Good morning everyone,

“Go faster!” my loving wife yelled at me as I ran past her mid-race, a big smile on my face. Was I enjoying my return to racing? Absolutely. But I’ve read that when you’re in intensely uncomfortable & tough situations, it helps to smile through them.

Some kind of psychological trickery, but I was only fooling myself. I wasn’t fit.

So I smiled my way through just under an hour of sprint distance duathloning. No swim due to water quality issues, which was unfortunate because I couldn’t take advantage of my newly developed buoyancy. Maybe next time.

It was a joy to be back on the course, but the moment was bittersweet. The race was a tribute to Hannah Henry - a champion triathlete and incredible person who was tragically killed earlier this year by a driver who was high on fentanyl.

There will never be true justice for what happened to Hannah. The news of the sentencing made that very clear.

Hannah always worked hard, had fun, and was always there when others needed her, and always with a bright smile.

So I’ll keep smiling, even when things get tough. It’s the least I can do for her.

-Matt Sharpe, newsletter editor

🏃‍♀️ Running form dogma: Have you been told you NEED to mid-foot strike, or run at 180 steps per minute? Well, a new review says the running-form “rules” were never as solid as we were once told. [Scienmag]

🚨 Santa Barbara Sabotage: 27 runners were hospitalized after Sunday’s Santa Barbara Half Marathon, some reporting hallucinations. Was it a spiked aid station or brutal heat? This article explains. [Canadian Running]

⚖️ One side stronger? Do you have one leg that’s always stronger than the other? Turns out, everyone is a little lopsided, and in this video an exercise physiologist explains when that imbalance matters, and how to fix it! [Dr. Alyssa Olenick]

💸 Pro World Problems: For endurance pros, a splashy signing like a shoe deal sounds great. But when injuries strike, that pair of trainers ain’t paying for your deductible, as this pro runner learned when she lost $15,000 due to a hamstring tear. [Front Office Sports]

Bruna Maia is a data scientist, endurance athlete, and co-founder and CEO of the intelligent coaching platform, augo training.

A training plan used to be the thing you paid a coach for. Today, an athlete can ask ChatGPT for a 70.3 build and get one in ten seconds - for free. 

For $10 a month, an AI training app will work around athletes’ schedules, adjust when they miss a session - and even taper them into race day. 

So, if the plan is what a coach sells, what are athletes paying the difference for?

The relationship. 

The coach who knows their athlete always feels flat the first week back from travel. The coach who hears, “the legs were okay…" and knows they weren't. 

That relationship is the part no AI can replace. 

But… there’s a catch. Relationship-first coaching takes time. Reading every workout and every message takes more hours than most coaches have. That’s a recipe for burnout, not business and athlete success. 

So how do you stay ahead?

The most successful coaches in the future will get three things right:

Communication

Make it easy to talk. A weekly check-in isn’t enough. The best conversations happen right next to the training, about that specific session.

Context

Data shows what an athlete did, not what it cost them. A comment box that gets "good" for two weeks gives nothing. A few quick questions identifying fueling, niggles, and stress outside of training can be the difference between a PR and a DNS.

Automation

Information only helps if you can work through it. AI can do the reading, cross-checking, and admin, like pulling a race report or spotting when an athlete’s feelings stopped matching their numbers, allowing you to spend hours on the relationship, not the admin.

For coaches, the plan isn’t the product anymore - and that’s why we built augo. To empower, not to replace.

Email me at [email protected]; mention The Tempo, and you’ll get:

Want to see augo in action? Book a demo here!

Go deeper: Gordon Crawford - a Swiss National team coach during the Tokyo Olympic cycle - knows the plan was never the product for elite athletes; now, that is the standard for everyone. 

Fastest Ironman - ever: After a late race collapse in Kona, Magnus Ditlev (DEN) turned it around with a World Record for the fastest-ever IRONMAN. His 7:19:17 time was powered by a best-ever 3:51 bike split! [Slowtwitch]

T100 twist: Due to the cancellation of T100 Saudi Arabia, the previously scheduled men’s race has been added to this weekend’s T100 Dubai. Julie Derron (SUI) and Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) highlight the women’s race, while Hayden Wilde (NZ) could see a battle with previous T100 Dubai winner - Marten Van Riel (BEL). [Trirating]

NCAA Championships: Kelly Wetteland (University of Arizona) was NCAA Champion for the second year running, and her Wildcats also won the team title! [Arizona Wildcats]

Peptide perps: The 2027 World Anti-Doping Prohibited list just dropped. The biggest change? Peptides now fall under the Non-Approved Substance class. [USADA]

Sold out already: General registration for 2027’s IRONMAN California has sold out as the endurance behemoth’s momentum continues after announcing 3 new races in Utah, Montana, and Lake George, New York.

Future Olympians: Artur Gaspar (POR) and Kimey Casanova won the Youth Olympic Games Triathlon races in Dakar, Senegal. [World Triathlon]