We are thick into the 2021 race season and the most common questions we receive are always centered around hydration and fueling during training and racing. We’re proud to welcome back Precision Hydration founder, Andy Blow, to answer your questions. Precision Hydration is, first and foremost, a hydration company, but they have recently expanded into new fueling products that include gels and a carb drink mix. Bars and chews are coming soon. Andy explains why the timing was right to expand their...
Jul 28, 2021•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 178
If you are running a marathon, prepping for a hot triathlon, getting primed for IRONMAN or IRONMAN 70.3 summer racing, then this episode is for you. Matt digs into performance readiness for HOT environments; more specifically, how to get heat adapted BEFORE your event. After outlining some rules around heat adaptation, Matt defines two of the best protocols for heat adaptation before your event: Implementing a Safe and Effective Sauna Protocol Training in the Heat Topics covered: What's happenin...
Jul 21, 2021•44 min•Season 4Ep. 177
There is no easy way to deliver high performance in life, work, or sport. It requires a tremendous amount of hard work, but performance only arises when your hard work is supported by downtime, rejuvenation, and really positive habits to health and vibrancy. Matt outlines the mental and physiological benefits of stepping away to facilitate mental and physical rejuvenation—the ultimate accelerant to excellence. Why’s it so important to provide the mind and body space? How to Implement a successfu...
Jul 14, 2021•41 min•Season 4Ep. 176
You began the year with the best intentions, big ambition, and commitment to your BHAGS - your Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Unfortunately, things haven’t gone quite as planned. You may be struggling or dealing with more adversity than you had anticipated. You may have fallen off the training wagon, or had a bad race result or two. It happens to the best of us because that’s what the performance journey is. It isn’t a rocket ship of progression, but how you respond to the adversity and those inevit...
Jul 07, 2021•31 min•Season 4Ep. 175
Matt is on holiday this week, so we're releasing a recent interview he did on "The Changeable" podcast hosted by Social Psychologist, Dr. Amy Johnson. Dr. Johnson was Matt's guest last week when they discussed our brain's tendency to "get in the way" and take things that happen to us personally - sabotaging success and happiness. In this interview, Matt and Amy discuss failure, resilience, and the importance of being change-able. They also talk about the equation performance = potential – interf...
Jun 30, 2021•53 min•Season 4Ep. 174
The Purple Patch Podcast is all about performance in sport, but also in broader life. We work with people who are seeking to improve and evolve their relationships or behavior patterns, ideally for the better. Our guest today is Social Psychologist and Coach, Dr. Amy Johnson. She, too, helps people who are seeking to improve their lives, mostly around freedom from and anxiety and unwanted habits. She also hosts a podcast called, “Changeable.” Today, Matt and Amy discuss the parallels and similar...
Jun 23, 2021•56 min•Season 4Ep. 173
Matt welcomes longtime Purple Patch athlete, Lars Tandrup, back to the podcast. In 2018, Lars and his wife lost everything in the Santa Rosa fires. He was left, quite literally, with only his pajamas - and even those were on fire as he escaped through acres of flames to safety. A few months after this tragedy, Lars came on the podcast to discuss how he hoped to emerge from this adversity. He sought purpose, clarity, and a fresh start with gratitude. Now, almost three years later, Lars returns. W...
Jun 16, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 172
You need support and guidance in your endeavors. You go and find an expert or coach who can help. And just like that...like magic dust...The results flow. Is it really that simple? No.It isn’t. Ironically, so many folks just don’t know how to be coached. There is an important perspective, mindset, and action that can enable a coaching relationship to flounder or flourish. When you get that right, THEN the positive results will flow. How can you optimize your relationship with leaders, mentors, a...
Jun 09, 2021•46 min•Season 4Ep. 171
If you care about performance, if you want to understand the mechanics of training, if you’re invested in optimizing your training returns to yield the best adaptations, then this episode is assuredly for you. Matt Dixon welcomes a conversation with Exercise Physiologist, Dr. Stephen Seiler, a living legend in the world of Sports Science and Training Methodology. After unpacking Dr. Seiler's background and journey to becoming the preeminent Sports Scientist, they dig right in on a variety of top...
Jun 02, 2021•1 hr 27 min•Season 4Ep. 170
This week in the United States, it's Memorial Day Weekend, where we take a moment to reflect and honor those who have served in the military. Today, we celebrate by welcoming long-time Purple Patch coach and veteran, Sean Garick. Sean didn't get into coaching simply by being an endurance athlete-turned-coach. His background is something entirely different. He's an aerospace engineer, a longtime United States Marine Corps fighter pilot, and he was a test pilot with over 2300 flight hours. He has ...
May 26, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 4Ep. 169
In this special episode, Matt speaks with a living legend in the sport of triathlon - Greg Bennett. Not only is Greg one of the best triathletes in the world, but he has also successfully transitioned to a business owner as a corporate coach, speaker and podcaster. This conversation paints a wonderful illustration of a successful athlete transitioning to build a business, all with a wealth of perspective on everything related to high-level performance and resilience. Matt digs into Greg’s backgr...
May 19, 2021•1 hr 28 min
It was inevitable. After a full calendar of racing was canceled in 2020, we knew that 2021 was going to be the year of deferrals and stacked event calendars. And now, here we are in the midst of the training season for this upcoming cluster of races that all feel important to you. You did invest the money and emotional energy into these races, after all, and you rightfully expect a positive return. But, how do you plan to train for these clustered races? There are few off-the-shelf training plan...
May 12, 2021•45 min•Season 3Ep. 167
Now that restrictions are lifting and we're emerging from the fog of Covid-19, you may be deciding to take on a challenge - to TRAIN for something. It's your time to embrace the journey and go on a charge to challenge yourself, to stay consistent, and to achieve big hairy audacious goals. Today, Matt strips it all down to the fundamentals, to reground you, reset the mindset, and course correct in case you have strayed. This episode is a timely and important reminder of how to find performance in...
May 05, 2021•52 min•Season 3Ep. 166
Today, Matt provides his insight on successful race day execution. It is a Dixon deep dive into all of the elements to ensure you are able to meet your trained potential with race day performance. It is normal and common for you to feel a little anxiety, even fear, when you return to racing. You are rusty, it has been a while, and the event feels bigger because of the gap from the last race. Acknowledge and even embrace the feeling. Why? Because what you are feeling is NORMAL. It is your body pr...
Apr 28, 2021•52 min•Season 4Ep. 165
The Purple Patch Podcast Triathlon Takeover strides towards the finish line this week where Matt takes you through all you need to know to help facilitate hitting your potential on the run - including shoe choice, nutrition, terrain, and even walking your way to your fastest run performance. It is a triathlete’s guide to run success. You come out of T2 and all you need to do is run to the finish. What could go wrong? Well, apparently, a lot. The run is the most common discipline for your race to...
Apr 21, 2021•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 164
The Purple Patch Podcast Triathlon Takeover rolls on this week with an hour of power on all things related to bike performance and race-day execution. Optimum bike fit, posture, equipment, and pacing strategies are all covered in this episode that features two of the best in the industry, Ivan O'Gorman and Chris Soden of IOG Bike Fit and Consulting . As you'll hear, IOG's approach to consulting is informed by research, while their recommendations are driven by years of experience. Put simply - t...
Apr 14, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 163
The Purple Patch Podcast ‘Triathlon Takeover’ continues with a step-by-step guide to race day fueling and hydration with Sports Scientist and Precision Hydration Co-Founder, Andy Blow. Matt and Andy identify and explain the three levers of race fueling – Fluids (water) Electrolytes Calories/carbohydrates Then, they outline your race day fueling prescription depending on race intensity, distance, and race conditions. Andy’s biggest piece of advice – “Don’t look over the fence. There are always go...
Apr 07, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 162
The swim leg of any triathlon is one that elicits stress and fear. You’re entering into murky water with the blinding sun in your eyes. There are choppy waves that are seemingly predestined to make their way into your lungs. All the while, you’re getting very physical with hundreds of your closest friends. Swim anxiety is real, especially in open water swimming. Today, Coach Matt Dixon and Coach John Stevens diffuse some of the stress around triathlon swimming and frame strategies to help you ap...
Mar 31, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Season 4Ep. 161
Celebrate Good Times, C'mon! Fasten your seat belts, folks. It is time to get back to racing and over the course of the next several weeks, the podcast is executing a "triathlon takeover" - focusing on everything you'll need to implement a successful return to racing after our extended hiatus. Today's episode lays the groundwork to arm you with the knowledge, mindset, and tactics for a confident experience. Matt outlines: Expectations - How should you prioritize your expectations for this first ...
Mar 24, 2021•47 min•Season 4Ep. 160
Obsession. It isn't an easy topic, but it's an important one and Matt explores this fine line between a healthy commitment to performance vs. an unhealthy obsession in today's episode that sets the backdrop of future episodes. Remember, the pursuit and excellence in your sporting goals aren't the only measures of success. We define success as nailing that part, but by pursuing these goals, you also improve your health, increase your effectiveness at work, and are equipped to show up to friends a...
Mar 17, 2021•51 min•Season 4Ep. 159
Athletes often think of recovery as a weakness or liability to their training. Unfortunately, our barometer of success is often a simple accumulation of training hours without regard to the quality of those hours or what we do in between. If we do give a thought to recovery, it's usually in the form of a rest day or a little foam rolling after a tough session. But, is this true recovery? Are we really allowing our body to adapt to the training stress? Through two case studies, Matt defines recov...
Mar 10, 2021•48 min•Season 4Ep. 158
Consistency - the magic ingredient of success for those seeking to penetrate the thin air of word-class performance, to succeed in their journey to a first finish line, or to thrive in life performance. While every coach will tell you this is the magic bullet for success, not all will explain the HOW of developing consistency in a time-starved life. Via personal story and an athlete case study, Matt breathes life and practical application into this word, consistency, with: A review of the defini...
Mar 03, 2021•46 min•Season 4Ep. 157
There is a common thread that unites all Purple Patch athletes, and likely, all athletes in general - the desire to IMPROVE. Whether winning a world championship or optimizing energy throughout the day, we, as humans, embrace and enjoy the journey more when we improve and when we see progression. So, if you want to improve and go faster, you need to train faster, right?? Well, yes, sometimes . But, the greatest catalyst of performance improvement flows from a higher load strength-based training ...
Feb 24, 2021•42 min•Season 4Ep. 156
You may be committed to, or thinking about committing to, your very first IRONMAN® event. You might be salivating at a return to racing following a very dry 2020 season, or, you could be committed to making this your best race season ever and are desperate to get it right. What does it take to have your best performance at IRONMAN® racing? There is no escaping the requirement to thoroughly prepare and, as we say ‘go on the journey.’ A successful IRONMAN® event is not a single day, but a multi-mo...
Feb 17, 2021•52 min•Season 4Ep. 155
Wearables, FTP, Sleep, HRV, Pace, Power, Sleep, Calories... There are so many opportunities to track things. As an athlete and a performance-minded fitness enthusiast, what are some aspects of your training and performance that you might consider tracking? And, most importantly, in what context? Today, we dive into data and provide a performance lens to create a workable marriage between those feelings and sensations you have in life and training, and the incessant monitoring and tracking of the...
Feb 10, 2021•46 min•Season 4Ep. 154
Who is the ‘King of Toughness?’ The ‘Queen of Managing Adversity?’ Who had an almost mystical ability to focus on a task, even as stress and distraction amplified? Which of the Purple Patch Pros is the ‘King of Lazy,’ all the while finding consistent world-class performance? Enjoy this rare coach’s insight into some of the special traits, skills, and elements of the pros (well beyond physical prowess) that have catapulted them to success at the world-class level. Matt picks his favorites in the ...
Feb 03, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 153
The premise of the Purple Patch podcast is all about performance and helping you enhance your performance journey to become the best that you can be in sport and in life. This week is part two of the in-depth performance discussion with Alex Hutchinson, who is a leading researcher on everything cutting-edge in the world of athletic performance. Hutchinson is a science journalist who writes about fitness, health, and endurance sports for Outside magazine in his Sweat Science columns . His most re...
Jan 27, 2021•44 min•Season 4Ep. 152
The premise of the Purple Patch podcast is all about performance and helping you enhance your performance journey to become the best that you can be in sport and in life. As the performance engines rev up in 2021, it is more vital than ever to educate and empower all human beings to reach their athletic potential because, through the lens of athletic potential, you reach your human potential. For the next two weeks, Matt features a little expert “speed dating” with Alex Hutchinson who is a leadi...
Jan 20, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 151
Yes, we're still in the midst of it all and racing feels like a way off, but it is time to begin to build your base for performance. Yes...starting NOW. I don’t want you to let this opportunity bypass you. Admittedly the postseason/prep-phase of training is not usually the favorite of athletes and yet, it’s so critical that you can’t be race-ready without it. The problem with this kind of preparation is that the real rewards of this kind of training can only be seen in the rearview mirror. You c...
Jan 13, 2021•56 min•Season 4Ep. 150
Matt lays down a solid foundation on STAYING POWER - creating and cementing performance habits, especially in the popular areas of nutrition and strength. First, though, we must differentiate between a habit and a resolution. A habit is something that stays with you - becomes a part of you -- for the long-term. A resolution , conversely, is quite often a self-imposed intervention and reeks of unsustainability. These are often pass/fail short term fixes with very little chance of success. Matt an...
Jan 06, 2021•46 min•Season 4Ep. 149
