Congrats on the amazing race and progress!

Your training is interesting and has it changed much over the years? The number of hours is probably incrementally more than some of the AGers here on ST! It's interesting to see the "big/hard" days with every sport versus "easy or off day (Sunday)." What was the biggest difference and impact on results?

Thanks!

Thank you!

It has changed a ton! My first IM as an amateur was 2014 IMTX. I was training avg 12/13 hours/week, max 17ish with mostly aerobic with 1 hard run and 1 hard bike a week as well as long run/ride. When I went pro I thought I could avg 15-16 hours and max at 20. That was most of 2015 with dismal results. I took the plunge and hired a professional coach and increased training hours to low 20's but a TON TON of intensity. Basically every session I did had intensity in it. I burnt myself a bit on that and switched coaches to Jesse K. Under him we avg high 20's hours/week and went into the low 30's for big builds for a couple weeks. Intensity was very very low and just had a lot of Z1/2 work. It worked well for me for a while but just in December I knew my mind and body just needed a complete change and overhaul. I switch coaches to Bevan McKinnon of fitter out of New Zealand. My hours have actually decrease since and hover around mid 20's and is probably a mixture of my first coach and Jesse. We have intensity, endurance and pay very close attention to my body. We have daily communication and have made more changes in my training on a day to day basis then I even have.

Biggest difference that has impacted results- that's a hard one as the switch in coaches is exactly what I said I needed, a complete overhaul. This year's theme is change and there has been a lot of it from my training, nutrition, and bike set up. I threw the kitchen sink since I was so frustrated at results in 2018 after 3 wins in 2017 season. If I had to choose ONE thing I would actually say it would be my day to day nutrition is more lower carb, high fat. I work closely with a nutritionist out of NZ named Mikki Williden under my coaches suggestion. We have cut my daily carb intake in half and increased fat intake. I not only perform better but FEEL better in day-to-day life.
I think Sunday as a complete off day has been a huge benefit most triathletes fear. I ran at BYU in college and we took Sundays off. My coach was asked how he had a top 10 team in the nation year after year, he said "we have Sundays as a rest day." Athletes fear time off instead of cherish and use it to their advantage.

I spent 8 hours staring at your butt. I couldn’t look away. I was crushed when she made the pass. You have a new fan and I can’t wait to see what comes next.