Episode 27: F-ing Fast Past Forty: Pro Josh Monda Keeps Getting Faster
Josh Monda raced as an age grouper for 17 years before turning professional at 40—displaying a patience you don’t often find in endurance sports. Josh’s story includes a five-year hiatus from the sport, personal struggles with addiction, and a long-term approach that eventually unlocked elite-level performance. Now racing for the On Your Left Professional Triathlon Team, Josh shares the training, mental, and tactical insights that enabled his late-career breakthrough.
Josh's story shows that athletic development doesn't follow a universal timeline. His patient approach, willingness to step away when necessary, and focus on consistent, sustainable training over the long haul offers a blueprint for long-term success in endurance sports—regardless of when you start or restart your journey.
Episode 26: How to Choose the Triathlon Coach that Fits YOUR Goals
Choosing an endurance coach might be one of the most important decisions you'll make as an athlete, yet most people approach it completely backwards. This video episode of The Infirmary breaks down how to choose and endurance coach who matches your goals, communication style, and budget, because not everyone needs the same thing in a coaching relationship.
We start with the biggest but oft-ignored question: do you even need a coach in the first place? Some athletes thrive in community-focused training groups, while others need a personalized, data-driven approach that only comes from professional triathlon coaching. Understanding your values—what YOU think is important in your sport—determines everything about your coach search.
Your sporting values and needs should align with your coach's training philosophy. Are you looking for someone who'll craft completely customized training plans, or do you prefer a simple plan with slight modifications? We bring up some red flags to watch for, including coaches who just copy-paste their own training history onto every athlete they work with or push you to purchase their services on the first information call.
Whether you're looking for workout accountability, technical expertise, or someone to help you navigate the mental game, this episode gives you a framework to find exactly what you need without getting caught up in fancy marketing or credentials that don't actually matter for your specific situation.
You can find the article version of this episode here: https://www.campfireendurance.com/how-to-choose-a-triathlon-coach
And you can always book a free 45-minute training analysis here: https://www.campfireendurance.com/triathlon-coaching
Episode 20: Self-Coached vs. Coached: Finding Balance in Triathlon with Business Owner and Mom Annie Solonika
In this candid conversation with former Campfire athlete Annie Solonika, we dive into what really matters in the coach-athlete relationship from both perspectives. Annie shares how a strong coach-athlete relationship requires clear communication and expectations from the start. As both a successful triathlete and business owner of Full Circle Stretching, Annie offers unique insights on balancing triathlon training with work and family life, showing how proper coaching can help busy athletes maintain consistency.
We explore the differences between self-coaching and working with a coach, discussing how training structure and accountability contribute to athletic development. Annie explains that effective coaching isn't just about training plans, but about creating a supportive community that keeps athletes motivated through challenging periods. The conversation highlights how listening to your body becomes an essential skill for endurance athletes, with proper coach feedback helping athletes distinguish between normal fatigue and warning signs.
For coaches, this interview provides valuable perspective on what athletes truly value in a coaching relationship, while athletes will gain insights on how to communicate their needs effectively. Whether you're considering hiring a coach or looking to improve your existing coaching relationship, this discussion offers practical wisdom for triathlon training consistency and finding balance between athletic goals and life commitments.
Episode 19: Professional Triathlete Ben Hoffman, or “Trying to Control More Doesn't Lead to More Control”
Chris sits down with professional triathlete Ben Hoffman, who has won eight Ironmans, seven 70.3 races, and landed on the podium an unreal 28 times, one of which was the 2014 Ironman World Championships in Kona, where he finished 2nd.
The biggest takeaway from this episode, I believe, is a concept that Ben returns to several times: you simply let your body express what it has been trained to do on race day, with a slight aim for "a higher level" because you are rested.
Episode 7: How to Train to Give Yourself a Chance to Qualify
Now that Ironman World Championship season is over for the year, after the women raced in Nice last month and the men just raced in Kona, we thought it would be helpful for those of you excited about those races to hear what it takes to qualify for them.
Too many athletes believe that qualifying for races such as Kona, Nice, and Roth (all long distance triathlon) requires speed. It doesn’t. Qualifying for these races (which is another way of saying “executing this difficult distance effectively”) requires a physiology that doesn’t slow down.
In this episode, which is the audio from a webinar our owner, Chris, gave a few times in October, we walk you through a common misconception about long course triathlon racing and how to change your training so you can give yourself the best possible chance of qualifying.
If you would like this content as a video, you can watch the presentation over on our YouTube channel.
And, finally, if you would like the presentation from this webinar, you can grab it here.