The Athlete's Compass

In this episode of The Athletes Compass, Mikael Eriksson—founder of Scientific Triathlon and host of That Triathlon Show—joins to share five key coaching lessons drawn from nearly a decade of coaching and over 600 podcast episodes. Mikael emphasizes the importance of individualization in training, the biopsychosocial model of performance, mastering the basics like sleep and nutrition, developing strong communication as a coach, and resisting the allure of trendy training hacks. Whether you're an athlete or a coach, his insights underscore the value of long-term consistency, empathy, and critical thinking over quick fixes and rigid methodologies.

• There’s no single path to success in endurance sport—individualized approaches are key.
• The biopsychosocial (and environmental) model better reflects the real-world complexity of athlete development.
• Most athletes neglect the basics—especially sleep—yet these have the highest ROI.
• Good coaching is as much about communication, empathy, and listening as it is about physiology.
• Shiny new methods and tech can distract; stick to proven principles unless there's a strong case for change.
• Recovery isn’t optional—without it, training can’t produce adaptation.
• Lighter doesn’t always mean faster—fueling properly is essential, especially for long-term health.
• Power meters have transformed endurance coaching, and tools like HRV are becoming accessible game-changers.
• AI is helping Mikael save time on research, but human-centered coaching remains irreplaceable.

• Paul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching
• Bike Power Meter Pedals | Favero Assioma
• Marjaana Rakai - Tired Mom Runs - Where fitness meets motherhood.

In this insightful episode of Athlete’s Compass, Dr. Stephen Seiler joins hosts Paul Laursen, Marjaana Rakai, and Paul Warloski for a deep conversation on breathing as a training tool, recovery as a performance enhancer, and the importance of individualizing endurance training. From nasal-only breathing sessions to the role of sentiment analysis in monitoring strain, the discussion blends science, practicality, and humility. Dr. Seiler encourages athletes—especially the high-performing overachievers—to embrace rest, experiment with their own training, and use available tools (like AI and wearables) to make smarter, more personalized decisions.

• Nasal breathing can be a powerful training tool.
• The respiratory system is trained during high-intensity work—specialized breathing sessions may be unnecessary for some.
• Nasal-only breathing can increase ventilatory efficiency and reduce total ventilation needs.
• Training responses are highly individual—what works for one may not work for another.
• Sentiment analysis (language used in training logs) can reveal internal strain and should be integrated with other metrics.
• AI and wearables are enabling athletes to treat themselves as “n=1” experiments.
• The key to successful endurance performance: managing the balance between signal and strain.
• Coaches and athletes should adopt a "triangulation" model: training load, physiological feedback, and perceived effort.
• Rest is a performance enhancer, not a weakness.

• Paul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching
• Training adaptation and heart rate variability in elite endurance athletes: opening the door to effective monitoring - PubMed
• Reward and Forgiveness: discussing training with champion speed skater Nils van der Poe
• Marjaana Rakai - Tired Mom Runs - Where fitness meets motherhood.

Luke Evans shares his remarkable journey from a Canadian hockey player with no running background to winning Ironman Ottawa in 8:40 while holding down a demanding engineering job. He details his self-coached early days, the influence of family, the leap to Ironman racing, and the pivotal role of Athletica’s AI coaching in managing training load. Luke discusses setbacks — from COVID cancellations to crashes, injuries, and GI issues — and the strategies that fueled his Ottawa victory, including a bold swim start, maple syrup-based bike nutrition, and disciplined pacing. His story is equal parts resilience, smart training, and passion for sport.

Key Takeaways

• Late start, rapid rise — Luke had no formal running background before COVID, yet progressed to elite Ironman racing in just a few years.
• AI-assisted training — Athletica helped him track load, adjust workouts, and maintain consistency without a full-time triathlon coach.
• Nutrition hacks — He fueled primarily with maple syrup for carbs during the bike.
• Resilience — Overcame a major bike crash just weeks before Ottawa.
• Kona lessons — Learned hard pacing and heat-management lessons he’s eager to apply in future attempts.
• Balancing life — Trains at a high level while working 40+ hours a week as a consulting engineer.
• Structured progression — Uses data-driven intervals, consistent long rides, and focused swim sessions for targeted gains.
• Motivation through metrics — Performance potential graphs kept him engaged through long build phases.

• Paul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching
• Marjaana Rakai - Tired Mom Runs - Where fitness meets motherhood.

In this episode, the Athletes Compass team sits down with legendary exercise physiologist Dr. Stephen Seiler, who’s best known for popularizing polarized training. Dr. Seiler shares his latest insights into using breathing frequency as a real-time indicator of training stress—a potentially more accurate and actionable metric than heart rate or RPE. He explains the conceptual shift from traditional load-focused models to a "load–stress–strain" framework and discusses how wearables and new tech are unlocking practical ways for everyday and elite athletes to train smarter. Drawing from personal experience and collaborations with developers, he emphasizes how individual physiology, psychological state, and even life stressors all impact how we respond to training. It's an enlightening conversation for athletes and coaches alike.

• Breathing frequency may be a more sensitive, real-time indicator of training stress than heart rate or RPE.
• Seiler introduces a Load → Stress → Strain framework to better define how training affects the body.
• Heart rate often fails to capture accumulating fatigue or psychological stress, while ventilation might pick it up.
• RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) is often unreliable due to athlete bias and difficulty measuring it in the moment.
• New tech (e.g., Timeware and Garmin devices) is enabling field measurement of ventilation, both frequency and depth.
• Breathing frequency zones may be individualized just like heart rate zones.
• Norwegian athletes used a now-unveiled strategy of over-breathing at the start of hills to reduce oxygen deficit.
• Breathing costs can rise up to 20% of VO2max, potentially limiting leg muscle performance.

• Paul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching
• Marjaana Rakai - Tired Mom Runs - Where fitness meets motherhood.

In Episode 88 of Athletes Compass, hosts Paul Warloski, Marjaana Rakai, and Dr. Paul Laursen tackle listener questions on aging, training volume, fasted sessions, and optimizing recovery. They explore how much genetics influence athletic aging, how even the pros structure rest days during the Tour de France, and whether walking can serve as effective low-intensity training. Listeners also get insights into VO₂ max workouts across modalities, the practicality of fasted rides, and why context is everything in endurance training. The episode wraps with a call to contribute to an innovative field study through the Athletica platform.

• Genetics vs. Environment: Genetics play a role in aging, but epigenetic factors like training, nutrition, and stress management matter more.
• Training with Youth: Aging athletes benefit from training with younger, high-intensity partners.
• Tour de France Rest Days: Even pros ride on “rest days” to maintain high fitness levels.
• Lactate Myth: The idea of “flushing lactate” has been scientifically debunked.
• Walking Works: Regular walking supports parasympathetic balance and long-term endurance health.
• Fasted Training: There's anecdotal evidence from elite cyclists, but limited scientific support—still, many swear by it.
• VO₂ Max Specificity: Cross-modality HIIT can improve VO₂, but sport-specific training offers neuromuscular advantages.
• Race Prep: The day before a race should prioritize low stress, short efforts, and psychological readiness.

• Paul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching
• Complete the FIELD Study Questionnaire - Join the FIELD Study — a real-world research project that brings Sports Science 3.0 to life.
• Marjaana Rakai - Tired Mom Runs - Where fitness meets motherhood.

In this episode of the Athlete's Compass podcast, hosts Paul Warloski, Dr. Paul Laursen, and Marjaana Rakai welcome endurance researcher Harrison Dudley-Rode to explore "durability"—a newly emerging fourth pillar of endurance performance alongside VO2 max, threshold, and economy. They unpack how physiological performance metrics like lactate threshold and critical power decline over time, what influences this degradation, and how athletes can potentially train to slow it. They also dive into the role of metabolic flexibility, sex differences, and new tools like Athletica’s Interval IQ in better understanding and enhancing long-term endurance.

• Durability refers to how well an athlete maintains physiological performance (like lactate threshold and VO2 max) over prolonged exertion.
• Traditional lab metrics are static; durability recognizes their dynamic decline during extended activity.
• Durability varies greatly among individuals due to factors like muscle fiber types and sex differences—females tend to be more durable physiologically.
• High training volume, consistency, long workouts, resistance training, and possibly fasted training may help improve durability.
• Carbohydrate availability plays a significant role in mitigating decline during exercise.
• There’s currently no consensus on the best training method to enhance durability—more research is needed.
• Real-time tools like Athletica's “Intervals IQ” aim to help track threshold changes during workouts.

• Paul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching
• Marjaana Rakai - Tired Mom Runs - Where fitness meets motherhood.

In this episode, the team is joined by Dr. Stacey Brickson, a physical therapist, certified bike fitter, and endurance coach with over 30 years of experience. They unpack the critical role of bike fitting—especially for athletes over 40—and why comfort should never be compromised for aerodynamics. Dr. Brickson shares practical tips on saddle selection, posture, cleat alignment, and how to manage common issues like leg length discrepancies. The group also explores the evolution of indoor training communities and the unique advantages of platforms like Velocity for maintaining connection and accountability. Whether you’re a competitive triathlete or weekend warrior, this episode delivers valuable insights to help you ride stronger and pain-free.

Key Episode Takeaways

• Bike fitting is essential after age 40 due to tissue quality decline and reduced flexibility.
• Comfort trumps aero for most long-course athletes—especially in Ironman racing.
• Poor posture off the bike (e.g., desk jobs) affects fit and pain on the bike.
• Saddle comfort is non-negotiable; test multiple models in a saddle library if possible.
• Aggressive changes in fit (e.g., slamming the stem) should be made incrementally and only after musculoskeletal assessment.
• Leg length discrepancies are rare but often misdiagnosed; shimming should be used cautiously and temporarily.
• Training platforms like Velocity offer a powerful hybrid solution for in-person and remote group rides.

• Paul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching
• Marjaana Rakai - Tired Mom Runs - Where fitness meets motherhood.

In this powerful and deeply personal episode of The Athletes Compass, host Paul Laursen is joined by trauma-informed coach and TEDx speaker Pete Armstrong to explore the concept of emotional fitness—especially for men and athletes. Pete shares his journey from emotional suppression and high achievement to self-awareness and healing through therapy and coaching. The conversation highlights the destructive role of the inner critic, the significance of self-empathy and self-compassion, and the transformative power of understanding one's emotional roots. This episode challenges conventional thinking around athletic performance, suggesting that true resilience and longevity come from emotional well-being, not just physical prowess.

• Emotional fitness is as critical as physical fitness for overall performance and well-being.
• The "inner critic" can drive success but often at the cost of personal happiness and healthy relationships.
• Emotional literacy—naming and understanding your emotions—is the first step in healing.
• Many high-achieving athletes are driven by unresolved childhood wounds and low self-worth.
• Mental health struggles are often misidentified; they’re more accurately emotional issues.
• Practices like meditation, journaling, and self-compassion build emotional resilience.
• Strong relationships and self-acceptance have a direct impact on athletic performance and recovery.
• Happiness, not achievement, is the true performance enhancer.

• Paul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching
• Marjaana Rakai - Tired Mom Runs - Where fitness meets motherhood.

In this Q&A-packed episode, the Athletes Compass team—Paul Laursen, Marjaana Rakai, and Paul Warloski—explore the critical balance between nutrition, recovery, and performance for endurance athletes. They answer listener questions covering the best times to lose weight, managing taper and recovery between back-to-back events, and the ongoing debate between old-school long slow distance (LSD) and modern high-intensity training. Highlighting personal experiences, platform tools like Athletica, and foundational science, they offer practical advice for athletes of all levels to train sustainably and intelligently.

Key Episode Takeaways:

• Best time to lose weight: Post-race or during base season—not during high-stress build phases.
• Clean eating trumps calorie counting: Removing sugar and processed food yields major benefits.
• LSD still matters: Long slow distance builds aerobic base and fat-burning capacity.
• Recovery is non-negotiable: Especially with back-to-back races, don’t chase gains—protect what you’ve built.
• Strength training boosts endurance: Improves efficiency and fatigue resistance.
• Metrics aren't everything: High training scores don’t always translate to race-day performance.
• Individual variability rules: What works for one may not work for another—self-awareness is key.
• Start early: A strong foundation starts a year out, not three months before race day.

• Paul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching
• Marjaana Rakai - Tired Mom Runs - Where fitness meets motherhood.

In this reflective episode, the Athlete’s Compass team unpacks key takeaways from their conversation with Dr. Phil Maffetone. Hosts Paul Laursen, Marjaana Rakai, and Paul Warloski explore the dangers of being "fit but unhealthy," the importance of aerobic base training, and the insidious role of stress and overtraining. They discuss the pitfalls of performance-obsessed training culture and highlight the need for recovery, holistic thinking, and individualized training approaches. From managing cortisol to trusting intuition over numbers, this episode is a wake-up call for athletes chasing results at the cost of well-being.

• Being "fit" does not equal being healthy; hidden stress and overtraining can lead to systemic issues.
• Pure aerobic training is foundational for long-term athletic development.
• Metrics and data should guide—not dictate—training; obsession can be counterproductive.
• Stress (physical, emotional, mental, biochemical) plays a massive role in undermining performance and health.
• Individualized approaches are more effective than one-size-fits-all formulas, even when considering gender or age.
• High-intensity training without a solid aerobic base leads to burnout and stagnation.
• Athletes often don’t realize how stressed they are until they remove themselves from the environment.
• Simplifying inputs (refined carbs, intense training, stress) can have dramatic effects on performance and health.

• Paul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching
• The Truth About Overtraining and Recovery with Dr. Phil Maffetone
• Marjaana Rakai - Tired Mom Runs - Where fitness meets motherhood.