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#506 Sue Reynolds Across the Line
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Today, we’re honored to welcome back a truly remarkable athlete and author — Sue Reynolds.
You may know Sue from her top-rated memoir The Athlete Inside, where she shared her incredible journey of losing 200 pounds and going from finishing last in local triathlons to placing sixth in the world. But Sue’s story didn’t stop there.
In her upcoming book, Across the Line, Sue dares to ask a bold question: What would happen if an ordinary age-group athlete in her seventies trained with Olympic coaches? The answer takes her on an extraordinary path filled with breakthroughs, setbacks, and powerful lessons in resilience, grit, and self-discovery.
Candid, funny, and deeply inspiring, Across the Line is more than a story about sport — it’s a story about daring to dream bigger, finding strength in unexpected places, and stepping into the question, “Why not me?”
Join us as we dive into Sue’s journey, explore what elite coaching taught her about life and sport, and discover how her story can inspire all of us — no matter our age or starting point.
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Transcript
Opening and Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
success is possible for everyone, no matter what. It's just a matter of taking a bunch of little steps over time. Welcome everybody to your 303 Endurance Podcast.
00:00:11
Speaker
Aloha everybody, get ready for your 303 Endurance Podcast. Woo!
00:00:28
Speaker
Welcome to episode 506 of the Grits Greatness podcast. I mean, the 303 Endurance podcast. We're your hosts, coaches, Rich Swartz, and April Spilde. We do not have Coach Lauren with us this weekend. She is getting ready for
Insights from Sue Reynolds
00:00:41
Speaker
a race. We have a masterclass in mental resilience with athlete Sue Reynolds.
00:00:47
Speaker
She is the author of the book, The Athlete Inside, soon to be the author of the book, Across the Line. She is going to share her journey. We are really glad to have her on the podcast again.
00:01:01
Speaker
April, how are you doing today? Rich, I am so glad to be here with you as always. i you know I'm looking forward to another amazing episode. I love Sue. She is such a kind, genuine person and an excellent storyteller. So yeah, this is going to be wonderful.
00:01:18
Speaker
Yeah. Very excited.
Show Sponsors and Segments
00:01:20
Speaker
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00:01:33
Speaker
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00:01:45
Speaker
The junior is a nice ah citrus orange. The concentrate is great to put in your bottle. Uh, and then the CV 25 is just kind of a, you just a big old shot of, it's like, uh,
00:01:59
Speaker
Bee pollen. Bee pollen, right? yeah Yeah. Yeah. That's what I think of. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. It's like a big hit of bee pollen. Less sugar, higher performance, faster recovery. There's a link here in the show notes.
00:02:11
Speaker
Use the code 303ENDURANCE20 and off of your very first purchase. In today's show, we've got a super packed lineup. Rich is going to bring us the latest announcements and endurance news.
00:02:26
Speaker
Then we're going to dive into our Ask a Coach segment with a powerful interview featuring Sue Reynolds. I cannot wait to share that. And to wrap it all up, we're going to have some fun with our Nice or Not So Nice fun segment in honor of the Ironman World Championship in Nice, France. Let's get started.
00:02:49
Speaker
I can't wait. This is going to be so much fun. you know First, in endurance announcements and news, ah we this is a big weekend, April. We've got the Ironman World Championship in Nice happening this weekend.
00:03:02
Speaker
ah
Ironman World Championship Discussion
00:03:03
Speaker
Everybody ah probably who's listening to this probably knows the distances, but I am going to give them out in kilometers because this is happening in Europe, in France. The swim is 3.8 kilometers in the Mediterranean.
00:03:16
Speaker
ah The bike is a hundred k loop ah with 2,427 meters of climbing, 7,963 feet of climbing. that's like That's like doing the Pikes Peak climb.
00:03:29
Speaker
It's a mountain. It's a mountain. And then a four flat laps on the promenade And it is going to be action-packed. It's a 42, think 42K is what the the kilometers would be for a 26.2 mile.
00:03:46
Speaker
I know that because they use kilometers in Cozumel too. It is going to be a beautiful day. We really wish all of the athletes luck. We've got to, we're going to talk a little bit about some of the pros here.
00:03:59
Speaker
And before we get into the, the pro ah discussion here, there's a really cool ah video on Christian Blumenfeld's YouTube page that I watched. We're going to talk about that more here in just a minute.
00:04:12
Speaker
April, we're going to maybe talk about each of these athletes. We're going to talk about maybe the top three. We'll talk about Sam Laidlow, Patrick Longa, and Christian Blumenfeldt, some of the you know potential likely contenders for a podium.
00:04:26
Speaker
I'll lead off with Sam Laidlow, 2023 Nice champion. Really, his strengths being a really aggressive swim bike combination. ah Very familiar with with the local terrain, and he has fearless tactics, weaknesses, weaknesses,
00:04:41
Speaker
Just, ah you know, sometimes an inconsistent run form, ah some previous health issues, but a 25% chance to win. And some recent some recent, you know, indications are his wins at Challenge Roth and Ironman Leeds.
00:04:58
Speaker
And then Patrick Lange, three-time world champion, both Kona and Nice. Strengths are world-class. He's a world-class marathoner. He had a 2.32 run in Nice.
00:05:11
Speaker
He's got, of course, a champion mindset. so ah Some vulnerabilities are technical climbs. He's had a couple of injuries, so that could could be a weakness.
00:05:22
Speaker
Odds, he's always a podium threat. I'm excited to see him perform. And then in recent form, he said he's had a little bit of a quiet season, but he historically peaks for Worlds. So this is going to be a great contender right here.
00:05:38
Speaker
For sure. And I'm going to round out just you know our third highlight. Christian Blumenfeld, 2022 St. George champion. also previous world champion, stras all around and gold medalist, all around powerhouse, tactical racing, recent wins in Texas and Frankfurt.
00:05:57
Speaker
He can overextend himself, especially on nutrition. but We saw that happen in Kona last year. you know he can projectile vomit. He's fire-breathing dragon. Yeah, for sure. He can projectile vomit like the best of them.
00:06:12
Speaker
Um, and just needs a clean bike leg. He's a strong favorite, of course, also recently a dominant in regional championships. And I'm going to round it out with this. I was watching this video.
00:06:24
Speaker
He, uh, he was at a yesterday. I think he did, he did his race or ah kind of a race rehearsal, you know, but you know, ah ahead of the race, 140 K bike at race pace at race effort.
00:06:37
Speaker
And then a, I think it was a 30 K
Nutrition and Safety Tips
00:06:41
Speaker
run off the bike, you know, and he was having, he was having a snack between his workouts and he was talking about how much his, how much nutrition he takes in.
00:06:54
Speaker
He takes in, but there see if I've got this right. I actually texted this to to Caroline because she was curious. 3,000 calories bike eats calories on a race rehearsal and he eats one hundred and eighty grams of carbohydrate per hour on the bike or seven hundred and twenty calories per hour What?
00:07:22
Speaker
That's a lot of fuel. That is steel gut. Right? Well, that kind kind of explains the projectile vomiting. I'm impressed. It's crazy, huh? about that? oh You have to peel me off the ground. I don't know.
00:07:37
Speaker
Also, obviously, you know watch out for Magnus Dietleff, Rudy Von Berg, Gustav Eaton, maybe, Leon Chevrolet, Casper Storns, Martin Van Riel, Matthew Marquette, all potential contenders. It's going to be awesome.
00:07:55
Speaker
And let's give a shout out to a couple of our Coach Mastermind coaches and TriDoc coaches. April, you want to give them a shout out? Yeah, Stephen Haran, we're definitely envious of all the amazing photos you've been sharing, Goodsura. mean, i'm yeah, I love it. I feel like I'm there with him.
00:08:10
Speaker
But yeah, want to give him a shout out. And Coach K, Coach Kurt Madden, you guys are going to kill it. All the tri-dot athletes that are out there racing this weekend, good luck. Anybody racing that's listening this, good luck.
00:08:24
Speaker
Can't wait to hear your stories. Also this weekend, Harvest Moon Triathlon happening this Saturday, Boulder Res. This is by BBSC Endurance Sports, one of Colorado's like longest running running races. i used to do this when first got into the into the sport. This is actually my first half Ironman distance race. No kidding. race ye I've got a picture of my two girls running across the finish line with me at the ages of like, like seriously, like four and eight. I've seen this picture. This is such a great photo.
00:09:00
Speaker
Yeah. So that was that race. ah you know i was looking at the weather report for this thing. There is like a 40, 50% chance of rain. So be careful, folks. I actually did put...
00:09:15
Speaker
in the show notes here, some tips on, uh, being, being careful with, uh, wet roads and some tips, you know, things like having some wider tires at a lower pressure, maybe 10 to 15%, you know, from dry conditions, like I'll drop from a hundred PSI down to closer to 80, you know, you know,
00:09:35
Speaker
you know Obviously, traction is going to come with good ah good compound tires, ah like those Continental Chili Pepper compound tires and anything that's got some good tread benefits.
00:09:50
Speaker
you know tread And of course, being careful with your bike handling skills, being sure to be careful not corner break too hard um and in any ah in any places, but especially where you have white paint or you know things of that nature or anything metal that has a slick surface.
00:10:10
Speaker
Standing water too. I know Sasha was hydroplaning at Boulder Sunset. That was, and yeah. Yeah. We kind of all were. It was wet. It was a wet race.
00:10:22
Speaker
Anyway. Yeah. So, uh, Hey, you know, really, it's a really fun race. There's actually a lot of different formats that they have there. They've got the, uh, the, uh, the long course triathlon that is a, uh, basically a half Ironman distance. They've got an Olympic distance now doathlon doathlon long course, aqua bike.
00:10:42
Speaker
Um, ah both long course and, and, an Olympic distance and something I'm really proud of. We have an athlete, Christy Wayne, who is doing this tomorrow. So good luck, Christy.
00:10:55
Speaker
And, uh, one of my, uh, swim buddies down at the pool, Olivia Tabor, uh, good luck to you guys and, and all the athletes racing. Mm-hmm. I also want to give a quick shout out to my athlete, Sasha Goldsberry. She's celebrating her birthday today.
00:11:12
Speaker
and yeah. Happy birthday, Sasha. And I have a new athlete. His name is Kevin Cole. He is racing this weekend at Ironman 70.3 Michigan. He's doing a relay with his two sons.
00:11:26
Speaker
ah He's taking on the bike leg and his goal is to complete it in under two and a half hours, which I have full faith that he could do. So shout out to Kevin as well. It's awesome.
00:11:38
Speaker
All right. What are we doing? I will lead us in, Rich, to our Ask a Coach segment with ah the amazing Suga Reynolds. First, let's bring in our sponsor for the Ask a Coach.
00:11:51
Speaker
That is Grit to Greatness Endurance Coaching. So if you're new to multi-sport, don't sweat it. We've got your back. At Grit2Greatness Endurance, we've partnered with TriDot and RunDot to make training simple, smart, and fun.
00:12:06
Speaker
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00:12:20
Speaker
If you've ever wondered if you could do an endurance event, this is your sign. Click the link in our show notes and let's get started. Woo, let's do it. Let's go, people.
00:12:32
Speaker
ah All right. Our Ask a Coach section is going to be our interview with Sue Reynolds on her book, Across the Line. Back in 2020, we had the privilege of speaking with Sue Reynolds about her powerful memoir, The Athlete Inside, story that inspired countless athletes with its message of transformation, grit, and the courage to start. to Sue showed us that it's never too late to chase a dream and that the journey itself can be The most rewarding finish line today, we're thrilled to welcome Sue back to the podcast to talk about her next chapter, literally and figuratively.
00:13:05
Speaker
She's currently writing a new book titled Across the Line, and it's shaping up to be just as bold, honest and inspiring as her first book. And across the line, she dares to ask the question that most wouldn't. What would happen if an ordinary age group athlete in her 70s trained with Olympic coaches?
00:13:24
Speaker
What follows is an extraordinary journey, one that takes her from an intimidating me first sessions with world-class breakthroughs from moments of deep self-doubt to unexpected triumphs. This is going to be an amazing lesson, I believe, masterclass, as I think we said in the intro, on ah on mental resilience.
00:13:46
Speaker
Let's dive into this conversation with Sue Reynolds and explore what it means to chase excellence, redefine limits, and reignite your purpose.
00:14:01
Speaker
Today, we are honored to welcome back a truly remarkable athlete and author, Sue Reynolds. Really glad she's here. This is so amazing. um You may know Sue from her top-rated memoir, The Athlete Inside, where she shared her incredible journey of losing 200 pounds and going...
00:14:18
Speaker
from finishing last place in local triathlons to placing sixth in the world. But Sue's story doesn't stop there. In her upcoming book, Across the Line, she dares to ask a bold question.
00:14:30
Speaker
What would happen if an ordinary age group athlete in her 70s trained with Olympic coaches? This answer takes her on an extraordinary path. you're going to love this when talking about breakthroughs, setbacks, and powerful lessons of resilience, grit, and self-discovery.
00:14:46
Speaker
Sue, listen, we are so glad that you're here. you know We have some history. i was ah we We got to talk to you about your first book, ah how we got introduced.
00:14:58
Speaker
That turned into a ah future ride together. We became friends and now we've got a athlete coach relationship going here. It's just a pleasure. Welcome.
00:15:10
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you. it's ah It's a pleasure to be here. I have such fond memories of, one, the first interview, but oh my gosh, that ride in Colorado on the bike, that was, um as I was mentioning a few seconds ago, was just like, I just felt like I clicked and we clicked and it was just, it was just fun.
00:15:27
Speaker
So yeah, it's fun to be here. Thank you. Yeah, we're to some great chemistry here. You, of course, already know Coach April. Say hi, April. Hi, April. Hi, Sue. I'm so glad we get to actually like meet in person this way. And I just am so inspired by your story and just genuinely how ah kind you are. It's wonderful to meet you.
00:15:50
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. and it's been ah it's been fun watching all your pull-ups. so It's so cool that you got inspired to check out your own pull-up bar and everything. Yes, to reach out and say, we're where do I get that bar? i' The plot thickens here, folks. There you go. We're seeing more.
00:16:13
Speaker
Well, for those of you who have not heard Sue in an interview on the 303 Endurance Podcast, you guys are in for an absolute treat. um We do a little bit of an icebreaker, Sue, with our guests, as you know.
00:16:27
Speaker
ah we would love for you to play this game, Two Truths and a Lie, with us. We're going ask you for three statements, two of which are truths. One is a lie. April and I will try to pick the lie out of the bunch.
00:16:39
Speaker
You know, i know you well enough that I should hopefully get this, but we'll see. bob Let's dive in You give us the three statements whenever you're ready. Okay. We'll see which of you can figure this out so first one is I was the president of my class. I was class president.
00:16:58
Speaker
um Second one is i used to play guitar in a rock and roll band. And the third one is that my dad used to call me Sue Bell.
00:17:13
Speaker
That is so sweet. I'm like, I'm thinking they're all true. Okay, let me think here. to I really want the second one to be true.
00:17:25
Speaker
Rock and roll band. I'm trying to think what the name of the band would be too. Like Sue and the Heartbreakers or something like that. That's pretty good. ah ah I'm going to, I'm going go.
00:17:37
Speaker
with number one being the lie, the class president. I definitely can see you being a president of something, but maybe, maybe it's not the class. Maybe it's, ah maybe it's something else. So that's my guess.
00:17:51
Speaker
Okay. I am going to go with the lie being You played guitar in a rock and roll band. Because I don't think it was a rock and roll band, I know that you played the guitar. So i'm going to go on into technicality. I think that you were president of your class class and and that your dad did have the nickname Sue Bell for you.
00:18:13
Speaker
So um I'm laughing because I did not realize if people are listening to this just with audio, there are guitars behind me. That should have been the first clue. I forgot about that.
00:18:27
Speaker
So my dad did used to call me Sue Bell. I was a daddy's girl, and um that was always his kind of special name for me. um And I did used to play guitar, in a but it was a rock and roll band.
00:18:40
Speaker
ah We were called the Silver Lining. cool. Yeah, and I was not class president. I was class secretary. But um yeah, not the not the class president. I got it right for once. You did. You did. Awesome job, April. Congratulations. That's amazing.
00:18:59
Speaker
Yeah. the yeah ah So tell us – um What instrument, like what kind of, you know, guitar like was it an electric guitar in this rock and roll band that you were playing? was that I played in the folk group too. So you're kind of like, you know, have a a little bit there and play classical.
00:19:16
Speaker
But yeah, I played lead guitar in a rock and roll band back when, you know, back in the sixties when everybody was playing in a rock and roll band. Sue the shredder. We rear rehearsed in my garage and I think we, you know, we played parties for nothing, but we had a blast. Garage band Sue. Yeah. yeah She shreds.
00:19:37
Speaker
She shreds. Oh my God. yeah that is going to be That's going to be the caption. She shreds. Yeah. Yeah. Seriously. We published the podcast this weekend. Oh my goodness. She shreds.
00:19:49
Speaker
Yeah. That's I'm writing this one down so I don't forget. Okay. Well, awesome. Thanks for doing that with us. What ah what ah but a blast. All right. So let's see. How are we doing here? All right. So Sue, take us back to the beginning.
00:20:02
Speaker
What inspired you to start the journey towards health and triathlon, you know, kind of the, maybe the, you know, cliff notes of the athlete inside.
Sue Reynolds' Personal Journey
00:20:12
Speaker
Yeah. So, um, I was like really, um, overweight. I was morbidly obese, um, for the majority of my life. And,
00:20:23
Speaker
um It got to the point that there were things that I couldn't do, not because of how much I weighed, but because of my size. I was just so big that I didn't fit places.
00:20:35
Speaker
Like I couldn't sit in a a restaurant booth. um It was just too big. I couldn't even like get into a bathroom stall and close the door behind me. There just wasn't enough room. i just had a big body.
00:20:46
Speaker
And really just one day i just said enough and I just decided to make different choices. i never was on a journey to lose 200 pounds. I mean, that that to me, that would have seemed impossible, but I just kept losing one pound after another. And it finally dawned on me that ah if you lose a healthy two pounds a week, you can lose over 100 pounds in one year.
00:21:10
Speaker
So I just made the commitment for a year and took the weight off. And then I i hated exercising. So in my mind, I pretended that I was preparing for a triathlon just because I i was just you know playing pretend in my head because i as I waddled down the street it made me feel cool to think that I was training and um before I knew it I could do all of the distances and i did my first triathlon and like so many other people I just fell in love with it and fell in love with the triathlon community and the you know the positivity in it and how encouraging and kind people were and just started doing more of them and
00:21:50
Speaker
then um you know was in a ah a race and I swam over the top of a woman and I just found that i loved doing it there was just like this competitive monster inside of me and I just I just started competing then and one thing led to another and um ended up you know winning or qualifying for the world championship and the The Athlete Inside, my first book, is about that journey. It ends at my second world championship um where i came in sixth and first American. So, yeah, and I did that all like in a four-year period. I mean, it was just I was on fast track. I never knew I was an athlete. I had not done sports in school. I, you know, it was quite a shock at age 60 to find out that I like sports. I didn't even like watching sports on TV.
00:22:39
Speaker
So, and now I love sports. So, yeah. All the way from you know that journey, think about it, think, I mean, to the top yeah American at the world championship.
00:22:52
Speaker
That's amazing. Yeah, it still i like well amazes me. I mean, I'm like, how did that happen? but So, yeah, i I feel very, very blessed.
00:23:03
Speaker
Sue, that woman you swam over, I think that was me.
00:23:10
Speaker
no I haven't had the pleasure of feeling that. but The funny thing was in the the actual woman I swam over, i think we were in the restroom together and I was hearing, she didn't know I was in there and she was hearing me. I heard, overheard her tell some other woman that this crazy lady had swum over her.
00:23:30
Speaker
It's the name of the game. Yeah. Yeah. But you know, I mean, we don't do that on purpose. It was just, so body was there. My arm was going around and yeah it happens. It totally happens. yeah That is um an incredible. word If that were you, I apologize.
00:23:48
Speaker
I want to say, you know, it is just truly incredible to hear the kind of the humble beginning, right. That led to this incredible transformation. yeah,
00:23:59
Speaker
The great thing about it is you didn't have all the answers. you had You had a huge obstacle, honestly. um So thinking about that, and I love that you shared that when you were even at your heaviest, you were thinking about, that I'm training for something, even though it was like, i'm it's a mental skill, right?
00:24:19
Speaker
That to me is a real... nugget of gold right there, because I don't think a lot of people look at it like that. They might be just looking at their body. Like, I can't wait to get this weight off. I can't wait to, or I'm never going to do this because I'm not this right. But instead you switched it. I, I don't even know if I can do this, but I'm going to use this as a tool, even if you were conscious of it or not, yeah which is just genius. I've never heard anyone say it like that. Right. Well, and I so think that if, when there's something that we don't like to do,
00:24:54
Speaker
If there's purpose to it if it, if we can give purpose to it, it becomes tolerable. And, you know, whatever, is something in your work or something in your family, doing if you have a new baby, doing the dirty diapers, you know, if there's something you don't like to do, if there's purpose to it.
00:25:10
Speaker
then that becomes something that you can tolerate. So I was just giving purpose to this exercise that I didn't like to do. Yeah. But it made a difference. So yeah, you're right. I mean, I feel like you literally visualized your success into being, you brought it into reality. And I would love to know, you know what is the most surprising thing you learned during this transformation that occurred?
00:25:35
Speaker
Yeah, I think that Really, in the the first half of the journey, the biggest surprise was just having, it it was something that I always believed, but now I had proof of it, that success is possible for everyone, no matter what.
00:25:56
Speaker
It's just a matter of taking a bunch of little steps over time. And if you're willing to be consistent and just take those little steps over time, you can accomplish whatever you want to do.
00:26:07
Speaker
I mean, i lost 200 pounds and ended up going to Worlds. if I can do that. ah You know, anybody can do anything. But it was just little tiny steps. You know, it wasn't like a big jump. You know, it was just having the patience to just do it a little bit at a time.
00:26:20
Speaker
So, yeah. That sounds like lining up the dominoes to me, Rich. I'll tell you what, I broke down the time because that is exactly the the teaser clip that's going to be at the front of this of this episode.
00:26:35
Speaker
So good.
00:26:38
Speaker
I, um, so thank you for sharing that. I think consistency and just, I think that is absolutely the map that can help a lot of people. for sure. who Not only take the first step, but continue on and trust the process. Right.
00:26:54
Speaker
So sharing this story, I'm sure it took a lot of courage for you to want to give this to the world, right? Because you're giving very vulnerable, tough things that you had to endure to to get to the place you are. So I would love to know how to how did readers respond to to the athlete inside and and what impact did those responses have on you personally? Yeah.
00:27:20
Speaker
So I think you're right. I mean, I was kind of putting myself out there and and I, you know, it may surprise some people. that I'm actually quite shy. So, you know, to to put this out there was was ah was kind of a challenge for me.
00:27:37
Speaker
um in the When I was writing the book, there was a woman in South Africa that I had never met um that wrote to me on social media that said that she had heard about my journey and that it was had, you know, inspired her.
00:27:51
Speaker
And so as I was writing The Athlete Inside, I wrote the whole book to her. I've never met her, but I just kept thinking, you know, what do I want to say to this woman who, you know, is finding this this journey inspiring?
00:28:05
Speaker
And so, but then, you know, you youre it gets really scary because you put the book out there and you think, is anybody going to like it? You know, are they you know, are naysayers going to come after you? Am I going to insult some group that I didn't mean to? and it's really kind of a scary thing. And my, my hope, I decided the book would be a success if one person got something out of it. If if one person did, then it would be worth all of the hours and the two years that it took to develop and produce the book.
00:28:35
Speaker
um And then after it came out, oh my gosh, the, the response was incredible. I mean, it, shot up to the number one triathlon book on Amazon and but you know that that didn't matter to me as much as the people that started writing so I got I got like and still get you know every week um people will reach out social media or will you know somehow send me a note that um says how the the book impacted them and you know there have been people, there's now people who are racing at Worlds that started triathlon after reading my book. So that was really cool. um
00:29:14
Speaker
There was another, um there was a woman in Ireland who um was paraplegic and also had a double mastectomy. And she picked up my book and said, wrote to me and said, oh my gosh, I want to do a triathlon. And I kind of followed her for, and still do, we've become friends.
00:29:33
Speaker
But darn if she didn't do her first triathlon a few months ago. i mean, just but just things like that that are are just so it just so heartwarming to think that my silly little story could inspire people like that. It just it just really makes me happy a lot.
00:29:51
Speaker
So, yeah, it's cool. It's cool. So hu it's cool in so many ways. So, you know, first, you know, I felt very privileged, honored that we got a chance to like your, that your producer or your publisher got in touch with us years ago um to talk about ah that book.
00:30:12
Speaker
And i know you know, it's really neat. It was really heartwarming for me to hear how personal it was because you were writing to this individual, you know? Um,
00:30:24
Speaker
You know, i what I want to ask you, and this is going to be a two-part question is you know, in this new book, um you've got this idea for the new book across the line. And i want I want you to tell our listeners what inspired this.
00:30:39
Speaker
And of course, I have some insight to this because I actually got to see, you know, kind of what led up to the inspiration here, but I really want to hear that. And then um second part of that is,
00:30:53
Speaker
there you You stepped away from training. You stepped away from chasing ah you know a yeah ah a yeah another national championship. Talk about the courage that it taught. you know like What was the process to find the courage to do that when you know how –
00:31:13
Speaker
how part of, how, how much a part of your life training and triathlon was, how much courage did it take to actually say, no, I'm gonna put that on the shelf for a little bit. Yeah. no But inspired it and and, and, and the courage to, to make the change.
00:31:29
Speaker
Yeah. Well, that, that was kind of, um you know, how the readers responded to the first book. ah So many people said, i mean, immediately they said, you where's book two, when's book two coming out?
00:31:42
Speaker
And, I didn't really feel like I had anything new to say um until recently. ah And i you know, just like with the first book, I felt like I had, you know, thoughts that might be helpful to other people.
00:32:00
Speaker
I'm finding that in the last, you know, several years when I've been working with Olympic level coaches that I've learned some lessons, some of them the hard way.
00:32:12
Speaker
that um I thought would be helpful to others. So that was really the the inspiration. um there There was so much. So to kind of take you into that the second book, um my first coach I worked with for eight years, it was Coach Brandt. It is like the main character in the first book.
00:32:33
Speaker
And after eight years, Brandt decided he wanted to go a different direction. And so I had to find another coach. And, um and I just started thinking like, why not, why not work with an Olympic coach? I was just curious, like what, what could, a what, what would an Olympic coach bring to the table that, you know, that might be different than a local coach, if anything?
00:32:58
Speaker
Um, and I was also really, really curious about, I've always been curious about mental strength and I kept thinking, i mean, like I knew that i I, I know that I have some mental strength, but I kept wondering, is there a level of mental strength that is so far beyond me that I don't even know it exists?
00:33:17
Speaker
You know, that I don't even know what question it asks because it's just so far beyond me. And so I really wanted like to understand how do Olympians train? Could I do that? How do they think? How do they feel? You know, can i so something there that I should be adopting into my own training.
00:33:34
Speaker
So, arm so had been doing some consulting work with Bobby McGee, the run coach, who's been a guest on your podcast. um He's just wonderful. And he hooked me up with Jim Vance to become my triathlon coach. And the two of them co-coached me ah for a year and a half. So that was pretty cool.
00:33:54
Speaker
And Jim Vance, of course, is also an Olympic coach, having coached um Ben Knute for many years. Also been on the podcast. Oh, he has. Oh, cool. Cool. i don't I think I missed that one. i'm going to have to go back and find it. Oh, my gosh. I bet that's great. Running with power.
00:34:09
Speaker
Okay. Oh, yeah. would And actually, that's exactly why I went to him because I'm such a data geek. And I thought, oh, he understands data. So, yeah. Over there.
00:34:20
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. So, yeah. so i yeah So I started working with Olympic coaches. And the more I did that in my career, I worked with, before I retired, I worked with the developmental needs of young people.
00:34:37
Speaker
And um and it started i started seeing like some similarities about how athletes have developmental needs as well. And really with these coaches started to see that as an athlete,
00:34:52
Speaker
Of course, I had physical needs and I needed training plans and I needed, you know, strength and mobility and the physical parts. But I also started realizing that I had um intellectual needs that and that's huge for me, that I want to understand why I'm doing what I'm doing. I want to understand why my bike works the way it does. I just i just like learning.
00:35:16
Speaker
So I had intellectual needs. I had emotional needs around, you know, being... comfortable and not fearful going into races, being not worrying about what others thought, you know, all of that emotional part.
00:35:30
Speaker
And then a fourth category was spiritual needs. which for me, spiritual meant not like religion, but spiritual meant living by my values, the the connecting my values with what was what I was doing in in sports.
00:35:47
Speaker
And so that, as those things started to emerge for me, um another thing was i got fascinated with the coach-athlete relationship. That also dovetailed but really nicely with my career. And I started looking at, is the is the relationship coach-centered, where the athlete just does what the coach tells them to do?
00:36:11
Speaker
Is it athlete-centered, where the coach tippy-toes around and tries to keep the athlete happy? Or in my work work, we talked about things being vision-centered, where it wasn't about any person. It was not about the coach or the athlete.
00:36:24
Speaker
It was just about, where are we going? And what is the role that everybody's going to play to get us there? um so So, yeah, so as I started, like, um kind of thinking about how all my world of work applied to coaching, I realized that I had other messages that I could i'm give to people through. And then my favorite way of teaching is storytelling. So I just thought, you know, I'll incorporate all of that into another book about the crazy journey of working with
00:36:56
Speaker
witha with these Olympic coaches. And then the final story, which is really what made me want to write the book, was the, so after Jim Vance, I worked with Sarah McLarty for a while. the fabous She's a fabulous swim coach in Florida.
00:37:11
Speaker
And then my final coach just kind of happened. I wasn't seeking a coach. He came to me. um But that was with Darren Smith or Daz, who is like the winningest coach and one of the winningest coaches in Olympic history. I mean, he's amazing. from Australia.
00:37:28
Speaker
um But he he life just met him by chance or chit-chatting. And he says, you know, would would you like to do a run session with me? He's retired. And that was like an amazing opportunity.
00:37:42
Speaker
And that it kind of evolved then into him coaching all of my triathlon. But he overtrained me. And no, I shouldn't say it that way. i Because it's not all about what Daz did in terms of how much workload he gave me.
00:37:56
Speaker
It was also about the recovery that I was putting in. And those things mismatched. and ah and ah But as a result, I ah ended up being overtrained and As I researched overtraining, there's been a lot written about the causes and symptoms, but there's really nothing, very little written alike about the psychology of overtraining and how do you get out of overtraining. I think the from what I've been able to gather, most people who really get into serious overtraining symptom syndrome don't continue.
00:38:31
Speaker
And so we don't have stories from people who keep going. And so I wanted to tell that story and especially about, like I call it the invisible vortex, like how you get just sucked into overtraining. You don't even realize it's happening until it's like, you know, like too late and then you have to crawl your way out. And yeah, so, so yeah, so that was kind of like the inspiration for, for writing the book.
Mental Resilience and Recovery
00:38:57
Speaker
um And then stepping back from, Nationals, um I just, i I brought myself back from, this is kind of a funny story a way, mean, in a weird kind of way, but I brought, I spent a year and a half recovering from overtraining.
00:39:16
Speaker
um I go to nationals in Omaha last year. And like that was to be my comeback race. And I was like so excited. was going to get to do a you know sprint. And it was that was the first one that i had permission from ah ah my coach too to actually go.
00:39:33
Speaker
go hard in and the day before the race I kicked my trainer and broke my toe and had to drop out so yeah it was just like and it was just I mean just emotionally it was oh my gosh I worked so hard to get to this point and now I can't race yeah and then I decided that you know I had to be off another month and then Milwaukee was coming up and I knew I couldn't be, you know, i I didn't even know if I could like limp through the run with a broken toe in Milwaukee. So I decided to just take some time off. And um I think that was a really, really hard decision because I was so used to like wanting to be strong and being strong is what got me into the overtraining too.
00:40:21
Speaker
Being strong meant that you didn't quit. You didn't say no. You did what you're asked to do with a smile. and And every time, this is part of I think, the psychology of overtraining, Every time I performed really well, it it felt like the workouts I was doing with Daz were crazy hard but every time i finished one i felt like i had just completed a 70.3 it was the best feeling in the world you know just and it was so it got so confusing because then i'd you know i'd come back to daz and say woo i finished it i'd be cheerful because i finished the workout and so he'd think oh i didn't give her enough to do and so he'd pile on the work and yeah just it just got in this crazy vortex so um
00:41:03
Speaker
but Yeah, so I made that hard decision with you know to to not do that with help from you, Rich, to really think about what was important as well as some of my past coaches and and my mental skills coach. Literally everybody said, just take some time away.
00:41:19
Speaker
And they said, then come back, but then come back to whatever level feels healthy. you know, and whatever level doesn't conflict with my values of family and staying healthy physically and in all of that.
00:41:33
Speaker
So, yeah, so that's the plan. So I don't know at this point, I don't know where I'm going to come back from. I told my publisher, we can't write the last chapter of the book for quite a while because like I haven't lived it yet.
00:41:44
Speaker
So, um yeah, so so that'll come. But, yeah, so, yeah. Well, thanks for sharing. I mean, I know that was, um it's a very personal and inspiration, a book that has been inspired by your journey and your kind of, I mean, you're just a
00:42:03
Speaker
Your storytelling is a gift. um You know, um you know as you were taking us through this, I was pretty just, I i was captivated all over again. So thanks for for sharing that. Thank you. I hope yeah i hope the readers of the next book feel that way too. Oh, I'm sure they will too. I want to dig in a little bit more with you too, because I don't think enough people talk about this.
00:42:23
Speaker
And i i think it's super important, especially for longevity in this sport, which we want to encourage people. through and through, what kind of was, what were some of those first indicators to you that you were overtrained? Yeah. So that's, so as I look at this, I think there, there was three stages of it.
00:42:43
Speaker
um The first stage was just that, you know, fatigue is fatigue is fun. You know, it was just like, I mean, literally i would, Yeah, like a badge of honor. and and But more than that, it was just it was just like, you you know the first time you do your first sprint triathlon and you're not sure if you can finish?
00:43:04
Speaker
And then it doesn't matter where you finish. You could be dead last or first or somewhere in the middle. But you get across that first finish line and you just feel so proud. i mean, every single workout with Daz was like that. I mean, I'd finish the workout and I'd think, holy mackerel, I had no idea this was possible.
00:43:21
Speaker
It got in the beginning, this is something I lived learned with Jim because Jim and immediately put me on double workouts each day and sometimes triple. So, and I wasn't, you know, I was just dying. And then but finally Bobby pulled me aside and he said, Sue, you need to rest four hours between your workouts or you're going to kill yourself.
00:43:38
Speaker
And, you know, you said, and that has to include a nap and your nutrition has to be spot on. And he said, otherwise you can't do this Olympic level exercise. you know, work that you're trying to do So, but yeah, so the first part was just, just knowing that I could do it was so fun and so rewarding. It was just, it was just fun.
00:43:58
Speaker
So that's like a drug. It sounds like, right? Like you're a hit. Yeah. It was just, it was just fun. I don't know. Yeah. No, I I'm, and I'm putting my own spin on it. Cause that's, yeah, yeah. That's, I get that feeling. Like I, I want to, I think there's a lot of people that can understand that feeling of like, I just did something I didn't think was possible. yeah And it's like, fact that yeah.
00:44:19
Speaker
All the things it's. Yeah, for sure. So you want to keep coming back to that. Yeah, so that so it was just fun. and then um And then it became like fatigue became reframed as success. It became almost normalized that if I didn't feel fatigue, then it wasn't a success. I had i had held back in the training or or whatever. So there was that stage of just just um fatigue being a proof of effort or it just became really normalized
00:44:51
Speaker
um And then the next stage, which is kind of will allude to your question, was the next stage was just this stage of confusion. So I was seeing the symptoms.
00:45:05
Speaker
um I i would dadzz would have me do a long bike like ah that I was supposed to do at EasyWatts. And all of a sudden, my easy watts were becoming, felt like threshold watts.
00:45:17
Speaker
I mean, like, I can remember one, it was a three-hour ride, and I remember being in tears because I could not do easy watts. And I was having to, I mean, I should have just been able to get on my bike and go.
00:45:30
Speaker
And i was having, I was doing easy watts, and I was having to stop every, like, seven minutes to take a rest. I just couldn't, i just couldn't do it. so So I had that. I had the rest sleep at night. I'd go to sleep. I'd wake up an hour later.
00:45:46
Speaker
Couldn't get back to sleep. I hated going to bed at night because then I knew I'd wake up in an hour. um And then, you know, part of it is that your home hormones are out of whack. which is for your listeners who have ever been pregnant and you know that your hormones are awkward but and then you get moody and everything. It was a lot like that. I mean, i would I would just cry for no reason. And my husband say, why are you crying? And I'd say, i have no idea.
00:46:09
Speaker
you know and So, yeah, it was just my mood was just crazy. But the the part that for me, and I think this is the part that I think is where people get sucked in, is that I had all these symptoms, but then i went into denial with all of them.
00:46:26
Speaker
Like when I couldn't hit my watts, I just assumed that my power meter was broken. And so I wrote to my coach, I'm not hitting my watch, I think my power meter is broken.
00:46:38
Speaker
So Daz doesn't really have any idea what's going on because I'm telling him my power meter is broken. So um I'm, you know, I'm not sleeping at night, but I know I've been trying to get more sleep at night. So I'm thinking, well, I'm, my sleep rhythm's just off because I'm trying to sleep more. You know, I just, yeah all the symptoms um that, that, um that, you know, came up.
00:47:03
Speaker
and And the biggest one is maybe is, was, oh, the excuse I made was, oh, you're just being a weenie. You know, you're just being weak. Push harder, push harder, push harder. And of course I was just making it worse. And yeah, so it was just, and then all the time I'm, because I'm making excuses, I'm it in, I didn't realize they were excuses. i just, you know, I just thought, I thought it was legit. I really did think my power meter was broken.
00:47:27
Speaker
I mean, cause you just, I mean, if you can't put out the Watts and, you know, all of a sudden what you're doing feels like threshold and you're, You know, your your power meter says you're doing 40 watts. It's like, you know, something's not, it must be the power meter's broken.
00:47:41
Speaker
But anyway, so Daz didn't have good information from me, you know, so he just kept push putting it on, putting it on. So, yeah, so that was part of it. And then the other things that I think, like, like really played into this as it got really bad, one one was on my part, pride.
00:48:01
Speaker
I just, I have never been a quitter and I've i've always done what my, I was raised to do whatever a superior asked me to do and a little bit more.
00:48:12
Speaker
And one of the first lessons I had to learn in triathlon is to not do a little bit more than my coach asked me to do. but But I always did, you know, whatever dad's put in front of me, I did, you know, what he wanted me to do.
00:48:25
Speaker
and and felt good doing that. So it was a matter of pride. Like I didn't i didn't want to go and say, Coach, I can't do this, you know, it just or Coach, i you know, something's off here. I just i didn't want to be a weenie, so i that was hard.
00:48:39
Speaker
And then the other part that I think played into this big time, and i know you both coach, so you might, you know, have some thoughts about this as well. but I think there has to be like trust between the athlete and the coach, but also the coach and the athlete.
00:48:58
Speaker
And I think this, and i've I've not coached, so I don't know this, but i I would predict that one of the hardest parts of coaching is really knowing how hard to push the athlete, you know, is the athlete, because because like let's face it, I mean, we we can be weenies and we do need to be pushed by coaches. And that's, you know, that's what coaches do is they draw out, especially At an elite level, you know, they're drawing out the last, you know, the last 2% of what but you've got in you.
00:49:30
Speaker
So um so i think that, I think there was miscommunication or just, I don't think when I started telling Daz that I was tired, I don't think he trusted that when I said I was tired, I was really tired.
00:49:43
Speaker
You know, I think he thought I was just maybe even being a weenie. He just wasn't really sure what to do with that. And I didn't trust myself. You know, I didn't. and I mean, like now, if I ever get in this position again, I would just tell my coach, I'm sorry, I'm not doing anymore.
00:49:58
Speaker
But back then, you know, I thought, well, maybe I'm just being a weenie. Daz thinks I can do it, so I must be able to do it. And so we just kept going until Daz finally said, and enough, you know, where' you're overtrained. I'm pulling you off a training.
00:50:12
Speaker
So, so yeah, so that was, that was how, that was how, and you can see how it was kind of an invisible vortex, you know, you just, there was denial, there was pride, there was just all this stuff that just, you know, pulled you in. Yeah. And then getting out was you know, that was, that was difficult as well. So, yeah.
00:50:34
Speaker
Sue, how long did it take you to get out? Um, I think about a year and a half. Um, yeah. So, so like, like, and for people who don't know, I've, I've learned that a lot of people really don't understand what overtraining syndrome is. So there's overreaching, which is a good thing where, you know, your coach trains you like crazy. You're at the end of your block and you're exhausted and you don't know how you're going to have enough energy to eat dinner.
00:51:03
Speaker
But then you rest and you recover and you're, you know, three or four days later, you're ready for the next block. But in overtraining syndrome, your body gets mixed up about when you're resting and when you're not resting, when you need cortisol, when you don't need cortisol, your hormones get all messed up.
00:51:22
Speaker
And so you don't recover with rest. um And I think that's that like when I, I mean, I went to my doctor like almost immediately and There's no one test to test for overtraining syndrome. The the way they do it is but the doctor listens to your symptoms and then they rule out everything else. So we ruled out, you know, heart issues. We ruled out everything else that could have been um iron deficiency, you know, all that stuff. and then but But part of for the doctor to say that it was truly overtraining, had to be like off training for a month and then still have the symptoms. And, you know, that was it.
00:52:02
Speaker
And then we tried to come back. arm And that was, you know, at first I was like, okay, I've been off a month, but, you know, let's go out and do an hour and a half bike ride. And I'd get 10 minutes in and it was just like hitting a wall and, you know, I just couldn't do anymore.
00:52:17
Speaker
So, yeah. And then, so I took time off then too, and then just came back slowly. And yeah. So, and then, you know, little by little, we brought back my swim first because that was the least cardio of the three sports and,
00:52:32
Speaker
Then we brought back my bike and we were very, very slowly in the process of bringing back my run. So, yeah, and that's that's hard too because if if for a coach to work with work with someone who's been overtrained, you know, like how quickly do you bring them back? And you don't want to send them, I mean, I'm assuming, you know, you don't want to send them back, you know, back into their overtraining.
00:52:57
Speaker
so and That's another thing I've learned about coaching through all this is that there are some coaches that are risk takers. um you know When Daz and I were debriefing all of this, he's he he said, yeah, I'm a risk taker. that's you know To be an elite coach, I need to be willing to push my athletes right to the edge of you know of where I shouldn't, right to the edge of injury.
00:53:20
Speaker
And where other coaches are very cautious about that. so and, and I don't, I don't think there's any right or wrong. I tend to be a risk taker as well. I don't want to get injured, but I want to push as, you know, as far as I can before I can, you know.
00:53:33
Speaker
get injured and sometimes you just push over the line too much then so so yeah so about a year and a half and and I'm I'm still I'm still my run is still coming back so I I feel like ah physically I'm ready but we just and of course now when I took some extra time off after breaking my toe yeah and actually there's more to that story I broke my toe. I took a month off. My very first ah very first hard workout back was a ritual.
00:54:04
Speaker
can identify with this. It was a um was a run time test, time trial that Not that I had run hard for the duration of a 5K like I did it the week before.
00:54:18
Speaker
But um for some reason, i decided to do the time trial on a track, not realizing that it was a black track and it was a sunny day and how hot it would be. So I go straight from broken and toe into the next hard workout and get heat stroke and end up in the hospital for another three days.
00:54:34
Speaker
No. Oh my gosh. so but But that's okay. I mean, that's what, you know, you just, like like you're saying, you learn and you keep forward i keep going forward. it I will never run on a black track again in a hot day. but ah So, yeah, that was not fun.
00:54:50
Speaker
so There are two words I want to follow up with you on this. um First is the trust piece of this. Yeah. Uh, the, the trust between the the coach and the athlete and how, how mutual it is. And, you know, and and you said, you know, you guys have coached a lot of athletes. So, you know, you certainly, you know, you certainly know the importance of, you know the individual athlete and trying to figure out how much they can take and how much they can't, you know, that is a dialogue. That's a conversation, you know, it's, uh, it's, uh, yeah, there's data of course, but you and i you know, it's the conversation that you have and how honest and open you can feel about, you just
00:55:26
Speaker
you know sharing how you truly feel and also, um being willing to talk about, you know, you know, and, and, and so and point out like, you know, are you, are you crossing too far of a line, taking too much of a risk, um, and figuring out what that is, you know, just how much risk you can take as an individual.
00:55:47
Speaker
Um, you know, and and you've talked a lot about, um, you, know you, you, you did a, you did a, very different journey than most age group athletes. can Before you switch gears, can I come back to that?
00:56:00
Speaker
One of the things that I think that is so important that you do so well, Rich, for coaches and athletes to have a collaborative relationship where nobody is telling the other person what's to do. It's all about putting information out there and then making decisions together.
00:56:19
Speaker
And i think i think that's really unique approach to unique approach that you do really, really well, Rich. um And I also think that it takes courage on the athlete's part because that means that I've got to be vulnerable to say, you know, I cried in this workout today or, you know, or are i I didn't want to do my workout or, you know i you know, I have a family issue going on and I'm bringing extra stress to the table in addition to physical stress. And Yeah. You have to own your part yeah essentially as an athlete.
00:56:52
Speaker
Yeah. But the communication, you do that really well, I think, Rich. Well, thank you. And as a coach, I also need to be vulnerable and open to examining my own decisions and my own advice because, you know, if I don't, I'm not growing.
00:57:09
Speaker
um And frankly, you know, You know, even when we bring our best intention, all of our background and skill, sometimes we misread a situation ah um because we haven't had that learning experience with an athlete yet. And unfortunately, that athlete might be that part of that learning experience.
00:57:27
Speaker
But it's so, you know, i I find it's better to admit when, hey, you know, but you know I wish I was going to do that. like If I was going to have that conversation again, i probably would have said this. Yeah.
00:57:39
Speaker
Yeah. um Back to your past. you're and i'm just I'm actually taking, i'm just i'm just going completely off script now. I'm not following the outline. We're going to land this probably in about 10 minutes, but...
00:57:54
Speaker
I, what I, what I found always so remarkable about you is that, i mean, you decided, ah you know, what, what, I mean, this whole question about what would happen if a, if a regular age grouper worked with Olympic level coaches, you had a mindset of, I want to take this to the highest level. I can't like, yeah I'm just a normal person, but I wanted to do an experiment, take a risk.
00:58:24
Speaker
and see just what what could possibly happen, you know, um that same mindset, I think, is the mindset that drove you with such purpose to a national champ to a world championship and being first in first finish her ah u finisher, finisher.
00:58:43
Speaker
It is the same drive that probably drove you to write one you know a first book and now a second book. and And you and I had a conversation about, you know, you said, could do I, is my mind strong enough? i've We've always had this conversation about the central governor, right? And that the the mind won't let you, the brain won't let you go harder than you can go.
00:59:05
Speaker
i wonder, is your mind so strong? I want your reaction to this. Is your mind so strong that you really do find your physical limits that go beyond them? so I've asked two cardiologists that.
00:59:19
Speaker
So I have passed out mid stride twice. And, um, and of course at at my age, I'm now 71 that whenever you pass out, like everybody freaks out cause they think you've surely had a heart attack.
00:59:32
Speaker
So they have to do all of these tests to rule out everything else. And, and, um, so yeah, so both the first time I passed out was like five years ago and then recently a few months ago.
00:59:44
Speaker
But, um, but yeah, Yeah, I think that that for whatever reason, I do have that ability to ignore every all the warning signs and just keep going. And theoretically, like like youre your body is supposed to protect you and it does.
01:00:02
Speaker
Matter of fact, I think the body is just fascinating and how it's able to protect you. But, you know, so the first thing you get these warning signs that this hurts, you should stop. And then, you know, those are the ones maybe like my cardiologist who is a runner says, okay, you ignore those.
01:00:17
Speaker
And then, um and you keep going, you know, and then, you know, you're like the the, you get fuzzy and you can't think and you have trouble with your thoughts. And, and but for some reason, and and at that point too, your body just,
01:00:34
Speaker
just forces you to slow down it just slows down for some reason I'm able to just push through that and and I've had to learn which I didn't do too well at had at it employing a few months ago but I've had to learn okay when you get fuzzy that you have to listen to that and slow down because you're capable of pushing past this to the point of of falling but then the body is so amazing passing out is the protection Because when you pass out, you lower your head, you get blood to your head, you know you stop working. Yeah, so so i've I've come to, not that I want to pass out, but I've come to realize that passing out is a is a good thing. It's your body's defenses.
01:01:20
Speaker
So, yeah, I don't know why I'm able to do that. i don't think it's I don't think it's because I'm, like, especially strong. I think I just, I don't know. I think I'm just weird. You're strong up here. You're you're strong you strong where it counts. I don't know.
01:01:36
Speaker
so but So, yeah. so But on the other hand, there are, I've learned, and this is, I think, a blessing as well for me. is that um like I i started, it was one of the things I learned about me in this journey is I started working with a mental skills coach also.
01:01:54
Speaker
I was really lucky because I was looking for these Olympic coaches during COVID and none of them had full rosters. And so they all said yes to me. So that that was how I got in. It was just really, I just lucked out.
01:02:06
Speaker
But i'm so I'm working with a really top-notch mental skills coach. And what I learned was that i i was pretty good with mental skills to begin with. I thought there was some other, you know, magic thing that Olympians did. And I realized that I had it all along. I just didn't know it.
01:02:22
Speaker
But I'm very, very fortunate in that I don't have to think about it. Like just things pop into my head, you know, like i without thinking about it, I'll start counting backwards from five to one over and over and over again. Or without thinking about it, I'll say,
01:02:37
Speaker
I'll chunk a course into 20-feet sections and just tell myself, okay, keep the form for the next. Or I'll do silly things. Like one of my favorites is I pretend I'm a sports announcer.
01:02:49
Speaker
And in my head, i must play pretend a lot. because But ah in my head, I'm going, the sports announcer is saying, and there's Sue Reynolds. Oh, my gosh, look at how fresh she looks. Look at her form. It's the end of the race, but she looks fresh. Oh, my gosh, she's going to do fantastic.
01:03:05
Speaker
And I'm just, you know, So these things just happen. And it just it just works for me.
01:03:15
Speaker
Yeah, i love that. I can just see the reel going with the announcer. That is such a cool trick, Sue. I love that. Yeah.
01:03:27
Speaker
And there's others like, like in ah and i listen you know I listen to a lot of podcasts, including yours, because ah you know you just glean all of these tips. And even if I listen to three podcasts and glean one tip, you know that that's worth it. But And it's also affirming for, you know, everything that you're already doing well to hear some experts say, this is what you should be doing. And you're thinking, oh, I already do that.
01:03:50
Speaker
um but I heard Bobby McGee once, one and this one I just put in my toolkit of mental skills. Bobby, um he talked about, and then he he when he was working with me, he advised me. he said He said, when it starts to get, well, one, he would he never let me use the word pain.
01:04:06
Speaker
I always had to call it, he wanted me to call it sensation. i think I ended up using the word discomfort. But when the discomfort would come, he would say, Just say, and this so this is what I say.
01:04:18
Speaker
I say, hello, discomfort. I've been expecting you. Where have you been? Oh, I'm so glad you're here. Would you like to dance? Okay, i not I'll lead. I'm doing, um do you want to do the Watusi? No, let's do the waltz.
01:04:30
Speaker
And so, like, I'm leading pain doing the waltz as I'm running in the race. It's just crazy stuff, but but it works. That's delightful. Yeah. I mean, all of these little tidbits could be a book all of themselves just on mental skills, you know, tools that you have. i mean, you could just call it the, you know, Sue's mental skills toolkit. Dance with the devil.
01:04:55
Speaker
yes I tried to weave them into this new book just but through telling the the stories and stuff. But yeah, we'll see. Oh. So I can't wait to read this. um I have one more question for you.
01:05:08
Speaker
What do you hope readers, especially athletes, older athletes or those who are just starting out, what are you hoping they take away from across the line? um
01:05:21
Speaker
I think really it's the question of why not me? That is, You know, why can't I train with an Olympic coach? Why can't I do a triathlon when I weigh 335 pounds?
01:05:36
Speaker
You know, why can't I apply for this job or why can't I whatever? So, yeah, so that's that's the big one. And just why not me, that everybody can be a pro. Everybody can do what they want to do.
01:05:50
Speaker
So, yeah, that's the big one.
01:05:54
Speaker
Wow. Like, I don't want to, you know, I want to land there. That is just a beautiful way to wrap up our conversation. So you gave us so, and by us, I mean, everybody who's listening to this and April and I, i feel like I got a lesson tonight. You know, we have a, we have a, we're going to record the wrapper for the pod for this interview ah here and you've delivered all of the points that we could ever envision. So.
01:06:21
Speaker
Yeah, it was just excellent. Thank you. Well, it's always a pleasure to talk triathlon, but especially with you too This has been a lot of fun for me too. Awesome. so We are rooting for you. um Thank you so much.
01:06:34
Speaker
Thank you. Yeah. And you will be back on the the podcast when we when we release that when you release the book. Yeah. It's scheduled right now. It has it takes forever to, to after you first I have to write it and then they have to be produced everything.
01:06:47
Speaker
It's being published by 8020 Publishing, which is Matt Fitzgerald's group. Yeah. So I was really pleased because I have a publisher that totally understands endurance sports. So, um yeah, which is why I made the switch to to them with the second book. but So cool. Yeah. So it's coming it's coming out in 2027. So it'll take I have a little bit of time to finish writing it. And then they have time to do all the editing and the production and all that stuff. Yeah.
01:07:16
Speaker
heres Here's a little bit of serendipity. the This podcast, my doing the podcast was originally inspired by Dave Warden, Coach Dave Warden, had the TriTalk podcast back in...
01:07:36
Speaker
2000, you know, eight ish or whatever that time period was, maybe it was, you know, you know six to 11 or something like that. And he actually helped me start the podcast. Oh, cool.
01:07:48
Speaker
And he's of course partners. Yeah. with Matt Fitzgerald. Yeah. Yeah. It's a great, what a great team. um And, you know, to be able to work with folks that are walking the walk with me has just been, you know, totally inspiring. And I i feel like extremely blessed to have found this partnership.
01:08:10
Speaker
Yeah. Wonderful. Yeah. Okay. Well, great. We'll have you back. Thank you so much.
01:08:17
Speaker
Okay. April, you know, we had this whole kind of post-interview lesson on, you know overtraining versus overreaching. And what was the difference between the two?
01:08:29
Speaker
but we were going to talk about, you know, a get gritty tip on, you know, read redefining your why. i really don't think that there's anything else that we could possibly say that Sue didn't already.
01:08:43
Speaker
Exactly. That was in such an inspiring and incredible and vulnerable interview. i got to say, she really had just ah wonderful way of sharing something that was deeply personal.
01:08:57
Speaker
And I just appreciated one that she, uh, very, beautifully explained what happened with her overtraining syndrome. I've never heard anyone explain it or even be willing enough to go there. So I want to say thank you to her for that, but also just the ability to follow along and her story. And ah you know i know it resonated with me. I could see myself in a few of the things that she shared. And I could also see like, wow, this is this is really insightful too as a coach. Yeah.
01:09:31
Speaker
So there was so much that I gleaned from that. I feel like, like you said, we could write a thousand books just based on ah the skills and the things, the tricks and the insights that she should, that she provided. So it was, was phenomenal.
01:09:45
Speaker
Well, and and I want to say it has been but humbling a privilege. And I felt so fortunate that we we, you know, she and I connected years ago and that, you know the, our relationship has developed and taken different forms over the years.
01:10:06
Speaker
And, um, what I love about her is how, first of all, how intellectual she is, you know, her intellectual curiosity is such, you know, it's, it's, it's a drug for a coach, you know, and her vulnerability, her, her willingness to really be vulnerable.
01:10:27
Speaker
and and go there it you know, is, you know, that trust that we talked about, you know, that's her contribution. And I feel like, you know I've got to match, you know, i I really do like try to match that, you know, because it does take us to a place where we can really have these really, you know, real um conversations. Yeah.
01:10:45
Speaker
h Yeah. I really appreciated that too. And she, you know, she didn't just have that. It took her a while to develop that. I think that's the beauty of the experience that she gleaned from,
01:10:57
Speaker
having a setback. She was able to see like, I need to trust myself and not feel like I'm, you know, quote, being a weenie when I know something's wrong. And I should be able to communicate that to my coach without feeling like I'm have to be ashamed of that.
01:11:13
Speaker
So that was one of the biggest things that I'm taking away from her perspective is that the athlete hat should feel comfortable enough, should feel. and and that was self-imposed. Obviously she said that she,
01:11:26
Speaker
you know, it was like, it was a pride thing. So I really appreciated that she was willing enough to learn from her own mistake in that regard that she could say, no this is too much. I, I'm not able to, to maintain this at this, at this level, because it's, it's causing me to step three, four steps back at this point.
01:11:49
Speaker
Yeah. and And who hasn't said, you know, I don't think I can do that. Who hasn't been afraid to take on a challenge? Who hasn't been afraid of change? And, you know, and and, you know, and I've known a lot of people that did not weigh over 300 pounds.
01:12:07
Speaker
A lot of people who are a lot, you know, fitter, younger, healthier, whatever. Headstart. Yeah. Who said, I can't, i don't think I could do that. And what a, what a, you know, what a lesson, right? what What a way to reframe what's possible. So, Sue, thank you again so much for being a part of our lives, for being a part of this podcast. It's been amazing.
01:12:33
Speaker
So thank you. All right, April, are we going to do a fun segment? we we've we've Sue has already done the get gritty. Sue's already done the you know the ask a coach. I think we need to close this up with a little fun segment, though. Let's do it.
01:12:50
Speaker
Especially with this niece not so nice. Perfect.
Ironman Finish Line Experience
01:12:55
Speaker
So as I'm sure many of our audience have gathered, this weekend is the Ironman World Championships for the men's race in Nice, France.
01:13:04
Speaker
We do know a few people racing. Again, Coach Kurt Madden and team fellow Team Wonderkind member Coach Stephen Horan. So this week, I decided to bring in a special segment that I'm calling Nice or Not So Nice. Nice.
01:13:18
Speaker
I've got some scenarios for you, Rich, straight from the streets of Nice, from wild bikes to drama on the bike split. ah So, Rich, I'm going to give you a scenario, and you tell me, is this Nice or not so nice and why?
01:13:33
Speaker
Are you ready? Okay. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So, halfway through the bike leg, your aid stations serve fresh baguettes instead of gels. Is this Nice or not nice?
01:13:46
Speaker
This is definitely nice. And what I would also probably do is have Nutella with my fresh baguettes. This was in Christian Blumenfeld's video.
01:13:59
Speaker
He made a triple-decker Nutella sandwich with bread. Very nice. This is nice, 100%. ah hundred percent You had me at Nutella. Absolutely.
01:14:11
Speaker
That's like one of my favorite things. It was like a 300 calorie sandwich. It was great. He needed it knowing how much he eats now. Yeah. That's incredible. That's a perfect leg calorie punch right there.
01:14:23
Speaker
ah good. I agree. i believe that is absolutely nice and sign me up. ah you Like I said, Nutella is my jam. Number two, The bike course goes up into the French Alps and fans line the road screaming like it's the Tour de France.
01:14:42
Speaker
Nice or not so nice? Again, nice. I mean, well, nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice
01:14:50
Speaker
i would love to have that experience you know the The only Ironman that I've ever done that has kind of felt like that level of excitement was Cozumel, like the very first year, because you went through downtown and there were fans everywhere and it was deep and they were screaming and they had, you know, rocks and bottles and, and the energy was just so high. you know, i remember thinking, well, this must be what it feels like to be in the Tour de France, you know?
01:15:16
Speaker
Yeah, I love that. I think so too. i it did kind of cross my mind that it might not be so nice if folks were really closing in and you felt them on you, but it's still, I think, what what a once in a lifetime feeling if you ever had that Yeah. um All right. Number three.
01:15:37
Speaker
On the run, you have a special French flair aid station, which offers many glasses of wine and slices of cheese. Is this nice or not so nice? It does sound very nice on the surface, but I'm going with not so nice, April.
01:15:52
Speaker
yeah i actually think what I'm going to do is i am going to i' going to slip another baguette with Nutella into my personal needs bag yeah on the run. And I am going to skip the French flair this time.
01:16:07
Speaker
Yeah, I think so too. i Brie and goat cheese and yeah Munster and like, may I don't know, Limburger but not would not be a great thing in my stomach.
01:16:20
Speaker
Especially if we're we're still, yeah, we're on the run course at this point. I would have to do a Christian Blumenfeld if that happens. Yeah. yeah Yeah, not so nice at all.
01:16:32
Speaker
All right. Number four, as you run past, spectators get to rate your tri-kit, Rich. flo Fashion flops earn a penalty from the style, please, while fashion icons snag a 30-second time bonus.
01:16:47
Speaker
Knees are not so nice. Boy, I'm really having a hard time with this one. I really do kind of like the idea of a penalty lap. Like, you know, I think... This is French.
01:16:59
Speaker
This is French for sure. ah yeah Very, very French. Yes. I am going to go with ah not so nice. Okay. All right. All right. Tell me more.
01:17:09
Speaker
Yeah. i you know i i you know the the fashion you know like is Should fashion really be a competitive part of this? This is a physical contest.
01:17:21
Speaker
I do like the idea of a penalty lap for something that is a violation of the rules, but I am not in favor of it being a fashion-based judgment. Oh, wow. Okay. Well, I diverge from your from your vote here. I think this is absolutely a win.
01:17:38
Speaker
ah Yeah, I want to see some flashy tri-kits. I want to see some poshness. We're in France, for goodness sakes. Yeah, if you're not showing up with your fancy kits...
01:17:50
Speaker
And rocking that ah that runway, so to say, i think you should absolutely get a 30-second penalty or an extra lap or something. But yeah, and then the folks that have the real flair, give them the time bonus. I love it.
01:18:04
Speaker
We're in the – we're in – You flashy cheater, you. Yeah.
01:18:10
Speaker
All right, we're in the final stretch now. It is lined with French flags, accordion music, and champagne showers. Rich, is this nice or not so nice?
01:18:22
Speaker
I love this idea, especially coming down the finish chute. How cool would that be, right? I mean, it would just be electric. i you know i I there's something about France that just is, i don't know, it just puts you in a you know happy space and just I feel like running past all the French flags and the, you know, and and you know at the finish line, having some champagne sounds
Olympics and French Celebration
01:18:44
Speaker
great. Run. It's, you know, the wine sounded terrible. But here.
01:18:47
Speaker
Yeah, um I'd go down the finish line with a bottle champagne in my hand. Heck yeah. Yeah, me too. This would be awesome. I keep thinking about the Olympics and the, I don't know if you saw like that rock show that they put on where Marie Antoinette's head is like, they but it was an opera rock. It was insane. And it was my favorite part of the whole show. And that's what I was thinking about when I read this is like, this is this is my version of French celebration. Yeah.
Triathlon Scenarios Discussion
01:19:20
Speaker
I don't know if that's PC or not, but that was so what I thought of. Well, I mean, I mean, when you went to the Olympics, I immediately went to the, uh, the water conditions in the sand for the, the triathlon. I was like, you know, that actually would have been a, a good, uh, nice or not so nice. Yeah. Not nice at all.
01:19:42
Speaker
So of all these scenarios, there are definitely some nice and maybe not so nice. What we
Community Engagement and Closing
01:19:47
Speaker
love about Iron Man in nice is that it can flip in a heartbeat. Which scenario do you think you will surprise us with the most this weekend? Hit us up on the socials. Let us know what your picks are and if any of those sound nice to you.
01:20:03
Speaker
April, this whole episode was just so nice. Folks, thanks for listening this week. Be sure to follow us at 303 Triathlon and at Grit to Greatness Endurance. And of course, please go to iTunes, give us a rating and a comment. We appreciate that.
01:20:17
Speaker
And you stay tuned, train informed and enjoy the endurance journey. For your 303 Endurance Podcast. It's your 303 Endurance Podcast. It's your 303 Endurance Podcast.
01:20:27
Speaker
It's your 303
01:21:00
Speaker
Oh, three. the door