Melanie McQuaid is a triathlon coach and veteran professional triathlete. In 2023 she became the first ever 50-year-old to qualify for and race in the professional field in the Ironman World Championships in Kona. In this interview we discuss that feat and Mel's general thoughts on longevity in the sport and on maintaining performance at an older age. Then we go into a long Q&A segment, answering listener questions on a large variety of topics.          IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -Training considerations with older age, and how to maintain a ..read more

Bex Milnes is a triathlon coach of age-group and professional athletes with over 15 years of experience in endurance sports. She has helped multiple athletes and teams achieve Paralympic and Commonwealth medals, as well as pro and age group podiums in Ironman and Ironman 70.3 racing. In this interview we discuss the training of age-group athletes training for half and full distance triathlon.          IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -How to train efficiently on a limited time budget -How to maintain consistency and make good decisions -How to combine ..read more

Tomasz (Tomek) Kowalski, is a triathlon coach and sport scientist from Poland. Tomek's coaching experience includes working with both elite and age-group triathletes, including coaching Ironman World Champions in their respective age-groups, and in his academic work his main focus is on the effect of respiratory muscle training (RMT) on endurance performance.          IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -Tomek's coaching philosophy and methodology -What it takes to podium or win the Ironman World Championships as an age-grouper -Pacing and race execution ..read more

Rune Kjøsen Talsnes, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. In this interview, we discuss overtraining, training progression and periodisation, and some general topics within endurance training and in particular, insights from the world of cross-country skiing.          IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -Overtraining and non-functional overreaching: definitions and diagnosis -Prevention strategies and monitoring for overtraining and non-functional overreaching -Research on increasing training load via inten ..read more

Björn Geesmann is the coach of Patrick Lange and Kat Matthews, and the CEO of HYCYS and The Aerow wind tunnel. He returns to the podcast for a long discussion on a number of training-related topics.          IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -Psychology in training, racing and coaching -Run training and running economy -Considerations for how to distribute volume and intensity within and between swimming, biking and running -Tapering -Listener questions ...and much more   SHOWNOTES: https://scientifictriathlon.com/tts426/   SCIENTIFIC TRIATHL ..read more

Email your application to mikael@scientifictriathlon.com. We have an exciting career opportunity for coaches out there. As our team is approaching full capacity of coached athletes, we are looking to bring on a new coach to join our team and work with athletes from around the world.  To apply, respond to this email with your CV and tell me a bit more about yourself as a person, as a coach, and why you want to join Scientific Triathlon.  Here is a list of a few important characteristics, skills, and experiences in a prospective coach:  Cognitive skills and desire to learn  ..read more

Mikael and David Dhooge answer listener questions in a supersized Q&A edition for the holiday season.              IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -Favourite TTS episodes of the year -Differences in training between sprint and middle distance races -Weight loss -Muscle fibre composition - how to estimate your phenotype -When and how to get back into training after illness -Pace or heart rate targets for Zone 2 training -"Big Days" in Ironman preparation -Our proudest athletic achievements, and bucket-list events -Threshold-tra ..read more

Craig Kirkwood is a triathlon and endurance coach from New Zealand. His introduction to endurance sports was in running where he raced at a high level (marathon PB 2:13) and got his introduction to coaching, working under Kim McDonald with numerous high-level athletes including World Championships and Olympic Games medalists. As a triathlon coach Craig is known as the long-time coach of Hayden Wilde, bronze medalist from the Tokyo Olympics, but he also coaches age-group runners and triathletes of all different levels.          IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEAR ..read more

Jem Arnold is a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia, where his primary research focuses on sport-related vascular conditions. Jem is a physiotherapist, a physiologist, and an avid cyclist and trail runner interested in optimising endurance training.   IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -Including training above "threshold" in your program improves VO2max, but may not improve Time Trial performance more than training only up to threshold-intensity (a recent meta-analysis) -Implications of these findings for athletes and coaches - what does it mean in practice?  -How c ..read more

Mikael answers listener questions about training, coaching and performance.     IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -How hard should your hard workouts be -Mikael's coaching philosophy and how it has evolved over the years -Mikael's views on science within coaching   SHOWNOTES: https://scientifictriathlon.com/tts419/   SCIENTIFIC TRIATHLON AND THAT TRIATHLON SHOW WEBPAGE: www.scientifictriathlon.com/podcast/   SPONSORS: Precision Fuel & Hydration help athletes perform at their best through their online tools, patented Sweat Test and range of electrolytes and f ..read more