Triathlon Tips for Beginners with Kelly O'Mara from Feisty Media

Embark on a comprehensive exploration into the exhilarating realm of triathlons with none other than Kelly O'Mara, the savvy former editor-in-chief of Triathlete Magazine and creator of Triathlonish. In our latest episode, we're stripping away the intimidation factor of the sport for novices and veterans alike, as Kelly imparts her wisdom on effective training regimens, the subtle art of transitions, and the vital role of community in this multifaceted discipline. Gear up for tales of personal tribulations on the race circuit, a treasure trove of nutrition advice, and Kelly's candid take on why triathlons might just become your new obsession.

Ever wondered how to seamlessly juggle family life with the demands of triathlon training? Or perhaps you're puzzled over the logistics of bike rentals and the nitty-gritty of fueling during an endurance event? Tune in as we tackle these queries and more, offering a wealth of actionable tips that will leave you itching to hit the pavement—or the water, or the pedals. From mastering open water swimming without a wetsuit to the best snacks to munch mid-marathon, we're sharing insights that promise to elevate your athletic endeavors to new heights.

Close out your training session or commute with our heartfelt conversation on the transformative power of sport. Be inspired by empowering stories of perseverance that highlight the indomitable spirit of triathletes, and absorb our curated list of must-do races that truly encapsulate the essence of triathlon culture. With Kelly O'Mara at our side, we assure you that this episode is a beacon of encouragement, a guidebook of expertise, and your ticket to a more nuanced understanding of the triathlon lifestyle.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Welcome to 3-2-1-Go the Podcast. I'm John Pelkey.

Speaker 2: 0:08

And I'm Carissa Galloway and we're bringing you stories from start to finish to keep the everyday athlete motivated to keep moving towards the next finish.

Speaker 1: 0:17

Have you ever wanted to try a triathlon but didn't know where to start? Today, we're venturing into the world of swim, bike run and helping you prep for your next triathlon. Joining us, kelly O'Mara. She's a former editor-in-chief of Tri bike run and helping you prep for your next triathlon. Joining us, kelly O'Mara. She's a former editor-in-chief of Triathlete Magazine Mid-2022,. She left to launch Triathlonish, which, in her words, aims to cover triathlon and endurance sports with the same news and analysis mainstream sports get, but without the tendency towards. I love this douchebaggery. Kelly said it, we used it and you know douchebaggery.

Speaker 2: 0:47

Kelly said it, we used it and you know that's what we're going to end today. We're going to bring triathlon to you. There's no more douchebaggery. We want you to enjoy the fun. So Kelly is giving us all the tips and answering your questions from Instagram. Thank you to Kelly for being with us In Healthier you. We're going talk about something A lot of people have asked me lately what actual food can you eat during an endurance event? And we're going to answer a listener question about blisters. So thank you, guys for listening for all the emails at three, two, one go podcast at gmailcom. We want to shout out John and our subscribers. They really help keep us going, help pay for those fees for the hosting and getting everything out. So thank you, subscribers. We're going to do another giveaway for them in June and if you want to be one of them, check out the show notes and let's do this.

Speaker 1: 1:45

Three, two, one go. Three, two, one go. All right, carissa, you're just back from indianapolis, home of st elmo's steakhouse. I do have to say that because everybody, it's the thing they're as uh excited about in indianapolis as they are the 500 and all the other cool stuff. But how was it for you up there? How was the event?

Speaker 2: 2:07

well, no, first we're going to talk about st Elmo's Steakhouse, because it came up on my DoorDash and I was like super excited because I wanted to try it. So I made my order and I spent like a long time like figuring out what I wanted. And then I went to order and it was like schedule and you could only schedule it for like two days from the day and I didn't.

Speaker 1: 2:23

I'm telling you it's, it's, but I didn't get to eat it.

Speaker 1: 2:27

You and I travel a lot Luckily, you more than I do, uh, but uh, when you generally, when you're going into a city and you go hey listen, I'm going to go to Chicago or I'm going to go to Denver or whatever, uh, what are some uh choices? Restaurant wise, I want to try something cool. When you ask anybody in Indianapolis who's been there, they always say St Elmo's Steakhouse. And I ate there two days in a row when I was there on Universal Studios Dime, and it was amazing.

Speaker 2: 2:50

Now I'm so sad because I just didn't. I've never seen DoorDash where you like can't get it like that day. So I was going to get it after the expo and I had it all set in my cart and then I ended up having to get sweet green and I didn't bring dressing with my salad, like are you being serious? So anyway. So that was sad. But Indianapolis this is a really cool race and there was a lot of run Disney family there. So one if you are looking for a race, if you want to do 50 states, if you want to find something new. This is a well-run, well-setup race. 20,000 people, john for the half, wow.

Speaker 2: 3:21

Yeah, that's great 3,000 for the 5K. There is a challenge where you can do the 5k and the half, but you have to do them like. You do the 5k, then you turn around and you do the half. So it's not like a Disney challenge where you get another day and they start like 30 minutes apart. So you have like 50 minutes to do the 5k. To come back, you run on the speedway, you can kiss the bricks. So the first day I did the second day of the expo, I gave a talk and we had a lot of amazing Run Disney family that came to it. So I want to shout out McKenzie, who made me John. I got specific indie bracelets. I got four people. Four different people gave me ones that had like racing flags. I'm like I love the bracelet, so that just like made my day. So thank you, mckenzie. We met Angie, we met Brooke. So thank you, mackenzie, we met Angie, we met Brooke. So thank you to all those people for saying hi. Then I moderated a chat with Frank Shorter, which was pretty cool.

Speaker 1: 4:13

Oh cool.

Speaker 2: 4:18

Because I've met him before through Jeff and everything, but I'd never actually sat down and kind of heard him speak. So it was really interesting hearing him talk about his Olympic win and he kind of talked us through that event and all the other things he's done and I didn't realize this about his Olympic win. And he kind of talked us through that event and all the other things he's done and I didn't realize this about his Olympic win. You maybe did, but when he came into the stadium there was a person that had banded it and had jumped into the track from the tunnel their friend worked there and so they acted like they were winning but it wasn't, and so the whole crowd was booing Frank. So Frank comes into the Olympic stadium waiting to be I'm going to win the Olympics waiting, and there's a bunch of booing and he doesn't know why and he's like well God, I know you hate Americans, but this just seems aggressive.

Speaker 1: 4:57

Am I in Philadelphia? Am I in Philadelphia? That's probably what he was in.

Speaker 2: 5:01

Germany in 72. So but like I'm sad for him still because, like you, his Olympic moment was a little bit tainted by this guy and he didn't know what was going on until he finished and he saw a bunch of people down there at the finish when it shouldn't have been nobody, and he kind of figured it out, but it took away a little bit of his moment.

Speaker 1: 5:18

Yeah, that's the first Olympics that I remember. I was eight years old in 72. And there was a girl I've often mentioned this, melissa Belote, who was a swimmer, who went and swam and won medals, who was from the high school that I would actually go to.

Speaker 2: 5:31

You've not mentioned this. You've mentioned this is new.

Speaker 1: 5:34

Oh really. Oh yeah, Melissa Belote, she was a swimmer. I believe she got a gold medal and I do think if the story's right, and I'll have to find out. I'll have to say it anyway. I think she lost her medal and then years later she was able to get her medal back was one of those situations. But shout out to Melissa Belote and I only ever saw her on a float going by in Springfield.

Speaker 2: 5:56

Virginia Belote on a float.

Speaker 1: 5:57

Belote on a float, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 5:59

Is she still with us? We don't know.

Speaker 1: 6:02

I believe that she is still with us.

Speaker 2: 6:04

Those Olympics were a long time ago.

Speaker 1: 6:07

I'll do some research on that.

Speaker 2: 6:08

Okay, but Indy was great. Put it on your list. I did not do anything fun and exciting. I have had four. That was my third of four race weekends in a row and, I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty tired. So I did a lot of door dashing, a lot of frozen food, so it wasn't my most exciting trip, but it's just a great race, great people. So definitely one for the bucket list. John, talk about bucket list Mediterranean Cruise on a lot of people's bucket list. Are you ready?

Speaker 1: 6:37

No, I'm not in any way prepared whatsoever, because we leave a week from Wednesday, so we leave next week. So I have a little bit of time and we just did our niece's wedding in New Hampshire last weekend and so, no, I'm just kind of getting together in my head stuff Now I have not received this is not a criticism of the good people who helped me, but I have not yet received my itinerary for the week at the Met, or eight days or whatever were there. So I'm kind of not in a position yet to make any sort of plans as far as port days.

Speaker 1: 7:13

From what we've been told, we will only be performing on sea days and not port days, because they figure if people are in Rome, they're not going to come back on the ship to see Mark and John juggle and tell jokes or whatever we're going to be required to do. So it should be a lot of fun. I can't wait. We're going to Naples. We'll be at Pisa. We were initially going to go I was going to get to go to Monte Carlo, but they had to change that because it's the same week as the Monaco Grand Prix. So Monte Carlo is just going to be.

Speaker 2: 7:44

It's going to be madness.

Speaker 1: 7:45

It's going to be madness. It's going to be madness. The boat you're not going to get anywhere near.

Speaker 2: 7:47

The yachts are just going to be.

Speaker 1: 7:49

I know Because I've been to.

Speaker 2: 7:50

Money Car Loop John.

Speaker 1: 7:52

I know you have, and it's very disappointing for me as a Formula One fan. However, we are going to dock instead of Villa Franche, which was where we were going to dock, which is where the Rolling Stones recorded a good portion of Exile on Main Street. Throw that one out there to Stones fans. We're going to go to Palermo, sicily, which I'm really really excited about, because I've never been to Sicily. So, yeah, really looking forward to it, it's going to be a lot of fun.

Speaker 2: 8:14

I'm very jealous of you. That sounds like a lot of fun, a lot of great places you'll be able to see, and Jodi just must be over the moon so excited because she doesn going to cruise the Mediterranean, she's earned it. She's been married to me.

Speaker 1: 8:29

She deserves so much more.

Speaker 2: 8:31

Do you think anybody will recognize you on the cruise?

Speaker 1: 8:34

There are usually Run Disney folks on the cruise, and a young lady whose name escapes me and I so apologize for this, actually got a photo with me at the finish line of Springtime Surprise and said I'll see you on the Mediterranean cruise. So I know there'll be at least one Run Disney fan, but normally we have some. Not sure if any of the Pelkey Running Club will be there. I actually met Matthew from the Disney Day Drinkers. Shout out to those folks on the last Disney Vacation Club cruise, so maybe I'll see them as well. So if you're listening to this and you, please, please, please, come and see me if you're a Run Disney fan, Did Disney folks? Did you meet up with the Disney Day Drinkers after springtime? I am meeting up with the Disney Day Drinkers this Thursday actually for a little get together.

Speaker 2: 9:12

What? Okay, no details. It's a very hush hush, very secretive meeting.

Speaker 1: 9:15

A little thing going, a little invite thing. I got invited to.

Speaker 2: 9:19

I'm looking forward to that. I'll just be working and you will be.

Speaker 1: 9:23

Yes, another triathlon this week. Carissa gets no weekends to herself anymore. Folks, where are you going to be?

Speaker 2: 9:32

Well, this is one that I don't say I like. I like them all. This is a good one. It is the Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast, so it's up in the panhandle. So Weston goes, elliot goes. We stay at the Galloway's house for a couple nights because they have that beach house up there and thenon's cousins do a relay. So David, who you met at the Jeff Galloway weekend, who's doing the running for memories for his mom with Alzheimer's uh, he's on the relay team. Weston's cousins husband Dan, who was a swimmer at Texas, is gonna swim. Weston's gonna bike, because David can run and not bike, and then David bikes. In the last two years they have placed in the relay. So I don't want to call them out, I don't want to put the pressure on them, but they're just out there to have fun. And it's just nice to see the family Because instead of being a race rider, I'm by myself in the hotel.

Speaker 2: 10:17

We get to do things and I'm not away from my family, because that's kind of, and I feel bad for Elliot and for Weston. So this'll be nice, cause we'll all get to be together and it's just a quick six and a half hour car ride with a three-year-old, what's not to love it's one of those places, though to fly there we have to go to Atlanta and go over, and then the airport's an hour away.

Speaker 2: 10:40

So it's that like well it's. It's kind of like when you went to Atlanta. It's essentially it's not necessarily faster, so we do drive, but I'm excited to go down there. We'll spend the. It's a Saturday race. I've had three Saturday races in a row, which are amazing, cause then I like I get Sunday, I'm traveling. I'm not traveling on Monday, so when I get back to Monday, I can just go right back to work.

Speaker 1: 11:00

Right Woo yeah.

Speaker 2: 11:02

No, but I Good, so Good.

Speaker 1: 11:03

So fun. Good luck, good luck to everybody up there. So before we move on and I know there was another question, but we often talk about the things we're watching and we're listening to and all of that sort of stuff and I do have to just shout this out for the 321 Go podcast family I want to, I want to know, because Jody and I watched Baby Reindeer and this is a very polarizing series for people.

Speaker 2: 11:24

I was going to watch it because I thought it was about Christmas. But it's not. It is not about Christmas at all. Well, that would have been upsetting for me.

Speaker 1: 11:32

I know I won't give anything away, but I just want to hear from you because you know, chris, it's one of those shows or movies or whatever, and this is a limited series I think it's eight episodes, if I'm not incorrect where the vast majority of people either love it or hate it. There's not a lot of middle ground with it. So kind of want to hear from the folks who've watched it. We really really loved it. Jodi wasn't sure about the ending. She was a little off-put by the ending. Didn't bother me too much, but it is very, very interesting and it is based on a true story and it comes from somebody who did it as a fringe show and I believe at the Edinburgh Fringe, and I performed there and it's amazing, if you like fringe festivals, but it would be interesting. So 321 Go podcast family Baby Reindeer. At least, I want to hear what you think about it.

Speaker 2: 12:23

Okay, I know you have no time to watch anything. I watched a Hallmark movie in the hotel in Indianapolis it was a Valentine's Day, one about chefs. And then on the plane I watched the prequel of the Hunger Gameses, the palate after a family wedding weekend and all the other stuff I have going on.

Speaker 1: 12:53

Unfrosted, which is about the history of the Pop-Tart, and if you're of a certain age, like I am, pop-tart was one of the great treats you would get as a kid. Jerry Seinfeld, he directed it too. It is just stupid, stupid, goofy fun. So there you go, uh, and you'll probably need it to cleanse the palate after baby reindeer because it's is baby reindeer.

Speaker 2: 13:13

Too much for me, do you think? Do you want to?

Speaker 1: 13:15

say it might. It might be a bit much for you. All right, it might be scary. It's not scary at all, it's uh. Yeah, I don't.

Speaker 2: 13:21

I don't want to give away, I know I just we started when I was in tree for with my girlfriends they were trying to find something to watch on Netflix the night we were going to leave. We were just hanging out and they put on this movie I think it was called Damsel, I don't know if you've seen it and then she ends up with a dragon and I was just like I don't know if this is going to get too scary. I can't watch it. You got to turn it off, I'm so. I don't need like scary thoughts.

Speaker 1: 13:45

This is not scary, but it is a very it can be very anxiety ridden. I felt a lot of anxiety when watching.

Speaker 2: 13:53

John, I feel a lot of anxiety every moment of my life, so maybe not, maybe not for you, for you.

Speaker 2: 14:00

I mean, right now I'm like I got to make tacos. We got to finish the podcast, but I got to make tacos, tacos, yeah, okay. Last thing I just want to shout out our friend, our sponsor, sarah Akers with Runs on Magic. As a lover of Run Disney herself, she loves helping plan those magical weekends. But, john, as you always say, the world is your oyster with Sarah's help. So, whatever it is a honeymoon, a girl's trip, a cruise, international adventures put them all together, she can help you. Complimentary travel planning services, personalized itineraries Look her up on Instagram at RunsOnMagic.

Speaker 1: 14:35

Use that code 321GO or email her at RunsOnMagicTravel at gmailcom. Okay, civilians, it's time for the goods. Let's get on to the interview. All right, grissa? Today we are excited to have with us Kelly O'Mara, former pro athlete editor-in-chief for Triathlon Magazine. She set off on her own to highlight the sport she loves and bring more athletes, especially women, into the sport. She's now a huge part of Feisty Media and her Triathlon-ish newsletter. Congratulations to me for getting through that one on the first date. She's also done 100-ish. I love that one. We can't narrow it down, kelly. A hundred ish tries herself, including finishing seven Ironman distance races. Kelly, first of all, thank you for being here. Secondly and thirdly, how are you and where are you?

Speaker 3: 15:22

Thanks for having me. Yeah, I'm outside of San Francisco Marin County. I feel like everybody in our running biking world knows exactly where that is, because it's amazing trail running, amazing biking.

Speaker 2: 15:33

Yeah, you said you can see the Golden Gate Bridge which I think is awesome. Have you done Escape from Alcatraz?

Speaker 3: 15:39

Oh my God, it's my favorite. I saw we were going to do listener questions and someone was like what races should I do? And I was like Escape from Alcatraz, it's the most fun, it's like so crazy yeah because why not add sharks into your?

Speaker 1: 15:50

you know, come on Freezing cold water and sharks.

Speaker 2: 15:59

Extremely choppy water jumping off a boat? No, it's for as we get to the questions about people scared of swimming, don't start there. But no, my husband said it twice Really cool race. So we're excited to hear and we have, as I alluded to a lot of listener questions a lot of people thinking about getting into Tri and not knowing where to go. So you're really going to maybe help sprout up some new Triathletes. But before we dive in, you were a runner, a track athlete, at UC Berkeley and then an illness kind of brought you in Triathlon. Years later, you're still in the sport, so why do you love triathlon?

Speaker 3: 16:28

yeah. So I actually never made it like onto the track I was supposed to. I ran high school supposed to run college and I got mono freshman year and never. And I think, like a lot of people, um, you know, get to college and they stop doing like all, like they stop working out, they stop doing soccer or basketball or whatever they did before, and so I just wanted to do something and the guy guy I was dating was doing triathlon with him and I was like, oh, that sounds like fun. Because for me I was like that's like like I like doing a lot of different things. That was always my problem in high school, right, and growing up. So I was like more things, let's do more things. So that's what I still like about triathlon, right. Like I'm so bored running every day, so I like doing like it's just always something new, yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:09

I have a quick follow up there. But you were good Like you. When were you like? Oh, I'm actually really good at all these things Cause my husband got into triathlon because he was a good runner not a great runner and he was like I'll probably be good at triathlon.

Speaker 3: 17:25

Cause I'm good at one thing. Like this is like if you can be average at lots of things, then triathlons your sport and that's like that's my right. Like you just be like pretty okay at lots of things. Um, I went to Cal and Cal has this huge club, triathlon team um, which is super awesome Cause you both have like I didn't know how to ride a bike, you both have total beginners and you have people who are like try and make the Olympics, or maybe we did at the time. So it's just like really awesome. And so I don't think I, even you, just like accidentally get good, because you're just kind of like working out with all these people all the time.

Speaker 2: 17:53

Maybe John that can happen for you Accidentally get good.

Speaker 1: 17:58

Well, no, I'm just kidding that ship has sailed, the ship that I would be in near Alcatraz. Because did I mention the sharks in the cold water? Before I jump into Kelly, the listener questions, because we have a lot of great listener questions, I did want to ask you when you went to UC Berkeley and you were going to run track, what were your events? What type of track athlete were you before you started on this journey?

Speaker 3: 18:21

I was an 800 meter runner and I just I loved it, I loved it. I think it's the only thing like I still cannot run the 800 as fast as I could in high school. Everything else I'm like a better athlete now, but the 800, I loved the 800. Brutal distance. Weston was the 800.

Speaker 1: 18:35

I was going to say, as a former quarter miler, brutal distance 800. So if you're good at that, I'm very, very impressed. All right, we so let's jump in. This is from Jess Runs Disney. She's doing her first try on May 18th. Well done, Jess. What's the best advice you could give to somebody?

Speaker 3: 18:54

We're assuming she's trained, but a couple of weeks out now what's the best advice you could give somebody doing their first try? Yeah, I feel like a lot of people get really stressed because it's a race. But they've been training, They've been doing the biking and the running and the swimming, and so we always like to say just remember triathlons, just exercising all three with snacks, Like you already know how to do all three, Don't stress out about it being a race. Um, and that's the like, take your time. If you're worried about the swim, like give it 10 seconds. Let all the people who go first go behind right, Like, just take your time. Uh, cause it's definitely the and the panicking that I think gets to a lot of beginners. And then the other thing is always like, if you're worried about these things, make sure you practice, like putting a wetsuit on. Make sure you practice, like go to the race venue, see what the swim's gonna look like. So practicing and just having fun.

Speaker 2: 19:39

Swim, bike run, have fun, Right, there's a song about it. There's a song about it. There is Eric Gilson in a song. There's like CDs with this song on it somewhere. It's pretty catchy. Um, this is not a listener question, but as you're talking, I think about this as an announcer. You know where they're. The day before the race you get people come in panicked face like which transition? I don't, and it's hard to visualize a transition without bikes and without people.

Speaker 3: 20:02

So a lot of times it's just you'll see it, just you kind of got to like be smart and figure it out as you're going along, and if you're not first, you just follow the person in front of you sometimes yeah, somebody like one of my first races, somebody told me to like walk it like before the race, like, walk from where you're going to swim out to your transition area, then walk to where you bike out, walk back, walk, and that way you're like, okay, this is where I go. And I still like do that most of the time before races because then you're like, okay, this is where I go. And I still like do that most of the time before races because then you're like, okay, this is, this is it. And then when you do it in the race, it doesn't.

Speaker 2: 20:31

It's like oh yeah, but it can be overwhelming the first time. You kind of stand out and look at it. All right. So common mistakes beginners make, whether that's in training or, you know, you kind of mentioned a few on race day. How can we avoid these for our listeners, because we want them to have a good experience?

Speaker 3: 20:44

Sure, I think, like you just said, transitions the most overwhelming part, and so those were the most mistakes come because people like I, my first one, I was like running in circles looking for my bike, cause I hadn't thought about the fact that, like, my bike would look the same as everyone else's bike, right, um. So, walking, like walk the transition beforehand, practicing your transitions, um, like, let's, they don't have to be super fast. I feel like we're saying you don't have to be super fast, I feel like we're saying you don't have to. But practicing it beforehand, taking this clothes off, putting the shoes on, um, that's always really key. Same with the swim.

Speaker 3: 21:13

A lot of that's the other part. A lot of people panic, and so, making sure you swim in a wetsuit, a lot of times people will swim, but then they don't put a wetsuit on. If you're, if your race is cold and has a wet right, they don't go to open water before the race, and so, if you go to open water, if you put the wetsuit on before your race, that also, like, these things, are key to not, you know, getting to race day and panting, and then I feel like I have to have a oh, like just a rules call out. A lot of us come from running and so we're used to being able to race with headphones. You can't race with headphones in triathlon, like that's. I mean. I'm sure there's like the occasional race that they allow it, but generally speaking you cannot race with headphones.

Speaker 2: 21:49

Yeah, I might do a relay this year and I'm like man, I'm excited, but I'm really like my music, it's just different. But do you practice without headphones or do you just like no?

Speaker 3: 22:00

I actually don't Well. So this is like I live in Marin and I do most of my running on trails and I feel like I don't want to be surprised by like a mountain lion, so I don't really run with headphones, like generally speaking. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:10

And we live in Florida, so our trail is just means it is a paved service with maybe shade every half a mile. So different, different meaning here. All right, listener questions. The ABDs of life wants to know how would you recommend starting a mini, any particular distance, go big or go home?

Speaker 3: 22:28

Probably not go big, or go home Probably not go big or go home. Yeah, I feel like starting with what we call them sprints usually, or super sprints, and the thing that people like that sounds short a sprint is still like an hour, for like the fastest people Like this isn't, so that's a good place to start and then you can always work your way up. It's also like usually a little more. There are a lot more local, grassroots sprints, so you don't have to get overwhelmed by all the craziness that comes with triathlons.

Speaker 2: 22:55

So I would always say like, start small and then and then you can build from there. And anybody in Central Florida I'll say, summer sports has a great series of like four different ones that have a super sprint, a sprint, and they're all pretty beginner friendly. If you're any Central Floridians, those are coming up soon here in Claremont.

Speaker 3: 23:08

There's also some like women's only sprint race. Like USA, triathlon has a whole women's series, so if you don't want to deal with dudes, that's always a good place to start too.

Speaker 2: 23:20

Yes, definitely. Women are, as we saw in Kona last year, an amazingly supportive bunch, and it may not be the same this year in Kona.

Speaker 1: 23:29

All right, danny girl has a question, and let's just jump back to training, because we're talking about where you start. When you pick a race to run, training wise, where do you start? Because three different disciplines now and I'm sure it's it probably changes, kelly, depending on who you are and depending on what level you compete at at any of those disciplines.

Speaker 3: 23:47

Sure, yeah, I feel like the what people, people get very overwhelmed with, like the Tetris, the scheduling right, like the when do I do all the things? And I feel like, do you want to just start by just doing all three? In general, I would say I tell people like run two or three times, like running's probably the thing you know how to do already, bike two or three times and swim like three times. Often, swimming is the one you need to do more frequently, just because you probably often the one that most people struggle with and you're going to be like wait, that adds up to more than seven things and you're like, yes, like there really is like no way to get around, like you're probably going to have a day where, like, you run in the morning and you swim after work, like, or you do like a little, a little bike ride and then a little run, depending on like your schedule Right. So you have to kind of you do have to do some like like write it out on a calendar, like schedule.

Speaker 3: 24:30

That's really key to triathlon, which I think is how we develop this like type A stereotype. But you know, three bikes, three runs, three swims, that's like where to start and once you have that, then you can worry about like going longer, adding like going faster, doing it more, like. I feel like you just want to start by like doing all three, and especially if it's your first one, and then you can add intensity would be the next thing I add like, do some like faster bits in there and then add longer bits and then add, you know, more, more. You can always do more.

Speaker 1: 24:59

Yeah, yeah, Doesn't sound like you know a race at Disney where you spend more time on your costume than your training.

Speaker 3: 25:06

I'm just going to say that.

Speaker 1: 25:07

It doesn't seem like that, and that leads to actually the next question, and this is Danny and CT both asked this Can you do one of these without all the fancy gear?

Speaker 3: 25:16

Oh for sure, we like to say, like, the best bike for a beginner is the one you have. Like, whatever bike you have, you should just do it. If you can borrow a bike for your first. I borrowed a bike for like my whole first year. Like, just you just get out there, um, all you need is a bike, a helmet, a swimsuit, goggles and then running shoes, right, like everything else is kind of extra, so that's kind of like all you like you need to get out there and then, if you love it sure, then you can start going, going nuts.

Speaker 2: 25:44

For women. I remember when I did my first sprint I felt, you know, you feel a lot of insecure about a lot of things in triathlon just because it's it's a lot different and I didn't have a kit. For a woman that doesn't have a kit, what is the bare minimum that you are allowed to wear, Like if you swam? In a sports bra like what is okay to wear as a, as a woman.

Speaker 3: 26:04

Yeah, one of my friends did her first one down in Malibu and I gave her like a bunch of my old stuff and she said she felt so crazy Like she was in this like super fancy kit, but like was doing her first track. So you can swim in a swimsuit if you just have a swimsuit or, you know, if it's a cold swim and you have to like borrow a wetsuit, of course, and then you can always just pull on a pair of shorts over, like spandex shorts over your swimsuit. That's a lot of people do, cause you don't, you can. You can bike in a swimsuit, but I will tell you you probably don't want to for your first triathlon ever. And if you want to change completely, you can like go in a porta potty and change completely, like that's totally fine.

Speaker 3: 26:40

And then, yeah, you can like run in a sports bra and shorts. You can like bike and run in a tank top and shorts, like whatever you want to do there. I will say I think swimsuit, and then just like putting on shorts or like sports bra, and putting on shorts is like the way to go and that's all you need. You got to cover your top, yep, and that's about it.

Speaker 3: 26:59

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 26:59

And men need to still keep their top covered as well when they're out there, because I know sometimes we get the shirtless men finishing in road races.

Speaker 3: 27:13

You. They're out there because I know sometimes we get the shirtless men finishing in road races. You can shirtless at um small races if that makes sense, like you can't at Ironman races. You cannot go shirtless, but at like small, local, usa triathlon ones you can.

Speaker 2: 27:19

So now John's really need to, because John only finishes shirtless, so he's definitely he's out of Ironman. He announces shirtless because racist shirtless.

Speaker 1: 27:26

My paleness in the sun blinds everybody to seeing the time when I crossed the finish line. There's a reason to my madness.

Speaker 2: 27:33

All right. So we got a little bit of a base. We're training everything three times a week. Some people maybe are feeling overwhelmed, but it's still possible. And now we're going to swim. So Kay Cray says I got the bike in the run parts down.

Speaker 3: 29:06

How hard is it to incorporate swimming? Yeah, I think swimming is the one that a lot of because a lot of people, that's the one we have to like learn to swim as an adult, and that's kind of like scary. I will say, if you are brand new, right, and even if you're only like semi brand new, like going to a swim group, not just swimming on your own, is key. We call them masters, they we call them masters. They're called masters groups. I don't know why, right, but like, go to a masters group and almost and there's probably one in your neighborhood you can search like us masters swimming, and they are typically a lot of triathletes and it kind of gives you someone to swim with.

Speaker 3: 29:35

There's always like beginners. My masters group, like the coach, is great. There's always people like just getting into it and then that offers you some like they'll tell you what you're doing wrong, if that makes sense, yeah, and it also gives you some structure, like instead of just getting out there and like struggling for 20 minutes and then being like god, I suck. Um, like a group is really good, like, and I think that if you really don't know what you're doing, um, swimming on your own can be tough yeah, my husband tries to do that and he delays the swimming part, like he he.

Speaker 3: 30:04

I think, right, you do the like the sitting in your car scrolling Instagram or just like I'll swim next week.

Speaker 2: 30:09

The race is a month away. I'll swim, you know. Whatever. All right, we've got the muscle mouse and if you can imagine that name the muscle mouse, he's a large man and I feel comfortable calling him out and letting him know he asked this question. He says he would like tips for the trash swimmer and he says it's me, I'm the trash swimmer. Same advice.

Speaker 3: 30:29

Yeah, I think for sure, Like there's obviously a billion YouTube videos, there's a billion like direct, like tips on how to swim, but having someone see you swim is really like the best thing because that'll just help Like and it's a lot of like feel for water and swimming. I feel bad because it's always one of those things like you, you got to do more of it to get better at it, like you just do, you're not going to get better at it, like thinking about it, um, because it's a lot of like figuring out how your body flows. I literally, like a week ago or two weeks ago, was like, oh, this is super technical, but I was like, oh, I can time my kick with my hip thrust and I like it finally clicked what everyone's been talking about for years. So you have to like, do it.

Speaker 2: 31:08

Yeah, I'm just like, oh, just go, and then, yeah, just that's, that's it. It's really good.

Speaker 1: 31:14

It's very, very good On that vein. Sasha has a really, really good question and you touched on this a little bit earlier about, like, the transition places and everything. But Sasha wants to know how you navigate around other swimmers. That's got to be something that would. I would be very nervous about that if I were taking part in my first, because you, even if you're doing all the swimming, you're saying you're probably not doing it with three dozen other people around you sure I think, um, well, first off, they do like in general, like a lot like most races, it varies the faster people go to the front.

Speaker 3: 31:45

So if you're really fast, you go to right like if you, if you like, in running races, if you pace yourself where you should be, it'll be a lot easier right like if you like we all know we're talking about right in running races a lot right, if you're where around people of similar speed, then you don't have to like weave and duck and dodge. Um, other than that it does spread out, it's not? It's like very scary for the very beginning, I think right at the start, and then you know nobody else want, they don't want to get in your way, they want everyone wants to get to the finish line. No one. So you can kind of tap someone on the foot, go around them. It works out okay, it's not as scary as it seems. Basically it's a lot easier once you get out there yeah, yeah, and I think that sometimes it's hard.

Speaker 2: 32:27

People panic with the swim at our briefings about like well, what shoulder is this on? And I'm going around the buoys and everything. What's your recommendation for that? Just like swim, like I swim in a pool or I swim in a straight line. Like now you're telling me I have to go around things and around things Like how do we feel comfortable with that?

Speaker 3: 32:44

I think and I say this even though, like I hate open water swimming, like personally, but like you, should we call it open water swimming you should get out and not just swim in a pool once you're comfortable, because that's the only way to get used to. Hey, I can't see anything. Hey, like there's, like animals there's not that many animals, john, like don't worry, but there are like there's other things in this water, right, like that's the only way to get used to it is to like do it, um, and and then, and then you know you get, it's okay, it's still water. What's the whole saying with basketball?

Speaker 2: 33:14

the course, still the same length, yeah, yeah and I'll say to everyone listening, like when you're at an iron man, I know that if you need to pause and hold a kayak, you can stop, hold the kayak, regroup If you have a cramp, as long as you're not aided in your forward progress, like you're allowed to do that. So I always tell people like, don't ruin your whole race because you are panicked. And you know you do get that panic when you first get in the water for some people and they need that minute. So that is an option. Just check with the referees and make sure you know, whatever your race is doing, like what the protocol is for that right. Because when you get in the water, that heart rate I think for a lot of people and if it's cold water shoots up and I feel like the other one's, like you can always like stay behind everyone.

Speaker 3: 33:54

You can always go wide, like if you're worried about buoys, like just go really wide of them, because it can get kind of like everyone narrows down to a point, so you know, go wide. You can always then breaststroke a couple strokes or like slow, stop right, but but that's harder to do if you're right in the middle of everything. So it's always like if you need to swim an extra 10 yards because that'll be less panicking, like do that right instead and just safely get out of the water, like every for a triathlon.

Speaker 2: 34:21

Like every like with a race. Is like just finish with a try. That's like every like with a race. It's like just finish With a triathlon. It's like and safely finish this. Just say like, be safe, all right. Dawn wants to know if you have to swim with your face in the water.

Speaker 3: 34:31

You don't, you can definitely. I've definitely lifeguarded plenty of races where people backstroke and breaststroke the whole way. I will say, if you're going to swim freestyle, like swimming with your head out of the water is much, much harder. Like if that's what you're, if you just if you've ever, if you've ever swum, if you pick your head up, it's a lot harder to swim than if you put your face in the water. So if you can like work your way to put your face in the water, it'll probably be easier on you, it'll take less energy.

Speaker 1: 34:56

Yeah, good advice, all right. El Prieto 03, and I hope I pronounced that right Wants to know. Here's a good one. Where do you keep fuel during the swim? You don't in general.

Speaker 3: 35:08

In general, like have your last gel or drink of Gatorade right before you start. You don't eat during the swim, and so then, once you get to your transition, that's why you kind of want to have like a water bottle on your bike or food on your bike so that you're ready to like make up for that kind of gap that you didn't fuel.

Speaker 3: 35:26

Yeah, because it's hard to take a fuel gel in the swim, right Unless you're doing like one of those like 10 mile swims that people do that are crazy then you have to eat, right?

Speaker 2: 35:34

I think at Coeur d'Alene last year it was a loop and some of the pros did pull a gel on a loop, but they have this very timed out like extremely well.

Speaker 2: 35:42

So if you're, doing a shorter distance, less than 45 minutes, you guys will be okay and just, you'll probably digest it better on the bike as well. All right, what about fear? A lot of questions just centered on I'm afraid to swim. I want to swim, bike and run, but all of this is just scary. Is it go ahead and try it, like you don't know? Or like, how do we work through that and do you? How much do you guys work through that?

Speaker 3: 36:02

like to hear that sure, like you were laughing about alcatraz, I had panic dreams about swim, about sharks, for like months before alcatraz, even though, like I know that there are no sharks and like they don't really come in there. It's never been a problem like I know this logically, but I was having panic dreams, so it like definitely happens. And so there is an element of like you just have to like be okay with it and get through it. And so what someone told me and I think this is really useful is, once you recognize that you don't have to love open water swimming like I still don't love open water swimming, I don't have to love like the bay swimming you just have to reckon, and so you can recognize then that, like you don't love it, but you can do it anyway. Does that make sense?

Speaker 3: 36:39

So then like telling yourself, like okay, I don't have to love this, this doesn't have to be my favorite thing, I'm allowed to be scared. Then takes away some of the panic, if that makes sense. And so then you can just like get out there and be like okay, but I'm gonna do it anyway. Um, because I think a lot of people think that because they don't like it or because they're scared that that everyone else isn't. And then they get more freaked out if that makes like you see everyone else and you're like, well, they're not're not scared Like I am, when in reality, like I know pros who like cry before races, right, like it's fine, you just have to like know that that's coming Okay.

Speaker 2: 37:09

Yeah, and I sometimes see at some start, like I see the faces and that makes me and I try to be like silly, to like distract them or like get them out of it. But I personally hate like walking into water. Like swimming is okay, but I hate touching the bottom, because if I touch one thing that's in any way rocky, bumpy, slimy, not normal, I'm like, oh, I'm done, bye-bye. I don't like pools, pool triathlons cool, let's do more of those. Let's do that. Those exist too. Those do exist. There's not as many. They do exist, though they're out there. I think that's really good advice, because I think we do think that that everybody here is perfect and everybody knows what they're doing, and maybe not.

Speaker 1: 37:47

I was going to say if I could just walk on the bottom the whole way, it would be much easier for me than I had to actually swim the distance there are some.

Speaker 2: 37:53

you can walk a pretty good distance, but you actually are slower when you're I'll step on a skate jellyfish.

Speaker 1: 37:58

I don't care, I'm just not wearing myself out with a swim, let wearing myself out with a swim.

Speaker 2: 38:03

Let's get out of the water. John, if you put on a wetsuit and a swim, you would do fantastically. You would be so buoyant.

Speaker 1: 38:09

I know, oh, I like swimming. I actually like swimming, and I don't mind swimming in open water. I grew up water skiing, so it doesn't bother me.

Speaker 2: 38:15

So do you want to be on a relay team with West End at Ironman 70.3, Florida? And you can.

Speaker 1: 38:20

Not even a little bit, frankly, do I want to do any of that. Actually, I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Let's get out of the water, For God's sake we're scaring everybody about the water. Let's get on the bike.

Speaker 3: 38:30

Rachel wants to know recommendation for a starter bike and I don't necessarily need you know if you have a brand you love, but just things you need to know about your starter bike and what would be best. So, like I said before, we always say like the best bike's the one you have. Um, because for beginners like, it's really just key to like bikes are expensive, even like beginner bikes, right. So just whatever you have, whatever you can borrow, whatever you're used to, it's definitely most about being comfortable. Um, so I would, if that's a mountain bike, if that's like a cruiser bike, if that's a hybrid, if you're buying a bike, I think most of the time I would recommend buying a road bike. Don't get into like triathlon bikes or like the like the crazy, fast, fancy ones. You see, like you don't need one of those. Buy a road bike because that'll get that'll be like much more comfortable. Yeah, that'll be easier to ride and you can always like upgrade it as you go.

Speaker 2: 39:18

So what is just to rip the bandaid off? If we want a beginner beginner road bike that could get us to a full distance triathlon, you know would work for that, what are we looking at cost-wise?

Speaker 3: 39:31

because I think that oh sure I think like a thousand dollars, nine hundred dollars would get you like like the kind of like you can like. I still have my nine hundred dollar road bike. That was my first bike I ever bought in college and I still ride it to commute, so like that, and that was 18 years ago. So, like you can a nice that. That's the kind of level that'll last for a while and get it done they're like a resale market for this, or should?

Speaker 2: 39:54

is it better to get something new?

Speaker 3: 39:56

there is a resale market, for sure. Um, there's a lot of like websites. I think that, like I can't remember all of them, there's like bicycle and what's the other one, whatever.

Speaker 2: 40:06

I don't know. I just use my husband's bike, so I don't worry about it. Yeah, okay.

Speaker 3: 40:09

There's like pink bike and there's a bunch of them that do resell, particularly at certain times of year, like end of the year, whenever when all the like fancy people are getting rid of their stuff after their races. But if you go to a shop like an actual in-person shop, then it often comes with also like a service guarantee so you can take it back for a certain amount of time and they'll like do all the tuning up and stuff and so that I think I mean that's like usually worth it for a lot of people who don't know how to do bike maintenance or just learning. Um, that's always like nice, right. It's kind of like like buying a car where there's like still a warranty. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 40:46

Yeah, because it is a big investment. My husband wants a Canyon. He's wanted a new Canyon for like two years and I just keep telling him no, because that cost is more than $1,000.

Speaker 3: 40:53

Right, right. You can get a good bike for like $900,000.

Speaker 2: 40:58

Perfect, all right. Jessica wants to know about renting a bike. She's doing a sprint, but she says her bike isn't the best. And I will say my first sprint. I used a Walmart bike and my husband was very embarrassed by me because when I finished the bike I just put the kickstand down and I just was like gonna go run. I was so excited. I was like, yes, I know how to do this, let's go run. And it had a kickstand so I just popped it down.

Speaker 3: 41:26

He was so embarrassed but it's OK, you can rent bikes. Yeah, I don't know. So we have this thing in the Bay Area called Sports Basement. It's kind of like REI, but local and I don't know awesomer, and they rent wetsuits. And they rent wetsuits, they rent bikes, they rent skis, so you can rent a bike. Rei also rents bikes. Sometimes local bike shops will rent bikes too. That's more like on a case-by-case basis and like I mean, if I'm just traveling, like not at a race, I rent bikes all the time, like on work trips.

Speaker 1: 41:59

So that's like a great way to do it for sure, but I would think if you were renting a bike, you know to what you said before rent it well enough ahead of time you get a little bit used to it.

Speaker 3: 42:07

That's the like I mean. I ran by all the time Cause I like know my measurements and I like put it, but you definitely want to like have a few days to ride it around and make sure it fits. Yeah, don't pick it up the day before.

Speaker 2: 42:20

No, expensive. It's really hard to travel far with bikes and you get into a whole other set of stuff. So he rented one for Nice and he ended up having to go back a couple of times to get them to adjust it because for an Ironman, just since you're running, you're riding for a very, very long time you need it to be something that's comfortable.

Speaker 1: 42:36

All right, Alexis wants to know a little bit about bike safety. Obviously, bikes come with added risk. Is there anything and particularly as we're approaching a lot about this for newcomers any tips for anybody as far as bike safety is concerned?

Speaker 3: 42:50

Yeah, I mean. So it's funny because people are always most scared about swimming I actually like was a learn to ride as an adult person, like I didn't have a bike as a kid, so for me I was always like most terrified about the bike. And then I did everything wrong. Like I started out biking on the hills in Berkeley. I went like way too fast for myself, right.

Speaker 3: 43:07

So, definitely, starting like flat, like in a parking lot, on a, in a park, on a bike path, like things where there aren't other like cars, to like, if you're really really learning like me, when I was like trying to make sure I wasn't going to tip over like places where there aren't cars is great. And then you know working your way up, um, from there and then, like from there, like making sure you know how to shift and how to break, and then like learning how to signal and learning how to like turn. Like I was one of those people who, like, when I turned my head, I veered into traffic, right. So, like you have to like practicing those things before you get out in traffic is really good, um, and then starting on like easier routes, like it's really, I think, a process of like progressing, working your way through things.

Speaker 3: 43:52

Um, I like, was it? I was a college student when I learned to ride a bike, and college students are stupid and I was just like I'll just go on these super hard rides even though I don't know what I'm doing and I I crashed a lot right, like frequently, cause you're my, your physical, my physical ability exceeded my skill level. So I think if you progress your physical ability as you learn skills, it works better in general.

Speaker 2: 44:15

What about in a race? Say, you're in a race and I know I felt like this because I'm I don't bike a lot on the streets. It scares me, so I'm, I am that turn my head? How, if you know like, hey, I'm not the strongest biker, or like the safest biker here, but I'm doing this race whatever, how are you a safe racer if you're a newbie? Because sometimes you can be a danger to other athletes and that's what we see, you know, sometimes on the course for sure.

Speaker 3: 44:38

So, uh, definitely you need to ride outside before you do a race, like I know. I I also write like. I know people ride inside. I know people like to write inside, but you've got to get outside before you do a race because it's just not safe, otherwise it'd be, like you know, trying to do it without ever swimming. So you need to have some familiarity with being able to like Be outside, around, around things, go forward.

Speaker 3: 45:00

Staying to the right is always like key, I think.

Speaker 3: 45:03

If you're nervous, if you're worried about it, if you're worried about being other people, staying as far as you can to the right and letting people pass you on the left, um, I think that's great.

Speaker 3: 45:11

And if you are one of those people like who is does struggle to like eat while they bike right Like I was that person for a really, really long time Cause I couldn't like take my hands off the handlebars right, like don't, don't, don't, don't. Try new things around other people. Right, like if you have to stop to eat your food, like pull over to the right and stop and take a drink of your water bottle and then get back on right, like if you're going to be like weaving you don't want to weave into someone and crash right. So I feel like erring on the side of if you have to stop, stop, stay to the right, pull all the way to the right before you stop. Don't stop like right right in traffic, cause we see that sometimes with beginners, um, they'll like get nervous and stop. You're like pull to the right, like always pulling to the right, airing to the right, um, I think is the best, the best advice, the best way to avoid any accidents.

Speaker 2: 45:56

So yeah, which is important for everybody the safety. Um, let's talk about clipping in. How hard is it to learn to clip into your bike?

Speaker 3: 46:06

well, I crashed coming out of my driveway like two weeks ago and I've been doing this for like 20 years, I saw, I.

Speaker 2: 46:10

So I when I didn't I know I hadn't announced pro races before so my first pro race I announced I was at the you know mount line and I was like wait, like three of these pros like did not do this well, like it's hard, it can be hard at any time for anyone like I think a pro like fell over and I was like, oh, what do I say?

Speaker 3: 46:28

yeah, it definitely happens, which is not to, like you know, alarm you like I, it's very low speeds. When it happens like it's fine, um, clipping in. So clipping in, I feel like we should say like what that means too. So, obviously, if you just like ridden a bike, like a mountain bike or regular bike, forever, you just you can race, do it in your running shoes, like in tennis shoes. Um, clipping in is kind of when you get the fans, when you step up a level and you get the fancy bike shoes and they have to like clip in, like ski bindings or like what you do in a spin class.

Speaker 3: 46:55

Right, or a spin class. That's funny, like when I was starting spin classes like we're in a thing, so that was never like an analogy, I use what are you doing?

Speaker 3: 47:01

your peloton y'all right, right, like that and uh, and it's a little like, and the trick is like, as you learn to do it outside, you have to like learn that it's always. You always do the same leg and you always lean the same way, because it's like a trick in your head, like when you're first learning. Sometimes you'll lean the wrong direction, you'll like unclip with your right foot and lean to the left and then you tip over like that's why I I think what people, why they, why they get scared is. There's a lot of like tipping over, there's a lot of leaning the wrong direction, um, but eventually it becomes like second nature and now I can't do it with the other side.

Speaker 2: 47:33

Yeah. So, it's just you're going to fall and you just need to figure it out.

Speaker 3: 47:38

Yeah, you fall like a like very low speed like a lot of times and the biggest problem is you're just going to look stupid If you have to be like, oh, I'm just going to look stupid.

Speaker 2: 47:44

It's a low speed. But also, if you are really really beginner and the first time I did one, I just put cages on my bike Right and you can put your foot in a cage, which it makes it. You give it a little more power. The reason why you want to clip in is because do your first ones.

Speaker 3: 47:56

I did my first ones without it, you can just like flat pedals or cages.

Speaker 1: 48:14

Totally fine. I finally found the discipline I'd be good at looking stupid, wow, all right. So that's one. Check that one off. Now just the biking, swimming and running part. All right, here's a good one. And this is one also I don't have to worry about, because I'm naturally set up this way. Padded shorts yes or no?

Speaker 3: 48:26

Yeah, that does help, like having a. It's called a chamois, but it's like a padding in your shorts and it makes it more comfortable, which is important.

Speaker 2: 48:34

You want to be comfortable when you're out there.

Speaker 3: 48:38

But to your point. But in a race you don't want to swim with that. So that's why it's like, because then it'd be like carrying around a diaper, a wet diaper, so you don't want to do that. So you either pull them on or you can get like a special tri kit that has a different one. But for general biking, yeah, padded shorts are good.

Speaker 2: 48:51

Now I'm thinking of everything my husband does. I'm like, oh, if he swims in this, okay. I'm just thinking so many, so many different steps. All right, we touched on this a little bit, but you know, talk about people who are comfortable training indoors, but we need to also be outdoors. What would your ideal split be between, you know, training indoors and training outdoors? For newbies, for somebody getting ready for their first race, let's say?

Speaker 3: 49:13

maybe like a 70.3. Sure, I think a lot of people use indoor during the week because work and that like it's convenient, right. Like you can just have it set up, just get jump on, do 40 minutes before work, right. I think the key is getting outside on the weekends, like whether that means you have to drive somewhere or just like go on a longer ride, because if you're getting outside for like one bike ride on the weekends, then you'll have enough familiarity that because that's the that's the thing we're primarily concerned about right Is like balance, familiarity, making sure you don't crash right, like all those kind of little things that you can't do inside.

Speaker 2: 49:43

Yeah, definitely Okay. We had a question about balance, but I think that you kind of answered that. But do you, I guess here, community wise, that you know struggles of people. How do they balance work kids in triathlon, because it is a? More demanding sport than just. A lot of our listeners are runners.

Speaker 3: 50:04

Right, I think like so there is a stereotype of triathletes being super type A and like super intense, and I think that's. It's not that we're like I'm not that, like that's not me.

Speaker 2: 50:11

You don't sound intense, you sound very nice.

Speaker 3: 50:14

But I think it comes from the fact that, like you have to develop these scheduling skills and so then you become one of those people who's like well, at 430, I bike right, Like that's what I do. So I think it's just, it's just planning and, and a lot of people incorporate their kids with things you know stroller runs are great or they'll have their kids like stand outside their house and hand them water bottles so they can practice like the biking, grabbing the water bottles, bringing their kids to the pool, so the kids can like play at the pool while they swim. Obviously, it depends on how old you are, right, or how old the kids are. So I think there's just like different ways to do that and that's what I think a lot of people find like works the best for them is, you know, making it a part of the lifestyle Planning, bringing the family in and then hopefully having that family support, because it is a great thing, a great example for the kids to see this.

Speaker 2: 50:59

All right, elvira wants you to talk about transition. How should you set up, what should you bring and what etiquette do we need to be aware of Right.

Speaker 3: 51:09

So I think one of the good rules for transition is like as little as possible, like I've seen people have like stools and buckets and balloons and that's like that's intense, because then it gets in other people's way and you're like this race isn't just about you, right, like that's always the thing is like everyone has to do this. So if you get as small and as little stuff as you can manage right at your transition, uh, and the way to always think about it is time to go back to front. Divide it into threes. Be like what do I need first when I get off my get out and swim, get to the bike, put that stuff in front. Then what will I need after I get off my bike? Put the run stuff behind that. And she just put it in order, so that you think through in your head like I will do these steps in this order and then everything else you put in your bag and you move your bag away so that you don't like clog up other people's area.

Speaker 2: 51:55

The terms clean transition and dirty transition. Can you explain those for newbies?

Speaker 3: 52:02

That's an interesting one, because in a pro level it means like, but that's like very complicated. It means like you'll get penalties.

Speaker 2: 52:12

I feel like, in general, though, we just say like a clean transition is just keeping it minimal, right, I feel like an Ironman is whether you have your bags, like whether you've gone through, like because people will come to me like is it clean or dirty, whether you have to put everything in your bag and drop your bag off at a bin. Never that like never happens at small races though, so yeah, so sorry, so small races though.

Speaker 2: 52:38

So, yeah, so, yeah. So it is different to small races, and I guess our point here for those of you listening, is ask about transition when you get to the race, because, as Kelly said before, like it can be the most confusing part, because some races you're putting everything in a bag that has blue on it and you're bringing that over here, and then you're putting your swim stuff in this bag that has your had your bike stuff and then you're dropping that off. So ask the questions about transition. Never be embarrassed about asking the question so that you understand what you're doing.

Speaker 3: 52:58

You probably won't have to deal with putting everything in a bag and going and picking up the bag, unless you're doing an Ironman race. Those are just at a higher level. You see them in pro races, the Olympics, that kind of thing. It doesn't tend to happen at sprints, olympic distance, local races and, and then during covid, ironman actually got rid of that thing too and it was very funny because you had all these very serious ironman athletes who couldn't remember how to go back to just setting their stuff on the ground. Yeah, it's like it's fine, yeah it's always the bags, always confusing.

Speaker 2: 53:28

Well, where do I put this bag? What do I do with this bag?

Speaker 1: 53:32

see, there's just you guys are, I'm thinking about just just the actual discipline you have to do. And now there's all these other things thrown into this. My goodness, it's like the. It's like the James Joyce novel versus what I like to run, which is like a coloring book. Let's be honest, that's where that's my level. All right, not as many questions about running, because we have a lot of people who listen, who are really into running. But something that came up was, uh, the galloway method, the run walk run method. Is that something, uh, that you think would be okay during the run portion?

Speaker 3: 54:03

absolutely a lot of people, even, uh, in you know bigger, longer races will do run, walk, run walk. I feel like the only challenge with run walk is you got to start running again. Right, you have to. Like you can't just keep walking. I mean you could, you'll, you'll finish eventually, but that's like the that's that's. My challenge personally is like telling myself okay, you got to start running again.

Speaker 2: 54:21

Well, we're a big run walk, run advocates, and what? I have found and what we? We try to implore cause that's my father, not the Galloway method. We try to implore people, especially like at the triathletes. They go and they start and they think they can hold, like the seven minute pace and then they finished with like four miles of walking.

Speaker 2: 54:37

Or if you would have incorporated your walk breaks from the beginning, you know, or at least walked the water stops, you wouldn't have you crashed and burn. And Chelsea Sedaro walked the water stops. Kat Matthews in Texas did as well. So y'all keep doing that, that run.

Speaker 2: 54:52

Oh, you can definitely do that, yeah, that yeah yeah, I loved the run portion of my tries because I was doing the run walk and I thought I was passing people and I was like look at me and I'm not even that fast of a runner, like a fast runner, but I was like I am nailing this because you guys went out too hard. Um, all right, kay says that she's trying to get pregnant and she wants to know how does that impact her triathlon training. She hasn't signed up because she's in this sort of limbo, I guess.

Speaker 3: 55:17

Well, I'm not a doctor, I play one on TV Right.

Speaker 3: 55:21

No we just did a big series on feisty women's performance podcast, if you want to listen to about hormones like a four part with a couple of experts and doctors. It's really interesting about all the hormone details. I will say my understanding is the biggest issue with fertility and getting pregnant is increases, like your body's only going to shut down production. If you're like doing something extreme for it, like Ironman training would be like right, or Ultraman training, um, if you're just exercise, it like just running and swimming and biking, it's not the act of triathlon, that's a prop, right, it's. It's only like if this is like super intense and crazy. So I think you can probably just do a sprint, do an Olympic, keep doing what you're already doing at that level and like it'll be fine.

Speaker 2: 56:06

And I would say all you guys listening out there, that series is amazingly helpful for women. I get a lot of questions about training through cycle I mean. So you guys go and listen to that, because Feisty does such a good job of bringing us the things that we need to know about and breaking them down, so it's understandable. So you guys definitely, ladies out there, check that out.

Speaker 3: 56:22

I will tell you. I feel like I have a lot of friends who thought like oh, I'm training a lot, I don't need to worry about birth control, I won't get pregnant.

Speaker 1: 56:35

And that is not what happened. And then you're training while pregnant Surprise Right. And then you're pushing the store. Just add something more into this ridiculously crowded thing you have to do. All right, let's talk a little bit about nutrition. Firstly, how it would differ from nutrition for a marathon, and then if you could just walk us through what you take in for an Ironman.

Speaker 3: 56:49

So Ironman is like a whole other beast. It's way more complicated, I feel like. But in general, eating, fueling nutrition, whatever you want to call it in a triathlon is a lot easier than running, because it's hard to eat while you're running, right Like it's like jostles around in your stomach, it's like, oh, you kind of like don't feel great. Whereas eating while you're biking is actually really, really easy. You can like I mean, once you like can handle your bike right, like you can put all your food in a water bottle, you can like put tons of food in a little like box on your bike, so it's kind of just like a rolling picnic, um, whereas like running it can be harder and and you don't have the jostling problem.

Speaker 3: 57:24

Biking Like my husband used to race bikes and he would eat like sandwiches, like I don't know, like crazy stuff, um. So to that degree it's actually a lot easier. You just put your fuel on your bike, have it ready to go and then you just like go through it. At certain, a lot of people will set a timer like every 20 minutes, every 15 minutes, I eat something. So, iron man, the key is just like eating enough and like, I just like, like you can't, like we talked about, you can't really eat on the swim, unless you're one of those pros who like puts a gel in your swimsuit and like pulls it out on the loop course.

Speaker 3: 57:53

So you basically have to eat a lot on the bike and that's just a matter of that's just a matter of like training yourself to eat that much, cause it's hard, like there's only certain amounts that you can really consume per hour. Eating's a skill you got to practice eating too, right, so that's just like. That's just a question of like doing it a lot in practice. Um, I, I and I think a lot of people like to do their calories mostly drinking or gels like fluid, because chewing, chewing is hard, yeah, um, so I just do like a bottle that's like a really intense uh gel situation and I just take that down while I bike I've just typed a question for john that I'm going to see if he's going to ask.

Speaker 1: 58:37

And you know what? It's really actually a very, very good question.

Speaker 2: 58:40

Do you know what it's going to be? You just thought, I just thought of it, why it's been given to me While you were talking as a man of a certain age.

Speaker 1: 58:46

What about peeing if you're on the bike?

Speaker 3: 58:49

Yeah, so guys apparently can pee on the bike. I can't, Like women have a harder time with it because I don't know where the pressure is right, Like guys are peeing on the bike all the time. I would say the biggest thing then is don't pee if there's someone right behind you, because it hits the wheel and it sprays and it goes right behind them and that's very annoying. Just so you know.

Speaker 2: 59:09

But peeing in the water do we do or you just.

Speaker 3: 59:11

I pee the water. I can pee when I swim, I can pee while I run. If you're peeing while you run, you just like dump water over yourself while you go. But if you but peeing on the bike for women I will say a lot of us have a hard time with it, and so as a pro.

Speaker 2: 59:25

Did you ever have to stop? Or you were. You just had trained your body to like not.

Speaker 3: 59:29

Uh, I peed in the swimming on the run typically, so you didn't.

Speaker 2: 59:33

So you made sure you peed on the swim so you didn't have to pee? I know these are just fascinating questions I think people are getting very into the peeing. I know yeah.

Speaker 3: 59:40

But obviously you can also stop at a port, like my very first Ironman. When you stop to pick up your bottles, like halfway through, you pick up a bag of nutrition. I also.

Speaker 1: 59:51

A minute, yeah was not a big deal. As a man of a certain age, I'm wistful and nostalgic, thinking about the days when I could actually decide when I peed instead of just, oh, time to go. Now, all right, moving on for all intended reasons out there and I apologize to everybody for that let's say somebody's now trained up, they're ready for this. Maybe they've done a couple of local things Locations and races you might recommend as a must do for folks.

Speaker 3: 1:00:16

Yeah. So we said Escape of Alcatraz is like the best race ever. I know it's like kind of expensive, but I mean you can welcome to try and take Right.

Speaker 2: 1:00:24

You're right. Disney people they know.

Speaker 3: 1:00:29

OK, ok, all right, everybody's always like Alcatraz is expensive and I'm like, well, we shut down the entire bay so that you can swim across it. That costs money. That's super great. I'm in California so I'm also a big fan of the old Wildflower and I hear it's coming back which was a big festival they put on down in Central California. The new for people who are like East Coast, the Chicago Triathlon and Boston Triathlon are like these Olympic distance ones that have been kind of revitalized and new starting and I'm pretty excited about those because it's nice to see kind of like big city Olympic distance races coming coming back. And my favorite Ironman is Ironman Wisconsin.

Speaker 2: 1:01:03

So if anyone's looking for an Ironman, it's super, super, super fun, my husband's at Wisconsin we actually just talked about it last night watching Top Chef, Top Chef Wisconsin, because they went to Madison and they were at like where that circle, the Frank Lloyd Wright building. Why did you like it so much?

Speaker 3: 1:01:17

Wisconsin, so it's in Madison, and they time it. Well, one like my family from there, so my family came out, but they also time it kind of around the start of school year. So all these college kids are like drunk and in costume and like screaming at you and you're like running around and they're everyone you're like, and they're like yelling, like you're amazing and you're like I am amazing, and then like you go through the farm fields, which is a really nice bike ride, rolling farm fields, but there's also again like people out there dressed up in costume. The first year I did it, someone stepped out of a cornfield dressed as a clown, which was like the craziest You're like. Am I hallucinating?

Speaker 2: 1:01:52

I'm peeing and there's cows, and's corn and there's clowns.

Speaker 1: 1:01:57

And we are familiar with creepy clowns because they're a couple on the course during the Run Disney.

Speaker 2: 1:02:01

This guy keeps dressing like Ronald McDonald with his face paint at Run Disney and, it is disturbing, Disturbing Two races. He's done this. All right, that's a good one. Wisconsin, All right. Last question before we get to our standard closing question. For that's a good one, Wisconsin, All right. Last question before we get to our standard closing question For women. I know that you guys work super hard to bring more women into the sport. They are probably roughly you can tell me better, but it's usually around 25% of a sort of an Ironman event. How can women feel more like a community? People love Run Disney because of the community. They get there and they say I didn't think I was going to belong and I instantly felt like I was going to belong. And I know, sometimes at a triathlon it's not that way.

Speaker 3: 1:02:43

So how can we support women and how can they find a community if they want to? Yeah, so I mean so feisty triathlon is what we do and there's like a podcast. There's a Facebook group. It's not super active right now, but there's also like a ton of other groups out there. There's a lot of women's squads these days like women's triathlon training groups. Sometimes they're centered around a clothing brand, sometimes they're centered around um, like a local team, you know, like a in your area, and so I think you should try and find like a triathlon group in your area and a lot of them have women's components or or join one of these like online squads, online teams, if you don't have somebody locally, because then there's somebody a Facebook group, a group chat, a WhatsApp that you know you can like share, because I don't actually train a lot with other people, even though there's a ton of people here, but I have tons of friends. I can like text and you know share.

Speaker 3: 1:03:32

Like stupid things somebody did, some guy did to me right, like whatever. Like you want somebody you can like, tell them like the dumb thing this guy said on the group bike ride, that's like the key, and then you see them at races and and then you feel like then, like I actually am always surprised that people have the stereotype of triathlon that's like 45 year old men, because to me, I'm like all the people I know that do triathlon are women. Yeah, like I don't know, and so it's just, it's just who you know and like kind of creating that little group within a group and other women want to welcome you in.

Speaker 2: 1:04:03

I feel like women are really welcoming. They're excited that you want to do this. They're going to help you. Those little questions that you have about triathlon like they're going to in a positive way, support you without judging oh, and they're not going to like make up answers.

Speaker 3: 1:04:14

That's the other like I feel like I've had because at this point I don't know the nice way to say this, but like I've been doing this a pretty long time, but I also look like I don't know what I'm doing, and so I have guys explaining things to me at races all the time and I'm like that's not right. What are you talking about?

Speaker 1: 1:04:30

Mansplaining, yes, indeed, something we're all familiar with, and I'd like to apologize for my entire gender. All right, Kelly, we're going to move along to the questions that we ask everybody we have on our podcast, and the first one is when you find yourself in a hard place, either on a run or a workout, what do you do to motivate yourself?

Speaker 3: 1:04:49

That's an interesting question. So I just did my first hundred K running race, like a week ago, so it was my first time doing a new thing in a pretty long time and uh, and I was telling myself lots of different things and one of them was like well, you don't look any worse than everyone else out here. I was like we all look terrible. You might as well keep going. So I think that's like everyone's struggling, it's like a good one, like it's not you, yeah, struggling, it's like a good one, like it's not you, yeah, no, that that is a good one.

Speaker 2: 1:05:14

Yeah, we're. This is, we're all on the struggle bus. Let's just keep. Let's just keep driving it forward. All right, you have been at a lot of races, you've covered a lot of races. You've talked to a lot of endurance athletes. Is there one inspiring moment you've seen or a story you've heard, that sort of sticks with you, that resonates with you?

Speaker 3: 1:05:30

that's a good question. I don't. Uh, no, if everybody remembers, I'm losing his name. The guy who did the 70.3 worlds, who um had als or msm, was like like in, like in the process of dying, if that makes sense and he was still doing 70.3 worlds. I mean he couldn't swallow at that point. He was like having trouble breathing. It was a whole. It was really really hard for him and he I believe his name was Kyle and he did not make it out like make the cutoff for the bike at the last 70.3 Worlds in St George and he went. But he was still there and he was like, well, I can do it. And he went back out on the run and it was a hard day because of weather. It was really tough. And he ran the last lap with this woman who was also struggling and like ran her into the finish and I was like crying, like it was really. It was really great. It was like great to see the triathlon community do you know rally, so yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:06:21

I mean, those are the people you do think of out there when you're, when you're struggling too. You're like think about what that guy went through. Like I can't complain, like I just have a cramp or I I'm tired. Like they, they inspire you. You see those, you can see them. Like I'm sure you can see Kyle in your mind. Like you see them in your mind and it kind of powers you on. So that's a good one. I remember part of that. I wasn't there, but I do remember that.

Speaker 1: 1:06:41

That's pretty remarkable. Okay, kelly, if people want to follow you on Feisty the Feisty world, where would they do that? Where's the best place for them to get in touch or just at least follow what you're doing?

Speaker 3: 1:06:52

Sure, Feisty Triathlon. We have an Instagram. I think that's where we're doing a lot of stuff. We're actually doing a beginner series kind of over May and June, answering questions and a bunch of content. So Feisty Triathlon on Instagram and then the Feisty Triathlon podcast feed. We have interviews with pros. We do a lot of coverage of races, so those are the best places to go.

Speaker 2: 1:07:16

And Haley Chura. You guys might know her from Dopey, so she is one of the hosts of one of the podcasts there. So it's all a big circle and it comes together Well, thank you, kelly, and I'm sure we'll tell them all to find you on Instagram and bother you with any additional questions that they might have, as we have our Run Disneyers set off into the triathlon world.

Speaker 3: 1:07:30

Good Well, welcome. Welcome to the triathlon. It's fun.

Speaker 2: 1:07:34

Thanks, Kelly good, well, welcome. Welcome to the triathlon. It's fun. Thanks, kelly.

Speaker 1: 1:07:39

All right athletes, here's the drill time to shape up your diet, harissa, give them the goods. All right, harissa, now that I'm a air quote expert runner, since I've run my third measured race two 5ks and a 10k if you're scoring at home, and why would you be scoring? Uh, here's what I'd like to know, and this is really. This is a good question for me, because the 10K was the first time I've run a distance where I had to fuel during the race. So what foods can you eat on a long run?

Speaker 2: 1:08:08

And food, foods like we're talking about, not a gel, not a goo, because you did have a goo and I was hesitant to tell you to take a goo because you hadn't tried it, but it worked out good for you it really, really.

Speaker 1: 1:08:18

I will say that was remarkable because between miles four and five and I mentioned this I was really, I was struggling a lot because I hadn't ever gone your sugar was low yeah physical, psychological, all those things coming into play, and Stephanie, who was my pacer, running with me, gave me a goo and it really, really kicked me into being able to finish without walking the last couple of miles.

Speaker 2: 1:08:39

frankly, and I do, and we talked about this in the chat, the nutrition talk that I did at the expo at Indy. I like the goos, the shot blocks, the sport beans, because they're designed to have enough electrolytes and sugar. They're designed for you to eat on an endurance run. So that's why that's kind of like what I recommend, because you're not going to go wrong with it. You're not going to have too much of one thing and not enough of the other. But when we're talking about triathlons, when we're talking about an Ironman that could take you up to 17 hours, even a marathon people that maybe takes them five, six hours, they get tired of having only goo.

Speaker 2: 1:09:10

So I get asked a lot what foods are real foods that I can have? Or if you're training sometimes training for a marathon, you'll do like five, six miles I can come back to my house. What could I eat? So I just wanted to give you guys a list of some things that would check that box of this is real food that you can eat. So bananas still good for the middle of the run, because you're getting carbohydrates, potassium, they digest easily. Dates Make sure you get the ones without the seeds, but these are sweet, they're delicious. They've got potassium and magnesium. You can also do other dried fruits dried pineapple, apricots, raisins but the sugar in fruit is called what John.

Speaker 1: 1:09:48

Fructose.

Speaker 2: 1:09:48

Yeah, good for you and like a table sugar is what.

Speaker 1: 1:09:53

Is it sucrose? Well, glucose sucrose, glucose.

Speaker 2: 1:09:55

Well, glucose, sucrose, glucose, glucose. Okay, so fructose is absorbed slower than glucose, so you would just want to start that earlier and you're not going to feel that instant rush like you did. So that's the only thing with fruit. Nothing wrong with it, it just is absorbed a little bit slower. But you can take sandwiches Kelly mentioned that today on the bike ride nut butter sandwich. Use white bread, don't use high fiber bread. You could make a trail mix Boiled potatoes. This is an amazing fuel for long runs. They did it. I worked with the potato people, potatoes USA and they set them up at the Rock and Roll Las Vegas. Why are you laughing?

Speaker 1: 1:10:31

You said the potato people and I immediately pictured Mr and Mrs Potato Head. So I immediately pictured Mr and Mrs Potato Head.

Speaker 2: 1:10:35

So I worked for Mr and Mrs Potato Head that would be so fun if I could and then I rearranged their faces.

Speaker 1: 1:10:41

I'm just seeing it in like this, like big meeting room.

Speaker 2: 1:10:43

And I'm holding hands with them.

Speaker 1: 1:10:44

They have assistants which are like tiny little red potatoes that are helping them get everything together.

Speaker 2: 1:10:51

I knew when I said potato people it was going to go south. That's okay, we'll move on. Boiled potatoes are great. Get the small ones, roll them in olive oil, roast them, put a lot of salt on them. But at Rock and Roll Vegas they handed them out at $29.29. They handed them out and they're actually delicious, because they're not sweet. I think we get tired on long runs of sweet, so put them in a Ziploc or, if you're going to circle back to your car, have them in your car and then, if you try them, tag us in pictures. Hashtag potato people. Honey stinger waffles. This is sort of like a sports nutrition, but it's a different chew. It's crunchier. So people like that, you can make your own energy balls. Are you going to laugh at that one? I said no.

Speaker 1: 1:11:33

Well, I'm not 11, so no.

Speaker 2: 1:11:36

I'm just kidding, okay, energy balls, oatmeal, nut butter, honey, dried fruits, again, rice cakes or pretzels, go-go squeeze pouches, applesauce pouches, fruit snacks. If I'm at home and I'm going on like a six miler, I'll just grab, like my kids, gummy bears or fruit snacks because I don't want to pay, because the sports nutrition stuff costs more and it's still glucose. So I'll do that. But then remember, if you're doing this on training and you've never done it before, make sure there's a bathroom within a decent radius in case it doesn't go well, and then don't do it new on race day. So that's it.

Speaker 2: 1:12:07

If you want to ask personal nutrition questions for me for running, we do that every month on our Healthier you chat. You can join Health healthier you. It's a 12 week program to help you fix your nutrition. If you want to lose weight, more energy, help you with better nutrition choices, go to Galloway coursecom and use code podcasts. We also have the lower cost seminar series where you get access to these monthly chats and a meal plan for every season, and that's again at Galloway coursecom.

Speaker 1: 1:12:32

Athletes listen up it's mail. Call time. Announcer free present. All right, thank you, sarge. Today's question is from our 321GO podcast at gmailcom account. This is from Mike. Mike says I'm a big fan of the podcast. Thank you.

Speaker 3: 1:12:50

Mike, I have not missed an episode Thank you, mike, thank you, mike.

Speaker 1: 1:12:53

My first Run Disney event was the Marathon Weekend 10K in 2017. 2017, or however you want to say it, I think it's the same thing, and I've been doing Run Disney events.

Speaker 2: 1:13:02

What's that? Is it 2017? Is it the same as 2017?, yeah, 2017.

Speaker 1: 1:13:07

But it sounded weird when I said it.

Speaker 2: 1:13:08

No, I know, so I changed it up to 2017.

Speaker 1: 1:13:10

Anyway, I've been doing run Disney events ever since. This January. I'll be running my first dopey and marathon, so first marathon, just threw the dopey in there. Good for you, mike. I've done halves, 10 milers, a bunch of 10Ks and 5Ks. When it comes to halves and 10 milers, always seem to develop a blister at the bottom of my right foot. He says he knows it's not his shoes. I've changed them, but it continues with that foot. He says he knows it's not his shoes. I've changed them, but it continues with that foot. Any suggestions on how to prevent this? I want to really finish my first marathon in Dopey in January. Keep up the good work. I look forward to hearing from you and your past experiences, which is why I will now bow out, never having run a marathon and I was lucky enough, though I will say the first 5K I ran it was running a little and that was a concern raining a little, excuse me and that was a concern of mine that I would get blisters. So, carissa, help Mike out, can you?

Speaker 2: 1:14:02

Yeah, so I kind of even pushed this off further and I'm going to have some personal tips. But I asked Weston for a little assist here and he did already email back Mike and that's what I was putting the question he's like. But I already emailed Mike and I'm like, I know, but other listeners may want to know, uh, so what Weston said was blisters are a tricky one. Um, he wanted to know sort of what specific area under the foot. A lot of people will use body glide. They lather it on before they put their their socks on. So that's an important one. Mike said it wasn't his shoes, but it could be your shoes. They may need to be wider, um, so it could be a width issue with the shoes.

Speaker 2: 1:14:39

This is something you want to try to work out on your longer training run. So the combination of the body glide. I also always wear toe socks on any run over eight miles. They have. They're like it's like a mitten for your feet, but then they don't rub together. So if my toes rub together I get a blister. So I think it's working with the body glide. It's. Also, is your foot really sweaty? Maybe some powder in that area, because it could be the sweat causing it and then look for a wider shoe. Some people, unfortunately, are just more prone to blisters. We talked about me talking to Frank Shorter. He said that when he came in to the Olympic I think it was the Olympic trials marathon His feet were just like squishing blood because of the blisters.

Speaker 2: 1:15:16

Now listen, mike, we don't need to get that serious, we don't need to go that far, but blisters are an issue. So let this be something that you try to work out during your training. Just try different socks. Try maybe more cushioned cotton ones. Try maybe more performance wicking ones. There are also those little bandaid things. If it's an area, think about maybe putting some tape or one of those band-aids that has like the circle in the middle. But try to work this out on training. Also, be very cautious about that's cautious is not the word. Be very proactive during dopey. After the 5k, take care of your feet. How are they Check them out? Don't wear your shoes too long. After the race. Maybe bring a different pair of shoes. So after the 5k, 10k, half you're taking them off. You're giving your feet kind of area to breathe. Don't wear the shoes longer than you need to. Anything, john, anything else.

Speaker 1: 1:16:00

Well, I tell you, I was concerned about that for the 10K again because it was a distance I hadn't done, so I went on, I did a little research. Now, as we both talked about, I sweat a lot. You know, during weekends we discussed that but my feet don't sweat a lot, so I'm not really prone to it because of the moisture in my feet. But I did get socks that were wicking socks but were also specifically designed to prevent blisters and I had no issue with my feet at all. So, you know, do your research. I know everybody's a little bit different that way. It's interesting that it's always just the right foot. So I don't know if that's anything with your gait causes that. But yeah, just do what you can, because that is an ugly side effect of distance running definitely.

Speaker 2: 1:16:40

John, you sounded like an expert there.

Speaker 1: 1:16:42

I know.

Speaker 2: 1:16:43

Acting. Look at you All right. Well, thank you guys. So much for listening. And, mike, if you find something that works, tell us. We'll tell everybody out there. If you have questions, feedback, you want to share your story. Maybe, if you even spot John on the cruise, send us a picture. 321gopodcasts at gmailcom. Thanks everybody, we'll see you real soon.