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The Whole Athlete: Elite Results, Human Coaching

Professional Cody Beals' "Pathological Inability to Rest"

Published 2 months ago • 2 min read

Welcome to our weekly gathering around the campfire. This free communique will level up your endurance skills in ten minutes, twice a month. Forwarded this message? You can sign up for these emails by clicking here.

18 DEC 2025

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Dear Reader,

Short one today, because it's really important and I don't want you to miss it.

Cody Beals has been one of the most consistent male triathletes of the past decade, racking up four Ironman wins, eight 70.3 wins, and more podium finishes than we have space for here.

But in the last two years, Cody has experienced a small constellation of adverse symptoms that have made racing at his level difficult, if not impossible.

After a DNF at Ironman Chattanooga earlier this year, Cody went on social media to post the following:

“The cruel beauty of IRONMAN is that there's no hiding—your deepest vulnerabilities will be laid bare. I've pushed myself to the brink of burnout and beyond these past few years. I found the end of my rope in Chattanooga.
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Triathlon has been a positive force on my physical and mental health for most of my life. But for too long, training and racing have felt like violence against my body and mind. Excitement and drive have given way to exhaustion and dread. Still, I stubbornly kept at it.
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I've been chasing a storybook ending to my 12 year career across 4 continents this season. I'm painfully accepting that it may never come, no matter how relentlessly I quest for it. It's obvious now that the measure of my last act shouldn't be some singular performance. When the dust settles, I hope to feel nothing but gratitude for such a privileged career.
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I'm going to take some time off, work on my old house and my head, and ponder the way forward. Part of me burns for one last season armed with a fresh mindset. Thank you to everyone who has kept me in the game.”

We don't often get such unvarnished honesty from professional athletes, which is why I invited Cody to The Infirmary to talk about his struggles with rest, which will probably sound deeply familiar to all of you. Cody shares what his rock bottom was like and what he's doing to return to healthy, effective training and racing.

Watch on our YouTube Channel or listen at the links below:

​Spotify​
​Apple Podcasts​

Do you struggle to rest or take a break from training? Hit reply and lemme know—I reply to any email I get.

Chris

As always, thanks for reading.

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The Whole Athlete: Elite Results, Human Coaching

Campfire Endurance Coaching

Sensible, world-class triathlon and endurance sport guidance arriving every Thursday. I deliver the results you want while helping you avoid training information overwhelm, bad coaching advice, and analysis paralysis. And I do it with a sense of humor, reminding ya'll to take your sport seriously...but hold it lightly.

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