From Blah to Ya! Energizing Your Training Sessions

TriDot Podcast Episode 264

From Blah to Ya! Energizing Your Training Sessions

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

Andrew Harley: Welcome to the TriDot Podcast. You don't have to be a triathlete for very long before you find yourself on certain workout days just not feeling totally up and energetic and peppy for your workout. How can we as triathletes make sure we are entering every workout opportunity with the right energy reserves to crush that workout? Today, we'll be talking about just that with two of our TriDot coaches. Our first guest is professional triathlete and TriDot Coach Elizabeth James. Elizabeth is a USAT Level 2 and IRONMAN U certified coach who quickly rose through the triathlon ranks using TriDot from a beginner, to top age grouper, to a professional triathlete. She's a Kona and Boston Marathon qualifier who has coached triathletes with TriDot since 2014. Elizabeth, that is 10 years now of coaching athletes with TriDot. Happy anniversary on that.

Elizabeth James: Well, thank you. It's super exciting to be back here today. It's been a little while, so happy to be back on the show and looking forward to this conversation.

Andrew: Yes. I intentionally, for anybody who at home is just pounding the table wanting Elizabeth James on more podcast episodes, I've intentionally kind of left her out of the loop a little bit this year. There's a pretty big project for TriDot that she's kind of taken on, happening behind the scenes. So, EJ, I don't know if you want to expound on what you've been working on that's taken up a lot of your podcasting time.

Elizabeth: So, I've been very busy this year working on things with IRONMAN U. I have taken on the role as the curriculum director for that and basically focused a lot on coach education. So, that has been a wonderful journey this year. I'm super passionate about that. But, all things education, this podcast included, is always a big joy for me to be a part of. So, happy to put a couple episodes back in now that we're moving along with that curriculum.

Andrew: Happy to have you in the mix. Also with us is Coach Ryan Tibball. Ryan has a BS in Biomedical Sciences from Texas A&M University and Respiratory Care from UT Health Center at San Antonio. He serves as the Head Power Cycle Coach at Lifetime Fitness and is a Certified CrossFit Coach and a Pose Method Certified Run Coach. Ryan is a multiple-time IRONMAN finisher and has been coaching with TriDot since 2015. He is even more involved with the TriDot team as a TriDot business coach and Coach Connect advisor. He is responsible for matching coaches with TriDot athletes who want a coach. And Ryan, you were actually on the podcast with us last week. So, back-to-back episodes for you. Thanks so much for coming on again this week.

Ryan Tibball: I know, luck, lucky, and I'm so happy to see EJ. I mean, it's been a hot minute since I've really seen her face-to-face in many ways on screen. And, of course, Andrew, always welcoming to see you, too, sir. I'm very excited to talk about all these things we are going to talk about. It's such a common place of things. Looking forward to it.

Andrew: Well, I am Andrew, the average triathlete, voice of the people, and captain of the middle of the pack. As always, we'll roll through our warm-up questions, settle in for our main set conversation, and then wind things down with our Coach Cooldown Tip of the Week. Lots of good stuff. Let's get to it.

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

Andrew: Between trucker hats, bucket hats, running hats, headbands, and visors, every triathlete has a headwear preference when they train and race or head to the beach, head to the pool, head to the store, wherever. As our warm-up question, I want to know, what is your current go-to piece of headwear for all of your triathlon endeavors? Elizabeth James, what's this answer for you?

Elizabeth: Man, I feel like you caught me on a day where I actually don't have any headwear on it. That's an unusual occurrence for me. It's almost always that I've got on a visor or a trucker hat.

Andrew: And I picked this question because the two of you, and myself included, that's usually the case. There's usually something on our heads.

Elizabeth: Usually a go-to. So you caught me on an off day here. For me, anything training related, I'm going with the visor. I've got my hair done up in a bun like I do today and just keeping it off my neck, off my face. That visor is ideal. I think I have the TriDot Ambassador visor collection. So every year that we've had a visor, I've got one of those and I just rotate through them. And then, end of the week, they all go in the wash. I've got the full TriDot headwear collection and I go from visor during workout to trucker hat during the work calls.

Andrew: So EJ, to get to the heart of today's question, from that entire collection, do you have a favorite? Do you have one visor or hat that, man, if you're going on a one-week trip for TriDot, you're traveling to Kona, you can only pack one, which one's going in the bag?

Elizabeth: Well, now you're going to make me look bad, because it's actually not a TriDot one that's my favorite.

Andrew: And that’s okay, that’s okay, yeah. I won't tell. I won't tell.

Elizabeth: It’s a black and white trucker hat, and it has a heart on the top of the trucker hat, and in the red heart is an outline of a bicycle. And so that is my go-to. Had it for years. It's well-loved, probably just hanging on at this point, but that would be my go-to if I can only pack one, definitely going to be that.

Andrew: All right. Great answer there. I've seen that hat. Yeah. I've seen you wear that hat. So yeah, absolutely comes to mind for me. Ryan Tibball, favorite piece of headwear. What you got?

Ryan: Definitely, I'm definitely a visor guy. I mean, oftentimes, my wife has to slap the visor off my head as I'm trying to head to church with it on. I will try to pull that off, but nonetheless, I am definitely a visor guy. I don't think I can pull off those big high-type bucket-type hats, but certainly I like a good fitted trucker hat too. And actually it's very dependent on occasions. If I'm presenting or, for example, at pool school, I'll wear a trucker hat out there. It's a little different, but certainly, but 99% of the time is definitely a visor no matter what.

Andrew: So, I mean, same thing for Elizabeth. I mean, at the point of today's warm up question is what is the number one favorite go-to, same thing? Say you're going to Kona a week from now, you're going to be there for a week for TriDot. You can take one hat, what is it?

Ryan: I always seem to grab for my IRONMAN World Championship 70.3 St. George visor. And I do, that is my go-to, I mean, it's multifunctional. I'll wear it for workouts. I'll wear it wherever. I probably should wash it more often, but other than that, yes, definitely. That's the one I go-to.

Elizabeth: Ryan, I think we flunked today's question. We just wanted to talk about headgear forever. Andrew's like, hey, pick your one. And we're like, oh, let me tell you about the 15 that I usually go through. So our apologies, Andrew, we kind of flunked your warmup question here today.

Andrew: It's what I expected. For me, just like you guys, day-to-day there's always a hat on my head. It's either TriDot, RunDot, IRONMAN, or Miami Dolphins. When it comes to training and racing, my go-to is the white Precision Fuel and Hydration running trucker hat. I wear that for 99% of my triathlon workouts. I'm trying to convince myself, guys, I'm trying to convince myself that I can pull off the Precision Fuel and Hydration bucket hat. And I've got it right here. If people, who haven't seen it, they came out with these really cool trucker hats that have the PF&H logo. I can't really wear it during the recordings; I have headphones on, but you guys get the point. And I see pictures on social media of some of the pros wearing these. I know bucket hats are really trendy right now. And these running bucket hats are really cool. They're really light on your head. I put it on and I'm like, I know I look ridiculous. There's no way I'm pulling this off. It's one of those things. I feel like other people look really cool in the running bucket hat, and then I look really dumb in it. But, my number one go-to, if I have to pick one, I was given a black Clash Endurance hat. We love our friends at Clash Endurance. They put on the Clash Daytona, Clash Miami, events, which are some great races. And I have a Clash Endurance hat. It's all black as white text. It says Clash Endurance, really subtle logo on the front. And that, it's just so helpful to have a plain black hat in your rotation, as a guy, that you can just throw on and go anywhere. And it's such a generic, plain black and white hat that is so easy to toss on and go wherever. So that's kind of like my favorite one in the rotation right now. We're going to throw this question out on the I am TriDot Facebook group. We're going to throw it out on the TriDot Coach Community Hub. So find the post asking you to show off your favorite piece of headwear and give us a picture of what that hat, visor, whatever it is, is. Can't wait to see what you have to say.

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

TRIDOT AMBASSADOR APPLICATIONS (Andrew): Quick reminder for everybody in TriDot Nation, the 2025 TriDot Ambassador applications are out. You can apply, as of right now, to be a 2025 TriDot Ambassador. This is a program, obviously, for TriDot users. So I don't have a link in the description or anywhere to send you. If you are a TriDot athlete, in your email you should already have an email inviting you to be a 2025 ambassador. So go find that email. Our ambassador program grows a little bit more every single year. We love our ambassadors. There's several great perks to being a TriDot Ambassador. Number one, you get up to 50% off 1 time purchase at the TriDot store. That just kind of helps you stock up on TriDot apparel and TriDot items. Past that one 50% off purchase, you have 20% throughout the year at the TriDot store, discount. There's exclusive events for ambassadors, with Mark Allen and Craig Alexander, Tim and Rinny, Michellie Jones, and other legendary coaches giving special knowledge, special information to our ambassadors. You can be on the list to go to the annual TriDot Ambassador Camp. We have a camp every single year for ambassadors only. There's a special ambassador discount for TriDot Pool School, and ambassadors have opportunities to test new features and functions of TriDot before anybody else even knows they're a thing. Plus, and I can't even say that much about this right now, but there is a new component to the ambassador program for 2025 where ambassadors will have opportunities to win prizes and rewards for certain things. I can't say too much about that right now. It's going to be announced at the start of 2025. Check your email if you are a TriDot user, would love to have you be a part of the group.

Andrew: On to today's topic. I'm sure if you're like me, you have some workout days where you throw on your running shoes, throw on your cycling shoes, throw on your goggles, and go to start your workout. And some days, you just feel extra peppy, and some days, you just feel extra not. And today we're talking with our coaches about how to enter as many workouts as possible feeling energetic and ready to capitalize on your time and training. And guys, I want to start here. Just first off, how much of a problem do you think workout energy is for the athletes you coach? How often do you find yourself talking to your athletes about this? Do you feel like everybody struggles with workout energy from time to time, or is this something that certain athletes struggle with and certain athletes never have a problem with? Just from your conversations with your own athletes, how much of a problem do you think this is for triathletes? Elizabeth?

Elizabeth: Well, not to be all grammatical as we get started here, but I think as we continue on this conversation, one of the things that we're going to hone in on is, is this a problem or is this a hurdle? And I would say that I have yet to meet an athlete that has not had to overcome this hurdle of working on their energy going into a session. So I'd say this is a 100% something that everybody is going to deal with at one time or another. Some are going to struggle with that a little bit more than others, and there's a number of factors that play into it. And then, what we'll need to address, and this will be part of our conversation today, is when is that a big red flag? And when does that become not just a hurdle, but like a really big problem that then we need to address? As I think about this and, from my own perspective and athletes that I've worked with, I think energy levels vary from athlete to athlete, depending on a number of factors. And that could be training intensity, their diet, the physical and mental fatigue. So not only from training, but like, how stressful is work, how stressful is family life right now? It's such a big thing. And I'm so glad that we're talking about this today, because it's important for athletes to listen to their bodies and understand like, okay, I don't have it today. What do I do about that? So I think everybody is going to come face-to-face with this at some point.

Andrew: Yeah, I definitely like that distinguishment right here at the top of the show. Of, is it a hurdle or is it a problem? Cause it's a hurdle for everybody, and it becoming a problem for you as a whole different conversation. So very,very interesting starting off with that, Elizabeth. Ryan, anything to add here on just your conversations with your athletes? How hot of a topic is this?

Ryan: 100%. It's a hurdle, it’s a hurdle that we can all get over. And it's just more of an issue of identifying it. Where is it? Where's the root of the problem? Where is that coming from, or hurdle, rather. And let's get over it. Let's address it. I call it, in many ways, the great balancing act. Because we have life that happens, our jobs happen. Oh, wait, we got to swim, bike, run, recovery, we got to eat, we got to do all these other things, right? We hope to have a 100% energy day, but certainly it's commonplace to talk about it. And I always encourage my athletes, let's talk, let's discuss these things. 'Cause this is super important. You know, maybe it's just, again, there's a, as EJ said, lots of timing, lots of other factors involved in that. So for sure.

Andrew: I'm interested in hearing from both of you, is this more of a mental thing? Is it a mental blocker, where just some days you feel better than others or are there physical contributing factors to you having more energy to tap into and having less energy to tap into? EJ, what do you think?

Elizabeth: Fantastic question. First of all, because you're hitting on both the physical and mental components that are going on here for an athlete. I truly believe that feeling good before a workout is a combination of both those mental and physical factors. I mean, a positive mindset, that can go a long way to help improve your motivation and your focus. And that can lead to a much more productive workout. I'll be the first one to raise my hand and say, I do not always have a good attitude going into a swim workout. There is nothing physically that would prevent me from going and doing well in the pool that day. But mentally, I'm just like, ugh, I don't want to go to the pool. So it's a physical and mental, well-rounded situation that we're dealing with here. But there's physical factors that can play a huge component as well. I mean, getting enough rest, having proper hydration, good nutrition. Those are all part of it. And then we have stress and fatigue from other daily activities. And then there's medical conditions. Even certain medications can make you a little bit more tired, hormonal imbalances. Those can all contribute to low energy levels as well. So there's a lot of things that can go there, but I do think that feeling good headed into a workout is a combination of physical and mental wellbeing.

Andrew: We had an episode of the podcast, Elizabeth, I googled it while you were talking there. In writing this show, I wasn't even really thinking a whole lot about just how much life stress, triathlon induced or not, can impact your energy levels, day-to-day, week-to-week. And we actually have a podcast episode about that, it’s episode 42, Elizabeth, episode 42. So over 200 episodes ago on July 13th of 2020, it was John Mayfield and Elizabeth James talking to us about the impact of stress on our triathlon training. So go listen to that if you want to unpack more about the role stress can play on your training. Very fair points there, EJ, and just the common things that can knock us off of our game and impact how we're feeling. Coach Ryan, anything to add there?

Ryan: It is equally balanced, and, sometimes, even a little more balanced over the mental side of things seems to be, as EJ said, going to the pool. I love that she said that, because if I can get myself to the pool, I will slide slowly into the water. Cause I hate cold water. And when we're talking about all those factors, again, EJ has already said them. There is that mental side, the physical side. One of the tools that we can truly utilize is actually right there in our TriDot dashboard, looking at our normalized training stress and being able to quantify our training loads. And being able to see those loads plus the stress that's being undertaken from our discipline types, intensities, and et cetera. I don't want to go too deep into this cause we've got great episodes that talk about this. Really looking at how you're feeling and maybe even comparing it to, wow, what is my training stress? Because it's appropriately quantified there can help justify, well, maybe I am, just bottom line, not feeling good today. And for whatever reasons, because of training load and then all those other factors that EJ's mentioned. So I think we can always utilize our dashboards and really take a look at that as one of our tools. Now, don't want it to dictate your life, but rather a tool to really see and go, maybe, a little more in depth of why you're feeling the way you're feeling.

Elizabeth: I love that, Ryan. And Andrew was saying the same thing, great point. I think this is one of the things that I've pointed back to as athletes are especially approaching a race because they're like, coach, I'm tired. And we look at the cumulative load of what they've been doing in training. It's like, well, you are tired, you're two weeks from a race. You just finished your race rehearsal. And absolutely going into Monday morning swim. I understand that you're fatigued. And that's where we can use some of those things too, to say, is this appropriate to feel tired at this point? Or are you at a point where we don't have a high training load, and you're still feeling this excessive fatigue. And then we need to look at maybe why that is. I love that you brought that up. What a fantastic tool we have right there within our training to help quantify how much stress are we under from our training at this point in time.

Andrew: Your training stress is a part of what TriDot gives you workout-to-workout. But very cool; as coaches, you guys can look at that with your athletes and have conversations about it. I'm curious as you're having those conversations with your athletes, if an athlete is coming to you and saying, hey, I'm not feeling it today. I wasn't feeling it yesterday. I haven't been feeling it this week. What are the common fixes or the things that you tangibly have them do to try to get some more energy into the way they're feeling when they're starting their workouts? Ryan?

Ryan: Yeah. You know, first just try to find out, hey, what's been going on in their world, in their life, and seeing if, okay, could go back to those factors, was it the lack of sleep, lack of nutrition, lack of hydration, so many other things. And obviously mentally, looking at that perspective. Cause that's something we do, as coaches, really look at our athletes, talk to them and have that communication. What can we do to motivate them? Sometimes it might be that extra warmup time. I, myself, do that. I prepend my workout. I add a little extra time on the bike. Give me 6 more minutes in that warm up, in Zone 2. And I tell you what, once I've done that, I feel awake. So, mobility work. Starting off your workout, but doing the mobility work prior to.  Do some light foam rolling, do those things. Maybe get that extra glass of hydration that you needed in. Cause perhaps you're just getting up in the morning. We get ourselves, we dehydrate ourselves in sleep, guys. It happens. And that's certainly the first thing you want to do, is hydrate. And perhaps even throwing in a little extra sugar, or maybe start your day with caffeine, if you're a caffeinated kind of person. A lot of little things. And again, I wouldn't suggest let's go try all 3 things right now. Let's just try to fix this, try them all. Figure out which one works first, and then move on to the next one. Certainly there are ways to mitigate not having that energetic start to your day, as I mentioned right there.

Elizabeth: What you talked about with the warmup, I think that's big. And sometimes doing a little bit longer of a warm up, or doing some dynamic warm ups, can be helpful just to get things going. I have been known to get up in the morning, drink my glass of water, and then do jumping jacks and high knees and arm circles before I get on the bike, because I just need to move.

Andrew: Elizabeth, can we say something here? That this is a public service announcement, right? Whether you feel energetic or not, there's a reason in your run workouts and your bike workouts that TriDot gives you dynamic pre-workout exercises. And part of it is to reinforce some form stuff, but part of it is to prime the body for the workout. And it's like, man, why don't I have energy? Okay, well, do the stuff that TriDot told you to do, and maybe you'll find the energy. So yeah, continue.

Elizabeth: Other tips or tricks that I've used is breathing. Sometimes after a stressful work day, I’m like, oh my gosh, the last thing I feel like I can do right now is go for a run. I have to sit down, and take some deep breaths, and do some box breathing. That's going to relax me a little bit. It increases the oxygen intake, which can give you a boost of energy, too. So that increase in oxygen, sometimes, is enough to be like, all right, now I feel like I can do this. Ryan already touched on the nutrition, the hydration. That is absolutely paramount for having good energy throughout the day. I know that for me, as I was teaching and would do my training sessions at like 5 PM, I would need to make sure that I had a snack. There was no way that I could go from eating my little bit of lunch that I shoved in my face in 20 minutes as my kids were at recess and then go for a 5 PM workout. I would need to eat a snack on my way to the gym. So sometimes that little extra fuel is enough of a burst of energy to get you going again. I'm a big music lover. For me, music is a tool. It is a mood booster. It gets me to that right mental state where I'm energized, I can take this on. And then finally, reevaluating what the sleep patterns are. Are you getting enough rest and recovery? A good night's sleep is one of the biggest things to help you tackle the next day. So if you're really short changing yourself on the amount of rest that you have, then that's going to start to show up in the workouts too. I think that's my list of factors. Ryan touched on a number of them, and I got a good list there for athletes to try.

Ryan: As a respiratory therapist, I 100% endorse the breathing parts for sure. I love the box breathing. Your lungs truly do need their own little warm up too. And actually, that box breathing technique is fabulous.

Andrew: I wanted to talk a little bit more about hydration and nutrition, because they're just such big parts of this. Obviously, we have a lot of conversations here on the TriDot podcast, and our catalog, on nutrition and day-to-day training, racing, nutrition. So I don't want to unpack this fully, because this could be a 7-week series in and of itself, just fueling your workouts. But for the context of this conversation, when you're talking to your athletes and you're examining what might be missing in their data and nutrition that is leading to low energy at the start of workouts, what's the big picture things here that we should be aware of, being on the lookout for, to make sure we're squaring away that component? Elizabeth?

Elizabeth: I think the first thing is to really have an understanding that nutrition and hydration do play that key role. That, the energy that you have throughout the day, it's not just sleep, it's not just how hard you've been training, but, as we mentioned before, this is a whole big puzzle. And I think that's why I like it so much. There are so many different components here and we want it all to fit together, but nutrition is one of those pieces that needs to be considered as we look at energy for training. And a well-balanced and a nourishing diet is going to provide the body with all of the necessary energy and nutrients that it needs to perform its best. Staying hydrated is going to help with proper muscle function, and that's going to help prevent fatigue. Ultimately, what we're putting into our body is for fuel. We've talked in a number of the episodes about your body as a machine and making sure that you're putting the right fuel in it. Are you running on that crappy old car that's hanging on by dear life and you don't really care what goes in, or do you have the Ferrari and what are you going to put in that? Same thing here, treat your body like the fine-tuned machine that it is and make sure that what you are putting in is supporting what your goals are.

Andrew: Scott Tindal, who's the CEO of Fuelin, which is a nutrition app integrated with TriDot, I've heard him say this about the food you're putting in your body and how it's fueling you before your workout. So many athletes are like, hey, why don't I feel great in my workouts? Well, let's start with your fruits and veggies. Let’s just start right there. You should be having 3-to-4 servings of fruit, 4-to-5 servings of veggies per day. Are you hitting that? Because if you're not, hit that, and then tell me how you feel in your workouts. Because, chances are, you're going to feel a whole lot better. Ryan Tibball, anything to add here?

Ryan: Nutrition, not only addressing that prior to, but even thinking about afterwards, the importance of timing. I’ll keep it at high level, but really looking at the timing of getting your nutrition, your hydration, back in you post workouts, too. You don't wait hours. No, you do it immediately. You do it within that window of, say, 30 minutes is ideal, in my opinion. But even thinking about your long sessions, you've burned a ton of calories. You need to get those back in. And I know we've got episodes that talk about that, too. From that perspective, all of those things go in before and after our sessions throughout our day. And it's very important because your body, I always say this, this is my mantra, feed the machine. You're the machine, feed the machine, and give it what it needs, for sure.

Andrew: Ryan, I love that you're pointing that out, because, I remember, it was pointed out on a different podcast episode that the food, the nutrition you take in after a workout. I've always thought of that as primarily being to help my body recover from that workout, but it's also an investment in the quality of your next workout, right? The energy levels of tomorrow's workout. And so, if you're ever tempted to skimp on what you're consuming after your workout, maybe I don't need that, or maybe that's a light workout. Well, that meal isn't just about the workout you just did, sometimes it's also about tomorrow's workout and making sure it's properly fueled for that. So really good point there, Ryan. A second major player in our energy levels heading into a workout that you guys identified is how well we've slept and how well we've recovered from the previous workouts. And oh boy, has this always been an area where I personally have struggled. I am not very good at sleeping. I'm very good at napping. I'm not very good at sleeping at night. What are your coach tips to your athletes for how to improve sleep quality and the recovery quality so that we are better rested for the upcoming workout? Elizabeth?

Elizabeth: I think this starts with creating a consistent bedtime routine, which really emphasizes going to bed at the same time every night. I know that is not possible for everybody. I work with a number of athletes that are surgeons, and they're working for an incredible amount of hours, maybe just on one surgery, and then they have two days to recoup. And then they've got another two days of surgery. Or people that work three days on, two days off. It's not always possible for them, but I would say that there's a lot of people that this is possible for, and they're not doing it. And so, if you can create a consistent bedtime routine and have it be a consistent time every single night, you are starting to set yourself up for much more successful training sessions. And part of that bedtime routine is avoiding screens so far in advance of going to bed, avoiding caffeine in the afternoon or the evening, creating that relaxing environment. Instead of scrolling through your phone, maybe you're reading a book. One of the things, and this is kind of a little bit of a tangent, but it's on it. I used to love reading before bed, but the books that I was reading were still too mentally engaging. And it was like, I'm reading about coaching triathlon. Well, that's not relaxing. All of a sudden I'm going through my mind of like, oh yeah, I should talk to this athlete about this, and I should talk to this athlete about that. And all of a sudden I'm there with pen and paper and creating lists. I'm like, oh, I'm not relaxing, I'm just furthering the work. So enjoyable, maybe not as engaging, reading before bed. And then things like foam rolling or stretching, just allowing the body to kick into that rest mode is great. Sleep is important. Let's set ourselves up for success by creating some routines that really promote that.

Andrew: Ryan, is there anything additional you tell your athletes about trying to sleep and recover better?

Ryan: Recovery is something that I do consider and define as that fifth discipline of our sport. We talk about nutrition being the fourth. Well, there is a fifth one guys, that's why they call us athletes, more so. But looking at, also, I'll add to the mix here, is the alcohol. For those that like to enjoy their alcoholic beverages, et cetera, kind of think about the timing of that. If you're drinking late into the evening or night, you might have issues sleeping. So that way it can identify potential root cause. But as a joke, I say, don't become a day drinker suddenly. That's not it, but rather be conscious of what your upcoming workouts are. If you're going to have adult beverages, think about that, and consider those things. And be very conscious of, hey, how bad do you want that workout tomorrow? Because you may really change your decisions of the night before. So that’s all I’ll add to that.

Andrew: So for me, I've always found that, based on the time of day I'm targeting my next workout, if it's going to be in the morning, midday, late afternoon, evening, that can play a role in some of the things that I do personally to feel more ready and energized for that workout. And we've touched on caffeine in the mornings, things like that. I used to swim, when I worked in television before I worked for TriDot. I used to swim at 5 in the morning, because I had to be at the TV studio by a certain time. And that was just the only time I could get my full swim workout in. I didn't use caffeinated gels in day-to-day training, but I would take a caffeinated gel down to the pool. I would consume it right at the start of that workout, and it would really help me through. I wouldn't do that for a workout at another time of day, but I would do that for a morning workout. A more recent example for my own personal life, is in my evening workouts. If I'm going to do a run in the evening. My wife and I go halfsies on who puts the toddler down to sleep and who's doing dishes at that time, and we go back and forth. If I'm doing the dishes and then going for a run right afterwards, that's a pretty easy transition. I’m up and moving, and then I’m up and moving. If I'm the one upstairs with the toddler trying to get her to sleep and then leaving the room, it's a very quiet vibe. You’re reading some books, you’re talking in a soft voice, you’re getting relaxed, you’re turning down the lights. I have a problem pepping myself up for a run right after that. So I try to save evening runs for nights I know I'm doing the dishes and not putting Ellie down to sleep. Those are two very specific examples from me, but I'm curious, from the athletes you work with in your own personal workout routines, is there anything you would say to us on how to navigate the differences in how you might feel in the morning versus midday, versus late afternoon, versus evening? Ryan, what do you think?

Ryan: Yeah, you know, there’s a lot going on there, morning, evening. I personally am not an evening workout kind of guy. I think that has changed over the years of doing triathlon and training, is that I feel like I don’t have a productive workout, whether I even give myself that extra juice, so to speak, before an evening, late-evening workout. So I do try to time my workouts, nonetheless, in the morning where I have the most energy. That comes down to your circadian rhythms, too, because most time we do wake up, it might take us a moment to wake up, but our energy levels are typically higher in the mornings up until mid-afternoon. And so again, if you come back to that thing of caffeine, caffeine can definitely help. But of course, you do want to avoid it in the evenings, because the half-life of caffeine is dependent on the person, anywhere from 2 to, honestly, 12 hours could be the half-life. So you'd hate to take one of those before your evening, but I certainly will use caffeine in the morning. I will use caffeine on an afternoon workout. Also will pre-fuel all of those things shortly, whether I use UCAN. I love UCAN, I'm a big fan of that. That really helps me out, too. But having more of a liquid type diet instead of some big whole foods, big meal, you don't want that big meal before an evening workout. So there's a lot to unpack here with that, but I do avoid big meals prior to any sort of workout, because GI problems can certainly arise. And that'd be the worst thing to happen during a run, of course, or anything else.

Andrew: Elizabeth, anything to add here?

Elizabeth: It's been interesting for me to reflect a little bit on the time of day that I've been working out over the last 20 years. And when I was in college, we would have lunchtime soccer practices because that was the time of day where there weren't a lot of classes. So whether you were taking morning classes or evening classes, most of us had the middle of our day open. So we would actually practice over lunch. Then as I was teaching, I was very much a nighttime workout person. I had to go to school early, get everything done there, and then I would go to the gym afterward. Now I wake up at 4:30 and try to get everything done in the morning. And so I'm like, man, what has really changed in terms of the way that I approach that? And, as Ryan was saying, the use of caffeine, when you're eating, those are probably the biggest things that have adjusted with what time of day I'm working out, is how my fueling schedule is impacted. And then when I'm taking caffeine to support those workouts. I was giggling a little bit cause Ryan was like, you don't want caffeine too late. I have absolutely been that person that took caffeine a little bit too late and I’m wide awake and wired all night. Had a great run, but now the next 2 days are kind of a loss because I am awake.

Andrew: And then you're impacting those days' workouts, cause you're not sleeping well. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Elizabeth: Absolutely. But I think that playing around a little bit with when you're fueling and when you're ingesting the caffeine is helpful. The other thing, if you happen to be working out with other people and they are consistently working out at that time with you, it's worth a conversation with them. Not everybody's fueling is going to be the same, but if they're consistently a 5 am person with you at the pool and you guys are doing laps together. If you're struggling with that, that might be a conversation that you can open up and ask them. I know that I talked with a number of other people on our soccer team that were practicing over lunch. Cause I'm like, man, I am starving 20 minutes into this session. Like, what are you guys doing so that you're not absolutely falling apart? And it was something that, like, as a team, we had a great discussion about of, okay, well, what does this need to look like as we come to practice? How much should we fuel ahead of time? What do we need to do during the session to make sure that 30 minutes later, the practice is still worthwhile? So I think just being open to those conversations, too, is a good idea.

Andrew: Very good point. I know for me personally, EJ, when, if I look at my TriDot schedule and calls, and recordings, and where things are, if I can tell I got to get my run in at noon, I'll delay my breakfast and I'll have a really good breakfast at like 10 instead of 8:30. And then you're kind of having a light lunch after your workout to get some calories back in and then having a normal dinner. So definitely just being mindful of what you're consuming around that workout can play a big role in how you feel during that workout. I'm curious about this one, and I know both of you are really solid in your strength training. So you're not just swim, biking, and running; you’re swimming, you’re biking, you’re running, and you're hitting the gym. Elizabeth, for you, gaining the strength to support your professional triathlon endeavors. Ryan, for you, you have a big CrossFit background, you work at Lifetime Fitness doing a lot for them. So I know you both have that in your repertoire. Across those 4 disciplines, so to speak, swim, bike, run, strength, is there anything you do to set yourself up for energy differently across the disciplines? Or, is it kind of the same things? Is it kind of the same principles? Try to be well-rested, try to eat a certain way, try to do it at a certain time. Or is there anything specific that you do differently for one of the different disciplines?

Elizabeth: Yeah, I think there's both physical and mental aspects going into this, again. I have already raised my hand and said I don’t always have the greatest attitude going to the pool. So most of the time, the drive to the pool requires a pump-me-up playlist to positively impact my mood for when I get in the water.

Andrew: I'm curious to see Elizabeth's pre-pool playlist. A lot of rage music on that, maybe.

Elizabeth: I’m not sure if we want to publish all of those songs that might be on there. It’s kind of the same, like if I'm going and I’m lifting heavy, I want some music that is going to put me in that mindset to do it. But then on the physical side of things, for me, what I eat prior to a run is different than what I would eat prior to a bike ride. Because I am seated on the bike, I can have more substantial food going into a bike ride, especially if it's one where it’s not 30-30s or 30-90s and we’ve got those top intensity levels, then it might be a little bit different. I struggle to eat much before a run other than a UCAN gel or a piece of toast with a little bit of jelly on it. But if I'm going for a bike ride, I can tolerate having eggs and avocado for breakfast. Sometimes, the discipline we're going into, and how much movement there is in that discipline, will impact the fueling that might sit well within someone's system. Beyond the physical, we have the mental aspects of needing to have a good attitude going into the workout, as well.

Andrew: Ryan, anything different for you? Whether you're heading to the CrossFit gym or hopping on your bike, anything you do differently to start that workout with feeling energized?

Ryan: I'm jealous that EJ can literally eat eggs and toast, and avocado, and stuff like that before a bike, cause I have not risked that yet. In all the years of training, I may have done something of the sort where I realized I do not want solids in me. So I'm a liquid guy. I really do stick with the UCAN and the gels or UCAN and Precision Hydration and Fuel for those things, cause typically, I am, actually most times, working out first thing in the morning. So I‘ll get up, and within 45 minutes, I’m on the bike, or in the pool, or out for the run. Everybody's so individual, we have to find out what works. Eating a Big Mac and fries is probably, definitely, not ideal before your bike ride or run. Don’t do that. Even coming back to what would I do before a strength session, as far as not necessarily eating, I have some really colorful playlist. I’ll just leave it right there, and saying that my playlists are intense, and that does get me pretty jacked, to say the least. So, speaking from that mental side of things, I 100% agree with EJ. And then there are days where I've shut the music off just for plain torture. I know some people are like, what the? But yeah, it’s like, hey, some days you may not have that with you. What if, what if? And so I play that mental game with myself, even. It makes some of my workouts very interesting.

Andrew: I've also been in Ryan Tibball's garage enough times to know that his whole house is wired with a sound system and he can get it cranking. I can attest to that for sure. Something else I wanted to ask about that, I personally haven't dabbled with this a lot, but I’m sure some athletes have. There’s a lot of products out there; there’s a lot of supplements that promise to boost your energy levels going into a workout. There’s literally energy drinks, right? Famously, Red Bull, and Monster, and those energy drinks, 5-hour Energy. There are pre-workout mixes that, especially in gym culture, are advertised to gym culture as, hey, get pumped up, get jazzed up for your workout. Drink this pre-mix, whatever it is called. They always have ridiculous names and graphics on the boxes. There’s caffeine, which we have already talked about some. There’s some supplements, like our friends at deltaG talked to us about the roll ketones can play in really waking up your brain and helping you stay focused for a workout. From this wide world of energy supplementation, what available to us would you say is legitimately helpful, and you would be onboard for your athletes tapping into it, and what do you think is best to leave at the store and not put it in your shopping cart? EJ, what do you think?

Elizabeth: Well, I have dabbled into this, all the way from Red Bull to the pre-workouts that make you all jittery and feel like your spine and skin is crawling.

Andrew: Yeah, they're weird.

Elizabeth: Yeah, yeah, super weird. So I can speak from experience here, and it's a conversation I've had with a number of athletes who are looking for a way to have enough energy to workout. Whether that's right in the morning or they're like, man, I’ve gotta do something after work. What can I do to set myself up with this? And we've looked at supplements and the utilization of caffeine. When it comes to supplementation, there are some natural options, such as green tea and matcha and different herbs, that can be really helpful in providing sustained energy or just that little bit of energy boost with some natural caffeine. And those are great, because they don't have the harmful side effects. There are certain products on the market that have very high levels of caffeine, that also include very high levels of sugar and a whole bunch of artificial ingredients. And I would say avoid those, because those can have negative effects on our health, and not necessarily that you're going to see it 2 hours later when you're doing your workout, but just overall thinking about what you're really putting in your body? Okay, yeah, you're getting an energy boost for 1 workout, but what's the trade-off? What level of sugar and artificial ingredients are you putting in for that short-term boost of energy? Do we really need to look at this from a broader perspective? As with anything, be careful, read the labels, research the ingredients that you're putting into your body. A cup of coffee, that's great. Let's have a plain cup of coffee, get a little caffeine from that, versus a drink that has cups of sugar and a whole bunch of other ingredients that when you start to look at what you're really putting in your body, starts to worry you, or me as a coach. I’m like, wait, what are we doing? We're doing this for health? And this is what we're doing to try to get these workouts in? Let's take a step back and look at what our overall goals are for even being in the sport.

Andrew: For me, it's usually just a cup of coffee. And if I'm really in a bad place, a cup of coffee with a little bit of deltaG ketone ester. Which, to speak to that, obviously they're friends of ours, they're partners of ours. The ketone ester, itself, is not providing you with a big spark of energy, but in combination with caffeine, it actually amplifies the impact that caffeine has on your system. We've talked about that on the podcast before. So that's usually my go-to if I'm feeling like I need a little bit of extra pep. A lot of times for me, Elizabeth, those times where I might be tempted to dabble with some sort of weird supplement, if I just pop a gel, just like the normal gel I'm already going to take anyway, with 4 to 8 ounces of electrolyte, that perks me up already. Cause your body is sensing fuel’s on the way and releasing more energy. I like your approach, is what I'm saying, of, where possible, just leave that kind of stuff to the side and try to get your energy from natural sources and other things that we've talked about, other methodologies we've talked about. Being fueled properly, et cetera. Ryan, do you have anything you want to add there?

Ryan: I like to really, truly keep it simple, keep it simple. And looking at those labels, if they're a mile long and you are seeing things you just don't even know what they are, stop right there. Don't even do it. And I love what you said, Andrew. It's as simple as having your gel and a little bit of electrolytes and ready to rock. I think the more you keep it that way, the better off you are, because, again, we can get into the health side of things, the cardiac side of things, but I won't go too far into that. Just say, a lot of these things are still undetermined on how much they can affect you in that respect. Keep it as simple as you can, and you'll be safer that way.

Andrew: Two more questions in our main set about this topic. You guys have given us so much great information, and from all of this that we've learned from you, all the principles we've talked about in terms of trying to start our workouts with a good energized feeling so we can really go out there and make the most of the workout. How can we get the most of those sessions even knowing that we’re just not necessarily in the right space for it? EJ?

Elizabeth: One of the ways to get the most out of a training day when we're kind of lacking some energy is to focus on smaller goals within the session. It may be something where you're like, I am going to get through the first of these two intervals and then I'm going to reevaluate. Or getting out the door that day was a win, and maybe it's going to be an aerobic day versus an interval day. For me, I try to make myself start the workout. I'm like, start the workout, get through the warmup, and then let's see where we're at. Usually at that point, I can tell if my energy is low and I'm still struggling after the warmup, maybe I can pull off a Zone 2 session. Maybe I just need to call it, and that’s going to be okay. And I think one of the things that, as we continue having this conversation about ways to boost energy, is to understand that like some days it's not there. If we need to adjust the expectation and make it more of an aerobic session, it's not a loss. If we need to cut the session completely because we're listening to our body and we know I'm at the point where, if I push this, I'm digging myself into a hole and it's going to impact the next few days, maybe the next week. Your body is smart. It's going to give you those cues. And so, if we're not feeling it on that day, if we can still find an opportunity to have some wins within the session and get part of it done, maybe take a little extra rest, maybe adjust the paces slightly, fantastic. But if it's a day where it's not happening, let's call this quits. That's okay too, because you're being responsive to the cues that the body's giving you, and I think that's important. And that's something that isn't always easily done. We feel like we have to do the workout. And ideally we would, but what other factors are you dealing with? And is that going to be the best thing long-term? And that's one of the things that I coach my athletes to do: don't make the decision just on today. I want you to think about the next 3 days. Like, what decision you make today, what impact is that going to have 3 days from now? Are you digging yourself in a hole? Are you going to be able to recover and have a great day tomorrow? Do we feel like there's illness coming on? So yeah, don't just make the decision for that day, but really think about the big picture, and will missing this one workout matter, will adjusting it, how can I stay consistent long-term?

Andrew: I really liked that mindset, EJ, of, just, big picture. Is this the most important thing for me to do today? And sometimes, yeah, sometimes it's fine to go out there and try that workout. Sometimes your life might need you to do something else in that hour. Sometimes it might be best for you to just take that run off, do some stretching, do some ability work, some strength work, and leave that workout on the calendar for another day. So really, really good perspective there. And there's been times, Elizabeth, and I'm sure both of you can attest to this too, where if you thought you weren't feeling it and you get out the door and 10 minutes later, you're high on endorphins and having the best workout of your life. Sometimes you'll surprise yourself. And sometimes you might just trudge through the whole thing and get back to the house and be like, well, that sucked. But you still got it in. Really good perspective there, EJ. Last question I want to ask here, and, Ryan, I'll come to you first and let EJ shut us down on this. At what point should an athlete wonder, do I have a health problem and seek advice from their doctor in regards to low energy at the start of their workouts? If they're trying to put these strategies we've talked about today to use, if they consulted their coach, if they've played with their fueling and their rest, and there's no reason on the surface as to why I'm feeling so down and out every single workout from the get-go, at what point should we question is there something underlying in our health and consult with a doctor? What do you think, Ryan?

Ryan: I've been there with some athletes before where they're like, hey, listen, I've tried everything. Nothing's working. And we don't want to go too long feeling that way, because certainly those are red flags right there. So when I say too long, it's hard to put exactly a timeline on it, but I'd say after a few weeks and nothing has changed, that is definitely time to seek advice. And when I say that, perhaps, just like with your car, you're going to regularly check the oil, you regularly check the fluids. Well, it's time to check yours, get some blood work done and do that. And have it a yearly thing. We are all athletes, so we are all putting our bodies through a lot more than maybe a normal adult is. And because of that, we should be in tune with what's going on, making sure hormonal levels are right, or where they should be, or maybe something else is off besides hormones. Maybe there's other factors in your blood work that come up and that way they can be addressed. I won't go too much into the perimenopausal and menopausal sides of the female, and then also males with testosterone, but you look at the hormone sides of things, too. And those can greatly affect how you're feeling on a day-to-day basis. They affect all sorts of things, just not how you're feeling, but how you're sleeping, et cetera. As far as, again, you want to make sure you do seek that medical advice. Don't be afraid of your physician. They're not going to hurt you. They're going to help you. Again, I think this is just something that, don't let it go too long at all. I say at all, I mean not at all. Just address it and have these things done. Simply, is blood work done? Start there.

Elizabeth: I love, Andrew, how you craft these episodes. We started at the very beginning where you're saying low energy has a problem. And we’re like, is it a problem, is it a hurdle? And here, we're talking about, okay, yeah, when do we think that this is more and we need to seek medical advice? So again, just kudos to you for bringing this full circle and coming right back. I think if we get to the point of wondering, is there a health problem here, then it's time to go to the doctor. If you're at the point where you're questioning it, then that gut instinct of I don't know if something's wrong. Let's find the answer. Let's get it checked out. Because if you're thinking it, there's enough reason there to go and ask your physician to look into the issue a little bit more and open up that conversation.

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

Andrew: Ending the show like we always do with the coach cool down tip of the week. Vanessa usually hosts this segment, but while I have Elizabeth James on the show, and it's been a minute since she's been on the show, Elizabeth, I thought I'd keep you just a little bit longer and see what a good coaching tip is that you can offer our athletes listening today. So swim, bike, run, training, fitness, nutrition, strength, mobility, whatever you want to chime in on, just leave us today with our coach cool down tip, anything that you tell your coach athletes, you can offer our podcast listeners. What do you got for us?

Elizabeth: Thanks so much, Andrew. It's awesome to be offering one of these coaching tips. I mean, goodness, I've been hearing all of them. I’m like, wow, that’s a good one, that’s a good one. I've definitely added a few more.

Andrew: And it's your turn, yeah, you’re turn.

Elizabeth: A few more to my list. So now I get to share one too. One of the coaching tips that I would recommend is for athletes to utilize the features to push a workout to their device. And whether that's a Garmin watch, whether that’s a Garmin head unit for the bike computer, form goggles. One of the things that I have found is that pushing the workout to the device really helps athletes adhere to the rest intervals. That athletes do a great job of getting the work part of the interval in, but oftentimes we'll fudge on the recovery section that they're like, oh, well, it said 15 seconds rest between these 200s on the swim, but if I take 25 seconds, does that really matter? Or one minute between run segments versus two. And if they have that push to their device, like the device is prompting you, it's time to go. Use that to your advantage and hit the workout as prescribed.

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

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