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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 Apr 21, 2021
Wednesday Apr 21, 2021
My guest today is a lady that I met exactly 20 years ago. Mimi Anderson is one of the world’s most inspirational female distance runners, having made an incredible journey from stay-at-home mother of three to multiple Guinness World Record Holder. With hard work and determination, Mimi has shown that it’s never too late to fulfil your dreams and achieve the impossible.
Pushing herself to the limits has strengthened Mimi’s resilience and taught her its importance in boosting her mental and physical health, especially having suffered from anorexia for 15 years. Hearing Mimi speak about her amazing experiences with honesty, humility, and humour, will leave you inspired to seek out personal challenges of your own and be much more aware of how to develop your own resilience and well-being.
Mimi found her love of running at the age of 36 and very quickly discovered her ability to run silly distances by taking on the Marathon des Sables in 2001, a race billed as “the toughest footrace on earth”, with just over a year’s running under her belt. And that's where our story starts. Since then Mimi has chalked up numerous ultra event wins, records, and achievements including - the first female to complete double Comrades Marathon, breaking the female JOGLE world record in 2008 (since broken), Double Badwater in 2011 (female course record), and the first female to complete Double Spartathlon. You can view all of Mimi’s achievements HERE.
I absolutely loved this conversation and it felt like we got straight back into chatting as we did in our MdS tent in 2001.
Our topics today include:
- Our shared experience at MdS 2001
- School days, eating disorders, addictive behaviours, training for endurance events
- Going further and breaking records
- Your most hellish and most satisfying challenge so far
- Building resilience - Dealing with setbacks, disappointments and not being able to run
- Learning to swim at 50+
- The fun in planning your own adventures
- Preparation for ultra’s - fitness, mindset, or both
- Mental toughness - nature or nurture
- Daily routines and habits
- Life lessons from ultra events
- Writing a book is like running an ultra - one step at a time!
To find out more about Mimi please visit her website
You can also follow her on the usual social media channels under her nickname “MarvellousMimi”
Mimi has written two books which you can get from the usual outlets
Beyond Impossible - From reluctant runner to Guinness World Record Breaker
Limitless - An ultra-runner's story of pain, perseverance, and the pursuit of success
A short film about Mimi Anderson
Eating disorders and disordered eating podcast
Mimi spoke at length about her battle with anorexia. If you would like to learn more about eating disorders I recorded a podcast with Dr. Rhys Jones, Consultant Psychiatrist specialising in eating disorders. You can listen to that podcast HERE.
Mmi also mentioned the charity BEAT. If you do need to speak with anyone about eating disorders you can do so HERE.
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
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 Apr 14, 2021
Wednesday Apr 14, 2021
My guest today is Prof. Greg Whyte. As an Olympian (he won a modern pentathlon bronze at the 1986 Olympic Games), sports scientist and coach Greg is uniquely experienced at optimising performance. Greg has worked as a consultant physiologist in a large number of Olympic and professional sports and has been the Director of Science and research at the English Institute of Sport and the Director of Research for the British Olympic association, leading on the preparation of multiple Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth teams. I’ve known Greg as an acquaintance for many years, well enough to be on first-name terms and have a beer with after completing an event. The last was Marathon de Sables back in2015, sat around the hotel pool in Ouarzazate, Morocco. You may be more familiar with Prof Whyte as the man who helps celebrities to achieve incredible feats as part of Children in Need. Since first helping David Walliams to swim the Channel back in 2005, Greg has been involved with 31 more ‘Children in Need’ challenges. You can find out more about these HERE.
I recently watched Greg's latest documentary Black & Whyte, a 45’ epilogue detailing his attempt to achieve the coveted black T-shirt award at the Norseman Triathlon. In fact, as I was watching the film myself it brought back some very vivid memories of my own Norseman adventure back in 2009 (I did get a black T-shirt, just in case you were wondering).
This is another enthusiastic discussion and as usual, we dive into plenty of topics including:
- How does an Olympic medalist stay motivated once they are past their peak?
- How does the stress level at the Olympics compare to say Norseman or other challenges?
- Comparison is the thief of joy!
- Which was your most hellish challenge and which the most enjoyable/satisfying?
- How did you become the trainer to the stars?
- Which of your celebrity challenges gave you the most satisfaction and why?
- Greg’s own daily routine and thoughts on tracking blood sugar or HRV
- Some common-sense advice about nutrition
- In 'The Whyte Answer' what is your most asked question, which question do you wish people would ask, and what do you hope you never get asked?
- Greg answers some listener questions in a mini version of “The Whyte Answer"
To follow Greg please visit his website
You can also follow him at the usual social media places
Instagram profgregw
Facebook ProfessorGregWhyte
Twitter @gpwhyte
In the podcast we mentioned several links including these
The Whyte Answer - http://www.thewhyteanswer.com
Bean Lite - The new Bespoke Exercise & nutrition App
Greg’s Books
Bump it Up
Some films you might like
Black & Whyte - A Norseman story
Some great blog posts HERE
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
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 Apr 07, 2021
Wednesday Apr 07, 2021
In today's show, I’m joined by a man who helps people to run faster, and he calls himself a movement coach.
Shane Benzie has a coaching philosophy that leads him to take an anthropological view of a runner. Shane believes that if we move like a human is designed to move, that will make us a good athlete. To maximise our potential we must take that human movement and turn it into human performance. His coaching is designed to create an intelligent runner that has the correct perception of their movement. It encourages them to see changes in gait as a software change rather than teaching the physical body new tricks.
This is a great conversation that looks at running improvement from a completely different perspective and we chat about a diverse range of topics including:
- How everyday movement patterns influence your running style
- The benefits of using a stand-up desk
- Counting strides and why it leads to an imbalance in run technique
- The role of the fascia
- The ’tensegrity model’ and the ’sea of tension’
- Understanding what good movement looks and feels like
- What is the optimal running cadence?
- Foot strike and the ’tripod landing'
- Running drills and why they are not necessarily a good thing
- Shane’s 4 tips for better running
To find out more about Shane please visit his website, RunningReborn.com
You can also find him on the usual social media channels:
Facebook - RunningReborn
Instagram - Shane.benzie
Twitter - @runningreborn
Here are some of the links we discussed:
We talked about Shane’s book “The Lost art of Running”
And also about this book “Natural Born Heroes”, which references the involvement of fascia in movement generally, and running specifically.
Please also check out previous podcasts with:
Sanjay Rawal where he talks about his experiences of running with Navajo Indians
Kelley Starrett talking about movement, mobility, and being in the ‘ready state’
Sarah J Pitts injury reversal and movement specialist
Malcolm Brown on enjoying running and how to be a better runner
Louisa Holmes how to ‘bullet-proof’ your body
Here are some links to other topics in the conversation:
Video of Tirunesh Dibaba running style
'Do you run wrong?’ Shane Benzie reveals the best running technique in this video
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
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 Mar 31, 2021
Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
On today's podcast, I have a very special guest, my brother, Jonathan Ward.
Jono is not a triathlete, and these days he’s not a competitive sportsperson. In fact, his daily routine is designed to keep him as healthy as possible. You’ll hear about his previous health problems during our conversation. As a result of those issues, Jonathan took time to study with Brene Brown in the US to become a Courage Coach. The reason I've invited my brother onto the show is to discuss mindful self-compassion. This is something that I've become more interested in as I've sought additional ways in which to help individuals become High Performance Humans.
I think Jono was a little nervous about being interviewed by his older brother but as you’ll soon appreciate, there was absolutely no need for his anxiety.
Self-compassion is not a subject that's often linked with endurance sports but if you pay close attention you might discover a new skill that will help you achieve higher levels of performance as a human and an athlete.
During our chat we discuss:
- Jonathan explains what self-compassion is and why it's different from self-pity and self-indulgence.
- The 3 key components of self-compassion
- How self-compassion creates healthy behaviours and has positive long term benefits
- Resilience and ‘bouncebackability’
- Self-criticism is NOT a motivator and why positive self-talk is better
- When you feel under pressure the 2 questions that you must ask yourself
- How to practice self-compassion
To find out more about Jonathan visit his website, Courageous Living Coaching
You can also find him on Instagram - courage.coach
Jonathan has a new course on 'Mindful Self Compassion' starting on April 24.
You can find out more about that HERE
To find out more about Brene Brown visit her website, https://brenebrown.com
Brene Brown Ted Talks:
Brene Brown's Book, Daring Greatly
To find out more about self-compassion please go HERE
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
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 Mar 24, 2021
Wednesday Mar 24, 2021
My guest on today's show is Dr. Jeffrey Sankoff, an ER physician and triathlete from Denver, Colorado. He has been a triathlete for over 20 years and also working part-time as a triathlon coach (a.k.a TriDoc) for the last 5 years. Since January 2020, he has been on the front line at Denver Health in the battle against Coronavirus. All of these experiences make him uniquely placed to understand the effects of COVID on endurance athletes and he's written extensively on this subject for TrainingPeaks, Triathlete magazine, and others. Much of the triathlon-related work he produces (blog posts, podcasts, etc.) attempts to help athletes and coaches make sense of the mass of data around training and health. Jeffrey specialises in studying the research and translating it into trusted, easy to understand information that we can all use.
As we come out of lockdown and are full of optimism for racing in the next few points and beyond we discuss:
- Avoiding COVID until you have the vaccine
- Recovering from COVID and return to training - What do we know so far, and Tri Doc’s advice based on his experience as a physician & triathlete?
- Is ‘long COVID’ any different from post-viral syndrome after the flu?
- Post-vaccine what habits/behaviours should endurance athletes continue with? What habits/behaviours should we not go back to?
- On the health bell curve, where do triathletes generally sit?
- What have you learned from the COVID pandemic as a physician, as a triathlete, and as a coach?
- Strategies for long term health
- Exercise and ageing - if we want to be doing triathlon in our 70’s what should we be doing now?
How to find Jeffrey Sankoff, MD - The TriDoc
First off, try his website - www.tridoccoaching.com
And this one for his new coaching partners www.lifesportcoaching.com
Jeff also hangs out at the usual social media places
Twitter: www.twitter.com/triathmagtridoc
IG: www.instagram.com/tridoccoaching
FB: https://www.facebook.com/tridoccoach
My guests always have lots to share and these are some of the links you might find useful from today's show:
Are endurance athletes healthier than their sedentary colleagues
COVID 19 & Mydocarditis - should endurance athletes be worried
COVID 19 - Long term patient-reported symptoms
Myocarditis risk with COVID 19
What you need to know about endurance training and covid immunity
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
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 Mar 17, 2021
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
How many of us grew up wanting to be a fighter pilot? Many boys I’m sure and maybe a few girls. How many actually managed to achieve that ambition? A few boys possibly but very few girls. My guest today, Mandy Hickson, is one of only 5 ladies who have flown the Tornado GR4 fast jet on the front line which makes her a very unique person and in my mind the epitome of a High Performance Human.
Mandy Hickson has over 30 years of experience in aviation. She joined the Royal Air Force in 1994 and flew the Tornado GR4 on the front line, where she operated in hostile environments, including patrolling the ‘No Fly’ zone over Iraq. Since leaving the RAF she retrained as a facilitator and coach in human performance factors. Drawing on her experience of calculated risk-taking, decision-making under pressure, and the critical role of the human in the system, she transfers vivid lessons from the cockpit to other management and leadership contexts.
This was an amazing conversation and you’ll be left in no doubt about Mandy's enthusiasm for flying and life in general. Some of the topics we cover are:
- The need for speed
- Breaking through the glass ceiling and being a successful woman in a man’s world
- Overcoming the odds and being set up for failure
- The importance of building a team even if you compete in an individual sport
- Feeling valued and being empowered to make decisions
- Building relationships
- Being the best you can be and competing with yourself
To find out about Mandy please visit her various social media channels HERE.
Mandy also talked about her book “An Officer, Not a Gentleman”. You can purchase a copy HERE.
In the show we also talked about:
Mandy’s Kilimanjaro experience. You can watch a short video of this on YouTube HERE.
Get a flavour of Mandy’s time flying fast jets “Step into my office”.
Interview with US Navy pilot, Admiral Scott Jones.
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
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 Mar 10, 2021
Wednesday Mar 10, 2021
Some of you folks may know that one of my other hobbies during the summer months is to work as an announcer at Outlaw triathlon events. I’m lucky enough to have called some of you across the line, sometimes more than once. It’s a tough job working as an MC, and it’s more than just talking all day (something which I can do well!).
Sad as it is that your triathlon events have been offline for over 12 months, spare a thought for those for whom events like these are how they earn money. My guest today is one such person, for whom 2020 should have been his best year ever of race announcing. Steve Fleck is one of the leading Endurance Sports Race/Event Announcers & Commentators in North America for cycling, running, and triathlon races and events. It's a natural extension of a life spent running, cycling, and racing triathlons since his mid-teens and wearing multiple hats in and around the business of endurance sports in Sales, Business Development, Media, Marketing, and Communications. He lives in Aurora, Ontario with his wife, Paolina, and their dog, Gravy.
Steve and I started chatting about recording this podcast in Kona way back in 2019 bc (before Covid) and it’s taken us almost 18 months to get it done, so I hope you envy the chat as we catch up about:
- How the pandemic has hit endurance sports, and what events might look like going forward
- How the pandemic affected Steve’s race announcing business and scrambling for other work to fill the gap
- Government financial support, and who has helped race organisers since March 2020
- PTO: how they stepped up in 2020 and their role in helping triathletes in the last 12 months, including the Daytona race
- That Lionel Sanders Canadian 1 hour track record
To find out more about Steve and to follow him on social media please visit these channels
Facebook - SteveFleck
Twitter @SteveFleck
LinkedIn flecksteve
PTO & paid maternity leave for female triathletes
Lionel sanders 1hr Canadian Track record with Steve Fleck as m/c
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
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 Mar 03, 2021
Wednesday Mar 03, 2021
For the past few weeks, I’ve been reading "Peak: The New Science of Athletic Performance That Is Revolutionising Sports” and it is fascinating. In fact, I loved it so much I gifted it to a dozen of the individuals I coach. So I am delighted that the author of that book, Dr. Marc Bubbs, is my guest on today's show.
Dr. Bubbs is the Performance Nutrition lead for Canada Basketball and consults with pro sports teams in NBA, NHL, and MLB. He is also an international speaker and a qualified strength and conditioning coach.
What really attracted me to the book was that the first section - Foundation - focusses on sleep, microbiome, nutrition. So it adopts a very similar format to my own vision of High Performance Humans.
I had so much to ask Marc that we didn't really manage to cover everything in detail (don’t worry, he's agreed to come back for another podcast) but we still covered a lot of topics including:
- Why elite athletes have better immunity than most and how that helps them
- Vitamin D as a must-have supplement during COVID
- Getting the basics right and why you must focus on process and mastery rather than the outcome
- How lack of sleep affects immunity, health and ultimately training consistency
- Returning to training after a bout of coronavirus
- Training volume - Figuring out the minimum effective dose for you to make progress
- Nutrition - avoiding social media noise and going with the consensus
- Blood sugar and the benefits of wearing a constant glucose monitor
- Sleep trackers, power meters, etc. - Why are you using them and what benefit do you hope to gain?
- Creatine supplementation - worth considering for endurance athletes
LINKS FOR THE SHOW NOTES
To find out more about Dr. Marc Bubbs please visit his two websites…
DrBubbs.com and AthleteEvolution.org
You can follow Dr. Bubbs on these social media channels
Check out the Dr. Bubbs Performance Nutrition Podcast on YouTube,iTunes, etc. SUBSCRIBE and you won't miss any of the world-leading experts!
And of course, there is his book which is how he came to be a guest on this show
Peak - The New Science of Athletic Performance.
The book is also a #1 Best Seller on Audible in the USA!
Finally, you may also find these links useful
Research paper - Carb Periodization and 'Fueling for the Work Required https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29453741/
Endurance specific nutrition - https://drbubbs.com/blog/2020/6/dietary-nitrates-key-to-better-health-and-performance
Recent blog posts on milk vs plant-based drinks - https://drbubbs.com/blog/2020/7/milk-vs-plant-based-drinks-how-do-they-compare
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
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 Feb 24, 2021
Wednesday Feb 24, 2021
This week one of our most frequent guests, ’The Prof’ Paul Laursen, is back. Why has he been on so often? Because he always offers so much value to any conversation and this one is no different. Today we chat about artificial intelligence (A.I.) and The Prof’s new project Athletica.ai.
Like it or not, the machines are coming and AI is here to stay. It’s been around for many years in other spheres but now coaching apps and platforms are starting to make progress with it, and your life will be a lot easier when the app you use can effectively ‘crunch’ all of the data from your gadgets and wearables. So, will this make coaches redundant? Definitely not! Machines will never be able to replace the empathy that good coaches have with their clients. Having said that, the future will be different and we need to embrace this opportunity. We get into the weeds chatting about a couple of issues around COVID. In the conversation Paul explains all of this as we chat about:
- What exactly is artificial intelligence?
- How AI benefits athletes and coaches
- Machine learning vs pattern recognition
- How Athletica.ai works
- The irony that the most important elements to Athletica are NOT data driven
- Intelligence vs wisdom and why coaches with wisdom are irreplaceable
- Returning to training after COVID and why it’s no different to recovering from the flu
- Nutrients and Vitamin D - The Profs two BIG ways to protect your immune system
The prof has reduced his social media footprint in recent years but you can still find him on these channels
Twitter - @PaulBLaursen, @Athletica_AI
We also mentioned these topics in the podcast.
This article with the Prof and Dr Phil Maffetone
The Perfect Storm: Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic Meets Overfat Pandemic
These books
Breath - The new science of a lost art - James Nestor
The Oxygen Advantage : The simple scientifically proven breathing techniques for a healthier, slimmer, faster, and fitter you - Patrick McKeown
The Science and Application of HIIT: Solutions to the programming puzzle - Prof Paul Laursen & Martin Bucheit
The Seventh Sense: Power, fortune, and survival in the age of the networks - Joshua Ramo
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 Feb 17, 2021
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
The subject of today’s podcast is something that very rarely gets talked about in triathlon – saddles. My guest is Daniel Schade, an expert in helping riders find the perfect seat for their ride. Daniel is CEO of Gebiomized who is based in Germany. If you’re not yet familiar with them, you’ll know the riders they have worked with - Frodeno, Kienle, Brownlee, and Haug to name a few.
I was staggered to realize how underrated the importance of the saddle is. For example, think of your own situation. When considering upgrades for your bike to improve performance, where would the saddle be in your list of priorities, if in the list at all?
This was an eye-opening chat for me and I’m sure it will be for you too. During the conversation, Daniel explains how the company was formed, and their unique pressure mapping system which enables them to create the most comfortable saddle for each rider. We also discuss:
- The health and performance impacts of a poor saddle fit
- How stability and comfort on the saddle have a direct relationship to your aerodynamics
- The difference between triathlon and road bike saddles
- 3 biggest saddle errors committed by triathletes, and why you’re probably guilty of at least 2
- Why your first equipment upgrade should be the saddle
- The ‘Secret Saddle Club’
- The importance of understanding how you load your saddle
If you would like to find out more about Gebiomized, please visit their website HERE
To find out specifically about their saddle technology go HERE
You can also find them on these social media channels:
Instagram - gebiomized
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/gebioMized
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/gebiomized
Twitter - @gebioMized
Here are some interesting blog posts that you might like to read
On outdoor testing including pressure mapping
On comfort increase on the turbo trainer
On fusioning aerodynamics and biomechanics in a bikefit project
This video also illustrates the ‘saddle shuffle’ we discussed relating to Contador. If the commentator on the video listens to this podcast he’ll find out why it’s happening.
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