Yesterday, the two greatest riders in the world charged toward the finish line in Stage 11 of the Tour de France with completely different styles. Today, we look at both approaches and use it as an analogy for how you can go about your training and racing. There's no one right answer for this sport, and we can all get better by taking little pieces here and there. You don't have to be someone you're not, but we can all benefit from understanding who that is and what our weaknesses are. Are you racing strategically with science and data or are you racing by effort for the goosebumps?

***Stay tuned at the end for an interview with our C26 Coach Chuck Knuth. Bio below.

Topics:

• Episode 800 party?
• Tour de France talk
• The leaders
• You gotta be you
• Taking someone's strategy and making it your own
• Being in the gray
• Making f*ck ups more purposeful
• Happy, content, objective
• Trying to be someone you're not
• You are the placebo - Aaron Rogers
• People have different flow states
• "Mostly" do what you love
• Effort and goosebumps
• Learn to dislike things a little less
• Mentality and taste buds change
• When we don't know shit

Mike Tarrolly - [email protected]

Robbie Bruce - [email protected]

** C26 Coach Chuck Knuth's Bio

Growing up, Coach Chuck had an intense fear of water that prevented him from swimming in deep water. At 15, he flipped an old 10-speed bike and knocked out a few of his teeth. Clearly, he was destined to become a triathlete.

Despite that oh-so-promising start, he is today an athlete, a fan, and a mentor who is obsessed with this sport. His tally (which is probably already outdated) includes 13 full Ironmans, nine 70.3s, countless olympic- and sprint-distance races, and no fewer than 20 half and full marathons. To top it all off, in 2024, he is lucky enough to race in the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

As a coach, every athlete comes with a new puzzle. You and Coach Chuck will work together to create the approach that works best for you and gets you to your goal. Not every workout can be a home run, but at the same time, not all bad ones are strikeouts. He'll be your loudest cheerleader and the person who pushes you to challenge yourself, but he's also the first to be realistic about the process.

When he's not training or racing, you'll find him traveling with his wife, Amanda; relaxing at home with their dog; rebuilding and tinkering on cars; or working toward his next big goal: getting his pilot's license.