Triathlon Taren Podcast

Alex Hutchinson is the author of a must-read book for triathletes called Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance.  A Physicist turned journalist turned author (and a pretty good runner himself), Alex joins us on the podcast to talk about his findings in the book, what surprised him during his 10 years of researching and writing the book, and what all endurance athletes (particularly triathletes) need to know.

Paul MacKinnon, better known as The Balanced Runner, is a professional run technique coach based in Melbourne, Australia.  He helps professional and amateur runners and triathletes, identify small changes they can make in their running form to produce huge gains in performance.  On this week's podcast, we talk to Paul about the basic principles of good running form, how he identifies and fixes problems in a person's stride, and what he has to say about Taren's running form.

Professional triathlete Lauren Goss looked to be on top of the world in 2018, with four wins, two second place and two third place finishes. But after winning 70.3 Lima, the 31-year old confessed 2018 was a blur as she was relying on depression medication and sleeping pills just to survive.  On today's podcast, Lauren talks about struggling with her mental health, what she did to pull herself out of the dark hole she found herself in, and how she's feeling today (hint: pretty darn great).

Kris Pinnow was nearly 375 pounds when he knew something had to change if he wanted to be around for his wife and daughter. He signed up for a weight loss guidance program through a local hospital in Wake Forest, NC, and on a whim, decided on giving triathlon a try with his new lifestyle and mindset. Now, down more than 100 lbs and still going, Kris has raced several triathlons including 70.3 Puerto Rico, and he's signed up for a full IM race later this year.  

Dr. Paul Laursen is "Prof", one half of "Plews and Prof" with Dr. Dan Plews.  Laursen holds a PhD in Exercise Physiology and is a coach to numerous elite and professional athletes in various endurance-based sports. A triathlete himself, Prof's focus is on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and the science and application of it in triathlon training.

On this week's edition of the Triathlon Taren podcast, we chat with Kurt Spenser, co-founder of one of the most popular brands in Triathlon today: ROKA, the creator of some of the best wetsuits in the world.  We talk about how they started the company, how they came up with some of their groundbreaking innovations in wetsuit technology, and about some of their products that never got off the ground!

On this week's edition of the podcast, Triathlon Taren does a deep dive into how much you should be running if you're a triathlete in training!  He talks about how many runs a week you need, what to do if you don't have enough time to run, what type of runs will benefit you most, and more.

Creatine is well known as a supplement to aid in weight lifting results, but could it help triathletes?  On this week's edition of the Triathlon Taren podcast, we talk to Dr. Scott Forbes of Brandon University about his extensive research into creatine and how the research shows it could be used to help triathlon performance.

Dr. Grant Schofield is a leader in the low-carb, high-fat field for endurance athletes. Co-author of What The Fat, and What the Fast, and a very fast triathlete in his day, Schofield is a respected PhD public health academic for the past 20 years.  He not only talks the talk, he walks the walk and lives the LCHF lifestyle, and helps triathletes become better fat burners to fuel long endurance efforts.  

SEBASTIAN WEBER has coached some of the world's top professional cycling teams and athletes for the past decade. With degrees in Sport Science and Molecular Human Biology, he was recognized as a top mind in sport science at age 28 when he was named the youngest Head Sports Scientist ever for the T-Mobile professional cycling team at age 28.  In the years since then, he founded the STAPS Human Performance Lab in Germany and has helped athletes win at the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta, multiple World Championships and Olympic medals. Most recently, his methods of applied analysis of energy metabolism have caught wider interest and he's been working with athletes in other sports, including Ironman Kona bike course record holder, pro triathlete Cam Wurf.

Recognized around the world as the “Voice of IRONMAN,” Mike Reilly has called more than 180 IRONMAN events, including 30 straight years of the World Championship in Kona. More than 350,000 athletes have heard his iconic pronouncement, “You are an IRONMAN!” as they crossed the finish line. Every one of those athletes has a story, and Reilly has heard hundreds of them. At long last, at the urging of many friends and athletes, Reilly has written a book about what he’s seen and what he’s learned.

On this episode of the podcast, Triathlon Taren goes into the nitty gritty of IM 70.3 Puerto Rico from start to finish, talking about the specific details of how he ran the race which netted him an 8th place finish in his age group and a 13th overall finish!

Kaisa Sali is a professional triathlete from Finland who came in 5th at the Ironman Kona World Championship in 2016 and 2017, and 7th in 2018.  She's the winner of IM South Africa and IM Arizona, after 2016 which was a real breakout season for her. But not only is Sali impressive on the course, she also has a Masters of Human Nutrition and is working on a project to develop clean and healthy fuel for training and races.

For a large majority of age group athletes, the swim is their biggest obstacle.  But Brenton Ford is here to help.  The founder and coach of Effortless Swimming, Brenton is an expert at analyzing problems or hitches in an athlete's swim stroke, and prescribing easy, manageable drills to can fix them.  He's worked with pros and amateurs alike, and is in the middle of developing a new program aimed specifically at age-groupers, to help make swimming easier, more enjoyable, and ultimately effortless.

James Mitchell is one of the top photographers shooting triathlon today.  He's become the personal photographer for reigning Kona runner-up and women's swim course record holder, Lucy Charles, and he works with many of the top pros in the world including Patrick Lange, Andreas Dreitz, Tim Don and many more.  His photos are not just beautiful, they also tell a story. On today's podcast, we chat with James about how he's able to work with all of these pros, what kind of equipment he uses, and some of Lucy and her husband Reece's day to day secrets!

Dr. Martin Gibala is a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The author of the best selling book "The One Minute Workout", Dr. Gibala is an expert in the realm of High Intensity Interval Training, also known as HIIT. On this episode of the podcast, we discuss HIIT for triathletes and how HIIT training can bring more benefits in a shorter amount of time than traditional, long, steady-state training.

David McNamee is a Scottish professional triathlete whose name you might not know, but you definitely should. In 2018, he became the third fastest finisher ever at the Ironman World Championship in Kona with a time of 8:01:09.  One year earlier, he was also on the podium at Kona, with a 3rd place finish in 8:07:11. In other words, he's fast and only getting faster at age 30. McNamee spent a lot of years successfully racing ITU before moving to long course racing in 2014. He's been Jan Frodeno's training partner, and has raced against Javier Gomez for many years, so he's primed to make the jump to a name you definitely have heard of. On this episode fo the Triathlon Taren podcast, we talk to David about two Kona podium finishes in a row, his proclamation he plans to win Kona next year, and of course, a Scottish favourite, haggis.

On this episode of the Triathlon Taren podcast, Taren talks about how to train for triathlon if you're someone who happens to travel a lot -- or if you have to travel in the prime part of your training for a big race. How to not just maintain fitness but even gain fitness, even without the comforts of training at home!

Patrick Lange is the reigning, two-time Ironman Kona World Champion and course record holder with a time of 7:52:38, making him the fastest man ever in Kona IM history.  On this episode of the Triathlon Taren podcast, Taren talks to Patrick during an early-season training camp at Club La Santa in Lanzarote. They discuss Patrick's approach to training, his #BeTheRecordBreaker campaign, and that epic finish line proposal to his now-fiance Julia!

On this week's episode of the Triathlon Taren podcast, Taren discusses Zone 2 training:  why it's such a critically important part of a triathlon training plan and how a lot of people have the wrong idea about it.