're continuing on our theme of best practices for race week by covering everything you need to know to crush your Ironman or Half Ironman / 70.3 race day! We go over pre-race breakfast, how to execute a proper warm-up, and our best tips and tricks for approaching the swim, T1, the bike, T2, and the run. This episode also features an interview with Coach Jim about his recent bike crash and subsequent surgery—a super scary experience, but we hope that sharing the lessons Jim has learned so far and will continue to learn throughout the recovery process will help us support listeners and athletes experiencing similar incidents. We're excited for you to hear this one!

Extended show notes:

Coaching and Training Insights — Links We Mentioned

• New Wave Swim Buoy for OWS safety

• Garmin Varia Radar Light for bike safety / care awareness

RACE MORNING

Breakfast – Stick to familiar pre-workout breakfasts that you know works well. What sits well in your stomach normally and fuels your regular workouts is reliable for race morning. There are many opinions on how early you should eat your pre-race breakfast. Your best guidance is what you have done on your Race Sim Weekends.
It is a long time between when you wake up until your race actually starts. Thus, you can parse out your breakfast when you get up, when you are going to the race site and snacking as you wait for the race to start. Little amounts of food every 30’ or so is better than one big breakfast three hours before your race start.
You will be nervous so eating in small increments may be a better strategy to ensure you start the day fueled. If you are a coffee drinker and need it to avoid a caffeine headache, drink some. Otherwise, your digestive system will be quite active and coffee could exacerbate this.

Snacks – Bring a bag of snacks and extra hydration for pre-race morning. Often by the time you make it to the start line, it has been multiple hours since you had breakfast. As you drive to the race, set up transition, and wait for the race start, remember to continue hydrating and fueling. Stress raises cortisol and adrenaline levels, which burns through glycogen quickly. Take a gel 15’ before the race starts. 

Clothes – Even if the forecasted temperature is high, early race morning can be cold. Bring tights/pants, a jacket, and warm clothes for race morning. If you have a very long wait for race start, consider bringing a sleeping pad and bag (if you can hand this to a family member/friend before the race). 

DURING THE RACE

Swim:

For early season races where the water is cold, mitigate cold water effects by wearing double swim caps and silicone ear plugs. Enter the cold water up to your waist, get your hands acclimated and put your face in the water briefly and blow bubbles out. Do this 5 - 10 times until you feel your face and breathing react normally to the cold water.  You want to avoid cold water shock at the race start. In my opinion, cold water shock combined with a rush of race start high effort and adrenaline is the leading cause of cardiac issues in the swim.

If a swim warmup is allowed, try to time your warmup to end just before the pre-race meeting starts. Consider bringing a big towel, coat, or blanket to put over your shoulders during the pre-race meeting to stay warm.  

If a swim warmup is not allowed, you can jog briefly in your wetsuit just enough that you are warm but not overheated.  A support team member can pour warm water into your wetsuit, too (logistically difficult at most races but effective.)

If the race is wetsuit legal, wear one. They are significantly faster than no wetsuit and the flotation reduces stress.  A sleeved wetsuit is always faster than a sleeveless one. 

Pacing — Seed yourself with a group that swims faster than your normal pace. Most triathletes don’t know their true swim pace/time and seed themselves in the faster waves. As such, if you seed with your true swim speed group, you will need to swim around many triathletes. Don’t be polite; seed yourself in a faster group. For example, if you plan to swim ~35’ for HIM, seed yourself with 32-30’ group. If you plan to swim ~1:20 for IM, seed with 1:10 group.

Technique — Swim relaxed and easy. If you don’t get in a swim warmup, start even easier and use the first 10’ to warm up into the swim. While swimming, think about full exhales underwater, catch up stroke, and long/strong swimming. 

Plan to sight every 7-10 strokes. Don’t blindly follow other swimmers. Triathletes, in general, don’t practice sighting enough or even at all. Most navigate like a drunken sailor. If you do find a compatible, competent swimmer, draft off them for as long as you can. Let them pull you along for major energy savings. 

You may find yourself, especially at the beginning and around turn buoys, surrounded by many other swimmers. Use a combination of breast stroke, sighting and even a few strong strokes to get away from the fray and back into clear water.

If you have bilateral breathing skills (every three strokes), this can be a good governor of effort i.e., it will keep you swimming aerobically. 

In sum, it is more important to swim well than focus on your actual swim time. A well executed swim will leave you fresh and ready to apply your bigger efforts on the bike and run.

T1 — If the race has wetsuit peelers (formerly called strippers), use them to quickly strip off your suit after completing the swim. If the race does not, use the time between the water and T1 to lift your goggles onto your head (don’t take them off), unzip your wetsuit and take it off down to your waist, or below your hips, by the time you reach T1. Then in T1 you can take off the rest of your suit, your goggles and swim cap. 

When exiting the water, either walk or easy jog to transition. Work on lowering your HR. You should not run or hurry to transition. Take your time, settle, and breathe. There will be a lot of spectator stimulus from the water to transition. Resist the urge to “put on a show.” When you get to your transition spot, consider a gel to replenish energy after the swim. If you are doing an Ironman, consider a substantial snack (ie. bar, croissant with jelly, etc).

If you are doing an IM, you will enter a tent to collect your bike helmet, shoes, socks and anything you did not place on your bike race morning. Take everything out of your bag and put it in front of you. This will ensure you don’t leave critical gear or nutrition behind. Take your time, make sure you snap your helmet strap (an unbuckled helmet strap is a DQ offense). Volunteers will often be there to assist you.  Pro tip: if you have electronic shifting on your bike, put an extra, charged battery in your T1 bag. 

If you are doing a HIM, put your helmet on first, buckling the strap.  Proceed to put on shoes, socks, stuff your pockets with snacks, sunglasses, etc.  You do not need your race belt with a number for the bike. 

Bike:

Nutrition and Hydration — Upon starting the bike, immediately begin to drink every 15’ and eat every 30’ (even if you don’t feel like it!). In general, you will want to drink one bottle per hour. Once your HR settles from the swim, focus on fueling. Your ability to take in calories is highest early in the race. These will be some of the most critical calories you will take in all day. Take advantage of your ability to eat. Underfueling is the most common mistake triathletes make. Your fueling must support your fitness (You have built a race car, now keep filling its tank). See your race plan for exact calories/carb/hydration oz and memorize it. Stay diligent and execute your race nutrition plan. IM athletes should plan to pee at least once on the bike. It’s up to you whether you do this on the bike or stop at an aid station. 

Use a bento box to store your food. Pre-cut the wrappers of bars so you are not struggling opening them up in aero! Consider cutting up bars into smaller pieces that you will eat at the 30’ and 60’ mark. If you don’t have a bento box or need extra storage, use the pockets of your tri kit. 

Consider salt tabs if you have used them in training or in past races. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that supports use of salt tabs (the science is mixed on this topic). There seems to be many benefits and few drawbacks based on athlete experience. Ideally, practice with them during a race simulation so they are familiar on race day. A guide is 500 - 1000 mg per hour.  Practice your sodium intake during a Race Sim weekend(s).

Heat/Humidity — If it’s hot and humid, hydration needs will increase to 1.5 bottles per hour. You can determine if it’s hot and humid if there is a sheen of sweat on your forearm, indicating you are not evaporating the heat away from your skin. Alternatively, use the weather forecast to determine heat and humidity values for the day. Humidity over 70-80% becomes challenging. In this case, drink 1.5 bottles per hour. For IM athletes, also consider stopping at aid stations to put ice down your tri suit. 

If the heat and humidity index is up, be very careful with your effort today. Once you lose thermoregulation of your body, your race is essentially over. In the excitement of race day, it is easy to overcook yourself on the bike and run. Know the weather conditions and govern your efforts accordingly. 

Pacing — For HIM, bike at a 2- 3 hour sustainable pace. For those with powermeters, that is 80-85% of your FTP. For IM, bike at a 5 - 6 hour sustainable pace. For those with powermeters, that is 65 - 72% of your FTP. If at any time you question whether you can hold that pace for the entire duration of your race, bring the effort down. When you get to the run, no one regrets biking “too easy”.  In the words of Aristotle, “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”

Your HR will be ~10 beats above normal. Don’t worry! That’s expected on race day from all the excitement, nerves, and swim. If HR is elevated more than that, use the first 20’ of the bike to calmly breathe and get your HR under control. 

Keep an eye on the mph pace to determine if there is a headwind, tailwind, false flats, etc. If going faster than normal, ease up some, and if going slower, apply a little more effort. When moving over 30mph, stop pedaling. If your speed is under 15mph, there is very little aero advantage. Sit up and use a favorable body position to pedal up the hills.

Think fast. Keep your head low. If on a road bike, use the faster sections to be in the drops. If on a TT bike, stay aero as much as possible when moving over 15mph. The greatest resistance against you is your frontal profile, so staying low can help reduce your profile and increase efficiency.

On hills, keep your pedal pressure light. Think soft, relaxed feet and ankles. Many people will charge up the hills – resist that urge. Hills require extra effort, don’t make it even more difficult by pushing hard uphill. Try not to exceed more than 15% of your race watts/effort. Keep your effort until you have crested and are back up to speed on the other side of the hill. 

If you have a power meter, chances are it has been reliable during training. Be prepared for your power meter to betray you on race morning; power meters often strike on race day.  We must have done something to anger the triathlon Gods!. Adapt to the situation, rely on perceived effort, HR and MPH. You have trained well and are prepared to race on several different metrics.

During training, you have focused on hitting specific watt ranges. It is common, probably due to the metabolic and aerobic cost of the swim, to be on the lower end of your goal race watts. You will also be passing, slowing for other riders, making corners and dropping back out of a draft zone. That’s OK. If you can’t hit your training numbers within 10 - 20 watts, switch your focus to riding well, staying aero and perfect nutrition plan execution. As long as you stay disciplined around these other factors, watts are not the biggest determiner of your bike leg. In the end, flawless execution, especially nutrition and hydration, will be the biggest factor in a successful bike. Agile thinking, adaptation, impulse control and patience will win the day.

The bike leg is considered an individual effort which means you must maintain a certain distance between yourself and the cyclists in order not to draft. Usually this is six bike lengths but read the athlete guide to confirm. You will notice athletes bunching at the beginning of the race and on the hills; don’t stress about a drafting violation in these conditions. The race will soon sort itself out and it will be clear where you can respect the draft zone and avoid a drafting penalty. 

Most races have at least one lane closed to traffic. Most of the time you will be vehicle-free. However, there are many residential streets and other conditions where you will encounter cars. Just like in training, keep your eyes open and aware of your surroundings. Also, triathletes tend to be bad bike handlers so watch out for them, too! When you go to make a pass, quickly look left to ensure you won’t plow into another biker who may be making a pass at the same time. If you encounter a rider, or group of riders, riding across the road or obstructing your passing ability, yell “on your left!” Don’t be shy.

If you are doing an Ironman, everyone wants to be off the bike by mile 90+. This is normal! Stick with your pace and nutrition plan all the way to T2. Decrease your watts/pace if necessary later in the race in order to give yourself the best chance of running (or shuffling) your best IM marathon. This also applies to HIM, especially if you are new to the HIM distance.

Remember, if you haven’t done it in training, you shouldn’t do it on race day. You will feel fresh from the taper which means pushing bigger watts in the beginning will be easy.  Stick to your race watts plan and control your impulses and ‘race-day magic’ thinking. 

T2:
When you get to transition, consider a gel. If you are doing an Ironman, take your time in the transition tent. It’s okay to take a few extra minutes to get organized and mentally ready to move your body 26 miles. 

If you are doing a HIM, be efficient in transition: collect yourself, take a few deep breaths, and start the run. Make sure you have your race belt with number on, gels in pockets, visor or hat and sunglasses. 

Run:

Nutrition — Like the bike, focus on consuming carbs and good hydration early and often. Fuel through the entire race, even at mile 12 for HIM and mile 18 and on for IM. Take a gel every 2 - 3 miles. Walk through aid stations to get whatever you need. There will be little time loss for walking and massive gains because you did. 

The more sugar you can consume, the more you will be able to push yourself physically and mentally. You may not feel physically hungry, but your body and brain still need the fuel! When you hit a low point on the bike or run, consuming sugar will often help. Fueling and fitness are equal partners on race day. Hot take: Coca Cola is the best run performance fuel on the planet - caffeine and sugar!

Have a run nutrition plan and be ready to follow it (if you practiced with a certain type of gels, bring those on the run); however, also be prepared to supplement it with additional calories from aid stations. Rarely does a run race plan get executed perfectly. Listen to what your body wants at the aid stations – this can mean grabbing Coca Cola, pretzels, and chips like it’s a SuperBowl party. Be willing to walk through the aid stations to get everything you need. If you’re struggling to settle a sloshy stomach, consider salt tabs.

Heat/Humidity — If hot and humid, pour water over your head and ice down your Tri suit. Hold ice in your hands and keep ice chips in your mouth. Do this at every aid station.  When World Champion, Chelsea Sodaro, was asked why she walked every Kona aid station she said, “Invest in managing your core temperature.”

As mentioned above, be very aware of the weather conditions and govern your run pace accordingly. Losing thermoregulation will lead to major gut issues, cramping, blacking out, walking and sending you directly to Plan C which is just trying to cross the finish line without heat stroke. 

Pacing — Always start with a more conservative pace with a goal of increasing speed in the latter half to finish faster. This is tough to do, but focus on running with relaxed form, breathing easily, and bringing the heart rate down during the first 2 miles. Your HR will be higher than any Race Sim run. A good IM run will be done at 10 - 20 beats below your threshold HR. A HIM run will be ~10 beats below your threshold and up to your threshold HR. Pay attention to leg turnover and practice good run technique. Ask your coach if you have any questions regarding your run IM or HIM paces. 

Inevitably, the run gets very challenging. The monkey comes out of the bushes and places a sack of bricks on your back!  He is always lurking. Your goal is to put him off as long as possible.  Be armed with consistent nutrition and hydration and the recall of your “why” you are racing.  Long distance racing is less about being perfect and more about making the least amount of mistakes. When we signed up to race, we made a contract to experience a very difficult and painful situation. Embrace the hard, make smart decisions and be grateful you are able to experience it. It might feel like time stretches on infinitely but be assured the run is a finite task. There is an end and you will reach it.

Everyone is experiencing the same thing; long distance racing is group suffering. Think back to those Race Sim weekends and hard workouts where you persevered. Find a way to move forward. It doesn’t have to be fast (because often it’s not!), you just have to move forward with intent and purpose.

At the finish line, savor the moment you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Slow down, soak it in. Slap some high fives along the finisher’s chute. Keep an eye out for your support team. Smile at the finish line, your race pictures live forever!  (Don’t stop your watch at the finish like a type A athlete and ruin the finish line shot!  Stop it afterward.)

And remember to thank the volunteers a lot! Gratitude extends beyond yourself and to others around you. These races would not happen without the volunteers suffering nearly as much as you!

Listener Questions 

If I am racing on a road bike, should I get clip-on aero bars?

• For some hilly races, may not be worth it as you can often get a similar aero benefit by riding in the drops 

• Aero bars probably do confer an advantage in flat races, but race wheels and/or a triathlon bike will likely make a bigger difference 

• If you do, make sure you get a bike fitting with the aero bars and practice during race sims  (don’t install 1-2 weeks before the race)

Should I learn two-beat kicking? 

• Nearly everyone should learn two beat kicking especially if you are an adult learning how to swim. A  Two beat kick is about helping you rotate your hips / shoulders. It’s not meant to provide much velocity especially in a wetsuit.

• No one has ever finished a Half or IM and said they wished they had swum harder!

• Two beat kick swim video 1 and video 2

Feeling super hungry on a rest day or once a taper starts -- why and what to do about it?

• Possible explanations: (1) could be under-fueled; (2) sometimes hormones do weird things with hunger (i.e. for female athletes, resting metabolic rate goes up in luteal phase, cortisol affects appetite, etc.) -- prioritize getting enough sleep, low LSS, hydration, and keep an eye on indicators like resting HR/HRV/sleep quality etc.; (3) anecdotally I have personally experienced getting REALLY hungry during a recovery week or taper because your body finally is starting to play catch-up from the big demands you've put it through, and because high intensity and heavy training can have a counterintuitive appetite suppressant effect so taking that down a notch allows your body to actually tell you how much you've been working it! 

• What to do about it: 

• Honor those hunger cues! / don’t try to ignore them → want to set yourself up for success post recovery week/day or when you race 

• Make sure you’re getting enough fat in your diet (except the 1-2 days before race day)

•  Mindset of a recovery day/week or taper should be to refuel the body 

Gear Pick of the Week 

Katie - Ornot Cargo Bib shorts 

Jim - Ornot shorts and pants

Episode 29: Canyons 100 Mile Recap and Lessons with Coach Elena Horton

In this super special ~emergency~ podcast episode, Katie sits down with Elena less than 48 hours post-race to talk about her recent victory in the Canyons 100 Mile Race, the American Major for ultra-running presented by UTMB. This was Elena's first 100-mile race, and she talks us through how she got into trail running, how 100-mile ultras and the UTMB circuit work, how she prepared for this race (including her victory at Black Canyon 60K in February), her racing strategy, the mental prep work she did before the race and mental strategies she drew on during the race, the 60 (!) gels she consumed on course, the gear that got her across the finish line, what recovery has been like so far, and where she's headed next. Regardless of whether you're a fellow ultra-runner, a triathlete, or even just a fan of endurance racing, this episode has a wealth of knowledge and insight for everyone. Thank you to Elena for sharing your wisdom and a huge congratulations!

Elena’s Gear Picks of the Week:

Fenix Headlamp

Patagonia Airshed Visor

Peregrine 13 GTX Shoes

Salmon ADV Skin 12 Pack

Patagonia Switchback Sports Bra

Coros Arm Heart Rate Monitor

Patagonia Houdini Jacket

Episode 28: Best Practices for Race Week

Race season is finally here! In this episode, we cover everything you should be thinking about in the 1-2 weeks leading up to your goal race. Sub-topics include: bike prep and maintenance, race week sleep and fueling protocols, final workouts, tapering, mental preparation, what to do at the race site, and a whole lot more. We also spend time on some coaching and training insights related to carb intake, resilience data points, bike handling, TT bike position, and more. Happy racing!

Extended show notes:

Coaching & Training Insights

Katie:

• Getting comfy with bike handling  

• Rocket pocket for snacks; pre cut and unwrap bars

• Taking one hand off to drink a bottle

• Practice in a parking lot 

• Slight uphill can be a good place to hydrate/fuel

• If you aren’t comfortable, best to stop for 30 seconds at an aid station to drink/eat than not fuel at all -- you will pay for it later

• Listener question on optimizing fat oxidation that is worth an insight/ quick rant. Worth it to take in less carbs for Z1/2 efforts? Three big points: 

• If any pros are doing this, it’s because they are trying to get from 99.98 percent to 99.99 percent (and a ton of supervision with a dietitian rather than DIY low carb). We are recreational athletes, and our goal is to get you from 75 to 99 percent first. Start with improving your swim/bike/run threshold paces, getting a TT bike, and getting 9 hours of sleep per night, and then we’ll talk (and when we talk, we’ll just tell you to get an aero helmet). 

• Especially female + young athletes have such a low threshold for slipping into LEA/REDs. NOT worth the risk for what is dubious science at best

• Messaging in the endurance sports space can be so toxic re: food/body/sport that I think it’s easy to have motivated reasoning about random headlines re: underfueling (see clickbait  type info about fasted training or carb restriction). Instead, let’s listen to the messaging that clearly shows us eating a lot of carbs during activity is the best way to perform. 

• Return to the four golden rules of triathlete nutrition which we have covered before:

• 3 meals and 3 snacks per day 

• No fasted training

• Carbs before, carbs+protein after, healthy fats throughout the day

• 70-80 g carbs minimum during activity

• RDPs -- resilience data points 

• Bike in 3 hours of steady rain the other day

• Wanted to quit in the first hour, stuck to it, ended up having an amazing ride

• Broader point: Do hard things to build RDPs and recall them when the going gets hard. 

• Hard things do not need to be fitness related!

• Jim: Document your RDPs in TrainingPeaks. They will become super useful during race week.

• Justin Ross 12 week sports mental skills program sample: You've heard the saying, "Trust your training." It's a well intended trope, but it's not specific enough. You have to trust specific things about your training. Part 1 of building trust is thinking about this most recent training block in preparing for your event or race.

• When you think about what you've accomplished over the past few weeks and months, what you've done, what types of workouts you finished, the total volume or miles/kms completed, what stands out to you to inform you that you're ready?

• What stand out moments in your training remind you of your mental strength? Those times you may have doubted your ability to be successful or continue, but did so anyway?  - Dr Justin Ross

Jim:

• Importance of training on your race bike (and shoes/wetsuit). 

  • Muscle activation is very different on TT bike than road bike. Don’t expect to push the same watts on TT as road (at first). 

  • Bike handling is very different. You want to be 100% comfortable on your race bike on race day.

  • Feeding/fueling is very different.

  • Avg speed is very different. Have mph as a primary data field on first screen as this will tell you when to be in aero (under 14mph, sit up), when to pedal (no pedaling over 30mph).

  • Principle: Specifically train for your race. Nothing new on race day.

• Racing and lots of Race Sims going off. Peeps are crushing it!  Consistent work over many months/years pays off. Many people are changing the narrative of what they are capable of.

• Calling an audible. You have a set workout and intention but things don’t always line up, for many reasons, as you get into the workout. That’s OK. Important to employ the art of modifying workouts. Principle: the training plan is a map, not the territory. Many athletes the last few weeks making great calls on modifying based on real-time factors: 

• Had limited pool time so cut down warmup, focused on Main Set

• Hotel bike was funky, cut down the bike and saved something for the swim

• HR wasn’t responding on the run so focused on having a good time, letting go of expectations and freeing the heart.

• Tempo run turned into a trail run with a buddy. We pushed on the uphills.

• Feeling really good on base run, threw in some pickups.

• Charlie comments, capturing the ups and downs of long distance training and big challenges:

• “Really felt like the block was on life support yesterday. With some patience, we’re going to change that. “If I’m happy and healthy, I’m gonna be pretty dangerous” - Ollie Hoare in an interview recently. As someone who isn’t particularly happy or healthy at the moment, this quote really provided something to chase over the coming weeks. I’ve had some hard days reconciling why I should keep pushing for Placid, only for that to be turned up to 10 by one of the most painful runs of my career. Yesterday I let the demons run wild. I gave every ugly voice in my head an unlimited podcast deal.

• “You’re not training hard enough and you got injured anyways” 

• “You’re not eating clean enough and you don’t look like someone who competes in an Ironman” 

• “What did you expect? You were never cut out for this” 

• “Every decent effort you’ve ever put out was just a fluke. This is your real normal. This is who you are.” 

• After listening to them all I finally remembered. I re-read the training logs, the old race mantras, and journal entries. I found supportive texts or comments from my village. I remembered again. Placid, and more specifically this build isn’t about the race. While bombing hills in the Adirondacks on race day is going to be just Batman levels of badassery, this training is about a future version of myself being able to do whatever he wants. Wake up and ride hard for 80 miles? On it. Swim in the ocean however long I want? Hell yeah. Run like a fucking animal? Always. It’s also about weeks exactly like this: when we’re getting hit with haymakers and we don’t have anything to answer back with. I want more than anything to be able to show my future kids that even in a low point, we can find our balance and keep going. 

• The last thought I had was I reminded myself that at the end of the day that we do this for fun. That this doesn’t fill our cup, it simply tops it off. Even with the running and swimming complications, I'm blessed with a tall glass of cold chocolate milk. A rocky 48 hours but the sun is going to rise tomorrow. The sun is also going to rise on July 21st. And most likely on July 22nd. This race will come and it will also pass. I don’t know what the coming weeks will bring, but now I’m in the hands of professionals to show the path. Pending no terrible news, I know where I’m going to be.

Main Content

1-2 weeks out:

Check your bike: Is your bike squeaking? Shifting smoothly? Is your chain and cassette clean? Do your race wheels fit with your brakes? Make sure you consider all of these factors with ample time to make adjustments. For important races, consider bringing your bike into your local shop for a tune up. Don’t wait for race week. Ideally, have all of your bike gear sorted before the last Week 4 Race Simulation. 

• You should have bike storage for an extra tube, two tire levers, two CO2 cartridges, an inflator and the knowledge of how to change a flat. If you are using deep, carbon wheels, ensure your extra tube is long enough to account for the rim depth or have a valve adapter. (80mm is the longest valve stem and safest option to fit most aero wheelsets.)

• If you are doing an Ironman, your bike should have the carrying capacity for at least three water bottles. For Half Ironman, two bottles are sufficient although three can be ideal (one for pure water, the other two for water with electrolytes). 

Tire pressure: Hot take: 99% of all triathletes and cyclists pump their tires up too much. If your wheels/tires were made within the last five years, you should check the wheel manufacturer website for recommended tire pressures.  You will probably find that PSI recommendations are in the 70s and 80s.  Some manufacturers recommend tire pressure into the 60s!  They have the data to back up these recommendations. Lower PSI results in less rolling resistance and helps smooth out the bumps. Every road bump is absorbed by your soft tissue. Bumping reduction equals less body strain. Always aim to increase comfort on the bike to maintain pace, reduce body strain and set yourself up for your best run.

Practice bike-run transition: If you are aiming for a specific race time, have speed laces for your run shoes. (More important in HIM than IM.) In addition, if you have not practiced any fast bike to run transitions, take time this week to practice up 4 - 5 bike to run transitions. You can do this in your front yard. Bike in, make the transition to run, run 100 - 200 ft, then repeat. Practice until this feels smooth and efficient. Bonus points if you do this with your race belt!

Tapering: What it is, how we do it, why we do it, etc. 

• The last two weeks are all about shedding acute and chronic fatigue that has built up over months.

• “The hay is in the barn” Don’t try to gain any fitness in the last 2 - 3 weeks despite all those race Facebook posts. 

• You should feel like a caged animal by race week. 

• Don’t be surprised if you feel terrible during the taper. That is very normal. Your body is fully repairing and is probably sending you signals that it needs time to repair.  You could be feeling a mixture of being very antsy, on edge but also not wanting to really exercise.

1 week out (race week!): 

Sleep: Try to “bank” sleep. It works. Expect that it will be hard to sleep the night before the race, so instead focus on sleeping well the nights leading up to the race. Don’t stress if you don’t sleep much the night before the race; instead think about “resting.”

How we think about carb-loading during race week:

• Increase fraction of plate taken up by carbs rather than major changes to overall food volume.

• Don’t go long periods without eating; snacks and hydration on hand always. Hunger cues may be disrupted due to change in overall volume, so fueling needs to be super intentional to make sure you are getting enough. We don’t want to go into race day with any deficit.

• Fueling and hydration 1-2 days out from race day (reduce fat/fiber, stick to what you know, hydrate with electrolytes at all times) 

Nutrition plan: Write out your nutrition plan for the actual race. Ask for our nutrition calculator and template. Ensure you are getting sufficient grams of carbs per hour. Ask your coach to review your nutrition and hydration plan together. (Ideally, we have planned and tested all your hydration and nutrition during the Race Sim Weekends.) Plan what nutrition and hydration you will start with on the bike and run. And if you are doing an IM, write out a plan for what you will pick up in your bike (and possibly run) special needs bags. (Special needs bags are available to athletes halfway through an IM bike and run.)

Weather: Check race day forecast but don’t obsess over it. It’s uncontrollable, so instead focus on what you can control, such as making any necessary adjustments to your bike and run nutrition plans to account for heat, humidity, or cold. Check the direction of the wind in relation to the swim and bike course. 

• If the forecast calls for cold and/or rain conditions, consider an extra layer on top such as a light jacket and gloves. While we often experience very hot and humid training days, race mornings can be cold especially if it’s raining or an early/late season race. The one consideration for extra layers is you either have to carry them back to T2 or drop it at special bike needs for an Ironman (no bike special needs drop for Half Ironman) but you may not get that gear back; special needs bags are often thrown away by the race organizers.

Sample packing list: Start packing ~1 week out or earlier to make sure you have everything you need and can order or buy anything you don’t have well in advance.

What kind of workouts we do during race week: 

• No longer building fitness.

• Activation workouts, test gear is in working order.  

• Key principle: If tired, skip it. The hay is in the barn and this week is all about rest and recovery.

1 - 2 Days out from race: 

Considerations for travel / destination races (especially air travel or international):

• If you are flying with your bike, use a generous amount of bubble wrap and tape around your bike. Take a near equal amount of bubble wrap in your bike bag for the return trip along with tape and scissors. It can be very difficult to re-use taped bubble wrap for the return trip. (Masking tape is easier to remove from bubble wrap than packing tape.)  Put all small bike components, screws, skewers into a ziploc bag. Double check your work area to ensure all pieces are in this bag. It’s common to take something apart, set aside the screws or components and forget them! Put all your bike assembly tools into another Ziploc bag. While many races have bike mechanics on hand before the race, aim to be self-sufficient with your bike packing and assembling skills. 

• Once you assemble your bike at the destination, be sure to test it out briefly. Check for rims rubbing, brakes, shifting.

• If you have electronic shifting bring an extra battery and/or charging cable.  It’s not uncommon for bike to fully discharge during travel.

Course Preview: If your race is not local, use the preceding days to drive the bike course, bike the run course, and plan race-day parking/time from parking to transition. Familiarize yourself with the swim/bike/run maps, elevation profiles and bike aid stations. (Run aid stations tend to be every mile but worth confirming that on the run maps.) Race course knowledge is free speed.

Race day parking: make sure you scout where you will park on race day. Some races also utilize a shuttle to a swim start or if transitions are in different locations. Know exactly where you are going and when on race morning. You do not want to search for parking at 4am in an unfamiliar, dark location. Share this plan with your support team. Detailed logistics planning will drastically reduce race day stress. 

Day before race workouts: Use these to engage your body but not overload. Ideally, get to the swim venue at about the same time you will start the race. Check the direction and angle of the sun. Are your swim goggles appropriate for any potential sun glare? Check the water temperature and confirm whether wetsuits are allowed or not. Either bike the run course or bike the first few miles of the bike course. Keep running to the bare minimum. You want to stay off your feet as much as possible today. 

Race check in: Try to do this as early as possible, a day or two before the race. Confirm time when you need to drop off your bike and gear (usually the day before).  There are many shiny objects in the race expo. Minimize your time at the race expo if you are there the day before the race. Your job today is mostly logistics, keeping out of the sun, hydrating, and fueling. 

Mindset prep: Review your “why” you have chosen to race. You will call on these core reasons on race day. Reach out to your network to thank them for all their support. Gratitude creates happiness, perspective and meaning.

How to deal with pre-race nerves: Breathwork, journaling, visualization 

Listener Questions

How should I execute planned Zwift bike workouts outside? Are there times that I should definitely ride inside vs. outside?

• Beginner HIM and IM: Just ride Z2 for long endurance rides outside. Especially if you are riding somewhere windy or hilly, you will get some tempo work in naturally. During the week, getting in some intensity indoors can be helpful and time-efficient (i.e., sweet spot or AC intervals on trainer).

• Advanced HIM and short course: Good to practice race watts outside if possible, but be sure to find a road that is safe with minimal traffic and stopping. Avoid being in aero without access to the brakes when in busy areas. Still valuable to do some trainer workouts inside for convenience.

What should I do for a pre-race warmup if I’m not allowed to get in the water before starting?

• Arm swings and other dynamic activation in the corral can help if feeling particularly tight

• Even if you can’t swim, try to get some cold water on your face (stand at shore and splash on face)

• Take a gel 15’ before you start 

• Broader point: for most races in HIM and IM, the swim itself should be your warmup for the rest of the race, so don’t stress it too much if you can’t get your usual warmup in.

• If you CAN get the warmup in, aim for 5-10’ easy swimming and practice sighting to make sure that your goggles are adjusted properly and that you can see the buoys. Evaluate race conditions and sun position in the water. Make sure your wetsuit is comfortable. Include 2-4 short pickups (10-15 seconds) with faster arm turnover/ race pace. 

• Don’t put your wetsuit on too early pre-race. Don’t walk around a lot in your wetsuit or if you to wear it to the start area, put it on only up to your waist.

Challenge of the Week

Katie: If you are starting to do big outdoor rides, consider a bike tune up; after an entire winter on the trainer, you may very well need a new chain/ new tires etc. 

Jim: Start to work in open water sighting in the pool for at least one set. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6r3M4GGgIY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmRqDu8ApG4

Gear Pick of the Week

Katie: Nathan ExoDraw & ExoShot 2.0 Flask

Jim: Race Belt

Episode 27: Interview with 2024 Boston Finisher and Supermom, Justine Pomerance

In this week's episode, Katie and Elena sit down with a longtime friend of The Endurance Drive, Justine Pomerance, to talk about her journey as an athlete and—most recently—her experience racing the Boston Marathon just five months after becoming a new mom. Justine is a certified badass and her perspective on balance, adventure, and longevity in sport has something for all of our listeners. We can't wait for you to hear this one!

Gear pick of the week:

Katie: Supergoop Sunscreen

Elena: Smith Sunglasses

Justine: O.W.L. Energy Bars

Episode 26: Mental Training for Endurance Athletes with Dr. Justin Ross, PsyD

In this week's episode, we dive deep with a master in the sport psychology space. Dr. Justin Ross is a licensed clinical psychologist and a certified cycling and running coach who specializes in health, wellness, and human performance. He shares his expertise on a ton of topics that will help you unlock the next level of performance in training and racing, including activating mindfulness as an athlete, myths about mental training, building self-efficacy, setting goals, mental skills for before, during, and after races, the power of self-talk and mantras, fear and anxiety in races, optimism, and so much more. This one is a game-changer!

Special Offer from Dr Justin Ross to The Endurance Drive community:

You dedicate hours to training your body, improving your endurance, and increasing strength. You obsess over gear choices and take steps to be as dialed in as possible. You optimize nutrition and recovery. Yet, despite your dedication you may be neglecting one of the most important aspects of being an athlete: Your Mind.
This 3 session program is designed to educate you on evidence-based practices for optimizing your mental game. Each session will include lessons and guided practice for your weekly training. The course builds from base-building strategies to race day execution strategies (including understanding and managing the Taper Tantrums). There will be plenty of opportunities for team based discussion and to ask your individual questions. If you want to take your training to the next level, this program is for you.

This 3 part coaching program is specific only for The Endurance Drive athletes and coaching staff (no other teams or athletes will be invited to our series). All sessions will be recorded and sent to registered participants. Session dates and times are as follows:

• Tuesday, May 7, 7pm EST

• Tuesday, June 4, 7pm EST

• Tuesday, July 2, 7pm EST

Registration Link

Resources we mentioned in Coaching & Training Insights:

Alia Crum’s research on mindset

Garmin’s Guided Lactate Threshold Test

Bravey by Alexi Pappas - rule of thirds 

Episode 25: Journey through Sport and Life with Colleen Geaumont

This week’s episode features one of our favorite people in the Endurance Drive community: our social media and gear guru, Colleen Geaumont. Katie and Elena chat with Colleen about the common themes that have marked her journey through sport and life as a high school swimmer, a nationally ranked beauty queen (Miss Maine World), a competitive triathlete, and a powerlifter. We talk about team dynamics inside and outside of sport, challenges related to body image and eating disorders, confidence in performing and racing, Colleen’s big comeback from a severe neck injury and surgery that sidelined her from sport, visual content creation as Colleen’s creative outlet, and a whole lot more. We were overjoyed to put the spotlight on the woman who is usually behind the camera in this one, and we’re so grateful to Colleen for openly and confidently sharing her story with a healthy dose of levity and humor. Check it out!

Gear pick of the week:

Colleen: Manta sleep mask 

Elena: Naked running band

Katie: ON women’s running shorts

Episode 24: Fears in Ironman Training and Racing

In this super special episode, we asked the amazing members of our community what they are most afraid of when it comes to endurance training and racing. They delivered with thoughtful, insightful responses that helped us come up with a ton of content for our longest episode yet! Topics include: fears related to training and conditioning; mental or psychological fears like falling short of goals or expectations; hesitations about technique and skills (including, yes, open water swimming); concerns about nutrition, health, and body composition; and fears about equipment and gear mishaps on the race course. We share our thoughts and experiences navigating these fears and helpful strategies that have helped us overcome them as athletes and coaches. Check it out!

Coaching and training insights:

• Katie:

• Thoughts on training at altitude 

• HR - up, perceived effort - up, sleep - disturbed

• Return to sea level - feel great!

• Reset days in practice -- Pay attention to Oura ring data from the last couple of weeks on physiological stress during the day

• How it measures stress during the day: HR, HRV, motion, body temp. Important guide but not data alone doesn’t reflect your holistic well being.

• Saying no to more things (if it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no)

• You don’t have to be productive all of the time 

• 2 insights from strength training:

• Hill running - great for strength and speed work.

• AA strength training story with weighted step ups - don’t forget to breathe when strength training.

• Jim:

  • Concussion:  Importance of wiping workouts off the training plan no matter how much you want to bump your fitness and focus on serious recovery.  Niggles / slight injuries can often be healed or prevented from being bigger issues if you just clear your plate for 2 - 3 days. 

  • Started to experiment with a new run cues / technique program from the Innerrunner - Lawrence van Lingen.  I signed up for the free 10 RUNNING CUES TO TRANSFORM YOUR RUNNING  Especially enjoy the shift forward from the hips, not lean forward from the ankles cue.  Also incorporating backward walking into my warmup and the “awesomizer” hip opening exercises.

  • Check out: 4 Drills to Improve Your Running Form, with Lawrence van Lingen

Ironman (or any long distance) racing and training fear topics:

Today we have a special episode thanks to our listeners. We reached out to you for questions on fears in training and racing. And you responded with important and thoughtful questions.  Every one of these questions and comments is something that we have all felt at one time or another in our athletic journey.

The questions were varied across all aspects of our endurance activities.  To help us categorize the questions, it might be helpful to summarize the five major areas of concentration for training and racing.  These are:

1) Training / Conditioning - the actual workouts themselves, getting you aerobically and metabolically fit, durable and race ready. 

2) Mental Training - training and racing mental skills, cultivating a mastery mindset, balancing passion vs obsession, confidence, persistence, grit, patience. Facing fears and seeing them as opportunities for growth.

3) Technique / Skills - this can range from swimming technique to run drills to bike handling to race skills. As triathletes we have many skills to acquire across all sports and racing. 

4) Nutrition / Health - covering everything from health and proper day to day nutrition and hydration to training and racing fueling. 

5) Equipment / Gear - we love our gear!  And we also need to know how to use and maintain our gear (more thoughts on that later). 

We think of these above as interlocking circles like the Olympic rings, each one related and connected to each other. And they all collate up into one big ring which is endurance racing.
Or think of them as all ingredients in a soup that are combined into one pot which is racing. Some soups will be just right, others may need ingredient enhancements in order to balance the flavor and palatability.

Each question tends to hit multiple rings but we have categorized each question in their primary category. 

1) Training / Conditioning:

• Catastrophic injury: Two types of injuries -- acute/traumatic and overuse. Overuse injuries usually give you warning signs, refer to our injury prevention episode and be in tune with your body and in communication with your coach to avoid these.

  • Acute/traumatic are scarier - think bike crash, etc. 

  • Jim: April 2019 IM LP mattress moving story. Popped a disc. Super hard not to feel like all the training and effort was wasted but it wasn’t. I eventually recovered and was super fit going into the remainder of the summer.  A setback but not a fatality.

  • Katie: how we manage this fear: life is dangerous. Driving your car is dangerous, walking down the street, etc. All we can really do is (1) take a bunch of precautions for safety and (2) do your best to make sure that your sport is not the only thing in your life that matters. When healthy it can help to ask yourself, what would I do if tomorrow I couldn’t do my sport? If you can’t come up with any answers, then you may want to make a change and re-evaluate.

• Balance / trade offs between training and other aspects of life such as social, family; related is being thought of as selfish. Relates back to Season Planning and getting your family / support crew on board with your goals. 

  • Recommend The Passion Paradox by Brad Stulberg & Steve Magness. 

  • A few key takeaways: 

    • Harmonious passion (internal drive, love for what you're doing) is associated with improved health, performance, and life satisfaction. 

    • Obsessive passion (external validation, love of results) is associated with burnout, anxiety, and depression.

  • Balance is overrated. There are times to go all in. But then you need to be self-aware to not turn passion into obsession. Check yourself before you wreck yourself. 

  • Katie -- “balance is bullshit’’ / life as a pendulum 

  • After your race is over, reflect on the mastery mindset and practices that helped you achieve your goal. You can use that same drive and process toward other goals and projects. 

• Not knowing where I should be fitness wise at various stages of training. Am I falling behind to reach my race goals. How to tell progression?

  • We often do a fitness test - 2 x 10 run test and FTP test right before starting the Specific Prep phase so we have an accurate picture of where Base training has delivered you. And/or sign up for a local race as this provides great organic fitness testing. 

  • From these tests, we develop run pace charts and proper % of FTP intervals for your Spec Prep phase workouts. 

  • Race Simulations give us three chances to test out these paces and percentages along with nutrition / hydration tactics/strategies. 

  • If in doubt where you are at, talk to your coach.  We have a very good sense of where you are at based on your training, history and race goals.

• How to maximize training while traveling

  • Jim: Usually I move the opposite direction with most of my athletes and use travel as a time to recover or do the minimum effective dose. Travel, whether business or personal, is stressful and busy.  With that said, I have some road warrior athletes who make it work regardless of what city they are in.  They are mentally strong to do their workout on a hotel spin bike! 

  • Katie: map routes and search for pools/gyms etc. beforehand to eliminate the stressor of figuring it all out 

2) Technique / Skills:

• Drowning / open water swimming / things biting me in the water (equally a technique/skills and mental training topic)

  • Open water is unique in triathlon as it hits on four of the above rings or buckets: 

    • Physical - Training enough to swim the full race distance.

    • Mental - With any swimming, it’s a battle between your amygdala and your prefrontal cortex. One part of your brain is screaming it's not natural to have your head in the water and the other part of your brain is saying it’s safe, logical and a necessary part of your sport. Add deep, dark water to the equation and it’s a real brain challenge. 

    • Skills - being able to naturally sight every 7 - 10 strokes and read the water, light conditions and navigation while avoiding dozens to hundreds of my fellow participants.  

    • Gear - purchasing the correct wetsuit and goggles that allow you to express your fitness and skills.  

    • No wonder this is one tough nut to crack!

  • Ideally, during the Specific Prep phase we get into the open water at least 3 - 5 times before your race. Familiarity will breed comfort. We can also practice a lot with your wetsuit in the pool so that it opens up / becomes more comfortable.  During the last 12 weeks before your A race, you should practice open water sighting in the pool at least once a week. 

• Non-wetsuit legal swims

  • Ironman has a high desire to run every race as a wetsuit race. They don’t want 1,500 people swimming without the safety and protection of a wetsuit

  • We will practice a lot of non-wetsuit race like simulations in the pool, mostly distance sets and open water sighting

  • If you know your race will be non-wetsuit, practice in the open water without one (always with a swim safety buoy).  Even better get some of your friends to join to practice a group start and drafting. 

• Transitions: Not knowing what to do or feeling lost race day

  • Yes, transition areas can be confusing at first. Ideally you will take 5 minutes before your race to walk through transition to notice the swim in / bike out & bike in / run out flow.  I like to physically walk through the various entrances and exits, visualizing the flow of the transition.  They are actually very logical and the flow will make sense to you once you are there.  (Transition maps are really hard to read and understand!)

  • And we practice transitions before each race so you are familiar with helmet/bike shoes on, running with your bike out of transition and mounting at the start line. And then reverse that: dismount at line, run in with bike, take off helmet, bike shoes and put on run shoes and race belt (along with any other gear you want to bring on the run).

• Riding too hard up Hills in a race, training with poor form/habits (especially when you are training alone 90% of the time)

  • We encourage our athletes to learn race skills by racing.  For example if you are an IM or HIM racer, ideally you will have done 2 - 3 shorter races before your “A” event. Racing will teach you racing, there is no substitute.  Even a local 5K will teach you something about racing. It is a rich learning environment. 

  • As coaches we are looking at your interval splits so important on some key workouts to hit your lap button. If you find that you are not pacing well or overcooking your first few intervals and then fading hard, talk to your coach. 

  • Swimming poorly during a race is very common. This is why we emphasize a lot of open water sighting practice in the pool in the Specific Prep phase and even using your wetsuit in the pool for part of your workout.

• 3) Nutrition / Health: 

  • Proper race fueling and potential catastrophic GI issues

    • Importance of testing all nutrition / hydration during training

    • Have Plan A & B for nutrition on race day. Very common for the product and/or flavor you always train with to not be very palatable on race day. Have a backup flavor and/or products.
      If IM, use your bike and run special needs bags to have multiple nutrition options.

  • Changing body / less control of physique when optimizing for performance instead of aesthetics

    • Thinking about fitness as a feeling

4) Psychology / Mental Training: 

• In our Life Stress Score (LSS) episode, we touched on developing a meditation or a mindfulness practice.  Developing our mental skills isn’t a marginal gain, it’s a maximal gain and its importance is equal to physical training. 

• Mindfulness is paying attention, in a particular way, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.

• Mindfulness helps us manage training and racing challenges such as performance anxiety, racing emotions, enhance focus and concentration, and summon the willingness to endure during difficult moments.

• But the key is you have to treat mindfulness just as you treat physical training. Day in, day out, dedicated practice. Like physical training, consistent mental training builds mental fitness over time, drip by drip.

• The longer your event, the more important mental skills training seems to play a role.  Ironically the longer your event, often this is the first practice to get dropped as who has time?! Your mind is a muscle and it needs time to practice. 

• Jasmin Paris, the first women finisher of the Barkley Marathons credits self belief as a major component to her recent accomplishment. 

• As we work through the following questions, we’ll add our insights as coaches and athletes and encourage you to supplement our experience and advice with a regular, mental training practice.  As a reminder we are not sport psychologists, we just play one on podcasts! We encourage everyone to reach out to a professional for a deeper understanding.

• Not performing to potential / falling short (sub topics: A/B/C goals; setting realistic goals; “secret goals”)

• Related: Feeling like I’ve put a ton of energy into getting better at something and then not getting better.

  • Endurance training is often very slight, subtle changes until it’s not. You could go months without feeling much faster / fitter and then one day it just pops through to the next level.  Unfortunately we never know when that day will arrive. That’s part of the allure and part of the frustration. 

  • Endurance athletes need to be optimistic by nature.

  • Endurance athletes need to view big events as challenges not as threats. You can write out your negative thoughts and then replace them with positive ones. 

• Not having enough gas at the end and not able to get through the finish line! // Crapping out on course 

  • Pacing is such a critical skill. Once you nail it, you’ll really be able to express your fitness. 

  • Doubt is a very natural feeling. But think back on all the hard work and commitment.

• Not finishing; in races / long training sessions, I've had my bad inner monologue tease me with the idea of not finishing. "No need to go up the hill, just turn around and call it." "Here's where the marathon and half marathon fork; just do the half-marathon, that's enough." 

  • Start working on your inner dialogue in training nearly every day and particularly during the last 12 weeks before your A race. 

  • Develop some breathwork/visualization/affirmations or other such empowering tools. 

  • Humans tend to be bad at predicting the future. When many athletes drop from a race they tend to regret it a few minutes later. It’s natural to be discouraged in the moment and feel like it’s just too hard.  But just by being aware of that emotion, you can take a more objective perspective on race day decisions.  You aren’t your negative thoughts and emotions.  You are a committed, well-trained athlete who can go the distance!

  • I’ve started to use the mantra: “It’s a privilege to suffer” or “this is what I came here for, this is where I’m supposed to be”

• Additional Resources: 

  • Want to be Mentally Tough? Start Here

  • 12 week Sports Performance / Psychology TrainingPeaks Plan

  • A great pre-race or pre-training guided meditation by Dr Justin Ross: https://insighttimer.com/justinross/guided-meditations/race-day-guided-meditation

  • There are hundreds of books on sports mental training.  I recommend Running Within by Jerry Lynch & Warren Scott as a starter.

(5) Equipment / Gear: 

• Bike mechanical

  • Get curious about your bike. Start with wiping it down after every ride. Every good carpenter knows their tools. This is your craft, know your tools well. 

  • Lube your chain before every (or after) every ride

  • Watch YouTube videos on bike maintenance

  • Learn how to change a tire - this will be a game changer psychologically

  • Have a Plan A & B if something like a power meter is not working.

  • The reality is that very few things go wrong on the bike. The most common occurrence is a flat tire (which you will know how to change because you are prepared!)

Listener Questions:

• What should we think about when moving workouts? 

• Don’t do hard things back to back, except a Sunday long run on tired legs is OK / encouraged

• Avoid heavy lifting the day before hard sessions 

• Give yourself an easier day before a weekend brick workout

• If you are moving something due to travel, consider taking an extra Day Off that week. Organic recovery.

• Why do we taper / how do we think about designing the perfect taper?

• Endurance athletes are experts at ignoring chronic fatigue!  We are almost always up for more.  

• Taper: shed chronic fatigue, heal niggles, heal up your aerobic system (about 10 days) in order to go deep. 

• Principle: Rather be 10% undertrained than 1% overtrained

• It takes courage to taper.  Ignore all the FB race pages, most are littered with people doing their biggest workouts a week before the race.

Challenge of the week: 

• Katie: Say no to one thing that isn’t a hell yes 

• Jim: Compliment or thank a service worker

Gear pick of the week: 

• Katie: Polar Verity sense HRM

• Jim: Nathan Zipster Max

Episode 23: Interview with Susan Savage, Pioneer Athlete and Coach

This week’s episode is a special one for us. We got to interview an everyday hero, Elena’s high school cross country coach and chemistry teacher, Susan “Coach” Savage. A self-declared Title IX baby, Coach Savage grew up running with the boys before her talent finally convinced the Pittsburgh City Schools to start a girls track program. She went on to run on scholarship for West Virginia University, before eventually settling in Ohio to start a 40+ year career as a standout high school cross country and track coach and chemistry teacher. We chat about overcoming early obstacles as a woman in sport, developing her wise coaching philosophy, and listening to your body as a lifelong athlete. We already know Coach Savage has had a tremendous impact on the hundreds of athletes she’s coached, and, as a pioneer for women in sport who’s always flown under the radar, we’re honored to share her story and wisdom!

Some books Coach Savage mentioned in the podcast:

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

The Change by Kirsten Miller

Episode 22: Life Stress Score (LSS)

This episode is all about one of the terms we use the most as coaches: Life Stress Score (LSS). Like Training Stress Score (TSS), we think of LSS as a way to quantify the mental and emotional toll brought on by life being hard, and our goal as coaches is to help you manage training and performance through periods of high LSS. We cover what LSS is, how to track it, why to track it, how to manage it, and how to adapt training when LSS is high. We also go over a bunch of really fun coaching and training insights, celebrate Katie finishing her PhD, answer listener questions, and share some favorite gear items. This is a fun one!

Extended show notes:

Coaching and Training Insights

Katie:

• The power of napping! // How to nap like a pro 

• The days are getting longer and we all feel amazing! We recommend trying to get outside for your workouts when you can (I think some people get so accustomed to sitting on the trainer and running on the treadmill that they are scared to get outside / think it won’t be quality training. News flash: you race outside!) -- this is especially true on the weekend when you have more time to be out during daylight hours and can get your work done outside.

• Jim: Good time to purchase the bike you will ride for the race season or service current bike.  Make sure you are visible: front and rear light, bright clothing.

• Many folks asking about nutrition guidelines. Defer to our episode with Cate Ward to start and loop in a dietician if you need, but here are four golden rules of triathlete/endurance nutrition:

  • 3 meals / 3 snacks

  • No fasted training 

  • Carbs before, carbs + protein immediately after, healthy fats and throughout the day

  • Fuel during for activities over 75 minutes 

  • If you think you’re missing the mark, get blood work and supplement as needed and/or loop in a dietician 

• Swimming as part fitness, part technique, but also a big part mobility 

Jim:

• Athletes are starting to get fit from solid winter training. (Are you seeing this?) 
  I’ve had two athletes recently do our 2 x 10’ run test and both improved their threshold run pace by ~30”. Another athlete increased their FTP by 40 watts. 

  • A couple of keys: We tested last year which means these athletes had at least another 6 months of consistent Z2 training. It takes time to make this type of fundamental jump in fitness. 

  • Many athletes find testing stressful so I tend to test less often than maybe some other coaches. And I want to encourage everyone to be patient and realize that you just need a certain level of training volume to really move the threshold needles.

  • And since we aren’t doing lactate testing in a performance lab, it can be hard to pick up small fitness improvements with these backyard science tests. There are many variables we can’t control or account for in our standard 2 x 10’ run test or a FTP test. (What’s your general approach on testing?)

  • Another great way to test your winter fitness is to sign up for local 5Ks, local sprints/OLY, bike races, etc.  These are great ways to serve as organic run/FTP tests.  Races often reflect our best effort and those are the levels we like to plan around for your “A” races. 

• Aerobic downhill intervals. Once we get a decent run base in your legs, you can start playing with these on every run.  It’s a game of how fast can you run while still maintaining Z2 HR and good to even better form.

  • Start with 1’ - 2’ downhill.

  • Focus on good foot turnover.

  • Don’t overstride, easy to overstride going downhill.

  • Keep HR within Z2. 

  • Play with arm swing and lean to try to get the most efficient run pace while keeping HR in low to mid Z2.  Think of it as run play.

  • Remember the goal in all three sports is velocity i.e., speed.  The fastest person over swim/bike/run wins regardless of watts, heart rate, perceived effort, etc.

• This one is a shout out to all my athletes. I’m continually inspired by our athletes. Every morning, I sit down to review all my athletes training from the evening and early morning. I’ll see workouts from the late afternoon / early evening and then that same athlete may have already done a spin in the early morning before work.  It’s very inspiring to see people working consistently toward a goal and unlocking their inner masterpiece. 

• Katie: have especially been noticing this as I’m on pacific time, I wake up and I have 50 notifications every day from all of my athletes on the east coast getting after it!

Main Topic:

Jim: As a way of introducing our topic today, race season is getting close. Some of our athletes are already doing Race Simulations as they are 12 or 8 weeks out from their first races. These are perfect days to test our physical and metabolic fitness as well as test race gear.
Race Sims are an example of a good type of stress which is called Eustress. Eustress, in the context of exercise, is usually about feeling challenged but also doable and leads to strengthening and growth. Tough workouts, like Race Sims, can send you to the edge of your abilities but they can also leave you happy and confident.

Also, big goals, long training blocks, and races are examples of opportunities to experience eustress. But they are also opportunities to experience distress - the unhealthy stress.

Adding fuel to the distress fire, most of our athletes are high achievers. Type AAA. They tend to be amped as a natural default. This is our blessing and our curse. The dark side of all of this ambition and drive is we sometimes shift from eustress to distress. Distress can become the center stage of our lives. If you can relate, we have an episode for you today! 
Katie: In last week’s episode on Good Data, Bad Data, we outlined TrainingPeaks Training Stress Score or TSS.  TSS aims to capture the physiological load of a workout based on time and intensity. TSS rolls up into other metrics that help us understand short and long term fitness and fatigue metrics and trends. It’s a very useful tool for both athletes and coaches. 
Jim: Many years ago, in my early coaching career, I began to notice that TSS was only one piece of the athlete puzzle. We were quantifying the load on the body but not necessarily on the mind or the holistic body. As I saw athletes struggle with workouts and the plan, it was often not the workouts themselves but rather life circumstances that made training difficult or impossible.  As we know, normal daily life is full of stress and anxiety both professional and personal. In fact, these are the biggest factors in how much an athlete can progress that day/week/month and year. 

We needed a new data metric to capture life’s daily stress, or distress, and thus Life Stress Score or LSS was born.

Katie: In today’s episode we are going to deep dive into what is LSS, its impact, how to track it, and most importantly, how to manage or reduce it.

• LSS is one of the trademark terms of the Endurance Drive (not copyrighted yet but it should be), a universal experience, and something we think about a lot when we plan out our own training and our athletes’ training 

• What is LSS?

• Life stress score

• Training stress score captures physical strain (difference between fitness and fatigue). LSS captures mental/emotional strain brought on by life being hard 

• Some things that can contribute to high LSS: travel, negative emotions (anxiety, uncertainty), stress from work, stress from family, stress from relationships, disappointing things happening, tragedies (both close to home and in the world)...anything that works against you feeling calm, cool, and collected 

• Keep in mind: STRESS is STRESS is STRESS. Physical and mental/emotional stress impact your body in the same way.

• On the science side, LSS usually parallels / reflects high cortisol

• Cortisol: stress hormone that is produced and released by your adrenals

• What cortisol does: suppress inflammation in all of your bodily tissues and control metabolism in your muscles, fat, liver and bones; regulate blood sugar, blood pressure; impacts sleep-wake cycle 

• You need some cortisol! All about the right balance (example: too low cortisol -- fatigue, low blood pressure, etc.) 

• How does LSS impact training?

• When LSS is high:

• Sleep is impacted → recovery is impacted

• Anecdotally, we see RHR go up, HRV go down, immunity goes down, training response goes down, HR is higher than it should be during workouts, workouts feel extra challenging, etc.

• Often we have also had athletes experience more GI issues when stress is high, with or without activity 

• There is often a direct correlation between stress and injury. The body is a highly tuned being. When we have stress or negative emotions this creates wrinkles in the neurological pathways. This millisecond detour is just enough time to create a misstep in training, particularly running. 

• Jim: For me I notice this trail running. It is a highly coordinated and challenging activity and almost all of my stumbles are preceded by some negative thought or emotion. 

• The key: LSS can compromise training adaptations *independently* of big volume or intensity 

• How can you track LSS?

• You can usually feel it when LSS is high, although this can manifest differently for different people (anxious feelings, depressed feelings, generally feeling ‘on edge,’ feeling exhausted even if sleeping)

• Katie -- For me can manifest as stress in upper back and/or chest pain 

• Metabolism may feel off -- hunger cues may be different/disrupted, may be hard to sleep through the night 

• Objective indicators -- back to data:

• RHR

• HRV

• Sleep quantity and quality

• Some workout metrics (HR, perceived effort)

• Also: be realistic about what is going on with your life and share with coach 

• Why should you reduce LSS? (Jim)  From an athletic standpoint: 

• Relaxed muscles are more fluid and contribute to greater coordination, strength and endurance. 

• Relaxed bodies react more quickly. Anxiety, fear and tension inhibit your reaction time. A relaxed athlete wil react to challenging race conditions more quickly and make better decisions.  Think late in a race when confronted with unexpected obstacles and conditions. You want to be in a relaxed state so you make the best race decision.

• Relaxed bodies burn less energy by keeping stress in check. Tension contracts blood vessels, inhibiting blood flow to the muscles and causing fatigue.

• Relaxation lowers blood lactate. High lactate levels inhibit performance. 

• When relaxed, your concentration and focus improve, positively affecting your confidence. And with that you are more likely to reach your highest potential in your workout or race.

• How can you reduce LSS?

• Like with TSS -- you need mental recovery and/or higher mental fitness to change the equation 

• Mental recovery is key: switch to easy / AR training only, take time off dedicated training plan, do what you like to do (trails, yoga, etc.); focus on joy and community through movement 

• Mental fitness to ward against LSS impacting you a lot: meditation/breathwork/journaling/therapy etc. -- useful all the time, but doesn’t work on its own / must reduce life stress. A few recommendations:

• App recommendation: Headspace

• Book recommendations:
  The Brave Athlete: Calm the F--k Down and Rise to the Occasion by Simon Marshall and Lesley Paterson.

• Wherever You Go, There You Are - Amazon book

• Wherever You Go, There You Are - Spotify audio (free with Premium)

• There Is No Right Way to Meditate - Amazon (super fun short, illustrated book)

• The Physiological Sigh - one long deep inhale through the nose, hold, then another short (snort) inhale and then long exhale. Real time stress management.

• Incorporate other things that bring you joy and community: good food, time with friends, time with family, etc.

• Listen to music. Classical music is my go to. 

• Comedy / laughter is great medicine.

• Instead of self help, help others. Give back to the community.

• How do we think about LSS as coaches / how should you factor LSS into training?

• Keep open dialogue (anecdote: Katie talk about rolling out weekly mental health check-in survey with U25 athletes; disclaimer that a coach is not a therapist but can use information about your life for training context)

• Adapt training plan (more easy, AR, days off, unstructured adventure time, etc.)

• Upshot:

• Really honoring LSS earlier this year → key to race day success for me at Placid? (ie skipping race sim, a bunch of time on trails, etc.)

Listener questions:

• Katie: what is your dissertation about? :)

• When to do strength workouts? Before or after cardio? 

• Usually after, unless in off season 

• Often it can be useful to do on the same day as big sessions so you can keep easy days easy -- i.e. on a speed day on Tues. Avoid after Thursday so you can protect the weekend

• Super shoes - how much to run in them?

  • According to Bu, not much as the carbon plate shuts off using the small muscles in your foot. If your foot does not get a stimulus, you will initially be fast but the super shoe effect will stop you from getting a run stimulus. 

  • You can do some training in “high efficiency” shoes but how much is still unclear from science.

  • Our recommendation is to do just a few key sessions in them to ensure they fit and don’t blister on race day but the majority of your training and key sessions should be in normal, training shoes.

  • Katie: Hoka Carbon X story

Challenge of the week:

• Katie: Journaling practice -- useful in times of high LSS to journal for 5 minutes before you go out for a run so you can leave any negative thoughts/feelings/emotions behind and still be present in the workout

• Jim:  Take the last 5’ of ride or run and think of one thing you are grateful for while taking in some deep, conscious breaths. Reduce that LSS! 

Gear pick of the week: 

• Jim: Assos MILLE GT BIB SHORTS C2

• Katie: Large skinny resistance bands for simulating cable strength workouts while traveling (a rec from my strength trainer) 

Episode 21: Leadership and Life Wisdom with Gina des Cognets

This week's episode is one of our all-time favorites. We're joined by Gina des Cognets, Senior Director of Organizational Development at Strava, a life and leadership coach, and one of our most valued athletes at the Endurance Drive. Gina joins Katie and Elena to share her wisdom and practical strategies for success when it comes to valuing excellence, non-linear career paths, "mid-life moments" and listening to your gut, balance as bullsh*t, focusing on your strengths, naming your inner critic, reframing your narrative, and taking on big challenges in both athletics and life. We also talk about her work in leadership at Strava. Everyone needs a Gina in their life, and we're so pumped to get to share her insights with our whole audience. Thank you Gina!

Extended show notes:

To learn more about upcoming trail running and life/leadership coaching retreats, fill out this form!

To learn more about Gina or work with her as a DYL coach:

• Gina’s website

• Follow Gina on Strava

Some resources Gina mentioned in the podcast:

• Simon Sinek - on finding your why 

• Kelly Nolan - on time management

• Enneagram personality test 

• Chip Conley on mid-life 

• Christine Yu — Up to Speed book

• Sharon Salzberg - on your inner critic   

• Design Your Life book

Gina’s favorite reads and listens:

Books

• Let's Talk: Make Effective Feedback Your Supoerpower

• Dare to Lead

• Four Thousand Weeks

• Switch

• Atomic Habits

• Wolfpack *strongly recommend audio version!

• Good for a Girl

• Up to Speed

• Running While Black

Podcasts

• Ten Percent Happier -- great interviews, mindfulness and life

• Rethinking with Adam Grant -- leadership, curiosity

• Rich Roll: especially episodes with Chip Conley and Suleika Jaouad from 2024

• The Happiness Lab

• Goop -- mostly when Gwyneth does the interviews -- especially loved the interviews with Michelle Yeoh and Charles Duhigg

Episode 20: Good Data and Bad Data

Coaching & Training Insights

Katie:

• The idea of “reset days” 

• Sometimes if you’re in a rut with training (or life), can help to take 1-2 days that are focused on total health 

• Think of it as mental health day meets rest day from training

• Often our Monday rest days are still very busy or stressful with work and other commitments → we may shed some physical fatigue but we are still being worked

• What to do on a reset day:

• Clear your calendar if you can

• Sleep in

• Avoid working

• Avoid traditional training (swim/bike/run/strength). Alternative Z1 movement or choice fun fitness are encouraged (hike, paddle, easy ski, yoga, etc.)

• Make time for the things that fill you up: time with loved ones, good food, watch a movie, early bedtime, etc.

• If you think you need a reset day, talk to your coach!

Jim: I like the reset day a lot. One from a physiological perspective and the other from a psychological standpoint.

• From the physiological side, recovery and Reset days are important to lower cortisol levels which, if they are continually high, result in higher levels of insulin, which shuts down fat burning and is a possible precursor to diabetes.  Also increased cortisol levels lessen gains from strength training(i.e., no new muscle growth), increase bone fractures, sleep is difficult and your overall energy level drops. Which is to say, you’ll feel horrible in the short term and possibly have long term health consequences.  

• Recovery and Reset days help invoke your parasympathetic nervous system,  allowing you to relax, sleep better and lower cortisol. These days will also increase hormones that signal to your brain and heart that you are not in crisis mode, promote sleep, muscle and tissue repair and keep your immune system strong.

• From a psychological standpoint, reset and recovery days are important particularly if you tend to be a performance-based identity athlete - one who thinks of their worth or identity as linked to how fast you swim/bike/run in workouts and/or races. (Does this ring a bell for anyone?!)  Reset days will give you the space to focus on other parts of your life that are truly meaningful and important. 

Katie: Athletes working busy full time jobs -- making time for lunch is CRUCIAL especially if you are working out in the evening. One athlete recently was feeling low energy in evening sessions and part of it stemmed back to not being able to eat lunch until 3-4pm. Calories are critical but so is timing, so make sure you’re not going long stretches without food to keep blood sugar stable. Frequent snacks FTW!

Katie: My athletes are CRUSHING the fueling game! Some quotes:

• “I’ve never fueled that frequently before (I did it by the 20-25 minute time interval, getting in around the 25/45/1:05/1:25 marks) and I didn’t feel sick or fatigued by the end like I sometimes do”

• “Dude fueling like that HITS DIFFERENT. Like I was going 30s faster than my usual z2 pace on the run without thinking about it”

Jim:

Long distance training requires athlete independence and equal parts interdependence on your support crew - family, friends, work colleagues.  And as the races/events get longer, each one of those qualities must expand equally and proportionally. 

• Related interesting phenomenon: In the beginning of a race you are often a hard-driving, independent, ego-eccentric athlete. And as the long race day unfolds, you move toward being an interdependent human being. 

• As you physically and mentally wear down, your self and ego barriers lower and you begin to open up to receiving help and community support. This is where race volunteers and family and friends on course help get you to the finish line. Move from me to we.

A different type of fitness: One of my Ironman athletes commented that they just feel a different type of fitness than from when they were just marathon training. They now feel more robust, durable and balanced. They may not be running as fast as marathon training but they just feel better overall.  This is a great insight and got me thinking about there are different types of fitness, each type makes you feel a bit different than the other.

I primarily focus on the physical side of training but have recently started to dive deep on the mental side of performance such as flow, in the zone, being present, etc. Ask any athlete; they want to reach peak performance in training and especially on race day. 

• Many of the challenges my athletes face are less physical and more mental. As coaches, we always say it’s fairly easy to get someone fit. We know how to do this.  But it’s not always easy to get through the rigorous training process and show up mentally race ready.  I want to upgrade my mental skills toolbox to help athletes unlock and remove the mental barriers.

• Relatedly, I’m listening to the Norwegian Method podcast and it’s interesting to note how many times Coach Olav Aleksander Bu, coach of Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden, mentioned being mindful and present as a key to executing workouts. This is an investment in your present and future performance.

• In sum, treating the body and mind as one unit will become a big focus for me in 2024. I’m super excited.

Main topic: 

Good data and bad data. As athletes and coaches, we have SO much data at our disposal. It can help you out or drive you crazy. Our goal today is to break down what data is useful and what data you should ignore. We’re going to play a game called good data or bad data, where we answer whether each of several different types of data is good or bad. 

Is HEART RATE good data or bad data?  

• HR zone training: zone 2, lactate threshold, max HR, etc.

• Resting heart rate

• Heart rate variability / HRV 

• Is HR data useful during strength workouts? Swimming?

• *HR data only useful if accurate. Chest strap!

TrainingPeaks data? 

• TSS: What is it and how do we use it?

• Related: Fitness (CTL), Fatigue (ATL), Form (TSB)

• The importance of zone data being correct

• How do we think about these values for an Ironman athlete?

• What are the limits of these values?

Stuff that Garmin says: 

• Garmin Performance Condition? No! Ignore it. 

• Garmin Training Status and Training Readiness. No.

• Garmin Recovery (hours). No.

• Garmin Heat and Altitude Acclimation. No.

  • If your race is hot, we can work with you on a sauna protocol and other heat adapting tactics. 

• Garmin tells me I’m altitude adapted to 2500 feet when most of my training is at 1,000 feet and anything under 3500 feet is probably irrelevant.

• Garmin Lactate Threshold? Perhaps. Need to look into this more. There are common algorithms to determine threshold levels they may be using.

• Garmin VO2 Max? It might be one of the few data pieces that may be somewhat correct. 

• Garmin Weather warnings! Does Garmin think my 520 bike computer is my main weather source? I’m honored they give me a warning that a winter or wind storm is coming in 18 hours so I can wrap up my 16 hour ride safely. 

In sum, Garmin’s artificial intelligence is less intelligent and more artificial. 
Run-specific metrics: 

• HR

• Pace

• Cadence 

• Do we use run power? 

• Do we use stride length, ground contact time, etc.? 

• Note that maybe these are useful but they pale in comparison to the big ones (HR, pace, etc.) 

• Stride length is a function of run strength and mobility which are addressed via run drills, hill repeats, gym work, etc. Do not try to consciously increase your stride while running!

• Ground Contact Time can be useful to remind yourself to pick up your cadence. But, like stride length, don’t focus on it per se while running.  

• Stride length, ground contact time, run cadence and vertical oscillation vary greatly depending on the run terrain. They are highly variable over a hill run.  Maybe more useful on a track where variables are controlled. 

• We don’t use programmed Garmin run workouts! 

Bike-specific metrics: 

• Average Power and Normalized Power (what is it?) 

• HR

• Cadence 

• Speed - very terrain dependent. Not useful most of the time.

• Total time, total distance 

• Also: reminder to get a bike fit!

Swim-specific metrics: 

• Most important swim metric = form! Visual data 

• Ignore HR. We use pace the most here.

• Stroke rate? In some instances. Can take years and a lot of effort to change stroke rate.

• SWOLF? NO! Swim golf is a downstream metric that does not address the root causes of swimming well. 

Sleep data: 

• Garmin vs. Oura vs. Whoop, etc.

• In my experience, Oura > Garmin for accuracy 

• Body battery, readiness score, etc. has all been useful but not the end-all be-all  

• HR and HRV during sleep

Some big take-home points:

• Overall feeling is not always captured in your Garmin. Trust your body.

• Injuries and niggles also are not always captured. (Injured athletes will often see their stats look “prime” for heavy training since they are not moving as much -- this is the worst thing you can do.) If injured, ditch the watch and Strava.

• LSS (life stress score) is not always captured (sometimes with HRV, resting HR, sleep, etc.) but not always. Keep your coach updated on how you are doing and what modifications you may need to make.

• Most useful data for us: heart rate, power, pace, sleep, but need to be used together and holistically rather than individually. Remember the intention of the workout.

• Always useful to go data-free every so often, especially during the off season, to reduce personal reliance on the data. 

• Data often gets in the way of play. Your sport should be fun, no pressure. Play like a child - uninhibited, no fear of other people’s opinion (FOPO) and be present.

• Instead of data driving practice or performance, try imagery; watch videos of good swimmers/runners/cyclists. This provides an implicit, visual learning opportunity to imprint on how the best perform in their sport. 

  • Something you can try:  pretend you are playing the role in a movie of one of these professional athletes while doing your sport and mimic their movements. You’ll probably find that you will move smoothly with less effort and more flow. Unconscious, visual learning is very powerful.

• Communication with your coach is the best data you can produce.

Challenge of the week:

• Katie: Take in protein + carbs within 5 mins of finishing your workout!

• Jim: Daily, drink one more glass or water bottle than you normally would. The benefits of hydration are numerous and as endurance athletes, we are all probably a little, or a lot, dehydrated. 

Listener questions:

• How to make TT position more comfortable? (Question from someone who did get a bike fit)

• You should be on sit bones towards front of saddle

• Comfy bike shorts and chamois cream -- note the combo of shorts and saddle is crucial. I wear different combo for TT bike and road bike to maximize comfort. 

• On zwift, be in aero for specific intervals but not for the whole ride. Example: WU and primer out of aero, 3 x 10’ HM in aero, out of aero between, out of aero for cool down.

• Reminder: For outdoor riding, we recommend only being in aero if >15 mph (or <30 mph generally). 

• Treadmill paces are always off compared to Garmin. What metrics should we use?

• For zone 2 on the treadmill, I go for time in Z2 rather than pace, so if a 5 mi run takes you roughly 45 mins outside, just do 45’ of Zone 2 HR on the treadmill.

• You can similarly adjust the treadmill to perceived effort and HR for pick ups, etc. 

• We don’t recommend trying to simulate track workouts on a treadmill unless (1) you REALLY have to or (2) you know your treadmill’s pace is accurate.

• Also: Get a fan.

• Should I buy a road or TT helmet?

  • We prefer to use road helmets for training and racing.  A few reasons: a) most races are in quite hot conditions and thermoregulation is often more important than saving a few seconds and b) road helmets are more comfortable and c) many road helmets now are nearly, or just as aero, as a number of TT helmets.

Gear pick of the week:

• Katie: Oura ring

• Jim: The Mindful Athlete: Secrets to Pure Performance by George Mumford.

Episode 19: How It Makes Us Feel (Female Athlete Stories #5)

This is the last episode of our five-episode series that covers the perspectives and experiences that we crowdsourced from our community about the rewards and challenges that female athletes face. Here, we're pulling out themes related to how it makes us feel: strong, capable, and badass, but also unwelcome, unworthy, or unrelatable, depending on the context. We talk about how being a female endurance athlete impacts other domains of life (professional, family, etc.), how endurance training interacts with mental health, how endurance pursuits feed into feelings of being an underdog or being selfish, and a whole lot more. We also preview where we're going next with the Female Athlete Stories segment of the podcast. Thanks for listening!

Resources we mentioned in the show:

Banff Film Festival, film with Hilaree Nelson

Episode 18: Interview with Endurance Drive Coach Kevin Prunty

In this week's episode, we welcome our very own Coach Kevin Prunty onto the podcast to talk about his introduction into sport, the role competitive lacrosse and a career-ending concussion played in shaping his trajectory as an endurance athlete, the importance of family and support networks, his experience qualifying for Kona at his first Ironman in Lake Placid, his launch of KPI Training and inspiring others through social media, his thoughts on marathon training and strength training, and so much more.

Extended show notes:

Coaching & Training Insights: 

• Katie: Revisiting the downhill skiing topic - it’s a hard workout!

• Jim: Thoughts on bike fitting (shout out to Ian at FitWerx in Waitsfield, VT) and getting back in the pool.

Main Topic: Coach Kevin Prunty Interview

Background - where are you from, high school and college athletics.  

• I am from Yorktown Heights, Westchester NY. Went to Lakeland High School, played football and lacrosse there. Ended up going to Siena College to play division 1 lacrosse

What attracted you to endurance sports coming from college team sports? 

• I needed something to fill the void. 

• I had a major concussion story and I had to take medical DQ at Siena

• Became super into lifting and then it just snowballed into running etc.

What qualities did you bring from team sports into individualized endurance sport training and racing?

• Good Q! I’d say the biggest thing is that you will never have “it” and be spot on every day. During lacrosse we’d practice / play 5-6 times a week? I’d have my A game for maybe 3 of those days. But still would show up and hustle my ass off the other 3.

• Same for training in endurance, you will wake up some days and just feel like crap. Your HR is high, pace feels off, swim stroke feels terrible. ALL normal. Head down, give it your best and shake it off for the next session. 

Talk about experience growing up in Lake Placid and the impact that race had on you growing up. 

• I used to just think it was not feasible to do that distance. It seems out of this world when you aren’t familiar with it. I grew up always seeing that weekend, and thought one day i will do itr

• It was more of a traffic nuisance leaving!

• I’ll never forget 2019. I was so hungover Sunday leaving, watching these people fly by on bikes. My life took a pretty quick turn at end of 2020, then 1 year later I was that guy flying past cars

• In 2020, we quarantined in Lake Placid during COVID. 

• In March I just started running, out of boredom. I ran 3 miles mid- March after only lifting for a while, then 5 weeks later I decided to just run a homemade marathon around the Lake. After that, I got home and said “alright I will do Ironman Lake Placid this year or next) 

Your story of doing your first triathlon  

• First triathlon was Ironman Lake Placid and qualified for Kona. 

• I started training with just the mindset of finishing. As months went by, I started thinking “Alright I think I'm doing well at this training thing”

• Katie put me on a great plan and it was the most excited for a race I have ever been

• Can talk about riding it on my aluminum road bike… lol

Family focus: You had an impressive family presence at your first IM LP.  It’s clear family is a big focus for you, your parents and extended family. Tell us about that. 

• Family is everything for me. We have a big American/Irish family and that's how we were raised, always being surrounded by family

• My friends that I grew up with are also like family. In 2021 all 13 of them drove up on Saturday, (4 hours) and then went back either Sunday or Monday night. 

• My parents had people sleeping in hallways and all over the house for that one…

• There's definitely sometimes where it is hard for them to understand what we do. And it is a different lifestyle. I do have to say no to some small stuff, but I always make sure I am around for any family or friend events that are going on. 

Run vs. triathlon training: As a triathlete, you had a particular focus on run training and racing. This year you are primarily focused on run training. How do you view the differences for training for a stand alone marathon vs triathlon run training? 

• I think the principles are similar, but it's a big difference when you break it down. During Ironman Prep, we run maybe 3-4 times a week? Depending on the timeline

• I think naturally I am a runner, and I adapt very quickly to discipline. I have been training for the Orange County Marathon since New Years, and have seen a big fitness bump since then in just 6 weeks. Whereas with swimming, it just takes so much longer to feel like your progressing

Are there workouts you do with run training that you wouldn’t do if you were training for an Ironman marathon?

• For marathon prep, I am running 6-7 days a week. I can do much more intense sessions bc that is my main focus

• I.e - I will do probably 2-3 sessions of 20+ miles, and 2-3 more of 17-18 miles. In an IM prep we only sniff 18 miles, maybe once.

Any advice for athletes who want to run a fall marathon coming off summer Ironman training and racing?

• I think it is a perfect situation. You have this HUGE block of fitness from Ironman, and a big base. 

• This is what I did in 2021 for NYC Marathon

• Take 3-4 weeks of very chill / recovery (mental too), then hop into a run block. 

Strength training: You have a particular emphasis on strength training. Where did you learn the technique and benefits?

• I became very close with Siena’s head Strength coach during my medical DQ. He saw that I lost a huge part of my life and college career, so he took me under his wing and I was there all the time. 

• I came in freshman year at like 160, soaking wet. I put on 15 pounds in the 1st year

• I learned how to fuel, and that calories were important

What do you see are the main benefits of strength training for an endurance athlete?  

• I think it’s huge. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy either

• During NICE prep I was still banged up, so I would do 1 day of kettlebells, lunges, rows, pushups, etc… then 1 mobility day. I think without that I would have gotten injured

• Right now, i do 3 days a week of a lower/back, a mobility/bodyweight, and then an upper body day 

Balancing training and coaching with a demanding full time job: Your job, like many of our athletes, is quite demanding.  And you are famous amongst our tribe as getting up super early and getting in a big run/bike and swim or lift all before 7am.  

• Took on a new role in September, so it certainly has been much busier, but I find that I can always control what happens in the morning. I know I can get in my training session, undisrupted, and it sets the tone for my day

• I think 2023 I set that bar really high for myself, and never looked down 

How did you arrive at that type of discipline? 

• I think it's just my organized and disciplined mindset. I know that it's in my control to get up, get my session in, get to work and be ready for the day. 

• In college we would have 6 am practice a few days a week, but so that might have helped a little, but I think I have always been a morning guy

• You hear the joke sometimes where people will talk about when they do that, “Oh I got up, I ran or lifted, went on my walk, did a few personal things before work, and you get there and you feel like you're ready to tackle anything” etc etc

Any advice for those trying to balance a busy life with long distance training?

• Reverse Planning, and acting intentionally. 

• If I know I have an 8am meeting, I will reverse plan my morning to make sure I am all set. Have everything ready the night before, lay out run clothes, gym bag / work clothes, etc etc etc

• Acting intentionally is really the biggest thing. And I am by no means great on this everyday. I can slack sometimes, but overall I try to be intentional with everything. It saves so much time, and gets you A to B in the most efficient way possible.

Recovery: You’ve made recovery a major focus of your endurance lifestyle.  What are the primary techniques and focus areas to recover well?

• Focus on stretching/ mobility

• Support of Hanna and Physical Therapy

What is the number one recovery focus for you? 

• Sleep and food! 

2024 Goals: What are you psyched about in 2024? 

• Well first, I’m getting married in September so I guess that's my A Race!

• I am really excited to race in California in 2 months. I am going to really push on this course, and put together a big 2 month block for it.  

• Racing with two friends and athletes

• After that, I’m excited to help my Placid crew get in A shape and ready for that course. 

• Long bike rides, and get more on the hiking trails and golf course! 

• NYC 2024 Marathon for fun and run w my brothers for a great cause

• Long term 2025, I will be on the trails and getting ready for a big ultra race in Colorado… 

Listener Questions: 

Why do we do run drills?

• To imprint proper run form. Think of running like swimming; it is a technique sport

• Proper run form builds strength and durability.  There is a lot of free speed when you do 5 - 10’ of run drills regularly.  (Spent a summer doing run drills only because I was injured and came back to running with a 30” faster base pace.)

• When it gets late in a race and you start to physically wear down, you can fall back on running well because you have practiced it many times.  Like I say in swimming, you don’t necessarily have to swim fast but you do have to swim well. The same applies for running, especially in a long distance race. 

• When you are doing any run that is stressful a way to calm your mind is to focus on cadence, striking under your hip, arm and hand position. With this visualization, the run can go from creating anxiety to being present and feeling in control of your situation. 

Why do we do high cadence bike drills?

• Similar to run drills, high cadence is neuromuscular work that connects our brain with our feet. 

• Having a quick cadence will help you respond to uphills better and benefit you on group rides when the pace quickens. 

• A high cadence can be used to take the load off your muscles and put the load more on your aerobic system. 

• High cadence, done well, will help smooth out your pedal stroke. 

Challenge of the Week: 

• Jim: Focus on a good run warmup. Try to get in at least 5’ of walking before you start your run. Tip: plan your run route a little longer than you want to run so you can walk the first 5-10’ and then the last 5’ as a cooldown. I’ve been parking at the bottom of a big hill to get in my first 5’. 

• Katie: Skip or modify at least one workout based on how you feel (i.e., get a yellow, orange, or red box in TP and be ok with it!). We view 85-90% compliance as better from a mental and physical health perspective than 100%, and doing this can alleviate stress if and when it happens in the future. 

• Kevin: Write down micro goals for the week!

Gear Pick of the Week:

Jim: LL Bean Boat and Tote®, Open-Top - canvas bag for gear storage and transport 

Katie: Peanut Massage Ball Roller for upper back and neck

Kevin: ON Cloudboom running shoes