That Triathlon Life Podcast - Ironman World Championships Kona predictions, triathlon massage, 70.3 St George course, chlorine skin care, and more!

Episode Date: October 6, 2022

This week we finally introduce an option to support the podcast at: https://thattriathlonlife.com/podcast We make our Kona predictions, play a round of TTL Spelling Bee, and then move straight on to your questions! Triathlon questions about being too cold, winter motivation to train, how to keep slow runs slow, and more! For gear, head over to http://www.thattriathlonlife.com

Hey everyone, welcome to that triathlon live podcast. I'm Eric Loggerstrom. I'm Paula Finley. I'm Nick Goldston. And on this podcast, we hang out each week. We take some questions from you guys, hopefully answer them, give you a little bit of information. Sometimes we talk about race recap, what's going on in trathon. You name it. Mostly, we hang out with our very good friend Nick. Nick is a professional musician, amateur track athlete. Paula and myself are both professional track, please. Wait, you're, you're professionals. So are you racing Kona? Are you racing in Hawaii tomorrow? Yeah, when this

comes out, I think it'll be, it'll be today. The women will be racing. Imminently, yeah, right. So, no, we're not there. I do everything except Kona. She does all the Iron Man. She does ultra Iron Man, she does like Deca Iron Man's, but she doesn't do Kona. No, it really is. You get this feeling every year around this time if you're not there. It's the little bit of like, damn, I wish I was doing this. This is a big, circus and I should be part of it but it's definitely a very very specific focus for the entire year if you want to do all of this race and eric and i've always just kind of focused on the 70.3 distance

at the new 100k distance that pTO puts on and we really like that shorter faster style of racing so we unfortunately miss out on the hype of kona but you know it's not to say we're never going to do it's just not happening right now yeah there's plenty uh there's definitely a lot going on there this year So I think it's fine that you guys are back and bend focusing on 70.3 worlds. Yeah, I honestly get so into the Kona hype, like all the videos a lot. Yeah, me too, me too. It drives Eric crazy. He just like puts his AirPods in and watches a band video.

Well, the Lionel videos are just on the next level right now. I'm laughing through the whole thing. Nick, do not gush over them too hard. Eric will be mad at you. Okay, I'm sorry. But they are truly good. They are truly good. Talbot is a freaking comedic genius.

I'm just laughing through the whole thing. I know, that's the thing. We share the same sense of humor, is that my thing? So it's hilarious. It's not like Talbot's spending like all day doing these cinematic, beautiful edits. No, no, definitely not. Yeah, he's definitely not. He'll be the first to tell you. Anyway, moving on from Kona, we're not doing Kona. We're focusing on other things. So anyway, by the way, today I had my first swim in years without a swim workout. I didn't have a warm-up set. I didn't have a main set. I just went. just swam. When's the last time either of you did that? A couple days ago. Really? You just like go, do whatever you feel like, a few 200s? When we get done with

when we get back from a race, usually we don't get a schedule from our coach for a whole week, and during that time, we just go to the pool because it feels like the right thing to do and kind of make stuff up and yeah. So how, when you don't have a schedule, what kind of swimming are you doing? Is it mostly shorter, faster

stuff? Are you doing a lot of drills? Is it long and just like relaxed? Well, I would, nothing fast for me. Polly usually wants to build on a little bit of intensity into every single workout with like, let's do 75s. The first 25 fast and then the next time we'll do the middle 25 fast and that kind of thing. And I'm kind of like, I just want to go and yeah do some drill type stuff and then do like 10 by 150 with paddles and just kind of like loosen up. Interesting. Yeah, I don't know why I felt I wanted to do a bunch of drills and just try to get my form.

instead of thinking about intensity as well. Yeah, if you don't have a race coming up, it's easier to just float around. That's what I want you up. And also, I feel like the fast stuff in the intervals really breaks it up. So even if we go to the pool without a structured workout, I'll usually make up a structured workout. So we're doing something, especially for swimming together. It's like, okay, let's actually like have a send-off time and do a thing. I wanted to, before we get into the questions, a real quick little TTL spelling bee.

So, okay, right into this. He to the moment, Eric, if I've eaten too much before a swim session, sometimes I get nauseous. Oh. Are we stumped it? Yes, he's gotten a few wrong. I don't know why I can't visualize this right now. This is a hard one. I Googled hardest words to spell.

This was the first one. This is the first one. Okay. Yeah. N-A-U-S-I-O-U-U-S. N-A-U-S-E-O-U-U-S. E-O-U-S. Yeah.

Eh. Exactly. Good one, though, good one. Okay, so now, if you're slow like me and you're doing an Iron Man, you are going to finish in the dark. And to be able to see, your pupils will have to dilate. How do you spell dilate? D-I-L-A-T-E. That's correct.

Some people think it's D-I-A-L-A-T. D-L-A-T? D-L-A-E. No. No. You knew, Paula. All right, so you're so confident, Paula. this one. If you think the definition of

good race nutrition is a bunch of ground meat stuffed into some kind of casing, you'd be wrong. That's baloney. How do you spell baloney? I came up with that one, by the way. Thank you very much. My comedy career starts here. B-A.

Okay. There you go. All right. B-A. B-A. Oh, boy. B-A-L-O-L-G-N-A. Yes. It's Actually, Bologna is the... Okay, Nick. I'm telling you what it is.

You got it wrong at the second letter. You should have said in Italian, and then I was... No, but that's the American... This is the American word, baloney. The spelling is also baloney, but that's correct. It's GNA. Okay. If I were to race in Dallas in the heat like Paula did,

my insides would liquefy. How do you spell liquefy? That means back to me. Unless Paula, you want to go for it. L-I-Q-E-E-E-E-E-E. U-I-F-Y. Wrong, Eric. Oh, you thought it was right.

Oh, the drama. Is there just no you? I don't know. Why don't you spell it for me and see what happens? I got the buzzer ready here. Yeah, I would have probably said the same thing. L-I-F-Y. L-I-Q-U-E-F-Y. Liquify.

There you go. Which is very strange because liquid is Q-U-I-D. I know. That's why it's so, yes, right. English language. Come on, folks. I'm going to say somebody just spelled that wrong a long time ago, but it made into the dictionary. It just stuck. They're like, oh, too late.

We can't call up Miriam Webster now. Okay, so we got like none right. Wow. Are we worth selling me yet? Well, we escalated. That's right. Okay, so before we moved on to questions, I think, is this an okay time to spill the beans on this thing that we've been sitting on for months? Well, I think the beans are spilled.

word. Well, someone, some investigative person found out that there is a way to navigate on the That Triathlon Life website to a place where you can be a premium subscriber to the podcast. And for, do we want to say the person's name or not? Yeah, heck yeah. Robin from Santa Monica? I believe so. Well, Robin is our first ever subscriber. So insert clapping applause sound here. Thank you, Robin. We've been thinking about this for a while. Eric, do you want to just take it away? Yeah, we've been talking about this for a while now. Nick and I've been going back and forth. I've talked with our web guide, Danny, about it. Paul and I've talked about it. But so far, if you've noticed, we have no ads on this podcast, and it's going really well. It's at the point

of where we could have ads, but we're all feeling like we really want to keep it ad free, so we don't just have this long read at the beginning of the thing. But at the same time, We were kind of started playing out with like a thing on the website where you could sign it to be like a subscriber and give like five or ten dollars a month to just support the podcast. While we were experimenting with this page, it's just been sitting there and someone found it and already signed up even though it is. We have a lot of ideas for things that we want to do and what you'll get in return, just like little extra bonuses for that. But yeah, anyway. For now it's kind of just like if you enjoy the content and you consume it each week, then. is $5 a month worth it to you or $10 a month, whatever,

but definitely not mandatory. And obviously you can still listen to the podcast without doing the subscription. But the page is fully set up and functional. It's just the appearance of it, I guess, that we're tweaking a little bit, like the picture and the wording and everything. And we don't want it to seem like we're asking for money. And we know a lot of you guys support us through buying our t-shirts and our products and stuff like that. But this is more of like a, I don't know.

We really didn't even know. We weren't totally aware that the site was live until somebody signed up for it because I said Danny was just constructing it. But it is live now if you want to go check it out. And if like Paula said, you've just been like dying for a way to, you know, give a vote of confidence and some love to the podcast specifically, it's sitting there. And with things that we've talked about doing for the future or like maybe a little mini newsletter that comes out once a month for people who subscribe to the podcast with a little extra

behind the scenes things, like there's a potential. to use like this function on Instagram with like close friends. We could do like little, just a little behind the scene stuff. And I don't know. We've talked about so many things. We have so many different ways we can make it work. Yeah, we're still deciding on what exact sort of fun things we'll do and when we'll make up stuff as we go too.

So that is a cool thing. The point that we want to push to is like, if you love the podcast and you don't want to be a part of the premium subscription, that is totally fine. Like, just keep listening to the podcast. We, you know, send in your questions. We love every last one of you. But we're going to see how much interest there is and how much it grows. And the more interest there is, the more we can put into it.

Totally. Yeah, that's a good point. That's a good way to say, I'm right. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, first question is, hi, TTR crew. My name is Mike.

I attempted my first Iron Man this year at Madison, which is Iron Man, Wisconsin. Also, he did his first 70.3, only two months before at Missal Man in New York. And like Nick, the conditions got. the best of me. I'm pretty sure I was at the cusp of hypothermia after finishing the bike. And when I was still shivering violently after 40 minutes in T2 without any dry clothes to change into, I decided not to go out. Which is funny because I also felt still horrible at 40 minutes. And then magically after an hour and five minutes, I started feeling a little bit better. But yeah, I do not blame you, Mike. I think I had the weight of all the podcast listeners on me that were helping me pushing me forward

as well. The main issue was obviously being underprepared for the weather. I was coming from New York and left a week early with a forecast in the 80s is exactly what happened to me, not the 50s. However, I'm still curious if you have any suggestions on training your body to better handle the cult. I'm 6'3-3-and-only 165 to 170 pounds. Yeah, that's pretty thin. So I don't have much protection, as I am sure is common in the sport. I've had a couple open water swims recently in 71-degree water,

and I went wetsuit-free and was shivering pretty bad after only being in the water for 30 to 45 minutes. is this just to be expected and do I need to layer up or have you done slash heard of any tactics to prepare for the cold when you're training in the summer heat? Love the show and appreciate all the work you guys do building the community. Won't use any unnecessary slang for TTL Nation, but we'll throw in an extra slash for Nick. Thanks, Mike. Appreciate that. So what's the solution here? You know, honestly, I've never really heard of somebody trying to get better at handling the cold,

but I do know the people who prepare for like, what is it, swimming in English channel and stuff, they'll bulk up and put on 20 pounds, just try to basically get some flubber weight to be warmer. So you got to weigh how much you like being warm versus how much you want to carry a little extra weight up a hill, I guess, on the bike. It's funny because we always think about this in terms of heat, right, adapting to the heat. But the reason for that is because there is no gear. Like, you can wear as little as possible and still be way, way too hot. Whereas with the cold, you can just put on more and more stuff and stay warm. So it does seem like that's the most helpful.

But maybe in the water, too? The biggest thing for the cold is just being dressed properly. And I can say this like growing up in Canada, where it's minus 30, minus 40 Celsius, sometimes in the winter. The only way to deal with it is to dress more. And you can make it very manageable and tolerable if you have a proper winter jacket and all of this. And obviously that's not the extreme we're talking about. But for example, Nick, if you had a fully winter outfit in Wisconsin, I think you would have finished it without being cold. Yeah.

The more close you have waterproof layers, windproof layers, you can kind of get through any condition. Yeah. And having gone through that, I just, I guess I would, I wish I could tell myself from a month ago, don't even think about how much slower you're going to go. Yeah. Just stay warm, right? Whatever it takes to stay warm. I wish I could have known that then. Yeah, because a lot of the time we get wrapped up in, oh, it takes a few more minutes in transition or it's not arrow and all these things, which ultimately don't matter when it's that cold and you're just trying to survive.

Yeah. Yeah, you could have been an hour quicker if you were just warm, right? Exactly, because I wouldn't have had to wait an hour in T2. I mean, it's like crazy. Unless you're trying to win the race overall, I guess, think about staying warm more than anything else was going to be cold. It's just hard because for both of us, we didn't know it was going to be that cold. but I think even that I would have just driven an hour to find some warm clothing. Yeah.

Be prepared to fit some possibility. Yeah. Well, thanks for that question. Mike. Next question. Oh, yeah, this is perfect. This is from Jared. From Nallens, he says, this is how you pronounce it, which I've heard before.

But I didn't know if you were allowed to pronounce it that way if you weren't from there, you know? Yeah. Anyway, the question is, I was driving home from a triathlon yesterday and stumbled upon your podcast, trying to find something to listen to. instantly I was hooked. Then I heard y'all mentioned Trixie. That was even more hooked. So my triathlon question is, how do you stay motivated in the winter months? I just struggle so much wanting to swim and bike when it's cold. I hate indoor riding. Wow, is this Eric in disguise? Also, Jared says, is Trixie going to join the podcast one day? Jared, you're not going to believe this. I have unbelievable news from you. Talk about instant gratification. If you go back to episode 30,

we did an episode with Trixie. So pause this right now and go back and listen to that, and then you can come back and catch up. Asking you show or receive, man. This is what we do. We provide an excellent service here for these people. Instant gratification. Yeah, a super relevant question right now,

as particularly Eric is also struggling with the off-season blues a little bit, or not the blues, but just wanting to be doing anything else except training for a triathlon. I know the feeling. It's kind of cold in the mornings. It's getting darker earlier. The trails are perfect.

Why can't we just go do fun mountain bike rides and go camping? But there's a real championship in three weeks. So, Eric, how are you working through this? I got a lot of texts. That's part of the way he works through it. I mean, if I, yeah, I don't know. It's not easy, but a lot of the times, like, if I just get started on something,

then I'll end up enjoying it as I'm doing it. It just seems like really overwhelming to think about a full day of training, getting back on the TT bike, going back out and getting in the pool again and doing like sets that aren't that different than what we were doing in January when we started training like nine, ten months ago now. It's just been so long. And me, for me personally, I've had a really good year, so I don't have this like huge chip on my shoulder like I do sometimes at the end of the season

where I need to like prove something before going yeah yeah yeah yeah but the biggest thing I guess for me is just has been just getting things started because I do find that like if I just if I just get out the door I start riding on my bike I end up loving it it's just the starting it is hard and Paul is great for that having a training partner or somebody just like let's just start or let's sit in the car for 20 minutes together and then we'll start yeah having I think having the two of you together helps a lot And just to get out the door sometimes.

Yeah, exactly. Or to jump in the water. Yeah, it makes a difference. Outside of that, I would say, well, one thing that's been helping me a bit is just going like after Strava segments. And there's not a lot of Strava segments that I can get around here. There's just a lot of pro athletes and pro bike races come through. But just going and trying to do better on one than I have before or picking out ones that are like

an hour and a half, you know, just kind of like coming up with some sort of thing that makes this otherwise meaningless workout meaningful when you can't necessarily relate it to immediately to the event that's coming up in a month or two months or whatever. What about what about the idea of like for a lot of people, they're not going to race until March at the earliest, right, April, right? So training in December, January, February can be really hard. So what about picking some kind of event that's not a triathlon? Like, you know, Jackie Herring does like the snowshoeing.

So you can train for triathlon, but knowing that you're building fitness for this kind event or like a canoeing thing or a I don't know. Are there even things like that? Like Paula, you grew up in a place that has a ton of snow. Actually, I argued it too. Like are there races you can do in January, February that aren't triathlon that use the same kind of physiological system? Yeah. The danger of that is just like the temptation to stay Uber fit all year when actually it's okay to take a break in those months and to like reduce the training a little bit. And if you're going to get on the trainer, yeah, it's not that fun to ride inside, but just do an hour and that's really manageable. Find a Zwift group ride. We do a lot of them with TTIL. Find a Zwift workout

that's engaging, something like that. So really take the winter to ease, like give yourself that opportunity to feel that way. And if there's not a World Championship coming up in three weeks like we have, it's okay if you don't ride your bike on the trainer for three hours, you know? So there's two trains of thought. It's like, yeah, just suck it up. get it done or actually take a little bit of a mental break over the winter. And that's why I really like seasons is because it forces you to take some downtime, maybe put on a little bit of weight, get a little bit unfit so that you are really motivated when race season starts to come up again. Is that what you're doing with your cheek? You're putting on a little bit of weight?

Yeah. I got a feasting. Paul and I both got stung since the last podcast. Maybe it was the same beat. I don't know. Mine was in Portland, but I was riding my book. bike after like a pretty hard session. We were 10 minutes from home. And it, yeah, bit my lip. And I just like screamed bloody murder.

Like it hurts so much. Literally, like I thought she was getting murdered. Eric flipped around and I was like, oh my God, the stingers in me. Like, it hurt so much. And the whole rest of the day, it was throbbing. And then it sort of started to move down my face. So I had like this huge swollen lump on my chin. And I posted some pictures.

It's kind of funny. So epic. Yeah. But it's pretty much gone. It's good. It's like 80% back to normal. I forgot how much it hurts. It does hurt quite a bit.

It was like, it's not like a cut. It's like you're being poisoned at the site. Yeah, it is. And it like, the throbbing effect afterwards, like we went swimming the next day and I couldn't even flip turn because it was just like pulsing and throbbing.

The water was cold and I felt my face and it was on fire. It was like. I touched it too. It was crazy. Yeah. Did you get some extra buoyancy from it though? No, I got out of the water.

I was like, because he's not worth it. Okay. Good. Good. Good. Well, yeah, that's hard. The winter training is hard.

Yeah, says Nick, who lives in California. It's not hard for me, but I get, like, it would be, I don't know, I wouldn't do it. I would just pick something else during those winter months. I can't believe it. Oh, I was going to ask you, how long do you think an amateur should take off once a year? Fully off? Yeah, fully off. Like, not biking, not swimming, not running, not thinking about it.

I mean. Two to four weeks? Yeah. We take off. Yeah, two to four weeks. Yeah, okay. I really trend hard towards four weeks. And then even at the end of that, it's like our coach doesn't give us 25 hours of the training right away.

It's kind of like... Build back into it. There's not a lot of intensity or they're just like little sprints, like 10 second things. So it's like the whole off season process is like a three-month thing started by, I would say, yeah, two to four weeks of nothing. You could just give your hormones a time to reset, right? after all that training. Like, you build up some pretty deep fatigue. And then that's not to say that, like, if your body calls and wants to go for a bike ride,

you can't go. It's just, like, as much as anything, it's just taking time away from the schedule and feeling like you have to go do it so that by the time you're, you come back, you want to. You're like, man, I want to get back to work and I want to get faster because you got to remember you're going to need to carry that attitude for months and months. Eric just shrugged. He's like, oh, that's where I am right now. Yeah.

Yeah. want to end up in June thinking that you need a month break then because you kind of just cheated yourself out of your December break or whatever. Right, right. Well, hopefully that answers your question. Next question is from Kate. Hi, all, one of the earlier pods, I think you mentioned, massage, in passing as a key component of training slash performing well, along with recovery, nutrition, et cetera. I'm wondering what your thought slash, Jesus, people, strategy is around massage. For example, how often do you get a massage and how much, if at all, do you plan sessions around massage? For example, I've heard people say not to train the day after the massage.

Also, I put the slashes in just for Nick, so I hope he reads this question. Yeah, thank you, Kate. Really appreciate that. We definitely plan when we get our massage around kind of like our weekly training. We don't take the next day off, but we try to plan it. Typically, they still don't have like a hard session the next session. Yeah, like to, well, for example, tomorrow we have a super hard run, a pretty hard ride, and then we're getting a massage in the evening. And then Friday we have just a swim. It's like a recovery day.

So sometimes you don't feel super like peppy or normal the day after a massage. So having a hard session the day after is difficult. But I don't think it's like a rule. I think that any time you can get one, it's going to be better than not getting one. So if it just so happens that you have a massage the day of your hard workout or the day before, you're going to be fine. It's just that optimally you might start to learn your body and you know when you feel good after one, whether that's two days later or three days later and kind of time it appropriately. But I find it's really nice to do a hard day of training and then have a massage at the end of the day just to like expediate the recovery and the flushing and all of that. And Eric and I get massage once a week.

Yeah. I do think like my favorite, my favorite time to get a massage is if I can get one on like Monday evening or Monday afternoon and then we have on Tuesday, we start with a hard swim and then we have like a run and then we have a hard bike in the afternoon. And usually like that full 24 hours is enough time for like me to feel like I can push watts, but my body is still like loose enough to where I feel like I can ride arrow strongly. So same thing with running. Sometimes we'll get a massage and then like I'll just make sure that if I got it like 3 p.m. on one day, that I don't do that hard run workout until like the afternoon the next day. Yeah, yeah, wait 24 hours.

And how much, when you're getting these massages, how much does the masseuse focus on like your mid-backer, or your hips and lower versus swimming like shoulders and stuff too? It kind of depends on the massage therapist. We see two different people here about the guy that we see the most often. He kind of does the same routine every week with a little bit of, you know, with a little bit of emphasis on, you know, a spot that you mentioned to him.

So for me, it's always like my left hip. And do you have a spot? No. But otherwise he'll kind of hit everything. Which is important, I think, because a lot of the times it's triathletes, you just focus, think about your lower body, but you're not only using your upper body swimming, you're also using it when you're an arrow,

you're hunched over, and to have like your pecks worked on and that whole like front area for when you go from bike to run and you can feel looser and more relaxed in your upper body. It's, it really plays. into the bike and run as well. It's not just like your swimming muscles that need massaging. Yeah. Okay. That's interesting. Really, really important for triathletes to have everything worked on because we literally use every muscle for all the sports, you know? Yeah. And it's all connected as well.

Like if you have a really, really tight spot in your shoulder blade, that can work its way into your neck, down into your back. And, you know, just like the whole chain can be impacted. So usually what I do when I go to a new massage therapist is I'll say, yeah, like I have a torn labrum in my left hip just gets like crazy tight. So if you could like put a little more energy into that, but then as you're going through everything else, if you find something that feels off, like by all means, go for it. Like there's probably stuff in my legs that, you know, I don't know about because of the hip is bothering me so much.

Yeah. Yeah. And it is 60 minutes is totally enough time to hit everything, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thanks for that question. Kate, hopefully that help. Nick, Nick, real quick.

Yeah. Nick, when was your last massage for your IT band issue? Something's wrong with the connection. I don't know what's going to much. Everyone heckle Nick to get some physio or massage. I might do some like dry needling. There's a place here that does like, they're like a school for it. And so they do it.

Nick, Nick, that you might have been doing that dry needling for the last two weeks. You think you might do it this year? Wow, roasted. We just care, dude. You couldn't finish your Iron Man. You couldn't do the next Iron Man. And you're like, well, I might, you know, think about talking about doing maybe an appointment. Well, I am doing the strength work and the stretching.

Yesterday I did an hour and 10 minutes of strength work. Yeah. I hate doing it. We've just, we've talked a bit, Paul and I, about your situation. We do feel a little bit strongly that IT bands, like, and the stuff around them, right? You can't manipulate an IT band itself that much. Right. We have both had IT band pain in the past.

getting manipulations and whatever body work done. You're right. You're right. And when this happened the first time I did get massage, and I think I did notice that when they worked on stuff around my hip, like my TFL and my glute, that really did help. Yeah. Like, how sick would it be if you went in and someone was like, oh, geez, look at this.

Ba, pop, ba, bang. And come back and see me next week. And then at the end of that, you were like, wow, there was just a thing. And that's gone. It's not like the rest of my life. That would be so sick. That would be really nice. Yeah.

We're frilly eyes. Frillion eyes. Brought's so nice. Okay. Next question. Hey, all, you decide the order if you include Flynn. After listening to last week's podcast, I have a couple questions. And answer to yours, yes, we laugh with you as we listen, which is great.

Thank you, Melissa. Number one, Paula, you said you will take real food on a ride instead of always having gels. What do you take? I have issues with gels and keep trying to find real food for bike rides. I really like picky bars. I don't know if that's classified as real food. Sometimes I'll actually take like a peanut butter sandwich or a peanut butter bagel or a banana or cookies. That's real food, right?

It's not a job. Oh yeah, 100%. It better be real food. It's 90% of my diet. Yeah. When we ride through sisters, we'll just frequently get a snack, get a sandwich. That's always a nice little mental thing. It's like, oh, I'm going to stop somewhere and get something fine.

I love it. hour or two and a half hour ride that it's just so hard. Like, hey, I'm just going to ride to the grocery store where I know they have great sandwiches, get a sandwich, and then... A baloney sandwich, even? Yeah, a balagania. A balagony sandwich. By the way, this reminded me of a question that we had last week about like dental health

and the gels. And we had two dental hygienists kind of contact us and tell us what their thoughts were. And both of them kind of said the same thing, which is, Paul, do you want to summarize it? My really good friend Alicia, who actually, like, sort of taught me how to do triathlons. She taught me how to do transitions. Back in the day, we trained together in Eminton, she's a hygienist, and she said, LOL, the dental talk. It's better to consume sugars in a short period of time as in ASAP versus over a long period of time,

which is similar to what the other hygienist was telling us, like if you're eating sugars for five or six hours, which is hard to avoid when you're an athlete, but I understand her point. And then she also said, But then eating sugar for 14 hours, right, like all throughout the day. Yeah. Every day. Yeah. And they both also said, ideally no brushing for 30 to 60 minutes post-sugar consumption

because that apparently just kind of spreads the acid around your mouth that you've created by eating these sugars. So our advice to brush your teeth after you read was maybe not super good. Maybe wait an hour or more before brushing your teeth. Yeah, that's interesting. I would have never thought that. So I feel like it's so cool that we have such a wide reach that we have dental hygienists coming in and telling us what's the best thing to do is. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I got to also say, I just was looking at Paula's text here, and Alicia says Eric's sass on the most recent podcast is hilarious, which you guys were giving me shit for. Yeah, you were sassy. Do you not, do you not, did you not hear it? No, I was, I know that I was given it. I was in a mood. I thought it was fine, and I just wanted to say thank you, Alicia.

Well, apparently Michelle agrees, too. I thought it was super fun. Yeah, let it all out, Eric. We want to see the real you. Just trying to keep it interesting, man. We're coming up on episode 50, so. By the way, just so everyone knows, he still has a mustache. So he's holding strong with this one.

The second question, Melissa's second question was talking about the slow slash easy. And in parentheses, the slashes for you, Nick. Thank you so much, Melissa. Run days. How do you keep yourself going slower? I head out with the intention of keeping it slow, and before I know it, I feel good and I'm going way too fast, or I feel like I can't run that slow. How do you maintain your form and keep it slow? Thanks for all you do. Yeah, I have the same question. I like this question, because I do the same thing. I'm like, I start slow, and then like my natural run form is like running 430s, and that's too fast for an easy day. Eric, do you have an answer to this?

You run with people and you talk to those people. Yeah. I was going to say run with people who cannot run that fast. And then you have no choice. You're going to have to stay with them. Honestly, and chat the whole time. Do you think it's okay to alter your form to run slower, though? I would try not to think about your form.

Because that's what she's saying. And I agree. It's like in order for me to seriously run a lot slower, I am kind of changing my run form a bit. Which maybe isn't a bad thing. Like, I think the idea of running slow is to keep your heart rate lower and keep it more in, like, a recovery type zone. And I'm a super big, I don't know what the word is, but I don't really think that running is possible to be classified as recovery. I think it's hard.

Right. No matter how slow you go. That's how I feel like instinctually. Like, no matter how slow I'm running, I'm like, this is still hard. Compared to an easy bike ride that actually can feel easy. Exactly. Or an easy swim. So I think like using running as a recovery sport is like kind of dumb.

But I do believe that running slower is good and can help you prevent injuries and can help you be less tired for the next time you run. Just look at your watch and be diligent about it. Says the person who also cannot do that. No, I can't. I agree. I can't do. I struggle with that too. I think a lot of people probably do.

I think the biggest, if you're going to think about a thing with your form, you just want to make sure. you don't get really long foot strikes. Like, if you can keep your cadence up a little bit, just, like, shorten your stride just a little bit. Yeah. And still have, like, shorter ground contact time, ideally. I think that's kind of probably the limit of what you want to focus on. And then just, like, trying to relax, like, keep your shoulder swing, relaxed,

and just how comfortable can I be running? Something I've been doing lately is a lot of, like, trail running, which is kind of crazy because you'll be running, like, feeling like you're going hard, and then you'll run, like, a six-minute kilometer, because it's so technical, twisty and hilly. So I would say if you're running trails, that's a good way to force yourself to slow down. Well, your heart rate might be a little bit higher

than if you're on a flat paved road. Yeah. But it's really good for your ankles, your stability. You could even do it without a GPS watch so you're not looking at pace. Like I think that's a really important. Oh, that's interesting, yeah. But it is a good way to build strength

and to slow yourself down without even having to try. You know, it's just a slow activity. Yeah. That's a good point. Anytime I run through a neighborhood or just like on a straight, flat road, it feels awful. I feel like I'm running too fast, but slowing down feels terrible. It's just like this cacophony of like emotions and feelings and everything versus just go run on a trail and you're just naturally going to be a little bit slower. But it feels fast because trees are moving by. You're less hyper focused on like, how does my stride feel? You're just like getting along the trail. Going back to something you were saying, Eric, I've been doing a lot of research from my IT band thing, and this one physio I came across on YouTube was just saying how in her experience, a lot of these athletes that she has, running slowly for them isn't any better because in her experience, a lot of these athletes, when they run slower, their form falls apart and their stride gets long, not longer, but less cadence, right? Their hips start to drop because they're kind of like, oh, I'm not really running. It's like, I like what you were saying about keeping your form, like, try to keep that cadence,

like, keep the form solid while still keeping loose and like your upper body and not going too crazy. Yeah. Yeah, the other thing you can do is just run uphill on a treadmill. Put the treadmill at 5% incline and then just, like, dial in your effort. And that is like really good. I mean, for a lot of tendent stuff, actually, because like the range of motion is slightly different, but you're using your muscles in like the same way as you would be when you're running faster on flat ground. Yeah, that's really interesting.

My number of the most exciting thing, but it's good for you. Treadmill is hard enough. Then uphill on a treadmill? Oh, boy. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't matter if you're going like 15 minutes a mile, but you're still getting that kind of same power phase. Yeah, cool. Well, thank you for that question, Melissa.

Next question is from Liz. Hello, Nick, Paula, Eric, and Flynn. My question is around sunscreen during races. As an age grouper who will be on the Iron Man course for 6 plus or 12 plus hours, race dependent, sunscreen is top of mind for me in transition. and well worth the additional two minutes to apply. I don't think I've ever heard of or seen a professional pause to apply sunscreen before heading out on the bike or run, despite also being out in the sun for potentially three plus

or six plus more hours. What is normal for professionals? Do you just hope for the best on a sunny course and deal with the fallout? Thanks, guys, Liz. Well, I think we've answered this on the podcast before, something about sunscreen. I always lather up sunscreen before the race starts, like 30 minutes or whatever before, so it sinks in and it's all good. but it's not something I think about well I'm racing,

especially in these 100K distances or like where every second counts. If I were doing Kona or something longer, like an Iron Man, I think I might take like a portable zealios. The zelios ones are perfect. And just keep it in transition and put it on as you run out or something, like on your neck or on your face, wear a hat. Our kits are sleeved,

so you do actually have a little bit more coverage than if you were just like wearing a bathing suit. And you both wear hats, right? most of the time but I think as an age group athlete where like you experienced next the transition time

is not like super super critical all the time it is worth it for your health just to put some on in transition or to run out like you guys are done before 11 a.m. for most 70.3s

like it's not direct really that direct of sunlight by the time that we're finishing like I can count on my hand like on one hand the number of times in a 70.3 that I've like been noticeably sunburned

Now that we race with the kits, like you said, that are full sleeves. So your shoulders are covered. Your chest is covered. Like, you're covered down to your knees. The places that are, like, still exposed are the places that get a lot of sun when you're training normally anyway. And then, yeah, wear a hat. And it's just like there's not that much that can happen. For a half. Yeah, it's less important.

But the Zelios little packets, those are probably great for an race. Yeah. Where you're just like, you know, if you're running a marathon, maybe it's going to take you five hours. Yeah. If you're walking at a station anyway. Like you can even walk one aid station or extra and just sprays. I've seen eight stations with sunscreen too before. I have seen that.

Or in transition. But I would say like the number one important thing is just sunscreen in training. Yeah. Yeah. And then in the race, you know, you're on the race a few times a year, but just like be super diligent in training. That's great. That's great. That's great.

That's great. Cool. Next question is from Natalia from Niagara. Ontario, Hi, TTLN. Watching the YouTube video this week, I was inspired with some St. George specific questions. Are you all going to St. George, Nick, as well?

Yes. Yes, we are. Yes, and I'll be there as well. Not racing. No, not racing, unfortunately. Well, actually, fortunately. Yeah, that'll be really fun, though. I'm so excited for that.

I'm excited to hang out with you guys and experience that whole thing. It's been a great vibe every time. will there be TTL clothing and gear on sale there? Any specific St. George things? That's a definite maybe. There you go. Hopefully that clears that up to time. So it's logistically a lot.

And with Paul and I racing on two different days, and yeah, I don't know. There's a chance that I'll bring some of the brand new hats that we have coming out down because those are one size. It's simpler. They don't take a bunch of space in the van. but we're not going to have a full, like, St. George-specific, like, mini launch or anything like that. No, I was just going to say we love doing the pop-ups because most of all, I think it's cool to be able to meet the people that watch our videos and listen to the podcast and, like put a face to names and stuff.

And we know people like meeting us as well and saying hi. But like Eric said, we have some hats that are coming out soon. So the simplest thing is to do hats with no sizes. So say hi and then you go. So I don't know. It's a lot to bring a lot of different clothes, but we're going to try to. bring some hats and then I think it would be really cool if like post race the next morning or something we did a little like me at a coffee shop. Just that's no problem. Post race. And the next

question is if I'm going as a spectator and a Sherpa, do I still bring my bike? How do I be a good Sherpa and what do you want in a Sherpa? Thanks so much for everything you do. Definitely bring the bike. A hundred percent bring the bike. Yeah, bike is never a bad idea because it's a lot of places that you can't get with the car, that you can get around with the bike, but walking or running is a little bit too much. But I think like the biggest thing with the Sherpa is somebody who's like very positive, but they're not trying to project positivity necessarily. Like a Sherpa is somebody who knows you really well and they know if you need to be like very quiet all week or if you like to be talked to or you know just like I'm here to help but I'm not going to ask you every five minutes if you

need something. If you go to the store. If you like you just assume that they will let you know if they need something and just try to be calm. That's a good point. Yeah. It's funny. I should be writing this down since I very often feel this role. Nick, you have been invited back to multiple races because you just naturally do it, right? Thank you. So there you go. Yeah. Positive vibes, but not overwhelming. I think I feel the same way. When I've had friends come, that's always been the thing that's worked best. And I think something that you could do that's helpful without them even knowing that it's helpful. And I'm not saying this for you to do for us, Nick. but is maybe like having food available already at times where they don't even know they're hungry,

but they're getting bongy and crashy because sometimes at these races you just get so busy that you forget to eat and you have a race coming up. And the worst thing you can do is be so depleted that you get like hangary. So bring a sandwich along, go to the grocery store, get snacks, stuff like that. That's good things for Sherpas to do. And it's what I do when I'm with Eric and I'm not racing. It's just make sure there's always food within reach. Love it.

Love it. Critical. And what about for you, Paula? What food would I have on hand? Cookies, chips, a sandwich, peanut butter, and jelly? Well, that's the problem. He's asking you to do this, you'll just bring us donuts. Yeah.

I'm like, I know what they want. But like, I don't know, Jersey Mike's, anything like that. That's just like a quick lunch that you know we like, having apples, having bars around, super easy stuff. But, Nick, you don't have to write because I'm mostly really good at doing this. You are. Yeah. But it's just something that other Sherpas might take note of. Yeah, cool.

Cool, great. Well, thank you. Next question is from Elise. Bonjour de Montreal. I hope that wasn't horrible. Being new at Triathlons, I love your podcast. I find it both useful and fun. I started doing triathlon three years ago

because I was tired of getting injured for just running. I did my first 70.3 in July at Musulman, and it went very well. Actually, so well that I qualified for world championships coming up October 28th in St. George, Utah. See you there, Elise, first of all. I hear you guys will be there. What can you tell me slash us about the course? Are you saying Muselman, like Musulman?

Is it Musulman? Like, I think it's like muscle, like the type that is in the ocean, isn't it? Oh, I always, yeah, I don't know why I'm saying Muselman. No, Nick, I read it like you're saying it. So I get it. I'm like, I didn't know that was a muscle man. I must be Musulman. We're about to get a lot of angry emails from people.

Muslimon. Is this in Germany? I like this question. I don't know why I'm pronouncing it like that. Yeah, so the course. I hear a change from last year. What is your preparation for this huge event? Any tips?

Yeah. So yeah. So this course, first of all, is like so beautiful. But I'll let you tell her as much. I care. A lot of people care. It's a really hilly bike course, but still fast. There's not like really, really steep, slow, punchy,

climbs and all the descents are pretty straight and non-technical so you can carry momentum really well. So although it's a hilly and hard bike course, it's still a fairly fast bike course. And the run has changed from last year and that it doesn't go up to Red Hills Parkway up the really, really steep hill and down the steep hill, it stays in a golf course below Red Hills Parkway. So you're still running up the diagonal on kind of a false flat for a few miles, looping through a golf course, running back down the diagonal, and then running through town a little bit. So overall, the elevation gain of the run is less, although there are still some, like,

fairly long false flats. And having some, like, strength running would be good leading up to it, not running all your runs on flat roads, but just having some up and down training, because there is still some of that on the course. For sure. And it still goes up the canyon, snow canyon, and comes back down to the side, right? Yes, for the bike. Yeah. Yeah, of course. I think the upside of this, major upside of this run course is it's going to be way more, like, coverage of spectators. Yeah. Just being closer to town, not up on Red Hills Parkway.

I think there will be a lot more people for a lot more of the run, of course. Yeah, just having people cheering, right? Yeah. Yeah. Except the golf course, you're not allowed on it before the race, which is really important. Oh, I see. If you're found running on it before the race, you'll get disqualified. Ooh.

So nobody can check it out, which kind of equalizes that it's not like a disadvantage, but you aren't allowed on the path because I'm pretty sure it's on just like a paved golf cart path type of thing on a private golf course so they don't want people running. I see. You don't need to scout that. It's a golf course. You know what golf course is like. And the swim is just in that lake and it's not too cold usually right. It actually was non-wet suit last year, right?

It could be ice cold. Really? Okay. Oh, interesting. You just don't know. The weather in St. George right now is still hot. So I feel like within three weeks, it's not going to drop drastically. But it's unpredictable. Yeah. I should, I guess it's not going to be ice cold this time of year. But it could be a wetsu. It could definitely be wetsu for age groupers.

One thing I remembered is that it's true that there's no like steep downhills, but we hit like 50 miles an hour on that course last year. Yeah, coming down from. And it's not breaks. You're not on your brakes, right? You're just like flying. And it's not technical. But maybe if that's something that you aren't comfortable with, keep that in mind.

Yeah, practice some fast assembly. Yeah. I would say for most people coming back down from snow can. Shannon is definitely classify as a steep downhill. It's steep there you go. But it's not like so steep that you're sitting up. Like you can still theoretically be in your aerobars. Yeah.

But it is steep. Eric and I just actually ordered bigger chain rings for the front because you do spin out on it. Oh, for sure. So maybe that's something to consider if you have a one by that's small. Like you're going to want to have a two by or like a way bigger front chain ring because you can pedal on the downhill. Yeah. But it's deep. So.

Yeah. I think that's a common misconduct. conception of that course is that you can't pedal the downhills, but you, even if professionals are peddling the downhills, everyone has the ability to pedal the downhills, right, unless you want to take a break, which is totally fine. Yeah. Cool. Okay, next question is from Leslie. I would like, I would really like to hear about how the group met and the TTL3 plus Flynn became a crew. And then finally, my question, I just completed my first Iron Man in September lifelong goal, and I'm struggling to reset and find a new motivation.

Any suggestions for resetting after reaching a milestone? I just had a conversation with my friend last night about the post-race blues, whether the race went well or not, that feeling. Yeah, I feel like you and Eric can both talk to this a little bit. This conclusion I came to with him was that, for me, at least, it's not about how well or poorly the race goes. It's about removing this target that you've had in your mind

for like six months or whatever a year. And I think the nice thing for me is that I actually didn't remove that target. Like, I still haven't done an Iron Man. So I still have this thing motivating me, pushing me forward. And right now I would totally be training it for it. I'm taking a week off right now to try to see if this IT ban thing will kind of heal a little bit so I can get back to some kind of activity. But I think it's just removing this goal.

That's what's hard. And I don't know if for you guys, it's different as professionals because you always have so much going on. It's not like amateurs who are like compromising other aspects of their life to do this one thing. And then all of a sudden they don't have to make those compromises anymore. And do you guys still feel that after a big race? Do you feel this like feeling of emptiness, like this like temporary depression that comes on? Yeah, I think that's really common for pros after like a world championships or in a one thing. Because there's something you've been working towards for so long, Kona.

Right. Any big event that went really well, I think. Or didn't go well. typically I find it really not that hard to get back to work after I've had a bad race because it's like very obvious what to work on and I'm like kind of pissed off and want to do better the next time we're we're not chasing completing events obviously we're chasing having our best possible performance and that can be a constantly moving target um but yeah anyway for me like I struggle more after like I had a really good race where I feel like I totally nailed it and like after the high

wears off then it's kind of like wow well well now what I need to try to decide what an even better race looks like and get excited for that. I feel the opposite. After I have a good race, I find it so easy to start training again because I'm like, wow, I want to do that again. That was fun. And I know what I have to do. I know I'm fit. I know it just takes doing what I'm already been doing.

But in terms of like an amateur athlete, I think it is really important to set another goal pretty soon after, especially if like training and being fit and active brings you happiness and is something you enjoy doing, it's whether it's like a marathon or it doesn't have to be this huge enormous goal, but just something in the future that gets you out the door and gets you feeling like you're working towards something, I think can be super positive. And Nick, you don't even have one on the schedule, but you just know you're going to do one next year. So that in itself is enough to get you out the door, right?

Yeah, 100%. But for me having that actual date, like I was looking today, I was like, I need to pick like an Olympic or something in like two months. Yeah. So that I can feel like doing something. doing something. I think without that, it was real hard for me to. It's not hard for me to go out and have fun on a bike or go out for some easy runs. It's just hard for me to put in like 15 hours of work with specific training every day.

That's hard for me to do without a goal. Yeah. And how did the three of us meet? I mean, the first run we ever went on was in Bend. What's that trail called there? We're not telling people because we don't want people to move to that. Okay, great. Never mind. We met in a bar at a singles dating night.

then the three of us became a couple. Nick reached out to me on Instagram, said he makes music and stuff, if I ever need music for videos. And I answer almost every one of my Instagram messages. So I mess up back, said that was sick. And we just started kind of texting,

and it turned out that we liked all the same things. And then they fell in love. That's right. It was happily ever after. Yeah. But yeah, then I happened to be staying in Ben for a month, two years ago. I wasn't in Bend.

I was like north of Bend in a place called Terrebon near Smith Rock State Park. And that's, we just kind of happened to me the same place at the same time. So we started hanging out. And despite me being nowhere near their fitness level,

they still allowed me to come on for a few runs and rides. Because we followed the rule of run with somebody and talk to them the whole time. See? I think the critical part to this friendship blooming

was similar interests, mutual respect, and also just like complimentary expertise. Like Nick, you're so good at music. And it complements Eric's passion for video and making videos and stuff like that. And you also are really good at making videos. You both love cameras.

You both, there's just so many overlapping passions, I guess, that it makes it really like, you're the one person we talk to every single day. Like, if we don't text Nick for a day, I'm like, how's Nick James? What's happening? Is he mad? Is he mad? Except you're never mad. No, I'm never mad.

What's funny about Eric and I, it feels like, and maybe Eric's had more success than I've had, but Eric, it's like we were born and we're like, all right, here's this person. Let's make one of them an athlete and one of them an artist. And then somehow, like, Eric fully went his athlete route. I fully went my artist's route. And then somewhere in the middle, we're both like, wait, what does this other side taste like? What does this other thing feel like? And then Eric got more and more into film.

I got more and more into sport. And now we kind of like, we like see each other from the other side. Yes. It's so. We ended up in the same place via different routes. It's meant to be. That's right. That's right.

That's right. And so Paula now has two erics. She has Eric and then budget Eric who lives in L.A. We wish she lived here. But she also asked how Flynn, Flynn has just happened to be our dog while we met Nick. And now he's, for some reason, part of every single. Hello, Eric, Paula, Nick, and Flynn. He does literally nothing besides cost us money and time.

He absorbs. He takes. He does bring Paula a lot of happiness and he brings me about half as much happiness. So he's, I don't know, debatable whether the ROI is there. Actually, he would love to like, if anyone lives in Bend and Dish wants to take Flynn for one day a week or once every other week for us so that we can have a Flynn free day. You are going to find people. I guarantee you'll find people that will do that. No, they have to live in Ben, though.

I mean, it's not like we're going to get a thousand messages, but we will pay you. We just need a day where we don't have to think about him. Yeah. Yeah. Because, like, ultimately, we both work from home, and Flynn is home. And it's just, like, anything that you can just, is at you 24 hours a day every day, is it's going to get overwhelming. Yeah.

There's no escape. We go for a bike ride, and if, you know, that's it. Because he's so fit, he wants like two big giant exercises a day. So he winds at the door to go out. And Paula cannot say no. Yeah. So he is accustomed to an insane amount of activity. He's living in the lap of luxury right now.

He doesn't even know. Dog heaven. Anyway, slide into our DMs if you want to stop him. That's right. That's right. Just kidding. Flynn Free Friday. That's right.

wondering if slash how your training differs when preparing for a PTO race versus a normal 70.3 race. Obviously, the distances of each discipline are similar, but I can imagine that things like expected race dynamics might affect preparations. I love this question. That was an unnecessary slash. Yeah, well, they know. Oh, they know. No, I'm just saying it's not even appropriate usage. Right. If slash how.

Our training's not that different, but interestingly, the PTO, although it's a shorter race, the swim is longer. So I would say that before a PTO race, I put more emphasis on the swim a little bit. Mentally. Mentally. I think about it more. And then, yeah, otherwise the training is the same, for sure. And what about the actual execution of the race?

Do you bike a little harder? Do you run a little harder? Are you not really thinking of it? Yeah, yeah, for sure. I've only done one 70, maybe two 70.3s this year. It feels like I just do the 100 K distance. Right, right. Oceanside and Chattanooga.

Well, it's hard to give up with all the money that the PTO puts up in all the amazing media around it. It's like, you can just do the PTO races. That's a pretty sweet deal. And I prefer the 100K over the half Iron Man, although it's not that different. It's still like, you know, 30 or 45 minutes less racing. Yeah. And I like that better.

I think my hunch is, and I'm kind of the opposite, I haven't done that many of the 100Ks, but that your brain, like, secretly knows how long it is. I know. And it's going to regulate, no matter whether you're like, okay, go 11 out of 10, you know? It's like, it knows exactly what it takes. Yeah, yeah. You're still going to attack it the same as you would, maybe just like a little less caution than a 70.3. But I think I don't know.

That's my hunch. But I also think that most men particularly in 100K attack it like it's an Olympic distance. Yeah. They're just like, I'm going for it. This isn't a 70.3. So I must have to go Olympic distance effort. And then they blow up. So there is some like learning curve and doing both distances to know exactly how hard you can go.

And then obviously the conditions play a part in that. Like Dallas was hot and all of this. But it's a different dynamic. But the training is not that different. Right, right. Cool. Next question. This is a quick one from Cresanda.

She's asking about what kind of hair products you used to keep your hair healthy. We've kind of gone through that once before. But what about face and skin products? Do you do anything with that with the chlorine of the pool? Yeah. No. Next. Eric's never put face lotion on in the middle.

Me neither. Another way worth of the pool. Boys are so weird sometimes. I am a very big fan of Clinique. It's like a skin care line. It's not even the most fancy. It's like middle. If you go to Sephora, it's like not the most expensive, but it's still expensive. So you feel like, okay, I'm taking care of my skin. It's in Sephora. It's expensive. That's how I think. If it's in the CVS discount aisle, that's Vermont, more my speed. So I use their like everyday moisturizing lotion for the daytime. I use their nighttime lotion for the night. And then I use their like all about. eyes lotion underneath my eyes. That's my skin's care. Eric, look, Eric craning his neck to see her eyes. Well, when you wear goggles, you do get kind of like goggle marks.

So when I get home from the pool, I always put cream around my eyes. There you go. Anyway, that's my secrets. There you go. And Eric and I are just, maybe it's natural. Maybe it's Maybe it's Maybe it's Maybe it's Maybe it's Maybe it's maybe part of this too. Yeah.

I literally like the super goop sunscreen. It's like kind of clear. Oh. And you can just put it on every morning. And then in terms of hair products, I use Bumble and Bumble. That's it. I used for my hair products, whatever Paula has in the shower. She's like, wait, what?

You use that stuff? No, I don't want it runs out so fast. Well, whatever she's put for me in there, I don't know. Oh, I see. She buys like some like old spice body and hair together, two for one. Yeah, in the bin, like as you exit the grocery store. Right, right. This expired years ago, but yeah, I guess you could use this.

Nice. Okay, great. Well, hopefully that helps. Cresinda. Next question, I don't know if we want to do this one, but it's from Nick. Nick, how could you betray me like this? Hey, Eric slash Paula, slash Nick slash Flynn. Sorry Nick had to do it. Yeah, thanks a lot.

I'll keep it short and sweet. Can we hear your Kona predictions? Do you guys even have a rough idea with this? I think this is a cool way to wrap up the show, hey? Okay, great, perfectly. But just like rapid fire style and not going into depth. Great, great. So for the women, Danielle and Hogg, and I'm going to go with a little bit of a wild horse and say Chelsea Sadaro.

Okay, amazing. And for the men? Or do we want to do all do our women first? Oh, and for men, Gustav, Christian, and Lionel. Because Lionel is, I just can't not. I mean, I just love him. I love him. I want him to win so bad.

I wouldn't love it if he wants. Are these predictions or wants lists? Well, a bit of a morph. A bit of a morph. My third places are pure wants, but. Yeah, right. Eric, what do you think? I want Gustav to win.

I think more likely Christian will just barely win. That's, yeah. And then third, I don't know, maybe Lange. Oh, my God. Just who knows? I know, and he surprised us before. I really like him. He is so nice.

Nice. I mean, he's the first athlete I ran into at Collins Cup when I realized my bike was broken. And I was like, I didn't even know him. But I was like, can you look at my frame? I think it's crack. Tell me if you think it's crack. And then he like offered for his mechanic to look at it. Oh, that. And he also is the first at the scene for Cat Matthews crash, which was horrible. Oh. Oh, I didn't know that. That's crazy. So yeah, he's going to be third. By the way, you know Cat Matthews went to Kona, right? Yeah. She's not racing, but she's there. So good for her. I'm so happy. to see her just like sitting up and talking and smiling. Yeah, totally. Me too. Eric, do you have a women prediction? Are you not clued enough for an educated guess? I don't know enough about the women, but hard to not pick Daniela. Yeah, after. I think there's a chance Lucy could end up on the podium.

Like I would have said definitely until her injury and everything. And it's just hard to know how much of an indication. that Dallas was of her fitness versus just it was the first, you know, kind of warm race back and everything. And I just don't know, I just don't know enough of enough women to, like, really make us super educated. Well, I mean, I think my guesses are what the safe guesses are, which are Danielle in first, Anne Hagen, second, and Laura Phillip and third. Oh, yeah. Yeah, Laura, I forgot about Ann Hav. And I actually did, like, the OBS Try through Pro Try News.

They have their, you can, like, pick your predictions and, like, lock them in and then see how well you do compared to everyone else. So I did that, and those are my first three. And then my men's, I, you know, I love Team Norway, and, like, I love Mikal. I just, he's so entertaining. But I do think it'll be Christian first, and then Gustav. And then I have Magnus in third. Yeah, good pick. But I would love it if Lionel surprised us and did well.

I would love that. I would love it, too. And I think Colin Shardy is a good chance for me. I have Colin and fourth, and then Florian Engarton. Oh, you can pick to fifth? To five. So my fourth female was. Finela language and then fifth Sarah True.

I am like super excited to watch the men's race because like as a strong swimmer, every year forever there has just been like one guy off the front. I'll be like Andy Potts all by himself twisting in the wind. Josh just hanging out there like doing his best until like the whole group catches him. And this year there's like legitimately should be a pack of like up to 10 guys who are the strong swimmers. Like, it's not just going to be like, oh, the Uber bikers just like, inevitably are going to roll them up. And then which of the strong runners can hang on to the back of that big ass group.

There's going to be real racing going on. Yeah. Can I just say anything? I totally forgot to say. Yeah. It's number one in my heart. Heather. Okay.

Oh, my gosh. You know, I almost messaged her yesterday. I would just be like, I love seeing you at Kona. It feels so right. She's so fit right now. She's so synonymous with Kona. She's my top five. She's a top five.

I think Heather will for sure be top five. Wow. Okay. Great. I don't know if, I don't know if, like, would love for her to win. You know what? I think she's- I'm changing my number five to Heather Jackson right now.

Thank you, Nick. I'm still able to do it for the next 17 hours on the website, so I'm changing it. Okay, how do we do this? I'll send you, I'll send you the link, but ProTen News has, like, they've been pushing it because they really want to beat the, what's it called, GTN numbers. You guys, I must say, just to wrap up the pod. Yeah. Pro-Chinese has a presence in Kona.

We're friends with Kyle Glass, with Talbot, with that whole crew. And they're definitely, like, winning the media game there. Like, they're in all the polls and stuff ahead of Slow Twitch, ahead of GTN, whatever the GTN is. And it's cool to see that because they're just, like, started as a podcast, kind of like we're doing. And they've just kind of stormed in there and a lot of respect for people. I love it. What is that, what do you mean, like pro-tri-news has a presence? Well, Nick, you're saying, like, in these, they've, like, ranked people based on what they're picking or something, and pro-Chinese is ahead?

Basically, you can vote on, you can vote for your top five and also first out of the water, fastest, bike, fastest run. Yeah. You can vote for each one of those things. But you can do it through the pro-trinews umbrella or through the GTN umbrella. Yes, and pro-tri-nues is winning. Yeah, it's just like the source? 459 people have voted through pro tri-nus. Yeah.

Yeah. So can you vote through anything or just those two sources? No, someone has to create a group. It's kind of like, think about this. Think if you could only race as part of a triathlon team. Gotcha. You still have your individual result, but you're part of that team. Okay.

Yeah, so think of it like a club and pro-Chinese is winning. Yeah, exactly. So kudos to them. Yeah. Got it. And also it helps for them. It's like, it's Talbot and Kyle and Jordan Blanco is on that episode

and like there's a, it's like triathlon behind the scenes royalty, right? So it makes sense that it's going to have a lot of legitimacy and super, super likeable people behind the yeah, quote unquote brand. Exactly. We'll be there next year.

We're going to go next year. We are? Well, I'm qualifying for Krikanah, so yeah, you better be there when I race. It's after 70.3 worlds, right? Yeah, we're going to be. There we go. That's the only thing stopping us.

I told myself I would never go unless I qualified But that's seeming like a pretty unlikely situation. So maybe I should just hitch a ride in one of your suitcases. Well, what we're going to have to do is like freaking put our van on a boat and they sleep on it on the Queen K. Otherwise, we're going to be able to afford it. You should book something now for next year. I bet we wouldn't be the first people to try to do that. Yeah, that's true.

Anyway. And people who book super early, like half the time the Airbns just cancel on you and then so that they can rebook and get up. That's what happened to Joe Skipper. Oh, wow. It's like, oh, yeah, you locked in a really good rate with an Airbnb that just realized they can get 10 times that. We'll have a hotel room. Who knows? I'm just saying, I'd happily stay in a tent or a van or maybe not a tent.

It's too hot. All right. Well, it's midday on a Wednesday. Nick has to edit this podcast. That's right. And we have to do a bike ride. So thank you very much for listening. We hope you enjoy the Kona broadcast this week.

And we will catch you next week. And yeah, check out our stuff. subscription on our website if you are so inclined. It's going to be sweet, whatever we end up doing with it. It really, how great it gets depends on how many people sign up for it. Yeah, we're going to send like free bals out and then maybe. Who knows? I am taking that out. Okay.

We're not sending free borgas up. It could happen. It could definitely happen. Right. It's just the bigger it gets, the more. Maybe we'll send little goodies to people every once in a while and some exclusive things that only subscribers will get. It'll be super fun.

I can't wait. Yeah, cool. Well, thank you guys. See you next week. Later. Bye.