Welcome to Episode #32 of the Mile High Endurance podcast, I'm your host Rich Soares with your co-host Bill Plock from 303 Triathlon. Mile High Endurance connecting you weekly with coaches and experts to help you reach your endurance and triathlon goals.
This week we bring you the second half of the Jim Galanes interview and an interview with pro athlete, coach and announcer Michael Lovato.
Welcome to Episode #31 of the Mile High Tri podcast, I'm your host Rich Soares. Mile High Tri connects you with coaches and experts to inform you on your triathlon and endurance sport journey.
We'll start this week's episode with a quick update from David Christen from Ironman Boulder. He gives you an update on race preparations, changes to this year's course and finish, and what to expect whether you are competing, volunteering or spectating.
This week episode also connects you with another Tri Tech in July interview. If you have been listening for long, you know Jim Galanes has been a previous guest. Jim is a former Olympic Cross Country skier, a coach, co-owner of EPOC Performance Training and partner with FirstBeat software.
Before we get into the main subject of today's episode and learn about Firstbeat software, I want to announce a change on the podcast. No, we are not going back to monthly. Actually the weekly thing is working out well for me. Nothing will change with the content or frequency. The quality will only get better as I will explain in a few minutes.
You also know the show is an expression of my life and experiences here in the Mile High city. I found triathlon or triathlon found me a decade ago. It has changed my life and that of my family for the better in countless ways. I want others to at least have the opportunity to have triathlon in your life. Assuming it is at this point, I know you are all on your own journey and at different places along that journey. You found different ways here and you will find adventures and challenges that will take you in other directions someday.
I produce this podcast to give back to the sport that has given so much to me. The podcast enriches my experience and adventure and has not become a passion of mine. If you ever want to listen to the original vision and background of the podcast, please go back to Episode #18. In the intro of that episode I describe my motivations and goals for the podcast, but also my vision in terms of frequency, length and content. Aside from the change from longer monthly to shorter weekly episodes, the vision, motivation and goals for the podcast have remained the same.
My motivation is simply to learn about, and explore triathlon, endurance sports and fitness in general. Whether you are yet to start your journey or you are a veteran, I hope to bring information, experts, coaches and other resources to help you learn and develop to the athlete you dream of becoming. I believe that information and education are empowering and essential to making decisions that ultimately lead to you reaching your goals. As such, I usually try to get right down to business and keep an educational format with informational and entertaining guests.
The name of the podcast has Mile High in it because I live in a suburb of the "Mile High" city of Denver. Smack dab between the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and Boulder Colorado (the triathlon and endurance mecca), this podcast is sourced in one of the most densely concentrated athletes, coaches and other resources as anywhere in the world. One thing that I did not anticipate was the global interest in the podcast. I have regular downloads from Canada, China, France, Portugal, Finland, Australia, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, UK, Singapore, Netherlands, Spain, and on. In order to honor the international listenership, I want to make sure the content is relevant to all listeners.
If you have been listening to the podcast for long, you also know that I have a segment on the show called Try Something New. I've used this segment to introduce other endurance sports like cross country skiing, cyclocross, and paddle-boarding in an episode or two from now. The fact is, I found triathlon only after I had begun training for my first marathon. I've used triathlon to branch further into cycling, swimming and other endurance sports. As an athlete your journey may take you in and out of triathlon. This podcast, while generally focused on triathlon, is interested in helping you succeed in triathlon or any other endurance sport.
The change I am making to the podcast is actually quite small and requires no changes on your part. I am tweaking the name of the Podcast from "Mile High Tri" to "Mile High Endurance". I have a number of reasons for doing this, but chief among those reasons is to make sure the brand represents the show.
Over the course of the next week, the website will change from Mile High Tri Podcast to MileHighEndurance.com. If you go to the old www.milehightriathlon.com or www.milehightripodcast.com, you will be redirected to www.milehighendurancepodcast.com. The Facebook account will get a Face Lift to Mile High Endurance, as will the Twitter account. I just received the new logo and I have to say it is freaking awesome. You'll immediately recognize the 3 peak Swim/Bike/Run triangle, but asked my graphic artist who made the triangle to add an element to honor the growing international listenership. I like the idea of this podcast provides content that helps athletes of all age, cultures, color or geography. The podcast is head-quartered in the Mile High City, powered by experts, pros and coaches, and aimed at triathletes around the globe. Keep that in mind as you anticipate the exciting new opportunities ahead.
As for the Podcast and whatever you use iTunes, or other podcast subscription source. The question is - do I need to do anything to keep getting the show. The short answer is you should not need to do anything. At some point next week, I'll switch the RSS feed to the new name. Certainly new episodes will download under the new name. You may notice a refresh of the podcast name and you may not. I'll have that understood before I flip the switch and will be sure to post updates in Facebook as the change occurs. The name should change in the RSS Feed to iTunes and other podcast apps just fine, but follow the podcast on Facebook at MileHighTriathlon. This too will get a rename, but if you follow the podcast Facebook page, you'll get the updates leading up to the switch and should just witness a rename of the Facebook page.
Episode Subject:
In just a minute, we'll get into the interviews and the start with David Christen from Ironman Boulder. Before we get started though, I want to give you a litte background on Jim Galanes. We kind of dive right in, but I think it would be good to tell you a little about him if you don't already know.
Jim Galanes is a three time Olympian competing in cross country skiing events in each 1976 (Innsbruck), 1980 (Lake Placid), and 1984 (Sarajevo) Olympics. He has been coaching for the last twenty or so years and has become a very knowledgeable, science-based, expert on physiology. His company, EPOC Performance Training, is partners with FirstBeat. As you will learn in the interview, FirstBeat gives coaches and athletes insights into an athlete's Training Load by using EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption.
As you will hear, Jim uses FirstBeat to analyze my training and point how the data and charts to analyze if I met the objectives of my workouts and how my overall training load and recovery process is going. Jim's background as an Olympic endurance athlete, coach and collaboration with scientists gives him some serious street cred when it comes to training athletes. I have been a long time premium account holder at TrainingPeaks and use it daily. I have come to find using FirstBeat does give me insights that I did not have before. The combination of Jim's consultations with me and the addition of FirstBeat, I believe is helping me to train smarter.
You will hear Jim analyze a couple of my workouts in Firstbeat. It's interesting to hear Jim's analysis and I want to prep you a bit for what you will hear and the flow of the interview. Jim suggested that we do a video call recording that could be used a content for either Firstbeat or the podcast. I took advantage of the interview to record and edit an audio version. The video version is a follow on project, and I don't have any information yet as to when that will be available. Until then, I wanted you to hear it on this episode.
As I said, you will get to hear some of my workouts analyzed by Jim. He gives me some feedback in this interview about level of intensity of some of my workouts.
The interview is a joint project between EPOC Performance Training, Firstbeat and Mile High Endurance. We recorded the interview as a video with screen sharing, and the final video interview should be pretty cool when it's complete. Since you are getting the audio version and don't have the visual of the screen-sharing, I put screenshots on the website in podcast blog in the bottom right hand corner of the main page. It is out there on the current www.milehightripodcast.com site and will be there at the new www.milehighendurance.com site when it goes live this week.
Similar to the Dirk Friel interview, I was really excited to bring Jim Galanes to you and glad he spent a full hour with me. The content is too good to edit down and I want you to hear the full discussion. We'll break the interview into Part 1 and Part 2, about 30 minutes each. Part 1 will of course be in this episode, right after the Dave Christen interview. Part 2 will be next week on the 31st of July.
Okay so with that I think I'll stop the monologue and get into the interviews. I'll see you on the other side in just a bit in the wrap up.
Welcome to Episode #30 of the Mile High Tri podcast, I'm your host Rich Soares. Mile High Tri connecting you with coaches and experts to inform you on your triathlon journey.
This week the podcast connects you with two individuals who I am excited to share with you. First, we have an interview with Sarah Neilsen of the South Suburban Parks and Recreation. Sarah is a race director with South Suburban and has information about the TRYathlon series and the July 30th race at the Cook Creek pool in Lone Tree. The second interview is with a coach who was a large influence on me and the format of the Mile High Tri Podcast, and that’s coach David Warden, athlete, coach and podcaster.
Welcome to Episode #29 of Mile High Tri podcast, I'm your usual host Rich Soares, joined today by the lovely and talented co-host Khem Suthiwan. Mile High Tri empowers you to reach your fitness and triathlon goals by connecting you with coaches and experts on the topics that you want learn.
Mile High Tri is recorded in the Rocky Mountain front range area in Denver, Colorado. 55 miles to the north is the triathlon 'Mecca' of Boulder, home of some of the most prominent pros in triathlon and related sports. 56 miles to the south is the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The Olympic Complex in Colorado Springs is the flagship training center for the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Olympic Training Center programs.
The 110 mile stretch between Boulder and Colorado Springs is one of the fittest and athletic populated areas in the world. I share these statistics, not so much to brag but to give you the listener context for what the culture and vibe is here in the Mile High area.
Welcome to Episode #28 of Mile High Tri podcast, I'm your host Rich Soares and my co-host is Bill Plock. The Mile High Tri Podcast connects you WEEKLY with coaches, experts and resources that empower you to reach your fitness and triathlon goals.
This month's episode steers our triathlon journey in the direction of Tri Tech. Our feature guest on the show this month is Dirk Friel, (Founder and President of Peaksware) to talk to us about Training Peaks and WKO. That interview is absolutely awesome. The interview seems like it goes quickly, but it's longer than my usual interview. To make sure I took full advantage of getting Dirk's time, I took all that he would give me. I think you will be glad that I did not force a shorter interview or edit out content.
There are two other timely guests on the show this week. We have the co-owner of BBSC Endurance Sports, Michelle Lund, on to talk about how last week's Boulder Sunrise Tri went down. We also have Scott Hutmacher (Lifetime Tri) to talk about the upcoming Boulder Peak Triathlon, which is coming up on July 10th. Since today's episode is the last episode before that race, we wanted to make sure we got this out to you this week. Scott has a lot of great timely information for you.
Because we have the two race director updates that are time sensitive, we are going to do a Part 1 and Part 2 on the Dirk Friel interview. You will hear the first half (or 25 minutes of the 50 minute) interview today. Next week you will hear Part 2 of the Dirk Friel interview.
So there are three interviews this week and we'll have a short wrap up at the end. Stick around at the end because we'll talk about some resources and links that are on the website that supplement the interview content on the show. For example, we talk to Dirk about some key terms to know in their analytic reports, what they refer to as a Performance Management Chart. You are more than likely out riding your bike or on a long run while you are listening to this. I want you to have resources you can go to in addition to the audio content. There are articles already on the Resources page from Training Peaks, Firstbeat and more that you will want to check out. We want to tell you this before the interview so you know you have the website to go back to when you are done listening and your bike is cleaned off an hung back up in your garage.
So with that, let's get into the race updates from Michelle at BBSC Endurance Sports and Scott Hutmacher of Lifetime Tri and the Boulder Peak. Right after those two race updates we have the interview with Dirk Friel of Training Peaks.