Crushing Iron Triathlon Podcast

You're done when you choose to be done. The difference between elite athletes winning or losing comes down to the little things. Often those "little things" are ignored by age group athletes, but we believe they were the difference for Tiger Woods winning The Masters. Today we talk about focus, fueling, and recovery and how they add up to feeling good and better racing. Topics: You’re Done When You Choose to Be Done What we learned from Tiger Woods Mental fortitude and focus Bowel movements on the run New Coaching Options on Website Reaching the next pedestal Pre-Baby vs. Post-Baby accomplishments Ongoing body changes Challenges of Getting Older  Prevention vs. Cure Getting Your Body Ready to Train or Race Journaling For the Little Things Life Stress Impact on Training  Good New Things Are Stressful What leads to injury and sickness? Totally Under fueled? No off days For Your Recovery Addicted to big holes The larger the hold the more demanding the recovery Training your gut to take in calories Fasting befor

This is the first time in over two and a half years we've missed a Monday or a Thursday release, and the reason is a good one. It also sets up the bigger discussion about how we should be grateful to be able to do this sport and why it's important to appreciate that every day of training. We do this for fun, for hobby, and to feel good. As always, strive to be healthy and happy first.  Topics:  Robbie’s Mom Story Slow vs. Fast and when Work vs. Good Work Fine balance of feeling good and fatigue Doing workouts just because they’re on the schedule  Lack of sleep  Brain vs. Body Stress  Do We Appreciate what we’re doing for our Body and Mind?  Understanding “ALL OUT” in workouts Track Tuesday Tribulations Speed work IS NOT the only way to get fast What’s your 5K “Effort" really mean?? Bike Interval workouts Speed work on small increments   Instant feedback and speed work  Self-sabotage  Lance Armstrong Cadence Ideal? The Challenges of Moderation  Look at yourself as a person vs. an athlete  Explaining Zone 1, 2

We start with a recap of the in-race-cancellation at Ironman 70.3 Texas. Then we take a deep dive into the reality of swimming in open water and long course racing. Are you preparing yourself hard enough to make the swim uneventful, or is the swim always a major stress point? We'll help you get ready and keep your swim safe.  Topics: Oceanside Texas 70.3 Cancellation South Africa Additional Kona Slots Early season race challenges Going from trainer to outdoors Treadmill to roads Is Ironman really doing the right things for swim safety? Pool to Open Water Starky’s “Trainer” Athlete’s safety on the course Should there be an Ironman Swim qualification? Swim Safe Initiatives Ironman is supposed to be hard Total Immersion Swimming Open Water Swimming is a Power Sport Why technique can be meaningless The importance of exposure to Open Water How you REALLY prepare for the swim Triathlon is a grimy sport Make your pool sessions hard  Support the Crushing Iron podcast on Patreon, where the community pledge is only $

Squadcasts are interviews with our currently active C26 Athletes. We explore the every day stories of triathletes. Successes, Struggles, and Why they love triathlon.  Today's guest is Matt Dickinson from Brainerd, MN. Matt was one of the early adopters of the podcast and one of Robbie's first athletes. He has a great perspective on life and how to build community into your triathlon lifestyle.  Topics:  How his daughter changed his perspective on racing Losing 50+ pounds Running for time vs. miles How he’s getting stronger 3 sport athlete in high school  Wrong path the first week of college  The choice that saved him Looking at his daughter one day changed his path Addictive personality  Starting his own tri-club How he found this podcast  Beg, borrow, and steal  His Triathlon “Mankini” What his wife doing Ironman taught him The time he Sherpa’d for Mike at Louisville  Beating Anxiety - And being thankful  What the C26 Community means to him Where he’s going next? Support the Crushing Iron podcast on Patreo

We start with a little more about “training progression” and how to let go of perfectionism. Then we move onto tapering. Explaining why your taper may look different than someone else’s. Also, how fitness plays into the taper and how to be fresh and ready to spring from the gate on race day.  Topics: Exciting time of the year Oceanside, TX 70.3  More on training “Progression” We all learn differently  Choosing a coach Pre-race nerves  What your taper should look like Does your taper need more tension? Peak to taper phases How do you know if you’re nailing taper Race sharpening vs. being lazy Appropriate Load in your taper  Your body as a race car  Trust the process Training Through a Taper  The Golden Rule for fatigue Being crisp and emotionally fresh on race day What does fitness and Improvement look like? Fitness + Resilience = Success  Turning Fast into Far How to begin an Ironman marathon Impulse decisions Put Long-Term Development first Support the Crushing Iron podcast on Patreon, where the communit

If your goal is to be in triathlon for a long time and keep getting faster, this may be one of our most important podcasts. Emotion and bad judgement can derail progress, but it doesn't mean you have to burn the lawn. Nurture the athlete you are into one you want to become and make the whole process more enjoyable.  Topics: It’s Not The Race, It’s the Athlete Healthy Progression for Athletes Forgiving and Listening to Yourself  Learning is king Rational Reflection  Can you look at both sides of struggles? Productive analysis of workouts  One of the hardest things to understand as an athlete What You’ve Done = What You Can Do When we set our body up for “Survival” Sacrificing long-term development The body needs TIME to adjust  What load can you handle right now You can’t rush fitness, durability and preparation Gradual, long-term progression Do you really need to do whatever it is? Coaching is Stress Management “That felt appropriately challenging” Being crisp and emotionally fresh on race day What does fitn

We truly believe going into races with confidence matters. Today we talk about how to make the right choices along the way and build confidence will minimizing the impact of your weaknesses. Racing, training, and living with confidence means you're relaxed, and being relaxed translates into better performance.   Topics:   Confront Fears - innate alarm system - fear’s only goal is to protect you, so it doesn’t notice when it’s keeping out something good. Anxiety comes from a lack of practice. Most compelling fear is what You Don’t Know. Reprogram by confronting fears. Push yourself out of the comfort zone. Get familiar with things you don’t know Own Your Strengths - Negative comments outweigh positive ones. Memory takes longer to store good things than bad things. Instinctively drawn to negativity. You’re you’re own worst enemy. We dwell on weaknesses. Commit a little extra time to focus on your strengths.  Set Attainable Goals - Step by step goal setting to find something we can be proud of. Develop ourselves

We all have different body types, strengths, weaknesses, and mindsets, so how do we work with what we have and make the most of it? Today's focus is on how you can make the best decisions for the type of athlete you are and how that applies to different race courses. We also look at how to analyze race results. Work hard, be smart, love what you do.  Topics: Picking a Race Course that’s best for you how does natural talent play into triathlon? Training to your strengths and weaknesses Is the term athleticism overrated? Work hard, be smart, and love what you do Everyone Has natural strengths Train to your body type What conditions suit you best? How to analyze race results Different courses for different horses What makes a course fast, or slow? How to weigh variables for your best course Support the Crushing Iron podcast on Patreon, where the community pledge is only $3.26 per month. There are other options, but every little bit helps us keep this podcast on the rails. Thanks in advance. You can also suppor

How often do you reflect on your health or ability to do triathlon? Do you really believe you can write a new chapter, or even get faster? Well, you can. Improvement, just like ill health takes time. This podcast is really about keeping focused on the big picture while appreciating the small gains.  Topics: ONE Bracket is enough Appreciating your health and fitness  Do you BELIEVE you can get faster? Mental and emotional transformations How training and racing brings out your Truth Challenging your beliefs It’s never too late to discover the next you “I’ll never be able to do this” Races as a journey of exploration Expectations vs. Satisfaction Why not you?? Religion and politics 100 different versions of “fast” Don’t judge yourself Comparing yourself to other people Are you going to be race ready? Fast + efficient = effortless  Candy Bar Discussion Support the Crushing Iron podcast on Patreon, where the community pledge is only $3.26 per month. There are other options, but every little bit helps us keep th

Craving Benchmarks The “Meh” Training Days Impatient with patience Defining “Breakthrough” Workouts Making poor decisions DURING workouts Just when you’re ready to throw in the towel . . .  Stress and accumulation Triathlon Hangry The Pressure of Big Races Emotional Discomfort “I’m not ready” The “Cancun Workout” Try “Hop in” Races Racing with a blank slate Glimpsing Fitness Burning matches vs. Striking Matches How To Trust Your Training Building a deeper relationship with your body Invest and let it sit Support the Crushing Iron podcast on Patreon, where the community pledge is only $3.26 per month. There are other options, but every little bit helps us keep this podcast on the rails. Thanks in advance. You can also support us at our new store at CrushingIron.com. We have some NEW classic logo t-shirts and the Official Crushing Iron Spectator shirt for sale. Support the cast and get some new gear for it! Are you thinking about raising your game or getting started in triathlon with a coach? Check out our C

Our 250th Crushing Iron Podcast seems fitting as it's about staying motivated and energized by making sure you're handling your training load in the right way. If you've been around triathlon a while, you realize it's not easy to overtrain, but it's definitely easy to under-recover.  Topics:  start again today  exercising as you age Load Management How to understand volume When to pick up volume  it’s hard to over exercise but easy to under recover  why athletes under perform in workouts turning fast into far  stress as volume Weekend Warriors making adjustments in training and races how life impacts training training to where you are training to get you to the next step fatigue resistance “reserves” when you should under train who slows down the least? weekend warrior mentality  a glimpse of how it feels to Taper Why weekdays might be more important that big weekends Do yourself and your body a favor What is Epic? Support the Crushing Iron podcast on Patreon, where the community pledge is only $3.26 per mo

Building confidence is a daily process that can often come from little things you doing think about. It's difficult for most of us to look at where we came from and apply it to where we're going when we hit a bump in the road. Today, we explore different approaches to gain confidence in your health, training, and racing.  Topics: Defining our Podcast What is confidence? How does confidence relate to your life? How do you build confidence? Two Types of Athletes as a Race Approaches: Accumulate Confidence over weeks and months Experiential confidence (I rode 112 or a 1/2) Quality vs. Quantity  The Importance of Cycling to Running The mindset of qualifying for Boston Repetition and Results Don’t ram your head into a pole  Peaking ON Race Day  Don't Try  Understanding Where You Are in Training How to Look Back at where you’ve come from Confidence means nothing without action Beating peer pressure There’s no better roots than your own When to Push Yourself to the Next Level Support the Crushing Iron podcast

Race season is here, is your mind in the right place? We take a step back from Emo and get into ways to rejuvenate the energy and make the transition into race season. Finding your competitor, leaning into your passion, breaking out of the "Perfection Jail." We also go on a little rant about Brick Obsession and why it's so overrated.  Topics: Be dependable to yourself Coach talks about his training struggles Why we don’t always talk about the numbers From Emo to competitive Family transitions and Life Transitions Not obsessing about Races Showing yourself Grace You can’t be the outcome and process It’s time to wake up Don’t Chase the Wrong Things The Perfection Jail  Lean Into What You Have at the Moment Managing Load  How to best move workouts Running off the bike (Brick strategy) Support the Crushing Iron podcast on Patreon, where the community pledge is only $3.26 per month. There are other options, but every little bit helps us keep this podcast on the rails. Thanks in advance. You can also support us a

If you're struggling with: fatigue, getting faster, health, motivation, your "why," happiness, loneliness, having fun with training, balancing life, or Race Day stress . . . Then this is the podcast for you. The Crushing Iron Podcast is released every Monday and Thursday. Topics:  Why it’s good to be around races How that can also create bad decisions Running, the melting pot sport Are you losing the fun of it? Training is supposed to be an OUTLET Ripping Away the Fun of Training When was the last time you had fun? When you do something more you get better at it Running Slow is getting faster under the surface Seriousness numbs us You gotta be loose on race week Why you should be grateful to do this Nothing is fun when you’re tired Hungry, angry, lonely, or tired? Triathletes Playing Poker 2 Addiction to Disruption Are You on a Reactionary Mission? All this pain and gain Pushing and Proving Yourself to Yourself Support the Crushing Iron podcast on Patreon, where the community pledge is only $3.26 per month.

The pressure life, or WE put on ourselves… always keep pushing… moving… and the energy that takes to keep it going… signing up for ironman… new stuff… getting faster… making more money… on and on and on… computer updates… do it faster faster faster… It's hard to get past our ego, but the solution always seems to come back to sticking with the plan and outsmarting regret. Topics: Stress season is here Level of distraction is heightened Putting energy into one thing Mental and Emotional Outs Triathletes Playing Poker  Crushing Today Why Swimming Makes Us so hungry Being confident in your direction Combatting Negative Self-Talk It’s Okay to Be Okay The Struggle of Staying with the plan Why can’t we sit with ourselves? Balancing the extraction of energy Losing Focus  The Ginga Training Model Going Rogue because “I felt like it” Justifying in the moment #Ican’tgetpastmyego Craving excitement Craving engagement Craving more Outsmarting Regret  Appreciating what you’ve done  Support the Crushing Iron podcast on Pa

There's a LOT of stuff going on in and around your life and it's so easy to get off course. Today we talk about EXECUTING to your level of Excitement. Data detox and greener grass in your yard. Also, how do we know when "we've done our best?" And how do you get out of the "shallow" distractions to do some real work.  Topics:  The grass is greener in your yard Keep it as boring and simple as possible Healthy relationships with your “effort" Can you get focused? Data Detox Building Your Boundaries  Can you digest your information? It’s uncomfortable to focus on yourself What’s your level of excitement? You have to have energy to be motivated Executing on your level of excitement  Training for a race in total misery Why don’t we adjust? Adapting To Training that’s right for you Does every race have to be a PR? If you care, what they think shouldn’t matter Focusing on ourselves . . .  Triathlon as your vessel  Addiction to not getting out of the vessel  What does “Do Your Best” really mean? Sometimes in life gro

We have enough stress with life stuff, so don't let training add to that mess. So, move workouts, but be smart and listen to your body. Nothing's in stone. Fit your training plan into your life. How often do you workout by feel? Do you truly understand recovery? Topics:  Training Should Give You Energy - Emotional and Mental Balance Therapeutic Connection - Keeping Up with your facade Training plans are in pencil  Have Faith and Confidence The logic behind Moving workouts  Don’t be lonely and isolated Johann Hari- Lost Connections (book) Therapeutic Training  Finding more Freedom to connect with yourself Holding yourself in at work Letting Go of our daily chains Stressing about not doing things great  Triathletes are very Serious! Following The Plan And Listening To Your Body How to Listen to Yourself Internal Power Meter Calibration  Getting To Know Your Body before you can a apply it Growing Into Your Body Allowing Your Skill to Grow Lack of Confidence  Lack of Training Faith  Lack of Race Faith How Patter

Do you expose yourself to situations that will make you better on race day? How do you handle race day energy? Today we talk about all kinds of ways to use training instead of letting training use you, including building muscle control in the brain that will better prepare you for races and life.  Topics:  Swim Analysis  The Inconsistency of Devices Don’t Peak Too Early  Under-fueling  Having honest conversations with yourself Treating the training Day as a Day Putting Yourself In Different Environments Understanding Effort as it applies to results Build the Chassis to Use The Engine Creating a solid mental and emotional chassis It’s Easy to blame fitness Are You Building The Ability To Suffer? The days of perfect race conditions seem to be gone Adjusting your emotional governor What are you willing to expose yourself to? How fragile is your psyche’? Racing is Troubleshooting  The Race Energy When Perfect Pat merges with Obstacle Oliver Patient Pete  The courage to keep self-exploration  Pineapple on Pizza??

Are you juggling too many things? Tempted by opportunity? Maybe it's time to say no and simplify. There's genuine power in finding a few things you love and committing, even if one of them isn't triathlon. We're not here to please sponsors, we're more concerned about finding truth and happiness in what you decide to do.  Don’t make triathlon the end result solution It’s okay not to be a triathlete  You can’t create time, do what’s most important Getting stuck in the mud of training Motivation means nothing without energy “I’m just gonna take some time off” We’re fighting aging - Race to be strong Society programs us to chase grand results What if you reframed race success? Finish strong instead of wrecked Why you have to say No But we don’t want to miss the opportunity . . .  Do you want to? Do you have to? The Truest Answer Find what you love and say to hell with the rest of us  A Million Different Hacks Support the Crushing Iron podcast on Patreon, where the community pledge is only $3.26 per month. There

Fresh off our first C26 Run Retreat we talk about running hills to get strong and how it pays big returns in triathlon. The biggest thing we heard this weekend was "I learned I was capable of way more than I thought. Do you battle negative self-talk in training? Struggle with how to find breakthroughs? Today's podcast is for you.  Topics: We’re capable of much more than we think Find your good sore  The energy of being around people on the same mission is REAL Active recovery works  Being outside in real nature is truly restorative The GOOD stomach pain . . . find it  Why to use TOTAL time on hill repeats Strength, Speed, and Power Training smart and hard You ARE capable of working harder  It’s much easier to just STOP Can you find time for ONE MORE? Judge yourself by How Hard You Worked Overriding the doubts in your mind SEEING it is how you believe it Training for bad nutrition days Our “go to” excuses  What’s your fallback plan? Beating Negative Self-Talk Flashback Dreams Be willing to adapt, be gracious