That Triathlon Life Podcast - Triathlon race massage timing, favorite biking and running socks, and more!

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

This week, we kick things off with some triathlon news, Eric’s pre-race thoughts on the Black Canyon 50K, a round of rapid-fire questions, and then dive into listener-submitted topics. Here’s what we covered:Favorite biking and running socksWhen to time a massage pre- and post-raceGiro Aerohead II helmetElectronic shifters: worth it?Are Ironman tattoos in or out?Fitting in winter trainer sessions as a young swimmerDifferent tire sizes for front and rear wheels"Taking in" the scenery during a raceTraining and logistics of van life with a dogA 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

What's going on everybody? Welcome to that triathlon life podcast. I'm Eric Loggerstrom. I'm Paula Findley. I'm Nick Goldston. And this is kind of a cool week. It's race week. It's race week for a lot of people, actually.

And that is going to dominate a bit of the news. So just buckle up for that. We're talking about racing. Hopefully that's not stressful for everybody. It's stressful for me. I'm the only one here in the family that is racing, and it's not a triathlon. You know, there's not millions of dollars on the line or anything.

it's just personal pride and exploration into the run scene. If you're new here, I'm a professional trathlet, Paul is a professional trathlet, I'm doing a little bit of exploration into some alternative activities. And Nick is a amateur triathlet and the master behind the audio of this podcast. And also just keeping it on the rails and keeping the bickering to a minimum. Welcome. Editing out all my swear words. I want to put some extra ones in.

this week just to balance it out. Yeah, and last week, so I, we recorded on Wednesday night quite late last week, which is not normal for us. So basically it's like recording and then at midnight it's up to the world. Everyone can listen to it. And I woke up at 4 a.m. the next day to drive my mom to the airport. So I listened to it on the way back. And I, I swore so much that it was embarrassing to myself.

I was like, I don't want to come across as someone who just is a potty mouth. I think sometimes saying fuck like ads emphasis and humor. Of course. But I don't talk like that all the time. So anyway, I woke up in the morning after going back to bed after dropping my mom off. Nick doesn't wake up until 10 a.m. So I can't do anything about it. Excuse you.

But I can log into the podcast hosting platform and hide the episode. So some of you made a notice that it went away for like four hours. And then when Nick woke up. He edited them out and then posted it again. So anyway, that's the glitch from last week. Anybody who sends me $100 via Venmo, I'll send you the original file. Some people still have it. I mean, it's not that bad.

It's just... It's not bad at all. I thought it was funny. I noticed that you did more, but it still, it was, you were like passion. It was, you know, you weren't in a bad mood. I thought it was humorous, but also I totally understand. Yeah. And last week's episode, Tim Horton's question really just...

Oh my gosh. That really took off, didn't it? It was really a hit. That exploded on the Instagram, on the app, on the everywhere. I think the consensus was that 100 is like amateur hour, but 700's impossible. Okay. Actually, can we just revisit this for a second? People saying that 100 is like, I saw that a lot.

I saw a lot of this rhetoric of 100 is nowhere near the limit. Guys, 100 is still like 7,500 to 8,000 calories of just timbiz. That is serious business. We still eat that much calories in a day sometimes The people who think this is not a big deal Still don't believe it's a big deal So everybody's got to try it We just gotta do it

We can't just argue about it The funniest comment And I feel like we should have like Had a prize for the best comment It was T-100 Oh yeah yeah A hundred timbits is Nick and Eric's T-100 Yeah

That was really good That was my favorite comment It's gonna happen Nick and I are doing the T-100 at some point this year Oh I can do it for sure It's going to have to be in Vancouver because that's where, straight to the source. You know what? There was a Tim Hortons in Dubai.

That was crazy. That's weird. What? Oh, I thought they were only in Canada. Am I totally wrong? I mean, I guess you're wrong because I saw one in Dubai with my own eyeballs. Okay. But as far as you know, it's Canada and Dubai, right?

These are the only locations. Yeah, I mean, there might be some in Europe. I'm not sure. Okay. Yeah. That's it. Great. Well, Eric, do you have any news for us?

I got a ton of news. Really? Yep. I think we've already given a little bit of a brief. People kind of have an idea. I'm racing Black Canyons this weekend. That's the upcoming race. Other upcoming races, Iron Man, New Zealand.

Somehow, some people on the other side of the world are doing an Iron Man on the 5th this weekend. Wait, it's February 3rd. Are you sure it's not March? Could you be wrong? Yeah, I could be wrong. I think it's March. Shit, it's February 28th. Man, I was just like looking at the pro calendar on Iron Man, and I really swear.

It might be the entry deadline is tomorrow. Okay, so if you are not yet signed up for Ironman, New Zealand, you're pro-athlet. You better get on it because the deadline is in two days. Great, save. Also, you're welcome. I have some crazy news, too. So I signed up for Oceanside. Oh, God.

Here we go. It's full. Even for the president. I got in. I got in because I did it super early. But they opened up registration. and I signed up that day and then

one of the people we swim with today is that it's full at capacity. You want to race too bad. It's insane. This is the future for pro triathlon. Do you know what Iron Man does at this point when it's full when the pro race is full? I'm sure neither of you know this

because they would never dream to call you but they start calling like lower level pros and they're like, hey, are you sure you're doing this? No, they don't. Yeah, they do. They called Rebecca for Indian Wells in like November and December, a bunch of times. So like, you're sure you're doing it, right?

You're definitely doing the race because they want to make sure if people don't show up. I think there needs to be a new system now. Or maybe they reserve 10 spots for at the top 20 ranked athletes. I'm not sure how that would look, but it's crazy that you have to be this on top of it and that it's so different than in years past where you could sign up all the way until the entry deadline. Now it's like races are actually filling up. So kind of crazy.

And just in case of any speculation of why I'm racing Oceanside and not Singapore T-100, because all were contractually obliged to race Singapore. But I applied for my green card. I'm not allowed to leave the U.S. for four to five months until I get a certain travel permit. So I cannot go to Singapore, and I cleared that with a T-100, so I'll be at Oceanside instead. Okay. Can't wait. It's going to cause a riot.

Okay. A 70.3 that is in fact happening this weekend, I know, for a fact, 70.3 Oman. This is not a pro field, but it is important because Mimi Carlson from the TTL development team is racing it. Really? Yeah. In Oman. And Oman. This weekend.

That is a far away. Yeah, going to be trying to qualify for her pro card. So she's a super strong cyclist. Had like what the fastest? amateur female bike split in Taupau. And yeah, so everybody cheer her on, get behind her on the app. I'm so dumb. And every time I remember this, I then forget it.

You can qualify for your pro card at a race without pros if you are top three or something? I feel like you can just win it outright. If you win it outright, you qualify for your pro card. Is that it? No. Don't quote me. Okay. I know it's been a long time since either of you have had to worry about that.

No, but it on the app. Yeah. I was told by B, who is our fantastic community helper right now, that she is aiming to get it this weekend. Okay. Okay. Awesome. That's what I got to go off of. That's an exciting day.

Well, since my Iron Man New Zealand thing, you know, us making picks, like is a complete bust. That's pretty much the end of the news. I got news, though. Opening up the floor. More news? This isn't really news, but I just want to say thank you to everyone who joined our team. T-TL. Zwift ride on Sunday morning.

We had 2,000 people signed up, which is outrageous. Sometimes we have 200, but nowhere near 1,000. 2,000 was insane. And as is the trend usually was Swift Rides, about half that show up and do the ride because anyone can sign up. And maybe they assume they could just sign up and get the jersey, but you actually physically have to finish the ride to unlock it. But we still had 1,111,11 people.

that's got to be a good luck omen. Oh my guess it's great. It's completely insane. I feel like we were almost breaking the Zwift system with a rubber banding because there were so many people. Yeah, it's crazy. People are like, this isn't banded. And it's like, okay, there's a thousand people in this ride.

Like that's kilometers long of a road. So yeah, you're not banded to the front. You're banded to not getting dropped. So, yeah, it was crazy how even though the ride was staying together, it was spread out by a minute or more, you know? That is, think of a, think of 1100 people on the road together, what that would look like. You know what I was imagining that we were at like Soul Cycle and Eric and I were in the front and there was 1,111 people like bopping. Yep.

That's an insane. That's an insane visual. We would like fill up an arena. That was the news, I guess. That was all news. Great. I mean, there can't be a lot of news every week. The biggest news in real life is like the airplane crash and just horrible stuff that makes me.

scared and sad. Oh, no. We're just going to move on to the questions that are travel unrelated. Well, we'll keep it light and breezy with some rapid fire right now. Very simple.

This is like too much or too little. That's what the theme is here. Okay. So would you rather run in too hot or too cold for training? Too cold. Too cold. Okay. It's not, we're not talking about just cold.

It's like too cold, you know? Okay, what about training too early or too late? Too early. Too late. Oh. Swim in too cold. cold or too hot of a water? Too hot.

Oh, I hate cold. Ooh. I'd rather swim in a bathtub. I'd rather show in a bathtub. I'd rather show in a bathroom. And what about training when you're too hungry or too full? Too full for me for sure. If you're too hungry though, you get lightheaded.

Oh, right. Would you rather train in too much rain or too much snow? Too much snow. Too much snow. I did that today with Flynn. We went on a run in the dumping snow. Oh, is it snowing that hard now? So it's full winter vibes.

It was accumulating. I'll say that was the perfect amount of snow. It was accumulating. Well, we started running right when it started. But by the time we ran back on our own back, our footprints had been like filled in, you know, because it's running, snowing that hard. Yeah. And Eric, there was also a YouTube video that came out this week because you're kind of back on your YouTube grind. Yep.

People need to go watch that, but it kind of you allude to Black Canyons, but you want to talk about the video a little bit? Yeah. Yeah. I guess this would be like vlog number two. You know, we did vlog number one a couple weeks ago and then the broken top video and now vlog number two. Very similar to number one in terms of style and stuff, but it is kind of like me talking the first half

about the type of training that I've been doing, how I've been working with my coach to get ready for Black Canyon, a little more structured than I was doing for Smith Rock. And then we talk about this awesome hoodie that I'm wearing right now with the collaboration that we're doing with Foreign Rider. TTL, it's like absolutely magical.

And I think if you have any sort of ability to get yourself one, I would do that. So those those hoodies, the tracksuits, those track suits are going to be dropping, opening the pre-order on Monday. The 10th. Monday the 10th. We'll keep it open for five days all the way through Friday. And we'll get into a little bit more of that next week when the order is actually open.

And then Paul and I went for a beautiful bike ride. And I really just let the bike ride roll. Like kind of original TTL style. I didn't, I just like used all the footage that I had and let it go through the song and I think it was pretty pretty special. Yeah, that's nice. Yeah, that that is like you're going to get the most information about the Black Canyon buildup out of that video. So I would definitely check that out. And but if I want to talk about it a little bit right now, ultimately, I don't really know what to expect, except for that it's going to be crazy fast.

I said that on my Instagram today. I've done everything that I think I can do to prepare for it. My hip has been, like, surprisingly cooperative. The PT work I've been doing has been helping a ton. And all I know is that there are some really, really fast guys that are going to be there. So my goal is to just, like, go with the front as long as I can, barring that it's not at some sort of suicidal pace. Because that was my goal with this whole thing, is to go out and see what, like, real fast,

the front of the pack, the world-class level guys are doing in 50Ks. and see where I fall. I would imagine that a faster course is even more suited for you. Because these ultra runners are maybe a little more like climbing decendi and you are used to running 70.3 pace. Do you not really agree? No. I think that there are going to be quite a few guys in there who are just like straight out of college cross country or track. Oh, I see.

And are like, I think a guy did this, did this course the 60K a year ago or two years ago and like road super super shoes. It's really non-technical and I am actually a pretty good technical runner. I don't think I'm world class at going uphill, but I think I can hang and I do a pretty good job of recovering from like short, spiky efforts. So I don't, I wouldn't say I'm necessarily thinking that running down a fire road for the first few miles of the course is suited to me, but I think I do have that gear in there and I've been working it in training. So I hope. Somebody told me that there, there's like a couple of 220 marathoners that are in it. So it could be real, real fast.

So a different type of athlete maybe signs up for this race. It's not your traditional trail ultra athlete. Yeah, based on what I've gathered from friends is that trail is kind of in this position where you can be like a 50K specialist, you could be 100K specialist. And then you could be the 100 mile plus 250 mile, Coca-Dona crazy long. It's like track and field. There's sort of becoming people who specialize in certain distances. and this is like they're going to be, man, it sounds like the fastest 50K in the country.

Awesome. And how can people follow along? There's going to be a live broadcast both days. Okay. There's racing on Saturday. Eli Hemming is racing on Saturday. I think he's the top name. And then on Sunday is the 50K.

And I have kind of intentionally not looked at the start list. I just want to like show up and see what happens. Great. Awesome. Well, me and Nick will be there too. Yep. We will both be there running around trying to help you out, Eric, and getting sweet, sweet footage of it.

So there's only one aid station we can get to, right? I think so. At the place that we're camping at like 19.7 miles in is the crew. Just hang out there. Is the cruable aid station. Yeah, I think Nick and I will drive to the start and you could stay and be at that aid station. We can logistic that all out.

But Wadi has a really detailed logistics plan and routing and everything that he's shared with us. Yeah, wow. It's going to be fun. It's going to be great. And it's going to be pouring rain here in L.A. while this is happening. So I'll be happy to be out there with you guys in the desert. It'll just be freezing cold in the desert. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's going to be cold, huh? It'll be cold, yeah. Pack your bullies. Okay. Great. All right. Well, let's move on to questions here. You can submit your questions at Thattriathlonlife.com slash podcast, where you can also become a podcast supporter. Thank you so

much for our podcast supporters. The supporters this week are getting a little video that Eric made, which is cool. He showed it to me earlier. Eric, do you want to say what it is? I mean, just like briefly without giving it away.

I mean, it's not like it's a surprise or anything like that. But basically I was just working on Paula's bike switching over some stuff because she's doing some bike things and I just sort of monologued

for like, I don't know how long it was, five, ten minutes or something, just talking about what I was doing on the bike. It's bike tech with Eric live. Yeah. That's what it is. I'm not going to say

it's a super polished, beautiful end thing, but I wanted to give it a try and instead of just putting it on a hard drive somewhere, I'm putting it out and sharing it with the podcast supporters. I think it's kind of relaxing. It's very relaxing. And the camera's like following you as you're walking around the garage.

It's cool. Yeah, I've been wanting to try that for a while. So that was my first crack at it. And podcast supporters, let us know what you think. Yeah. Just some of the things that the podcast supporters get as a perk.

Last week we talked about potentially doing not ad reads, but something like that. And it also sparked some fun discussion in the comments on Spotify. It also, on the Zwift ride, I asked everyone if they could guess what company wants us to do a little. Did anyone get it? I don't think anyone got it. It's not impossible to guess. No, but everyone was guessing like, Orca, Wahoo, like people, it's not a current partner.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. So, Anyway, maybe we'll do that someday. Yeah, maybe, maybe. All right, moving on to questions here. This is from Mack. Howdy from Austin, Texas. Feet question for all of you.

Favorite socks for each sport plus racing. And when you get blisters, what is your personal protocol? Wrecked my feet from doing my long run in the rain and have a marathon coming up in a couple weeks. But I seem to be making them worse with all my exercise. Keep rocking it. Mac. Yeah, great question. All right.

So first things first. Favorite socks. For each sport. The reason I put this question is because we were getting ready to run yesterday. Eric had his last hard run. And he was like, I love these socks. I just want ten pair of these socks and we have to throw everything else out. So that is very timely that we had a question about them.

And I've never tried them myself. But if he loves them that much, they must be amazing. What are there? They're Solomon. I don't know exactly what they're called. Well, you've got to find them. Okay. Take your time.

Just give me a second. And I wonder if they're like grippy. label or if they actually make them. I don't know. Isn't that a big company like Solomon? They're going to make their own stuff. It's just socks is such a, like, I don't know. These are unlike any other sock that I've.

Okay, okay. I can't imagine they don't make their own sock. Here it is. Fuck yeah. I'm not just buying some right now. That's standing. They're the S-Lab Ultra Crew. Okay.

Can I see him? I'm going to Google it as well. Oh yeah, I've folded those billion times. I recognize those. They're like, they're a great fabric, like a perfect amount of compression. They come up to me, like the perfect height, and they've been washed a million times, like Paula says. They haven't shrunk. They haven't gotten crusty.

And they have these two little grippy bands that go right around the ball of your foot. And those are just magical when you're running up and down a steep trail. Because you're not like sliding inside of the shoe. It's really gripping the inside. of the shoe, which is gripping the rock. That's cool for trail. Yeah, that's really cool. I just, I think they're fantastic.

Nick, would you care to show your favorite socks, which are toe socks? Yeah, I'm sorry. I know it's very not cool, and I have had several people without me asking. What? I've had several people without me asking their opinion, tell me how much they hate my toe socks. But they are in gingy toe socks. And I'm literally wearing them right now because I just got back. from a run. And the reason I wear them is not because I think they're very sexy, by the way.

It's because they prevent me from getting blisters between my toes and on long runs. You know what? You got to throw those things away because you guys made me throw away my Solomon recovery slides. So. Your hospital slides. Garbage. Yeah. They're a thousand times cooler than freaking toe socks, dude. Yeah, that is true. No, I like the solo in recovery slides, but Nick thinks that they're just the worst things that ever were made. I think they look like Eric fully gave up is what they look like to me.

Yeah, well, no, I freaking crush training and I'm chilling until tomorrow. Yeah, that's true. That's fair. Okay. But to each their own, like I don't hate on toe socks, but as far as fashion goes, it's rough. I have a second pair of socks that I absolutely love, but they're for cycling. The Castelli Bandito Wool 18. these things are magical. Let's see a picture.

On your foot, those ones. Oh, yeah, I also recognize those. Those things just, those feel like a nice little hug on your foot. Sox are a great gift. Haven't we said this before? Good socks are a great gift, yeah. But that's how the toe sock then came up in the first place.

We were talking about good, good gift, bad gift. Remember that game that someone sent to? That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. Oh, my God. That's funny. Okay, what about you, Paula? Do you have references or not really?

Oh, geez. I don't know. My entire fleet of socks is just on socks, and I like all of them. Okay. Hey, that's fair. Do you wear them for cycling as well, though? No, for cycling, I wear Kistelli socks or specialized socks. But the online of socks do have, like, run-specific ones that are a little more compression-y, and then the casual ones I'll wear day-to-day. But they're all comfy, not very particular. And then Mac had a second part to this question, which was, when you get blisters, what is your personal protocol? Do you have one? Pop those puppies. Pop those puppies.

That is contrary to what you usually hear from the medical professionals. Yeah, we're not medical professionals. I've had medical professionals telling me to pop them. Well, I think that those blister band-aids by Band-Aid brand are really nice. They stick super well. They almost become like a second skin. and they, assuming you don't swim in them, stay on for a long time. And I would say as long as you, especially if it's popped, clean it extremely well and then put one of those band-aids on, that really helps me and it makes them go away really quick.

I used to get them a lot with ITU racing because we would wear no socks. And I would always have blister band-aids ready to go in my race bag with a little polysporin spray. Well, how often do you guys get blisters these days that's not due to a race? I never get blisters now even in a race. I've gotten a couple lately running really long, like the two hour long run. And did your feet get wet? Do you think was that part of it or even not without that?

It's just, it's to that strange time of year where it's hovering right around, the temperature is hovering right around freezing. So you like actually sweat a bit, but then it's also cold and your skin's kind of tacky. So chafing is like chafing season. Yeah. And I also have been experimenting with a couple of different shoes

that I'm interested in racing in. So that was kind of mostly the reason I got a toe blister. You really shouldn't get blisters, though, if your shoes fit you right. Yeah. I mean, unless you're running these insane distances like Eric, but I think that's a sign that your shoes don't fit personally. Not that your socks are not the right socks. Yeah, ideally no blisters if you're running under an hour or an hour.

Yeah. You would hope. Cool. Well, thanks for the question, Mac. Next one is from Andrea, Andrea. Hi, TTR. Thank you for all you do for our wonderful sport. Quick question, if you could only get one massage between two races,

let's say a month apart from each other, when would you get it? Right after the first race, right before the second one, at the beginning of the taper week, that's Ramandrea. And I think I want to extend this and say, if you can only have one massage before a single race, how soon before that race would you get the massage? What is the ideal time?

Good question. That was a great question, Andrea. Man. We're pretty spoiled and we get massage once a week. But if I were to get one before a race, ideally it's like three or four days before. But that's only because I'm so used to having massage that I know they don't make my body hurt or feel worse.

If you're not used to getting them, you might want to leave a little more time because sometimes they do actually make you a little bit more sore temporarily before they help. or maybe they actually don't help you. So it is so dependent on your familiarity with the massage therapist. Some of them go super deep, and it actually is painful. Some of them, it's more just like a flush.

So post-travel, getting your lymph nodes and whatever, all the puffiness out of your legs. That you could do the day before because it's just essentially flushing. But you kind of have to play it by what you're used to. What would you say, Eric? Yeah, I would say in a perfect world, I would fly or travel the race on a Tuesday, get a massage the Tuesday night or the Wednesday morning, and then race on Saturday or Sunday. Yeah. So same as Paula.

Yeah, and I would take that over the massage right after a race just because, like, whatever, the age of our bodies and how stiff I tend to get when I travel and, like, hip and back and all that stuff. Like, I'd rather, like, feel like I was setting myself up to race. as best as possible and just hope that my body took care of itself post-race if I just had to pick one. Yeah, I think post-race, a lot of the stuff you can do yourself by cooling down or swimming or doing a light spin on the bike, if you're really concerned about post-race soreness and recovering quickly, that can be just as effective as a post-race massage that you get in the tents like in the athlete lounge, you know?

Yeah. That's really soon after. I don't know if that's doing much. It's fun. But I think ideal post-race massage should probably be. the next day. Okay, next question here is from Charlie. Hi, Paula, Eric, Nick, and Flynn. Congrats on an incredible 2024 season and can't wait to see what you guys do in 2025. I was just looking at arrow helmets and noticed that Giro released an Arrowhead Mips 2,

which looks like and seems to actually be the alien arrow helmets that Visma Lisa Bike used this year. I can't imagine. Yeah, I was looking it up before. This is especially things for me. Yes, dude, $549. Insane. And very much looks like the Yombo Vizma helmets. Insane for your membrane. Is it exactly that helmet? Yeah, yeah.

It's just, yeah. We can't make it big here. Oh, wow, yeah, yeah. I think Canyon tram women's team used that too last year. But I just bought the Arrowhead in December to race in New Zealand. And now this came out. But I wasn't going to pay $550 for a helmet anyway. So that's fine.

Dude, I don't know if I could let you. racing this anyway. Okay, great. I appreciate that. Eric, that's what friends are four. God, it's brutal. Here we go. Keeping it going here with Charlie's question. I can't imagine that their ventilation is great and the aerogains must be marginal, but do you think we'll see anyone rocking these in 2025? My prediction is that no pros will, but not in front of the packed age groupers with $600 to spend on fancy helmet upgrades will. All the best, Charlie. What do you think? Dude, absolutely, people are going to be using this. Yeah, I disagree. with that. I think the pros that have the most

to gain or lose, maybe it's marginal gains, but they're the ones spending $600 on this helmet. If it's going to make a 2 watt, 3 watt difference, I would spend that much on it. Yeah, people are going to the wind tunnel to figure out what size of bottle to stuff down their kit and pretend that it's got water in it.

And also, like, their triathlon right now is so uncool-looking with the amount of stuff that people are strapped into their bikes. I think the helmet is, like, whatever. If it makes me faster, I'll wear it. Yeah, people will wear it and people will buy it. relative to a disc wheel, relative to a tri-bike, relative to S-Works road shoes. Like, it's not any different.

It's just another piece of expensive equipment. Charlie was saying that the reason maybe that some pros wouldn't use it, I'm guessing they're alluding at, is that it's not well ventilated and it's designed for like a 40K TT or something, not a 70.3, not an iron. It's got a vent on the front. The TT5 has no vents. Tons of arrow helmets have no vents. It looks like it's got a vent.

It's like smack in the middle of the, forehead. Yeah, it looks like it does, which is more than most, honestly. But who knows? It's up to each, up to each person to do their own thermal testing and see how it makes them feel. And honestly, when the TT5 came out, people were like, oh my gosh, that's so ugly. It's so huge. It looks like a Star Wars helmet. It does, yeah. What an atrocity. And now it's just a totally normal looking. Well, everyone's used to it. It's perfectly cool. I don't think totally normal looking, but yeah, it is. Yeah, but neither is any arrow helmet. A big part of that being, because they had the clear visor for one thing and head sock.

And then there's a picture of a guy who looked like he was going to like pop his lungs. He was breathing so hard. Yeah, the head sock. Clear visor is never the cool way. It is necessary sometimes, but it's not cool. Yeah, and the sock is also really. The sock was real rough. It was actually quite, I think it actually was aerodynamically faster.

I know it was. But it was a little bit claustrophobic. Oh, even purely from a comfort standpoint, you didn't love it. Yeah, I didn't love wearing it. It felt only when I was racing, which is the only time you'd use it. If it was a little bit warm or, you know, the guys that are wearing these are racing super short time trials. But yeah, I found it to be a weird feeling. So I'm glad that they got taken out.

But the hell is still fast. Yeah, cool. Okay, next question here is from Eric with a K. Hey, Penf. Eric from Denver here, quick question. Are electronic shifters worth the extra 1,000 buckaroos? I'm finally looking at buying an actual tri-bike and finding it hard to convince myself I should spend the money on anything above the base level bikes. But would love your thoughts. We'll be racing Iron Man 70.3 Boulder this year alongside the triple bypass ride. Eric, you should totally check this out. Are you familiar with the triple bypass ride, Eric? I don't think so.

It's like a three peaks in Boulder. A few of my friends want to do it. And really hope to see you all there. After a hiatus since college, you all have re-inspired me to get back into this amazing sport. P.S. Eric, good luck with the hip. Thanks, dude. It is seeming brighter.

That's awesome news. The hip is seeming brighter lately. I mean, it's got a mind of its own, but it's going okay right now. Yeah, when I read this question, I was like, yes, it's worth. it. My only thought is like if you live somewhere where it is so flat and you don't ever, you're not ever going to climb, then like maybe you don't need the electronic shifting.

But the main thing that makes electronic shifting so incredible on a TT bike is you can shift on the base bars and the end of the extensions. And you're coming out of a corner and you want to shift. You have to sit down, reach out to the end of the base bar, shift, stand back up. You can't imagine that. It's like the dinosaur ages. We all did that back in the day. but wow, it is nice to just shift from the base bar. Yeah, and if you're just out for a casual ride with your TT bike and in the hoods, you have that, right, Nick? I have electronic shifting on my bike.

So you can shift from your hoods? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I would say get the lowest end electronic shifting you possibly can get, and it's going to be so nice. Is it $1,000, like for force versus mechanical? Maybe if you're looking at like just, yeah, the lowest end mechanical

rival versus you know electronic versus so I have electronic rival on my gravel bike I should look it up but a thousand dollars

seems to be a lot like for the same level like rival mechanical versus rival wireless that's that's a big yeah I mean so what I would look into

and what you can do these days is you can have four um wireless blitz So if you could get, assuming that it's all compatible and you can get like a rival rear derailer and go one by and then four wire, you know, four wireless blips. Oh, I see. Hack it a little bit. That is like, that should not be that expensive. I wouldn't think because each blip is like maybe a hundred bucks or something like that.

Is it true that when the blips are dead, they're dead? That is what I was told when we first got them. Because I found some in the garbage the other day and I was like, Eric, you threw up the blips and he's like, they're dead. That's crazy. You can't add a battery to them. They're just dead. Yeah. Like an air tag.

Wait. No, you can replace the pattern and air tag. You can actually replace the battery. So yeah, you can get a pair of blips for $83. Oh, yeah, that's great. And you really put them anywhere you want. And then so, what's a strand? You can put them on your spouse's bike.

You can shift the bike from your bike when they're being a pain in the ass. You can put them on your dog. That's a good little game. You like put an extra one underneath. your saddle for your spouse's shifting. So if they're being a little too mouthy with you, just like click, upclick a couple times.

It looks like a SRAM rival E-TAP rear-ter-raterer $200. So there you go. You're at $200 bucks plus $160 for all the blips, and then you just got to buy some sort of a chain ring crank setup. Yeah, that's a deal.

For a TT bike, for sure. I get for a road bike being okay with mechanical. I think that actually makes perfect sense. but for a TT bike, even at an amateur level, so nice to be able to shift at two different places. Yeah. Thanks, Eric. Next question here is from Phil in North Carolina.

Hey, Paula, Eric, Nick and Flynn, keeping it very short for Paula. Thank you, Phil. Triathlon, especially Iron Man tattoos. Cool, pretentious, indifferent. You do you. P.S. looking forward to hearing your stories this year about the extra long distances you'll be going. Phil from North Carolina.

Wow. Okay. I want to come clean here and say that we have been a little hard on the Iron Man tattoos in the past. Have we? I think we've alluded to it before. And I'm going to reverse my position on that and say, if it makes you happy, freaking go for it. And I'm glad you did this very hard thing.

People get tattoos for way less cool reasons than that. For sure. I think tattoos should have a story. I think it's a very ubiquitous one. people like to customize it, you know, put a Canadian flag behind the MDOT for Iron Man Canada and stuff like that. But I'm with you, Nick. Like, any tattoo should have a reason to exist. And if it does and it starts a conversation, then it's cool. Just, is that the conversation you want to start? It's with people who've done Iron Man's. I mean, it's more permanent

than a bumper sticker. Than a 140.6 bumper sticker? The only is like the people that I've heard. So I know. a couple of people who have Ironman tattoos and want them removed or over it because they got them like in the 90s and they felt like Iron Man was this sort of a way and like

we kind of got tattoos back then and now just like everybody's doing it and it's so ubiquitous and they in hindsight feel like the thing that they felt was special is now less special so I guess taking that into consideration yeah and it's so corporate now too that

that M dot logo it represents ultimately a brand yeah But I would get, the only tattoo I would ever consider getting is the Olympic rings. And Paula, you earned it. So it's never too late. Yeah, I could get it. It's going to, you know, it's forever going to be a really challenging, hard thing to get to. Yeah.

Not going to change. So. Yeah. Maybe I'll do that someday. Yeah. And maybe you'll be back, Paula. You never know. You never know.

It would be fun. Next question here is from Addy. Addie, who is, by the way, 13, but turning 14 in May. Okay? Addie, I sent Addy a little one of my kits from last year. Oh. With a little note. That's nice.

It was extremely nice of me. Yeah. Yeah, right about that slow twitch. No, someone was asking for, they wanted to buy a swim cap for Addy, but they wanted me to write a note. And I'm like, well, we don't actually have. the caps at our house, but I can send her a note, and then I just threw in it. Oh my gosh. She's probably swimming in it, but maybe one day she'll, she'll, she'll be able to wear it. I know. She framed it. It's really cute. It's really cute. Anyways, she sent me a thank you email and then included this

question in it, so it's quite old. It's from back of Christmas, but I think it's a good question. It's a great question. Great question. Okay, so Addy says, I'll be starting high school next fall. Right now I'm swimming six days a week and getting really close to qualifying for my first Speedo sectionals meet. I'm also planning to try middle school track in the spring and want to compete again in triathlons this summer. I'll be doing a few draft legal races and riproar triathlons. Do you guys know what riproar triathlons are? I don't. I think it's a regional race series where she lives. Okay. Here's my question. At my age, how much time should I spend biking during the winter? Swimming takes up so much of my time that I have to skip a swim session to fit in a trainer ride.

I love swimming and spending time with my friends, and I really want to get that sectionals cut. Honestly, I don't enjoy the bike trainer much, amen, girl. It feels more like a chore than something fun. Do you think it's okay if I wait until the weather warms up in March to start biking again? That's when I can ride outside here in Iowa. First race isn't until June, and the bike portion is only six miles. Or should I be trying to fit in a weekly ride during the winter, even if it means skipping a swim practice, Addy. Why are 13-year-olds this busy?

Is this okay? This is my life, dude? I know. She is me. Yeah. She is me as a 13-year-old. I was swimming a swim club. I actually didn't start triathlon until I was 16.

So I didn't have this kind of dilemma that early on. I was fully committed to swimming, nine or ten times a week. It takes over your life. It's insane. Looking back, I don't know how we did it. I was Addie to a T. I started triathlon at age 12. Thought these exact same thoughts.

Yeah. But I'll just give you my experience as 16-year-old, so a little bit older than you are now. I was still swimming with the Keanu Swim Club 10 practices a week. And then I was starting to run track with the school cross-country team and track team. And because my parents are runners and I was so fit from swimming, I would like win all the city meets and stuff like that. like competitive at provincials and nationals and stuff. So I did not ride my bike hardly at all when I first started the sport. And I don't even remember a time when I was really riding the trainer that much. Like I would, of course, ramp up the cycling in the spring and summer when I was

going to race like she's going to do. But I was not in the basement grinding it out on my trainer. Not even once a week. I don't even think it was. No, I was running a lot. I was swimming a lot. maybe once a week, but it definitely wasn't a focus. And my experience as a junior athlete, if you want to race ITU or you want to race professionally, even a 70.3 distance or T-100, you need to be such a good swimmer and that is such a advantage. And your bike skills can develop when you're 15, 16, 17, 18, like there's so much time. So if you have this aerobic base from swimming and this insane ability to work hard, to set goals, all, etc., etc., etc., the other things can come as you get older.

And I think the most important thing when you're 13 is enjoying what you're doing. So that's my advice. I would not stress about the biking. And I would just keep swimming especially if you love it and you want to go to swim every day. That's really, really important. Do you think that's true, Eric? Well said. You agree?

Yeah, my coach had compi trainer sessions on Saturday. My triathlon coach, and I would go to those and use a compi trainer. And then in the summertime, I would ramp it up. Everything else was the same. But I agree with Paula. If you can get out in the summertime and really get the skills down so you don't feel awkward in a peloton and stuff when you try out draft legal, I think the strengths will come along.

That's fun. I want to hear about Addie racing professionally in like 10 years. She's a young development team in like six or eight years. 10 years, that's a long time. I mean, I guess you're right. I guess you're right. I'm thinking of like young 70.3 athletes. Yeah, she could race out to you like tomorrow.

No, I don't know. As a junior, maybe. Yeah, great. Well, Adi, thank you for sending in a question. That's awesome. Good luck. Next question here is from Christopher. Hi, Paula, Eric, Nick and Flynn.

What are your thoughts on using different tire sizes for the front and rear wheels? I raced my first 70.3 and full-distance triathlon last year and look to do even more this year. I ride the specialized shiv-tri-disc, and I absolutely love that machine. The only downside is the limitation on rear tire size due to the hydration system at the back, that big fin. The maximum tire size for the rear wheel is 26mm, but I really like to run 28mm GP 5,000's TTs due to comfort, rolling resistance, etc. Do you think using a 28mm tire on the front, maybe for comfort, and a 25 on the rear, would make sense? If not, what would you guys recommend with your expertise in this field? Thanks so much for your insight.

and the amazing podcast. For regards Christoffer. Yeah, I think that's what you've got to do. And we did that for a while, both because of the clearance on the wheel and also the zip disc, the Super 9, used to only be made with a 25 in mind. Now that it's hookless and everything,

you can run a 28 and it's actually designed around that. But for a while we were running a 25 or a 26 in the rear and 28 in the front. That's totally fine. People ride different tire sizes, even when the frame limitations aren't in place though, right? Is it usually the same setup with bigger tires in the front, smaller in the rear? Have you ever heard of this, Eric?

I mean, I guess he could, but I don't, I feel like that's more common in mountain biking to get real creative like that, but, I mean. Wouldn't you want bigger in the back? Because you're having, like, more weight in the back, and that's where you want more? That's what I've heard. I've heard that it's the inverse of this usually. Yeah. And also like back in the day when wheels were not designed around 28mm tires,

that front wheel aerodynamics is much more important than the rear wheel. Yeah, I would say this is, yeah, probably not a thing. Yeah. That you should be too concerned about experimenting with doing a bigger one in the back than the front, assuming your bike can handle 28s. But 25 is fine in the rear, right? Yeah, it's fine. I mean, it's fine for racing.

Like, people have, like, I'm pretty sure that bike has won Kona. Right. Or, like, been in the, had really fast bike splits. And anyway, you know. Right. Cool. Okay. Next question is from Matias.

Hello to my favorite triathlon community. Oh, favorite spelled with a U. So we got a fancy international question here. How much can you appreciate and take in the scenery or overall setting during the race when racing in a cool place? I personally find it a lot more difficult to cherish the surroundings when the heart rate is through the roof. Greetings from Estonia. Any of you've been here in this gorgeous country, Matthias? I love this question and I would like to know what you guys think, but I would also

love to figure out a way to get what the listeners think. Because I'm often questioning myself. Like, am I the only one that can't take in the beauty of this one racing? Or is this a common issue for other athletes? I think what I'm having my best race is I'm very aware of the environment. But it's from, it's like a video game or like a fighter pilot type of mindset, I would say, where I'm aware of it and it's enhancing my experience versus if I was on a flat road or in a blank space with nothing around it, like doing Alcatraz or doing 70.3 Santa Cruz, these like pretty aesthetic races that I get so into the flow and the scenery rushing by and the, I don't want to say exotic, but, you know, I get into it. but it's not a, wow, it's so pretty, like, pensive dwelling on it versus rushing by and the environment seems awesome. You've heard of type two fun, right? Like triathlons type two fun often.

Yeah. Do you think you get maybe type two enjoyment of the scenery? During it, you're like, I don't, I'm not even paying attention, but later you're like, oh yeah, it was beautiful. You know, thinking back to it, it was beautiful. Yeah, I mean, I think this is the value of. of going to a race as early as one possibly can to try to experience the area and pre-ride on the course

and go to the coffee shop and, you know, et cetera, and so forth. The vibe that we try to set with our YouTube videos when we go to races of, like make a little bit of a racecation. I personally am extremely motivated and 100% notice the surroundings of a race and it completely affects how I race, I would say. I'm surprised to hear that for some reason. Like, for example, St. George, my favorite bike.

course. Snow Canyon is insane. It's like you're riding on Mars. I notice that every single time I go up there, whether I'm training or racing. In contrast, Dubai, we're riding on concrete roads with zero spectators and it's cool in its own way because you're in Dubai, but it's to me not aesthetically appealing in any way. And I don't know. I just, I think I draw energy and motivation from nature and beautiful things and trees, even if I'm not fully conscious. of it in the moment. I think it does affect my overall mood. It affects my lead-in to the race, which affects how I race. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And another one I thought it was Montcham-Blanc. Extremely beautiful lake.

The last part of the race is on this windy up and down roller coaster road lined by trees. That road is so sick. And that, in contrast to, yeah, a race where maybe you're just riding up and down a highway. And it's a little bit less visually stimulating. There's not as many trees. I don't personally, I really, that's really important to me. And if I could pick any race schedule, it would be focused on races that cater to that more than concrete. I have a question, follow up question, specific race. One of the best that you have had in the second phase of your career here, Daytona. Feelings about that.

Right, right. I think Daytona was a bit of an anonymous, a lot, an anomaly, What do you honestly say that? Anomily. An anomaly. It was at the end of COVID. We hadn't raced in a year. I was so kind of excited and curious just to race at all, no matter where it was.

And I will say, when you go into that Daytona Speedway, it is insane. Yeah. In its own way. It's like visually crazy. Yeah, that's a good point. It's so big. You can't even comprehend the size of it. Like, we were staying in a hotel across the street, but it took us 10 minutes to drive into the gate that was on the

the other end of the track. Like, it's, it's so huge and in its own way kind of beautiful, like with all the colored seats. Yeah. So I don't know. I wasn't obviously drawing from like nature in that scenario, but it's a different type of beauty, different type of wow. Epic setting. Yeah, even in an empty stadium like that, it was cool. And a couple of the times when I raised Daytona, we did it in the dark. So it was like under the lights and... It's really dark. No, that was Miami. That was Miami. Miami doesn't, Miami doesn't have the same wow factor. That to me is... Well, if you'd just been to Miami and you hadn't been to Daytona,

I think you'd be pretty wowed. But Daytona's like a freaking city. It's so big. Yeah, it's crazy. So, yes, I do heavily rely on that to raise well and also notice it while I'm racing. Yeah. Even if you're in pain.

Wouldn't you say, Nick? What I just realized when you said this is not during the race, it doesn't make much of a difference, but when I am like training in the months leading up to the race, I picture myself in that beautiful place and that actually does make it kind of better while I'm training. But I think what Eric said was interesting. Like if you, yeah, you say you don't notice it in the race,

but if you suddenly were just riding with white walls on the side, you would notice. You're so right. So you do notice. It's just everything hurts. So it's like, oh, this is so beautiful right now. Maybe it's hard to appreciate it as much because you're like, I'd rather be on my couch. like eating potato chips.

Right. But if you take it away, you would notice it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Okay. Last question here is from Toria.

Hi, Paula, Eric, Nick and Flynn. I watched Paula and Eric get Flynn during COVID and have watched him grow up. Oh, happy fifth birthday, Flynn. Yeah. Flynn's birthday was a few days ago. I've had dogs myself in the past, but not since becoming a triathlete. I've considered getting another and wanted to be my buddy and travel companion, but worry about going places that don't allow.

loud dogs such as trails, parks, etc. When Flynn was little, or even now, does he ever stay long periods by himself, either at home or in a kennel? How does it work in your travel van? Do you have a way to keep him cool if he has to stay inside? I'm also considering a van and trying to decide the best setup. Thank you for all you guys do. I often take your suggestions, especially coffee shops, River Rock Roasters.

Oh, in Laverne, Utah is a must stop when I'm there. We'll be there soon. Thank you for your advice. Much appreciated. Just a girl trying to stay fit. Cheers, Toria. Yeah, good question. We never left Flynn in our old van because it didn't have a way to keep the AC on.

I mean, we didn't leave him if it was over 20 Celsius. Yeah, we would park it in the shade with a vent, with a window cracked, like, and then we would not leave him for more than, oh man, I don't even know, like 30 minutes. If it was under 20 degrees Celsius. But now our van, the storyteller, has an air conditioner and a heater in it. So it basically has a thermostat and it'll keep the van at room temperature or cooler. So we can leave him in there when it's hot and we can go for a three, four hour bike ride. I think the longest we've left him in the van is maybe three and a half hours.

Yeah. But he loves it in there. He has this huge bed. He's comfortable in the van. He knows it's a safe place. And it's climate controlled. So we're totally fine leaving him in there. When we leave him at home here at the house, it's usually never more than three or four hours.

But he's a spoiled dog. Like, any time we leave him for that long, he's had a huge activity before. And he's happy to sleep for that long. So, yeah. Yeah. That's kind of the key, I think, is just making sure they get enough attention and exercise before leaving them. Of course, that's a time-consuming thing. But that's part of dog ownership, I think, that's really important.

And you guys live in such a dog-friendly place. Ben, so many people have dogs, the dogs are allowed on the trails, you guys run with Flynn all the time. So it makes that part of things even easier. Yes. I could imagine if we lived just somewhere, even where you are in L.A. Nick, it would be much more challenging to have him because he's the type of breed that needs off-leash time. I'll just say if we lived where you live, Nick, we absolutely would not have Flynn as a breed. I feel like that would just be irresponsible with how much. like we take him

we mostly paula three times a day for at least a 30 minute like run in the woods or play and he still is kind of hyperactive so we've also made him like an extremely fit dog he's an elite athlete dog at this point there's big breeds that don't need

this much exercise yeah but he was made to flush ducks all day long yeah getting him during COVID was kind of a nice thing because we could devote so much attention to him at first and really you know mold him into the dog that we wanted him to be in terms of his behaviors and what he was expecting and what he was used to. And he just, I think as a result of that, has turned into a fairly well-behaved dog who can

run with us nicely and who's used to staying home when we're going to train. He knows when we put our bike stuff on. He's not coming. He goes, lies down on his bed. So yeah, they're just creatures of routine. And I think as long as you establish that when they're a puppy, you can be gone for however much your life needs as long as they're exercised and fed. Yeah. Right? Yeah. For anyone who's wondering, Flynn is not,

Flynn has the best life you can possibly imagine. You never need to worry about Flynn. Yeah, can't confirm. But it is really scary to think about leaving your dog in a hot car. That's horrible. That's why we have dog. My car has dog mode. Yeah, Flynn's been in it.

Yeah. You can access the internal cabin camera from your phone. so even when you're away, you can peek at your dog. Yeah. I think we mentioned it when we got our current van, but that was like 80% of the reason that we went with the storyteller and that we were looking for a new van in the first place was because we wanted to be able to go out and camp

and do a gravel ride for more than 10 minutes and not be... I mean, we just couldn't do it. It took the camping aspect out of our life for a couple of years while we figured that out. Yeah, sometimes I even worried that the AC is going to, like, fail. I think they do have these things that monitor the temperature and alert your phone if it goes under a certain temperature

if you want to be extra cautious. Have a backup. Yeah. Nice. Well, that's all the questions for this week. Next week, we will be coming at you all together but not from Bend or California will be in Arizona.

And the boonies out in the desert. Yeah. I think we're going to have to record that like in the afternoon after I finished my race. Oh, I see because then we lose Paula, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Okay, cool. that'll be, you will be drained. So next time we see you, I will be destroyed. Yeah. Hopefully walking. Yeah. It's okay. We can just do like a little racer cab and then me and Nick can do some questions.

Eric can, we'll hear him snoring in the background. Remember when we did a pod recording in Flagstaff outside? That was a really nice sound. You mean, you mean, it wasn't Flagstaff. Mammoth, yeah. It was mammoth, yeah. We all said in the forest. That actually sounded great.

Yeah, maybe we can try to replicate that. I would love to do that. That was fun. Yeah. I don't think I swore a single time in this episode. You did. Nice job. At least when referring to the last episode.

You know what actually, Nick, what made me like cringe at myself when I was listening to this was thinking about your mom listening to me talk and having a potty mouth like that. And my mom, she would be mortified. No. So I talked to my mom about it specifically and she didn't even notice, first of all. And she loves the podcast and she loves you. And I think you might have a slightly twisted idea of my mom. She has no problems with profanity.

She grew up pretty wild. She was like a female rock climber in Italy when she, like she. Oh, I know she's such a badass. She's roughed it. I mean, my mom swears all the time herself, but I don't think she wants other people to think that her kid is a ponymouth. I see. I see. I see.

I mean, there's a lot of context here. Like, people don't just hear the curses. There's the rest of what you say and there's your success as an athlete and the TTL brand. It's all contextualized. Yeah. So just last quick notes, everyone, we would appreciate it so much and we know you would love it if you buy one of these Foreign Rider TTL track suits. You can buy either the top or the bottom, but personally, I think they look extremely cool as a set. They do.

I never thought I would say that. But wearing white sweats with a white hoodie, gray sweats with a gray hoodie, it makes you feel like such a baller. Yeah. Yeah. And the comfiness, it's like recovery suit. Like this is what you want to put on as soon as you're done training. I'm guaranteed to recover better. You will never find a nicer thing that we will ever make here at TTL.

We're good friends with Ralph Dunning, who owns Foreign Rider, who are doing this collaboration with. He actually outfits the Utah Hockey Club, like the new NHL team. All of the hockey players wear this exact same track suit when they're recovering. So that's how much the athletes want to wear it. They like ask to wear that instead of Nike. If I can make this of a performance thing. too. People talk sometimes about giving your body cues to switch from

sympathetic nervous system to parasympathetic nervous system. Make this track suit your cue for your body. You're done and you shower you put it on, you're on the couch. Time to freaking recover. Rest and recover. Yeah, Eric hasn't taken as often a week. It's 100% that for me. And I had one prior

to us doing these printed ones. This has been my this has been my zen outfit for life. So it would mean a lot to us to see these out in the wild. They go up on Monday and they close on Friday, I guess. Although I really think we should keep it open through a weekend. What do you think?

Here's the thing with pre-orders. Generally, like 50% of people order on the first day and the rest of the other 50% of the people order on the last day. Doesn't matter what days. So you can keep it open for a week, but that just means the people who order on the first day are waiting extra long to receive their thing. Okay, but are you able to give this information?

It's not a pre-order like Castelli where they actually have to go to print. these already made, they just have to brand them. Correct. So there won't be that long of timeline. No, we're looking at about a two-week turnaround for the U.S. and maybe an extra week for Canada. That's not bad at all. No, no, no, no.

This is not a huge long waiting time at all. This is, but it's more than Amazon, two-day delivery. Yeah, everyone's so used to that. Nice. Okay, everyone. Well, we will see you next week. Thanks for listening. And good luck to Eric.

Thanks. Later, everybody. Bye. Bye.