9 Steps to Get Ready for Race Day

TriDot Podcast Episode 227

9 Steps to Get Ready for Race Day

Andrew Harley: This is the TriDot podcast. TriDot uses your training data and genetic profile combined with predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to optimize your training, giving you better results in less time with fewer injuries. Our podcast is here to educate, inspire and entertain. We'll talk all things triathlon with expert coaches and special guests. Join the conversation and let's improve together. Welcome to the TriDot podcast. We have a great episode planned for today as two of our experts join us to talk about how to get ready for an IRONMAN event. From the moment you register to the moment you start the race, there are some stuff that you need to do in between and we have identified nine steps you need to take to be race day ready. We're going to talk all about it. Our first coach joining us is TriDot Master Coach Jeff Raines. Jeff is a certified TriDot coach, a USA Triathlon Level 2 and IRONMAN youth certified coach who has a master of Science in Exercise Physiology and was a D1 collegiate runner. He has over 60 IRONMAN event finishes to his credit, including the World Championships in Nice and has coached hundreds of athletes to the IRONMAN finish line. Jeff has been training and coaching with TriDot since 2015. Jeff Raines, welcome back to the show.

Jeff Raines: Thanks, Andrew. Gosh. From registration to race day, can't wait to get race ready today with Casey who I had the privilege of instructing her lane at TriDot Pool school recently in North Carolina alongside coach Brandy and we had a blast. Good to see you again, Casey.

Andrew Harley: Ooh, Casey, how was TriDot pool school in Charlotte?

Casey Taker: I have to admit it was not what I expected in all the best.

Andrew Harley: Really?

Casey Taker: Yep. And I, it's funny, I never realized no one ever taught me how to swim. I knew how to splash and I knew how to splash faster, but I did not actually know how to swim. So really breaking it down and going back to fundamental basics and working on form the way we did, it's been, it's made me a lot more excited to get back in the pool. So really good, really great things coming out of that and it's definitely got me back in the back in the swing of things.

Andrew Harley: No, I love to hear it. And that is the voice of our second guest. Jeff Raines is really bad about giving my second guest away when I introduce. Our second guest today is Casey Taker from IRONMAN. Casey is the global Director of Athletic Development for IRONMAN. She has worked for the IRONMAN Group for over five years and is passionate about seeing athletes and coaches succeed. Casey is a Multi time IRONMAN event finisher who more recently has become an active trail runner. So that's good to hear. We actually have an episode coming out about trail running pretty soon. Casey, welcome to the TriDot podcast.

Casey Taker: Hey guys, thanks for having me. Super excited. This is one of my favorite topics. When we start talking first timers and like just jumping in, it's one of my favorite topics. So I'm pumped.

Andrew Harley: Well, I am Andrew, the average triathlete, voice of the people and captain of the middle of the pack. As always, we'll roll through our warm up question, settle in for our main set conversation about IRONMAN race day and then wind things down with our cool down. Vanessa will take over for the cooldown to get a coach cooldown tip of the week. Lots of good stuff. Let's get to it.

Announcer: Time to warm up. Let's get moving

Andrew Harley: for today's TriDot podcast warm up quarter question. If you could handpick a swim course, a bike course, and a run course from different IRONMAN events and combine them to create a new race that was just custom tailored for you to have a fun day, which swim, bike and run are you picking? Lots of good options. There are IRONMAN events all over the world. Casey, let's start with you here. What is your answer from this?

Casey Taker: I'm gonna go with some of the 70.3 courses if you're all right.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. Talk about it.

Jeff Raines: Yeah.

Casey Taker: After being in Kona for multiple world championships, I think that any excuse to swim on the Big island is a big one. So I'm gonna take that 70.3 Hawaii swim course. I'm gonna throw that in there for my swim. I'm pretty pumped about this Marbella course coming up. We just announced that Marbella will be the location IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in 2025. If you guys have not seen that video, it will make you dance in your seats. Warning. But that bike course looks absolutely epic. And then I think I'd finish it off right here at home. 70.3 Chattanooga will always have a place in my heart and there is no community like that community to help bring you to the finish line. So I think those would be my picks.

Andrew Harley: Those are all great picks and I love that you took the 70.3 spin on this for our athletes who enjoy the half distance. So all good answers there. Jeff Raines, what races are you using to make your own personal IRONMAN super course?

Jeff Raines: This is a tough one and I think I spent more time thinking about this than I did all of the other questions in the podcast. Easy to do, but Kona obviously is an epic swim, but another swim I think Israel would be great. Gosh, I would love to swim in the Sea of Galilee. I know it's like the lowest freshwater lake on earth, but I'd want stay after the race there and tour the amazing biblical history. So I think that's really fascinating. The nice bike course, as much as I don't really want to bike it again, it was so awesome and such an experience. I'm gonna throw that as my answer. And then the IRONMAN Texas run course, minus the heat of course. It's just so engaging and the people and you do the three laps but you're on each side of the river so it's kind of like you're doing six laps kind of sort of. Or you're at least seeing those loved ones so many times out there and so much engagement. So IRONMAN Texas run course.

Andrew Harley: Yep, all great picks there, Jeff. My answer here, long time listeners to the podcast will not be surprised that my swim, I would want to do IRONMAN New Zealand. That was my first IRONMAN event, the 70.3 in New Zealand. And I've just, I've never done a swim like it. I loved that water. Crystal clear all the way to the bottom, really fresh, nice out and back course, really refreshing, perfect temperature for a wetsuit. And I've just been, I would love to swim there again. So I'm gonna pick the IRONMAN New Zealand swim course. I would want to bike IRONMAN Cairns over in Australia. We did an interview with Beck from the team at full gas and I asked Beck of all the rides that are on full gas, which is one of her favorites and she was like the Iron Man Karns course is just beach views the whole way. You gotta check it out. And so I've ridden this course on full gas and yeah, it is spectacular scenery the whole way. It was very engaging on my computer screen. So I can only imagine how great it would be in real life. That's my bike course pick. And for the run, I would love to go run the IRONMAN St. George course up and down the red rocks. It's a brutal run course. I'm sure we've all three been there. Jeff has raced it. I've run portions of the run course just training while I was out there. I've never raced a St. George and it's very challenging. It's very cool scenery and I would want a challenging run. So those are my picks and I'm very excited to hear what our audience has to say on this question. So make sure you're a part of the I am TriDot Facebook group. We're gonna throw this question out to you, the TriDot community. So go let us know if you were designing your own Iron man super course, any swim, any run, any bike on the circuit, pairing them all together, what does your ideal IRONMAN look like?

Announcer: On to the main set going in 3, 2, 1.

Andrew Harley: TriDot Pool School is the best way for triathletes to learn proper swim form and it is now the official swim program of IRONMAN. The TriDot coaching team spent years on the pool deck crafting functional freestyle and it has already helped hundreds of triathletes improve their swim by an average of 12%. As soon as an athlete registers for TriDot Pool school, they are given a series of dry land exercises to help build crucial muscle memory long before the in person weekend. The weekend workshop is an engaging blend of instruction demonstrations and drills with frequent breaks to rest and reflect. You'll be grouped with swimmers of a similar ability and taught step by step how to turn your muscle memory into full stroke swimming that's smooth and fast. TriDot Pool school is for everyone. We have had entry level triathletes, back of the packers, mid packers, some elite age groupers and even a few pro triathletes in attendance ready to jump in. There are pool schools available all over the country and around the world. Head to TriDot.com/poolschool and sign up today.

Andrew Harley: Committing to an IRONMAN or IRONMAN 70.3 event is always a memorable moment for a triathlete. Whether it's your first or your 100th, IRONMAN literally rolls out the red carpet and puts on a day you will never forget. Once you are registered, there are a number of steps you should take to ensure you are ready for race day and Jeff and Casey are here to talk us through nine of them that we've identified for the show today. But Jeff and Casey, before we get to our nine steps to being IRONMAN race day ready, I want you both to take us back in time. Where were you when you registered for your very first IRONMAN event? And what do you remember thinking and feeling after submitting your registration and paying for it and all that jazz? Jeff Raines, what's this answer for you?

Jeff Raines: Oh man. Throwback. Gosh, I started triathlon training officially in 2008. My first IRONMAN, you know, long course event was I think 2009, maybe 2010. I did a few non IRONMAN branded half and full distances first kind of locally fell in love with it, and then, you know, we'll say upgraded into IRONMAN specific events. My very first IRONMAN was 70.3 Vineman. You know, the old course and the Russian river with the awesome fog and all that.

Andrew Harley: That was California, right?

Vanessa Ronksley: Yeah.

Jeff Raines: Such a beautiful, beautiful course. You know, stay Napa Valley and wine tasting and all that fun stuff. National forest. My first full was IRONMAN Texas. I registered with my wife and we raced as newlyweds together. And, you know, we kind of did it side by side. And then she left me on the run and she beat me. But I just remember we were so excited and nervous, but knowing that we were doing it together, we knew that we would be okay. And I just throw this out there and it probably is a head start on the conversation here, but it takes a tribe, it takes a village when you sign up for a long course, you know, an IRONMAN event. And so, you know, we got plugged in and we were doing it together and we had a local tri club and all those things, and so we just fell in love with it and the addiction began.

Andrew Harley: You know, your relationship is built different when as newlyweds, you're tackling an IRONMAN together and that's something you're both drawn to. So, yeah, Jeff and Sarah Raines, a triathlon super couple for sure. Casey Taker, what was your first IRONMAN event and what were you feeling as you hit that button to register for it?

Casey Taker: I think my story is a little bit different. I was actually not a triathlete prior to coming to the company. And actually in my interview, you know, for my particular role, they were like, you know, your role is all about connecting with the triathlon community. We really want someone that's a triathlete. And I said, well, I'll become an IRONMAN within the first year. Like I, or within the first three years. I said, I'll get involved, I'll jump in. I'll do my first IRONMAN within the first three years. And to me, that was really important. Anyway, if my whole job is to tell people that this is fun and a great idea, I need to have a few under my belt and be able to help guide that journey. But I have to say that's the moment I decided I was going to do an IRONMAN and then the moment I actually signed up for IRONMAN Chattanooga, it was just such a, it was like, holy crap, we're doing this. And there's just something to be said for when you put something absolutely terrifying in front of yourself and something way out of your comfort zone, something that you've never ever thought you could do. It's a rush, it's fear, it's all the things. But if you have any speck of grit or adventure in your soul, that feeling becomes addicting because all of a sudden you're like, all right, here we go. It really is something truly unique and it's a feeling you never stop getting as you put things on your calendar to do.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, it's so true. And no matter, I know Casey, we talked in the bio, you're trail running a lot now and whether it's a trail run or a triathlon or if you love multi sport, if you love endurance sports, it's all exciting, right? And it's alluring and it's all fun to sign up for and to go out and experience. And yeah, for me, my first 70.3, I referenced it earlier, New Zealand, we were building a whole like multi week vacation around that trip and so it was very exciting to register for that. I was pumped. We've been married just a couple years and that was our first like just huge international trip as a young couple. And so that one was exciting. And then registering for the first full distance IRONMAN, which for me was Iron Man Waco, that one was very intimidating. I had some training buddies. We had all talked about doing an IRONMAN together. For me it was my first time. For them it was second, third, fourth depending on the training buddy. And so they were deferring to me on which one we were going to sign up for because it was going to be my first. And so they knew I was debating between IRONMAN Texas, IRONMAN Arizona, IRONMAN Florida. And they were just waiting on Andrew to decide which one. And so I decided IRONMAN Texas. And so I was like, guys, I think I'm going to do IRONMAN Texas. Let's do that one. And so before I had the chance to back out, change my mind, anything like that, one of the guys like messages, I just signed up, so I'm in. It's like, oh well, crap. Well now we all have to sign up. So I signed up in the home office and then immediately hopped on the bike trainer to do a training ride in the pain cave and just, I'm just in my warm up on my bike in the pain cave like what did I just do? Like what did I just get myself into? So first 70.3, I remember being really excited. First full distance IRONMAN, I remember being really scared and intimidated. But man, what an experience it was from start to finish. And we're here to talk about that experience for a lot of athletes listening today who some of them might be signing up for their first and thinking about it, some of them might have just signed up for their first. Some of them might have just signed up for their 40th. But regardless, our two experts today here to talk us through nine steps, nine things you need to do to get ready for that IRONMAN event race day. And step number one is to plan your trip. Jeff, Casey, what hot tips do y'all have for booking your travel, booking your accommodations, renting your vehicles, the timing on some of these items? Casey, what advice do you have here on booking your trip?

Casey Taker: I think the first thing is the conversation with the people that are going with you. And I know that's, but it's amazing to me how often people get rolling and they don't sit down initially and have the conversation with family members, everything, because you kind of want to know who's coming, who's going to be involved. Are we just going for the race? Are we going to make this a racecation? Like getting all of that stuff laid out way ahead of time, it does two things. Number one, it allows you to potentially ask their help in planning some of this stuff so that it takes that pressure off of you knowing that you're going to have your hands full with training. But it also helps you mentally prepare for what that weekend is going to look like. Because you do have to be a bit selfish on race weekend. And if you can kind of identify those areas where you need to be super selfish early, that helps make the whole trip smoother. There's a lot of other tools you can use. We have a great travel section on most of the event pages. If you look for the travel tab on the far left of the event website, Nirvana is always a great tool to use. And then each one has a great usually destination CVB or something like that. And those are really resources that offer a ton of information that can be helpful.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, all great points. And I do want to note that I put this as step one. It could have easily been step two, step nine, step seven, step five. But for my personal experience, I like to get to this straight away. I like squaring these things away, knowing they're booked, knowing that if you wait too long on booking your accommodations, for example, all the good stuff's gonna get taken really, really quick. And you're going to be staying 40 minutes away from the race site in an Airbnb that is a little bit sketchier than you probably prefer. So the earlier you can get to some of these bookings, in my opinion, the better off you're going to be, the more choices you're going to have. Flights might be a little bit different because, you know, you got to wait for those flight prices to be in the right window. Flights are going to be there, but everything else, I encourage people to book as soon as possible. And it just gives you the peace of mind of knowing that it's done and it's squared away. But Casey, great additional steps there just in terms of consulting the people that you're going with, making sure you're on the same page, making sure expectations of the whole party are met. Jeff Raines, anything to add here on wisdom for booking your accommodations?

Jeff Raines: Yeah, I kind of filter it into three categories, and I'm actually signed up for three IRONMAN events already for 2024.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, you are.

Jeff Raines: And yeah, you are.

Andrew Harley: What are they?

Jeff Raines: Texas 70.3, Boulder in June, built around our TriDot RaceQuest Ambassador camp. And then Oregon 70.3 in July is my team, kind of Team Raines team event. And there's a huge group of us going out there. So those are the three I'm committed to, maybe even a Waco in the fall. But when I pick them or sign up for them, I kind of have three buckets for each one. Like, the biggest thing is price. It's money, right? We've got to have a budget. And the three biggest things are the registration fee, your hotel accommodations, and then travel like plane tickets, right? So once those three things are set, I have plenty of time or the rest of the season or year to kind of filter into those other ones. But you may even want to know the race site. Does it have a host hotel? Will you have to rent a vehicle? Or can you walk everywhere where you're going to stay? Do you need a full kitchen? Is there a grocery store nearby if you're going out of the country and there's different foods? So do some research on the course you pick. Yes, you might want to do a fun destination or something like that, but do a little bit of research, know those specifics. And especially if it's your first IRONMAN event, you might want to pick one that has, you know, maybe less logistics or all transition is all in the same spot, start, finish line, all those things. And I know like Nirvana does a lot for you as well. So you can have companies and things plan this or help do some of this research for you and it takes a lot of that kind of chaos and stress out of the picture.

Andrew Harley: Yep, all great stuff and I love that you just pointing out things that I wouldn't have thought of on my first couple big IRONMAN events. It was the grocery stores that are nearby and making sure that how am I going to get food, how am I going to cook food, how am I going to make my breakfast? Like where am I locating myself in relation to the race venue itself and how is that going to interact with race morning? And so some great additions there, Jeff. I'm gonna move us onto step number two. Once you've booked your accommodations, you've figured out how you are pulling off this trip for your race, the travel for your race, step number two for getting ready for race day is to equip yourself for the training. A newer triathlete might need to make a fair amount of purchases to be able to do the swim, bike and run training. An experienced triathlete might be all set, good to go, I've got everything I need. Either way, talk to us about what gear we need to actually swim, bike and run and get ready for our race. Coach Jeff?

Jeff Raines: This could be a huge one. There's so many toys, gadgets, all sorts of things. But if you're brand new, you just signed up for your first race, right? You booked your hotel like it's going to happen, right? So now you got to get to training, right? Just to keep it relatively surface level, I would just first you need some sort of device, maybe a multi sport watch to track some of these things. What's my heart rate, am I pushing too hard? Things like that. So some sort of maybe a GPS multi sport watch device kind of starting there. But really, I mean even kind of more simply, it's like okay, swimming, right? I gotta start swimming. What pool options do I have nearby? You don't want to just necessarily pick the closest one or even the one that's the cheapest by $5 a month or something like that. Because you want to take into account a couple things. Is the pool indoors or outdoors, yards or meters, things like that. But then you may want to say, well hey, I want to pin my gym membership to that pool if you can get a high quality pool and it's kind of pinned to a gym where you can do your strength training and it's got treadmills and bikes and weights and all that, you may want to kind of do a two in one. So things like that you want to consider. Don't just go down the street because it's the closest and easiest one. Set yourself up for success. Pick that monthly membership for your gym or pool that's going to be best for you. And then kind of moving on to the bike. I'd say obviously you got to have a bike. If you only have budget for one bike all year, then that bike needs to be one that can go maybe indoors on a smart trainer or outdoors, right? Or are you going to have a separate bike for indoor versus outdoor? Are you going to get a smart trainer? Just things like that. How much time do you have until race day? And if you're going to get a new bike or a second bike or something like that, you probably want to get it sooner rather than later. But I know that there's also budget involved inside of those things. Am I going to put a power meter? I need bike shoes, helmet cages, water bottles. So a lot of that needs to be considered and in your budget. So don't spread yourself too thin there. And then, you know, obviously you run, there's going to be apparel involved, you're going to need some new shoes. I recommend not using your training shoes day to day, going to the grocery store and stuff like that. So you may want to invest in purchasing, you know, your training shoe, racing shoe, and you only touch those during training and racing, just things like that. There's just so many monthly subscriptions too. I'll end here, but I mean, you know, there's Fulgaz, Rouvy, Zwift, gym memberships, natatorium fees, nutrition. Maybe you're going to have a monthly subscription for nutrition planning and all sorts of stuff. So you got to consider all of these things and start with the most important things first.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. And Jeff, in a very short amount of time, you covered a lot of different things that an aspiring IRONMAN athlete can use, would be helpful to use. I think it's important to note that you can do as much or as little of that as you want. If you can look into all of that and purchase all of that and accumulate all of that, yeah, the more gadgets you have, the more data points you have, the more subscriptions to online platforms and gym memberships you have, the better. To do an IRONMAN, you need a pool to swim in, you need a bike to ride on, you need some running shoes to run in. And that's the bare minimum. And Jeff, like you said, adding the multi sport watch, you can actually track your training. Adding some of the extra gadgets is certainly helpful, but I do want to say that for a lot of our established triathletes, hear that list and yep, check, check, check, check. A lot of newer folks might hear that list and be like, oh my gosh, like, is this too much for me? It's not. You can do it very simply. Casey, any additional insight to add here?

Casey Taker: I'm going to go kind of a little bit more to the dialing it back only to say number one, the first IRONMAN athletes did this with basically a bathing suit, bikes with cages on the front and you know, so we've...

Jeff Raines: Come a long way.

Andrew Harley: What a great reminder.

Casey Taker: So Lynn Lemire, who was the first female to complete an IRONMAN, she had a basket on the front and she carried a boombox the entire time on her basket. So it's doable without all the bells and whistles. The bells and whistles make it a little bit easier, but then also pick one bell and whistle at a time. I know so many people that went out and they got 20 toys and they know how to kind of use 20 toys where sometimes you just need one great toy that you know how to use really, really well. So that would be my only thing is just make sure that you're taking the time to get to know the stuff that you do purchase so that you know how to use it correctly and you know all the ways to use it, not just how to kind of use it to kind of get done what you think you need to get done.

Andrew Harley: Casey, episode 200 something in the podcast, no one's ever said that, like, learn to use the tools one by one. Don't just buy a bunch of stuff and kind of know how to use it. Like, no, know how to use the stuff that you're getting. That's a really great point there. Moving us on to step number three for getting ready for race day. Once we have the means to swim, bike and run, we need to start training. Or if you already are training, you need to keep training. Luckily, we here at TriDot know quite a bit about training. So Jeff, what options does a triathlete have when it comes to their training and of course, from where we stand, what makes TriDot the most effective option?

Jeff Raines: Yeah, I mean, first of all, I'd say get plugged into a group. It can be a local tri club, it can just be, you know, a couple neighbors that want to practice health and fitness alongside you. But that's the first and foremost to start training, right? The morale, the accountability, the biggest thing to start training is just knowing that you're not over stressing or over training or doing something that's going to lead to injury. A lot of it is uncharted territory, especially if it's your first one. And so you've got to take into account your environment, right, your physiogenomics. We have, so it's kind of your internal physiology and genetics, an optimized training plan that is not using, you know, static or training stress score. We use an NTS factor that takes into account so many cool things to help you stay steady, not get injured and things like that. It takes into account environment, your genetics and all sorts of great things. But a great episode to listen to is podcast episode 10. It's one of our most listened to ones. It kind of helps chat, we chat about the season planning. Be patient with the volume. Many go out, they sign up for a race and maybe they get a new bike and then they start kind of scoping social media and race sites and Strava segments and gamification badges and all these things and whoa, he's already biking 80 miles, man. I'm only up to 30. I need to get to it, right? And then they go out and they blow up or get injured or do too much too quick. So structured training, get plugged into a group, work with a coach if you can, local tri clubs. The I am TriDot Facebook group is a great one. TriDot pool school. There's just so many things to get you plugged in and help you not do too much too fast or over train or things like that.

Andrew Harley: And so athletes registering for an IRONMAN event, whether it's a half or a full distance, yeah, you can train yourself. You can, like Jeff said, you can Google couch to 5K and there's going to be plans there on the Internet that it's just one static template that's written for every single athlete to do the exact same way. And that is an option there. There's obviously the coach route where through IRONMAN, through TriDot, you can get a triathlon coach that can guide you from step one all the way to the finish line. And there's using TriDot on its own. So definitely some options. Casey, from your seat on staff with IRONMAN, what are you seeing athletes doing and what would you add here just in terms of taking the step of starting your training?

Casey Taker: I think you guys nailed it with no two journeys, even two journeys that you do yourself are ever going to be the same, right? Like you can train for two 70.3s and those training loads and that training journey is going to look completely different. So knowing that it is going to be your own unique thing and accepting that up front is going to help you. And again, if you're going to invest, let's invest in a tool. Whether that is TriDot, a coach, like, invest in a tool that helps you overcome that first and foremost. And then just that community piece. There's a lot of pieces of this puzzle that the community is going to help you with that really can't be done in other ways. And so whether it's just having a good friend that you make by going to a local triathlon and asking someone if they'll be your friend, or if it's joining a community, and they will be your friend, joining a Facebook community, like there are just a lot of these little baby things that only a community can get you through.

Andrew Harley: No, it absolutely is. And the last thing I would say here, because I see this for athletes, whether they're signing up for the first marathon or their first IRONMAN event, we'll see the question thrown out on social media, when should I start training? And the answer is today. And I think a lot of people, when they come into the sport, they have this impression that, oh, I sign up for a race, let me get four months out from the race and then I need to start my quote unquote training plan. Start training today. You're building the fitness today. If your race is 12 months away, you can build a lot of fitness and get a lot better at the swim, bike and the run. And then once the race comes closer, really start working and building towards that race. So however far away you are from your IRONMAN event, start training today. Which is why I had that towards the top of the list. Step number four for getting ready for race day is to practice your tri skills. There are things we need to know how to do beyond just accumulating the fitness. Things like putting a wetsuit on and taking a wetsuit off, things like getting on and off your bike as smoothly as possible. Even small things like slurping down a gel while you're running. All these things are tri skills that help your race day go so much smoother if you've practiced them. Casey, Jeff, what should an athlete know how to do and how can we practice these skills? Casey, what do you think?

Casey Taker: This is where I think being able to jump into a race locally to you, being able to jump into one of your local triathlons, being able to practice this stuff as you're training, there's some of these little things that you need to practice every day. Nutrition, what you're going to do. But like, a lot of these little things, there's other little things that you don't encounter unless you're in a race day environment. So the more you practice racing, like, racing, it is an art. And the people that do it and do it well, it is beautiful to watch. That's the biggest thing. Try to jump into some of your local events. Use those to test some things out, use those to dial some things in. And if you don't have any local events, grab some friends and make something yourself. Like, you know, there's some great places that you can find where you're like, hey, guys, we're going to do a sprint triathlon right here in this park today. And just use that to work on those skills because that can be a lot of fun. It gives you some small wins along the way. There is nothing like the first time you can pull your water bottle out of your bike cage and successfully put it back. And there's nothing like the first time you rip that wetsuit off in one swoosh. Like, there's some of these little wins along the way that are just going to keep boosting your confidence.

Andrew Harley: Yep. And to your point, I mean, you get in a race environment and you do that thing, you can ride your bike outside and you can be fairly used to eating and snacking and taking nutrition and water while riding outside. And then you're in a race environment with bikes all around you and people passing you on the left and you passing people on the right and all that jazz. And all of a sudden, like, you're going up and down hills and there's wind like, that can become a very intimidating and challenging thing, even though you know how to do it. And the more you get out in those conditions, the more you get on the race course, the better you get at those skills. You can even practice putting on your wetsuit and taking your wetsuit off, you know, poolside or lakeside. Once it's race morning and you're on a clock and your race starts in 24 minutes, all of a sudden that can become a very intimidating pressure pack situation that can spike your heart rate. So love the tip, Casey. Get in a race environment, do some of those skills in a race environment. Coach Jeff, what skills do you think our folks need to make sure they know how to do before entering that race environment?

Jeff Raines: Yeah, I'm going to come in from the coach angle, you know, like practicing tri skills that are specific and intentional to the IRONMAN you just signed up for. For example, is the swim, are you going to ease entry down like a ramp and just kind of take your time? Are you going to sprint through rocks and sand, right, run through the surf dolphin, dive through some waves, right, swim out in the ocean, right, or things like that? Texas 70.3, I'm doing that in April. You jump off of a pier. Now I think they're introducing a ramp system, but just those types of things, like how is the swim going to be executed? What type of water is it? Is it salt water? Is it waves? Is it with the current? Is it going to have a head current, things like that. So kind of do the research of the actual specific IRONMAN you just signed up for and just start practicing, right? I mean, little things like, hey, I swim indoor all the time. I got clear goggles. But hey, on race day, I'm gonna want some tinted ones because half the swim I'm gonna be sighting into the sun, right? Swim skin, is it gonna be wetsuit legal or not, right? Are those gonna be sleeve or sleeveless? Does the race have wetsuit peelers? So just little things like that? I mean, obviously there's a million things on the bike. I won't get all into that. But just a quick example, just like your smart trainer, if you use a smart trainer indoors, are the watts the same as what the power meter on your bike is reading? Is there a discrepancy? Things like that you got to know, you got to be intentional about because you don't want to push 20 watts too hard out there on your first one. Transition. Know what the transitions are like. Fueling is another one. How the aid stations, what fuel they're going to have. Are you going to carry your own nutrition? Are you going to rely on the race course and what they provide? I could go on and on and on, but you know, just be specific to your course, be intentional, and start practicing those kind of unique things. Each discipline is different, no matter which IRONMAN event you do, even though the distance is the same. And that's what I love about our sport. It's not repeatable. And so each one that you do, you have to be specific.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. Love the point about knowing your course and practicing those skills with your course in mind, because every course is very different. I would also just say to know what works for you and practice what works for you. And an example of that, when it comes to nutrition and fluids, I think I just, I think my arms are too short. I don't think I have the wingspan to very comfortably or the balance and confidence in my bike handling to reach behind me and grab nutrition or water from a bottle holder behind me. I have my tools there in case I have a flat tire or something. But I tried it. I tried getting good at it. I tried practicing it. I'm not comfortable doing that out on the road. And so I practice taking nutrition, taking fluids from sources in front of me or below me. So know what works for you and be okay with what works for you and practice what works for you is something I would add alongside what Jeff is saying. Step number five for getting ready for race day is to form a nutrition strategy. It would be very, very ill advised for an athlete to take on IRONMAN without some kind of nutrition plan in place. When in a training cycle should we form our plan and how can we make sure it's going to fuel us to the finish line? Casey, what do you think?

Casey Taker: I think as soon as you start training, you need to start training your gut and your system. Like, you need, these are things that need to be just part of training as a whole. Like, it's very holistic, right? Like, these things all play together, and they're all puzzle pieces that have to fit together on race day. So it's natural that you would start looking at that stuff. And I'm going to let Jeff speak to the finer points of it as a coach, but just as an athlete, the sooner you can find what works for you in your early sessions, the easier it's going to be to try to apply those things once you start going longer. And then as you get closer to race day, is when you can sit down and actually make your plan. But you need to be practicing that stuff right when you first start training, because there's going to be things that work and there's going to be things that don't. And you don't want to find those things that don't out in the last six weeks when you're trying to blast through your peak training and they're going to make you feel better in training, right? Like nutrition's going to help power you through the training that you need to do.

Andrew Harley: One thing, Casey, along the way that I think I learned is if I'm going to try something new, a new product, a new strategy, a new timing of when I'm taking products, I'll, sure I might not need to fuel myself for that 45 minute run, but hey, while I'm doing a 45 minute run, let me try this gel that I haven't tried before to see how my gut interacts with it. Let's not try new stuff in the longer sessions that you'll have closer to race day because then if your body doesn't get along with something, you're sabotaging a key long session. So, yeah, definitely practice things. Start practicing things straight away. Find out what works for you. Jeff Raines, let's get a little more nuanced with this. As a coach, what do you talk through with your athletes in terms of forming their IRONMAN race nutrition plan?

Jeff Raines: Yeah, race day nutrition and coming up with the strategy is the million dollar question, you know, and I was eating turkey sandwiches and just popping a gel, you know, here and there, my first one, and I cramped a lot and all those things. And then I got to where, okay, the pros are doing this, so I'm going to use that same product, you know, and we're all a little naive at first and it can be kind of a deer in the headlights. But really just know as a new triathlete and you sign up for your first long course, eventually what you eat in the middle of the race is going to definitely dictate the success that you will have on that day. And I'll just kind of keep it surface level. But there are safe ranges, right? You need to pay attention to the milligrams of sodium per hour you're taking out there all day long, the grams of carbohydrates per hour that you're taking out there all day long, total fluid ounces per hour, and then calories per hour. Those are kind of the four main metrics. And there's safe ranges of those kind of when in doubt where to start. But where you will actually fall in those ranges will depend on many factors. The temperature of the day, the humidity, the altitude of the city above sea level, wind. How hard are you going to push out there? Are you going to push a much lower percent of your FTP or a higher percent of your threshold out there all day? How demanding is the course? How technical is it? If there's a lot of hills and a lot of climbs and a lot of turns, you're going to be out there longer, you're going to be stressed a little bit more, things like that, right? So really what you want to do is start off kind of when in doubt in the lower end of these ranges and then start testing it week to week. Change only one variable week to week, and then if you have an issue, maybe, you know, you'll have a better idea of what caused that stomach cramp or that tummy ache or whatever, right? Practice, practice, practice. Sweat rate is another one. You know, weighing yourself before and after. There's something called cardiac drift you can pay attention to in long sessions. And if you're experiencing cardiac drift late into a five hour indoor trainer session, let's just say then, you know, okay, three and a half hours in, I started experiencing cardiac drift. My cadence was the same, my power was the same, everything was the same. But my heart rate started climbing. Well, nothing's changed. Why is my heart rate going up? Well, maybe I'm dehydrated, maybe I don't have enough fuel, right? So little things like that, you pay attention to week to week and it adds up to a really big deal, right? So working with a coach or, you know, seeking out sweat testing and all sorts of things, there's so much to think about, but it can be actually a simple process if you do it right and kind of know where to start.

Andrew Harley: Step number six for getting ready for IRONMAN race day is to take measures to stay healthy. What is the point of going through all these things we're talking about? Dialing in your nutrition, getting your training plan going, accumulating the gear it takes to do the training, all that jazz. What's the point in doing all that if you end up too hobbled on the start line to even enjoy the day? Jeff Casey, we can't eliminate injury risk entirely, but what are some measures that athletes can take to increase their odds of staying healthy? Coach Jeff, what do you think?

Jeff Raines: I have to bounce back to what I alluded to earlier, our normalized training stress. It's a system within TriDot that monitors the training stress. And it's a proven process. It's amazing what it does. It does it all for you. It's looking at the data that's coming in every single day and it's making sure that you're doing the right training, right? If you push too hard in a session, well, first future sessions may dynamically be optimized for you to keep you safe. And entities that aren't using NTS, gosh, you know, they're not taking into account kind of like there's kind of like the five fatal flaws of anyone that's not using kind of our NTS. And there's an environment aspect, discipline type, an intensity level, intensity distribution, intensity duration. And then we have what's called your training stress profile. But it takes into account your age, body composition, sport age, performance ability, training load, genetics, all these cool things, right? And so TriDot's monitoring a lot of these things for you to help keep you injury free. Matt Sommer actually says this, TriDot coach, good buddy of mine too, and he says that you have to listen to your body while it whispers and you have to react then before you hear it yell because then it's too late, right? And so we got to prioritize sleep and recovery and listen to your body and just make sure you're not doing blind training.

Andrew Harley: We see athletes all the time report being healthier, staying healthier, arriving on the start line healthier from using TriDot training because of the way it monitors your training stress and everything Jeff's talking about. But yeah, Jeff, I'm going to add, I think the strength training is important. I think the recovery is important, things you're alluding to. I can definitely tell a massive difference in the way my body feels when I'm staying on top of my 30 minutes or so of stretching per day as opposed to when I neglect those items. And another thing is that the time to start strength training and a time to really start working mobility, stability, stretching stuff into your routine is now because once you get close to IRONMAN race day and the volume's going up and you're doing long rides and long runs and you're tired, like it's very difficult to add a new training modality in that circumstance. So add those modalities now, get them on the schedule, get your body nice and strong so that when you get deep into the training cycle and closer to race day, you feel better and better. So that's something that I will add just as the podcast host who has listened to our coaches talk about this an awful lot. Very interested to hear what Casey has to say from her experience working with coaches and athletes over at IRONMAN. Casey, what do you see athletes doing to arrive to the start line healthy to begin with?

Casey Taker: I think everything you guys have mentioned and then also, yes, paying attention to your mental health. I think mental health is one of the first things that goes out the window when you start, especially when the volume starts getting big. And this is a big deal. This is hard. Like, this stuff is hard. And I think sometimes, especially if you're in an environment where you're around people that are also doing it, it's really easy to forget that this is really hard because, like, everyone else is doing it. So you just feel like, okay, it's somewhat normalized, right? Like going out for an 80 mile bike ride on a Saturday is somewhat normalized. So I think it's just that daily, weekly, monthly check in with yourself. How am I feeling? How is my life going outside of this training right now? Are there stresses that are coming in from that that I may need to consider that are in addition to my training stress? You know, because, yes, you're training your body to be ready for that big event on race day. You're going to need your mind too. No one gets to that finish line without that mental capacity. And it's just good to do a check in. And there may be things that you need to consider. Talk to your coach, talk to someone else if that's starting to play a factor. And I just think it's really important and it's important to keep an eye on that just like you would injury of any other part of your body.

Andrew Harley: And something that's been said on the podcast many, many times is consistency over perfection when it comes to your training. If you need to take a step back for a weekend, for a week, for a day, because your body needs it, because your mind needs it, because your family schedule or your work schedule needs a little bit extra of your attention, do not stress about being perfect in your training. Do not stress about missing that day or two or four of training. If you're consistent in your training cycle leading up to race day, you will be just fine. So, yes, pay attention to your physical health, pay attention to your mental health. Great addition there, Casey. Step number seven for getting ready for IRONMAN race day is to get your race gear ready. Your body's ready through the training, your mind's ready through the things we've been talking about, but your gear has to be ready for race day as well. I feel like the bike tune up is the obvious one here, but there's probably a little bit more to prepare than just that. Casey, how can we ensure our race day gear is ready to go?

Casey Taker: I think that it's having a regular check in, whether that's monthly, whether you schedule that, you know, every six weeks or so with your gear. Like, it kind of goes back to as you're practicing, you know, if you're doing some of these shorter distance events or you're going out, like doing those regular, like, what are my shoes looking like? What are they feeling like? What are my goggle straps? Are my goggle straps starting to wear out? There's just all these little things that if you can monitor them on a regular basis and get in a pattern, then it's not this big six weeks out, I have to sit down and look over 500 things. But I think there are some key pieces. A bike tune up, obviously that is like the number one piece and if you can only get it done, get it done before your big event. Like some people, they can't afford to get it done as often as it would be in a perfect world, but definitely having that and then those big key pieces of equipment, just making sure you're really digging through those and getting them organized in a way that you can check them.

Andrew Harley: You're training on your bike year round, you can train on your bike all the time. And so you got to get it tuned up before race day. But with like the goggles and like running shoes, once I'm like, yes, this is the pair of goggles I'm going to use for this race day, like I'll use them in the pool a couple times, I'll make sure I'm good with them, but then I will leave them to the side until race day from there to not ruin their anti fog properties and not stretch out the band. Like, once I've identified, and same thing with the running shoes, once I know, oh, this is my race day pair of shoes, I'll use them for a handful of key workouts just to make sure my foot really jives with it at certain distances. But then they're going in a box and they're waiting until race day because I need them to be fresh and not overused by the time race day comes. So that's something that I keep in mind with my gear. Coach Jeff, what have we not covered here? Talk to us about race day gear.

Jeff Raines: Having it ready, have a list and check it twice. And I love that on the IRONMAN race websites, there are athlete guides. Go through that. Read every single page of it. Well, maybe even before you sign up. But for sure, like right after you sign up, get going on that, read that athlete guide. And there's a kind of a race day checklist, you know, race belt and just things that you would need for race day. And then print that out, but then add to it your specific needs, right? John Mayfield always says a fast bike is a clean bike. Keep your bike clean all year long and you don't have to go in and pay $150 to get it tuned up once a month. Learn how to clean your chain yourself. It's very, very affordable. Test your wetsuit is a huge one. A lot of people, oh, I used it last year or whatever, but, you know, don't put it on the week before the race. So test your wetsuit, even if you have to do it in a swimming pool. Yeah, you might get hot quick, but take it off, rinse it well, obviously chlorine and all that. You know, we talked about testing the goggles, testing that second pair. Actually something that I see a lot of, and I'm guilty of it too, is, okay, I want to test my wetsuit. We're four weeks out from a big race, right? We put on that wetsuit, we go swim some open water. Okay, it still fits. Okay, I get a feel of the buoyancy and all that. But do you wear your race kit under it in practice? Most people don't. So the wetsuit fits different with that race kit you're going to wear under and chafing and just little things like that. Like, don't rent race wheels the week of the race if you've never used them, right? You're going to want to do it earlier. If you have tubeless tires, you're going to want to put sealant in those every two to three months anyways, that stuff dries up. I mean, just, there's a million examples I could go down. But really make your specific list, right? And just start planning that out when you're going to do these things, when you're going to start testing them. So just have a plan and kind of like Andrew said, you've got to start these things now because it will creep up on you and as the volume increases, you're going to have less time per week to focus on these extra things. So before the volume ramps up too much, start doing these things now.

Casey Taker: I would also say just practice packing, like make sure, especially if you're traveling on a flight or something like that. I was the, my first 70.3 was 70.3 Maine and I did not do that. And I went to pack and it was like, oh, wait, I can't fit this in the bags that I have.

Jeff Raines: If you're borrowing a bike box or a bike case from somebody to carry your bike on the plane, make sure it fits in there. Things like that. Yeah, good point.

Andrew Harley: A final public service announcement here. Anything that's electronic, charge it. Yeah, make sure it's charged. Don't wait till the night before the race. Make sure the week of you're charging things. Anything that's electronic, obviously the multi sport watch, obviously your bike computer, whatever else you have. If you have any foot pods or electronic shifting, just make sure your electronics are charged and ready to go. Two more steps to cover and then we're going to close it down today. Step number eight for getting ready for race day is to set your pacing strategy. You can absolutely go out there and wing it. Just go by feel, run how you feel like running, swim how you feel like swimming, bike how you feel like biking. I don't think our coaches would recommend that, though. It's nice to have a strategy in place to make sure that you're taking advantage of your fitness but also not burning out too quickly. You got to get through the day. So, Jeff Casey, how can we best form a solid pacing strategy for our race distance? Coach Jeff?

Jeff Raines: Your first, you know, half or full IRONMAN, we get caught up in the numbers. We get caught up in kind of beating our friend or whoever, right? And we have kind of like these swim, bike and run goals, time goals. And it's hard not to get caught up in that. But for your first one, I don't live or die by it. If you get out of the water and you're 12 minutes slower than what you hoped for, don't let it ruin your day. I would actually start off slow and patient, right? You have a race strategy, you have a goal time in mind, but really you want to feel good and don't live or die by that. Stay on top of your nutrition. Don't get caught up in what others are doing out there. Gosh, I've seen it a million times, right? People get caught up early, you know, on the bike, people are passing them or maybe they had a rough swim. So they're just gonna crush that first hour on the bike and make up time or try to bank time, you know, things like that. And then you're like, man, these people are flying by me and what am I doing wrong? Like, you know, you should go with them. But you usually see all those people back again halfway through the run. They're walking, right? And if you're smart and patient, you'll pass most of those people back. I'll just say this. Have three or four strategies planned, right? And you've heard this on the podcast before. It's not if a curveball is thrown at you on race day, it's when. When something is going to go wrong, it's going to happen. There's never an IRONMAN event where everything goes perfect. So if you have three or four pacing strategies or what if scenarios planned, you've practiced those, you're ready for any of those. So when it happens, it doesn't ruin your day, right? You're not thrown off, you adapt. It doesn't ruin your day, and it doesn't cause chaos. But if you're just like, I have to swim, I have to break an hour on that IRONMAN swim. Hey, I have to get off the bike in under six hours, you know, all those things. And then when something goes wrong, it can ruin your day. It messes with your mind, your mindset. So have three or four strategies planned ahead of time.

Andrew Harley: If you are training with TriDot, you know that your race has a pace plan right there for you for the swim, bike and run. It's really cool. What I always like to do is look at that a month or two in advance, right? And start looking at those numbers, start looking at those paces. And when I'm out on my training runs, training rides, training swims, kind of seeing, okay, how is my, when I am at race pace, how is my body feeling at this pace that TriDot wants me to hold on race day? And then once the race rehearsals come around, I'll see, okay, how does my body feel at this pace for this duration? And then I'll start making some adjustments from there. Sometimes it is spot on. Oh, my gosh. Yep, this feels perfect. I'm gonna do this on race day. Sometimes I need to dial it back a little bit or be a little more aggressive. But I always like to look at what TriDot recommends far enough in advance for me to kind of have those numbers in mind for those last couple training sessions so that way, when I do go out on the race course, I have some numbers in mind to go off of. And to your point, Jeff, you know, have that, that's plan A. And then based on how you're feeling out there and how it's going out there and how it actually is on the conditions of the day, you might need to make some adjustments on the fly. Casey Taker, anything to add here?

Casey Taker: You know, racing is an art. I'll keep going back to that. And any good artist knows that you need to start with what you intended to paint and then a lot of times you'll end up with something slightly different but better. And I'm going to channel one of my favorite coaches, Ms. Michellie Jones. And I'm going to say, yeah, remember to race the day you're having, not the day you thought you were going to have.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, great quote. TriDot Coach Michellie Jones. She's a gem. She's great. And a well decorated athlete for sure. And still racing, still racing very competitively. Love watching her race. Last one today. Step number nine for getting ready for race day is to research your race venue and your race course. We've talked about this a little bit in some of the other steps, but let's just close off the show by making sure once we get out on the race course, we know what we're doing. What do we need to make sure we familiarize ourselves with when it comes to the host town, the race course and the venue layout of the location itself? Casey, what do you think? I'm going to start with...

Casey Taker: Read the athlete guide. Read the athlete guide. Read the athlete guide.

Andrew Harley: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Casey Taker: Ironically, most of the time, first timers are pretty great at this. Most first timers will sit down and they will memorize that bad boy.

Andrew Harley: That is so true.

Casey Taker: It's actually our athletes that have been racing for a while that need to listen to that more. Yeah, but the athlete guide is such a great starting point because it kind of gives you that overall general information that you can then sit back and say, okay, I've got the athlete guide. I'm going to match that up to this plan that me and my crew made way prior of what we wanted the weekend to be. And I'm going to then see where are the gaps where I need to research some more information. And I think that's going to be a big piece at least in terms of knowing the destination, helping map out that weekend and knowing the course in a way that you can then sit down with your training plan or your coach or something and start mapping out how you need to train and planning to that course.

Andrew Harley: Totally agree with you. When you're brand new to everything, yeah, you want to read and consume anything you get your hands on when it comes to that race. And once you've raced a few times, you get cocky and you don't charge your electronic shifting and then you're stuck in one gear out on race day. So yeah, definitely check all the boxes. Do everything we're talking about whether it's your first IRONMAN event or your 100th IRONMAN event. Coach Jeff Raines, shut down our main set today. Anything you want to add that you've coached your athletes about when it comes to knowing the course and knowing the venue?

Jeff Raines: I'll just end with this. There's so many resources out there for every IRONMAN event and they're free. They're at your disposal. Yes, read the athlete guide, but there are YouTube videos, webinars, you can ride the courses on full gas and it's the actual video, that actual gas station, that actual tree. Oh man, that's a weird 180, you know, U-turn and you can do that at home and you're living without having to travel to that location and just see so many technical aspects of your specific race day. You can chat with people who've raced there before, where to stay, where to shop. Hey, what road to take race morning to avoid traffic. Is there a shuttle to transition? Is there a shuttle to the swim start? Is T1 different from transition 2, you know, all those things. Yes, research your venue, have a plan. But talk to those who have been there, done that and they'll be able to give you even more additional tidbits. So use those resources for sure.

Andrew Harley: Great set everyone. Let's cool down.

Vanessa Ronksley: It's cool down time and I'm Vanessa, your average triathlete with elite level enthusiasm. Our guest today is no stranger to the TriDot community and someone that I have looked up to since my early days of being a TriDot athlete. It is my absolute pleasure to welcome elite age group athlete and TriDot coach Lauren LeBlanc. Lauren is a three time USAT All American and four time 70.3 World Championship qualifier. In addition to placing third overall at Clash Daytona in 2022. Lauren got her coach bug from being the coxswain for the Grand Valley State crew team in college and she has now brought over her wide array of skills to triathlon. Lauren specializes in athletes with busy schedules who need to balance everything out, in addition to those with complex medical needs, given that she's a physician's assistant in cardiology. Lauren lives in Michigan with her husband, two little boys, and their adorable golden retriever puppy. Welcome to the Cool Down, Lauren.

Lauren LeBlanc: Thank you. I'm so happy to be here and good to see you.

Vanessa Ronksley: I have always been interested in the medical profession, and not only do you have a super cool job, you get to act as a witness. So tell us a little bit about this.

Lauren LeBlanc: Yeah, so on the side, I got approached, this has been going on for several years, just to help as an expert witness for malpractice cases. So it's just been an interesting sort of sidebar to my career where I get to review these cases and give my expert opinion, I guess. So that has been just a nice, like a different viewpoint of medicine. And you don't always think about these little documentation things and how all the different parts kind of come together at the end of the day. But that has been kind of helped me, I think, expand my career a little bit.

Vanessa Ronksley: That is a really interesting part of your job that not everyone would even consider, you know, having to do. And so you have to, tell us, are lots of people guilty?

Lauren LeBlanc: Well, I think there's always a case... To be made for both sides, and so you just have to kind of find the pieces that support your view and then I guess, see how everything hashes out in court. I've actually thankfully never had to go to court. I've had to do a few depositions. And let me tell you, those attorneys are ruthless.

Vanessa Ronksley: As ruthless as you on your bike. That's how ruthless they are.

Lauren LeBlanc: In their jobs, that's for sure.

Vanessa Ronksley: Yeah, I think they're surprised because they see me and maybe I look a little meek, but, you know, then I can I really go after it.

Lauren LeBlanc: Yeah, no, you go after everything with full gusto. I am absolutely 100% positive. So that being said, let's hear the tip that you have for our listeners today. Yeah, so I was thinking about this, and I know Kurt Madden had brought this up, I think, a while ago. I don't know if it was the podcast or not, but I find that it can be very helpful to sort of front load some of that extra Z2 time. Sometimes we have workouts that might have, you know, 15 or 20 minutes of real work, but 40 minutes of Z2 time. I like to do a longer warmup, whether it be the run or on the bike, and push some of those threshold intervals or whatever they might be towards the end of my workout. I find my legs perform better after a longer workout. And I also think there's a bit of a grit factor to be earned in at least mentally knowing that you can do that sort of high level work after you've already put some miles in on the legs. So I think it's not for everybody. For some people it may work very effectively though, and I think it's definitely worth a try.

Vanessa Ronksley: I love this tip because it's something that I've totally forgotten about. I think that it's something that's really valuable for people. And I know for me, I really like the grit factor that comes in, especially if you're approaching those really long rides. If you're, you know, in the depths of your race prep phase and your rides are super long and you have your section at the front, that's all the fun part. And then, you know, why wouldn't you put that at the end when you're tired?

Lauren LeBlanc: Yeah, I've done sometimes like an entire hour of Z2 and then done, you know, maybe an hour, it's an hour and a half of like workout stuff. And then I have maybe 20 minutes of just plain Z2 at the end. And for me that has worked out really well.

Vanessa Ronksley: Now I have a question about, like, if people are to push their workouts to their device, do you actually, if you're riding outside, do you create a file for your device and then upload that file? Is that how you would go about doing it or do you just go by, you know, how much you have to do for each set?

Lauren LeBlanc: I'm sort of old school, so I'm on Zwift quite a lot, especially being up here in Michigan. So for a good chunk of the year I'm indoors. And so for me, I build those workouts into Zwift and I purposely kind of front load the Z2 and I can move things around and see what I have as I build that custom workout. And the nice thing is they're all then saved in there and I can just kind of tweak and adjust for the next one. And then if I'm outside, I usually know what I have to do. Whether it's 8 minute, you know, 3 by 8 minute intervals or maybe 2 by 12 threshold, and then some, you know, stamina or Z3 kind of level stuff. So I just kind of lap my Garmin computer and I keep it on the screen so I can see what my average power is. I think when we ride outside, there's a lot of up and down, especially if it's undulating terrain. So I just press the lap button. I keep the screen so I can see what that lap power is. And I have, you know, a goal that I'm trying to reach as far as keeping that lap power there.

Vanessa Ronksley: That is so brilliant. I never thought of using the lap button.

Lauren LeBlanc: So for me, that's what I do. I'm sure you could build a file in Garmin and push it over, but that would require pre planning on my part, right?

Vanessa Ronksley: Oh, my gosh. Who has time to pre plan when you have a, you know, two, three hour, four hour plus ride? You don't have time to make a file. So lap button. That's brilliant. Thank you so much. That just made...

Lauren LeBlanc: There you go. Go try it out.

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