Episode 48: A weekend of racing, domination and olympic selection drama.

Weathering flat tires and the thrill of unexpected victories, Josh and Fede share the gritty and the glorious sides of triathlon life. While Jenna was missed in this episode, we didn't let that slow us down; instead, we dived into our racing and training with PR's and Painless running on the comeback.  

This episode goes through all of the race results, and ups and downs of competition. Witnessing rising stars like Kyle Smith dominate at the Challenge Championship, as well as the unwavering prowess of Anne Haug at Ironman Lanzarote. We explore how the triathlon scene is evolving, from the diversity of mixed team relays to the potential Olympic challenges faced by athletes like Taylor Knibb. We balance the scales of international races with local feats, applauding the grit of age-groupers battling the currents at Morro Bay, and recognizing the moms who are redefining strength in the triathlon world.

Wrapping it up, we delve into the dynamic and growing enthusiasm surrounding relay teams in what is traditionally a solo endeavor. We spare no detail when expressing our discontent over Olympic selection politics potentially impacting athletes. Join us for these stories and more, as we leave you invigorated and looking forward to the next episode.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome back to another episode of another Triathlon Podcast brought to you by Mana Apparel. A little different voice tonight as Jenna's unable to join us, but you've got myself, josh, and I've got Fedde with me, as usual. So, fedde, why don't you kick it off? We had a pretty busy weekend after not really realizing how busy a weekend we had racing-wise, but definitely plenty to talk about. How's your training coming along? I know you're working your way back and getting excited for the rest of the season, so how's it going now?

Speaker 2: 0:36

Yeah, hi, josh, and of course we're going to miss Jenna tonight, but training's been going good. But, um, training's been going good. Um, did my my first ever non-stop run, which was very good, pain free, uh. So I didn't I don't know what pace I ran, I just went on feeling and it was very good. Like I said, no pain. Bike's been going well. I'm gonna start a little bit of a vo2 block, so that's going to be interesting how the body responds with a lot of high intensity, with that little break that I that I took. So, yeah, things are looking good and excited for what's to come. Um, I know you've been training quite a bit, so why don't you tell us what's been going on on your side?

Speaker 1: 1:26

that's uh. It's been good season so far in terms of the training and and and staying healthy, uh, has been a big part of it. As we all know, in this sport that's goal number one stay healthy for a season and and I've been able to do that so far this year and I had another race return to race, so another apples to apples sprint triathlon Went back for the second year in a row and was able to get another course PR. Not the greatest day that I was hoping for, but went from, I think, eighth last year and in my age group to fifth this year, just a minute or so off of the podium, which would have been nice, but definitely a big jump up. We had some pretty crappy weather on race morning.

Speaker 1: 2:17

The day before the race I actually went out and did a recon ride. I had an awesome new connection that I made at a local bike shop. I had reached out and asked him if he had any race wheels for rent and he didn't. And a couple of days later he messages me back and he's like you know what? I've got my wheels. I'm not using them much, why don't you just go ahead and use those? And I was like all right. He's like, yeah, I'll just lend them to you. And so I popped in there on Saturday on my way to to check in for the race and get my bib and everything, and he popped those on, pick them up. And I was like I'm just going to go do a nice little race recon ride.

Speaker 1: 3:01

You don't get to do that too often, so I was able to do that. It's actually in the town that I work in and I'd done the race before, but I wanted to see what it was like on the wheels and and got five miles in and got my first ever flat on a ride oh no nice little pinch flat, uh, on a pretty nasty pothole, but it had been raining, so one of those uh hidden potholes and I was moving at a pretty good clip.

Speaker 1: 3:27

So sent a quick text saying uh, sorry about your wheels. Uh, the wheels are fine actually, uh, but the tire and the tube is not. So he, uh, he actually was on his way to the course, uh, as the mechanic for the course the next day and picked me up, popped me over to the, the parking lot and gave me a quick tutorial, and we grabbed a quick video of him showing others how to change a tire.

Speaker 1: 3:53

So that was a cool little experience and really awesome to to have somebody like that in my corner and got to thank him on race morning again and and then I got a message from him today saying why don't you just keep those through Western Mass? So shout out to Roy at Grace Bicycles If you're here in the Massachusetts area northeast. He's been doing it for decades and has an awesome business and really appreciate that support and he's going to be a good connection. I'm going to take my bike in there and get it nice and tuned up for Western Mass, which is my next triathlon, so kind of trained through that.

Speaker 1: 4:33

We didn't do a full brick on Saturday because my coach wanted to see how hard I could go on Sunday. Unfortunately, the bike course it was rainy and misty. So I actually looked at some times of people bike course it was rainy and misty. So I actually looked at some times of people who did the race last year and this year and pretty much everyone was and even like the guy who won my age group and the guy who finished straight ahead of me in the age group, they were like two to three minutes slower overall on their on their races this year overall on their on their races this year.

Speaker 1: 5:07

Uh, whereas I was about a minute faster overall, wow, um, bike splits were all low. Nobody I don't think anyone was over 20 miles an hour. Um, average for 10 miles, which is crazy. For 10 miles you should be able to push it, but, um, yeah, it's a. It's a lot of turns and and downhill turns, so really tough when you've got the wet pavement. So still a great race. Had a little better swim, had a little better transition T1, and had a good bike. Felt good, pushed good power, had a good T2, could definitely tighten it up a little bit there and then had an awesome run.

Speaker 1: 5:43

Felt good right out of the chute and it's an uphill, probably a quarter mile uphill and was able to negative split the 5K run and was just about seven minutes, just under seven-minute mile pace at the end, and had a good little sprint finish with somebody I identified in front of me down the chute and uh won that, won that race.

Speaker 1: 6:06

So it was good, good to race in that that quick, quick distance and then uh came home and went for a 15 mile ride after that. So, um, good, good weekend, good week of training, and in western masses, only two and a half weeks, three weeks weeks away. So, getting ready for that, did an easy-ish bike ride today outside, did a swim already and I've got a little 30-minute run to do tonight after we finish recording. So right back into it and excited to see what I can do with this race and really push it if we get some good weather and try and see if I can get my new 70.3 PR. So that's the goal of the season new, new PRs at each course and and new PRs at each distance and so far we're two for two nice.

Speaker 2: 6:57

Yeah, that's awesome that you've been well, it's not it's not a surprise to me, because you've actually improved quite a bit during this past, um, pre-season, I want to say, and I like the games you've been making are amazing. Plus, you are becoming a very smart racer, like racing the course, uh, you know, you know that sometimes conditions are going to be tough and you seem to be actually using the course to your advantage, because other people might look at a course or like a race venue and say, oh, it's choppy, it's windy, and they just don't push anymore. But what I've come to realize is that you actually are, are becoming very strong mentally. So that's very good, and I'm sure, uh, the next couple of races are going to be prs as well for you. So, happy, happy for you yeah, no, I appreciate that.

Speaker 1: 7:53

I. I think when you start into anything late in the game, like I have, and I actually put up a one of my more popular reels, apparently last night which has got a ton of views and shares and stuff like that. So it kind of resonated with a few people.

Speaker 1: 8:10

But when you start something late in life, you've got to put in the time if you want to get better at it.

Speaker 1: 8:18

And the knowledge side of triathlon is there for anyone to get and, whether you are a great athlete or not, you can learn the sport.

Speaker 1: 8:28

You can learn the ins and outs of it and pick up these little tips of the trade that are going to help you along the way, and I think that's the part that I've been able to grasp onto and take advantage of the information that's out there.

Speaker 1: 8:42

Having people like you and jenna to lean on and and surrounding myself with, with other people, and it was it was a really cool race because I've done it before and I've become uh connected to a few other people in the local triathlon scene.

Speaker 1: 8:55

It was cool to see them and race them, race with them and and see them on the course, on the run courses and out and back on the run course. That's really cool, um and and like finishing the bike and starting the run and seeing some of my friends finishing the, finishing the bike and and my wife did the uh the relay again, so she was there racing and I was able to uh finish the the bike and she was in transition waiting to to start her run, and so she got to see me off on the run and and as I came back, she was about to just start her run, so we both got to see each other finish and and that was really cool and and the two people that she brought with her are part of my, my peloton community, so another new um group of uh triathletes that got to experience it.

Speaker 1: 9:44

And there's a whole duathlon part of this race too, which helps a lot of people get involved, and just a really cool thing. And then I brought a whole bunch of athletic brewings to hand out and one of our old favorite senators here in Massachusetts got to enjoy some of those post-race and along with another hundred and so people and I got to wear my brand new Mona Apparel custom kit.

Speaker 2: 10:07

Nice.

Speaker 1: 10:09

It definitely stood out. Everyone's kind of got those nice tri kits and everyone kind of looks similar and this one stands out for sure. So I'm pretty happy with it and I can't wait to get the real pictures, uh, from the race photo. People and uh start to share some of the better pics of race day josh awesome that's awesome man, I don't know where to start with our racing this week. Uh, why don't we start with a non? Uh, actually, no, let's, let's start with.

Speaker 2: 10:43

Challenge wherever you want to go, okay, yeah let's uh, let's do something, let's do the challenge. Then let's jump into the uh, what tool? Call uh mixed team relay olympic qualification event, and then let's talk 70.3s and we can finish it off with uh, iron man lancerote. How does that sound?

Speaker 1: 11:03

good man. We had a lot more than we thought, yeah, and we didn't do too well in our picks, except for one, annie Hogg yeah.

Speaker 2: 11:12

Yeah Right, we had challenged the championship 2024 in Samarain, slovakia, amazing venue, and this race is becoming like a focus for a lot of athletes. And we had a very surprising winner, not because he's not a great athlete, because he is, but he had been able to figure out the run and he finally did it. I mean, kyle Smith, from New Zealand, took the win. And what a run. He had hadn't been able to figure out the run who, and he finally did it. I mean, kyle smith, from new zealand, took the win. And what a run he had 109, 42, took the win in 327, 10. He's an amazing swim biker and now, with this 109, he can actually get away from people on the bike and hold off that leg, because people are going to be needing to run a 106, 107 if they want to catch him, because he is a front pack swimmer and he has the horsepower to get away on the bike from people.

Speaker 2: 12:14

On second place we had a friend of the show, frederick Funk solid, 329, amazing. He was actually faster than Kyle onyle on the bike 148, 48. Kyle was 150, 59, uh, but you know, fred ran a 113, which was not enough, uh, for kyle's 109. And on third place from den Denmark. We had Christian Hugenhout in 329.56. We had Joe Skipper racing finishing in 10th place. We had Mark Dubrik. We know has been struggling with a bit of a niggle, but you know, 12th place and one to me. When Mark runs a 116, that's just off. That's like jogging for him. So we know he's not quite there, uh, because he's struggling with a bit of a niggle, so hopefully he gets, he bounces back and he's ready to go in the next coming races and um on the girl's side.

Speaker 1: 13:22

I think he's, uh, I think he's really focused on his bike right now and, yeah, he knows the run will come when he can get training and back into run shape too.

Speaker 1: 13:33

He was over in europe getting aero testing and wind tunnel testing, so I'm sure that's kind of a main focus for him. I thought the other thing that was interesting too with this race is, I think dubrick led them out of the water. It was up front and, yeah, the whole, but the whole pack was there, like they were all together on the bike, and that was crazy, because that, I mean, that was that was one after the other, after the other, after the other, and they were just like in a chain, and so for somebody, like for them, to come from back of the swim a little bit, he had to do a lot of work to pass, so I think when it got to the run.

Speaker 1: 14:06

He ran out a little gas on the run and Kyle was able to run him down.

Speaker 2: 14:11

Yeah, 100%, and it was incredible to see and he was over the moon and you could see how much it meant to Kyle because he was so happy that the run finally clicked. So, yeah, kudos, kyle, and congratulations to him. On the girl, on the girl's side, we had a very solid performance by india lee. She's in a bit of a role right now, finishing in 356. So also sub 4 on the girl's side, the top two on the girls were sub four, which is amazing, uh, and they both ran a 129, 121. Sorry, but uh, on the bike, this is where they did the damage. Uh, a 205 for india and a 207 for second place. Uh, laura mattson from denmark. Uh, and on third place, from sweden, we had anna bergsten, uh, coming in third place.

Speaker 2: 15:07

Another, uh, very important and notable athlete, els viser from the netherlands, finishing in the fifth place, who she seems to be having that approach that uh, back in the day, cyclists used to have of racing herself into fitness. And this girl does know how to switch off and it's amazing. She's always top 10, top 5, or winning the events. So amazing race from her as well. But India was just so strong 24-minute swim, held the lead on the bike and just ran a 1.29.35 to hold on to the lead because nobody, nobody. She actually broke away in the swim and nobody could catch her. So this goes to show that if you are a strong swimmer and a strong biker, you can actually hold on to the lead if your run is decent, which is the case for India, and amazing, amazing for her.

Speaker 1: 16:08

And defending champ too, so two-time champ.

Speaker 2: 16:11

She knows the course.

Speaker 1: 16:13

You talked about it. People love going to this race, and she's certainly one of them 100%.

Speaker 2: 16:20

She knows the course, she knows when to push, she knows that long straight along the river is usually into a headwind or with the tailwind and coming into a headwind, and she knows how to push and to be aero. So kudos to India and her team as well.

Speaker 1: 16:42

Yeah, I think it's a good confidence booster for her too, coming out of the disappointment in singapore. Um, obviously, starting her season great in miami and then then singapore and and and now she's, she's back to her india leeways.

Speaker 2: 16:57

Yeah, she's proving that she belongs, like, uh, like, um, miami wasn't a fluke and this race had a very stacked field as well. So, yeah, I mean that's racing, and triathlon is one of those sports where, if you are half of a percentage off, especially on on the elite field, you are 10 places away. So it's just amazing to see how the competition is being growing, uh, in in middle distance racing especially.

Speaker 1: 17:31

Yeah absolutely so. Yeah, great, great race over in europe there. What do we, uh, what do we have next that you want to move to?

Speaker 2: 17:41

now flying to the other side of the world, mexico, huatulco. We had a mixed team relay Olympic qualification event. The top two teams on this race were getting Olympic qualifications. So it was a very, very important race for them, four nations, and we we talked about this, uh, last week, actually that uh, I will try to. The team norway, uh director, was very vocal about wanting to have a competitive team at the paris olympics. They delivered like this, the norwegians, they usually usually put their money where their mouth is and they won the race.

Speaker 2: 18:30

It was hot, it was humid, it was the opposite of what Norway is right now and they delivered. I mean water temperature of 29 degrees Celsius, that is like a jacuzzi type of situation and air temperature was actually cooler than the water 26.5. It was a 300-meter swim, 6k bike and a 1,500-meter run. You know mixed-team relay format. So two girls, two boys and then the Regents took it second place.

Speaker 2: 19:04

And very special mention for Team Netherlands, we saw the power couple of Richard Murray and Rachel Klammer, who's Richard's wife. Important note Richard, he was born in South Africa but now he races for Team Netherlands and very interesting to see that Team south africa did not finish the race. So probably the best and smartest move by richard to race for team netherlands, who she was already living in the netherlands for quite a bit of time by now. So yeah, amazing to see team ecuador got lapped and team canada got a disqualification. Third place which was bittersweet for them because they didn't get the Olympic qualification was Team Hungary, spain in fourth, austria in fifth and Team Mexico in sixth place. So congratulations to Norway and the Netherlands for getting that Olympic qualification.

Speaker 1: 20:06

And Hungary got passed towards the end too on that final leg, which was rough oh they, uh.

Speaker 2: 20:13

I reckon they still have nightmares from that race, because that must have been so hard man, they were definitely taxed, though they were.

Speaker 1: 20:21

Uh, they were all pushing it and that weather would look brutal.

Speaker 2: 20:24

Yeah, 100%, 100%. But yeah, now we're starting to see how the spots are getting limited to the Olympics, which is exciting and sad for other athletes because this means that they have to wait another four years or they're done. Timing is everything, so a lot of older athletes are not going to get another chance. So just how special and hard it is to get an Olympic qualification in the sport of triathlon and you know any sport. So, yeah, congratulations to the teams who got their qualification spot.

Speaker 1: 21:05

And meanwhile we've got Taylor Nibb, the triathlete, popping into another. Oh, my. God.

Speaker 2: 21:11

Imagine if she wins.

Speaker 1: 21:14

A slot in Paris on the road cycling team for the USA as well and threw down a crazy good time.

Speaker 2: 21:23

That is amazing. Imagine if she pulls off a gold, uh, in the individual event, then the gold and the mixed team relays, and then she's like, okay, I'm just gonna go do a shakeout tt and gets the gold and the time trial, that would be, that would be so. I mean, if she pulls that off, she has, uh, the, the opportunity to be the goat, because I don't think anybody is going to be able to do that.

Speaker 1: 21:52

If she wins topo and then she goes and wins kona, I mean, jesus, that would be amazing I think the biggest question with paris is going to be does she do both the mixed and the road right? Uh or does she do the mix? I guess is the big question, because, yeah, I think they're like one day after each other. Um, so what does she want the focus to be? And and if I think mixed is after the road, does usa triathlon want her on the mixed relay team after she just didn'tout tt?

Speaker 2: 22:25

yeah, that's when politics come into play. Hey, because if you are, I'm sure if you ask taylor, she would say I'm gonna do all of them.

Speaker 1: 22:33

I don't care, of course, yeah all I did was a 45 minute ride.

Speaker 2: 22:38

Come on, I can do another yeah, exactly exactly what do we got next? Now let's go to the US. In Chattanooga, tennessee, and we had a very good race. Matt Hanson took the win on the men's side, running a 1.09, again 3.41. Second place, jackson Laundrie, who he has been lurking with the first place but hasn't been able to quite get it just yet. Third place, we had Trevor Foley, who was Lionel Sanders' training buddy. Fourth place, anthony Costes. And yeah, it was a very, very interesting race in Chattanooga. We know it's a very, very interesting race in Chattanooga. We know it's a downriver swim, so it's a very fast swim, which didn't prove to be that way this year, because you know they swamped the usual, you know, 24, 25 minutes on the men's side, so maybe not a super strong current men's side.

Speaker 1: 23:53

So maybe not not a super strong current, yeah, not. I mean it wasn't. It wasn't as fast as maine or oregon I. I think when it comes to like our world in the age group or world, it makes a difference. But when, when you're in the pro field and and you're out there mashing away, at that time frame, unless you've got a super strong current, it's not going to make too much of a difference.

Speaker 1: 24:10

What it is going to do is they're getting out of the water with less energy spent is what they're doing True, true, 100%, it would be interesting to see, like where did Jackson come out of the water? I didn't look to see that. So somebody like him, who's typically a minute or two back where?

Speaker 2: 24:28

did he come out? So he he got a 10th place out of the water and matt hansen 11th. So this just goes to show how uh no, I don't want to say weak swimmers, but not the strongest swimmers like matt hansen, get more benefit and more like bang for their buck when it comes to wetsuit swims and downriver swims. They get a bit more of a boost, so to speak, when you're racing these type of conditions.

Speaker 2: 24:57

Yeah, it torques the gap a little bit. Yeah, exactly, exactly, because this means that strong swimmers actually need to work double or triple the effort to actually separate themselves, and it's just not worth it. Uh, because they're going to pay, pay on the bike and run. And um, on the girl's side, we had, uh, well, the domination is starting to creep in from Emmama pallance brown, uh, whom I think. I think I picked her.

Speaker 1: 25:31

no, emma, I believe you did in this. Yeah, back to back, back to back weeks too, back to back weeks.

Speaker 2: 25:38

so, uh, yeah, I'm very happy about my pick and, yeah, emma just took the win, running away from everyone well, I don't want to say running away, because Jackie Herring, who finished in second place, was just 38 seconds away from Emma, so not completely running away, but actually holding up to the lead. And in third place we had Sarah True, who I was very, very happy to see in the podium. Sarah, who has been, you know, know, she became a mom and then a few issues here and there, but, uh, she is slowly and surely, uh, you know, starting to feel like herself and, you know, amazing from her to see her, uh, coming in third place a bunch of moms on the podium with jackie and and sarah right there, 2-3.

Speaker 1: 26:27

And that field was stacked too. I mean you keep going down 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. I mean there were some big names in that field.

Speaker 2: 26:35

Yeah, yeah, I mean talk about the mom power in Sarah and Jackie.

Speaker 1: 26:41

Yep, absolutely. And friend of the pod, alice Alberts, her first 70.3 came in sixth and took a spot in Worlds as well too. So kudos to her for popping in a shorter distance for her as the true Ironman distance athlete and, yeah, not a bad first showing. I think I heard her say she learned a lot at race strategy, like we talk, talk about she, uh, a little different than an ironman 100, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 27:13

And now, um, let's fly down to brazil, because we had ironman brazil as well happening this weekend and we had, uh, reinaldo colucci taking the win in 7.58, so barely going sub-8, the only one going sub-8 in the day. Second place, from Brazil, igor Amorelli, in 8.21. And in third place we had Luis Ode. It was just a. I mean, only four pros finished the race. First place was a Mexican, rodrigo Romero, but he was an hour and 46 minutes behind Reynaldo Colucci, so not the closest of races. And on the girls' side we had more girls racing, but then again, you know, just five girls finished the race in Ironman Brazil. First place, pamela Oliveira, in 8.57. Second place we had, from Brazil as well, mariana Borges de Andrade, and in third place we had Bruna Stolf, also from Brazil, and yeah, it was 18 minutes from first to second place, so not the closest of races. Nothing super exciting, but but yet again, super hard racing from from the guys on who finished the race?

Speaker 1: 28:33

uh, on top of the podium yeah, speaking of uh finishing races, did you hear what happened in morro bay?

Speaker 2: 28:42

yeah, we, uh, you were telling me about this right before we started to record, but let me get over this last race that happened over the weekend, and then we can discuss what happened in Morro Bay, because it's very, very interesting what happened in Lanzarote. Lanzarote, we had Hermel Lanzarote and the winner won the race with 8.29, whom I mean? We know age groupers in Texas who finish in this time and they won their age group. So this just goes to show how hard it is the course. And we had in first place, from Belgium, kenneth Van Der Nish winning the race On second place, from Spain.

Speaker 1: 29:34

Jordi Moya.

Speaker 2: 29:35

And from Spain, again in third place, mikel Huerta Ramos. This was a much more closer race than Brazil, just two minutes and 31 seconds from second place to first. And then you know, four minutes from third to second. So much more closer racing. And you know, kudos to these guys because this course is brutal and there's no hiding. It's windy, it's hilly, you can get very hot on the run, so just amazing racing. But you know, the elephant in the room is uh happened over the girls uh side because you know, uh, former kona champion annie haug showed up to the race and we predicted she was gonna win, but we didn't know she was gonna win by this much. Uh, her gap to second place, the French athlete Jean Collin, was 43 minutes and 43 seconds.

Speaker 1: 30:38

I mean, it was like literally the first time all three of us were like consensus, we need to just pick her and nobody else. And we were right.

Speaker 2: 30:48

Yeah, I. I mean it would have been like a sign of disrespect not to pick any hug, not to say these are not good athletes. I mean, all of these girls deserve credit. But when you look at any hug and her career, it was just dumb not to pick her, and I mean 43 minutes, 43 seconds. Uh, did you? Did you get a chance to watch all the memes that were coming out?

Speaker 1: 31:11

like any, I definitely saw some of them and I was like look out, everyone in san francisco, that's for sure. Yeah, exactly uh.

Speaker 2: 31:21

and then in third place we had, from great britain, lilly lydia dent, uh. So, yeah, congratulations to these girls, and especially, what a monster of a performance from Annie Haug, and she's going to be even stronger in this. This is a great reference for what she's going to be able to do in this, because this is a faster course. Yes, there is a faster course. Yes, there is a bit more climbing, but the run is usually cooler and flatter. So just brace yourselves, because Annie could we could actually see the largest gap from a world championship event on the girls' side this year in Nice, if Annie shows up.

Speaker 1: 32:06

Yeah, I mean, she's a tiny triathlete so she can climb with some of the best of them too, and then we all know how she can run. So courses like that suit her well. And clearly she's got it dialed in on the Ironman distance. Now We've got to see what she can do in the T100.

Speaker 2: 32:25

Yeah, it's going to be definitely interesting to see how she bounces back, because these hard courses usually take a longer time to recover than flat one. So yeah, let's see how she bounces back yeah, she's only got a couple weeks, right? Yeah, just a couple weeks to a couple weeks to bounce back and a few time zones to get used to. Yeah, but tell us what happened in Morro Bay. I mean it was.

Speaker 1: 32:50

So Morro Bay is an age-grouper-only race and last year was like one of those races early-ish season that people kind of raved about. You expect the water to be cold, northern California right and beautiful scenery, beautiful race. And what can happen if you get some rough weather. You can get a pretty nasty current and if you were not a sub 30 swimmer or roughly around that 30 minute mark and in the water and out early on, you were going to have a day to remember. And even the strongest swimmers uh, a good friend of mine from college, uh, she is a podium finisher in in our age group 45 49. She was up front again and and she's usually the number one swimmer and she was again first out of the water yeah but like five, six minutes slower than she was last year, wow, and and and you know what that means.

Speaker 1: 33:47

I mean, that means you're working hard. That's gonna kill your bike legs, um, so what happened is the car. They got to the first turn buoy, uh, and it was, it's an out and over. And then back in, um, so once they made that first turn, the current just came flying at them and the longer the day went on, the harder it got. And there were people out there, uh, another good friend of mine. She got to that turn buoy and pretty decent splits and tried to make the the turn and wasn't going anywhere and people were going backwards behind her that she actually had a friend get a video of that buoy. And and the kayaker is going backwards and the buoy is actually had a friend, get a video of that buoy. And the kayaker is going backwards and the buoy is moving backwards and the swimmers are just going nowhere. Um, and and people were getting pulled out of the water left and right asked to be pulled out and getting medically pulled out.

Speaker 1: 34:40

I think it was over 300 people that got pulled in the water and it's not that big of a race, it's a pretty decent, decent size, but over 300, a huge number, and you had over half the field finish the swim. That did finish the swim in over an hour and 10 minutes, so past the cutoff. So they had to waive that cutoff is what it sounds like and and people were able to continue. But, man, imagine that being your first 70.3 and that their experience and and it started all weekend. I mean it was earlier than just the swim. Like the water temperature was about 52 53 the day before the race but miraculously on race morning jumped to 57 plus um, so we were joking earlier.

Speaker 1: 35:26

They must have found one of those buoys in shallow water that was warmest. And then, yeah, published that as the race day attempt. But, uh, I had friends that said there were no way it was that cold or no way it was that warm. Um, and it was, it was as cold as it they thought it would be. But kudos to everyone who raced finished. I, I saw a lot of crazy ass good times up front and people that had to work a lot harder on their swim.

Speaker 1: 35:50

No matter where they started, uh, that were able to put up some really good times on the bike in the run and and still a lot of like 4, 30s and out of age groupers. Those are some huge days, yeah a hundred percent.

Speaker 2: 36:03

Yeah, it was a brutal, brutal swim course, and it just reminds me when I raced ironman alaska, they did the exact exact same thing. They were like, oh no, the water just hit. It's warmer, like 10 degrees more than what it was yesterday during the practice swim, where people were shivering and of course, they had to take a few people to the hospital because of hypothermia and it was draining. I mean, just, I don't know. It just sounds a bit irresponsible to me. On on iron man, because, like you said, what if it's your first race and then you're scarred for life by this type of race and then you don't come back to the sport by this bad experience?

Speaker 1: 36:47

yeah, I mean, we all know it's a money making business first and foremost, and the experience that we've all had doing it has kept us coming back and that's great, yeah, but it is a money making business and to have a swim is a huge part of that. They've got sponsors one of their biggest sponsors, uh is roca um.

Speaker 1: 37:08

So you gotta have the roca swim course and they do everything they can to make it a full swim. Bike run, which we all appreciate, yeah, but there are certain times, like ireland last year, where they stepped over um and and it sounds like morro bay. I don't know if anyone could see this coming, but it's not like it's new to the area that that current is known there. So, um, I just feel bad for the people. I mean, my friend literally said she treaded water for an hour and a half and was doing what she could to stay warm because she felt she was in better condition than some of the other people around her and she had already been told by the kayak support that all the boats taking people to shore are full.

Speaker 1: 37:53

You have to keep swimming oh my god right oh crazy I mean like the panicking and all like people have a hard time swimming a normal course, right yeah, so I can only imagine what it looked like out there.

Speaker 2: 38:08

Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Speaker 1: 38:10

It's not on my list to do that race, that's for sure.

Speaker 2: 38:13

No, me neither. Lots of sharks, lots of sharks down that area, yeah.

Speaker 1: 38:19

Actually speaking of I know you talked briefly about your training and all that but any changes in races that you see on the horizon coming up?

Speaker 2: 38:29

I'm starting to. I want to race like in July, like mid-July, early August, just to find my racing legs again before Wisconsin. So I don't know what do you think I should race, or let the audience decide what race I should do?

Speaker 1: 38:49

Let's poll the audience for sure. I mean, I think it's interesting my wife actually brought this up this weekend and us being not the greatest swimmers in some of these races having a relay option, maybe I should jump in as the swim leg and do just the swim. And I was like man, that's hard to do when you can bike and run. Yeah, yeah, yeah, at the same time, mentality wise, to just go at a swim and try and help a team do well, and and yeah, and just maybe get your own confidence level up. I think it's an interesting thing for all of us to think about. And and yeah, and just maybe get your own confidence level up. I think it's an interesting thing for all of us to think about. And and what do you? What do you think? What are your? What are your thoughts on that? I love it.

Speaker 2: 39:32

Uh, I mean, I I think when you're part of a relay team, then the team element comes to play and for a sport like triathlon, who's very individualistic, I think it brings that you know urge that you and I had growing up, playing team sports, being part of something bigger than yourself and you can actually squeeze a bit more from yourself to actually help your team. So I love it and I'm all up for it. I just, I mean, I feel bad for the swimmers on the relays because they have to wake up super early and then get it over with and just wait for you know, three hours. But yeah, it's all good.

Speaker 1: 40:11

Yeah, that's why, like if you did like a sprint or an Olympic distance, it's not as bad. But yeah, when you're doing a 70.3 relay and you're a 25 minute swimmer, that is a long day and an early morning for a very short amount of work oh yeah, and and imagine, after the swim you're all high on endorphins and and all hyped up the the last thing you can do is take a nap.

Speaker 2: 40:38

So yeah, if you are.

Speaker 1: 40:42

It would make you the best sherpa ever, though right, because you might as well just go for a run.

Speaker 2: 40:47

Yeah, yeah, like just swim, get it over with, go back to the hotel, have a little bit of a breakfast and then go out for like a small jog. Follow your athlete's run yeah, very cool.

Speaker 1: 40:59

Well, I think, in terms of a social media post of the week, it was really difficult to follow everything going on this week and I wish I could get a video and if I do, we'll post that in the show notes for Morro Bay, because I did see some crazy footage from that. And then WTF on the water temps and like come on, five degrees doesn't happen overnight in Northern California waters, not in any water.

Speaker 2: 41:24

Not in any water. Not in any water.

Speaker 1: 41:26

No, we're talking, maybe with a solar cover, which they did not have.

Speaker 2: 41:30

Exactly yeah.

Speaker 1: 41:32

So well, why don't we call it a nice quick podcast and then a great recap from Fed on the races and we had a lot of them. But what do we got coming up this weekend? Do we have any big pro races?

Speaker 2: 41:47

Oh, let me check, check. Let me pull up the um schedule. I know we had the exterior in alabama last weekend.

Speaker 1: 41:53

Um, it seemed like there was a pretty good turnout there by the europeans yet again in the uh yeah, triathlon world the europeans know how to ride a mountain bike.

Speaker 2: 42:02

That's for sure, we have 70.3 Victoria in.

Speaker 1: 42:09

Canada.

Speaker 2: 42:10

We have Ironman Hamburg on. Well, that's on June the 2nd. No, just 70.3 Victoria, and I believe that's only a age group race. I might be wrong, but yeah, that's the only thing happening next week.

Speaker 1: 42:25

And kudos to Tade for the giro.

Speaker 2: 42:28

Oh man speaking of tade and the giro, I mean he's like six minutes from you know, leading the race and uh, just crazy how he attacked uh today's stage. But now, now that you brought up bike racing, I wanted to talk to you about the former Olympic road race champion, richard Carapaz, from Ecuador. He's not going to be in Paris because apparently the Ecuadorian Federation did something wrong and he missed his spot. So I mean that's awful.

Speaker 2: 43:10

That's oh, how could this happen? 2024, former Olympic champion, he's in a pro team and then the federation is like oh no, richard, because you didn't go to this national event, you're not going to be part of the team. Just oh, come on politics.

Speaker 1: 43:25

Yeah, I mean, I think we learn every year more and more how political some of the olympic selection committees are in all of these different regions and some of them are trying to. This is you qualify, you qualify, but yeah, other selections and and other opportunities and and things that you have to check. I mean, sometimes it's on the athlete, sometimes it's the political side, but I don't think we're ever going to get rid of that political side of an event so big.

Speaker 2: 43:53

Yeah, fortunately not, and it's just a shame for the sport because it takes away, you know, dreams and aspirations. But yeah, hopefully, uh, you know Richard is a very big name. Hopefully the uci gives him a wild card. Same situation with isaac del toro, an up-and-coming mexican athlete who's racing for uae emirates and, uh, hopefully he gets a wild card. Would be a shame to see those two missed. Uh, missing the olympics yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 44:23

yeah, well, we will find out and hopefully it does work out for them. And, uh, it's gonna be weird not having uh races to watch this weekend, but, uh, hopefully, uh, we got a nice, nice little three-day weekend here in the us too, so I'm gonna go, oh, actually watch, watch my wife race a half marathon on monday, and actually be a fan and cheer and chirp, nice, nice.

Speaker 1: 44:48

Awesome so it'll be a good good day for for her and and she. She had another, another PR for her to post ACL, which was awesome to see on five K. So, that's amazing, faster and faster. So it's just we're we're in similar seasons like just trying to check boxes off on getting getting better gotta watch out, josh, or else she's gonna be she's gonna be coming for you on that finishing, lot on that finishing shoot I'm all for it, man, I'm all for

Speaker 1: 45:18

it perfect answer all right, man well, have a great week everyone and uh, thanks for listening yet again and uh, we'll check back in next week. We're getting closer to that.

Speaker 2: 45:28

Uh, 50th episode as well yeah, gripping in, see you later guys.