
The Lonely Triathlete - triathlon training and motivation for the masses
by Todd Sauder
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Recent episodes
[PREVIEW] Rest Week Thoughts
Sep 1, 2026
5m 00s
[PREVIEW] Get In Your Feels
Aug 24, 2026
5m 00s
[PREVIEW] A New Triathlon Challenge
Aug 17, 2026
5m 00s
[PREVIEW] New Chapter Ahead
Aug 3, 2026
5m 00s
[PREVIEW] Is a Triathlete's Body Designed to be Lazy?
Jul 26, 2026
5m 00s
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| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/1/26 | [PREVIEW] Rest Week Thoughts | I learned some things about myself in my week of easier training last week (the so-called rest week). Maybe you can relate?TRANSCRIPTLast week I completed my 1st "rest week" of my year long program. Not rest week, easy week. Not even easy week, easier week. Still keep the same frequency but drop a bit of volume and drop lots of intensity. Happened to coincide with a vacation week which made it a little harder to execute (once got in trouble at work for saying that word, same with "pitting" someone against each other.) But aaaaaaanyway.Here's what was on my mind: I missed the structure of a normal week - getting up early, doing my training, having it done before the rest of the demands of my day piled up. As it was also vacation, I also missed a couple of workouts because I was into other things or I was out all day and not home until late evening. And that bothered me. I don't like missing planned workouts. But when I really thought about it, I realized IT WAS NOT A BIG DEAL. After all, if you are going to miss any workout, at least let it be an easy "non-critical" or what we use in triathlon training paracme a non-breakthrough effort. After all, the rest week (sorry, easier week) is supposed to reduce stress not only on your body but also on your mind. But this doesn't come naturally to me, I know how important training is, how its a slippery slope to let one workout go because that can easily become 2 then 3 then your whole year is shot! A least, that's the fear lurking in the back of my mind.So, I continue to remind myself that a missed easier week workout is simply not a big deal. I also re-learned that as much as I might grumble about early morning training sessions, they really are the best time to do them for me. However, I still don't want to get blindly "get them over with" for two reasons: I think I get more from a session if I understand the WHY of the session, if I prepare myself for the session as in being ready if someone goes wrong (like suddenly struggling with an effort) and second, and probably most importantly, I want to ENJOY these sessions! This is how I'm choosing to spend some of my life force, my precious time on this earth. I want to be mindful and present in the effort, I don't want to go on auto pilot and just "get it done".Another thing I learned about myself last week was how naturally lazy I am, haha. On one hand, I am extremely dedicated and committed to this sport, I am very organized and show tremendous willpower and fortitude and grit. On the other hand, I can't always be bothered to use my foam roller or my IR sauna blanket or my ventilatory inhalation thing-a-ma-bob, or even do those special stretches my PT gave me. SIGH. And once again, it's because I leave certain behaviours down to change, I'll get to them when I feel inspired or have a bit of time. No, that doesn't work, I need to SCHEDULE them into my day. I need to pair them with something else that I have either scheduled or do regularly. Otherwise, the chances are good that I just won't do them.Who knew I'd learn so much about myself during a easy week?Thanks for listening to my insights, I hope you found some of them valuable and perhaps applicable to you. As always, I wish you the best training and/or racing week and I'll talk to you again soon.Peace! | 5m 00s | ||||||
| 8/24/26 | [PREVIEW] Get In Your Feels | I used to race according to hard metrics - hear rate, power, you name it. Then I got rid of my watch and gained a super power.TRANSCRIPTApologies to everyone for a screw up I made last week. You see, I thought I had uploaded the audio to my podcast but I didn't. So what you would have seen was my written transcript only. I corrected that mistake yesterday so if you haven't heard last week's podcast, it's there now.And now, onto this weeks' thoughts.When to comes to your race performance during a race, how do you know if you are doing well? How do you know if you are hitting your splits or your power curve or your heart rate? In other words, what measurement are you using to track how things are going?You see, when I first started I needed to know a few metrics in each sport so I could determine if I was doing my training (and, or course, racing) as prescribed.In the swim, I tracked distance. Warm up xM, drills for xM, main set x lengths with x rest. The problem was, I didn't know how fast or slow I was supposed to go. So then I moved into tracking speed - xM "on" :45, which meant swim a certain distance and if I had time left from the initial :45, I would rest and then do another length, resting until the :45 was used up, etc. The problem with that was sometimes the ":45" was too long -Id arrive at the end of the length and just sit there for such a long time. In oher cases, the interval was to short because I'd just finish my length and have 3 seonds of rest before I'd have to take off again. Eventually, I stuck with RPE and would swim a certain distance at an effort of x/10, 4 being quite relaxed, 7 being confortable fast and 9 or 10 full out sprint. Problem was, how fast was "relaxed"? How fast was "hard"? I knew what all out was. For a time I even trained by heart rate, almost like I was running but in the water. I sorta worked? But not really. It was hard to figure out what do do so I ended up just focusing on the distace and effort was either EASY or HARD.On the bike, I trained exclusievly by heart rate. I made the assupmtion that my maximum heart rate was 15 beats/min less than my run max and treated my bike just like a run. It worked pretty well, until I got into situations where it seemed that I was biking harder or slower than I wanted to because of hills or wind. I then shifted to focussing on distace with effort alteranating between EASY and HARD.Running was the easiest. I trained by heart rate. Forget pace, I did a maximum heart test by running uo and down a hill 5 times inceasngly faster each time until the final all=out effort where I imagined a bear was chasing me, then I added 3 bpm to extra measure. My training was then set according to 5 ZONES. It was simple and measurable. Then I read a few books on running by heart rate and realized that I needed to be setting my zone by heart rate reserve. All of a sudden, things started to feel complicated again. But my and large, training by heart rate was the way I went.During races, I was lost as to my effort in the swim. On the bike, I focussed on heart rate and on the run, I watched heart rate and pace. I raced this way for years and grew comfortable with the measurements. In the bike and run, if I saw my heart rate too high, I'd pull back. Conversely, if I saw my HR too low, I'd convince myself to speed up.About 10 years ago, I realized something that revolutionized my racing. With my experience in traing and racing and tracking a number of metrics, I started getitng very good at perceiving, without looking at a watch, how fast or hard I was going. Even better, I was able to sense how hard I was able to push muself without bonking by just listeing to my body. At any given time in a race, I could tell you within 2 bpm what my HR was or within 1-2kmhr what my speed was. After I had trained for a while accoding to POWER on the bike, I could also estimate by current power output with incredible prescision. But again, the important point wasn;t that I knew my number it was that I knew how sustainable that effort was given my envoronment - wind, hills, heat, energy. And this changed everythign for me 5 years ago.I raced for the first time without my watch or power meter. I raced 100% by feel. I knew how fast I could swim at a 7/10 effort so that was my goal. I knew what an 8/10 felt like on the bike - I knew what it felt like on the flats, up a hill, into the wind, early or late in a race. So an 8/10 was by goal. But I also knew if I was havig a day where I could push an 8 earlier, or an 8.5 later. I was no longer help back by a number. And on the run, I knew how hard I could and SHOULD push myself according to how I felt, I didn't race according to what the numbers told me. I think in years past, I may have held myself back with an artificial ceiling, limiting myself to a specific HR number rather than trusting my feelings.My racing friends thought I was crazy! You are cycling and running without a watch? How will you know if you are on plan? How will you know when you can push harder or determine if you aren't pusing hard engouh. And I get it, I was very nervous to get into a race and "fly blind" so to speak. But the reality is, without a watch, without tracking my metrics in a race, I'm racing more free than ever before. I can decide to speed up, maintain, or slow down based entirely on my subjective feeling. It was and continues to be an incredibly FREEING feeling! It no longer feels like I am racing without a plan, it feels like I am always in the driver's seat, not a GPS watch or some pre-determined numbers but ME, deciding on a moment by moment basis how I am doing. I trust my feelings. After each race I think about how I executed my strategy. Did I have more gas in the tank after the run? How did I feel in the last 2 KM? Upon reflection, I may realize that I am able to suffer more in the final 2km and so I rest what I expect to feel for the next race. And I've made mistakes, I cycled at much too fast a speed for my 70.3 last year and I know how I FELT (I felt great) but the next time I do a 70.3, that sensation needs to feel even less strenuous than "great", it needs to feel "really good and I have a a bunch left over in the tank."All this to say, I encourage you, even challenge you, to do a race without your measuremnt devices. Go based on feel and perception of effort. Once you make the association between approprite effort and performance that day, you will have gained a new super power. You can race anywhere, unshakled by devices, to great effect. You just have to trust yourself. Until next time,Peace | 5m 00s | ||||||
| 8/17/26 | [PREVIEW] A New Triathlon Challenge | As I embark on an ambitious (overly ambitious?) new triathlon plan I am discovering that it is going to be its very own challenge. How do I fit in more workouts than ever yet maintain my sanity and health?TRANSCRIPTSo, this week concludes the first week of my training season in my journey to Germany. Where I am taking things to another level.Specifically, I'm going to be taking things to another level in terms of exercise VOLUME.For most days of the week, I'm going to be doing two workouts a day. And I have to find a way—or, I should say, I AM finding a way—to also squeeze in two strength-training sessions into my week.At first, I thought this was ambitious but doable.And after one week under my belt, I now realize how truly ambitious it's going to be. In a number of ways.The first way is just schedule-wise.Trying to fit in two workouts a day doesn't seem that hard. It doesn't sound that hard. And I've done it before with no real problem.But I've only done it before occasionally.I've never had it comprise five of my six training days.And doing double workouts for five of your six training days is a COMPLETELY different experience than trying to fit in one or two doubles in a week.So, schedule-wise, I'm going to have to figure this out.So far, doing an early-morning SOMETHING—usually a bike—followed by an afternoon, or a noon, sorry, a LUNCHTIME run, works very well because I can eat at my desk while I work.I can blast out at noon for a 30-minute workout, get back to my desk, and I can eat and work.And that leaves the evening free for personal things, and for relationship stuff, and for other things.And that's important to me.Because one of the things I'm trying to figure out with this training block isn't simply, “How much training can I cram into my life?”It's, “How much training can I do while still HAVING a life?”Those are two very different questions.When it comes to swimming, though, most days I'm going to have to try to get out for an early-morning swim.And that means I've got to get out of the house earlier than normal—maybe 7:15 at the latest—in order to be back in time for work.So I could do an early-morning swim and then an afternoon cycle or an afternoon run.And I keep saying “afternoon.”I mean lunchtime.Because I'm working.I can't just take the time off and go do these long sessions whenever I want.I have to find some way to squeeze them in.And that's what I mean about scheduling.It's going to be a challenge.I think I can do it.I mean, I did it this last week.But I had some hiccups.I went to the lake at 7:30 in the morning, and there was blue-green algae.So I couldn't swim in the lake.I had to turn around, drive all the way back home, and figure out another way of doing things.And that's going to happen.There are going to be these constant little scheduling challenges.And I hope, for the most part, I CAN figure out something that works for most days so I'm not always having to figure out how to do it.Because that would get really old really fast.If I had to wake up every day and think, “Okay, how am I going to make this work today?”I'm not sure that's sustainable.So that's challenge number one.*Challenge number two is the ENERGY required to do two workouts a day.*I was fine this week until Thursday.And then it all really started hitting me.I was feeling quite fatigued.And TrainerRoad thankfully gave me Friday off and offered me up some easier workouts.And I was grateful for that.Because I could feel the fatigue.And that's something I'm going to have to learn to manage, not just REACT to.I'm going to have to manage it PROACTIVELY.Because I can see how, over the course of even a couple of months of this, I could bury myself in a hole that I would have a hard time getting out of.And that's not the objective.The objective isn't to see how tired I can make myself.The objective is to train, recover, adapt, and get better.And if I don't recover, then I'm missing a really important part of that equation.So focusing on energy preservation when I'm not working out is going to be really key.And that may mean adding an extra half hour to my sleep.Which is not easy for me to do.Because I don't LIKE sleeping.I'm too busy having fun to sleep. Heh hehI get eight hours a night and that's pretty good.But I'm going to have to be really, really cognizant of whether eight hours is going to cut it.And I'm going to have to be prepared to go to eight and a half hours—or even longer—if required.And certainly all of my recovery protocols need to be put into play.My infrared sauna blanket.My red-light therapy.My massage gun.My nutrition.Extra protein.You name it.That all has to be on point.Because if I'm going to increase the training load, I can't just increase the training load.I have to increase the recovery that supports that training load.And that's ANOTHER thing I'm learning this week.The training itself is actually only part of the challenge.There's the training.There's the scheduling.There's the recovery.There's the sleep.There's the nutrition.And then there's everything else going on in life.And that brings me to what I think may actually be the BIGGEST challenge of all.And that's not something that's easy to quantify.It's the fact that triathlon is on my mind all the time now.And don't get me wrong.I love it.I love thinking about it.I love talking about it.I love engaging in it.I love the process.I love the idea of starting with a body that's rested from good sleep, providing it some good pre-workout nutrition, giving it a training stimulus, and then responding with nutrition and hydration and recovery.I LOVE all of that.But I really don't want to become IMBALANCED.I don't want to give up too much of my mental real estate for triathlon-related stuff when I am also wanting to work on my novel.I'm also wanting to engage with my brother and my kids and my wife.I want to do some reading.There's lots of reading.There are a lot of things I want to do.Triathlon is not my life.It's merely a significant, important part of it.And I think that's something I'm going to have to keep reminding myself of over the course of this training season.Because there's a common joke that goes around:How can you tell a triathlete if you're at a party?It's the person who's always talking about triathlon.I think that's the punchline.I probably butchered it.But you know what I mean.Triathletes can become quite obsessed.Or maybe “obsessed” isn't even the right word.They become very, very focused.And there's a reason for that.Triathlon requires so much from you.It requires planning.It requires effort.It requires gear.It requires nutrition.It requires recovery.It requires travel.It requires time.And when you put all of those things together, it's really easy for the sport to become the main part of your life.And then, when you get to a party and somebody asks you what you've been up to, well...You've been running.You've been biking.You've been swimming.You've been thinking about running, biking, and swimming.You've been thinking about what you're going to eat while you're running, biking, and swimming.You've been thinking about what equipment you're going to use.You've been thinking about your next race.You've been thinking about your training plan.And suddenly, that's what you have to talk about.And I don't want to be THAT GUY.I want to be able to talk about other things.I want to read.I want to write.I want to spend time with the people I love.I want to be engaged with the world outside of triathlon.And I think that's particularly important for me because this is going to be a big training year.I'm on a journey to Germany.I've got a goal.I've got a destination.And I'm going to be taking the training seriously.But taking something seriously doesn't necessarily mean allowing it to consume you.And I think that's going to be one of the interesting experiments of this year.Can I train at a level that I've never trained at before while still maintaining balance in the rest of my life?Can I become better at triathlon without making triathlon my entire identity?Can I pursue something with real ambition while still being flexible when other things matter more?Because there are going to be days when training has to take a back seat.There are going to be days when life gets in the way.And I don't necessarily mean that in a negative sense.Sometimes life is more important.Sometimes relationships are more important.Sometimes your mental health is more important.Sometimes you need to go do something completely unrelated to triathlon.And I think that's okay.Actually, I think that's necessary.So this first week has been a really interesting lesson.I started out thinking, “Okay, this is ambitious but doable.”And now I'm thinking, “Okay... this is really ambitious.”But that's not necessarily a bad thing.I'm excited.I am VERY excited.This is going to be a challenge, much like the sport itself is a challenge.And I think the training season is going to be another unique sport, per se.Another unique challenge.I don't know how to DO all the things I want to do.I'm not sure if I can excel at all of the things I want to do.But I'm going to try.And I'm curious.And I'm interested in how it goes.And I'm going to be flexible and adaptable.That's probably the biggest lesson from this first week.I don't need to have the entire year figured out right now.I need to figure out what works.I need to pay attention to what doesn't work.I need to make adjustments.And then I need to keep moving forward.Because that's really what this journey to Germany is about.It's not just about the race.It's about the process of becoming the athlete who can show up in Germany and perform at the level that I want to perform at.And becoming that athlete isn't simply about putting more hours into training.It's about learning how to manage my time.Learning how to manage fatigue.Learning how to recover.Learning how to prioritize.And learning how to maintain balance.And maybe that's the real challenge.Not whether I can do two workouts a day.I can do two workouts a day.The question is whether I can do two workouts a day, five days a week, for months and months, while still being the person I want to be outside of those workouts.That's a much more interesting question.And I don't know the answer yet.And that's okay.I'm going to find out.And I'm going to share that process with you.Because that's what I love about this podcast.I don't have all the answers.I'm figuring this out as I go.And I suspect that many of you listening are doing the same thing in your own sports and your own lives.Maybe you're a triathlete.Maybe you're a cyclist.Maybe you're a runner.Maybe you lift weights.Maybe your challenge has nothing to do with sport at all.But whatever sport you're into, whatever activity you're passionate about, you're into it because it fills something in you.It fills a need.Maybe it's competition.Maybe it's good health.Maybe it's time outside.Maybe it's social time.Maybe it's the feeling of getting better at something.Maybe it's simply the feeling of challenging yourself.Whatever it is, we do these things because they are worthy of being done.And I think that's worth remembering.Because sometimes, when you're trying to improve, it's easy to turn something you love into another obligation.And I don't want to do that.I want to keep the fun.I want to keep the curiosity.I want to keep the challenge.I want to keep the feeling that I'm lucky to be able to do this.Because I am.So, that's where I am after week one.A little tired.A little trepidatious—if that's a word.But excited.Invested.Interested.Motivated.And having fun.I don't know exactly how I'm going to make all of this work.But I'm going to try.And I'm going to pay attention.And I'm going to adapt.And every week, I'll share with you the things I think about on this journey.The things I struggle with.The things I have victories over.The things I learn.And hopefully, every once in a while, something I learn will resonate with you.Maybe you'll identify with me here and there.And maybe you can take something from my journey and use it to enhance your own.That's the whole point.So, week one is in the books.The journey to Germany has officially begun.And apparently, I have a lot to learn.Until next time.Peace. | 5m 00s | ||||||
| 8/3/26 | [PREVIEW] New Chapter Ahead | The time seems right. It's now or never. This might be the end. We never know what tomorrow will bring, or next month or next year. Since that is the case, maybe I should start documenting my exploits sooner rather than later.TRANSCRIPTIt's funny...this week I sat down to think about what I was going to talk about, and I realized I don't actually have a lot of exciting training news.Which, I suppose, is exactly the point.I'm still in this maintenance phase. Three rides a week. Two VO₂ max sessions and one endurance ride. That's it.TrainerRoad is predicting I'll lose maybe two or three percent of my FTP over the next week or so. And I'm actually okay with that. If I lose five or six watts over a month, that's a small price to pay for getting some physical and mental recovery after a long season.Because the alternative is doing nothing.And if I stop riding altogether, I know what happens. I lose thirty, forty, maybe even fifty watts. Then it takes me three or four months to earn that fitness back again.So right now my goal isn't to get stronger.It's simply to stay close enough to where I finished this season that, when I start my next training block, I can hit the ground running.Which makes for a pretty boring podcast.There really isn't much to say.The workouts are getting done.Fitness is staying relatively stable.Everything is...fine.But then something happened this week that completely took over my attention.I bought a drone.Well...not just a drone.I bought the new DJI Neo 2.I bought a DJI Osmo Action camera.I picked up a chest harness so I can record rides from my perspective.I already had the DJI Mic Mini, so now I can actually narrate while I'm riding or running without sounding like I'm talking through a hurricane.And ever since these boxes showed up at my house, I've been like a kid with a new toy.I've been testing them.Learning how they work.Figuring out camera angles.Learning how the drone follows me.Seeing what kind of footage I can get while riding and running.And the interesting part is...I don't think this is actually about the cameras.It's about what the cameras allow me to do.For years this podcast has documented what's happening inside my head.You've listened to me talk about races.Training.Self-doubt.Confidence.Injuries.Motivation.Discipline.All of those things work incredibly well in an audio format.But this week I realized something.Audio only tells half the story.I've spent years saying things like..."I had an amazing ride today.""The climb was brutal.""The ocean was calm.""The sunrise was incredible."You hear those words......but you've never actually seen any of it.You've never seen the roads I ride every week.You've never seen the climbs.You've never seen the places where I run.You've never stood beside the ocean where I swim.You've only experienced them through my descriptions.And that's when it hit me.Maybe this journey deserves more than words.Maybe it deserves pictures.Maybe it deserves video.Not because I think video is somehow better than audio.It's just......different.There are things that video can communicate that words simply can't.Imagine watching a drone slowly pull away as I'm climbing one of my local hills.No narration.Just breathing.Wind.The sound of tires on pavement.Sometimes silence tells the story better than words ever could.Or imagine seeing the roads that I've talked about for years.Instead of picturing them in your imagination......you'd actually be there.You'd see where I train.You'd see what I see.You'd experience a little piece of the journey alongside me.And I find that incredibly exciting.Now...I don't know exactly what this becomes.I'm experimenting.I'm learning.I'm making mistakes.I'm trying different shots.Trying different editing styles.Trying to figure out what feels authentic.I don't even know where these videos will eventually live.I'm intentionally not overthinking that part.Right now the important thing is simply documenting.Capturing.Recording.Because I realized something else this week.One day...this version of me won't exist anymore.I'm fifty-eight years old.Hopefully my best race is still ahead of me.Hopefully Germany in 2027 is the peak.That's certainly what I'm training toward.But none of us really know.Maybe Germany will be the highest point of my athletic life.Maybe it won't.Maybe I'll surprise myself.Maybe life has other plans.I honestly don't know.But wouldn't it be incredible to have a visual record of this entire journey?Not just race day.Everybody records race day.I'm talking about the Tuesday morning interval session.The rainy ride when I didn't feel like training.The quiet endurance ride where nothing special happened.The run where I questioned everything.The swim where everything finally clicked.Those ordinary moments...Those are actually the story.The race is just the ending.The story is everything that happens beforehand.And maybe that's really why these cameras excite me so much.Because they're giving me a chance to preserve something that otherwise would disappear.Five years from now...I'll be able to look back and remember exactly where I was.Not because Strava says I rode 82 kilometres.Not because Garmin tells me my average heart rate.But because I'll actually be able to see it.I'll see the roads.The weather.My posture on the bike.The way I moved.The expression on my face.I'll remember things that numbers could never capture.And maybe that's something we all lose sight of as endurance athletes.We're surrounded by data.FTP.Power.Heart rate.Pace.Cadence.VO₂ max.Training Stress Score.Recovery scores.Sleep scores.We measure everything.But the numbers don't remember the experience.The numbers don't remember the sunrise.They don't remember the laughter with training partners.They don't remember the eagle flying overhead during an early morning ride.They don't remember the feeling of finally reaching the top of a climb.The numbers tell us what happened.They don't tell us what it felt like.And maybe...that's what I want these cameras to capture.Not better workouts.Better memories.Because this isn't just a training plan anymore.This is becoming a chapter of my life.It's my road to Germany.Or maybe...my Highway to Hamburg.I haven't decided what to call it yet.But whatever the title ends up being, I know one thing.I don't want to remember this journey only through graphs on Garmin Connect.I want to remember what it looked like.I want to remember what it sounded like.I want to remember how it felt.And maybe, someday, some of you will come along for that ride too.I don't know exactly what this is going to become. Maybe it's a video diary. Maybe it's a documentary. Maybe it's just a collection of moments that only I end up appreciating. But I do know this: if I'm going to spend the next year chasing one of the biggest goals of my athletic life, I don't want to remember it only through numbers on a Garmin screen. I want to remember what the roads looked like, what the water looked like, what the climbs looked like, and maybe even what I looked like. Because one day, this version of me won't exist anymore. And I think it's worth preserving while it does.Until then, I'm not replacing the podcast, not at all. I think audio works formany or you, most of you. It allows you join me on your commute, your own runs, or while doing dishes. Video is simply another window into the same journey.One where you might see a drone image of me cycling from behind up a steep hill, switching to a first person POV as I race down the other side, followed by me stading at a lookout and waxing poetic on the difficulties of rear derailluers or my favourite flavour of carb drink.That's it from me.Until next time, peace. | 5m 00s | ||||||
| 7/26/26 | [PREVIEW] Is a Triathlete's Body Designed to be Lazy? | One week off structured training and already I feel like a lazy slob. Maybe that's natural?TRANSCRIPTHey everybody, and welcome back to The Lonely Triathlete.I've been in a bit of an unusual place over the last couple of weeks.My racing season is over. I had my final race on July 12th, and now I'm in what coaches would call a maintenance phase. Instead of training six days a week, I'm only riding three. Two VO₂ max sessions and one endurance ride. That's it. The goal isn't to get faster right now. The goal is simply to hold onto the fitness I've built before I begin my next training block for the 2027 World Championships in Germany.On paper, this should be easy.Three rides a week.No swimming.No running.No pressure.And yet...I'm finding it harder to motivate myself to do three workouts than I was when I was doing six.That got me thinking.Is the human body actually designed to be...lazy?Now, "lazy" is probably the wrong word, but it's the word that came to mind.Why does taking just a little time off seem to wake up this voice in our heads that says, "You could skip today. You've earned it."If you've ever taken a week off because of vacation, illness, or simply burnout, you've probably experienced the same thing.The amazing thing is that physiologically, you haven't lost much fitness at all.Research consistently shows that if you've built a strong aerobic base, one or even two weeks of reduced training causes surprisingly little decline—especially if you keep a little intensity in the program. That's exactly why I'm still doing those VO₂ max intervals. They're enough to remind my body, "Hey, we're still athletes over here."So the body isn't falling apart.The interesting part is that the mind often changes faster than the body.Why?Because your brain is constantly trying to manage energy.For almost all of human history, calories weren't unlimited. They were precious. Our ancestors weren't rewarded for going out and doing hill repeats for fun. They were rewarded for surviving, conserving energy when they could, and spending it only when there was a good reason.So in many ways, our brains evolved to be efficient, not enthusiastic.When your brain senses that there isn't an urgent reason to burn energy, it starts negotiating."Maybe tomorrow.""One more cup of coffee.""You've had a busy day."Sound familiar?What's fascinating is that during a structured training block, those negotiations almost disappear.Why?Because you're no longer making decisions.You're following a routine.Monday is intervals.Tuesday is easy.Wednesday is strength.Thursday is another hard session.The routine does the thinking for you.But remove the structure for just a week, and suddenly every workout becomes a fresh decision.And decisions require motivation.I actually think that's why maintenance can feel harder than full training.It's not because the workouts are harder.It's because momentum has slowed down.I've often said that motivation is overrated.Identity is much more powerful.I'm not someone who trains because I feel motivated.I'm someone who trains because that's who I am.Right now, my schedule has changed.My identity hasn't.I'm still a triathlete.I'm simply in a different season.I think that's an important reminder for all of us.Not every month is about building fitness.Some months are about absorbing the work.Some months are about recovery.Some months are about letting your body and mind catch up.And that's exactly where I am.The funny thing is, I know this intellectually.I've read the research.I've experienced it before.And yet I'm still having the same conversations with myself before each ride.That's comforting in a strange way.It reminds me that discipline isn't something you achieve once.It's something you practice over and over again.Now, speaking of the next season...I've been working on something that I'm REALLY excited about.Some of you know that I qualified for the 2027 World Age Group Championships in Hamburg, Germany.Over the next year, I want to document that journey in a way I've never done before.I've ordered a follow-me sports drone.I've got a new action camera on the way.And I'm going to start experimenting with video.I'm calling the project—at least for now—Journey to Germany.I don't know exactly what form it's going to take.Some of it may end up on YouTube.Some might be exclusive to Patreon.I'm still figuring all of that out.But what excites me isn't the equipment.It's the opportunity to let you experience the process with me.Not just race day.Not just podiums.The rainy Tuesday morning ride.The workout that almost didn't happen.The trail runs.The recovery days.The small victories that nobody else usually sees.I've spent years talking into a microphone about training.Now I'd like to show you what that training actually looks like.And maybe that's fitting, because this next chapter feels different.I'm 58 years old, heading toward 59.For more than twenty-five years, I've somehow continued setting personal bests.Every few years I think, "Well...this is probably it. This is where improvement finally stops."And then somehow...Another personal best.I honestly don't know where my ceiling is anymore.Maybe I've already found it.Maybe it's still ahead of me.I don't know.But I don't want to spend the next year wondering.I'd rather find out.And if I'm going to find out, I thought it might be fun to bring all of you along for the ride.Thanks so much for listening. And if you want to hear more from me and even drop me a line, why don'tyou head on over to patreon.com and search for the lonely triathlete.If today's episode resonated with you—especially if you're struggling with motivation after taking some time off—I hope it reminds you that nothing is wrong with you. Your brain is simply doing what it evolved to do.Our job as endurance athletes isn't to eliminate that resistance.It's to gently, consistently, keep showing up anyway.Until next time...I'll be on my personal road to Germany.Peace | 5m 00s | ||||||
| 7/21/26 | offseason trainingtriathlon+3 | — | www.patreon.com/thelonelytriathlete | — | triathlonoffseason+5 | — | 13m 49s | ||
| 7/21/26 | offseason trainingtriathlon+3 | — | — | — | triathlonoffseason+5 | — | 5m 00s | ||
| 7/13/26 | race reporttriathlon+3 | — | — | — | Victoria Half Multisport Festivalrace report+3 | — | 16m 39s | ||
| 7/13/26 | race reporttriathlon+3 | — | — | — | Victoria Half Multisport Festivalrace report+3 | — | 5m 00s | ||
| 7/6/26 | triathlon injuriesgrief stages+3 | — | www.patreon.com/thelonelytriathlete | — | triathloninjuries+5 | — | 12m 59s | ||
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| 7/6/26 | triathlon injuriesgrief stages+3 | — | — | — | triathloninjuries+5 | — | 5m 00s | ||
| 6/29/26 | triathlon trainingnutrition+3 | — | www.patreon.com/thelonelytriathlete | — | triathlontraining+3 | — | 17m 16s | ||
| 6/29/26 | triathlon trainingnutrition+3 | — | www.patreon.com/thelonelytriathlete | — | triathlontraining+3 | — | 5m 00s | ||
| 6/21/26 | race preparationtriathlon training+3 | — | — | — | race readytriathlon+3 | — | 17m 28s | ||
| 6/21/26 | race preparationtriathlon training+3 | — | — | — | triathlonrace day+3 | — | 5m 00s | ||
| 6/15/26 | [PREVIEW] Improving the Ironman Swim | Let's face it, swimming 3.9km is no easy feat. Let's say you can easily swim 1.9km but find the IM swim cutoff challenging, what can be done. Well, it depends on your particular obstacles so let's get into it.TRANSCRIPTA few weeks ago, my awesome patron on Patreon reached out with a question. Hi Ron, hope you are doing well.Ron is turning 74 years old.He's completed four Ironman 70.3 races.Four.Let's just pause there for a moment. What a freaking inspiration!Most people his age aren't training for endurance events. Many aren't exercising at all. Yet here's a guy still swimming, biking, running, racing, and setting ambitious goals.His question to me was simple.Why can he complete a 70.3 swim, but can't seem to make to swim cutoff in an Ironman swim?It's a fascinating question because on the surface it sounds like a swimming problem.But I don't think it is.At least not entirely.And the more I thought about it, the more I realized this episode isn't really about swimming.It's about something all endurance athletes eventually face.The point where determination alone is no longer enough.The point where we have to get smarter.Not just tougher.Now before we go any further, let's acknowledge something.A 74-year-old athlete attempting an Ironman deserves respect.Period.It would be easy to focus on what isn't working.But I'd rather focus on what already is.This athlete has completed four 70.3 races. That tells me he has discipline, consistency, courage, and experience.The question isn't whether he's capable of hard things.Clearly he is.The question is whether the approach that got him through a half Ironman can get him through a full one.And those are not always the same thing.The first thing I'd want to know is whether he can comfortably swim 3.8 kilometres in a pool.Not race it.Not hammer it.Just swim it continuously.Because if the answer is no, then we're dealing primarily with swim fitness.The Ironman swim is nearly four kilometres long.That's a long way.And while it looks like exactly twice the distance of a 70.3 swim, anyone who's raced long enough knows it doesn't feel like twice the distance.Fatigue compounds.Small inefficiencies become major inefficiencies.Little mistakes become quite expensive.And if you've never developed the fitness to comfortably cover that distance, the water will expose you.But let's imagine he CAN swim the distance in the pool.NOW things get interesting.Because that means the problem may not be fitness at all.It may be EFFICIENCY.One of the most important lessons I've learned in endurance sports is that fitness and efficiency are not the same thing.And nowhere is that more obvious than in swimming.You can be incredibly fit and still struggle in the water.I've heard coaches say something that stuck with me. "The water doesn't care how fit you are."And it's true.You can bully your way through a run.You can overpower mistakes on the bike.Swimming doesn't negotiate.If your technique is inefficient, the water collects payment on every single stroke.And those payments add up over nearly four kilometres.This reminds me of something from my own swimming journey.I was new to distance swimming when I took up triathlon around 25 years ago. I had a swimming background although not comptetitive and I'd never ever swam 100M straight witout stopping because...why would I? So I self taught myself how to swim. I watched videos and read a few books. I went to the pool 3-4 ays a week and swamd swam and swam until I could cover the race distace of 1500M. My times were slow, around 3:00/100M, maybe a bit faster but not much. And I figured that as I contiued to swim over the years I would naturally get faster.I was so wrong. I could muscle myself to a 2:30 pace formaybe 1000M but then I was gassed, no way I could cycle after an effort like that. Something was holding me back and I didn't know what, so I enrolled in a Masters swim class at the local pool.During one of those workouts the coach walked alongside my lane, calling out technical issues with my stroke. He kept yelling "deeper, deeper" and at the end of the class told me that on my breathing side I tended to pull very shallow, my arm didn't go deep in the water so I was effectively swimming with one hand. Over the course of a few evenings I corrected that. Then end of one of the last sessions he pulled me aside an commended me for dropping both arms deeper in the water but he said "Todd, you tend to push down with your hands and only pull towards the back half of your stroke. Remember those high elbow drills (the ones that I did but didnt really make sense to me), we do those to encourgee you to catch the water much earlier in your stroke and to PULL yourself thorugh the water rather than push down so much." Huh. Suddenly, everything made sense and as I pulled raher than pushed, I got my swim time down to 2:00/100M. A massive improvement in minimal time.What struck me afterward was how obvious those flaws seemed once they were pointed out.Yet I never would have found them on my own.I had convinced myself that the solution was more swimming.More fitness.More effort.Instead, the solution was seeing something I couldn't see.And I think that's an important lesson.Sometimes we're too close to our own problems to diagnose them accurately.The very thing holding us back may be completely invisible to us.Especially in swimming.Now there's another possibility.And this one is surprisingly common.Anxiety.I've seen athletes who can easily swim the required distance in a pool.Then race day arrives.The water is colder.There are hundreds of athletes around them.They're getting bumped and kicked.Their breathing feels different.Their wetsuit feels restrictive.Suddenly they're swimming at an intensity they would never sustain in training.Their heart rate climbs.Their stroke shortens.Their efficiency disappears.And twenty minutes later they're paying the price.Many Ironman swim struggles aren't actually swimming struggles.They're pacing struggles.They're anxiety struggles.They're energy management struggles.The athlete is burning matches far too early.When people talk about Ironman, they often focus on speed.But for many athletes, especially older athletes, the goal isn't speed.It's economy.How LITTLE energy can you spend to move through the water?How relaxed can you stay?How efficiently can you convert effort into forward motion?Those questions become increasingly important as we age.At 25 years old, we can often compensate for technical flaws.At 74, every unnecessary movement has a cost.Every inefficient stroke carries a penalty.Which brings me to the part of this conversation I find most interesting.There comes a point in every endurance athlete's life when we must decide whether we are trying harder or trying smarter.And that's not always an easy distinction to make.Most of us love hard work.We trust hard work.Hard work feels noble.If something isn't working, our instinct is often to do more.More miles.More intervals.More volume.More suffering.But sometimes the breakthrough isn't on the other side of more effort.Sometimes it's on the other side of better information.A coach notices something.A training partner sees something.A video reveals something.An expert identifies a flaw we've been carrying for years.And suddenly progress happens.Not because we're working harder.Because we're finally working on the right thing.I don't know whether Ron's challenge is fitness, technique, pacing, anxiety, or some combination of all four.But I do know this.The goal is not to SURVIVE the Ironman swim.The goal is to become the kind of swimmer for whom the Ironman swim is MANAGEBLE.That's a different objective entirely.And I think that's true outside of triathlon too.The challenges we struggle with for years are not always asking for more determination.Sometimes they're asking for a new perspective.Sometimes they're asking for better guidance.Sometimes they're asking us to admit that we don't know what we don't know.And that might be one of the hardest lessons in endurance sports.Not that we need to work harder.But that we might need help.If you're listening today and you're chasing a goal that's been stubbornly out of reach, maybe ask yourself this question.Am I missing effort?Or am I missing insight?Because those are very different problems.And one of them is often easier to solve than we think.Thanks for listening.And remember, whether you're training for your first sprint triathlon, your fifth Ironman, or simply trying to stay active and healthy as the years go by, you're not training alone.You're just another lonely triathlete.Until next time,Peace | 5m 00s | ||||||
| 6/8/26 | habitstriathlon performance+3 | — | www.patreon.com/thelonelytriathlete | — | habitstriathlon+4 | — | 20m 31s | ||
| 6/8/26 | habitstriathlon performance+3 | — | — | — | habitstriathlon+4 | — | 5m 00s | ||
| 5/31/26 | triathlon trainingrace weight+3 | — | — | www.patreon.com/thelonelytriathlete | triathlonrace weight+5 | — | 28m 01s | ||
| 5/25/26 | triathlon fuelinghydration+3 | — | carb/electrolyte drinkPatreon | Victoria BC | triathlonfueling+5 | No-Nonsense Nutrition | 21m 12s | ||
| 5/25/26 | triathlon fuelinghydration+4 | — | carb/electrolyte drinkPatreon | Victoria BC | triathlonfueling strategy+5 | No-Nonsense Nutrition | 5m 00s | ||
| 5/18/26 | swimming gogglestriathlon equipment+3 | — | TheMAGIC5 swim gogglesPatreon | — | swimming gogglestriathlon+3 | — | 5m 00s | ||
| 5/18/26 | swimming gogglestriathlon equipment+3 | — | TheMAGIC5 swim gogglesPatreon | — | swimming gogglestriathlon+4 | — | 16m 44s | ||
| 5/11/26 | triathlon trainingrace performance+3 | — | — | — | triathleterace performance+3 | — | 5m 00s | ||
| 5/11/26 | triathlon trainingrace performance+3 | — | — | — | triathlonperformance+5 | — | 23m 53s | ||
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