Oxygenaddict Triathlon Podcast

This week Rob answers more listener questions, plus a couple of brilliant finisher stories.

• Sophie's racing her first 70.3 in Australia and needs to fit her race simulation weekends around travel - I explain her options for rescheduling
• Chris hit serious GI issues on the bike at IRONMAN Leeds. Rob explains why pacing (not fuelling) is often a big culprit, and how to build carb intake in training even if your longest ride only rea...

This week Coach Rob answers a stacked batch of listener questions, including:

• How to time and dose your gels on the bike...
• Whether indoor Zwift rides should match race distance or race time...
• What's really behind swim anxiety when training alone and how to work through it...
• The two causes of swimming cramps and how to fix each one...
• Why riding too hard on the bike wrecks your run...
• And whether a taller/bigger athlete gets a bi...

This week Coach Rob tackles a question from a first-time IRONMAN athlete juggling training with a full-time job:

"how do you structure your training year, and how many weeks out should IRONMAN-specific training actually start?"

Rob breaks down the winter base-building phase vs. the ~20-week specific build, how to shift focus from indoor FTP work to outdoor endurance riding as the days lengthen, and how to set a realistic finish-tim...

Most IRONMAN disasters aren't down to a lack of fitness, they're mistakes made in the weeks before race day that felt completely logical at the time.

This week Coach Rob breaks down the five most common reasons a first IRONMAN goes wrong: riding the bike too hard, under-fuelling on the bike, cramping from poor electrolyte planning, walking the back half of the marathon, and panicking in the open water.

Each one is avoidable with the...

In this episode:

Power data fields on your Garmin or Wahoo: why the default power reading is useless, and the four numbers Rob wants on your screen instead...

How to get an accurate outdoor FTP number...

Listener question: with two kids under seven and a 9-to-5, midweek sessions don't start until 8pm. Is there a caffeine substitute to get going without wrecking sleep?

Listener question: after a car accident and a rebuilt shoulder, bre...

In this week's podcast:

Hyperventilating in the first five minutes of the swim (when you're a confident open water swimmer and it never happens in training): Listener Helen has had it wreck two 70.3 swims and wants Weymouth 2026 to be her comeback race.

Rob explains what's actually going on (it's a CO2 problem, not an oxygen one) and gives her the mental and physical fixes to stop it before it starts.

Also in this episode:

• Why the...

This week Coach Rob Wilby answers two listener questions.

Elizabeth DNF'd at IRONMAN Lake Placid after standing on a cold beach for 40 minutes before the swim start.

Angie wants to know whether her gym bike is enough, or whether it's time to invest in a proper smart trainer setup.

Plus a preview for everyone racing IRONMAN UK in Leeds this weekend, where the bike course and the forecast are both going to test you.

Got a question for...

This week Coach Rob answers listener questions covering the details that trip up first-time IRONMAN athletes.

What actually goes in your special needs bags on the bike and run course?

Should you change kit in transition or race the whole day in a tri suit?

What does the final two-week taper look like after your last race simulation?

Rob also breaks down aero gains beyond clip-on bars - race wheels, tires, shaved legs - plus the ess...

In this episode:

• Racing without a power meter: why Rob thinks a power meter is a "worry removal tool" rather than a cost, and how to reframe the spend over your training block. If you're going with heart rate, he covers the five variables that distort it, the time-lag that trips you up, how to set functional threshold heart rate from a 20-minute test, and the thirds-based pacing method that accounts for cardiac drift.
• Training at...

Should busy age-groupers actually race in carbon-plated shoes? And how do you train for an IRONMAN when your job runs on four-days-on, four-days-off night shifts?

In this listener Q&A, Coach Rob Wilby answers real questions from athletes preparing for their first IRONMAN and 70.3. He covers how to structure training around shift work and disrupted sleep, why recovery has to come before more training, and how HRV tracking helps y...

Success on IRONMAN race day is as much a fuelling equation as a fitness challenge.

This episode Coach Rob Wilby works through a batch of athlete questions on carbohydrate intake, hydration, electrolytes and bottle strategy, all framed by the recent heat spells that saw IRONMAN France cancelled, Frankfurt shortened and lots of other European races affected.

In this episode:

• Should carbs per hour be based on body weight? Why gut a...

How do you pick a race that actually suits your strengths, and training limitations? This week Coach Rob Wilby works through a batch of real athlete questions on race selection, build-up racing, taper week, and preparing for terrain you can't train on.

The theme running through all of it: plan these things before you hit "enter," and you save yourself a world of trouble on race day.

In this episode:

• Should you race a 70.3 before ...

Race day success is as much a fuelling challenge as a fitness challenge. And in this episode Coach Rob Wilby answers athlete questions on getting your IRONMAN and 70.3 fuelling and hydration right. 

From carb targets to sweat rates to the bottle setup that keeps you in control when it's brutally hot, this is your guide to practising it all long before race day.

In this episode:

• Should your carbs-per-hour be based on body...

In this run-focused Q&A episode, Coach Rob tackles the most common IRONMAN and 70.3 training misconceptions.

Including:

• How your marathon pace translates to target race paces for IRONMAN and 70.3...
• What's your best-case IRONMAN marathon pace
• Setting heart rate zones properly in TrainingPeaks (and why Garmin's defaults can't be trusted)
• Managing run injuries - when to see a physio, integrating rehab, and swapping runs for aerob...

How hard should you actually ride the IRONMAN bike leg? The answer is more nuanced than simply copying the pros. And getting it wrong often leads to a long walk in the marathon.

In this Q&A, Coach Rob Wilby breaks down the numbers behind smart bike pacing so you finish the bike with enough left to run well.

In this episode:

• Why your FTP percentage has to drop the longer you're on the bike (and why backwards-engineering a pro'...

It's open water season in the Northern Hemisphere, and the questions are flooding in.

This week Coach Rob answers the most common athlete questions about moving your swimming out of the pool and into the lake or sea ahead of your first IRONMAN or 70.3.

In this episode:

• When to make the switch to open water, and the simple rule for timing it
• What to actually practice once you're there: sighting drills, drafting technique, relaxed ...

Coach Rob answers your IRONMAN training questions. This week:

• Run/walk strategy when aid stations don't line up with your 9/1 rhythm...
• Why fuelling beats racing until the final 10K...
• Why you can't get your breath at the swim start, and the breathing trick that controls your pace...
• How to train between races...
• The 2-3 things that matter most stepping up from 70.3 to full IRONMAN...
• Aero bars vs a faster road bike: which actually s...

There's one weekend in your IRONMAN or 70.3 build that matters more than any other. Most athletes either skip it, don't complete sessions in the right order, or turn it into the wrong kind of training weekend entirely.

In this episode, Coach Rob explains why the race simulation weekend is the single biggest factor that determines whether you get to race day confident or worried.

It's the weekend that takes the fear out of the unknow...

Coach Rob answers the most common questions athletes ask as they move from the pool into open water at the start of the triathlon race season.

This week:

• Why pool speed often doesn't automatically translate to open water...
• How much time poor sighting can actually cost you over an IRONMAN swim...
• The crocodile eyes sighting technique, what to sight off, and how to practice it in the pool...
• The speed benefits of drafting - how to...