TriDot Podcast Episode 255

What to do When Race-Day Goes Wrong

Intro: 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.

Andrew Harley: Welcome to the TriDot podcast. I am really interested to see what twists and turns today’s conversation takes us through. When we get to a multisport race day, race day can certainly take some twists and turns on us. So today I have two TriDot coaches here to talk to us about what to do, how to handle things when something goes wrong on the race course. Let’s see what we can learn from our esteemed coaches. Our first coach joining us for this conversation is Kurt Madden. Kurt is a pioneer of the sport and a double digit Kona finisher. He has three top ten finishes at the Ironman World Championships, is a four time North American age-group champion and is a four-time number one world ranked age-group Ironman All World Athlete. Kurt is also a two time Ultraman World Champion and in 2019 was inducted into the Ultraman World Championship Hall of Fame. In addition he has a master’s degree in exercise physiology and he is the head of coach development for TriDot. Kurt, welcome back to the show my friend.

Kurt Madden: Andrew, I want to thank you for that warm welcome and today I’m really looking forward to twisting, to turning, to pivoting because, you know, all of us are going to face at some point in time some challenges of what can go wrong on race day.

Andrew: Absolutely. I can’t wait to hear what we can learn from you and our second coach joining us today. Her very first time on the TriDot podcast. Not new to the TriDot family, but new to the podcast we have Coach Louise Strydom. Louise is the head coach and owner of Infinitude Multisport Coaching based out of Pretoria, South Africa. She is a TriDot founding master coach and an Ironman certified coach. She has a master’s degree in psychology and specializes in motivation and athlete anxiety, a perfect fit for this topic today. She has been training with TriDot since 2016 and coaching with TriDot since 2019. Louise, welcome to the TriDot podcast!

Louise Strydom: Hey Andrew and Coach Madden. I’m really excited to be here. Yeah, you make me sound so much more brilliant than I appear to be. So really excited to be here.

Andrew: Yeah, can’t wait to just soak in the Louise Strydom brilliance. 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 questions, settle in for our main set conversation, and then wind things down with Vanessa interviewing a TriDot coach for our Coach Cool Down Tip of the Week. Lots of good stuff. Let’s get to it.  

Warm up theme: Time to warm up! Let’s get moving.

Andrew: This is our second podcast episode publishing during the 2024 Paris Olympics so admittedly I’ve got the Olympics on the brain. There are some sports like swimming and athletics that are always part of the games and then there are others like triathlon, surfing, and break dancing that have been added over time. As our warm up question today, what is the one sport that is not currently part of the Olympics that you would most like to see added into the mix? Coach Kurt, what is this for you?

Kurt: This is a tough one. I kind of labored with this. I went back and forth and what I think is a really good thing is pickleball. You know, pickleball is getting so much talk.

Andrew: It is. Yeah.

Kurt: I see it even with athletes and I think it's a good alternative and I live in a community in San Diego where people are outside and they’re doing it all the time. I think for seniors too for longevity, it’s a fun activity, but I think pickleball the time has come and I think also from a viewer standpoint, we’re going to really create some super good interest and it’s going to be an international sport that people can enjoy and thrive on and continue just to embrace it.

Andrew: Yeah, would love to see pickleball at a high level at the Olympics. That would be super fun. Great answer here Kurt. Louise, what is your selection here?

Louise: Oh my soul. So I honestly had to go and read up on pickleball is because we don’t have it in South Africa. So I had to change my answer because my answer would have been squash which is sort of a paddle sport. But hopefully Mark Allen would really enjoy this since he wears the bowling shirts.

Andrew: Yeah.

Louise: But umm.  

Andrew: That’s a really good answer. Yeah.

Louise: Just because you don’t have to be necessarily very fit, but there is a technique to it. So I’d love to see more sports that has technique instead of just either strength or cardiovascular fitness. So bowling would actually be a pretty good sport to see at an Olympic level. I feel that I might actually get to the Olympics. I’m not bad at bowling.

Andrew: Yeah, I probably bowl once every three years. I probably golf once every three years. When I golf, my goal is to stay under 100. When I bowl my goal is to get over 100 and I can usually barely accomplish both. But I never would have thought of bowling here and I really like this answer because bowling has professional leagues, bowling is a world wide sport. I mean, it ticks all the boxes, right for what the Olympics looks for in a competition. I’m actually kind of shocked and surprised that bowling isn’t currently in the Olympics. You know, when you look at some other sports that are. This is a great answer. I initially, when I first planned this question, my response was going to be dodgeball. Dodgeball; loads of fun. We all grow up all across the world, kids in gym class grew up playing dodgeball. There’s a lot of artistry and a lot of technique and a lot of different body types that are good in that sport so I was fully prepared to pitch dodgeball as my answer. Then I was thinking about it last night and Kurt, kind of same as you, I love playing racquetball. It’s a different form of tennis. It’s loads of fun. It’s a world wide sport, there’s professional leagues and for tennis to be an Olympic sport and for racquetball and squash to not be is kind of surprising because again they’re kind of in the same vein. I, just personally, who enjoys playing racquetball, I would love to see what racquetball looks like on the professional level. Like, how good are those players that play racquetball professionally. I selfishly would enjoy getting to watch that. So that’s my answer here. We’re going to throw this question out to TriDot Nation. This question will appear in the I AM TriDot Facebook group. I will ask you guys and gals what your answer to this question is. I will also pose this question in the TriDot Community Hub. A lot of our athletes are now interacting in the TriDot Community Hub and I am posting the warm up questions there. Coach Kurt and Coach Louise are nodding their heads because they’re on there. Can’t wait to see what sport you all would love to see get added to the Olympic games.

Main set theme: On to the main set. Going in 3…2…1…

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Andrew: Listen, I would love nothing more than every time you and I hit the race course for race day to just go great; for you to smash all your goals, for you to keep the pace you want to keep, for you to not have any GI issues, for nothing to go sideways with your gear, equipment, weather, whatever. I would love for us all to have a dream day at the races every time we line up to race, but ladies and gentlemen, that is not reality. Normally, something on race day will go a little bit sideways. Sometimes it’s small things. Sometimes it’s big things, but either way, it’s good for us to know how to troubleshoot, how to change our plan, how to change our race day expectations when things go wrong on race day and that is what Coach Kurt and Coach Louise are here to talk with us about today. But Louise, before we get to the heart of that chat, I just kind of want to give a shoutout to all of our TriDotters in South Africa. We have a tremendous cohort of athletes and coaches using TriDot in South Africa and you at Infinitude Coaching are a central part of it all. Just kind of tell our global community that listens to the podcast a little bit about our TriDot presence in your country.

Louise: Thank you so much Andrew. So, umm, yeah. I met Coach Kurt on an Ironman certified coaches panel and I posted the question, “How do you go about coaching yourself?” because I was out of a coach.

Andrew: Fair question, yeah.

Louise: And he was like, no they set up a call and he pitched TriDot to me. I’ll never forget it. It was the 16th of December. I signed up on the 21st of December for a Christmas present to myself, got myself an awesome coach and a training program and that was in 2016. So I was an athlete with TriDot and then in 2019 I moved my club over so it was the first time that we could get a TriDot class instruction in South Africa. So my athletes have been training with it since 2019 and then in 2022 we could make TriDot available to all athletes within South Africa and for coaches to use it as well. So it’s been a long and hard journey, but finally TriDot is in South Africa and it’s changing the way our athletes train.

Andrew: I absolutely love it. To get to our topic today talking about race day setbacks, I just kind of want to start by hearing a solid setback story of your own. Both of you, Kurt, Louise and myself, have raced quite a bit and the more you race, the more room you have to have some good stories in your back pocket from raceday setbacks. So just kind of start us off by sharing an example of a time where something went sideways for you on race day. Coach Kurt, we’ll kick this to you first.

Kurt: We’re going to go back to May of 2022 when Ironman had to pivot respectfully and had moved the World Champion to St. George, Utah. I had never raced in St. George, Utah, but I felt as though I had prepared for Ironman. Said, hey okay, you’re going to swim in a lake. It’s going to be cold. You’re going to climb on the bike; I had done that before. And you’re going to run a marathon. Okay, got it. All of a sudden we get there and the energy, the excitement, there were so many TriDot people, but that morning was a very, very, very, very cold morning. I do not do well when it gets really, really cold. So all the energy that was at TriDot Ambassador camp and I think that literally saved me just to kind of calm my nerves, but literally just going up to that water I was just frozen. My hands, my feet, I’m like there’s no way I’m going to last for an hour, but somehow, someone up above was looking out for me and I got through that water and I think I was either frozen, my brain was completely frozen, or I was in the zone because when I ran out, I could not remember my race number.

Andrew: Wow.

Kurt: That’s fatal. That is beyond fatal and you know, the common sense it’s actually on your wrist and I’m yelling out these random numbers for five minutes and as I came through the swim John Mayfield told me I was number one. It took me at least seven minutes after using some very inappropriate language to find my gosh darn bag and I found the bag and I beat myself up for 30 or 40 miles on that bike. I’m like, “What were you thinking?” You crushed your swim, you were in a perfect spot. You’ve got to let that go. The first half of the bike ride, Andrew, was actually somewhat enjoyable. However, there’s kind of the east side of St. George and then there’s the west side and all of a sudden we get over to the west side. I had biked a lot of sections of that, but I hadn’t biked the whole course kind of in one big scoop and all of a sudden mother nature said, “No, we’re going to make it nice and warm for you today because you folks look a little bit cold.” And we started climbing and climbing. I think it was at mile 60 or 70 I’m like, “Where are the aid stations? Where is the water? Where is the wind?” and just looking I thought I was in the Tour de France and probably none of our listeners have never had one of those days when the sunscreen that you put on is burning your eyes to the point where you can’t even see straight. It’s just a continuous burn. It feels like you’ve got salsa in your eyes. I’m like, “What did I do wrong today? Why am I getting all this?” I’m climbing and I’m climbing and I get down to about mile 95 and John Mayfield; Finally I saw John and he goes, “Coach, you’re in second place.” and I go “Cool.” But then we have the stairway to heaven and that is called Snow Canyon.

Andrew: Yep.

Kurt: And I’m thinking “Okay, I know this bad boy. I know it very well.”

Andrew: Pretty good climb.

Kurt: And I know for sure they’re going to have an aid station at least halfway there. Well Andrew, guess what? There was no aid station. I’m saying, “Okay, I’m going to a dark spot now. They didn’t do the math on this one.” I know it’s not all that far, but you’re climbing a 10% grade and when I got to the top of Snow Canyon on my heart rate monitor it said 244 and I just about lost it. I’m like, I don’t think my left ventricle is quite that strong, but you know what I’m starting to freak out and I’ve got to back down. Then I started to cramp. Then I start the downhill, just relax. Don’t even worry about it. You’re going to be fine, but then there’s something called crosswinds and that crosswind hit me three or four times and I looked up and said “Lord, if you’re going to take me out, take me out now because it’s time because you know what, I won’t have to run that gosh darn marathon.”

Andrew: Yep, this is it.

Kurt: So I roll into T2. It took three people to literally get me off of the bike because my whole body was a cramp and they said, you know, “You don’t look good.” I felt like I was Rocky. You know, they cut my eyes open, just go one more round. I’m thinking, with my heart there’s no way I can do this. With my head I couldn’t do it, but I’m like, I’ve got to get out and run 100 yards. Well I left T2 and I went 100 yards and then I went another 100, then another 100, another 100, another 100. As the marathon continued I actually got better. Andrew, I saw you at least a couple times and you definitely encouraged me and then it was like, “Hey, I think I can do this.” So I was shocked, literally shocked, to finish third. So the event’s over. Now with the scale of that event and it’s so large, you know what I’m going to say next. Now you’ve got to find your bike and then once you find your bike–

Andrew: The day’s not done. Yeah.

Kurt: It’s at the completely other end then you’ve got to walk all the way back to check out and then it took me an hour to get to my car. Then I call Queen K and say, “Okay, I didn’t die today. I almost died, but now I need to get home.” So for me that was a definite, solid setback day where I had to pivot and adapt and do a little twist and shout.

Andrew: I just want to clarify for listeners who don’t know Kurt’s wife. When he says “Queen K” he didn’t call the Queen K Highway in Kona. Queen K is the nickname of Kurt’s better half, spouse, wife, partner and shoutout to her. She’s a true gem for following Kurt Madden all over the world doing triathlons. But Kurt, what I love about this story is it really, going into this conversation, illustrates sometimes things going wrong is as tangible as getting a flat tire. Right? Like, that’s what we think of, right? It’s like something super tangible that causes you to have to troubleshoot something out on course. Sometimes something going wrong is your sunscreen dripping into your eyes so much, uncharacteristically, that your eyes are burning and it’s hard to see and there’s so many little things like that that can really start picking at us on our race day, right? And that’s kind of what we’re talking about here. There’s so many things and the longer that the course is, the longer you’re racing, the more often you race– I mean Kurt Madden, for our listeners, Kurt Madden has taken to the triathlon race course hundreds of times and as experienced as he is can still go out and have some things like that that he doesn’t catch in advance, kind of pick at his race day. And what we’re talking about today is how to get through those moments and get by those obstacles too like Kurt did, keep moving forward and have the best race you can in spite of what’s happening. Louise, I think Kurt and I both know what story you’re going to share, but lay it on our listeners. Talk to us about what happened when you went to race your extreme triathlon in the region of Patagonia.

Louise: I decided my next challenge after doing several full distance races, I’m going to go to the extreme world. So I entered la chico Patagonman which is literally as low as you can go. It’s in the Patagonian region of Chile and you can’t really go any further down. Got into the race, started training. Training went so well. Now we need to travel. So for South Africa to get literally to the other side of the world you first have to go to the top of the world because there’s no trucks. So It is a flight from South Africa to Dubai, Dubai to Brazil, Brazil to Santiago, Santiago to eventually to…

Andrew: Wow.

Louise: …our destination a six and a half hour drive to the race venue. So all in all, about 40 hours of travel and we finally arrived two days later with our hand luggage, and no luggage. So my bike and our suitcases with all my kit in got left behind in Brazil. So it was a transfer issue between trucks, between flights. So Emirates signed it off and the other airline never picked it up. So we arrived on the Friday and the race was on the Sunday. Panic starts of course. Gosh darn it is not the words that I used.

Andrew: A little more colorful. A little more colorful for sure.

Louise: Oh, a bit more colorful.

Andrew: The color of the words matched the color of the situation.

Louise: Yes it did. So we get to registration. We register and now we are on speaker phone with the airlines to see if we can at least just get my bike here. Nothing is happening. There’s only two flights per day to the race– to the closest city and now I’m on the phone to Kurt who was my coach at that stage and I’m like, “Well, I don’t have anything.” I had my wetsuit and I’m wearing my running shoes. I don’t have my contacts. I’m wearing glasses. I was not traveling with contact lenses for 40 hours. So I have my glasses and I have my wetsuit and my running shoes and a pair of socks. I posted on the social media group for the race specifically. There’s only 280 athletes racing and I said, “Hey, I’m from South Africa and I have nothing.” And people came out of the woodworks and they kitted me out completely from a helmet, goggles, socks and shoes I got the morning of the race. We kind of like prayed really hard that it’s going to fit in the bike that someone brought from Argentina and was miraculously the same size. I got kitted out literally. There’s a woman that showed up, I’m still friends with her, one of my friends, but she’s from Alaska. She came with a bag of clothes and she was like, “Alright, let’s see what fits and what doesn’t fit.” And I got kitted out and I’ll never forget race morning. I handed my glasses to my husband because they couldn’t kit me out with contacts and I was just like, “Well, I’m hoping to see you soon.” So that was my worst race experience ever. Unfortunately I could not finish the race. We had some very severe bike issues because I got the bike the afternoon at 4 o’clock and we had to leave the next morning at 3 to get to the race venue. So there was not really enough time to properly do a setup and check settings so the setup was slightly off and the saddle, the seat post clamp was worn out completely and every time you hit a bump in the road the seat would drop. Everything is cramping. My legs have been for 60 kilometers in such an uncomfortable position, everything is just cramping and hurting and I did my best and I just pulled out. I got in the car and I literally made a video to Kurt. I’m crying, I’m sitting in the seat and I’m like, “I really tried my best.” And that was one of the hardest things. I can deal with losing things, but just to give up was just heartbreaking. But yeah, plan to hit there again next year to not kill the race, but to really just finish it.

Andrew: Lots that we can learn from these stories and lots that we can learn from what you two have learned through all of your race stories and things that have gone wrong, athletes you’ve worked with things going wrong. So let’s start here in terms of our talking points for today. Things can actually go wrong well before race day, right? And Louise’s story is such a representation of that. You know, your race day going wrong is because of something that went wrong days in advance, right? And I’ve heard athletes share stories like this of travel issues. We’ve heard athletes share stories of health issues, getting sick the week of a race for example. We hear of injury issues where an old injury flares up on race week all of a sudden, or sometimes there’s just totally unexpected, random life issues that can pop up on race week and kind of affect our race before we even get there. How can we keep calm and carry on when a setback threatens our race weekend before we even get there? Louise.  

Louise: So first thing is just take a breath and just stand still or just be still. Just take a breath because if you make decisions right there and emotions are running high, you are going to most likely make a decision that you’re going to regret. So calm down. Then, you know, focus on what you can control and what you can’t control. The things you cannot control, leave it. The things that you can control, those are the things that you’re going to focus on. So when I lost all my bags I was very upset and I was going to pull out of this race and I was just done with everything. Then I texted to Kurt and he was like, “Okay, what’s the plan B? If you can’t get the bike, what is the cut off time? The latest that you can pull out of this race?” I’m like, “Well the morning of.” So okay we are going to try to get a bike by 4 o’clock. If we don’t get a bike at 4 o’clock the day before the race then, you know, we’re calling it a day and that’s what we focused on. We focused on things– because I can do running shoes. The plan was if we can’t find cycle shoes, running shoes and cable ties. That was the plan. That was literally the plan; running shoes and cable ties. So those are the things you can– I didn’t know if my luggage was going to pick up so I can’t worry about that, but I can focus on the things that I can help or that I can do. I got onto social media and I asked for help. A lot of athletes start freaking out completely. Go onto the Facebook page on the race organization page. Usually there is an event page where thousands of athletes are on anyway. Post the “I’ve lost a helmet.” “I’ve cracked–” “My car got broken into.” People are going to come out and help you because that’s what triathletes do.

Andrew: Yeah.

Louise: You help each other. So decide what you can control and what you can’t control. Focus on what you can control and don’t be shy to ask for help. Those are the biggest tips that I can give athletes when things start to go wrong.

Andrew: Yeah, I absolutely love that. So I kind of want to talk through for the swim, bike, run and transitions because things can go wrong in transition. Those four spots on race day and I want to hear from you as you're coaching your athletes, you’re talking to your athletes, what are the usual candidates, like the things that go wrong most often on each of those moments of the course? Because if we identify them, we can’t possibly identify everything that could possibly go wrong, right? But if we can be on the lookout for the usual suspects, maybe we can help things go a little bit smoother and not fall into these pitfalls. So we’ll start with the swim. We’ll go swim, bike, run, transition and just tell us what are the usual things that go wrong out on the race course, when we’re on the race course? Coach Kurt, kick us off with the swim.

Kurt: I’m going to start with probably just as you’re lined up and your goggles. You know, the first thing that can or will happen if it hasn’t happened yet, it definitely will, is that your goggles are going to fog up. Not good, especially like Louise said. Especially if your vision isn’t all that good. So what do you do? You stop and deal with it right then and there. If your goggles are leaking, you’ll probably say a few cuss words, but you’ve got to deal with the leaking goggles. The worst case scenario, let’s say the strap actually breaks off of your goggles. An athlete asked me that question. Well what can you do? The goggles are not functional. So you basically go on your swim without goggles. It sounds bizarre, but that’s really all you can do. The second thing that I find happens is that for some random reason all of a sudden you’re going to cramp. So you have to talk the athlete through it. What happens if you cramp? Well, you try to stay calm. You can’t really do much. They don’t have aid stations out there and you just have to continue your momentum, try to work through that, and again continue to push towards getting into the finish. The other thing I’ve seen back in the day and it still happens occasionally, especially with our full Ironman races and females. I think the ratio has really shrunk down with females and many times these large males they don’t have correct etiquette, but I’ve gotten hit in the head a couple times even on the front line. The other thing too is it’s called chaffing. Chaffing is a wonderful thing when it doesn’t happen to you, but in the moment when you have a wetsuit on or you’ve got a skin on and you’re in a high salinity water, every stroke you’re taking you’re like, “Oh my gosh. I am going to pay a big price for this.” You need to acknowledge it, but you can’t let it stop you. You just have to grit down, bite your teeth and work through that. Then the other thing, this doesn’t sound like a big thing but for some people it actually is, you’re going to swim almost at threshold or high Z2 and maintain that stroke count, but you have to go pee in the water. You know what? That takes practice and you’ve got to make sure you can do that because it’s going to happen at some point in time, right Louise?

Louise: Uhh, yes. Although, I’ve never, ever had to go during a swim. So one of the things I get a lot with athletes, especially new athletes, is they get motion sickness in the water. So not a lot of our athletes are based at the coast, so the open water swim training that we do is in a lake. So we don’t experience the motion of the ocean and motion sickness is a very real thing. So if an athlete is unsure if that is something that can happen, take that little tablet before you get into the water. A lot of people are worried it’s going to make me, you know, it’s going to make me sleepy. I’m like, there’s so much adrenaline, it’s not going to make you sleepy. You are so focused on going, but at least you won’t be leaving your breakfast for the swimmers behind you. That’s one thing and also if you are– depending on how your swim is, just find markers to swim towards. So if you get disoriented in the water and you’re either in a washing machine or get bumped in the head, find your markers. Are you swimming towards a landmark and focus on that. Just calm down. Don’t be flustered. Just, you are swimming towards the pier or you’re swimming towards a hotel or you’re swimming towards any landmark that you can see, that’s where you’re heading to. So just a little bit of directional cues makes a huge difference just to calm you down in the swim when things are starting to go wrong.

Andrew: Yep. Love all that. Let’s move ourselves on to the bike. When we get to the bike leg of an event, what are the typical things you see go wrong for athletes and how can we troubleshoot those? Louise, we’ll go you first on this one and then let Kurt fill in any gaps.

Louise: So, mechanicals on the bike is the thing. There’s nothing that hurts my heart more if you’re on the race course and you see there’s an athlete next to the road and they have a flat or it’s a seat post or anything that goes wrong. That is the most– I feel so bad for that athlete because that really puts you in a horrible space and because there’s so much you’re doing mentally, because now I’m losing time.

Andrew: Yeah.

Louise: And “Oh man! I’m going to miss the time cut off.” So if you get so flustered, a little task that is going to take you 15, maybe less than 15 minutes to do, is now going to take you 30 minutes to do because you’re shaking and you don’t know what to do and all of those things that plays on. But solving it, like teach yourself how to do basic mechanics on your bike. Because, yes you can wait for the roaming mechanics, but on a course on 180 kilometers, there is only two roaming mechanics. You have to wait for that person or that motorcycle to come past. That’s taking time. So why do you spend training a year and travel cost and you miss a cut off because you can’t fix a flat tire. So teach yourself basic mechanics. It’s going to help you feel more confident on race day and if it happens you know what to do. Nutrition fails, and that is not necessarily the nutrition fail of not knowing what to do; it’s the skill of fueling on the bike. So a lot of us…

Andrew: Great point.

Louise: …sit on a trainer and train the whole day. Your whole training season has been on the trainer because you can’t go out, there’s no rides and all of a sudden you’re in the race and you need to take your water bottle out of the bottle cage and you need to drink from it and keep your line because otherwise you’re only going to end up on the wrong side of the road or in the bushes. So that’s also a skill. You need to teach yourself how to fuel on your bike. How to, you know, either set up or zip up a jacket, open up a packet of gums or chews or even rip open a gel without– with the ripping motion ripping yourself in front of another athlete.

Andrew: Yeah. Yep, totally.

Louise: So if you are confident in the small skills, you’re going to have an excellent bike experience because you aren’t going to be afraid to eat. You aren’t going to not fuel because I’m too scared to take my bottle out of my bottle cage. So that’s soft skills for cycling. Those are really important that can make or break your race day because we all know that a really bad bike is going to lead to a horrendous run if you aren’t fueling properly.

Kurt: I think the thing that I see many times too, kind of the downside of having high-end technology on bikes, is that can at times not even work. You know, for example…

Andrew: Yeah.

Kurt: …your power meter. I know some people that are– bless their hearts– they’re so analytical that if that power meter goes and you can’t get a reading you’ve got to go with something called back in the day we used this and it actually worked– RPE. That’s what you need to fall back on. It’s like, okay, let’s acknowledge it. I don’t know, but I’m riding enough, I know my perceived effort I should be able to handle that. The other thing that I’ve seen too is just a saddle issue. Maybe you put a new saddle too soon before the race. Not a good choice. It happened to me years ago and I’m like, “Oh my goodness.” But then you have to deal with it. The other thing to, and it goes back to Kona. I was literally passing someone on the bike on the left side, the wind was blowing from left to right, the guy came back on the motorcycle and said “You got a penalty. You were drafting.” I’m like “Oh my goodness. What did he say? He said I’ve got a penalty.” For an hour and a half that’s all I thought about. Why me? You’re going to live with it. You’ve just got to move on. So if and when that does happen, you know, just swallow humble pie. Say “Okay, I’m not going to fight back.” Sit in the penalty tent for five minutes, put a sack on your head and hopefully no one you know sees you.

Andrew: Talking about tech issues, Kurt, Coach Joanna Nami in Kona she has a story from Kona where she had the SRAM wireless shifters and she didn’t even know that those shifters had a travel mode and her bike shop put her shifters in travel mode for her flight so she’s– Like her shifting wasn’t working early on in the course and she pulled over at an aid station trying to get her shifting to work and thankfully one of the aid station volunteers starts helping her with her bike and here’s what’s happening. “Oh, I think they’re in travel mode. Let me disable that.” And he disables it on the fly and suddenly she can shift again. But she just had no idea that that technology had that. So yeah. Be well versed in what you have, how to work it, what can possibly happen to it. Great points there Kurt. Another thing, just I’m reminded talking about Joanna, backing up a step to the swim. You know, talking about leaky goggles, foggy goggles. She will have her athletes in open water swim practice swim a couple hundred meters at a time without goggles just in case your goggle straps break and you can’t access your goggles for that portion of a swim. You know, so just taking us back a step to the swim, I know that’s something she does with her athletes to have them prepared for just in case that goes wrong on the race day.

Moving onto the run portion of an event. What can happen on a run? What can go wrong on the run? Coach Kurt.

Kurt: Yeah, many people love getting off the bike because they figure, hey all I have to do now is walk or shuffle or run or gallop or do whatever, but I think we all know that as you’re starting to run it’s a whole different dynamic. The first thing that I’m going to mention is just blisters. Blisters can come up anytime anywhere especially when people say “Don’t put any water on my feet.” Well, with all the sweat especially again if I do a very hot race, if it’s an Ironman Texas or Kona or wherever, your feet are going to be wet. So blisters and just learning how to either acknowledge or deal with them and I think of back in the day when I was doing trail running, it depends how fatal they are. If it’s to the point where you can’t even run anymore, every step, you should probably stop at an aid station or take care of that. So blisters is one thing. The second one, we’ve already talked about it is the chafing. You know, that’s sometimes inevitable, but take care of yourself when you’re out there on the run. The other thing that I think we’ve seen it so many times is just GI issues. I just saw a YouTube of Lionel Sanders at Lake Placid where he’s literally hurling in a trash can that he had just taken way too many carbohydrates and when that happens, you know, you have to ask yourself “Okay, I need to be smarter and better, try to prevent those things” but try, like Louise said, try to be calm. Try to think it through. What’s the best thing I can do to kind of get things back on track? And we did a podcast on this next one, Andrew. It’s just the overheating. Understand that we’re there to race, we want to be competitive, but you want, again, the sun to set and rise tomorrow. So if you sense that you’re starting to overheat, you’ve got to take care of yourself. I just think that is super, super, you know, important. Then occasionally we all get that urge to actually go to the bathroom. Hopefully it is in a place and a time where there’s something called a porta potty. But if not, I’ve learned you have to ask for a little bit of grace and do what you need to do and those are things that, again, if it hasn’t happened yet I’m happy for everyone, but I am very confident at some point it’s going to do that. So that’s something else that you just have to think of when you’re on the run and then again as you’re running it’s continuing to monitor yourself to say, “Hey I felt so good ten minutes ago, why am I bonking?” You have to acknowledge that and just work through those tough spots.

Andrew: Yep, no. All great stuff. Louise, what would you add to things that can go wrong on the run course?

Louise: Chafing especially with females because unfortunately we have to wear, we have to wear sports bras and the chances of you chafing there is just– Yeah, it’s going to happen. So that is kind of one thing. Then like, keep extra lube in your T2 bag and just put it on or even we get these really small satchels if you can put that in the back of your tri suit then you’ve also got it with chafing. Then the other thing that I also see is athletes that go out so fast because you’re so relieved that you’re off the bike and you feel amazing and now you just need to run. That is– the first kilometer is the fastest kilometer on your whole race and then things just go wrong. So take that time. Just slow down a little bit because, you know, even though you are feeling great, you aren’t really feeling great. You’re just not feeling anything.

Andrew: You just don’t know it yet. Yeah. You just don’t know it.

Louise: And again, that wall is coming so just slow down. Make your first kilometer– it’s supposed to be the slowest. Getting into a nice rhythm. You know, feel the aches and pains of what’s just happened on the bike; lower back stiffness, your neck is sore. Just ease into the run and then you go from there. Don’t be afraid if you’re cramping, stop, stretch it out and walk at regular intervals for example.

Andrew: The last part of a race I wanted to touch on, things can go wrong in transition, and Kurt you mentioned in your St. George story, not being able to recall your number in that moment. You’ve got to know your number to find your gear or to ask the volunteers to give you the correct gear bag if that’s the way your race works and there’s a few more things than that that can go wrong in transition. I had a race in the Texas area where it was just an extra windy day and transition was in a pretty exposed parking lot and all of us got back to transition and all of your gear was just blown to hell and you’re running around the transition area trying to find where are my socks? Where did my hat end up? Where is this and you press forward without certain things, but you had to have your number bib. Anyway, what are the things that can go wrong in transition? Louise.

Louise: So, the biggest thing that can go wrong– actually two things that can go wrong in transition is not packing your bags correctly and I’m talking with personal experience on this one. So full Ironman. It was the first race that I actually did with Coach Kurt. It’s also one of the races where everything went wrong, the torn ligaments, walked the marathon.

Andrew: Oooo.

Louise: I put my race belt with my number in my run bag and transition areas obviously were in completely different sections. I come out of the water and do everything and I’m like, “I don’t have a race number.” So I had to get a volunteer, a marshal, and they had to go to my run bag, get the number, bring it back. Then, umm, losing your bike in transition. There’s nothing from a spectator’s perspective–

Andrew: It happens. Yeah.

Louise: –there’s nothing worse than when athletes–  “Where’s my bike? Where’s my bike? Where’s my bike?” Once again, find a landmark. You know you’re running for a street light or you’re running for a tree or a lamp post. You know, you’re running for something. This is kind of I know where my bike is. If you ever race where there is 2000 athletes, it’s just bikes everywhere and with us, where they combine 70.3 and a full distance race. Everyone has one transition area so you need to make sure that you know where your bike is because you’re going to lose time if you’re running around kind of like “Where’s my bike?” So that’s the major things in transition that can go wrong except for pinching up to your bike and there’s a flat.

Andrew: And just like when you’re out on the bike course and you get a flat, you just have to stop, take a breath, deal with it in the moment, get it changed. You know, you’re going to lose some time. You can’t worry about the lost time. And yeah. One more thing I want to talk about that could go wrong at a variety of stages, right? Is just starting to have some health issues or picking up an injury, right? I’ve been at races where you see athletes start to overheat. I’ve been at races where you see athletes just for one reason or another have over extended themselves on the day and need to tend to their health because of that. I’ve seen athletes that have wrecked on the bike and picked up an injury or twisted an ankle on the run and picked up an injury. Kurt, talk us through how to handle a health issue mid race or an injury mid race. How can we recognize when to push through it and when to pull ourselves out because of it? What are your thoughts here?

Kurt: Yeah, that’s always a tough call because, let’s be honest, I think in the moment maybe we’re not a rational person because we’re so competitive. It’s the most important thing to finish a race, but I think you really need to objectively take stock and especially I would say the scariest thing is a bike accident. That you’re not coherent. You could have a concussion. You’re not thinking clearly. If other people are talking to you that they’re concerned, just don’t blow it off. They’re there to help you and that’s the beauty of our sport is they’re always there. Then at the same time, we owe it to other people if we see something to come alongside them and let them know that hey, things are not going well and really make the right decision. I’ve learned that no matter how hard that is, just like with Louise, there’s always going to be another day, but it’s just not worth it and I think one thing we want to prevent is– let’s be very transparent– we have lost people in our sport. We’re going to lose friends. We’re going to lose family members. Let’s do everything– It’s that moral imperative. We’ve just got to work with each other and make those right decisions.

Andrew: Yep. Very well said. The next thing I want to talk about is, you know, when things go wrong, big or small, it can start weighing on your mind. It can start– obviously your time splits can start being affected and so that’s getting to you and you’re not going to end up with the time you dreamed of having and all these things. So how can we navigate the mental side of this? How can we just accept what’s happening, continue to press forward, stay mentally strong and get the most we can out of this race day even when it’s not the race day we dreamt of having? Louise, why don’t you start us off here first.

Louise: Umm, so, what I do with my athletes, we set up a plan A and a plan B and a plan C and we run through scenarios of things that can go wrong. So if things are going wrong nutritionally, what is the plan? If things go wrong mechanically, what is the plan? If there’s a health issue, what is the plan? So if you have plans, a B and a C and a D and an F. The more plans you have the more confident you are. The more confident you are doing the race and it gives you that mental edge of knowing that there is a back up plan. Yes, I’m not going to get the times that I’m really aiming for on the bike or on the run. Okay, so what is our plan B? This is the next time slot or the next time split that we’re aiming for. Aim for that. Okay, it’s still not working. You know what? I’m actually just so happy to be racing. That’s our fancy. You are perfectly able to do what you do and yes it’s not going to be great, but think about all the things that you are going to be able to learn from this. So the more we talk about this pre-race, the better mental space we are creating for athletes. So when things do go wrong they are handling it better than just flustering about while they are doing a race.

Andrew: Yeah, I really like that and it reminds me of something that I’ve heard Michellie Jones of Giddyup Racing, Olympic silver medalist, Ironman World Champion, TriDot coach. She says, just celebrate the race you’re having today. Enjoy the race you’re having today. There’s the race that you meant to have, the race you thought you were going to have and if that isn’t the reality of how it shook out, okay. You know, when you cross the finish line, celebrate the race that you had today and everything that came with it. Kurt, what would you add here?

Kurt: Yeah I think the thing that I’ve learned is, Louise has touched on it, but you want to stay in the moment and acknowledge that things are not going perfect, but it is that inner voice. Mark talks about it quite a bit, Mark Allen. It’s the positive self-talk. It’s that inner voice. Just keep that rhythm. Just take it one step at a time. I’ve learned too that to break things up into very small chunks. If you’re in the swim, just take ten– Like Louise said, just get to the next buoy. Things might not be that bad. Then get to the next buoy. When you’re on the bike, get to the next mile marker. When you’re on the run, hey roll up on that aid station and all of a sudden you’ve got all this momentum there. You’ve got people. The energy. It’s very, very positive. So breaking it up into chunks. I think the other thing I do and it’s kind of that mental game we talked about, being in the state of flow. The things are challenging, but you lose track of time and you’re in that zone right there, but sometimes it’s good to disassociate. Let your mind go to a happy place, someone that brings you joy and happiness, something you’ve done in your life and just let the time wander. I find that disassociating really makes a big difference. I’ve also learned too, smiling.

Andrew: Yeah.

Kurt: When you roll up on an aid station and you’re suffering, you’re hurting so bad, you’re faking it ‘til you make it. But they’re like “Hey, cool man! Let’s go!” And I think that’s something to do. Also out on the race course, just that positive vibe, keeping your sense of humor. I remember an aid station when we were at that last hill climbing out at mile 80. You know what, we weren’t competing. We were all suffering together and a guy looked over at me and he says, “You know what, this is our last climb.” and I said “Give me some right there.” Boom!

Andrew: Yeah. Yeah.

Kurt: And to me in the moment it was like, that is so cool. He’s in the same place I am. We’re not racing. We just want to get up this last hill and then descend for an hour and then start the marathon. So those are things that I’ve learned and also too, it’s kind of that David Goggins. That, you know, when you’re tired you don’t quit. You quit when the work is done and the other thing too like Goggins has said. You know, he tells these stories where he walks into the porta potty as David, but he comes out as Goggins and I think the mind is such a powerful weapon. It can go against you, but you want to get it to work towards you and your favor.

Louise: And to just add to that, there’s a saying “You never know who’s watching.”

Andrew: Wow.

Louise: Yeah and that’s also something that I keep in mind. You are now the parent of a toddler…

Andrew: Yes.

Louise: …and I like to believe that if I’m not giving up, my kid is seeing it and she’s like “Oh yeah. My mom’s a badass.” So talking to athletes on the run that are also struggling. Just linking up to someone that’s in the same boat as you, that gives you such a mental boost because you don’t feel alone anymore. In our sport, feeling alone is part of it. You’re alone on the bike. You’re alone in the swim. The run is the only part where you’re kind of are with someone and linking up with someone suffering, it makes a huge difference.

Andrew: It sure does. Yep, it sure does. I’ll throw this last thing in there. This isn’t from me. This is from the top down, CEO of TriDot, founder of TriDot Jeff Booher. When he was Coach Boo. Back when he was actively coaching athletes he was Coach Boo was his nickname and what he would always tell his athletes; I’ve heard him say this a number of times. He would tell his athletes, “On race day expect three things to go wrong.” And that way whether it’s big or small, you’re just ticking off boxes. Like, oh man I didn’t get the bottle I wanted, that bottle of water at that aid station because just me and the volunteer didn’t link up, I dropped it, whatever, whatever. Okay, boom. There’s thing number one off the list. I’ve already knocked out one of my three. Then later on in the race, you know, you have some– You struggle to find your bike in transition. Okay, there’s two. So in that way, you’re almost expecting. You’re not flustered by it. You’re not thrown by it. You’re just ticking a box saying, “Okay, cool. There was my first thing. Cool there’s my second thing. I’ve got one more in the tank.” And if those three never come, well sweet, that’s just a bonus. But if you expect that those things are going to be there, you check that box, you navigate, you troubleshoot whatever the issue is and you keep moving forward.

I do want to ask this because, Louise, your story is an example of this right? Just recognizing at Patagonman it’s not in my best interest, it’s not in the best interest of my body, this bicycle, this person’s cycling shoes, for me to continue in this race and you pulled yourself out of the race. And there’s a number of circumstances and instances where athletes can press through and can enter David Goggins mode and just hammer down until they finally get the thing done for better or for worse, but there are occasions and there will be occasions where it’s best to DNF and to pull yourself off the course, pull yourself out of the race and live to fight another day. What is each of your advice for recognizing when those moments are and what is the protocol for a race? What are the best practices for pulling yourself out of a race and DNF’ing? Louise, what do you think?

Louise: So the first thing is– that’s a hard line for me. No race is worth your health. Kurt and I had this conversation as coach and athlete a lot and his words were “Triathlon is always going to be there.” and that’s sticking with me. So I had to stop training when I was pregnant then it was COVID, everyone stopped training, but triathlon will always be there. So I see that a lot within our country because they are so limited on races. There’s only– There’s three Ironman races in our country. So if you miss one, it’s literally like you can only do one next year again because we don’t even have the deferral policies because there’s no races and athletes they race while they are ill and that’s a hard line for me. Health is never worth the race. It’s the hard choice, but it’s the best choice. Triathlon will always be there. Protocol wise, go to the first marshall or referee that you see. Usually with– I’ve never raced in the US– but with us they have these white and black striped shirts. You see that person, you go to that person and you follow the protocols that they set up. That’s the first thing. And the second thing is contact your next of kin as soon as possible so whether that is asking someone “Can you just look at the contact details that’s on the back of my race number.” Just send a message like, “Hey I’m alive.” Because that person is looking at your tracker and they see that you aren’t moving and they’re worried. So next of kin as soon as possible just get into contact with any family member to say, you know, “Hey I’m alive.” Because that’s also– triathlon is also a family sport. There are so many supporters, you need to let them know something has gone wrong if it is possible. You know, if you end up in an accident then it’s a completely different story, but that’s the big things. Put your health first because racing now is probably going to put you back three or four months. Once again, talking from experience. I fell and I tore ligaments in my foot four weeks before the race and it’s the only full distance Ironman we have in the country and I’m going to do that race. Kurt was my coach. I walked the marathon and then I was out for four months because I couldn’t run. I couldn’t train. I also was under supervision from my husband who was very mad at me. So your health is never worth it and then just follow the race protocols. That’s why you need to read the race guide.

Andrew: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Always. We have a podcast episode about that. Always look at the race guide even– no matter how many times you’ve done a race. Kurt anything to add there?

Kurt: Yeah, I’m going to touch on just the emergency contact. I’ve had that come up with a few athletes recently. One in particular, he went through a race and he had no emergency contact. He literally didn’t have one within say 1000 miles. Try to connect to someone else because look at the worst case scenario. If something fatal does happen to you, it’s really, really, really important to at least have another TriDot person or someone else that you can use as far as a reference to make sure that people are in the know, they’re going to take care of you and I think for me, Andrew, as I looked at this question I think for me looking back, it wasn’t a triathlon, I actually did a 24 hour run. So I had done Western States in June. It was a 100 mile run. The next week I was on a track doing intervals for some strange reason and then I jumped in a 24 hour run and eight hours into it I stopped into the bathroom and I noticed like, “I think somebody poured Coke in here.” I did two more laps, I came back and I went again and I’m like “Oh my gosh. That’s me.” So it’s like Louise said. I stopped, I thought about it. I’m not done yet. We’re only at hour eight. I’ve got many more hours to go. I called Queen K and said, “I don’t think this is going to happen” and I decided at that point if I was urinating blood it was time for me to call it. So there was no doubt in my mind. I was bound and determined though even after I got out of the ER I figured, hey I’ll go back and just finish the race. No. That’s not happening. You just have to let that kind of die and then there’s going to be another day.

Louise: For the TriDotters that are listening, a good idea would be if you are doing a race internationally, if you’re traveling beyond your country borders or whatever, post on the social media pages or on circle and say, “Listen, I’m coming to race in South Africa. Is there any TriDotters here?” Most of us are here in South Africa and we would love to help out and that could be a contact for your emergency if you are traveling alone. So I’ve done that for a couple of TriDot athletes that have come to race here. They’re traveling alone it’s like, “Hey, this is my contact details. You’re welcome to put it on as your emergency contact at the race.” Your little bike checkout card if you do end up at the hospital, make sure that you either drop it off at my hotel and I will take care of it if something happens to you. I’ll make sure that your bike gets sorted out. So the TriDot family is always willing to help out…

Andrew: That is so true.

Louise: …if athletes are traveling to where TriDot athletes are.

Andrew: Yeah, very good addition there. I don’t want to end the episode talking about DNF’ing. Let’s not go out that way. So just real quick, we’ve had a good, solid, long conversation about this already. So in 60 seconds or less for the each of you, I just want to shut down our main set today by hearing a story of an athlete that you have worked with that had a couple things go sideways at a race and they were able to press through and get the thing done and walk away with somewhat of a smile hopefully. So each of you. I’ll go Louise and then Kurt. Leave us with a 60 second or less good story. Let’s hear it Louise.

Louise: So my one athlete, her name is Shontel, she is actually also a TriDot coach. Her first Ironman race that she ever did was 2019. She had two flats in transition. So when she pitched up T1 in the morning, flat tire, fixed it. Came out of the swim, flat tire, fixed it. Then she had a snake bike on the tire on the way out of transition. It blew and a mechanic could come and assist. That was the longest 28 minutes of my life because the tracker wasn’t leaving transition for 28 minutes. She finished her race and I got to hand her her medal at the finish line.

Andrew: Kurt Madden, what’s your story here?

Kurt: We’re going to go to this year with Ultraman Arizona. We’ve got our very own Kelly Mulvaney and what a trooper. I mean Kelly encountered everything you can imagine in Arizona at that event. The first day she had a fantastic swim, but all of a sudden the weather changed and it rained all day long and the temperature went from 75 down to 43 degrees with fog and rain and Kelly smiling like “We’ve got this! We’re going to do it! We’re going to do it!” Day two, guess what happened? The exact same thing and this gal was just a trooper just, you know, using grit, using tenacity and she got through that bike and she’s going like, “Hey, we’ve only got the marathon now.” Oh, wait a minute, that’s a double marathon and I think it was a combination of factors that maybe a lot of sugar and other things that we looked at post race to say that that double marathon was really rough for Kelly. We had to make numerous stops and I’ll leave it at that and knowing like– The crew was like, she’s not going to make it, but we had Verby with us and when you’re with Verby and Coach K, guess what? Good things are going to happen. There was like a monsoon and Verby’s taking her up this mountain top. I’ve got a video of it and how she continued to press on and get across that finish line. So Kelly Mulvany, my heart goes out to you. You are– just you led by example. So inspiring and a shout out to Verby.

Cool down theme: Great set everyone! Let’s cool down.

Vanessa Ronksley: Hi friends. I’m Vanessa, your average triathlete with elite level enthusiasm and joining us today for the Coach Cool Down Tip is Will Usher who is all the way over in the UK. Will is a professional coach and manager of the Precision Race Team. Will has been coaching triathlon for over 25 years and works with beginners all the way to professionals, both able bodied and para triathletes. He is a well seasoned athlete himself having raced all distances internationally for Great Britain age groups and even hitting the podium at world level. Will currently lives in Godalming with his wife Raya, two children Lucy and Thomas, and their dog Poppy, and cat Ember. Welcome to the show Will.

Will Usher: Thank you much. Always, always a pleasure to be here.

Vanessa: Something that most people don’t know about you is that you have a dream of learning to play the drums. So where did this dream originate from?

Will: Honestly I think I’m just in awe of the coordination and it wasn’t something that we particularly had space or the sound proofing for as a kid. The same could probably be said now as well. But, yeah, I just think it's a fascinating, incredible skill set just being able to do so many things at the same time.

Vanessa: I’m actually inviting you over to Canada. So next time you are coming across the pond, my husband is a drummer and he would love to give you as many lessons as you can handle and he has an electronic kit and he has a real set as well so you can bang away on those things, you won’t bother anybody, and he would love that. So join us anytime. Well, what tip do you have to share with us today?

Will: Well a big one for me is transition. See, I wear glasses. I don’t race in glasses, but I used to and I’m short sighted. So coming out of the water was always challenging just finding my bike, right? So I had to be very particular about how I did it and how I did that is I would come out of the water and I’d know which row it was by counting. There’s two rows in, turn and then I’d be like the fourth A-frame. Then I would be within a 2 meter square of my bike and hopefully by that point I can see what I’m doing. And then also my glasses were in the bike. But I still use that technique now because I’m ex-military and we call it the “fog of war” and it’s the same. Coming out of the swim, you’ve been freezing, your head is everywhere. Just about managing to run up the sand or whatever it is and remember where to go and so you have these sort of simple instructions to follow. For Ironman the same. So you go into the transition one, you’re looking for the bag drop area and you know that you’re on the third rack over so you have these numbers that you can just repeat in your head. I’m the third wrack, fourth set of pegs along– or whatever it might be and that’s been very, very helpful. And trying to interpret the numbers within the line that says “Oh yeah you’re between 1000 and 1500 is your race number.” You’re like, okay now what was the number again? So that really helps. We train so hard, right, and just getting that 30 seconds off that 5K is a big deal, then you go and give it away sitting down in transition and chilling out.

Vanessa: Right.

Will: It’s unnecessary. Think of all those hours and pain, those miserable long zone 4 blocks that you’ve done and do yourself a favor of going and rehearsing it. When I say rehearse it, what I mean is I will walk it through with my number and counting which row I am and whatever else. I will then jog it through and then I’ll run it through at pace. I’ll also then film it because typically you’re going to rack up the night before or the day before typically for a 70.3 and Ironman. Maybe not so much on a short distance race, but I film it and then I’ll review it that night so I’m 100% sure of what I’m doing. Then everything else comes about being logical. Think about the process. So when you head out on the run, again particularly looking at Ironman and 70.3, there’s a good chance that you have lots of bits and pieces; my cap, sunglasses, some sunscreen even, gels, race belt, and so on. All these little bits, keep them in a smaller plastic bag inside your bigger bag next to your trainers right? Because you put your trainers on, pick up your little bag and go. You can ditch the little bag out on the course in a rubbish zone or whatever, but the point is you’re doing something. You’re moving forward all the time. You’re not sitting there putting on all these random little bits. You can do that on the move, so do it on the move. The final little tip I have about transition– This is actually more of a T1 thing, but for years, I actually had number belts. I used to try to clip them together and it’s immeasurably difficult to do for some reason when you’ve got cold hands and so on. So now, if you’re clipped together I get into them like a pair of shorts. It’s just– It takes one extra fumbling section out.

Vanessa: Those are all really fabulous tips. I’m taking notes here because I am going to attempt to do all of those things. One other thing that I really like about practicing transitions is trying to compete against your friends to beat them in transition. So the whole point is after the race you get to compare who beat you in transition because it doesn’t matter what age group in, your transition is your transition and so it adds another element of kind of fun.

Will: It is literally practice makes perfect. If you were to take 30 seconds out of somebody on transition in both T1 and T2, you have to ask them because they’re probably your running buddies, would you give me a 30 second head start in a 5K? They’re like, no. But you did. So by making it personal like that and making fun, it just really serves to help focus on the issue so to speak. So when you are in that bigger race, it does matter. Just keep moving forward.

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