Fast Talk

Whenever we speak with a guest of Fast Talk—coach, athlete, or scientist—we always ask them their favorite workout. In this episode, we share the favorite workouts of coach and athlete Jen Sharp, Ted King, Sage Rountree, Lindsay Golich, Kristin Armstrong, Daniel Matheny, and Sondre Skarli.Each guest discusses the specifics of their chosen workout, and in so doing reveals a sense of their philosophy and the “style” that they bring to the execution and prescription.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve been an endurance athlete for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly performed some type of test to gauge your form, be it a 20-minute on-the-road test or a VO2max test in a physiology lab.There are many forms of testing, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. Today’s episode is all about comparing and contrasting the different test methods based on the three key aspects of any test: 1) the protocol, 2) the data the test provides, and 3) most importantly, the analysis you can perform with that data.It turns out there are vast differences between the various methods, and before you choose the one you want to perform, it helps to know how much time and energy you need to invest to get the data you’re looking for, and then how to use that to inform your training and racing.We’ll analyze each protocol based on its simplicity, the challenge of the workout, and its effectiveness. Then we’ll discuss each method’s outcome, the value of the metric, and its accuracy.Finally, we’ll focus on the analysis of each test, why it is the most important thing to consider, and how you can use the data you generate from any given test.Our guest today is Sebastian Weber, lead physiologist for INSCYD. You’ve heard him on Fast Talk several times before, and we’re happy to have him back this time as we forge our partnership with INSCYD.It’s test time. Let's make you fast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever been nervous before a big race? Of course you have. Ever talked yourself into thinking you might fail? Have you ever felt that unwanted negative thoughts and emotions influenced how you performed in a race? There’s a good chance that’s happened, since it will occasionally happen even to the best athletes in the world. But it doesn’t have to. This episode is entirely about helping you to control unwanted thoughts, with two experts who have literally written the book on it. Dr. Simon Marshall and Lesley Patterson, owners of Braveheart Coaching and authors of “The Brave Athlete: Calm the F***k Down and Rise to the Occasion,” have written and lectured extensively about mental preparation in athletes. Their philosophy of practice stems largely from the concept of stoicism, and their goal is to help athletes overcome destructive emotions and act only on what can be acted upon.  Marshall brings his years of clinical and neuroscience practice to bear on the discussion, while former Xterra world champion Patterson brings the athlete perspective. Together, they offer what they see as a fundamentally educational, humanistic, and holistic approach to training the brain.  Today, we’ll discuss the underlying principles of an athlete's psychological welfare, and why our thoughts and feelings are simply emergent properties of brain and nervous system physiology. On the practical side, we’ll discuss how controlling those thoughts and feelings requires that you manage your autonomic nervous system the best you can.  Besides Simon and Lesley, we also hear from sports psychologist Julie Emmerman, who works with athletes across many disciplines and at various ability levels, and Ted King, who now races long, painful, and emotionally challenging gravel and bikepacking races. They both provide helpful tips on handling unwanted thoughts. Now, whatever you do, don’t think about a pink elephant... don’t worry, this will make sense soon. Let's make you fast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Longtime Fast Talk Labs contributor and coach, Grant Holicky, joins us for another Q&A episode of Fast Talk.With Grant's help, in this episode of Fast Talk we tackle questions on race tactics (including the infamous “shake and break”), if and how you can train grit in races, how to safely override the central governor and a greater discussion around the ethics of pushing past this fatigue threshold, training for a five-day gran fondo stage race, and the dirty tricks of road racing.Our first question comes from David Sommers, of Madison, Wisconsin. He writes:“My brother and I often train together. We like to go on long rides at sunset through farm country, hoping to inspire cowboys on horseback to race us. I tend to practice wheelies, while my brother is more concerned with perfecting his ‘shake and break’ technique and shifting into the big ring for some tomfoolery with guys on horses. My question is, which of us is doing it right? Who is cooler?”The next question comes from Gabriela in Buenos Aires, Argentina:“It has taken me a long time to realize that I don’t know how to suffer in a race. In training, I seem to be able to really hurt myself. But when it comes down to the crux moment in a race, I tend to give up early. Why? Why does this happen only in races? How can I become as determined in a race setting as I am when training alone?”This question comes from Berto in Perugia, Italy. He writes:“I have read much about the science of the central governor theory of fatigue. Now I want to safely employ psychological methods to gain more from my performances. How do I do this? I’ve heard that limiting feedback can be a good thing. Is that true? I’ve heard that deception can help me, to a point. Is that true? If these things are true, how do I implement some effective strategies for pushing safely past that point where I initially feel ‘fatigue’ in my training and racing?”This question comes from Dave Stohler in Bloomington, Indiana. He writes:“Back when I was really into racing bikes, I was obsessed with being Italian. I learned Italian, I idolized Italian things, ate Italian food, rode Italian bikes. But then I was in a breakaway with some Italians and they played a mean trick on me, shifting my downtube shifter into a huge gear when I wasn’t looking. Is this fair? Are all Italian racers meanies?”This question comes from Justin in the UK:“I've never done a stage race of the 2021 Haute Route Pyrenees before, which is a five-day stage race. With the race being in early July, how and when should I be trying to replicate the demands of five hard mountain days in my training program?The demands of each individual day will be quite different to other road races I have done, given their overall length and each timed climb section is likely to be 40 minutes plus, with two or three each day.How should I structure my training to get the best adaptations?Also, given most of the riding will be sub-threshold, should I be incorporating lots of low carb and fasted endurance rides in my training to encourage my body to burn fat as a fuel?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you consider yourself an athlete—and presumably you do since you’re visiting this site and listening to this podcast—then your definition of what that means has likely evolved through the years.Think about your lifestyle, your mental health, your training routine—even your friends and community. To what extent are feelings of satisfaction and fulfillment connected to your definition?Think about the arc of your involvement in sports, the positive and negative aspects of what that has meant for you as a person, and the place athletics has, and hopefully continues to hold, in the greater context of your life. Are you aware of the fortune it brings, or do you take it for granted?Lachlan Morton, who currently rides for the Education First-Nippo WorldTour team, has been fortunate throughout his career to have something most of us don’t have: immense talent. Yet, that talent hasn’t always been enough to make him happy or fulfilled by his career. It hasn’t always gone smoothly, or been comfortable.Lachlan has gone through a very public and well-documented evolution as an athlete: He started long ago as a young kid with huge potential, then quickly became depressed and disillusioned at the pro level, ultimately turning into a bit of a rogue vagabond.Next, he rode across the Australian Outback and was able to rekindle the fire, returning to the sport at an entirely different level, but one that afforded him the chance to do things he couldn’t do before, and therefore express things he needed to express.His career has only gone up from there, and now he balances WorldTour racing with other feats of endurance, like ultra-endurance racing and FKT attempts.In essence, he has gone through significant, you might even say, massive changes in the 15 years since he started racing a bike. And while it may not be entirely explicit in this conversation, his evolution as an athlete holds valuable lessons, because it contains a universal truth: Ultimately, being an athlete is about loving what you do, and doing what you love. Hopefully, this episode will help you find even more love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We often mention scientific research articles within our podcast episodes. That said, Coach Trevor Connor laments how little time he is able to spend reviewing the data, in the context of the greater discussion.Therein lies the basis for a new type of Fast Talk episode, which we have affectionately dubbed "Nerd Lab."In this episode, we take our time to review four recent studies from the scientific literature. We address the hypotheses, methods, and conclusions of each study to give you a greater sense of the latest findings in endurance sports.We're joined by longtime Fast Talk Labs contributor and Brock University professor Dr. Stephen Cheung, who literally reads articles as part of his day job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m not going to pretend to know much about time trials. I’ve done one. I also did an Hour Record on the track. That was fun, ahem. On the other hand, our main guests today are arguably the greatest athlete-coach duo in the history of time trials. Kristin Armstrong won three Olympic gold medals and two world championship titles in her gilded career, and Jim Miller was her coach the entire time.  The pair have a fascinating story about the way they dissected the discipline and dominated their competition. It wasn’t necessarily the most traditional method, as you’ll hear, but it was undoubtedly effective. Throughout our conversation, there are a host of fascinating and fruitful messages about how they looked at and broke down the race of truth. On a more practical note, we also hear from one of the greats on the men’s side, Svein Tuft, as well as Sebastian Weber, who coached four-time world champion Tony Martin during his illustrious career. Finally, we get some sage advice from tech guru Nick Legan about how to bring speed to time trials even if you have a small budget. All that and much more as we explore both the art and science of time trials, today on Fast Talk. Let's make you fast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We receive a lot of questions about very specific topics—fasted training, supplements and recovery products, breathing techniques, and so forth. (By the way, we love them, so please keep them coming.)In this episode, however, we step back and discuss what we feel is most important, and frankly what is going to give you the biggest return for your investment of time, sweat, and energy.If those specific things are the 5 percent, today is all about making an argument for focusing on the 95 percent.We are in an age of marginal gains, where many athletes have firmly latched onto the idea that seemingly insignificant changes have the potential to incrementally add up to substantial gains.The trend started within the ranks of the pro peloton. The thing is, pro riders are so developed physiologically to win that they have to find these little things to make the difference.In fact, they've likely spent 10 years developing the 95 percent and have it dialed. More importantly, the secret truth is that pros don’t focus on the 5 percent as much as you'd think, and we give several examples of this, from Kristin Armstrong (who you'll hear from in episode 154), Brent Bookwalter, and others.So what should you focus on? What comprises that 95 percent? It's simple: Training Recovery Functioning gear We'll go into much more detail in the episode about what we mean, specifically, about these topics, and the fundamental principles underlying all of it.Finally, we close with a cautionary tale: The 5 percent can take up 90 percent of your time and distract you from what's truly valuable. Because they're trendy, there is nearly an unlimited number of things that fall into that "5 percent bucket" to explore. They are all debated and based on partial science—forcing you to spend energy asking what works and what doesn't.All of this adds up to a whole lot of mental energy and fatigue. Thus, instead of helping you improve, too much focus on the 5 percent can actual hinder you in many ways. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They say age is just a number. That’s exactly it: Age is nothing more than digits, and certainly shouldn’t be seen as a barrier or a dirty word. We can age successfully, but it requires changes to how we train and perhaps to the types of races we target.  Of course, there are some physiological changes—you might call them declines—that come with age. Yet, there are also things that improve as athletes get older. Sometimes they are truly physiological and psychological adaptations, and at other times they are a matter of perspective, mentality, or choice. We begin the episode with a deep dive by Trevor into some recent research on the effects of age and performance. Then we jump into a great conversation with the timeless Rebecca Rusch, a seven-time world champion, mountain bike Hall of Famer, and ever-evolving, age-defying cyclist and adventurer. As we speak, the 52-year-old Rusch is taking on her third Iditarod Trail Invitational in Alaska. In that conversation, we touch upon everything from training changes to nutrition tips, from off-the-bike work to the work it takes inside the mind to stay motivated, energized, and ready to push. We also hear from Dr. Andy Pruitt, the world-renowned sports medicine consultant, and Colby Pearce, coach, athlete, bike fitter, and host of the Cycling in Alignment podcast. All that and much more, today on Fast Talk. Let's make you fast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coach Lindsay Golich is a sports physiologist who has worked with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center for the past five years. She works closely with USA Cycling and USA Triathlon in areas of environmental physiology, including altitude, heat and humidity, as well as data analytics for performance modeling.  With Lindsay’s help, today we tackle several questions related to her areas of expertise, including heat acclimatization, sweat rates, altitude effects, regulating temperature, FTP testing, and fasted training.  All that and much more, today on Fast Talk. Let's make you fast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices