Coaches on Couches

The time has changed and that means weekday group rides are back! We are as excited as you are so we're going to harness our chi and drop our Golden Rules for Not Getting Dropped on you fine folks. These tips will increase safety and efficiency, maximize your street cred, and minimize your chances of getting dropped like a bad habit. This Weeks Shoutouts! -JZ -HOP Season -Heather -Rachel Randall -Hudson Hall

This week on the couch we have the one, the only, the OG triathlete himself, Murray Scott. We plan to relive what some call "the golden age of triathlon" vicariously through his racing war stories. Over the years, Murray has raced more than any person we've ever met, and he is still racing like he's getting paid to do it. When he's not racing, he's volunteering and has consistently been one of the big advocates of endurance sports in our region. So we are going to dive into Murray's triathlon past, present, and future to find out how he keeps the drive alive!

We are bringing back Coach Chris Winter to talk about the top training and racing mistakes we see from new AND experienced runners. We'll elaborate on how you can avoid falling into these traps and save yourself from the pit of misery. Or an injury. Or other performance killing outcomes. We aren't talking about celebrating early or forgetting your shoes. These are mistakes we see time and time again. So we hope by getting them out there, we'll save at least one runner, and thus save the world... Some of the mistakes we cover: - Starting off too slow or too fast - Improper warm up or cool down - Running through an injury - Never learning to run fast - Improper shoe choice or using shoes too long And many more! Be sure to give it a listen and let us know if you've done any of these yourself. Don't be afraid, we are talking from experience here. This week's shoutouts! - Matt Mitchell - Crosswinds Classic Road Race - Nick and Bennett Isabella - Hart Robinson - William Hennessy - YMCA of Memphis - Everyone giving us feedback!

In this episode Coach D and Coach B-Fun talk about how we help athletes beat the dark days of winter. It’s cold. It’s dark. It’s constantly raining or snowing. And you are forced to train indoors. It sucks. We know. The coaches will offer up their tips and strategies for not wanting to toss your gear in the trash and live in your attic. The struggle is real! This week’s shoutouts! William Hennessey Crosswinds Classic The weather :(

Today on the couch we’re talking to our very own Coach Chris Winter about everything from his coaching, training, and racing background, to his transition from collegiate runner to coach and amateur competitor in multiple sports. Don't miss this week's shoutouts! -Liz Hall -Sally Landham -Mary Haizlip -Phillip Young -Doug Earthman -Jeff Fejfar

We chat with our good friend, athlete, and coach, Heather Nichols. Like many of you out there, Heather wears a lot of hats. Literally, we think she has more hats than Coach D. But figuratively, here are just a few: - Mom - Triathlete - Bike Racer - Full-Time Fitness Professional - Amateur Tattoo Artist (we made that up) We talk to Heather about how the heck she fits it all in, as well as some of the inner workings of how she trains for triathlons while having a job that piles more training stress on her body. You think you do a lot of training sessions? Wait till you hear this! This week's shoutouts! -Outdoors Inc. -Mathieu van der Poel -Tour Flanders -Sanne Cant -Arkansas -Heather's Daughter Stella

This week Coach D and Coach B-Fun will run down their TOP 5-ish things that they wish they knew when they first got into cycling and triathlon. This can also be read ....Coach D and Coach B-Fun will be revealing the Top 5 dumbest things they did when they first got into cycling and triathlon. The hope is that by professing our blunders we can prevent you from doing the same. Learn from our mistakes, apply it to your own training, and make those gainz faster. If you have any things that YOU wish you knew in the beginning, shoot us a comment, message, or email. We'd love to hear them! Don't miss this week's shoutouts! - John Zinn - Brian Eason - Hart Robinson and David Collins - SwimRun TN - Memphis in May Triathlon - Rebekah Winter - Leigh Ruston - Lift Heavy Run Long Podcast - And more!

In this episode Coach D and Coach B-Fun talk about the benefits of short course racing in relation to overall speed skills development, long course speed, cost savings, and the growth of the sport of triathlon. For those that don't know, short course is basically sprint or olympic distance in the sport of triathlon. At times it seems to be a dying discipline with all the major focus going to half and full distance events. But there are a ton of direct and indirect benefits to entering and competing in local or region short course events. We also plead our case to those that only focus on long course by laying our some of the benefits that can help those athletes go faster over longer distances, including the best season layout for smashing a long course event. We can't grow the sport without you guys and gals! See you at the races. This week's shout outs: - Greg Rhode - Allie Timms - William Hennessey - Doug Earthman

Today on the couch Coach D and Coach B-Fun answer a question we get a lot from athletes who simply put, want to make the most out of their training. How repetitive should my training be? It's a simple answer that you may or may not like. It's also a part of coaching that is tough to balance when you are trying to keep people from abandoning ship on their training. Here are some of the key points: 1. You need to choose the focus of a quality workout. Then repeat that 1-3x per week depending on if you are a single sport athlete or multisport. Most people can handle about 2 quality sessions (hard focus/structure) per week. Multisport athletes can handle 1-2 in each sport, but not 2 in each sport every week. 2. Repeat those sessions, with proper recovery, until you no longer see improvement. 3. To make it more interesting, simply keep the focus and change the loading method (12x400 repeats vs 6x800). As long as the focus stays similar, you'll be on track to improve. 4. The fewer quality sessions you do, the more repetitive they need to be. Don't miss this week's shout outs: - Mathew Roberts (Our Digital Content Intern) - Max Paquette - Hart Robinson - David Collins - Mississippi Gravel Cup - Slowtwitch

Today on the couch Coach D and Coach B-Fun talk about how and what to change about your environment in order to achieve your goals as an endurance athlete, or any goal in general. The first thing to know is that there are certain aspects of your environment that are easier or harder to change. We will focus on the easiest first and move to the harder aspects of changing your environment. The big 3 things here are: 1. Your Gear and Equipment 2. Your Habitat and Surroundings (Includes Your Peeps) 3. Your Habits and Routines (Yes, the hardest to change) With the three main methods of change we talk about how each one is utilized to increase your chances of achieving your goals in: 1. Consistency 2. Nutrition 3. Recovery We chose these areas because they are the most common areas people set goals...and forget about them. You're guaranteed to pull some good nuggets out of this one and smash your goals this year so join us, subscribe, and drop us a review when you knock out that next PR! Don't miss this week's shout outs: - Shayna, Akiva, Shmuel Somer - John Zinn - TrainingPeaks - And more!