Simon Ward, The High Performance Human Triathlon Podcast

Simon Ward and Dave Schell

TrainingPeaks is the premier online training diary in the world, and it's the one I have chosen to use for the last 10 years both for my own personal training calendar and analysis, and also for those athletes that I work with. Currently I have over 500 people signed up to TrainingPeaks who are linked with me. If used properly, this platform can be used to analyse and then prepare a much more accurate training programme whether you are an athlete or a coach.

That's why it gives me great pleasure to share my conversation with today's guest, Dave Schell from TrainingPeaks.  During our chat Dave explains:

• How he went to from being a TrainingPeaks customer to being their Coach Education Manager
• How TSS really works
• Why the Performance Management Chart (PMC) is such a great analysis tool
• What TSS, CTL, ATL & TSB stand for and how the scores are calculated
• The ideal Training Stress balance score that you should have before your A races
• How to use individual PMC’s for each sport to predict training load during a taper
• The optimal weekly TSS and target CTL scores https://help.trainingpeaks.com/hc/en-us/articles/230904648-Suggested-Weekly-TSS-and-Target-CTL
• How to calculate TSS for strength training (which you can read more about here—>>>http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2016/02/the-weightlifting-pmc-part-1.html
• When and How TrainingPeaks can save coaches a ton of time in their weekly programme preparation

To access the TSB/form chart mentioned in this episode, please go to http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2015/12/managing-training-using-tsb.html.

To find out more about TrainingPeaks or Dave Schell please email dave@trainingpeaks.com.  To access the TrainingPeaks blog for a mountain of awesome posts go to https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/.  If you are an athlete, find out more about how you can use TrainingPeaks at https://www.trainingpeaks.com/athlete-features/.  If you are a coach find out more about how you can use TrainingPeaks at https://www.trainingpeaks.com/coach-features/.

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email Beth@thetriathloncoach.com. 

Simon Ward and Sam Dickinson

Following on from the huge triathlon success of the Brownlee brothers, there is a new wave of triathletes eager to continue flying the flag for British Triathlon.  Many of them are based at the High Performance Centre in Leeds including today's guest, Sam Dickinson.

At 20 years old Sam is one of the brightest prospects in the UK, and a member of the World Class Performance Pathway group. In today's podcast we talk about:

• How having a multi-sport background was an advantage as a young triathlete
• Making the decision to be a full time athlete at the age of 18
• Training with your idols
• Being part of the most successful triathlon centre in the world
• Dealing with injuries as a young athlete
• A typical week of training at the Leeds High Performance Centre

To find out more about Sam Dickinson find him on Instagram at samdickotri or on Twitter at samdickotri.

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email Beth@thetriathloncoach.com. 

Simon Ward and Karl Alexander

Karl Alexander is one of the UK’s top age group triathletes. He is a 2-time winner of Outlaw Half and is also a brand ambassador for the very popular Erdinger Triathlon Team.

If you have ever raced any of the Outlaw events, or an event supported by Erdinger, then it's likely that Karl will have served you with a post race recovery Erdinger.  In this episode we discuss:

• Dealing with an injury that stops you from being a triathlete
• When an injury lay off can be a blessing
• How Kona ambitions were put on hold because of family priorities
• Karl’s thoughts about being a brand ambassador
• Understanding your body and longevity in the sport
• Serving beer on Saturday and racing on Sunday

You can follow Karl on Instagram at Karl.alexander1, or on Twitter @karlralexander.  Karl doesn’t have his own website but you can read all about his adventures on Tri247.com.

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email Beth@thetriathloncoach.com. 

Simon Ward and Kit Walker (bonus)

Kit Walker - BONUS edition

I recently interviewed Kit Walker about his life as a professional triathlete. During that interview I completely failed to ask Kit about his first professional victory at Outlaw in 2016, and his repeat victory in 2017 when he set a course record. It's a much shorter episode than normal as we only focus on these two races and we talk about:

• The point in the race when Kit knew he was going to win
• How to keep going when you are in the lead and having a bad spell
• Winning his first professional race
• Returning to a race as reigning champion, and the pressure that comes with it
• Pacing strategies and breaking the Outlaw course record

To find out more about Kit Walker you can follow him on Twitter @kit_walker_tri, on Instagram at kit_walker_tri, Facebook at KWTriathlon, or his website at https://kitwalkertriathlon.com/.

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email Beth@thetriathloncoach.com. 

Simon Ward and Josh Sprague

I love the idea that you can turn a hobby into a business. Why wouldn’t I? It's exactly what I have done! My guest today has done similar, turning his hobby for adventure racing and mountain biking into a business called Orange Mud. It's not your typical triathlon podcast, but if you’ve ever wanted to turn your hobby into a business this is a podcast you must listen to. Oh, and Josh is a real fun guy as well.

Josh Sprague founded the company in 2012 making hydration packs that he could use in events, and has since turned it into a fast expanding apparel company. 

In today's conversation Josh and I discuss boat load of topics including:

• Why his business is called Orange Mud
• Making ‘life’ work for you
• The $25,000 hand-made product that started the company
• Working full time and running a business
• The Orange Mud ambassador programme and how they came to have over 300 ambassadors
• Being a “lifestyle entrepreneur”

 

To find out more about OrangeMud (or to check out their product lines) visit their UK website OrangeMud.co.uk  or if you are in the US then visit OrangeMud.com.  You can find Josh on Instagram #orangemud, Twitter @orangemud, and Facebook @orangemud.

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email Beth@thetriathloncoach.com. 

Simon Ward and Amy Kilpin

Have you ever tried to get sponsorship to help your triathlon participation?  Maybe you qualified for a GB age group place and tried to get help from some local companies to ease your financial burden?  If you have, then today's guest will have some familiar stories for you.

Amy Kilpin calls herself an average age group triathlete and yet she has managed to gather together a group of very impressive sponsors (which you can see if you visit her web page here…..http://amykilpin.co.uk/).

In today's conversation Amy shares her secrets for success as a ‘brand ambassador’ including:

• How to open the conversation with potential sponsors
• The importance of finding a different angle for brands
• Why social media is critical to your success
• Amy's top 3 tips to help in your search for sponsors
• When writing to sponsors which bits of information are NOT relevant?
• Brand loyalty and why it is important for you and your sponsor
• What you must do to provide value to your sponsors

To find out more about Amy you can visit her website http://amykilpin.co.uk/.  You can also find her on 

Twitter @akilpin

Facebook amy.kilpin

Instagram akilpin

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email Beth@thetriathloncoach.com. 

Simon Ward and Kit Walker

In today's episode, Simon interviews professional triathlete and reigning Outlaw triathlon champion Kit Walker.

Although he races as a Pro, Kit also has a part time job as well as a young family.  In this conversation he candidly discusses the reality of life as a professional triathlete and how that differs massively from the lifestyle that most age group athletes think of.  We discuss:

• Progressing from a novice triathlete to a pro in 5 years
• The reality of life as a pro triathlete
• The valuable lesson Kit learned from his first few months of training as a pro
• Mallorca 70.3 and the "baptism of fire" at his first pro race
• Time management, food preparation, and the daily balancing act
• Choosing to race as a pro placing 7th, versus being the best age grouper
• Kit’s advice to age groupers thinking of turning pro

 

To find out more about Kit Walker you can follow him on Twitter @kit_walker_tri, on Instagram at kit_walker_tri, Facebook at KWTriathlon, or his website at https://kitwalkertriathlon.com/.

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email Beth@thetriathloncoach.com. 

 

Simon Ward and Gerry Rodrigues

How to be “Race Ready” with Gerry Rodrigues.  This week's guest is from a place where open water swimming is an absolute pleasure, the beaches of Santa Monica, California.  In fact his swim squad is named after the lifeguard tower where the swimmers meet, Tower 26.

His name is Gerry Rodrigues and certainly on the West Coast of America he has an awesome reputation for the work he has done and still does with both novice and elite swimmers.  Our first call was hampered by technical issues so Gerry graciously agreed to another call so we could learn from his experiences.

It's another 45 minute conversation (how often am I giving you an extra 50% for FREE?) during which we discover:

• What being race ready really means
• How to deal with open water anxiety
• What your 15’ pre race warm up must include
• How to warm up when you can’t access the water before the race start
• When to introduce open water skills ahead of your first event
• The key elements to include in your pool training to prepare for open water
• How to join the Tower 26 squad if you're ever in Santa Monica

To find out more about Gerry Rodrigues visit his website http://tower26.com/, where you can also find his weekly podcast, "Be Race Ready".  Subscribe to his weekly newsletter or receive the Tower 26 Training Plan at https://coaching.tower26.com/.

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email Beth@thetriathloncoach.com.

Simon Ward Answers New Member Questions

In a change to the regular format, there is no guest this week.  Instead, Simon answers a selection of questions submitted by The Triathlon Coach Cafe members.  This week's topics are based on the ever popular subject of how to train for triathlon. 

For the next 45 minutes listen in while Simon provides answers to the following questions and more.

• How to schedule all 3 disciplines, weight training, and recovery into one week.  What is the best way to create a training plan?  
• How much and how many times a week should I be training? 
• How to balance a training plan correctly?
• Time based training versus distance based, which is better?  
• How do I know if I’m over training?  
• How to spend less time, to get better results?  
• What does training smart look like for me? 
• Train by heart rate, or feel?  
• How to increase pace?
• How significant is the effect of not training for a week?
• Can/should I do speed work throughout the whole year? 
• Best recovery methods? 
• Brick session during IM training? 
• How many triathlons can I realistically do in one season/month? 

Follow me on Facebook - simon.ward1

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email Beth@thetriathloncoach.com. 

Simon Ward and Tom Hughes on race nutrition

Dr. Tom Hughes is back to discuss some of the practicalities around nutrition leading up to and during your races.

In today's conversation we discuss the difference between low carb and lower carb. In particular we try to outline the ideal nutrition strategy for race week and race day for athletes who habitually consume lower than average levels of carbohydrate including:

• Why keto athletes can race well but may face challenges on hilly courses
• How a pre-race course recce can shape not just your pacing but also your nutrition 
• Why in race week you aren’t trying to carbo load, you are trying not to de-load
• The exact point in the week before your race when you reduce fibre intake and why it will help you to avoid gut issues on race day
• Why vegetables are better than fruits for your everyday nutrition 
• Your ideal pre-race meal and why it's not pizza or pasta
• How a small glass of wine can help you relax on the evening before your race
• Sleep, and why it's not a big issue if you don't get much the night before your event
• Pre-race nutrition - What, when, and how much?
• Tom’s thoughts on the best race nutrition and why you need to experiment to find the best option

To find out more from Tom please visit his website www.trimechanics.co.uk.  You can also hear his thoughts on a range of subjects in his own podcast, Tri-Mechanics Triathlon Podcast, or find him on Twitter @trimechanics.

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email Beth@thetriathloncoach.com.