Coaches on Couches

Today on the couch we are going to give you our exact recipe for making massive gains on the bike over the winter. This usually means a decent amount of indoor training due to colder weather and less daylight. But that's not an excuse to hibernate! Nobody wants to revive their base fitness every single spring.

On the contrary, a lot of athletes commit to do the work, and when group rides and racing start back up in March they are ripping people's legs off!

If you are one of those cyclists or triathletes who poo poo the trainer, we'll give some tips on how to learn to love...well at least tolerate it.

So if you want to be the hammer and not the nail this spring, join us for another episode of Coaches on Couches!

Shout Outs: Phillip Young - Back to Back AG Aquabike National Champ!

Michael Ort - Los Cabos 70.3

Good Luck Natchez Libre Gravel Grinder

It's that time of the year. Long sleeves, short sleeves, no sleeves. Shorts, tights, thermals. Thick gloves, or just the liners. If I overdo it I'll be soaking wet. If I under do it I'll freeze, or at best be the person with the bloody nipple kit.

Fear not, we're here to walk you through the magic of layering...yes, via some simple layering techniques you too can survive almost any training and racing conditions Mother Nature can conjure up.

So grab your balaclava, find your quiet spot, and join us for another episode of Coaches on Couches.

Shout Outs: House of Pain Athletes

Good Luck: BRX Half Marathon, Grit and Grind Gravel Grinder, TN State Cross Country Championships

Fire fighter, soon to be father, master movie quoter. We're going to talk about Bobby' Weakley's transition...ummm...from mountain bike specialist to ironman finisher. And yes, we start off with WHY. Then the HOW. It wasn't an easy road to travel. Ridicule from his co-workers and mountain bike buddies. Learning to swim as an adult. Running on road when there's a perfectly good trail nearby. Tough stuff. But ultimately it culminated to a great performance at Ironman Chattanooga in 2019.

Bobby gives a lot of insight into how he made the jump from a single sport athlete to a multisport monster. If you listen for no other reason it would be to see how many movie quotes Bobby and Coach Dale can throw into one episode. If you watch the Youtube version, we've got a running movie quote counter going.

Shout Outs:

Tim Linn - 1st Pro Race - Ironman 70.3 Shanghai

Walking Tall 50k/25k

Race Directors Brian Williams and Sean Hilsdon

BHP Rangers and Staff

Coach Chris - 2nd overall male 25k

Rebekah Winter - 2nd overall female 25k

Marcus Jones - 1st overall male 25k - new course record

Hunter Hall - 1st overall make 50k - new course record

Jason Crews - 8th overall 25k

Jessica Wang - 20 min PR - 25k

Tony Gambrell - 4th in Corporate Category - Bourbon Chase Relay

Today on the couch we are going to chat about how a cyclist can incorporate running into their training regimen without completely demolishing themselves and losing fitness due to injury. The aerobic engine is there, but the durability is not...just yet.

So if you are a 2 wheeler that wants to get more bang for your time crunched buck, build some bone density, and maintain a high level of fitness in the off season, join us for another episode of Coaches on Couches.

Shout Outs:

Hudson Hall - TN State Cross Country Qualifier

William Hennessey - Ran the GA Section of the AT in 23 hours

Michael Ort - Ride to Rosemary and Ironman Louisville in the same week

Ride 2 Rosemary - 500 miles Memphis to Rosemary Beach, FL

Hart Robinson

David Collins

Bubba Ezzell

John Walker

Patrick Nix

Luke Hooper

Ben Ladd

Willis Porter - Oz Trails MTB Race

Good Luck: Tim Linn - Ironman 70.3 Shanghai

Since so many people are closing out their seasons (while others continue to race anything they can find) we are going to talk about the importance of the off season. First we will define what an off season actually is, then we'll chat about what it should be geared toward, and why what you do in the off season is what really moves the performance needle for the following year.

If you are a fall and winter hibernator, but have real goals for next year, you won't want to miss this!

Shout Outs:

Ironman Chattanooga

Adrian Hall

Bobby Weakley

Wayne Ogorzale

Augusta 70.3

John Zinn

Chris Watts

Tristar Cyclocross Weekend

Hart Robinson

David Collins

Leigh Ruston - Just won't stop!

Since summer isn't going out without a fight, we are going to drop our main tips and strategies for dealing with extreme heat and humidity. The topic has been swirling the web it seems, and we think we might know a thing or two about a thing or two on this one since we live and train in the armpit of the United States. That's not a jab at Memphis. We love our hometown. It's just hot AF here.

First we focus on our big 3 methods of preparing for a blazing inferno, and then we get on to actual racing and training strategies that can help while you are in the thick of it.

So if you are a cyclist, runner, or triathlete, and you want to perform well in the heat, you won't want to miss this one!

Shout Outs: Jessica Wang - 2nd AG Renaissance City Tri

Good Luck: Ironman Chattanooga and Ironman 70.3 Augusta Athletes

What The??? Lady who cheated in a half marathon, and then admitted to cheating 3 other times but cutting the course.

For those of you who curse, fear, or soil yourself over a bump in the road, we cover our entire guide for improving your climbing ability. A blueprint for hill domination so to speak.

The 4 major keys to making these improvements are:

1. Practice

2. Optimizing Technique and Efficiency (this is where we spend most of our time)

3. Dropping Weight

4. Increasing Power

So let's make mole hills out of mountains on another episode of Coaches on Couches!

Shout Outs: Dixie Triathlon Phillip Young - 1st Overall Olympic Jamie Bailey - 3rd Overall Female Olympic Cliff Abeles - 2nd AG - Top 20 Olympic Matt Joiner - 1st Overall Sprint Greg Rohde - 1st AG Sprint Heather Nichols - 1st Female Masters - 4th Overall Female

Good Luck: Renaissance City Triathlon

It never fails that within a "tapering period" (we are not big fans of the term), a lot of athletes lose their ever lovin' minds! They just can't handle changes in volume, plan poorly, freak out, and make stupid mistakes that affect their race performance.

NOT YOU! WHY? Because on this episode we are going to talk you through how to taper like a boss and manage the temporary insanity that can go along with it. So if you are a late season competitor, tri, bike, run, whatever, put on your armadillo helmet and join us for another round of Coaches on Couches!

Shout Outs: Sass Family Long Course Tri Camp Athletes Johnny Pitts - Finished First Ironman in Madison, Wisconsin Michele Weir - 2nd Overall female Degray Lake Duathlon Liz Hall - 10k Personal Best Dr. James Downing - Overall fastest 20k - Record Challenge

Good Luck: Dixie Tri Athletes

If you race your bike with a group of other people in the same clothing as you, be it a road race, criterium, or on gravel, there are a set of commandments thou shalt follow 95% of the time to insure you all race as a team. Why? A team is stronger than any one individual 95% of the time. It's true that overall team strategies work about 5% of the time in amateur racing, but if you follow these simple rules your squad will increase those odds tremendously and hopefully put one of your riders on the top step of the podium.

Team glory first! Personal glory 2nd. Don't trip when you read that. You want to be a good teammate right!? Well then gather with your squad, grab a soft surface, and join us for another episode of Coaches on Couches.

Shout Outs Coach B-Fun - Cat 1 TN Criterium State Champ! Taylor Herron - Cat 2 TN Criterium State Champ! TBRA Cat 2 Overall Jersey Winner Tim Linn - 1st Overall Elite - Yeoju Half Distance Tri Chris Watts - 1st AG Dragonfly Tri Heather Nichols - 1st AG Dragonfly Tri Jamie Bailey - 3rd Overall Female Dragonfly Tri Grayson Edwards - 1st overall Dragonfly Tri Leigh Ruston - Most Aggressive Rider Award!

Good Luck ITU World Championship Athletes Record Challenge Athletes Gateway Cup Shout At Lack of sock sponsor

Guess what? Stuff happens.

As a triathlete, cyclist, or runner, if you swim, bike, and/or run fairly often, you are going to have some bad days here and there. Some that are out of your control and some that you could have prevented. It's inevitable. Happens to the best in the world, and the newbie alike.

The 3 most important things you can hold on to when coping with a crap day are:

1. You'll learn more from a bad day than a good day...any day.

2. Not one single day, workout, or race defines you as an athlete.

3. Weakness = opportunity

So this week we plan to make lemonade out of lemons and talk through some tips and strategies that we use with our athletes for dealing with those down right shhhhhh....bad days.

Shout Outs!

Cliff Abeles - 2nd AG 12 Overall Possumtown Triathlon

Jamie Bailey - 1st Overall Female Possumtown Triathlon

Hart Robinson - TN State MTB Champ! Pro Division

David Collins - 3rd Single Speed TN State MTB Championship

Willis Porter - New Power Bests

Good Luck!

Dragonfly Triathlon

Rocketman Triathlon

Traverse City 70.3

Yeoju Half Distance Tri (South Korea)