TriDot Podcast .203

20 Methods For Maximizing Your TriDot Training

Intro:This is the TriDot podcast. TriDot uses your training data and genetic profile,combined with predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to optimize yourtraining, giving you better results in less time with fewer injuries. Ourpodcast is here to educate, inspire, and entertain. We’ll talk all thingstriathlon with expert coaches and special guests. Join the conversation andlet’s improve together.

 

Andrew Harley: Welcome to the show! Over all of our episodes, we've had dozens anddozens of fantastic guests come through the TriDot podcast. All of them havebeen gracious with their time, and generous in sharing their knowledge, butnone more so than the three coaches I have with us today. I'm officiallycalling them the TriDot Podcast O.G. Coaches. The Originals, the voices whohave been guiding us the most and the longest. I love bringing new coaches ontothe show, but sometimes you’ve just gotta go back to the originals. Our firstOG coach is professional triathlete and TriDot coach, Elizabeth James.Elizabeth is a USAT Level 2 and Ironman U Certified Coach, who quickly rosethrough the triathlon ranks using TriDot, from a beginner, to top age-grouperto a professional triathlete. She's a Kona and Boston Marathon qualifier whohas coached triathletes with TriDot since 2014. Elizabeth, thanks for joiningus!

 

Elizabeth James: Well, thank you for continuing to bring meback, Andrew. I am super excited about this episode, love that we're bringingback the original group. It's just fun to think back about how we all startedpodcasting around Jeff Booher’s kitchen table, and here we are over 200episodes in. So let's do it!

 

Andrew:Yeah, and now we all have our professional microphones in our homes, with ourboom mics, and our nice lighting and cameras. We’ve come a long way since thekitchen table and Jeff Boomer's house. Episodes one, two, and three, I think werecorded them on the same day. Also joining us today is Coach John Mayfield.John is a USAT Level 2 and Ironman U Certified Coach, who has coached hundredsof athletes ranging from first-timers to Kona qualifiers and professionaltriathletes. John has been using TriDot since 2010 and coaching with TriDotsince 2012. What's up, John?

 

John Mayfield: Hey guys, good to see you all. And yeah, I was in that number onepodcast at the kitchen table, going all the way back to the start.

 

Andrew:Yeah, you were on number one. Elizabeth was on Episode .02, so you're a littlebit more OG than Elizabeth is. And on Episode .03 was our third coach heretoday, TriDot Coach Jeff Raines. Jeff is a USAT Level 2, an Ironman U CertifiedCoach, and a TriDot Master Coach, who has a Master of Science in ExercisePhysiology and was a D1 collegiate runner. He has over 60 Ironman eventfinishes to his credit and has coached hundreds of athletes to the Ironmanfinish line. Jeff has been training and coaching with TriDot since 2015. HeyJeff!

 

Jeff Raines: Hey, guys! Gosh, I remember those first couple of episodes. I wasaround that kitchen table listening in. Yeah, I remember the first episode Iwas on was episode three, and I believe it was 2019. It was at Waco, half Iron,it was the one where EJ earned her pro card. It was the night before the race,we recorded a shoe podcast, I believe was that third episode. But man, it'sbeen a long way, 2019 to now. Man, I get excited and still nervous for everyone of these that we do. Thanks for everything, Andrew.

 

Andrew:Well I am Andrew the Average Triathlete, Voice of the People and Captain of theMiddle of the Pack. As always, we'll roll through our warmup question, settlein for our main set topic, and then wind things down with Vanessa getting us aCoach Cooldown Tip on the cooldown.

 

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Warm up theme: Time to warm up! Let’s get moving.

 

Andrew:None of us on this podcast are physically capable of winning an Olympic goldmedal in triathlon. Elizabeth is the closest of the group, but alas, none of usare that physically gifted. But that doesn't mean there isn't something outthere that we could potentially be the best in the world at. So for today'swarmup question, fill in the blank on this sentence, “If _____ was an Olympicsport, I would win the gold medal.” Elizabeth James.

 

Elizabeth: OK, I am. I am ready for this question. I've got my answer, yeah. Itwould be elementary classroom interior design. I would spend days and daysevery single summer working on my classroom, not only the decorations thatwould go on the walls, but the organization of materials for the students, allthe files for my lesson planning. I mean, every cabinet and cubby hole waspurposefully planned. And I loved this. I mean, I still get excited talkingabout it. I had the opportunity to work with some of the new teachers thatwould come into the districts that I was teaching in and help them set up,organize their rooms. I know there's gonna be a little push-back here and saylike, “That's not a sport,” but I'm totally counting this as a sport, because itwas physically demanding. You're standing on chairs and tables, putting updecorations, you're hauling furniture from the storage cabinets to your room,bringing them up the stairs. I mean, you are sweating like crazy because theschool district doesn't turn the AC on until the students arrive. So I'm gonnasay that that's a sport, and elementary classroom interior design is where Iwould be winning my gold medal.

 

Andrew:John Mayfield, what in the human existence are you gold medal winning the bestat?

 

John:Being mediocre.

 

Andrew:John the Average Human Being.

 

John:So as I as I wracked my brain of what am I really good at, over the years mywhole life, I've been pretty good at pretty much everything I've tried. I'venever been great at anything, and triathlon is kind of just the latest. I'mpretty good at triathlon, I'm by no means great. I was a pretty good golfer. Idabbled in music and home repair, all these different things that I've dabbledin, and I've been pretty good at a lot of things, but never elite at anything.So I guess that's what I'm good at is being pretty good at a lot of things. SoI'm the quintessential Jack of All Trades, Master of None.

 

Andrew:Jeff Raines, what do you got here?

 

Jeff:You know, I have to dabble a little bit in what EJ was talking about. Kids andjuggling furniture, balancing on furniture.

 

Andrew:You balance your kids on furniture?

 

Jeff:In honor of having three kiddos – gosh, seven, five, and two now –and furniturebeing involved, if “the floor is lava” was an Olympic sport, man I would thriveat that, because I play it every single day with my kids. Then in honor ofBluey – all you dads out there, you know Bluey – “the balloon can't touch theground” game. Man, I will dive, I will like, knock over my kids, yeah. And thenI'll say that EJ and I are actually currently in the process of grading papersfrom our TriDot coach certification process. So I'm sure she's having someflashbacks and having fun diving back into that world.

 

Andrew:Okay, this answer for me is actually something that I'm kind of the worst at,and I'm turning it into something I'm the best at. I am the absolute worst atgetting out of conversations. If I end up in a conversation with somebody outand about, I am horrendous at ending a conversation. So I guess I'm spinningthis to say I am the best at getting stuck in long conversations. No one onthis earth is better at that than me. No one can waste more time askingmindless follow-up questions to keep the conversation rolling, even though bothparties want the conversation to end so we can go our separate ways. It justhappens wherever we go. But that's it for me, I'm the best person, goldmedal-winning at getting stuck in long conversations. I can't wait to hear whatour audience has to say. Some very, very interesting answers from our coacheson the show today, so make sure you're part of the I AM TriDot Facebook groupand let us know – what is something in the human experience that you are theunquestioned best at? If it was an Olympic sport, you would win the gold medal.

 

Main set theme: On to the main set. Going in 3…2…1…

 

Andrew:Before we get too deep into the show today, I want to give a shout-out to ourgood friends at UCAN. Here at TriDot we are huge believers in using UCAN tofuel our training and racing. In the crowded field of nutrition companies, whatseparates UCAN from the pack is the science behind LIVSTEADY, the keyingredient in UCAN products. While most energy powders are filled with sugar orstimulants that cause a spike and crash, UCAN energy powders, powered byLIVSTEADY, deliver a steady release of complex carbs to give you stable bloodsugar and provide long-lasting energy. I personally fuel my workouts with theorange-flavored Edge gel and the unflavored UCAN energy powder. Between theirenergy mix, energy bars, almond butter, and more, there is definitely aLIVSTEADY product that you will love. So head to their website ucan.co, and use the code TRIDOT to save 20% on yourentire order. Now that code used to be 10%, but the fine folks at UCAN haveupped it to 20% for TriDot Nation. So once again, that's ucan.co, promo code TriDot.

 

Atthe top of the show, I was so excited to highlight the fact that I hadElizabeth, Jeff, and John all on the show together again, that I did not evenplug our topic today. Thankfully, it's in the name of the episode, so I'm sureyou are aware of our conversation topic here. Today we are hitting twentyMagical Methods for TriDot athletes to make the most of their triathlontraining. TriDot is a very powerful training platform, it's a powerful tool.And our coaches on the show today have been training and coaching with TriDotfor a good long while now, longer than most folks, so they will share theirinsights into getting the most out of the powerful training tool that isTriDot. So, my esteemed coaches, let's get into it. I'm going to introduce aMagical Method for utilizing TriDot, making the most of your training, and thenI will ask a coach to just unpack why this is a method for getting the most outof it. So Magical Method #1 for getting the most out of your TriDot training isto attend an orientation session. Elizabeth, talk to us about these.

 

Elizabeth: Attend an orientation session. Yes, please, please, please do this. Youdefinitely don't have to have an understanding of every single amazing thingthat TriDot does, but you do need a basic understanding to get the most out ofyour training. And you can get a great understanding from just a quick30-minute orientation session. Invest that 30 minutes. Honestly, even skip oneof those sessions in the first couple of weeks, if you're strapped for time. Itwould be a better investment for you to spend 30 minutes doing the orientationsession, getting a basic understanding of how your training works, what youshould look for on a daily basis, and you are going to get so much more out ofit. I think I have a special passion for these sessions, since I used to leadsome of them. And while I don't do that anymore, it is something that I requireof all of my coached athletes when they onboard with TriDot. It's like I have achecklist and it's like, “Have you attended your orientation session?” “Okay, no,not yet.” “Well, we're not moving on. Schedule that.” We'll even do aone-on-one, but that is so important to me for my coached athletes to do, it'ssomething I recommend for everybody. Do that, you're going to be so much betteroff.

 

Andrew:Yeah, I've shared this story before so I'll keep it brief here, but when Ifirst came on TriDot, just as a millennial I was like, “This is an app. I knowhow to use apps. I'm that generation. So I'm not gonna do the orientation, I'mjust gonna figure it out on my own.” And there's so many things – there werethings we were recording podcasts about, as a two-, three-year TriDotter in thepodcast host seat – and I learned that you could do X, Y, and Z and they'relike, “Yeah, if you had attended your orientation, you would have learned thatway back then.”

 

Elizabeth: You’re like, “Oh, really?” It's like, “Andrew, you could have learnedthat week one!”

 

Andrew:Yeah, and even beyond the orientation, which we call the TriDot 101 class,there's actually a TriDot 201 class that kind of dives a little bit deeper. Sothe orientation really shows you how to use TriDot, it's the essentialfunctionality. Then for somebody who has been on the app for a while, I wouldabsolutely encourage you to check into a TriDot 201 class, where Cindy Reevesgoes a little bit deeper on how to use the app, it's another great tool there.So when TriDot offers webinars on how to use TriDot, take advantage of thoseopportunities to really learn your way around the platform.

 

MagicalMethod #2 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to know yourtraining phases. Jeff Raines, talk to us about the two training phases thatyou'll see in TriDot.

 

Jeff:Yeah, it seems simple enough. You've got the developmental phase, and then youhave the race prep or what I call the stamina phase. But knowing when theystart and end, and where you're at inside of those – I know we're over 200podcast episodes in, but one of my favorites, and probably the one that I sendout to others the most, is podcast Episode No. .10, “Escaping the Power-StaminaParadox”. The traditional methodology or ideology of base training is largelyoutdated. It's largely inverted, at least our data shows and proves that. So wekind of have that “fast before far, strong before long” approach to your seasonplanner. In that developmental phase you'll have largely shorter durations butmaybe a little bit more quality inside of the workouts. Then as you get alittle bit closer to an A-race, especially long-course racing, the focus ismore on maintaining those thresholds that you have built during the first halfor more of the season. The focus is then maintaining that strength, and insideof that being able to hold higher percentages of that max or those thresholdsfor longer durations. So that's that stamina or race prep phrase. Just knowwhere you're at in that, have a plan, have a focus. That coincides a little bitwith RaceX and those A, B and C priority races. I'll just say this and be done,because I know that we can talk a lot about season planning, but A and B racesin TriDot and RunDot, they will have a little bit of taper. You will haverecovery, kind of peaking you, getting ready for those events. C races show upon the calendar, you get awesome RaceX race strategy for that race, but C raceswill not affect the plan. Putting too many A and B races can hinder the amountof time that you have in that precious developmental phase, so don't scheduleevery single race as an A race. And if you want to dive deeper in that, you canemail support or attend a 201 call to learn a little bit more about that andget some help if you're not working with the coach.

 

Andrew:Magical Method #3 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to paceyour workout by the correct metric, and this is going to really dictate thatprecious TrainX score. Elizabeth, talk to us about making sure we're pacing bythe correct metrics.

 

Elizabeth: It’s very important to know when to do a workout based on power orpace, and when to go by heart rate. This is a new concept for many athletesthat are coming on board, and it's a really easy thing to follow once you knowwhere to look. But this is probably one of the biggest things for doing theright training right, is making sure that you're looking at those metrics,following the one that you're supposed to be following. Because doing theworkout by the correct metric will make sure that you are doing the training asprescribed, adhering to the correct intensity, keeping the easy days easyenough to be able to push hard on the days when those intervals are prescribed.

 

Andrew:Magical Method #4 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is toembrace your easy days. Embrace the easy days, people. You don't have to breakyourself every single day in training. John Mayfield, talk to us about this.

 

John:Yeah, this is a very common mistake that athletes who are self-coached or newto the sport kind of fall into this trap of spending all of their time in amiddle zone, what is referred to as the “black hole” of training. It's not hardenough to truly be hard, it's not easy enough to be easy. There are certainbenefits, certain adaptations that happen when we go hard. There are certainthings that happen when we go easy. So it's that that natural place where a lotof people like to be, is in that black hole where it's like “I'm going fastenough to feel like I'm having fun. I'm pushing myself a little bit, but it'snot to that place where it's uncomfortable and it hurts and it's really hard.”So it's important on those easy days to truly go easy. How do we define easy?It's not necessarily tied to a pace or a power number, it is how our body isresponding to that intensity. So we use heart rate to measure that, and whatwe're looking to do is stay in an aerobic state using the aerobic energysystem. And again, there's a plethora of things that happen, adaptations thathappen when we train at that low intensity that diminish or don't happen as webegin to push harder and harder. So oftentimes what we see are those athletesthat – it’s most common on the run, but it's true for cycling as well – butthey want to hold their Zone 2 pace, but when they hold that Zone 2pace, we see the Zone 2 heart rate go up into Zone 3, Zone 4 even,especially in warmer temperatures. But again, what we're looking to do is trainthe body at those lower intensities. So it's critical to go easy on the easydays, and then the exact same argument can be made for different reasons, to gohard on the hard days.

 

Andrew:Yep, and I almost made those two separate Magical Methods, but I knew theywould get a shout out in tandem together – keep the easy stuff easy so the hardstuff can be hard. Thanks, John, for that explanation there. Magical Method #5for getting the most out of your training, and I'm going to take this onepersonally. It's to make investments in the ease of training. I like buyingthings, I like shopping for things, so I'm gonna take this one. There’s thingsyou can buy that just simply make you faster on race day, right? You can buythat $2,000 disc wheel, and it's a sexy purchase, and it looks good on yourbike, and it's gonna make you feel awesome on race day. But that same moneycould revolutionize your ability to get in all of your sessions, to get in morestrength, to get in more stability, more mobility. To me, some of the biggestimpacts on my training are things that I've bought just to make doing thetraining easier. I am that athlete that will –my wife refers to this as“faffing about” – it can take me too long to even get to the training session.So I've made investments in some things that – if I can just take a lunch breakat work, and pop upstairs in the pain cave, and hop on the treadmill, and do myrun and pop back down to work – that makes it more likely that I'm going to dothe session. So if you find in your schedule and your routine, that there'ssomething that you can buy that may not make you faster on race day, may not bethe latest training gadget, but just makes it easier for you to train, that tome can make a huge difference in your training. Some examples of this, I get somuch more good strength work and stretching work in by having yoga mats inmultiple rooms. If it's right there in that room, I'm more likely to do it. Thingslike having iPads, TVs, speakers in your pain cave just to kind of entertainyou. Things obviously like smart trainers for the bike, treadmills, thoseellipticals, whatever helps you get that cardio in. Dry land swim bands, havingthose close at hand in a room that's easy to grab. Having your foam rollers,your recovery tools, whatever it is that can make your training easier and makeit easier to get those sessions done, those are worthwhile investments to me.It just makes the training that much more effective, because you’re gettingyour sessions in, as opposed to missing something because it's just a littlebit too hard to get on the bike and get outside and go to your ride sometimes.

 

MagicalMethod #6 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to familiarizeyourself with the settings, the training preferences, and the things thatimpact the training that you are prescribed. John Mayfield.

 

John:This kind of goes along with what you were saying right there in that lastpoint, is these are the kinds of things that can make your training moreeffective, but also just easier to execute. When your training fits yourschedule, your lifestyle, your abilities and that sort of thing, you're goingto train more consistently, and that's the key to results. So there within thesettings, you have the option to adjust things like your volume. You can selectdays off, you can designate which days your long sessions are going to be. Allthose kinds of things that, when you customize and tailor the training scheduleto your schedule, to your life, the easier it is for you to do, the more likelyyou are to do it. So I think it kind of goes along with those points thatyou're just making about gear and equipment. The easier it is to do, the morelikely you are to do it. So take advantage of those opportunities to build itthe way it works best for you. And there are some stops in there – becausethings like the frequency of sessions, the sequence of sessions, all thatmatters. It's not like we're going to just haphazardly do sessions in anyrandom order. But we can certainly tailor it, like if there's a particular dayof the week that you are not available to train, or “I can't get my longsession in on this day”, I can make some adjustments there. Then from there,there’s some things that really operate in the background that go into theoptimization – things that you really don't need to do anything with, but theycan be pretty interesting to dig into, to see how these things are affectingyour training, and how they play a critical role in your trainingprescriptions. Things like your training stress profile – your training stressprofile is a critical component that is not available elsewhere outside ofTriDot . What this is going to do is quantify exactly how much of each type oftraining stress is appropriate for you, and then how much recovery is required.So it's looking at four different types of stress. Aerobic threshold, muscularand neural stress – it’s looking at these on a per session, per week, and permesocycle basis, and it's independent for the swim, bike and run. So all thesethings go in to determine how much training stress is appropriate for you, andthen that will go into your training plan prescription. So again, nothing foryou to do there, but it's pretty neat to see. Same thing with PhysiogenomiX.How does your genome, how does your DNA set you up for training? And how thenis your training adjusted based on that? Which genes do you have and not have,and how does that impact your ability to train, recover, injury predisposition,and those types of things? Then others like your swim profile, bike-to-run,where are your opportunities for gains between the bike and the run, and howdoes that impact your training prescription as well? Again, there's a lot ofthings there that you don't need to do anything to those, but are pretty neatto go in and see exactly how those things are factoring into your training.

 

Andrew:TriDot is already optimizing your training based on these things, but it'scool, as an athlete to make the most of your training, to go take a look atthem and see what TriDot has to say about your training stress profile, yourPhysiogenomiX, your swim profile. It's just interesting to see, and it helpsyou be mindful of yourself and who you are in your training.

 

MagicalMethod #7 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to be smart withwhere you do your sessions. Jeff Raines.

 

Jeff:Yeah, I always talk about being intentional. Yeah, you can get workouts done –like if you're traveling or something like that – yeah you can go downstairs ina hotel, and bust out a 45-minute treadmill. But I would be strategic, I wouldbe intentional on where you do your sessions. If you want to focus on pacing,or maybe you have fast runs or intervals or something like that, you may wantto do a run on a track. Yeah, you can use grade-adjusted pace on a hillyneighborhood route, but to be more effective you may want to do something likethat on a track or smooth terrain. Zone 2 days are great days to explore,hop on a trail, go around town, just get out of the mundane and the normal. Sotaking a new route, or going on a run when you're on a work trip or in a newcity, that hour can go by very, very fast, because it's new scenery, newthings. Hopping into the swim, if you can get in a long-course pool, hundredpercent do it. It's largely the end of summer now, fall swim season isstarting, so a lot of pools don't have that many weeks left in long-course.They're going to switch to 25-yard pools, because indoor season is coming soon.But man, your open-water swim translates so much better, swimming day-to-day,in a long-course 50-meter pool. Meters are longer than yards, and you have lesspush off the walls. I know it's a little bit frustrating, your paces might be alittle bit slower, but if you're someone like me who can't get in open watervery regularly, swimming in a long-course pool when you have the opportunity isgold. Biking indoors versus outdoors, that's another big one. Just think aboutwhere you're at in your season, how can you change things up, how can you be alittle bit more intentional, and get more out of the workout. Be a little bit moreengaged. If you're happier or engaged, then you're probably going to have abetter workout, and that consistency of doing things like that adds up, andultimately it could change the outcome of your season.

 

Andrew:Magical Method #8 for getting the most out of your training is to get theenvironment correct. John Mayfield, talk to us about the environmentnormalization of TriDot.

 

John:Yeah, this is another one of those things that is proprietary and unique toTriDot that really is critical. I think we all understand how important it isto adjust our training for the environment in which it's done. But other thanTriDot, it's basically an assumption and kind of a guess. TriDot utilizesenvironment normalization, so your intensities are going to be adjusted basedon the environment that you're doing the training in. Going back to thattraining stress profile I mentioned a minute ago, every session you areprescribed has a particular intent to achieve a certain amount of trainingstress based on that training stress profile. Now, the environment in which youdo a session is going to affect the amount of training stress that you acquire,even at the same intensity level. So if you are at 200 watts – 200 watts isdifferent if it is 60 degrees outside, or if you're riding along with JeffRaines and it's 111 degrees. That 111 degrees is going to be far morestressful, so in order to achieve that desired training stress, we need toadjust for those conditions. Instead of riding 200 watts at 111 degrees, youmaybe need to ride 180 watts or something like that. It’ll be determined foryou. So as you are going out and doing these sessions, it's important to getthe environment right. If you are doing a session indoors, you can mark it asindoors. It will default to the indoor settings, and it will adjust yourintensities accordingly. Now, this is just for the bike and the run. The swimis only affected by elevation, so if you happen to be at an elevation above 3,4, or 5,000 feet, this would be pertinent. But for most of us that live at alower elevation, this is simply for bike and run Intensity. So if you're doingthe session indoors, be sure to designate it as indoors. Then otherwise makesure that you are adjusting for the time. There is a default time for swim,bikes, and runs. If you are doing those sessions other than those times, you'llneed to update it. What it's doing is looking at the forecast to say what thetemperature is going to be in your location for a given time. So if you are inyour home and you're doing it first thing in the morning, then that weather isgoing to be accurate. But if you're doing it later in the day or in a differentlocation, then it could be different, so you'll need to adjust for that. Thenafterwards, your time in zones, your TrainX scores, all of that is going to bebased on how well you executed that session given that environment, based onwhat temperature was recorded by your device. There can be some fluctuationthere, so make sure that your device is accurately reporting the environmentalconditions. This is something we see relatively common, especially if you'rerunning in the cooler months wearing a jacket, and your watch is under thejacket. It’s going to be warmer in there, so that's not necessarily reflectingthe true environment that you're in. So make sure things like that are takeninto consideration. Then even be diligent with how you are selecting thosesessions. This is kind of what Jeff was referring to. Sometimes it's better todo a session indoors in a cooler environment so that you can have a high levelof execution. At a certain point things just get too hot, they get too cold,too rainy to be safe and to have a good executed session. You know when it's111 degrees outside, it's just really hard to execute a very high-levelsession. So in that case, you're probably better off taking that sessionindoors. On the inverse of that, it can also be important to do things to getacclimated. So if you are doing a hot race, it's important to get out there andspend a little time being uncomfortable, sweating more, having to take in morefluids, to dial in your protocols and all that. So the environment that we doour training in is obviously important.

 

Andrew:Magical Method #9 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to dowhat you can to stay healthy. You can't do your training if you're not healthyto do your training. So this is a magical method for sure. Elizabeth, talk tous about the ways we can try to stay healthy.

 

Elizabeth: You know, there’s something that Matt Sommer has said before. He'smentioned it a number of times that we've been together as coaches, and hetells his coached athletes this. He says, “Listen to your body when itwhispers, so that it doesn't have to yell.” That has just always stuck with me.I know that Dr. BJ Leeper has been a great podcast guest, expert in the fielddiscussing injury prevention and all these different recovery modalities. Imean, staying healthy is a huge part of the sport. If you're not healthy,you're not training, you're not able to progress. So I think one place to starthere is to acknowledge that there are those little niggles that do occur intraining. When you're pushing your body to the limit, those niggles are likelyto occur. But it's so important that we don't allow those little niggles tobecome a larger injury or a chronic nagging. So one of the things that you cando is to get a movement screening, that can help identify an area of weaknessin the body that could become a potential injury. This is something that I'vebeen learning more and more about, especially over the past couple of years asI've battled a chronic injury. This is something that I maybe could haveavoided if I had looked a little bit closer at some of my movement patterns,focused some more on mobility, and then enlisted the help of a movementspecialist or physical therapist prior to getting injured. I think we're seeingthis more and more. There's been a really good turn in the trend of moreprehab, and getting information before athletes are injured, and realizing thatphysical therapy isn't just something for rehab after an injury has occurred,but there's a whole lot of benefit to looking at how your body moves. As BJwould say, “be a sniper”, figure out what are those things that we really needto take care of now before they become big issues. Then we have the other sideof staying healthy, which is avoiding illness. I think here, just some basicsimple practices go a long way. Prioritizing sleep, getting in qualitynutrition, feeding your body good things, and staying hydrated are truly someof your best lines of defense in terms of staying illness-free, and being ableto continue training from that perspective as well.

 

Andrew:Yeah, great stuff, Elizabeth. I certainly know sniper style, the spots in mybody I have issues with if I don't do my prehab stuff that I know how to do.And yeah, go find any of our podcast episodes with BJ Leeper. He's just been aninvaluable resource for talking about injury prevention and strength training,mobility.

 

MagicalMethod #10 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to go to TriDotPool School. The swim training in TriDot is already fantastic, that's where youbuild your fitness. But if you want a swim breakthrough, swim breakthroughshappen at TriDot Pool School. Jeff Raines, talk to us about how going to PoolSchool helps us make the most of our TriDot swim training.

 

Jeff:The beauty of Pool School is, no matter what fitness level you are, you'regoing to see an improvement. And it's a proven improvement, it's an invaluablemethodology. It's just an invaluable weekend as far as community and slappinghigh fives with people, but also the profound breakdown of just – everythingyou've learned, just put it on hold. Have an open mind, be intentional thiswhole weekend, and you're going to get a lot out of it. Just starting fromground zero, and eight hours of consistent feedback, every single 25, from twoto three instructors. It's almost a one-to-one instructor-to-swimmer ratio.It's something that we believe in, and we make that happen, we make sure thatthere are two to three certified Pool School instructors per lane, and we don'tjam-pack every single lane on purpose. So you're getting eight hours ofconstant feedback. You could invest in punch cards, and once a week go seesomebody, and if that's the best that is around you in that area, that's great.I'm not knocking that by any means. But having eight hours of consistentfeedback in one weekend, and all the fun social things outside of all of that,it's just an amazing investment. You’re getting that constant feedback, rightthere in the moment. And there's so many things that we do leading up to it formuscle memory, and then ongoing support after Pool School. So definitely lookinto that, TriDotPoolSchool.com, reach out to Joanna Nami at joanna.nami@tridot.com for any further questions. But man, it is ablast, and you are going to see a great improvement.

 

Andrew:Magical Method #11 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to keepa race on the calendar. This is something that has been crucial for me in thelast year and a half or so, so I'm going to share on this one. One of the firststeps we encourage a new athlete to take when they onboard to TriDot – do anorientation, connect your devices, connect your Garmin or Strava, whateveryou're using to measure your data, and then put a race on the calendar. Puttinga race on the calendar really enables TriDot to start building your trainingfor a specific event, whether it's close by or a long way off. I have found,just for me as an athlete, that keeping a race on the calendar is crucial tomotivation. There's those days where the day starts getting away from you andit's like, “Oh man, I've got X, Y, and Z on the agenda, do I really want to getthis run or bike in? Do I really want to go down to the pool today?” If there'sno race on the calendar, I am much more likely to skip a session, or cut a sessionshort, or to let a week or two go by where the training just gets away from me.But if there's a race on the calendar, I'm a lot more likely to do thattraining, to get that stuff in. Even if it's a local sprint, even if it's a Crace that is not a huge goal, where I have a huge time I'm trying to hit, ortrying to be my best self. Just having something, it keeps me motivated in thetraining. It can really help you get your training done, it helps asmotivation. I also think it just helps keep it fun. That's something I tell myfriends, I tell my buddies, is keep a race on the calendar, even if it's just aC race or local sprint or something low pressure. Make sure you have somethingin your line of sight that you're working towards.

 

MagicalMethod #12 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to participatein the TriDot community. Elizabeth James.

 

Elizabeth: You know, I've said this before, but the people, the community has beena huge sticking point for me as I was getting started, not only in the sport,but with TriDot as well. I was intrigued by the AI, intrigued by the trainingdesign, but as amazing as all of that is, I would truly say that the communitytops all of the technology. So yes, participate in the TriDot community. Thereis not only a wealth of knowledge, but a whole bunch of inspiration, support,and camaraderie. Yeah, join the Facebook group. Wherever you are in the world,we have this fantastic online community. You can ask a question and get answersimmediately. You'll get support for whatever you're going through. Put aquestion or a struggle out there, and I can guarantee that, even if there isn'tan athlete that's been through that personally, you're going to get someemotional support as you're working through that. Then it’s great motivation tosee the results that people are posting there, about bumping the dot and justrocking their assessments, to see what races they're doing and how the traininghas come through on race day. That's super exciting. Then in addition to thatlarge Facebook group, we now have these athlete regional groups as well, andthat really helps you get connected with TriDot athletes in your area. That's agreat opportunity to maybe find some new training partners, or at least connectin your local area. Then beyond that, go to a camp. I'm just scratching thesurface here, but we've got our ambassador group, we have a fantastic coachingcommunity if that's your wheelhouse as well. We have our “at the races” events.There's just a lot of ways to get involved, get connected. I would say thatthat's one of my absolute favorite things about the sport of triathlon is thepeople, and the TriDot community is second to none. We have the best.

 

Andrew:Yeah. One thing I think is really special about the TriDot community is that itspreads so widely across the sport. Because you can be an ambassador forwhatever brands you love – you can be on Team Zoot, you can race for some eliteracing crew, you can be in your local tri club – and you can also be a TriDotathlete. Plug into these groups, do the sport with other people. Obviously wewant that to be with the TriDot community, but be with your local tri club.That really is going to raise your enjoyment of the sport.

 

MagicalMethod #13 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to know when toride indoors with ERG mode, and when to not. Jeff, tell us about this.

 

Jeff:Man, this is a whole podcast in itself. When to ERG mode, and when to not,right? It's a great tool.

 

Andrew:Shakespeare said that I think. “To ERG mode or not to ERG mode? That is thequestion!”

 

 

Jeff: That is the question, I like that. I mean, ERGmode is great to automate a workout. You get on, you download the TriDotworkout, and you don't stop pedaling for an hour. Awesome, you get a 100 TrainXscore. It's a great tool, a great opportunity. But inside of that, you can be alittle bit more intentional. You might have a 30-watt window of Zone 4, and itmight automate in the middle of Zone 4. But there are days like, “Is it okay tobump it up 15 watts, it's still zone 4, right?” Or maybe days you're a littlebeat up, where you can tone it down. What I'm getting at really is that itcould create bad habits. ERG mode is a really great tool, you might increaseyour functional threshold by 25 watts in the offseason, preseason, or most ofthe developmental phase. But what could and might happen for some is that whenthey get outdoors, it can be hard to translate those gained watts to the road,the technical aspect of gearing, cadence, and those sorts of things. So what Iencourage my athletes to do is, the second half of the developmental phase –maybe Tuesday, your harder quality session, ERG mode it. Nail that Zone 4.You’ve got 11 minutes. If you were free riding, maybe you’d bail out a littlebit early, but if it's ERG mode, you're going to hang on and really nail theworkout. Then maybe every Thursday you do that whole session as free ride mode.Maybe on the weekends, every other weekend you're getting outside, stuff likethat. Just be intentional, where you're at in your season, knowing how to translatethe watts and the cadence. I'll just use this analogy and be done – it's kindof like swimming all the time with buoyancy shorts on, it can create badhabits. ERG mode is great, you can improve your functional threshold, but youwant to be able to translate those watts to the road. A lot of ERG mode,watching movies inside, can cause your cadence to drift down. When our minddrifts, our cadence tends to fall, and some athletes can become potentiallylower-cadence riders, and then when they get outside later on in the season, itcan kind of throw things off. So you just want to be careful, be intentionalwith your free ride versus ERG mode, and know when and where you're going toplace that, how you're going to do it.

 

Andrew:Magical Method #14 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is tocreate space for fun. John Mayfield, you're the funnest guy I know.

 

John:I think I'm pretty good at having fun. I like to have fun, and that definitelytranslates over to my triathlon training as well. Do what you need to do toreally enjoy it. I've said it on almost every podcast I've been on, it's aboutconsistency, it's not perfection. The more consistently you train, the moreopportunities you have to deviate when there's an opportunity to do so. I doalmost every weekend session with a group, and I am still able to get prettyclose to my prescribed training. It may not be as spot on as if I were indoorsdoing it in ERG mode, like Jeff was saying. But there's benefit to having fun,there's benefit to enjoying it. That's an intangible that's not quantified inthe data, but I would say it's certainly an important aspect of training. Hopon a group ride, mix up your run experience. Maybe try out trail running or adifferent surface, different location, or run with a friend. Maybe your pace isoff a little bit, but it’s not every session, the occasional mixing up is great.There are opportunities with the online apps like Zwift and FulGaz to do grouprides there. It's about taking advantage of the opportunities you have, butobviously you have to be smart. It's not every day, it's not every session. Butcertainly save room for opportunities to make training fun, and really enjoywhat you're doing.

 

Andrew:Yep, great stuff there, John. Magical Method #15 for getting the most of yourTriDot training is to consume TriDot content. I'm going to take this one,obviously, and encourage everybody to consume our media content. The knowledgein the house, the coaches we have in the house here at TriDot are so top-notch,they're leading in their field. We get all sorts of fantastic people on ourmedia channels. So I'm just gonna encourage you, consume TriDot content. We'reable to explain how to be a TriDot athlete, we're able to explain things likeEnviroNorm and how to use the app, and how to get the most out of the training.We're able to highlight our athletes that are using the platform well, we'reable to introduce you to different coaches, different voices through ourcontent. Obviously you're already listening to the TriDot podcast becauseyou're hearing me talk on here, and so thank you for that. I would encourageyou to watch the TriDot Triathlon Show on YouTube. That's a new thing for usthat we're trying to get good at. We are ramping that up slowly over the nextcouple months to get our coaches on video, coaching you in the sport oftriathlon. So go find our stuff on YouTube, be on the lookout for webinars. Wedo all sorts of webinars that coach on different corners of the sport. Followus on social media. We have coaches and athletes on social media talking aboutthe sport of triathlon and announcing new product features. Then obviouslycheck out the podcasts, blogs, and webinars that TriDot coaches do. There areTriDot coaches that have their own podcasts. We did an episode on that a fewepisodes back. We have coaches that have their own blogs, that hold their ownwebinars. John Mayfield does some great webinars and camps. Consume the contentthat our other coaches put out there in the tri space, follow them on socialmedia. That's just going to further the touch points and your knowledge of whatTriDot is and how training should go.

 

MagicalMethod #16 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to know when totake some time off. Jeff Raines.

 

Jeff:As great as the optimization is, it will always need the human element. It willalways need a coach to further optimize it. If you're not able to work with acoach, then you've got to listen to your body and just know when to take a dayoff. It is okay to change things up a little bit seasonally. For example, I hadan athlete that just finished their A race, and they want to spend the nextfour weekends just getting on some trail, mountain bike riding with somebuddies, instead of that grind of waking up early, getting on that smarttrainer, or getting outside, all those things. Today, this morning, really,really early, I got up at 3:50 AM to do my 2½ hour long run. I was an hour in,and I just wasn't feeling it, I bailed out early. I listened to my body. I waslike, “You know what, I’m not going to force this.” I came inside, did a littlebit of yoga, a little bit of cross-training. But I was like, “I'm gonna go makebreakfast for the kiddos before they wake up.” Just things like that. You’vejust got to know when to take that time off, when to cross-train. You can havethose micro-breaks, that little micro-recovery. You just take the day off orcross-train a little bit, change things up. Maybe you just need a week to dosomething like that, so those kinds of small, medium breaks. Sometimes it's aphysical kind of a stress break, or rest, or reset. Sometimes it's more mental.It can be both. Life stress, all sorts of things. So just know when to takesome time off. Don't be afraid to cross train or take a day off, manuallycomplete a session, something like that. Listen to your body, and don't get toocaught up in the numbers.

 

Andrew:Magical Method #17 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to learnwhat RaceX is capable of. Elizabeth James.

 

Elizabeth: RaceX stands for race execution. RaceX can give you your potentialfinish times and splits on certain courses, so you can run simulations of howyou'll swim, bike, and run on particular courses. A lot of the Ironman races,Challenge races, and a lot of the major marathons are already there. But youcan also upload the course files, the course profile, of other bike and runcourses to really run these simulations on any course. You could make a coursein your neighborhood and run a simulation off of, for example, a backyardtriathlon that you wanted to do. The technology is there for it. And it takesinto account so many different factors about you, your fitness, yourpreparation, and then the course itself such as what is the historical weather data,what is the elevation gain on the bike and the run? What gradient is the climband for how long? Those types of things. Then beyond that, you can also runsome “what if” scenarios. You can basically play around with it and say “Okay,here's what my time is if I'm just wearing my regular road helmet. Now whatwould it be if I were to use an aero helmet? How much time savings does thatgive me? What if I use a disc wheel versus a 404 or an 808? What if I buckledown and continue losing a little weight? What if I lose ten pounds by raceday, how much is that going to impact my bike split or my run split?” So youcan play all of these “what if” games or scenarios, which I think is justfascinating, to really help you get an idea of what your optimized race timewould be, and how to get that. Then you can do an exportable bike power planfor race day. You can basically upload this to your bike computer and use itduring the competition, and it will give you prompts based on the GPS locationwhere you're at on the course. “Alright, you're coming up to a hill, you'regoing to need to ride 260 watts for the next two minutes to make it up thisclimb. Then you're going to descend, and you should hold 210 watts for the next15 minutes.” It will give you those specific prompts, and really help youoptimize what wattage to ride based on how the course profile is laid out, sothat not only do you have the bike split that is going to be best for you onthat day, but also not negatively impact you on the run. I love how it's notjust, “How can I get the fastest bike split possible?” It's like, “What isgoing to be the bike split that produces not only a strong bike, but doesn'tnegatively impact me, and leave me so fatigued that I can't run my best off thebike either.” Use that as a tool, it's a fantastic resource for all of ourathletes.

 

Andrew:If you're a TriDot athlete, you just click a button and it pitches you over toRaceX. But you can have a RaceX account and be a RaceX user, without being aTriDot athlete.

 

MagicalMethod #18 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to buy TriDotgear, and to wear something TriDot at the races. I'm going to take this one. Wejust like it. We like being on the course and being able to pick our athletesout of the group by seeing the TriDot logo somewhere. And as an athlete, thereis nothing like the boost of having a fellow TriDotter yell, “Let's go TriDot!Go TriDot! I see you TriDot!”, whatever it is. Because you see each other, youidentify each other as team members when you're wearing the logo on the course.It helps our team when we have coaches at the races, when our staff is at theraces, it helps us pick you out of the group and say, “Oh, that's so-and-so.You're doing great, keep going!” And one cool thing about it to me is we haveTriDot hats, we have TriDot visors, we have TriDot kits, we have TriDotjerseys, we have TriDot temporary race-day tattoos. So you can represent yourtri club, you can represent something else you're an ambassador for. Wear theirkit, wear our hat, wear something else and just put a couple TriDot tattoos onyou. But having that logo on you on race day connects you to our team, itconnects you to other TriDotters, and it gives you just another cohort ofpeople cheering for you on race day.

 

MagicalMethod #19 for getting the most out of your TriDot training is to be craftywith what subscription that you are on at what times of your season. There's acouple different subscription levels for a reason. We want to take care ofevery budget-conscious athlete that is out there. John Mayfield, talk to usabout getting the most out of the subscription tiers within TriDot.

 

John:Obviously there are differences in those subscriptions. To really get yourbest, I would say pay for what you can afford. Obviously we don't want to gobeyond our means, but the premium subscriptions that include working with aone-on-one coach are proven to produce the best results. You get theoptimization of the training, you get all of the functionality and features ofthe TriDot app, but then you also get to work with a coach, that is a hugebenefit and huge partnership when paired with the app. Then from there it kindof goes down. Obviously each subscription, as they get cheaper, has reducedcapabilities and different functionality. But they are still going to produceoptimized training that is going to produce your great result. So I would sayjust evaluate what your needs are based on your race distance, your budget, andfind that subscription that is going to work best for you. We see athletesfluctuate throughout the year, too. You're not in any kind of contract oranything, so you can adjust in real time. So if you've got an A race coming upthat perhaps you've got a little more in the budget, maybe you're reallypursuing something with this race and you want to get every last drop ofpotential, maybe it's worth upgrading to a subscription with morefunctionality, more customization, that kind of thing. Then the inverse is trueas well. After that A race, maybe it's worth dropping back to one of thoselower-level subscriptions. Use those opportunities, there's multiplesubscription options. There's something there for everybody.

 

Andrew:Magical Method #20 – shut us down here today, Coach Jeff Raines – for gettingthe most out of your TriDot training is to commit to the system, to trust theprocess.

 

Jeff:Yeah. I mean, we say trust the process, but you've got to commit. You’ve got tobe all-in, right? You can't halfway train on TriDot and halfway do somethingdifferent, or what you've always done, or just something you read about, orsomething like that. If you're going to do it, do it right. Do no more, do noless. Keep your easy days easy, keep your hard days hard, and trust theprocess. Dive into the community, reach out to coaches, reach out to peers orteammates if you have any questions. Reach out to support, we have an amazing,amazing, amazing full-time staff that is there solely designated to help you.So trust the process, commit to it, dive in deep. It's a proven process. It'sthe best thing out there, and happy training!

 

Cool down theme: Great set everyone! Let’s cool down.

 

Vanessa Ronksley: It's cool down time, friends, and I'm Vanessa,your Average Triathlete with the Elite-Level Enthusiasm! Our tip today is fromone of TriDot’s staff members, the one-and-only Joanna Nami, better known asCoach JoJo. Joanna has a long history with TriDot, as an athlete for over 18years, and a coach for the last 13 years, and recently she became the Directorof Pool School. Coach JoJo is a perseverant and dedicated triathlete, who has alifetime of racing experience, including three Ironman World Championships. Incoaching, she loves working with athletes of all levels, but has a specialplace in her heart for prepping athletes with race strategy for full and halfdistances. She also loves helping the 40-plus crowd crush their strength trainingto take their racing to the next level. Joanna and her entire family are fromHouston. She has been married for over 26 years, and claims that her biggestachievement in life is her four sons, who are aged 18 through 23. Welcome tothe cool down, Joanna!

 

Joanna Nami: Wow, that was a mouthful! I feel pretty special, Vanessa, thank you!

 

Vanessa:Oh you should feel special, because you are special! And I feel pretty pumpedthat we get to do this together.

 

Joanna:Yes, we do!

 

Vanessa:So you totally strike me as the kind of person who loves challenging yourself,and as a result you have many talents that many people don't know about. Like abackground in collegiate cheerleading, which eventually led you to try out forNFL's Houston Texans cheerleaders. Then not only were you a first-year lawyer,but you were a new mother to a one year-old. So I'm just wondering, is thereanything that you can't do?

 

Joanna:When I look back at that stuff, that sounds crazy. But I think I'm wired a lotlike a type-A triathlete, very busy mind, got to keep very busy. My husbandwill say, “You want to watch a movie?” Then he sits down and he's like, “You'renot going to make it 15 minutes and you'll be up walking around.” I've justalways been that way. But I will say, you asked if there is anything I cannotdo. I do not unpack the dishwasher, I do not put gas in my car. Those are twothings. I will not put gas in my car. I have four sons and a husband, andthat's where I draw the line.

 

Vanessa:So you've been a mother for quite some time, and you've been a triathlete forquite some time as well. So can you help us with your Coach Cooldown Tip thathas to do with longevity in the sport of triathlon?

 

Joanna:Sure, sure. Let's talk about that for a minute. People will ask me, “How do youstay motivated?” Or when I say I haven't taken seven days off in 15 years. Itis all about planning and preparation. I think that was part of my law career,I think that's part of having children, and structure, and not losing your mindas a mother, is planning and prep and keeping them on a schedule. But for me,I'll tell my athletes, the ones that I think are really struggling withmotivation is, “I want you to set that iPhone across the room.” I want you toset that alarm, and make it far enough that you've got to get out of bed. Nottwo steps, like 20 steps. Once you're out of the bed, you're much more likelyto do the training. The other thing I say is, “You need to have the outfitplanned, you need to have the gear set up, you need to have the bottles ready.”You have to have everything to the tee, so that you have no steps to do in themorning. Once you're out of bed and you put those clothes on, you're much morelikely to get the session done. And then you always feel so good after you'vedone it. You're so happy that you've knocked it out early, and it's not hangingover your head for the rest of the day.

 

Vanessa:One thing that I really liked that you said was that when you have everythingprepped and planned, there's no reason why you can't do that session. It'sgoing to happen, because you've already put in the effort to make sure thatthere's no barriers to prevent you from doing that session, which I think isreally valuable and important.

 

Joanna:Exactly, exactly. Another tip I do is – and this is something I startedrecently doing – because it's so simple to open up the app and see yourworkout, but it's still one extra step. So I will literally screen-shot them,just so that I can just open photos, and not have to wait on the app. It'sthese little things, it's just continuous preparation for the next day, andworking ahead, knowing what the workouts are, knowing what your intervals are,kind of prepping your mind to say, “Okay, this is going to be a tough one. I'vegot step-ups on the weekend, it's going to be tricky.” And three days inadvance, going, “I've got step-ups, I've got step-ups!” But you're preppingyourself for success, knowing that you're going to have a tough workout twodays down the road.

 

Vanessa:Like you had said just then, a few days in advance is really important, becausethen you can also plan your nutrition the night before. Like, what kind of mealare you going to eat to be able to support that session?

 

Joanna:Exactly. I always say, Friday and Saturday nights are big calorie and bigelectrolyte nights for TriDot athletes. A lot of us are running long onWednesday, so that would be a Tuesday night. But I always say amp up thecalories, amp up your electrolytes. That doesn't mean like hot fudge sundae. Imean good carbs, good protein, not Dairy Queen. But those are the nights wherewe splurge a little bit, need a little bit more, and those usually result invery successful sessions the next day.

 

Vanessa:And then recovery as well.

 

Joanna:Yeah, that's right, yes. Make sure we have that smoothie in within about 15minutes of the session ending. That's a hard one. A lot of people will be like,“Well, I went an hour later and had a smoothie.” And I'm like, “Prep it thenight before. Prep it in a massive Ninja blender, prep three at a time.” Reallywork ahead so that you have that recovery ready to go.

 

Vanessa:Absolutely, awesome. I actually have a question for you about the 15 minuteslater, because sometimes – so we if you finish your training session, and thenlet's say you commute home from your training session on a bike or whatever,does the 15 minutes start as soon as you finish your main session? Or is it assoon as you finish your little bike ride home? When does that 15 minute pointhappen?

 

Joanna:I would say on your bike ride home, you're still active, that's kind of activerecovery as you're cooling down, lowering that heart rate. You never want tostop cold turkey, like you were doing MAV shuttles out on the track. Andsometimes you're also not in a good spot – your stomach is kind of “ugh” – toimmediately put down like a heavy protein shake. So I say give yourself alittle bit of time. But if you were commuting home on a bike, I would say startthat 15 minutes when you get home. But what happens is, like me, I get home andthere's ten things that I'm pulled to do. So it's very helpful, if I'm going togo run at the track, I carry a little soft cooler in my car. And I will alwaysput a protein shaker, or even a store-bought protein shake in there, just sothat it's on hand. So I know I'm getting replenished very quickly after a hardsession.

 

Outro:Thanks for joining us. Make sure to subscribe and share the TriDot podcast withyour triathlon crew. For more great tri content and community, connect with uson Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Ready to optimize your training? Head totridot.com and start your free trial today! TriDot – the obvious and automaticchoice for triathlon training.

 

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