Zen and the Art of Endurance

Join me on a long ride while I talk about how Wu Wei (Flow and Not Trying) is incredibly useful in endurance sports and also in your own life. If you follow the show on YouTube, you can watch while I ride as well. Wu Wei and Not Trying is critical for being able to put in the big volume to be successful at endurance sports. If you try too hard, you burn out or get injured or both. I talk about mul...

Join us for night marathon mountain bike racing! We start at 108 degrees and finish 6 hours later near midnight. A true first time experience. Shownotes: 00:00 Describing race, leaving the pool, injury pains. There's videos up on youtube! 5:00 Race results. Kai hit his head on a tree trunk on the first lap and might have had a concussion. 108 degrees at the start! Garmin "crash alerts" for the bot...

I take you for a ride and talk about how Zen approaches and studies DEATH! Also, I give tips on how to add your own "nano carbon" clotting agent to your tire sealant for cheap and how to use a digital tire gauge to test if your tires are leaking. Coming to you from San Diego, I mention visiting the Canyon Store and also riding an XL Razor scooter daily to a software conference for a week. Enjoy!

Check out my interview with @laufcycles CEO and founder Benni Skulason on YouTube! A deep dive into Icelandic/Scandinavian design and engineering. An honor he spent so much time with me and Kai - testament to a thoughtful company with strong dedication to customer service and performance.

Coming to you live from Chicago, I go over how Zen handles the concept of rebirth, take you with me on a long bike ride, and attempt to swim, bike, and run all from a luxury hotel on the shores of Lake Michigan.

I take the audio from one of my latest YouTube videos of a bike ride, talking about practicing the Zen style of Removing while Adding and also other topics, such as creatine, the power meter pedals, and new swimming headphones. Listen in and enjoy!

All the awesome details of the biggest endurance event in North America! What was new, who won and why, all the tips and tricks you can use for your own best training and racing. Huge props to the Spirit of Gravel champions Lachlan Morton and Rosa Klöser for keeping the dream alive and Dylan Johnson for marginal gaining like mad using science to get an "average guy" like himself a top 10 finish....

We take on one of the hardest events out there - The Gravel Locos 150! Join the gang as we race with the biggest pros, interview USWE and Iowa Gravel Gang, get the RV stuck in the mud, I barely finish this race with a 25% DNF rate, and we get first impressions of the Favero Assioma power meter pedals and the Insta360 X4 action camera. As always, email me at texafornia at the gmails or find me on I...

I take you with me LIVE on a bike ride! Topics include: Winners of IMTX and the heat index of 119 degrees. Men's winner ran a 5:51 min/mile pace! Trek releases the "Car Back" rear radar. Talking to the donkey's owners and getting his real name. New Garmin 840, my third for various reasons. Low cadence/ High torque training paying off Why it works Now back to averaging 220 watts on flats and 300 to...

I interview Jan Van Smirren, who used to train for Ironmans and swimming the English Channel by recording his heart rate by hand and writing each reading into a spreadsheet! I also cover the news - T100 Singapore, Sea Otter Classic, and more. Then we have a great edition of The Training Log where we cover... - HR with swimming is a game changer! - Green smoothies were causing cavities even though...

Pro cyclist Hannah Shell joins us to talk about doing the Cape Epic stage race in South Africa, getting and keeping sponsors, going from road to gravel, and balancing being a pro with a full time job as a project manager. Then we go into The Training Log to try out HR with Forms swim goggles and pulling Emily behind me on two bike rides with a tow rope!

Deeper details about pro gravel racer Chase Wark's aero setup and gear choices, Lionel Sanders wins Oceanside 70.3, Form swim goggles now have compass bearing, and a good hour of The Training Log and other Zen thoughts to wrap up the show! Show notes: - Interview - What's his breaking point with what he'd do? Time trial helmet? - Aero socks, calf sleeves, tripwire base layer. - No gloves and shave...

Join in on a great interview with one of cycling's fastest off road racers, Chase Wark. He's often winning or on the podium at the biggest races, using a lot of science and research from triathlon and other marginal gains we can all use ourselves! I end the first part of the interview by doing some endurance news and taking you with me for 3 days in a row of big swim volume so we can see how that...

Join us for the Valley of Tears 115 mile gravel race, an interview with pro cyclist Justin McQuerry (31 minutes in), and crazy stories of how Kai mingled with the pros during and after the race along with Emily and Kylie. Getting autographs and sharing videos with Keegan Swenson and Sofia Gomez Villafane included!

A shorter episode covering a ton of different topics: Some racing background. Hour goal vs Kona Qualifying. Swimming volume tips with Form goggles. Patreon with Training Bible! How Zen and ZenTri are “Anti-Fragile”. New shoes - Hokas. The easy way to always know how old your running shoes are. Knee pain cures. Why you want to set your Zwift resistance to 50%. Stop calling aluminum “alloy”!!! Match...

Lucy Charles is skipping World Championships in Nice, Chinese man runs a 3:33 Marathon while chain smoking, Ironman gets a new CEO, and Kai got picked for a pro team! Then we go into the details of how we completed the Pine Burden 320 so you can learn from our experiences and try something like it yourself!

Review of my successful completion of the the 78 mile long 2024 Excruciation Exam Marathon MTB Race. Gear, fueling, aero tricks and more! I finished top half in AG and Kai finished 5th in Pro division

We interview one of Instagram's most dynamic endurance cyclists about how she completed Paris-Brest-Paris and get tips on how we should do our own bike packing sufferfest, the PineBurden320. Lisa Charlebois (@hustleandahalf) is a phenomenon on Insta, with great information and motivation. She tells us how she qualified for and completed the oldest, 745 mi. original uber-bike event in France. She t...

Old school HUGE episode! Four hours of everything, from interviews to gear reviews to training tips. And get coached by emailing me at texafornia at gmail.com Show Notes: Monday swim: You don’t have to swim hard. Can use it for leg therapy. Asgdf As Telling coworkers you need 10oz of water with that gel. Taping rim holes with gorilla tape. New Coastal Highway Route in Zwift: How to use it for 3 pe...

Enjoy the wonderful journey and work it took for Kai Blankner to become one of the fastest mountain bikers in Texas, from riding a push-bike at age 3 to finishing 1st in the 29 and under age group in multiple Marathon Mountain Bike races (42 miles or more). It's a formula you could replicate for yourself or your own kids, whatever you/they are in to. Also, we talk in detail about the brutal 60 mil...

4 minutes in water just above freezing, reviewing both the Kona women's pro race and UCI Gravel Worlds, what's wrong with the Zwift Hub One and the ultimate hack, Shimano crank recall (I had one!)

A review of Ironman Men's Championship in Nice, Sam Laidlow's secret advantage, the 85% rule in life, and awesome training in San Marcos Texas! Get coached by sending me an email at texafornia at the gmails!

Join me and John Hirsch as we discuss The Norseman Triathlon - how he qualified for and raced one of the hardest events in the world! We also discuss the state of triathlon, what's next, and how to keep or even improve your swimming speed. Enjoy!

I test out FORM Goggles! You know, the ones that put your metrics right in your line of sight? Check out why I give them 4.5 stars out of 5! We also do a listener letter and advice about local bike shops, a moment of Zen, a trip to the bike shop with the dog to fix a broken spoke. Annnnnd... this is just part one of two! Stay tuned for next episode for two more "first impressions" as I swim with t...

I detail how we raced the Gravel World Championships qualifier and and also give a ton of tips on how to race faster and train in this crazy hot weather!