69 - Andrew and Michael's First Podcast

Explicit content warning

09/10/20 • 41 min

Endurance Innovation

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.

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

Previous Episode

68 - Ali Meeks and Conquering Your Fear of Open Water

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.

Next Episode

70 - Kurt Bergin-Taylor on Aero Optimization

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

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