This week’s episode covers insights on lots of topics including: why you shouldn’t try anything new on race day or during race week, how to know when to push through vs. back of in periods of high life stress, panic attacks in open water swimming and how to avoid them, good data vs. bad data, rehabbing ankle sprains and other ligament injuries, mindfulness in running, swim-to-bike brick workouts, why going slow is the key to going fast, how performance gaps are widening between fueled and under-fueled athletes, and how effective movement patterns are key to speed and strength in endurance sports. Check it out!

Katie

Don’t try anything new on race day/week

Simple but important advice -- race day/week is not the time to try any new gear, nutrition, hydration, health hacks, etc.
Some surprising things that I would not recommend trying during race week if you haven’t done them before

Massage -- only do a massage if you regularly do massages and know someone you like. I have had athletes walk out of a pre-race massage very sore and with unexpected aches and pains
Food -- don’t overdo it on some crazy amount of an unfamiliar carb in the spirit of carb loading. If you don’t normally eat six pancakes the day before your workouts, don’t eat six pancakes the day before your race
Supplements -- supplements can be great but can have unexpected GI or other health consequences. Make sure you have a >2 week lead time for any new supplements leading into race week
Health things, unless unavoidable from a health perspective (e.g. iron infusion, B12 shots, etc.) -- 2 week lead time again useful

Knowing when to push through vs. back off in periods of super busy life stress that make it hard to nail sleep/recovery (travel, work craziness, parenting young kids, etc.)

Can be a lot to deal with decision fatigue on top of major life fatigue when it comes to deciding whether to push through and just do the workout or not
My 2 cents as a coach: pushing hard when you are already depleted in terms of sleep (or nutrition!) usually sets you back further than the fitness adaptations you would get
Sometimes use a green/yellow/red light plan with athletes that can correspond to sleep in periods of continued major sleep deprivation (>3 days in a row). Example:

>7 hours of sleep = green light to do the workout as planned
6-7 hours of sleep = yellow light -- max 30 mins, more of an ‘exercise snack’ type of workout, Z1/2 active recovery
<6 hours of sleep = red light -- day off, try to chill out

Panic attacks in open water swimming context

Super normal! Many/most athletes we know have experienced this one time or another

Factors that make it worse: cold, lots of people/splashing
Also: dark water, unfamiliar swimming stimulus, fear of drowning

What to do:

Make sure wetsuit isn’t too tight around your neck
Proper OWS warmup (walk into water, hands in water, face in water, get the vagus nerve wet)
Swim easy a little bit
Flip on your back and float or switch to backstroke, breaststroke
Focus on full breaths out under the water. The build up of CO2 in your blood stream is probably a primary cause of panic attacks.

“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure”

Goodhart’s Law! When we use a measure to reward performance, we provide an incentive to manipulate the measure in order to receive the reward
This is actually really relevant to the data that we measure all the time. Pace, power, HR, plus recovery metrics like HRV, RHR, made up ones like “strain” and “body battery,” etc.
I often see athletes get overly fixated on the data and not adequately tuned into the intention of the workout or the feel

Intention of the workout and feel are the most important ‘metrics’ we have, though they can be harder to ‘track’
Any single metric that we measure is incomplete -- data is best used holistically and only as a supplement to feel

Example: an athlete once was very focused on Z2 HR and wanted to do runs on an indoor walking pad that maxed out at 4 mph. It was a run motion at a walking/shuffle pace that actually impacted her run form in a pretty substantial way. Great that her HR was in the 120s, but the “run” piece was lost. HR was no longer a great measure of Z2 running because it wasn’t really running anymore as compared to what a Z2 run would look like outside. Would have been better to run outside with good form and take walk breaks as needed to keep HR down.
Similar with sleep tracking: are you chasing a 98 sleep score or the feeling of being refreshed from a good night of sleep?
Challenge to athletes: figure out what data you tend to fixate on and try to do a workout (or spend a day) without it. Or do a workout hiding some data metrics and see where power/pace/HR land. You will find that you know your body and effort better than you think!

Rehabbing ankles!

Case study from me re: rolled ankles
Big bad ankle roll on a run recently, same side as I experienced a pretty bad ankle sprain at the end of last fall
Freak thing / stepped weird on cobblestones in Boston
Rehab plan

A few days off running with good ice/elevation -- biking and swimming OK
Easing back into running (but no trails and avoiding cobblestones) once I didn’t have pain walking around
Tape can be helpful for a bit more stability in running
Strength program with a lot of single leg stability work, ankle mobility, etc.

Interesting observations as I have been rehabbing it:

Extremely tight calves and heels compensating for the ankle instability → body is connected! Need a lot more time working on calf/heel tightness with stretching, massage, PT
Once you start to have ankle issues and loosen the ligaments, re-rolling is common. Be extra careful

Theory: also related to female hormone fluctuations, specifically relaxin which increases in the luteal phase. So be extra careful!

Not necessarily the same protocol as a fracture which is a zero-tolerance-for-pain injury -- actually good to get things moving more quickly
Blood flow, e.g. biking, a good thing

Steve Magness banger of the week

“Running isn’t just about fitness. It’s about reclaiming two skills we’re losing in modern life. 1. The ability to be alone with our thoughts. 2. The ability to connect with others.
When you run alone, you train your attention. You learn to sit with boredom, to let thoughts come and go without judgment. No scroll. No noise. Just movement and awareness. This kind of solitude isn’t loneliness—it’s presence.
When you run with others, something subtle but powerful happens. Conversations unfold, not through eye contact or performance, but through rhythm and shared effort. You talk. You listen. You just are. And that’s enough.
In a world of constant distraction, these moments are rare. But they’re also essential.
Running reminds us:

You don’t need to be entertained every second.
You don’t need to track every metric.
You don’t need to perform for an audience.

Sometimes, the most meaningful things are the ones that can’t be measured. Only felt.”

Jim:

Swim to bike sessions:

With open water season upon us, try to get in some swim bike BRick workouts. That is a much harder transition and rarely practiced. These are, in my opinion, of higher value than bike-to-run transitions.

Do it slow first before you go fast

With the warm weather (kind of) many athletes are able to extend their sessions. A key primary principle to keep in mind as you train for your distance is to do it slowly first. Then when you can do the distance slow only then consider doing it fast (or race pace).

This serves you in a few ways:

*The first longer sessions are easy, gentle on the body, low psychological load sessions. Your only goal is to complete the distance (or the race or key workout). This takes a ton of pressure off the first few long sessions of the season.

*You build overall durability and biomechanical adaptations at an appropriate speed and timing. You are conditioning your body first to tolerate the time / distance.

*Once you are comfortable with completing the time / distance, start to add in blocks of race pace effort with plenty of recovery. You don’t need a lot of race pace efforts to provide additional stimulus to the body. Think gentle ramp of race pace efforts over a series of key workouts over 2 - 3 months.

Gap Developing Between Max-Fueled Athletes and Less Optimally Fueled Athletes

I’ve been watching the Giro d’Italia—one of the three Grand Tours in cycling, alongside the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain).

Commentators have been emphasizing how high-carb fueling is becoming a major differentiator in the peloton. Veteran riders like Geraint Thomas often mention that this shift in nutrition is one of the biggest changes in pro cycling. Those from his generation who have adapted are staying competitive, while those who resist are either dropping out or falling to the back of the pack.

I’m seeing a similar trend among my athletes, and the performance gap is accelerating this year. Athletes who prioritize maximum or appropriate fueling during intervals, race simulations, and actual races are consistently breaking through performance plateaus and achieving results they never thought possible.

On the other hand, I have a subset of athletes who, for various reasons, have not embraced adequate fueling—despite their bodies burning through glycogen like newspaper in a fire.

There are a few reasons we talk about fueling on every podcast:

For new listeners, we want to educate you on this critical performance topic and help validate what you may be hearing elsewhere.
For regular listeners who haven’t yet embraced adequate fueling, we encourage you to give it a try. You’ll feel better, and any psychological or logistical hurdles can be addressed. It’s simple, though not always easy.
For those already on the high-carb train, you're probably nodding along—it’s an “if you know, you know” (IYKYK) moment.

Logistically, carrying all your carbs can be tricky. A couple of helpful items:

Also, take your bars out of their wrappers, cut them into pieces, and store them in your bento box. If you're keeping extra bars in your tri kit’s back pockets, pre-open the wrappers to avoid fumbling during your ride.

And if you're an Ironman athlete, don’t forget about the bike special needs station at mile 56—use it to reload your hydration and nutrition.

Stuart McMillan on the Rich Roll podcast insights

* Effective movement is crucial for sprinting (insert running for sprinting) success; coaches should emphasize the quality of movement over sheer volume.

* Athletes should focus on developing a strong hip extension pattern, which is essential for efficient sprinting. (See Lawrence van Lingen YouTube channel for many hip extension exercises.)

* Emphasizing variability in movement can enhance adaptability and resilience in athletes. (i.e., do a bunch of different movement / play to increase your resilience/durability)

* The relationship between coach and athlete should be collaborative, allowing athletes to express their needs and preferences in training. The Coach knows best practices but only the athlete knows how they feel.

* Athletes must cultivate a mindset that allows them to perform at maximum intensity while remaining relaxed and fluid.

* The best performances often occur when athletes are fully present, which can be difficult to achieve in high-pressure situations. (I’ve been mental prepping my key workouts the day before.)

* Connecting your entire being with the activity you're doing can lead to success, as seen in various sports where confidence and self-expression are key. Successful individuals, such as musical artists and athletes, often achieve immense success by being themselves and expressing their true essence.

* Movement and expression are closely linked, and being true to oneself can lead to immense success and personal growth.

*Skipping - do it! More coordination demanding than running. Great warmup and even workout.

Challenge of the Week

Katie: Mentioned before -- go data free when you can! Either for a couple of days (daytime metrics tracking) or during a workout

Jim: Be aware and have a plan of your increased need for more hydration and/or plain water cravings toward the end of a long bike ride / run.

Gear Pick of the Week

Katie: Dohm white noise sleep machine

Jim: Dark Speed bento box