TrainingPeaks CoachCast

In this episode of the TrainingPeaks CoachCast, host Dirk Friel interviews Jill Colangelo, a researcher focusing on mental health in endurance athletes. Colangelo shares insights from her ultra endurance experiences, sports psychiatry work and research, highlighting the higher prevalence of mental illness among ultra endurance athletes.  She discusses the need for recognition and treatment of exercise addiction, as well as the importance of balancing athletic pursuits with a fulfilling life outside of sports. Colangelo also delves into overtraining syndrome, its symptoms and the challenges in diagnosing it. Offering practical solutions for maintaining physical and mental well-being, she stresses the role of coaches in promoting rest, nutrition and mindful training.  Tune in for an eye-opening discussion on mental health in the endurance sports community.

Renee Eastman explains the details of the five mistakes people make in losing weight as endurance athletes, which she published in a blog post on the CTS website. From overcompensating for nutrition deficits to fad diets to short-term fixes and misplaced belief that cardio drives weight loss, learn how to use slow and boring tactics to have the best results in losing weight while maintaining performance goals.  Eastman is a Premier Coach for CTS with over 20 years of experience coaching endurance sports. She has a master’s degree in Exercise Science and is a NASM-certified nutrition coach.

In this episode, Gordo Byrn explains the importance of base training, which he defines as "the ability to move for the duration of your goal event." Highlighting that athletes should focus on building general capacity before moving on to specific capacity training. He believes that many endurance athletes make the mistake of focusing too much on specific capacity training and not enough on general capacity training, which can lead to overtraining and injury. Byrn has been called the Tony Robbins in a Speedo because he is a self-help guru and an ex-pro IRONMAN athlete with seven sub-nine-hour IRONMAN finishes. Byrn is also a past winner of the Ultraman triathlon in Kona, Hawaii. He is a coach and author of the book "Going Long." He has taken about a decade off to focus on his family and is now focusing on being fit after 50. Still, the lessons he shares in the episode apply to any athlete at any age. Listen in as Bryn and Dirk Friel also discuss the importance of recovery and adaptation. Breaking down how Byrn uses a "5:2" training approach in combination with physiological testing to ensure he and his athletes get the most out of training and a readiness test he performs each morning and night to determine how his body manages the training load to dynamically guide subsequent workouts. 

David Babbitt is an American ultrarunner living in Nepal and racing some of the most difficult multi-stage races on the planet. He's doing this at age 75. With the help of his long-time coach, Land Heintzberger, the duo have focused on core training basics to keep David in races and finishing faster than many younger competitors. Babbitt completed the seven-day Manaslu Mountain Trail Race, which covers 122 miles, 35,000 feet of elevation gain and tops out at 17,000 feet above sea level. He finished in 41 hours and was nowhere near being in last place. Listen in as Dirk Friel talks with Babbitt about his journey from cycling and inline skating to World Championship duathlons and ultrarunning. Plus, how Heintzberger has advised Babbitt for almost 10 years on load management and recovery after connecting through the TrainingPeaks Coach Match program.

Listen in as Amanda Brooks and Dirk talk pre-hab, fueling as an aging runner, perimenopause and menopause and how she prescribes intensity even to those 60 and 70+ runners. Amanda Brooks is a running coach and author who has helped many runners achieve their goals. She is a perpetual blogger and author of several books, including "Run to the Finish: The Everyday Runner's Guide," and has contributed to several publications, including Runner's World and Women's Health. She focuses her coaching and leadership on those runners regardless of pace. She understands that most runners do not dedicate all their free time to training like elites and pros. And she works to guide her athletes to continue to run injury-free and for as long as possible. 

Originally from South Africa, founder, CEO and head coach Natasha van der Merwe has built a unique coaching business in Austin, Texas.  NVDM Coaching has seen explosive growth over the last two years, and while catering to athletes of all abilities, many have gone on to win age groups or podium spots in a number of Ironman races. Van der Merwe and her coaching staff have also developed a special knack for helping athletes build a lifestyle around their sport through careful training management, testing and periodization. Listen in as she and Dirk Friel dive into training methodologies, tips for success and how pulling back the focus from race results to personal development leads to better athletes.  Quoted: "The last year [of my career] was my best year because I was after personal development. I wasn't after race results anymore. I was after, "How could I be the best athlete, and what did that look like?" And then, in turn, I saw myself becoming the best person and the best coach. And so we try to kind of hit that early on."

Originally from South Africa, founder, CEO and head coach Natasha van der Merwe has built a unique coaching business in Austin, Texas.  NVDM Coaching has seen explosive growth over the last two years, and while catering to athletes of all abilities, many have gone on to win age groups or podium spots in a number of Ironman races. Van der Merwe and her coaching staff have also developed a special knack for helping athletes build a lifestyle around their sport through careful training management, testing and periodization. Listen in as she and Dirk Friel dive into training methodologies, tips for success and how pulling back the focus from race results to personal development leads to better athletes.  Quoted: "The last year [of my career] was my best year because I was after personal development. I wasn't after race results anymore. I was after, "How could I be the best athlete, and what did that look like?" And then, in turn, I saw myself becoming the best person and the best coach. And so we try to kind of hit that early on."

Dr. Iñigo San Millán is a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, performing clinical and research work in cellular metabolism, especially in diabetes, cardiometabolic disease and cancer. He has been testing and coaching world-class endurance athletes for over 25 years. He is also the Head of Performance for the professional cycling team UAE, where he is the personal coach of two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar.  San Millán's focus for his athletes is training the biochemical systems to empower the biomechanical systems. Using lactate and heart rate as the guiding biomarkers, he has developed protocols to train various energy systems for the best performance possible.  Listen in as Dirk Friel asks for details on how these systems work, when a Zone 2 ride is no longer a Zone 2 ride and how to train effectively on only 10 hours per week.  

Though coming to the sport later than most, John Gaston is the current U.S. National Ski Mountaineering champion and has won multiple prestigious U.S. events, including the Audi Power of Four 10 times. He is arguably the country's best ski mountaineering, or skimo racer, and competes on the world stage in the winter.  During the summer, Gaston mountain bikes the trails near his home in Aspen to maintain fitness and revel in the high alpine environment. In August, he placed second overall at the Leadville 100 mountain bike race, ahead of a stacked field of the world's top professional cyclists.  Listen in as Gaston reveals his training philosophy to compete at the world-class level in two different sports, balancing a growing family with running an apparel brand and the potentially limited future of elite-level skimo in the U.S.

David Warden and Matt Fitzgerald are the founders of 80/20 Endurance, one of the pioneers of endurance training plans. 80/20 sold its first plan within the TrainingPeaks Marketplace in 2005. Their plans have helped hundreds of thousands of athletes of all experience and ability levels achieve their goals. David Warden is an internationally recognized coach and author with clients including world champion age group racers, duathlon champions and multiple Ironman World Championship qualifiers. He is the co-author of "Triathlon Science," the industry standard for triathlon coaches, and "80/20 Triathlon." Matt Fitzgerald is an acclaimed endurance sports coach, nutritionist and author, haven written over 30 books, including "The Endurance Diet," "80/20 Running" and "How Bad Do You Want It?" Matt and David sat down with Dirk to talk all things training plans. From valuable insight for coaches making and selling programs to advice for athletes choosing a plan, it's a must-listen for anyone using training plans. Plus, the 80/20 duo reveal some exciting plans for coaches and athletes looking to advance their skills in the endurance athlete world.