This week's podcast—the first in our next century of episodes—features insights and listener questions on a ton of fun topics including: how to transition back into Zone 2 running after time off, channeling the idea of "smooth" rather than specific paces or other data points in workouts, what to do if you get injured or sick right before a race, why modulating volume and intensity over the course of the year is helpful from a mental health perspective, how you should think about using data to match your goals at different points in your season, the fitness benefits of tire dragging and other forms of resistance training, the science behind building strength while on the bike, an update on TrainingPeaks Virtual, and a discussion of mindfulness in workouts. We also introduce a ~twist~ to our classic gear pick of the week segment that will help us come up with more fun things to share with you in future episodes. Check it out!
Katie:
Transitioning back into training after time off:
Question from an athlete to riff on: “I started to miss running since [A race], so I’m getting back into it - I’m probably on my 5th or 6th run. I took the tactic of ‘just run at a comfortable/comfortably hard pace and completely ignore HR until the rust comes off.’ What this means in practice is that my HR is still very above what I would call zone 2 (160+) in my old zone 2 paces (9:30s). Should I slow down for the HR, or just accept this is part of getting back into it? And in general, what are your tips for transitioning back into running?”
My response:
I would still try to stick to zone 2 feel as best you can (you don’t need to look at HR but I would avoid “comfortably hard” zone) as that will actually get you back to fast running at old zone 2 paces fastest
Don’t glue eyes to the watch if it creates stress but keep things as much of a conversational pace as possible, and consider running for time rather than pace/distance until things settle
Another friendly reminder:
Perceived “regression” in zone 2 after time off is normal. As hard as it is, trust the process and old paces will come back around with consistency and small bricks over time. They will also come back around more quickly than it took to build them up in the first place.
Jim - Focus on smooth. Smooth is…
Being present. It’s recognizing this is the only moment, not past or future.
A feeling not an outcome.
Moving with freedom.
A reduction of cognitive load.
Sustainable like a flywheel.
No agenda, acting by intuition.
Leaving data and allowing yourself to tune into you.
A childlike flow state, not a conscious, adult-like logic state.
What to do if you get injured/sick right before a race:
Inspired by a convo with one of my athletes who is now coaching. One of her athletes training for an IM has been dealing with a meniscus tear that flared back up recently during her run training. While biking and swimming are still manageable, running causes pain to return. With the race just three weeks away, she was debating whether to pull her from running completely, replace it with aqua jogging, and prepare her for a run-walk strategy on race day.
Broader question: How should athletes and coaches approach last-minute injuries like this—balancing recovery, fitness, and realistic race-day goals?
My answer:
This close to race day I would completely shut down running. No more fitness to be gained at this point and main goal is to have a shot at being able to start. In race prep I recommend going through all of the possible run scenarios (no pain, some pain, really bad pain) so she has a physical and mental plan for what she would do in each situation
And also helpful to go through goals with her - is goal to smash this race and in the absence of that it’s not worth it, or to cross the finish line of an IM no matter what happens? Make sure that starting actually makes sense and is in alignment with goals
As a coach: good to lead with questions and then help with coming up with a plan that has answers
A helpful reframe: no more can be done right now physically other than resting and giving your body the best shot at recovery. There is still a ton of work that can still be done on the mental side, so channel energy into that.
Modulating volume/intensity over the course of the year to “change your baseline” of what you need for endorphins, mental health, etc. + what data is useful for this approach:
Came up for me in pregnancy, but relevant outside of pregnancy: healthy to modulate and periodize your training volume and intensity over the course of the year for many reasons. One that stands out is that if you target the same volume and intensity the whole year, you may feel that you *need* that mentally to feel stable (see Episode 48: Adventure, Risk, and Trauma with Catherine Rocchi)
Problem is, you need more and more - can get to a point where you feel like you need 3 hours of movement every day to be able to focus, get work done, feel good mood-wise
For me in pregnancy, the initial transition to a point of much fewer training hours/week, not doing doubles anymore, etc., was hard from a routine + endorphins + mental health standpoint; but now I have normalized to a point where if I just do 20 mins of mobility and breath work and get some good steps in, I feel totally fine with that. This will also help me prepare for going to 0 postpartum (and for non pregnant athletes, can help you prepare for something like injury, medical procedure, major life stress/events, etc. that derail training).
Related to our discussions on data: what data is most in alignment with my goals right now?
Start with your goals: for me, healthy pregnancy, healthy baby, safest return to sport postpartum, mental health/ feeling like “me” (with limitations)
Training that matches my goals: running when I can, safe x-training when running doesn’t feel good, 2-3x prenatal focused strength per week, mobility and breath work every day
What data is useful for that? Not volume (hours), TSS, fitness scores, etc. -- none of it is useful.
Instead, subjective notes on how I am feeling over time (both mentally and physically) as well as occasional metrics such as sleep, stress, etc. and HR/pace just to have a sense of how I am pushing myself
This whole calculation can be done at any point in your season to align with any set of goals. Sometimes training hours/week, TSS, fitness scores, HR, etc., actually can be useful; other times it is not
Ask yourself: is this data serving my goals and/or making me feel better about my performance? If not, drop it.
Jim:
Tire Dragging / Resisted Walking
I created a little stir and feedback last week when I posted to some uphill tire dragging to my Strava. The common question was along the lines of “WTF?!” and “What’s the point?”
So a few items to consider:
Like all training, we need to look at the context: The context for this is my back has been a bit wonky and prevented me from running regularly. I want to get some time on feet and challenge my primary running muscles. I also want to work on hip extension which is really a key to running speed. Dragging a tire is a perfect way to challenge your muscles and promote hip extension.
Also, as we head into off season and thinking about next season, we want to identify and target our limiters. One of my limiters is muscular endurance; I can trail run up to a couple of hours but after that, my muscles really start to tire and my run and vertical speed really diminish. My limiter is local muscle strength, primarily in my glutes, hamstrings and quads.
Like weighted carries, tire dragging is an excellent way to put an extraordinary load on my muscles. Instead of having to run two hours then challenge my muscles, weight carries and tire dragging are immediate muscle challenges and a very time efficient way to build muscle strength and durability.
Key point: The primary point of local muscular training is muscular fatigue is the principal limitation to endurance. If endurance is defined as the ability to do something over and over again, many thousands of times often, it is your muscle fatigue which limits your ability to endure. How many times have you been in a long event and you got to a point where you said something like, “I couldn’t go faster because my quads gave out.”?
1. Low-Speed, High-Resistance Strength Training
Pulling a tire creates constant resistance, forcing the legs, hips, and core to work harder with every step. This constant resistance can mimic what it feels like late in races and adventures.
Lifting weights in a gym is for maximal strength and we highly advocate incorporating this into your endurance training. Tire dragging builds muscular endurance. Muscular endurance may be the most important quality to improve for long distance endurance athletes - runners, triathletes, cyclists, nordic skiers, etc. When you hit the wall at mile 18 of a marathon, the two main causes are low glycogen (fueling) and muscular endurance.
There is a version of this in the pool: swimming with a small parachute or drag bag. It is excellent for developing your catch and muscular endurance.
2. Improved Aerobic Capacity and Strength Endurance
Walking with resistance keeps you in a Zone 1/2–heart rate range if paced correctly. Think low cadence climbing in TPV/Zwift which we do a lot in the winter on the trainer. You can do a lot of Z1/Z2 muscular endurance work without a lot of global fatigue.
It’s a way to combine strength and aerobic training. This is a dream workout; two birds with one stone!
3. Posture, Core, and Gait Benefits
A properly rigged belt or harness keeps the hands free and places load on the torso and hips. You can mimic running form in slow motion while dragging. Think hip extension, rolling up on the big toe and pushing off the back foot.
This challenges the postural muscles (glutes, hamstrings, erectors, abdominals) to stabilize under resistance.
Because you’re still walking, it encourages a natural gait pattern instead of the altered mechanics that sometimes happen with weighted backpacks.
4. Joint-Friendly Alternative
Unlike running or loaded carries with dumbbells, tire dragging is low impact.
The resistance is horizontal rather than vertical, so it doesn’t pound the knees and spine the way weighted running or rucking can. Most endurance athletes - triathletes and runners - should focus on moving their body horizontally and not so much vertically. If you are a mountain runner, vertical movement is an important consideration.
5. Mental Toughness and Specificity
The monotonous grind of dragging a tire develops patience and grit—qualities critical in long endurance events.
For triathletes or ultrarunners, it can feel like practicing the “long grind” late in a race.
6. Versatility
Intensity is easily adjusted:
Heavier tire = strength focus.
Steep hill = strength focus
Lighter tire = endurance and cardio focus.
Flatter terrain = endurance focus.
Can be done on pavement, grass, dirt roads, or even snowy surfaces (similar to sled dragging). If you don’t have a hill, dragging a tire on grass provides a lot of natural resistance.
In short: Dragging a tire while walking builds strength endurance, reinforces posture, adds resistance without pounding the joints, and develops mental and physical resilience needed for long-duration efforts.
Lawrence van Lingen: Resisted Tire Walking
Lawrence van Lingen: How to make a Tyre or treadmill theracord for resisted walking.
Cyclists do not need to incorporate off-bike resistance training to increase strength, muscle-tendon structure, and pedaling performance: Exploring a high-intensity on-bike method: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12244400/
This study tested whether cyclists benefit more from gym-based strength training (squats) or high-intensity, all-out pedaling efforts on the bike. Over 10 weeks, both groups did the same training volume and intensity, while a third group just stuck to regular cycling.
Findings:
Both gym and on-bike training boosted aerobic power and strength.
On-bike training gave extra improvements at lower thresholds (ventilatory threshold) and in pedaling-specific strength.
Gym training increased quadriceps size more, but also showed a trend toward more injury symptoms.
The control group lost muscle and strength.
Takeaway: On-bike high-intensity resistance training is just as effective as gym work—and may be safer and more cycling-specific.
Protocol: Resistance Training on bike group: Participants in this group performed seated high-intensity pedaling cycles. Each set consisted of 7 maximal voluntary pedaling cycles (i.e., all-out efforts) from a stationary start on a constant 6% slope (~100 m).
How you can incorporate this into your training:
As you approach a hill, put your bike in the hardest gear (chain on big ring up front and the lowest, or 2nd/3rd) smallest in back. Stay seated and pedal at max effort until you reach around 7 - 10 full pedal strokes.
You can also use stop signs or traffic lights as natural starting points, although you may need to stand up to get the bike moving forward for the first 2 - 3 pedal strokes.
TrainingPeaks Virtual
A quick reminder: all of our athletes with TrainingPeaks Premium (99.9% of you) have access to a great virtual training platform: TrainingPeaks Virtual.
They’ve just added six world-famous routes such as Sa Calobra and Alpe d’Huez, and starting in October you’ll be able to upload your own GPX files to ride any course you like.
In practical terms, this means you could upload an Ironman or Half Ironman course, your favorite local ride, or pre-ride routes for upcoming events. There are plenty of GPX sources, including Strava, and even sites like Cycling Stage, where you can download all current and past stages of the Tour de France, Vuelta a España, and Giro d’Italia.
So, is riding a GPX file of your Ironman or Half Ironman course the best way to train? Not really. It can be fun and give you a sense of the course, but because you can’t truly coast on a trainer, the virtual version will always feel harder. The best preparation remains a mix of structured intervals and race simulations on the course itself (or on similar terrain).
Interesting side note: Computrainer was the original “smart trainer.” But because it never evolved with wireless or modern software controls, Wahoo eventually pushed them out of the market over five years ago. At its peak, though, Computrainer was the trainer—way ahead of its time with course simulations, spin software, and structured training. Here’s a fun read: Computrainer Ceases Production.
Difference Between Doing a Workout and Doing a Workout Mindfully
As we wrap up the season for some athletes, it’s a good time for both coach and athlete to reflect. One recurring theme I’ve noticed is the difference between athletes who approach their workouts with intention—being mindful of both short- and long-term goals—and those who don’t take that extra step.
More often than not, the mindful athletes make greater progress toward their goals compared to those who treat workouts more transactionally.
Key takeaway for next season: Carve out a little mental space before, during, and after each workout. Set the intention, execute mindfully, and reflect afterward. This small habit adds up over time—and by season’s end, you’ll find yourself much further along the path toward your goals.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286631650_The_nature_of_mental_toughness_in_sport
This study investigated the components of mental toughness as reported by 131 expert coaches and 160 elite athletes from 31 sport codes. The written statements of coaches and athletes were analysed by means of an inductive content analysis. This resulted in the identification of 12 components of mental toughness. These are: motivation level, coping skills, confidence maintenance, cognitive skill, discipline and goal-directedness, competitiveness, possession of prerequisite physical and mental requirements, team unity, preparation skills, psychological hardiness, religious convictions and ethics. The coaches regarded concentration as the most important characteristic, while the athletes regarded perseverance as most important.
Subthread: Key takeaway from interview with Scott Johnston of Evoke Endurance and coach to the men’s and women’s UTMB champions:
Collecting hard data, such as heart rates and elevation, is important, but understanding the internal load of an athlete is crucial, and currently, there is no great way to collect hard data about internal load, so coaches rely on the athlete's perception of their exertion.
The combination of hard data and soft data, such as an athlete's comments and feelings, allows experienced coaches to make adjustments to the training plan
Challenge of the week
Katie: Related to an insight - as you move throughout your season and off season, ask yourself what your goals are and what data best supports your goals, if any?
Jim: What specific attribute (strength, metabolic, aerobic, skills, etc) are you trying to improve this winter?
Gear pick of the week (or resource)
Katie: Gordo Byrn’s Endurance Essentials substack
Jim: Evoke Endurance podcast - particularly Ep 121 - How we don’t train and Ep 122 - How we do train.