That Triathlon Life Podcast - Paula wins the 70.3 North American Championship, gravel vs. road bikes, Ironman race swag, and more!

Episode Date: June 18, 2026

Paula wins the 70.3 North American Championship in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania. Her fourth North American title. We do a full race recap covering Paula's pre-race warmup adjustments, the bike leg where she went full throttle up a climb, fueling breakthroughs, timing chip chafe as a legitimate race threat, and shoutout to Lindee Kent for delivering the best aid station splits anyone has ever heard. Then we get into your questions.This week we discussed:Paula's 70.3 North American Championship race recap: swim warmup changes, crushing the bike climb, and why fueling more actually workedIs Happy Valley the best riding location of any North American 70.3?Paula is a four-time North American champion, most wins of any pro female ever.Front and rear hydration setups explained: torpedo bottles, bento boxes, behind-the-seat cages, and how to actually refill on courseGravel bike vs. road bike as a do-it-all rig, especially for New Zealand chip seal roads (via a hilarious poem)When to switch to race tires before Ironman Lake PlacidIs a swim skin worth it for a 300-meter pool swim sprint triathlon?Pull buoy preferences and swim run buoy sizing for open water racingWhat to actually do with all your Ironman finisher t-shirts and medalsEric's "pro athlete vs. former pro triathlete" status, officially addressedElectric bike pumps for disc wheels: what actually worksA big thank you to our podcast supporters who keep the podcast alive! To submit a question for the podcast and to become a podcast supporter, head over to ThatTriathlonLife.com/podcast

Hey everyone, welcome to that triathlon life podcast. I'm Eric Loggerstrom. I'm Paula Finley. I'm Nick Goldston. This is a big one. We had a good weekend. Paul and I went to Pennsylvania for 70.3 North American Championships. Happy Valley is the name of the race.

But the place you actually fly into is Penn State University. State College is the name of the town. And we got a race recap for you. So these are always pretty popular. So stay tuned. We're going to get into it pretty quickly. right away intro. Paul and I are both professional trathletes. Nick is a professional

musician, amateur trathlet, and welcome to us talking about multi-sport. Eric, are you a little congested? Am I reading that right? I got a little bit of sinus, a little bit of a I don't know, allergy thing going on. It's been hard to tell because

we've been moving around a lot lately, but just a little bit. I freshly feng shuied my office, but it does not allow Paula to recline and basically be prone with a podcast with a laptop

it's burning hot sounds like too much fung not enough shui I just don't even think it looks good the way you did it there we go wow wow

wow does that enough more my my my can you see me I can see you

all the way back there yes okay we're good Paul I see you still have your wetsuit kind of like cut into your neck

thank you for pointing it out no problem of course Always. We had a bit of a shit show of travel getting back. So we're a little bit loop being tired from that. It took us full 24 hours when it was supposed to be relatively quick. So we're just a little bit tired, but we're going to nail this. Do you guys ever consider getting the velo insurance, which is like the insurance for your bike

so that if it gets damaged during travel, you get like a full refund from that? You get like a free bike back? You get the value of the bike back. And I have a friend who's needed it twice. and used it twice, and they've been really good about that. Because did their bike get fully lost? No, so something cracked on the frame, but then Velo Insurance gave them,

no, actually the opposite. Delta gave them the full value of the bike, which is, you know, really all you need is the frame. And Velo Insurance then gave them the money for the frame. So they kind of like double-dipped, which is, I don't think technically you're allowed to do that. I think that's pretty illegal. That sounds fraud.

The problem we have when we do stuff like that, is they usually ask for a proof of purchase of the bike. Oh, I see. It can kind of, it kind of depends. You can sometimes, we had to do this as a bike shop a lot. You have to provide like a quote to buy that bike. Yes. That would often work.

But we had no travel problems with our bikes. Our travel was such a shit show on the way back with cancellations. We sat on the tarmac for four hours and then they canceled it. And so we got a hotel, which was hard to find because every flight got canceled. So all the rooms were full. So eventually we just got into an Uber with a total stranger. This guy we'd kind of like been talking to through this whole gong show of a situation at the airport.

And he seemed really cool. So he's like, just come in my Uber and we can like go to the Hampton Inn. And miraculously they had a room. And I said to Eric like if this guy, if there was no room and this guy said like you could just sleep in the other bed in my room, would you do it? And Eric's like, yeah, I think I would do it. Yeah, I would do it. Anyways, but the magical thing is that, like, they didn't give us our luggage back after this canceled flight. So we're like, we're never seeing our stuff again. And magically, like, Eric and I then book different tickets going to different places because I had to come to Redmond to get the dogs. He had to go to Portland to get the car. And we both independently got our luggage in the airport. We were supposed to get it at at the end of our new itinerary with reticketed.

tags. So they did it all right? It's mind-blowing. It worked. It's actually mind-blowing. Yeah. So although it's a crazy, I mean, it's very out of the airlines control when the weather is bad. So it's nobody's fault, but really, really impressive luggage systems. Yeah. Okay. So let's let's forward or let's rewind back to actually getting there. Eric, you texted me something about the roads there, the kind of riding that is there. You said it was the best riding of any North American 70.3. I felt like, yeah, in terms of like a location that has really great riding where I would want to go back to just to go bike riding. And I'm looking at a cross section of like the road surface, the interest level of the roads and how busy they are.

And it was fantastic. It was very rolling. The roads were in an incredibly good shape for being little farm roads. everything. At times it felt a little bit like European, like Switzerland almost without the big mountains in the background where, you know, like there was clear houses that existed here when the roads were much narrower. So there were a bunch of houses that were extremely close to the road and like these little tight streets next to rivers. And you could kind of sense the heritage of the place. So I was, I loved riding around there. Paula, as someone who is, how do I put this? You're more picky

about road surfaces and riding conditions. Do you agree with Eric? Well, Eric went on his own bike rides. is where he was experiencing these crazy discoveries. The bike course was great, and that's what we rode on when I was doing my pre-rides. And yes, zero experience that was similar to Chattanooga, where I was like scared of the cars and traffic and busy and bad condition on the tarmac on the pavement. This was really quiet roads, Amish country, great pavement across the entire 90K. And really pretty, like super great. green and humid and yeah I thought it was a really good place for a race I mean even St. George as much as I love it is not great for pre-riding because it goes on that highway for so long.

Snow Canyon of course is amazing but that's kind of it. So yeah, a lot of this was actually actually a little better than St. George although so hard to get to. I mean it's it's just a tiny little town you got to fly in somewhere and drive or fly into this like mini little airport. it. So what we noticed was that the expo was really toned down from what it normally would be. And I'm like predicting that's a little bit because of the location, difficulty to get to. Yeah, it doesn't have the allure, the big names and views of something like St. George, which has previously been the North American Championship. And maybe that hasn't drawn as many people. Not even the people, but just the, like Zoot wasn't at the expo and precision. And I don't know. There were just some like

It felt a little bit dead. At the mainstays of major races. It felt a little dead at the Expo. But we were that early on too, so maybe it got better. Okay. Last thing before we hear the details of the race, would you say, look, the bike course is great? And it's not as of much consequence, but would you say that the swim and the run course are similarly great? Yeah, the swim is in a beautiful lake out at a park.

Logistically, it's very similar to St. George because it's about 30 minutes away from T2. So you have to drive there race morning, drop your bike off there the day before, which is a bit annoying. But the point-to-point nature is kind of cool. I like that. And then, I don't know, St. George Run courses, I like it better. But this kind of went through Penn State University. So interesting things to look at and really twisty and like kind of unnecessarily going around all these corners and statues and stuff. But keeps you engaged the whole time.

So not a fast run course at all. Like pretty hilly and hard to get into really like a rhythm because you're turning so much. Yeah. I could rattle off some things that are happening. What's happening? Sam's Gold and Marley Beckett are both racing 70.3 Tromblont this weekend. We're working really hard on some really cool t-shirts for, um... For like Placid.

We just locked in like four different hat designs. So we're doing a small run of each one and very cool designs just for, you know, keep the sun off your face in the summertime. A lot of little things cooking. Nothing is ready at this moment. All right. Yeah. And I'm going to make a blog.

The plaza design is really sick. Plaza design is sweet. It's similar to the Oceanside T-shirt if anyone saw those. So it's like a kind of t-shirt you want to get even if you're not even going there. This is cool. It's a vibe. It's a vibe, yeah. Okay.

Yeah, I would say in general, like for some reason, the travel and the jet like didn't hit me as hard on this race. We got there. no problems with travel. I felt pretty good. Got on the time zone quickly. I got my period again that week, which was expected, but it was gone by race day. As predicted. As predicted. So like that was one day of feeling horrible, but I knew that was coming, so it was fine.

We were staying with a friend of ours, Michael, who his family owns a pasta sauce company, Del Grosso Pasta, in an amusement park about 30 minutes away, and we've kept in touch with him over the years after meeting him five years ago. He was kind to offer his sister's house to us a mile from Penn State, finish line, football stadium. Ideal, perfect. Super ideal.

Cooked for us, made us omelets, made us pasta, it was super nice. So yeah, I'd say pre-race, the mood was pretty good because just everything was kind of easy, clicking into place. The rides were not stressful. we got the early enough that I could kind of get everything sorted three days before so it was really just minimizing stress and stuff before race day which was nice someone asked a question this week

that I put in but I'm going to ask it now do you have any superstitions like pre-race superstitions that you kind of follow along like no no Eric do you I thought about it too I don't either just the one where I have to be passed by some random age grouper while riding by course the day before the race that's a good sign that's a good omen

okay so you were in a good space which you weren't as much for Chattanooga a few weeks ago mentally and how much of that do you think was informed by your physical fitness versus all just like circumstantial mental things

I don't think I've changed my fitness too much in the three weeks between or two weeks or whatever it was. Yeah, I definitely felt better. I think maybe getting one race under my belt and then I do, I've said before that it's fun to go to the races with no media that aren't pro series that are really under the radar and low key because they take the stress away. But I've realized that I think they kind of add to the stress because I expect myself to win. And then I must. But then I go to these pro series races where there is attention to media and taffers there doing AFC and a fighting chance. There's a press conference. There's a lot more hype around the whole thing.

And you think that would make me more nervous, but for some reason, it adds to the sense of importantness of it. And it also brings a stronger field. So I'm like, I don't have to win to feel like I did a good job. Like there's really strong women here. And also, I was just trying not to think too much about the outcome. So yeah, I think I realize that it is actually fun to go to these races that get some hype around them like this. Yeah, that makes sense. It's kind of like a double-edged sword though, right? In either case, you get this pressure that you have to deal with. Oh my gosh, while it's going to settle it down, Harper just caught a snake. We were at the river, cooling off, and she was in the bushes and she comes out with a snake. You're like, hey, mom, look what I found.

Was the snake alive? You're a hunter. It was still alive. And it had, like, she had pierced it a little bit, but she wasn't rough with it. So we're like, oh, I might die. So we just, like, left the snake, told her to go away. And then she went back for it. Oh, no.

We're dumb to, like, not put her on a leash or whatever. But so Eric picked up the snake and put it in the river. And it just, like, slithered away. They can swim. And it lived. I mean, it actually was not that injured. I think it was just kind of shocked. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But that's the thing about these hunting dogs. They're not meant to kill things. They're meant to like get things. Retrieve them back and bring them back to you. She's like, look at the snake that I brought you. Yeah. You're like, oh my God. Okay.

You're going to get bit. What was it? Parker Colt from Alpine Pest Management. Oh, does he even realize we have ants? No, but I didn't tell him to completely F off. Yeah. I told him if he came back later, I might be interested in talking. Okay.

But I'm on a business call, even though I'm not wearing a shirt. Right. Well, maybe it depends on what kind of business you're in, I think. Yeah. Fully naked. I'm on a business call. Wait, Paula, do you know that comedian at Bargazzi has this bit about getting bit by a snake?

It's like, you go to the hospital and they're like, well, did you bring the snake? And it's like, okay, listen, if I would have brought the snake, I'd have at least 25 more bites. Who told you to say this, the snake? Yeah. We're just assuming the snake that she brought back to us was harmful. But okay. So let's actually get into the race here. And we want to hear about your, you know, we don't need to recount step by step, but we would love to hear what you were actually feeling during the race and any thoughts you had. I decide, I like that I have a list of lessons I learned after Chattanooga. One was that I didn't warm up well enough. So before we left for the race, I actually got on Eric's bike for 20 minutes and warmed up on the bike. Oh, because your bike was in transition.

Yeah. And this was two hours before a race start. So it definitely didn't have the effect of like warming up my body to start the race. But I had the effect of like getting over that groggy, sticky, icky feeling that you have sometimes when it's super early. And what I had in Chattanooga where I didn't want to do a run warm up and I was so tired. And this was just like, hey, body, we're exercising early today and got that out of my system. So by the time I got to the race course, I felt very awake, did a little run warm up with Jackie, did a proper swim warm up for 10 minutes, swam back and forth along the beach while the men were starting. Like kind of just kept moving the whole time.

And then when the race started, I felt like I could do my normal swimming like I do in practice where I can like sprint, get on feet, be a little more like in the race versus just trying to feel good. Do you feel like this was different not just from Chattanooga, but from even races going further back? than that? Do you think this was noticeably more helpful? I did some, I did like a bike warm up before Marbea, remember that in the room. So I think it definitely helps. It's logistically hard because you got to bring a trainer and have an extra bike. But if I can do it, I want to do it. I like doing it. And the swim specific warmup? Do you feel like that made it actual noticeable difference? I mean, it wasn't that specific. It was just like some harder efforts than just floating around for five minutes. Yeah.

So that makes a difference for sure. So I started beside Han, Hannah Berry. I was just like, I was most nervous about my swim out of anything because it's been so bad in the last races. So I was started and I felt like, oh my God, this is so hard. I'm barely hanging on to these feet. And you don't know whose feet they are. But I was truly swimming as hard as hard as I possibly could just to stay with what I knew was the front group. And we went around the first buoy. I was still there with them. And I was like, okay, if we're swimming this hard, like a lot of people must be dropping back, which is good. But then the person in front of me, which later I found out was Hannah Berry. got popped from the people in front, which was Grace and a few other girls. And then it got really easy, you know, because she got dropped and then I was on her feet. But I was not strong enough to go around and get back on it. So it got really easy then. And then I went around her for the last stretch and was leading her. And I guess Grace Stack was with us as well.

But it was okay. When I saw that I was with those two women coming out of the water who were, good swimmers. I was like, okay, this is a good position. I didn't burn all my matches. I like went out hard enough to lose a bunch of people. And like running through transition, I felt good and getting on my bike. I started riding hard right away. And Grace was only a minute up the road, which is not that far. You can see a minute up. So I could catch her within like five minutes. And is it the kind of course that is suitable to you to catch someone or is it the kind of course that once you're up ahead in a group is kind of hard.

You can catch anyone on any course. Well, put that on a t-shirt. I mean... What are you asking? Is it because, like, rolling right away? Yeah, if it's just flat and fast in a group ahead, they can put a lot of damage in. Well, there was climbing.

It was Grace. And then she... Oh, it was just Grace. She came out with two fast swimmers, but they were kind of immediately gone. Oh, I see. Got it. So it was Grace, her motorcycle.

and then me. Her chaperone. But it did start with a little out and back so you could see exactly where you were with the gaps. Like a 2K out, 2K back onto the highway. So I could see where she was and knew she was not far. Yeah, when I came by her,

I made like a very purposeful effort to ride hard right away as I was coming by and do like up a hill really, really hard. But Grace is strong on the bike. Like she stayed with me for probably 3540K. And it's kind of annoying with these motorbikes because they're beside me sometimes, they're beside her sometimes. But if you're behind a rider and a motorcycle that's slightly behind me, she's getting the effect of like both moving objects in front. Yeah, of course. It's not her fault

at all. But it's just the nature of like front pack dynamics. I'd say the motor was zero percent of the time in front of me. It was always kind of slightly to beside me or behind me, which definitely helps. I mean, I don't know, motors have an impact on the races, but they were not like pulling me up or anything. It was a bit annoying and like getting involved with a couple pro men that were slow, but I never once sat on any pro men's wheel for any amount of time. I'd go around them and then they'd come back around me sometimes. Yeah. Just like so annoying.

We've said this before on the podcast. If you're one of these pro men, you're not helping by coming back around. It's not helping. You're not a group now. So I, yeah, exactly. We're not riding together now. On the first steep hill, that's where I went really hard, dropped Grace, was by myself, got some splits from Eric because that's the first time I saw him. And then, yeah, just kept riding really hard.

And I think the back half of the ride for me, it was. lower watts, but it was, I put in more time to everybody else. Like, it was lower watts because there was more downhills and a little more cornering and stuff, but that's where I really made the most impact was the second half of the race. And confirm. It was really fun to watch because I saw her twice, like one time at 25K and then one time around 40K or something. And she had just barely started to gap grace a little bit and not put in like massive time or anything to be people behind. but then like just before the major climb of the day, which I think is like 11, 12 minute climb,

it just went from like 45 seconds to 3.45 on grace and like similar just explosion of time to everybody. Well, there was like a 10 or 11 minute. There was a 10 or 11 minute climb, which I did super hard. And that's so long. I didn't realize they had climbs that were that longer. It feels on paper. It feels on paper.

It feels just like, St. George. It looks a lot like it on paper. Yeah. So I think I climbed three minutes faster than most people on that hill on its own. Damn. Two minutes at least. Looking at drama. Looking at trauma. But I didn't really know that. Like I wasn't really getting many splits after that because Eric went right back to transition and got off the bike, I think three and a half ahead of Grace, five ahead of Hannah, eight and a half to Lydia. So should be comfortable enough gaps to not have to panic or worry about getting caught. But You never know. Lydia could run a 115 and I mean, that was my biggest concern was that she'd run into me. But even on the run, I felt pretty good. It was not too hot. It was overcast.

Of course, like I said, was pretty interesting. It was mercifully overcast and cool on race date relative to two days ago when she pre-ran the course and I was on the bike next to her and cooking. So freaking sticky and wet. Just humidity a million. Two hours south of there said that it was a hundred degrees where they were. Two days before? A couple days before the race. Yeah. So that's unhumid.

Oh yeah. Like 85, 90 degrees, 85% humidity just. Yeah. Yeah. We got lucky on race day. That was my thought after that day of training. It's like, people should come here and train for Kona because this feels exactly what it's like. Yikes.

So, Paula, this was your second race with those bars. Did you do any bike changes between last race and this race, or is it the same exact setup? Same exact setup. I did get this little storage box for underneath my front bottle to put my gels in. So I fit four 40 gram gels in there and ate all of them. That's awesome. And I think it's because they were there, you know? Yeah, yeah.

Like when they're in my back pocket or got to grab them on the A-Stations, I just don't take them as much. That's so good. They're literally in my face and I took one every 30 minutes. And did you do nutrition in your bottles? Yeah, I had a high carb in my front bottle. So that's 90 plus 160. Yeah. So yeah, it's pretty good.

And then I took two gels on the run, so 80 on the run. So it's more than I've ever taken in a race. And you felt really good too. Do you think they're related or is it a bit of a coincidence? Got to be related. Yeah, it seems like it. I'm just curious what you intuitively feel if it actually made a difference. Like I said, I've said this before.

It's like my thing about nutrition is that my, it's not that I'm worried my stomach can't handle it. It's worried I'm worried that I can't get it in while I'm riding my bike as hard as I can because I don't want to take my hands off my bars. So to have them conveniently there, like it didn't impact my GI tracks or anything. Like, no, I didn't feel full. I didn't feel like, oh, too much sugar. I just felt like, oh, it's there.

I can easily grab it. Here we go. Okay, I have a question for both of you. How do you, like, even when I, like, last weekend, I have a hard time breathing, hard and drinking like my, whatever, I had Morton in there. It's just, I have a hard time doing both at the same time. Do you take a big, like, a lot of fluid at once and then try to, like, then catch your breath or do you little spurts at a time?

That's why I like the torpedo bottle, even though it looks so dorky, is because I do take little sips of it because I agree with you. It's really hard to take big slugs of water when you're working hard. But if I'm riding in my bike in the best position possible, my face is touching the straw. That's like how I know my head's in a good position. So if my lips are on my straw, I might as well take a sip, but like constantly throughout the whole race, not like huge sips. Which is probably better for you anyway. Maybe. Yeah. What about you, Eric? Yeah, I don't have the straw on my face thing, so I do more of a big slug. to use your word, big,

couple big swigs. Yeah. And you're trying to treat it like like you would a gel like every 15 minutes. Like every 15 minutes, like every 15 minutes, take two, like squeeze the ball as much as I can with one hand twice. I just can't swallow that much liquid.

But then do you like, because that's what I notice I do. I like have this big gas of breath after. Which is fine. Or it gets all over your face. Yeah. Oh, the morning is so sticky too. Yeah.

You can also like get all that in your mouth and breathe through your nose a little bit. I've tried, but I'm like breathing so slow and I have, yeah, yeah, but you're right, you're right, right. Maybe we need to all get those nasal strips. That's what they seem to be very popular lately. They do, yeah. Okay, so you were running and you were feeling good in the run and you knew you had this gap, but you like halfway through, is that when you kind of saw what was actually happening compared to everyone else? No, I was getting splits back to Lydia that were definitely closing.

and she was the only one I was worried about because all the other gaps were growing. But still even after one lap, I think I still had six minutes or seven minutes. So it was okay. It had a 4845 at the beginning and down to six minutes after halfway. Yeah. So I was like, okay, she'd have to be running 30 seconds per K faster than me.

And I'm not running that slow. Like I'm running kind of slow. But I never felt like I'm on the limit at all. Do we want to give a shout out to Lindy Kent, by the way? Oh, yeah, Lindy. Of course, we do. Oh, my gosh, I love her. She was, Lindy's a long time podcast supporter, TTR supporter.

We met her first in Vegas like two years ago, remember? Yeah, yeah, yeah. After all having messaged her. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we'd all been chatting with her, but had no idea what she looked like. So when we met her at Vegas and she was like the sweetest lady ever and decked out in TTR gear with her husband there, we were like, wow, you were. our favorite fan.

Anyway, she was there at one of the aid stations volunteering because she got an injury so she couldn't do the race. But she gave me the perfect split. She's like, so clear, the name, how much back they were from me, all in consecutive order, all within 10 seconds of me passing her. There's like, love it. The best splits I've ever gotten from anyone. We talk about this on the podcast, like what you actually want to say to the person and

she nailed it. It was one of the first things Paula you told me when we talked. She's like, Lindy gave me the best splits ever. Yeah. And her husband was there like telling people to watch the rocks because they were not even. Right. And he's funny because I don't think he's like as big of a triathlon fan as her, but just.

He just like shows up for her passion. So hard. It's great. Anyway. Yeah, like through the run, I was thinking like I could keep doing this for longer. This is not that hard. That's good. But I was still, obviously still hurts when you're.

racing. And actually the thing that hurt the most was my freaking timing chips were chafing the shit onto my ankles. Like, they are torn to shreds. Oh, no. I need to figure this out before an Iron Man because it happened in Chattanooga, too. I finished and my ankles are like bloody chafed. Yeah, it's horrible. And it hurts so much during the race. Honestly, that's what I was thinking about for probably over half of the race was how much my ankles were burning from the chafing. Oh my God. I'm not kidding. So wait, what are you supposed to do, though? I would stop and loosen them up personally.

Well, I should have done that. The gap was big enough that I should have done that. But what I guess I could do is like put them over top of my socks when I'm in T2. That looks so dumb. Oh, I see. Or put like tape around my ankles so I don't run. You know, for a full, it's probably worth the extra 10 seconds to do that. For sure.

Yeah, I couldn't have dealt with that for much longer. I used to think about, because I used to get, and not so much anymore, but like blisters between my toes on very long runs. And so I tragically have to wear toe socks, much to the chagrin of everyone that has ever seen me in them. So I thought about changing into them for a full. Yeah. But I decided against it, and it was a good call. But if you're bleeding. Yeah, these aren't blisters, though.

It's like chafing, right? But still, same thing. It's like, do whatever you need to do to alleviate the chafing. Yeah. My skin seems to be so delicate. Yeah. Okay, so last couple Ks, because we still haven't given away how you ended up doing in this race, which I appreciate, by the way. The last couple of Ks were straight uphill. This course is hard. It's a hard run course. And I was, yeah, I won the race.

She won. Here is your North American champion. By the way, did some research. Paul, you are the most winning North American champion. by the way, did some research. Paul, you are the most winning North American champion in 70.3 history. Wow. On the female side. Because I've won four. You've won four. You won the last three years and then 2018.

Is there a guy that's won more than me? I'm here for the woman's race. I can't think of who it would have been. Yeah, maybe if Sam had won today, maybe him. Or one on Sunday. Lionel Sanders. He added a fifth win in the 2025 edition, the last ever running at St. George. Oh, so he's won five.

Yeah, extending his record at that venue. So Sanders holds the men's record with five North American championship titles. Okay. Both record holders are Canadian. Hell, yeah. Yeah, we missed having Lionel there. Of course. But the men put on a good show as well, that looks like.

Yeah, it was really exciting. There was zero percent exciting in the women's race. Men's race was super exciting. That was fun to watch. Lydia probably came, she gained a bunch of places to get into second, right? Oh, yeah, for the, yes, that's true. There was some, like, shuffling going on. behind me. Yeah, which is fun. I mean, sometimes this is how we, you know, the winners kind of

already decided. And so the exciting race is for second and third. Totally. Like what Nib is at races? That's, yeah. We're all used to that. Yeah. So any thoughts? When you were, when you were finishing, I mean, were you comparing this to how you felt in Chattanooga? Did you have thoughts about your relationship to racing or anything like that? I thought, I'm retiring. So that's it. Enough of this. No, I was happy. yeah I was like like I've said a lot of times now my knee was so messed up in January

I thought I would not run again let alone do a race let alone win a race so it is kind of miraculous that it has all come together through a lot of injuries and a lot of meltdowns and the hip too which was causing you know problems earlier on

my hip was fine Eric's hip was fine too despite running all over the place and riding my body bike, at least half a marathon. It's a lot of hard work for it. A hip labrum surgery person because you're in and out of the car, you're in and off your bike, you're running here and to there.

So Eric survived too. It's a lot of work. And then we got across the finish line, went back to the place, packed our bikes left within three hours. And then sat on the tarmac for three more hours. For absolutely no reason. Yeah, that was dumb. I truly regret it. I mean, you couldn't have known what was going to happen.

It could have worked out perfectly. It also wasn't a whatever Penn State airport problem. This was a D.C. problem. We unfortunately connected through D.C. Yeah, we got out of state college really quick, really easy. Anyway. Well, Paul, congratulations. That's great.

It's, you know, now it's like, oh, yeah, she won. Of course. She did great. But it was the first thing. I didn't have service when you raced. And it was the first thing I checked when I got into service was how you did. Because we're all like on this journey with you, it feels like. Yeah.

Well, there's, I get into some of the pre-race, like, prediction shows and shit like that. And the on your left guys do, like, the tier one, tier two. And I watch it because it's actually very funny. It's funny. They're funny. But they're like borderline putting me in tier two. And I was like, hell no. I'm going to go to try to win by 10 minutes.

I mean. You're going to tier two me? Yeah. They tier two Jackie. I'm like, they're so ruthless. But. Well, the Jackie thing maybe seems unfair,

but you didn't finish a couple races recently. Yeah, but I won four last year. Yeah, well, yeah, of course. I think it was like, I think Sam Wong said this at the pro panel. He's like, people only remember your last race, which is so true.

Because for him, it was Chattanooga where he didn't have a good race. But with the week before that, he set the world bike course record. You know, so it's such a fleeting thing to be having success and then people remember you for your most recent failure a lot of the time. Totally. We also do that, all do that to ourselves.

Yeah. You forget that you won four races last year. Oh, for sure. I'm my worst critic. I'm my worst critic. Of course. But then when you hear it externally, you're like, oh, damn. People don't believe in me anymore.

Yeah. Yeah, that's fair. Well, now we've reintroduced faith into the Paula Finley winning camp. I'm not coming away with like, oh, that was perfect. I ran really freaking slow. And that's not great. But my swim was better. I felt super strong on the bike.

I probably had the highest power for the 70.3 that I've had in a long time. And then on the run, I just, I don't think I'm running super fast right now, but I was never pressured so I didn't have to. Is that your takeaway here? It's a bit of a takeaway. But also, like, if it had come down to a foot race, I don't feel like I have a, have a fast half marathon in me right now. So is there something to learn from that or do you think that's just you're taking that as a data point?

It's a little bit of an effect of coming off of these injuries and not doing much fast running. But on the plus side, I don't feel sore now. I feel completely fine. And I never felt like sore in the race. Like my legs are breaking down to the point where I want this to be over. So I think I am strong on the run. I'm just not like foot speed turnover, you know, that kind of fast. Eric, did you notice anything

like from your point of view of the week? I mean, it had space for me, for sure. Definitely just overall, like our camp felt like we were efficient. We were like little things, you know, when just little small things

bend you out of shape, like you stub your toe on the door and it's like this huge big deal or you can't find your air pod and there's like a near meltdown. There was like none of that stuff. I felt like we were just really even keel and smooth, efficient.

Like we got in. I built the, bikes. Well, Paula went to the grocery store and we were to bed early, woke up early. We have our system dialed. Very freaking dialed. Yeah, that's great. So it's just, it was like emotionally level. Paul, it's so crazy. You're still winning races. What was your first win? How old were you? In sport in general? Yeah. Like in swimming? Three. Let's say let's say triathlon. Let's say triathlon. Well, the first race I ever did, I won. I was 16.

It was 20 years ago. And then that same year, I wanted junior race. But it's a totally different phase. I know, but like people think about other sports. You have like five to eight years or something in some other sports where you can actually perform at that level. And you've been doing it for 20 years. It's amazing. Yeah, Nick.

Thanks for reminding me how old I am. I feel old. It's amazing. It's amazing. Yeah, okay. Well, you're beating everyone who is at their peak fitness and trying as hard as they can. So that's pretty awesome. That's true.

that's true. Well, congratulations. We're proud of you. We wish you were there, Nick. You would have liked Michael a lot. You guys are really similar. He messaged me and he told me he's going to send me some pasta sauce. Oh, nice.

Which I will very much. See, if you get some sloppy Joe mix too, because that is da, duh, I love sloppy joes. Yeah, if anyone, if you live on the East Coast where Del Grosso is sold at grocery stores, they're in all of the, what's the grocery store? Wegmans. We don't have that on the West? Yeah, Wegmans.

But they sell at Wegmans. And they're branded Del Grosso? I thought they were kind of like white label. No, Del Grosso. Okay, okay. No, we can't say exactly which, but many, many, many pasta sauces are their pastas. Got it. craft whatever, for example.

But I don't know. I'll ask him. Anyway, go by the Del Grosso sauce if you're in that area. We're on a mission to make that percentage higher. Nice. Because it's good. And the family story is so great. They're just good, good people.

So you guys think you'll go back next year? I've heard rumors that it's going to be North American Championships again next year. Oh, it is for sure. I heard from the mayor himself. Yeah. There you go. It would be just such a bummer of resource management to not have it be in the same place twice, just for like efficiency.

In the pre-race press conference, Paula, Newby Fraser was like, Sam, Paula, Grace, we need you to record a clip for the World Championship 2027 announcement video. I was like, sweet, where is it? Tell us. She wouldn't tell us. And we had to record a clip saying how stoked we were about it. Love this race, love this location. Without knowing where it was.

Sorry, that's effed. And she was like stone cold, not. giving anything away. Right, right. Because I think it's down to like three or four places. Yeah. One being in Canada, which I'd be super excited about. And I was like, is it there? Wouldn't tell me. Wouldn't tell you. So there is an announcement coming soon about where it will be. And I'll be part of the announcement while also finding out. Wow. Not even knowing. Yeah. Oh, okay. Good to know. Oh, yeah. I love it. I love it. Well, I think they're very aware of how quickly shit leaks in the

industry. Totally. I mean, we know some people that... Not because of us. We know some people that leak things very... Kyle Glass. The Oklahoma boys, they have loose lips. We love them, but they have loose lips. Cosm news. Okay, well, we do have some questions. Paula, thank you so much for that. It's very exciting. I speak for all the podcast listeners when we say that we're so, we're so

proud of you. Thanks. Thanks, everybody. That's really, really great. Okay. We're going to answer questions. here, you can submit your questions to the podcast at That TriathlonLife.com slash podcast. Did you like this race recap? Do you like the podcast? Do you enjoy listening to this? Do you enjoy that we just talk like we're friends?

Become a podcast supporter now or we'll stop next week? Perfect. I agree. Yes. Yes. So you can become a podcast supporter for the low, low cost of five U.S. dollars a month. A burger shop just opened up here. It's the cheapest burger in Santa Monica that I know of. It's super good. For a double cheeseburger, it is, I think, 850. Almost half the cost of that per month, and you can become a podcast supporter. We would appreciate that so much. Every once in a while, we also do some fun little video behind the scene segments that we send out to podcast supporters about once a month. So, and within the, in July, whenever episode comes out, the first one in July, if you're a podcast supporter by then,

you will get it. So now is the time. Sign up. Okay, questions. Here we go. It's from Karen. What do you do with all of your free Ironman T-shirt gear bags and finisher medals? Be honest. Karen. Don't take them in the first place?

We've talked about this. There should be an option to say, I don't want the T-shirt. Well, I mean, I can't even remember the last time I got a T-shirt. Well, you're a professional. I get them every time. No, you get a T-shirt every time you race. When you sign up, when they give you your, like... you go, if you're pro, you get a t-shirt.

I mean, you have to, like, go physically, say, like, I want the small and put it in your bag. They've accounted for you in their count. So you have to, maybe if you don't take it, after a while, they will, well, sure, but the idea is to not make them in the first place. So we don't have unnecessary race. I do like races that give you the option. No, I think people, I think a lot of people like the t-shirts, though. If I was just going to two or three races a year as an amateur and I trained hard for it, I was excited for it, and it was going to be one of the most. memorable parts of my year, I for sure want a t-shirt.

Totally. But if you're a professional and you go to 10 races a year and you don't really want to wear the t-shirts, there should be an option on your registration to say no gear, no bag. Yeah. I have an Exeterra, Alabama and a Black Canyon's t-shirt that I still, regular rotation. I do love your black can't because you made it sleeveless, right? You know what? Yeah.

If these race t-shirts were freaking cotton teas, I would for sure wear it. You're like the athletic tea is actually the problem. Yeah, it's like stinky gross material that doesn't fit nicely. If it was just like a retroy cool cotton tea, 100% I would wear that all the time. That's why we do that. That's why we do that because we realize that's what you guys actually want to wear. You don't want to wear tech teas. Sometimes you want to wear tech teas, but nice tech teas.

I think that the problem is like if we have this goal, and I realize not everyone shares this goal, But if we have this goal of running like a runner, cycling like a cyclist, and swimming like a swimmer, running with your 70.3 Oregon shirt, it kind of, I don't want to talk pejoratively about triathletes, but it kind of reveals you as not a runner. I actually like that, though, because if I'm out in the wild and I see someone running with an Iron Man t-shirt for a race, I'm like, oh, I identify with you. Totally. And I feel that too. So I actually like it when people wear the race teas. And what do you guys do with medals? Because you get medals for sure, right? Unless it's like a really significant, either emotionally or, you know, actually not, you know, level.

I think we don't keep those. Sometimes I keep it. I'll always travel home with it. Like I've got my XTERA trophies, my Beijing International trophies, a couple of ITU medals. I think it's cool when people keep like every finish. like Unich, every finisher medal you have and you hang it up on a little thingy. I'm just about to, I used to feel the same way, and now I think I'm going to take that down. I don't know why.

I feel a little, no shade on anyone else, but I feel a little cringy about it. Maybe I'll just keep the podium ones there. Exactly. The ones are flowing of finisher medals and podium medals. Well, you could put it somewhere discreet. I think I should do that. Right now it's in like the hallway. It's the first thing you see when you're.

walk in. Oh, this guy. Okay. No, it's like a good thing for a training room or somewhere where you can see it. A pain cave. You're right. Yeah. It's not necessarily like a display for your guests. But that's also fun. I have my Gravy Cross uphill champion

trophy, like front and center in the living room. Yeah, you've seen it, Nick. It's like a trophy with a cassette. Oh, with the cassette. Yeah, with the cassette. But what was that the one that there's a picture of you doing that drop on your epic? Yeah, doing the 10 foot drop in spandex with a full face helmet. I love it. People are like, who is

this guy? That one. See, just like things that bring back a fun memory or like, you know, keep those ones around. I have my Alcatraz one because it's like those like glass crystal things. Yeah. That's cool. Okay, next question here is from Cody, spelled C-O-A-D-Y. I haven't heard that one.

Also, Cody starts with I'm not going to sing the whole thing because we'll get a copyright strike. But Nick, please sing this. Hopefully most listeners get it. Yeah, if you don't get it, that means you weren't born in the last 30 years. Which I know is a lot of people that listen to this were not. Paula, what condition made a blue visor your choice?

That was the point of that song. For my Rudy Project helmet that I can actually do out this time. Yeah. I don't know. I brought all three visors. They're all in these little cases. And the day before the race, I just pulled out the blue on and I was like, cool. Blue is cool. So it was a, was it a look thing or was it a looking?

thing. It was a, this is what I pulled out of the bag. Okay, so it was fate and chance. Yeah, I briefly considered wearing the clear one, but the blue one is almost just as easy to see out of. Yeah, yeah, cool. There was no light condition. That's an interesting question, though.

Like, is there light conditions where red would be better than blue would be better than. Yeah. It's like with all the different goggles that you swim with. It's like, oh, the mirror finish or the clear or whatever. Yeah, you're right. No, it's an interesting question. but no, there was no thought behind it for me.

Nice. Well, it looked good. Okay, next question here is from Ann. My question is about front and rear hydration and fuel setups. I haven't raced a full distance in a couple years, and it seems hydration setups have changed a lot in that time, so I'm a bit lost. I keep screen shooting, screenshoting, pro pictures on Instagram to try and figure out

what brands are used and in what configurations. Paul, I noticed you're using an X-Lab torpedo bottle up front. Is that for your water? or are you putting fuel in there? If people are using just squeeze bottles up front, how are they refilling their water from aid stations? Well, you're probably not doing that if you're doing that, or you're replacing them.

I also see many people are using the flat-lying rear hydration setups. How difficult are those to grab bottles from? Pretty difficult. And where do you get the rubber band thing that keeps the bottles from flying out of the cage? I'm not trying to replicate what the pros use exactly. I know I need to customize to what is best for me. Thanks and good luck in LP.

Yeah, I like the torpedo, like I said, because the straw is right there. It's very convenient to drink from. There's some obvious downsides. You can't just swap it out with an on-course bottle. You could, but then you're throwing away your torpedo bottle, which is a little more valuable. But with the torpedo, you can do like the quick refill, right? But that takes some time. I mean, you have to sit there and squeeze it and make sure it all gets in there.

And sometimes when you're putting the nipple in the hole for the... closes it. Yeah. That is one of the biggest design flaws. Yeah. Is certain bottles, when you try to put the nozzle into these refillable, like the torpedo, there's enough pressure to close it. And so you cannot actually get fluid in there.

Yeah. And you don't really know until you get to the race. The what? It's the fixy top. Oh. Oh. The issue is that if you're grabbing the, well, if you're grabbing from behind, right. If you're wrapping from the race, you kind of have to deal with whatever they give you.

Yeah, so a lot of people will do a bottle behind the saddle, pull that to refill their torpedo. And that's your whole race nutrition right there. You do not need race nutrition if you do that. Is that what you're saying? It depends on who you are. But yeah, you could have two behind your seat. You could have an arrow down to a bottle. There's so many different options.

I'm not even qualified to say, which is the best one. So I don't know. You could put two bottles in the front too. I just chose to put that bento box underneath to put my gels in. So, Eric, you would do two bottles in the front, right? And you would do both with nutrition? Absolutely not two bottles in the front, no. You didn't do a top and bottom?

No. What am I imagining? That did not exist the last time that I did an on-road trathlon. So perfect. So what would you do? Well, I would ride my Shiv Try from 2015 or whatever year that was that has the rear hydration, and then I would have one bottle between my arms. And if I needed another one, I would have one behind the seat.

Okay. that's the setup that I'm currently rocking. But when I raced, last time I raced, I just had a bottle between my arms and I had a bottle in back. And when I finished the bottle in front, I would just chuck it at an aid station and swap in with the front one. And then every time I went through an aid station,

I would grab bottled water and just chug as much as I could before the littering zone. Right. Smart. Okay. Eric, I'm going to follow up with this next question right for you since you're talking already. This is from Chance. Eric, you introduced yourself in the pod as pro triathlete. Yet last week, a fighting chance labeled you as

former pro triathlete. Are they wrong or are you wrong? I don't introduce myself as pro triathlet every podcast, just occasionally. Just pepper it in. I think you say pro athlete. Yeah, I say pro athlete generally. I think today is the first time

that I can remember saying pro triathlete. Yeah, I don't know. I did not officially retire from triathlon, but I also have a raced an on-road trathlon in a year. We are very much counting on you doing another trathlon. I stand by.

I'm a pro athlete. I race some trathlon. I would love to do some more Xtera. I did swim run, doing ultra running. These are the events that are involved in triathlon. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm going to do another trathlon for sure.

Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Okay. Next question here is from Andy. what's the best electric bike pump for traveling to races that works well with a disc wheel? This is Andy McKinley, by the way. Oh, I love that. Yeah. Nice to have you on the pod, Andy.

I'll be honest, Andy. It took me a year to buy one of these because I just kept asking that question to Google. And there are so many options that it stopped me from buying one because I'd go down a rabbit hole and then never actually buy one. And what I did a couple weeks ago, I just went into the freaking local bike shop here. it's like what electric pump do you have. And if it sucks, I could bring it back. But I'm talking to a real human, and they had to track one. Works completely fine.

And the end of, like the nozzle actually unscrews. It comes with like just a regular Preston nozzle, a Schrader nozzle, a little tube hose that's about three or four inches long. And at the end of that little tube hose, you can put on your disc brake, disc wheel chuck. So that's the biggest thing I had, the problem with mine was, and I think it was because of the quality of the chuck that I had, or some people call it a crack pipe, is that when I would put that into my little mobile inflator

with the disc wheel, there was enough pressure just within the system that it wouldn't put any more air in because it would think it was maxing out. It would think it would hit like 100 PSI or something, but really it's just slow to get air in. So the combination of the

inflator and the chuck are an important variable to consider and test out before you show up to a race. If you just want to shut your brain off, I got the track one and we have a silka

crack bite. Love it. It's like a charm. That's a great. It screws together and everything is completely perfect system. Love it.

Love it. Cool. Okay, next question here is from Yerick. And Paula, do you know which one this is? I'm sure you read it when you were looking

through the questions. Is it the poem? It's the poem. Okay. It's the poem. Hi, Paula, Eric, and Nick. Longtime listener, first time asker.

Paula, sorry, this won't get much faster. Between you three, I must assume, you've ridden every bike with room. For speed, for mud, for aerodreams, for triathletes in compression seams. So here's my question, plain and bright. Which bikes still make your souls take flight? Do gravel bikes sit near the throne? And would you trust one as a do-it-all bike to own? For context, here's my tragic tale.

My tarmac's old but will not fail. Ten years of service, sweat and grime. It's earned retirement or therapy time. I've got a TT bike for Iron Man Pain, so this next one need not chase every arrow gain. I thought, road bike, fast, refined, but gravel hype has bent my mind. Could one nice arrow gravel steed

with two wheel sets meet every need? I live in New Zealand where roads are surreal, tarmac and name, not always in feel, mostly just gravel, angry and pale, emotionally pressured into pretending it's sealed. And just nearby, beyond my lane, like gravel roads I can't explain, half the map still unexplored, sitting there judging me clearly bored. Please save me from this shopping curse before bike maths makes my marriage worse. Yerick.

That was incredible. That deserves an award. That was amazing. Yeah, good job, Eric. Dang. Thank you for your poem. Yes. Poem question.

Double duty. Yeah, a gravel bike, and then you won't even need two sets of wheels. You'll just ride that on the road all the time. I think so. Unless you really just... This is the position that I'm in. If I want to go ride for five hours, I go on the TT bike, and I can go really far and fast and cover a lot of ground and like anything else. The gravel bike, you go a little slower on the road, but it's so comfy.

Especially with New Zealand chip seal, which we've experienced. Yeah. I do think the gravel bike is pretty similar here to some of the New Zealand experience. Especially if you have a gravel bike with kind of slicker tires. Yeah. Do some pathfinders or something that's like potentially even more semi-slic than that. Yeah, and they roll pretty well on the road. Like we usually when we go to the coast, we just take our gravel bikes so we can do a little bit of both.

But then I'll take it on a three-hour road exclusive ride and it goes pretty fast. And it's comfortable. I think you only really notice it if you're in a very fast group with other people. on road bikes. Them you've really noticed a difference. The other thing, because of like that extra resistance from the wheels,

I am zero percent bent out of shape if it's windy and I'm riding on my gravel bike. It just, I'm like, for some reason it's a short circuit thing in my brain versus if I'm on the road bike, I always feel like

I'm kind of going slow and I want to push a little bit more. I see. Like the wind like makes you a little more annoyed. It's kind of similar to what Paula was saying with the pressure of like a, like not an A race versus going to,

you're like, hey, I'm just here to ride to get miles in, get time and have a good time. It can be windy, no problem. The watts can be whatever. If you got a power meter on there, just like ride watts, whatever. Yeah. Not about speed. Yeah. I mean, if you want to be really over the top, get another wheel set,

and then you still have the do it all bike, I think. But I would just start with, like I said, something like Pathfinders or the sawtooth that rolls pretty well. And if you feel like you want to get another wheel set with road tires, go for it. The thing is, if you have two older bikes, like the TT bike, in the tarmac, a new gravel bike is going to be a million times nicer in so many ways that it'll be your go-to bike

every time. Right? It's just like where your hands are. Do levers, the difference in levers now compared to 10 years ago, they are so much more comfortable now. Yeah, so many things. Saddles are better. The shifting's better. The components are better. Everything is more comfortable.

Yeah. God, I love bikes. God, I love bikes. I do. so much. So I think we can get through. There's four shortest questions, and we should just rapid fire them. Okay. Okay. Hey, fam, love hearing you talk about your passion for coffee, donuts, cookies, and the like, but I never hear you talk about splurging on things like burgers and fries. Call me crazy, but nothing hits better after a long summer brick workout than a quarter pounder and a large fry. Or for Nick, maybe, it's an in-and-out double-double. Do you guys stay away from

these artery-clogging goodies, or do you just not brag about them on the pod? And yes, I'm looking for a little justification to make me feel better, Diane. That's funny. Yeah, I'm less into that stuff than I am into the baked, good, sweet coffee shop treats, personally. It's probably no surprise to everyone that I adore burger and fries. I mean, even though we have dessert every single day and we go to coffee almost every single day, like, having whatever you're eating for dinner just feels like that's what you have to do.

That's a meal. It's not a splurge. just not an extra thing. Even if you class it up a bit and you get a nice dinner. We will talk about a nice dinner with friends if we went somewhere that we think they should go. Yeah, usually I think of dinner is like, I need to get nutrients. I need to eat some freaking vegetables now. Because I just had cookies all day and gels.

Right, right. But it's not to say we don't enjoy those things. Of course, after especially a hard workout or a race, burger and fries is amazing. We really like making pizza. So those things are really, really good. but we tend to gravitate towards a healthier main course meals splurged with treats throughout the day. Yeah, you guys, that feels really true. You guys do eat pretty healthy when you're eating actual meals.

Next. Whatever healthy means. Hey, tripod, I have a pool swim sprint triathlon coming up, and I'm wondering, is it worth it to wear a swim skin? I know they can make a big difference in longer swims of open water races, but do you think it's worth it for a 300 meter pool swim? No. Thanks, Nate.

Zero percent, no. I cannot imagine. Not unless your trisuit is so bad. that is borderline of drag suit. That's true. It depends what you're wearing for the race. I'm imagining. Taking it off is like...

I mean, but if you got a trisuit that's a size too large or a year old and is just fully a dress, then you need the swim skin for the... You need it for the... Yeah, that's slow on the bike too, though. Maybe just get a new trisuit. Yeah, I think for a sprint triathlon, it's better to get these trisuits that are more like a bathing suit, you know? Don't really have pockets.

sleeveless, kind of old-schooly. Like, it reminds me of Lionel Santer's fit. Just wear a bathing suit. Like, I could use that. Yeah, Speedo. Yeah, that would be my suggestion. Just make sure what you're swimming in is tight enough and then forego the swim skin.

It would be really bad us to do the whole thing in a speedo though. Nate, just putting that out there. We'd love a photo. Not to solicit Speedo photos from podcast listeners. Okay, next one here from Jack. Hey, TTL. I'm training for my second Lake Placid Iron Man this year and had a question about race tires.

I only have one set of wheels from my TT bike, so how long before Lake Placid should I switch before my training tires, which are gator skins, by the way, over to new race tires,

which are GP5,000s. I live in the city, so trying to balance protecting the race tire against having nothing new on race day. Thanks and looking forward to getting lapped by

Paula at Iron Man Lake Placet, Jack. I would do, you could do like one ride at home with them. and then pack them, just make sure that everything is good to go. And this is a GP 5000.

This is not like a cotton tube. It's not like some zero flat protection thing. I think try not to run over any glass and do one ride at home, one ride at the race, one or two rides at the race, and then the race. And that's not because you need to get used to the tires, right? It's just because you want to make sure that you seated them properly and that they're just functioning properly.

Yeah. Yeah, it's not like trying a new race shoe, for example. You don't want to be putting on tires. Probably don't want to be putting on tires for the first time in the hotel room, just in case something goes wrong. Right, right, right. Okay, and last question here from Josh. Eric, this one is just for you,

but maybe we can all get into this a little bit because I'm curious how pull-booy technology has changed. Do you have any trouble getting used to the excessively buoyant swim-run pull-boos? I tried using ARC's biggest buoying thinking I would love the added buoyancy, but I found it pulled my legs up so much it made sighting a pain, and I have absolutely no maneuverability in the water. I also tried it in a pool and turning around at the end of each length

was so much hassle I didn't feel like I could get a quality workout in. Standing at the start, getting it situated between the legs was brutal on the nuts. I'd love any tips, I shouldn't laugh. I'd love any tips and feedback you can share on how you've protected your swim. Yeah, that's why.

Practice with swim run gear, Josh. Did you experience this, Eric, or were you just grateful for every bit of buoyancy you got from it? I think it might have gotten lucky that the swim around buoy that I had from Orca just kind of fit my flotation pretty well. But I also, it feels very, very awkward to swim with in a pool. So I did a couple of short sets with it just to see what it felt like. But for the most part, I trained with a regular buoy in the pool and saved the big ass buoy for the race.

And this feeling is, I think, less once you have the shoes on and those are like, feel like they're dragging your feet down. and the buoy and the whole thing. That being said, I would definitely not hesitate to try out ARC or anyone else's slightly less than the maximum amount of float. Because think of all the different people that are going to do a swim run.

There could be somebody who's like 6-7 and 260 pounds, and like they are going to need a bigger buoy than someone who's 5-9, 150 pounds. And it just, it's not, I don't think it's a one-size-fits-all and definitely the biggest is not necessarily the best. What about Paula? What about you in the pool with pull buoys? Do you have a preference for the kind or the buoyancy?

Yeah, I like ones that are like skinny and long that you could use as a kickboard as well. Oh, yeah, yeah. Because I think those are a little more streamlined. Yeah, I always wonder about the drag of like the squared buoy. Yeah, they definitely have drag. But they also, these ones are, I don't know, they're not like the most buoyant things ever, but they're super comfortable for me. What I don't like is switching poleboys ever. I like to have the same pole boy all the time. I know what it's like to flip turn with it. It stays in.

I don't want to mess around with it. Like borrowing a pole boy from the pool. Totally. Sean from Zood gave me a pool buoy like years ago and I still always use that and I'll travel with it too. Yeah. Don't put anything new between your legs on race week. Damn. If I have a pool, a pool borrowed buoy.

Pool borough buoy. It's always slipping or it's chafing. Or it's chafing or it's yucky. Just get your own that you like. Done. Yeah. Easy. They travel pretty well.

Yeah, they're actually great for bike bags to like add. Soften, yeah. Stick it between your beer. And they don't add to the weight of the bike bag very importantly. Yes, exactly. Yeah, that's nice. Okay, guys, that's the pod. Paula, good job.

Eric, good job. Thank you. Thank you. Glenn and Harper. Good job. Thank you, Nixon. Nick's on. Wow. Well, I'm so honored. That's it. Next year we'll be next year. Oh my gosh. Next week we'll be back with a trad pod. You know what might be happening next week, bro. Oh, that's right. I might be sitting next to you.

That's right. Well, I'm not doing the pod next week because I might be going to a race. Okay, so it's going to be a little bro out time. It's a pro pod. Nick and I just be pod and looking deep into each other's eyes. Wow. Let's see if we can find a fun guest. That would be good. We'll be good. We'll do that. Let's look into it. Okay, that's all. Thank you, everybody. Bye. Later.