The Infirmary | Fixing Broken Endurance Athletes

Canadian pro triathlete Cody Beals opens up about thoroughly burning out, wondering if his triathlon career was over after Ironman Chattanooga, and what happened when he took his first real break in over 25 years of school, athletics, work, and professional endurance sport. We discuss the difference between intellectual understanding and actual practice when it comes to rest, why so many endurance athletes struggle with exercise addiction and forgoing necessary rest, and how Cody is rebuilding his relationship with the sport that's defined his adult life. We discuss fatigue resistance testing, the merits and difficulties of self-coaching (particularly when we...

What if the most sophisticated training tool you have isn't your power meter, but your ability to feel the difference between sustainable and unsustainable effort? Kolie Moore launched Empirical Cycling in 2015 after noticing a gap in how coaches approached endurance training. With a background in biology, biochemistry, metabolism, and physiology from Boston University, plus his own experience as a national championship medalist in track cycling, Kolie recognized that most coaching focused too much on training plans and not enough on the biological processes actually driving adaptation.

Nearly a decade later, Kolie’s Empirical Cycling Podcast is known fo...

I am joined by professional triathlete and cyclist Rach McBride to review their 2025 season, which saw them shift focus from professional triathlon to Elite UCI Gravel World Championships qualifier. We chat about the realities of racing at the world championship level—the different (but sensible!) call-up system, competing independently against fully-supported national teams, and what it felt like to represent Canada on the world stage.

We also talk a bunch about the training that Rach and I collaborated on throughout the season. instead of chasing higher FTP numbers (Rach’s is already excellent), we prioritized building aerobic cond...

“Zone 2” training has become incredibly popular in endurance sports, but most athletes misunderstand what it actually does and why it feels so frustratingly slow. In this episode, we debunk the misconceptions to explain how this training intensity establishes your aerobic infrastructure, why comparing yourself to professional athletes derails your progress, and how to embrace slow work now so you can do harder and more effective training later. You'll learn about the physiological adaptations that happen at this intensity, why a monoculture approach to training never works, and how years of consistent aerobic conditioning create the physiological infrastructure that supports fast...

Endurance journalist and author Brittany Vermeer joins me to discuss her book, The Complete Guide to Your First 70.3 Triathlon. Brittany has been in endurance media for 17 years, writing for Ironman, Triathlete, and Outside Magazin. Brittany shares the most common mistakes athletes make when tackling their first middle distance race, from nutrition mishaps to pacing errors, and we go beyond training plans to explore the mental game necessary for 70.3 triathlon success, the difference between racing as a test versus a challenge, and why racing by feel is a crucial skill to use alongside objective data. Whether you're preparing for your...

Over the past six weeks, Norwegian athletes have take four of the six podium spots at the Ironman World Championships in Nice, France, and Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. We sat down earlier this year to talk with Brad Culp, author of The Norwegian Method: The Culture, Science, and Humans Behind the Groundbreaking Approach to Elite Endurance Performance.

Brad points out both in his book and in this interview that many Norwegians actually bristle when they hear their manner of training described as “The Norwegian Method,” because the way they train is fairly old-school: all of the principles they adhere to w...

One of the athletes I work with, Robin Cummings, asked a deceptively simple question about heat training that opened up a much larger conversation: which training adaptations actually last, and which ones disappear the moment you stop training them? The answer reveals your body's efficient "last hired, first fired" approach to fitness —and changes how you should think about periodization.

In this coach-to-coach conversation, Robin, an elite cyclist and coach, and Chris break down the durability hierarchy that governs every training decision, from skills work that can last decades to altitude adaptations that vanish in two weeks. Yo...

Josh Monda raced as an age grouper for 17 years before turning professional at 40—displaying a patience you don’t often find in endurance sports. Josh’s story includes a five-year hiatus from the sport, personal struggles with addiction, and a long-term approach that eventually unlocked elite-level performance. Now racing for the On Your Left Professional Triathlon Team, Josh shares the training, mental, and tactical insights that enabled his late-career breakthrough.

Josh's story shows that athletic development doesn't follow a universal timeline. His patient approach, willingness to step away when necessary, and focus on consistent, sustainable training over the lo...

Choosing an endurance coach might be one of the most important decisions you'll make as an athlete, yet most people approach it completely backwards. This episode of The Infirmary breaks down how to choose and endurance coach who matches your goals, communication style, and budget, because not everyone needs the same thing in a coaching relationship.

We start with the biggest but oft-ignored question: do you even need a coach in the first place? Some athletes thrive in community-focused training groups, while others need a personalized, data-driven approach that only comes from professional triathlon coaching. Understanding your...

Chris sits down with retired professional triathlete Lauren Brandon. An elite swimmer to triathlete success story, Lauren shares how her NCAA All-American swimming background and 2008 Olympic Trials qualification shaped her approach to professional triathlon training and racing.

Lauren talks about swimming misconceptions, focusing on the critical catch and pull mechanics that most age-group athletes struggle with. The conversation explores the emotional and practical aspects of professional coaching, both receiving it and now giving it herself as one of Julie Dibens' coaches.

Lauren discusses how Ironman training consistency became more important than high-volume approaches, especially as...

Heat training is one of those topics that is a) poorly understood and b) deployed by coaches and athletes everywhere, which is…not a great combination. In this episode of The Infirmary, Chris walks you through the adaptations we are after when we heat train, the possible mechanism by which those adaptations occur, and then practical suggestions to apply these principles to your own training.

Most athletes think that they can simply go to their destination race and “acclimate if I get there 7-10 days early.” That approach will actually hurt your performance, not help it. By unders...

This interview with sports psychologist Brian Baxter reveals how mental training techniques can transform athletic performance at every level. Baxter, who has worked with athletes for over 20 years, breaks down the essential mental skills that separate good athletes from great ones, showing why anxiety management and confidence on the playing field or race course are just as crucial as physical preparation.

Baxter explains the well-known "control the controllables" philosophy that helps athletes focus their energy on what actually matters: effort, attitude, preparation, and present moment awareness. Brian explains how the endurance sports mindset functions differently from other...

The triathlon world erupted when Ironman announced their new age-graded qualification system for Kona. But after analyzing the actual numbers from recent races, the changes aren't nearly as earth-shattering as the internet forums suggest. Chris breaks down the math, examines real race data, and explains what aspiring qualifiers actually need to know.

If you want to read this podcast in article form, head on over to Chris’ breakdown here.

Want to talk to Chris about your training? You can book a free 45-minute analysis here.

Book a swim analysis with Chris: https://campfireendurance408.lp...

This comprehensive swim technique presentation reveals what really holds swimmers back and why swimming improvement is so different from cycling or running progress. As a Swim Smooth certified coach, Chris breaks down the five major swimming technique faults that prevent triathletes from swimming faster, demonstrating why swimming drills for adults require a completely different approach than other endurance sports.

Learn about the six Swim Smooth swim types and discover which category fits your current stroke patterns, from Bambinos struggling with anxiety, to Arnies trying to overpower the water, to Overgliders who want to TALK about swimming, rather...

In this candid conversation with former Campfire athlete Annie Solonika, we dive into what really matters in the coach-athlete relationship from both perspectives. Annie shares how a strong coach-athlete relationship requires clear communication and expectations from the start. As both a successful triathlete and business owner of Full Circle Stretching, Annie offers unique insights on balancing triathlon training with work and family life, showing how proper coaching can help busy athletes maintain consistency.

We explore the differences between self-coaching and working with a coach, discussing how training structure and accountability contribute to athletic development. Annie explains that...

Chris sits down with professional triathlete Ben Hoffman, who has won eight Ironmans, seven 70.3 races, and landed on the podium an unreal 28 times, one of which was the 2014 Ironman World Championships in Kona, where he finished 2nd.

The biggest takeaway from this episode, I believe, is a concept that Ben returns to several times: you simply let your body express what it has been trained to do on race day, with a slight aim for "a higher level" because you are rested.

You can follow Ben on instagram @benhoffmanracing, and watch him race at Ironman...

I have heard it a million times: a triathlete tells me “I swam and swam but it never changed my time, so I just stopped swimming.” I really feel for this athlete, since they are clearly frustrated, but there’s a better way to train for triathlon. In this show we walk through:

What goes into effective endurance training in the first place

How neglecting your swim hurts your overall triathlon performance

How you should actually train to improve your swim performances

Swim Smooth Coaches Directory for Video Swim Analysis: https://www.sw...

One of the hardest skills for any endurance athlete to master is pacing, and when you’re running a hilly event or participating in a bike race with a lot of elevation changes, pacing gets more difficult.

In this episode, Chris walks through the pitfalls athletes often fall into, the biggest of which is the “fly and die” approach where the athlete hopes to “bank” time by running harder or faster early in the race, hoping that when they inevitably slow down (because they went harder than they trained to run) that the time they banked will still keep...

“Progressive Overload” is a topic that gets tossed around a lot in endurance circles, but, just as with other topics like “FTP” or “core strength” or “recovery,” progressive overload is more nuanced and complex than it first appears.

At it’s most basic application, progressive overload is “the steady and systematic increase in training load in order to continually force an athlete’s body to adapt and develop in the ways we want it to develop,” but how we apply that concept can get hairy pretty quickly.

In this episode, Chris defines the term, walks through different method...

Chris sits down with Brad Culp, author of the 2024 Book The Norwegian Method: The Culture, Science, and Humans Behind the Groundbreaking Approach to Elite Endurance Performance. After some book-nerd talk about the structure Brad and his publisher chose for the book (the first few chapters provide a brisk but necessary and engrossing history of Scandinavia’s Viking culture and boatbuilding technology), Culp explains what he sees as encompassing “The Norwegian Method.” He talks about Kristian Blummenfelt, Gustav Iten, Olav Aleksander Bu, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, and the other less well-known forebears of The Norwegian Method. Culp recounts what he saw while report...

Remember what it was like when you had just set out upon your endurance journey? At first everything felt incredibly hard, but after a short amount of consistent training things started to feel easier. Those, our friends, were your “Noob Gains,” or the improvements that happened in the first months (or years) of this new habit.

Today on The Infirmary we explain how and why Noob Gains happen and offer some guidance for those who are in this very fun and satisfying period of training. We also talk about ways to avoid the pitfalls of this leg on t...

Chris sits down with Phil Batterson, Ph.D., host of the CriticalO2 podcast and physiologist for Moxy Monitor. They have a discussion about the oft-discussed “Art and Science of Coaching,” focusing on what coaches can learn from physiologists and vice versa. It’s a fascinating conversation that ranges from debunking long-observed tenets of the coaching world (FTP = 95% of 20-minute power, for one, and why 2mmol/l and 4mmol/l aren’t gospel) to best practices for improving your ability to make decisions in your training.

The Critical Oxygen Podcast

In this episode we talk about the importance of annual training plans for athletes and coaches, focusing on the need for clear goals and structured training blocks. We break down the types of goals you should use in your annual plans—outcome, performance, and process—and explain how to effectively build and manage a plan based on those goals. We give you three different examples of annual plans and offer hints and tips about how to use them to best effect: your performance and your happiness.

We also answer a great listener question about the significance of acco...

Chris sits down with Joe Howdyshell of Summit Endurance Academy, a mountain sport coaching company based in Breckenridge, CO. What is a “mountain sport coaching company?” Joe (also known as @badasscoach on Instagram, although these days you can find him over on Substack talking to athletes) primarily coaches sports such as Ski Mountaineering (SkiMo for short), mountain biking, and mountain running.

“I work with athletes who want to play in mountains that look like the ones around me,” he says, although he’s also totally comfortable coaching road cyclists, triathletes, and more traditional endurance endeavors.

As with ma...

What is “mastery,” and how can we develop mastery in endurance sports? What even IS mastery? What does it look, sound, or feel like? In this episode, Chris walks through what mastery is and how you can begin to build mastery in your own sports.

If you’d like to learn this process through reading, check out our series on Mastery over on Medium. The link here is a friend link, so you’ll be able to read for free. Want the free PDF that helps you out with this? You can grab that here.

Part One...

You can find Alex at Alex Larson Nutrition and on Instagram and Facebook @alexlarsonnutrition, playing with three kids, or watching all the Star Wars intellectual property she can get her eyes on.

Linsey Corbin has been one of the most consistent professional triathletes of all time, qualifying for Kona 14 times, winning eight Ironman events, and managing to show up year after year even while dealing with Injury. Linsey walks us through her process for reviewing the past season and looking forward to the next year, and she shows us how she bridged that sport-specific process to her life outside of sport.

After we chat about year-in-review processes, we answer two questions from our Campfire Endurance athletes, one about knowing WHEN you should train again after a difficult session, and...

Now that Ironman World Championship season is over for the year, after the women raced in Nice last month and the men just raced in Kona, we thought it would be helpful for those of you excited about those races to hear what it takes to qualify for them.

Too many athletes believe that qualifying for races such as Kona, Nice, and Roth (all long distance triathlon) requires speed. It doesn’t. Qualifying for these races (which is another way of saying “executing this difficult distance effectively”) requires a physiology that doesn’t slow down.

In this...

Endurance Spin signups: https://www.campfireendurance.com/endurance-spin-202324

It’s a tale as old as…well, it’s probably around 40 years old, but for a sport as young as ours, that’s fairly venerable: a hard-working triathlete puts in their time over the course of a season, qualifies for Kona (or Nice, which is a really great site for a world championships, go ahead and @ us), and then, through a combination of poorly timed heat acclimation, arduous travel, wide-eyed enthusiasm, panic training, expo smorgasbord, and terror ends up performing far below their potential. Today we’ll be talking about how to navigate the veritable gauntlet of triathlon’s big show a...

Fatigue resistance is an idea that has been around for a long time, but it’s having a bit of a moment recently. A few companies are trying to develop fancy metrics like “durability” to measure (or, um, monetize) this concept. We don’t need to monetize it. Fatigue resistance is a simple concept, one that it is easy to track and train. This episode defines: What fatigue resistance is and isn’t Why it’s important How to evaluate it How to develop it (which is what we imagine you’re here for) We hope you enjoy this episode! Whether you do...

Chris sits down with elite amateur and Campfire Coach Emily Arcuri to talk about training and racing all the way through 32 weeks of pregnancy. Emily offers three different periods of her journey and thoughts about what you should expect if you decide to follow her example.

Chris chats with Campfire coach and professional triathlete Adam Goulet about why strength training is crucial for endurance athletes and how they can incorporate it safely and effectively in their training.

Chris talks through just WHY it takes so long to prepare correctly for an Iron-distance triathlon. We also talk about the great Gordo Byrn and his influence on proper conditioning within endurance sports.

Gordo's substack, Endurance Essentials

Gordo on Rich Roll's podcast