The Training Today Podcast: Recent Episodes
Ian Blackburn, Ade Bungay
The Training Today app tracks your readiness to train each day by monitoring your health metrics on Apple Watch. In this podcast, Ian & Ade discuss how it works, the underlying science and data (such as heart rate variability - HRV), and the best way to utilize your Readiness to Train (RTT) score for your structured training. Each episode is a brisk 20 mins chat, as we explore the app and the exciting directions we want to see it develop.
In this episode of the Training Today podcast, we return with a second series, diving into athlete recovery, app functionality, and an inspiring story. We answer key questions from our listeners about the Training Today app, including its response to post-training recovery. Fran, shares her remarkable journey of competing in the Women's World Ironman Championships in Nice, just two years after undergoing hip replacement surgery. Fran reflects on her recovery, training adjustments, and the mental challenges she faced along the way. Tune in for a motivational deep dive into determination, overcoming physical setbacks, and how technology supports recovery for elite athletes.
Ian, Fran, Ade and Will discuss Race Craft - why we need to think about it, tips and how to manage the mental aspects of the day.
Ian, Ade, Fran, Becky, Will, and this week Emma joins us, all discuss their recent training camp in the Alps - what went well and what didn't.
Ian, Ade and Fran discuss the latest Training Today app updates that include sleep analysis, and activity intensity scores; plus upcoming support for menstruation tracking, and existing new features that will be enabled with watchOS10.
Fran and Ade discuss Fran's experience racing the long-distance Aquabike in Ibiza this week.
Ian and Ade discuss how to prepare for a race in the taper period a week or so before the event, the race day, and post-race activities. Ian relates it to a recent half marathon he completed while recovering from some illness.
In this episode, Fran, Ade and Ian ask Will about his triathlon career, his goals for this year, and what advice he would give to people just starting out.
Ian, Ade, Fran and Becky take on the cold spell in the UK, and discuss cold weather training. (Apologies for the poor sound in parts in this episode)
Ian & Ade provide a quick explainer of how the Training Today app works and discuss the new update and some scenarios where you need to consider your RTT score carefully; plus a sneak peek of what is coming in the next big release.
Ian, Ade and Izzy discuss the benefits and risks of cross-training. Ade has the benefit of experiencing it for real as he broadcasts from his place in the Alps during a skiing holiday!
Ian, Ade and Becky first ask chatGPT to write a plan, and then go on to discuss a better approach. And on another issue altogether, Ian encounters a snorkeler in the fast lane of his local pool!
Do we rely on data too much? Or not enough? Can a new athlete train effectively without data or is it instinctive? Ian, Ade, Fran and Will discuss...
This week Ade and Ian are joined by Fran, Becky, and Will to talk about Winter Training. Is base training even a thing anymore? What is Becky's top tip? And what should you watch when you are in the garage on the turbo or treadmill?
Do you really need a rest day? Is a micro-recovery a thing? What sort of recovery should you have in Interval sets? Ian and Ade discuss...
This week Ian visits Ade to go swimming in the pool, and Ade videos his stroke from various angles and provides an analysis of his technique. Download the video from https://vimeo.com/783331588 to follow along.
- Get the Video of Ian Swimming: https://vimeo.com/783331588.
This week, Ade, Ian, Becky, Izzy, and Will talk about how race day nutrition works for them and what they do pre-race, during taper, during the race and afterwards. It turns out Ian's approach to tapering of lots of rest with lots of food may not be the best one 😂
Some links while researching:
https://www.bucketlisttummy.com/race-day-nutrition/
https://uk.wahoofitness.com/blog/ask-experts-eat-ironman-race/
https://www.ironman.com/news_article/show/1041027
https://www.smartendurancesolutions.com/race-day-nutrition-70-3-ironman/
Coach Question of the week:
- (From Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/triathlon/comments/z86iys/havent_ran_in_a_month_how_much_fitness_did_i_lose/)
- I haven’t run in a month; how much fitness did I lose?
A bit shorter this week because of some technical issues recording, but a very interesting discussion with Fran on Nutrition nonetheless, and Ade answers Ian's question about running cadence.
We will revisit the nutrition discussion in another episode and talk about in-race nutrition (we actually did this with Izzy this time, but the audio was lost, unfortunately! Sorry, Izzy!)
Ade and Ian are joined by Izzy, Will, and Fran to chat about current training and how training on a Turbo differs from on the road
Ade and Ian discuss swimming training, including videoing your technique, how to follow a set and why Ian doesn't get many drills from Ade. Plus, what Ade thinks of Apple Watch Activity Rings.
Ian and Ade discuss Ian's entry to IronMan Barcelona 2023, setting target times (or not), measuring fitness during training, some benefits Ian sees for Apple Watch Ultra for the event, automatic transitions in watchOS 9 and more!
Ade introduces our athletes: Ian, Fran, Izzy and Becky (see https://trainingtodayapp.com/team - Will joins us next time) in a new two-weekly pod on training and life. This week, Izzy describes how it was to have just recovered from Covid before racing in the Europeans, and Becky appears to be on a never-ending race journey!
How will your HRV and RTT scores be affected by Covid? Ian, unfortunately, found out the hard way and in this short chat with Ade, they discuss the patterns they saw, and how covid has affected Ian’s training.
In this edition, we discuss the influences that can impact your HRV and thus RTT score and how you can react to them.
This edition we chat with our fantastic Training Today ambassador and GB athlete Izzy Davis and discover how she works with coaches Fran and Ade and how they use the RTT score from the app. Izzy has recently had some excellent performances and you can find out more about her on her Instagram https://www.instagram.com/izzydavis/
Ian and Ade discuss how to apply a structured plan to your 5k training and how using Training Today can help you along the way.
It might seem counterintuitive that a structured plan may have you running at an easy pace when all you want to do is go faster! Ian asks why can't he just go for a run when he wants, and Ade explains why.
Did you know that it doesn't matter if you log a workout or not for HRV and your Training Today RTT score to be calculated accurately? Ian & Ade chat about HRV, what it is and how it is used in the Training Today app. A short 20 min discussion and the first of many to come as we explore the best ways to train using the Training Today app.