These last weeks have been a swarm of ‘do not miss’ information and education, as well as a bit of fun, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you are feeling a little saturated with Purple Patch right now.  As we edge toward a more robust race season, at least in North America, the ramp of race ready education has been piling up.  Let me quickly round up some do not miss sessions and education for you, which I think you should take advantage of.  In no priority order, look to grab onto some of this good stuff:

Preview of the upcoming phase:  I preview our global emphasis in the coming block of training, and provide insights into some key elements of how to nail down optimal return on your efforts.  Even if you are in midst of a build toward a specific race, it is high value.

Brad Hunter’s Race Build Chat: Squaddies -- this one's for you -- with high value insights into managing the baseline program and applying builds.  Brad does a super job, with Tiger’s support, and this is of importance for all athletes on the Squad program.

St George 70.3 Previews:  If you happen to be racing St George 70.3, don’t miss these course previews from coach Mike and from myself.

Great podcasts: We've put out some really high value episodes over the last few weeks, all of which you can find HERE or by subscribing to the Purple Patch Podcast on your favorite podcast app:

• Andy Blow on Fueling and Hydration for Racing
• IOG Team on ‘everything bike’ for racing
• John Stevens on ‘everything swim’
• And don’t miss this coming week’s ‘everything run’ from me

In addition to all this education, we have had some really special performances in our first real hit out as a community, with 15 athletes taking the plunge at IRONMAN Galveston 70.3.

For me, as head coach, this race represented a real litmus of how athletes would physically and mentally manage racing after such a long layoff. Many of you will remember our consistent call to action to remain calm and focused through the period of no racing, and utilize the opportunity to develop across areas we could control.  I also predicted that we would, collectively, be primed for great performances once the opportunity arose. 

Well, race number one and here we are.

Heather Hamilton led the way by taking the overall champion title in the female category.  Wow!  Well done Heather.  Beyond this, almost every athlete had a terrific day and experience, bringing smiles and great performances.  Again, well done.  You paved the way for our success in the rest of 2021 (and have undoubtedly cleared the bar of mediocrity). The fab-15 from Galveston show us all that our great performances are just around the corner.  Let’s keep charging guys, we are excited for your performance this year, whenever our opportunity arises.

Finally, another big thank you to all 150 athletes who joined the crazy Saturday Bike Party last Saturday.  It took me a few days to recover, so I am sure a few of you also felt muted in the days following.  A brilliant session and experience.  As we march forward in April, we plan to keep showcasing the video-on-demand video sessions for you, before the launch of the new PLUS add-on program available for all athletes.  PLUS will include a suite of live and video-on-demand coaching in bike, strength and self-care, a massive differentiator in coaching capabilities and community.  More to come on that!

Have a super week,

Matt