In this week’s episode we welcome back a previous guest, my friend Andy Blow.  He and I sat down for a chat at the 2019 TrainingPeaks Endurance Coaching Summit in Boulder, Colorado.  Our discussion begins as we have a laugh about a regular Twitter post by 220 magazine about whether you should have a weekly long run or not.  We recall a presentation at an expo several years ago where Andy and I deliberately took opposing views on a range of different subjects, almost implying that there are only 2 positions to be taken in any argument:  Black or white.  As the chat continues we discuss:

• Drinking to thirst versus drinking to a plan

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For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email [email protected].

• Were they sworn enemies, or was this just the press making mischief

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For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email [email protected].

It’s not often you get to interview a double Olympic Gold medalist.  It helps that I have known today’s guest, Alistair Brownlee, since the time when he started his triathlon journey way back in 2004. He joined a British Triathlon talent ID programme of which myself and Jack Maitland were coaches for the North Region. It’s been exciting to follow the progress of this young man right through from a talented youth to repeat Olympic Gold medals and now to this stage of his career where he is about to make his debut at the Ironman World Championships in Kailua Kona in just a few weeks time. Alistair lives a few miles away from me so I travelled over to his new house to do this interview and he made me feel very welcome. As you’d expect from someone who is sponsored by Taylors Yorkshire Tea, Al made me a brew and we sat down to chat about:

• Fulfilling a lifelong ambition to race the Hawaii Ironman

I hope you enjoy this conversation and have a few laughs. It will certainly give you an insight into Alistair’s mindset before his next big challenge.

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For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email [email protected].

This week we are back to a solo cast as I talk you through End of Season Recovery.  It’s a subject of much debate, as many athletes do not like to take much time off.  There are, however, many benefits to doing so and the world’s best athletes are very good at taking extended breaks when their season has finished.  In this 45-minute podcast I’ll cover the whole subject in detail, including:

• Why the next step after a peak is always down

At the end of the podcast I refer to a 6-week end of season plan that I have put together in TrainingPeaks. If you would like a copy then please e-mail [email protected].  You will need to provide your email address in return but I think that’s a fair exchange.

I also made reference to several resources in this podcast:

Podcast with Dr Phil Maffetone

Dr Phil Maffetone - 2 week test

Sweat Elite article about Kenyan Runners end of season recovery

Tanser - Train hard, win easy - The Kenyan way

Podcast with Louisa Holmes - Part 1 - Physio assessment

To find out more about Simon’s coaching please visit his website here.

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For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email [email protected].

When we train for or participate in triathlons we often use military terminology to talk about our commitment or about the dark places we go into.  Today’s guest has literally done all that and more.  Mike Ergo served 2 tours in Iraq as a US Marine, and was involved in Operation Phantom Fury, referred to as the 2nd battle of Fallujah which was the bloodiest battle in the war.  In his words, “so many friends had been killed that I consciously accepted that I would eventually die there.”  After being honourably discharged from the military, his life descended into a spiral of drink, drugs, and self-destruction.  That is, until an epiphany moment when he made a change and found endurance sports.  Since then, Mike’s completed several Ironman events, including Kona 2017, and is now an ambassador for The Ironman Foundation.  This is a fascinating conversation, and we touch on some deep dark subjects, including:

• What actually happens in the moment when you think you’re going to die

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For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email [email protected].

In this week's podcast I have an announcement about the future of this podcast, so please listen carefully to the introduction. I also reached deep into the archives to find one of my very first podcasts with sleep expert Nick Littlehales. This was recorded in August 2016 but the content is still very relevant.  As you will know by now, I am a big promoter of those aspects of life which contribute to recovery and regeneration after training and I’m not the only one who thinks that sleep is an under-rated tool for high performance. This is a very short, but information packed conversation in which we cover:

• How thinking in terms of sleep cycles in a 7 day period can help you get better sleep

You can find out more about Nick at www.SportSleepCoach.com, or you can check out Nick’s book, “Sleep, the Myth of 8 Hours, the Power of Naps .  . and the New Plan to Recharge Your Body and Mind”.

To find out more about Simon’s coaching please visit his website here.

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For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email [email protected].

Debbie Potts joins us again this week as we take a much deeper dive into the circumstances around her diagnosis for chronic fatigue, after having received several questions from listeners asking exactly what she did to get back to full health and fitness. So here we are with Debbie Potts - Part 2 in which we discuss:

• Exactly what HPA axis syndrome is and how was it eventually diagnosed

If Debbie’s story sounds familiar and you think you might be in a similar situation, she now has a workbook "The WHOLESTIC Method: Manual & Workbook: Transform the WHOLE you from the Inside Out” which is available through Amazon.

To find out more about Simon’s coaching please visit his website here.

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For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email [email protected].

Triathletes love gadgets and they love data. When you can combine the two they are in heaven, which is why the subject of power meters is always hotly debated. There is a lot of choice and so this week’s guest will help to clear the water a bit. George Galbraith is the owner and founder of Jam Cycling, and they distribute the Infocrank by Verve Cycling power meter in the UK. He does a really, really good job of remaining impartial as he answers listener questions including:

• Some basic considerations for someone purchasing their first power meter.

To find out more about Jam Cycling and the Infocrank power meter please visit their website https://www.jam-cycling.com/

You can also follow them on 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/JamCycling/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jamcycling/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/jamcycling

In the conversation, I also mention the DC Rainmaker Powermeter review, which you can find here —>> https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2018/11/power-meter-buyers-2018.html

To find out more about Simon’s coaching please visit his website here.

To follow Simon on Facebook, click here.

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email [email protected].

This week I have 3 guests, all of whom have appeared on the show previously as guests discussing other topics. What they have in common today is that they all follow a plant based diet.  Jack Maitland is a high performance triathlon coach and in his athletic career was a full time mountain racer and then triathlete, winning major international mountain races such as Sierre Zinal and representing Scotland in the Commonwealth games triathlon. Louisa Homes is my regular physio (I sometimes call her the White Witch) and raced as a professional triathlete on the Ironman circuit. Kirsten Steffenson is a full time yoga teacher who embodies the ideal of total body health and performance.

The reason for getting all 3 together is because I observe and hear a lot of resistance to a meat and fish free diet and wanted to share their story, especially as Louisa and Jack followed a plant based eating regime while they were competing as full time athletes.  During our conversation you will discover:

Our guests answer listeners questions including:

• Is it necessary to supplement a vegetarian diet with missing vitamins and minerals such as B12?

To find out more about Jack and Kirsten you can join their Facebook group The Sports Ashram.  Louisa is a practising physio at the Coach House Physiotherapy Ciinic in Leeds and also teaches weekly yoga classes at the same venue.

In this episode we also talked about the book by ultra runner, Scott Jurek Eat and Run.  Louisa mentioned the website Happy Cow, dedicated to helping you find vegetarian and vegan restaurants nearby.

To find out more about Simon’s coaching please visit his website here.

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For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email [email protected].

I first heard today’s guest speaking on another podcast, and her coaching philosophy sounded very similar to mine. As I explored a bit more I found that her back story mirrored that of many endurance athletes I have observed; training harder and harder and getting slower and slower and eventually descending into a downward spiral of illness and chronic fatigue. Debbie Potts was a 15 time Ironman finisher, including 5 visits to the Ironman World Championship, and yet here she was 30 pounds overweight while training hard. Eventually she was diagnosed with HPA axis syndrome (chronic fatigue) and she was forced to change her approach to life. So began her journey to better health and fitness, and the development of the WHOLESTIC Method. If you have, as Debbie describes, “a triple Type A personality” then this conversation is a must for you. You will discover:

• Finding out you have HPA Axis syndrome and exactly what that means for your health

In the conversation, Debbie also talks about her book "Life is a journey, not a race".  To find out more about Debbie you can visit her website, Debbie Potts.net.  Listen to her regular podcast The Whole Athlete Podcast, and find her on Instagram as  - lowcarbathlete

To find out more about Simon’s coaching please visit his website here.

To follow Simon on Facebook, click here.

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email [email protected].