Consummate Athlete Podcast

This episode of The Consummate Athlete, we sit down with performance expert and bestselling author, Steve Magness, to unpack the core principles of his groundbreaking new book, W in the Inside Game . Steve shares his personal journey from the high-pressure world of professional coaching, including his experiences as a whistleblower, to reveal why so many of us struggle to thrive in the face of ext...

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, we answer listener questions about whether we can still make progress as we age. Can we perform as well or better? and what is the difference between health, fitness and performance? We also discuss what it means if you can't finish a workout and whether to reduce your threshold setting for cycling workouts.    This Episode is Brought to  You By:...

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, we chat with 2023 Unbound XL winner and gravel coach Kristen Legan. She answers listener questions about training for ultra-long gravel events, covering topics like fueling, rest stops, training hours, and key workouts. Grab your notepad—this is an info-packed interview you won't want to miss! This Episode is Brought to  You By: PAYABLE APPS - Use...

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, we answer a listener question about setting your max heart rate so that you can train by zones set by maximal heart rate. We also discuss variations on setting zones for those who do not have past data from hard efforts or who might not want to do maximal efforts. We Also discuss an analogy for new and sometimes random metrics that are on devices....

Many Cyclists and Runners got new cycling gadgets over the holidays. You might have purchased or been gifted a new device or software to kick of your training for the cycling season. With these new devices come a host of metrics that can be useful (or not). Today we go through a few of the common cycling metrics and try to simplify them. This episode gives you some direction on what might be of us...

    Kylee Van Horn is a Registered Dietitian specializing in sports nutrition and Zoë Rom is a journalist and together they created a podcast called 'Your Diet Sucks' looking at diet culture and also what we can do to improve our relationship to food (or 'how to unf*ck your relationship to food', as they put it!)    This Episode is Brought to You By: PAYABLE APPS - Use our link to pay no app fees...

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, Peter Glassford and Molly Hurford discuss a listener questiona about what Zone 2 is for a masters aged cyclist who wants to keep it simple.  The other question discussed is about the Festive 500 challenge. We discuss the origins of the challenge, some of the variations, and when it makes sense for an adult cyclist over the holidays.  This Episode...

Dr. Cheung returns to the podcast to dive into the science of training and racing in cold weather for cycling and running. He breaks down the key differences between heat and cold adaptation, sharing insights into how the body responds and what that means for your training and performance. We also discuss trending interventions like cold plunges—can they actually improve performance in cold condit...

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, we explore practical approaches to goal setting and share a framework you can use, whether you have a specific goal in mind or are looking for direction. We discuss how setting short-term process goals can help you progress toward larger annual goals, like achieving a fitness milestone or preparing for an event. Additionally, we highlight the impo...

In this episode, we chat with Gabrielle Rossi, PhD, the Executive Director of Girls in Gear , a confidence-building initiative for young cyclists that develops "life skills through bike skills." We explore the empowerment of youth through cycling, the cultivation of resilience, and Gabrielle's passion for fostering connections through biking. She shares how bicycles can inspire personal growth, fr...

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, Luke Way of Isocapnic returns to talk about respiratory training and how it applies for masters, how it could help altitude training, some details about Corey Wallace's 24-hour solo world championship win and some specific workouts for those using Iscopanic already!  This Episode is Brought to You By: The  Payable Add-on for Google Forms  – Try it...

This episode features Stevie Lyn Smith  a registered dietitian with a speciality in sports dietetics. Stevie speaks with Molly about a host of nutritional concepts that concern masters athletes including concerns about over-fueling, the risks of under-fueling, Red-S, Sodium-Bicarbonate, and the concept of fall weight loss when training load is lower.    This Episode is Brought to You By: The  Paya...

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, we answer listener questions on training through the chilly fall and early winter season, including a common question: why is heart rate often lower when it's cold out? We explore how to get the most out of heart rate-based training by considering your specific conditions and context. We also look at alternatives to training software like Zwift, s...

Noah Ramsey is the winner of the 2024 Bells Iceman Cometh Challenge and a U23 Mountain Bike Racer from Toronto, Ontario. We discuss his racing season, specifics about Iceman and where he might go next as he transitions from U23 to Elite in 2025. We also discuss his favorite workout that he has gotten from coach Peter over the last 5 years they have worked together.    This Episode is Brought to Yo...

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, Molly Hurford chats with Julia Casadio, a high-performance sports expert who has worked with Olympians in canoe slalom and sailing. They dive into a range of topics, including Molly's ankle injury recovery, the benefits of wearables like the Oura Ring, and they consider heat training and cold plunging for athletes. Julia shares valuable insights o...

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, we answer 2 listener questions about training plans. Can Group Rides be Part of a Training Plan and how do you include them around intervals and steady endurance riding without over or under loading? The second question is about including Heavy Strength Before MTB Race?   We go through how we think about general/goal-based plans that we put on tra...

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, we chat with John Shep, a teacher, ultrarunner, and host of the Athletics Ontario Running Podcast, who recently accomplished the incredible feat of completing the Triple Crown of Ontario —three grueling 100-mile races: Sulfur Springs, Halliburton, and Tally in the Valley. John discusses the importance of local racing, community support, and his fa...

In this episode Molly and Peter discuss what a training plan or coaching might look like in the 'off-season', which is the periods of the year away from the competitive season. This phase is sometimes referred to as the transition or preparation phases and comes before the base or acccumulation phases. For athletes wanting to 'go to the next level' or improve their results this phase of the year m...

Today we discuss two listener questions about how to set goals if you are a cyclist who does not compete and another one around the concept of Heart Rate Decoupling.    This Episode is Brought to You By: The  Payable Add-on for Google Forms  – Try it out for your next Event, Pizza day, jersey order or clinic/camp! AG1-  drinkAG1.com/MOLLYH  –  to receive your bonus of a free 1-year supply of Vitam...

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, we answer listener questions about training during stressful periods and offer tips for masters cyclists on starting strength training and running this fall. This Episode is Brought to You By: The  Payable Add-on for Google Forms – Try it out for your next Event, Pizza day, jersey order or clinic/camp! AG1- drinkAG1.com/MOLLYH  – to receive your b...

Rebecca Rusch joins Peter and Molly for her third appearance on the Consummate Athlete Podcast to discuss her personal experience with a severe brain injury and her extended recovery. This journey inspired her to learn more about concussions and share her insights in a four-part podcast series with the Feisty Media's Women's Performance Podcast, titled  Brain Storm.  This Episode is Brought to You...

In this episode of the Consummate Athlete Podcast, we tackle two important questions for masters cyclists about racing, category upgrades, and the evolution of athletic goals as we get older. Coach Peter Glassford and Author Molly Hurford dive into the nuances of choosing the right race category and balancing performance with life priorities. First, we answer a listener's dilemma: Should you race...

Join Peter and Molly as they dive into the appeal of taking on last-minute, end-of-season endurance adventures—whether it's a big race, a challenging ride, or an epic endurance event. They share real-life examples from clients and explore how factors like sport, distance, and terrain, along with your current training, influence the risk of these spontaneous challenges. They also discuss the import...

Join Peter and Molly as they discuss training strategies for the fall season—the period after your major "A" races when you may not have a specific goal on the horizon. They explore how your current motivation, injury, illness and life can influence the training you do. The episode highlights how, despite appearances, time before your next objective is limited due to upcoming winter conditions and...

Peter and Molly discuss a common question in the late summer and early fall about recovering between intervals, races and weekly practices or practice cyclocross races. They look at the importance of planning the season, month and week to include recovery and also how masters athletes might adjust their week's further to optimize their training plan for their recovery needs.  This Episode is broug...