The TriDot Triathlon Podcast

Staying hydrated is essential for athletic performance. Expert sports nutritionist Dr. Krista Austin and TriDot coach Jeff Raines discuss how to manage your water and electrolyte intake while training and racing. You will also learn special considerations about racing in various weather conditions.

Power, pace, or heart rate? Learn how to choose the best metric based on the type of session to manage your workout and achieve the desired physiological adaptation. Join TriDot coaches John Mayfield and Elizabeth James as they share how and why each of these metrics are best used for different types of training sessions.

Start your race day strong. Learn to conquer the open-water swim. Coaches John Mayfield and Jeff Raines share their first experiences with open-water triathlon events and provide recommendations for sighting, breathing patterns, stroke rate, and wetsuits. Next they discuss how to adapt to open-water conditions such as water temperature, current, or lack of visibility. Gather tips for your particular swim start type, strategies for staying calm in the close proximity of other swimmers, and drills to implement in the pool to help you transition to the open water.

What is the most valuable training block of your season? The answer might surprise you! Most athletes believe that the few months immediately preceding their race are the most important. However, there is greater opportunity for performance improvement in the training further removed from race day. Join TriDot coaches Jeff Booher, John Mayfield, and Elizabeth James as they uncover how and why the training many months before your next triathlon has the most impact on your race results.

As Coronavirus continues to impact nearly all areas of our lives, many athletes are working to navigate this strange and unprecedented time. Not only has COVID-19 caused the cancellation or postponement of numerous races, but it has also caused a shut down of most local businesses, including gym and pools. The TriDot team addresses athlete questions about how to adapt your triathlon training in this unique environment.

To reap the full benefits of a training session, you must recover properly. In this episode, sports nutritionist Dr. Krista Austin details the importance of post-workout nutrition and how it impacts recovery. The TriDot team discusses how factors such as the time between training sessions, time to the next scheduled meal, and overall nutrition goals impact how you should fuel after your training. Establishing a recovery nutrition protocol will not only allow you to conquer your next scheduled session, but can also improve your sleeping habits and cognitive function, which will further benefit athletic performance.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed as you enter the sport of triathlon. Balancing swimming, biking, and running is already a lot to take on even before considering the gear requirements for each discipline. Join us as we discuss the essential (and optional) gear for completing your first tri. Spoiler alert: you don't have to spend a fortune for your first race!

Improving your run efficiency with better biomechanics can dramatically improve your triathlon run performance and reduce your injury risk. In this episode, Coaches Jeff Raines and Elizabeth James dig into run biomechanics and discuss running cadence, arm swing, body lean, breathing patterns, vertical oscillation, stride length, and more. Learn to identify inefficiencies in your run form and how to incorporate drills to improve your mechanics.

Olympic Gold Medalist and former World Record Holder Brendan Hansen is "allergic to average." In this interview, Hansen describes his competitive instincts and underdog work ethic in preparation for the Athens, Beijing, and London Olympic Games. Hansen also shares his experiences as a triathlete and unveils the importance of focusing on the training process and how the best athletes respond to failure and disappointment.

Open-water swimming can be a new, and often intimidating, experience for triathletes. In this episode, Olympic Gold Medalist and former World Record Holder Brendan Hansen recalls his first experience with triathlon's open-water swim. Hansen and Coach Jeff Raines discuss common swimming mistakes, open-water skills that can be practiced in the pool, and other considerations for your upcoming open-water swim event.