Well it has been a great year for everyone here at TriSpecific! And we are sure that everyone has enjoyed listening to the last 12 months of Fat Black episodes.

We have had a great time sharing so much content with you all, and especially hearing the many insights from fantastic athletes and coaches. To help us celebrate the year that was, we discuss the highlights from Fat Black from 2014; some of the best episodes and speakers.

In the Final Episode for 2014 we cover:

Our personal favourite Episodes and Speakers for the year.

Some valuable lessons.

Taking the time to reflect.

How to start 2015 the right way.

Goal Setting.

We could not have had such a brilliant year with the support of our families, friends, athletes, sponsors (Specialized, Smith Optics, TriTravel and Revbox) and of course....YOU... our awesome audience!

Thank you for an amazing year - bring on 2015!

In todays Fat Black podcast Pete and I get to speak with Luke Mckenzies better half Beth Gerdes. Beth didn't muck around getting back into all things triathlon after the birth of their gorgeous little Wynne McKenzie and 6 months after the birth of Wynne, Beth had an absolute cracker at Ironman Western Australia coming in 4th with a fast 9:04 IM split and hauling assimus on the run and knocking out a handy 2:58:17.

The biggest take home from this interview with Beth would have to be her looking at the opportunities in things and having gratitude. Great lessons.

 What we cover:

• Training through pregnancy.
• Managing being a new mum and training for Ironman.
• Support and Aunty Jackie.
• We talk IMWA, the race and the mental side of it.
• We talk fast AG men and how it affects pro women on the bike.
• What drives Beth.
• We go into Beths background as a school psychologist.
• The lessons.
• Beths biggest 'failure' ... this one is deep!
• And of course her greatest and proudest achievement so far.

You can follow and learn more about Beth below:

http://bethgerdes.com/
Beth's Blog
@IMbethgerdes - Instagram
@IMBethGerdes - twitter

Episode Sponsors:

In todays Fat Black podcast I get to speak all about fascia with Brooke Thomas of Liberated Body.

I love this topic because it so crucial to movement. Understanding fascia can really help you move better and be pain free. Those two things will make you perform better. What you have to understand is that you don't have to tolerate movement dysfunction or body aches and pains. Most chronic overuse injuries and mobility woes are reversible. The process is pretty simple... it just ain't easy!

Unfortunately Pete had to sit this interview out due to time zone differences but he and I and guests will be back on as normal from next week.

In episode 69 of the Fat Black we cover:

Why understanding fascia is crucial to your longevity and performance.

Everything is connected and our muscles don't actually originate and insert like we were taught in anatomy class!

How we move.

Compensation patterns and tensegrity.

What our soft tissue should really be like.

Variations in movement and why it's needed.

Communication failure of our bodies biggest sensory organ.

Why our feet are SO important.

How we keep our fascia health.

You can learn all about Brooke and a lot more on Fascia over at here site www.liberatedbody.com or follow her on social media via the links below:

Facebook

Twitter

Episode Sponsors:

This week Pete and I do our first FB from opposite hemispheres and today we talk about the Obstacles. 

Pete wrote a blog this past week on rethinking stress and make sure you listen to the TED talk of Kelly McGonigal.

One of the most loved interviews of Triathlon World Summit was with Dr Phil Maffetone so Pete and talk about parts of that interview and namely go over some of the common obstacles and get you to think about strategies to remove those. 

As Phil said.. you can be fit but very unhealthy which in turn won't lead to longevity in the sport. 

We need to get smarter across the board when it comes to how we train but how we live our lives. Stress is cumulative and while we need some stress... the amount of stress we pile on our shoulders is killing us or our performances. 

Enjoy
Kristian 

Show Sponsors:

Smith Optics 

http://www.smithoptics.com

Tri Travel 

http://www.tritravel.com.au

Last week you heard some great insights from Champion Athlete, Jan Frodeno on his quest to take on Kona and what he has had to do to make the transition from short-course to long-course a successful one. Today we get to talk his wife, Olympic Gold Medalist, Commonwealth Medalist and 3x World Champion - Emma Snowsill.

Emma has enjoyed an amazing career but has dealt with some serious health issues, that ultimately lead to her retiring from the sport. As a result Emma has learned some hard lessons and had decided to embark on a quest to fully understand health and help educate athletes as to what real health actually means.

Emma Talks About:

• What being a World Champion has taught her.
• Why she stopped racing.
• Emma's personal health journey.
• Learning about true health.
• Understanding that what we eat underpins performance.
• Giving back to the sport.
• Being an ambassador.
• Educating people on the sport through commentary.
• What is in store for Emma.

This was a fantastic opportunity to sit down and speak candidly with such a remarkable athlete - and person. Emma's positivity is amazing as she prefers to view her health battles as step into a new direction and career, rather than something that holds her back. Emma's story carries the message that as athletes we owe it ourselves to understand what true health really is.

You should check Emma out on Instagram and via her Website.

Today we sit down and Sip the Fat with Olympic Champion, coffee connoisseur and super nice guy, Jan Frodeno. Jan and his wife Emma Snowsill were kind enough to let us drop in and chat to them over a few espresso's. Both Jan and Emma have some fantastic insights into the sport and share some brilliant knowledge

Today Jan Frodeno talks about:

Making the transition from short course to long course.

Dealing with injury.

Changing training to suit the distance.

Challenges faced when making the transition.

Lesson from Ironman.

Working with his coach.

Confidence and self-belief.

Next week, you'll want to listen to our episode with Emma Snowsill. It is a cracker.

 You cab reach Jan at: @janfrodeno 

Well we can't believe that the Triathlon World Summit is almost over! This has been an amazing project for TriSpecific and we hope you have all enjoyed hearing the fantastic information the speakers. We have enjoyed the process immensely and would like to thank all of you for the amazing feedback!

Today we sit down and sip the fat on an important topic that was discussed frequently throughout the Summit:

Human Movement.

Today We Cover:

• Why hydration is important for movement.
• Taking responsibility.
• The performance pyramid.
• Skill development.
• Form VS Function.
• The X.
• Why sitting is crap for our bodies.
• Easy fixes to correct faulty patterns. 

Episode Sponsors

Smith Optics

TriTravel

Specialized

Today we sit down with not only two brilliant athletes but also a professional couple who have crafted their skills as a highly functioning family unit. 
Tyler and Nikki Butterfield have worked hard to understand the importance of balancing family life with work life.

And provide some great insights how any athlete - professional or amateur can do this and still enjoy the sport we all love.

We go into:

• Being the best you can in your job.
• Being present where you are. 
• The Importance of planning
• Being the best you can in everything you do.
• Working as a team
• Daily strategies.
• Communication
• More then Sport

You can find out more at

butterfieldracing.com

Twitter
@TyButterfield
@NikButterfield

Episode Sponsors

Smith Optics

TriTravel

Specialized

So much going on and so much love for the Triathlon World Summit that we're truly grateful. It's awesome. 

We're now in Round 3 of the TWS sessions and so many great interviews have been shared and the information is resonating with our listeners on so many levels. 

Today Pete and I decide to go into some of the areas that have impressed us and that you really need to take note of. 

So many more great interviews to come so if you haven't already - make sure you register to watch them for FREE at www.triathlonworldsummit.com 

Enjoy

Kristian & Pete

P.S. Can't make the time to listen to all the awesome interviews while they're live. Get the Lifetime ALL ACCESS pass here

Our TWS Sponsors:

Smith Optics, Specialized, Tri Travel, Revbox and Vespa

Today we caught up with an athlete who is well know for running some incredibly fast times off the bike, and just recently made a statement with a very impressive 7th place finish in Kona, Tim Berkel.

Tim has been steadily building a solid career and gained a lot of experience by putting himself up against the best in the sport and learning from tough experiences.

Check out some great insights from Tim.

Today We Cover:

• Tim's mental preparation for Kona.
• Dealing with low points.
• Getting the hunger back.
• Learning to take care of the body.
• Fuelling the machine.
• Finding enjoyment in the day-to-day.
• Racing happy.
• Using mentors.
• Understanding coaching relationships.
• Staying in the moment when under pressure.

To this date Tim has a great career with 3 Ironman Champion titles, and an Australian 70.3 title.

Follow Tim on Twitter Facebook Instagram or reach to him via timberkel.com

Episode Sponsors

Today we sit down and sip the fat with one of the most Professional professionals we know: Sam Betten.

Sam's attitude towards the sport and determination to be the nicest, hard working guy out there, is infectious, and it fantastic to see such maturity in a young athlete. Sam discussed the importance of having the right attitude, being mentally tough and giving back to the sport. There are some important lessons for all triathletes here! Age groupers and Pro's alike.

Sam has an immense amount of invaluable knowledge for you.

In This Episode We Cover:

• Sam's story.
• Being injured.
• Being sick - creating a better mindset.
• Improving in the sport.
• Mental training.
• Making the right investments.
• Finding the mental limit.
• Learning values from mentors.
• Attitude
• Giving back.
• Being professional.
• Building the brand.
• Becoming a credible source of information.
• Knowing when to stop.
• Goal setting
• Tips for Age Group athletes.

There is no doubt that Sam is going places in this sport. Yet he remains grounded and incredibly focused in his approach - it is refreshing to see!

Reach out to Sam on sambetten.com or Twitter or Facebook

Episode Sponsors

That's exactly how we feel right now. We are in hustle mode at the moment and this Triathlon World Summit is just simply a huge undertaking. I obviously can't say for certain because I've never been there ... that young mans dream has thankfully for Charlotte been squashed. So we 'feel' somewhere near camp 4 ... that is the death zone on Everest. We aren't getting much sleep, the goal feels so close yet so far away ... but it's one step at a time.

So today Pete and I decided to give you a little insight into TWS. We're excited. So much awesome content has been shared that we know you're going to love.

The snippets:

Macca - On understanding where your heads at.

Matt Dixon - Racing an Ironman.

Kev Cutjar - Attitude (crucial).

Marc Evans - Movement is like cash... it's King.

Phil Maffetone - What you need to do today to be a better triathlete tomorrow.

FB Sponsor:

Today we sit down and have a super informative chat with Peter Mckenzie. Now if that surname sounds familiar....it should.

Of course we are talking about Luke Mckenzie's father! And this is one of the most knowledge packed episodes yet!

Peter has long history of coaching and teaching and over the years has formulated some fantastic philosophies and strategies to help athletes achieve their true potential.

It was a lot of fun talking shop with Petee and gain some insights from someone with so much experience.

In this episode we cover:

• The fundamentals of triathlon.
• Assessing strengths and weaknesses.
• Refining economy with drills.
• Building the journey.
• Being committed and supportive as a parent of an athlete.
• Communication. Actually, we talk about this a lot!
• How training is a progression of development.
• Developing patience.
• Looking for marginal gains.
• Pacing!
• Dealing with time-poor, Type A athletes.
• Shutting out the noise.
• Recognising coachable athletes.
• How no two athletes are the same; coaching the individual.
• The unconquered frontier in this sport; the mental game.
• Recognising negative thoughts and acting accordingly.

Learn more about Peter McKenzie at https://www.facebook.com/RacePaceCoaching

Today we sit down and 'sip the fat' ™ with Tim Reed who has been making his mark on the sport in recent years with some very impressive results. Tim has a background in exercise physiology and before turning pro he spent a bit of time crafting his skills as a top Age Group athlete.

One of the most exciting things about 'Reedy' is his willingness to learn; whether it is through coaching mentors, or advice form experienced pro-athletes, Tim is focused on absorbing as much information as possible in order to further his athletic and business careers and as such has some great wisdom to share.

In this Episode we cover:

• Making the jump from elite Age Group athlete to Professional athlete.
• Working hard in the early days.
• Learning to hustle to achieve success.
• Balancing family life with career.
• The value of communication.
• Maintaining perspective; what really matters in your life.
• Values for success.
• How to wear budgie-smuglers/ how to craft your 'brand'.
• Tim's 5 tips for athletes new to the sport (actually for every athlete).

You can follow Tim on Twitter and Instagram or check out his website

Make sure you go over and check out The Triathlon World Summit and RESERVE your seat ... The FREE sessions start November 9

In today's Episode of the Friday Fat Black, we sit down with #allergictoaverage superstar journalist and Witsup chief, Steph Hanson.

If you haven't heard of Witsup, you must have been living under a rock. Through the efforts of Steph and her team, Witsup have been helping communities of women become more engaged in the sport of triathlon by creating ways to break down the barriers that and removing the intimidation that can be associated with triathlon.

There is one thing about Steph: her personality is infectious! You can't help but get excited when she talks on the things that she is passionate about and that enthusiasm is unmistakable in the work that the Witsup crew do.

So sit back with a cup of your favourite caffeinated beverage, and listen to some wisdom from Steph.

What we cover:

• Who is Witsup, what does it mean and what is it all about.
• Breaking down barriers within the sport.
• Creating a better perception through education and sharing a unified message.
• Taking things too seriously.
• Building a community.
• Shoving Andrew Messink. Yes, that really did happen.
• Thoughts on the split swim starts to races and what the WTC are doing right (that also does happen).
• Men showing support for the Witsup cause
• Spreading the message through social media #supportivedude
• Changing the perspective in media.
• The importance of involving family more in the sport.
• The Noosa Triathlon Festival and what is coming up next for Witsup

It was great to talk with Steph and get more insight on how we, as coaches and representatives of the sport can work to making triathlon not only more accessible for women, but also more enjoyable and less intimidating. We are seeing a global shift in how women are being marketed to by companies, and this trend is helping push past the old school ideologies of gender in sport and helping to create greater equality.

If you want to know more about Witsup, head on over to:

www.witsup.com or follow them on @witsupcom on Twitter and Instagram or head over to their Facebook Page

Sponsors:

Smith Optics - Change is Easy

Specialized - Innovate or Die

Alright today we are talking about pacing.

This is one of the most important skills of the sport. We have seen many athlete ruin a race by not pacing correctly. Like everything else true pacing much be practiced in training.

True pacing takes discipline and focus (also great skills to develop), and this has to be put into the daily routine of training - which is really about going your craft.

Here is what we cover:

• The discipline of pacing.
• Being realistic about your efforts.
• Learning to switch off the data.
• Understanding how to use your data to your advantage.
• Developing your pace intuitively.
• What is truly easy.
• Knowing when to push hard.
• Understanding the different levels of effort.
• How much time you need to spend below goal pace, at goal, and above (and why).
• Understanding the different systems that used in pacing.
• Strength efforts.
• Speed efforts.
• Lactate Tolerance.
• Endurance.
• Neuromuscular.

I'm just back from a whirlwind of Kona with lack of the number one health item.. Sleep! I've experienced both Kona as an athlete and a spectator many times and there is just something special when you step off the plan onto the tarmac at Kona International airport. My trip was short but packed with meeting up with athletes, industry contacts and other coaches. I even got a short swim and a couple of rides in. I actually recommend that if Kona is on the goal list to compete at, it's a good one to watch and go experience if you miss out qualifying one year. It definitely made me make it a definite purpose and desire to get there when I had done that.   

Today Pete and I do a recap on Kona talking through the pro and age group races. We also go into the conditions, execution, stress and mental state.

We also have a number of great podcasts lined up for you with some great age group athletes, pro athletes, coaches and experts in fields related to human performance.

Over here in Kona I got the opportunity to go to a party before the race and mingle. Whilst there I ran into ex professional triathlete, two time Olympian, world cup champion and former world ranked no.1 Andrew Johns or as he's better known as AJ. 

AJ started telling me about what he was part of and why he was in Kona. As it turns out he was here as an athlete ambassador to a new initiative called Clean Protocol. The Clean Protocol™ is a system to support clean athletes and to promote social change toward clean sport.

I was intrigued to find out more as I had seen the below image pop up in Luke McKenzies Facebook feed and was able to get together with both Andrew and the head of science Dr Michael Puchowicz MD for a chat about The Clean Protocol™

In this episode we cover

• what The Clean Protocol™ is and why it's important.
• The Passion about making the social change needed that there is no justification to even think about taking PED's
• Allowing clean athletes to put there hands up and go through the testing protocol and show that they can win big races being clean. 
• The Science behind it and who is using the protocol.
• The reception from the pro's 
• And more. 

You can learn more about The Clean Protocol™ at their website - http://cleanprotocol.org/

Pete and I are still reeling from this interview with Andy... Yes I know it's a pun but it was completely mind blowing. Most people don't understand how powerful the mind is and how much it plays into what we see in life. You can do the training, tick the boxes, go 'all-in' and still fall short and many times we self sabotage purely because of our internal programming.

The 6 inches between your ears is important. Critically important.

Andy is a mental performance coach and has worked with world champion athletes, entrepreneurs, high net worth business owners and even royalty.

Do you want to go fast, get to Kona, have more success in life. Listen to this podcast and learn how.

Here is what we cover:

• Neurology is a muscle.
• The importance of a mentor.
• Overcoming adversities.
• The science of "Mind Set".
• The conscious and unconscious mind.
• We are question answering machines - why we do what we do.
• Becoming consciously aware.
• 50'000 words a day.
• The Dirty Little Secret to rapid success.
• The filter system of the mind.
• Accessing alpha waves.
• Gaining direct access to the unconscious mind.
• How to ask yourself the right questions.
• Creating the NEW version of YOU.
• Retraining the software.
• The value of routine.
• Bi-neural benefits.

You can reach out to Andy via:

andymuprhy.biz ---> Get a free Focus session.

Follow @andymuprhytv on Twitter and here on Facebook

The Mindset by Design Podcast available on iTunes.

Today Pete and talk about Kona.. predictions, the mistakes athletes make and how to avoid them... qualifying and more. 

• Qualify... what it takes
• The mistakes
• Pacing
• Being Strong
• Carbo loading
• Race week
• Confidence and over confidence
• and more... 

I'll be coming to you with some video blogs from Kona from Thursday and stay tuned for our Friday Fat Black this week... it's mind blowing! 

Today we speak with one of the World Leaders in Functional Movement Training, Andrew Read. Andrew has been in the fitness game a very long time and he is one of those small 1 %'s that is not afraid to step outside the norm and call B.S. He is an Athletic adventurer, top 6 in the world Master RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certified instructor), author and all round bad ass.

Here is just a taste of what we cover:

• Functional movement and why it is essential.
• Levels of Functional Movement Screening.
• The importance of breathing.
• Strength training for older athletes.
• The 3 Rules.
• Dealing with giving up.
• Strength & Conditioning for long course racing.
• Becoming injury resistant.
• How to get FREE speed - building your Formula 1 car.
• The smartest exercises for triathletes.
• The distinction between strength and muscle size.

Links:

Andrew Read PT
Andrew on Facebook
Andrew on Twitter

This episode includes videos which can be accessed via TriSpecific.com/FFB

This Episode of The Friday Fat Black bought to you by Smith Optics - Change is Easy! 

We are EXCITED. Seriously.

We have been looking forward to this 50th Episode for a while now......The Friday Fat Black and The Answers Series have been so much fun and there has been a lot (really,  A LOT) of awesome information in each edition.

So today as we celebrate #50, we get stuck into some of the most popular topics we've discussed as well as what is coming up in the very near future. Hint: something BIG.

And, because this is a special event - something to celebrate, we are giving away some awesome prizes! You need to listen to the episode to find out how you can get your hands on some pretty cool things like:

• Specialized Packs that will get you out of trouble
• Smith Optics glasses for staying in style
• TS 'swag' packs, because swag is important
• GRID mini's and the new GRID X from Trigger Point
• Some cool Tee's from "Art of Tri"

To enter the competition, listen to the instructions mentioned in the episode. We will announced the winners in the next Episode (this Friday).

This Episode we cover:

• Our favourite episodes - the ones that we loved the most, and why.
• Our favourite guests, and why.
• Fundamentals - what it takes to be successful
• The importance of Self Talk
• Confidence VS Cockiness
• Race execution - what you need to do
• What's next: some very exciting guests coming up
• Some special mentions....
• And an important message to you all

Links:

https://vimeo.com/smithoptics

Smith Pivlock

Urban Ninja

TS Life

Today we speak with celebrated Ultraman World Champion, Ironman athlete and Coach, Kevin Cutjar about developing confidence and executing a good race. He is also the owner of the Challenge Penticton race, held in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. Kevin has a wealth of experience in racing long, hard and tough events so he knows a thing or two about confidence.

Confidence underpins performance, and developing this skill can take time and patience. There's a system to follow and as we get deeper into this episode, Kevin explains how to turn that confidence into smart race execution.

Grab a cup, sit back and enjoy todays episode of The Friday Fat Black.

Awesome knowledge covered:

• Kevin's amazing racing career
• Developing confidence
• Trusting the process
• The psychology of racing long
• Self belief
• Getting it right: the long run
• Patience, and having the confidence to be patient
• Endurance and repetition
• The "perfect" plan
• Understanding self-doubt
• Executing a race
• Dealing with distraction
• How to stay focused in training
• Self talk
• Challenge Penticton

Speaking of Challenge Penticton, registration is open now for August 30, 2015. So if you want to race on one of the most historical and picturesque courses in the world get onto it fast!

Connect with Kevin

Twitter
http://triathlonwarrior.com/

We continue on with the Answers Series today with some great questions from some of our coached athletes. We love questions like these because it helps us to ensure that our listeners truly understand the information that we provide.

We love the challenge of the questions, and we love looking for answers to the ones that we don't know. We certainly don't pretend to know it all! But we are prepared to seek for more....

Keep the questions coming via the TriSpecific Facebook page, or kristian@trispecific.com

This weeks questions:

Q. How do you stay cool in races without your run shoes filling with water and becoming ankle 'weights'?

Q. What are the some sources of saturated fat I can look into?

Q. Can you really become fat adapted as a vegetarian?

Q. Can I substitute the lemon juice in the natural hydration mix for something else? Do I even need the lemon juice?

Q. You guys have mentioned the Maffatone methods few times, how does that fit into the TS coaching methods?

Q. What Fat Black alternatives exist for non-coffee drinkers?

Q. What wetsuit recommendations do you have?

Links:

Aqua shop

Blueseventy Westuits

This week Pete and I get to interview our good friend, new dad, fellow 3326RIDE rider and world class triathlete Luke McKenzie. This didn't even feel like an interview, more like sitting down having a chat over a fat black coffee. Don't be fooled though, Luke provides some insights into being a world class athlete, keeping the motivation high and the stepping stones to being runner up in last years Ironman World Championships.

Grab yourself your favourite beverage, sit back and enjoy.

What we cover:

• Moving to the USA full time.
• Being a new dad.
• Managing the schedule with Wynne and both parents training for IM.
• The ups and downs.
• Learning how to race.
• How racing and winning in Asia provided the stepping stones to Kona.
• Winning IM Cairns.
• A couple of things Luke does that leads to success.
• Progression in Kona and making the necessary improvements.
• What it's all about.
• How he keeps his motivation high.
• Learning the lessons from the obstacles along the way.
• Getting through the hiccups.
• How to make the best out of a bad situation and what doing that provides.
• Coaches, mentors and self coaching.
• Lukes biggest advisor.
• Pushing the boundaries of tech and the lessons so far.
• Bike position - what's important.
• Strength training.
• On coaching athletes.
• Stress and what Ironman shouldn't be.
• On setting goals.
• Training.
• Giving back.

Links:

Luke McKenzie.com
Twitter
Instagram

As soon as we have details ... we will post them here about purchasing the new "GO LUKE" Kona Trucker caps with money going to the Challenged Athletes Foundation ...

Wow. How good was Part 1? If you missed that make sure you go listen to FFB#46 Part 1 first otherwise you're missing a huge part of the process. 

The second part of that episode we continue the awesomeness.

Today we cover

• VESPA. What is it?
• Using VESPA in training.
• How to use VESPA in racing to optimise your fat adaption.
• 'Carb sneaking' - how strategically timing carb intake can boost your performance.
• How to start the Fat Adaptation process.
• How too much protein can turn off your ability to burn fat for fuel.
• Ketone tracking.
• Racing hungry - why you want to.

This is a seriously jam-packed episode! So sit back, grab a coffee and enjoy.

Get a discount for Vespa using TRISPECIFIC for the coupon code. 

Vespapower.com 

Today we pick the brain of Peter Defty of Vespa Nutrition, on everything you need to know about Fat Adaptation and Optimised Fat Metabolism. Peter has been driving OFM knowledge for quite a wile now and today he helps you understand the ins and outs of the process and why it is absolutely vital to not only your performance but also your long term health.

If you have been struggling to get your head around the Fat Adaptation process or what to simply understand it better then Peter provides some essential insights in this two part series. Yes there is THAT much information here that we had to make it into two Episodes!

Adopting the Optimised Fat Metabolism approach isn't hard, and definitely not 'scary'. It is a simple adjustment to your daily nutritional intake, but with some truly game-changing results.

Today in Part 1 we cover:

• Who is Peter Defty.
• Optimised Fat Metabolism explained.
• Using fat for fuel.
• How little carbohydrates the body really needs.
• Long term affects of High Carbohydrate use and their unintended consequences.
• Insulin resistance
• OFM for vegan/ vegetarian athletes - how to get it right.
• The Optimised Fat Metabolism pyramid
  • Fat Adapted metabolic state.
  • Nutrition NOT calories
  • Stomach and gut health.
  • Training and lifestyle
  • Hydration

In the next part of this awesome-sauce episode, we go further into the OFM Pyramid and discuss hydration, the Vespa product and being a 'carb sneak'.

You will probably want to listen to these Episodes more than once because there is a metric crap-tonne of knowledge to be absorbed here!

Show Links:

VESPA

You Asked… we Answered. From this week onwards Pete and are adding a second show each week. So Tuesdays will be “The Fat Black - The Answers Series” and The Friday Fat Black will be our interviews.

So last Friday we did our first of “The Answers” series podcast and after that and the feedback for more.. we have obliged.

If you have questions. Please use the comments on the show notes page, ask on our TriSpecific Facebook fanpage or simply email me kristian [at] trispecific.com.

This weeks Questions:

Q: Out of all the pieces of equipment available for training and performance improvements, what is the first one you would recommend to buy?

Q:  What are the best cassette and chain ring choices for events. When do you determine you need to?

Q: Bike shoes for Ironman and Half … should I be using Triathlon Specific shoes or road shoes?

Q: What is the best bike case for traveling

Links:

Trigger Point Performance Therapy Tools

Australia

New Zealand

USA

Germany

United Kingdom

Bike Trainers

Revbox (if you're interested in this trainer, contact me as I have a special TS Coached Athlete, TS LIFE and Blueprint Athlete and even for our listeners)

Wahoo Kickr

Swim Tools

TYR Catalyst Hand Paddles - You can grab them here at wiggle Australia or wiggle rest of world.

Pull Buoy Options we like:

Big Ass PB ;)

Huub - Big Buoy

Blue Seventy Core Short (a new favourite)

Finis Tempo Trainer Pro (great for run training too..) 

Bike Shoes

For long course racing we prefer and recommend using a road shoe.

We like

S-Works Road Shoe

Shimano Road Shoe

If you want to go down the custom route check out Bont

Also ensure you go to your local Specialized dealer that does Body Geometry and use their "archometer" and get the specific body geometry footbeds needed for you. Instant increase in power, less foot fatigue and lessen the chances of injury.

Run

You need to ensure you are in the right shoe for you. In Australia our friends at The Running Company have a great service as does The Running Centre in Perth. If you don't have a store near you that can get you on a treadmill and see you run, both barefoot and in shoes then Pete and I have a Run Faster service where we will get you to get video footage for us and then we will guide you to a shoe that is right for you. We will also give you advice on potential mobility drills and self massage techniques you'll need to do to improve your running efficiency.

For more on this service just contact me.

Bike Cases

Shimano Mega case

SiCon Aero 2.0

This week Pete and I step away from the interviews go into Question and Answer mode. We're always getting questions from our coached and Blueprint athletes but believe this is a great platform for answering questions that many of you have but haven't asked.

As I mention in the podcast. If you'd like Pete and I to do another weekly podcast specifically on QnA or dial into one topic then we're open to that. We will do leave Fridays predominantly to interviews with our awesome guests and say on a Tuesday do a 30-40min QnA. Let us know in the comments below and of course if you have any questions let us know below.

What we Cover:

• Strategies with dealing with the heat in Kona (or any other hot race)
• TT bike or road bike and when you should be jumping on the TT bike in your race prep
• GF nutrition and living/racing with Celiac disease
• Goal setting and realistic goals
• Training for older athletes
• Getting through tough sessions
• How to refocus and re-ignite the motivation after a big race and also how to keep motivation levels high for training
• Changes in our nutrition ideology and why
• Which wheels for racing and why

Links:

Past Podcasts we mention

FFB41 - Aero is Everything (all about being aero)

Being a Gluten Free Athlete with Steph Lowe The Natural Nutritionist

Quick link to all podcasts

Today we have the awesome Steph Lowe of "The Natural Nutritionist" on another call of the Friday Fat Black. Previously we have discussed Nutrient timing and also becoming a gluten free athlete (and why you should consider it) however today we talk all about gut health and how your gut is really the foundation of your system health.

If you're holding onto injuries, getting sick consistently then you NEED to be fixing your gut health. Even if you're not getting sick or have niggles ... good gut health will help you improve your performance.

Look, if you're serious about your performance but also about long term health (and you should be) then you can't miss this episode. 

What we cover:

• All health and immunity stems from your gut.
• Where does illness start?
• Why you need to look at the gut if your sick and if you have constant injuries.
• The indirect links your gut has on other areas of your total health than just the stomach.
• Why your brain function is linked with your gut.
• What affects gut health.
• Good food in-of-itself is not the answer.
• Good bacteria, bad bacteria.
• Antibiotics and what you need to know if you have to take them.
• For the female athletes. The Pill and its impact on your gut health.
• Inflammatory foods and how to ensure you choose foods that are anti-inflammatory in nature.
• Being an Iron distance athlete, you can guarantee that you have some level of impaired gut health.
• Stress and its implications on your gut health.
• The chicken or the egg with gut health.
• What pulls the trigger and how todays choices affect what happens downstream.
• Tips it mitigate stress in our current life circumstances.
• Strategies on fixing or improving your gut health.
• Vegan athlete choices of fixing gut health.
• Caffeine and impact on cortisol, stress, acidity.
• The one answer to getting good bacteria.
• Detoxing.. do you need to, how to and when?
• Stress and its roll in weight loss and what you need to understand.

Show Links:

ABC Catalyst "Gut Reaction" Parts one and two

Gut Health 101 with Steph Lowe (includes links and tips for bone broth, fermented veggies and more).

The Pill

Great Lakes Gelatine

Stephs site The Natural Nutritionist

Learn more about detoxification and Steph's six week program here: http://thenaturalnutritionist.com.au/back-to-basics-b2b-cleanse/

Perhaps you could start by quitting gluten? Grab a copy of Steph's ebook, Free From Gluten (FFG), and receive over 70 pages of eduction, practical advice and whole food based recipes. Please enter the discount code 'FFB' to receive your Friday Fat Black discounted rate.

Need more help? Steph is available for both Face-to-Face and Skype consultations. Please find out more here: http://thenaturalnutritionist.com.au/programs/

Today Pete and I have the awesome pleasure of speaking with 15x Ironman distance champion, member of the Australian Ironman Hall of Fame Belinda Granger from her stunning backyard overlooking the 20m pool. We get such amazing insights from BG who has done 50 Iron distance racing and been around the triathlon traps for 20 odd years! We look at all aspects from injuries, to training, discipline, nutrition and so much more.

What we cover:

• Lessons from one of the most longterm successful female IM athletes in the sport
• Belinda's WHY!
• Natural talent is useless
• Why 'loving it' helps
• Strategies and tips to pull you through those tough races
• BGs two biggest regrets - massive honesty here
• The skill of set and forget
• When and where you learn the most
• Why you need to self assess
• Settling
• Nutrition, balance and not depriving yourself
• Looking at all aspects of the sport
• The ABS!
• The tell tale signs you need to listen too
• Balance
• The Training regiment... major lessons
• You HAVE to give back
• 3 huge performance knowledge bombs dropped around 28mins in
• Keys of being professional - if you're a pro or budding pro you need to listen to this
• Favourite sessions
• What the future holds for Belinda

Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/belinda_granger

This weeks FFB is all about getting AERO with Mark Cote whom is the head of aero R&D for Specialized. Last week Pete and I got the opportunity to head down to the Gold Cost for Specialized’s 2015 product launch here in Australia and were lucky enough to sit down and chew the fat with Mark and we thought .. we’re all here - can we do a podcast and Mark took it in his stride which we’re super grateful for. Listen and listen again about whats important, how you can get both free and paid aero benefits.

“the difference between athletes that pay attention to this and those that don’t is Kona spots”

What we cover:

• Aero .. what’s really important and quick free aero gains (1:40).
• 80” over 40km  - imagine over an Ironman that’s 6 minutes and doing this doesn’t cost you anything.
• What a ‘shaved’ tennis ball has to do with shaved legs.
• The Specialized wind tunnel allows them to geek out
• Even a little matters
• Clean it up .. it's important.
• How AND why fit matters?
• The preconceived notions of being low are hindering you.
• The common trend in fit (not what you think).
• Get faster and reduce fatigue.
• Being in the aero bars versus being on the hoods (7:35). You’ll be stunned how much that is worth per 40km.
• All about Wheels (8:38)
• Style ‘watts’ versus real ‘watts’
• The catch 22 on the deeper wheel (9:38)
• What wheel sizes are showing the most benefits.
• Where wheels actually come into their own.
• Tyres (11:10)
• Tubular v clincher
• Tyre technology
• Helmets and choices (13:00)
• Why it’s more important to have a ‘quiver’ of helmets than it is wheels!
• Helmets, there's aero and then there's the details - heat (15:20)
• One of the new frontiers and biggest benefits you get (18:40)
• Actually moving forward this will be one of the most (20:59) important, technical devices you can run in your setup.
• Rider first engineered.
• How much further improvements are there in aero?
• The true benefits for Specialized with their win (deliberate) tunnel.
• The athletes that focus on this stuff versus those that don't.
• Shiv TT v SHIV TRI.

Got Question? Either hit us up in the comments section below or reach out to Mark or the Specialized team on social media

Show Links:

The Body Hair Test

ROVAL wheels

Froome looking a stems  (yes you must look at this page)

The S-WORKS Evade Tri 

Specialized Links

Website

http://www.iamspecialized.com/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/specializedbicycles
https://www.facebook.com/SpecializedAU (Australia)

Twitter

https://twitter.com/iamspecialized
https://twitter.com/specialized_au

Mark Cote https://twitter.com/MITAeroBike

Instagram
Australia
Global

YouTube

Today I get to speak with TriSpecific athlete John Rutherford after his recent first time Ironman  a couple of weeks back at Ironman Switzerland. John had great IM debut going 9:34.

As I say in the intro. Nobody comes from nowhere ... and what I mean there is that we all have backgrounds and most athletes that have quick success in this sport have a solid background and John is no different here. John has ran 100 mile ultras and he definitely wasn't successful in those first outings, especially as the typical carb dependant athlete and we go into all that but his background goes further back and we look into the lessons that cross over from flying a F-18 to performance in other areas of life. And don't miss what John did with a 40 Million dollar aircraft at 14:55 into the podcast. 

What We Cover: 

• John's first Ironman going 9:34 and the lessons. (there is ALWAYS lessons)
• Logistics and there importance
• Expectations and what you need to be with them
• No unforced errors
• John's background and his time as part of the US National Cycling team
• Those carry over lessons from cycling, ultra running and flying an F18
• Listen in a 14:55 to hear what John did with a 40 Million dollar aircraft
• Learning to be calm under pressure and where it is critical on race day
• We go deep into fuelling and how little John takes in through training and racing
• John's part in the UCON Fat Adaptation/Perofrmance Study
• How never to hit the wall or bonk again
• Time to benefits of fat adaptation at 35'
• The starting point to fat adaptation and process of teaching around 36' in
• The 3 BIG benefits of being fat adapted
• Sodium - the true needs
• Johns race day fuelling strategy
• The 3 things John's most important performance tips

Links:

Ben Greenfields Part 1 & Part 2 of his part in Voleks study and rewriting the Fat Burning text book. 

Becoming a Bonk proof athlete - FAT chance

Vespa

Keto Force (Disclaimer: I have not tested this yet, but from John's testing it seems to work well. However.. as per previous blog.. get the other aspects down first. No short cuts!)

In todays Friday Fat Black Pete and talk about the real reasons of how and why injuries happen. We speak about the 7 major areas (there are more) why injuries happen. 

What We Cover:

• The biggest killer of our performance.
• And the reason why we get this performance killer.
• Injuries don't come from nowhere .. i.e. they don't just pop out of nowhere!
• The Domino effect.
• The red flags you CHOOSE not to listen too and how to stop that happening.
• Responsibility.
• The injury cycle.
• The 7 major reason you are or you get injured.
• 90+ percent of injuries are AVOIDABLE!
• Why electrolytes are CRITICALLY important.
• What to do the FIRST thing when you wake up in the morning.
• Compounding Interest - why you feel like crap at the start of your long run.
• What muscles LOVE.
• What you should do on those long haul travels we need to do to get to races. Long drives/long flights and why you NEED to do this.
• The thought process you NEED to rid yourself of. 

Links

The BEST Self Massage Tools in the world

Get this awesome History of Triathlon in Australia coffee table book // http://www.multisportdreaming.com/

If you're at Challenge Gold Coast drop by the Multisport Dreaming Booth

Original Strength Podcast

Today Pete and I wanted to take a step back and look at the foundations. The true fundamental ingredients or as we call them 'Pillars' to reaching your potential in this sport of triathlon.

In todays age and right now there seems to be a push to hacking this and hacking that. Don't get us wrong - there are indeed some useful 'hacks' to improve performance but like anything - if the fundamentals aren't in place those hacks aren't going to be as potent as they could be.

As James Clear recently put on a great post (linked below) "The thing is, when you look at how the top performers in the world operate and examine what is really going on in their minds and bodies, you often see the complete opposite of a hack. You see repetitions and consistency."

Those last two points ... repetitions and consistency are the WAY! Period.

What We Cover:

• The 3 pillars to triathlon success and the order they NEED to be focused on
• Why one particular part of one of the pillars needs to be incorporated as part of your training session and not the way it's typically done (or worse, not done)
• Simple thoughts on nutrition "Food is INFORMATION for your body" 
• Fascia and why it's important to look after .. if you don't want to get injured.
• A simple real hydration formula that WILL get the needed minerals to your soft tissue ... but you need to do a little something else to fix your irrigation
• Learning to LISTEN to what's important (covers each pillar)
• The biggest performance killer
• Simplifying training
• What repetition really teaches you
• Data tracking and importance of being in-tune
• How to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your training
• and a whole lot more

Links

• http://jamesclear.com/selective-attention
• 4 Lessons everyday athletes can learn from the pros (great article written by my friend and TS athlete Andrew Read)
• Get our Pillars to Success Guide for free here

On this weeks Friday Fat Black , Pete and I have the pleasure of having my much better half Charlotte Paul on show.

In this episode we wanted to cover what every single one of us goes through in life - not just our sporting endeavours but also LIFE.

FAILURE

We are all going to fail at some time and that is OK. In fact, it's more then ok ... it's absolutely crucial to becoming successful. Instead of trying to avoid mistakes at all costs, aim to seek opportunities that will lead you to facing your limits (and they're usually ones that ARE self imposed) so that you can learn quickly.

I bet you if you ever look back upon times in your life which led to major growth or successful moments that they were preceded by mistakes, and seemingly unsurmountable obstacles.

As you'll hear about in this episode Charlotte had many failures on her journey to winning her first Ironman in a handy time of 9:00:55 and more after that which led to further successes. I've had my fair share and I guarantee there will be more.

Pete talks about his 'failure' at Ironman Cairns recently.

The key .. the absolute key is learning the lessons. To do so you have to be open to receiving them.

Sit back and relax and learn how failing fast and failing often can be your ticket to the greatest successes you've ever had.

In todays Friday Fat Black Pete and I discuss stress and it's impacts on your body, especially when it comes to adrenal fatigue (something that I've been dealing with as a post issue of celiac diagnosis last year and something I'm writing about that will inevitably help you because for me it was the 'perfect storm'). What we forget or don't acknowledge is that stress is a stress is a stress and what I mean here is that the more stress we pile on from our lifestyles means the less training stress we can tolerate.

We also go into using HRV (heart rate variability) as a way to track our stress responses in real time. The kicker here is that you might not even feel stressed but your sympathetic nervous (fight-or-flight) system is actually on overdrive and using the tracking apps and devices we link to below can help you become aware of this and create ways to minimise the SNS activity which when chronic will lead to break down and potentially adrenal fatigue.

And finally we jump into one of the biggest stressors we load onto ourselves and this is sleep debt.

Enjoy and as we said in the podcast ... let us know in the comments what you want us to discuss and we will randomly choose a winner to give some cool TriSpecific and Trigger Point swag.

What we cover:

• The NUMBER ONE saboteur of your performance
• The major difference in a pro endurance athlete and you the AG endurance athlete is the...
• Adrenal Fatigue
• Mind-body Connection
• Heart Rate Variability specifically LF/HF values
• Breathing and how it effects both your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems
• Sleep debt
• and more

Links:

Stress and performance:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3108174

Stress and HRV:
http://www.sweetwaterhrv.com/documentation/stressandhrv.pdf

SweatBeat App:
http://www.sweetwaterhrv.com/SweetBeatLife/SweetBeatLife_Features.shtml

Heart Rate Strap to use with SweetBeatLife:

Wahoo Fitness Tickr or Tickr Run

Understanding HRV:
http://www.sweetwaterhrv.com

How to switch off and relax:
http://www.heartmathstore.com

Sleep and performnace:
http://jamesclear.com/better-sleep
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12683469

Getting better sleep:

http://superhumanencoder.com/entrainer-acoustics/
Sunrise clocks

In todays podcast Pete and I talk about the BIKE ... quite fitting because the TDF starts tomorrow and we all love riding our bikes.

We discuss how to effectively and efficiently train the bike by looking into the 5 important systems we must train to reach our potential on the bike and become strong so we can race fast in Iron distance races.

What We Cover:

• The 5 Systems and what they are
• Fatigue ... it's not all the same
• We go into each of the 5 systems and speak the why, and how we use and what we use.

Links:

http://www.trispecific.com/its-a-strength-game/

In todays Friday Fat Black Pete and chew the fat on developing mental fortitude and how attitude and how you train can help you develop the mental toughness needed to reach your potential.

What We Cover:

• Session examples
• 5 keys to Mental Strength
• Where mental strength is developed in training
• Where athletes let themselves down
• Focus
• What Pete learnt in Cairns Ironman - so bloody important to further successes
• Race and Training reflections - why they're super important

Episode Sponsor:

Challenge Gold Coast is set to become one of those must do bucket list races on the Australian calendar. It’s a spectacular course – nice creek swim, undulating and challenging bike course through Currumbin and Tallebudgera Valleys (with King of the Mountain ‘The Beast’ section timed separately) and run with stunning water views along Currumbin creek, Currumbin and Tugun beaches. Entries are selling fast and will likely close off in the next week or two. Don't miss out on this inaugural Challenge race.

Sign up here before it's too late: http://www.challenge-goldcoast.com.au/

Success Quote:

• "Courage doesn't mean you don't get afraid. Courage means you don't let fear stop you." -- Bethany Hamilton

Show Links:

• Six elements of mental toughness

This weeks FFB Pete and I get to chew the fat with super successful coach Sergio Borges who not only has 128 Kona qualifiers to his name but isn't afraid to think and coach outside the box which obviously resonates with Pete and I.

Sergio has dedicated the last 19 years to studying the ART and science of triathlon training. During this time, he has competed in hundreds of races of all distances including 21 Ironman races around the world (9:38 PR), over 60 half ironmans (4:12 PR), qualifying for the Hawaii Ironman World Championships seven times (so far). Sergio has also been nominated as "All American" by USA Triathlon, 9 times. After over 10 years of investment banking, he decided to apply his expertise to personal triathlon coaching. Sergio is a certified Level III USA Triathlon coach, Level II ITU Triathlon Coach, Level II USA cycling coach, coached the USA Elite, Junior Elite and U23 team at the World Duathlon in Switzerland in 2003 and the U23 Tri national team in 2004. Also has worked with USAT at the Collegiate National Camps, Recruitment Camps, lecturing at the Coaching Level I and II Clinics and writes for 3 sport magazines. Sergio was involved in the FIRST ever Paratriathlon Camp organized by CAF, is the founder of the JCC Triathlon Master Program and the Kids XTeam Triathlon Club.

In 2004 he developed his own method – Inverted Training Periodisation and have since perfect it making Ironman Champions, Top 3 in 70.3 Races and many AG podiums around the World. Sergio combines his vast experience coaching athletes of all ages and abilities with a fundamental belief in the need for an individualised and realistic training plan for each athlete achieve his or her goal -- from staying healthy to becoming a champion!

What We Cover:

• The periodisation model truly needed for triathletes and it's not to whats typically focused on
• Load Consistency
• Why fitness cannot and should not be rushed
• What you have to bring to the table
•  Why neuromuscular efficiency is key to long course success
• What really needs to be focused on first
• What NEEDS to come before you add volume
• The truth about swimming and its importance in half and full iron distance racing
• Basically we chew the fat on so much more to help you be your best

Links:

Inverted Periodisation
Sergio Borges X Training on Facebook
http://www.sdxtraining.com/new/
Endurance Movie with Haile Gebrselassie

Episode #32 of the Friday Fat Black has to be one of our best and longest yet. Pete and I get the pleasure of speaking with Greg Muller of Pure-Athlete. Greg completely blows us away with his knowledge on what's truly important to get the performances you desire.

What We Cover:

• Major learnings and lessons of Performance from the military
• One of the biggest disciplines you need to acquire to ensure success
• The true foundations of Performance
• Preparation underpins everything
• Standards for Performance
• How being too strict can make performance fall away
• Why having the fundamentals are paramount
• Hyperbolic Discounting, what it is and why it matters
• How thoughts and belief systems affect performance
• The most important question we have to ask and continually ask
• Biochemical Individuality
• The two different mindsets and which one you need to have for success in sport and life
• Praxis - The integration of belief and behaviour
• The importance of critical thinking
• The two things that illicit change
• The laws of learning
• The 'tapes' we play in our head
• The Totem Pole
  • Thoughts, Breathing, Hydration, Emotions, Nutrition, Bodycare and Exercise
• Justifications - the question to really ask ourselves
• The simple breathing formula to check stress levels
• Pure Athlete products, what and why they came about
• Recovery and it's importance - especially relaxing the mind
• What counts
• And so much more

Links:

http://www.pure-athlete.com/

TriSpecific FFB listener 20% discount code: pureaust and since the payments are in euro, don't worry Greg will look after you with some bonus products. 

Pure Athlete Recovery and the Totem Pole

Book Recommendations:
Power Versus Force

Your Body's Many Cries For Water

Water Logged

You can connect with Greg via info@pure-athlete.com

Today's Friday Fat Black comes to your from Far North Queensland (FNQ) as athletes gear up for Ironman this weekend. Pete and I cover some great tips for those racing and even if you're not racing these tips are going to help you. We discuss goals, attitudes, choices, mental states and how rushing performance on race day can ultimately kill your performance.

What we cover:

• Racing Ironman
• Head Stuff, mental agility
• Were the head goes the body follows
• Are focusing on goals and outcomes hurting your performance
• Self Sabotage
• Choices
• Attitudes
• Rushing Performance
• TriSpecific's Pillars to Triathlon Success
• The #NewTarmac from Specialized and Kristian trip to the Dandenongs to ride it

Links:

• Specialized's Tarmac Rider-First Engineered™
• TS Pillars to Triathlon Success Report
• James Clear
  • jamesclear.com/marginal-gains
  • jamesclear.com/goals-systems

In episode 30 of the Friday Fat Black, Pete and I get to speak with TS and recent sub 10 hour athlete and ALL BLACKS Strength & Conditioning Coach Nicholas Gill on all things recovery. Nic understands that his athletes need to be able to work hard, recover quickly so that they adapt quickly and can get stuck back into more work. Thus creating optimal performance.

It's through this work and with multitudes of other elite athletes that Nic has a great handle on the recovery methods to use. He has also written numerous papers and peered revied journals on the subjects of compression and cold therapy.

What we cover:

• The all important recovery strategies

• The recovery KING

• What your days should start with

• Compression, the what, the how, the when, the type and the ALL BLACKS policy on them.

• Can compression garments actually hinder performance?

• When most injuries happen

• The mental side of recovery methods

• Can recovery be enhanced too much and affect the stress we want and need on the body to improve?

• Cold Baths - do they really work?

• Strategies for time poor athletes

• The 5 key things that need to be covered for optimal tissue health

• The backbone of performance … and what kills it

• Some simple things to do when your tired and to not let recovery go out the window

• Salt Baths … why?

Links:

Nicholas Gill (All Blacks S&C Coach)

Pure-Athlete

Sports Pump / Graduated Compression boots

Trigger Point Tools

Resets

Dont have a bath … how about these options

kids pools

Ants pants blow up baths

http://www.icoolsport.com/

https://www.optomo.com.au/product/inflatable-ice-bath-solo/

https://www.optomo.com.au/product/inflatable-ice-bath-team/

In todays podcast Pete and I get to interview successful age grouper, businessman and family man Ricky Jeffs of the erdigroup and Urban Hotel group.

Ricky has been involved in triathlon since 1985 and has done 15 Ironmans while running a very successful and busy business. In this episode Ricky gives us some amazing insights on both business and in Ironman. There are so many great things in this podcast you'll have to listen again and again so you can implement and thus help with your own life success. One of my favourites was getting inspired from best practice.

We Cover:

• What it takes to get more out of your race day and your sport
• What's really important
• The value of patience, working hard and being realistic with your life circumstances
• Choices
• The Schedule
• Motivation
• Goals
• That Anything is Possible in Life
• How to be ready when the stars align and what you have to do when the opportunities present themselves
• How to get stuff done in a busy life
• The benefits of a good team
• Why having a mentor is key
• A little mind hack to improve your brain!
• And so much more #moreawesome stuff.

Links:

Les Erdi Biography "Whatever It Is, This Is What It Is" 
This is the book I picked up "stole" from Urban Brisbane and if you're interested in success in life and business then get yourself a copy.

Jack Welch Book "Winning"

Urban Hotel

In todays Friday Fat Black Pete and I dive into the importance of being realistic about the goals and expectations you set yourself.

Personally I hate the saying "you have to be realistic" or "realistically, I can only ....", to me that is being  mired in mediocrity. I love Big Hairy Audacious Goals and while you could look at some not being 'realistic' right now - if you are willing to commit (you do know there is an enormous difference in being interested or being committed don't you) and give it the time, patience and dedication needed, backed with a never give up on your dreams attitude then almost anything is truly possible.

We Cover:

- How goals and expectations are a doubled edged sword

- Breaking goals into two parts: Process and Move you forward goals

- Focus and concentration

- The NEED to look at things from a neutral perspective: What are the 'facts' right now.

- Why you shouldn't judge your self worth on a workout or result

- The expectations you should start with

- Race day, how we focus on the wrong things which push us away from the goals we want.

- Life circumstances

- When to take your goals and expectations with you and when to leave the behind

- Why you choke or make stupid avoidable mistakes in a race

- and so much more

Links:

Goal Setting

Visioning

Understanding Your Why

The mindset needed to reach your goals

In todays episode of the Friday Fat Black, Pete and I talk go deep into the understanding differences in training on gender and body types and why it's important to understand.

We cover:

• Why understanding the differences on gender and body type matter
• How different body types react differently to training
• The 3 nails that athletes (namely male ones) hammer into the preverbal coffin.
• Why program structure matters
• Why guys bodies breakdown more then our female counterparts
• How we create an 'insurance policy' that allows us to train hard consistently
• Understanding that every type of training has a form of catholic and anabolic response and why they're both important in our sport
• Understand the distinct hormonal shift that occurs in training for Ironman and how to mitigate the negative effects
• What contributes to anabolic states and how they help us athletically and health wise
• What contributes to catabolic states and how they break us down
• Stress and important stress reduction techniques
• And so much more

Links:

Breathing Podcast

Resets

In this weeks FFB podcast Pete and I get the pleasure of interviewing a good friend of mine and respiration specialist and practicing Anaesthetist, coach and pretty hand athlete Andrew Sellars.

Andrew and I have know each other for about 8 years

We cover:

• The untapped potential of breathing
• Simple effective cost free techniques to improve your breathing efficiency
• The problems with breathing tools like the power lung / power breathe
• Cramping in swim
• Why breath training should be a high priority
• Understanding respiration rate and patterning
• How your respiratory system is limting your performance
• Breathing coordination
• Where real core stability comes from
• and so much more.

Links:

Find out more about Andrew
http://www.balancepointracing.com/

Bio Harness
http://www.zephyranywhere.com/products/bioharness-3/

Spiro-Tiger
- USA/Canada
- Aus/Nz
- Europe

Fact-Canada / Forum re Spiro Tiger

On todays episode of the Friday Fat Black Pete and I talk go deep in carbohydrate loading and why it's a joke and unfortunately the joke ends up on you the athlete.

Here’s what we cover:

• Why we're passionate about this topic and the basis of this rant
• The two mistakes athletes make which become show stoppers
• My story about carbo-loading
• Why feeling hungry does not mean you're lacing in energy and that racing 'hungry' is ok
• Why athletes bonk / hit the wall
• How much storage do we actually have
• Your true energy needs in taper
• Can you increase CHO energy stores in race week. Fact or Fiction?
• The long term implications and consequences of long term fuelling habits of most triathletes
• The only two places the fuel i.e. CHO can go once your muscles and liver are full
• Carbohydrate intolerance
• Weight gain in race - it's not just water
• Our bodies infinite ability to store fat bought about by carbs
• How not to feel heavy, lethargic and sick on race morning
• The two biggest mistakes athletes make in the race itself
• The true reasons nutrition companies tell you to CHO load and how much cals you 'need' per hour to prevent the dreaded bonk
• The disconnect on what all carbohydrate sources actually are
• Changing what you do week-in-week-out in race week and it's effects
• Is more better?
• What about athletes that are fat adapted and topping off muscle and liver glycogen stores
• N=1 and what that means
• Racing IM Australia next and you're still a carb dependent athlete? - what you can do next week not to negatively impact your race performance
• And so much more

On todays episode of the Friday Fat Black Pete and I talk about a whole load of different topics. 

Here's what we cover:

• Learn about the benefits of Video analysis and how we're implementing it with our coached athletes and even some of our Blueprint athletes.
• Breathing and using a Turbine
• Injury beliefs - where run injuries maybe actually coming from
• Injury prevention tips 
• Thoughts on tri shoes for the Ironman bike v road bike shoes
• #ALLERGICTOAVERAGE CAPS
• Exciting meetings I had a couple of weeks back with Specialized, Trigger Point and Craig Percival 
• More on swim mistakes
• TriSpecific Camps (July is looking locked in ... details coming)
• One of the biggest killers of performance and the psychological ramifications
• FOCUS 
• Visioning, how it works and use the whiteboard
• And more

Friday Fat Black Episode 23 - Swimming with Craig Percival

In this FFB, Pete and I get the pleasure of speaking with Craig Percival about swimming, the common mistakes and some very simple tips to help you get out of the water faster and in better shape. 

I've know Craig for a number of years through Aquashop and being around Iornman expos but wanted to get him on our podcast after seeing some success his had with athletes and especially in the swim discipline. 

I'm talking wholesale changes in swim times and this is what perked my ears up.  

Craig is not only a very good swimmer himself (now holds the 10k swim record at Ultraman Canada including days 1 and 2) but also a very good coach too. 

It's a cracking episode.

Enjoy.

We'd love it if you are getting enjoyment and great advice from our podcasts if you could give us a 5-Star rating and review on iTunes we'd be forever grateful. 

In this weeks Friday Fat Black Episode Pete and I go through a bit of a debrief of Ironman Melbourne. 

The good, the bad, the ugly. 

What were the good things we saw? 

What were the avoidable mistakes athletes were making? 

A bit of a fun FFB this week with some good tips you can take to the bank. 

Enjoy

We'd love it if you are getting enjoyment and great advice from our podcast if you could give us a 5-Star rating and review on iTunes we'd be forever grateful. 

Pete and I get the pleasure to speak to Chris 'Chicken' Chapman owner behind "The Running Company" specialised running stores around Australia.

Chris brings a wealth of knowledge to the table and we discuss the differences in running for Ironman triathlon and straight running. 

The intricacies of shoes choice and athlete and how to ensure you get the right shoe for you. 

We look at common mistakes and a whole lot more. 

Kudos to Chris for recording this with us the morning after racing Ironman Melbourne. 

Friday Fat Black Episode 20 - Why Repetition Works

In todays episode Pete and I go through the 6 main reasons why repetition is SO important to realising your potential in Ironman. 

We tie it in with some game changing sessions thoughts.

Enjoy. 

Friday Fat Black Episode 19 - Mojo and Ironman Melbourne Race Week

Lost your mojo? Pete and I talk about mojo and the steps to get it back.

We go through race week and race day to give you some solid tips to be your best. 

In this weeks Friday Fat Black, Pete and I go into the art of the Ironman taper and continue on with mistakes we see in the lead up to the race and in race week itself. 

Today Pete and I go into talking the real starting point on fitness that most athletes neglect. Why?Because it's not really that sexy or could be considered boring. But it keeps you injury free and consistent which is the backbone of ultimate performance. 

We also touch on 3 areas you need to be looking if you have any sort of lower leg injury.

And finally we cover some listener QNA. 

It's a ripper of a podcast. 

Enjoy

Friday Fat Black Episode 16 - Belief

Today Pete and I talk about Belief. The mind is powerful when used in the right way and will help you make huge gains in training, racing and life. 

Enjoy.

Friday Fat Black Episode 15 - The Critical Focuses Leading into Ironman Melbourne

This week Pete and go into depths in discussing all those critical aspects you need to have dialled in over this next 5 weeks leading into Ironman Melbourne. 

Or any race really. 

We cover consistency, sleep, nutrition, hydration, recovery protocols and removal of stressors.

Again we cover all things that will improve your Ironman triathlon game.