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• 1:00 why Andrew does Crossfit
• 5:45 the initial experience
• 10:00 Andrew’s one reservation
• 10:45 going to gyms in the era of COVID
• 13:00 Michael weighs in on the value of group strength training
• 14:30 Michael is not a fan of Crossfit for endurance athletes
• 15:15 during the end of Crossfit classes, the ‘Workout of the Day’ requires completing highly technical, loaded movements when under extreme fatigue AND without possibly having the necessary skill at that movement. This is a recipe for injury. This is a high risk / low reward activity.
• 23:00 WOD / bootcamps tend to emphasize the glycolytic metabolic pathway, which is not what MOST endurance athletes need 
• 25:00 psychological benefits of all-out exercise
• 27:30 the case against frequent, all-out exercise bouts. The time to recover is not worth the training stimulus

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• 2:00 the unusual 2020 North American fire season
• 4:15 how harmful is exercising in poor air quality
• 5:30 understanding the Air Quality Index (AQI)
• 7:45 the classification and possible adverse effects of airborne particulate pollution 
• 10:15 acute and chronic effects of exposure
  • Acute decrease in lung volume 
  • Correlation with with onset of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) 
  • Weak evidence for acute cardiovascular effects, such as an increase in arterial stiffness
  • Not enough information to assess the likelihood of chronic pulmonary or cardiac effects. 
  • Acute depression in HRV
• 24:00 steps to mitigate harm when training in polluted air
  • Train indoors and use high-quality filtration systems
  • Avoid outdoor exposure
  • Listen to the advice of local health authorities and play it safe
• 30:00 Listener correction of our aero math from episode 7 - Road Bike v Tri Bike
• 34:00 Erica Gavel’s new study on menthol. Listen to her talk about her original menthol study on EI episode 56.

For more info on or to enroll in Erica's new menthol study, send her an email: [email protected]

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• 2:30 meet Art Hare
• 3:30 the genesis of the pre-Zwift, online cycling multiplayer training and racing platform Tour de Giro
• 9:15 graphics are hard
• 12:00 the early years of cycling multiplayer 
• 19:30 an intro to game engines
• 21:00 TdG grows
• 25:30 a partnership with Computrainer 
• 36:00 the fun of TdG races
• 39:45 TdG handicap mode
• 43:30 workout mode
• 52:30 hills happen on dumb trainers too
• 53:30 TdG AI racers: Dopey, Hill Man, Surgey, Savey, Helpy, 
• 59:00 burnout
• 1:03:30 the new, huge elephant in the room
• 1:10:30 be kind to tech support!
• 1:16:00 the value of failure

You can still play Tour de Giro. Give it try!

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• 2:00 meet Pierre Facomprez, product manager at Look Cycle
• 6:00 a fun digression about swapping the drivetrain to the left side of the bike for track racing
• 14:00 the aerodynamic benefits of solid-spoke (tri-spoke) wheels
  • This is a debate on the front wheel only. In the rear, use a disk whenever permitted
  • Rotational drag is 25% of the total drag generated by the wheel (source DT Swiss)
  • Disk brakes mean more spokes, which increases rotational drag. Solid spokes do not contribute to rotational drag when mounted on modern, wide forks. 
  • Modern tri-spoke wheels are using less-deep spokes that taper towards the rim
  • Weight penalty for a disk brake tri-spoke vs a similar depth traditional spoke wheel is about 200g (tri spoke is heavier)
• 37:15 Pierre’s hidden valve trick
• 43:00 tri suits
  • Make sure that the pad works!
  • Test your suits. The difference may be substantial 
  • Try your suit on the bike when it’s wet and de-wrinkle after the swim
  • Calf sleeves can be quite fast 
• 58:00 the Aergo cockpit. Comfort equals speed. 

Take a look at all the bikes, wheels, and components on offer from Look and Corima.

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• 2:15 meet bike builder Tom Sturdy
• 10:30 Dan Empfield’s bike anatomy: above and below the ‘waist’ of the machine
• 13:00 not all geometry charts are created equal
• 14:15 fit metrics and ride characteristics are not wholly independent of one another so be careful when trusting bike reviews when the reviewer rides a frame of a different size
• 15:30 discrepancies are amplified in the smaller frames
• 17:30 the key ‘below the waist’ dimensions: wheelbase, bottom bracket drop, and fork trail
• 18:00 wheelbase determines steering response, where a greater steering input is required to turn a bike with a longer wheelbase and vice versa. This effect is very sensitive to changes in wheelbase. Longer bikes therefore tend to be more stable in a straight line.
• 23:45 BB drop or BB height dictates tipping stability, so slower bikes like MTB, gravel, cross want a higher BB height (lower drop) for better balancing. Conversely, a faster bike like TT / triathlon is better off with a lower BB height (more drop) for straight line stability. 
• 30:45 trail influences the steering feedback. That is, the amount of resistance the bike offers when you try to turn the bars. Rider experience with trail is very subjective. 
• 41:45 all of these - and others too! - combine to create a unique ride feel.
• 47:00 why custom?
• 49:45 why titanium?
• 53:30 titanium additive manufacturing (3D printing) in custom bikes offers the ultimate optimization and customization options

Find Sturdy Cycles at their website and on Instagram. 

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• 5:00 baseline aerodynamics CdA values
  • Most aerodynamic male pro triathletes are around 0.200 and even below 
  • 0.230 considered very good for average-sized male
  • 0.250 to 0.270+ is common for reasonably well-fitted male age groupers
  • Track riders can be as low as 0.160
• 6:45 how much of a time difference does this make? The Cody Beals case study
  • At his current-ish CdA of 0.22, and using his IMMT power output of 260W average, Cody would be traveling at ~42kph on a flat course
  • If he could get down to a very ambitious CdA of 0.18, he could get up to ~44kph, which is a savings of almost 12 minutes over 180km!
  • At an optimized, track cycling world-class CdA of 0.16, he could hold 46kph at 260W. Of course, this is not a realistic value in all likelihood. 
• 16:15 what can we do to improve aerodynamics?
  • Test to determine CdA
  • Experiment with position changes, starting with the front end and retest each iteration 
  • Spend some training time in that optimized position and at race-specific power AND speed
  • Spend time wearing your full race kit in simulation workouts - especially helmets
• 22:45 achieving and training that optimal head position
  • Experiment with stack height: sometimes a slightly taller stack can allow you to lower your head
  • Mirrors / photos and videos from the side
  • Train the position in an interval format
• 29:00 focus on that front end
• 32:15 important equipment choices
  • Find the best helmet, test as many as possible
  • Understand your target speed and local climatic conditions
  • Evaluate cost-benefit of aero overshoes 
  • Marginal gains add up - especially in TT
• 34:30 Saving energy on the bike is key in long course racing
• 38:30 consider your ‘sustainable drag’ that is, making sure you can hold that position for the duration of the target event
• 39:45 skin suit fabrics and fit

Endurance Innovation is now on Patreon! Have a peek at our page and show us some love.

If you haven't yet listened to Mikael's show. It's a strong +1 from us at Endurance Innovation. 

Endurance Innovation is now on Patreon! Have a peek at our page and show us some love.

• 2:15 meet swim and triathlon coach Ali Meeks
• 4:30 the motivation behind Ali’s new book: Conquer Your Fear of the Triathlon Swim
• 6:30 the fear of open water
• 10:30 the two aspects of swimming
  • Safety
  • Choreography 
• 13:15 the ‘not seeing the bottom’ fear and the source of our own safety
• 15:30 the ‘friends in the water’ fear
• 17:45 the 5 circles: 1 - calm, 2 - nervous, 3 - afraid, 4 - terrified, 5 - panicked
  • Awareness of mental state is first step, always trying to come back to that first circle
  • Retain connection to the physical body through mindfulness practice
• 20:45 the ‘non-wetsuit’ fear
• 23:00 sinkers vs floaters 
• 28:00 the discomfort of wetsuits
• 37:00 the role of intensity
  • Warmup is key
• 39:00 the difference between nervousness and excitement is expectation of outcome
• 40:30 the Conquer Your Fear Process
  • Agree not to push your limits in the water
  • Follow the process as slowly as necessary to increase comfort while staying in that first circle
  • Face in water > floating and feeling the buoyancy > propulsion added to floating > back float for safety > open water in the shallows > open water in deeper water with easy access to shallow water 
  • Allow natural curiosity to drive progression
• 47:15 the ‘other people’ factor
• 48:45 the psychological impact of a death in the water on other swimmers 
• 53:00 self-aware risk acceptance

Learn more about Ali at Ready Set Sweat. More info on the book is here. Conquer Your Fear of the Triathlon Swim can be purchased on Amazon. 

Endurance Innovation is now on Patreon! Have a peek at our page and show us some love.

• 4:00 is training tech driving improvement at high levels of endurance sport?
• 5:00 proliferation of training data and data acquisition devices helps coaches first, with a trickle-down effect for self-coached athletes
• 9:30 performance tracking devices (watches / bike computers), heart-rate monitors, and power meters
  • Mostly beneficial in training, but still useful in racing
  • Sensor reliability is affected more in RF ‘noisy’ environments
  • Stryd power meter or well-calibrated footpods can be more accurate for distance and pace
• 17:45 the value of advanced running and cycling metrics like L/R balance, GCT, stride length, torque smoothness, etc.
  • No evidence-based value in tracking these metrics. No evidence for effective interventions to make positive changes to performance 
  • Many of these add-on metrics are marketing tools for product differentiation 
• 28:15 tracking and planning - training diary - programs
  • Essential for any serious athletes
  • Very important to log subjective comments and RPE along with the physiological data pulled from recording devices + sensors
  • Record RPE immediately after the workout
  • Watch / head unit integration is very handy
  • No need for most athletes to delve into high-end analytics packages like WKO and Golden Cheetah 
• 39:30 HRV and other recovery / 'readiness to train’ tools 
  • Useful for trend rather than acute - day-to-day - analysis 
  • Some doubts in validity of studies showing efficacy 
  • Little value in measuring live or all-day HRV
  • Sleep trackers not accurate and not very useful 
• 50:30 Garmin’s recovery advisor / VO2max / fitness / calorie measurement tools
  • DO NOT USE!
• 54:45 Michael is not a fan of Strava
• 57:45 performance testing: lactate / VO2max
  • Find a reputable lab to do any testing, so ask questions and do your homework
  • 4’ minimum step duration for lactate testing. 5’ and 6’ also common
  • Repeatability is key, so try to use the same lab and the same equipment for subsequent tests
  • INSCYD testing is great for repeatability, accessibility, and data quality
• 1:08 aerodynamic sensors
  • Not yet suitable for individual endurance athletes
  • Other aero testing is potentially very useful
  • A good bike fit goes a long way towards improving aerodynamics
  • KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN!
• 1:13 swim video analysis can be quite useful
  • The 4 key views: above, side above water, side below water, front below water

Check out Scientific Triathlon and listen to Mikael's excellent podcast That Triathlon Show at your favourite provider. 

We have a NEW SPONSORSHIP site!! We've switched to Patreon. Like the show? Prove it!

• 4:15 Andrew goes (mostly) plant-based
• 22:15 Michael blasphemes against bike lanes
• 32:15 Wheel stiffness inaccuracy correction
• 35:15 Listener question about comparing HRV values across long time horizons  
• 40:30 a digression on the individual nature of heart rate
• 45:00 Andrew’s experience with Osymetric chaninrings  

Listen to our chat with Marco Altini of HRV4Training in episode 43. Download or stream it wherever you get your podcasts or directly here.