Crushing Iron Triathlon Podcast

In honor of Mike's dad's favorite Ironman pre-race song, "Let's get it started . . . now." No more overthinking. No more premature optimization plans, just go and don't let information overload push something off to tomorrow, or next month. The digital comfort food is slowing down your progress. Get supportive people around you and let it rip in what might honestly be the most important time of th...

Are you willing to let go and leave your comfort zone? Today, we start by talking about Cam Wurf's perspective on endurance sports and life and it takes us into an interesting discussion about "being game" to try new things. We're seeing more athlete "going for it" with their adventures and we love it. We get into staying grounded, but taking chances. We look at building confidence by seeing speed...

We start talking about candy and ketones and it kinda goes on from there.    www.c26triathlon.com

What a race from Patrick Lange. Today, we look at how KONA unfolded and why, after all these years, it still comes down to the run . . . and maybe the swim? It's incredible to think that Lange may have strategically pulled back on the bike with a 4:06, but it definitely makes you want to look at the little things and how important they are in racing. Speed kills in shorter racing, but at the Ironm...

The Triathlete's Christmas is upon us… Who will stand on top of the podium at the Ironman World Championships? Despite being a little later in the year, it looks like it will be hot on the course. How will that play into the race? We go through some potential race strategies, talk about the favorites, and a few dark horse candidates for the podium. In the end we give our pics. Topics: 808 History...

There's not much worse than starting each year from scratch with rusty joints and bones, so today we look at some strategies to get the most out of your "off-season" training. Many may seem non-traditional, but the biggest key is to enjoy what you're doing and stay in the fitness ballpark. We get into flex months, the reality of too much intensity, spending time working on things that will matter...

Today, we tackle a thought provoking question. What's harder, an Ironman or a stand alone marathon? Within this question are a lot of interesting thoughts about becoming a stronger endurance athlete. We compare the body blow mentality of doing and Ironman vs. the more intense effort it takes to do a marathon. We ask if most people really "race" an Ironman or survive? We look at the pain and poundi...

Listeners drive today's topics, including the highly debated topic of weight training. We also take a deep look at the swim and discuss whether it's worth working overtime to save a couple minutes. Also, how do you keep motivated and inspired when something like injury takes you away from triathlon. Should you bilateral breathe in the swim? The best ways to work strength training into your swim, b...

Sometimes we talk with each other in a way to figure things out. Today, we dive into staying in the game, being in the moment, and living a life of experiences. We talk about letting outcomes ruin great journeys. We look at moving through things that give us fear. We get into shifting perspective on races that didn't quite go our way. We look at how being in person is so much different than an exp...

We talk the best Z1 and Z2 ratios for the off season. We look at Training for unique races like the Triple T. We get into the best ways to attack ultra run training. We talk the loss of swim feel and the way to get back in the groove. Losing weight for performance or health? Time to upgrade your bike? Prepping for cold water swims. How to learn from under performing in your race. Plus a little MLB...

Now is the time to look deep inside and figure out where you want to go, what makes you happy, and how to find love of the process. We look at the post season mindset and investigate how what we learned can be a catalyst going forward. What do we really need to work on? Strength, endurance, overall health, attitude, our why? We also talk about how just sticking around and staying in the ballpark c...

Success and getting better takes the ability to be willing to fail along the way. We can play it safe, but we're training for Ironman, not SoftMan. On the other hand, it's just a race and we pay to do this, so let's take some chances? Have a plan, then a back up plan, and a back up plan for the back up plan. Roll with what's in front of you. Quitting isn't an option. But "giving in" on the course...

If you thought we would have a big celebration for #800, you are absolutely right! Today, we talk about how doing hard things like triathlon can be fun, even when they're not on the surface. We look at defeating race anxiety, lowering expectations while still performing well, fr-framing fun and what that means inside a race. We talk about respecting the distance and creating a healthy amount of fe...

Want to race better? Master the principles in this podcast. Today, we look at what's really important for long course triathlon. The ability to hold form and effort over a long period of time. You can make it rocket science if you want, but the principles are pretty easy. Don't break down. But how do you get to that point? We talk about how to get there and nail the omnipresent philosophy of: It's...

Are you too hard on yourself? Today we look at the challenges of consistency and commitment to racing and living free. It's easy to burn our consistency matches by layering pressure on the daily. There are so many distractions and experts in the world, but ultimately this comes back to us. What works, what doesn't, and how do we keep moving the right direction. We all have more potential than we t...

Today, we give you a little food for thought on day to day nutrition and race fueling. We sort of explore the traditional triathlon thinking process and ask if you're really doing what's right for your long term health. We get into how to think about what's working and how to recognize what's not. On some levels it's complex, but it can be really simple if you start putting yourself first in the e...

We go deep into what was Ironman Wisconsin and 70.3 weekend in Madison. C26 had a great showing again with over 40 athletes racing and a 2nd place tri club performance in the 70.3 and 4th in the full. Stay tuned for a deep dive into race fueling.  We talk about why the perfect weather wasn't exactly perfect. We look at the two loop swim challenges and why it takes more out of you than you think. W...

Looks like it will be cooling down for the weekend and today Mike and Robbie walk through what that means if you're racing. If you handle the little things well, the weather may just turn out perfect for your needs. But, if you're cold and don't fuel, hydrate correctly, it could be an issue.  We go through how to handle the morning swim, including when to put on the wetsuit, we'll take you into tr...

We start with the pros and cons of the new Ironman Chattanooga bike course. We look at whether or not these courses are really that crowded. We talk unorthodox training as a strategy for health and long term enjoyment of the sport. We also look at Ironman branding and our C26 community. We get into the challenges of late and early season races. We talk about finding what you really like and how th...

The heat is back but the stress never left and it's a good reminder. We talk open water swim and your pace and if it's right and if training in the pool is better than OW. Are you wiped out or just fueling poorly. What happens when you face the Training Peaks Hell Week Council? Are metrics making us lazy? Maybe you just need to open up your legs. The most important variable when it comes to volume...

Focus on the details is very important when it comes to your race, but what are the right details? Today, we get into the "no man's land" of training. Pre-race planning, effective taper, and post race discoveries. Data can be important, but obsessing over collecting information has nothing to do with racing well. How are you using your data, and better yet, what are the major things you need to na...

The inaugural IM Louisville 70.3 kicked off with a bang and we have an on location report. We'll talk about all the expectations and the realities and how they turned this into an even better experience than we predicted. The slow swim, the "fast" bike, and the challenging run. Everything's on the table including the business acumen of the infamous Love Boutique. Topics: What is "pre-peak?" "Think...

C26 is in Louisville in big numbers and today Coach Robbie joins from the Omni Hotel lobby to talk about the vibe for Louisville 70.3. We talk about the swim potential, bike strategies, and the run challenges. We also talk about how to lead up to your races without getting drained so you can leave it on the course. We're also joined by C26 Coach, CJ, who is racing Louisville. He gives us his insig...

Today we break down how volume and intensity overlap. Just because something is defined as "easy" doesn't mean it's not intense. How do you think about intensity? Do you train in a way to build fatigue resistance and hold form? Some of these thoughts may surprise you. Topics: Shout out to a friend of the podcast Volume or intensity? Age groupers vs. pros. We think of volume as time . . . but . . ....

A lot of us really complicate things in the water, but today we're looking at a few "simple" concepts that can really make a difference in your swim speed. We'll look at how and why to master these techniques and what it will mean for your overall enjoyment of the sport and the swim. These are not drills, they are effective and relatively simple techniques that you must make second nature before y...