Episode 118: Post-Event Fueling, Regulating Your Nervous System, and Racing on Zwift and TrainingPeaks Virtual
In this week’s episode, we cover a wide range of athlete questions and training insights, including strength workout progressions, cycling cadence, swim metrics, and scheduling recovery weeks during base season. We also dive deep on several fueling topics, from post-event and next-day fueling needs, to fueling lessons from labor and early postpartum, to why big efforts can raise metabolic demand for days afterward. Jim then breaks down what it means to be “clutch” from an athlete’s perspective, explaining how regulating your nervous system, focusing on process, and building confidence in low-pressure training can translate to better race-day execution. We close with an honest update on Zwift vs. TrainingPeaks Virtual racing, the role of bots versus humans, and why real competition still matters. If you’re training through winter, racing virtually, or trying to fuel and regulate yourself better under stress, this episode is packed with practical takeaways. Check it out!
Athlete Questions:
For lift sessions, should I change up the specific exercises I do for each muscle group or can/should I stick to four exercises that I know and like?
Katie: Something true for both strength and endurance but ESPECIALLY strength is that if you hit the same stimulus over and over again eventually you are pretty much fully adapted to that stimulus and not getting the same benefits from it as you did when you started out. While I think it’s ok to hit similar exercises that you know and like, you do want to progress the load over time in some way by either increasing weight or increasing reps (of course depending on where you are in season and what your goals are). Especially in pre-base season and early base, increasing weight/reps over time is a great call, and then OK to back off more to an injury prevention and maintenance phase once we reach specific prep and your endurance workouts are progressing more.
Jim: A few thoughts. I can really relate to this athlete. For many years I have stuck with the exercises I like to do and feel like maintaining my current strength. We like to do things we are comfortable doing.
My challenge this winter was to step out beyond my comfort zone and try new strength routines. I’ve talked about The Sculpt Society (TSS) and Local Muscular Endurance (LME) workouts which have been a game changer. By taking more of an explorers mindset, I’ve fundamentally changed my nordic skiing this winter. I’ve built up a strong connection between my brain and glutes (via TSS) and my nordic ski technique has come back to peak form even though I’m only doing it 1X or 2X per week when we have snow. And I can really feel the LME workouts on the bike.
The key takeaway for me is you don’t have to step too far outside your comfort zone to gain a lot of new strength and coordination.
What type of strength should I be doing this time of year?
General strength is where most folks are focusing this time of year to build general durability and robustness. Then we will transition to more specific, local muscular endurance strength as we move into the Specific Period i.e., the 12 week period before your “A” race.
When in doubt, remember this principle: The best strength routine is the one you do on a regular basis.
Related, if your strength routine is more than 45” then it might be time to examine the content of your workout as your time might be better used in other places such as an extra 30’ run.
Key takeaway: Athletes have limited time and energy.
We have many training time constraints in our life. Training should be chosen based on return on investment. Anything that doesn’t improve performance should be removed to protect adaptation, motivation and improve time efficiency.
Should I focus on Distance Per Stroke while swimming?
DPS is a function of good swim technique. It is very downstream from the actual sources of good swimming and pace. It’s a data point that you can largely ignore. Instead, focus on repeating technical sound strokes in Jan/Feb. And don’t forget to send a swim video to your coach!
Related, Garmin provides run stride distance as one of their many run metrics. I once made a big mistake thinking that if I just focused on lengthening my stride length, I would become a faster runner. Being misinformed, I started to reach further forward in my stride (overstriding) and while I was able to improve my stride length metric, this quickly resulted in a run injury!
What I should have done is how we train now: Improve overall strength and mobility, practice hip extension out the back - “Land softly, step strong” (see Lawrence van Lingen) and improve run flow dynamics.
Are there swim drills I can do out of the pool that will help my swimming?
Not particularly. Only in a very few advanced cases would I have an athlete incorporate some swim warmup band work. But for 99.9% of all triathletes, they need to spend every minute they are at the pool in the water. Swimming is highly specific and technical and your best return on investment is focused, intentional time in the water.
What should my cadence be while cycling?
Everyone has a little different natural cadence their body prefers or finds the most efficient for them. With that said there is some general guidance:
Everyday riding: Aim for 80 - 90 rpm cadence unless specified in your workout such as low and high cadence workouts.
The myth of riding at 100+ rpm like Lance does still exist. Ignore it.
Sprint and Olympic distance racing tends to be ‘hot’ and goes off at higher FTP zones and faster cadences.
Sprint and Olympic: 85 - 95 rpm.
Half Ironman cadence: 75 - 85 rpm
Ironman cadence: 70 - 80 rpm.
Katie’s data:
Cohasset sprint tri: 92 rpm
IMLP 2023: 83 rpm
Kona 2023: 83 rpm
LAMB ride: 76 rpm
Related, your run cadence is very specific to you. Unless it is unusually low, we don’t try to mess with your run cadence too much.
What should I be thinking about when pedaling at low cadence and normal cadence? Do you have a go-to on the ideal pedal stroke?
Andrew’s comment: When doing the lower cadence it’s interesting to focus on that full stroke, really feeling the foot at the bottom of the pedal stroke pull up to the top. Not only a pedal stroke focused on pushing down.
Do you have insight on how best to think of the pedal stroke? Should I be thinking of pulling up as well as pushing down?
That's a great question. This low cadence work really makes you think about the full pedal stroke which you are doing so you are on the correct path.
When I'm not doing low cadence, I think about pushing my toes forward from the 9 o'clock to the 3 o'clock position like I'm classical skiing. And I think smooth, horizontal push. If you play around with that, you'll see your watts jump up.
Why do you want HR data for the bike workouts?
We use a combination of watts and HR by interval to determine if the goal of the session was achieved. Most of the time, we’re looking for HR drift per interval and over the course of the workout. And then comparing that with past weeks. This is proxy for if the athlete is getting more aerobically fit and when is a good time to progress their intensity.
For example, if we see Z1 HR during a 76% 10’ interval efforts, we can safely increase the interval intensity. And if we begin to see low HR when intensity starts to reach the low to mid 80’s, we know it is time to retest FTP.
How do we schedule recovery weeks during Base training?
During the Base season, I like to schedule recovery weeks more organically than in a structured way i.e., a recovery week every two to three weeks like we do in the Specific Period. Between work travel, family vacations, getting sick and other life events, it seems that every month or so most athletes have some natural time away from swim/bike/run.
If your schedule is very stable and consistent week after week and you start to feel a little (or a lot) run down, we should schedule a recovery week from time to time. Some athletes can go many weeks during the Base phase without a recovery week because the load is just enough to get an adaptation but not too much they can’t recover from it on a daily/weekly basis. Other folks, especially if you have just started your endurance journey, may need to take a recovery week more often.
Key takeaway: When you start to feel a little flat after 2 - 3 days of workouts, that’s a good sign we should reduce volume for at least a few days. When you post activity comments be sure to check in with your energy level and let your coach know how you are feeling within the workout and in general.
And we have a follow up on a previous episode question about why our HR spikes when we eat/drink on the bike. This comes from one of our athletes, Carl-Eric, who is a doctor (so he knows the actual physiology!):
“I was listening to your recent podcast and had a couple of comments about the heart-rate question. As an anesthesiologist, I kind of have to be a bit of a physiology geek (I’ll also admit I’m cheating a bit thanks to my kinesiology degree.) Regarding drinking/eating and heart rate: at rest, swallowing tends to trigger a brief vagal response and can cause no change or even a slight drop in HR. However, during exercise, the situation is different because of high sympathetic tone and vagal withdrawal. In that context, swallowing often causes a small transient increase in HR, mainly due to interruption of breathing, short breath-holding during swallowing, altered intrathoracic pressures, cardioventilatory coupling, and overall sympathetic dominance. More generally, the rise in HR after consuming something during exercise is also influenced by increased sympathetic activation, increased cardiac output to support digestion (splanchnic blood flow), and a small rise in metabolic demand. Anecdotally, I find that right after consuming something, my HR will often settle more quickly with a few slow, controlled breaths.”
Housekeeping Note: If you are planning on an early season race, make sure you have put your race into TrainingPeaks as an Event and let your coach know you have signed up for it. Sometimes I’ll scroll ahead in people’s calendar a month or so and see they have a race coming up that I didn’t know about! Surprise! As we move into February, some races are coming sooner rather than later.
Fueling post-race
As an update to the fueling guidelines we discussed in Episode 114 which provided workout guidelines in relation to time / carbs / intensity.
As a follow up, I want to call out the importance of your body’s need for increased fueling the day after hard efforts.
During the aforementioned Zwift race, I fueled 80 grams in 36’ and would have easily done another 40 grams if the race had gone to 45’. You can really chuck down the carbs with high intensity work!
After the race, I fueled very well with my standard 40 gram protein shake, some carbs and soon followed it with a big dinner.
The following morning I had my standard hardy breakfast and headed out mid-morning for a long nordic ski. Within the first 20’ I could feel the need to fuel which is a bit early for my normal metabolism. I brought extra snacks in a backpack so I was prepared.
In all, I ate between 30 - 40% more calories / carbs on that ski that I normally would. That was the after-burner effect of the previous day’s race.
Key takeaway: Big efforts rev up your metabolism for a day or days afterward. Be aware and fuel like a champion!
Katie follow-up story from labor/delivery and initial postpartum: FUELING MATTERS.
I went into labor around 4pm on a Thursday but the sensations were all very manageable. I had a snack, ate dinner, and tried to go to bed until contractions starting ramping up to the point where I couldn’t talk through them and they were consuming my entire attention. We got to the hospital around 3am and baby was born at 2pm, and I spent most of the time between 11am and 3pm alternating between pushing and throwing up (a little known labor experience!)
I did not eat anything after say 7pm on Thursday, and going through birth without any fuel (and no ability to keep down any fuel, even gatorade or ginger ale) was ROUGH. Truly the biggest bonk I’ve ever experienced in my life – dizzy, practically falling asleep from pure exhaustion between rounds of pushing, lightheaded, etc.
The next SEVERAL days after that I was hungrier than I had been for my entire pregnancy, or maybe ever. Now, breastfeeding, am eating probably 1.5-2x my usual even though I am not training at all other than a short walk and more core activation and breath work every day.
I also am not sleeping anywhere near enough, which means my body is under a lot more stress than usual and I need to support it however I can including with extra fuel, esp carbs and protein.
Lesson: not much I could do differently here, but a really interesting case study of how a major bonk feels and how long it can take to rebuild from something like that. Applicable to Ironman too!!!
Another insight on fueling: Fuelin App
Katie: One of my athletes started using the Fuelin App recently which is an AI service that claims to be a “Personalized Performance Nutrition App that helps achieve your Goals—whether you’re Running, Cycling, hitting the Gym, or targeting your ideal weight.” It integrates with workouts in TP and then provides specific recommendations on what to eat during the workout. Disclaimer: I haven’t used the app myself and have just seen some pop ups integrating into my athletes’ TP. But I am pretty skeptical for a few reasons:
We are humans not robots – the recommendations are so specific that it doesn’t leave a lot of room for nuance (and reminds me a bit of Huel and other companies)
Targets seem low to me based on what we know about how to optimize performance; not a lot of info on where these recs are coming from
In TP integration, doesn’t account for doubles - so zero in-workout fuel recommended for a day with 60’ Z2 bike and 45’ Z2 run. Especially if those are back to back, that’s crazy
TrainerRoad review: “The way it calculates nutritional needs is bizarrely stupid; a 1hr 29 minute ride requires no additional nutrition yet a 1hr 30 minute requires 50gs of carbs and an additional 400 kcals to the day.”
Also: “What these apps fail to do is to see the big picture and to see beyond a single day. Yes, I may only be doing an easy hour today but I have some big efforts tomorrow, so macros should be adjusted accordingly. They also fail to take into account that you might have a life outside of cycling and that I’m not either sitting on the sofa or riding, I have a job and family too!”
My take: humans are helpful. Consider hiring a dietician or working with a team that includes your coach. AI can be a tool but it should never be the only tool, and always use the smell test to check any AI recommendations against common sense (or against a professional’s insights)
Being Clutch
With all of the playoff football happening this time of year, I’m fascinated with the idea of players who are seen as “clutch” and those players who are not. The playoffs are incredibly high stakes games where each play could decide your season. One small mistake and your season is over. On the other hand, one well executed play could be the difference in your team being talked about for decades!
So why do some players step up under pressure and others seem to shrink when the spotlight is intensified? I asked Uncle Google who said the following:
“Being "clutch" in a game is not solely the result of a completely calm nervous system, but rather a regulated one—a "hybrid state" where the athlete is highly aroused (activated) yet remains composed and focused. True clutch performance involves channeling adrenaline and high stress into focus rather than panic, allowing the brain to stay "online" and execute, rather than freezing or overthinking.”
The Science Behind Being Clutch
The "Hybrid State": Clutch athletes operate in a "sweet spot”; this state balances the "gas pedal" (sympathetic arousal - fight/flight/freeze) and the "brake" (parasympathetic regulation - rest/digest/calm). You are challenged but not in panic mode.
Brain Function Under Pressure: While a "choke" often involves the amygdala (fear center) taking over, a "clutch" performance happens when the prefrontal cortex—responsible for high-level thinking—remains active, overriding the impulse to panic and allowing for clear decision-making.
Interpretation of Nerves: Clutch athletes experience the same physical sensations as everyone else (fast heart rate, sweaty palms), but they interpret this, or "frame" it, as excitement and readiness rather than fear.
Key Factors in Achieving a Clutch State
Focus on the Process: Clutch players concentrate on the immediate, technical, or tactical task (full breaths out swimming, smooth bike and run mechanics) rather than the ultimate outcome (winning the race, age-group placings). They focus on what they can control.
Regulation of Arousal: Stimulus control is key to good racing. Use techniques like deliberate breathing, to ”slow down" the race (and pre-race) and reduce the feeling of panic and improve your clear thinking and positive mindset. Base season is the perfect time to work on your breathing mechanics in the swim/bike/run. Build the skill now so it becomes automatic and a natural state on race day.
Confidence and Trust: A strong belief in your skills, built through low pressure training situations and past successes, allows us to rely on muscle memory in high-pressure situations rather than trying to micromanage their movements. When you are thinking about control, you will lose rhythm and smoothness. Deliberate, sound practice in low stress environments build a neural pathway we rely on during race day.
Experience of Anxiety: Everyone experiences high anxiety in races - that’s very normal. The key is managing that energy, and in some cases, have the skills to keep negative thoughts at bay. Instead develop your mantra game in training as it will come in very handy on race day. “I am strong”. “This is why I race; bring it on!”
In summary, being clutch is a skill that can be trained which starts now in the Base season. You can learn to use the adrenaline and cortisol of a high-stakes moment to enhance focus and performance, rather than letting it cause you to shrink from the challenge.
Most races are months away but it’s never too early to start working on your skills and mental game during practice. For example, when you are doing all out 25’s, or strong 50s, in the pool, you can think about the start of the race where your nervous system is very activated but you are primarily focused on executing exceptionally good strokes throughout the race. Your pre-frontal cortex is the primary driver and your controllable behavior is executing good skills.
TrainingPeaks Virtual vs Zwift racing (update)
A few podcast episodes ago, I extolled the benefits of racing in TrainingPeaks Virtual—that it was more realistic than the last time I raced on Zwift, with the message being: why would you ever use Zwift when you have an equivalent option that comes with your TrainingPeaks Premium account?
Well, as The Dude said in The Big Lebowski, “Look, man, I’ve got certain information, all right? Certain things have come to light.”
In a word, it’s bots. And more specifically, racing bots.
Here’s the deal: TPV offers a few races every hour, and when those events don’t fill up with real people, they introduce bots into the race to keep it more interesting. These bots have names that look real, tend to have international flags, and there’s no way to tell them apart from a human racer.
In theory, I’m OK with that. However, it turns out that whenever I’ve raced in the last month, almost all of those races have been one human—me—and the rest are bots! I discovered this by checking the race results in TrainingPeaks Virtual Hub.
And if you start looking through the results of races, you’ll see that almost every race is run with bots and no humans. And they give those bots average HR, max HR, average watts, and max watts. What?! To their credit, they do put a little bot icon next to their name in the results.
I feel a little embarrassed but looking back over the last month or so of racing in TPV, I still stand by the fact that I got in great workouts doing these races and events like hill climbs up Alpe d’Huez and Sa Calobra, but it left me feeling a little empty—as one of my life and coaching themes for 2026 is that humans need more human contact.
To their credit, they are clever with the racing bots. If I’m on my A game, I’m riding toward the front of the group with four to eight other riders. If I’m on my B game, I’m back in a larger peloton, and the peloton speed and effort seem to be governed by the real-time watts I’m putting out. If I push a little harder up a hill, the entire peloton goes with me. If I back off to Z2 on the flats, the peloton stays with me. And at the end, you do get a couple of bots who sprint to the line. Overall, it’s a fairly realistic feeling and representative of how a group would react in real life.
And if this were the only virtual cycling option available, I’d be quite happy with this experience. But it’s not the only alternative.
As a result, I went back to Zwift this week and did a race, as I was sure there would be humans racing humans. And there were. And it was really fun. Was it objectively better than racing in TPV? Did I get a better workout? Probably. Knowing that I was up against real people gave me a little extra motivation.
Sidebar: Since I haven’t raced Zwift in three years, they put me in the “D” pen. I could not choose a higher pen. My past experience in Zwift has been getting dropped by everyone in the first two minutes of a race, so I revved it up hard at the start and soon found myself at the very front. I built up a 10” lead in the first couple of miles and then extended that out to 20/30/40/50” over the course of a 16-mile race with 800 feet of elevation gain. Which is to say, I was definitely in the wrong group—because in no real-world scenario do I ride away from 86 other riders. I assume that once I race a few more times, I’ll gain race points and get bumped up a category to a more appropriate level of racing.
And, of course, the graphics and routes are way better in Zwift. Sand and Sequoias is my all-time favorite virtual course—it’s a perfect mix of flat and rolling hills. There is nothing even close to this in TPV.
So, am I back to Zwift? Probably for racing. I may still use TPV for certain workouts and riding World Routes or GPX routes. Meanwhile, you can find me at “T. Endurance Drive” on Zwift!
Challenge or Resource of the week:
Jim: Ensure your strength routine is serving your end goals.
Katie: Make lists of things you want to get done (even if you would already have remembered them, like getting your workout in) and check them off! Big dopamine hit and sense of accomplishment
Gear pick of the week:
Katie: Balega hidden dry no show socks
Jim: Julbo sunglasses - love their Reactiv lenses