TrainingPeaks CoachCast

Dr. Andy Pruitt, whose professional legacy includes the pioneering of 3-D bike fits, three patents for the development of Specialized Body Geometry shoes and saddles, all of which are designed to help optimize performance and comfort based on individual anatomy. Dr. Pruitt has spent his entire career helping thousands of riders from Tour de France contenders to local racers achieve their own brand of freedom and comfort on the bike. He served as director of sports medicine at the University Of Colorado and was a founder and director of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine.He joins Dirk Friel on CoachCast to talk about the origins of bike fitting, the importance of turning a foot into a proper lever for power, the balance of aerodynamic body position and power, the future of bike fitting and his next venture of making cycling safer.

Gwen Jorgensen won the triathlon gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic games after a pair of ITU World Triathlon Series championships in 2014 and 2015. She has since retired from professional triathlon and is focused on marathon running. She will be inducted into the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame in August of 2022. After contracting COVID-19 recently, she and elite athlete coach Bobby McGee reset her goals and plans for the year. The situation has given them both a new perspective on training and racing. Listen in as Dirk Friel talks about the various challenges of recovering from the illness and how running form and surface impact runners.

Ryan Hall left the pro running circuit in 2016. The U.S. half marathon record-holder and unofficial American marathon record-holder has a new passion these days — bodybuilding. From running a sub-2:05 Boston Marathon in 2011 to putting on 40 pounds of muscle, Hall found a new fulfilling way of expressing himself after his body told him his competitive long-distance running days were over.The two-time Olympian joins Dirk to discuss the process of shifting disciplines, the challenges and benefits of coaching his wife Sara, and the coaching lessons he's learned throughout his 20-year career and beyond.

Peter Stetina was an accomplished World Tour road cyclist before embracing gravel racing in 2019. He quickly established himself as one of the best in the sport, winning Utah’s Crusher in the Tushar, the 2021 Belgian Waffle Ride San Diego and the inaugural Leadboat, which is the combination of two arduous endurance races for a total of 250 miles over two days. In 2020, he set the course record on the infamous White Rim Trail in Moab, Utah. Stetina, son of U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame inductee Dale Stetina, joins Dirk to discuss the ever-evolving sport of gravel racing, his successful 2021 season, self-coaching and van life.

Ski mountaineering, or Skimo, has been gaining traction among winter sports athletes for years. With the recent announcement that the sport will be included in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Skimo will soon be elevated to a worldwide stage. Grace Staberg, 19, is an accomplished ultramarathon runner and a hopeful to represent the United States in the inaugural Skimo event at the Olympics. Grace and her coach, Joe Howdyshell of Summit Endurance Academy, join Dirk to discuss the sport of Skimo, the Olympic inclusion and the training and preparation that has led to Grace becoming one of the top female ski mountaineering athletes in the U.S.

Chris Hauth intimately knows the interworking of a master's athlete. He knows the family and social obligations, recognizes the desire to remain competitive but also owns the fact the motivation shifts dramatically as athletes age. The glamor of big podium racing fades thus requiring athletes to seek out a deeper ‘why.’Listen as he and Dirk explore the meaning of working out and ‘working in,’ meaning finding a different mental space that brings forth new ideas and memories. They also discuss creating social anchors that help your training in check as well as coming to understand who you really are through sport.

The National Triathlon Team of Norway has a fascinating story. Head Coach Arild Tveiten started with just a small handful of athletes interested in the sport. With the right investment of time (8 years!), dedication and a heavy focus on sport science (forget 80/20 training, they are using 90/10!), athlete Kristian Blummenfelt was able to bring home his first gold in triathlon from Tokyo. Discover what it takes for a small country to build a successful team from the ground up, despite limited funding and manpower.

In this episode of the CoachCast, Dirk dives in with Will O'Connor to explore everything related to running power. Listen as they compare the value of running versus riding with power, discuss the best use-case scenarios for run power, as well as examine what it can teach us that GPS data and heart rate can’t. They even touch on the (literal) power contained in a new pair of Nikes and exactly what running power novices need to get started.

If you identify with the mountain bike crew and or with the data nerd clan, this episode is for you. Matt Miller, mountain bike scientist and founder of BrakeAce sat down with Dirk to explore all ways of improving speed and fitness.They start out by discussing how, despite Matt's determination to challenge the idea that FTP rules all, his testing has only certified that it remains steadfast as the primary predictor of performance. They also discuss the absolute necessity of preserving high-effort "matches" by way of strategic braking and finally wrap up with debating how much time mountain bikers need to spend on the road.

It's not every day that Dirk gets to interview his father and TrainingPeaks' Co-Founder, Joe Friel. Listen as Dirk and Joe discuss what it takes to stay competetive as Masters athletes (spoiler alert: incorporating high-intensity training, increasing protein intake and maximizing sleep are all super helpful!)