Endurance Unlimited

Race Director Gabriela Gallegos gets, stuff, done! She puts on a multitude of races in Texas as well as Arizona and is on the Board of Directors for USAT. She trained for her first triathlon as an adult and found the finish line experience totally transformative. From then on, she was hooked.Gabriela strives to share that experience with many others in her community, particularly women of color via her Mighty Mujer Race Series. She has undoubtedly made some tough choices throughout the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic but is continuously looking at ways to adapt and guarantee her racers are able to return to what they love most. 

If there ever was someone with true expertise in endurance training through a pandemic, it would be Jeff Sankoff. As a doctor of 21 years, with a specialty in critical care, he has deep insight into the physiology behind triathlon training and racing, in addition to a well-informed perspective on the current status of race safety in the time of COVID-19.Jeff is also a triathlete with many Ironman and Half-Ironman race finishes under his belt. Listen as Dirk and Jeff explore the future of safe racing as well as discussing the infectivity to COVID-19 among training athletes. 

Tony Kanaan is a force to be reckoned with. Not only has he dedicated his life to Indycar racing for the past 23 years, but he is also a triathlete with an insatiable dedication to his training. From pulling massive TSS weeks to carving out triathlon racing time between a 17-week car racing season, there is no doubt that Tony is addicted to competition and driving to greatness. Listen as Dirk dives deep with Tony to discuss motivation, time management and what the future holds for this athletic all-arounder. 

An athlete like Alison Tetrick brings a lot to the table. Not only does she have a long history of athletic ambition (playing NCAA tennis and dabbling in triathlon), but she is also an absolute beast on gravel. Her coach Adam Pulford matches her completely. He calmly helps her navigate healthy recovery practices and enables her to be her truest self, even if that means turning a blind eye to her riding seven hours when she was prescribed a two-hour workout. Together, they make an undeniably successful team and a killer CoachCast episode. 

If creating a true champion requires a special cocktail of raw talent, mental toughness and dedicated mentoring, Coach Jim Miller is exactly the kind of bartender you're looking for. He comes from a long line of coaches, but never originally planned on getting into the business himself. While racing on the pro circuit as a young cyclist, Jim met his first client, Chris Baldwin at a stoplight. From there he was hooked.Jim has worked with numerous top-level athletes and undoubtedly has a knack for finding talent in unexpected places. Listen as Dirk and Jim chat about the evolution of sport and the upcoming challenges facing Jim in 2020 and 2021. 

A true legend not only in the cycling arena but in sports history as well, Kristin Armstrong has had one of the most prolific careers of all time. She began as a walk-on high school track athlete plagued by injury, transformed into a triathlete and finally honed her craft in cycling. She has finally landed with a successful coaching business, guiding the most promising young female cyclists on their journey to Olympic gold. 

In the world of triathlon, Julie Dibens has pretty much done it all. From going top three in Kona, qualifying for the Olympics, winning a 70.3 and bagging many Xterra trophies, the laser-focused athlete is now a Boulder-based coach. She is dedicated to her local and remote athletes and fuels the squad with patience, empathy and cookies. Listen to Julie and Dirk review her career achievements and explore the present-day training challenges presented by COVID-19. 

If you're stuck indoors with plenty of motivation and time to train, this is the episode for you! This week we interviewed the loquacious Michael Lovato, voice of IRONMAN Live and former pro triathlete. Michael discusses what it takes to be an IRONMAN commentator—from talking for nine-and-a-half hours straight to keep an eye on athlete power output, to even strategizing around limited bathroom breaks. He and Dirk also review his career highlights and biggest mistakes made during his time competitively racing. He even touches on how he's advising his athletes during the time of quarantine and distancing. 

What do racing an IRONMAN and climbing the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat have in common? Perhaps more than we originally thought. This week, co-author of Training for the New Alpinism and Training for the Uphill Athlete, Scott Johnston sat down with us to chat about the training commonalities between 'traditional' endurance athletes and elite alpinists. We'll also explore the science behind Aerobic Deficiency Syndrome (or ADS) and how it feels to work with athletes such as legendary Alex Honnold and Kilian Jornet. 

Coaches should always strive to build training according to their athletes' unique physiology, but how many of our training practices are weighted toward the male experience? Are you thinking about how nutrition and hydration affect performance? What about even coaching practices to increase beneficial bacteria in the gut?Dave sat down with Dr. Stacy Sims to discuss the topics above and many more. They spoke about bad and outdated science that has led to one-size-fits-all training, how hormones affect training in performance in both men and women, and about resources that can help coaches and athletes get to the bottom of claims from supplements and nutrition claims.