Craig Alexander's 5 Top Tips for Running Faster Off the Bike

TriDot Podcast Episode 249

Craig Alexander's 5 Top Tips for Running Faster Off the Bike

Announcer: This is the TriDot Podcast. TriDot uses your training data and genetic profile combined with predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to optimize your training, giving you better results in less time with fewer injuries. Our podcast is here to educate, inspire and entertain. We'll talk all things triathlon with expert coaches and special guests. Join the conversation and let's improve together.

Andrew Harley: Welcome to the TriDot podcast. In our 249th episode, two very remarkable things are happening. Number one, we are talking about my literal favorite thing about triathlon, running off the bike. I love it. I love it. And remarkable thing number two is who is here to coach us on running off the bike. Our first guest is five time world champion, Craig Alexander. Craig started his professional triathlon career in 1995 and sealed himself as a legend of the sport with three World Championship wins in Kona, two 70.3 IRONMAN World Championship titles and 12 Australian Champion titles. He is known to the triathlon world as Crowie and to the rest of the world as a recipient of the Order of Australia Medal OAM for service to sport and the community. He is the founder and head coach of Sans Ego Tri Club, now in its 10th year as a club which is powered by TriDot. Craig, so thrilled to have you with us. Welcome to your very first TriDot podcast.

Craig Alexander: Thanks, Andrew. Wow, what a long intro.

Andrew: What an intro. Had to cover at least some of what you've accomplished in this sport.

Craig: Well, I appreciate it mate, and I appreciate the invite to come on and have a chat today.

Andrew: Also joining us for this conversation today is professional triathlete and TriDot coach Elizabeth James. Elizabeth is a USA Triathlon Level 2 and IRONMAN youth Certified coach who quickly rose through the triathlon ranks using TriDot. From a beginner to top age grouper to a professional triathlete. She is a Kona and Boston Marathon qualifier who has coached triathletes with TriDot since 2014 and has competed in the pro field since 2019. Elizabeth, thanks for joining me and Crowie to talk about succeeding in our runs off the bike.

Elizabeth James: Well, it is always great to be here, so thanks again for having me on.

Andrew: I am Andrew, the average triathlete, voice of the people and captain of the middle of the pack, the slowest one on today's podcast by a long shot. As always, we will roll through our warmup question and settle in for our main set conversation running off the bike and then we'll wind things down with Vanessa taking over the show for our cooldown. She'll get our coach cool down tip of the week. Lots of good stuff. Let's get to it.

Warm Up Question

Announcer: Time to warm up. Let's get moving.

Andrew: If you have the right kind of personality to enjoy triathlon, chances are you have the right kind of personality to enjoy loads of other sports and activities as well. But that doesn't mean that we want to try every type of fitness activity or sport under the sun. And today, as our warmup question, I want to know one sport, outdoor activity or fitness activity that you have zero interest in ever trying. Elizabeth James, you're up first. What's this for you?

Elizabeth: This is an easy answer for me. I'd say skydiving, cliff diving. Like, anything that involves heights and falling, I'm out, like, zero interest whatsoever.

Andrew: Yeah, I'm with you, Craig. Would you do either of those?

Craig: Elizabeth, you've just stolen my thunder, because I was going to say the same thing. I'm not fond of heights, so skydiving, bungee jumping, you can count me out.

Andrew: Yeah, whatever is categorized as it. I mean, it's like I'm perfectly happy standing on the edge of this cliff and being happy there. I'm perfectly happy being in a plane and not jumping out of it.

Elizabeth: Happy on the edge of the cliff. Like, even that to me is too much. So let's just stay, you know, ground level. That sounds better.

Andrew: Yep. So Craig, that's your exact answer today as well. Is anything involving heights?

Craig: Everything Elizabeth just said, 100% not fond of heights at all.

Andrew: This actually was going to be my answer as well. So just so we don't have a total across the board sweep, I think I can give something else. The other one I'll give is it's going to be an absolute no for me to go scuba diving. And I love the water, I love swimming, I love being out there, I love snorkeling. I actually had, I think I've shared this one other time in the podcast a ways back. I lost my hearing in one ear like five years ago. Just totally randomly, that ear was just like, I'm done, I'm gonna stop working. And so I'm just really protective of my other ear now. And so just the idea, like, before that, scuba diving, sure, I'm in. But after that, I'm just really protective of my ear. And so just the pressure changes that come along with scuba diving and going under however many feet you're going. I am perfectly happy being 2, 3 feet on the surface of the water and never going any deeper for the sake of my ear. So that's me giving an answer that is not skydiving or bungee jumping or anything else height related. Because we're all in agreement on that, right? All in agreement across the board. Guys, we're going to throw this question out to you, our podcast audience. You can find the warm up question in a number of places. I will post this question to the I Am TriDot Facebook group. I will post this question to the podcast tab in the TriDot community hub. And I believe our social media team is going to throw this question out as an insta story on Instagram covering all of our bases so we can make sure we find out what your answer to this question is. What is one outdoor activity or sport or fitness endeavor that you're like, no way. I'm out. Zero chance. Not going to do it. Can't wait to hear what you have to say.

Main Set

Announcer: On to the main set. Going in 3, 2, 1.

Andrew: TriDot pool school is the best way for triathletes to learn proper swim form and it is now the official swim program of IRONMAN. The TriDot coaching team spent years on the pool deck crafting functional freestyle and it has already helped hundreds of triathletes improve their swim by an average of 12%. As soon as an athlete registers for TriDot Pool School, they are given a series of dry land exercises to help build crucial muscle memory long before the in person weekend. The weekend workshop is an engaging blend of instruction, demonstrations and drills with frequent breaks to rest and reflect. You'll be grouped with swimmers of a similar ability and taught step by step how to turn your muscle memory into full stroke swimming that's smooth and fast. TriDot Pool school is for everyone. We've had entry level triathletes, back of the packers, mid packers, some elite age groupers, and even a couple of pro triathletes ready to jump in. There are pool schools available all over the country and it's spreading around the world. Head to tridot.com/poolschool and sign up today. We'll make sure that link is in the description for today's show. And most importantly, Craig and Elizabeth for me, no scuba diving, no going too deep in the water at TriDot Pool School so I could get along with it just fine. Nothing else in our sport can prepare you for that moment where for the very first time you climb off a perfectly good bike that you've been riding and immediately go for a run. It's a weird feeling. A very specific, weird feeling. But thankfully, running off the bike is an aspect of triathlon where we can dramatically improve over time. And here to help us do that, our coach, Craig Alexander and coach Elizabeth James. Craig actually has his five top tips that he's brought today for running stronger off the bike. I can't wait to hear them. Elizabeth's gonna comment on them. But Craig, before we get to those five tips, I can't have somebody with your legendary status on the show for the very first time and not get a few good triathlon stories out of you. So let's start with your start in the sport. Take us back to your very first triathlon. What was it, where was it, why did you try it and how did it go?

Craig's First Triathlon

Craig: It was 1994. I was 21. So came to the sport a little late. I was at university. And my best mate at uni was an accomplished cyclist, like a pro level cyclist. And he used to do triathlons for cross training. So I was always badgering him with questions about the races, where he'd do them. And I'd played soccer pretty much my whole childhood for 15 years, but I'd recently given it up and I was doing what we now call aquathlons. We used to call them biathlons, which are basically just swim run races. So I'd been doing those for about six months. And yeah, I was just sitting next to Pete, my buddy, and he was saying, you know, there's a triathlon this Sunday, and it was Thursday. There's a triathlon on this Sunday. I said, mate, I don't even have a bike. So he said, I can help you get set up there. We literally went out that afternoon and bought a secondhand bike and I went and raced. It was a race only about 15 miles from where I now live in southern Sydney, beautiful part of the city. Sprint distance race. I didn't look the part. Certainly I had a secondhand bike. I didn't even have clip-in shoes. I just had these tennis sort of cross training shoes. Yeah, I loved it. I think I swam and ran okay. Didn't bike the best, but I finished third or fourth in my age group. And I just remember loving it, loved the whole experience. Swimming in the ocean, being outside. There were about 2,000 people in the race. It felt like the whole world went past me on the bike. But I picked up a few in the run and yeah, just got bitten by the bug. So that was the start.

Andrew: Yeah. I'm curious, Craig, like, knowing now how your career unfolded and how successful in triathlon you became world champion several times. That buddy that kind of first introduced you to the sport, does he ever poke you and kind of try to take partial credit for your accomplishments?

Craig: No, he's been one of—he's still a good mate and one of my greatest supporters. He came over to Kona to watch me race there one year, and he doesn't want to take any of the credit. He's a very quiet and humble man. He was the reason I got into it. He was an awesome cyclist, a smart guy. We were studying for a science degree, and I later went on to a physiotherapy degree. But, yeah, no, he doesn't take any credit. He should.

Andrew: I would. Yeah, I would. If I were him. At least a little bit. I mean, you still have to go out there and do the thing, but if I pointed you in that direction, I would let people know more often than he probably does. But, Craig, earlier in the show, I very quickly mentioned just some of your accomplishments and just an absolute storied career that we'll just scratch part of the surface of in our time today. But, you know, three wins in Kona, two 70.3 world titles, 12 national titles, and a whole lot more from all of those race days in your time in the sport. Which one race would you say you're the most proud of today?

Craig's Most Proud Race

Craig: Looking back, that's a tough question. It's like asking which one of your kids you love the most. Sure, it changes depending on what week you ask, but, you know, there's a race that I won in 2005. It was called the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon. It was the biggest Olympic distance race in the world that year. I just have great memories of that race for a lot of reasons. I felt like, personally, I felt validated as an athlete. I finally felt like I was getting the results and I think every athlete dreams of just racing and expressing that fitness and that form that they show in training on race day when it matters most. So I'd been doing that for a few years by then, but it was such a big occasion. Personally, our first daughter had been born. She was only eight weeks old when I won that race. So we had a lot going on. And, you know, that day I beat a lot of the best short course athletes in the world. So just fond memories for a lot of reasons, but that one, it was a great performance. But all of the races that you do in your career, and I know it's a cliche to say, but it's so true. You take different things from them. You learn something different. There's challenges that only you and the people around you know that you've had to overcome to even get on the start line that day. So a lot of the times you feel like you've won just to get to the start line before you've even had the race. And when you look back at those times, it's with fond memories because it was a real learning moment or an experience or a pivotal moment in your career. But publicly, I mean, that was a big race, the one in Minnesota, so it was probably the best pure performance of my career. So I'll go with that one.

Andrew: I love that you share that one because, again, I think it would be so obvious to talk about Kona or one of the world championships or kind of one of the headlining things on your resume. But I love hearing those stories from legendary people in our sport. That man, that's one that meant a lot to you that I didn't even know about going into this conversation. And Elizabeth, as a frequent contributor to the TriDot podcast, I'm sure she'll agree with me. We're so excited to have you working with TriDot, and I'm sure we'll have you on the show more and more to kind of get some of those stories out of you from your career. Isn't that right, Elizabeth?

Sansego Triathlon Club Origins

Elizabeth: Oh, absolutely, yes. As we continue the conversation today, I kind of want to take us from that historical career that you've had. And as your own professional racing career was beginning to wind down, you had launched the Sansego Triathlon Club, and you had started coaching triathletes. And this triathlon club is more than just coach Craig, more than just you. You've assembled a fantastic team of coaches and experts that just all pitch in to help the athletes and really lift them up to success. And one of the things that just continually blows my mind and inspires me is that since 2014, you have helped over 7,000 athletes on their triathlon journeys and have just impacted a great number of lives. As we're starting to talk about this shift in your career, what made you decide to coach, and how did this idea for the Sans Ego Triathlon Club come about?

Craig: Yeah, it just felt like a natural progression of my life at that time. And 2014, 2013, 2014, I stopped racing IRONMAN races. I mean, I kept racing as a professional right up to 2019, but the back end of my career was more short course and half IRONMANs. A lot of the athletes I was racing were actually asking me if I'd be interested in coaching them and I did. I worked with a few guys and girls, so fellow professionals and also a few of my friends who were just age groupers in the sport. I guess when you're around something a long time, if you pay attention and you have enough good people around you, you can learn a lot. So it seemed like a natural progression to move into working with other athletes. And triathlon is an individual sport. But one thing that I was always very lucky with throughout my career was I surrounded myself with good people, experts in their fields, whether it be in nutrition or strength and conditioning, mindset, equipment choices, bike fit, all those areas of performance that we all know are so important. I always had access to great people, great coaches. I came into contact with other great coaches within the sport and the whole, I guess brainchild behind Sans Ego was just why don't I just start a club or a community where any athlete of any level, whatever their aspirations, have access to a similar team to help them with whatever particular problem they're having at that moment. You know, it seems like a good idea to have that team readily available to help. And you know, these days my role with Sans Ego is more around the tri club and the online community. We run a lot of camps globally, so I go to all the camps and most of our coaches do the one on one coaching. But yeah, it just felt like a really good idea at the time and it still seems like a good idea to make that team accessible to any athlete who really has any sorts of aspirations, whatever their level and whatever their goals are within the sport.

Andrew: What I really love about it, Craig, with Sansego, what you've done is exactly what coaches are taught to do and Elizabeth knows this. I'm a USAT Level 1 certified coach. Elizabeth has gotten several more certifications than me. But we're both in conversation a lot with the folks behind IRONMAN U and the folks behind TriDot certification process. And one of the things that coaches are taught when they're coming up through the ranks and learning how to be a triathlon coach is you don't have to be the expert in everything. I mean you have relationship with the athletes, you really rah rah them and work with them, but have a nutrition expert in your corner, have a mindset person in your corner, have a physio in your corner, have somebody who knows more about strength and conditioning than you do in your corner. And with Sans Ego, that's what your athletes and your community has—it has you and your experience and your stories and everything that you know. But then there's just so many gifted people you've brought into the tent. And I think like Elizabeth mentioned, I mean, you know, 10 years into the journey, so many athletes impacted. So just what an example for any aspiring coach trying to build a community. Man, you guys have certainly done it. And celebrating your tenth year. At the time we're recording this podcast, it's the year 2024 and you're in your 10th year as a tri club working with athletes. What made now just the right time to bring TriDot training to your coaches and athletes? And what led you to working with us?

Craig: So many different things. I think you never stop learning whatever avenue of performance or whatever area of life you're in. So I'm always keen to see what are the new trends and ideas and technologies moving forward. About eight or nine years ago, I was brought in to work on a project that tried to incorporate AI into endurance training with some pretty high flying companies. And I remember at the time thinking how exciting it was and what the potential was for predictive analytics and AI that was already infiltrating a whole lot of other areas of our lives already. But at that time, eight or nine years ago, there wasn't enough dedicated focus in that project to bring it to fruition. And I remember thinking at the time, the scope of the project that we were working on, we just couldn't factor in all the variables and the things that impact training. Fast forward a few years and yeah, when I came across TriDot and what they were doing, they're at the forefront of—I mean it's been two decades of building their machine learning and their predictive analytics and inputting data. So this is not something that's just happened in the last week or two or even the last year. It's been two decades of refining a system that we already knew about 10 years ago or 20 years ago, but we just couldn't apply it the way we can now. So there were many reasons. I know that part of what I do with our community is I write static training plans, but even as I'm writing them, I see how limited they are. They don't factor in or they don't re-optimize in real time as you get sick or miss training or depending on what environment you're training in, altitude. All those things that impact our training in real time. And these are things that the training plans actually incorporate and re-optimize your training as you move through your training plan. So there were so many reasons to join and I just like to—I don't want to say I'm an innovator, but I like to be on the bandwagon of innovators for sure. So, you know, you just got to continually progress and move forward. And I just saw how limited some of the things were that we were incorporating into our community and I wanted to be able to provide our athletes the best experience in the sport and our coaches. So I love what TriDot's doing. It's at the forefront of this space right now and has just been grinding hard for two decades. That's what I love. Behind the scenes, everything that's gone into what you see now and what we see now is going to be different to what we see in six months—this space is moving so quickly. Yeah, so I just thought it was important that I made our coaches aware of what was going on and gave our athletes the opportunity to be involved with some of the best stuff that's going on in our sport right now with training. So that was really the main motivation to join up with TriDot.

Andrew: Yeah, well, we're thrilled to have you. And Elizabeth and I have been training with TriDot for years and years and years. She beat me to the punch by, I think, a year or two, so she has a little more experience. But all the things you're talking about have definitely made an impact on our fitness and our just enjoyment of the sport. And just absolutely thrilled for Sans Ego athletes to experience that and for the coaches to get their hands on it. And just to see our community growing worldwide and growing in Australia, growing in Oceania is super, super exciting. We were talking before the show. I've been to Australia one time. Elizabeth has never been. And you know, maybe if our athlete base there grows a little bit larger, we'll have some more excuses to see if Trent will send us there for one reason or another. So we'll see. But Elizabeth, you actually speaking of world traveling, were just in Spain training with Crowie and you were there—it is just so typical of Elizabeth because she's just the coolest person I know who just has the coolest life of any of my close circle of friends. But you were in Spain as part of a Sans Ego Tri Club training camp that Craig was leading. What was that training experience like for you being over there? And what did you learn specifically from Coach Craig?

Elizabeth: Oh, we do not have enough time for me to share just how amazing this opportunity was and all that I learned from Craig during my time there. But I think that answer alone should tell you, you know, provide a little insight as to just how valuable my time there truly was. I mean, we were in Mallorca and that is the most beautiful place that I have ridden my bike. And I would describe it as probably like just short of magical being out there and what I learned—so much. I think that more than anything, and Craig, this kind of goes back to what you were saying, is that the opportunity at the training camp just re-emphasized the importance of continually being a student of the sport, both as an athlete and as a coach. That, you know, there was information that I gathered from our time together there that I'm like, I've been in the sport for over 10 years. Like, how did I not think of this? Or information that maybe I already knew, such as when we were at the track and Craig, you were leading us through a dynamic warm up and a track session. But just the way that you were describing something or positioned a thought, I was like, hmm, like that's a great analogy or a great explanation that I can use with my coached athletes. So, gosh, we covered swim technique, aerodynamic advantages and technical riding skills. I got a whole lot better at descending down the mountains in our time together there. And then, you know, like implementation of lactate numbers during training where we specifically looked at how lactate readings were correlated to heart rate and how that was influenced by shoe selection. And then I had an opportunity to do a sweat test with the equipment from Precision Fuel and Hydration and just better dial in my sodium needs for training and racing. I mean I really could keep going in terms of what I learned while I was there, but I don't want to take away from our main topic and the opportunity, you know, to actually hear from Craig himself on the triathlon knowledge and running off the bike. So I'll stop. But that gives you a little taste—continued learning in the sport and a just phenomenal experience.

Andrew: Well, we may not be having this conversation from Mallorca Spain at a training camp, but I still think we can learn a few things from coach Craig about running off the bike. I'm curious just to start here with both of you as coaches—I mean, you're both very gifted at this at the professional level. And as you're talking with athletes about the runs off the bike, specifically, what makes this such a weird thing? Why is this something that people can have such a hard time getting a handle on and feeling comfortable with as they go? Craig, what do you think just makes this so much different than just going for a normal run?

Craig: Yeah, I think that the first and most obvious answer is you're already fatigued from cycling or from swimming and cycling by the time you hit the run. So that impacts on your ability to hold pace, hold form, be efficient. So that's the first thing, the fatigue that's already built up. I think the second thing is, you know, we all experience those jelly legs or that awkward, uncoordinated feeling the first few steps when we hop off the bike. So when we're cycling and we stop and we immediately start running, our body has to modify our muscle firing patterns. Our muscles work differently between those two disciplines. Certain muscles become more important than others and work harder than others. So our body has to very quickly change our muscle firing patterns and redirect blood flow to the muscles that are now doing most of the work. So I think that leads to that awkward sort of uncoordinated sensation. So that's different to fresh running. That's the second thing. And the third thing is I think just that lightheaded or strange sensation we feel mentally when you hop off the bike. I think when you're cycling it's non-weight bearing. You go to running, it's a weight bearing activity. I think your heart rate spikes as soon as you hop off the bike and it takes a minute or two to sort of normalize and plateau out. So again, that's something very different to fresh running. So that lightheaded sort of strange sensation which I think comes from changing from a non-weight bearing to a weight bearing activity. So they're the three main changes, I think, or differences between just running fresh as opposed to running off the bike.

Andrew: Elizabeth, for you, as you're talking with your athletes, anything in addition to what Craig said there about what you find to be a struggle for athletes and getting good at running off the bike?

Elizabeth: I mean, echoing what Craig said, the physical demands of cycling place a significant amount of stress on the muscles depleting the glycogen stores. One of the things that I have found to be kind of an additional hurdle for some athletes is just the mental fatigue that they've been going for hours and hours and they're like, oh my gosh, how do I keep this up? How do I stay engaged? I'm ready to be done. This hurts, I'm tired. What am I supposed to do to keep myself going? And so there are all of those physical changes that happen when we're going from being seated on the bike to upright to the run. But then there's also just that fact that we've been going for a long time. And your body needs to not only cope with those changes, but mentally, you have to be aware that this is happening. It's going to be okay. It feels funny, but I can hang on to this. And so that mental component becomes a big part of it as well.

Andrew: Yeah, no, very, very true. And I'm excited. So we've got coach Craig Alexander's five top tips for running faster off the bike. And so we're going to flow through these. Craig will share, Elizabeth will tack on, and they'll move on from tip to tip to tip. And it's going to be really great. So Craig, your tip number one for running faster off the bike is: Stronger is faster. Simple words, short words packed with a lot of meaning. Talk to us about this, Craig. Stronger is faster.

Tip #1: Stronger is Faster

Craig: Well, before I get to the first tip, I think it's important to say that as you progress through your triathlon journey, your training journey, wherever you are, as you accumulate what we call more aerobic conditioning or base fitness, more endurance, more strength, there'll be a natural progression in your improvement across the board in all aspects of your triathlon, including your running off the bike. Of course, there are always things that we can do intentionally to accelerate that process and that's what we're talking about today. And that's where the tips came from. Some targeted ideas to improve your running off the bike.

Andrew: Yeah, great point.

Craig: The first one is—yeah, the first one is the strength aspect. I mean, I think triathlon is a strength based sport. Strength in all of the disciplines helps. I know certainly when I improved my specific running strength, I don't think it was any coincidence my running off the bike started to sort of mirror what my running performance fresh was like. So I'm talking about intentionally incorporating very regularly and consistent strength work into your weekly training program. The first thing is I think run specific strength. So hills, I always incorporated hills, even in my easier endurance runs. That doesn't mean you have to sprint up every hill if it's an easier sort of zone two run. But I would always incorporate hills in there, that just extra resistance. But I would also do hill reps, hill repeats, depending on what time of year it was at least once a week, usually once a week all year. So if it was a shorter, steeper hill, it could be something like 8 by 200 meter repeats. If it was a longer, less steep hill, say 3 to 5% incline, it could be something like three minute duration repeats, six or eight of those. So do a warmup and then hit some targeted hill reps. So that's the first thing I think you can do to build really good run specific strength. The second thing I did was weight training in the gym. There are a lot of exercises in the gym where the strength gains transfer very well into the real world of swim, bike and run. So I would always get an expert strength and conditioning coach, particularly someone who had experience working with endurance athletes. Because I think it's important when you're lifting weights in the gym, particularly heavier weights, technique is crucial. The technique that you use is very important and the way you progress your plan is important. And also each of us, we're all individual athletes, we have different areas of strength and weakness so we may have to target different areas. So having someone oversee your plan and make sure that you're targeting the right areas and also maintaining the right technique is very important. So there are a lot of exercises. I will say that depending on what time of year it was, if my season was usually March, April through to October, so if it's November, December, and I'm in that period where I'm really trying to gain strength and work on strength, I could be in the gym three times a week lifting much heavier weights. My routine had quite a bit of variety, but generally the staples were front and back squats, inclined leg press, hamstring curls, a lot of single leg activity, step ups, step downs, lunges. And as race season would approach, I'd get a little more specific with sort of more complex combined movements and faster movements like power cleans and plyometrics, box jumps, those exercises that build explosivity and stiffness into your muscles. So the take home message is work on your specific run strength because there will be a knock on effect and improvement in your running off the bike. When you're lifting in the gym, get an expert to help you oversee your program. Typically when we're targeting strength, we're lifting heavier and then later on when we're getting more into the specific part of our race season, it's more maintenance. So it could be one to two sessions a week of lighter weights at that point. But yeah, target your strength, get it into your program regularly.

Andrew: Absolutely love this, Craig. And I just know personally just talking with different TriDot coaches, there are several TriDot coaches that will, if there's a certain athlete where they know is on the verge of some sort of performance breakthrough or has a big goal, they might recruit—hey, I've got this strength and conditioning coach that I'm good friends with. I'm going to send you to them, have them write a custom plan for you. And because of this breakthrough, we're trying to usher in for you as an athlete. So I know of some coaches that have done that for their athletes because of exactly what you're talking about, how specific it needs to be for who you are and where you are. Elizabeth, for you, I know you do a lot of strength stuff in your own routine and work with your athletes on this. What do you think about working on getting stronger to help improve your run off the bike specifically?

Elizabeth: I mean 100%. And I've seen this not only in my personal performance but also with the athletes that I've had the privilege to work with. And as you mentioned, I mean Dr. BJ Leeper has been instrumental in working with me and saying, okay, what are the targeted exercises that you specifically need to do? And that has helped, I mean in terms of injury prevention. And then when I did have an injury, really making sure that we looked at, okay, kind of what was the cause of this and what can we do to strengthen those areas so something like this doesn't happen again. I can come back stronger. I can really assess any inefficiencies and it's amazing to see the performance gains that can come from very targeted and very structured, well programmed strength workouts. And I just am a huge proponent for it. I recommend it for all my coached athletes.

Andrew: Tip number two for running off the bike is to stop fighting your body. And Craig, I absolutely know what it means to stop fighting your body on the swim. That's a problem for me. But when we're running, what do you mean by this to stop fighting your body?

Craig: Sounds very combative, doesn't it?

Andrew: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Craig: Possibly I should have called it just preparing your body to run well off the bike. So I'm talking about core stability, core strength, core activation. Anyone who's listened to me talk before knows I'm a huge proponent of it. I just talk about it all the time. I think it's very important in triathlon performance, again, across the board, to have a stable foundation for our force production and so that we're not wasting energy. It makes us more efficient. And in the end, endurance events are about efficiency. They're often not about speeding up, they're about not slowing down. So having a great platform or foundation is very, very important. I mean, we can't talk about running off the bike without talking about the bike first and our position on the bike. So, you know, in particular that time trial or aerodynamic position that we all assume in our races or in our training that we have to hold for hours on end. Sometimes it's a similar position to sitting at a desk or on an airplane or in a car. Our posterior muscles are sort of in that lengthened, weakened position. The front of our body, our hip flexors are closed off and tight. So having a great foundation, having awesome core stability and core activation helps us hold that position, which has implications for bike performance. But to run well off the bike, we need to immediately be able to hop off the bike and assume a really nice running posture upright and be able to access a full range of hip extension. All great runners off the bike can access a full range of hip extension almost immediately. So that's where these exercises will help. So the tip here is just to—again, it's to incorporate core stability routine into your weekly routine. I used to do these exercises every day. What I would suggest is three to four times a week is a great place to start. You'll see improvements almost immediately. To improve your compliance, you don't have to go anywhere. These are simple exercises you can do at home. I used to have a yoga mat, a Swiss ball, a step, some stretch cords. That's all you really need. You can Google these exercises, there's thousands and thousands of them. But I would suggest doing it two to four times a week for 15 to 30 minutes is a great place to start. And there's four main exercises which my routine was comprised of: what I used to call the dead bug position—you're on your back, you're turning on your deep abdominals or your transverse abdominals. That's one. Another one is plank position, the third one is hip bridging, and the fourth one is lunges, which again, there's crossover with what I talked about before. They're a very important exercise. So a lot of these exercises just start very simply as static holds or isometric contractions. If we take a plank, for instance, just holding a static plank for 30 seconds, resting for 20 seconds, repeating that three or four times—all these exercises start with static holds or isometric contractions. And then as we progress or get more proficient, you can bring in alternating single leg movements, more complex movements, more dynamic movements. Again, Google these exercises, they're very easy to find, but the key point is to start very simply if you've never done them before, and make sure you're mastering the technique and doing them correctly so you're using the muscles the right way. And then once you've mastered or become proficient, then we start progressing and leveling up. But yeah, the point is just to get started with them. Get your core strong, get it stable, get it activated and turned on, and also load your muscles dynamically through range. Like if we use a lunge as an example, when we sink into a lunge, that back leg is taking our hip flexor while still contracting right to the end of range of hip extension, which is such a crucial thing to be able to do to run effectively off the bike. So, yeah, tip number two—incorporate some core stability and prepare your body to run well off the bike.

Andrew: Yeah, and just bringing awareness to what our posture is in that run form. And how quickly can we get into a good run posture? Never—that's, again, I'm always giggling about how weird I feel when I start that run. I'm never thinking about, I'm never being mindful with my posture. So really, really great tip there and some great homework for everybody to do. Looking up those four tips and making sure you're doing them. Coach Elizabeth, when it comes to running off that bike, how do you feel about this tip? To not fight your body and to be mindful of your posture?

Elizabeth: Posture is so important. And when I first saw this tip, one of the things that came to my mind—and Craig, you'll have to correct me if this is a little bit in left field and not correct—but I thought of it too, in terms of like, you need to be tall, strong, but also relaxed. That I see a lot of athletes that are just, I mean, tense. Their shoulders are way up by their ears, and they're like, they just went—

Andrew: To war on the bike for 56 to 112 miles. And—

Elizabeth: Yeah, and so, you know, just to, like, move well and be able to relax a little bit into it. I mean, I know it's not relaxing at all, so that's probably not the right word. But yeah, like work with your body. You're not working against it. Like allow the body to move how we've trained it to. And I just, yeah, you can see as people come off the bike, those that are kind of fighting with their body and those that are relaxed and just kind of flowing with it.

Andrew: Yeah, absolutely. It's so true. And watching somebody—a lot of the pros have great form off the bike, but even the age groupers, right, like when you see somebody just flowing out of T2, it's beautiful. Like, good run form in that moment is really striking. So coach Craig moving us on to tip three for running faster off the bike. This is building with bricks, the famous triathlon brick workout. I personally love a good brick session. Not everybody does, but Craig, talk to us about why they're so vital to running well off the bike.

Craig: Yeah, I just think running off the bike is a very specific skill which can improve with specific practice, like most skills. So what we're talking about is breaking down and isolating an activity and really just focusing on and working on a key part of that activity that we're trying to improve. In this case the transition from biking to running. So I think it's pretty well recognized that brick sessions—all runs off the bike form the staple of most great run training plans. So bricks are important. I used to have two main styles of brick sessions. Again, depending on what event I was training for and also what time of the year it was. The first was just what I would call an endurance brick session. Again, this was a session that I would probably do most weeks of the year. For argument's sake, if we're talking about a 70.3 race, it could be a 4 hour zone 2 bike ride with some undulating terrain or hills, followed by a 45 minute zone 2 run off the bike. Usually once a week, sometimes twice a week. If it's again December, January, and I'm sort of in that preparation phase before I'm getting more specific with my training. So that's brick session type number one. The second one is what I would call a race simulation. Again, we're very specific in targeting the exact event we're training for and there's a lot more of an intensity focus in this type of session. So again, let's use 70.3 as an example. One of my 70.3 race simulations could be 2 to 3 hour ride, which may include something like 4 to 6, 15-minute efforts in the back half of that bike ride right on my target intensity for 70.3 racing, which was usually around 4.5 to 4.7 watts per kilo. For those people listening who love their numbers.

Andrew: Plenty do. Plenty do.

Craig: Yeah. So I would incorporate, for argument's sake, let's say six 15-minute efforts at that intensity level off a three or four minute recovery cycle and then go straight into a 30 minute run off the bike, again right at my targeted 70.3 intensity level. So if I'm running on a treadmill, that would be somewhere between 3:15 to 3:20 minutes per km. So again, a very specific session that's targeting the intensity that we're going to be operating at in the race for quite a long duration. So it's a way of preparing our body to do the race without actually having to do the whole race. I think it's a great session. I would only do it once a week at most and pretty much in my real specific lead up. It's certainly not a session you do each week, all year. And it's also a perfect session to practice our race nutrition.

Andrew: Not wanting to go off on a tangent, but so true.

Craig: But it combines that duration of volume and intensity specific to a race. So, but yeah, that's the second style of brick session. And yeah, get them in your race plan regularly, particularly the race simulation later in your race prep.

Andrew: Moving us on to Craig Alexander's tip number four for running faster off the bike. Oh man, this is a good one—pace with patience. Easy to say, hard to get right. Craig, how do we pace with patience in these runs off the bike?

Craig: Well, that's the big question, isn't it? I mean, I think most of us recognize that—do what TriDot tells you.

Andrew: Run the pace TriDot tells you to run.

Craig: Do as I say, not as I do. Yeah, I think most of us would appreciate that. The way we bike is impacted by our swim in the race and our run in the race is impacted by the way we swim and bike. So you can have all the run fitness in the world, but you're not going to tap in and access that full run fitness and potential unless you swim and bike the right way. We only have so much energy to spend and it's an endurance event and that's why we train the way we do, trying to improve our thresholds in the three disciplines. Of course, our performance in each of the disciplines is worked out as a percentage of threshold. So the higher your threshold in each discipline, the higher percentage of that you're going to be able to operate at. And that's, you know, not wanting to wrap the whole principle of training up into 30 seconds—

Andrew: But yeah, I love the way you said that.

Craig: That's how we train. Yeah, that's how we train. And our pacing in the race is very, very important. I think we'd all appreciate that. There's no miracles on race day. The way we prescribe our intensity in training—some of us use heart rate, sometimes on the bike it's power, other times it's rate of perceived exertion, which is a good way to train. I think there's a lot of research that shows that experienced athletes can use subjective measures really effectively to consistently prescribe intensity. Whatever it is, the key point is to know your number, to know your ceiling, what level you can operate at for a sustained period of time, which in essence is what we're talking about doing in these endurance events. So that's the first part of the equation. The knowing is one thing, the doing is another thing. I mean, there's such a huge emotional and psychological component to racing that is completely separate to our physical capabilities. I mean, we all know what it feels like to dream about getting to a race. Maybe it takes a year to qualify, maybe it takes 10 years. It could take a whole career to get to a race. You finally get to a place like Kona. You've been training hard for years. You're tapered, you've got your new bike, your new equipment. Early in the race, you're tapered, you're fresh. It's very easy to overbike. So I guess the key messages here is know your numbers and then be disciplined enough to stick to them. Sometimes the dynamic within the race is such that I know in pro racing, and Elizabeth can speak to this, at the start of the swim or the start of the bike, you get out quick to establish position and rhythm. And so sometimes you go over threshold, but then recover at threshold. And if that's the dynamic of the race that you're in, you have to train specifically for that. But the pacing is—know your numbers and then be disciplined enough to try and stick to them. It'll make the back end of your race a lot more pleasant.

Andrew: I really love this tip. Elizabeth James, what do you have to add here about pacing properly to have a good run off the bike?

Elizabeth: I just remember in my very first IRONMAN, IRONMAN Wisconsin, 2015, I mean, running by people that were walking in groups talking about the great bike splits they had. And that just always stuck with me. It's like, okay, good for you. Like, you know, yeah, you did that. And now you're going to walk a marathon. Now I understand, you know, there's instances where that might be appropriate for an athlete. And there's other circumstances, injuries, I get that. But just in general, know your numbers. And then as Craig was saying, be disciplined enough and confident enough to stick with that. Like, it's your race, it's your plan. Be confident in what you've done in training that you can feel good about executing the plan that you have in place. So, yeah, know your numbers, stick to them. Be patient, be disciplined, be confident.

Andrew: Craig Alexander's tip number five for running faster off the bike is to fuel methodically. This is the part where we all get to snack while we exercise, so everyone's ears should be perking up. Craig, how do we fuel methodically for these runs off the bike?

Craig: Nutrition is a very extensive topic. It probably deserves its own podcast. I guess, for the point of talking about its impact on running off the bike—again, sort of ties in with what we were just talking about with pacing. If you overbike, you pay for it in the run. If you don't pay particular attention to your nutrition, not only early in the race, but in the weeks leading up to the race, you'll pay for it in your run off the bike. So it can impact in a negative way your run off the bike. So, I mean, if we break down a race, you don't really get an opportunity to fuel during the swim. So you want to make sure you hit the start line fully fueled up and hydrated—not overdo it, but fully fueled up and hydrated. When I used to come out of the swim, again, we talk about these transitions, you have a sort of a weird feeling. I'd always leave it three or five minutes, just let my body settle in and normalize. But then I'd get into my nutrition plan early on the bike ride, thinking about running off the bike. I'm trying to set the table for not only the back half of the bike ride, but also the marathon or the half marathon or the 10K that's to come. So I think with nutrition, it's important to understand that, again, things that you do early in the race can impact your running off the bike. We can't just talk about running off the bike and exclude things that happen before we get to that point in the race. So that's what I'm talking about when I'm talking about fueling early in the race or fueling methodically. But again, it's a know your numbers thing. I mean, Elizabeth talked about having a sweat test over in Mallorca. You know, we're all individuals. Our demands are different, particularly at different intensities and in different environments. I mean, individually, my sweat rate in a hot, humid environment like Kona will be different to a cooler race like Taupo in New Zealand. So the key point I would make here is if you get the opportunity and they're readily accessible, have a sweat test. You'll work out your fluid loss per hour, your electrolyte loss per hour, and your carbohydrate burn rate per hour at a particular intensity. And that's very important. But from there, they can use different formulas to extrapolate at higher or lower intensities and also in different—I mean, they'll note what the heat and humidity was when you performed your sweat test, but that can be extrapolated to hotter or cooler climates. So it's just very important to know what your losses are. That's a very individualized thing, but it's important. You want to fuel early in your ride once you settle down after hopping on the bike and set yourself up for a really good marathon or half marathon or 10K, whatever it is that's coming. But it's too late to start thinking about fueling your effort by the time you hit the run. It's the same with pacing. It's something that's got to be front of mind from the start. If you're worried about your run off the bike, then you need to be worried about your pacing at the start of the bike. And it's exactly the same thing with nutrition. So that would be my trying to keep it short and sweet and not go off and start a new podcast. But another thing I would say is, again, and we talked about it, I think you mentioned it earlier, Andrew, is that a great place to practice your nutrition plan is in your race simulation. So that brick session that's in your training—you have an opportunity each week, particularly that race sim, that's a higher intensity that more simulates the race. But also listen to your body. I mean, no two races that I did throughout my career, the nutrition plan was exactly the same. We're a different athlete even in the same location. Twelve months on, our fitness levels are different. Our metabolism may be a little different. So have a plan, but have some flexibility within that plan. And don't overdo the fueling as well. I think that's a big tendency that we all have as athletes just to take on board too much. Stick to the plan, know what works, have confidence in it, and run with it on race day.

Andrew: And man, just to dial in what you want to do on race day. Everything you said, Craig, is just spot on the money. You've got to have that run in mind while you're on the bike on race day for a number of reasons. Coach Elizabeth James, what do you want to add here on tip number five from coach Craig on running faster off the bike?

Elizabeth: I guess I just re-emphasize, like, you know, fuel according to your energy needs, not what your training partner's doing, not what your favorite pro is doing, not what the person in front of you grabbed at the aid station. And this is where knowing you, knowing your numbers, knowing your plan, dialing that in ahead of time and then sticking to it on race day, again with a little flexibility, but knowing what you're going to do and what works well for your body to really make sure that you're fueled well for the entire event.

Andrew: Yeah, I love the addition from Craig, just the reminder that even you are not the same athlete you were 12 months ago at the same race. And so just kind of taking stock as you're getting ready for that race. Okay, like, who am I this year? What are my needs this year? And I've never heard that said. And I'm sure at this point, episode 249 of the podcast, we've got at least a dozen or two about nutrition. And I haven't heard that said, like, just a reminder—man, my last IRONMAN, my last full distance IRONMAN was three or four years ago. Now if I signed up for one for next year, I'm not the same athlete. I don't have the same nutrition needs I had four or five years ago. Anyway, I loved that additional point, Craig. I've never heard that said before. Landing a plane on this main set. Before we transition to our coach cooldown tip of the week, I just want to ask you both one final question. You're both just so gifted at running off the bike. You know, Craig, for you on a world champion level, Elizabeth, for you on the professional level in today's pro field. So I just kind of want to hear from both of you in your own words. And then we'll shut down and we'll transition to the cool down. When you are on the race course and you're bringing your bike into T2, you're hopping off the bike, you're going through the motions of your transition, you're lacing up those running shoes, you're slipping on those running shoes and exiting to the run course—what was Craig Alexander in his racing days thinking about in that moment, focusing on in that moment? And EJ, I'll have you answer, and we'll shut it down with Crowie. How about that? So, Elizabeth, for you, what are you thinking about? At the time of recording this, you just raced over the weekend, so it should be fresh in your head when you hit the run course. What are you focused on?

Elizabeth: For me, I'm excited. Like, I get out of T2, I'm like, oh, it's game time. It's my favorite part of the triathlon. And, you know, I'm coming out of T2 ready, ready to go. You know, not out of control. We're still pacing patiently, as we've talked about in the tips, but the whole day has been about setting myself up for a strong run. I mean, the strong run is what I'm banking on. That's the strongest discipline for me. And so what I've been doing all day is setting myself up for that. So pacing myself appropriately, fueling well, breathing well. And then for the run itself, it's small wins throughout and then building positive momentum. So, you know, mile one—am I hitting my race pace? Yep. Great. That's a win. You know, moving on. Mile two—is my effort in check? Am I fueling? Am I hydrating? What can I control in this moment to put me in a position to be strong? So kind of one mile at a time. And for me, building on positive momentum works. That's the mental mindset that if things are going well, I continue to build on that and see more positive. So, yeah, game time. And then what positivity can I garner from each mile of the run?

Andrew: Coach Craig, in your pro racing days, same question to you. What is going through your head when you exit T2 on the run?

Craig: I loved—first of all, I just love what EJ said about winning the little battles, breaking it down into bite sized pieces. I think that's a really nice mindset. But for me it was something that EJ also talked about earlier. Relaxation. My mantra was relax at speed. Relax at speed. That was the thought I had in the front of my mind at the start of the run and pretty much throughout the whole run. And also technical cues, cadence, turnover. I'd always think about maintaining my cadence, maintaining my turnover and relaxing. It was pretty simple. I liked—you know, I think as we get better at a lot of skills in life, whatever it might be, driving, whatever, they become more subconscious and you're almost on autopilot. But I always like to have some technical cues. And yeah, relaxing at speed was one. And cadence or turnover was something I would often think about during the run.

Cool Down

Announcer: Great set, everyone. Let's cool down.

Vanessa Ronksley: Hey everyone, it's cool down time. And I'm Vanessa, your average triathlete with elite level enthusiasm. Our TriDot coach in the house is Greg McAuley. Greg has an abundance of triathlon experience both in racing and in coaching. He has stepped on the podium 20 times and has completed over 80 tries in the last decade. If you had asked him in 2007 if this is what he could expect of his future, he would have been in complete disbelief because at that time he was living a pretty unhealthy lifestyle. Triathlon changed everything for Greg. The support, the camaraderie of the community—it all had him hooked. And now he loves sharing everything he has learned with his athletes. His coaching specialties include helping his athletes develop mental strength, everything to do with cycling, and simplifying the process because as you know, triathlon can get pretty complicated. Greg currently lives in Texas with his wife of 35 years. He has three adult children and three grandchildren. Welcome to the show, Greg.

Greg McAuley: Thank you. And thank you for having me. I'm humbled and excited to be able to share a tip or two.

Vanessa: Well, we are very excited to have you on the show today. And what tip can you share with us?

Greg: I believe that less is more when it comes to tire pressure.

Vanessa: Okay.

Greg: I'm known in my close circles for running about as low tire pressures as you can physically handle. You know, there are—I use a particular app where I dial in the weight of my bicycle, the size of the tires, the width of the tires and it spits out what my weight—and it spits out what the front and rear tire pressure should be. And I ran tubeless tires for about two years on one of my bicycles and you can obviously operate at a much lower pressure. So I'm a big fan of trying to reduce resistance, to be able to go faster on the bike. I'm an average to above average swimmer. I'm a pretty slow runner. But, you know, where—what's enabled me to be successful, especially at shorter distances, is being able to excel on the bike. And running at a lower tire pressure helps reduce rolling resistance. And there's been, you know, obviously, a multitude of data out there and information out there. So my suggestion to everyone is to find out or do your research and find out what not only the recommended tire pressure is, but just what the suggested tire pressure is at various apps. And then, you know, through trial and error through training. Don't try that on race day for the first time, running 20 psi lower than you normally do. But suggest trying to find out what that optimum pressure for both your front and rear tires are right now.

Vanessa: Is this relatively new that people are going towards having a lower tire pressure?

Greg: Yeah. With the advent—manufacturer or tire manufacturers have been manufacturing wider and wider tires over the years. You know, when I first started in triathlon, 100 to 120 psi was standard on 18 millimeter wide tires, the really skinny tires. And then over the last decade or so, we've seen now rim manufacturers making rims that can accept 28 millimeter tires on time trial bikes. And the simple reason why they're doing that, the main reason why they're doing that—it's not the only, but the main reason is to allow for lower operating and lower tire pressures. You know, mountain bike tires, you put 20 psi in, but they're a lot bigger.

Vanessa: Yeah.

Greg: On my—I have a gravel bike and I run those tires at like 45 and 40 psi.

Vanessa: Oh, yeah. Wow.

Greg: And, you know, so it may seem—most would be a little bit nervous, but again, like I said, through trial and error, you know, pump it up to what the app suggests and if you have any issues, then do something else. But you know, the entire time I've been using this particular app, I haven't had any tire issues whatsoever. So, you know, just all around, I'm just a firm believer in running as low a tire pressure as you can.

Vanessa: Okay, that's good to know. And can you tell us what app you actually use?

Greg: It's called TireWiz. T-Y-R-E W-I-Z.

Vanessa: Okay, so TireWiz. That sounds like something I need to go and check out almost immediately.

Greg: And it just suggests the pressure. And like you said, you type in your wheel diameter, your tire width and the bike weight and your weight, the rider weight, and it suggests the pressure.

Vanessa: So you include all of your nutrition, like all of your liquids into either your weight or the bike weight as well?

Greg: I do, but you know, one or two psi—even if you're taking five pounds, which would be—well, three pounds would be three 16 ounce bottles essentially. But if you're taking five pounds, you're one or two kilograms heavier, doesn't mean you need to materially change what pressure.

Vanessa: Right. I guess it's kind of hard to get that fine of a detail in the amount of psi that you have. Anyways, it's not an exact science.

Greg: I mean, you can. I personally don't think that you need to. I think what's important is to, you know, again, dial in or settle in or do your research. Settle in on what pressure you think is best for your wheelset and then operate there. And if you can get away with operating a little bit lower, you know, don't get carried away to where you have rim damage or you have a flat. But again, there's plenty of data out there. You know, every tire manufacturer, every bike manufacturer, there's independent apps like I'm using where you can find out what those pressures should be rather than just be arbitrary and say, I'm going to pump to 100 pounds.

Vanessa: Yeah, right. Yeah, exactly. Well, thank you so much for sharing that with us. I can't wait to go and check out the app and see what it suggests for me.

Greg: If I could add one more thing, the other benefit and the other—it's a non-technical benefit—but you get a better ride.

Announcer: Thanks for joining us. Make sure to subscribe and share the TriDot podcast with your triathlon crew for more great tri content and community. Connect with us on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Ready to optimize your training? Head to TriDot.com and start your free trial today. TriDot, the obvious and automatic choice for triathlon training.

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