Performance Testing for Triathletes

Intro: This is the TriDot podcast. TriDot uses your training data and genetic profile, combined with predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to optimize your training, giving you better results in less time with fewer injuries. Our podcast is here to educate, inspire, and entertain. We’ll talk all things triathlon with expert coaches and special guests. Join the conversation and let’s improve together.

Andrew Harley: Welcome to the TriDot podcast! We’ve got a great topic today. There are all sorts of locations that offer performance testing for triathletes. I’ll be asking two TriDot coaches if performance testing is worth our time and money. We’ve got a new coach on the show for this one. New to the show that is, definitely not new to triathlon coaching.It’s TriDot coach Chris Navin, from Chicago, Illinois. Chris has raced over 100 triathlons and 250 endurance races. He is a Kona finisher, a more than 38-time marathoner, he’s got over 20 Ironman finishes to his credit, ranking as high as 9th in the U.S. and 33rd in the world in his Ironman age-group rankings. Chris is a Level 2 USA Triathlon Certified Coach, and Head Endurance Coach of Four Star Endurance and a Team to End AIDS. Chris, welcome to the show!

Chris Navin: Hey gang! It’s an honor to finally be on the show!

Andrew: Also with us is Coach Jeff Raines. Jeff is a USA Triathlon Level 2, IRONMAN U certified coach, and TriDot Master Coach, who has a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology, and was a D-1 collegiate runner. He has over sixty IRONMAN event finishes to his credit, and has coached hundreds of athletes to the IRONMAN finish line. Jeff has been training and coaching with TriDot since 2015. Hey there, Jeff!

Jeff Raines: What’s up Andrew! How’s daddy life?

Andrew: It’s going! I’m Andrew the Average Triathlete, Voice of the People and Captain of the Middle of the Pack. As always, we’ll roll through our warmup question, settle in for our main set topic, and then wind things down with Vanessa taking over for the cooldown. Lots of good stuff, let’s get to it!

Warm up theme: Time to warm up! Let’s get moving.

Andrew: There is literally an endless supply of podcasts out there in the wild. As the medium continues to grow, the joke amongst podcasters is, “Who DOESN’T have a podcast these days?” Personally, I love it. Go ahead, start a podcast, podcasting is fun! But our warmup question for today – Chris, Jeff, what is your favorite non-endurance sports-related podcast to listen to? Coach Chris?

Chris: It’s a tough one, because most of the podcasts I listen to are endurance sports-related. But there’s actually a ton of them. One of my hobbies living here in Chicago is architecture, so I listen to different vlogs and blogs about architecture. I live right downtown, so that’s a big hobby of mine, like the B1M Vlog, that’s one of my favorites.

Andrew: Good! See, we’re already getting a peek into your personal life, just by asking you a warmup question. Good to know that about you, and that makes sense. When I was scouting out your website, researching you for this episode, you’ve got a lot of Chicago imagery built into your website.You’re obviously proud of your roots there. TriDot has a great presence in Chicago, and actually there is a Chicago Facebook group for TriDot specifically, isn’t that right Chris?

Chris: Yeah, I AM TriDot Chicago.

Andrew: Yeah, so if you’re from the Chicago area and you’re listening to this, make sure you’re a part of the Chicago Metroplex area I AM TriDot Facebook group. Coach Jeff Raines, what is a non-endurance sports-related podcast that you enjoy listening to?

Jeff: You know, I really enjoy the Bible Project. Man, they do a great job of providing great content, breaking down the Bible and making it fun, and they also have some video aspects to it as well for YouTube, and they just do a great job. I love it, it’s very entertaining, and that’s probably the most listened-to one outside of training and running-type of podcasts.

Andrew: Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of their material on YouTube and on social media. I was unaware that they had a podcast, so that’s very cool to know. I’ll have to check that out. Jeff, as a family man with the kids, is that a resource you use with your kiddos to share some of those stories with them?

Jeff: Yeah, they do a great job of breaking it down for adults to really understand some of the deep stuff. That, in turn, absolutely makes it all the better and easier as a parent to relay that down to the kiddo elementary level.

Andrew: I will give a shout out, there’s several I listen to depending on the time of year. Ironically, ever since starting a podcast, I probably listen to less podcasts now than I did before having my own podcast. By the time you script a podcast, record a podcast, publish podcasts, you lose some of your personal podcast listening time. But I still have a few that I make sure I get to throughout my month, week, or year. My all-time favorite one, my personal way to stay in touch with my best friends from college, is we have a fantasy football league. Every time the NFL kicks back up, that’s the only league I do now. I’ve kind of moved on from the whole fantasy sports thing except for this one league, since it’s my way to stay in touch with my college friends. Just to make sure I’m competitive and know what I’m talking about, and that I’m consistently doing a good job in that league and not finishing last place, I have a podcast I listen to called the Fantasy Footballers. They’re just three guys, they’re very entertaining, and they just share their thoughts and insights into prepping your fantasy team for every single week, talking through which players might play really well this week based on matchups and this and that, and all that fantasy nerd-dom.

Jeff: It’s a cheat sheet! You’re just getting cheats!

Andrew: Yeah, honestly! Instead of doing a ton of research myself, I just listen to them. They know what they’re talking about, and then I just learn what I can learn and set my lineup, and they go dominate on Sunday.

We’re curious to hear, from you our listener, what is your favorite non-endurance sports-related podcast? I pitch it that way because obviously the TriDot podcast is your favorite endurance sports-related podcast. If it’s not, just lie to me and tell me that it is. But I’m going to throw a post out to the I AM TriDot Facebook group, asking you, from all the podcasts out there NOT endurance sports-related, what is one that you just love firing up whenever they drop an episode? Let us know in the comments on the I AM TriDot Facebook group. I can’t wait to hear what you have to say!

Main set theme: On to the main set. Going in 3…2…1…

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There are a number of lab-style performance tests that can give a triathlete insight into different aspects of their body or their performance. Things like VO2max testing, blood lactate testing, VO2 calorie expenditure testing, and more! What is helpful, who should be doing these, where should you be getting these things done, and what do we do with the results once we get these tests? All that and more with Coach Chris and Coach Jeff. Now Chris, it’s your very first time on the show, so before I ask you about the science of performance testing, I want to ask you about you, the triathlete and the coach. From Kona, to representing Team USA, to Zwift racing, you have loads of tri experience. From all of that, all your time on course, what is maybe your favorite memory or triathlon story to tell?

Chris: That’s a tough one, because I have a lot of races I’ve done. Kona is definitely up there. I call it one of my top five favorite experiences ever.

Andrew: Sure, it’s gotta be.

Chris: Alcatraz was also one of my favorite ones, and Ironman New York City,...