Coaches on Couches

Everyone has bad days. But when you wake up every morning not knowing how your body will cooperate, it brings a whole new set of challenges to training and racing at a high level. Our guest, Dr. Melissa Puppa-Lasher, PhD, knows this daily roll of the dice all too well. As an age group aquabike world champion and short course triathlon evangelist, Mel's journey as an endurance athlete living with l...

Our guest in this episode is none other than our longest continuously coached athlete, Liz Hall. Liz came to us as a pharmacy resident wanting to qualify for Boston over a decade ago. Since then, she has been married, changed jobs multiple times, qualified and ran the Boston Marathon, as well as the Ironman 70.3 and full distance world championships. But as we will discuss, her success has been an...

In this episode, Coach D and Coach B-Fun explore the critical role of having a high VO2 max and lots of lean muscle mass for overall health and longevity and how it also translates to better race performances. Our latest podcast breaks down the gold standard tests and how to incorporate those metrics into your cycling, running, and triathlon training. We also give insight into how to use the test...

They are sexy. And it just rolls off the tongue. As coaches of runners, cyclists, and triathletes, we love chasing marginal gains to increase the performance of our athletes. But chasing marginal gains before developing foundational habits and routines is like tuning a race car before you know how to drive it. Long term, those habits will get you a lot farther than any 1% gain you can gey by smash...

The heat is on! And your body is wondering what the heck is going on. As athletes and coaches living in some of the worst heat and humidity in the country, we know a thing or two about dealing with the heat. In this episode Coach D and Coach Bfun break down why heat acclimation is so important for everyone, and the most actionable things you can do right now to make sure you are ready to perform b...

Straight off a top 15 finish in the 2024 Unbound XL Gravel race, we chat with our boy David Ax about his preparation, training, equipment, and how the goal of 24 hours in the saddle panned out for him. If you have any interest in ultra cycling, or are considering taking on the 350 mile XL event, you won't want to miss this!

In this episode, Coach D and Coach BFun give you the honest truth about losing weight...ready!? It's hard and it's not fun. But there are ways we can change our habits and low hanging fruit that when cut, can make a massive difference in your daily consumption. So if you're looking to drop a few pounds, lean out, get to race weight, or just stop some bad habits, join us for another episode of Coac...

The typical avatar of an endurance athlete lends itself to having high expectations, and that is a dangerous thing. Most of the time, we put these expectations on ourselves, and they are like a weighted vest on race day. Expectations equal stress and stress kills performance. So we're on the couch today talking about how to rid yourself of this burden so that you can let your training and your fit...

Proper pre-race prep for premium (triathlon) performance. Say it 5x fast. It's time to nail your next goal race, but a lot hinges on what you do in the 24 hours before the gun goes off. Don't sabotage your next race with poor planning and sheer laziness when you put a ton of work into the build up. It's time to lay it all out so join us for another episode of Coaches on Couches!

If you've been around the block, you know it's happening. The larger possible reward, the larger the chance that people will cheat. It was happening before Collin Chartier was caught and chances are it won't be the last time there is a doping scandal in our awesome sport of triathlon. We are glad he was caught and we are happy the conversation was forced to the forefront, at least for a day or two...

You decided to take on a beast of an event. The unknowns are greater than the certainties. The truth is, doing your first 100 mile ultra marathon is a lot more complex than just getting out there and jogging (and hiking) for hours on end. There are several other aspects to the event that can make or break your ability to cross the finish line. So if you're crazy enough to take on this monster or s...

There are a million and one reasons why endurance athletes take a break from training and racing. Be it cycling, running, triathlon, or any other feat of endurance, it likely involved a decent amount of time, as well as a chunk of your emotional and financial resources. There is always serious injury that can sideline you as well. And now that you've been out of the game you're left wondering how...

Mason Schofield didn't grow up with dreams of becoming a pro cyclist. He really didn't even play sports growing up. But when the pandemic hit and life was in flux, he found joy in getting out on a beater road bike. Soon he found himself working at bike shops and getting into his first Cat 4 races. 14 months later, he's lining up with the best in the US at the American Crit Cup races with his first...

To wax or not to wax, that is the question. Of all the trends in cycling right now, chain waxing seems to be the one we get asked about the most. So, we called on our local chain waxing guru (and engineer) Cole McDaniel to school us all on the pros and cons of waxing your chain. Some of the benefits for your average cyclist and triathlete are pretty staggering, especially when you do the math for...

As cyclists, runners, and triathletes, one of the reasons we train is to stay healthy. But let's face it, this winter has sucked in terms of staying at full capacity. We've had athletes who have been sick 3 and 4 times in 3 months. It's the worst we've seen in 14 years of coaching. So today, we discuss illness and training. First, how to avoid it if you can. Secondly, we discuss the decision makin...

In this episode, Coach D has a lot to get off his chest when it comes to bike fitting. As someone who has been fitting bikes professionally and studying human physiology and biomechanics for over a decade, he sees a lot of trends in the industry that just don't make sense! Even things "elite level" fitters ignore that have massive impact on the final product and ultimately the rider's comfort and...

If you are a triathlete or swimmer, you know The Magic5. Their catchy marketing and claims of custom fit unleaky goggles caught us the moment they hit the interwebs. It's no secret, we love their goggles. Being entrepreneurs ourselves, it was a ton of fun to sit down with Magic5 co-founder Rasmus Barfred, and chat a little about the industry, their story, the trials and tribulations of starting a...

When doing Ironmans isn't enough, what do you do? Ask Francisco. This guy has been a joy to coach and has managed to strike a great balance between training for crazy challenges and still managing to have fun. There is a lot more to Francisco than we unpacked in this episode. Born in the states, but grew up in Mexico swimming competitively as a kid. Did his first triathlon in 1985. Sporting life w...

After the little altercation between Cory Williams and Michael Hernandez after the Salt Lake Criterium, we decided to pull Coach Jonny Brown in on the conversation considering he had a front row seat. JB has been pretty vocal about the lack of respect and etiquette in the American pro peloton as of late so we figured we'd let him get it off his chest. They don't call him an "old soul" for nothin'....

Let's face it, getting hurt sucks. Anytime you are unable to do the activities you love, it can trigger a nasty game of mental ping pong. As a cyclist, runner, or triathlete, our brains tend to travel to worst case scenario territory. Something like: - All this hard work for nothing - I'm going to lose all my fitness, friends, fill in the blank - There goes my goal race - Now I'm going to have to...

Hand numbness is among the top 3 most common complaints we get from athletes, right behind (pun intended) 2 other numbnesses that are way less tolerable. Coach Dale has fit hundreds of bikes (over 600 as of May 2022) in the last 13 years and has seen all kinds of causes of hand numbness. And many times, the fix is rather counter intuitive. So today we'll break down the steps Coach D takes when som...

A timely throwback for you endurance athletes this week. Why? Because it's hot AF outside! This week in the Memphis area it's 90 degrees and the feels like temp is over 100. Typical summer day right? The problem is it went from 70s with low humidity to 90s and humid in a matter of a week so it's hitting people like a ton of bricks (pun intended). So if you've been on the struggle bus all of the su...

This week we have Clay Jones and Sara Michael from 901PT and we are talking about a huge pain in your...back. Back pain is one of the most common ailments among cyclists, runners, and triathletes. Yet most athletes have zero clue as to what is normal, what needs to be addressed, and ultimately how to fix it so you can keep doing what you love. One of the best nuggets from the episode is the traffi...

If you are a cyclist, triathlete, or runner, you've likely suffered the dreaded bonk before. It's not fun. One second you are crushing it, and a minute later, the lights are out. It's no secret that high performance endurance athletics require loads of carbs. But how much do you really need? And how the heck am I suppose to eat all that? And what should I eat? It can make your head spin worse than...

After weeks of Coach BFun stalking him via social media, we finally got a chance to sit down and chat with the fastest Funston on 2 wheels. Scott Funston (no relation) was a lot of fun to chat with and we got to talk a little about his break out season and his preparation for the Cyclocross World Championships in Fayetteville, AR...where all the stalking began. We also dove into his story and how...