WHAT RUNS A RUN · JUNE 18, 2024
A conversation with Dirk Friel, Co Founder & Chief Evangelist, TrainingPeaks
In this episode of Tech in 26.2 podcast - I sat down with Dirk Friel, Co Founder and Chief Evangelist of TrainingPeaks - All in one platform providing coaching, training plans, performance analysis, and data syncs for athletes and coaches. TrainingPeaks solutions are used by Tour de France teams, IRONMAN® World Champions, Olympians, and age group athletes and coaches around the world to track, analyze and plan their training. Some of key focus areas of our conversations were: Founding Journey of TrainingPeaks to solve a problem Dirk and his father, legendary coach Joe Friel had on their coaching business Hoe TrainingPeaks is built to help people achieve their best through deliberate practice How does TrainingPeaks platform help to run & scale coaching businesses Top 3 trends in the endurance sports industry in the past 25 years : Triathlete paving the way for adoption of technology and coaching Cycling and power meters and innovations GPS and smart watches Can AI coach be as effective as human coach and future of endurance sports coaching in the age of AI. Podcast Outline 0:05 - Introduction 2:40 - Journey as ProCyclist 5:56 - Founding story of TrainingPeaks over a beer with Gear Fisher 14:26 - Getting first paying customer 16:16 - help people achieve their best through deliberate practice - overview of TrainingPeaks platform 18:48 - Scale of TrainingPeaks - if you care about heart rate, speed or distance, TrainingPeaks the right platform 23:23 - How does TrainingPeaks platform supports coaches to run their Coaching businesses 29:32 - Enabling accountability through deliberate practice 33:43 - Trends in endurance sports tech industry in the last 25 years 39:34 - TrainingPeaks university 43:19 - AI and personal coaching in endurance sports 46:24 - Can AI coach be as effective as human coach? References TrainingPeaks platform - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/ The George Restaurant in Vale, CO - https://www.thegeorgevail.com/ Foot of the Rockies, Fort Collins, Co (Oldest running specialty store in US) - https://www.footoftherockies.co/ Endurance Sports books by Joe Friel - https://www.amazon.com/stores/Joe-Friel/author/B001JP0ANM?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true Dirk Friel Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dirkfriel/ Dirk Friel Profile - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/partners/dirk-friel/ TrainingPeaks CoachCast - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/podcasts/ Podcast production tool credit: Planning - Notion Research and show notes - Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot Recording - Zoom Transcription - Restream.io Media editing and mixing - Canva MagicAI Episode info: Youtube - https://youtu.be/EIA5dU-qRTM Apple Podcast link - Spotify podcast link - Transcript and Shownotes: - https://www.traxamo.com/tech-in-26-2-dirk-friel Enjoy the episode!
CHAPTERS
SHOW NOTES
In this episode of Tech in 26.2 podcast - I sat down with Dirk Friel, Co Founder and Chief Evangelist of TrainingPeaks - All in one platform providing coaching, training plans, performance analysis, and data syncs for athletes and coaches. TrainingPeaks solutions are used by Tour de France teams, IRONMAN® World Champions, Olympians, and age group athletes and coaches around the world to track, analyze and plan their training. Some of key focus areas of our conversations were:
- Founding Journey of TrainingPeaks to solve a problem Dirk and his father, legendary coach Joe Friel had on their coaching business
- Hoe TrainingPeaks is built to help people achieve their best through deliberate practice
- How does TrainingPeaks platform help to run & scale coaching businesses
- Top 3 trends in the endurance sports industry in the past 25 years :
- Triathlete paving the way for adoption of technology and coaching
- Cycling and power meters and innovations
- GPS and smart watches
- Can AI coach be as effective as human coach and future of endurance sports coaching in the age of AI.
Podcast Outline
0:05 - Introduction
2:40 - Journey as ProCyclist
5:56 - Founding story of TrainingPeaks over a beer with Gear Fisher
14:26 - Getting first paying customer
16:16 - help people achieve their best through deliberate practice - overview of TrainingPeaks platform
18:48 - Scale of TrainingPeaks - if you care about heart rate, speed or distance, TrainingPeaks the right platform
23:23 - How does TrainingPeaks platform supports coaches to run their Coaching businesses
29:32 - Enabling accountability through deliberate practice
33:43 - Trends in endurance sports tech industry in the last 25 years
39:34 - TrainingPeaks university
43:19 - AI and personal coaching in endurance sports
46:24 - Can AI coach be as effective as human coach?
References
- TrainingPeaks platform - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/
- The George Restaurant in Vale, CO - https://www.thegeorgevail.com/
- Foot of the Rockies, Fort Collins, Co (Oldest running specialty store in US) - https://www.footoftherockies.co/
- Endurance Sports books by Joe Friel - https://www.amazon.com/stores/Joe-Friel/author/B001JP0ANM?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
- Dirk Friel Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dirkfriel/
- Dirk Friel Profile - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/partners/dirk-friel/
- TrainingPeaks CoachCast - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/podcasts/
Podcast production tool credit:
- Planning - Notion
- Research and show notes - Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot
- Recording - Zoom
- Transcription - Restream.io
- Media editing and mixing - Canva MagicAI
Episode info:
- Youtube - https://youtu.be/EIA5dU-qRTM
- Apple Podcast link -
- Spotify podcast link -
Transcript and Shownotes:
- https://www.traxamo.com/tech-in-26-2-dirk-friel
Enjoy the episode!