The High Performance Human

Don't Let The Heat Wreck Your Race: Smarter Pacing for Hot Conditions At this year’s Ironman Austria, temperatures were creeping up towards 30ºC — a big jump for any UK-based athlete who's spent the early season training in cool, grey conditions. My wife Beth, and all of the other athletes, had to contend with that reality during their race. The heat doesn't just feel harder — it is harder. And if you don’t adapt your effort levels on the bike, you risk cooking yourself before you’ve even...

“I Get to Do This”: A New Lens on Racing A long time ago, a client said something that’s stayed with me: “I used to say I’ve got to do this race. Now I say I get to do this race.” It’s a subtle shift in language, but a profound one in mindset. And it captures something I believe more of us need to hear — especially those of us with a few more grey hairs and a few more miles in our legs. When the Context Changes When we’re young, racing is about times, rankings, qualifications. There’s pride...

Be More Dog (or Horse): Rediscovering Joy in Performance I was announcing at a triathlon recently and, as usual, spent a lot of time watching athletes cross the finish line. While many were genuinely happy with their race — smiling, hugging family, and soaking in the atmosphere — more than a few looked deflated. Not injured or exhausted, but disappointed. You could hear it in the snippets of conversation: “I was five minutes slower than last year,” “I lost too much time in transition,” “She...

How to avoid Achilles Tendon injuries The Achilles tendon is one of the most robust yet vulnerable parts of the athletic body. Sitting at the junction between the calf muscles and the heel, it plays a critical role in walking, running, and jumping. When it’s working well, we hardly notice it. But once injured, the Achilles can quickly sideline even the most seasoned athletes. Physiotherapist Alison Rose helped me to understand the complexity of Achilles issues and shared some practical advice...

The Blocked Path Becomes the Way It wasn’t supposed to be there. In fact, there should have been a path leading down to the gate about 100 metres in front of us. Instead, the way was completely blocked—fallen trees, thick shrubs, and what looked like half the hillside had collapsed onto the track. Where did the path go? We’d just descended a steep hill, about 1km from the last turn-off, so heading back wasn’t really an option. Climbing above or below the blockage wasn’t possible either. And...