Marc Atkinson

@neuromanter @JimGalanes @feelthebyrn1 So true when today 132HR = 140w average 😂

@JimGalanes @marcoatkinson @feelthebyrn1 All points on the curve could be LT1 at any given day…. Depending on fatigue, hydration, nutrition, trainingsessions the days before….

Inspired by @feelthebyrn1 back testing for LT1. Pleasantly surprised LT1 slightly higher than my 132hr/170w guess. Took 90 mins in total with 20 min warm up and 10 min steps to let it all settle. AI makes it so easy...........

@feelthebyrn1 Thanks G. I'm thinking my estimate of the red zone maybe too high. I'll have to do some tests. Does LT1 seem about right in terms of % of Max. I'm definitely a diesel engine and I always feel I lack top end compared to peers.

@marcoatkinson HRmax - 185 Red Zone - 165 / 90% LT1 - 135 / 73%

@feelthebyrn1 I only did submax test this time.

@marcoatkinson What's your HRmax on the bike and where do you feel the shift into the Red Zone begin?

@JimGalanes @feelthebyrn1 So I had a one abnormal (seemed too high) reading at first visit to 180w, which I think can happen, so I went up to 180w (where was at 1.6) and then back down to 170w where it was back down to my baseline. So I thought LT1 would be a bit higher than baseline ?

@marcoatkinson @feelthebyrn1 The reason I ask is lactate increase from the 120 watt stage. To suggest it is at 170 watts seems to miss the point

@feelthebyrn1 @YouTube No probs and I posted on Facebook where most of my friends are athletes 😂 It’s really great content and has motivated me to think about how I approaching my training. So thank you !

@marcoatkinson @YouTube Thanks Marc

The Lemon To Legend Online Course youtube.com/playlist?list=… via @YouTube Highly (highly) recommend watching this series produced by the very experienced endurance athlete @feelthebyrn1 .

@feelthebyrn1 This is very cool!

The Second Saying of Christmas Half My Days Are Easy Pro-actively adapting to stress is the biggest change I've made from my elite career. It's worked better than I'd have expected. Easy days focused on adaptation, rather than off days. Easy meaning low stress, all-the-way around

@feelthebyrn1 Great post

Making The Most Of Masters Swimming Two of the challenges of masters swimming is we don’t get enough duration and the intensity is too high for endurance gains. Here’s how you avoid the lactate bath and get a decent workout. Turn up early and swim 500-1,500 easy with a technical focus. I put on a snorkel and work on hand entry and rotation. I've shared clips on exactly what I do. Then the coach turns up and I'm already warmed up. You'll need to educate your lane mates not to ride you, or hang at the back. Most masters swimmers start like unleashed dogs jumping out of the car... To start, Monz had us swim 4x150 alt by 50 kick/drill/swim. I put on fins/snorkel and did side kick change (get right over on your side, keep head perfectly still with the transition), and single arm drill (non-swimming arm at side) Main set is in the picture. The game you play: 1⃣Set the send off at 10s per 100 more than your Steady Pace. We used 1:35 SCM send off. To get this swim right you need discipline not to drill it out of the gate. 2⃣With the first 4321, swim relaxed Steady pace. You need to beat this pace later in the workout. 3⃣With the 100s: odds are fast, a little quicker than Threshold pace (not VO2 pace); evens are more Steady pace. I didn’t use gear because I want to overload my non-gear technique. What we are doing here is cranking up the torque per stroke and forcing you to recover while moving. 4⃣With the 2nd 4321, swim a little quicker than the 1st 4321. You should be able to swim Tempo speed. If you can’t then your definition of Steady pace is too fast. At this point, you’ll be tired. Hold your mechanics and your strokes per length. The feeling will be holding lots of water. If you feel like your cadence is increasing then you are slipping through the water. Hold form. Then 4x150, Paddles and buoy leaving on a send off that’s 5s per 100 faster than your main set. We used 2:15 per 150 (1:30 scm base). I'm using Finis Agility paddles (explained why in a recent clip). At that point, I was close to 6000 so 4x75 alt by 25 bk/br/fr on 10s rest then 100 victory lap. Aim for 90 minutes of swimming If you’re an Ironman athlete, 5000 once a week, every week, goes a long way. Big picture, what we want to do is place the fastest part of the main set AFTER 2-3,000 worth of swimming and we want to see what Steady pace looks like after an hour. That’s going to give us a clearer look than what happens in the first ~30 minutes of a session. PS: hardly anyone swims like this - huge advantage if you learn how to train properly PPS: because we set the send offs at 10s per 100 slower than Steady pace, this should be a low stress set, relative to distance. When you push distance, avoid making the session sustained. Generate fatigue from duration OR intensity. Save the "AND" workouts for special occasions (ie Specific Preparation, if required for your event).

@inaki_delaparra Does this include your base metabolic rate too or it’s just from activities? I’m enjoying the MAD podcasts!

How is your energy expenditure (kcal or kJ) trending for the 2024–2025 season? I’ve focused this season on building work capacity: the ability to handle sustained volume and manage total load. I’m 600 days into a 1,500-day progression aimed at long-term performance, health, and durability. From Nov 2024 to July 2025, I went from ~49k to 84k kcal per month. No major dips. Just steady, sustainable growth. Breakdown: Nov–Dec: Aerobic base Jan–Feb: Capacity build Mar–May: Threshold & race prep Jun–Jul: Peak load Where are you in your season? Feeling excited to race an Ironman after such long time, 3 weeks to go! 🏊🏼‍♂️🚵🏃‍♂️🚀

@whennotcycling @inaki_delaparra Wow. Also how did you get that screen in your mobile With all the data and circles etc

@inaki_delaparra Exciting final 3 weeks! I hope the taper won't be too hard, certainly you're very wise. Ok for me, around 68.5k kcals every month since Jan, mostly on the bike with a bit on xc skis.

@SophieRHerzog So good! Thanks for posting the nutrition info. Always so interesting.

5 days in Krakow 🇵🇱
My first 70.3 race after 6 years 🏊‍♀️🚴‍♀️🏃‍♀️
Some (more and less serious) notes from my Poland trip. 🧵👇

@feelthebyrn1 Thanks this is really useful !

Thought I'd give you a look at my current basic week. The idea is strength training is the main thing that generates fatigue - all the other stuff is filler - when I have bonus mojo, I might swim stronger at Masters. Red are stressful sessions - these are done first thing in the morning Orange (Masters) is a group session that can be stressful, or not. Based on how I feel. Green sessions are about an hour. PT exercises are ~20 minutes and glute activation. Friday/Saturday/Sunday let me regroup, if required, from strength Monday/Tuesday are off running Friday/Sunday duration can be flexed based on recovery needs Mixed in with this will be easier weeks, as required, and training camp weeks (which will be bike volume focused and strength maintenance) Not sure how long I will keep the endurance component chilled out. Right now, it's a good fit for the rest of my life, which was put on hold during Challenge Roth preparation.

@Alan_Couzens This is funny as I am in Croatia with my adult girls and they bought every Greek and other yogurt in the supermarket to test for taste and consistency 😂 In the UK to be called “Greek yogurt” it must be produced in Greece otherwise it must be called “Greek-style yogurt”.

Must say, U.S. Greek yogurt is quite the letdown after a few weeks of Greek Greek yogurt - which, surprisingly enough, they just call yogurt! 😲

@feelthebyrn1 Fantastic!

Oceanside 70.3 Back After 15 years Ticked the box on a stretch goal by running sub-90' Think I was 4:24 last time, 4:38 today. 5 1/4% slower. Perfect pacing on a day with ideal bike conditions Had a few issues with the cold water and cramping. Couldn't speak and fell over coming out of the water. Was so cold. My long T1 was due to getting dressed with zero coordination. Warmed up an hour into the ride. Daily sauna for 18 mths might not be the optimal protocol for this swim. It did work great for the run though Also cramped severely at the end of the bike. Did zero tempo sets to prepare so the hammies/adductors rebelled after 2hrs. Positive talk and gliding while standing up... got me back in the game. Tip: Dont panic when you cramp. Accept the situation, breathe deeply and work through. Nausea and near cramping on the first 10k of the run, but that's kinda how you want to pace it. Think I ate too much on the bike. However, once that settled, I ran great until the last 2k where I fell off a bit. I was looking for a tough session as I prepare for Challenge Roth and got exactly what I hoped for. 3000 athletes racing today. It's the largest triathlon I've ever done. When training for IM, 70.3 races directly target durability and take the pressure off the rest of our training. I'm walking like Frankenstein right now but will adapt. Snuck in just under 2:30 for the bike. @matsteinmetz position was comfortable and aero. Used the monster Ekoï Pure Aero no-vent helmet (probably saved my day by warming me up). Getting in the fit lab soon to finetune further Don't have the fitness to ride away from the groups anymore so sat off the back. Then rode through on the climbs. Then fell back as they'd bomb the descents. Chapeau to the other guys around me who rode legit. Blasted back to the coast at the end (which was so much fun until I cramped).

@akilpin We are going to do this. I may ask what you did at some point if you don’t mind. It’s been on our list for ages ! Maybe you post or Strava ?

@marcoatkinson Yep, just planned it all independently and flew out with bikes, it's the best way!

Well after my flight home got cancelled because of the Heathrow chaos, I got a few extra days in the sun. Not too shabby! Such a great trip and topped off with a little luxury at the end. Oman, I will be back! 🇴🇲

@feelthebyrn1 This is so good, making the feelings around sport into words! It reminds me I am and want to be more accountable (“the other five weeks”) to myself and those I love when I have time to do the things I love - 🏃‍♀️🏊‍♀️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️🚴- so doing them is a life priority.

Five Things This Week A couple days ago, I was feeling stumped for this week's list. I realized that I'd stopped paying attention to the great things that are continually happening around me. A clear benefit of sticking with this routine. 1⃣ Marriage: I'm in Tucson right now. It's my 4th trip of this athletic season. I came for a week in each of Sept/Nov/Jan/March. In the years before I (re)started triathlon training. I'd stay at home when the kids would travel to swim meets. This was a big source of friction. Why? Because I was not living the life I wanted for myself. I wanted to be fit, racing and training. Back then, I hadn't figured that out. A reminder of two things: (a) what it's about is rarely what it's about (I don't really care about swim meets, it was a sign I was mismanaging my own choices), and (b) once we figure out exactly what we want then we can do something about it (see my article on True Wealth). Conversely, if nothing "seems to work" then it's a sign we're on the wrong path. Being able to travel every sixth week (to do something I enjoy) is possible due to my wife and motivates me to do a better job the other five weeks. Hopefully, I do a good job of facilitating what she loves, too. 2⃣ Finished my Sprint & High-Intensity bike block. 3x HIIT and 4x SIT. Will redo the Pmax test when convenient. See Smaller Dose Main Sets Thread. You don't need as much intensity as you think. Especially the Zone 5 stuff. I feel like everything benefited from the approach - LT1, LT2, durability. One of the reasons Julie is on the team is her deep experience with the benefits of the peppy stuff. 3⃣ Although I had a run injury to start this year, I raced great on Saturday. During the race, I got a kick out of remembering I used to run marathons faster than my current best 7.5km pace. Racing feels the same, still fun, just a bit slower. At 56, winning is being able to continue to play the game. Remember this whenever you are tempted to compromise your health to win a race. Your wins will mean little to you, especially if you lose the ability to fully utilize your physical skills. Being a multisporter offers you more options when the inevitable niggles happen. Go further... you will do more training and have fewer setbacks when you spread your training load across different modes of exercise. 4⃣ Finished my Gear for Going Long chapter. It publishes tomorrow. Next chapter will be on Ironman Race Week. Also drafted Part One of the Physics of Performance. Inside my new book with John, I constrained myself with the amount of Philosophy I could include (it tends to set up debates with my co-author 😉). The great thing about having our weekly publication is I can go deep with my articles. Hopefully, the new series will give you food for thought with your long-term development. It might inspire John to share his counterpoints. I enjoy learning from him. Do you have respected people who review your work? It makes the process more fun. John, Doc J, Julie, my wife... all are able to offer critical feedback in a way that promotes positive change in my actions. Treasure these types of people in your life. 5⃣ The video is Cactus Forest Trail in Saguaro National Park, East. It's one of my favorite places in the world. My iPhone skills don't do it justice. If you get to Tucson check it out. You can drive, ride, walk or run around in the park. There is an entry fee if you go through the main gate. But... There is a trailhead at the end of Broadway that lets you access the Cactus Forest Trail for free. It's a little over 5 miles each way. I've run on Cactus Forest with Monz and most of my best friends. Lots of good memories from when I was a speedy pro. There was a period of time when I thought I'd never be able to run again. So... to be out there this morning, jogging around... felt extra special. Fitness Expands Our World

@feelthebyrn1 This is such great content G and a great prompt for someone like me 😊

Your Best Season Ever - Part One In this video, we discuss: ✅Season Pacing, ✅A dead-simple framework for Training Zones, and ✅Specific Preparation. We end with tips on having the maturity to step back from types of training that don't work for our larger goals.