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Simon Ward, multiple award-winning triathlon coach, shares insights on how to improve your triathlon performance with a High Performance Human approach to life.
Episodes
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Hey folks, today we have a repeat of a show we did 3 years ago, in January 2018. At the time, we released it as 2 shows but today we’re combining them into one. My conversation with Malcolm Brown is just as timely now as it was then, maybe even more so. Malcolm is one of the foremost running coaches in the world. He knows a thing or two about helping athletes to run faster, and the resume of athletes he’s worked with is very impressive: Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, Vicky Holland, Non Stanford, Kelly Holmes, and Paula Radcliffe to name a few. In the first half of this podcast, we talk about a very simple subject: How to run faster. And the answer may surprise you. We cover:
- 3 basic principles underpinning the ability to run fast
- Why you should measure progress over 12 months and avoid changing the plan until that time
- 2 qualities possessed by all top athletes, and which you need in order to succeed
- Why it’s better to be a “Steady Eddie” than a “Shooting Star”
- The importance of being able to relish training and just enjoy being a runner
- Lower limb resilience and its influence on your success
- If you want to race faster than before, do this in training year-round
Moving into the second half of the podcast, we chat about:
- Why endurance sports require a long term (several years) approach to training
- Why it’s important for athletes not to get too worried about the outcome of any particular single session
- The paradox that means no session is critical, but every session is critical, and why training matters but yet it doesn’t matter
- How reading the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” can help your training
- Why you must be equally enthusiastic about recovery as you are about training
- Why you should aim to peak a maximum of 2 times per year
- How the best performances come when you’re committed physically, mentally, and emotionally
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com
Wednesday Jan 20, 2021
Wednesday Jan 20, 2021
Since this podcast, I’ve been amazed at how many awesome guests we’ve had who are right at the top of their profession. Today’s guest continues that trend as I chat with Jim Miller, Chief of Performance at USA Cycling. Jim raced as a pro cyclist on US domestic teams in the 90’s alongside a previous guest, Dirk Friel from TrainingPeaks. While racing he started out coaching in a small way, and on retiring he built his own coaching business before being enticed across to USA cycling where he spent the next 17 years. Jim enjoyed a short spell working with Dirk at TrainingPeaks before returning to USA cycling in March 2020 to take up his current position and help prepare athletes for the 2021 Olympics in Japan. This is another fascinating and enjoyable conversation as we chat about:
- Why even in a management role, Jim always negotiates freedom to continue with some coaching
- Remarkable differences between how USA cycling is funded compared to other nations like UK or France
- Measuring HRV and why Jim is a big fan of the Whoop band
- Virtual racing, ’no compromises’, and why it’s important to stay focussed on the long term goal
- Topsy turvy results in pro cycling and why so many young riders are winning
- FTP is important, but why you should understand the ‘real’ requirements for your chosen event
- Polarised training, Stephen Seiler, and why Jim is a big fan of both
- Jim’s top 3 tips for your winter training
Jim is a really interesting and knowledgeable guy, and I would highly recommend you follow him on social media.
You can find him here
Instagram jimmillertime
Twitter @jimmiller_time
If you’re interested in finding out more about USA Cycling go HERE
Other links you might be interested in
Previous podcasts with Stephen Seiler talking about Polarised Training
In terms of remote coaching and monitoring athletes, Jim is a obviously a big fan of TrainingPeaks and TrainingPeaks-WKO5
Jim is a big fan of the Whoop band as am I. They have some great articles and podcasts on their website HERE, including this one with Lawson Craddock of Pro Cycling team EF Pro Cycling - Last is Hardest
You might also be interested in this Whoop podcast with Kevin Sprouse, Medical Director for EF Pro Cycling
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com
Wednesday Jan 13, 2021
Wednesday Jan 13, 2021
On this week’s podcast, we set another record with our oldest guest ever. Colin Rose, the author of 10 published books including Health Defence and Delay Ageing, talks the talk and walks the walk. If you look at the accompanying video you would never believe that Colin is 80 years old, and listening to him you wouldn’t think that either.
I met Colin many years ago when I was introduced to his UniVite supplements business and he is linked with two of my previous guests, Toby Baxendale and Dr. Paul Clayton. I read 'Delay Ageing’ prior to chatting with Colin and much of the advice and guidance dispensed by Colin in the book covers much of the information that I have covered with other guests in the last 12 months. It’s reassuring to find that we are on the same path. If, like me, you have a goal of sliding up to the graveside screaming, “yea ha, what a ride!” then you’ll love this conversation as we give you all of the knowledge you need to make that happen. I hope you enjoy the conversation as we chat about:
- The importance of a healthy microbiome
- Why you should choose foods with different colours
- Another vote for balance and diversity in your diet
- Genetics vs Epigenetics (nature vs nurture)
- The Japanese practice of 'Hara hachi Bu’ or “Stop eating when you are 80% full’
- The real reason why the Mediterranean diet works
- Intermittent fasting, autophagy, and why you need to rid the body of zombie cells
- How to be the master of physical and biological ageing
- Strength training, aerobic exercise, and their contributions to delayed ageing
You can follow Colin on his various social media channels
Uni-Vite healthcare YouTube site
The following list includes podcasts with topics related to today’s conversation
Dr Paul Clayton - How to live as healthy as possible for as long as possible
Toby Baxendale - High Performance Human
Bella Lindemann - Why the gut is the second brain
To purchase a copy of Colin’s latest book, 'Delay Ageing’ please go HERE
Valter Longo - Longevity Diet
Dirty Dozen - The ‘dirtiest' fruit and veg in the UK with regards to pesticide levels
The Hallmarks of Ageing research paper
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com
Wednesday Jan 06, 2021
Wednesday Jan 06, 2021
On this week’s show, I chat with Kyrin Dunston, an obstetrician and gynaecologist (OBGYN) from Atlanta. Kyrin has an amazing story of transformation, losing over 100lbs and healing herself from several chronic illnesses, avoiding conventional medicine and instead addressing the root causes of her issues. In 2011 this was the catalyst for a change of direction in her professional life as well, as she left her OBGYN practice and trained to become a practitioner in Anti-Aging, Metabolic and Functional Medicine with a goal of helping women heal with this revolutionary type of natural medicine.
What I loved about this chat is that it felt like a real-life case study, drawing together some of the lessons learned from recent podcasts on gut health, menopause, and female-specific nutrition (links to these podcasts in the show notes). So here we have a conventionally trained medical practitioner speaking openly about using homeopathic remedies and Eastern style practices which are often shunned by Western medicine in favour of prescribing pharmaceuticals.
I hope you enjoy the conversation as we talk about:
- Breaking the chain of ‘pill for every ill’ and ’surgery for every symptom'
- Fibromyalgia and IBS are symptoms, NOT a diagnosis (this is also something Bella Lindeman mentioned when she talked about Irritable B/S)
- Are you really intolerant to certain foods or do you just eat too much of them?
- Why females should be having the best sex ever in their 50’s
- Why your sex drive is an overall barometer of vitality
- How and why you do sometimes need to actively detox your body
- Once again a guest tells us “mother knows best”
- Food and diet - eating seasonal locally grown foods and variety in the diet
Kyrin is visible on most social media channels including:
Website - KyrinDunstonMD
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kyrindunstonmd/
Twitter @KyrinDunstonMD
YouTube - Her Brilliant Health
You might also find these podcasts useful as we discuss some of the areas which Kyrin mentions:
Gut health with Bella Lindeman
Menopause with Juliet McGrattan
Female specific nutrition with Dina Griffin
Health extension with Paul Clayton
Kyrin recently hosted a virtual summit, “Stop The Menopause Madness”. Although the summit was in November you can still get access to the presentations at a super low rate. Please CLICK HERE for more details.
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com
Wednesday Dec 30, 2020
Wednesday Dec 30, 2020
It's our last podcast of 2020 and what a year it has been to forget. Actually that's not quite true, because on the podcast we've had some truly memorable guests this year.
- Marc surprises both of us by outlining his charitable work in 2020 (you’ll be impressed with this one)
- The real story about how race organisers were affected in 2020
- What will racing look like in 2021?
- Winners & losers - Our choices for who came out of 2020 smelling of roses and who still smells like s**t
- How the year changed us - what we've started doing, what we continued doing, and what will definitely be going out with the Christmas leftovers
- The one thing that each of us felt really sucked in 2020
- And finally…we end with each of us sharing a Christmas joke
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com
Wednesday Dec 23, 2020
Wednesday Dec 23, 2020
You can find Joel on Instagram and Twitter, both are @joelmchale. You can also go to his website, at JoelMcHale.com. If you’ve not yet watched him on Community, it’s an absolute must! You’ll find all 6 seasons on Netflix, and it’ll be some of the best laughs you’ve had all year.
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com
Wednesday Dec 16, 2020
Wednesday Dec 16, 2020
In this week’s podcast, I’m joined by a young lady who I’m certain will have a very exciting future in triathlon. Two years ago, Kat Matthews was a physiotherapist serving in the British Army and racing recreationally as a triathlete. At the end of 2019, she entered and finished her first Ironman at Busselton, West Australia finishing fourth female overall in a time of 8:53. She signed a full-time contract with the BMC-Vifit triathlon team for 2020 and like just about everyone else, it stopped there as the whole world was interrupted by the COVID pandemic.
Of course, she didn't stop training and posted some impressive results in 2020 winning some of the virtual events which took place during the summer as well as National 100mile TT Champion and IM Tallinn 70.3 before victory at Outlaw X in September where she stormed to first place, beating a strong domestic field. The best was yet to come as she then went to Ironman Florida won in 8hrs40 and in the process claiming a slot for Kona in 2021. This is a fun conversation with an up and coming athlete who has a great future as we chat about:
- Signing with BMC and the long-term goals
- Dealing with being a 1st-year pro and COVID - did it cause anxiety, or did it make life easier?
- Differences in training from AG to pro, and the potential pitfalls
- PTO and what, if any, help they have provided
- Thoughts on PTO equal numbers and prize purses between female and male athletes at Daytona
- The whole Florida experience - How WTC made it COVID safe, atmosphere, etc.
- Winning in Florida - the whole race
- What does the future hold?
To find out more about Kat, please go here to her website
https://www.katrinamatthewstri.com/
You can also follow her on
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/katr_matthews
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Katr_Matthews
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/katrina.rye
We also talked about
Kat’s racing team BMC-Vfit
Kat’s favourite book of recent times - Becoming - Michelle Obama
Recent article on the Tri247 website
Kat’s favourite song - Proud - Heather Small
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
We’re on a roll right now with some amazing guests and some great learning for you all. This week is no different as my guest is Ironman Legend, Mark Allen.
Mark is a 6-time Ironman World Champion and the only male to have won both the ITU World Championships and Ironman World Championships in the same year. Back in the 80’s Mark was one of the “Big Four” with Dave Scott, Scott Tinley, and Scott Molina. Apart from not having ‘Scott’ in his name he also did a lot of other things differently.
He ritually took 2-3 month off structured training after each Kona race, followed a different nutrition path to most other athletes (who as Dave Scott explained were mostly on the fashionable at the time, high carb/low-fat diet), and he embraced the spiritual side of health and fitness, hooking up with Huichol Shaman Brant Secunda to prepare for his big races.
Since retiring in 1996 he has continued on the healthy living path. This is a key focus of our discussion today, particularly in light of the current COVID19 pandemic. We discuss many subjects, including:
- Learning patience and discipline through years of swimming
- The benefits of a simplified training environment
- Mark delivers a short physiology lesson about how the body uses fat and carbs for fuel
- Talking MAF - Mark shares his frustrations at how slow MAF running was when he first tried it. LISTEN CAREFULLY as he describes having to run almost 3mins/mile slower than his Ironman race pace!
- The huge benefits of exercising outdoors
- At 62, how does Mark Allen keep fit?
- Stress, and why you must take into account total stress load from everything in your life, not just training
- The keto diet, and why it’s generally a good idea to stay away from extremes of anything
- Mark’s tips on how to train for 2021 and protect yourself from coronavirus
To follow Mark Allen please visit his website
You can also find him on
Instagram - markallengrip
Facebook - MarkAllenCoaching
Twitter - @CoachingMark
Fit Soul, Fit Body - Mark Allen & Brant Secunda website
We also chatted about all of the following
Mark talked about a couple of books…
Firstly Fit Soul Fit Body - 9 keys to a healthier happier you
And also Art of Competition
In recent months, Mark has been writing a series of blogs and filming videos for YouTube about keeping it simple.
Shed Talks - Mark Allen’s videos on how to keep life simple
The Mark Allen Blog posts about “Keeping it simple”
We chatted briefly about that race in 1989. You know the one.
If you want to read the inside story from the two main characters, go HERE—>>1989:The Story.com
I also recorded a podcast with Mark and Dave Scott to chat purely about this subject HERE—>> Dave Scott and Mark Allen
Mark is a big fan of strength training and mentioned using Tonal - the smartest home gym
You can also watch a short video of Mark using Tonal, right HERE —>>Mark Allen's Tonal workout for Triathletes
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com
Wednesday Dec 02, 2020
Wednesday Dec 02, 2020
Boulder isn’t just a great place for triathletes to hang out. These days it seems like a large number of my guests also hang out there including today’s guest, Dina Griffin.
Dina is a sports dietician who not only addresses needs related to disease and illness but also takes a proactive approach in optimizing health to prevent disease, deficiencies, and breakdowns via personalized sports nutrition coaching, consulting, and physiology testing. I have specifically invited her onto the show to chat about nutrition for female athletes.
I first met Dina, virtually of course, when she presented this topic to a group of TrainingPeaks coaches a few weeks back and I thought, why have we never had a guest on to speak about this? So here she is and it’s another great conversation as we discuss:
- Why nutrition education is an important first step to improving your health and performance
- Key differences to female physiology in Pre, peri, and post menopause
- The differences in nutritional approach during each phase
- How and what to adjust in your nutrition programme during the low and high hormone phases of your monthly cycle
- Some training alterations you might want to consider during the same phase
- Benefits of protein and why you should probably eat more
- Lift Heavy Stuff regardless of your age (TIP: The third time this topic has come up. If you haven’t got the message yet….)
- Gut health and why focussing on this in your 30’s will help during peri-menopause
- Supplements - should you take them and if so which ones
To find out more about Dina Griffin, please visit her website https://nutritionmechanic.com/
You can also find Dina on:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nutritionmechanic/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dina.howtongriffin
We covered several other subjects during the show and here are some of the links:
Recent podcast on Gut Health with Bella Lindeman
FitRWoman app - track your period and train smarter
WildAI - turn your menstrual cycle into an advantage
Feed Zone Portables A cookbook of on the go food for athletes
Feed Zone Cook Book Fast & favourable food for athletes
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Since COVID19 hit the world, triathletes have suffered just like everyone else. Limited opportunities to train and virtually no racing apart from virtual. The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has been a big help to triathlon, distributing grants to help athletes survive and in recent months, bumping up the prize purse at selected races (£15k for Helvellyn and Outlaw X in the UK) for the pro athletes racing. On December 6 the PTO Challenge Daytona will air and this event will have the biggest prize purse ever offered for a professional triathlon race with £1,150,000. There will be an equal number of pro male and female starters and the prize pots are identical. In another first, the prize money will be distributed among all athletes with every starter guaranteed to take home a minimum of $2500.
In this week’s episode, I talk to 2 talented Canadian athletes who will be racing in Daytona.
Taylor Reid has five professional 70.3 victories (including three Ironman 70.3 victories) and has been on the podium fifteen times. After chasing the Olympic dream for 7 years, he had some success winning the U23 Canadian Champion in 2013. He then made the switch to long-course triathlon in 2014, focusing on the Ironman 70.3 events all around the world. The longer event, which required more endurance, suited his strengths. Alongside his triathlon career, Taylor is also a spokesperson for dyslexia, sharing his story with the world to help raise awareness about dyslexia.
Jackson Laundry is a two-time Ironman 70.3 champ (Raleigh 2018, Mont Tremblant 2019) and has eleven 70.3 podiums. He was also the winner and co-organizer of the 2020 Canadian pro tri championship, a race that he and Taylor decided to host in order to give the community something to look forward to and give fellow athletes a high level race. It was a huge success, bringing many of the top Canadian athletes together, with their own private TV crew and CBC coverage. Taylor is also the co-host of "The Real Triathlon Podcast” and has had a successful virtual race season in 2020, taking 4th place at the 2020 Zwift pro tri series, 2nd place at Ironman VR14, and winning 1 stage of the Super League e-series.
Listen in to the interesting conversation with these two enthusiastic, personable and professional triathletes trying to make their way in the world and giving back a little as they continue their journey. Hopefully you’ll appreciate this as well as we chat about:
- Life as a pro triathlete - living the dream or scraping a living
- The life of a professional triathlete during lockdown in Canada
- How COVID 19 has disrupted their training and racing plans
- PTO and the impact it’s having on professional triathlon
- An athlete turned race organizer, and getting a better appreciation of the work done by race promoters and volunteers
- Challenge Daytona
To find out more about Jackson:
Website - https://www.jacksonlaundrytri.com/
Instagram - @jacksonlaundrytri
To find out more about Taylor:
Website: - http://www.taylor-reid.com/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIj6iRJupVYsVB06igYz9zQ?view_as=subscriber
Twitter/instagram: @TC_Reid
We also talked about:
"The Real Triathlon Podcast": hosted by Jackson and two fellow pro triathletes
You can find that here - https://therealtriathlonpodcast.podbean.com/
Podcast Instagram handle is @therealtripodcast
Here is the link to the race highlights video for the Canadian Pro Triathlon Championship.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k_Cek3u8Jfo&t=4s
Taylor talked about his work increasing awareness of dyslexia. You can find details here
Dyslexia:
@everydaydyslexiaheroesproject
https://www.dyslexiacanada.org/
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com