Run Long Run Healthy The Future of Endurance and AI's role in coaching with Dirk Friel
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Dec 11, 2025 
Dirk Friel, founder of TrainingPeaks and former pro cyclist, discusses the future of endurance coaching. He dives into how technology, especially AI, is shaping training but emphasizes that human coaches remain irreplaceable for personalized guidance. Dirk shares insights on new metrics like durability and shoe tracking, the importance of historical training data, and the integration of sleep and nutrition into training plans. He also highlights upcoming features in TrainingPeaks that will enhance community and coach-led virtual workouts.
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Stick To Foundational Metrics
- Classic metrics like heart rate, pace and power remain foundational despite flashy new measures.
- Concepts like decoupling and pace/HR relationships still unlock durability and aerobic conditioning insights.
Durability Is Performance Retention
- Durability reframes endurance as performance retention over time instead of mere time-on-feet.
- Measuring decline (e.g., power loss after kilojoules or pace/HR decoupling) identifies what to train for late-race performance.
Use AI For Consistency, Not For All Answers
- Use AI tools to build consistency and motivation but hire a human coach when you have big goals or plateaued progress.
- Coaches add context on injuries, sleep, nutrition and lifestyle that AI currently cannot infer reliably.