In today’s episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon takes us back to the core values of Purple Patch Fitness to help provide perspective on framing your performance mindset. The simple fact is, anything worthwhile is inherently difficult. The road to Kona is riddled with adversity. As is spearheading the drive for your team or company’s success. Most of the time, that’s part of the fun. The challenge is the game. The goal always requires commitment, consistency, and h...
Mar 01, 2023•30 min•Season 5Ep. 256
Data, metrics, technology, and analytics - there are tools and tech that measure everything for an athlete. Wearables and apps track your sleep data, monitor your glucose, detail your sweat composition, and offer an endless list of information. For some people, tracking and assessing every training minute represents a drive toward high performance and specificity. For others, the data is a distraction that can be confusing and even lead to paralysis of performance. Some people go all in and buil...
Feb 22, 2023•54 min•Season 5Ep. 255
Whether your goal as an athlete is to win a race or simply cross the finish line, it can often feel as though the only measure of success is race results. Every event is seemingly a pass-or-fail test reducing your performance journey to one athletic performance. But how do you move beyond race day and embrace the entire Journey? How do you effectively gauge your improvement and progress? In this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon provides a framework for measuri...
Feb 15, 2023•45 min•Season 5Ep. 254
Strength and conditioning are an integral part of every Purple Patch Athlete’s training program. It is just one of our four Pillars of Performance: Endurance, Strength, Nutrition & Fueling, and Recovery. In this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast Matt moves beyond how to build a strength program and the general benefits of strength training, and instead focuses on strength training as it pertains to three specific groups of athletes: Endurance Athletes Female Athletes - 35 to 60 years of ag...
Feb 08, 2023•53 min•Season 5Ep. 253
In this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, instead of focusing on the training, planning, mindset, and tactics that go into the lead-up to a race or major event, Matt explores the equally critical yet often undervalued process of post-event decompression and assessment. Post-event is a huge part of the fabric of your athletic journey. Win, lose or draw, the experience can be a confusing and destabilizing time filled with distractions and complex emotions, both positive and negative. There is a...
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 5Ep. 252
From the 2023 Purple Patch Training Camp in Kona, Matt delivers a special on-the-road episode exploring the vital role of training and supporting habits in broader life and work performance. Matt sits down with Purple Patch executive athletes attending the Hawaii training camp to discuss the parallels between their individual athletic journeys and their journeys in leadership within their own organizations. They share the personal challenges they face as time-starved athletes and provide insight...
Jan 25, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Season 5Ep. 251
With the wave of the new year's short-term objectives behind us, it’s time to get serious about the year and season ahead. Make no mistake, the focus or goal for most of you is to achieve! Whether that be results, PRs, finish lines, or championships, most people we chat with are eager to take their performance to the next level. To do that, we must first align with the goal and think bigger about the role of fitness and performance in the life of a time-starved athlete. In this episode of the Pu...
Jan 18, 2023•48 min•Season 5Ep. 250
Matt Welcomes former professional runner, running coach, and author Lauren Fleshman to the show to celebrate the release of her autobiographical memoir, Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man’s World. Lauren details her new book which uses her personal experience and the challenges she faced as a collegiate and professional athlete in a male-centric environment, as a catalyst to bring about significant change in women’s athletics. Matt and Lauren discuss women’s sports in a male arena and how...
Jan 11, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 5Ep. 249
As we head into the new year with new goals and pursuits in life and in sport, we take stock of the lessons learned in 2022 to help pave the way for success in the coming year. In this episode of the Purple Patch podcast, we look back so we can move forward. Matt compiles key observations and lessons in performance over the past year to help you shed unproductive habits, prioritize best practices, refocus your mindset and ultimately help you build a platform of success in 2023 off of the foundat...
Dec 21, 2022•43 min•Season 5Ep. 248
What does success look like to you in the coming year? For many athletes, the answer to that question is often anchored in a single metric: Speed. We all want success, hope to get faster, and want to improve, but without a focused approach, it’s easy to lose sight of what you’re trying to achieve and how to achieve it. The dogged pursuit of a faster finish can lead to frustration and even injury, but taking a step back to see the bigger picture can help accelerate your progress and unlock the ri...
Dec 14, 2022•43 min•Season 5Ep. 247
Tis the season to be jolly, but unfortunately tis also the season of sickness. Be it flu, cold, Covid, or RSV, everywhere you look you can see the signs of illness. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, the days are getting shorter, darker, and colder and all of the elements needed for a winter bug to spread are perfectly aligned. So what can you do this holiday or postseason to avoid getting sidelined with the sniffles? In this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, Matt provides a game plan to h...
Dec 07, 2022•49 min•Season 5Ep. 246
It’s that time of the year. It’s the end of the racing season and the holidays are approaching quickly. Now is the time you might be considering upgrading your equipment, whether by adding on to your favorite frame or buying a brand-new bike altogether. The blizzard of information, potential or promised benefits, and the wide range of products on the market can leave you confused or frustrated with a purchase that simply isn’t right for you. Today on the Purple Patch Podcast, Ironman Master Coac...
Nov 30, 2022•54 min•Season 5Ep. 245
This week on the Purple Patch podcast, we are scaling back a little to give thanks to everyone who helped make the Purple Patch podcast what it is today. We are grateful for all of the support we have received over the past few years as we continue our journey and explore the evolution of the podcast experience. With nearly 250 episodes under our belt, we would like to say thank you to the more than 6 million listeners who have stood by us and inspired us as we have evolved our focus and approac...
Nov 23, 2022•21 min•Season 5Ep. 244
In this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, IRONMAN Master coach Matt Dixon presents the Winter Running Project, a tried and true method for improving next year’s running performance regardless of your running level or overall goal. The Winter Running Project is a chance for triathletes, fitness enthusiasts, injury-prone athletes, or those frustrated with the results of their running performance to improve their running technique and overall performance without getting depleted or shackling the...
Nov 16, 2022•42 min•Season 5Ep. 243
While every performance journey requires commitment and hard work, the thing that sets enduringly good athletes apart from the rest is the dedication and time they put into establishing great fundamental habits around recovery. Postseason recovery doesn’t just mean it is time to lay on the couch, jump in an ice bath, or strap on recovery boots. Getting recovery right is key to avoiding underperformance or injury and instead achieving a sustainable performance in both sport and life. As the holid...
Nov 09, 2022•46 min•Season 5Ep. 242
As a follow-up to our podcast on the evolution of the professional triathlon, this episode focuses on the tip of the performance spear with a spotlight on two athletes who have taken the sport to new heights. Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt, also known as The Norwegian Train. With stand-out Olympic and Ironman performances in recent years, the two athletes paved the way to a stellar showing at the 2022 Hawaii Ironman World Championships and a record-breaking win for Iden. The pair recently ...
Nov 02, 2022•49 min•Season 5Ep. 241
Like most time-starved athletes, it’s the time of year when you reflect on the season and look forward to a well-deserved break. While the winter months offer a welcome shift of focus to other areas of life, your commitment to longer-term goals and your performance journey looms large. The threat of losing momentum in your athletic performance conflicts with the need to disconnect. Today IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon lays out a few strategies for developing your winter action plan, to help you...
Oct 26, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 5Ep. 240
If you are like many fitness enthusiasts, athletes, and those looking to improve their health and fitness while balancing the demands of work, family, and life, you may be struggling or disatisfied with the results. Maybe you invested in your fitness journey and your body composition or fitness profile is not improving Maybe you're stuck in an injury cycle. You are not alone. Many people are struggling to find their performance recipe within the framework of today’s traditional fitness model. Th...
Oct 19, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 5Ep. 239
For many athletes, the offseason is the bridge between the end-of-summer finish lines and next season's starting lines. While you might be considering turning the dial down on your athletic performance, you may actually be setting yourself up for failure in the coming year. In this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, Ironman Master Coach Matt Dixon highlights the common mistake many athletes make in their approach to training and performance habits during the most important phase of training. (...
Oct 12, 2022•37 min•Season 5Ep. 238
You’ve done everything you can to avoid injury. You focused on fueling and hydration, followed a well-balanced strength and conditioning program, removed intensity when needed, and diversified your training to include a multisport approach. You leveraged all of the strategies Matt covered in the first two episodes of our three-part series on injury prevention and management. Despite your best efforts, you now find yourself fending off the niggles and worry about it becoming a larger issue. In ou...
Oct 05, 2022•58 min•Season 5Ep. 237
With the Hawaii IRONMAN World Championships looming, one can’t help but wonder about the level of performance to expect from an ever-growing field of high-performance athletes whose athleticism seems to trend upward every year. Beyond Kona, professional triathlon has witnessed performance and endurance levels rise and the makeup of endurance athletes shift based on the growing demands and expectations of the sport. In today’s episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, IRONMAN master coach Matt Dixon u...
Sep 28, 2022•57 min•Season 5Ep. 236
The day has finally come to celebrate a vision nearly a decade in the making, as the doors to the Purple Patch Performance Center in San Francisco's historic Mission District officially open. In this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon takes us from seed to sprout with the story of how the performance center came to fruition through hard work, the endurance of spirit, and the adaptive evolution of the dream. Matt takes us from a special idea tangled in red tape t...
Sep 21, 2022•44 min•Season 5Ep. 235
It’s that time of the year, and the first time since 2019, that athletes from all parts of the world gear up for the Hawaii Ironman World Championships in Kona. Whether you're planning to compete, supporting friends, or you're just an enthusiast, ironman master coach Matt Dixon invites you to follow along as he shares everything you need to know about how to achieve success in Kona. In this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, Matt draws from his 15 years of experience helping athletes thrive at...
Sep 14, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 5Ep. 234
In part two of our three-part series on injury prevention and management, Matt Welcomes to the podcast leading performance nutritionist Scott Tindal of FuelIn for a discussion on the role of nutrition in injury prevention, mitigation, and recovery. Together Matt and Scott frame the topic of injury through the lens of under-fueling or improper fueling and its impact on soft tissue and bone health. The conversation covers: Low Energy Availability (LEA), Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDS), ...
Sep 07, 2022•53 min•Season 5Ep. 233
Fresh from the Haute Route Alps, Ironman Coach Matt Dixon returns to the podcast to share his thoughts on the experience, the lessons he gleaned from the 7-day event, and how to apply them to your athletic pursuits. The conversation covers training versus race execution and a look at the principles and elements of Matt’s preparation as a time-starved athlete that supported his performance. (22:19) "I think I arrived at the race really vibrant and healthy. We always talked about fit and fresh. I ...
Aug 31, 2022•40 min
Welcome to the 8th and final day of our Haute Route Alps coverage as Matt and the Drunken Donkeys cross the finish line in Megève. Matt gives us a look at the team’s last day of riding as the 7-day journey comes to a close. With one last 148km push through the Haute-Savoie, Matt and the gang make their way through the Col de l’Epine, Col de la Croix Fry, and Col des Aravis. We hear from the team after the day's climb, and Matt looks at what's to come as we round off our coverage of the Haute Rou...
Aug 26, 2022•3 min
Welcome to day 7 of our Haute Route coverage. Today, the team takes on THE CLASSICS. Stage 6, the riders are headed for another climb of almost 4,000 meters as they traverse the switchbacks of the Col du Tra, before facing the Cormet de Roselend. Matt couldn't resist and found his best ride of the course, Panos returns, Christopher attempts to add to his recent success, and Rob impresses everyone with his steady and sound performance. Make also makes a friend along the way and enjoys some beauti...
Aug 26, 2022•8 min
Welcome to day 6 of our Haute Route coverage. Today, it’s Matt and the Drunken Donkeys vs time. The team faces Stage 5, LOVE OR LOATHE LA LOZE, which hosts the time trial portion of the course, along with a 10km climb from Méribel to Col de la Loze. With a good start, the team takes on the inclines while taking in the natural beauty of the course. Matt faces a crossroads with only two stages left until Megève as Chris matches his intensity in Stage 4. With the end in reach, the riders look ahead...
Aug 25, 2022•5 min
Welcome to day 5 of our Haute Route coverage as Matt and his Team round the corner at the halfway mark of the 7-day journey from Nice to Megève. Stage 4, titled ON YOUR TOES, features a steep 1300m+ climb up the Col du Glandon followed by a challenging ascent up the Col de la Madeleine. Martin returns to the fold rejuvenated and Chris's youth helped him find a new gear as the entire team starts to feel the wear of four days on the saddle. Matt provides a look at the steep challenges of the day a...
Aug 24, 2022•5 min
Welcome to day four of our Haute Route coverage as Matt and his Team push forward on stage 3 of the 7-day journey from Nice to Megève. Stage 3, titled ALL FOR THE VIEWS, promised the picturesque landscape of the Écrins mountains and it most definitely delivered, but Matt suffers a minor setback along the way and has to adapt mid-climb. Matt gives us a look at the challenges of the day, the status of his teammates, a nice surprise from Stage 2, and what to expect as they move on to Stage 4. Be su...
Aug 23, 2022•7 min
