Since assessment workouts serve as a benchmark of your current fitness, it is crucial to perform your best in these training sessions. TriDot Coaches Matt Sommer and Elizabeth James join the podcast to break down everything you need to know for your next assessment week. We'll discuss the importance of fitness benchmarking as well as mental strategies and practical tips to increase your performance. Matt and Elizabeth will provide pacing strategies and suggestions for overcoming test anxiety; all aimed at equipping you to nail your next round of assessments!

While long course requires stamina, short course racing involves a lot of power and speed! Two-time short course National Champion and TriDot Coach Ben Sommerville joins Coach Ryan Tibball on the podcast to emphasize the importance of building speed before your next short course race. From the timing of fueling and proper form and technique, to powering through those tough training sessions, and even the value of brick workouts, Ben and Ryan break down each discipline and provide tips on how to become more powerful in each sport.

IRONMAN training certainly takes some time, but it doesn't need to take over your entire life. It's possible (and important) to balance training with your regular commitments and priorities. This week, IRONMAN U Master Coach Michellie Jones and TriDot Coach Jeff Raines join the podcast to debunk all the time commitment myths about training for long distance triathlon. From how far out to start training, to maximizing the workouts that fit into your schedule, Michellie and Jeff tackle all the burning questions. If you are on the fence about taking on the training time needed for IRONMAN or IRONMAN 70.3, this episode will answer all your questions!

Success in triathlon training and racing can be just as much mental as it is physical. You devote numerous hours to swimming, biking, and running to train your body, but what are you doing, if anything, to develop your mind? Can your mindset truly impact your performance results? On today's episode, mental skills coach Bobby McGee and triathlon coach Elizabeth James discuss this, and more! Join the discussion about the role emotions play in race preparation, combatting anxiety and nervousness, and employing practices such as visualization. This episode may be the key to help you unlock your performance potential through the development of mental skills!

Building a strong body is essential for sustaining triathlon success. This week strength savvy Coaches Matt Sommer and Elizabeth James walk us through the benefits and best practices for triathlon strength training. Building strength is more than just lifting heavy weights - it's also mobility, stability, and recovery. From walking into the gym for the first time, to advanced tactics for experienced athletes, our coaches have you covered with gym going wisdom! Even if you don't have access to fancy equipment or facilities Matt and Elizabeth will talk all about training at home. Even giving a glimpse into their weekly strength training routine!

Whatever address you call home, where you live presents challenges and opportunities for your training. Whether you live in the heart of a major city or the remote countryside, at high elevation or at sea level, or even somewhere flat versus somewhere hilly, you have to adapt to get the most out of your training. Coaches Will Usher and Tony Washington bring their tips for training where you live. They'll talk through how to train if you don't have access to a pool, how to properly execute a session in the hills, and even how to balance staying indoors versus heading outside. So listen in to find out how your home affects your training.

When the triathlon race season comes to a close triathletes enter what has traditionally been called the offseason. Thankfully all this time off from racing doesn’t mean we have to take time off from improving our fitness. Today, coaches Brady Hoover, Jeff Raines, and Ryan Tibball share how to make the most of your offseason. They’ll discuss extra rest and recovery, focusing on a single discipline, tweaking your nutrition approach, strengthening your body, refining technique and so much more! Listen and learn how to turn your offseason into a preseason.

We're back for another episode of answering YOUR questions! TriDot coaches Jeff Raines, Elizabeth James and Jenn Reinhart are in the hot seat on this round-robin, rapid-fire episode! Learn how to ease back into training after injury, incorporating more strength work to your workout schedule, and tips for open water swimming when open water isn't nearby. Listen in as the coaches talk about tubeless vs. tubes, different types of bike cleats, and planning your schedule as you jump to a longer distance race. They also discuss how to keep your triathlon gear clean (and not smelly!). This episode has a tip for everyone!

For the last two years The TriDot Triathlon Podcast has ended the show with a tip from a TriDot coach. Today we celebrate our 100th coach cool down tip! Vanessa Ronksley joins Andrew Harley to look back on her favorite recordings. From what Vanessa tells herself everyday to the tip that is really ten tips, we recall some of the best cooldowns over the last hundred episodes. We discuss identity, training the mind alongside the body, and pre-race wisdom for you to crush that upcoming event! All one hundred cool downs were valuable, so we recommend you listen to every episode, but if you can't, these are some must listen coaching tips!

Do you know how to dial in your training zones for each workout? Have you mastered how zone 4 pace feels in the water or zone 2 heart rate feels on a run? An athlete's fitness is constantly changing so therefore the the feel of each training zone will change as well. This week Coaches Jeff Raines and Ryan Tibball join the podcast to discuss the importance of training at a variety of paces and share their coaching secrets to developing a feel for each different intensity. Jeff and Ryan break down each sport and provide drills to improve the feel of each zone as well as tips for changing between zones. Whether your next workout calls for power, pace or heart rate, by the end of this episode, you'll want to head to the track (or pool) to practice these tips!