Troubleshooting 7 Common Race-Day Nutrition Problems

TriDot Podcast Episode 297

Troubleshooting 7 Common Race-Day Nutrition Problems

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Announcer: 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. Together. Yeah.

Andrew Harley: Hey, everybody. Welcome to the TriDot Podcast. We are neck deep in a series we've been doing where we bring coaches onto the show to help us troubleshoot all of the major things that could go wrong during a triathlon race day. We've talked about the swim, we've talked about the bike, we've talked about the run. And now we are going to walk through the seven most common nutrition problems you might face during a triathlon race day. And I've got two of our wonderful tri doc coaches here to talk us through these issues. I've got Coach Kathy Hudson, who leads K. Hudson Performance, based in Waco, Texas. I've known Coach Kathy a very long time. She's one of our longest tenured TriDot coaches actually, and it's her first time on the podcast. So glad that we could rectify the fact that we've gone so long without Coach Kathy coming onto the podcast. I also have Coach Jasmine Moezzi who leads the South Bay squad based in Los Angeles, California. And both of our coaches joining us today have some nutrition qualifications. A number of our tryout coaches could come on and answer these seven questions, but I wanted to bring on two of our coaches that have some formal nutrition training. So Coach Kathy, could you just kind of share with our folks briefly what your knowledge is when it comes to nutrition?

Kathy Hudson: Absolutely. Thank you, Andrew, for having me. I'm just so excited about being here today. I am a metabolic efficiency specialist, Bob Sibohar, I received that certification years ago and it's just so important when, when it comes to daily nutrition, which ties into sports nutrition, also a background with professional fitness and training associations with a sports nutrition certification there as well. And I think I would be remiss not to mention the TriDot certification coaching course and also the IRONMAN University course, which we get a lot of nutrition education on that as well, so. And thank you again.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I helped produce those videos so I can tell you it is very thorough what IRONMAN Youth certified coaches are learning about nutrition from some wonderful nutrition experts. Jasmine, same question over to you. Just so people kind of know. Okay, she, she's a triathlon coach, sure. But she's a triathlon coach. With some nutrition knowledge. What are, what's your background studying this area?

Jasmine Moezzi: Yeah, I got my certification through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. So I'm a certified integrative nutritionist and health coach. So I've been working really heavily with my athletes on nutrition for a long time and I've been using it for myself too, which has been really helpful. Um, and I'm also IRONMAN U certified, so a lot of nutrition info on there as well. So kind of got a lot of solid nutrition background from those two programs.

Andrew Harley: Absolutely. Well, you two are the perfect pair to help us troubleshoot the seven most common things that could go wrong on the triathlon racecourse when it comes to nutrition. Uh, I'm excited to get into this. Oh, I'm Andrew, the average triathlete, voice of the people and captain of the middle of the pack as always. We'll start with our warm up question and then we'll get into our main set conversation before moving on to our cooldown where we'll ask an audience question. Lots of good stuff. Let's get to it.

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

Andrew Harley: For our warm up question today. I want to know from our coaching panel here and from our audience at home listening, what is the biggest race day problem you personally have encountered relating to nutrition during a race? Of all the times you hit the race course, what was the time? You really just got into a sticky situation out there in regards to your nutrition coach, Jasmine, what does this answer for you?

Jasmine Moezzi: So this happened to me actually last year when I did Monterey 70.3 in Mexico. It was super cold and rainy in LA like the months leading into it and it was really hot and dry when I got to Monterey, a little different. Yeah, a little bit of different weather conditions. My, my gut was not ready for, for heat like that and I did not, I just wasn't able to fuel enough on the bike because I was just, I felt like I was just so hot and overheating and when I got to the run, I could barely even like feel my legs. Like even the slightest incline was so painful and I, I was definitely just going very downhill from there. But I just very slowly started taking in more and more nutrition and I last half of the run was able to bounce back which was really, really nice comeback. It doesn't happen very often, so I was really happy to be able to combat that.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I mean it's amazing how you can be so prepared and do the training right and, and then just if your body doesn't respond to the conditions of the day very well. Yeah, it can throw you even, even you see it happen to the pros. Right. You'll see pros DNF in the late stages of a race just because the conditions just weren't agreeing with their body. You see some pros steer clear of certain environments because they just know I don't race very well in certain environments. So interesting to hear how that happened to you, Coach. Kathy, same question over to you from all of your triathlon racing. What was a time that just something did not go right with nutrition?

Kathy Hudson: So I probably my second IRONMAN and I, I trained with, I trained like this and it worked fine. But I had, I was using an electrolyte that was in a capsule and, and the instructions that said you could open the capsule and mix it in with your, you know, with your other products, you know, with your energy, your carbohydrates. And so I did that because I thought, wow, I'm going to be out here. Why? I don't want to swallow all those pills. It worked great during training and so it worked okay on the bike. But towards the end I was really getting tired of that, that taste. And, and then by that, by the time I got to the run, it was like, I cannot drink this anymore. I just cannot. The taste was terrible. And so go on to the run. And I went to get my special needs bag and I was like, okay, great, I don't have it because everything I had done I had mixed my carbohydrates with this. And so my second loop of this race, I thought I'll go get my special needs bag. I didn't remember having also mixed it in that. And so I got to my special needs bag and I had no nutrition that was separated. And so it took my options away. And as it turned out I got very ill and I, I, I, I couldn't take any more, any more nutrition.

Andrew Harley: In your body revolted against that nutrition source.

Kathy Hudson: It was rough. There were lessons learned.

Andrew Harley: And it's funny, Kathy, how that that worked in training for you and then once you got the race day, you know, obviously we don't train the entire you, you can't simulate an entire race day in training. Nor should you. You know, I've had things that worked well for me at 70.3 distance that once I started getting ready for an IRONMAN didn't work well at the IRONMAN distance. And you find that out in the training and hopefully you find out all those problems in the training which you found out that one that's the goal.

Kathy Hudson: Yes, that's the goal.

Jasmine Moezzi: Yeah.

Kathy Hudson: You know, and I think really quickly, Andrew, I'll add that, you know, the piece that can't be added into our training is the adrenaline of race day, which raises our heart rate and changes everything. All we can do is what we can do to control that. But sometimes we just don't know why. Right.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. Well, this answer for me, I'm going to give a shout to. I want to say it was my first or second time doing an Olympic distance race. And I went out there and for anybody who lives in Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, it was the Stonebridge try up in McKinney, Texas. And I was doing the Olympic distance and I was trained for it. I was ready to go, I was ready to step up to that distance and had a, had a good swim, had a good bike and just fell apart on the run, specifically because of muscle cramping. And it was a very hot day in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex. And where I think the problem was for me, very recently in my training, I had a training partner introduce me to the base salt, salt tube, which I haven't seen anybody use these in a long time, but for a while it was very popular to do, was like a tube with a pink Himalayan sea salt inside. And you would, you would pluck this little tube out of your pocket and you would, you would lick your thumb, you would put your thumb over the top of it, you would shake it and so salt would stick to your thumb and you'd lick it. And it was very satisfying. And it kind of told you on the bottle how many licks you needed to, to be a certain amount of approximate sodium intake, whatever. Whatever. Well, Anyway, fast forward 10 years, I, I now know I have a very high sweat rate, I'm a very salty sweater. And so I, I just, clearly with this methodology, I know some people love it, it works for some people. For me, I was not getting enough salt. And so in training for a, you know, 90 minute training ride, I, I was probably fine. But once I got onto a race course and the only way, like I, I didn't have any electrolyte in my bottles. Cause I'm like, oh, I'm, I'm gonna, I've got my tube, I'm just gonna lick my tube and I'll be fine. And, and that it probably works fine in addition to other sodium sources. But I was just drinking water the whole time on the bike and licking my little tube every so often. And once I got just full blown calf cramps all through the run. I had to walk most of that run unfortunately, but got to the finish line and I never used the salt tube ever again for myself, for, for, for, for training and racing. Now I use my precision fuel and hydration and I have that stuff everywhere. But anyway, again, not a knock on that product. I know it works great for some people. It was not a good fit for me at that distance at the rate I was using it. So anyway, we're going to throw this question out to you our audience, to see what is the biggest thing that's gone wrong for you when it comes to nutrition on race day? We'll throw this question out to the I am shot of the Facebook group. We'll throw this out to the Trident Community Hub and we'll throw this out on our Instagram account. So let us know from all of your racing what is the biggest nutrition kerfuffle you've ever had out there on the on the race course?

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

Main Set

Andrew Harley: On to our main set conversation where Coach Jasmine and Coach Kathy are going to help us troubleshoot what we've identified as the seven most common things that can go wrong when it comes to nutrition. There there's more than this but for sure. So we're, we're not going to cover every niche edge case of something that can happen when you're out there racing that would be impossible. We've identified what we think are the seven most common things that athletes have happened to them when they are in race mode and common nutrition problem number one. This is before the race even starts. A lot of triathletes experience the, the early morning struggle of just eating breakfast, just getting your morning nutrition into your system because when you wake up that early on race day, you just don't have an appetite yet. So Coach Kathy, what do we do in this situation? We've woken up on race morning, we know we need to have our race day breakfast and our body just does not work. Want to eat. What do we do?

Kathy Hudson: Well, you know I'm from the school of an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So I do have, you know, it's important for us all to practice this during, during our training. But as you said, the, the, the morning nerves and also doing smaller races leading up to our a races also help because that way we know maybe what works, maybe what doesn't. But let's just say we've tried all that. It doesn't work. Eating your meal three to four Hours, you know, prior to your race is really important. Having practiced that food also and knowing what works for you, what doesn't work for you. But let's just say you just cannot get in anything. What I would recommend is to, to use your sports nutrition in that instance. You know, go ahead and mix up your, your sports nutrition so that you're getting enough calories, you're getting enough carbohydrates and electrolytes and sip on that. You don't want to gulp anything or drink it quickly. Your GI system will not like it, especially if you're nervous. So that would be. Just go to plan B. Plan B is all liquids. And just sip on that and making sure you get in that calorie, you know, those calories for energy in the electrolytes. You'll need those later too. But don't, don't stress about it. It'll be okay.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I love the mindset of not stressing about it. I've had great races where I didn't eat as much as normal and I've had great races where I eat my proper breakfast. I think what really, what really helped me here and this was just something over the years, right, where you kind of learn what your body's okay with taking in that early in the morning for, for a while I was trying to force myself to be like an oatmeal on race morning kind of guy. And my body does not want oatmeal at 4am for whatever reason. And now I'm, I'm into kind of toast and peanut butter and banana and even if I'm not super hungry yet, my body seems to let me eat that without fail at 4am in the morning. But it took a lot of trial and error on what I was having for breakfast to get to that point. And so in your training sessions, kind of play with that coach. Jasmine, anything to add here on how to, how to eat, what to eat, how to get through that moment first thing on a race morning?

Jasmine Moezzi: Yeah, I completely agree. I think, you know, going to liquid calories is, is definitely the key. Like something like scratch super fuel or like a Martin drink mix or even applesauce sometimes can, can help my athletes just get something down and get some carbs in their system. Anything that's like light and easy to digest without really making your stomach turn. But really like, I think a big key to this is also fueling really well the two to three days leading into the race so that you're not solely dependent on race day morning food. I mean, that's very important, but, you know, really making sure you're carbo loading throughout the week and getting that proper fuel also throughout the week leading into the race, I think is key. Just in case you are just really struggling that morning, you at least know that you, you have enough in your, in your system from the week.

Kathy Hudson: Yeah, love that.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. Yeah, really great point. Yeah. And, and I think on several of our nutrition episodes of the podcast, we also remind people, you know, have your, your gel of choice or your, your calorie mix of choice near the start line because you definitely can top off your carbohydrate reserves. 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes before the race starts. So that that morning meal isn't your only shot at calories. Right. You, you can be sipping on a, a, a calorie beverage all through the morning. You can. You know, I, I, I personally like to pop a gel about 30 minutes before the race anyway, regardless of the distance to make sure that I've kind of got that energy reserves topped off before the race starts. Jasmine, what is your race day breakfast? I kind of shared mine. What's your go to race morning breakfast that your body lets you absorb that early in the morning?

Jasmine Moezzi: Mine actually is the oatmeal. I do oatmeal with bananas and honey, so that's usually what I have. The first thing I do when I wake up every morning is always just water with, with lemon and honey just for like some extra hydration. And then I'll have my, my oatmeal. And then, yeah, like 30 to 40 minutes before the race is when I have my, my banana or gel before I get into the water and then I sip on electrolytes like the whole morning as well. So, yeah, try to just kind of make sure, try to make sure that I'm always kind of staying topped off before the, the race starts.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. So Jasmine wakes up and has water with lemon and honey. I wake up and start hitting the coffee immediately. That's it for me. Kathy, what's your race morning breakfast?

Kathy Hudson: Oh, I'm like you, Andrew. Don't, don't speak to me until I have my coffee in the morning. I have that first thing, relax. And then my go to is a white bagel with peanut butter and banana. And with that I will drink some water with a little bit of electrolytes in it. But it works for me and I, and I eat it. I think key too here is to eat it slowly, is to really take your time.

Andrew Harley: Cool. Well, we can move on to common nutrition problem number Two. And, and the rest of our nutrition problems are race specific. So that, that was the one that before you even get in the race mode, that can be a problem for some people. But now we are racing and we're having problems and we need to solve them. So the big ticket one is you fall behind on your fueling. Right, right. You just get behind. And, and whether you're late into the bike or even onto the run, that's kind of the common moment where athletes start realizing, man, I've not taken enough in, I can start feeling these effects. So if we find ourselves in the back half of a race, whether it's short course, long course, whatever, and we realize, oh, I've under, under fueled today, what, what do we do at this point? I mean, do, do we try to catch up? Do we just let it be what it is? Coach Jasmine, talk to us about this one.

Jasmine Moezzi: So I would first say don't panic. I think that's automatically what most a.

Andrew Harley: Good rule in triathlon. Just in general, just try, try not to panic, no matter what.

Jasmine Moezzi: Like, the important thing is you realize it. So just like step by step, we'll try to combat it. I mean, the worst thing you can do is try to slam a full gel or bottle all at once. Just kind of ease into it with like half gel or a few sips every few minutes, keep it steady and go for the simple carbs. And like, liquids are often easier to, to digest when you're already in a hole. Um, so yeah, just kind of gentle and consistent is better than just being like, oh my gosh, I am so behind. And then just trying to take in a ton of extra fuel all at once, that, that can definitely cause some, some tummy upset and we don't want that. So, yeah, just stay calm and, and very gently reintroduce some, some gels and, and, and you know, electrolytes and things.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I do like the reminder, Jasmine, of there's a lot of different things you can take. Right? I mean, aid stations will have bananas, they'll have bars. You might have a gel in your pocket, you might get a gel at an aid station. And then there's obviously liquid options that have calories. You know, the, the more liquidy. Right. The faster your body absorbs those calories. And so if you are behind, I love that, that I wouldn't have thought of that just to, to start with the easily, most easily absorbed form of carbohydrate. Uh, so if you have liquid available, great. If that's a gel, great. But Your body's going to be able to take that in and put it to work sooner than something like a bar or a banana. So. Really good point there. Um, Jasmine, Coach Kathy, anything to add there on what you tell athletes to do if they realizing they're behind?

Kathy Hudson: Not a lot. That was, that's exactly what I agree with her 100%. I think the, the one point here is to know that you cannot catch up. So you know, as far as, like if, if you've mixed.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. Don't try to catch up.

Kathy Hudson: Yeah, no, that's, that's not, it's not possible. Your body's working too hard for your GI system to take, you know, all that extra fuel. Just start now. And I think that's very, very important. And just, you know, once again you're going to be okay. The other thing you, we might be able to add as far as an effort standpoint is we may want to slow down our effort just a little bit, allow our body to, to absorb because the harder we are working, the harder our GI tract has to work to metabolize those calories into energy. So that would really be the only thing that. I love what Jasmine said.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. The other thing I think of here with when Jasmin was talking about the liquids, I read a book by Alex Hutchinson called Endure. Have you guys heard of that book? Really interesting book where he just dives into a lot of the mental side of endurance sports and how to be good at them. And one of the stories I remember reading about in that book was they were talking about the concept of your mouth has blood vessels in the roof of the mouth. And so our bodies have this kind of safety measure where your body will not let you use all of its energy. And that's what bonking is, right? When you bonk, your body's shutting you down and saying you're not moving forward anymore because the energy we have right now we need to hold on to, to stay alive. Right. It's a self protection measure. And so your body, so if you start feeling like you're fading and you realize, oh, I haven't eaten enough today, I haven't taken enough calories, I'm starting to fade. You, you might be surprised by how quickly you perk up by just a, a, a, a part of a gel, a one gel, a couple sips of carbohydrate drink. Because your body does have more energy in the tank, it's just not letting you tap into it. And the second those, those blood vessels on the roof of the mouth Sense that there is carbohydrate in our mouth. We haven't even swallowed it yet. We haven't even digested it yet. But your body can tell it's on the way. It releases more of the energy that it's holding onto. Really fascinating study. So. So just kind of keep that in mind. Like our coach was saying, you don't have to catch up. You don't need to start taking a ton of stuff on board, get a little bit into your mouth, get a little bit swallowed, and. And your body will probably release energy a little quicker than you realize. So, anyway, I. I know some things, too. I know some things, too. Our coaches know more than me, but I've. I've read some stuff as well. Common nutrition problem number three is you realize you're getting dehydrated, and so you probably start feeling weak. You probably start feeling a little bit foggy, and, you know, oh, man, I've gotten behind on electrolytes. This is kind of the electrolyte version of the problem we were just talking about, right? Maybe you fuel correctly, but you just haven't gotten enough sodium in the tank. You're Andrew doing his Stonebridge Olympic triathlon, and you were licking the salt tube, and you don't have enough in your body, and you start cramping anyway. I'm getting rambly, but you get the point. You're getting dehydrated. You're out on course. You still got a ways to go. Coach Kathy, what do we do?

Kathy Hudson: Well, if you're feeling like that, you know you want to. You have to rehydrate once again. You cannot take too much in at one time. You know, I always say, sip, sip, sip, sip, sip, sip. It's what we want to do all the time. You want to make sure what you are sipping has your electrolytes in it. You do not want to try to take too many electrolytes at one time that you. Once again, your body can only absorb a certain amount. So evaluate. Where am I? How am I feeling? What do I have? What can I take in? If you're at an aid station, they have some cold water. Just. Just slow down, stop and sip on your water with the electrolytes and then continue to. To evaluate yourself, you know, after that and say, you know, what happened? Maybe? Was I. Was I going too hard, too fast? The other thing is, it may be hot. It may be hotter than what you trained in, which will cause dehydration, obviously, because you're sweating so much. So hopefully this race will have some Ice or some sponges. Do whatever you can do to try to cool your body off that will help with the hydration.

Andrew Harley: Coach Jasmine, anything to add there on the hydration side of this problem?

Jasmine Moezzi: Yeah, I completely agree with that. Really just kind of slowly sipping and also definitely kind of slowing your pace down when you're dehydrated. Cuz you're kind of just hitting the red zone at this point, um, and taking, making sure you're taking in enough sodium because that's really what allows you to actually absorb the fluid.

Andrew Harley: Um, yeah, whatever.

Jasmine Moezzi: Yeah, whatever might be available on course, like sports drinks, salt tabs, and then just kind of giving your system a moment to catch up. But really, you know, plain water is, is great, but just really making sure you have enough of that sodium so you could actually absorb things that you're, you're taking in I think is really important for this.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, that's something that I did not realize as a newer triathlete the first couple years in the sport. I mean you, you know, you obviously you grew up playing sports and you know, oh yeah, there's Gatorade and there's this and that and I need electrolytes. But if you are just taking water, it's, it's the sodium that allows your body to actually put the water to work and absorb the water. And so yeah, so a lot of times I think a newer triathlete can, can know, oh, I, I've been drinking water all day, I'm doing great and no, no, no, no, no, you, you need some sodium as well. And Kathy, you talked about this earlier just in what went wrong for you. Like there's a couple different ways to play this right, because you can have, you know, your bottles on the bike and your bottles on the run have everything. Calories, sodium, everything. And there's some benefit to that. Cause it's easy. But the downside is you're stuck with what's in that bottle. Or you can have bottles with water and calories maybe and then have your sodium be. Be. So there's a couple different ways to play it right and where your sodium is. But definitely for the bike in the run, have your plan with where is my sodium? When am I taking it? Where is my calories? When am I taking it? Where is my water? When am I taking it? Is it combined? Is it separate? No, wrong way to do it. It's just figuring out the way that works for you and then hopefully you don't get behind in the first place.

Jasmine Moezzi: On the, on the run. Like I really? Because I feel like sometimes after the bike, I'm like, on sweetness overload. So I, I take these, like, really cool maple syrup gels from the brand's called, like, Untapped, and it has, like, a really solid amount of sodium in there and then maple syrup. And then you could either get, like, ginger or, like, lime flavor that has, like, actual. Just like, ginger and lime. So I take that and then I just drink, like, water at the aid stations to kind of wash it down. And that's helped me just kind of get in, like, the carbs and sodium I need and then also just have some, like, plain water to, to kind of wash down, like, the taste so it doesn't get too strong. I just struggle a lot when I'm just taking, like, sweet, like one sweet thing after another after another. So I've noticed that that that's helped me a lot with making sure I'm getting in all that sodium and carbs while keeping it kind of a little bit more simple.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. And I, I, these days, I'm a massive fan of just the sodium pills that just like, I, I can't. And again, part of this is knowing your, your sweat rate. Right? Are you a saltier sweater? Are you a less salty sweater? How, how much do you sweat? And, you know, obviously we, we have friends at Precision Fuel and Hydration that specialize in this. If you live somewhere near where there's a Precision Fuel and hydration sodium sweat testing center, go get that tested. It's like a hundred bucks or something like that. To find out forever. You'll be armed with knowledge of how, like, what is the concentration of salt in your sweat? For me, it's like 12, 90, something like grams of salt per liter of sweat. So I'm on the saltier end of people who sweat. Right. So I need a lot of salt. And I know that some people don't need as much, and that's great for them, but because I need a lot, I can't get all of the sodium that I need just through fluids and drink mixes and what's in there. And I've got quite a bit of sodium in my drink mix, but that's still not enough. So I am on the run every 20 minutes, on the bike every 30 minutes, popping an electrolyte pill in addition to what I'm drinking. So. And that, that helps me stay on top of it. So, yeah, it's, it's knowing what your body needs and trying to find the products that are going to help you get it throughout the race. And hopefully you don't have this problem in the first place.

Kathy Hudson: Can I add to that really quickly? Please do, Andrew. Precision Hydration. I've had their, their sweat rate test. It's great. Their products are great. What's another thing so good about them? They have the different levels of tablets. So like if a heavy sweater would take the 1500, for example, depending on what they're taking in with their calories as well. But you know, doing the sweat rate test, even, even on, you know, so you do a professional one and that is great. But let's say you had that done in and then like you might be training in 100 degree weather, like it's going to be this week in Texas. You know, it's, it's important to also do your own sweat rate tests like way before and after your, your training sessions. How much weight are you losing? That not only helps from a, from a standpoint of if you're a heavy sweater, but it also, so I would say a large percentage of athletes, especially triathletes, walk around dehydrated. We are, we need to replace the amount of, of, of hydration we lose during a training session even more. About 150%, but definitely a little bit more within, you know, one and a half to three hour window. So that also will keep us hydrated. And hydrated athletes perform very well.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It definitely helps. That hydration definitely helps. And, and one thing that Andy Blow, the founder of Precision Fuel Hydration, told me, because that there are, you know, on their website, they have a free resource that'll help you ballpark how salty your sweat probably is through, through just things like do you have, you know, after a workout session, do you have, you know, stinging in your eyes from the, from the sweat? You know, do you have white salt on your kids or not? And so they have kind of some ways to help you ballpark it. And there's some other companies, there's Nyx is, is one on the market now. Gatorade has a sweat patch now. And I asked Andy how accurate those are and he told me it's kind of like they can, they're, they're somewhat accurate. They're not as accurate as what Precision does. But if you aren't close to a precision center or it's not in the budget, if you, if you try one of these other resources, they can at least tell you like the ballpark. And the way he put it was, they can tell you if your t shirt size is small, medium or large. And that's still helpful, right? That's still helpful. So. Yeah. And. Yeah, and now we're talking about prevention. But. But to go back to the core of this episode, which is you're out on the race course, you're already feeling dehydrated. You know, just. Just to recap, our. Our coaches kind of said, don't try to catch up. Don't try to force too much down your throat very much like the fueling problem. Just start getting what you can into your system and, you know, slow down your pace if you need to. Don't panic and keep. Keep moving one foot forward in front of the other. Common nutrition problem number four is you're out on course and you start to have an upset stomach. This can be for a variety of reasons. So part of the answer, I think, probably depends on what the reason is. But just talk us through. You have an athlete, they're on course, their stomach's starting to bother them. What should they do in that moment? Coach Jasmine.

Jasmine Moezzi: Oh, boy. I have a lot of experience with this, so unfortunately, yeah. Yeah. I have a really sensitive tummy, so it's taken me a lot, a lot of trial and error to figure out kind of how to combat it. But really, I would say, like, the number one thing, ease off on the effort. There's no, like, you're not going to get anywhere by continuing, like, to go at your, like, really, like, high effort on in the race. Like, just ease off. The high intensity can make that digestion a lot harder. Switch to water for a bit and avoid like, kind of like dense foods. Like, just let. Let your. Let your gut reset. That's what we're trying to. Trying to do here. That's the goal. Um, if the issue is kind of sugar overload like I was talking about, just kind of ease off on the sugary fuels. Um, if it's due to dehydration, you could reintroduce fluids with some sodium. Um, things like ginger chews can be helpful. Or like the maple syrup gel I use with ginger in it has been extremely helpful for like, my. My gut issues. Like. Cause it just. It's really great in helping with. With digestion and everything. Trying to cool your core and honestly, like, even using the bathroom burping, like trying to get anything that can relieve the pressure. Nausea, I think is important. So, like, yeah, sometimes a small reset is all it takes to get back on track. So just try to, like, do a few of these things depending on what you're feeling, and see if that can help. And hopefully this doesn't happen to anyone, but if it does, hopefully these will. Will be little helpful tricks.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, the. The one time it happened to me was my one Iron man, unfortunately. Right. But it's like you said, it's. Sometimes it can be trial and error, and if you've never raced that distance before, you don't know how your body's gonna respond to being 11 hours deep into a race until you're 11 hours deep into a race. Right. And for me, in that race, it. It was. It was a hot day in Texas. Again, I have a high sweat rate, so I was just taking electrolytes like, like crazy. Just, just the whole race long. And I actually, after the race was talking to some friends from Precision Fuel and Hydration. They're getting lots of shout outs today. Not intentional, just we're good friends with them. But I was talking with our team and kind of tell them, yeah, I was having this problem where late, you know, basically the whole run, my stomach was upset and I was. I was able to run a mile and my legs, My legs were there. I did the training. My legs felt good, but I would run a mile and then just my gut would shut me down and make me walk for a while. And I was in and out of the porta potty the whole back half of that run course. Right. And it, you know, I, it. I fell off the pace I wanted to hit, you know, I didn't probably fulfill my athletic potential on the day I got through it and became an IRONMAN. I'm grateful for that. But it was my gut holding me back. Right. It was my stomach. And for me, Jasmine, just like you said, what they told me when, when they reviewed what I was taking, how much electrolyte, carbohydrate I took, and when they were like, hey, you were probably taking too much sodium, you were probably overdoing the sodium and your body actually needed some water. I say, you know, which Jasmine just said your stomach needed a reset and you were so scared of dehydrating because it was a hot day in Texas that you just kept pounding sodium. And so anyway, again, that was what the problem was for me on that day. And I'll keep that in mind if I ever do an IRONMAN again or find myself with a stomach hurting in a 70.3. But yeah, so really interesting thought of, I think if I'm trying to put myself in the shoes of an athlete and my stomach's upset, okay, what have I been doing? What might be the problem? Let me reset and I love Jasmine. That. Go back to simple things. Go back to water for just a bit and see how your body responds. Coach Kathy, anything to add there?

Kathy Hudson: Those are all great. Not, not a lot really. Since you guys really both hit all the points of what to do, I would just like to say a little shout out to maybe one thing to try to prevent it, especially if it happens on the run. But this is where our effort on the bike becomes very important in following our race plan, following our race X, following what the coach coaches told you to do. Because our body really, when we are in Zone 4 for a long time, our guts will shut down. So preventing that is so much easier than fixing it. So that's my only add on.

Andrew Harley: Yep. No. Very, very good. And, and obviously the longer you race, the more this can be bothersome. And so when Trout starts giving you those long bike rides, those long runs, those are the most important ones of your week. Try to hit that duration because you know, you're training your legs, you're also training your gut, like Kathy just said, to be fueling, be taking in these products longer and longer and longer. That's also a component of the training sessions. Common nutrition problem number five. You're out on course and you begin to experience muscle cramps. What do you do? Coach Kathy?

Kathy Hudson: Slow down. Lower your intensity. That actually happened to me at Galveston one year and it was my quadricep and it was like, oh, my gosh, it had never happened to me once again during training. So I lowered my power. I did, you know, make sure, you know, once again, it's that self evaluation. What am I doing? Why am I cramping? We may not know the answer, but, but we try to do that. And so you want to make sure that you're taking in sodium. There's a point here that we all tend to go to electrolytes and sodium right away when it's muscle cramps. It's not always. It can be a hydration issue, period. It can be a glycogen issue and it also can be an electrolyte issue. So just know that. So say you take in electrolytes and it doesn't work well, let's, let's try to take in some. Also some, some fuel with some carbohydrates and those things, you know, slow it down. If you, if you, if it's a run, try to gently stretch that, that muscle if you can. People forget too, that you stretch on the bike there. You know, if you're a good bike handler, right you can stand up, stretch your hip flexors, stretch your. Your hamstrings, your, your calves. And I think that especially for a full IRONMAN, doing stretches every now and then will really, you know, could help, you know, to prevent those cramps. But that's my. That would be my advice on the cramping.

Andrew Harley: Coach Jasmine, anything to add there?

Jasmine Moezzi: Yeah, I completely agree with that. I think. I mean, cramps are just so tricky. Like, it's like, sometimes a mix of, like, fatigue. Yeah. You're just like, oh, what do I do with this? But, yeah, it's like a mix of, like, fatigue and, like, electrolyte or nutrition imbalance. So I completely agree with easing your pace and stretching, for sure. I mean, I can't imagine, like, the amount of times on the bike sometimes where I just stop pedaling and kind of try to stretch my legs and my back out and on the run, just try to, like, kind of shake out my legs a little bit. And it's been so helpful. I'd say, like, another thing to focus on is, like, adjusting your cadence. Like, sometimes if you're, like, muscling through on the bike too much, like, maybe picking up the cadence a bit without making it. Yeah. Having a faster cadence to just make sure you're not just purely muffling your way through that bike. Yeah. Obviously getting, like, whatever electrolytes and things that you need. But I think some things that have helped my athletes a lot have been pickle juice and mustard, which sound kind of funny, but that does help with. With cramping. And some of them just carry their own little, like, pickle juice or, like, little mustard packets out on the course. So in case cramping occurs, they could take. Take one of those. And it's been extremely helpful. It won't fix it instantly, but it could, you know, stop it from getting worse. You do need to still kind of get to the root cause. But those could be little. Little, like, aids that can. That can help with just that kind of immediate cramping feeling.

Andrew Harley: And I have seen that. I've never tried the pickle juice myself. I've never tried mustard myself. I know. There's also the products called hot shots that are small, little bottles of. From what I hear, it's like a kind of a. A spicy chili kind of kind of drink. And my understanding is all those products, the point is to kind of flood. Flood your body's senses with a new stimuli. And so instead of being used to this repetitive motion that is now inducing cramping, your body's, like, Whoa. What was that? And think of those flavors, right? Mustard is a bold flavor. Your mouth knows when mustard has hit it. Your mouth knows when pickle juice has hit it. Your mouth knows when something spicy has hit it. And so in all three of those cases, that's the point is flood the zone, override your senses with a new stimulus, and hopefully it'll abate your cramps. I've never tried any of those. I'm kind of scared to. To be honest with you. But, yeah, some people have. If you know you're a cramper, yeah, that might be able to bail you out in a tough spot. On course, the one thing I want to add here is just not to panic, not to assume, oh, all hope is lost. My race is lost. I've seen some athletes battle through cramps, come back from a major cramp, and still cross that finish line, no matter the distance. Coach Jeff Raines, who's on the podcast frequently, he and I were at IRONMAN, Texas, one year, and we were underneath the bridge on the run course, cheering for athletes as they went by. And there was a guy, this is probably mile 14, 15, 16, on the run. Is his legs just completely locked up on him. He screamed. He fell to the ground right in front of Coach Jeff Reigns and myself. Luckily for him, he was in front of two triathlon coaches who are podcasters and have done this before. I propped him up. Jeff Raines started stretching out, you know, started bending his toes back up. We got some gels into him and some salt pills into him and saw him finish a couple hours later. And so, you know, that was a pretty bad cramp episode, and he still made it to the finish line. So don't panic, take the measures that. That you heard Coach Kathy and Coach Jasmine talk about, and you can still have a great. A great race or across the finish line, even battling cramps. Um, I think for me, one of the frustrating things with cramps is the, the muscle groups that cramp sometimes in training are never the ones that start freaking out on me during a race. It's always like. It's always a muscle I've never had a problem with. Right. And I'm like, what are you. Where did that come from? I didn't know you could cramp. And anyway, that's. Yeah, that's. That's probably a conversation for somebody who has medical knowledge of why we cramp in a muscular, muscular system kind of way. Common nutrition problem number six is you find yourself somewhere on course, needing fuel, needing fluids. You, for some reason, don't have anything on you. But, but you're, you're starting to be in a spot of need. What do you do? Coach Jasmine Well, I think a good.

Jasmine Moezzi: Amount of us have been there. You've either ran out of your own fuel you brought or you dropped the bottle or you just miscalculated. Really your next move is just to make it to the next aid station however you can. So really easing your effort. I know we said that a lot but for really it makes a difference when you're and need a fuel. So easing your effort and conserving your energy until you can refuel and just letting this be a reminder, always know what's on the course and trade with it in case like plan A doesn't work. And just knowing where those aid stations are is, is also really helpful. So I'd say yeah, the, the, the goal for, for this is just getting to that next aid station, like really doing whatever your body needs like by conserving your energy to get there basically and then making fueling your top priority once you find the resources, of course, but not again by slamming it down. Just taking what you need with you for, for the rest of the race and having just some extra in case this happens.

Andrew Harley: Coach Kathy, anything to add there?

Kathy Hudson: I think almost all of us have dropped a bottle drop nutrition. I have my athletes carry extra nutrition like for the bike in their bento box. If it's a powder, they may have all their nutrition mixed up but take extra powder at least an extra hour or two. Speaking of which, I think it's important that when we plan for our race nutrition that we do take at least an hour's nutrition with us on the bike, on the run. If and when we have a flat tire, do not stop taking in your sports nutrition.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, great point.

Kathy Hudson: Yeah, keep sipping it. But you didn't plan on that. However long it takes you to get that flat fixed or whatever the case may be, always, always, always take extra nutrition in a separate place. We don't want all our eggs in one basket, so to speak.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I Kathy on IRONMAN Waco since I mentioned it before, since I had to stop and walk way more often than I anticipated with my, my stomach giving me problems, I was on course an hour longer than I thought I was going to be. I ran out of my gels. I ran out of my preferred gel of choice and so I finally get rolling to an IRONMAN aid station. Maurten is the official gel. Listen, Maurten is a wonderful product, a wonderfully researched product. You know, there are professional athletes you know world record breaking athletes that, that fuel on, on nothing but Maurten. My body doesn't like Maurten. Maurten, Maurten gels, you guys, they have that like jello consistency.

Kathy Hudson: It, it's weird, it's weird.

Andrew Harley: It initiates a gag reflex in me that I cannot pain and it's not Maurten’s fault, it's, it's my fault. It's a wonderful product but so I rolled into the raid station and I knew, okay, well I need some fuel, I need, I need a gel or two. And so I grabbed two Maurten gels and I had to do what I could to get them down. But yeah, it's exactly you said Kathy. I was traveling light and lean. I calculated the exact number of jails I needed and I came up a few short because of stopping and walking a little extra there. But I love what you both said. I love stop at the aid stations, get what you need, get what you can. Like in my case, don't be picky. You can't be picky in that moment. You kind of have to, you kind of have to use what's at that aid station, right? And whether it's a local race or an IRONMAN event, it might be your preferred product or not try to grab the thing closest to your preferred product if you can. But yeah, definitely, definitely get that. And, and yeah, I, I've actually had, had people, I've seen people borrow on course. Don't, don't be afraid if you get in the wrong spot, right. And there's just not an aid station coming up. Don't be afraid to ask some of the athletes around you. A lot of them are carrying extra because they've been coached by coach Kathy and they know to carry extra. I, I, I had a teammate, we were doing the same race, 70.3 Waco actually it's inaugural year and I had a buddy go by me. We were traveling opposite directions on the run course and he saw me come and he was like, do you have any extra electrolytes? And I did, I had some extra electrolyte pills and I gave him some and I probably saw him through. So most athletes around you have some extra and are happy to help. So don't be afraid to ask if anybody has an extra gel, extra pill, whether it's on the bike or the road. I think actually Coach Kurt Madden shared a story similar to that where he bummed some nutrition products off some fellow athletes on the bike course of Coeur d'. Alene. So that, yeah, that's a good example as well. Common nutrition problem number seven is late in the race. You know, you need fuel, but you experience some form of pallet fatigue where you just find it difficult to get yourself to take the next bar, the next gel. I had heard of this. I had never experienced this until IRONMAN Waco. I'm sure there's some athletes that experience this at middle distance and shorter if their heart rate's up, if they're dehydrated, they know they need. Whatever the reason, whatever the distance, you've got the product in your hand, you know you need to take it, and your body is just revolting against taking that product. Coach Kathy, what do we do?

Kathy Hudson: Don't panic. I mean, just really seriously. It happened, you know, and I shared this with my athletes. I said, what if you were drinking your favorite whatever on the bike? You're probably not going to want that on the run. So, you know, be prepared and have different flavors, different textures. If you do have an option, like, say, for instance, you're drinking something that has all your nutritional needs, but you can't drink it. What is so important in triathlon backup plans? So if you have a gel or if you have something else, then that's the time to switch to it. But let's just, let's just say, hypothetically, you don't have that. You haven't, you haven't really thought of that ahead of time, or you haven't watched our podcast yet. So what you want to do is you're going to have to once again rely on aid station because, you know, you really have to get those calories, you know, in those electrolytes in. So. And like Andrew just said, you know, if you need to borrow from a friend, change it up. What our body is looking for is the change of flavor and perhaps and, or change of texture. Right?

Andrew Harley: Yeah.

Kathy Hudson: And I think, Andrew, honestly, it was the texture thing on the Maurten gel that bothered you, because they're hydrogel 100%. Yeah. Yeah. So that's it. So, so, so think about things like that, you know. You know how you go to a restaurant and you look at somebody's table and you go, ooh, that looks good. I'm going to order that. You know, look, see what your, your fellow athletes running by with and go.

Andrew Harley: Oh, can I, can I have some. Interesting. Yeah, good idea.

Kathy Hudson: Yeah. And it's so interesting, too. Like, we're always, I think in general, triathletes are kind, wonderful people, and we want to help. You know, we don't ever want to give away what we need, but you know, you know, hopefully that person has some extra or until you get to an aid station. So that would be my advice.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I love Kathy, the notion of mixing it up. And I think it's funny because in endurance sports, one of the mantras is nothing new on race day. Right. But I have a laundry list of nutrition products I use for the first time on race day. And it's exactly because of this problem. Right. And this is mainly middle distance and full distance. But the first time I had coke on race day was late in a 70.3 run and my body was craving something different. And now let me tell you, I freaking love Coke on race day. If there's Coke at an aid station, I am grabbing it and I'm drinking it. But I never tried that before until a race day. Pretzels. I'm in Waco. I grabbed a handful of pretzels and that was a really nice mix up for me. I've never really had pretzels in an endurance sports arena before. Sometimes going to a banana 70.3 New Zealand. I grabbed a bag of Famous Amos cookies and was having chocolate chip cookies while I was running. Uh, and you know, it's, it's.

Jasmine Moezzi: Yeah, it's just.

Andrew Harley: That's.

Kathy Hudson: No, no, no, I'm kidding.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, it's, it's, it's a good time if you are in that boat. Yeah, mix it up. Look at that aid station buffet and see what looks good to you. I really like that coach Jasmine, anything to add here?

Jasmine Moezzi: That's funny. That's actually some of the things I wrote down to, to try. Like maybe switching it up to like a salty snack. So kind of like the pretzels you had or having even a sip of like some Coke, like just the different flavors and textures can kind of wake up your taste buds because gel burnout, honestly, is very real. But yeah, like, and then also just kind of like maybe walking the aid stations like to like help get some things down without feeling nauseous. I mean, fueling doesn't always feel good, but it's what keeps us going. So, yeah, just really doing whatever it takes at that point to get some of that fuel. I know some people that put like pizza in their, in their special needs bags. Like so when they get to it halfway on the run, they're like eating pizza.

Andrew Harley: I love it.

Jasmine Moezzi: I have, I have seen and heard of some wild. Yeah, I've seen and heard of some wild things people put, put in their, in their bags. But yeah, really, it's like everyone is so different. So, like, don't just be like, oh, I'm. I'm not supposed to have this, or I, I. Because of this reason, like, it might actually work for you. Like, the Maurten gels work for a lot of athletes. It doesn't work for you, for example, but, like, there's always, like, something you can try that. That'll kind of be that little sweet spot for you. So I'd say, like, definitely during training, try different things and kind of see, like, what will my body be craving when it's really fatigued and I'm tired of the gels. Like, what can I do in this case? Like, I have some athletes actually eat, like, potatoes, which is. I know, sounds kind of funny, but they'll carry around some potatoes, like, during the bike. He gives them the carbs they need, they put some sea salt on it, and they just munch away on the potatoes. And they have successfully completed all the IRONMANs they've done with potatoes in their pockets. So, you know, you kind of just have to play around with. With the different things that you can try. And just having that variety is key for something like this.

Andrew Harley: I have a new. A new goal, a new triathlon thing. I want to try. I now want to. I don't know. These days there's so many athletes that have, like, little 3D printers at home and can, like, 3D print, like, special gadgets to hold things. Like, there's a chartered athlete who 3D printed a pop Tart holder for his bike. He likes using Pop Tarts to fuel on the bike. And it's like, individual slots that are, like, sized for a Pop Tart. So I need someone like that to make, like, an aerodynamic mashed potato holder. Because can you imagine, like, people going by you on the bike course and they look over and you've got, like, a Kentucky Fried Chicken bin in an arrow container on the bike, and you're just like. Anyway, I, Yeah, just. Just to be funny, I,. But, yeah, if anyone invents a potato holder that I 100 want that,

Jasmine Moezzi: that would be. That would be amazing. So please let me know if that. If that ends up happening. I will. I will be the first person to purchase.

Andrew Harley: You will invest. You will invest in that business model. There's, There's a lot. Jasmine, I'm glad you mentioned, like, like, mixing it up with, like, some candy or. Or something just different, because there's a lot of coaches and athletes that, in their personal needs bag, they'll. They'll Throw. Throw a bag of candy, throw a bag of gummy bears, throw a bag of skittles, throw a bag of whatever. It is just something different. Your example was pizza, but something that is so different and you know you can count on it. Halfway through the bike, halfway through the run, I'm gonna be able to grab this very different fuel input. There are professionals, by the way, that do this. So this isn't just like an age grouper, like, munching on candy. There are professionals that will put a go to candy of sorts in their bag and let that kind of just mix it up for them. Last thing I want to say here, I. I find that I experience less acute palate fatigue when the gel that I'm using or the drink that I'm using has a more mild flavor. Early in my triathlon career, I loved, like, the espresso, the salted chocolate caramel. Like, like, those are my flavors of choice. And like, in the drink mixes, like, you know, you know, blood orange and pineapple. And there's certainly folks that like those flavors and go for those flavors. Absolutely. But for me, I experience palate fatigue quicker when I'm taking in the same strong flavor over and over and over again. Interesting sources, like Maurten. Maurten is one, even though I don't get along with it. Fuel and hydration. Dar Drell gels and their drink mix have a very mild flavor. They don't even tell you what the flavor is. That's how mild it is. There's a flavor there. It's pleasant, but it's very mild.And so I get much deeper into an event before my body is like, hey, wait a second. I've taken in a lot of this. So just. Just something to keep in mind. If you do find yourself moving up in a new distance and you're struggling with taking in that gel, maybe look at what your flavors are. Change up your flavor. Go to more mild flavor. That might help you out a little bit as well.

Announcer: Great set, everyone. Let's cool down. All right.

Cooldown

Andrew Harley: For the cool down on our show, we are now every single week asking our coaches a question from our audience. And our question this week comes from Alexander, and he wants to know, is it normal to take time off training when you feel drained, or is the plan the plan and you just need to stick with it? Coach Jasmine, to you first.

Jasmine Moezzi: My gosh, no, please. I a hundred percent recommend taking time off when you need it so you don't get burnt out. And I think training plans and races and all that stuff is amazing, but it really can, can be really intense for like a long period of time. Um, if you have a coach, definitely talk to your coach about it. Um, because really avoiding burnout and injury is what we're trying to achieve. And I, I usually during off season give my athletes either like a really loose training plan for like a month or two if they don't really have that much coming up right away, or I just actually have them take a little, little break. I think it's super, super important to, to make sure that you're still enjoying the training. It's all about, it's all about fun and enjoyment. So if you're not feeling like you're enjoying it or feeling fulfilled, then that's, that's something to definitely reassess and think about. And I, I mean talking to a coach is always super helpful and to see kind of what the next steps can be. But yeah, I, yeah, go have some fun. Go do something that's not necessarily swim, bike run related, like maybe pickleball or I don't know, surfing. Like something, something different that keeps you active but just, yeah, it keeps you outside and moving, but just gives you a little break. And then when you feel that like hunger and thirst to come back, it'll be so much stronger that way and you'll be so much more excited to, to train and race again. But I think definitely taking that break physically and mentally is super helpful.

Andrew Harley: So yeah, very, very good. And, and TriDot Training is, since it optimizes the trainings for you since it's balancing your training stress correctly. It's, it's balancing. When your swims, your bikes, your run should be on the calendar. You don't have to have a day off with TriDot. Right. And so you kind of, that kind of puts the impetus on you to decide when to take one or take a week off, a season off, whatever. So definitely something to discuss with your coach. Definitely something to, to know is on you because TriDot is going to keep giving you the training because it's trying to optimize your, your performance for race day. So you've got to be the one to say, whoa, I, I would like a couple days off here. And we actually have a full podcast episode about this that just came out. It's episode 289. It originally published on April 7, 2025. It was called Swim bike run rest, getting your rest days. Right. And we talk about some rest day principles. We talk about burnout a little bit on that episode. So I would point out Alexander and other folks wanted to hear more about this to that episode. But a really good question that I'm glad Alexander asked and you can tell he's training with TriDot by the way he worded it.

Jasmine Moezzi: Just one more thing I would add is also sometimes like changing up the type of races you do is really fun. So if you're just mainly doing, doing triathlons and you want to still do something like active and different, you could look into doing some trail running or maybe some different run races during off season or like when you're just trying to like switch it up a little bit. I've, I've also noticed that helps my, my athletes a lot like just switching modes or swim run races are becoming really big now. That's another fun thing, fun thing to do or like cycling races. So yeah, just I think like changing it up is, is key, like taking a break and rest when needed or just kind of changing up the variety of training and races that you do.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. And for me, I will if I have an A race on the calendar, you know, like, like, oh man. My next goal is to really crush a 70.3 or to crush an IRONMAN or to crush an Olympic like, like I will, I will do every single training day to, to the T because I want to crush that race. And if I don't have a big A race on the calendar, yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna make sure I, I take a day off when I need to. I'm gonna take a fun day when I need to because that's, that's playing the long game. Right. I've enjoying this sport for a long time. Coach Kathy, same question over to you. Is there anything else you tell your athletes when it comes to taking time off, training just throughout their, their seasons?

Kathy Hudson: Yeah, I think it's wonderful. I agree with everything Jasmine said. It's also a good time to focus on things like strength training, you know, building what we need to do to be more prepared. You know, the development phase, as TriDot refers to it as is as important as race prep phase. But yeah, and throw in some fun stuff. And I think that as triathletes, most of us are very determined, have certain personality traits and just know that taking a day off or taking some time off is not failure. Recovery is as important as our training sessions. So I think that having that mindset and just knowing that taking a day off when needed is not failure.

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