103 - USAT CEO Rocky Harris

Welcome	Welcome to Episode #103 of the Mile High Endurance podcast.  Mile High Endurance is your weekly connection to coaches, experts and pro athletes to help you reach your endurance and triathlon goals.  We're your hosts Rich Soares, Khem Suthiwan  and Bill Plock and we are glad you are joining us for another week of endurance interviews and discussion. We have the CEO of USA Triathlon, Rock Harris, joining us today to share his vision for triathlon and USAT.  He has been on the job for a couple of months now and we want to get his assessment of the state of sport, where he sees opportunities and the path forward to implement some exciting changes.
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Last week's guest	Thanks to last week's guests Andrew Talansky and Dr. Dan Chao from Halo Neuroscience.  If you didn't get a chance to hear why and how a former pro cyclist, who is at the top of his game, chose a career change in pursuit of competing at the Ironman World Championship in Kona 2018, check it out by listening to episode 102.
Discussion Teasers	Before we get into the interview, let's hear what Khem and Bill have on deck for the post interview discussion.  Hey guys how are you doing this week? Khem's post interview topic (suggestions - Kona broadcast premier experience in NY, coaching tip, or general gossip) Bill's post interview topic (suggestions - training experience or tip perhaps from spin class, other?) Stryd review on the Blog Thank Travis Macy for the book and hat
Interview Setup	Despite triathlon participation rates being  somewhat flat or contracting, triathlon has a lot of positive things going for it.  One of the best things going for triathlon right now is the gentleman who just took over the CEO position at USA Triathlon.  We won't spoil it for you here, but believe you will come out the other end of this interview feeling "bullish" about the sport of triathlon. We know there's a little bit of noise in the interview.  Apologies up front.  Let's get into the interview now.
Interview	Rocky Harris
Health IQ Ad	And we are back.  Thanks again to Health IQ for sponsoring today's interview.  The Health IQ advantage is their unique mortality model that enables lower rates for health conscious people.  Just like having a good driving record saves you money on auto insurance, Health IQ uses science & data to secure lower rates on life insurance for health conscious people including runners, cyclists, strength trainers, vegans, and more. With other life insurance companies, you might be penalized for family history, BMI, and other attributes but don’t get rewarded for your health conscious lifestyle.  You put in the time to train consistently, have the discipline to get out there in the cold, in the dark, you eat well, and you get the rewards of greater energy, and you feel good about yourself.  Let's face it, you spend money on race registrations, gym memberships and gear.  See if you can reward yourself further and recoup some of those investments. See how much you can save. To see if you qualify, get your free quote today at healthiq.com/milehigh or mention the promo code Mile High when you talk to a Health IQ agent.
Host Discussion Topics	Welcome back….. Rocky Harris debrief topics: Rocky has met with several constituent groups in his first 90 days, which do you think presented the greatest opportunity based on what you heard? Rocky mentioned several new ideas.  In your opinion, which have the most promise? What impressed you the most? My feeling is that triathlon is in the hands of someone that knows how to make an honest assessment of opportunities and has some really exciting ideas.  Ideas that I liked was the standardized "one stop shopping" for races, a Yelp-like rating platform. Khem's topics: Premier  Bills topics: Spin class promo Rich's topics: Indoor training; finding your most efficient cadence; and the quest for your peak power output https://www.active.com/cycling/articles/why-fast-pedaling-makes-cyclists-more-efficient  To determine the actual effects of slow and fast pedaling on leg-muscle cells, scientists at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Wyoming asked eight experienced cyclists to cycle at an intensity of 85 percent V02max for 30 minutes under two different conditions. In one case the cyclists pedaled their bikes at 50 revolutions per minute (rpm) while using a high gear. In the second case, the athletes pedaled in a low gear at 100 rpm. The athletes were traveling at identical speeds in the two instances, so their leg-muscle contractions were quite forceful at 50 rpm and moderate—but more frequent—at 100 rpm. As it turned out, the athletes' oxygen consumption rates were nearly identical in the two cases, and heart and breathing rates, total rate of power production, and blood lactate levels were also similar. However, athletes broke down the carbohydrate in their muscles at a greater rate when the 50 rpm strategy was used, while the 100 rpm cadence produced a greater reliance on fat. The greater glycogen depletion at 50 rpm occurred only in fast-twitch muscle cells. Slow-twitch muscle cells lost comparable amounts of their glycogen at 50 and 100 rpm, but fast-twitch cells lost almost 50 percent of their glycogen at 50 rpm and only 33 percent at 100 rpm, even though the exercise bouts lasted for 30 minutes in each case. This rapid loss of carbohydrate in the fast-twitch cells during slow, high-force pedaling probably explains why slow pedaling is less efficient than faster cadences of 80 to 85 rpm. Basically, as the fast fibers quickly deplete their glycogen during slow, high-strength pedaling, their contractions become less forceful, so more muscle cells must be activated to maintain a particular speed. This activation of a larger number of muscle cells then leads to higher oxygen consumption rates and reduced economy. This scenario, in which slow pedaling pulls the glycogen out of fast-twitch muscle cells, may sound paradoxical but it isn't; after all, slow pedaling rates are linked with high gears and elevated muscle forces, while fast cadences are associated with low gears and easy muscle contractions. Since fast-twitch fibers are more powerful than slow-twitch cells, the fast-twitch fibers swing into action at slow cadences, when high muscular forces are needed to move the bicycle along rapidly. On the other hand, "fast" pedaling rates of 80 to 100 rpm are not too hot for the slow-twitch cells to handle. Slow-twitch cells can contract 80 to 100 times per minute and can easily cope with the forces required to pedal in low gear. Another possible paradox in the Wisconsin/Wyoming research was that fast pedaling led to greater fat oxidation, even though maximal fat burning is usually linked with slow-paced efforts. Basically, the higher fat degradation at 100 rpm occurred because the slow-twitch cells handled the fast-paced, low-force contractions. Slow-twitch fibers are much better fat-burners than their fast-twitch neighbors. Fortunately, there's a bottom line to all this: During training and competition, cyclists should attempt to use fast pedaling rates of 80 to 85 rpm, both on the flat and on inclines. Compared to slower cadences, the higher pedaling speeds are more economical and burn more fat during exercise. Ultimately, the high pedaling rates also preserve greater amounts of glycogen in fast-twitch muscle fibers, leading to more explosive "kicks" to the finish line in closing moments of races.
Upcoming MHE Interviews	MHE upcoming inteviews: Sandra Villines - Transcontinental Run and record Travis Macy, author of the Ultra Mindset to join us to talk about his book, Ultra Mindset life skills, the Ultra Mindset Academy eCourse.  You can learn more and subscribe to his newsletter at www.travismacy.com We are going to invite Jim Vance back to talk about his book Triathlon 2.0 We are also going to have Joanna Zeiger back to talk about "train the pain away" Coach Billy "The Kid" Edwards US Navy Tri team
303 Triathlon	Our show is also supported by 303 Triathlon and 303 Cycling are your resource for news and events on triathlon and cycling in Colorado.  303Radio is your news podcast.  Here are some upcoming interviews coming to 303 Nick Obletz from Boulder based Stryd Jillian Bearden - pro cyclist from Colorado Springs and trans-athlete pioneer Don Reichelt - from Highlands Ranch about Spartathlon, and the US Spartathlon team
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Closing	If you are enjoying the show, please let us know by going on iTunes or your podcast player and giving us a review.  Be sure you are subscribed in iTunes so you get the show automatically downloaded on Saturday evening and recommend Mile High Endurance to a friend.  That's it for the show.  Stay tuned, stay informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!