Today's guest is triathlete and Human Performance Engineer at specialized, Jesse Frank.

We talk about all of the work he's doing at specialized in the wind tunnel. Optimizing people's aerodynamic position and now starting to work on thermodynamic performance of apparel.

Jesse tells me about group rides at Specialized with his co-workers as well as the advantages of drafting off another cyclist.

I ask Jesse about the things that affect us the most when we're trying to set up a really aerodynamic time trial position.

Since he lives in Santa Cruz we commiserate over each of our own Santa Cruz 70.3 experiences.

If you've been out running or cycling for any amount of time you've probably been yelled at. Recently Jesse had such an experience so we talk about how to deal with people that yell or cuss at us while we're out working out.

Jesse tells me about why we've seen golf ball dimples be removed from bicycles, but is now appearing on clothing.

Before rounding out our conversation we talk about the other Jesse, Jesse Thomas, in the mix and my misremembering him wearing a wetsuit on a bike during a race (sorry Matt!).

Pro cyclist and MIT doctoral grad Christina Birch sits down with me today to talk cycling.

I ask her about how she got into cycling "late" in life eventually leading to her current circumstances of racing at a professional level.

We discuss the impact that race directors have on our lives. The way a good race director will both foster a sense of community and make race days more fun.

Christina shares with me some of her thoughts about racing at the top level, making race plans and learning to let go.

As we continue our chat Christina and I talk travel plans for races and how she deals with going a long distance before an important race.

Being that we're both overthinkers I give Christina the same advice my college coach once gave to me about why stupid people are so much faster than me.

I ask her about how she trains for vastly different cycling disciplines from gravel to track racing.

Before moving on we talk about dealing with fear and the effects of aging on the mind.

As we round out our discussion Christina and I discuss the differences in training methods between running and cycling.

I ask her about her PhD at MIT and how she decided to go from full-time academia to full-time athlete.

At the end of our chat I ask Christina my season 2 question: What's the purpose of sport? And we talk about the importance of reaching your potential.

My guest today is none other than former Harvard Hockey player and member of the 2018 Korean Olympic Women's Hockey Team, Randi Griffin.

Randi tells me about growing up following her mom's dreams for her, learning to figure skate. Then after a time deciding and being encouraged by her father to move to hockey instead.

I ask her about the culture of fighting in hockey and whether it has a place or is simply for entertainment value.

As I continue my conversation with Randi she tells me about how figure skating had an impact on her hockey career.

I ask her whether she has the clout yet to impact kids the way some of her hockey heroes growing up impacted her.

We discuss the ever present argument of luck vs skill when it comes to becoming a professional athlete in a team sport and being able to compete in the Olympics.

Before moving on Randi tells me about her Olympic experience and the luck involved in the long-shot story of being able to play for the Korean national team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

In the last part of my talk with Olympian Randi Griffin we switch to talking about her PhD and why it matters that we figure out seemingly "trivial" things like the changes in the shape of monkey skulls.

Randi tells me about her transition to Data Science and how she came to work at a private company instead of pursuing academia.

I ask Randi how she stays so productive in a world designed to distract us and keep us from being able to focus.

Before we sign off I ask Randi my Season 2 question "What is the purpose of sport?" and she tells me a few different opinions on it. As well as sharing how this idea impacted her and her teammates on the Korean Olympic team.

Today I get the fortune to sit down with a pair of former D1 runners and active scientists, Dan Feeney and Melissa Mazzo.

We jump into Dan's career as a pro triathlete and why he didn't feel the need for an official retirement.

I realize after the fact that I have technically met Dan 8 years ago through our mutual connection, but there was no reason for either of us to remember each other.

Melissa shares the importance of training with a team even after college is over and tells me about her time spent with the Boulder track club.

We move onto Dan's current career trajectory: working at Boa Technologies, makers of the Boa Fit System.

As our conversation continues Melissa tells me about her thoughts on applying her own PhD in integrative physiology. The choice between academic life and private industry is becoming less of a struggle.

Then the three of us debate the merits of the Nike Next% and try to figure out the age old debate of where should technology stop and human performance begin. What is cheating and what is progress?

In the last part of our chat I ask Melissa about her research into stretching. And more importantly I try to figure out if we've finally killed static stretching once and for all.

I ask the both of them as coaches what a common pitfall they see in their athletes is and Dan delivers a highly usable piece of advice.

Before we wrap up and I ask them the purpose of sport we commiserate over the idea of being comfortable being uncomfortable.

On today's episode, I sit down with 3-time Iron Man finisher, paramedic and author of upcoming book, "Running Wild", Bobby O'Donnell as he shares with me the inside track of how he came about documenting his travels and eventually publishing a book.

Bobby also tells me about the genesis of his journey, the Boston Marathon Bombing, and how even though he and his family were physically fine, the event took a toll on him.

Bobby shares with me how meeting other people and hearing stories and experiences helped him learn to love running again and also influenced him in writing his book.

He tells me about how connecting with people became therapeutic for him.

in the last part of our chat Bobby and I talk about finding balance in life and going ahead and taking the opportunities to travel as they come into your life.

We discuss the possibility of using those experiences to enrich your life.

He also shared about his adventures in Antarctica: the joys and perils of running with penguins.

Climate scientist and skier Ian Bolliger sat down with me and discussed climate change and whether or not we are going to make it or are we doomed.

He shared with me about his research into the actual dollar cost of climate change and what part of his research is relevant to the real world.

As I continued my talk with Ian, he shares with me why he got into this line of work and what overall objective he likes to achieve.

He tells me about extreme events and how they are affected by climate change.

Ian then gives me a bit of his background in school and how he got to where he is now.

As we finish our discussion we discussed about starting over after the current happenings in the world and how we can focus on more positive items in order to essentially "rebuild" after covid-19.

Get the book: https://amzn.to/3bnRDYs

Award winning Journalist and author of the new book Why We Swim, Bonnie Tsui, spends some time with me to discuss a major dream of both of ours right now: swimming in kiddie pools.

All jokes aside Bonnie tells me about the beauty of swimming in open water and when is the best time to truly experience nature in that setting.

She tells me about how people who have a fear of water can overcome that fear and find the bliss she talks about in the new book.

Before we move on, Bonnie shares an experience she had during her writing process when she went through the whole process of free diving for food through preparing and eating a meal with her family from that food.

Bonnie tells me a little about the theme of her book: how we find peace in the water and its affect on our brains.

We discuss the idea that sometimes our intuition leads to interesting and revelatory research topics in science.

Along those lines we head down a rabbit-hole to discuss the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics.

Which leads us back to the cognitive benefits of being able to shut your brain off while you're in the pool.

In the last part of my chat with Bonnie we continue our talk about sensory deprivation and it's effects on our ability to relax.

Bonnie shares with me her one, somewhat painful, experience with mindfulness practice at a nearby Buddhist temple.

We continue to discuss the idea that turning your brain off can actually lead you to be more mindful and more productive.

Before we head off into the season 2 question: what is the purpose of sport? Bonnie tells me about how she is seemingly able to jump into so many different writing genres effectively including how she has written an intriguing and effective children's story.

Sitting down with Christian Posch, board certified dermatoligist and international handball refree, we discussed how medicine and they way we treat patients has come along.

We also discussed record systems throughout the world and how it has evolved and changed as well as the problems with trying to make a universal fit among systems.

We continue to talk about potential benefits and challenges faced when tackling this problem.

Christian and I discussed expanding life spans in humans and what happens when things go wrong and we have to face the consequences.

We also discussed handball and how that relates to american football and the ages of players.

Despite our obsession about sports, Handball is not popular in the US. Christian and I tackle the possibility of how to change that.

Continuing our discussion about handball, Christian and I discussed his career as handball referee.

He discussed about how he would like his handball referee career go.

As we round our our conversation Christian tells me about how he feels when players want to argue with a referee.

My coach and I discuss the business aspect of dealing with Covid-19 and how they are coping in our local community.

We talked about how stress and the troubling time we are going affects the training of athletes.

Ryan thinks that we are getting out more because people realize how important it is to still stay active so that when all these troubling times are over, we come back stronger.

As I continue the conversation with my coach we talk more about how to stay motivated when you have no races. I offer a suggestion on why a Coach is so invaluable during a time like this.

We shift to the challenges of dealing with a global pandemic and my coach's take on the current stimulus bill.

As a certified personal accountant he sees the insides of many small businesses and people's personal finances, giving him a unique insight most of us don't get.

In the last part of my chat with my coach we discuss the balancing act of bringing businesses educated politicians to Washington.

We continue the discussion about the coronavirus stimulus bill and the pork barrel measures that were included in the bill.

Ryan tells me about the possibility that right now is an opportunity for us to realize a new normal and become a better more fit population.

He shares with me one of what he believes to be the most critical things right now: making sure your immune system is in top shape. A priority to take before any training considerations.

Personal trainer and paralympic trial swimmer Travis Pollen sits down with me to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities people with disabilities face in the realm of sports.

He shares some of his experiences growing up and the unique situations he found himself in he might not have experienced otherwise.

As I continue my chat with Travis he tells me about some of the challenges he faced in high school and how he feels about those things.

As we round out our conversation Travis tells me about life as a personal trainer.

He also sheds some light about the myths and misinformation of training people with disabilities.

Shop the Solpri store at https://solpri.com