Podcasts about fascat

Working with FasCat for over a decade, former professional cyclist Phil Gaimon continues to set and achieve massive goals for himself, like nabbing the KOM on monster climbs like Haleakala. This summer, Phil is setting out to WIN THE TOUR DE FRANCE. Okay, not exactly win the actual Tour de France. But instead, go to France, rip up some mountains, and win at the experience because he's bringing his wife and they'll enjoy the countryside, the food and the wine. You know, winning at life while touring France... and maybe getting a KOM or two for good measure along the way. Want to win your own Tour? Have balanced success on the bike and enjoy a healthy life off the bike? Sign up for CoachCat or a FasCat Coach today! - Try CoachCat Free for a month - with no credit card required ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/47rr7em4

What's the best way to introduce progressive overload without overreaching? How does TSS translate to OTS? How do I reconcile Whoop red scores with CoachCat's recommendations when they don't align? Thesse questions and many more from FasCat athletes are answered on this podcast by FasCat Founder Frank Overton. As always, we appreciate your thoughtful questions and hope that you find our guidance useful and actionable. And as always, we award the best question with some sweet swag. Listen in to learn. - Try CoachCat Free for a month - with no credit card required ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/47rr7em4

If you're a longtime FasCat podcast listener, then you know we're big believers in strength training in the offseason. The science has long proven the benefits for endurance athletes. But what's new? What's the latest science?  That is exactly what Coaches Andrew and Sierra get into in this pod, as Sierra brushes up on her master's degree studies with the latest research. -- Want to add weight lifting to your cycling training and get Coach Sierra or Andrew's help? Please visit https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/hire-a-coach to learn more about them, fill out a new athlete questionnaire and to schedule a coaching consultation with them! Not ready for a Coach yet but still want to improve under the guidance of a coach? Try CoachCat! Its like hiring a Pro Coach for a fraction of the price of personal coaching. Getting started is as easy as 1,2, 3 and the 1st month is free, go here ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/47rr7em4  Then follow Coach Frank's Top 4 Tips: #1 Create a Custom Plan using unlimited training plans #2 Use CoachCat just like you would a real coach for a fraction of the price. #3 Sync all your devices: Whoop, Wahoo, Zwift, Garmin, Hammerhead, Oura, Apple Watch and more! # 4 receive Instant Data Analysis +

FasCat friends, we invite you to join us on Zwift for our Saturday Sweet Spot group rides, where Coaches Jake and Frank lead A and B groups and we chat on Discord. In this podcast, we talk about why so many riders love this wintertime format of getting high-quality, semi-structured work in with a social group. The time flies by, the kJs shoot up, and you can feeeeel yourself getting faster. Join the FasCat club on Zwift and then join our Saturday ride. (If you are already on Zwift, there is no additional cost.) Learn more and sign up here: https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips/sweet-spot-saturday-base-rides -- Take your training to the next level by hiring Coach Jake: https://fascatcoaching.com/collections/coaches/products/jake-rytlewski -- Try CoachCat Free for a month - with no credit card required ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/47rr7em4

Normally in cycling, it's a two-out-of-three situation: strong, light, cheap; or aero, light, inexpensive... And the same often applies when it comes to training: you can't blow off structure and expect to get fast and stay fit. However! On today's podcast FasCat Coaches Frank and Andrew explain how you can have fun, be flexible, and still achieve effective results by training with the FasCat method. -- Take your training to the next level by hiring Coach Andrew: https://fascatcoaching.com/collections/coaches/products/andrew-giniat   -- Try CoachCat Free for a month - with no credit card required ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/47rr7em4

If you're a longtime FasCat podcast listener, then you know we're big believers in strength training in the offseason. The science has long proven the benefits for endurance athletes. But what's new? What's the latest science?  That is exactly what Coaches Andrew and Sierra get into in this pod, as Sierra brushes up on her master's degree studies with the latest research. -- Want to add weight lifting to your cycling training and get Coach Sierra or Andrew's help? Please visit https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/hire-a-coach to learn more about them, fill out a new athlete questionnaire and to schedule a coaching consultation with them! Not ready for a Coach yet but still want to improve under the guidance of a coach? Try CoachCat! Its like hiring a Pro Coach for a fraction of the price of personal coaching. Getting started is as easy as 1,2, 3 and the 1st month is free, go here ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/47rr7em4  Then follow Coach Frank's Top 4 Tips: #1 Create a Custom Plan using unlimited training plans #2 Use CoachCat just like you would a real coach for a fraction of the price. #3 Sync all your devices: Whoop, Wahoo, Zwift, Garmin, Hammerhead, Oura, Apple Watch and more! # 4 receive Instant Data Analysis +

At FasCat, we've been helping athletes improve for more than 20 years. But how? In this podcast, Isaiah Newkirk and Frank Overton break down the three primary things good coaches do: We tell athletes what to do We analyze data to let athletes know if they are doing it right and improving We tell athletes what to do next based on our experience, sports science and the athlete's feedback Then, Isaiah and Frank walk you through the specifics of what the coached athlete journey looks like at FasCat, from the initial consultatoin and custom plans to ride analysis, communication frequency and type, power meter and wearable data analysis, and much, much more. -- Try FasCat for Free for the 1st Month ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/47rr7em4 - no credit card is required!

Here at FasCat, we have been answering your training questions for more than 20 years, and we've done 27 'Ask a FasCat' podcast episodes. On today's pod, we have a special iteration featuring questions from 21 email subscribers that are answered both by CoachCat - our expert AI inside the FasCat App - and FasCat Founder Frank Overton. Frank feeds the questions into CoachCat, reads CoachCat's responses, and then adds his own expert analysis. Both offer some surprising answers! -- Try FasCat for Free for the 1st Month ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/47rr7em4 - no credit card is required!

With your big event coming up, you should have almost all your training behind you. All the hay is in  the barn. But even the best training alone isn't a complete recipe for success on race day. Showing up and just hoping for the best will always pale in comparision to showing up prepared, having considered and planned for key variables like: nutrition equipment course terrain aid station logistics race-day transportation logistics In this podcast, FasCat Coaches Sierra, Jake and Frank walk you through the discussions they have with their one-on-one coached athletes to make sure all the i's are dotted and all the t's are crossed. Are you prepared for you next big race? Are you sure? If you are a FasCa one-on-one athlete you may have heard this before. If you'd like to be you can hire Coach Jake, Coach Sierra or an of the FasCat Coaches on our website, FasCatCoaching.com.  We even have a super double-secret coaching deal going on right now through August 10. If you are a FasCat app subscriber - you are in luck because CoachCat is trained on this, too! All you gotta do is ask and tell. That's right: chat with CoachCat and say, “what should my aid station strategy be for ___ race?” Ask about the Coursee, Pacing, Equipment, Nutrition, where should I eat and drink, nutrition, equipment... whatever you like! CoachCat has got your back!  If you'd like to try CoachCat for free for one month head over also to FasCatCoaching.com - start a free trial, no credit card is required and after that you can save 43% when you sign up with us for the year.  43%! That brings the monthly price down to less than $20 a month. -- Try FasCat for Free for the 1st Month ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/47rr7em4 - no credit card is required!

We're always game for trying something new here at FasCat, and this week we did a live session on YouTube where we took your questions while recording this podcast.  We answer things like: Does the FasCat app work with sports besides cycling? How can I know if I can trust auto-detected FTP increases? Who answers user questions inside the FasCat app? When is the Zwift integration coming? How can I best do my specific workouts outside? Why is erg mode bad for intervals inside?  When doing a Zone 2 ride, is it okay to pedal in other zones to get over hills and things? And much more! -- Try FasCat for Free for the 1st Month ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/47rr7em4 - no credit card is required!

Fun, flexibile and highly effective — that is the FasCat way to train.  On this special episode, FasCat Founder Frank Overton explains how the FasCat App has incorporated all the most impactful pieces of FasCat training methodology in a customized format that scales to your available time and gives your real-time feedback to every single workout. There are a lot of old and perhaps outdates ways of thinking about training out there. Give this podcast a listen to understand a new way of training - that is fun, flexible and highly effective. -- Try FasCat for Free for the 1st Month ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/47rr7em4 - no credit card is required!

Hello, listeners! We have a very different podcast for you today. We've taken your great questions that we normally answer with Coaches in our popular Ask a FasCat episodes and run them through our AI-powered CoachCat to answer them. Further, the questions are asked by an AI version of FasCat Founder Frank Overton.  The real Frank explains how this experimental podcast will work at the start of the show, and then analyzes how it went along the way and at the end. As you probably know by now, AI can be surprisingly good with a number of things, but it lacks human judgement. At FasCat, we are excited to be using the latest technology alongside our professional Coaching with their real-life experienece, not simply choosing one or the other. Go see what AI-powered Coaching advice does with your own training inside the FasCat app, where the first month is free with no credit card required. https://tinyurl.com/47rr7em4 If you would like to use the same technology you heard in this podcast, visit our website start a free one month trial. No credit card is required and you can synch your ride and wearable data and start training like a pro for a fraction of the cost.

Gravel training is not the same as training for the road, and therefore you should pay attention to different power-based metrics. FTP is not as important nor is your peak 20-minute power. Nor your 5-minute power. So what should you be looking at and trying to improve? In this podcast, we give you the power-based metrics you should pay attention to for your gravel training and racing! What's important is how long you can ride hard. That's way more important than your 60-minute FTP power when it comes to gravel racing.  In fact, you can have a low FTP but great 5-hour power. We can that strength 'diesel watts'. Are you a diesel? If so you are probably good at gravel racing! To see what effective gravel training is like including the new Gravel Power workout described in this podcast, try the FasCat app, where the first month is now free! https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/app

Over the years, the internet has twisted the simple definition of FTP.   We are here to bust those myths and set the record straight. Coach Jake and Frank also cover "Lactate Truthers", Zone 2 and finally our favorite the right and wrong usage of ERG mode.  ERG mode is great but it can be harmful to your training so we discuss. -- The first month of the FasCat app is now FREE: https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/app You'll receive a custom trainning plan, unlimited training plan revisisons, custom workouts, Auto FTP detection, daily Optimize training-to-recovery balance technology + meal plans, and of course the new AI-powered technology CoachCat! Ride Faster Now with FasCat Get started with your free month now: https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/app  

For years FasCat has touted 'FTFP' - or follow the f'ing plan! But we realize life often gets in the way of executing a detailed training plan to the T. And that's okay! On this podcast, we talk about how you can adapt to life's winding road, make changes in your training as things come up, but still stay the course to achieving your goals. FasCat is here to help you stay consistent with two great options: you can hire a full-time professional coach or you can use our new FasCat App, which includes unlimited training plans, the Optimize training-to-recovery balance technology, meal plans, and of course the new AI-powered technology CoachCat! Get started with your free month now: https://fascatcoaching.com/app

This week on the podcast we welcome Justin Bowes, a coach at FasCat Coaching. We discuss the evolution of Fastcat Coaching and the development of their training app, Optimize. Craig shares he'll be lining up for the UNBOUND 200 in June and Justin has the tough job of getting him ready. Justin shares his background in racing and coaching and his love for gravel racing. They also dive into the specific challenges and strategies for training for the Unbound Gravel 200, including nutrition, hydration, and pacing. Justin provides valuable insights and tips for preparing for a long-distance gravel race. FasCat Coaching Optiimize App Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  About the Guest(s): Justin Bowes is FasCat cycling coach with over 20 years of experience in the sport. He started racing at the age of 15 and has competed in road cycling, triathlon, mountain biking, and gravel racing. Justin has raced professionally and has coached numerous athletes, including national champions in road cycling, mountain biking, and cyclocross. He is passionate about gravel racing and has an active 2024 gravel race calendar. Episode Summary: This week on the podcast we welcome Justin Bowes, a coach at FasCat Coaching. We discuss the evolution of Fastcat Coaching and the development of their training app, Optimize. Craig shares he'll be lining up for the UNBOUND 200 in June and Justin has the tough job of getting him ready. Justin shares his background in racing and coaching and his love for gravel racing. They also dive into the specific challenges and strategies for training for the Unbound Gravel 200, including nutrition, hydration, and pacing. Justin provides valuable insights and tips for preparing for a long-distance gravel race. Key Takeaways: Fastcat Coaching has evolved over the years and now offers personalized coaching as well as an app called Optimize, which provides real-time analysis and feedback for athletes. Training for a long-distance gravel race like Unbound Gravel 200 requires a strategic approach, including proper nutrition, hydration, and pacing. It is important to listen to your body and adjust your training based on factors like recovery, sleep, and overall fatigue. Simulating race conditions and practicing your nutrition and hydration strategy during training rides is crucial for success on race day. Having a support crew and a well-thought-out plan for aid stations and resupply points can make a big difference in your race experience. Notable Quotes: "Unbound Gravel is a challenging event, but with proper training and preparation, you can enjoy the ride and achieve your goals." - Justin Bowes "Training for a long-distance gravel race requires a balance of endurance, strength, and mental fortitude Transcription: [TRANSCRIPT] [00:00:00] - (): Craig Dalton: Justin, welcome to the show. [00:00:04] - (): Justin Bowes: Hey, Craig, how are you doing? [00:00:05] - (): Craig Dalton: Um, excellent. I'm excited to have another fast cat on the podcast. Frank on his gosh, it must've been like a year plus ago that we had Frank on board. [00:00:14] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. That's what he mentioned that, uh, when we first started talking about, uh, bringing you on is I hope you don't mind a project. **** - (): Um, he said, yeah, it was almost two years ago, I think that he was on. So yeah, this is cool to be on with you. [00:00:28] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. It's been awesome. I mean, I've been a big fan of the fast cat podcast over the years and I've picked up a bunch. I've never really in the last couple of years had anything super substantive to train for something that terrified me. **** - (): So we'll get to what that is and why I came back to you guys. But the evolution of fast cat over that time, obviously. That brought on additional coaches, but also built out a pretty amazing application, uh, iPhone app and Android app, I assume. [00:00:59] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah, it's as, as Frank says, you can actually feel us getting faster and it's like you can feel us growing as well. **** - (): Um, yeah, with, you know, not only the, the success that Frank and the other coaches have had previous to me coming on, uh, which is the one on one coaching, but implementing. new AI, uh, scripts to, you know, a coaching app that can give you this amazing analysis, just as if you're communicating with a human. **** - (): Cause it takes all of Frank's 20 years of training peak comments and puts them into this app. And so when you get done with the ride, you get that instant feedback as if, Coach Kat, who is coach Frank, you know, is giving you, you know, that real time analysis just as you've uploaded that ride. Whereas me as a coach, you know, I may see that you've uploaded a ride, but I probably won't make a comment or analyze that ride until like the next day. **** - (): But with fast cat. It's there and it's right there for you. And, you know, as a coach, it's just like having a, uh, you know, a 24 seven virtual assistant. So it's, it's really cool. [00:02:09] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. It's been super interesting that the app is called optimize. And basically you can choose from Any number of the fast cat training programs. **** - (): So if you're training for a gravel race, or you're just trying to get faster in your group ride, you can just pick a plan and then it'll give you a program every single day of the week with built in rest. And to your point, a couple of months ago, I think they introduced coach cat. This AI, and it is pretty amazing. **** - (): The unlock I think originally for the app was this intersection of. Taking your HR RV, your recovery score and looking at that in the context of what's your workload proposed for the day and making sure if you're in the red in terms of recovery, they're not sending you out on a six hour ride. So I noticed as I was using it, you know, coach Kat would say, You know, you're in the red, do you want me to modify this workout? **** - (): And then you can just type in, Hey, yeah, I'm feeling crushed. What should I do? And you'll get back a workout. That's kind of slots into the overall plan or vision for where you're trying to get to. [00:03:12] - (): Justin Bowes: Absolutely. And I think, you know, So with the sleep metrics, more and more people are getting into and really understanding that importance of, you know, we've always been told, get that eight hours of sleep, you know, get, you know, get the bed and keep a consistent, uh, schedule, you know, the sleep hygiene aspect of your training. **** - (): And it's just more and more as the wearables, uh, whether it's the aura ring or a whoop or your Apple watch or. Uh, garment device or any of those other, um, devices, the metrics that they are kicking out are just getting smarter and smarter and fast cat, the app can collect all that just like you did a ride. **** - (): And so, like, as soon as you wake up and whatever device you're using uploads it to fast cat. He's already, you know, reading that and gives you that thumbs up or thumbs down on, you know, to go for it or, you know, Hey, let's hold back. And to your point, it's really nice to be able to, you know, have that chat with fast cat coach, um, to say, yeah, yeah, you know, I do feel great. **** - (): Let's, You know, keep the schedule program or yeah, I do feel kind of worn down. So maybe an active recovery day is, is better or a day off. And so fast KAC coach, you know, can adjust that immediately for you. And so you're on your way and not have to think about, should I, should I not? And it's actually a coach telling you that it's not just you putting a guilt trip on yourself to say, Oh, I know I should, but I've got a planned workout, so I should stick to it. **** - (): Great. Great. Yeah. I'm getting that feedback just as if I'm your coach or Frank or any of the other Fastcat coaches or your coach telling you, Hey, you know, let's take a day off. [00:04:57] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It took me a minute in January to kind of get everything set up like the, the head unit integrations are, are totally seamless for Wahoo and Hammerhead and other computers. **** - (): into the system for me, since I didn't have power at that point. And I was doing indoor training on a Peloton. There was a bit of a head scratcher because there wasn't a Peloton integration at the time. And it took a minute and going back and forth with the team over there to figure out, Oh, if I just at least record my Peloton ride with my Wahoo head unit and a heart rate monitor. **** - (): At least the data is coming in at that point. Right. So while it wasn't perfect, it kind of got me one step further. And then ultimately, uh, with the thanks to SRM, I did get some of their SRM X power pedals to put power on the bike, which has been a godsend, obviously in terms of our communication and just my ability to kind of really work within the app. **** - (): I mentioned that all to say. Like I was super jazzed with the optimized app and what it was delivering to me, but what I started to get a sense when some personal travel kicked up for April, this big chunk of time before my target event in June, like I was going to have a problem. I didn't trust that the AI could figure out this complicated equation of. **** - (): You could training for this big event training for the unbound 200 got a limited amount of time. How are we going to get the volume? How are we going to get all the different things that we need into a program? And that's why I went back to fast cat. And that's where I got introduced to you, Justin. So Yeah. **** - (): Long, very long intro talking a lot about the Optimize app, but Justin, welcome again to the show. Thank you. Let's just learn a little bit more about your background and then I have lots of questions about what's coming up for me. [00:06:45] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's crazy. Um, yeah, again, thank you for having me on the show. **** - (): Um, long time listener, first time caller. Um. Really appreciate, uh, the opportunity to, uh, to speak with you and obviously, work with you now, uh, with getting you on board and, um, get you ready for Unbound. Uh, so my background, um, the quick and dirty is I started racing when I was 15. I watched the 1984 Olympic Games, uh, in Los Angeles, watched Alexei Grewal, from the United States, win the gold medal in the road race. **** - (): And it was just like, my mind exploded. I was like, what is this? Like, I want to do that. And it wasn't like I was a stranger to endurance sports, um, between my oldest brother and my two younger brothers, all four of us, were involved either with swim team or, uh, cross country and track. Um, and we slowly kind of got into just, you know, riding at that time, 10 speeds as just, you know, part of training for running and swimming and everything else. **** - (): But it was, it was watching the Olympics and watching Alexi win the gold medal. I was just like, I want to do that. And so that next summer, um, I started road racing, but I also, um, got into triathlon as well. So I grew up in Kansas city. And at that time, there wasn't a huge racing scene in Kansas City. Um, there was in the Midwest. **** - (): So you had, you know, St. Louis was a hotbed. Oklahoma actually had a really cool old time, uh, stage race called the 89er. Um, Wisconsin, Chicago, obviously with, um, Uh, super weak and, and those crits out there, uh, back in the day. So we would have to travel to do, you know, the bigger bike races, but there was a booming triathlon scene in and around Kansas city. **** - (): And so, uh, raced in that, uh, worked my way up, um, got my pro card early, got my cat one, you know, about the same time as 17 years old. Um, Yeah, it was just, it was a good time of, of racing and training and everything. We had a really good, um, group of people to train with. Um, then, you know, raced professionally for a few years, um, decided I got, I wasn't making a career out of it. **** - (): Um, and so it was more like there was probably more to life than just living out of your car and traveling to races to try to get pre money to get to the next race and, and so on and so forth. And so. Um, I did transition to mountain bike racing in the early nineties, um, as I kind of aged out of the juniors and triathlon and road cycling mountain biking was taking off there in the late eighties, early nineties, and so race the nervous circuit. **** - (): And, you know, was good enough, but wasn't a great, you know, elite pro rider. And so that was when the light kind of turned on. It's like, you know, there's probably more to life than, like I said, living out of your car and going to bike races all the time. And so, um, yeah, I decided to start a family, settle down, have kids, um, and then literally did not touch a bike for, uh, six plus years. **** - (): Um, you know, I tell people they don't believe me. I don't share pictures, but there's evidence that I did blow up to like 250 pounds at, you know, one point while I was taking a sabbatical. Um, but it was about that time that, uh, my daughter was entering junior high and she wanted to, you know, run track and she wanted to do distance. **** - (): And so, and it was about the time where I was starting to get an itch to get back into it. The kids were getting old enough. I didn't feel as bad or as guilty trying to like get back into, to cycling. And so, um, Yeah, bought a bike off of eBay, bought some extra large bib shorts from the local bike shop, um, started riding, and then also running with her in the morning before school and work, and yeah, pounds fell off, the training itch came back, the racing itch came back, um, Started racing again in Kansas City, um, helped with some local clubs there, helped with race direction with the tour of Kansas City and some other cyclocross races there. **** - (): Um, yeah, and it just kind of blossomed, you know, from there. And then, uh, My wife and I, we moved up to Chicago. We lived there for five years, raced in the great crit and cyclocross scene up there, had an amazing time. We were up there for five years, and then now we are based out of central Virginia, uh, just outside of Charlottesville at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Crozet, Virginia, and, uh, now taking advantage of the amazing riding that's here and just, Head over heels, uh, into gravel racing in the last, you know, five years big time. **** - (): And yeah, just haven't looked back since. So, um, all along the way, um, you know, coaching was a big part of that. And it was kind of a casual thing as far as coaching was concerned. When I first kind of started into it is when I got back into racing. The second time I had, you know, some friends that were running a team, a local club there for You know, new riders to get into, and they asked if I would help, you know, kind of mentor and bring those new riders into the racing fold and kind of introduce them to, you know, the ins and outs and kind of the protocols of training and group rides and, and things like that. **** - (): And one thing just led to another. It's just like, Hey, what did you used to do for training? And that kind of spiraled into here. Let me help you. And then more and more people are like, Hey, can you help me? And so, um, after we left Kansas city and went up to Chicago, the same thing kind of happened. And I was just like, maybe I should do this. **** - (): And then, um, I still, you know, I was working full time in the corporate world. I was in it. And, um, still racing and everything, but once we moved down here to Virginia, um, my job didn't transfer. And so my amazing wife, Andrea, she was like, why don't you just coach full time? You know, why don't you do that? **** - (): And so, um, it's like, maybe I should. And so I did. And so for the last seven years, yeah, I've just been a private coach and I've had, I've Yeah, a handful of national champion, uh, riders in road, uh, mountain biking, cycle cross, um, three from three different countries and road cycling, um, so yeah, it's been really exciting, um, and now I just started with, uh, Frank and the team and Fastcat, uh, here in the last month, um, It's, it's been amazing, full time, you know, transition from having my own coaching business to working with a team of coaches. **** - (): And that was kind of the allure was working with, you know, nine like minded individuals who shared the passion for development, mentorship, and. Teaching and, um, to be able to like collaborate and have our coaches roundtables, you know, and our team meetings every week and just be able to bounce things off of, you know, other, you know, coaches and, Hey, have you seen this? **** - (): Have you done that? Um, so I hope that wasn't too long and winded, but, uh, Yeah. That's, that's how we came about. [00:14:29] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. No, it's great. Yeah. And I, you know, to your point around the fast cat coaches, I've been enjoying getting to know some of them through the podcast and getting their different perspectives. **** - (): And I could see, you know, some of them have like a strong nutritional background or, you know, different backgrounds to bring to the table, which I'm sure leads to some vibrant conversations in your coaching meetings. [00:14:54] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we, we all kind of have our own niche. Um, I mean, we all obviously overlap with all the different disciplines, but you know, um, we have some that are really strong, you know, in mountain biking, some are really strong in cyclocross. **** - (): Some are really strong in road. Some like myself or, you know, kind of jack of all trades, but like, I really love, you know, racing gravel now. And so that's the language I speak. And so, um, Yeah. And so we can share, Hey, what tires are you using? What equipment's best for this race or that course or, you know, things like that. **** - (): And, uh, you know, I've got an athlete going to, you know, this race who's done it, who's had athletes there and things like that. And so to be able to cross pollinate, um, is, is really cool. And it's, it's really dynamic and exciting. [00:15:44] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. Let's talk a little bit specifically about your experience in gravel, both as a coach and as an athlete. **** - (): I know you've been passionate about it the last couple of years. What have been some of the events you've been hitting? What do you, what do you like, like to do in gravel for yourself? And what have you been seeing across the athletes you're coaching? [00:16:02] - (): Justin Bowes: Sure. Um, so as far as like, you know, that, you know, I still haven't done steamboat. **** - (): Uh, gravel. I want to do that. Um, I'm trying to qualify again for, uh, the world cyclic cyclo cars, world's gravel championships in Belgium this year. I'd really like to go over there and, um, race in the worlds. Um, I missed it by a spot last year, uh, going to Italy. Um, we can talk about that. My. Body just kind of said no bueno during the middle of the race and later found out there was some medical stuff behind it. **** - (): So, um, got that all fixed, but, um, yeah, gearing up like you, I'm gearing up for Unbound, but, uh, unlike you, I'm only doing the 100. Um, this will be my third shot at it. My first time in 21, I was able to take 15th, uh, overall on that one. And then next year, 2022, I DNFed with a mechanical. Um, and so I punted last year and deferred to, to come back this year and we're going north and I really like the north course more, more so than the south courses. **** - (): Um, so I'm really looking forward to that. [00:17:15] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. What do you like about that north direction now that we're on that subject? [00:17:20] - (): Justin Bowes: Ah, I like the nasty, chunky gravel. Um, I, I think it, it's, You know, it, it's plays more into my strength, um, as a rider, I like the technical aspect of it. Um, the short punchier climbs is very similar to what I train on here. **** - (): Um, yeah, so it just, it, it fits in really nice. And I also like, this is going to sound really kind of sadistic, but I really like having the headwind on the way back. It really exposes, uh, the, the weaker riders and those who, you know, don't know how to deal with the wind. Um, and so, um, I just remember in 2021, uh, coming back and it was just like sucking on a hairdryer for, you know, 50 some odd miles of just like, it was just, Exhausting. **** - (): But at the same time, you know, growing up in Kansas city and racing across Kansas and Missouri and Oklahoma, I mean, I was used to it. And so it was, it was, it was almost like I am home, you know, it's like, it felt like being home. And so I was really comfortable with it. [00:18:27] - (): Craig Dalton: There's something interesting about like places you've trained and how they, your body recognizes them after the fact, when you come back and you're like, gosh, I have existed in this environment, this, this before I kind of get it. [00:18:40] - (): Justin Bowes: Exactly, and I mean, I, I do really well in heat. Um, my body just responds well with it, and unbound is inevitably extremely hot , um, and uncomfortable. Um, yeah, I just, I, you know, over the course of the, the, the, uh, the race, I just, I mean, everybody loses power. I mean, just because of, you know, the, the natural. **** - (): ebb and flow of the race and the distance and the duration and everything like that. You're, you're, you're going to lose power, but you know, the heat doesn't really affect me that much in the, in the fact of it, I can prolong that drop in power. Like I can put it off, you know, longer than, than most. And so I can kind of cope with it. **** - (): And yeah, I know, I think it's mental too. Like when, you know, you do well in a certain environment, um, or, you know, climate. That you're just walking into it and you're feeling like, yeah, I can do this when everybody else is like, oh, it's going to be 90 degrees, you know, and they're already, it's kind of like, you know, when it's raining or freezing cold, they're already shut down before the race even starts. [00:19:50] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. For those of us who might be heat challenged as a coach, how would you advise your athletes to prepare if climate in their home environment doesn't necessarily get up to those heats? [00:20:03] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. So it is a challenge, uh, because heat. obviously affects us, you know, differently, even if, even if you're in it, uh, some people just don't do well with it, but you have to be ready for it. **** - (): And so, um, you know, this is something we, you and I actually haven't even talked about. Um, but it's, it's one of those things where we want to do simulation rides to, um, prepare not only for You know what we're eating and drinking and distance and things like that, but also, you know, weather conditions and it's, it may be, you know, getting you back on your Peloton, you know, in a long sleeve Jersey and leg warmers and things like that, just to, you know, do some interval work, um, while raising that body temperature as much as possible and, you know, restricting the cooling aspect of it. **** - (): So, you know, the exact opposite of what we talk about when we talk about it. Training indoors of like keeping it 68 degrees and air flow and and all of that. Yeah, but to get you ready for something like that It's more like let's put a you know, thermal jersey on some leg warmers and you know close the garage and you know Sweat it out. **** - (): So [00:21:13] - (): Craig Dalton: well, I can I definitely have a hotbox environment in my garage if it's Plus 65 degrees, which I can reasonably get to here in the Bay area. The other thing you mentioned, and maybe just to put it in context for people who haven't done the North route at Unbound or just been out to Unbound in general, when you talk about a short punchy climb, what, what, what does that look like? **** - (): Give us some parameters. [00:21:35] - (): Justin Bowes: Sure. Uh, so duration, I know you and I've talked about this, uh, duration wise, you're looking anything from 30 seconds to, you know, as the race goes on, maybe five minutes. Thanks. You know, as opposed to, you know, a 20 minute climb or 30 minute climb or something like that, but just repeated short punchy climbs where it's just like straight down one side and then all your power up the next side for 20 to 30 seconds, you know, to get up and over it. **** - (): Um, and so that's, those, those are punchy climbs and you're, you know, you're looking at like, you know, anywhere from like seven to 12%, you know, type of gradients. You know, mixed in. [00:22:19] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. A lot of times, obviously, like when we can see the top of a climb as athletes, if we've got, if we've got the requisite power, we're going to want to push and roll over that right in a race of 200 miles. **** - (): And maybe there's 400 of said punchy climbs in the middle of that. How should you be thinking about it? And maybe, You can use some terms that we can get into later about VO2 max or sweet spot or like, where do you push to knowing that early in the race? Like I could probably hammer over this thing, but it may not be in my best interest six hours from now. [00:22:50] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah, and you know, it's again, you know, with Unbound and especially the 200, we kind of want to reverse thinking as far as like, Hey, yeah, I can punch over all of these like really early on. And we want to like, think the opposite and say, let's take our time getting over these and just get over as smoothly as possible. **** - (): With, you know, putting out as little as power as possible to just maintain, you know, the pace that we, you know, you and I, you know, set upon as far as like our target, um, because course like unbound, it's a death by a thousand cuts. And those thousand cuts are those, you know, punchy hills repeated and things like that. **** - (): But in addition to the punchy hills, you just have these false flats. Of this never ending horizon also, you know, and so while, you know, maybe you have a section where you have a few rollers or punchy climbs there, you may have another, you know, 10, 15 miles of just nothing but a false flat of like one, 2%, if not more. **** - (): Where you just don't see the end, you know, that end just keeps moving on you. And, and that's, that's where the mental aspect really comes in of just like not allowing yourself to like, you know, get distracted by the fact that you can't see the end because most climbs We're on we know that we're up and over that climb and we're on to the next, you know, flat or downhill or something like this, where this is just nothing but a grind. **** - (): And so you just have to keep a mental, you know, a positive mental, um, attitude of. This is what I wanted to do. This is what I trained for. This is, you know, I'm ready for this. And so, um, you know, in everybody's power, I get, I get a little wary of like putting out power numbers, you know, for just examples, just because everybody is so different and the climbs there. **** - (): because they are technical in nature of because of the chunkiness of the gravel and things like that. Each one is so different. I mean, there just really isn't one that's the same because believe it or not, even the middle of Emporia, like there's a dozen different types of gravel that you're going to encounter and they're all in those climbs too. **** - (): And so, um, You know, one, you're, you know, you're sitting at, you know, 400 Watts to climb, climb up and over. No big deal. You don't even think about it, but the next one is steeper and chunkier. And so now it's just like to try to put out 400 Watts consistently. It's just like, I can't do that. Yeah. So it's just, it's a matter of, you know, just, you know, again, going back to your mental attitude and, and, and realizing that, Hey, I did the training. **** - (): I know I can do this. This is just another 30 second type of effort. I'm onto the next. [00:25:43] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. I'm, I'm confident there's going to be a lot of discipline along the way that needs to be applied as a writer. We all have the tendency of following wheels with enthusiasm, particularly if, you know, I, I won't and will not be doing many events. **** - (): So this being a singular event or one of a handful this year, I'm going to be enthusiastic and, you know, it's fun to ride in a pack. It's fun to do all these things. And I think it's going to be critical to always just check, check oneself and say, We've got a long day ahead of us. We need to play this out, the long game and be mentally disciplined along the way with our physical efforts. **** - (): And then also back that up with a strong nutritional strategy that you don't waver from as well. Because I certainly know from my Ironman days, you can make a mistake early and you're just going to pay for it. On the bright side, when you're talking about a 15 hour day, there's always opportunities to recover. **** - (): Yes. You cannot afford to get yourself in too big of a hole. And I do think it's just about having a system in place for nutrition, for hydration that you're following like a check, check box, like a robot. So just interested to get some, some more detailed comments from you on the nutrition side of things. **** - (): And you know, should we be writing things down on the top tube? Should we have alarms on our watches? Like, what are some tips to make sure that. We've got a fueling strategy that's going to get us through a long day. [00:27:15] - (): Justin Bowes: I, you know, as far as, you know, backing up for just a second and, and getting caught up in like the enthusiasm of, especially an event like Unbound, because that is like the center of dare I say, even the cycling world is focused on Emporia, Kansas on June 1st. You know, it's gotten so big that, you know, when you have teams like Ineos sending, you Cameron Worth over to check it out to see if it's even worth, you know, doing it's kind of a big deal, right? **** - (): You know, you have Peter Sagan dropping in just to check out what's going on and things like that. So it's very easy, you know, that entire week leading up to the actual race day to get caught up in just the swell of, you know, excitement and, and things like that. And then as soon as that gun goes off. And you're surrounded by, you know, 3000 of your closest friends to go do 200 miles. **** - (): Everybody wants to like be a part of it. And that's, that's like point number one of like, keeping your, yourself in check of just like, Nope, I lined up with, you know, the 14 hour crew or the 15 hour crew or whoever you line yourself up with. And that's who I'm staying with no matter what. And to that point, you know, it's easy to start talking with people and feeling good. **** - (): And I always tell my athletes. You know, when, when they have a, you know, struggle with, uh, you know, completing a workout or not feeling like they did their workout, you know, the right way, we immediately go back to the nutrition and hydration, uh, question. It's those simple, low hanging fruit, um, aspects of, well, what did you eat? **** - (): How often did you drink? And if it was an early morning ride, a lot of times, you know, they may have skipped breakfast altogether, or maybe just had like a slice of toast or a banana or something like that just to get them out the door because it was early. And while that used to be kind of. You know, common practice. **** - (): Now we know that that's not the case and our bodies need way more fuel than what we originally thought. Um, and a lot of us used to train with. And so now it's, you know, make sure, you know, if that, if you means getting up, you know, an extra hour earlier to actually eat a breakfast, that's what you have to do, you know, and as, and, and with you, you know, as we get closer to the event. **** - (): You know, we're gonna have to start practicing that early morning breakfast routine because you guys go off at 6:00 AM a lot of people aren't used to doing anything at 6:00 AM let alone embarking on 200 mile gravel race. And so, you know, practicing, you know, that fueling strategy ahead of time to, you know, wake, you know, the wake up time, the, you know, pre-breakfast, you know, was that coffee or tea or, you know, whatever it is. **** - (): And then eating, you know, substantial breakfast. And then getting on the bike and as you're sitting in the corral waiting for the start eating again, you know, and so I like to tell, you know, my athletes, while it's a neutral rollout, it's, you know, it's neutral, it's not, but at the same time, it's, that's, that's another opportunity for you to like grab, you know, another bar, another gel or something like that to stick in your face. **** - (): Um, because the more often that you can eat, the better off you're going to be because eventually you will get to that point where, you know, just through exhaustion and mental fatigue and physical fatigue and everything like that, it's very easy to stop eating and, and drinking, you know, you're just like, Oh yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll drink in five minutes, you know, or I'll eat again and you know, 20 minutes or something like that. **** - (): Well, an hour passes and you didn't eat, you didn't drink, and then you're in the hole. And so the tips to help, you know, get the food in and the drinks in, you know, a lot now are our head units have alarms on them, uh, to set, you know, at different, you know, uh, time, uh, periods of like anywhere from 15, 20, 30, 45, however you want to do it. **** - (): Um, To set reminders to drink or sip or eat or snack or however you want to do it. But for Unbound, you have to eat, you have to drink as often and as early as possible. And also for a big event like that, I like to recommend Real food early as much as possible. And when I talk about real food, it's like, you know, for myself, um, you know, my big ride that I had on Saturday, I make a double batch of pancakes, you know, a batch for me to eat for breakfast and then a batch to take with me on the bike. **** - (): And I'm eating, you know, a pancake every hour with my drink mix and everything like that, carbs up. So whether it's pancakes or peanut butter and jellies or, bagels, or, you know, I'll get fancy some days and do like mini croissants and ham and apricot preserves, something like that, or pretzel roll with, you know, country ham on it, things like that, where your body can digest and get really good, you know, high, Call it high quality carbs and calories into your body early, because the longer we go, our bodies will then not be able to process that real food later on. **** - (): And it's, that's when we start switching over to gels and blocks and the really simple sugar stuff, you know, the gummy bears, you know, things like that, um, to just keep the sugars coming and by eating the real food. earlier than you kind of stave off that flavor fatigue that you'll get from the gels and the drink mixes and things like that. **** - (): Um, and if, if, you know, if your head unit doesn't have, you know, reminders on there, um, I'm a big fan of putting like, um, colored stickers on my handlebars and stems, um, from multiple of reasons, you know, but in this instance, it would be like, Hey, why is that orange sticker there? Oh, it's to eat. You know, why is that yellow one there? **** - (): Oh, it's to drink. And so, you know, things like that. And then, you know, you hit the nail on the head. Make a little top tube or stem sticker, you know, decal with eat, you know, at this time, at this, you know, you know, make a little checklist for yourself to like run down and eat at, you know, six 30 at seven o'clock at seven 15, you know, whatever it is, just to remind yourself to, you know, constantly eat because. **** - (): As you, as you're going to find out, those aid stations are few and far between in Unbound. It's not like your local races where they're staffed every 20 miles or something. You have two aid stations and two water oases. That's it. You know, and it's a long distance in between those. [00:34:08] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, I've started, uh, on my long rides carrying my use way hydration pack and two water bottles just to kind of get into that routine of having that additional weight on my body and bike. **** - (): Um, and that, that sort of pressure to keep hydrating, I definitely need and appreciated your comments on. The kind of food strategy, I definitely need to think a lot more about what's going to work for me. I've got a pretty strong constitution historically in terms of like, I can eat the same thing all day long, but I don't think I want to do that. **** - (): Um, so I want to figure out like, yeah, what's, what is my strategy between real food and gels and what's going to be accessible? What's going to work. I've got plenty of questions on like, how the hell do I carry all this stuff? I know we've got a resupply point at one point, but I got to do the math and probably start, um, training with. **** - (): That volume of, uh, nutrition on me just to get a sense, like, do I have the right places to put it on the bike and where, how is it going to be accessible? Cause nothing's worse than that alarm going off for a gel and it being in your backpack and the hydration pack and you can't reach it. And [00:35:15] - (): Justin Bowes: yeah, [00:35:15] - (): Craig Dalton: you got to think these things through [00:35:17] - (): Justin Bowes: for sure. **** - (): And that's, you know, that's, you know, why we do the gravel simulation rides or the race simulation rides to not only. Get our bodies ready for the duration and the intensity of the race, but also to get our bikes and equipment ready. So, you know, if you're using a certain tire wheel, you know, that's what we're going to use on our gravel simulation ride. **** - (): Or I can't tell you the number of times where, you know, people are like, Oh yeah, I forgot where I put my tire plug and my CO2, you know, was it in my frame bag or was in my Jersey pocket, you know, and things like that. And to your point. You got to figure out where, you know, what pocket those gels are going in or what pocket the sandwiches are going in or, you know, whatever that may be and what that feels like, because we all know we have to stuff our faces. **** - (): But we have a finite amount of room, you know, to put it all on because we also have to feel what that bike, you know, feels like over rough terrain, you know, it's one thing to have a really nice light bike, you know, in training, but when it comes to race day and you're not used to your hydration pack, you know, And all the food in all three pockets. **** - (): And oh, by the way, where am I putting my emergency toolkit, you know, am I taping it to the frame or am I putting in a pocket or a bag and, and all of those things, and so, um, you know, I tell, I tell my athletes, you know, whether you eat at all or not. You know, at least train with it. So, you know, what that feels like, you know, so you know where to access it and what it feels like when you're climbing, because standing with a hydration pack and three pockets full of food, and if you're wearing cargo bibs and your legs are, Bunchy and, you know, bulging and things like that. **** - (): You know, what does that feel like? And you don't want to show up for a 200 mile race and be like, that's the first feeling that you've ever had, you know, and it's, it doesn't set a great precedent for the rest of the day. A [00:37:15] - (): Craig Dalton: hundred percent. This has all been super interesting. I want to jump into a couple of specifics around training. **** - (): Okay. As we've worked together, as I mentioned, you know, I was, I was doing the sweet spot training through the app in. February. And then we started working together the last week of February, first week of March. Right. And I've been pretty consistent since then, knowing that I had this travel date coming up this week on April 3rd, where I'm going to be gone for about 10 days or two weeks of losing two weekends. **** - (): And that was the big challenge I kind of put to you is like, Hey, I realized this is, I Really screwy. I need to figure out a way this, to make this work. And when we started working together, I started getting on these intervals and getting the consistency of the training program you were laying out. You know, one of the things that cropped up for me was like, gosh, I'm doing all these short intervals, definitely feeling stronger on the bike. **** - (): There's no question about that. But I had this nagging feeling of like, am I going long enough? And we talked a little bit about this offline, but it's, it's Maybe just for the listener, just kind of lay out, like, how were you approaching this challenge of, Hey, we've got, I guess, three months to get ready. **** - (): We've got a two week block in the middle where Craig's not available at all. [00:38:37] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. So it was interesting because like I said, um, We've got a challenge here. You know, this wasn't like, Hey, a year from now, I want to do unbound 200. Um, I probably should, you know, think about getting ready for that. It's like, Hey, I'm doing unbound 200 and we're three months out. **** - (): And so, um, that in of itself is, you know, a huge challenge just, you know, as, as an athlete to put that, put that on themselves to say, Hey, this is what I'm doing. Uh, but for a coach to hear that it's, it's like. Oh, man, how do we, how do we make that happen? And so, um, I was, I was confident. Um, I shared with you offline, you know, I worked with an athlete a couple of years ago and got her ready for unbound when, and we started working in January of that year to get her ready. **** - (): She had done unbound before, so she knew it wasn't her first rodeo. So she knew what she was getting into. Um, but still, you know, for a 200 mile race. The 1st of June and starting in January, it's like, okay. And like, at least you had some fitness, her fitness had kind of like dipped way off. Uh, she had just kind of like taken the winter off and was just like, Hey, I'm going back to unbound. **** - (): I heard you're a great coach. Can you get me ready? And so, you know, part of me was like, Challenge accepted. And then the other part was like, what did I just sign up for? And so I kind of had a little deja vu with you, Craig, um, when this popped up, uh, with you and with you and Frank. But yeah, getting back to your specific training, um, since you had some fitness coming in, Um, what I, how I wanted to approach this was I looked at it in kind of a couple different parts. **** - (): One, the actual event that we're looking at, but then the main challenge of you being gone for a huge block of time in what I would consider pretty critical timeframe, um, for our training. And so it was kind of like, yeah, we, we definitely need some saddle time. We definitely need to build up to, you know, as close a distance as possible to get ready for, you know, 200 miles and, you know, likely, you know, anywhere from 12 to 15 hours, um, on the bike. **** - (): So, but there's two weeks where he's not going to have access to actually riding. And so what, what can I do to. jumpstart the training. Um, and that's how I kind of looked at it. It was just like, okay, we gotta put the, uh, put the jumper cables on here and, and give it a jolt and, and see what happens. And so incomes, you know, our bread and butter at fast cat was, you know, our sweet spot training, um, and adding some intervals into those sweet spots as well. **** - (): So that we're, we're tapping into all of your systems. Um, we're not just sending you out and doing, you know, four hour rides just for the sake of doing four hour rides just to get in, uh, training. That's, that's definitely an approach, but I feel like if we can touch on, you know, some sub threshold, a lot of sweet spot, um, and even some anaerobic work. **** - (): In the weeks leading up into your two week, um, off period, then we're, we're really, really kickstarting your fitness to get ready for those longer, harder rides that we have planned for you once you get back. Um, and to let the audience know, you know, you're going to be doing a gravel training camp basically the week after you get back, you know, from being gone for two weeks. **** - (): And so, um, we'll have a couple of active recovery days. after the two weeks off to kind of get you back into the swing of things. But then you're gone to just basically ride as much as you can, um, to build back up that fitness. Um, uh, that not, we're not losing it in those two weeks by any stretch, but it's taken a hit. **** - (): And so we have to Start addressing the duration and the longer hours in the saddle. So yeah, I mean, looking back on your, your workouts, I mean, we, we've kind of hit it all we've done, you know, everything from 30 thirties to extended, uh, sweet spot, um, intervals, um, some threshold, um, anaerobic over and unders. **** - (): Um, and for those that don't know what over and unders are, it's basically like a burst of power. For a short amount of time, you know, 20, 30 seconds, and then you settle into a sweet spot, um, or a tempo style, uh, zone for a while. And then you end it with like another, uh, burst of, uh, power at the end of that. **** - (): And so a couple of things we're doing with that is not only, again, Trying to build up as much aerobic capacity as possible, but also getting you ready for those type of little punchy climbs that you're going to encounter out in the middle of Emporia, Kansas, to where you will have to put out power to get up and over those, but then you're going to get over them and then you're going to settle back into your, your tempo, your sweet spot type of zone. **** - (): That's going to carry you on, you know, till the next, You know, climb is going, you know, that, that pops up. So that's kind of the thinking behind it. Um, you know, you work full time too. So it's not like you can just like, Hey, uh, give me six hour rides to do. If that was the case, it would look a little different, but because you have a life outside of this, um, we have to be very strategic with your training and take advantage of the time that you do have. **** - (): And, you know, you do have, oh, you know, time on the weekends to get into longer rides and we've That's what we're doing. That's what we're taking advantage of but during the week when you have to be accountable to your other Other part of your life. We have to get in as much aerobic training as possible And that's what these type of workouts have been designed to do [00:45:02] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, it's been super interesting transitioning from indoor training to outdoor training with the power meter and figuring out where I can get the work done. **** - (): I live in a relatively hilly place, so sometimes it's taken me a bit to just figure out how long will it take me to get to this particular section of road. Where I can do the work required or, you know, go back and forth to do these intervals and make it all work. It's been fascinating. The other sort of funny takeaway for me has been, I swear, like last year, I probably, the, I, the only effort I would ever do would be going uphill. **** - (): Right here in the Bay area. I mean, there's substantial effort required, but like if I was writing somewhere like writing to Nicosia or some loop around here, I was not writing purposefully at all. I was lollygagging. Like when I look at the power meter now, it's like every, every bit of the workout that's structured, like, I'm like, Oh, I'm actually putting effort in, even if it's like the easy. **** - (): Period of the workout, right? Because it's all programmed. Right. It's just been fascinating to me and funny. Like I have a lot of chagrin about the whole experience to be honest. [00:46:14] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. I mean, it's, you know, this whole thing has been interesting for me as well, because you know, not only like, you're kind of, you're kind of an anomaly in the sense of like, you've, you've done training in the past, right. **** - (): With your Ironman background and everything. And it's not like you're some new cyclist, you know, Come lately and just like, this is what I want to do sort of thing. I'm going to hop on the bandwagon. That's not you at all. But to your point, the purposeful training hasn't existed, you know, for a long time. **** - (): And then like, we're training for, you know, the biggest gravel race in the world. And then also it's like, I haven't been training with power and it's just like, I have to get some power meters. And it's just like, that's definitely going to help. And so, um, Yeah, you know, coaching you with, you know, understanding, you know, again, it's not like you live in a simple area of like, Oh, yeah, I've got an uninterrupted, you know, 30 minute spot that I can go and do intervals on. **** - (): It's carless and it's flat. It's perfect. You know, it's like, no, you're like, I've got an hour climb this way. And I've got a 45 minute climb that way. And. You know, it's just like, how do we do this? And so, but then also like how, you know, not only coaching you on, you know, how we're going to get you ready, but then also like, how do you ride with power? **** - (): Not just outside, but how do I ride with power outside? In my environment, you know, that is not conducive to, Oh yeah, I can do a five minute effort here. No problem. Or this over here is like the perfect loop to do my 20 minute test or, you know, anything like that. It's like, so it's, it's been interesting to say the least, but I mean, to your credit though, Craig, I mean, like when I, when I get the alert that your ride has been uploaded and everything. **** - (): And I take a look at it. And then you, you do a really good job too, of, you know, of following up with comments, um, which note to everybody out there that has a coach, please make comments to your coach. Um, but you know, to be able to see, you know, what you did and you give me the context of, Hey, this is the route that I did. **** - (): And, you know, I can take a look at it on the GP, uh, GPS file and see like, Whoa. Yeah. That was, A steep one or, you know, longer climb that what we expected, but, uh, you're handling the training. Amazing. Um, and you know, again, to the audience, you know, the purpose here, the last month is, has been to load you up, to load Craig up as much as possible with, uh, workouts. **** - (): So when he goes into this two week time, it's actually like a recovery period for him to allow his body to soak up as much of the training as possible. Um, and so when he does get back and we do start piling on the hours, his body's ready for that. So. [00:49:13] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah, I've tried to, tried to stick to the plan , as you guys always say, [00:49:17] - (): Justin Bowes: FTFP, , [00:49:18] - (): Craig Dalton: FTFP. **** - (): One thing you had mentioned to me in our last conversation was that, you know, my, I forget whether, whether it's the fatigue score in training peaks or something, like we are running in a pretty hard deficit. Yes. And you would normally say like, he's gonna crack at some point. Right. But we, we've been riding, riding that edge and I, yeah, and I feel it, I mean, as an athlete, like I am. **** - (): Still super motivated to get on the bike, even though I am feeling the fatigue, but I also do feel like I am somewhat on the razor's edge at times and I have to be really cautious about making sure I'm getting the proper rest and the proper fuel in me to kind of recover to go at it. So I am looking forward to. **** - (): A little bit of time off in the next couple of weeks. [00:50:02] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah, I bet. No. Um, for those who are, are familiar with training peaks, um, he's talking about his form score or his TSB, um, his training score balance. And, um, a lot of, a lot of coaches, uh, subscribe to this and, you know, I've worn athletes, you know, once we get into that negative 20 to 25, That's like kind of the, those are when the alarm bells start going off of like, Hey, that's usually what we see at the end of a training block. **** - (): Right. Um, of like a three week build, if we're doing it on that protocol of like, okay, we've gone as far as we really want to push. Um, now it is time for a recovery week, a regenerative week to just allow that, um, work to just soak in and allow your body to recuperate because, you know, in training, the basic training principles are, you know, we throw. **** - (): stress after stress after stress at you and then your body adapts, adapts, adapts, and then we rest and then it does a full, you know, adaptation and it moves on to the next, you know, training load. And, um, for those who are keeping score at home right now, um, Craig finished the week, um, his CTL was 61, uh, his fatigue or his ATL was 107. **** - (): And his form is a negative 42, um, leading into this week. Now, today he had a recovery day. He had a foundation stay where his, uh, mobility work, uh, he was off the bike. Um, tomorrow he does have one final threshold, uh, workout to do, but then he is. gone for the next two weeks. Um, and so, as we have it planned out, um, once he comes back, um, to, back home, he will be, his form will have risen back into the positive side with a form, his TSB will be at 28. **** - (): Um, and so that's well rested and to the point of like, we start losing fitness, um, depending on the individual. Um, and so that's why it's a really, it's a great thing that Craig has this available that he'll be able to go away and do, you know, His own mini, uh, gravel training camp where he'll just have multiple days, you know, in the saddle and we're going to do it to the point. **** - (): If you don't mind me sharing, Craig, we're going to do it to the point where, you know, we're going to stair step it in because he'll have four days. You have pretty much uninterrupted writing. And I see a lot of times mistakes being made when people go away for a training camp or a team camp or they get their writing buddies together. **** - (): Hey, we're gone. We're away from home. We're away from work. We're just going to ride, ride, ride. And. Which is all well and good, but if you don't do it the right way, you can ruin your your camp like on day one. And you know, most people like, yeah, let's go smash a six, seven, even eight hour ride. Well, then they're shot for day two and day three. **** - (): And they're just kind of on the struggle bus, the rest of the camp. And so, um, Craig and I talked, uh, on our last one on one meeting to, you know, stair step those rides so that, you know, day one, um, It's going to be a longer ride, you know, two hours, three hours. That's, that's great. But then that way for the next consecutive days, he can keep adding hours to it as opposed to just doing the biggest ride he can on day one and being torched the rest of the time, because that's not going to do him any good. **** - (): We're not going to get anything out of this, uh, getaway. If we share ourselves in the foot on day one. So, [00:53:50] - (): Craig Dalton: yeah, yeah, I'm excited, scared and all the above for, for may. I'm definitely excited to put in the long hours as I mentioned to you in a previous conversation. Like if I was planning this out, I basically would have put every single weekend. **** - (): Longer and progressively longer distance and more brutal amounts of climbing across the three months remaining. So, you know, it's been, I definitely feel stronger as an athlete already from this approach. Definitely. I'm still concerned about my ability to get to a time volume level that makes me confident showing into the 200 unquestionably. **** - (): It's, it's unknown. Territory for me. I think the longest I've ever ridden on a bike is 130 miles in a day so that, you know, there's a lot of gray area ahead of me, but I think that is not uncommon for recreational athletes hitting the unbound 200 for the first time. It's the first time for everyone. [00:54:51] - (): Justin Bowes: And I mean, and to be honest, Craig, there's, there's not many, uh, professional or elite, uh, riders that are training. **** - (): You know, over 150 miles, you know, and one pop, uh, to get ready for unbound. So you're, you're not alone. Um, but again, it's, it's, it's being strategic with our training and not just writing for the sake of writing. Um, we, we obviously want you to finish and we, and. You know, finishing is one thing, but I want you to enjoy the ride as well and enjoy the, just the environment and being there and being part of it. **** - (): And if you're just completely gassed because we didn't train you properly, it's, it's just going to be a miserable experience from dawn to dusk basically. And you know, that doesn't do you any good and it doesn't do, you know, anybody any good to, to just, you know, suffer through something. Undeniably, you're going to suffer regardless of, you know, how we train everything like that. **** - (): That is just a long day. I don't care who you are. Um, and, and it's all relative, right? You know, whether you're Keegan at the front of the race or the very last cutoff finisher, you know, that they keep from the, uh, the checkpoint, the final checkpoint. It's all difficult. Um, and so, um, I'm just trying to make it as less difficult for you. **** - (): Yeah. Um, yeah, along the way. And [00:56:17] - (): Craig Dalton: that's definitely one of, you know, one of my stated goals is I want to do it in a healthy way and feel, you know, it's going to be hard. It's going to be hard. It's going to be suffering, but I want to, you know, Enjoy the community. I want to enjoy the people I'm around and I want to get to the finish line and be able, you know, not be a shell of myself. [00:56:34] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. Yeah. Um, you know, one thing also, um, just real quick, I was thinking, you know, as far as like nutrition and things like that, Um, one thing I haven't shared with you yet, uh, Craig, is I have like a nutrition checklist, um, for your support staff to, you know, at the aid stations. Um, just, you know, suggested this is what you should have not only for Craig, but for yourself and, you know, for, for those who are doing unbound and you guys who are taking, you know, spouses or partners or teammates as, you know, support staff, um, look out for them as well. **** - (): You know, they, they need to have. Like their own nutrition and hydration plan as well, because they're out there just doing nothing for a long time. And it's helpful just to, you know, think about, Hey, yeah, um, I should have like a couple of different varieties of drink and sandwiches or, you know, whatever their case may be. **** - (): So [00:57:33] - (): Craig Dalton: a hundred percent hats off to anybody who supports the athletes endurance events. I know Uh, supporting my wife's Ironman efforts. I felt like it was harder than doing them myself. Oh yeah. Just because you cut, you cut corners, you know, you're not thinking about that. You're actually on your feet all day as well. [00:57:50] - (): Justin Bowes: Yeah. I know. I remember when Andrea did the Chicago marathon, like I ran from, you know, train stop to train stop so I could, you know, catch her at the different, you know, checkpoints. She thought maybe she'd see me once out on course, but there was like half a dozen times that, you know, you're just running around doing different, um, trying to get to different points on the course. **** - (): So yeah. Tip your support staff for sure. [00:58:19] - (): Craig Dalton: Amazing. Justin, thanks so much for the time this evening. Thanks for all your efforts on my behalf to date. Uh, it's been a pleasure working with you thus far, and I'm excited to get to that finish line together. [00:58:32] - (): Justin Bowes: Oh, for sure. Craig, it's been awesome working with you and yeah, I'm equally as excited. **** - (): Um, you know, it's, it's one thing for me to be training. You know, for my unbound, but when I'm training multiple athletes, you know, for, for unbound as well. And I just, I, I get, I, yeah, I I'm, I'm right there alongside them, you know, no matter what. Um, and you know, seeing you finish and complete your workouts. **** - (): And when you, you feed me the comments of like, yes, I'm getting tired, but man, my. You know, my spirits are still high and ready to get on the bike tomorrow and, you know, tackle this next workout and things like that. That's just like a, a check along the way for me knowing that, you know, I'm helping you, you know, achieve something that you really wanted to do. **** - (): And that's really exciting on my end. [00:59:22] - (): Craig Dalton: Yeah. Fantastic. I know we'll be checking in. Maybe we'll do something again on the podcast. Um, cool. Yeah. But until I talk to you, Have a great night, Justin. Thank you. [00:59:32] - (): Justin Bowes: Thank you again, Craig.    

Working with Coach Elliott Baring, FasCat athlete Lauren De Crescenzo won her third Mid South this past weekend in dominant fashion. On this podcast Lauren and Elliott talk about how she trained to win this major 100-mile gravel race, the strategy and tactics and gear she used, what you can learn from her methodology, and what's next on the calendar for the LDC. To start training for your best year yet, get a free month on the FasCat App, which includes unlimited training plans, the Optimize training-to-recovery balance technology, meal plans, access to FasCat Coaches like Elliott and now the new AI-powered technology CoachCat! Get started with your free month now at https://fascatcoaching.com/app.

‘Know thyself,' Plato said. ‘And know thy course,' Coach Allie says.  With years of professional racing around the glove under her belt plus years of working with all levels of athletes, Coach Allie Legg knows what it takes to have a successful race. Here are her top 5 tips for having your best race. Know the course, make (and use!) a pre-race checklist, prepare your nutrition the night before, be smart with your efforts, and take a chance! To start training for your best year yet, get on the FasCat App, which includes unlimited training plans, the Optimize training-to-recovery balance technology, meal plans, access to FasCat Coaches like Allie Legg and now the new AI-powered technology CoachCat! Use the code IMAFASCAT to get a free month of FasCat at FasCatCoaching.com.  

Listen to your body, know the variables, don't treat travel as rest, go with the flow, don't diet on the bike! Maddy Ward is a UCLA grad, a former pro with Tibco and InstaFund, and a new FasCat Coach who on this episode delivers her Top 5 Training & Racing Tips. To start training for your best year yet, get on the FasCat App, which includes unlimited training plans, the Optimize training-to-recovery balance technology, meal plans, access to FasCat Coaches like Maddy Ward and now the new AI-powered technology CoachCat!  Use the code IMAFASCAT to get a free month of FasCat at FasCatCoaching.com.  

Sweet Spot training is great for a number of things, and today we're talking about how it's highly effective for racking up Training Load - a key metric for any cyclist's training plan. Training Load is the forest view of your fitness, a weighted 42-day rolling average of your recent workouts. The higher the load, the more potential fitness you have at your disposal. On a daily perspective, you might be familiar with TSS from your Garmin or Wahoo - TSS stands for Training Stress Score. FasCat founder Frank Overton helped create this metric back in the day! Now at FasCat we use OTS, or Optimized Training Score, which is a more refined metric that accounts for things like coasting during a ride or weighting the power output at the end of four-hour rides higher than the same output in hour one. On this podcast, Frank and Ben Delaney talk about doing OTS workouts - where the objective is to rack up a prescribed amount of work, not to follow a bar-graph set of intervals. -- Have you been enjoying the FasCat Podcast? Please leave us a review on the App Store or Google Play. Thanks! You can save 25% off a subscription to Optimize — your year-round training solution with unlimited training plans, meal plans, and strength and conditioning videos — with the code 25podcast.

Group Rides and Sweet Spot - two things we love here at FasCat. This podcast puts the two together.  If you're new to the pod, welcome! And if you're new to the concept of Sweet Spot, know that it's a training zone and a training technique. As a zone, it's between 84% to 97% of your functional threshold power.  At FasCat, we have Sweet Spot training baked into many of our training plans, especially at this time of the year. And yes, you can do Sweet Spot workouts on the trainer or by yourself. But cycling is often more fun with others, and the real jedi magic for training is when you can incorporate specific training into either the landscape - like hills or wind - or group rides or even races! So, how to Sweet Spot in the group ride? The answer, as always is: IT DEPENDS. So we discuss a few scenarios: Hard group rides, medium hard group rides, and then the all-important post-ride analysis. This is the fourth episode in an eight-pod series on Sweet Spot. -- Have you been enjoying the FasCat Podcast? Please leave us a review on the App Store or Google Play. Thanks! You can save 25% off a subscription to Optimize — your year-round training solution with unlimited training plans, meal plans, and strength and conditioning videos — with the code 25podcast.  

Frank Overton, Founder of FasCat Coaching, is world renowned cycling coach. He has guided a wide variety of athletes, from teams like the U.S. National Team, the Priority Health Pro Team, and the University of Colorado Cycling Team to scores of individuals from professionals to amateurs. Overton also contributed to the creation of the Performance Management chart now used by TrainingPeaks, Strava, and others. AND prior to delving into the world of cyclimng, Frank is a former molecular biotech researcher, and holds US patent #7202067 for discovering a gene in a proprietary algae to produce nutritional supplements. FasCat Coaching, based in the endurance sports capital of the US, Boulder, Colorado, caters to cyclists and triathletes and offers athletes expert coaching and data-driven guidance to help them achieve their cycling and multisport ambitions. They offer training plans and one on one coaching, all with their own app and data called Optimize, with highly trained coaches who have raced at the professional level and pride themselves on high levels of communication and data-driven analysis. During our convo we talk about where it all began and Franks start in cycling, the origins of power-based training and how he popularized and pioneered this method. He dials me into another program he pioneered  Sweet Spot Training and the benefits of training this way. We def do a deep dive into cycling and he shares races he already has lined up for 2024. Frank sheds light on also talk about their 2024 Optimize Collective – nine athletes who saw impressive results in 2023 and who have their sights set on ambitious goals for 2024. To help these athletes train for their goals, all nine will have full access to FasCat's coaching services, including Optimize, the groundbreaking system that provides athlete's with a complete view of their readiness to train. The athletes are: Kyleigh Speering, who took third place at Gravel Worlds; Ethan Overson, winner of the UCI Highlands Classic gravel race; Marisa Boaz, Unbound Gravel 100 winner; Kristian Haikala, 10th at Gravel Worlds; Sierra Sims, 6th at BWR North Carolina; Gavin Hlady, 2nd at USA Cycling's U23 Crit National Championships; Logan Jones-Wilkins, a GCN writer who finished 19th at Unbound; Avah Cherry, enduro national champion who is also studying aerospace engineering between events; and finally up-and-comer Phil Gaimon, who defended a lot of Strava segments.  You can stay connected to their progress on FasCats insta and podcast. CONNECT FasCat Coaching on Instagram, YouTube, Podcast Marni On The Move Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, or YouTube` Marni Salup on Instagram and Spotify SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER Sign up for our weekly newsletter, Do What Moves You, for Marni on the Move updates, exclusive offers, invites to events, and exciting news! OFFERS AG1: DrinkAG1.com/MarniOnTheMove SUPPORT THE PODCAST Leave us a review on Apple. It's easy, scroll through the episode list on your podcast app, click on five stars, click on leave a review, and share what you love about the conversations you're listening to. Tell your friends to what you love on social. Screenshot or share directly from our stories the episode you're listening to, tag us and the guests.  

Surprise. We are interrupting our usual fortnightly episodes of Performance Process to bring you a bonus episode with Frank Overton of FasCat coaching. When we announced Performance Process a little under two months ago, we promised we'd bring you some of the insightful conversations we would be having anyway with experts and industry insiders. That's exactly what we are doing in this episode. It's less a performance process and more an insight into an interesting offering. Hence why it is a bonus episode and not a bi-weekly deep dive.As a long time listener to the Fascat Coaching podcast I was pretty interested when I heard Frank and the team had developed an app for combining wearable sleep data and on bike training metrics to provide a traffic light, red, amber, green, training readiness score for any given day. It was the promised simplicity and actionable insights that really caught my eye. So, when Fascat reached out looking to setup a meeting to tell me more about the Optimize app, I gladly obliged. About two minutes into that call, I decided to start again and this time we'd hit record on the Google Meet. This week's episode is that meeting. Enjoy.

1,200 kilometers, or 745 miles. That's a long distance for an unsupported event! But that's exactly what Lisa Charlesbois did this year at Paris-Brest-Paris, arguably the oldest bicycle race in the world. She finished in 78 hours and 27 minutes, sleeping 9 hours in total during that time. On this podcast, Lisa chats with her coach Allie Legg and host Ben Delaney about training and preparing for such a monster event — and the excitement and nervousness and motivation for completing such a daunting task in another country.  --- FasCat has a new Zwift racing training plan, centered around racing on Tuesday for all you WTRL and ZRL racers out there. The plan includes the all-important race warm-up protocol on Tuesday. SBT GRVL is one of our favorite gravel events on the calendar, but getting in is tough as spots sell out via lottery in a flash. This year, we have a limited number of guaranteed entries that you can purchase with a one-on-one coaching package. Already a coached athlete? Then you can purchase a guaranteed entry here. Come train with us in April in Santa Ynez! Join the FasCat Coaches for a 5 night, 4 day training camp! Includes lodging, chef-prepared meals, Coach-led rides, airport pickup, sag support and more. --- Have you been enjoying the FasCat Podcast? Please leave us a review on the App Store or Google Play. Thanks! You can save 25% off your subscription to Optimize — your year-round training solution with unlimited training plans, meal plans and strength and conditioning videos — with the code 25podcast.

Coach and three-time U.S. MTB national champion Elliott Baring has raced all the main cycling disciplines and coaches his athletes in a wide variety of pursuits. On this podcast, he explains his Top 5 Training Tips that apply to athletes of all levels.  More is not always better, but 'more' is a theme for his top tips. Take on more carbs in races and hard training sessions. The optimal amount varies by person, but you're likely underfueling, which compromises not only that day's effort but the next day's as well. Rely on RPE (rate of perceived exertion) and speed instead of power when racing. And practice pacing with RPE in training, too! Keep things fun. Pay attention to motivation and drive, take breaks, and switch things up.  Be flexible. Going with the flow with decrease mental and physical stress, and make you a more effective athlete and a happier person.  Always be learning. Cycling's various categories are constantly evolving, as is our understanding of nutrition, training and equipment. Also, just because a pro or pro team does or uses something doesn't meant that is ideal for you. Study, test and trial new things. Announcements! FasCat has a new Zwift racing training plan, centered around racing on Tuesday for all you WTRL and ZRL racers out there. The plan includes the all-important race warm-up protocol on Tuesday. SBT GRVL is one of our favorite gravel events on the calendar, but getting in is tough as spots sell out via lottery in a flash. This year, we have a limited number of guaranteed entries that you can purchase with a one-on-one coaching package. Already a coached athlete? Then you can purchase a guaranteed entry here. Come train with us in April in Santa Ynez! Join the FasCat Coaches for a 5 night, 4 day training camp! Includes lodging, chef-prepared meals, Coach-led rides, airport pickup, sag support and more.   Have you been enjoying the FasCat Podcast? Please leave us a review on the App Store or Google Play. Thanks! You can save 25% off your subscription to Optimize — your year-round training solution with unlimited training plans, meal plans and strength and conditioning videos — with the code 25podcast.  

You've got training questions; we've got answers! In fact, you had so many questions last week that we extended Ask A FasCat into a two-pod series.  On this podcast, Director of Coaching Isaiah Newkirk steps up to filed an array of your questions on subjets like balancing fitness gains with losing weight, maintaining muscle and bone density as we age, rescheduling workouts during the week, indoor racing, and much more. Have you been enjoying the FasCat Podcast? Please leave us a review on the App Store or Google Play. Thanks! You can save 25% off your subscription to Optimize — your year-round training solution with unlimited training plans, meal plans and strenght and conditioning videos — with the code 25podcast. https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/app

It's that time again: you ask training questions, and we answer. Since we had well over 100 good questions come in this time, we're breaking this episode of Ask a FasCat into two. On this podcast, FasCat Founder Frank Overton tackles questions on subjets like lifting weights, losing weight, boosting FTP & the Boogeyman. Yes, the Boogeyman. Which listener won the custom Castelli FasCat kit for the best question? Listen in and find out. Have you been enjoying the FasCat Podcast? Please leave us a review on the App Store or Google Play. Thanks! You can save 25% off your subscription to Optimize — your year-round training solution with unlimited training plans, meal plans and strenght and conditioning videos — with the code 25podcast. https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/app    

This is the third podcast in an eight-pod how-to series. Last episode we talked about 14 ways to review your season, and on this podcast we discuss how to map our your 2024 season for maximum results and fun. Coach Jake Rylewski raced as a professional for many years, and he breaks down the full-year planning methodology for three types of athletes: coached riders Optimized subscribers self-coached athletes Ready to take your trainng to the next level? Subscribe to Optimize for unlimited training plans and access to FasCat coaches who can answer your training questions.  Start your free, 14-day trial of Optimize.  

How can I break up big rides into chunks? What power meter do you recommend for gravel? How can I follow a training plan when traveling for work? These and many other listener questions are answered in our 24th installment of Ask A FasCat. Other subjects include improving sprinting and attacking power, periodizing for ultra-endurance events, doing power-based workouts on mountain bike trails, the difference between OTS and TSS, riding the entire Tour de France route as an amateur (!), and more. Tune in for a good one, and don't forget to update your Optimize app for the latest and greatest data visualizations!  

SBT GRVL is one of the biggest and most important gravel races in the world, and FasCat is all in on this beautiful event here in our Colorado backyard. In this episode, FasCat founder Frank Overton is joined by Ben Delaney who won the 2022 SBT GRVL Blue event to talk about all things SBT GRVL - including FasCat's SBT GRVL training plan in Optimize and the SBT GRVL training simulation ride we are hosting August 5th in Boulder, Colorado. Get on Optimize today with your 14-day free trial, and if you're doing SBT GRVL, get on our SBT plan that starts July 10.

Training only by zones is a sure-fire way to kill the joy of cycling and your very will to ride. Training by zones is extremely effective, and at FasCat we recommend it for about half your rides.  But for the other half of your rides, zone-based training is dead.  We dig into all the details on this podcast with Ben Delaney and Coach Ricky Arnopol, who knows a thing or two about the right way and the wrong way to train for both maximum physiological adaptations and also for what is mentally sustainable in the long term.  

FasCat is officially 20 years old this month, and on this two-part podcast, we're taking a long look back at the pivotal moments that formed the FasCat community.   From pioneering work on training with power to discovering that Subway's microwaves can screw up your indoor training classes, there are all sorts of good stories in the annals of FasCat history. So many stories, in fact, that we are making this a special two-episode series.   The first podcast took you from 2003 to 2013, and this podcast brings you from 2014 to the present day.   Many things have changed in 20 years, but the one constant has been FasCat's dedication to innovating science-based ways to make you faster. Thank you for joining us on this ride.

FasCat is officially 20 years old this month, and on this two-part podcast, we're taking a long look back at the pivotal moments that formed the FasCat community. From pioneering work on training with power to discovering that Subway's microwaves can screw up your indoor training classes, there are all sorts of good stories in the annals of FasCat history. So many stories, in fact, that we are making this a special two-episode series. This podcast will take you from 2003 to 2013, and next week we'll talk 2014 to 2023. Many things have changed in 20 years, but the one constant has been FasCat's dedication to innovating science-based ways to make you faster. Thank you for joining us on this ride.  

Coach Suzie Snyder is a five-time Xterra national champion who is still racing at the international level in addition to coaching FasCat athletes of all levels. In this podcast, the veteran racer and professional coach shares five things she wish she knew when she began her professional off-road triathlon career. Listen in as she talks about the parasympethic nervous system, how contraceptives can affect training and recovery, and more. Use the code 25podcast to save 25% on an Optimize subscription now, and you'll get access to professional coaches like Suzie for guidance in your training.

Gravel continues to blow up in popularity, and FasCat is all in on helping you prepare for your next big event, whether that's 40 miles locally or 200 miles in Emporia, Kansas.  On this podcast, Ben Delaney and Elliott Baring give you the lowdown on getting your bike dialed ahead of time, travel tips, course recon tips, hydration and nutrition strategies, pacing and drafting techniques, and more. Ben is just back from Belgian Waffle Ride California, and Coach and national champion Elliott Baring is racing gravel, road & MTB this year. Together, they've got you covered on gravel! Past podcasts for reference:  https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips/gravel-skills https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips/how-to-travel-to-races-like-a-pro https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips/what-to-eat-on-the-bike-during-training-and-racing  

What are the most important workouts? It's a question we get a lot at FasCat, and people ask it for two reasons. One - sometimes athletes following a training plan feel like work or family should take priority over a workout, and they want to know which workouts they should absolutely do and which they could skip. And two - all athletes want to perform at their best, and many wonder if there is some magic workout out there that will deliver them to peak performance. This podcast address that 'most important workouts' question from both angles, as Coach Isaiah Newkirk and co-host Ben Delaney bursty some bubbles and offer some real-world solutions. If you're not already using Optimize, our training solution app, then by all means use code 25podcast to save 25% off your first three months today.

How do you get fast? That is the underlying question behind so much of what we do at FasCat. In today's episode, we talk about how you peak for top performance by applying an overload and then a taper. Many FasCats have noticed the Two Week Taper to Peak plan we have in Optimize, our training subscription solution that includes 100+ training plans and thousands of workouts. Unlike the rest of our training plans, this one is different! One, yes, the duration: it's just two weeks. But two, and perhaps most critically, this plan only works after you have applied an overload. What's an overload? What's a taper? And how much power can you gain when you peak? Well, give this podcast a listen. If you haven't already, head over to the App Store or Google Play and download Optimize to start your training subscription today. You can save 25% off your first three months with the code 25podcast.

Optimize, our next-generation training and data analytics platform, now works with Apple Watch to balance your recovery data in the form of nightly HRV and Sleep with your training data from your power meter. Optimize balances an athlete's training and recovery — both now measurable through traditional power meters and modern wearables — to deliver actionable daily insights. "FasCat athletes have been asking for Apple Watch integration, and we are happy to now have this as one more wearable option athletes can use to track their recovery and balance it with their training within Optimize," said FasCat founder Frank Overton.  On this podcast Frank and Ben Delaney discuss Frank's experience beta testing Apple Watch with Optimize - and argue about whether you should put your smartphone on your handlebars...

Time Stamps Intro - 0:00 Frank Overton From FasCat Coaching - 3:08 Weekly Thoughts (recipes, books, content, & new bike) - 40:41 fascatcoaching.com Follow FasCat On Instagram ⁠@fastcatcoaching ⁠FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast Strength Training For Cyclists ⁠https://dialedhealth.com⁠ Social ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@dialedhealth⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/dialedhealth/

What's up FasCat listeners? Chances are, if you listen to our podcast you enjoy the coaching wisdom we share, and maybe you like the idea of working personally with a coach - but that might not be financially feasible. We have a solution for you! Today we are going to describe how an Optimized subscription is like working with a professional coach but at a fraction of the cost.  Our Optimized subscription is an affordable coaching solution at less 80% less than the cost of hiring a 1x1 Coach.  For $35 a month you get access to all our training plans AND personalized coaching advice for which plans to select to achieve your goals. Here's how it works: Step 1. Download the Optimized App and subscribe. Step 2. Click the ⍰ icon inside Optimize to access our team of professional coaches. Tell us what you are training for, and we'll respond with personalized coaching advice and tell you which training plans to follow. Step 3. Sync your ride data and wearable data* (FREE Whoop band w/ Optimized Subscription**) . Step 4. Keep asking coaching questions about which training phase to do next. Here's an example of how it works: Athlete Jane has an event with lots of climbing that's 12 weeks away. She lets us know her goal in Optimize, and we suggest that she follows our Sweet Spot Part 3 plan for six weeks and then our Climbing Intervals plan for the next six weeks. This will build her base, increase her threshold power, and set her up for success in 12 weeks. Here's another example: Athlete Joe has started to race and wants to do group rides to balance out the hard days with the easy days. We will recommend that he follows in our In-Season Road Intervals Plan, or that he does our Sweet Spot Part 4 plan to increase FTP with mid-week VO2 intervals balanced with long, fun rides on Saturdays.  Wondering what to do? Which plans to choose? Just ask a FasCat Coach.  In the App hit the ⍰ in the upper right corner or email help@fascatcoaching.com Subscribe HERE and start training for your goals today! *Optimize will tell you to train more or less and help you track your recovery. Don't have a wearable? No problem, you don't need one to follow a plan. In fact - all you need to follow a plan and improve is a stopwatch timer!  Simple, effective, and fun.  **But if you want a wearable we'll give you a Whoop for FREE once subscribed! Good luck with your training and we hope to help you from within Optimize soon. 

Cycling computers have hundreds of potential data field configurations, with scores of variations on power, tss, heart rate, speed, altitude, temperature, time, blood glucose, pace partners, and on and on. But how many data fields can you actually look at while riding? And further, which are actionable on the bike?  On this podcast, we dig into exactly that - the numbers that matter - both for when you are on the bike, and then for post-ride analysis after. We recorded this episode at The Cycling House in Tucson, Arizona, where we are holding FasCat Camp this week. https://thecyclinghouse.com/  

Your questions poured in for Ask a FasCat #23. Listen in as we dive into bike handling, HRV improvement, strength training, and much, much more. One lucky winner gets a Whoop 4.0, and everyone who wrote in with a question will get a discount on a Whoop. Here are a few links to resources we mention in the podcast: How to properly taper for peak performance podcast: https://fascatcoaching.libsyn.com/how-to-properly-taper-for-peak-performance Five Fundamentals for Faster: https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips/five-fundamentals-for-faster What does HRV mean and 9 ways to improve it: https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips/what-does-my-hrv-mean

On this podcast, FasCat founder and cohost Ben Delaney talk about the new Optimize training platform - what it is, what it does, and really what drove Frank and the team to create it - which was you, the endurance athlete & podcast listener! We also talk about how we are changing our business from selling single plans to selling subscriptions for unlimited training plans in the Optimize app, which tracks how your training is going with a proprietary algorithm that takes into accounts data from your power meter, your heart rate monitor, and your wearable like a Whoop, Oura, or Garmin watch. Optimize has two three parts: Training shows you each day's prescribed workouts and your completed rides in a calendar. The Optimize section shows your Sleep, HRV, OTS and Load numerically, and then your Optimization score numerically and visually in a color-coded graphic. This is the Needle - the summation of how your training and recovery are balancing. And then the Library is where our entire collection of training plans, workouts, meal plans and recipes is stored, all of which are available to subscribers.  Head to the App Store or Google Play store and download Optimize today!

Happy Thanksgiving, FasCats! We made a special edition this week: In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we dedicated this episode to the people and things for which we are grateful this year. Each of our coaches and even a few FasCat athletes check in on this episode. At FasCat we are all grateful for you, our cycling community. The Big Cat would like to take this time to remimd you to Work Hard, Ride Fast, Enjoy Thanksgiving, and FTFP.  

FasCat coaches Ricky Arnopol and Zach Gregg will be racing at the UCI Continental level in 2023 as part of Project Echelon, for which FasCas coach Isaiah Newkirk is the performance director. On this pod, Ricky and Zach talk about how they are training, and how the FasCat athletes they coach are training this winter. A lot of the same principles apply... Zach Gregg also reveals that he is shooting for a spot on Team USA for the 2024 Olympic Games in Team Pursuit. Ready to start training with a plan or a coach like Ricky or Zach? Head on over to FasCatCoaching.com and use the code 25podcast to save 25% off your first plan now.

The joy of training. At this point in the year, the words 'training' and 'joy' may not be sounding like chocolate and peanut butter to many of you out there. Which is exactly why we're talking about it now. We're at a funny point in time with endurance sports. We can measure and track the minute of so many things that is can be easily to be overwhelmed by it all.  So here's the solution: go have fun. On this episode, FasCat founder Frank Overton and cohost Ben Delaney dig into the roots of coaching and training, and offer some simple solutions to getting faster through having fun on your rides. 

Which wearable is better, the Whoop or the Oura? Frank and Ben have been wearing both for month and tracking the daily data. On this podcast, they share their insights on each. Plus, they dig into two academic studies that investigated wearables for their accuracy in measuring sleep, heart rate, heart rate variability, and more. Don't have time to listen right now? Here's the summary: both Whoop and Oura are excellent for tracking HR, HRV, and total sleep time, but aren't yet accurate for tracking stages of sleep.     

How many people do you know who check one of these three boxes: -has raced UCI World Cup cyclocross this year -has the tattoo from winning the Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships -uses their PhD to help people with cancer Not many, right? Well, FasCat athlete Sunny Gilbert checks all three boxes, and on this episode she chats with her longtime Coach Isaiah Newkirk and host Ben Delaney about how she balances everything. As endurance athletes, only the professionals get to focus exclusively on training and racing — and even they stumble on life's twists and turns. Here, Sunny and Isaiah talk about keeping things in perspective, listening to the body and consulting the numbers, and keeping it fun! Want to get on board with a Coach like Isaiah. Head on over to FasCatCoaching.com to meet our Coaches. You can also use the code "25podcast" to get 25% off your first training plan on FasCatCoaching.com, where we have more than 1,000 five-star reviews.

The term Sweet Spot is now used all the time when riders are talking about training. Countless cyclists have improved because of it. But sometimes the term gets used incorrectly — and sometimes the HOW and WHEN To Sweet Spot also gets muddled. So today we are going to clear all that up, by tackling 8 Sweet Spot Myths, and hopefully leaving you with a better understanding of what Sweet Spot is - and ISN'T - so that you can use this knowledge to get faster and stronger, and have more fun Sweet Spotting! Ready to get on the Sweet Spot train for 2023? Head over to fascatcoaching.com and use the code ”25podcast” to receive 25% off your first FasCat training plan. All our plans are backed by a 100% money-back guarantee and we have 1,000 five-star reviews.

It's time to start dreamin' and schemin' about your 2023 season, and on this episode we've got 23 suggestions of gravel races you could do. While road and mountain-bike events might be somewhat limited in certain parts of the U.S., gravel events are popping off every weekend in seemingly every state in the country. So, we brought in gravel reporter and gravel racer Betsy Welch to break down 23 of the best gravel races in the lower 48. Betsy and Ben Delaney talk about the what and the why, and Frank Overton breaks down the how, in terms of training and strategy. Ready to get locked and loaded for 2023? Head over to fascatcoaching.com and use the code ”25podcast” to receive 25% off your first FasCat training plan. All our plans are backed by a 100% money-back guarantee and we have 1,000 five-star reviews.