That Triathlon Life Podcast - How fast do professional triathletes swim, are fancy bike parts worth it in triathlon, Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells tips, and more!

Episode Date: November 10, 2022

This week Paula surprises us with a new segment called “Pop Quiz with Paula” and then we go right into your questions. Questions about clipping into your shoes in T1, using stationary bikes with power meters at the gym, how pros warm up before a race, and more! To help support the podcasts, and submit your question, head over to http://www.thattriathlonlife.com/podcast

Hey everyone, welcome to that triathlon life podcast. I'm Paula Finley. I'm Eric Loggershstrom. I'm Nick Goldston. And welcome to episode, what is it? 42. 42 of the TTL podcast. We have come so far. We are coming off a high after 70.3 World Championships. Huge thank you to everyone who watched the vlog this week, who listened to the podcast last week. A great response. And yeah, we're just excited to be back here with a little bit more normal format, answering a lot of questions. Eric and I are both professional triathletes. Nick is a professional musician, amateur triathlet, and our very good friend.

Paul, I bet you didn't know that Eric and I secretly recorded leading up to the beginning of the podcast, and we're going to release it to our podcast subscribers as a little pre-roll excitement. Oh, really? When we messed up the 3-2-1 claps and everything. Gameplay and banter. That is funny. I was wondering why Eric was recording so early. Yeah?

You gave it away, Eric. I just want to jump in real quick. Paula didn't really ever take a breath during her amazing intro, but that video that we put out about her racing in St. George was actually our 150th video on that triathlon life. It ticked us over 50,000 YouTube subscribers and it's just one of our most popular, our most popular video to date. It's a little bit of a milestone. Nick tried to send us a picture of what 50,000 people at a concert looked like. It's unbelievable the amount of people.

It's so hard to fathom 50,000 people who care about what we're doing. You know what? When you look at a video and it has like a bunch of views, it's hard to know how many of those people actually enjoyed the video versus just like, oh, this thumbnail and title looks interesting. Let me click on it, right? Whereas 50,000 subscribers is 50,000 people who went, I like this enough to press this extra button after having watched the video.

Yeah, and I'd say it's a little bit more of a commitment than an Instagram follow. So it's harder to get YouTube subscribers. than it is to get followers on Instagram. So good job, Eric. Yeah. No, it feels really cool. Nick and I were talking about it earlier today. It's like a really cool number, but Nick asked me how it felt.

And I still think it's cooler than any numbers out there, like when people come up to us at races and tell us how, like, the show means something to them. That's still the coolest part. Yeah. And pretty much every intro of email that we get for questions also says the same thing. Yeah. We've made them do the sport or whatever the hell. So, yeah, it's cool. You know something I always wonder, and I wish we could have like some kind of polling mechanism for this, is I wonder, for example, the podcast listeners.

I wonder what percentage of podcast listeners have never done a race but want to do a race. Like I wonder how far we skew. Is it like 1%? Is it 20%? That's something that peeks into my mind every once in a while. Totally. And if we could compare that to the YouTube subscribers and, yeah, what's the relative? Like, who's finding the YouTube channel versus finding the podcast and what do you all care about?

And I don't know. Data's cool. Okay, I'm going to jump in here because we got a lot of questions to get to. But first thing is I invented a new segment for the podcast because I am committed to the pod. And it is called Pop Quiz with Paula. Well, Nick's going to make a jingle. I might incorporate you singing into the jingle, Paula. No, no, no, no, no.

Like a little on the news, but with your voice. Yeah, definitely actually. Confirm that's going to happen. We can redo it, but Nick's going to make a jingle. Nick had no idea this was coming, so surprise to Nick, surprise to Eric. And it'll be a fun segment. Sometimes I'll have questions for Nick, sometimes I'll have questions for Eric, but this pop quiz specifically is for you, Nick.

Okay, great. Hold on to your horses. It's actually from a subscriber or from a listener. So they sent this in and they said, don't tell Nick, here's some fun questions. Okay, are you ready? Yeah, I guess I'm ready. Number one, who is the lead guitarist of Guns and Roses? Slash.

Isn't that right? Yes? Ding, ding, ding, ding. Yeah, thank you. Oh, boy, I'm not good at music trivia like this. This is not lost on us, the hysterical nature of the slash. Oh, shoot. I didn't even think of that.

Oh, my God. Right, right, right, of course. Okay, what is the nickname of former professional NFL player Cordell Stewart? Slash? Yeah. No way. That was a complete guess. Yeah, that is the correct answer.

Okay, okay, wow. What does a pageant contestant wear around their torso to indicate where they represent? Is it a sash? Yes. Ding, ding, ding. Okay, great. Oh my God. This is brilliant.

What genre of movie includes Friday the 13th, Candyman, and Child's Play? Slasher. Yes, ding, ding, ding. Of course. Is this your favorite pop quiz ever? Yeah, of course. Well, I failed every other pop quiz in my life. So this is the first one I'm so far 100% on.

Okay. And the last one is, what does the Hulk do? Hulk smash. Yeah. Of course. Of course. Wow. Slash slash slash smash.

Yeah. Wow. A resounding success on the first edition of pop quiz with Paula. Yeah. And a huge thank you to Everett for sending in those very creative questions that made Nick say the words slash or something like it six times. I didn't even know. notice with the first one with like slash the guitarist. Yeah.

That's so funny. Wow. Amazing. Incredible. I cannot wait for the next installment of that. Of pop quiz with Paula. Yeah. It's going to be hard to top that.

Yeah, that's a good one. That's really, really, really, really solid. Any listener who wants to send me in some pop quizzes, go for it. Oh, good luck without Paula. You just opened up. You might want to set some parameters, like five questions. Okay, they've got to be five questions. It's got to be for Nick or Eric or both.

They have to be funny. They have to be one word. answers, and they have to... I like that. They don't have to say slash. No, no, no, no. As a matter of fact, I think we've exhausted that. As a matter of fact.

If I can say so myself. Ideally, these are short answers. They're not, what is the first piece of triathlon equipment I should spend money on? Right, right, right, right. Is it an arrow helmet? That's not a pop quiz with Paula. Well, that's awesome. Paul, are we allowed to move on here?

Totally. That was it. That was fantastic. So we'd like to thank our podcast subscribers. You guys so far making this possible. We just got a bunch of new gear ordered. It's on the way. This will be the last pod we do with this mic setup for Eric and Paula.

So hopefully the pod after this will be, you'll notice an increased sound quality. And it might be a little bit easier and a little more natural for Eric and Paul to talk to each other. Yeah, I'm going to notice not having a kink in my neck for the next day after trying to lean into this microphone. There you go. You can submit your questions and support the podcast with your monthly subscription at that triathlonlife.com slash podcast. And every once in a while, including this week, we send out little surprises and messages. So check that out if that sounds interesting to you.

Our first question is from Brady. Brady says, hey guys, coming from mainly a swim background, I consider myself a pretty good swimmer. But just how fast are the pros in the front group of the swim really swimming? With how many variables play into open water, it can be hard to tell how fast they are moving compared to bike and run numbers. What does a top pack swimmer, like you, Eric, swim for times in the pool?

So that's the first part. We can read the second part after we address that. Real fast. Yeah, it's unbelievable how fast. So, I don't know. No, but for a college swimmer, not fast. Oh, yeah. Well, yeah.

He was saying he does a 400, sorry, a 500 yard free in like 445 to 450. Yeah, he's fast. So that's what I did in high school. And I don't think I could do that now. Basically, I think the difference, what happened as I went from like high school swimming through just like college learning to run and becoming fit enough to be a professional triathlete is that like maybe I've slowed down to I could do a five minute, 500,

but I can do three in a row and get out of the water and go ride 300 watts. Right. So it's like the top end speed is not what it used to be, but like the almost top end speed I can hold for 20 minutes and be not that phased. So like short course meters is what we swim here in Ben. So apologies if that doesn't mean anything to you. But if we were to do like 20 by 100 on like 20 seconds rest, I could go like 109-ish. And then we go do a hard bike workout afterwards. And for people, for contacts, Eric was fourth out of the water at 70.3 World Championships. So definitely up with the fastest, fastest guys. Also, just to finish off, the little thing about me, I am terrible at flip turns. If I was a lot better flip turns, I think I could take like three seconds off for a hundred. I was just going to say, Eric is exceptionally good at wetsuit open water swimming. And sometimes the struggle that pool swimmers have is the transition to open water in a pack, swimming at the wetsuit.

That's all very different. So I think it's something you definitely have to get used to. but if you can swim a 450 to 5 minute 500, you're definitely going to be up there with the front pack, I would say, based on your swim strength. Front pack of age groupers. Like, I mean, it sounds like, could you be front pack of professionals? Yeah.

Assuming your like 1,500 time, it doesn't have a big drop off in pace from that 500 time. Right, right, right, right. Cool. Brady also says, P.S. Eric, I love you, man. I'm guessing that's in relation to your race in St. George. We all felt for you a lot.

Thanks, dude. I appreciate that. Next question is from Stephen. Hey, guys, the pod from a couple weeks ago got me thinking. What are your thoughts on drivetrain accessories like oversized pulley wheels on derailers, ceramic bottom brackets? Are they worth it?

I'm piecing together a SRAM E-Tap drive train and contemplating getting a SRAM stock bottom bracket or a Kogel or ceramic speed bottom bracket. Thanks, Stephen. Super duper cool if you have the money to spend on it. And this is kind of in that category of like, might save you two to three watts. Yeah.

From what I remember from when I worked at a bike shop. So if that's worth it to you and the oversized pulley wheels look rad and all that, then go for it. They do look rad. What I'll say is like if you get those things, you better have every other piece of gear totally dialed already. Yeah. And I would say you definitely want to go with like the waxed chain.

and it's just like, you're going down that rabbit hole of every last thing. Yeah, little marginal gains. Also, is it possible to set up a new SRAM group set without a blip box? That's a tough one. So, like, we set up Paula with the wireless blips, and you can, I can't remember if you can technically set those up without the blip box at all. But if you have the blip box and you set it up, then you can adjust it via the app, the SRAM access app, like forever more.

So you could hide the blip box in a spot. You don't even need to have the blip box on the bike. Okay. Oh, wow. Okay. If you have two sets of wireless blips. So that's like the coolest setup and what we have on Paula's bike. Yeah. But I'm pretty sure you need a blip box just for like the initial setup. Got it.

Okay, well, there you go, Stephen. Hopefully that helps. Next question is from Audrey. Hey, guys. Congrats on a fantastic season. Looking forward to seeing Paula Race Indian Wells soon. I just got my first ever shipment of TTL merch and love it. So first of all, for podcasts,

listeners who only follow the podcast, Paula is racing Indian Wells, December 4th, right? Yeah, that's right. I made the decision to do Indian Wells instead of Daytona. Very difficult decision, but it will be a lot easier travel, and we have some fun, exciting news related to the travel to get there. So we'll talk about that later. I've heard, I've heard this exciting news. Eric might race undecided. I don't know. I'm leaving it open. Like, I love that race. It's fun. Last time I was there, got second to Lionel, had a good time. And there's like this off chance that I will become fresh enough and break away from the fatigue, from worlds and stuff just in time to have a good race. But no matter what, we'll both be down there. Yeah, fun. And I will try to be down there for the race day. My birthday is the day before. And I'm going to have a little party here in L.A. and my friends and my family are going to be here. So I'm still going to come down and watch you guys. So you don't see me in the morning, but you'll see me after. And by you, I mean, you two, Eric and Paul, the people on FaceTime in front of me.

Yeah, cool. The question is, your vlog is both inspirational and beautiful. I love the content, the behind the scenes, but equally appreciate the editing, cinematography, music, etc. My question is for Eric, would you ever consider selling digital downloads of some of the beautiful shots you take? I'm thinking specifically back to the picks you shared at the end of the Long Way home after Oceanside, but also the overhead shot you ended last Sunday's vlog with, too. Basically, Eric, is that sound interesting to you, or is there maybe like a version of that that sounds interesting? Yeah, I've thought about this a lot, and you're not the first person to message me, us, whatever, about it.

And so Nick and I are going to look into it a little bit, see if there's a way to do that seamlessly, where you could get a high enough quality download to actually print, but very intriguing and also flattered that you would want to put a picture that we took on your wall. I looked into a service that will actually print it out and frame it and send that to someone. and that seems like it's and it integrates through Shopify so it would be easily easy to put on the site

and anyone that wanted it could just kind of get it on demand okay well stay tuned yeah so that'll be we'll definitely talk about it again if and when we figure that out also love that you reference that specific video that is one of

Nick and my and I think Paula's all-time favorites but very underrated via number of views yeah just yeah I love that video, of course. Love that video. So magical. That time was great. Looking forward to the offseason and not slash winter videos and picks to come. Thank you, Audrey. Next question is from Mike C. Hi, Eric and Paula. Just wanted to give a bit of feedback. The hat is

amazing. Details of the fabric on the bill along with the texture. Love it. Listening to the pod and hearing you guys put time into your product selection and I feel it shows. Yes, definitely put a lot of time. Eric and Paula and some Sometimes me put a lot of time into picking every little detail. Like just today, we're going back and forth about colors of the logo on a new potential piece of gear that we're all working on. And like every little detail is like so important to us. I wonder if anyone appreciates that.

Well, I think at the end of the whole thing, if you like the look of the thing, that's the goal. So you don't necessarily want to notice that we like put a lot of attention into it. That is so wise. You just want to put it on. it, like the feel, like how it looks. You don't really know why. You don't think about why. You just like it. Yeah. I think Nick had like a good line very early on in TTL stuff of like the shirt with the logo on. It looks like should look like the logo was like the shirt was born with it on it. Like not that it was added or anything. Like it's just it's been there since the beginning of time. Our current design process is like surrounding colors of the logo because we've broken away a little bit from doing everything with the three classic colors within the logo.

And we're doing a little bit of like, yeah, alternative colors. So we have a really cool zip-up hoodie coming in February, and we're trying to decide what colors look good on it. Like, I think peach is really in style. And then stuff that we've sold in the past, the mustard crew neck did really well. So just thinking about what people like is really like the most important factor of the design process. This is not the question that this person asked.

The question is, I do have one question for you both and Nick. Top three tips for Indian Well 70.3. I did go back and watch the video from a while back, which, by the way, is the first video I ever saw, the first TTL video I ever saw, which is what kind of... That's very close to the first video ever. Oh, yeah, there you go. No. Well, the first video, no, that can't possibly be.

Was that a whole year later? No, no, no, no. It was before COVID. It was before we had our TTL logo and all that. Oh, definitely before that, because I remember the birth of that. Yeah. It was kind of just like a vlog that we put out, you know? Yeah, yeah.

Did we even, did we call it that Triathlon Life? I don't think so. It might have been just like... It was still just under my YouTube channel. Oh, yeah, for sure. It's a fun vlog, though. It's a fun vlog, and I think a lot of the aspects of that race are still applicable to when we raced in 2019. So if you want to see what the race is like, the course is like, we really did that video as like tour guide style.

We went through the course a little bit, where to stay, all that stuff. So it's a good one to reference. For some reason, I clicked through it the other day and rewatched it. YouTube every once in a while we'll recommend a little video. Maybe that's why. Anyway, the question is the top three tips. I wrote down three, but maybe I should go last. You guys might have more insight.

Oh, we have to think of three tips for Indian wealth? You don't have to think of three. I thought of three, but you could just maybe something that sticks out in your mind that makes that race special that you think if you knew for the first time would be especially appropriate. Wow, we haven't been there for three years. Definitely, I don't know what we ended up deciding is most often. but you really need to consider where you're going to stay because it's a point-to-point transition

and the lake is not near anything. Check out where the pool is. There's like a community center pool and then the transition area is at the tennis center. I have my three things. I'll say them real fast is that that course you can pretty much stay arrow the entire time other than the turnaround. So maybe in your training make sure that you're spending a lot of time down in the bars because there's no climbs.

It's just flat the whole time. So I get used to that. then I would say the golf course for the run is never, ever flat and straight. It's always winding around, and I did not love that. So maybe prepare yourself mentally and physically for that. And then finally, and this is also somewhat of a throwback to something that we said in previous podcast recently, is that it can be very, very, very cold the morning of that race. It's in December in the desert, and the desert seems like it's hot.

It does get hot, but in the mornings and at night it's very cold. So make sure you have something for your feet before the swim. and that might even be an old pair of running shoes that you don't know what to do with. That was from Boris. Boris said that that was a good idea for before a swim in a race, kind of like right before the swim, instead of having a pair of flip-flops, you can have an old pair of shoes that you weren't going to use. Wow, Nick, way to combine two questions slash comments into one thing. You got it.

Yeah, no, it's a good tip. Someone said, like, in a previous podcast, we're wondering what to do with old running shoes. You can use them before a swim start and then not be sad about leaving them there. Exactly. I think those are really good tips, Nick. I mean, those were good reminders for me, even I forgot that it's cool. There you go. Other than that, that race was cool.

And if you want to go fast, it's a good place to go fast on the bike. One of my favorites. Other than the turnarounds. Finishing at the tennis gardens is really cool. It's like really a beautiful venue. So I just remember really liking it last time. Also, Mike says, been following for a while initially down to Eric's filming style. Now I feel like all of you are my triathlon home team, always rooting for you.

Keep it going. and keep inspiring. The season has been amazing. Mike. Thanks, Mike. Thanks, Mike. Next question. Hi, gang.

Congrats on second at Worlds, Paula, and impress the swim at Worlds, Eric. I was so sad to hear about Eric's DNF. Question for all of you. What kind of cheers do you like hearing at your races? Are there any that encourage you the most? Would you like to hear looking strong even when you're clearly struggling,

or should I just clap? I love everything triathlon because of all the content you all make. Thank you. So we've kind of talked about this before in a previous podcast. But is there something that's like, a general thing that you think you and other pros like to hear?

Or is there anything that either of you feel like you're different than other people that you don't want to hear? One thing I do like hearing is my name because I think that's really cool and people like know who you are. It doesn't matter what it's accompanied with. But just when I was running with Flora and Lucy, I heard my name so much. And I was like, how are people cheering for me when I'm running with like the Olympic champion and the world champion?

Right, right. They should be cheering for them. Right, right. Honestly, I am sure that I had the most tears. So anyway, I really like that. And also, I like accurate information about gaps, but not when gaps are growing to the person in front of me. Like, people giving me gaps to Taylor Nibb, not useful. Don't want to hear it.

Don't want to hear it. People giving me gaps to Emma Pallant Brown, who's running up, helpful. Right. So just, you know, just be considerate of that. If Taylor's seven minutes ahead, I don't need to hear it. but if someone's 30 seconds ahead, that's good to know. Right. What about you, Eric?

What if someone says, keep the mustache? Is that good? No, I would say the same thing as Paula, for the most part, knowing someone to recognize you and, I don't know, just looking strong is meh, but just the more, like, theatrical you are and stuff, just it's kind of fun. Someone did say to me, fast like Flynn. Fast like Flynn.

Not only do you know my name, you know my dog's name. That's even better. That's like two levels. deep. Fast like Flynn. Yeah, do that chair for me. Do that for me. The name thing is that, it is really nice.

Yeah, I didn't really think of that because that's just, it's a little more human than looking strong, which feels like this kind of blanket statement. Yeah. And then the next question is related, so I'll go right into it. It's directed more towards Paula and Eric. I was racing at St. George that weekend and ran into both of you at the grocery store before a race. I was caught off guard when I ran into you guys, awkwardly saying hi and good luck and moved on.

Are there certain times you don't want fans approach you. you. I assume the evening before a race might be one of these times. Sorry. I do remember this. Nick, you were there as well. We were like in the self-check and we were getting something for, like literally the night before my race, we were getting dinner stuff. I don't mind it ever. Unless you're late for something, but how are they ever going to know? No, I don't mind it. Like, that was just, I apologize if I was not as like nice as usual because we were in this like, we got to get in, we got to get food, and we've got to get back to the Airbnb and chill out. And it's been such a long day.

So we were like, and we had just left, I think, like a press conference or something. So we're just like, oh, okay, that's over. Let's go get groceries. Right, right. But it doesn't, I don't think anyone should ever hesitate. No, it's fine. When we're at a race like that, it's really cool for us. It doesn't happen in our day-to-day lives.

No one's recognizing us at Safeway and Bend. So when people at a race do, it's cool, we appreciate it. It takes no time from us. It adds energy for me. and happiness. I'll say that sometimes when I'm like 10 feet behind you walking with a camera filming you,

the amount of people that walk by that recognize you a second after was like the appropriate time to say hi and turn out, this is a Paula, Eric, I feel bad for those people. I'm like,

don't say something. Just like go tap them on the shoulder or something. You know, go say hi. No, Mr. Chance. Mr. Chance. But yeah,

so yeah, that's nice. That's nice to hear. Because I sometimes wonder that too if you guys are like sick of it ever, but it seems like you're not. No, I don't think that'll... I don't think that'll ever get old.

Yeah. It's pretty cool. And then finishes with PS. Kudos for Nick and during Iron Man, Wisconsin in the weather you had. I've done that race before and can't imagine doing it in the wet, Edwin. Yeah, that was fun. Next question is from Craig, from Winters, California. I don't even know where that is.

I guess California is pretty big, though. Greetings Flynn. Who's a good boy, you know you are? Tell your mom, dad, and uncle. that I enjoy the pod and major congrats to Eric's win at Santa Cruz, Paula's runner up in St. George, and a belated congrats to Nick on the Emmy.

Oh, Craig. You almost had it there. An Emmy is a prize given for TV shows. Grammy is for music, but still very much appreciated. Ask your mom, dad, and uncle if they ever suffer from insomnia. And what is their line in the sand

for skipping or rescheduling a workout when you've only gotten a few hours of sleep. He then kind of gives a little context to himself. He's like 57 years old and has to wake up in the middle of the night to pee. But does this ever happen to you? It seems like neither of you really struggle with not being able to sleep at night. False.

I'd say Eric struggles a lot because his brain is too active. I don't really have any problems. I do sometimes get a text from Eric at like 11 o'clock at night. I'm like, oh, that's not good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's gotten better, but there's still just days where it's tough.

Like, tonight might be hard just because we're podcasting right up until bedtime. But I've kind of just tried to get into this habit of not editing or working on work stuff from like 8 p.m. till 9 p.m. when we go to bed. Instead, we'll try to watch a hockey game or, I don't know, watch band videos or something. Van videos. Otherwise, yeah. But I think what Craig said in his email is he'll wake up to go to the bathroom or something. And then his brain gets going.

He goes and lies back in bed and. can't fall back to sleep. So that, I think, is something Eric definitely experiences, because sometimes I'll briefly wake up and he'll be, like, sitting up in bed doing something at 2 a.m. And that's because he's thinking about stuff. And like, if you just aren't, if you're sleeping through it, it's fine. But I think a good trick for that is to not get up and look at your phone, obviously. But a lot of people do that. I have this problem sometimes, but it has nothing. It has more to do with things that are happening in my daily life that are just occupying too much of my brain

and give me anxiety and I can't stop thinking about them at night. And I haven't had it recently just because I think my life has been a little more in order. So that's a hard... I can't think of a good tip for that. Eric, have you figured out anything?

Yeah, usually what I do and I kind of like have that sensation that's starting to happen, I'll just, I'll try to get up and go make myself like a snack. and I'll go out and make myself one of my cereal bowls. It has like three different types of cereal and like raisins and just try to like go through a process that occupies my brain

with like as few lights on as possible and then just like try to go back to bed. And if sometimes I'll lay down on the couch because I feel like a little change of location is, I don't know. Those are like my top two things. Just like sugar. Just put a bunch of sugar right into your system. That's what's going to help you sleep.

500 calories. I mean, it could be. be anything, but just that's the only thing that I've found that gives me something to do when I start to feel like that slippery slope of thoughts, you know. Interesting. Eating is a coping mechanism. Yeah, well, we all know about that. We all know about that.

I know. I do it too. I mean, the second part of that is just that a lot of times if I'm waking up in the middle of the night, it's probably because I'm a little bit hungry. Oh. And I just don't even know it. I always forget that I could eat in the middle of the night. Yeah. When I, like, go to bed.

Oh, that's an option. Wow. It's fourth meal. Yeah. What about the second dinner? Okay, next question is from Ben. Just wanted to propose a topic for discussion. Is pre-clipping into your bike shoes in T1

proven to be faster for pros? It seems like taking 20 extra seconds to put on your shoes in transition would not make or break your race when everyone else is fumbling around with their shoes while riding. There is a point to be made about damaging your cleats while running. Time spent moving on the bike is better than time spent standing still.

I'm curious to hear what everyone's thoughts are. I mean, if every single pro, I guess, well, I guess in 70.3, not every single pro does do a flying mount. I mean, he's not just talking about flying mounts. It's 100% faster, yes. To pre-clip your shoes and do the elastic laces and then put them on as you're moving.

Because you get up to speed with your feet on top of your shoes. And then when you're at it like before a corner or whatever, you slide them in, that should be a fast process because you should have practiced by now. if you're a pro, and then do them up and you're gone. And if like the clunkiness and the slow running you have to do by putting them on in transition and like duck walking your way out is not a fast move.

So can you confirm this for me? So like I think of Lucy Charles, who obviously is like an insanely good athlete, but she doesn't do a flying mount. But she still does. He's not talking about a flying. Her shoes are still on the bike. Yeah, that's what I was wondering. So no pro will run with their shoes on.

No. Unless you're Lionel Sanders. Right. Oh, does Lionel do that? Yeah. Wow. Sometimes. So, yeah, that makes a lot of sense, though.

Like, that time spent putting the shoes on, you might as well have forward momentum of some kind. Yeah, exactly. And I'll just add that I put my feet straight into my shoes. Oh, you don't put them on top? Nope. Slide them in, first go, and just start pedaling. That's pretty cool. And then you can do the strap up whenever you want.

Yeah. That's an advanced skill, though. Wow. That's really cool. I'm just saying for pros, like we have spent hours and hours and hours practicing this as we grew up in the sport. And so it is absolutely not a slowdown while riding. Right. Cool.

Next question is from Sophie. Hi, all. Congrats, Paula, on the great race. Definitely stopped working as I was glued to the race. Yeah, I imagine a lot of us were probably like that. I recently joined a new gym and their spin bikes have power meters. I do not have one on my bike and don't plan on getting one soon. Is it better to ride on a state?

bike with a power meter or ride my bike on a trainer without data. I'm currently doing a longer base training block and plan to get back on the bike when I start my build phase. My goal is to come in the top part of my age group, which is in the Athena category. I appreciate all of your content and I'm excited to keep getting better at swim bike run. Thanks, Sophie. Yeah, sure. I mean, they're not accurate at all. That's exactly what I was going to say. I have experienced it firsthand that they are not accurate. In fact, they could be like 50 or 100 watts off. But I would say as long as you're, if you're using it as a way to gauge your effort and compare

from week to week, if you're on the same spin bike at the gym, that's a totally fine metric to use. Like, I don't know, say you're doing like a minute at 200 watts, a minute at 100 watts. Who cares if that's actually 200 to 100? It's an effort level. As long as it's consistent, which is what we've always said, as long as it's consistent, that matters much more. Yeah, like using the same bike.

Even jumping between bikes at the gym could change a lot. So use the same one if you can. A little tip I'll give from my perspective is some of those bikes, you can pair with your watch. And if they pair with your watch, then you can also calibrate them from your watch. So you could at least do that. And if you are going to use a bike that's at the gym, I would say calibrate it before every single ride you do. I still don't know if you could be guaranteed that it's going to be accurate, but at least you're going to improve your chances. Yeah, that's a good point.

Next question is from Josh. Josh says, I had never heard of TTL until I met Eric and Paula in St. George in 2021 randomly at a pop-up, which, by the way, if you met them at 2021, that means you also met me in 2021. You just don't remember that I was there. I think near Sand Hollow.

Since then, I've been increasing my consumption of TTL to the point of becoming a super fan. I was stoked for the opportunity to say hi again this year at 70.3 World Championships, but disappointingly, I went the whole week without hearing about any pop-up locations in times. I eventually resorted to interrogating strangers on the street who I noticed with a sweet 22-TTTL hats, but then it was too late. For future events, how do I get a heads-up about the meetup spots in advance?

Well, we kind of set on the podcast to check that triathlon life Instagram page. And I guess, Paul, do you want to describe exactly where people need to look for? for that because I guess it's not as straightforward as I'm making it same. Yeah. Yeah. So if you follow Eric, me, or that triathlon life on Instagram, we'll post on our story usually. So those are the little bubbles that turn up at the top of your Instagram. If you're not an Instagram person, I will admit it'll be a little hard to know when we're meeting up. That's kind of just our quickest and easiest way to do that because it's such a last minute decision where and when we're going to do it. So it's not super easy for us to like say it on the podcast week early. We had to kind of suss out

like where we were going to do it, how it worked out with our day. So we literally sometimes post the night before it happens like kind of late. Also, since I'm newly a paid pod subscriber, I'm going to slip in a second question. I'm looking into getting on an espresso machine and I'm considering the brevel barista as a capable and affordable introductory unit. Will I have buyer's remorse if I go with the Breville rather than a pro sumer grade machine, Josh. And I feel like, Eric, am I right? Did you already recommend that exact machine before? Yeah, I don't think you'll have buyers or more.

Actually, that machine is very easy to use and very forgiving. So I think you'll be able to get a lot of satisfaction out of it really quickly. Whereas if you went up to like what we have, which is the Profitec Pro 500 plus the Eureka Mignon Selenzo grinder. Wow. That's like a bit more. I'm just, I'm assuming this person would be interested. Right. And I'm knowing exactly what we have.

Right. And I get that question on Instagram a lot. There's a bit more of a learning curve of getting the grinds exactly right on the machine and just on all of the things. So I think the bravel barista pro is like very forgiving and fun to use pretty quickly. Yeah. For example, I don't use our machine. I don't touch it. Eric makes me coffee because I just do not know. And whenever I try it, it tastes disgusting.

But on the Breville Pro, which we have in Canmore, I can do it myself. And it's still like a bit of a, you know, it's not like a drip machine. You still do the grinds and the tamping and all the things. But it's a lot, like Eric said, easier on a person that's not interested in becoming a barista. Yeah, cool. And I don't know if we want to say this, but we are working on getting the Lamorzacu machine into the hands of Eric and Paula. I mean, we're going to. More on that, more on that soon.

One way or another, whether we have to lay down our hard-earned money and Flynn has to not eat for a month, we are going to get a Lomar Zoko. You're the Lomar Zoko. You are causing Flynn to go hungry. Flynn will never go hungry. Oh my God. That boy, he eats better than any of us. Yeah, now Paul and I will have to take a month-doth meeting first. He eats wet duck. He eats wet duck.

That's very nice. Very nice. Okay. Next question is from Amnon. I think that's right. Hello, Paula, Eric, and Nick. My name is Amnon, and I'm from Israel. I did my first sprint try a month ago at the age of 49, mainly for fun and as a practice goal. I love your pod and watch you... You know what? I can tell I'm getting older because this screen has not moved, and it is harder to read than before. My eyes are getting worse. Gosh. Okay. I love your pod and watched your YouTube channel for years. I would like to know about your warm-up schedule before a race. Do you only do a swim warm-up, like stretching and bands?

Do you need to do some leg warm-ups for the bike section, or do the swim warm-up and the swim itself is enough to warm up for the whole race? Keep up the good vibes. Best regards, I'm not. I love this question. Thanks for writing in all the way from Israel. That's amazing. This is a hard question because a lot of the time age group athletes aren't allowed to warm up

in the water. So swim warm-ups are off the table. I think the most important thing before a race is just to get your heart right up one way or another. So usually the easiest way to accomplish that is to do like a five to ten minute run and then do some arm swings and activation that would get you ready for the swim. But not necessary to do a bike warm up and often impossible to because you got to check your bike in before, whatever it is. But you do definitely warm up and get your heart rate up during the swim portion of the race. So once you get on your bike, you'll be totally fine. But to

get ready for the swim part, just do some kind of motion before. And usually that's running. Agree, Eric? Yeah, the only thing that I would add that I like to do is, like, I don't know if you know the exercise runners touch, which is where you're on one leg and you kind of do the Superman sort of thing, and then like some squats and some lunges. I like to kind of do some of those things that go through the range of motion

that you would experience while biking. I usually will do that right after I do, yeah, like a 15-minute or a 10-minute run warm-up, just to like try to get hip mobility ready for. the bike. That's particularly applicable to Eric because of his hip issues. So he focuses way more on that than most people might, but still an applicable thing.

I remember hearing that if you do have access to your bike, which is very rare at like an Iron Man race, but more so at local races, I've heard that if you do warm up, you want to do it in reverse order of the race. Like run, bike, swim. Have you ever heard that? Is that true?

No, that's wrong. Oh, there you go. False. No, that's Tom. I mean, I guess I see where they're going with that, just because if you're going to do a swim warmup, that's got to be the last thing that you do. You can't do a swim warm up and then take the west of you'd off

and go do it. Maybe logistically, that should be the order. Yeah, but I don't think it makes it, your body doesn't know. At an Iron Man race, though, it's basically impossible to do a bike warm up. Yeah, yeah. Well, good, because I never do any of those anyway, so I'm glad. Next question is from Allie. I put this one here because I know how excited you are about.

this, Paula. Hi, all. Instagram made it look like Paula is now the proud owner of a new Dyson Air Wrap. Is this true? If so, Paula, please drop your review. Is it less time consuming post-swim than a regular dryer? Thanks from another Redhead swimmer, Allie. Yeah, it is. It's called an air wrap. I don't even know what it's called, but it's a stupidly expensive dryer. Yeah, Dyson makes it. It's a hair dryer. I wanted one for probably five years now because a lot of like the hair salons that I go to, have one, and they're just very, very, very nice. Holly Lawrence lent me hers in St. George to try, and I used it a few times. It was instantly sold because of the following factors. It does significantly decrease the drying time.

And one thing I don't like is standing for 10 minutes in a bathroom drying my hair. It feels like such a waste of time. This probably cuts it in half. I'm not lying. And the heat is not as intense, So I feel like it's a lot better for your hair. It kind of has this weird soft air feel is like the one way to describe it, but it's not this intense blowing heat where it feels almost so hot that it's scalding your scalp. Right. It's a much gentler flow of air. But also at the same time dries your hair faster.

So it's basically magic. You should invest in one and you will not regret it. Wow. All of a sudden I'm thankful for my male pattern baldness after hearing all that. I can confirm, because I've used a hairdriar a couple times in my life. It's weird how soft it is. It's like, I don't know, it's like a regular hair dryer is like somebody coughing and the Dyson is like kittens purring. It's like an angel's kiss.

Wow, Dyson slide into our DMs for the sponsorship. Yeah, I will say this was not a sponsored post. I spent my hard-earned money. Those Dyson things. Never loses suction but takes all your money. The other thing is I bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner about five years ago, and it broke. So I'm like, I'm never buying Dyson things ever again. But I'm hoping that's just because of the heavy usage of the vacuum.

I'm not using this hair jar every single day. I don't know. Hopefully it'll last more than a few years. And if it does, on sale, I got my money's worth. Yeah, wow. I think that Dyson vacuum was designed for like a 400 square foot. Not an entire huge home. Yeah, we had like a three-story townhouse.

Right. Yeah. And I was like going hard every day. Okay, anyway. Okay, next question is from Eric, not our Eric, but another Eric. Well, also our Eric, but not this Eric. Greetings from Chicago. As an older athlete, 59 years old, I'm paying far more attention now to flexibility and mobility.

Have you ever incorporated yoga into your training? Have you ever used an impact massager like a Therogun? Rollers or sticks? Best of luck with the Lamorzocco machine. We have had the same machine for three years, and it has been rock solid. Do you think when people are writing these questions in their minds? They're calling it a la masozochle like what Nick says it?

I usually hate when people do that, so I don't know why I'm doing it. If I'm in an Italian restaurant in the U.S., I'll pronounce things wrong just so that I don't sound like the guy who's pronouncing it in Italian. So let me see. A rose cone polo? Yeah, exactly. A penny a vodka. Best of luck with Lamarzaco mini.

Wait, what do Americans say Lamarzaco? I mean, we don't sound like that, Nick. We say La Marzocco. It's not like a Marzocco. It's just Marzocco. I'm sorry for being right. Jeez, gosh. Hearing you say it just makes me want it more.

There you go. Well, that's what I'm increasing the value of the product, of course. Okay, the reason I put this question in is because I did a few yoga classes last week with Lindsay Corbyn. And I used to do yoga like five times a week. I was so addicted to it. What? Yeah. I cannot believe that.

Why? It's so like, I feel like you're like go, go, go. And yoga's like not go-go-go-go. You have the wrong impression of me. I mean, I went to like power flow. It was still hard. I went to hot power flow. It was like exercise yoga.

So the hardest version of yoga. Got it. Down dog for five minutes. Got it. But I think it can be really good for you. I also think that like I did, you can overdo it. and it's not necessarily a great thing to be doing like bent over stretches excessively. And I did get quite sore from it, like in my upper body and stuff.

So there's a strength aspect. There's a stretching aspect. I think it's a good thing to incorporate, but not go overboard with. Yeah. And also just obviously brings a little bit of peace, breathing, an hour of like focused breath, I think, is what makes me feel so good afterwards. You don't really do that in any other aspect of life. So it's good for the mind as well as the. body. And if you have the time for it, I would 100% recommend. Actually, the reason I stopped going

is because of COVID. So for two years, I didn't go to a single yoga class. And then Lindsay's been going and invited me and I was reminded of why I love it so much. And I'm having to hold back and not go too much now that I'm training a lot and everything. But it's one of my favorite activities. That's cool. Eric, have you ever done any yoga? Yeah, I've done like two classes with Paula. And that's the extent of your yoga Yeah, I agree I totally love it

I think it's good and it's like Exactly Like it's a good thing for me Especially with my hips and everything When I do it I feel good And stable and more flexible and everything It's just like Paula said It's really hard to fit in with a full training load

Because of the time to drive to the studio And do it and the whole thing So How about you Nick? Do you do yoga? I have done it before It feels like the time just drags on so much It's really hard for me to like I think my ADD gets the best of me when it's happening.

I'm just like, have we been here for 10 minutes? I feel like we've been here for an hour. Yeah, that is something that gets easier as you do it more. Yeah, I imagine. And would probably be a healthy thing for you to be able to tolerate the one hour of moving and not think about the time. But I know, it's, I don't like that too. You're right.

You're 100% right. I did go to a bunch of classes before when I had a gym membership, and now I just don't feel silly to pay for a gym membership, but maybe it's not. I would also say that, okay, not to drag on too much about this, but yoga at the gym is not always the best. Like going to a specific yoga studio with teachers that are super well trained specifically in yoga versus like maybe a fitness instructor that's crossing over and doing some yoga. The experience is so different. It's like they, it's kind of like you presuming Lamar Zoko. Like they know the names of all the poses, like the proper names.

And you're just like, wow, I'm so zen. I'm awning with everyone. It's a different. Right. Right. And there's no shortage of yoga studios in Santa Monica, obviously. So I probably could. Can I say one more thing about yoga?

Oh my God. Yes, please. Not to drag it on, but six comments later. Not to drag it on, but I'm a huge proponent of yoga. And the more I talk about it, the more I'm getting into it. It's a little bit expensive. But most yoga studios have like a one month beginner special for like $39 or something. So if you can just pay that,

and then go maybe four times in a month once a week. That's like $10 a class, super affordable and see if you like it. Most studios have an introductory offer like that. And then just change our identity every month and you can keep doing that over and over again. Or go to a different studio. Thank you for that. Thank you for that in-depth yoga dissertation, Paula. Next question is from Amy.

Hi, Paula, Eric, Nick, and Flynn, of course. Nick, my question is mostly for you. Do you choose and cut all of the music for the pod? how did you like living in Boston when you were at Berkeley? Did you have any favorite routes for biking and running? Thank you all for keeping us inspired. Amy from Boston. So, first of all, I don't know exactly what she means by choose and cut all the music for the pod.

I think there's two options here. Either she's talking about the literal theme song of the pod and like little musical numbers that we do for the sections on the pod. In which case, I don't choose those. I made those. Professionally, I make stuff like this. So I made those. music for the YouTube show, I have nothing to do with. That's all Eric. And Eric chooses all of that music and edits it all himself. Very rarely, I will have like a song that Eric will put on the show,

but for the most part, it's all music that Eric chooses. Eric, like, I feel like you get a lot of attention for the music that you put in the YouTube show. Yeah. Like, people really seem to like it a lot. I agree. You have a real knack for it. Is there any, like, can you attribute it? Can you attribute do that to anything? Or do you feel like you just love music and that's the natural expression of that? I do really like music and you and I have talked about this because like I'll send you music that's not podcast, not vlog music. You know, it's just like regular mainstream music. And you said you couldn't really figure out what genre or like what it is that makes me want to send you things. But I think that we kind of honed in on it's really just like an emotion. And when I listen

to a piece of music that really gives me a strong sense of emotion for. for anything, whether it's like elation on a bike ride or it's like I'm kind of in a moody mood like while you're running on the treadmill. I think that's probably like how I identify music that I like is that it fits a mood. And that plays really well into making the vlog every week because I don't just try to throw in a really big heavy beat all the time to just like get you hyped up, hyped up, hyped up. Like if it's the intro for the vlog, I try to give something that's like got a little bit of intrigue and maybe matches the intro and then you like build a little bit as you get through the episode. Then you hit a climax point where it is maybe the most

intense music and then there's something that's that's more resolved feeling at the end. And that's like a natural story arc and I don't know, maybe that's my talent is like I can identify a music that really feels like it represented that moment and the emotion of the moment that I'm trying to portray in the show. The thing is you say it and it seems so obvious when you say it, but this is something that my students struggle with a lot. And they've ever already gone through undergraduate an hour in a graduate degree program is that the emotion of music is what pulled us to music in the first place. It was never listening to how skillful someone was. That was then like a secondary thing. Like we all fell in love with music because of how it made

us feel when we listened to it. And so I feel like there's a kind of a parallel thinking here. My students, when they try to use all their technical skills at once in every song versus focusing on the emotion, that's the same thing. It's like you don't have to use the super hyper be music all the time and all your videos, you can instead match the emotion and take the viewer on this journey with you and contextualize your images in a way that a dubstep track or whatever

would be inappropriate for. Yeah, totally. And just for a little background too, I also, like everyone here played music. I played trumpet and euphonium in high school and was pretty good at it. It was in the top level band and did improv and jazz band. So I do feel like I have a little bit of grasp on music and the emotion of it.

And Paula, I don't think people know what instrument you played. I play, well, my mom actually plays this instrument very well, and I played it because we had one in the house was kind of the main reason. Right, got it. The trombone. That would have been my

44th guess, I think. Yeah. Well, I have a really musical family. My uncle plays in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the trombone. My aunt plays the French horn. My other aunt plays the trumpet. And my mom is really, really good at the trombone as well, like played it through university. And my cousin just got a job with the Emmington Symphony Orchestra playing the bass. Oh, the contra bass. Yeah,

the bass. Yeah, with the bow. Yeah, yeah. So very musical family. I was not good at the trombone, but I can still play O Canada with it. Oh, very nice. Burr, blah, blah, br-br. And like, blowing into that little thing, like, that's a skill. It is 100%. Oh, yeah. I can't play trombone. Because you literally have to, like, move the shape of your lips to the note. Yeah. I picked up my trumpet and tried to play, I think, like, four years ago.

I made it through, like, two minutes before I just, I couldn't even feel my mouth. The trumpet is, the trumpet is such a tighter lip feel. Like, the trombone, you got to have, like, loose lips. Yeah. It's like, same with, like, with, like, a tuba. You can fit, like, the whole, your whole face in that mouthpiece. Yeah. Loose lips.

Oh, man. I love it. I love it. Okay, next question. Wait, oh, actually, sorry, I never answered this question. In Boston, I loved running on, like, the esplanade and, like, around Jamaica Pond and, like, down Commonwealth Ave. But at the time, I was just riding a fixie very much for fun. Like, I didn't know about Strava.

I was just enjoying the city, and the bicycle was my means of getting around. So I didn't have triathlon in Boston, but those places, I really like those places. And I absolutely love Boston. So there's the answer to that question. Sorry. Long-winded. Next question is from Matt, dear TTL team, I have a very serious triathlon question related on nutrition.

I see you have the uni pizza oven. What is your go-to dough recipe for when you have company during the off-season? So no rush in cutting corners. Which model, propainer wood, or both? I have the Ghazni rack box and love it. Love everything you all do. Gratia mili, Matt. Grazie melee.

If I'm picturing the right thing, those Ghazni ones are like, like beautiful. Well, why does he want to know what uni we have on if he has a beautiful pizza? Well, he's like Eric with vans. It doesn't matter. He's going to have the nicest van in the world. He's still going to be looking at van videos

and people build it up from scratch. It's the pizza oven person. We have the uni propane powered whatever. We bought it with our own money. Like most things that we advertise on this podcast, apparently. Dang it. Wait, this isn't working out at all. It's been so much money on the table here.

And our go-to recipe. is to not make our own dough. We actually buy it every time. And we really like the Trader Joe's dough. We've tested every dough from like every grocery store slash bakery and bend. And the Trader Joe's dough is a quarter of the cost and makes really good pizza. Yeah, that's great. I've had it.

It is incredibly good. Recipe. Drive to Trader Joe's. Yeah, I wish I was like, you know, into making dough. Everyone I know buys the dough from a grocery store as well. I don't know anyone that makes it. at home. It'd be a fun activity, but for the most part, when we get to dinner time, it's like we're, we need something quickly. It requires some preconceived effort.

Actually, we do have a friend. We have a good friend, Ryan, who also has a pizza oven. He makes fantastic dough. So when he's able to come to pizza night, we eat like hinks. Got it. Okay, well, there you go. There's your pizza answer. Next question is from Todd. Hey, TTL Empire, since nation seems too small. Lots of talk about when to replace try a quick One I haven't heard y'all talk about is saddles. I've had my ISM-Madamo saddle for five years. It's scuffed and has a small tear, but otherwise seems fine. Is there some standard time or use or something to specifically look for?

Thanks. Love the podcast, My Sherpa, wife, and I listen religiously, thanks, Todd. So I guess my question for you would be, how much does the padding matter versus the shape of a saddle? I think the big thing here is just whether or not the padding is ultimately like degrading or breaking down. So if you sit on it and it creates a hammock shape and that's creating any unnecessary pressure or the effect of your saddle height being a little bit lower, then that might be time to upgrade your saddle. But if it feels fine and nothing's wrong,

like I would say don't, don't mess with it. Yeah, it depends how much you ride your bike to like five years. If you're riding your bike every day, it's for sure degrading to some extent, I would say. But if you ride your bike once a week and there's, there's, there's, nothing about it that would make it break down. So like Eric said, if it starts to kind of like hammock and then you do go to get a new one, you just have to consider that with your bike fit because you might be a few millimeters higher with a new saddle that's super stiff or has more cushioning than your old saddle did. But people, I think we talked to Heather Jackson about this. She doesn't like changing saddles because it does kind of like mold to you a little bit.

And then to switch feels a bit uncomfortable at first and you have to break it in again. So I don't know. It's kind of personal preference. Heather also weighs 86 pounds. So she doesn't break down saddles. Yeah, that's true. That's true. No, I'd never consider the weight of the person. If you weigh 300 pounds, you're going to break down a saddle more.

Yeah, because that saddle doesn't know, right? It's ready for whatever kind of weight person. That saddle doesn't know. What's hitting it? Oh, no. That's like when I react on my bike, my cell, I was like, oh, Hugh again. Oh, please. Why me?

Okay. This is not. a negative thing about body weight at all. It's a funny thought. My brain instantly started picturing Seinfeld

being humanizing the saddle, personifying the saddle. The thing that I thought of with this question was like I've seen saddles that don't have any padding. They're just like a very specific shape and some people with the right bibs

can ride a saddle that has no padding. It's just a shape that works well with their body. If they can do that, I'm thinking like my saddles are very, very, very stiff. It doesn't feel like there's that much padding to them.

Yeah. But if they were a different shape, even if they were softer, I feel like they would not fit me as well. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Okay. Next. And last question.

This is from Tom from Vancouver. So a little hometown. Well, not really hometown. Home country. Hey, Fepin crew. Uh-oh. Is this happening? Is Fepin happening?

Flynn. Eric Paul and Nick. Yeah. Nope. I think, I think Beth came up with that last week. Massive, congrats to all of you on the TTL success this year on so many fronts, finally sending in a podcast question after however many episodes it's been now. 42. As Paula's race recap last week brought up descending from Snow Canyon, I realize descending

has been brought up in videos and the podcast previously, but I'm wondering where Paula thought she lost ground when compared to other athletes. And by when, I think Tom means in what way? As I've experienced this frequently in races this season, even when they didn't have particularly technical descents, so not just in the case of breaking, Snow Canyon felt like a perfect example of this with less twists and turns. What do you feel like are the factors that make the biggest difference descending on the TT bike and triathlon? For this, the answer is big, Eric Sink, big balls. Big balls. You got to have big balls, have no fear of going 70 kilometers an hour, head first down the hill with no brakes. It does seem like that is a big part of it. I know it sounds funny,

but it does seem like that is a big part of it. And to accomplish that, you have to push big watts downhill, which is not instinctively what people want to do. You get to a downhill, you're going fast, you kind of use it as an opportunity to let up maybe a little bit and take your foot off the gas to recover. But people that are really good and fast at descending will keep the pressure on even on a descent.

They'll keep riding their race watts and have a big enough cure to do that. But will they keep, like if you're trying to average, let's say, 250 watts. Do you think you should be averaging the same watts going up as going down? Well, it'll naturally fluctuate in a race. Like, you're not riding Zwift here. But I would say you don't want to let it drop below 200,

which I did for sure in the race, which was detrimental. So that didn't come from the inability to push watts downhill. It was the fear of going so fast downhill with wind, with all of the elements and the factors. So I don't know if I can ever really train that fear completely out of me. It's a little bit ingrained in me. But you can definitely practice it and increase your comfort level. And when my coach was visiting last a few months ago, we practiced riding down Skyliner Arrow, which was way out of my comfort zone, but helped enormously. He kept

driving me up the hill and I'd ride down an arrow and I hated it. And then I'd do it again. It was a bit easier. Do it again. It's a bit easier. So doing it gets you over that hump of like, oh, that was possible. I can do that again. Oh, I can do that again. and just realizing that the edge is so much further than what you think it is. My question for you would be, what would you put yourself compared to other female pros? Where would you put yourself in, let's say, 10 random people as far as confidence going fast in a straight line downhill? Bottom, bottom 10%. Okay.

And now what about just going around a corner, not necessarily fast, but how do you feel like your cornering is? Because I'm trying to figure out a same thing. Well, I'm better at cornering, and I feel like you can't lose as much time in a corner. But it was just mind-blowing to me how quickly some people were coming past me on the dissents. Like, India Lee was just like hauling it past me. On that descent down to Telegraph, if you guys did the race, it's just this like crazy, crazy steep hill. And I was like, oh, I'm not willing to go with that. But hopefully, like, the future me will be a little bit more willing to push the boundaries.

So the issue isn't just a technical issue. It really is like a fear-based thing. Totally. Yeah. I'll say it's 100% fear-based. Like, Paula is not even approaching the point at which, like, skills are coming into staying upright. No, no, I'm just saying, like, you're not anywhere, you're so far away from, like, going down a hill and turning from, like, where your tires would lose grip. It's, I think you're kind of like, you're putting on the brakes before it becomes a majorly skill-related, like, how well are you cornering.

Yeah, it's fear-related. I didn't mean that to be mean. It just... It just was. So, yeah, you don't feel like people are necessarily coming around you in corners, though, or do you feel like people are coming around? It's just like long, fast stuff. Yeah.

Well, there's not a lot of, like, fast corners in Iron Man Trathlons. Yeah, that's true. Well, that was our last question. Thank you, Tom, from Vancouver. This was our longest recording ever, but that's also because we had a little special pre-roll that's going to go out to the subscribers. Oh, yeah.

Oh yeah, I was wondering why we were running into the 120 mark. Yeah, that's why. And then we also had a little snack break in the middle, which no one's going to know about. Oh, that's true. It was not a snack break. Oh, right, right, right, drink break. Well, Eric had a snack. Eric had a snack, yeah.

Cool. Well, that was fun. I felt so productive. That was a lot of questions. That was the most questions we've ever answered. Wow. I'm really like, I'm trying to stick them as many as I feel so bad every time I see these questions. So many of them are so good.

And I just want to get. to them all. Yeah, Dick, I don't even send you half of them. I know, I know. I know. It's unbelievable. Imagine me. Well, you guys can all, you can support the podcast and send in your questions at that triathlonlife.com slash podcast.

We always look forward to them. Do you guys have any finishing thoughts here? I was just going to say maybe when we, if we should like set a goal for like podcast plus program or something and then like maybe do like a bonus thing where we just like knock out of bunch of questions or something. Oh, yeah. When we're on off season, you know, and we got a little bit extra time in December, like maybe we do like a one week where we do an extra one or something and like get caught up. That's a great idea. I love that. This is a classic Eric and Nick. They're like, let's just add another podcast to the week when we're like squeezing this in an 8 p.m. on a Tuesday.

Oh, my gosh. Eric comes up with an idea and instead of being like, well, let's think about this. I'm like, that sounds awesome. Let's do that. Add it in. Nick and I talking in a nutshell. elaborate and escalate. Yes. Oh, it's terrible. It's just like a snowball down a hill. Maybe we can also record it and put it out as an extra bonus YouTube video.

Yeah, let's do video too. Now we're thinking, Paula. Paula, now you've got ideas. I love that. That's all. We're back to a little bit of training this week. I'm hoping I can dial back the World Championship training 20% but still win the race. Very nice.

I love that. That's so cocky, but that's what I'm hoping. Me too. We're all hoping that. Okay, guys, well, we'll see you next week. Yeah, thanks, guys. Later. Bye.