That Triathlon Life Podcast - Sherpa-ing a pro triathlete, ERG mode vs. free ride mode, and more!

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

This week we’re gearing up for Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga as Paula Findlay prepares to race this weekend. She also brought us a challenging Swim Sets With Paula before we dove into listener questions.This week we covered:Sherpa-ing Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga for a pro triathleteTraining alone vs. training with friendsAdjusting swim sets from short course to long courseForbidden love between triathlon club membersHow strictly athletes should follow coach-made plansSunscreen during racesERG mode vs. free ride mode on the trainerKeeping young triathletes excited about the sportIs there a perfect gravel tire?When 70.3 training starts to feel like too muchA 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 live podcast. I'm Eric Loggerstone. I'm Paula Finley. I'm Nick Goldston. This is exciting week. It's race week, everyone. Paula is doing Chattanooga 70.3 this weekend. She's got her whiteboard. If you just heard that uncliking, so we got swimsets of Paula coming up. It's going to be a good one. Race week. You guys, we're not calling at that. Okay. Okay. It's a weekend at the end of it. Some racing might happen. Race week, let's go. So excited. I can't wait to race. I can't wait to pack. I can't wait to. Everyone hates race week, you guys. Don't even pretend. Not a statement of fact that that's happening this weekend. Also, yeah, I guess if you're new here to back up a second, Paul and I are both professional athletes.

Nick is a professional, no, we're canceling that. Yeah. I'm a professional podcaster. Yeah, professional podcaster, amateur triathlet, lover of the sport. We all are. We talk about a little bit of them. Even Paula, she hides it well, but she does. also love the sport.

We talk about a little swimming, a little biking, a little running, a little swim running, a little X-Dara, a little just running. We talk about all the things because we love it all. This weekend, I was supposed to be like a recovery week for me and for the most part I did it, but then this weekend there was a really fun ride. It didn't look very recovery to me. You know, it mentally felt like recovery, you know? That is a thing.

Maybe that's what I needed. But yeah, we rode to the top of Mount Wilson and back, and it was so fun. It's so cool to, this is one of the things that, about biking that I love so much. Maybe it's like the main thing is we left at the beach and then with just our bodies, we got to a completely different like ecosystem, you know? Like visually smells, altitude.

Bodies, $10,000 bike. 10. I think mine might be worth more than that. What are the stats on that, right? I didn't actually like fully dive into Strava on it because you go from sea level. Yeah, sea level to. I don't know what it is, but I ended up doing 8,400 feet of climbing on the day. Is that in one shot?

Kind of, well, I would say about 6,500 in one shot. Dang. Yeah. But it's fun, though, and it's this big, windy climb that Eric, you and I've never done. I don't think you've ever ridden the two Angeles Crest Highway. Nah, didn't look familiar. But it's really epic. It feels like, you know, the Santa Monica Mountains, we love, of course, the great,

These are the mountains that people ride in Malibu here in Santa Monica. But those are the San Gabriel Mountains. They're different. They look different. They feel different. They're more menacing, I think. Yeah. And then 115 miles, which is pretty good.

But when you do it with a group, it kind of just feels like fun and you stop and eat. It was a really good time. We did a similar to epic ride. We did the ride all the way up and over McKenzie Pass here in Ben, which is not technically open to cars, I guess technically technically not open to cyclists, but it's forever, has been that Forest Service doesn't care and lets it go. So you can go ride without any fear of death. And it's the coolest ride because you ride up through like this burned out forest or a situation of these incredible views of all the mountains. And then you ride through basically like a lava

flow. And then go down the other side of the Cascade Mountain range into like what's essentially like a temperate rainforest. And then you flip around at the bottom. And that side is all Switchback E and incredible road and back and over. It's like the coolest, you know, to go through like 10 different ecosystems in one ride. It's fine. You say lava flow. And I think some of us, like some of us hear that. And it's like when you're out in the middle of a suburban neighborhood and you're like,

do you know this is all on a lava field? It's like, yeah, well, it doesn't look anything like it. Right. No, this looks like the lava dried up a week ago. It's just black and crumbly rock for like an ocean. As far as you can see. Yeah, it's like the most epic photos from Kona. That's what it looks like, except our lava rock here is like more jagged and crunchy looking instead of smooth.

So, Eric, when you go back on the other side of McKenzie Pass and you start going down these, you know, the switchbacks and it's different. Yeah. I've never gone very far down the other side with you, but it does immediately feel like it changes. And then you can ride all the way down. And Lindsay used to ride to the coast, right? Lindsay Corbyn. No, no, no. No one ever rode to the coast.

But it is the way to the coast. I have designed a route to ride to the coast, which you can come for Nick if you want, that starts with McKenzie Pass, but then from there on you're pretty much on gravel, like most of the rest of the way. Right, right, yes. To get to the coast. So you've just gone, like, part of the way over the Cascade range, and then you have to finish doing the Cascade range. You're like maybe halfway at this point.

And then you have to go through the entire Willamette Valley, which is like where Corvallis and Eugene. Yes. And then you have to go over the coast mountain range, which is about half the size of the, Okay. Cascade mountain range. Then you're at the coast. Got it. Yeah, I was going to ask if that second mountain range is just as big as the cascades there.

No, no. The cascades are freaking giant volcanoes and the coast range is cute and very, very insanely green covered in huge trees and stuff. Yeah, and how long would it take? You can do it on road too or just that's not really something that anyone would do? Like, yeah, technically you could, but the roads. like McKenzie Pass is like an historic highway designation and there's an actual highway that's much more efficient that goes next to it.

So like if you use that and then you use side roads to get through the valley and then there's something called the Corvalis to Coast gravel route that will get you from the valley over the coast range without having to go. The roads that go between the valley and the coast for cars are just almost no shoulder. I'm not going to say like super busy but like fairly busy

and people aren't expecting bikes for the most part. Yeah, okay. I remember you did that ride when Paul and I were driving in the van and you did part of it on your gravel bike. So cool. Yeah. And you're like, you're really riding now. You're not, you're not pushing as hard as you can push, but you can ride to your heart's content as far as, like, you could ride two hours. To my hip's content, actually.

Yeah. Right. Right. Yeah, I, I've ridden, whatever, like 12 or 13 hours the last couple weeks. and I just, like today, I'm just taking the day completely off because my hip's just like a little bit stiff and I'm just trying to not let it get beyond stiff and into the pain in any way.

So I feel like I'm still playing it a little bit conservatively, but like when I did this ride with Paula up and over the mountains, like she was doing intervals coming back. I'm like, man, I don't just want to ride the entire second hour of this ride all by myself. So I tried to hang on and my hip was a little bit sore, you know, the rest of the afternoon. but it was totally within the realm of what my PT and surgeon have said is okay. Okay, sorry, and the last thing about this, but when you say it's sore, I'm just curious for other people who go through this kind of stuff too.

Is it sore in the same way that it was sore before the surgery, or is it something that is new due to the surgery? No, for the most part it's different. It's like it's more impingement feeling on the inside versus I just used to have like this entire hip ache before and then like the outside my pyroformis would get crazy crazy tight and like glutamid so it's different and then I just get these like weird phantom pains that go down to my knee but kind of out of the blue goes away guys the swims set is ready oh thank god okay we don't have to hear about eric's hip again okay here we go yeah at first I wrote you guys a

swim set but then I realized it was intellectual property of my own coach so I modified it we're trying to be, yeah. This is a little more doable, though. Is it a similar gist? Similar gist. Okay, all right. Because I think it's a good set. I liked it, yeah.

What you were saying before, no one's going to hear it, but it was fully diabolical, like, torturing in a f*** up way. It was so hard. And to make it worse, it was long course? Yeah. Because our pool is long course three days a week. Okay, this set is kind of like a little race-specific effort kind of set. So it's a hard set.

warmup is 400 choice mix in some kick and backstroke and then a little activation 825s going one build and one distance per stroke. And when I say build, like a lot of the time when I tell our group that we're doing something build, people are just kind of like floating into the wall a little bit harder than they started. I want you to be like maximum effort for the last five meters. You're kicking super hard. You're actually building. Like think about every three strokes, you're getting faster and faster and faster until the wall you're going max. Okay, okay.

So like an honest build. Got it. Not a half-ass build. No half-ass. Does you want to be warmed up for this next set? Go fast. Okay, depending on how much you want to do today, four to six rounds of this set,

you're going to go a 50 fast on super short rest, five seconds rest. So you touch the wall in 35 seconds, you leave on the 40. So we're thinking like get out speed. Yeah, get up speed. Imagine you're starting the swim. And then you're going to go into 200 steady. So that's like obviously easier than fast, but still feeling like you're in a race, you're trying to get into your stroke. You're not comfortable, but it's sustainable. But is it race pace about? I'm thinking this like 70.3 race pace is usually what I imagine. Yeah. Which is slower than you think if you take a whole 70.3 and average rate your pace.

You should be able to do it for 200 pretty close. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Right. So do 200 steady. And then you're going to do 100 easy, super chill. Do it on like three minutes.

So you're getting a full minute rest in between each round. And you can do that 100 easy as like pull or kick or whatever. Just bring your heart rate back to resting. And then do four to six rounds of that. So the 50 plus 200 is like the effort part. And then that you do get recovery in between. And those are free. Like like no pull buoy, no paddles.

You're doing the 50 into the 200 as if you're. That swim. Do not dare put any toys on. Right, right. Otherwise, you're cheater. Right. Like half the people I did this similar set with put toys on and I was like,

you guys suck. We're dealing with different ability levels and got us leave on one leaving time. Okay, anyway. After that set, I was like doing a pull paddle set after the main set. I think it just feels really good. It's easy. You're floating.

So just do a 400, 300, 200, 200, distance per stroke, paddles pull boy, nice kilometer, and then 200 cool down. Oh, that works out like that, how? 4-321 is 1K. That's nice. Yep, 4-321 is 1.5K.

Yeah, I'll just do the 4-321, thank you. We don't do 5, 4-321. So depending on how many rounds you do of that, it's somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5K, I think. Okay. that's the set. Enjoy. Here's a picture of it. Nick, do not get AI to clean it up? This is how they will see it.

Well, yeah, it doesn't need to be cleaned up, right? There's nothing in there that's... No, but last time you were like, AI, make this perfect, and then it did. Well, it also, we needed to add something to it. Oh, okay, okay. Yeah, this doesn't need any editing. Add paddles to a portion of it.

Right, you're right. Okay, that's it. There's definitely got to be an Instagram story for everybody. When we put it on the app last time, that's where it'll go for sure as well. And I still get notifications that people are liking that one. So Instagram maybe. TTR app definitely.

TTR app definitely. Okay. Well, that was our little segment. Thanks, Paula, for that. We always, you know, I always think of you as I'm torturing myself doing these. I try to quality control them before they go out to make sure it's a doable set. Oh, you do it first. Okay, do it tomorrow, Nick?

I try to do it. I might do it today or I'll do it Wednesday. Okay. Just do four rounds if it's too hard. I mean, it's very, if you do four rounds of it, you're doing a thousand meters. That's a lot. A thousand meters of effort.

Not that bad. But how much is that? Do you have the total distance of that? If you do four rounds, it's already a lot. Well, the whole set, the whole bracket is 350. Okay, got it. So, yeah. So $1,400 for four.

Plus, yeah, this is like, that's 2,400 with a cool down and then 2,800 with warmup. That's just for four. So then if you do six, yeah, that's like, well, almost 4K. Not quite actually, but yeah. Yeah, if you don't do 4K at the pool, it doesn't, it's not even worth going. Then I have not gone. I don't like advise swims.

That's my rule anyway. I was thinking about this the other day. When I swim 2.5K, I really feel like I've swam a good amount. And I swam with my friend the other day who was like a D1 swimmer at UCon. they used to swim you guys too so much more like my weekly volume

was less than their one session daily volume yeah they swim more than you've run it was like six

oh my god that's crazy six to eight K per workout was the norm but you're also in the water for two hours

so yeah it's not yeah 50 60K weeks no problem but you're not doing running and biking

I mean it's still psychotic no I just think it's I think it's dude how long did you how long did how long did your top amount

Wilson ride take like nine hours and you're like oh I don't know 2k at the pool yeah no you're right yeah it's what it's what you like to do I guess right there's no views just because it sucks there's no views there's no chili dogs at the top but I find that if I do a set like this I'm not thinking about how much I've done I think it really helps you get to a bigger volume in the whole session exactly because if you're just like I'm going to the pool and I'm just going to try to get to 3k you're thinking about every single yard that you're doing or every single meter you're doing Whereas if you just go and do a predetermined set, you're not really keeping tabs on how much you've done.

At least I'm not on. So it flies by a little bit more. That's true. That's true. I have a funny story really quick if you want me to tell it. I want you to tell it. And then we'll do some questions. Eventually we'll trickle in some questions into this triathlon podcast.

No, this is just like an Instagram versus reality versus Strava versus I did a run. off the bike yesterday that was 10 by 3 minutes at threshold so like death basically with a minute 30 at like not full recovery like 420 pace and I put on this new on top that I thought was so cool it was cool it was a purple on sports brawley thing was cool but it was a size small which I usually am a size small but it was so tight maybe I have a big rib cage or something but I could not breathe in it, but I had already set off for the workout. So I was like two or three in and I was like, Eric, I cannot breathe in this sports bra. Do you have a pair of scissors? I'm just going to cut it. Yeah, because I got on, it followed along on this after our bike ride. So I'm in like my bibs

in a t-shirt. I didn't bring scissors. He's in his bibs t-shirt on a TT bike. You don't bring scissors on her runs, Eric? I should, from now on I will. Well, I thought you might have like a tool or something in your bike bag or your bike saddle bag. Like it didn't need to be scissors. it could have just been like an Allen key and I would have forced it. I turned around and she's fully like gnawing on the sports bra. Yeah, I was literally trying to bite it. Like Harper, get over here. Trying to bite it.

Harper could take care of it. So Eric's like, well, do you want to just wear my t-shirt? And I was like, yeah, it's actually not a terrible idea. So I just fully ripped the sports bra, fully naked on the path. No one was really around, but it was a busy path. No one was really around. And when you're in that state of just like panicky, working hard, you don't even care. someone sees you naked.

Yeah, yeah. So I put on Eric's dark cotton oversized t-shirt, but was relieved from the pressure of a sports bra, and I was like, oh, my God, this is amazing. I wish women could run with no sports bras all the time. I'm in full support of this. Let's design a line. It looks great.

Let's design a line. I mean, I don't really have that big of boobs, so it's not really a problem. But how often do endurance athletes have big boobs? It's not, it's uncommon. Even if you have a little bit of something there, you want a bit of support. Anyway, that worked, but the sleeves kept coming down and it was so hot. And I was like, Eric, go back to the van. There's a pink sports bra on the bed that I used for the bike ride, which I know is not too tight.

It's the bras I always wear. It was ridiculous because I'm like, do you want me to go get the pink one? She's like, I don't know. I need water. Simultaneously wanted me for emotional support, but also needed the sports bra immediately. So we were like doing this. You just let me know and I'll go get it. The mood was emotional turmoil.

You were crashing out mid-run. Yeah, completely drained her water bottle so I filled it up in the river so she could pour more water in her head. We're just like, we're getting through it. Yeah, we're getting through it. Whatever it takes. So then I did two reps in the cotton tea

before he brought me back my other sports bra. Cotton tea off, naked again in the middle of my recovery. You're welcome world. The police are just waiting at the end and ready to arrest you. Ma'am, do you know why? wear a wrist and you're here.

Yeah. Pink sports bra on. All is well in the world. This is a bra I always wear. Happiness resumed. Although I was really suffering at that point, effort-wise. I can just imagine the people that saw you running by probably thought they were having a stroke.

They're like, I swear I saw that girl, but she has been wearing three different things in the last 20 minutes. Yeah. Well, Eric was also like taking pictures of me in each phase, and I'm like, this looks like a different round. I'm riding around on my TT bike with like a freaking baseball cap and just bibs. Yeah.

I'm like, what is that for those two? Her sports bra are wrapped around my arrow bars. True athletes are weird. Yeah. So anyway, emotional turmoil is physical turmoil. If you let your mind get out of control and you're in discomfort physically or mentally, it makes the workout way harder.

Yeah. And confirm. Yeah, we were talking about this pre-pod is the mental side of things. And never rip the tags off an item and, wear it for the first time in a hard session. Don't try any new things on Tempo Day. Tempo Day or stay synonymous. This is nothing against On.

It clearly just doesn't work for my body. I assume every sports bra is not for everybody. Yeah, they're all a bit different tightnesses. Anyway, it was a little funny looking back on it, but it was pretty traumatic experience. It was less than funny in the moment. Yeah.

I can imagine what that was like. You can submit questions if you're a podcast listener. Even if you're not a podcast listener, which I'm not sure how this message would get to you, but we'd love your questions. You can submit them at that triathlonlife.com slash podcast. And on that same website, you can also become a podcast supporter. We really appreciate podcast supporters. It's a generous way to thank, no.

I'll just break it down for you real quick because we haven't talked about it in a long time. Thanks, Eric. Podcast supporters can offer $5 a month. It's like Patreon style. We do it on the website, and that helps us keep the podcast running. and helps us. We got these incredible mics that we're using, all the gear that we use for the podcast. And each week we give away something to our wonderful podcast supporters. And about every three weeks, we do a special video segment for you. So we know that's like a drop in the bucket,

but showing our appreciation. So thanks so much. And we don't do ads. That's what it really is. It's an appreciation. And we appreciate you for appreciating. Also, you know, $5. It's a can of whipped cream. Okay. It's less than a gallon of gas right now? Is that what whipped cream's up to you now? Have you bought whipped cream lately? Two days ago. What for? Do you want the truth or do you want the not truth? Yeah, we want the truth. Yeah. The truth. No, it's not that. I also likes whipped cream. It's not that spicy. It's, um, I literally bought it to take like shots of it like, like this. That's called the pup cup, bro. Yes. And so I was with my friend last night and I was like,

This is a fucking pup cup. Of course they like this. It's delicious. Oh my God. It's so simple. Nick cups. It's simple. Yeah, it's really good.

I'm sure it's not good for you. But in my brain, I'm like, it's just air and milk, right? Like, that's what is good for you, you know? All things in moderation, you got to eat a varied diet. Like, do aerosol cans like that have chemicals in them? I think you can, like, fully huff that and get a little high, can't you? Oh, I don't know. I definitely felt a little high when I hit that first shot and I was hungry.

And it's just like, you know that feeling when, this is so bad, you know, that feeling when like sugar first hits your tongue and you haven't had sugar in a while, it like sends a shiver through my whole body. Oh, God. It's so good. So, yeah, I bought a can of whipped cream. Nice. Thank you to the podcast supporters.

I appreciate you. You know what? Specifically, I'm going to thank Dorothy Ray because you're our winner this week. And I'm going to say, Dorothy, you're responsible for my whip. cream love affair that I'm having right now. Oh, it's so good. Dorothy,

um, please send me a message and let me know where we can send this swim cap for you. It's a good one. I use it every day at the pool. Thank you. Get some looks. Get some good looks.

Make you friends. Okay. First question here is from Dave. Hey, all hoping this makes it in before Chattanooga 70.3. Uh, here we are. Before Chattanooga 70.3. You're in luck, Dave. Any tips?

or tricks on being a Sherpa for a pro athlete. My friend is making their pro debut at Chattanooga, and I'm going with them. I've Sherpaed before, but not sure if things change with them being a pro. Should I buy the VIP access that Iron Man sells? I want to make sure that things can be as smooth and seamless for them, and that I'm able to get around to wherever I should be able to provide them with splits or info or anything else that would be helpful. Thanks, best of luck to Paula on your race there as well.

Dave, it's funny. Paul, did you, I'm sorry, I'm out of the loop. you announced, like, is it public knowledge that you're doing this race other than being on the start list? I did a brief little mention of it on the Instagram. Okay, got it. So, first of all, let's start with one of the questions within a question here. Do you think getting a VIP access actually helps being a better Sherpa? I would say like 10% chance.

Helps your day be better, Dave, but yes. Yeah, because you might get access to some, like, food during. the race or whatever. But I think that a race like Chattanooga that's not a pro series race, so it's a little bit less like media and hype and lockdown and you don't need as many passes and stuff. Like your access actually in Chattanooga is pretty good to the pro transition because if I remember correctly, just a fence that separates you from where anyone can go. So you're not really like getting any additional benefit in terms of access with the VIP pass, I don't think.

And then I do remember that race also being fairly easy to kind of like move around and there's not necessarily super special places you can get to with the pass. You can't go out on the bike at all. And then the run is just like through town. The run is nice actually because you can actually see the people quite a few times. Like you don't, you kind of double track back on yourself three times per loop. So you can definitely move around easily to give splits and support on the run. Yeah.

The swim starts a little bit. It's like a one point to point down river swim. So everyone gets on a bus and takes a bus to the start, but it's only like a mile so you could actually walk over there if you wanted. It's kind of a nice walk. I don't know if they let supporters on the bus. Unlikely. But if you just got a little head start,

it would take like 20 minutes to walk over there. So yeah, logistically, VIP pass probably not needed. In terms of how to support a pro, don't talk unless you're spoken to. Okay. That's how to support this pro. Exactly. And you're not going to get spoken to.

You're going to get demanded to. Or vented at, to put it nicely. Just basically get yourself a red jacket, just lean into the punching bag vibe. A helmet, wear it. Yeah, I would say you could do things like bring a pump to transition. I don't know. Little things like that that might create a bit of stress

if you don't have someone they're helping you, take their bag for them instead of having to go drop it at the bag drop. All those little things make a little bit of a difference. And then for the most part, having someone with you at a race is like camaraderie, emotional sports, someone to talk to not just race day, but like the day before when you're super nervous and, you know, walk down to the pro briefing together and make it feel a little more chill and normal than being there alone and being thrown into this kind of a new experience.

Yeah, I feel like the majority of my helpfulness at races is in the days leading. up to the race. Yeah. You know, like at Oceanside, like, ride over on the e-bike. So she doesn't have to, like, come back on, you know, walking from a mile away and just be ready to, like, run to a bike shop immediately or go get the groceries or, like, have Chipotle ready when the, when you finish the bike in the evening. Yeah.

All these sort of just, like, things that just take the stress off versus, I mean, you're going to, like, look at the tracker. You're going to do your best to take a split with your stopwatch. But, like, what are the chances that you know exactly the information that they want of, like, people in front of them versus behind them with splits and what can they do about it. Like, just do the best you can. And I find, like, at least for me and I feel like Paula is kind of similar, I don't think we like that.

What can I do for you? What can I do for you? Can I do this? Can I do this? Just like wait, wait to be given some instructions. Wait until you demanded something. Maybe ask them what kind of information they want. Like, I don't love for the race, yeah.

Getting splits like, nib is seven minutes up. Don't tell me that. Yeah. How far ahead am I of fourth place? that type of information is the kind of information I like. Yeah, an information rubric. If this, then give this information. If this, then shut up.

Yes, that's right. That's what I was thinking. And each athlete will be different. Each athlete will want something different. I do a fair amount of hiding in the bushes if things go super poorly because I know if she sees me, it could be an emotional moment. And you know what? It's not good for her either sometimes.

Exactly. That's my feeling. Yeah, but Chattanoag is a super logistically simple race to to go to. Yeah. One of our faves. There are some where the VIP thing would be helpful, but this is kind of low key.

I feel very lucky that because of the podcast and Paula and Eric, I have gotten VIP before, and I will admit it is really nice. World champs? Game changer. Oh, at World champs, it is completely life-changing.

Only way to go. Yeah, for sure. It's probably also like $500. I think it's double that, maybe, by the way. No. But it's so, so, so, so, so nice to have that. A plus food. For like days, you know, it's there for days.

I would say if traveling internationally, I would rather get, you know, if I had to spend $1,000 on something, I'd rather spend it on the VIP than like business class. No way. Wow. Yeah. No way. Freaking in wherever Marbella. Marbea.

That was so perfect. And it was right at the finish. Like we had the best views of the finish area too. Yeah. Yeah. And just like you don't bong because you actually have food all day. It's so easy to be a support person and realize that it's like two in the afternoon and you haven't eaten anything. And you've been running around being stressed.

Yeah. Well, Dave, thanks for being a badass Sherpa and going and helping your friend. That's awesome. Next question here. Hello, TTR. My name is Trevor from Iowa. And my question this week is about training alone. God, I'm sorry.

That's such a. That feels like a depressing first sentence. Like Iowa already feels like that. That's the reality of 99% of it. Yeah. You live in Never, Neverland. I know. This will be my 10th year of training and racing and endurance sports,

and I have done about 99% of it so low. 10th year. Wow. How much do you believe I'm missing out when it comes to the endurance community? I'll let you guys go first. I think Nick's lead in kind of a lot. I think it's a lot. I think both Paula and I feel pretty strongly that if we were not together doing triathlon together,

we probably would have stopped a long time ago or had to move somewhere that had a stronger community. It's 10 years. That's incredible. There's some really nice things about training alone, though. I mean, the hardest thing is going to the pool alone, I think. But in terms of like doing a bike session or going for a trail run or something, not everyone's a social butterfly like you, Nick. Some people kind of thrive on being alone and doing it alone.

I like to do a lot of things alone, but then the 90-minute bike ride in the afternoon on Thursday or whatever, that's when I really like to just go with somebody, go whatever pace, and I'll look at the power meter, just chat and do the thing that made me like biking in the first place. But like, are the hard sessions, like chances are you can get yourself together for those. Yeah. No matter what. Yeah. I just, it's like, I've just thinking of all the joy that I've gotten.

from long group rides on the weekends and how much more challenging they used to be when I was doing them alone for years also. It does make a difference. And I think it, I felt this on the Mount Wilson ride on Saturday. Just this feeling of like shared love of the sport and community that kind of you amplify in each other. It's kind of infectious and yeah, it feels like such a part of my experience now. Yeah, I think there's a good chance that you show up to a session in like a 70% good mood, but somebody else there is just froth high on life, and that elevates you versus, you know, it could have spiraled. Yeah, it also makes you forget how hard you're trying sometimes.

Like, you can get more out of yourself. Yeah. If there's a group in your area, like sometimes it's just hard to find these types of group, but most cities have like a group ride on the weekends or something that you could go and try out and see if it adds a little fun. I think a lot of triathletes are too stuck, or not too stuck, so stuck on their training plan that it's hard to go do a group ride because you're like, how am I going to do these intervals properly if I'm riding four hours with a group that's just riding?

So if you have like four by 20 minutes, you can't do it or whatever. But sometimes it's worth sacrificing that structure for the enjoyment if you're the kind of person that likes the social side of it as well. Well, I didn't actually include a question, but now I want to hear what you think about this, about when is it okay and how much is it okay to deviate from? your coaches prescribed plans. I mean, in an ideal world, you tell your coach, like, hey, I'm dying inside and I want to go to this group ride on Sunday, and they can say, cool, we'll put your hard ride on Saturday, and you'll take the day off on Monday if it's going to be a long ride. I think a coach, especially any coach that's coaching an amateur athlete who's also got a job in a life, like they should understand this.

And if they don't, then, oh my gosh, life's short. It's part of the job, though. Part of the job of a coach is to accommodate. this thing. How do we creatively get you to the finish line as fit as you can be and not mentally exploded? Yeah, I try to follow mine closely just because I feel like if you do too much or too hard, that's what a coach is kind of trying to prevent,

at least most elite athletes from doing is overdoing it. You know? Yeah. So I feel like if I do an extra bike ride or do a longer run that I'm supposed to, then it's all on me if I get injured or something bad happens or I'm too tired. It's like this was kind of creative. to be a sustainable load. But obviously there's communication involved.

Yeah. Okay, next question here is from John. John without an age, which feels like this is like, I don't know why it feels a little more elite, a little cooler, a little more Gen Z, even though maybe it's the opposite. It's not John. Hey, tripod.

I found the podcast this year, and I'm working through the catalog of past episodes. It's been so informative. My question is about whether to change up swim sets between short course and long course season. I'm really lucky to swim at the Indiana University natatorium. Oh, I've heard of this pool, right? It's like insane.

Yeah, I mean, they have national championships there forever. Right. And they changed the length from short course yards to long course meters during the summer. By the way, if you're a new podcast listener here, if you ever see that SCY or LCM, that's what that's referring to. I remember when I was first new to triathlon, I had no idea what that was. I've had a couple people ask me that. Yeah. Any thoughts on periodizing swim training over the course of the year with this setup?

John, man, I'm jealous. I wish I had a long course option at my pool. No, you don't, Nick. I do. I do now. I would love that switch up and a bit of that challenge. I think that I would enjoy that at this point. It can be heavy if that's your only option, but when they switch it during the week, that's pretty nice.

Yeah, Nick would you would enjoy it in like a torture oats kind of way. Depression Oats, but yes, sure. Torto Oats works well. It's truly a way harder. Well, they make our pool long course on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday. So we swim long course three days a week and we make a, like Paulo puts our hard sessions on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday because I think for a triathlet, it's always better if you have the opportunity to swim long course. You don't need to periodize your year because you're never racing short course and long course. I think for swimmers who are having like a winter short course season and then a summer long course season, of course they need to practice short course to practice their flip turns and practice their technique in and out of walls.

But for triathletes, universally long course is always better because we're swimming open water. We're never flip turning in races. So if you can take away half the turns and add that much more swimming to your workouts, it's always better. Can you guys explain why the summer, what do you mean by summer long course? there's a race season that split up into different pool sizes. Yeah. I think for swimmers, yeah, it's like indoor track, outdoor track. I think they have like one part of the year is short course.

And then they're obviously world championships, Olympics are all long course. Yeah, college is all short course. College is short course yards usually. High school swimming is all short course yards. Yeah. That's a very akin to indoor, outdoor track. Oh, cool. Which is like a skill obviously they have to work on if there's swimming short course yards.

It's way less swimming and. way more flip turning than long course swimming. So yeah, if you're fortunate enough to have the opportunity to swim long course, always go to the pool when the pool is set up that way. Yeah, it'll just be stronger. It is a lot harder. I'd say we usually add like at least five seconds per hundred to the intervals. And that's between meters and meters, just long course, not even between yards and meters, right?

Oh, yeah. If you're going short course yards to long course meters, you should add like 15 seconds. 30 seconds. It's so much harder. USA swimming actually has conversion tables online. You could go look at it if you're super interesting. Like if you swim one flat for 100 yards, here's what it is for short course meters and here's what it is for long course meters. But I would say like if you're going on 115 short course yards, like leaving on the 115, it kind of feels like leaving on a maybe 127 long course meters.

Yeah. Yeah. Maybe 13 seconds. I don't know. I've lost a lot of people with the leaving on the 115 for 100. Okay, if you're leaving on the two minute per hundred short course yards, leave on the 230. Well, that's just what we know and it's going to be exponentially more. Yeah, it'll be way more.

Yeah, the slower you go, you're going to add a lot more seconds. But here's the thing about long course. The first time you do it in the year, it really sucks. It gets a little bit better. It gets a little bit better. And you do notice an increase in your swim fitness and your ability to get your times down and your body gets more used to it. Whereas now when we go to swim Monday, Wednesday, Friday, short course meters, I get annoyed at how many flip turns there are.

Yeah. That's so much better for open water. So much better. You know, it really is my pet peeve, though. We go to the long course pool and people are splitting the lane. Oh, yeah. That's the only downside. Oh, you can't split with long course.

You got to just start circling even if you're a long. Karen's going to try. Yeah, because basically you take away half the lanes, obviously. But if you're with someone slower, you're not seeing them near. nearly as often. So the etiquette for a long course lane is always circle. Yeah. And are you passing? Like, you know, in short course it's a little harder to pass someone during your swim. You kind of pass them at the wall. But in long course, is that more common? Yeah, you can pass them. Depending on the speed differential, you can pass them a couple times. Yeah. Usually we get, yeah, whatever. But it's good for you.

Okay. Next question here is from an alias, Mr. Smith. And you'll see why. This is an alias. Mr. Anderson. Oh, yeah. Mr. Anderson. Is he getting a divorce? It's the opposite of a divorce. It's the opposite. Question for you guys on training partner crushes. Ooh.

Okay. Eric's crossing his legs here. He's committed. You have my attention. I've been involved in triathlon for several years and in part of a club where most of our training is group-based. Over time, I've developed a pretty major crush on one of my clubmates. Clubmates. So I feel like, you know, let's do a little detective work here.

I think this person's not American. I think club, the word mate already kind of, I don't know. I mean, it's a teammate, but it's a triathlon club, not a trathlon team. Yeah, yeah. I would say clubmates. Okay, okay. Maybe you're right. We're both already in committed relationships.

No. And I know friendship is the boundary here. Come on, Smith. The tricky part is that I don't want to damage the friendship. Is that the tricky part? I think the tricky part is that you're both in relationships. Okay, damage the friendship or make things awkward at training sessions. But at the same time, I genuinely think this person is one of the most amazing people I've ever met.

Part of me wants them to know that. If a training partner said something like that to you, would you take it as a compliment or would it make things uncomfortable? Is it better left unsaid? Mr. Smith, I feel like we're completely missing the point here, Mr. Smith. Yeah. Is it wrong for me to say something to this person because I don't want to make them feel that if it's wrong, it's because you're both

in relationships, not because it's wrong to say something. And no, otherwise, I completely agree. It can be a really cool way to meet your partner. You're both doing the thing you love to do. Yeah. So, I mean, what's what do you do here? I would, I would start

working on, if this is, is your personal really, is your current relationship not satisfactory? And do you need to deal with that? Sounds like that's step one. And then let's say it's not and you deal with that, quote unquote, then you just, in me, my style, I just wait indefinitely for this other person

to finish their relationship or not. And for that to die, I'm not absolutely no way going to go break that up or be any part of that failing. Yeah, that's not. Yeah, I have some trauma with, I have some history with this, but it's not worth.

It's worth it. It's, don't do that. It's, yeah, no, no, bueno. The thing is, the tough thing is she's also in a relationship. I think it'd be different if she was single and you were in a relationship that you weren't happy with and you weren't married. That's simpler. You could definitely think like, maybe this isn't my forever person. And I want to try talking to this single person who I think is the most amazing person on earth. But it's much trickier if she is also in a happy relationship because then you're getting into a fair territory

and that is horrible. For both of you. No, thanks. For both of you. All this said, I witnessed this happen like five times inside of the Portland tarathlon community while I was working in the bike shop there. Like full blown, four people involved,

splitting up, breaking up, getting back together with other people, like this full, like freaking high school swim team style round robin going on. Yeah, maybe it's common because like, You're in this club and you feel like this other person's in this club. We have so much in common. You're seeing them basically naked or in spandex all the time.

Yeah. No, you're right. Yeah. You're right. You're right. And you're working and then going to the training club and are you seeing that person even more than you're seeing your own partner? It makes it super complicated. I mean, we talked about this before, like the bonds that we've formed via swim team with, you know, men and women, you know, just because you're going through such a challenging thing.

feel like this person understands you. There have been like lifetime friendships. So it's like we get it. That is a pickle. Yeah, but also you kind of have to follow your heart sometimes. So maybe you open up to her. No, Paula, you're right. You're right.

It's like what is more magical than that thing, you know? God. Well, Nick's a romantic. Of course. Of course. I guess if I, fuck, yeah. I mean, you could, if you're like I said, thinking that your current relationship is really not going to work, you've thought about this super, super long time.

Like, what do we think? Like, if just like, hey, you know what? You're an amazing person and just so you know. I have a giant crush on you. I have a huge crush on you. How much do you like your boyfriend? I know you have a boyfriend, but like I would, you know what? I would forever regret if I didn't tell you.

I, I, yeah. And it's like, you have to, I think, make it very clear of like, I am not suggesting you should do anything. This is not about how I think you should live your life. It's about being honest with something that I can't. Yes, kind of. But like just letting you know. If in the extreme off chance you are feeling the same way about your relationship and I think I'm the most amazing person on her? Right.

Let's go on a date. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Mr. Smith, best of luck. God's see. Godspeed. This is the thing of life, though, here.

Man, I'm so thankful to have not been in that position. Right. I guess that's what I'm thinking to have, like, been with somebody and then realize that person is not the person and this is other person. Yeah. Yeah. At least not yet. Not yet, yeah.

I don't see it. I do not see it. Okay. Next question here. Love that one, by the way, Mr. Smith. Love that one. More questions like that. Yeah, love it.

Love it. I mean, we wouldn't hate a follow. follow-up at some point in time. We would not hate a follow-up. Oh my God. And we also, where are you from? What country are you from, Mr. Smith? We just give us a vague fact. What if the girl writes in in a couple weeks? And she's like, there's this guy. Oh my gosh, this guy in my club. I hope Mr. Smith is who I think it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my God. What if she doesn't listen to the podcast that, like, for this episode? And then she writes it and she's like, I have a huge dilemma. I have a partner that I love in this super ugly guy from Tri Club

opened up to me. I mean, we'd have to sell the movie rights to this. This guy won't leave me alone. Yeah, it's like, do I leave the Tri Club? Do I tell him that I'm not interested? Right. Or the opposite.

This is like there's this guy and I'm in a relationship, but all I can do is think about him. Yeah. Yeah, it's funny because I do think a lot of times clubs, like when one person listens to the podcast, a lot of them do. It's just like, I've heard this before from people.

It's like, oh, we all drive up and we listen to whatever. So it'd be funny if they heard it. Okay, moving along here. Next question here is from Derek. Easy one. Y'all use sunscreen during races or just risk getting burnt. Derek. Man, that's a dilemma every single time.

Does it depend on the race for you guys? Does it depend on the distance and the time of year and stuff? For sure. And I think we've talked about this before. We're in the fortunate situation with 70.3s at least, we finish kind of early. So we can cut it close a little bit more. I'll always put it on before I put my wetsuit on. Spray it on my arms, spray it on my face.

But, you know, it's usually going to come off by the time you're on the run. You don't usually get burnt, I don't think. I could get burned. Either way, you don't want, like, to get your skin fried. Yeah. But they do usually offer sunscreen in transition. Yeah. At least I've seen it at Oceanside.

There's a big pump of sunscreen as you exit T2. And I think it's not a bad idea to take a couple pumps and just slather it on your face and your neck. We also have this sunscreen that's like aerosol. Not like the, not aerosol, but like a pump. Spray style. I think if I was going to do an Iron Man in a warm place at this point in my life, I think I would do a real quick spray on like the neck and the chest.

Yeah. They had some such painful that like V that you get from your unzipped trie kit. I might do it for an Ironman, yeah. Yeah, I was going to say, it depends on the distance. And if you're doing a full and you're in the sun for eight hours, you know, I want to reapply partway through the run. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, maybe. I think it's worth it. There are also sunscreen companies that have like little travel tubes, I think. I think Celios even has them, yeah. Yeah, you could rip off the top and use it like a gel, but just apply it. Yeah, we support it. One of those many things you've got to think about when you're doing a full distance race. It just doesn't take that much time away, though, because you can kind of like get a little pump and then apply while you're running.

Yeah, but it's messy on your hands. You're like, you're running out with your gels and your sunglasses and your watch and your race belt. And then you're trying to get greasy sunscreen pumped into your hands. And yeah, and you've presumably pissed yourself on the bike too. So you're just a concoction of chemicals. I agree. Spray is a way to go. Keep your hands cleaner.

Yeah. Okay. We have so many more questions. Oh my gosh. The next one here, we'll make it fast, is from Mark. Quick training question for the pod. Do you guys ever use Erg Mode for structured indoor bike workouts, or do you prefer free ride mode? Is Erg mode cheating or is it just a smart tool for hitting the intended workout targets?

Mark, I can't think of less cheating than Erg mode. It feels like the opposite of cheating. It's like you are adhering so strictly to this thing and you can't hide. Yeah, I think with Erg Mode, sometimes it bogs you down and can make you have like lower cadence sometimes or artificially inflated cadence so that your resistance is lower to hit the same watts. Like it kind of can mess up your cadence a bit, but I'll actually use arc mode a lot for like zone two type of riding like 200 watts if it's not hard, but it's not easy.

Yeah, I see. And I don't want to have to think about it. But if I'm doing six by five minutes hard, I'll put it on free mode so I can have a little bit more of the variability and control over the watts, whether it's going a little over or even a little under what the prescription is. But for, I don't think it's cheating. I think it's a good tool. And if anything, it's really helped me get a feel of what certain watts feel like. So I know exactly what 220 watts feels like. I know exactly what 250 watts feels like because I've done so much erg mode inside. And I know like Jackie Herring, for example, only rides Urg Mode on the

trainer. She does a lot of trainer. It's all they do. Yeah, but it is annoying on Zwift if you're like doing a rolling course and you're not on Erg mode and you're just trying to do a chill ride and it's constantly changing resistance

and you don't really want to think about shifting. You're on the trainer, you're trying to like watch a movie or whatever. So in those cases, just plopping it at 160 watts and spinning easy, I think it's a good tool. I don't know.

You guys don't ride this. trainer so you can't answer. I feel completely the opposite in every way, but respect both ways that you can go. I enjoy the having to shift thing. I really like that it's me that's committing to holding the power and I like that my power can drift down a little bit and back up and some dynamicism to it. And the erg thing just feels like I'm wearing a straight jacket, whether that's mental or not. But I think just to each their own and I completely understand everything that Paula said and why you would do that. Makes you really strong. tried Ergmo.

Yeah. I tend to feel like I would feel how the way Eric feels and I'd like the freedom and flexibility of even if it's made up in my head. On the flip side,

you can't overreach either. You can't do 20 watts higher. That's what I'm saying is if I do a workout that's five by eight minutes with two minutes recovery at 200 watts, I make sure that the Erg mode

is for the recovery so I'm actually going that. And then turn it off Urgmode. Like a lot of the time in a workout, I'll turn it off and on 10 times. By the way, for people who are not familiar, Erg mode just means that when you have a power number that you're trying to match, the trainer will adjust to no matter what cadence you do to be putting out that power. So you kind of...

And you just type in 250 watts and it just holds it. And if you slow down, your legs just stop moving. Yep, exactly. Painfully. That is really sad when that happened. Overcoming. the momentum to get it back up to that, even if you fall 20 watts off, is usually you have to put out twice as much to get it back up. Yeah, that's hard. It's a learning curve. Yeah. Okay. Next one is from Jenna from Juno. A.TL rents. This is my third time riding into the pod and I hope that if I keep trying, I'll succeed someday. You made it, Jenna. Congratulations. There we go, Jenna. Congrats. I'm an age group triathlete who is involved in coaching and being club manager.

for our local triathlon club here in Juneau, Alaska. My question for you is this. Our local tri-team helps coach a one-month-long kids' triathlon camp program that ends in a super sprint distance race with a swim in the pool around buoys with lane lines removed. Oh, that's fun.

This is how I got into triathlon. Really? This exact thing. Wow, that's cool. It's one of my favorite times a year and so fun to see our local kids excited about triathlon. If you were helping with coaching a kid, kids triathlon program for ages

8 to 14, what are some fun-based games or activities you would do for a swim, bike, run, or triathlon related? Thanks for your ideas. Jenna. Definitely, like, a mass start. Oh, yeah, like, mayhem. Yeah, it's kind of fun.

And I remember my first triathlon coach, like, simulate, there's this ridiculous old triathlon video where there's, like, a guy he jives into the water and, like, all of his friends are smacking with pool noodles. Yes, yes, of course. My coach did a, like, a little version of that as I was swimming while he walked along the deck and that made

me feel like I was doing some such specific serious things. Oh, I see. Kind of like it reminds you of the scene in like Hercules where he's training or it's like an any movie or whatever where there's like all the crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And like going around a buoy, like these are all the playful things

that are in a trathlon that are actually fun besides just get your heart rate up. And wait, Eric, was that commercial? Was that a Cliff Bar commercial? No, this was like a full-on trathlon like mini-doc of some sort in like the 90s. Oh, I'm thinking of, there was like an iron, funny Iron Man thing. I'll try to send you later.

You for sure have seen it, but it's like, it's making fun of that. They may have used clips from this. Yeah, yeah, okay. It's like pretty iconic. Yeah. Transitions, like practicing, you know, putting on your shoes and getting on your bike, you know, jump, flying mount, maybe, stuff like that. And then I think like track session is just like super, it feels like a thing.

And you can keep all the kids together and whatever, practice a pace. No, but you're right. Like something that is probably fun for kids is doing, like putting maybe an almost inappropriate amount of focus on the things that aren't swimming, biking and running. Like the transitions and the-all-the-skills. Yeah, yeah, the skills. That's right. That's fun. Especially bike skills.

Yeah, practice like going around corners and, you know, the parking lot. Just like try to every little bit that the kid is better at bike handling is less likely they're going to crash. And generally, like these skill-based things are fun. Yeah, fun. Love it. Next question here is from Laura. Hey, TTR gang. Day one are here and here for the pod as always. Thank you, Laura.

This may fall into a bike tech with air question. Well, we're not. This is just going to be general pod questions, but you decide. I recently, finally invested in a gravel bike, and wow, I'll never go back. It was primarily bought for bike touring in Europe. As of riding this, I'm currently on a night train somewhere in the middle of nowhere, as I got off the ferry this morning and followed the cycling route within 10 kilometers I had covered every terrain imaginable.

It got me thinking, is there a perfect gravel tire? What is the one that can do it all? Or what should one look for in a tire? Thanks in advance and welcome to the team Harper. Laura. Welcome to the team Harper. Well, the most experience that we currently have are with the specialized tires,

as we are sponsored by specialized and they make tires. We also have a little bit of experience with Vitorias, as we got a lot of Vitorias to try a couple of years. go. But inside of the specialized range really like the pathfinders. That's kind of what all the gravel racers use. It has a really slick

center tread so it rolls well on road and then it has some side knobs that'll help you out in some loose stuff. I've really been enjoying the tracer, which is the next level up in rowdiness. And it actually is like fractionally slower rolling on pavement.

The specialized guys told me, I mean like a couple watts. So like that, probably my number one recommendation right now for the all-arounder thing. If you go one further up in that, I can't remember what it's called like the Terra or something like that. It's getting pretty chunky. And yeah, you should be able to find specialized tires pretty easily. I run like 45s, which like are kind of like a 47, which are admittedly slow on the road, but feel fantastic off road. Yeah, I tell me if you think I'm wrong to do this, Eric, but I kind of pick my tire for the most, intense thing I'm going to do.

Like, instead of trying to find something that kind of fits it all, instead, like, I have 50s, and the kind of tread I have on there accommodates the most aggressive kind of riding that I encounter around here, even if, you know, a portion of the ride is on pavement and a portion of the ride is on, like, smooth gravel. Yeah. Yeah, same. And I think it just kind of depends if you're, like, trying to cover all out of ground and that's important to you versus, like, what Nick and I are saying, and I think.

we're both on the same page of when I'm on my gravel bike. It's fun. Like I'm kind of chilling and I'm getting there and it's fun. And like I'd rather have the knobby monster truck looking tires and know that I'm going to be ready for anything. Then no, I'm rolling a little bit faster on the road, which I don't really want to be on the road anyway. Exactly. Oh my God. Do you see what Kyle just texted us?

No, I didn't. He just goes, race week? Oh, Kyle, perfect. Shut off. Kyle, perfect timing, Kyle. Somehow Kyle always text us one. recording the pod too. This is Kyle from ProTry News, everyone.

Yeah, yeah. Okay. Paula responds back. Shut up, Kyle. Yeah, of course. I don't know that was okay to share. Oh, God. For Kyle, we do bully him a bit, don't we?

He loves it. It's just something about it. He's very bulliable. Yeah. We can handle it. Okay. Last question here of the pod this week. This is from Ryan.

Hey, TTL fam, quick question about motivation as it pertains to distances. I've been living the tri-life for about five years, doing mostly sprints in Olympics. I've loved it, especially the training. Is this our last question? I'm so hungry, you guys. I'm getting real hungry, too. I'm going to the opposite. Did you not just hear me say?

It was the last question? No, I didn't because I'm bonging. And texting Kyle. This is the last question. It's the last question. Okay. And you know what? Normally I take that out, but I'm leaving that in.

So I took the plunge and side. up for Happy Valley 70.3, and I've been training hard since January. I've come to absolutely hate the training. I've always considered myself an above average racer, fitness-wise, solid shape, even if I usually finish middle of the pack, but I finish feeling super strong. But I'm struggling to finish my long days. 50-ish-mile bikes are fine, but then I end up walking so much of the last half of the eight or nine-mile runs. Just a complete slog. I'm really missing the shorter Olympic training, which left me feeling drained. but content. Now when I finish my long days, I'm wiped for a day and don't even want to think

about triathlons. And I spend the next six days anxiously thinking about the next long day. I thought this 70.3 would be a blast, but now I'm dreading it and just want to be done. I've been following my training plan, which is my pro coach, just the same training plan that I use to a T, but I seem to be getting worse, not better. Are some people just not cut out for long course? Thanks. Brian. I see, I remember being in this exact position. There's a lot to unpack there. Sounds like the training's a bit too much.

Even if it's, you know, quote, necessary for a 70.3, it sounds like doing a little bit of overtraining if you feel that way. Yeah, I think this is probably what's happening to Ryan. And it's, I do the advanced version of these plans, which is the highest volume they have. And it's, it depends on who you are. but it is very doable. I overdo it by many hours a week every week.

And I still feel good, but I remember doing barely the minimum and feeling exactly like this and walking the end of those runs. I do remember that. And it was hard and I was exhausted. He's not able to do the training prescribed by the platform?

Yes. For a 70.3. Right. I think that you should get blood work done. What if you're just like kind of anemic or have other problems going on? Or underfueling even. Underfueling was a thought and then just like overdoing it for like how much mental and physical capacity you have with your life, job, family, all those things. You know, like, Nick, you were able to push through it. You have a pretty, you know, open-ended lifestyle. So like there is a degree of like you

do. Yeah. But it took time. It took time even for me. It, I, it was just hard. My body needed time to figure out how to handle the volume. And I think Ryan, it just takes time. And I remember also kind of hating it, but pushing through it and feeling anxious about the sessions that would come up because of how hard they were going to be. And, you know, here I am years later. And I love doing it. I love the sessions. I don't slog at the end of these runs.

I was thinking about when I was doing Iron Man training last year, I would bike, whatever, 110 miles and then run a half marathon. off the bike and feel so good the whole time. Maybe I wasn't pushing that hard. So what do you think Ryan should do? Like having been through this situation, like, do you recommend he just keep pushing through or like take a rest period or like, you know, what do you think?

I think it helps to know that this isn't just what it's like forever. Yeah. I feel confident that Ryan, you know, I was in this position and then now I am not and I didn't do anything that magical. It just takes time for your body to adapt to the new volume. and so just knowing that sometimes can help you get through the hard stuff that you're getting to a better place with it.

Do you remember like a moment in time or like a race or a thing where you felt like it flipped and you like broke through that wall or something? Well, it coincided when I started trail running and I was actually being honest with my long runs and riding with people so that I was riding much longer. I ended up like 50 miles. It does feel like a lot. But if you're on a T-T bike riding 50 miles,

it's actually not that crazy. Not that, that's, it's, I don't want to be, I don't know how to put this, but like, you know, you can ride 80, 90 miles every weekend on a TT bike and still be, it's not that wild to do that and still run off the bike. It was a combination of adding trail runs, adding people that I could train with, and then eating more. And then this was also right around where my racing got faster too. So the motivation got better. I started feeling better during runs and my racing got better all at the same time. Yeah, I think I like what, you know, somebody said a little bit earlier.

A big takeaway here is, I think it was you, Nick. Like, this isn't just forever. Like, training is not perfectly linear. You go through time where you've plateaued or you worry, like, you're trying really hard, nothing's happening, and then you go through breakthroughs. And there's highs and there's lows. And that's kind of what makes people break down when they cross the finish line. Because of that process, it wasn't perfect.

Exactly. It also comes back to the question about how, is it okay to deviate from your plan? I think it especially is okay if it's an AI generated plan and not a human writing it because they're kind of created for what works for most people which is not necessarily what works for you and they're great for giving you a structure and an outline but if it says do eight reps of this and you need to do five

it doesn't mean you failed it means that's just what you can do that day and finish feeling like it was a success and not finishing the last two reps walking and feeling like it was a failure you're much better off coming out the other side doing less than it says you should do but feeling like, yeah, I nailed that. Next time I'll try six.

It might not be a bad idea to do what Paul said too as far as some blood work and just make sure that things are in the right places. Yeah. Also, maybe you could do like trail running or something that's not as hard as training for travel. Not as time consuming. Yeah. Or just like inherently a little bit more enjoyable. Like whatever.

You know, like what we were talking about earlier. Less stuck on paces. You know, train with the people. Like how do you make some of this fun? So it's not taking as many mental matches just to get through every single day. Yeah. Yeah. I do feel confident, Ryan, that you can get through it though.

And when you're on the other side of it, it feels, it feels so great to do that volume. And remember, oh, remember when I would slog through those last runs and now I'm crushing them? you know, that's a feeling of growth that I think a lot of us chase in triathlon as our main thing in triathlon is if it's so satisfying. That's the sauce, baby. Yeah. Okay, that's it.

Paula, it's hungry. We're all hungry. It's time for lunch. Thanks for hanging out. We'll have some sort of a race recap next week and we are, man, we are trying to line up a killer guest for every. Very killer guest. She said she could record tomorrow night, guys.

Can we record tomorrow night? I can do that. what would we do though like a full pod with her? I think we should line up some actual questions some thoughts, you know, dying, burning things. It's just a little funny because like, how do we time this? We could put this pot out a week late, but then we can't do a race recap. We just put it out any time.

Like we just like, boom, special launch, special extra bonus. We could do that. We could do that. Like do two pods this week. Yeah, and then whatever. If next week we're feeling like we can't, then we'll, fine. Yeah, extra bonus special edition. I'm down. I'm so down for that.

I think she's going to have some crazy stories and we're just going to be like, wait, what? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It's like, it'll be, I think it should be kind of natural, but have some, like, locked and loaded. We never actually wrapped up the pod, though. Sorry, I launched into that. Okay, okay.

Well, we can, I mean, we definitely don't want to keep this in there because I think this kind of builds. That's true. Yeah, we can keep it in. Nick, what are you having for lunch? Definitely not a chocolate chip cookie from a coffee shop. So I have to figure out what I'm doing different. Maybe pasta.

Yeah, that's what I'm going to have. You guys have some left to have pasta. I'm going to be Italian and have pasta for lunch. Yay. Yay. Yay. Okay, guys. Okay, wonderful.

Bye. Later. Officially. Bye.