Simon Ward, The High Performance Human Triathlon Podcast

Bite Sized * Breathing 101 - Inspire before you expire

This week, following a request from regular listener David Hill, I’m going to take a short dive into what is called breath work. So thank you David for a great suggestion! I’ve had several podcast conversation about this specific subject and there's no doubt in my mind that it makes a real difference to health and performance by managing anxiety, improving that ability to relax, and all of the positive knock ons from there.

 

Breathing is controlled by our autonomic nervous system (ANS), so for the majority of your day it happens unconsciously. And, you’re probably thinking, "Well, I’ve got to 30, 40, 50 without ever having to really think about this so I must be doing something right." Yes, you are doing enough to keep your body alive and running.

 

In fact, with some conscious breathing you can make some really positive changes to your mind and your body, helping you to be more relaxed or more activated.

 

I’m going to divide this into 3 categories and provide an example of each that you can try:

• Purposeful breathing to maintain ease
• Breathing to improve exercise technique and recovery
• Calm down breathing to lower anxiety and physiological anxiety

I’m going to finish the episode with a couple of little experiments you can try to see how different types of breathing affect your heart rate.

 

To revisit (or listen for the first time) to the longer podcasts about breathing please click on the links below.

 

How to improve your health and athletic performance with nose breathing - George Dallam

How you can gain the Oxygen Advantage to supercharge your health and fitness - Patrick McKeown

How to be an UnBreakable Runner - Brian MacKenzie

If you are still breathing you are still winning - Louisa Holmes

 

If you're a new listener, you can subscribe to the podcast HERE so that you never miss an episode!

 

I would love for you to share the episode with one person you think could benefit!

 

To leave a review of the podcast on Apple podcasts CLICK HERE.

Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe using this link, with a happiness guarantee! You can watch a brief video about the group by going to our website here, and join our SWAT High Performance Human tribe here.

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.

Performance triathlon in Leeds: From a small idea, to Olympic gold medals * Jack Maitland

Back in 2000, I decided to rebrand my coaching business as TheTriathlonCoach.com. I’d been coaching for 4-5 years and built up a good roster of age group athletes. I was having to turn folks away so I asked my friend (also a coach) if he’d like to join me and take on some clients. His name was Jack Maitland, and he's my guest on the podcast this week and next week.

 

Jack and I started to grow TTC as it was known, but that wasn’t all. In 2001 we put our names in the hat to run the Regional Talent ID Programme in the North of England. Having two coaches wasn’t quite what British Triathlon had in mind, but we persuaded them and that was the beginning of performance triathlon in Leeds. A few years later the Leeds Performance Centre was born with Jack at the helm. And the rest, as they say, is history.

 

In this episode we talk about Jack's journey from orienteer to mountain runner to elite triathlete and then into coaching. We talk about our work together, his work in Leeds and then the development work with Alistair & Jonathan Brownlee. Today's episode finishes at the end of 2011 when Alistair was a favourite for Olympic Gold at the London 2012 Triathlon. It was a great trip down memory lane for both of us and I hope you enjoy it too as we discuss:

 

• Competing at the Commonwealth Games demo event in 1990
• Starting and developing the Leeds High Performance Centre in 2001
• Building squads of athletes and coaching teams
• Coaching an Olympic medal contender at London 2012

To find out more about Jack please visit the following:

Website: thesportsashram.com

Instagram: Thesportsashram

Twitter: @JackTheTriCoach

Facebook: The Sports Ashram

 

Book Recommendation: Coherence by Dr Alan Watkins

 

To contact Beth regarding Life Coaching, please email her at Info@BethanyWardLifeCoaching.uk.

 

To leave a review of the podcast on Apple podcasts CLICK HERE.

 

Sports Nutrition questions - if you have a sports nutrition question that you would like answered on the podcast, please email it to me via Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.

Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe using this link, with a happiness guarantee! You can watch a brief video about the group by going to our website here, and join our SWAT High Performance Human tribe here.

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.

Bite Sized * Losing weight and triathlon performance

Is losing a few kilos one of your winter training goals for the next few monthsIf it is, you're probably not alone.

 

At least once a month I get an email or have a phone conversation with an endurance athlete who tells me they need to lose weight to help them achieve their goals in the summer.

 

As a coach I feel like it’s easy to get overly focused on this aspect of improving performance. I much prefer an approach where we concentrate on doing the right things. In this case, finding a healthy nutritional approach (whatever that looks like), being patient, and letting the body sort the rest.

In today's podcast I’ll lay out an alternative solution to cutting calories to reach race weight. Just a few of the things covered are:

• Eat more vegetables and fruits, and more fibre
• Get a good balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats
• Reduce your intake of products containing refined sugars 
• Avoiding ultra processed foods

If you're a new listener, you can subscribe to the podcast HERE so that you never miss an episode!

 

I would love for you to share the episode with one person you think could benefit!

 

To leave a review of the podcast on Apple podcasts CLICK HERE.

Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe using this link, with a happiness guarantee! You can watch a brief video about the group by going to our website here, and join our SWAT High Performance Human tribe here.

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.

How to be an UnBreakable Runner with Brian MacKenzie

Regular listeners will know that I’m a big fan of mobility and strength work, to the point where I have regularly recommended to athletes that they reduce their swim, bike, and run volume and use that time to work out in the gym (or at home). Several years ago I came across a book written by this week's guest, Brian MacKenzie. The book was “Unbreakable Runner” and the principle was to replace a lot of running volume with CrossFit-style workouts. Brian used this approach to complete his first 50 mile ultra on a much lower volume of running than you might expect, and he uses this approach with athletes he coaches. In our chat we discuss:

• The Unbreakable Runner - less volume, more intervals, and a lot more strength work
• Breathing as a measure of exercise intensity - Brian introduces the 5 gear system (22:00)
• Skill development for endurance athletes to reduce injuries (40:50)
• The negative impacts of wearable technology (56:45)
• Why mood is the most valuable metric for athlete performance (1:00:10)
• Valuing your time, and aligning behaviours with goals (1:01)

To find out more about Brian please visit the following places

Websites HHP Foundation Brian MacKenzie

Instagram @shift_adapt

 

To purchase Brian’s books

PowerSpeedEndurance

UnBreakable Runner

UnPlugged

Brian also recommended the following book: Awareness by Anthony deMello

During the conversation Brian also mentioned the unique strength workouts created by the BEST BIG WAVE SURFER of all time,

Laird Hamilton. Please visit XPTLife  and view a workout here: Laird Hamilton’s Revolutionary Pool Workout.

 

To contact Beth regarding Life Coaching, please email her at Info@BethanyWardLifeCoaching.uk.

 

To leave a review of the podcast on Apple podcasts CLICK HERE.

 

Sports Nutrition questions - if you have a sports nutrition question that you would like answered on the podcast, please email it to me via Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.

Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe using this link, with a happiness guarantee! You can watch a brief video about the group by going to our website here, and join our SWAT High Performance Human tribe here.

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.

Bite Sized * Consistency is the key to success

Almost 34 years ago to the day, November 1989, I attended my first triathlon training camp. The venue was Eilat on the Red Sea in Israel and the host was a chap called Bernie Shrosbree who at that time was GB triathlon champion.

I learned a lot on that course, but this lesson was one of the most valuable and which will always stand true: "Consistency is the key to success"

 

It felt so significant to me at the time that I wrote it down in the front cover my training diary (if you visit my Facebook page you’ll be able to see a photo of that exact note I made).

 

If you hear any elite athlete talk about why their season has been so good you'll often hear them refer to the consistency of training that they've enjoyed. If you could choose just one focus for your winter training, or indeed your training for the next 10 years, it should be to stay consistent.

This, above anything else, will  hugely influence whether you reach your goals!

 

In this short podcast I’ll explore some of the reasons why you might lose your training consistency, and then offer some solutions to help you stay as consistent as possible, including a key reason why the Brownlee’s became such dominant runners in the triathlon world.

 

As you think about your training for the next few months, as well as planning your path to faster swim times or a higher FTP, think also about how you can make sure you miss as few training sessions as possible. Your ability to complete as many of your planned sessions as possible will have a huge influence on your progress.

 

If you're a new listener, you can subscribe to the podcast HERE so that you never miss an episode!

 

I would love for you to share the episode with one person you think could benefit!

 

To leave a review of the podcast on Apple podcasts CLICK HERE.

Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe using this link, with a happiness guarantee! You can watch a brief video about the group by going to our website here, and join our SWAT High Performance Human tribe here.

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.

Finding your physical and mental limits: Is it nature or nurture? Emily Cowper-Coles

When I first started working in elite sport I believed that not only did the best athletes have natural talent and a good work ethic, but that they also had a life which was completely under control. From the outside looking in, many armchair fans think that elite athletes, in any sport, have it all.

Nothing could be further from the truth, as you'll hear in this week's podcast. It's a very open and honest conversation with elite female fell runner, Emily Cowper-Coles. During the chat we explore:

• Whether a person's ability to push themselves to their physical and mental limit is nature or nurture
• The domino effects of a sudden traumatic family death when she was 13
• Dealing with chronic stress fatigue, and why it's a mental and physical illness
• How and why to seek help early, and be kind to yourself
• Learning through mistakes and experience
• The benefits of yoga for relaxation
• Competing at a national level as a fell runner, and setting records
• Why the athletes who can perform to their potential are the ones balancing everything sustainably

I hope that you find this conversation as inspiring as I did. If you or anyone you know is affected by any of the issues we discuss, please check out the links below to seek help or guidance.

Red Cross - If you are lonely or want to be kind to yourself

Young Minds - Fighting for young peoples mental health

Assist Trauma Care - If you are the victim of a traumatic bereavement

 

If you want to find out more about Emily and her adventures, please check out these links:

Facebook - 3 wheeling cycle

3 women, 3 peaks, 1 world record

Emily’s 3 peaks solo record attempt

If you’d like to help with Emily’s fundraising this is her JustGiving page.

 

Favourite Motivational Songs

Coldplay - Sky full of stars

Self esteem boost: 

The Greatest Showman - This is Me! 

 

Favourite Book - Make Your Bed - Admiral William McRaven

 

To contact Beth regarding Life Coaching, please email her at Info@BethanyWardLifeCoaching.uk.

 

To leave a review of the podcast on Apple podcasts CLICK HERE.

 

Sports Nutrition questions - if you have a sports nutrition question that you would like answered on the podcast, please email it to me via Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.

 

Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe using this link, with a happiness guarantee! You can watch a brief video about the group by going to our website here, and join our SWAT High Performance Human tribe here.

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.

Bite Sized Edition - 7 steps to being a better swimmer this winter (+1 bonus tip!)

Swimming is the most skill-dependent of the 3 triathlon disciplines, and the one which brings the least gain in terms of minutes saved on race day. And yet it's also the one where most triathletes are frustrated by their apparent lack of progress despite regular visits to the pool.

In this bite sized podcast I’m going to lay out my 7 step process for becoming a better swimmer this winter. I've also thrown in a bonus step for you at the end, including:

 

• Why you need to see a swim coach regularly
• Identifying your key technique limiters and specific drills to fix them
• Key benefits of swimming frequently rather than long
• The real reason why you should focus on technique first
• Patience, and why you can afford to improve slowly
• The link between a physio assessment, mobility, and swimming better

 

Podcasts mentioned in this episode:

Ray Gibbs - Learn to swim easy before swimming fast

Josh Spencer - The ONLY two ways you can become a faster swimmer

 

If you have any questions for me about how YOU can become a faster or more efficient swimmer, please feel free to send me an email.

 

If you're a new listener, you can subscribe to the podcast HERE so that you never miss an episode!

 

I would love for you to share the episode with one person you think could benefit!

 

To leave a review of the podcast on Apple podcasts CLICK HERE.

Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe using this link, with a happiness guarantee! You can watch a brief video about the group by going to our website here, and join our SWAT High Performance Human tribe here.

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.

Going from Couch to 5k up to Ironman * Bianca Fernandez

Most triathletes are good at spinning plates. They're high achievers and it's normal practice for them to have a lot going on. Today's guest is no exception. When Bianca Fernandez was growing up, she excelled at her school work but had no interest in PE or sporting activities. At the age of 29 she decided to follow the Couch to 5k programme. She wasn’t fast but she finished and was so proud of her achievement that it motivated her on to greater challenges - marathon, 70.3 distance triathlon, and eventually Ironman. By a stroke of luck, she won a Kona spot through their Golden Ticket competition celebrating IM Kona's 40th anniversary. She became the first ever athlete from the Dominican Republic to compete in IM Kona. Along the way she's encountered challenges in her life such as working as a female in a male dominated industry, and living in a country where access to sports activities was limited. These experiences have driven not just her participation in triathlon, but the desire to encourage more females into the sport through her charity FundHerTri UK, and at work were she volunteers as part of a group to improve diversity in the workplace.

 

To find out more about Bianca you can find her on IG at Biancatriathlon.

 

You can find her charity, FundHerTriUK, on their Website, and on IG at 

fundhertriUK.

 

These two links also have excellent resources around getting more women to start lines: She.races and Bethan Taylor Swaine, founder of WellBeing.

 

Bianca was inspired by the book Becoming by Michelle Obama.

To contact Beth regarding Life Coaching, please email her at Info@BethanyWardLifeCoaching.uk.

 

To leave a review of the podcast on Apple podcasts CLICK HERE.

 

Sports Nutrition questions - if you have a sports nutrition question that you would like answered on the podcast, please email it to me via Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.

 

Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe using this link, with a happiness guarantee! You can watch a brief video about the group by going to our website here, and join our SWAT High Performance Human tribe here.

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.

Bite sized edition - Understanding zone 2 training: Why it’s important for your longterm health AND your fitness

Zone 2 training is a hot topic now, and rightly so. You might be surprised to learn more about the full range of benefits that training in this zone can have. If you're able to engage in the process of zone 2 training, and have patience, a few months of working in this zone will result in amazing fitness gains for the next season. Some of them are:

• Improved fat oxidisation at sub-maximal efforts
• Better lactate clearance capacity
• Faster recovery from training sessions, leading to improved consistency

However, the benefits that a lot of people may not think about are the ones that improve your overall health as a human being, and your longevity. Please remember that you're a human first, before you're an athlete, so these benefits would ideally have a much higher priority in your mind. They are:

• Improved longterm mitochondrial function (which naturally declines with ageing)
• Better resistance to metabolic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes and obesity

The bottom line is that if you fully embrace zone 2 training, your longterm health prospects will improve, along with your athletic performance. 

In today's podcast I've outlined the above in more details, and provide suggestions on how to incorporate this training into your own programme.

In the podcast I referred to a podcast conversation between Dr Peter Attia and Inigo San Milan (coach to Tadej Pogacar) about this specific subject.

They go a lot deeper than I can in 10 minutes. It’s well worth a listen.

Deep dive back into Zone 2

 

If you're a new listener, you can subscribe to the podcast HERE so that you never miss an episode!

 

I would love for you to share the episode with one person you think could benefit!

 

To leave a review of the podcast on Apple podcasts CLICK HERE.

Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe using this link, with a happiness guarantee! You can watch a brief video about the group by going to our website here, and join our SWAT High Performance Human tribe here.

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.

Nice and Kona Ironman World Championship Reviews with Tim Heming

Since 2002 I haven’t missed many Ironman World Championship events. Being on the Big Island during race week is a magical time Having missed a couple since Covid I realise how lucky I've been to be able to travel each October. I also met my wife Beth on the finish line while volunteering so now it has a special place in our hearts.

2023 is one of those years I missed and I’m especially sad about that because the racing was exceptional at both Nice and Kona.

 

The IRONMAN World Championships have been held in Kona, Hawaii since 1978. Covid forced a change of location to St George for the 2021 race (which had to be held in May 2022), and then in 2022 World Triathlon Corporation experimented with two races on different days. For whatever reason, more changes happened in 2023 so this year we had the mens-only race in Nice in September and then on the usual second Saturday in October we had the female-only race in Kona. Our favourite triathlon journalist Tim Heming was lucky enough  to go to both events and he joins me today to discuss his thoughts on: 

 

• Tim’s top 10 predictions versus the final results
• the concept of splitting not just race days but also venues
• atmosphere in both locations leading up to, and on, race day
• overall quality of racing not just for the pro athletes but age groupers as well (this is especially poignant given the negative publicity that WTC were receiving before the Kona event)
• does the split venue format have enough support and momentum to continue after 2025?

 

If you want to follow Tim for his insights on the world of triathlon you can find him on Twitter (X): @TimHeming

 

To contact Beth regarding Life Coaching, please email her at Info@BethanyWardLifeCoaching.uk.

 

To leave a review of the podcast on Apple podcasts CLICK HERE.

 

Sports Nutrition questions - if you have a sports nutrition question that you would like answered on the podcast, please email it to me via Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.

 

Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe using this link, with a happiness guarantee! You can watch a brief video about the group by going to our website here, and join our SWAT High Performance Human tribe here.

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.