Our interview today is with Kona bound Ben Hoffman.  Ben who finished second at the IRONMAN World Championship in 2014 and 5th in 2016, is heading back to Kona and we are going to talk to him about his prep and recent race performances.  We'll pick his brain on key workouts and more.

Welcome to Episode #92 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.  We are glad you are joining us this week.

Thanks of course to last week's guest, Lance Panigutti, owner of Without Limits Productions came on the show to talk to us about cyclocross and we are going to talk right now.

Discussion Topics:

• 303 Team building Cyclocross race

- October 7th, CYCLO X Interlocken in Broomfield. Without Limits Production - Kona

- October 29th, Bandito Cross in Parker. Not sanctioned, stupid fun, would be a perfect 1st timer race!

- November 5th, CYCLO X Sienna Lake in Broomfield. Without Limits race.

- November 11th/12th, Cross of the North in Fort Collins. I hear the heckling and beer handups are EPIC at this race!

- November 18th, CYCLO X Salisbury in Parker. Without Limits race, and the start to my birthday week!!

• Apertivo event and friends of Bill and 303
• Ironman Santa Cruz 70.3
• Kona preparation and coverage - adding Tyler Butterfield to the list, plus
• Kona Pre-impressions Interview, next week 10/1
• Coaching discussion on altitude and heat adaptation training.  Check out these articles
  • http://running.competitor.com/2014/07/training/heat-acclimatization-for-runners_12035
  • http://trainright.com/4-keys-to-effective-training-in-hot-weather/
  • https://www.si.com/edge/2016/04/29/how-to-get-used-to-training-in-heat-hot-weather-workouts

Our pre interview discussion is brought to you by 303 Triathlon and 303 Cycling are your resource for news and information on triathlon and cycling in Colorado.  303Radio is your news podcast for triathlon and cycling.  Be sure to go to 303Triathlon and 303Cycling to get the latest coverage of events in Colorado.

Let's talk briefly about upcoming interviews.

• Ben Hoffman 9/24
• Bek Keat 10/1
• Sara McLarty - 10/8 Khem and I doing this interview
• Kona - select 303 interviews
• Kane Russell of Halo Neuroscience - Bill and I doing that interview and wearing our Halos in Kona
• Ken Axford on bike handling skills
• Billy the Kid Edwards

Please support the brands that support the show and our listeners.

• BioTropicLabs.com - BioTropicLabs  develops sports supplements to give you the ultimate edge in training for sports performance success. Engineered by leading world-class athletes and trainers with well-researched best of breed products.  I've started taking the AFA formulation which was developed to oxygenate muscles, boost power, increase muscle growth, heighten alertness.  It's great for those high intensity sessions and I've felt pretty good the last few workouts I've been using it.  Check our more at biotropiclabs.com or go to the MHE Sponsors page.  Either way, use the code "MILEHIGH20" to get 20% off your order.
• Total Immersion -Use code MHETI10 to get 10% off items in your cart
• • Effortless endurance for 49.99
  • Freestyle mastery for 59.99.
• Get excellently design helmets, glasses and gear from Rudy Project and use code MHE30 to get 30% off your full price items.
• Check out Halo Sport from Halo Neuroscience.  20 minutes of neural priming with the Halo Headset gives you an hour of neural plasticity to work and lock in the muscle movement that leads to strength, power and endurance.  Use code MHE150 to save $150.
• Give TrainingPeaks Premium account a try.  Use MHE30
• All of these discounts can be found at milehighendurance  or go to the MHE Sponsors page.

Check out each of these supporters, the discounts they give our listeners and the discount codes on the MHE Discounts page.

That's it for the show.  Stay tuned, stay informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!

Why cyclocross is like Mario Carts on bikes.  Our interview today is with race director and owner of Without Limits Productions, Lance Panigutti.  Lance joins us to talk about cyclocross.  This was a 303 interview that I'm sharing with MHE.

Welcome to Episode #91 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.  We are glad you are joining us this week.

Thanks of course to last week's guest, Tim Hola.  It was great to  catch up with him and hear about his prep for Chattanooga and Kona and see that he ended up with a solid performance there.

Discussion Topics:

• Chattanooga Results
• • Womens
  • Mens
• Kona preparation and coverage
• Kona Pre-impressions Interview, week of 10/1

• Jenn Findley's DIY Bike Tuneup

• Coaching discussion topic - what percent of triathletes do you suppose do their own bike maintenance?  What should you know?

Our pre interview discussion is brought to you by 303 Triathlon and 303 Cycling are your resource for news and information on triathlon and cycling in Colorado.  303Radio is your news podcast for triathlon and cycling.  Be sure to go to 303Triathlon and 303Cycling to get the latest coverage of events in Colorado.

Let's talk briefly about upcoming interviews.

• Ben Hoffman 9/24
• Bek Keat 10/1
• Sara McLarty - 10/8 Khem and I doing this interview
• Kona - select 303 interviews
• Kane Russell of Halo Neuroscience - Bill and I doing that interview and wearing our Halos in Kona
• Ken Axford on bike handling skills

Please support the brands that support the show and our listeners.

• BioTropicLabs.com - BioTropicLabs  developes sports supplements to give you the ultimate edge in training for sports performance success. Engineered by leading world-class athletes and trainers with well-researched best of breed products.  I've started taking the AFA formulation which was developed to oxygenate muscles, boost power, increase muscle growth, heighten alertness.  It's great for those high intensity sessions and I've felt pretty good the last few workouts I've been using it.  Check our more at biotropiclabs.com or go to the MHE Sponsors page.  Either way, use the code "MILEHIGH20" to get 20% off your order.
• Total Immersion -Use code MHETI10 to get 10% off items in your cart
• • Effortless endurance for 49.99
  • Freestyle mastery for 59.99.
• Get excellently design helmets, glasses and gear from Rudy Project and use code MHE30 to get 30% off your full price items.
• Check out Halo Sport from Halo Neuroscience.  20 minutes of neural priming with the Halo Headset gives you an hour of neural plasticity to work and lock in the muscle movement that leads to strength, power and endurance.  Use code MHE150 to save $150.
• Give TrainingPeaks Premium account a try.  Use MHE30
• All of these discounts can be found at milehighendurance  or go to the MHE Sponsors page.  Either way, use the code "MILEHIGH20" to get 20% off your order.

Check out each of these supporters, the discounts they give our listeners and the discount codes on the MHE Discounts page.

That's it for the show.  Stay tuned, stay informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!

Our interview today is with top age grouper and Kona veteran Tim Hola

• This will be Tim's 16 time in Kona
• He has broken the 9 hour mark with an 8:58:57
• Tim lives in Highlands Ranch with his wife Nicole and two children (Connor and Spencer)
• As with our last week's guest (Matt Chrabot), Tim is in Chattanooga for the 70.3 World Championship.
• We'll be talking about his career, season, key training sessions and juggling being a working age-grouper.

Thanks of course to last week's guest, Matt Chrabot, pro triathlete who we've been seeing on the podium all season.  It was great to  catch up with him and hear about his prep for Chattanooga.

• Coaching discussion topic - I had a coaching question come up and I'd like to share that with you all and a practical solution to the question.
• • Topic of hydration - there are a number of theories on what works because everyone is different.  The first thing you need to understand is what works for you
  • To understand what works for you, you can do everything from your own experimenting to getting a professional assessment done in a lab to determine sweat rate, salt concentration, metabolic rate, etc.
  • Some say drink to thirst and I say drink to need.  I personally do not get particularly thirsty training or racing, but I have a high sweat rate.  I know what my fluid loss is.  While I don't try to replace it completely with fluid consumption, I do try to prevent losing too much weight to fluid loss during a race and becoming dehydrated. 
  • I keep a log of hydration notes in Excel and know how many ounces of fluid I want to consume at various temperatures on each the bike and run.  The way I keep track of that is by knowing the various fluid sizes of my bottles (bike, hand and holster).
  • Scenario - race with hand held, using ice and water to cool.
  • The question - my hand held is dual purpose (hydrate and cool).  How do I keep track of the ounces that are going to my stomach versus my skin. 
  • The answer - is simple.  On your next practice run, take that hand held bottle and when you take sips try to make them consistent in terms of the duration of suck or squirt.  Then count and keep track of the number of sips/squirts that it takes to consume the contents of the bottle.  Divide the bottle size (16 oz) by the number of sips (eg 20), and you now know how many sips it takes to consume 16 ounces.  When you race and you don't have another way to measure your consumption, count the sips and you'll have a good idea. 
  • Make sure you practice and get your estimate with what you will be using in the race.  The previous example was with a hand held running bottle, but the same can be done with a paper cup.

Our pre interview discussion is brought to you by 303 Triathlon and 303 Cycling are your resource for news and information on triathlon and cycling in Colorado.  303Radio is your news podcast for triathlon and cycling.  Be sure to go to 303Triathlon and 303Cycling to get the latest coverage of events in Colorado.

 Let's talk briefly about upcoming interviews.

• 303 interviews
• • Lance Panagutti,
  • Luis Benitez, Ken Gart,
  • Ben Hoffman
• MHE
• • Sara McLarty - Khem and I doing this interview
  • Kane Russell of Halo Neuroscience - Bill and I doing that interview and wearing our Halos in Kona

Please support the brands that support the show and our listeners.

• BioTropicLabs.com - BioTropicLabs  developes sports supplements to give you the ultimate edge in training for sports performance success. Engineered by leading world-class athletes and trainers with well-researched best of breed products.  I've started taking the AFA formulation which was developed to oxygenate muscles, boost power, increase muscle growth, heighten alertness.  It's great for those high intensity sessions and I've felt pretty good the last few workouts I've been using it.  Check our more at biotropiclabs.com or go to the MHE Sponsors page.  Either way, use the code "MILEHIGH20" to get 20% off your order.
• Total Immersion -Use code MHETI10 to get 10% off items in your cart
• • Effortless endurance for 49.99
  • Freestyle mastery for 59.99.
• Get excellently design helmets, glasses and gear from Rudy Project and use code MHE30 to get 30% off your full price items.
• Check out Halo Sport from Halo Neuroscience.  20 minutes of neural priming with the Halo Headset gives you an hour of neural plasticity to work and lock in the muscle movement that leads to strength, power and endurance.  Use code MHE150 to save $150.
• Give TrainingPeaks Premium account a try.  Use MHE30
• All of these discounts can be found at milehighendurance  or go to the MHE Sponsors page.  Either way, use the code "MILEHIGH20" to get 20% off your order.

Check out each of these supporters, the discounts they give our listeners and the discount codes on the MHE Discounts page.

That's it for the show.  Good luck Tim Hola, Matt Chrabot and all our friends of the show who are racing in Chattanooga!   Stay tuned, stay informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!

Our interview today is with Matt Chrabot, pro triathlete who we've been seeing on the podium all season and we're excited to catch up with him before he heads out to Chattanooga for the 70.3 World Championship.

Welcome to Episode #88 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.  We are glad you are joining us from where ever you enjoy your endurance sport.

Coaching discussion topic - tapering and cramps

From <https://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/taper-traps> "But there is something about those last couple of weeks before the marathon, when you are cutting back your mileage, getting more rest, and preparing for the big race, when everything, and I do mean everything, seems to bother you more."  Call them taper tantrums--the phantom pains, panic attacks, and much more--that plague most marathoners during the three-week period of decreased training just before the race. "Runners develop not only a physical but also a psychological dependency on running," says Troy Smurawa, M.D., a 2:46 marathoner and physician at Akron Children's Hospital Sports Medicine Center. "So when runners take time off, they go through withdrawal." Hence, the weird constellation of mental and physical symptoms that crop up during the taper.

From <http://www.active.com/triathlon/articles/overcoming-the-taper-blues>  Roughly half the athletes I work with begin to notice little aches and pains they never noticed before the taper period. The pains show up for no apparent reason. In fact, these pains were nonexistent during the high-volume training phase, making it tempting to resume longer training hours. If aches and pains emerge, resist the urge to increase training volume.

From <http://sweatscience.com/muscle-cramps-risk-factors-tapering-stretching-and-pacing/> Tapering: In the three days prior to the race, the crampers trained 1.1 hours on average, while the non-crampers trained 0.6 hours on average. This despite the fact that the non-crampers actually did marginally more training overall in the final week (31.8 km versus 26.5 km).

 Our pre interview discussion is brought to you by 303 Triathlon and 303 Cycling are your resource for news and information on triathlon and cycling in Colorado.  303Radio is your news podcast for triathlon and cycling.  Be sure to go to 303Triathlon and 303Cycling to get the latest coverage of events in Colorado.

BioTropicLabs

BioTrōpic serves athletes by giving you the ultimate edge in training for sports performance success. Engineered by leading world-class athletes and trainers with the focus of helping athletes to achieve their goals, there is no better sports supplement to help you train better and gain a competitive edge.

I've started taking the AFA formulation which was developed to oxygenate muscles, boost power, increase muscle growth, heighten alertness, focus, and aid in recovery. It contains the highest levels of chlorophyll and supports delivering a greater amount of oxygen-rich red blood cells to muscles throughout the body.

Check our more at biotropiclabs.com or go to the MHE Sponsors page.  Either way, use the code "MILEHIGH20" to get 20% off your order.

Let's talk briefly about upcoming interviews.

• 303 interviews
• • Lance Panagutti,
  • Luis Benitez, Ken Gart,
  • Ben Hoffman
• MHE
• • Tim Hola
  • Sara McLarty
  • Kane Russell of Halo Neuroscience coming back

Please support the brands that support the show and our listeners.

• BioTropicLabs.com - Use code MILEHIGH20 to get 20% off your order
• Total Immersion -Use code MHETI10 to get 10% off items in your cart
• • Effortless endurance for 49.99
  • Freestyle mastery for 59.99.
• Use code MHE30 to get 30% off your full price items at Rudy Project.
• Check out Halo Sport from Halo Neuroscience.  20 minutes of neural priming with the Halo Headset gives you an hour of neural plasticity to work and lock in the muscle movement that leads to strength, power and endurance.  Use code MHE150 to save $150.
• Give TrainingPeaks Premium account a try.  Use MHE 30

Check out each of these supporters, the discounts they give our listeners and the discount codes on the MHE Discounts page.

That's it for the show.  Good luck to all of the athletes racing this weekend here in Colorado or wherever you race!  Stay tuned, stay informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!