Transcript
Rich: Welcome to episode 560 of the Grits Greatness Endurance Podcast. We are your hosts, coaches Rich Soares and Lauren Brown, and we are on a mission to help endurance athletes train smarter, race stronger, and build the grit it takes to achieve greatness.
Rich: today we are talking about back -to -back iron man race tips with coach lauren Coach Lauren, congratulations. You crushed it.
Lauren Brown: Thank you so much.
Rich: Was it so definitely a sub 12? It was like a sub 1155, was it?
Lauren Brown: Yeah, yeah, before. If you look at the race results now, they're a little bit skewed because they did make some adjustments because of the accident that happened on course but i finished uh
Rich: Hmm.
Lauren Brown: I think. Originally, I finished like 1150, 1155. if you look now it says like 10 55 but that's because of the uh adjustments that were made But I'm happy. I'm happy.
Rich: Yeah, you should be happy.
Lauren Brown: yeah
Rich: That was a great race again. Just a streak of white smile coming through the finish line. Can't wait to talk about what you learned, not only about...
Rich: racing, but racing to Ironman races so close. together. And so, yeah, we're all going to learn something here today. ah You know, boy, she's like, you've done everything. You've done High Rocks, Ironman Lake Placid, Ironman.
Rich: Maryland.
Lauren Brown: Yep.
Rich: I can't wait to see what you.
Lauren Brown: Chattanooga, 70 .3 in there, too.
Rich: Chattanooga yeah. My goodness, what a season. Anyway, this is... This is going to hopefully help listeners really think through the timing of two Ironman races in one season or in one half of a season. uh coach lauren's experience to explore your kind of race priorities recovery and Just, you know, all of the things around, you know, fueling and logistics and mental readiness. It's going to be a great conversation. We're really glad to to be doing it with you here.
Rich: Coach Lauren, can I turn it over to you to give some shout outs to some of our athletes who are going to be racing this weekend?
Lauren Brown: Yes, absolutely. So this weekend, I'm going to still give... the shout outs even though i know the race is not happening because we did have
Rich: Uh -uh.
Lauren Brown: music Yes, Womp Womp with Iron Man 70 .3 New York for... lucy zate and greg castro so i do want to point out though like It is not just. Getting to the starting line it is also the journey to get there. So I do want to celebrate them for putting in the work to get to the starting line. and mother nature had different plans and I always say like,
Lauren Brown: Please know that it is it is never an easy decision for race directors to make the call to cancel a race, and it is always with... the athletes safety in mind so lucy and greg huge shout out for the work that you put in to get to the starting line and while I know this is not the...
Lauren Brown: Start line that you hoped for with the race being canceled, but absolutely you guys do deserve a shout out for putting in the work. to get there. We'll also give a shout out to Andra Kidd for...
Lauren Brown: Black Canyon Triathlon, which is taking place September 26th. And then Hassan Sheikh for Santa Cruz. Iron Man. taking place on Sunday, September 27th. So like I said, Ironman New York will not be taking place on Saturday, September 26th due to a severe coastal storm sweeping through the area. over the coming days which has forced the organizers to cancel the event just
Lauren Brown: One day before. race day so originally scheduled for tomorrow september 26th ironman 70 .3 new york had drawn high -profile names, including Lionel Sanders, Jackson Laundrie, Ari Clough, Mark Dubrick, and Finn...
Lauren Brown: Go freeze. I'm like, I'm totally botched the name. unfortunately though neither the pros nor the age groupers will be racing so uh in consultation with local authorities emergency management officials and public safety agencies Ironman has made the difficult decision. And I have to say, it must be so, so hard to have to come to this decision to not proceed.
Lauren Brown: with the 2026 ironman 70 .3 new york triathlon in jones beach this saturday the 26th um for anybody that lives in this area if so i live i actually i live near the water so i can say that myself a lot of the people that go to my gym have been like,
Lauren Brown: holy smokes have you gone to the water and seen how angry the ocean is right now and like the ocean is angry guys like it is definitely not conducive to safe racing and Obviously the wind. is not either so i definitely am like Totally, my heart's out to people who can't race.
Lauren Brown: But. On the flip side, safety first and foremost always.
Rich: Yeah, 100%. You know, and I got to tell you, I just sent you a picture of. um that I got from. greg because i checked in on him wanted to see how he was doing today if you take a look at that picture He knows that the race has been canceled. That smile is actually pretty big. I don't know if that's a, Hey, the weather's great here. I'm still having fun or.
Rich: hey I'm kind of relieved. hu I don't have to reason that tomorrow.
Lauren Brown: I know. Yeah, yeah.
Rich: Maybe the latter. I don't know. Hey, and I got to do this also. I got a great text earlier from Robina Waterman. Dear Rich. had a wonderful strong race she raced she's racing at worlds in pantraveda She got fourth place.
Rich: uh looks like i think this was the aqua bike um yeah must have been the aqua bike anyway Congratulations, Robina. Fourth on the world stage.
Rich: You're amazing.
Lauren Brown: Amazing.
Rich: Hey.
Lauren Brown: She's amazing.
Rich: And we've got some birthdays to shout out here. if Sarah Barr is in New York. Now she is not racing, of course. But she is going to be celebrating her birthday. Congrats, Sarah, on your birthday. and Really excited about this.
Rich: We get two special birthdays on the 28th. kevin bauer And our own coach, Lauren Brown. Uh, Happy Birthday! You got any fun plans?
Lauren Brown: Thank you. Yes um So Sunday, i so I have a twin sister, for those of you who don't know. so And we... We love the witchy season, so... um my twin sister my older sister and my mom we will be doing lunch and seeing Practical Magic 2 on Sunday. So that'll be the...
Lauren Brown: pre -birthday plans and then Monday I don't take off for work. So I'll be, I'll be working and doing things. I'm actually on Monday launching my 14 day. Strength training challenge. I'll be. connecting with all of the people that are going to be doing some strength training with me so but i'm excited for I might even get a margarita. before we go out to the movies because for anybody who's ever seen practical magic you know midnight margaritas So.
Lauren Brown: That's my birthday plans.
Rich: Boy, I wish I would have. somehow been able to fold Midnight Margaritas into the fun segment later.
Lauren Brown: oh
Rich: Maybe that'll be my challenge. That sounds awesome
Lauren Brown: You've got a little bit of time. to think about it. like but
Rich: Okay, I'm going to work on that.
Lauren Brown: all Alright.
Rich: All right. So let's do this. let's talk about what it is like to have a season like you've had. So again, like right let's just start with this.
Rich: you already started to tell us like all of the racing that you did but let's just start with just the last three, four months.
Lauren Brown: okay yeah
Rich: Recap the big the date.
Lauren Brown: so
Rich: And the big event.
Lauren Brown: So... the So while if we go back three months, we're going back to me prepping for Lake Placid. Which was like my.
Rich: Yeah.
Lauren Brown: first Iron Man, so... So I did Ironman Lake Placid. July 19th And then I did Ironman Maryland September 19th. which I love that they're both on the 19th.
Lauren Brown: But yeah, so my... my biggest like racing and training block, we would say. from July 19th. through September 19th. So.
Lauren Brown: Um... what's What's the specific question here?
Rich: So the question is, how close were these big races? so we're like're basically talking three months. Two months.
Lauren Brown: Yeah. Nine nine weeks, nine literally nine weeks to the almost a day.
Rich: Nine weeks.
Rich: Now, what drove the decision? to do them with like you know like Did you, was it like, oh, I'm still fit. So I should do another one or that's enough.
Rich: that's enough of a recovery i should do another one Why another one?
Lauren Brown: Yep.
Rich: you know. Oh.
Lauren Brown: Okay, so um When I had finished Late Placid, I'll say actually at like mile 20 of Lake Placid, let's say before I even finished in my mind, I was like.
Lauren Brown: I'm good. I don't need to do another one of these and uh i finished but like the high of crossing the finish line was amazing and then i jumped on a call with my coach about within the week to talk about how the race went and what we were thinking. and um Coach K, Kurt Madden is my coach. um When we were talking through it, he was like.
Lauren Brown: You know, the full distance seems to kind of suit you a little bit. and Let's see if if you're open to it. Like we kind of talked through.
Lauren Brown: would i want to do another iron man would it be iron man maryland would it be um Texas, Little Elm in April, would we do that? and The thought was...
Lauren Brown: I'm already in shape. for an Ironman. And I did. I'm okay enough at Lake Placid. I kind of hit my goals and I felt pretty good finishing and I was already in shape. and If I wanted to see if I could qualify for Kona. this might be the time to do it.
Lauren Brown: And so. uh Coach K and I were like you know, If I'm going. to qualify for Kona. I probably have a pretty good shot.
Lauren Brown: right now to just roll with the momentum and kind of see where my fitness lands and and go with it. And so I honestly. Prior to doing Lake Placid,
Lauren Brown: I did not have Kona. On my. Like radar at all and when he had mentioned it to me after our call. I was like, you know what like I'm not super attached to the idea Where I'd be devastated if I didn't qualify because I really didn't even know how much I wanted to do the full distance. I just wanted to.
Lauren Brown: Test the waters, I guess we'll say And so I was like, let's just do it and see what happens. So rolling into Maryland, I kind of had the mindset of It would be really cool to do two full distances. to full distance Ironman races.
Lauren Brown: back to back and see if I can. One. PR, right, if I can make a ah better time. and If it lands me in a position to get to Kona, that would be.
Lauren Brown: Amazing. right like i couldn't really ask for more so that was really the mindset going into it where I... I wasn't... so attached to the idea that it would devastate me if I didn't. Get there.
Lauren Brown: But I had like enough fire under my butt to be like.
Rich: yeah
Lauren Brown: Just see what you can make happen. and go out there and and I said like my fitness was the best I could have hoped for and the cards are gonna fall where they fall
Rich: I would propose that this is probably a common. Logic. You know. ladder that people go through right i just did one i'm still fit Why detrain and just to build back up again?
Rich: If it's early enough in the season. You know, why don't I just do another? Now, a couple of questions.
Lauren Brown: yeah
Rich: Did you, in fact, PR?
Lauren Brown: I did in fact PR. I did. I took Um. Probably about if before they adjusted the times because of the accident that happened.
Lauren Brown: I PR'd by about 35 minutes.
Rich: It's amazing. Congratulations.
Lauren Brown: Thank you.
Rich: Alright. let's get this Let's get this adjustment out of the way. um So tell us. What? The, like... The initial result was and then.
Rich: What happened that caused the adjustment? And what was the final adjustment?
Lauren Brown: So originally my finish time was... um around 1155. was my finish time.
Lauren Brown: prior to the adjustment. And then they took around 50, 55 minutes off. So my time on the Ironman tracker shows like 10. 50, 10, 55 as my finish time.
Lauren Brown: And it was. Honestly. like um'm I'm glad we're doing this call now that it's past the amount of time that I've kind of had to digest what happened on the course. so If you... were following Ironman Maryland at all, then you know that there was a pretty bad accident on the bike course in Maryland. And so.
Lauren Brown: Somewhere between mile... 35, 40, I can't remember now exactly. And I'm sure if I i read, I would remember it. but um All of a sudden ambulances just started flying you know, there was an ambulance coming by and I was like,
Lauren Brown: oh this doesn't This doesn't sound too good. And so. I continued to ride and... i started to come up upon the ambulances and so they were corralling all of us to the left of the road to get around the ambulance and So we were.
Lauren Brown: passing And I was pretty early on in the the passing of this situation where there was an athlete who had. We found out later. collided with a truck.
Lauren Brown: um on course so the the course is not closed and I've never...
Rich: Hmm.
Lauren Brown: witnessed and an accident like firsthand that that bad of an accident. I'll say like, I had no idea it was a female or a male. like her face was just covered in blood it just Looked like a mess. She was on the stretcher. and Shortly after. they, we passed the ambulance, we were all getting stopped. So I was probably like the.
Lauren Brown: Sixth or seventh athlete stopped. where the accident had happened. And then for the next nine minutes, it was like athletes behind us getting stopped. So they stopped us because The injuries were.
Lauren Brown: were pretty bad and they had to airlift her off of the course. So the course was closed. They had to change the course. And they had to airlift the athlete. so I was like.
Lauren Brown: I always say, I'm like, you, you meet people on course where you're supposed to meet them. And I'm like, I don't know if Colleen, the athlete who was next to me, will listen to this podcast or hear about it. But she was somebody that I was like.
Lauren Brown: Thank you for being there because. I... for whatever reason. um I don't know if I was just like really tired, exhausted. Like I couldn't stop crying. I was just like really upset by what had happened. And so.
Lauren Brown: Having her there, like... She like hugged me. She gave me her gummy worms. And like, it was just nice having somebody there to kind of like.
Rich: oh
Lauren Brown: be a human with where you're like, because of course there were also athletes who were like Can we just go? Like, why are we stopping? Like, this is silly. We should just be able to go. um So in any event.
Lauren Brown: um what the What Iron Man decided to do was... Cut out. the portion of the race. where they had to Change the course so anybody who had ridden that part of the course like that part of the course was removed from our time which It's funny, like in that moment, I was kind of like, well.
Lauren Brown: Any shot of qualifying for Kona is probably out the window right now because anybody that was ahead of me is now just like. gosh knows how far ahead. um But in in the same breath, I was like, I don't care.
Lauren Brown: I am like so happy.
Rich: Yeah.
Lauren Brown: I am okay. Like I could give a shit less about Kona, about anything. like all i care about is that that athlete is getting taken care of.
Lauren Brown: we're okay but Um. End note. Like. part of the race where we were all released, it was like. hundreds of athletes all of a sudden now released to ride the course at once so It was.
Lauren Brown: a crazy experience. It definitely changed my... mindset my energy probably for the bike course because I was like That could have been anybody.
Lauren Brown: I don't know. that It was just a really, really...
Rich: Yeah.
Lauren Brown: It was hard. for I don't know.
Rich: That's stressful.
Lauren Brown: i Yeah, it was a lot harder than... I guess I really was ready to... Think about like I didn't think it would be that hard for me to deal with something like that on course And I'm sure it wasn't as hard for a lot of people. I just might have been tired or what that I was like What is wrong with me?
Lauren Brown: Why can't I deal with this?
Rich: Oh, a mix.
Lauren Brown: but
Rich: Yeah. No, that's, I mean, that's upsetting. I mean, it's just upsetting whether you're No matter. Anybody getting hurt on course, whether that's in the swim or on the bike or rarely on the run. but It happens.
Rich: um
Lauren Brown: Yeah.
Rich: And yeah. um Hey let's keep things in perspective.
Lauren Brown: Yeah. yeah but that's why that's where the Yeah.
Rich: Well, thank you for... All right. Well, that helps. All right. So. Now... um You know... so How? you now you don't let's go back to like preparing for the race so you you've been through one How did the training differ?
Rich: the second time around. I mean, obviously. you weren't going through the entire cycle, but how did like. Did you change anything? In terms of like race rehearsal approach because of the type of course.
Rich: What adjustments did you make between 1 and 2?
Lauren Brown: Yeah, so... The race rehearsal was much easier for this one because going into... um Lake Placid, I really wanted to get out there for the course because of how hilly it was and and everything.
Lauren Brown: With this race, though, because it I feel like nine weeks was kind of a sweet spot. for the races to be separated because I had enough time to like recover, right? I had like,
Lauren Brown: two weeks where we were Like. Very minimal that first week. Barely do anything. I did some strength training. I did very light swim, bike, run. The second week was.
Lauren Brown: Pretty light. And then I was at a point where I had seven weeks left. And so I feel like. It was a really sweet spot, right? Where I didn't have to totally decondition, but.
Lauren Brown: the main goal for This race was like... maintain my fitness. So I still i still did. a race rehearsal four weeks out and two weeks out.
Lauren Brown: Um, Four weeks out. I feel like the weather was off, but I was like, I'm okay to do this. like indoors and not really worry about it because it was a flat course. And then two weeks out. I rode with one of my friends who was also racing Maryland.
Lauren Brown: And. Because of the nature of where I live, where it's pretty flat, this was perfect. I was able to get outside. i did um We... we did a race rehearsal where we kind of stopped about halfway as well and mimicked like stopping for your special needs and getting your nutrition. So.
Lauren Brown: The race rehearsal was still important. Absolutely. Where I wanted to make sure. My nutrition still felt okay. And I. I just was fine covering the distance and running for 40, 50 minutes off the bike.
Lauren Brown: but The main thing that... You know, my coach and I were were thinking about, Coach K and I were thinking about was. maintain your fitness. any niggles so i i did have an issue with my achilles at lake placid which was Pretty.
Lauren Brown: fine most of my training so it was more about like Do the training. Don't make anything angry You know, so I feel like. and And honestly, leading up to Lake Placid, that was kind of the same deal with my knee, right? My knee was giving me issues leading up to Lake Placid. And it was like. Do the training. Don't make your knee angry.
Lauren Brown: um So I would say. The biggest... difference from Lake Placid to Maryland was Like... mentally knowing that My fitness was where I knew I could finish an Ironman.
Lauren Brown: Right. And there wasn't that much that was going to. change in nine weeks in the sense of like, If I could finish not an Ironman in July, if I kept training, I would be able to finish it in September. It was just a matter of.
Lauren Brown: Do I... Listen to my body. maintain my fitness. i I got some massages. I worked with my physical therapist, who is amazing. And so it was a little bit more of.
Lauren Brown: maintenance versus get stronger get stronger get stronger
Rich: Wow what what i hear is your mindset your confidence had shifted so much from already having that experience And I also. heard the, like the nine weeks was the sweet spot.
Lauren Brown: Mm -hmm.
Rich: What would you say for somebody who was like, okay, well, nine weeks is the sweet spot. You know, could I pull off eight? Could I do it in seven?
Rich: could i do it in six like what would be to... close.
Lauren Brown: Yeah, so it's funny. I was like, I was just talking about this with somebody the other day where I was like, you know, I hear about some people who are like, oh, I did two Ironmans one week apart or I did an Ironman like back to back. and It all depends on your goal, right? Like it depends on.
Lauren Brown: for me my goal was to do better and to try to qualify for kona which i i didn't qualify but I'm okay with but If you're if your goal is to do better I think like 9, 10, 11, 12 weeks.
Lauren Brown: is a sweet spot. Where like. You don't have to... back off too much and you don't have to regroup your fitness right so I... after After doing Maryland, I was like, I know my body needs a rest.
Lauren Brown: And I know my body, right? And it also depends on the athlete. So if you're somebody like... I've been... consistently in shape. For. triathlon whether it's 70 .3 or or full distance but if we say 70 .3 like for a couple of years now right where i've been If we're looking at it. beyond sprint or olympic distance and we're saying 70 .3 i could say for the last three years we'll call it I've maintained.
Lauren Brown: fitness to be able to probably like be close to jumping into doing a 70 .3 So. If you're at that point where you're. Always close to in shape.
Lauren Brown: I think. Eight to nine weeks is a sweet spot. If you... just done your first iron man and you There are some people who literally just jump into doing Ironman races, right? Like, I'm sure you know people, Rich, who...
Lauren Brown: are like i've never done an iron i've never done a triathlon but i'm gonna do an iron man as my first go That might not be the person who's going to be okay doing an Ironman and then another one nine weeks later.
Rich: Yeah.
Rich: Yeah, they might not be okay for a while, period.
Lauren Brown: right So I always say like. My story might not be somebody else's story, but if you're somebody like... If you're listening to this and you've been racing 70 .3 or full distance and you've done two three four or five years of racing of a longer distance under your belt then i think that A nine week.
Lauren Brown: split is like Enough time to recover. Enough time to not lose your fitness. and to enjoy it because i'll tell you like Um,
Lauren Brown: So last year when I raced Marbella. By the time Morbea came, I was like... I'm so ready for a break. my my season was long i was like you know i did i was racing from march until november
Rich: Yeah.
Lauren Brown: I did not feel like that going into Maryland. Right. Like my my big race was July.
Rich: That's good.
Lauren Brown: and I did not feel like. Uh, uh, exactly. I know I've said this to you in KO. I was like, at the end, when I was getting ready for Marbella, I was like, I felt like going in the pool, somebody was punching a bruise.
Lauren Brown: Yeah.
Rich: yeah I remember were you saying that. Yeah, yeah.
Lauren Brown: Yeah. I did not feel like this for Maryland. I felt like. I'm good. I mean, I honestly expected to have a better race than I did because I felt So good.
Lauren Brown: So good.
Rich: Yeah.
Lauren Brown: going into this race. Like I honestly thought I was gonna finish like
Rich: Well, there are a lot of other factors.
Lauren Brown: an hour faster.
Rich: Well, there are a lot of other factors too that were probably at play here. All right, well, let's do this. but I'll wrap up with this question here. What? of the Three lessons from this season. Right.
Rich: What's one thing that you would repeat? What's one thing that you would change? And one conversation. Every athlete. should have before signing up for a second Ironman. One thing you'll repeat.
Rich: One thing you change. One conversation.
Lauren Brown: So one thing I would... Repeat. Great questions, man. um i would say Um...
Lauren Brown: i Mean I would I would repeat The... The duration, if I was going to do two Ironmans again, I would try to keep them around like nine to 10 weeks apart.
Lauren Brown: and i would And I would also choose the second one being. a more like as as convenient of a location as possible. So I think that that was really helpful for me is that my second Ironman was like.
Lauren Brown: nearby. It didn't have a lot of logistics. So it wasn't. um Like it wasn't taxing beyond the physical training. so like location, the the logistics were easy for the second one.
Lauren Brown: right so if you think about like you're going to your second iron man you're like Mentally fatigued probably physically fatigued try to make it as easy as possible. So I think for me like logistically making it a simple decision, a simple choice was smart.
Lauren Brown: Because it was between that or Texas. Texas would have been a lot harder for me. so um so that's something i would say is when you're looking at doing two back to back Know that by the second one you're gonna be a little bit more physically mentally drained. So try to make that be the one that is going to be the the less taxing to get there.
Lauren Brown: for me. um and then One thing that... What was the other question?
Lauren Brown: What was number two?
Rich: No. No, just... Oh, you you want me to repeat it?
Lauren Brown: What was number two? Yeah. The number two thing that I was supposed to.
Rich: Yeah, it was ah one thing that you would. Repeat one thing you would change and one conversation every athlete should have.
Lauren Brown: okay Okay, so one thing I would change.
Rich: before.
Lauren Brown: One thing I would change. um So... for the And I always say this, don't do anything new on race day. Don't change anything, whatever. um I don't think my dinner the night before was the best choice.
Lauren Brown: And. I went to a restaurant that
Rich: oo
Lauren Brown: Had like an Iron Man. Race dinner, but it was like and I should have owned my gut and I should have said you know what? I'm making my pasta at home and that's it And it was like. a um Pasta with pesto sauce and and I had salmon which I've had salmon before which is fine, but It was so...
Lauren Brown: oily, that like Eating it. I was like This feels wrong and my stomach was not happy on the run I will tell you my stomach was.
Rich: o
Lauren Brown: Not happy on the run. I use the Porta Potty. Four times on the rock. So. um i've never I've never done that before. So TMI, but... um That. I would say Stick to your gut.
Lauren Brown: Eat the food. and And I say this all the time, nothing new on race day. and I was like, oh. I think it'll be okay and like probably not the best decision so stick to your gut eat your food um And then one conversation I...
Lauren Brown: would have. um
Lauren Brown: I just always check in with myself and I would say like. Love yourself more than anyone else in the world. And like.
Rich: Ooh, I love that.
Lauren Brown: Yeah. And I, it's so easy to get so hard and I'll tell you, I was getting so like. I was having moments of like, not being mean to myself, but being like. God you're being such like a baby right now like you're like suck it up and I was like no like i'm actually really uncomfortable right now and i don't and like And like.
Lauren Brown: Just like... a love yourself and like I would say like You should everyone should take everyone period but especially the endurance athletes out there who are like Make noise representing, like. take time to just like like sit in the mirror and like, I should, I need to do this too. And just be like, I freaking love you. You have an amazing body. You have an amazing mind. You have done so much hard work. like
Lauren Brown: I... Love you. more than anyone else in the world right now and i'm thankful for what you've like done and like Like you should love yourself more than anyone else is capable of loving you.
Lauren Brown: And like, and just. have that love and And like. when you're running out there and you're struggling in your like giving yourself this negative talk where you're thinking like I should be stronger right now. Be like,
Lauren Brown: I fucking... Sorry. I love you for. For two. for doing this and for for showing me how strong I am, right? So I just think that that that conversation is really important because...
Lauren Brown: We love each other. We love other people so much. we hug other people we comfort them when they're struggling we tell them like give yourself grace we tell other people like You're stronger than you even know. But like, tell yourself that. Have that conversation with yourself and be like.
Lauren Brown: Holy smokes. I am a badass. and Like. so i have the conversation my thing is have the conversation with yourself about how freaking awesome You are. And like. No shame about it. Cause I think even like.
Lauren Brown: I had put a post up. where I was like, nine like Or eight things I learned after doing two Ironmans back to back in nine weeks. And for a second I was like, oh, I hope nobody's thinking like, oh, big deal. Like, oh, you think you're so great because you did two Ironmans back to back. And I'm like.
Lauren Brown: But you know what? like That was freaking awesome. I'm happy I did that. And there are other people that do other things that are like awesome and like. Have the conversation where you get to say to yourself.
Lauren Brown: I love you. You're freaking awesome. Amazing job.
Rich: I love that.
Rich: All right. yeah That feels like that's like, we should end on that note for the formal interview, because that's like, I mean, love yourself and. And even like, just like F bomb it out. Right. Whatever.
Lauren Brown: you know I'm like, sorry.
Rich: I. I have one. fun segment question for you and i have a little bit of insight into what you might actually say and we might have to unpack this a little bit All pun aside.
Rich: So. This is. Two finishes, one honest answer. The piece of gear, I'm going to ask you, just name. ah Give you a statement. You got to finish it.
Rich: And then you get to give us the story behind this. The piece of gear that earned its place for race number two. is
Lauren Brown: oh my gosh the piece of gear that earned its place for race
Rich: The piece of gear that earned its place for. Race number two that you didn't. We're in race number one for some. reasons.
Lauren Brown: Okay. Oh my gosh. Um, Well. I changed my kit. I changed my kit.
Rich: You what?
Lauren Brown: So for those.
Rich: Okay.
Lauren Brown: was looking at pictures. I did not wear my G2G kit. And I wanted to, i this should be known why.
Rich: Okay.
Lauren Brown: so I did not wear my Grit to Greatness gear kit because it has pockets in the back. which are great. Totally great. Especially if you're wearing a wetsuit. I...
Lauren Brown: Do. not own a swimskin. And it was not a wetsuit legal swim. So I actually talked with Coach K but about this beforehand. I was like. I have a kit. that does not have pockets.
Lauren Brown: that open up top, they open at the side. So I was like, I'm gonna wear that kit. For this race if it's not wetsuit legal and for those of you who don't know The water temperature on race day was 76 .2.
Lauren Brown: Instead of 76 .1. Ha ha! So we couldn't wear a wetsuit, so I wore my Zoot kit that... has pockets that go sideways so i was like that'll be better However,
Lauren Brown: I'll share with you guys. didn't matter because if you look at any of the pictures if if you zoom in on my pictures Right before the swim start, my kit is... zipped Just close to being zipped all the way, but I didn't zip it all the way after I used the porter potty the last time. And about 100 meters into the swim.
Lauren Brown: All of a sudden, I felt like... Unzip. Unzip, unzip, full unzip. I was just swimming in basically. I was like, thank goodness I wear a bathing suit top underneath my kit.
Lauren Brown: Because it was completely open. That's another thing I'm thinking. Thank God I wear a bikini top. I wear a bikini suit top under my kit. If I didn't wear that, that would have been a... Really? Interesting show for everyone when I stopped it. Halfway through.
Lauren Brown: Yeah, so i did I changed my kit, so I stopped halfway through and re -zipped it, and I zipped it all the way up so it didn't unzip. What a mistake. Never not wearing my grit to greatness kit.
Rich: That's...
Rich: That's kind of karma. I mean, that's some that's some gritty karma right there.
Lauren Brown: i i know
Rich: Hey. uh that is awesome hey thanks for sharing that that's pretty dang funny And thanks for sharing. you know, some tips here because, you know, our community.
Rich: there's a lot of people that are doing a lot of iron man races these days in our team and our community and It's great to learn from others. so thanks for doing that and if you wouldn't mind like close us out with the uh the community
Lauren Brown: Yeah, for sure.
Rich: Call out here.
Lauren Brown: so i mean Honestly, well, one, I love being able to share this story. We... Love hearing your stories. So whether you are. new to Grit to Greatness.
Lauren Brown: If you're curious about us, just know that you do not need to be coached to be part of the community. If you're looking for support, inspiration, a group of athletes who truly understand what it takes to balance life, work, and endurance sports, we would love... to meet you so Come here directly from our athletes. You guys, we actually do open up our doors every month when we do our Momentum team call. so
Lauren Brown: Contact us. Check the links in the show notes. so We would love for you to join our next team call. They happen also actually on the first Tuesday of every month. and Check us out.
Lauren Brown: Be a part of the community. We have amazing athletes and coaches who are here to support you guys.
Rich: And we have some amazing podcast interviews coming up with some amazing amazing guests, amazing stories. And so, yeah, check in with us every weekend. Listen, before we close out, I want to give a shout out to our show sponsor, Vespa. nutrition.
Rich: Less sugar, higher performance, faster recovery. It is not a fuel, but a metabolic catalyst that shifts your body to use more. fat than sugar. Is it? VespaPower .com. Use the code G2GVESPA15 for 15 % off of anything in your cart anytime.
Rich: Thanks for spending time with us today on the Grit to Greatness Endurance Podcast. If this conversation helped you think about your next season. follow the show and leave a rating and a review on apple podcast or youtube Share it with an athlete considering two Ironman races.
Rich: Lauren, thanks for sharing the athlete experience and the coaching perspective. Stay gritty train spark train spark train smart Keep chasing greatness. We will catch you next week.
