Fitter Radio Triathlon Podcast

We review the racing from T100 Vancouver, IRONMAN 70.3 Hradec-Kralove, IRONMAN Kalmar and IRONMAN 70.3 Northern California.
We discuss how sports watches are misleading us on calorie counting.
The caloric demand of endurance races – a recent article from the Tour de Femmes.
We chat with sports dietician Danielle de Francesco. Dani is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian & Nutritionist with Pogo Physio. She is a former Australian swim team member from 2009 to 2013, having competed at four world championships in the 5km and 10km open water swimming events. She is also currently a professional triathlete, Super League triathlon competitor and cyclist for the Specialized Women's Racing Team. In this episode, Dani shares her journey from elite swimming and cycling to triathlon, and tells us about her personal experiences with underfuelling. She highlights the importance of nutrition for injury prevention for all endurance athletes.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00:00 – Intro
0:04:57 – Eric Watson butterfly swimmer
0:07:32 – Intro to Dani de Francesco
0:08:38 – Noosa Triathlon
0:11:00 – T100 Vancouver
0:18: 25 – IM703 Hradec-Kralove
0:20:34 – IRONMAN Kalmar
0:28:48 – IM703 Northern California
0:33:16 – Can Lionel Sanders still be competitive
0:40:27 – Sports watches poor at calorie counting
0:43:20 – The caloric demand of ultra-endurance events
0:49:16 – Danielle de Francisco
LINKS:
Jack Moody at https://www.instagram.com/jacktmoody/
Kate Bevilaqua at https://www.instagram.com/katebevilaqua/
Guy Crawford at https://www.instagram.com/guyrcrawford/
Dani de Francesco at https://www.pogophysio.com.au/team/danielle-de-francesco/
Noosa Triathlon at https://noosatri.com.au/
T100 Vancouver at https://t100triathlon.com/vancouver/
IRONMAN 70.3 Hradec-Kralove at https://www.ironman.com/races/im703-hradec-kralove
IRONMAN Kalmar at https://www.ironman.com/races/im-kalmar
IRONMAN 70.3 Northern California at https://www.ironman.com/races/im703-northern-california

We review the racing from IRONMAN 70.3 Rio de Janeiro, IRONMAN 70.3 Lapu-Lapu and the World Cup in Paraguay.
Plus, we delve into the challenges of racing in hot conditions and share strategies for heat preparation and acclimatisation. We highlight the importance of understanding individual responses to heat and the need for effective monitoring during training. We discuss the complexities of heat stress and acclimation for athletes and their own personal threshold for heat tolerance. We share the science around the effectiveness of active versus passive heat stress and the importance of hydration. The conversation highlights the different needs of male and female athletes regarding heat acclimation protocols and emphasizes the necessity of managing expectations during hot races. The group shares insights on how to prepare for extreme heat conditions, the role of heart rate in performance monitoring, and the significance of listening to the body's signals during competition.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00:00 – Intro
0:06:31 – Sammie Maxwell
0:08:07 – Racing from the weekend
0:15:03 – Preparing for hot races
0:18:21 – Being at peace with the heat
0:21:38 – Heat acclimation work for a temperate race
0:22:49 – The core body monitor
0:27:51 – The air thermometer
0:29:26 – Passive versus active heat stress
0:35:11 – Preparing Tex for Kona
0:36:06 – How much heat stress is too much
0:37:41 – Preparing females versus males for the heat
0:39:45 – Downregulating expectations in a hot race
0:51:52 – How hard should you push in the heat
0:55:14 – Sodium for heat stress reduction
0:57:47 – The racing on this weekend
LINKS:
Jack Moody at https://www.instagram.com/jacktmoody/
Kate Bevilaqua at https://www.instagram.com/katebevilaqua/
Guy Crawford at https://www.instagram.com/guyrcrawford/
Sammie Maxwell at https://www.instagram.com/sammie.maxwell.mtb/
IRONMAN 70.3 Lapu-Lapu at https://www.ironman.com/races/im703-cebu-philippines
IRONMAN 70.3 Rio de Janeiro at https://www.ironman.com/races/im703-rio-de-janeiro
Triathlon World Cup race in Paraguay at https://events.triathlon.org/2026-world-triathlon-cup-asuncion

We review the racing from IM703 Krakow and the World Cup in Rio at the weekend.
We explore the complexities of setting individualized training zones and the risks of inaccurate zone training.
We ask our hosts, if you were given $2,000 to spend on triathlon how would you spend it?
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00:00 – Intro
0:03:10 – Baggy singlets in running
0:03:56 – Commonwealth Games swimming successes
0:06:07 – World Cup Rio de Janeiro race review
0:13:22 – IRONMAN 70.3 Krakow race review
0:19:21 – Setting training zones
0:42:36 – How would you spend $2,000 in triathlon
LINKS:
Jack Moody at https://www.instagram.com/jacktmoody/
Kate Bevilaqua at https://www.instagram.com/katebevilaqua/
Guy Crawford at https://www.instagram.com/guyrcrawford/
IRONMAN 70.3 Krakow at https://www.ironman.com/races/im703-krakow
World Cup Rio de Janeiro at https://events.triathlon.org/2026-world-triathlon-cup-rio-de-janeiro/
Individual variation in heart rates at LT1 and LT2 in runners, and the implications for zone training at https://runningwritings.com/2025/02/lt1-lt2-heart-rate-individual-variation.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=welcome_2
A Critical Evaluation of Current Methods for Exercise Prescription in Women and Men at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31479001/

We review the racing from IM703 Boise and WTCS London at the weekend.
Individual physiological adaptations to a repeated 8-wk endurance training period exhibit limited reproducibility. We discuss a recent study which demonstrates how an individual's response to one training period does not reliably reflect their capacity to adapt to the same training stimulus in the future.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00:00 – Intro
0:01:29 – Tour de France
0:03:12 – Morzine as a triathlon destination
0:07:00 – IRONMAN 70.3 Boise Race Review
0:23:05 – T100 big announcement…. not!
0:25:00 – Oakley Meta Glasses
0:28:27 – PTO and short course racing
0:29:33 – Supertri
0:30:14 – WTCS London
0:41:00 – Downhill running
0:43:45 – Guy Crawford Coach of the Year
0:49:05 – Coaching in the AI era
0:53:19 - Study
LINKS:
Jack Moody at https://www.instagram.com/jacktmoody/
Kate Bevilaqua at https://www.instagram.com/katebevilaqua/
Guy Crawford at https://www.instagram.com/guyrcrawford/
IRONMAN 70.3 Boise at https://www.ironman.com/races/im703-boise
T100 London at https://t100triathlon.com/london/participate/
WTCS London at https://events.triathlon.org/2026-wtcs-london
Supertri at https://supertri.com/
Oakley Meta Glasses https://www.oakley.com/en-us/l/oakley-meta
Limited reproducibility of individual physiological adaptations to repeated endurance exercise training. A study at https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00154.2026?utm

We review all the racing from IRONMAN Lake Placid.
Charlotte McLauchlan is a Master's student in nutrition and dietetics at Auckland University. In this in-depth interview Charlotte shares insights from her recent research on energy balance and low energy availability in age-group triathletes. We discuss key findings, implications for athlete health and practical advice for optimizing performance and well-being.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00:00 – Kate and Guy are at the Cable Beach Triathlon
0:03:10 – Josh Kerr breaks the mile world record
0:06:03 – Lake Placid race review
0:07:39 – Paula Findlay's performance
0:09:45 – Is Paula Findlay a threat in Kona
0:11:13 – Rest of the Lake Placid female pro field
0:11:43 – Chelsea Sodaro
0:15:11 – Marten Van Riel's performance
0:17:25 – Matthew Marquardt
0:18:27 – Marten van Riel… the 'twist'
0:20:19 – Rest of the Lake Placid male pro field
0:21:20 – Back-to-back IRONMAN racing
0:25:51 – Plasmaide
0:27:00 – Plasmaide Competition
0:31:28 – Fuelling for endurance sport
0:32:40 – Charlotte McLaughlan interview
1:14:46 – 41% of athletes in a significant energy deficit
1:25.00 – The tracking of calories challenge
LINKS:
Jack Moody at https://www.instagram.com/jacktmoody/
Kate Bevilaqua at https://www.instagram.com/katebevilaqua/
Guy Crawford at https://www.instagram.com/guyrcrawford/
Charlotte McLauchlan can be contacted by email at cmcl126@aucklanduni.ac.nz
Cable Beach Triathlon at https://www.cablebeachtri.net/
IRONMAN Lake Placid at https://www.ironman.com/races/im-lake-placid