Welcome to the Zone 2sletter

Does the endurance universe need another weekly newsletter? Probably not.

Do you need another postulant influencer telling you to slow down to run faster? Definitely no.

But everyone needs more humor, and the often-too-serious worlds of running, cycling, triathlon and swimming could use a little levity. I hope the Zone 2sletter can bring just that—along with a weekly dose of exercise science and motivation.

I promise to deliver three things to your inbox each week. (Probably on Wednesdays, but you’ll have to give me the occasional wiggle room because I have two very small children and a dozen kinda big endurance goals.)

1. Science: I believe in trickle-down science. I think the athletes and coaches at the very top of their respective sports are leading the science, and I hope to distill some of their knowledge and methods in a way that is fun and fresh.

2. Motivation: I want the most motivated you are each week to be the moment you finish reading this. I want this newsletter to kick you in the ass—hard—with mental performance tools and tricks from the very best endurance athletes on earth.

3. Humor: I’m from Chicago. I think everything is funny, and there’s plenty to poke fun at in the endurance landscape. I promise to be an equal-opportunity offender. If you do something stupid, I promise to have jokes.

To kick things off, next week we’ll be taking a medium-deep dive into the latest science of heat training and the concept of “thermal load.” Beating the heat is about a lot more than keeping core body temperature down. Long-held beliefs about how efficient the body can be as core temperature increases and how hot an athlete can get before shutting down are being challenged with new tools and training methods. Next week we’ll look at how the very best runners, cyclists and triathletes aren’t just training to beat the heat, but are using soaring summer temps to supercharge their systems.

Feel free to bother me on X or Insta if there’s a topic you’d like to read more about or something you think needs to be made fun of. Service journalism is back in the world of endurance. You’re welcome.

You’re training too hard… or not hard enough,

Brad