Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
#510 IRONMAN World Championship Kona 2025
0 Plays2 seconds ago
It’s Kona weekend and we’re turning up the heat on the 303 with our own “Thank God I’m Not Racing” Party, while the real deal is happening live at Huggos on the Beach! In this sizzling episode, we dive into all things Kona with a special feature on the IRONMAN World Championship, including expert analysis from Thorsten Radde’s TriRating Kona 2025 Report. Coaches April and Lauren each pick a hot topic from the report to break down and debate, offering insights and predictions from your favorite Kona Armchair Crew. We’re also tackling your burning questions in our “Ask A Coach” segment—this week: how to train for hot races—and sharing a Get Gritty Tip on the importance of looking out for each other on race day. Plus, don’t miss our TriDot Workout of the Week focused on core strength training, and test your knowledge with some fiery Hot Kona Trivia. Let’s go, party people—this is one episode you don’t want to miss!
#Grit2Greatness #CoachingTips #Ask A Coach #TriathlonCoach #TriathlonPodcast #303Endurance #TriDot #EnduranceAthlete #SwimBikeRun #GetGritty #TriathlonTraining #CyclingLife #RunningCommunity
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Episode Preview
00:00:47
Rich
Aloha and welcome to episode 510 of the 303 Endurance Podcast. We are your hosts, coaches Rich Soares, coaches April Spilde and coach Lauren Brown. Thanks for joining us for another week of coaching questions, get gety get gritty tips, workout wisdom, and man, we are going to turn up the heat with this episode.
'Thank God I'm Not Racing Party' and Kona Excitement
00:01:07
Rich
Thank God I'm Not Racing Party is going on right now at Huggo's on the Beach.com.
00:01:12
Rich
And we are having our own. thank good Thank goodness I'm not racing party right here on the 303. Let's get ready. good Party goers, you ready to go?
00:01:23
April
Yes, the heat is on. Yeah, I cannot wait to see the legendary women of Iron Man descend on the Kona Coast, and we're ready to bring the fire this weekend.
00:01:35
Lauren Brown
I've been like this whole week, just watching my Instagram feed, like light up with Kona content. i cannot wait tomorrow to, to watch the women race. And I'm just as excited to be jumping into our conversation today.
00:01:52
Rich
Can you, I mean, I'm just curious, you guys, yeah we just had nice a month ago. got Kona right now, obviously men's race now women's race, but isn't there something just special about Kona?
00:02:03
Rich
Yeah.
00:02:04
Lauren Brown
Yeah, it's different vibe.
00:02:04
Rich
Right.
00:02:07
Rich
Uh, you know, I was, uh, in the intro, I said the, uh, thank God I'm not racing party. This is actually from, either 2017, 18 or 19, Bob Babbitt hosts the party at huggo's on the beach.
00:02:21
Rich
Everybody who's in the industry who he knows is you know typically invited. And you get a cap a cap like this with the, thank God I'm not racing logo.
00:02:31
Rich
And it has a bottle cap opener on the bill, which is actually kind of special. It all also, of course, advertises Challenge Athletes Foundation on the back. And you get medal that's
00:02:45
Rich
for attending the party.
00:02:46
April
That is a metal.
00:02:48
Rich
like
00:02:48
Lauren Brown
Dang.
00:02:48
Rich
This thing, this used this, oh, you can still see it.
00:02:49
Lauren Brown
Oh
00:02:51
Rich
It still has lights. You can still, the the battery's still working.
00:02:54
Lauren Brown
my God.
00:02:54
Rich
Can you see it?
00:02:56
Lauren Brown
Wait, is that from 2007?
00:02:56
Rich
I don't know how.
00:02:57
Lauren Brown
Is that what the year said on there? Oh, 2017.
00:03:00
Rich
2017, that battery's still working.
00:03:03
Lauren Brown
It's still impressive that that's still working.
00:03:06
April
That thing is the size of a pizza.
00:03:08
Rich
Oh, it's hilarious, isn't it?
00:03:09
Lauren Brown
It's a personal tie.
00:03:11
Rich
Look at the,
00:03:13
April
Look at that. That's a tchotchke if I ever saw one.
00:03:14
Lauren Brown
Oh my God.
00:03:15
April
Yeah.
00:03:17
Rich
You've got this little down here. It says it reads.
00:03:19
April
The dangling medallion on there too.
00:03:21
Rich
Yeah. TGINR fact number three. A metal. i got any of my glasses to read this. It's on but it's like small bronze. Hang on a second. We're going to get this.
00:03:35
Rich
I think, cause this is going to be gold here. Oh yeah. A medal and hat for not racing. I am so in that's the, and it's swim zero miles, bike zero miles, run zero miles and brag for the rest of your life.
00:03:52
Rich
So there you go.
00:03:54
April
That's pretty good.
00:03:55
Lauren Brown
Love it.
00:03:56
Rich
All right, let's roll folks.
Sponsor Highlight: Vespa Power
00:03:59
Rich
Let's give a shout out to our awesome show sponsor Vespa power Vespa power endurance helps you tap into steady clean energy. So you can stay strong, focused and in the zone longer.
00:04:10
Rich
Vespa is not fuel, but a metabolic catalyst that shifts your body to use more fat and less sugar as your fuel source. Vespa comes in CV 25 junior and concentrate less sugar, higher performance, faster recovery,
00:04:23
Rich
Check out the link here in the show notes. You can order your very first, you can get your first order for 20% off using the code 303ENDURANCE20. Check it out right there at Vespa Power.
00:04:36
Rich
April, over to you.
00:04:38
April
Yes. In today's show, we are turning up the temperature.
Training in Hot Conditions
00:04:41
April
We're going to be making a lot of heat references here, folks.
00:04:44
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:04:44
April
We've got an episode packed full of everything that you need to know about racing training and thriving in the heat. In our ask a coach segment, we'll cover how to train for hot and humid races, such as the race happening in Kona.
00:04:58
April
We have our get greedy tip, which is all about looking out for one another, both on the course and off Our tri-dot workout of the week will be brought to you by Coach Lauren, which focuses on building the all-important core strength.
00:05:12
April
And because we couldn't resist a little Kona flavor, we're wrapping it all up with our fiery hot Kona trivia is going to be an episode full of endurance,
April's 66-Day Pull-Up Challenge
00:05:23
April
energy, and Aloha spirit.
00:05:26
April
So we want you to grab your electrolytes. I have my pink prickly pear kombucha here. We're going to settle in and Rich is going to bring us our week's news and announcements over to you, Rich.
00:05:39
Rich
Thank you. And by the way, yeah, thank you for pointing out that you've got the the pink kombucha in honor of the women. And you can see in the background, Coach Lauren has her very fast looking bike with a very, very fast looking pink.
00:05:54
April
Hot pink.
00:05:55
Rich
I love it.
00:05:58
Rich
All right. Well, listen, before we get into our announcements and news, April, I've got a question for you. We've been following this for 66 days now.
00:06:06
April
Oh, I know.
00:06:06
Rich
Tell us, how did your 66-day push-up challenge go?
00:06:11
April
Oh my goodness. Well, it was pull-ups, my dear friend.
00:06:14
Rich
sorry. I said pull-ups.
00:06:15
April
you got push-ups on the mind.
00:06:16
Rich
I said push-ups.
00:06:17
April
Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:18
Rich
Well, I got push-ups in the notes.
00:06:19
Lauren Brown
Next is push-ups.
00:06:20
April
yeah
00:06:21
Lauren Brown
Next you have to push-ups, April.
00:06:22
Rich
That's right. This is one of those. This is a blooper that's going to stay.
00:06:27
April
I love it. I love it. Well, it felt like I was pulling the earth down because you all said before we got started that 66 days went by fast. It did not go by fast for me. I was counting every day.
00:06:40
April
But honestly, it was an excellent challenge. My total for all 66 was $241.
00:06:48
April
full unassisted pull-ups, which I'm so proud of no injuries, uh, no setbacks, all grit, but I am happy to have a little break.
00:07:01
Rich
That's awesome. So how did how did like where did you start? like When you first started this, how many could you do consecutively?
00:07:10
April
Three.
00:07:12
Rich
That's pretty good.
00:07:12
April
Could do three consecutive. Yes. I was, you know, and I don't take that lightly. I know there's a lot of folks that struggle with pull-ups and it's one of those things that you have to progress smartly.
00:07:24
April
And, for me, the point of this was to build the habit of doing one a day. So now that I am at the end of it, that's the goal is to continue with one.
00:07:35
April
and I set out a goal at the beginning of the year to be able to do 10 unassisted unbroken. So I'm still working towards that. The furthest I've gotten is nine, which I'm really happy with that.
00:07:50
April
but I do think I'm a little, yeah, yeah.
00:07:50
Rich
Let's round up
00:07:52
April
I do think I'm just a hair over trained right now. So the, I have been, only hitting four or five in, uh, rounds.
00:08:02
April
the most I've done in a single day was 25 though. So patting myself on the back for that because it's It's huge. i I haven't been this strong on that specific exercise ever.
00:08:14
April
So I achieved the goal and then some of what I set out to do with this challenge. So it just goes to show that consistency over time like that really does pay off.
00:08:23
Lauren Brown
And I'm going to take a guess that if you gave yourself like three days to chill, you'd bang out 10.
00:08:24
Rich
Congratulations.
00:08:29
April
No pull-ups I would.
00:08:30
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:08:31
April
Yeah. I believe that.
00:08:31
Lauren Brown
Yeah. For sure.
00:08:32
April
I believe that. And I'm about five pounds heavier now because I have taken my reset, right? Which I'm totally happy with, but that just means I'm pulling five extra pounds.
00:08:41
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:08:45
Lauren Brown
Mm-hmm.
00:08:46
April
That again, just feels like incredible strength. So yeah.
00:08:51
Lauren Brown
Amazing.
00:08:51
April
it It is one of those things.
00:08:52
Rich
All muscle.
00:08:53
April
Yeah. Yeah. It's one of those things where you need to realize, your strength is not linear. It is very much undulating and give yourself the grace to know that if you, uh, take it consistently in stride, you will see improvement. And that I feel like this has been the journey of, of a thousand small gains.
00:09:14
April
So 241.
00:09:16
Rich
Consistency is the key.
00:09:16
April
two hundred and forty one yeah
00:09:18
Rich
Yeah. Congratulations. That's, that's fantastic.
00:09:23
April
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the support guys.
00:09:24
Rich
Your, your swimming, your pool is going to get stronger now too in the swim.
00:09:30
April
I believe it.
00:09:30
Rich
Can't wait to see.
00:09:31
April
Like I can literally feel the lat here.
00:09:31
Rich
Yeah. Let's see how that next CSS test goes.
00:09:34
April
Like I can grab it.
00:09:35
Rich
There you go.
00:09:36
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:09:38
Rich
All right. Well, that's awesome, April. So, folks, let's get into the other announcements that we have. we're really excited. We've got another TriDot Pool School that's going to be right here in our backyard here in Colorado Springs at the Air Force Academy February 4th.
TriDot Pool School Announcement
00:09:56
Rich
7th and 8th of 2026. It is out there for registration. If you do register, let us know. We want we really would like to connect our listeners to the folks who show up at Pool School. So we hope to see you there.
00:10:08
Rich
Also, please tune in to our live webinar, October 21st, Staying Resilient for the Late Season Races. We're talking about, you know, we still have some more racing happening here.
00:10:20
Rich
at the end of the year. So we are want to talk about that, plus also how that prepares you for next year. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for.
Ironman World Championship Predictions
00:10:29
Rich
In the news, we course have the Ironman World Championship in Kona.
00:10:33
Rich
We are going to talk about some analysis and predictions. And We're going to break this into two segments, sub-segments. First, the analysis. And the analysis here is courtesy of trirating.com and Thorsten Rad's, this is Thorsten Rad's Kona report.
00:10:50
Rich
What I'm going to do, if you haven't, if you've never seen this, it is, how many pages is this PDF, guys? couple hundred pages, right?
00:10:59
April
I think it's like 96. No, I didn't.
00:11:01
Rich
Or nine, six, maybe it's maybe that's it it.
00:11:01
April
Yeah.
00:11:03
Rich
It seems like, okay, yeah, you're right.
00:11:04
April
After a long work week, it felt like a hundred feet, a couple hundred pages.
00:11:07
Rich
Yeah, it's been a long week.
00:11:08
Lauren Brown
like
00:11:09
Rich
75. Oh, no, no, no.
00:11:09
Lauren Brown
i
00:11:11
Rich
Hold on. If you actually scroll all the way down.
00:11:12
April
We're terrible.
00:11:13
Lauren Brown
Well, it's honestly though the women's racing, I thought was the the records was at the top and that was page 46.
00:11:16
Rich
me see.
00:11:18
Lauren Brown
forty six And I thought that was like the third section.
00:11:20
Rich
yeah Yeah. 96 pages. Okay. So it it there is so much information in here. We don't even dare to try to cover it all. In fact, we're going to just do something a little fun here. I've asked coaches April and coach Lauren to please pick something from the table of contents at random. And then what I will do is I will...
00:11:42
Rich
click on that here. i will jump to that section and I will do my best to kind of tee up the the topic and then we'll have a little discussion about it. You guys can navigate to the report with me. How about that?
00:11:53
April
Love it.
00:11:54
Lauren Brown
Sounds good.
00:11:55
Rich
All right. Who's going first?
00:11:57
Lauren Brown
I I'll take it away and share that we're going to go with the records for the women.
00:12:04
Rich
Ooh, I like this. All right. So we have, that is on page 41, right?
00:12:11
Rich
Records. Okay. Here you go, folks. All right. So female course records, just going to give you the the the overall Oh, I see here. Okay, perfect. All right.
00:12:23
Rich
So we're going to start with the current course records. Total time, 8-24-31, Lucy Charles Barkley, October 14th, 2023. current swim record held Lucy Charles Barkley in 2018 is sorry october fourteen twenty twenty three i the but the swim record current swim record helded by lucy charles barley in twenty eighteen the bike record by Daniel LaReef in 2018. That was, that was an amazing race. And then Haug now owns the run record.
00:12:53
Rich
Uh, so sorry. The swim record is a 48, 14 Lucy Charles Barkley. Uh, bike is a four 26, Oh seven. Holy smokes.
00:13:00
April
Jeez.
00:13:01
Rich
And the run a two 48, 23.
00:13:04
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:13:04
Rich
Wow. What do you guys think? Lucy Charles Barkley, 2018 and
00:13:12
Rich
Do you think she's still going to be at the top of her game in 2025?
00:13:17
Lauren Brown
I'm leaning towards yes.
00:13:20
Rich
i think you are based on your pick, I think.
00:13:23
Lauren Brown
You know, um'm pulling I'm pulling strong for for Lucy this year. I think she had quite a few setbacks, but she has raced very strongly recently. And I think she's going to come in with something to prove.
00:13:41
Lauren Brown
But she just can't, you know, as long as mentally she's there too, I think physically she's, she could have it in the bag.
00:13:48
April
100% agree. The mermaid is my number one pick.
00:13:52
Rich
Yeah, I saw that number one pick. And same with Lauren. So you guys both went Lucy, number one. I love it. That's why I you know i thought this would be a great great discussion.
00:14:02
Lauren Brown
See you, Lucy.
00:14:03
Rich
You guys, we're all Lucy fans. Come on. But yeah, that's awesome.
00:14:06
April
Yeah. Can't help ourselves.
00:14:11
Rich
Man, that 426 bike by Daniela Ryf. In fact, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, think...
00:14:20
Rich
God, was it 2018? One of the years, I think it was 2018, she got stung by jellyfish on the swim.
00:14:26
April
Ooh.
00:14:27
Rich
and And I remember she came out of the swim behind, like so significantly
00:14:31
Lauren Brown
I think that was that year.
00:14:34
Rich
And we were we were recording the podcast right there at the King Kamehameha Hotel. And i remember predicting, me predicting, that that's probably too bad for lucy charles for Daniela Reeves. She probably won't be able to come back from that.
00:14:52
Rich
And then we watched her like scream on the bike. And I was like, what? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:00
April
She was electrified.
00:15:01
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:15:01
Rich
yo Oh, bring in the sting.
00:15:02
April
Horrible pun. I'm sorry. Yes, she was lit that fire.
00:15:06
Rich
Oh.
00:15:07
April
yeah
00:15:10
April
You know, I'm full of puns, so I got to capitalize on that.
00:15:13
Rich
Love. Yeah. Love that. Love that. All right. you How about we go into some of the overall, real real quick, go through some of the other women
Historical Women's Records at Kona
00:15:23
Rich
who have set the course record here in Kona. So very first one, Lynn Lemire, 1255.38. 1255.38. Now that was before this thing gets, like, you know,
00:15:33
Rich
twelve fifty five thirty eight now that was before this thing gets you know like you know
00:15:37
Lauren Brown
That was in 1979. Yeah. Yep.
00:15:40
Lauren Brown
yeah
00:15:41
Rich
And then we've got the Kathleen McCartney, 1982. Now, that is the year that she beat julie Julie Moss in the in the Crawl of Fame.
00:15:50
April
Julie Moss, wow.
00:15:51
Lauren Brown
the
00:15:52
Rich
she In the last 50 yards or so, she just sort of walked right by her.
00:15:53
Lauren Brown
yeah
00:15:53
April
Mm-hmm.
00:15:59
Lauren Brown
ye
00:16:00
Rich
And then Paula Newby-Fraser, 86, 88, 89, 92. Wow, what run, then Daniela
00:16:05
April
Mm-hmm.
00:16:07
Lauren Brown
Yeah, it's
00:16:11
Rich
Pretty cool, huh?
00:16:14
Rich
and then finally lucy charles barkley breaks the record in twenty twenty three as we yeah as we previously previously mentioned
00:16:22
April
Mm-hmm.
00:16:23
Lauren Brown
yeah it's just, it's amazing.
00:16:23
Rich
pretty cool huh
00:16:25
Lauren Brown
Like superhuman. I just, I know they're like, beyond the realm of us age group, amateur athletes, but it is amazing just seeing those numbers and seeing what's possible with the human body, mind, grit, all the things. And when it all comes together, just seeing the progression of how things have changed over the years and, and again, just how superhuman they are.
00:16:53
Lauren Brown
It's amazing.
00:16:54
Rich
All right, Coach April, you wanna pick from the topics?
00:16:54
April
Yeah.
00:16:57
April
Heck yeah. I am super curious about the Let me go back up here.
00:16:59
Rich
What got?
00:17:05
Rich
Gotcha, gotcha.
00:17:05
April
It was.
00:17:05
Rich
Age of Female Kona Winners. This is page 46. Oh, this is really cool because it also comes with a scatter chart, which is pretty crazy.
00:17:15
April
Hmm.
00:17:15
Rich
I can't i won't do the scatter chart any justice, but, How about we do this? Here are a few observations. Paula Newby Frazier's eight wins occurs over a span of 10 years, 1986 to 1996. That's a 10-year span.
00:17:33
Rich
So we're going to look at her age here in a minute. Natasha Bodman, six wins over seven years, 98 to 2005. Always loved her smile. And then, of course, there are three serial winners on the female side. Chrissy Wellington, four wins between 2007 and 2011. Miranda Carfrae, try to coach Miranda three wins between and and then danielleie five wins between twenty fifteen and twenty twenty two
00:18:06
Rich
and Age of female Ironman world champions. We have them as young as 22, Kathleen McCartney. And oops, I just clicked on.
00:18:18
Rich
here we go. You just make one little small little click. 22 years of age, Kathleen McCartney and Sylvia. then oldest 38, Natasha Bodman 2005. Yeah.
00:18:28
Rich
punnto sp tos and then oldest thirty eight natasha bodman in two thousand five
00:18:36
Lauren Brown
That's awesome. I love seeing that.
00:18:38
Rich
Yeah. any other
00:18:39
April
Yeah.
00:18:40
Rich
Any others stand out to you guys as you look through the lists?
00:18:42
April
Yeah, just going back to Paula Newby Frazier. she was 24 1986 with her first win. And then she was, looks like she got second. so No, uh, 1996, she was 34 for her last win.
00:18:57
April
It's pretty amazing.
00:18:59
Lauren Brown
Mm-hmm.
00:18:59
April
10 year span.
00:19:01
Rich
Yeah, right?
00:19:02
Lauren Brown
And not that this is with an overall win, but just going back to the the female records and how Annie Hogg was like the that fastest run split.
00:19:03
Rich
Crazy.
00:19:10
Lauren Brown
And I think she was in her 40s when she did that, which is awesome. Because that was 2023 and she just retired.
00:19:15
April
I love that.
00:19:19
Lauren Brown
And she's I think she's in her 40s now. So that to me, when I was like, to cha literally whenever when how her age, when she was running...
00:19:22
April
Lauren, are you saying there's a chance?
00:19:30
Lauren Brown
those that time I was like, huh, she's getting faster. And I'm like, I still got a little bit of time.
00:19:40
April
love it.
00:19:42
Lauren Brown
i mean, I'm in my forties, but still.
00:19:43
Rich
there There's hope for me still.
00:19:45
April
Yeah, yeah.
00:19:45
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:19:46
Rich
That's awesome. You know, and you know what else is absolutely amazing is not just the age, but set some of these women have children. You know, they're mothers.
00:19:56
April
Yeah.
00:19:56
Rich
those So they're, you know, they got that going on too. Plus the body changes and, you know.
00:20:01
April
Oh, that actually reminds me, I read an interesting story.
00:20:02
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:20:05
April
I'm trying remember who published it. I think it was the Washington post, but, they were looking at science. Yale did a study on women and the endurance it takes to carry a baby for 40 weeks. Right.
00:20:20
April
and they compared it to a 40 week marathon. That's the amount of energy and endurance it takes to grow a baby. And I thought that was incredible, uh, to think, right.
00:20:28
Lauren Brown
yeah
00:20:32
April
That's the ultimate endurance test.
00:20:34
Lauren Brown
I believe it.
00:20:34
Rich
For sure.
00:20:37
April
Just a fun factoid for you.
00:20:38
Rich
No, yeah, no.
00:20:38
April
I'm full of them.
00:20:40
Rich
You keep it up, keep it up, keep it up. All right. So I am going to choose topic number three. and I have decided to change where where I was going to report on and actually just share what the predictions are from this report.
00:21:01
Rich
okay this is not you know This is just a report. This is a tri-ratings report. I don't know what the money is on all of this in Vegas, but he probably does. But anyway, here we go. So here, based on, again, this is highly disclaimed. This is just a statistical analysis based on past performance, and it is not an indicator of future performance.
00:21:24
Rich
But using you know all of the data that he has available to him, using things like the recency of performance and that sort of thing, he has put laid out his predictions. And they are as follows.
00:21:40
Rich
First place, Laura Phillip with a he doesn't have the yeah you got a total Matthews
00:21:55
Rich
and lucy charles barclay eight twenty eight thirty three with taylor nib and chelsea sidaro rounding out fourth and fifth just off the podium what do you guys think of those predictions I know what you guys think about who's number one, and it's not Laura Phillip.
00:22:12
Lauren Brown
Honestly, I mean, I literally, i feel like this is going to be an amazing race because there's just, yeah I mean, we have multiple people who have won world championships racing, people who have had really strong seasons up to this point and people who also want to prove something. So i i mean, i didn't actually look at his predictions and those are the top three that I had, but not in that specific order, but, uh,
00:22:41
Lauren Brown
don't think he's that far off Yeah.
00:22:43
April
Yeah, I would just say that the field is deep and it really could come down to any top 10, I would say, to be top three, in my opinion.
00:22:43
Rich
Coach April.
00:22:54
April
So I kind of went with my favorites.
00:22:59
April
Not that any of the women are not my favorites.
00:22:59
Rich
I love it.
00:23:01
April
I am cheering for all. And honestly, more, more I'm more excited to see if one of the contenders can break the record. That's more what I'm thinking is i would like to, to see, see that happen.
00:23:13
Rich
Ooh.
00:23:16
April
And if it happens to be Lucy again, that would be phenomenal.
00:23:21
Rich
Yeah, that might come down to what the forecast is too, in terms of how hot, because hot.
00:23:21
Lauren Brown
mean, it would be kind of,
00:23:23
April
Mm hmm.
00:23:26
April
Hoof.
00:23:26
Lauren Brown
it would be cool to see somebody that just comes out of like left field where we're like, hot damn, what the hell?
00:23:31
April
Yeah, I love that too.
00:23:32
Lauren Brown
Like that's like, yeah. So, so who knows anything is possible.
00:23:38
Rich
Yeah. It's almost guaranteed to be, you you just can't predict, right? It's guaranteed to be somebody, you know, he's just, you maybe didn't see Kevin, but you're right. and You know, those top five, it could be anybody in that top five could be, it could be any order, frankly. Yeah.
00:23:54
Rich
So anyway, good luck to all of them tomorrow. Plus a lot of a lot of these athletes are a little bit deeper here in the in the ranking, but a couple who like I'm particularly just, I've always followed and and just, i don't know, just always rooted for Sky Munch.
00:24:11
April
Mm-hmm.
00:24:11
Rich
She's ranked 12th place here.
00:24:11
Lauren Brown
Yep.
00:24:13
Rich
which you know she just has such a just such yeah big heart. Sarah True, which I mean, if you ever you know if you've been following her career as long as I have, you know she was in the Olympics. she you know She's had some success in Kona, but she's also had some struggles in Kona. And I just hope she she has a great day.
00:24:38
Rich
It's interesting. She doesn't have bib number in this report. So I wonder if there's something to that. But anyway, I hope she has good day. Can see anybody else in here that you're fans of you want to give a shout out to?
00:24:50
April
Just Kat Matthews.
00:24:52
Rich
Yeah.
00:24:52
April
Rooting for Kat. Yep.
00:24:54
Lauren Brown
It would be nice see the podium.
00:24:54
Rich
All right.
00:24:55
Lauren Brown
Okay.
00:24:56
Rich
Well, we're gonna find out just a few short hours, folks. All right, so based on that, now we've kind of we've kind of tipped our hat on these predictions, but I'll go first. I actually put them in that order, in i just you know with lack of creativity and in time. I'm just like, I'm gonna be lazy and just go, odds on, if I was gonna go to the tables and in in the sports book in Vegas, that's what I would do.
00:25:24
Rich
Laura Phillip, first place. Kat Matthews, second. And Lucy Charles Barkley, one around the podium, third place.
00:25:30
April
Love it. I went with LCB first, Kat Matthews second, and then my my third is Taylor Nib.
00:25:37
Lauren Brown
And I went Lucy, Cat, Laura, but I have to say, I mean, I would i would love to see Taylor up on the podium because she's just great.
00:25:45
Rich
Right?
00:25:47
Lauren Brown
She's got fun energy, you know, but, but going say Lucy, Cat, Laura.
00:25:47
April
She's a riot, man.
00:25:52
Rich
Love it.
00:25:54
Rich
All right. Well, there you go. There's our picks. You know, we'll probably put a post out there, you know, after the fact, or we'll, you know, we'll just talk about our results next week. Right. We'll just play out, you know, what were the results? How'd we do? And let's have some fun.
00:26:06
Lauren Brown
Okay.
00:26:06
Rich
All right.
00:26:07
April
Yeah. Awesome. Now we're going to go into our ask a coach section, but first let's bring in our sponsor. That is grit to greatness, endurance coaching.
00:26:18
April
As we know, numbers don't lie as we just did a whole deep dive on this analysis and course records and ages. It's been awesome. Awesome. Neither does progress. That's why Grit to Greatness Endurance Coaching has teamed up with TriDot and RunDot, the platforms that turn your training data into smarter workouts and better results.
00:26:39
April
We want you to thank custom workouts, real-time analytics, and no wasted effort. You can sign up through our coach links in the show notes to get a free trial and then keep rolling for as low as $14.99 a month.
00:26:53
April
If you love geeking out on data, I know there's some data nerds in here or just love the idea and the satisfaction of improvement.
00:27:04
April
Please click the link in our show notes to get started today.
00:27:07
Rich
Awesome. All right. Well, we are swinging into the Ask a Coach section and we are really excited about this. This is really on topic.
Training Tips for Hot and Humid Conditions
00:27:17
Rich
We are going to talk about how to train for hot and humid weather.
00:27:21
Rich
Kona is not it's not like any other Ironman. I'm here to tell you, I've been out there. I've run from the energy lab. It is a crucible. The course is brutal, not because of the elevation or terrain, but because of the elements.
00:27:34
Rich
90 degree heat, high humidity, and relentless crosswinds on the Queen K. It's tough. It is brutal. So what we want to do is, you know, this isn't the only hot and humid race. Ironman Texas, you know, not so much Cozumel, but you know, it's pretty warm and toasty.
00:27:54
Rich
Florida, right? You name them. There's lots of them. Heck, even Milwaukee this year was hot and humid. So this is a real key thing to be able to do, and that is to be able to help your body make the adaptations that you can be, that you can have so that you can actually tolerate the heat and humidity better. And some of that is going to be uncomfortable, but we're going to do this. We're going to take you through this in terms of the timing, how to how to simulate, how to hydrate, and a few other tips.
00:28:22
Rich
and we're going to take turns rolling through this. I'm going to just start with starting early. You want to start this process. You don't need to be doing this all summer, right? If you have an October race like Kona, you don't need to start doing this in July, you know, even though it's hot.
00:28:36
Rich
You really can start doing this about two to three weeks before your race day. The adaptations take time. You can't you can't just do this in two to three days. So, you know, get out there three weeks ahead of this.
00:28:48
Rich
But, you know, what's going to happen during this process is you're going to get, your sweat rate is going to learn how to adapt and and get faster. but You want to be measuring that, by the way, measuring your sweat rate as you prepare so you know exactly what you're losing.
00:29:03
Rich
More on that topic another day. plasma volume will expand. So this is going to, again, give you more more blood to get to more spaces when it's hot because you know the you're going to be trying to cool your your your body down by, you know your body trying to cool itself down by getting blood to the surface so that it can cool down.
00:29:23
Rich
Now, here's where where you're going to run into a trouble with trouble with that is that the humidity. So you got to practice the humidity too because Heat in dry and heat in humidity are different. The wet bulb of effect, which is basically when you get to humidity of about 100%, there's no, but the higher that gets, the less evaporation that you get. So you you lose the cooling effect.
00:29:46
Rich
So that means you have to come up with other techniques to cool because, know, it's not the same as, uh, as hot and dry. So, uh, so you, you, you want to be, uh, watching your, that's one of the reasons you want to make this adaptation. And then, you've got to watch your core temperature and have techniques for keeping it down.
00:30:03
Rich
So practicing this ahead of time, is going to help those, uh, your body make these adaptations and be ready by race day. So, April.
00:30:14
April
Yeah, that's really good coach. Rich. I've not heard that term wet bulb effect. I'm going to check that out. but that's a really good reminder about humidity because it's a totally different beast.
00:30:24
April
So rolling further into this, getting ready is actually practicing simulating the heat or the environment that you will be in. If you don't live in a hot climate,
00:30:37
April
You can absolutely simulate through a couple of different ways. There's one of training indoors by adding layers. Thinking about that, I'm trying to like imagine myself putting a sweater on and how terrible that would be, or layers of spandex.
00:30:55
April
Anyway, but yeah, turn on a space heater. This sounds like straight torture. But yeah, okay. Anyway, simulating the heat by also using sauna sessions. You can do this post-workout for 20 to 30 minutes. That also sounds like pure hell.
00:31:14
April
I'm sorry, y'all. I'm a cold weather fan. So again, this is stretching outside my comfort zone. Another thing is, yeah, thank you.
00:31:21
Rich
You're doing great.
00:31:23
April
Doing indoor trainer rides without a fan to mimic heat stress. That is very, very good. And then for your hydration strategy, you want to practice with your race day hydration plan, including how many, how much electrolyte you need, knowing your sweat rate as coach Rich shared, and then tracking pretty much how much fluid you need per hour based on that rate.
00:31:49
April
And as you get more and more acclimated, that will more than likely change. So you want to be consistent, consistent with the measuring and understanding that this, this is a specific strategy for this specific climate.
00:32:03
Lauren Brown
I just have to say, I am like opposite April and am so much better in the heat that like I today sat in the sauna for 30 minutes. I did 15 minutes, dipped in the cold plunge for like 10 seconds and went back in for 15 minutes.
00:32:13
April
Oh, moved
00:32:18
Lauren Brown
And I was like, I don't get, I know that really was like, Oh, my timer went off.
00:32:18
April
but I would switch that, Lauren. I would switch that.
00:32:23
Lauren Brown
I was want to stay in here a little bit longer, but I guess I'll get out. So for me, I'm like, that sounds glorious.
00:32:30
April
the
00:32:31
Lauren Brown
But anyway, shifting gears a little bit. So, you do also want, You want to monitor core temperature, which Coach Rich was saying before, and use RPE.
00:32:45
Lauren Brown
So focus on your rate of perceived exertion. So when you're doing this and your your heart rate to guide intensity, you want to keep in mind that the heat is naturally going to elevate your heart rate. So you're not chasing lots or pace blindly. a good practice, actually, when you're in your trip like your regular training, try to think about what does the RPE feel like when you're in certain zones and and know that
00:33:18
Lauren Brown
Focus on then what your RPE feels like when you're training in the heat and don't worry about what the the like the watts are in that moment. So yeah trying to just get a little bit more dialed into what is my RPE right now if I'm pumping out 200 watts.
00:33:33
Lauren Brown
And then if you know your watts are technically supposed to be, let's say 200 watts, remember what your RPE is. So hope that makes sense. But sometimes just dialing in in regular conditions can help translate to when you're training in the heat.
00:33:45
Lauren Brown
And stay, stay mentally cool, even though your body is physically hot as hell. Right. So you can totally, you can practice mental strategies for staying calm when your body feels hot.
00:34:00
Lauren Brown
I do the same thing if I'm doing a cold plunge and I try to focus on my, my breath, try to visualize. So same deal when you're feeling overheated and you're feeling stressed out, try to visualize calming yourself down. Try to think about your heart rate. See if you can also get that to steady a little bit.
00:34:19
Lauren Brown
And again, cooling techniques. I am always a fan of ice down my shirt, water on my head, and have those strategies in mind as well for when you're racing in the heat.
00:34:32
Rich
Yeah. Being able to cool yourself down, especially in the humidity, when you're not getting the evaporation, that is like having those techniques and practicing them and knowing that they work for you. you know, you know, and boy, the ice is just money when it goes down the kid, isn't it?
00:34:47
Lauren Brown
Mm-hmm. Yep. Huh?
00:34:50
Rich
I like to run with ice cubes in my hands. You know just having them in your hands, just like, you know, makes you feel cool.
00:34:56
Rich
Awesome. yeah i was just thinking, uh, April, as you were talking about the hydration strategy and knowing your sweat rate, what we should do in the newsletter this week is maybe have a downloadable for folks.
00:35:08
April
Ooh. who
00:35:08
Rich
Uh, we can actually put a downloadable out there. And so if you're listening to this, uh, go to, grit to greatness, endurance, and subscribe to our newsletter because that's where that newsletter comes out. So just a little plug.
00:35:22
Rich
Awesome. Bonus question here, because it is Kona, the winds can be brutal on the bike. The last 30 miles are the worst. But the question here is is, there a way to prepare for the winds with aero wheels? So great question.
00:35:37
Rich
Kona's crosswinds are legendary, especially out near Javi. Here's how to prepare. So practice, practice, practice, practice. Put those race wheels on. Don't wait till race week to do this.
00:35:48
Rich
Learn, go, if it's a windy day, get out there. And if it's safe, I mean, don't, don't blow, you don't push your luck, obviously. But, you know, dip your toes into this, you know, find a slightly windy day, get out there. You want to be relaxed when you're riding.
00:36:02
Rich
If you have a nice, steady, consistent wind, you know, leaning, you might find leaning into it is the key, which, you know, that actually can help you just kind of counter steer a little bit.
00:36:13
Rich
if you need to, you're not comfortably down an arrow. you know, if you're a little lighter of a rider or those front wheel, have front wheels, a little deeper, just come up on the hoods. you know, uh, get out of the, you know, uh, get out of that lower position and, uh, just to have a better handle on the, uh, on the steering wheel. But again, stay nice and relaxed.
00:36:30
Rich
Shallower front wheels will help. of course, Kona and Cozumel are the two races that don't allow a disc at all on the back because of the crosswinds.
00:36:41
Rich
So key is confidence through practice. Kona is a beast, but it's also a celebration of everything that we love about this sport, the grit, the community, the beauty, and the challenge.
00:36:52
Rich
So there you go. There are your, that's your ask a coach section for the week.
00:36:57
April
Excellent job coach.
00:36:59
Rich
And coaches.
00:37:01
April
Yeah. Appreciate the, the deep dive on heat training, even though it sounds like peer of murder, you can have it.
00:37:01
Rich
Woohoo.
00:37:09
April
No, no, it's actually, that's so smart. speaking of smarts, we're going to go into our get gritty tip for this week. And I have to give a little shout out. It is a happy belated birthday to our coach rich here.
00:37:26
April
who's inspired this Get Gritty tip. We are going to be diving into the October 6th meditation from the Daily Stoic. And it actually is perfect. Yes, Rich has got it open with me here.
00:37:39
April
It's kind of perfect for thinking about Kona. If you are one of those folks that have kind of watched as your friends get qualified and then maybe you didn't,
00:37:49
April
It can be hard to swallow that little bit of humble pie.
00:37:52
Rich
Oh.
00:37:53
April
So today we're going to be talking about how we can look out for each other, celebrate others wins without it stealing our joy. So I'm going to go over actually coach rich.
00:38:04
April
I would love since you have it open, I'm going to put you on the spot.
00:38:06
Rich
oh
00:38:07
April
So would you mind reading October 6 meditation?
00:38:11
Rich
Do you want me to read the quote from Seneca or just the yeah the the translated?
00:38:14
April
I would know. Please do please, please read.
00:38:16
Rich
Okay. All right. All right. I love this one. I did read this on my birthday. it's in It's in keeping with nature to show our friends affection and to celebrate their advancement as if it were our very own.
00:38:30
Rich
For if we don't do this, virtue, which is strengthened only by exercising our perceptions, will no longer endure in us. Watching other people succeed is one of the toughest things to do, especially if we are not doing well ourselves.
00:38:44
Rich
In our hunter-gatherer minds, we suspect that life is a zero-sum game, that for someone to have more means that some of us end up with less. But like all parts of the philosophy, empathy and selfishness are a matter of practice.
00:38:58
Rich
Practice. As Seneca observed, it's possible to learn to rejoice in the successes of others and be moved by their and b moved by their every failure. This is what a virtuous person does.
00:39:11
Rich
They teach themselves to actively cheer for others, even in cases where that might come at their own expense, and to put aside jealousy jealousy and possessiveness.
00:39:23
Rich
You can do that too.
00:39:24
April
Mm. Oofta. Yes. So one of Seneca's teaching, huh?
00:39:28
Rich
I was blocking the camera.
00:39:30
April
huh
00:39:31
Rich
I was blocking the camera with the book, I think.
00:39:32
April
I love it. It was actually kind of perfect. I could just see your eyeballs over the back of the book.
00:39:34
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:39:37
April
That should be our podcast title for this week.
00:39:42
April
Okay. Going into our get gritty tip based on Seneca's words of wisdoms
Get Gritty: Celebrating Others' Victories
00:39:47
April
here. Seneca reminds us that when we don't rejoice in others' growth or success, that virtue within us weakens.
00:39:57
April
And in the world of sport, especially endurance sports like triathlon, this lesson is gold. Too often we slip into comparing ourselves with others, focusing on their PRs, their podiums, their breakthroughs, and we forget our own journey.
00:40:14
April
But celebrating someone else's victory doesn't have to diminish ours. It reinforces your own character. It builds community and strengthens resilience. So when you genuinely applaud a teammate, a rival, or someone you admire, something inside of you shifts.
00:40:31
April
You reaffirm abundance versus scarcity. You internalize that someone else's success is not a threat, but an invitation to raise your own bar. And as the Stoics would say, virtue is exercised, not just admired.
00:40:49
Rich
Love it. You know, these are the the reflection questions and I'm going to turn a little bit, a little of these around and and make it more of a challenge. So number one, can you think of a moment when celebrating someone else's success lifted you instead of making you feel less than?
00:41:05
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:41:07
Rich
I want you to turn this into an action. I want you to go like, write this down and like tonight, you know, or today, you know, think of a moment and then write that down. It's a, it's a really good, you know way of practicing this, this, uh, this, uh, you know practice, you know,
00:41:25
April
Mm-hmm.
00:41:26
Rich
How do you help others shift from comparison to community, fostering encouragement rather than competition? Again, write it down. think of it Think of a time that you've done this or think of a time that you will do this.
00:41:39
Rich
Have you ever held back from congratulating someone in person or online because of an internal hesitation? and why i admit, you know, I'm like, you know, I, you know, like, know, sometimes it's part of the social media, you know, you just, you know, it's, you know, the algorithms are out there to, you know, you know, bring attention to, you know, people's successes and to things that cause controversy, you know?
00:42:07
Rich
Yeah.
00:42:07
April
Yeah, or yeah, the highlight reel.
00:42:07
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
00:42:10
April
Look how so many people are doing so much better than you.
00:42:11
Rich
Yeah.
00:42:14
Lauren Brown
yeah
00:42:14
Rich
Yeah, great. Exactly. Be honest with yourself. Really reflect on this honestly. at the the more the The more honest you can be with yourself, the more you'll get out of this.
00:42:24
Rich
And then how can we, as coaches and athletes, create an environment where every athlete feels celebrated? I really love this question. Even when they are not winning, And that, you know, that's actually really important.
00:42:37
Rich
Just, you know, we talked about this last week with Mike Riley, you know, even if you're not winning, you're starting, you know?
00:42:47
Rich
All right.
00:42:48
Lauren Brown
And this just a real quick aside, i used to always tell myself something along these lines because it's so easy to get caught up in comparison, even if like we're saying this, I'm sure people will still hopefully catch themselves, but I always just try to remind myself that like, just because somebody's smarter than me doesn't mean I'm stupid.
00:43:10
Lauren Brown
Just because someone's prettier than me doesn't mean I'm ugly. Just because someone's faster than me doesn't mean I'm slow. Like all those things, it's like, somebody else's wins have no bearing on you as a person. It's only about them.
00:43:24
Lauren Brown
And that happens a lot too, even just with like but the way somebody treats you. That has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with the other person. So it's, I just, I love the whole idea behind this.
00:43:36
Lauren Brown
Just wanted to share that before I give y'all, an action. So this week, along with the reflection questions slash slash actions that Coach Rich gave, consciously look for at least one victory, big or small, in another athlete. Again, whether it's a personal record, they've been consistent in their training, you've noticed that they've been improving, maybe somebody that you follow or that you're friends with is coming back from an injury and you want to cheer them on,
00:44:08
Lauren Brown
reach out, celebrate, send a message, post a shout out. Like if somebody posts something that resonates with you and you're like, heck yeah, I'm super proud of you. Share it to your story.
00:44:20
Lauren Brown
Let other people see it and love on that person. All right. Cause when you do, you'll notice how it shifts you and how your mindset, your energy, your connection will shift.
00:44:34
Lauren Brown
And with that, we're going to shift it to the workout of the week.
00:44:35
Rich
Oh yeah. That's awesome.
00:44:38
Lauren Brown
But no, I honestly, Coach April, I love that get gritty tip.
00:44:43
April
Yeah. You some summarize it beautifully coach Lauren with the actionable items and the understanding that this is just a little bit of human nature and you don't know what the other person is going through.
00:44:43
Rich
I just,
00:44:58
April
You don't know their frame of mind. So whether it's criticism or it is your personal insecurity, right? Pay attention to it.
00:45:08
April
And if it happens, Yes, be aware of it, but also take the next step to change it. You know, look for the thing that you can find gratitude in or acknowledge, hey, that person worked very hard to achieve that thing.
00:45:23
April
It doesn't mean that my accomplishments are diminished.
00:45:23
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:45:26
April
So beautifully, beautifully said.
00:45:29
Rich
And I just want to say, i really think that it's, this is such a great segment for us because for, for our audience who we are trying to share this tip for, hopefully it is, it is a reflective thing, this, this segment, but it is for us as well. I, you know, i get so much out of this, just, you know, us having to have this, you us having this conversation, you know, every week, you know, is always recentering. So thanks for the, the get gritty tip.
00:45:55
April
Thanks for bringing it coaches.
00:45:55
Lauren Brown
All right, are ready for the workout of the week?
00:45:59
Rich
Let's go.
00:45:59
April
Yep. We got our mental game on now.
00:46:00
Rich
strength
00:46:01
April
Let's get our physical game.
Building Functional Core Strength
00:46:02
April
Yeah.
00:46:02
Lauren Brown
Okay, yes. And so for the workout of the week, we are going to heat up our core, right? We're going to light it up. So core strength is the focus for today. And as some of us, not all of us, I know we got our late season racing, but some of us are shifting into our off season. This really is the perfect time to rebuild the muscle instability that you may have lost during race season.
00:46:27
Lauren Brown
really sort of lay down the f fat the foundation for the months ahead. It's natural when you're in race mode that strength training isn't as front and center, but now's a good time to shift that.
00:46:40
Lauren Brown
And one area that can cause confusion sometimes, but it's absolutely essential is your core. And so when we say core strength, we're not talking about your six pack abs. We're not just talking about this rectus abdominis, right? Your core includes everything from your hips up to your shoulder. So that entire midsection For example, your glutes, your lats, the deep stabilizers, your spinal erectors, those are all part of your core musculature.
00:47:07
Lauren Brown
And for us as triathletes, strengthening those muscles means stability in the water, power on the bike and efficiency on the run. So this week's workout It's designed to build functional core strength using full body, multi-joint movements, multi-planar movements that teach your body to move as one connected system.
00:47:27
Lauren Brown
Whether you're getting back into the gym, if you're looking to level up your strength routine, this session will meet you where you're at. Plus you can do it all with a set of dumbbells. So it's not anything crazy that you're going to have to even go to the gym for. You can do it at home.
00:47:40
Lauren Brown
I'm going to pass it off to coach April to take us through the warm-up of the
00:47:47
April
Excellent. So before jumping into the main set, we want to make sure to spend a few minutes warming up properly. The warmup. Isn't just about getting your heart rate up. It's about activating the right muscles and preparing your body to stabilize and move efficiently. Just like coach Lauren said, there's a lot going on.
00:48:05
April
So we want to make sure that we are good and warmed up. It helps wake up our nervous system and improves mobility and and helps prevent injury. Plus I think it really helps with getting your mind right before you get into the actual main set. So when you think of the warmup, I want you to focus on doing, at least two rounds of the next set of exercises.
00:48:25
April
You can consider doing three, uh, 30 seconds per move or 10 reps each. So the first exercise we're going to do to warm up the core is one of my favorites.
00:48:36
April
It's the cat cow stretch, and this is a simple spinal flow, which increases mobility and awareness through your spine, helping you maintain posture on the bike and keeping that upright form on the run.
00:48:51
April
there's, uh, here a note of five cycles. So five cycles being one cat stretch, one cow stretch for the the spine. And then you're going to move through that.
00:49:01
April
I would say that 10 rep each. Then you have the bird dog. This is another one of my favorites too, for a classic activation move for your glutes, your lats, and your spinal stabilizers.
00:49:15
April
It builds cross body coordination, just like the rhythm of swimming or running. And then you have glute bridges, uh, looking to do 10 or to 12 reps on each side, which helps activate your glutes and hamstrings, the powerhouses behind every swim, kick, pedal stroke and run stride.
00:49:35
April
And then we have Superman holds, 20 to 30 seconds each strengthens the spinal erectors and the postural muscles.
00:49:40
Lauren Brown
Thank you.
00:49:44
April
Think of this as your reminder to keep your tall chest and neutral spine during all three disciplines. And then finally in our warmup set, we have 90 nineties for i rotational hip mobility.
00:49:58
April
And this is great for loosening up your hips and improving rotational control would help, which helps with smoother transitions and more efficient running mechanics.
00:50:10
Rich
Love that. Those happy hips. Let's keep those hips nice and happy doing happy hips. That's what, uh, that's what coach Aaron Carson calls them. Happy hips. All right.
00:50:19
Rich
Yeah. Let's get into our main set here, folks. So this is, we're going to call this your, your main set.
00:50:22
Lauren Brown
So
00:50:26
Rich
You can either perform this as like one giant set, like, you know, move from one exercise to the next with minimal rest, or you can break them up into smaller chunks or smaller sets, like, you know, two to four rounds, depending on your fitness level and the time available. You know, like I like to do these like a minute on, a minute off, a minute on, a minute off.
00:50:47
Rich
So the goal here, the focus is on quality over quantity. You're you're trying to keep your core and breathing engaged throughout every one of these movements. we're going to start first set A with a deadlift or dumbbell or barbell, six to eight reps.
00:51:03
Rich
The deadlift trains your entire posterior chain, glutes, hamstrings, and spinal stabilizers while teaching you to brace your core under load. This the strength directly transfers to the power you generate on the bike and the drive phase of your run stride. So really important one here.
00:51:20
Rich
Redegade row, this is this combines a you know, think about 10, 5 per arm. This move combines a high plank and a row, forcing your body to resist rotation.
00:51:32
Rich
That anti-rotation strength is exactly what keeps your torso steady when you're pulling through the water or maintaining your form your form late in the run And then you've got the push-up to shoulder tap, 10 to 12 reps of this.
00:51:46
Rich
It's a blend of upper body strength and interior core control. Each time you lift a hand, your obliques and transverse abdominals fire to keep your hips stable, training the same control you're going to need in the water when holding arrow or holding arrow position on the bike.
00:52:03
Rich
So there you go with your main set.
00:52:06
Lauren Brown
All right. And if you want to include the next three exercises I'm going to share as the giant set, or again, you can break it up and have this be set B in your workout. So the next three exercises, you're going to move into a down dog, which is a common yoga position. We all know is you're going to flow from a down dog to a single arm reach.
00:52:26
Lauren Brown
It's a great dynamic stretch that improves mobility through your shoulders, spine, and the hamstrings. This move also builds awareness of trunk rotation and keeps your upper body flexible for swimming and climbing on the bike.
00:52:39
Lauren Brown
So again, down dog, you're going to shift into a high plank position and one arm is going reach forward. The second move is single leg glute bridge. You can also do a hip thrust and we'll do eight reps per side. So single leg glute bridge, similar to what we do in the warmup, but with one leg, it strengthens each hip individually, which is great to do single sided movements. So you can identify if you have an imbalance from one side to the other, maybe you're coming even off of an injury. This will help with
00:53:11
Lauren Brown
balancing things back out so help correct imbalances that often show up in endurance athletes it also teaches your glutes and deep core to stabilize the pelvis which is essential for smooth balanced running form third move or sixth move however you're doing this is your half kneeling single arm overhead press so eight to ten reps per side it is a total body stability exercise disguised as a shoulder press. So you're gonna be in that half kneeling position.
00:53:41
Lauren Brown
The stance locks your pelvis and demands engagement from the glutes and the obliques and transverse abdominus to resist rotation as you press the dumbbell overhead. It also it mimics the same control you need when generating power through your arms in the swim and maintaining posture on the bike, but it also directly supports efficient run form.
00:53:59
Rich
Thank you.
00:54:01
Lauren Brown
So something to keep in mind when you run, your core works to control rotation as your arms and legs move in opposite directions. The half kneeling press trains that same diagonal connection. The glute on one side and the opposite shoulder are working together, helping you drive forward with more power while keeping your upper body relaxed.
00:54:22
Lauren Brown
Over time, it reinforces posture and rotational control that lead to smoother and more efficient running mechanics.
00:54:30
Lauren Brown
of course.
00:54:31
April
when you were talking about giant sets that spoke to my power lifting heart, brought me back to, uh, my, uh, hardcore strength training days. This is and excellent, excellent workout.
00:54:44
April
and as we wrap that up, we want to make sure that we do not skip the cool down, after all of that, uh, intense core work, we want to give our muscles the opportunity to stretch and cool down from that work.
00:55:00
April
So after you finish, we want to make sure that we bring it home with the cool down. This is where you bring your body back to neutral. restore range of motion and calm your nervous system, which is a huge part of this work too, is the the nervous system firing and then being able to unload here.
00:55:20
April
All essential for recovery and long-term performance. So we're going to kind of go back to a couple of the exercises that we did in the warmup. starting with the cat cow stretch again, this is going to help decompress the spine and improve mobility after loading and also calming that nervous system.
00:55:39
April
And then we're going to go into happy hips with controlled rotations. So this is the 90 nineties open up the hips and restores internal and external rotation, a big win after glute and leg work.
00:55:53
April
And then, thread the needle or a thoracic spine opener. This loosens up the, or loosens up the mid back, which often gets stiff from cycling and swimming, man. I can feel that right now.
00:56:06
April
I want to go do a little thread the needle after this. especially after all those pull-ups guys, and then we have world's greatest stretch, the perfect full body, uh, finisher, which opens up the hip flexors, hamstrings, and the T spine.
00:56:12
Lauren Brown
Oh, you need it.
00:56:20
April
And then we have some diaphragmatic breathing or box breathing for one to two minutes. This slows your heart rate, encourages recovery and reinforces good breathing mechanics and And remember, your diaphragm is a part of your core too. So that is our cool down for this workout.
00:56:39
Rich
Awesome. What a great workout guys. Listen, you know, as you were listening to that, the you know, it strength training, you know, it's always the thing that always gets left. You know, if you know, if you have three things for the day, you know, it's typically the first thing that I see that gets you know forgotten about because it doesn't seem like, you know, the the the race is going to be swim, bike, run.
00:57:03
Rich
so where does you know the strength come in? Strength is absolutely foundational as an endurance athlete. It's actually probably the most important thing, honestly, because without that functional core strength, you just, you won't progress. So building it now means you're going to be a lot better, stay a lot more resilient. You're going a lot stronger, have more power in everything next season. So really take this opportunity to really focus on this. Take time with each movement, focus on control and posture, and think of this as investing in how efficiently and confidently you will move when it's time to race again next year.
00:57:39
April
It is that time, you two.
00:57:42
Lauren Brown
We made it.
00:57:43
April
We made it to the fun segment. We are at the the corner of bringing it at home.
00:57:46
Rich
Looks like we made it.
00:57:49
April
Yes.
00:57:50
Lauren Brown
think
00:57:51
April
Oh my goodness. I had fun getting ready for this.
Kona-Themed Trivia and Conclusion
00:57:55
April
This fun segment is all about hot Kona trivia. So...
00:58:00
April
Since we're talking all about the heat of Kona, I thought I'd bring a little extra sizzle to you with some trivia. This is where endurance meets absurdity, as we always do with the fun segment.
00:58:10
Lauren Brown
I'm ready.
00:58:11
April
And the lava fields meet laughter. So we're putting our Kona knowledge to the test. from cheeky pre-race traditions to epic finish line battles. we're going to grab our sunscreen, keep hydrating that like we have tonight.
00:58:26
April
And, uh, we're going to see who can survive the trivia furnace without melting down. Are you both ready for this?
00:58:33
Lauren Brown
ready
00:58:34
Rich
Ring the heat.
00:58:35
April
Bring the heat. Okay. So this is multiple choice. My first question for you both is two days before the Ironman World Championships, athletes and fans gather for one of Kona's most legendary traditions, the underpants run.
00:58:53
April
But what inspired this cheeky 1.2 mile jog? Was it A, protest against athletes wearing Speedos in restaurants and shops? B, a charity fundraiser started by local lifeguards?
00:59:07
April
C, a warm-up event for nervous first-time racers? Or D, a marketing stunt for a Hawaiian underwear brand?
00:59:15
Lauren Brown
gonna go with B.
00:59:16
April
Okay, Lauren's going with B, which is a charity fundraiser started by a local lifeguards.
00:59:22
Rich
So I've been there for this.
00:59:25
April
Of course you have.
00:59:25
Rich
so
00:59:26
April
Ha!
00:59:26
Rich
i've I have the background on this and it is, it is in fact, a and it is absolutely fricking nuts. I mean, hundreds of people, hundreds and hundreds of people in their underwear.
00:59:37
Lauren Brown
but What was
00:59:40
Rich
It's crazy.
00:59:41
Lauren Brown
what was a
00:59:42
April
A was a protest against athletes wearing in Speedos and restaurants.
00:59:43
Rich
oh
00:59:46
April
You want to give a little more backstory there, Rich?
00:59:48
Lauren Brown
sorry
00:59:50
Rich
Well, yeah back in the eighties, the speedos were kind of a thing for the guys. Uh, you know, there's, uh, several, in fact, even, Mark Allen, yeah ran in a speedo and, you know, so it was just kind of the thing that they did. In fact, there are all sorts of little things that they would do. you know, like you would do it so that you had the kind of, uh, the range of motion, you didn't have anything restricting you. So it kind of just felt a little cooler. it was kind of the the vibe, I think.
01:00:21
Rich
and anyway, yeah, the locals, I think we're just like kind of disgusted by it.
01:00:27
April
Yeah, we call those banana hammocks, nut huggers.
01:00:29
Rich
Yeah.
01:00:32
April
Yeah, sorry. You did say we're going nuts earlier, so I had to pull it out there.
01:00:37
Lauren Brown
All right.
01:00:37
Rich
Pretty good.
01:00:39
April
All right. Yes, that is correct. It was a protest against athletes wearing Speedos in restaurants and shops. What started as a lighthearted jab at overzealous tourists turned into a beloved charity run celebrating humor, humility, and the community spirit. That is the underpants run.
01:00:59
April
All right. Number two. Actually, you know what? Rich, you already stole this answer. Okay.
01:01:06
Rich
Sorry.
01:01:08
April
Oh, it's okay. It was true or false. Disc wheels are allowed on the Kona course and Rich expertly shared that they are not, they are not allowed because of the extremely strong and unpredictable crosswinds.
01:01:16
Lauren Brown
Yep.
01:01:21
April
Race organizers have banned them for safety reasons as they can act like a sail and cause athletes to lose control. So number three, What nickname has the infamous energy lab earned from athletes battling it out on the Kona run? Is it a, the wall, B the gust zone, C death row or D lava lane?
01:01:48
Lauren Brown
I'm both the a the wall.
01:01:51
April
The wall. Okay.
01:01:52
Lauren Brown
Yeah.
01:01:52
April
Rich.
01:01:54
Rich
The wall is like coming into an oven.
01:01:57
Lauren Brown
oh
01:01:57
Rich
and you like you're like if you were like to like put your face in an oven, almost you feel like like they like the wall.
01:02:03
April
Yeah.
01:02:03
Rich
you know it's like It's too hot to get close to.
01:02:04
April
Yeah. It's a Pink Floyd song.
01:02:06
Lauren Brown
yeah
01:02:06
Rich
Yeah.
01:02:07
Lauren Brown
but
01:02:08
Rich
That's right.
01:02:08
April
You just hit a wall.
01:02:09
April
Yeah. Yeah. And it's also like the highest in radiation along the coast. Like it's, it's called the energy lab for that reason. yes, you both are right. The answer is the wall.
01:02:20
April
It's a combination of high temperatures, solar radiation, and fatigue from the previous swim and bike legs, making it a point of extreme difficulty where athletes can often feel like they can no longer continue.
01:02:34
April
Woofta.
01:02:35
Lauren Brown
OK.
01:02:35
April
It sounds like just a nightmare.
01:02:38
Lauren Brown
that
01:02:40
April
All right. Let's see if you can crack this one. All right. Number four. In what year did the men's and women's Ironman world championships begin splitting locations?
01:02:53
April
from Kona and nice, right? This, uh, the choices 2021, 2022, 2023, or 1995. Cause to throw that in there. twenty twenty two twenty twenty three or nineteen ninety five because i gotta throw that in there
01:03:03
Lauren Brown
1995. Final answer. wait, I'm like, 2021? I'm trying to think if it was like right COVID. What was it? It was 2020, 2021, 2023, or 1995. Oh, man. And now I'm like,
01:03:14
Lauren Brown
i think it was like right after covid
01:03:18
Lauren Brown
what was it was twenty twenty twenty twenty one twenty twenty three or nineteen ninety five
01:03:22
April
It was 21, 22, 23, 95. Well, you are both very close. It was 23.
01:03:25
Lauren Brown
oh man and i'm like
01:03:27
Lauren Brown
I wanted say 2021, but I'm going to say 2022. And 2023 2023. Oh, was that some reason? Yeah.
01:03:32
Rich
Yeah, I'm going to say 2022 also, although i've I've kind of lost track, but I know i know it wasn't 2021. Yeah,
01:03:41
Lauren Brown
and twenty twenty three
01:03:41
April
well you are both very close
01:03:43
Lauren Brown
twenty twenty three
01:03:43
April
it was twenty three
01:03:45
Lauren Brown
oh was that recently for some reason i
01:03:47
April
Yeah.
01:03:47
Rich
it's so funny. It seems like it's been longer than that, but yeah, I'm with you, Lauren.
01:03:49
Lauren Brown
yeah
01:03:52
Rich
Well, all right.
01:03:52
April
Since then, men's and women's worlds have alternated venues until 2026 with its triumphant return to Kona for both the men's and women's races.
01:04:03
April
Okay.
01:04:03
Lauren Brown
Thanks.
01:04:03
April
Last one. True or false. There's a small hill at mile 25.3 on the Kona run course, officially known as Mark and Dave Hill, named in honor of the legendary 1989 iron war. When Mark Allen and Dave Scott race side by side for nearly the entire day.
01:04:23
April
And Allen finally pulled ahead at this exact spot. Is this a thing true or false?
01:04:29
Lauren Brown
I'm going to say true, but I feel like it might be false. It might be one of those things where there's like one tiny nuanced information in there. I'm just going to say true though.
01:04:37
April
I could never set you up like that, Lauren. I don't know what you're talking about.
01:04:40
Rich
It wasn't 25.3.
01:04:41
April
Yeah.
01:04:42
Rich
It was 25.2.
01:04:45
Rich
It was at this end of the aid station, not that end of the aid station.
01:04:47
Lauren Brown
like
01:04:49
Rich
yeah It was true. I have watched this footage many, many times. I would you know i think I've told Coach the story. or coach april the story Uh, the last time I was out in Kona, we went to an event called the evening with champions. And we didn't know when we sat down at a table in the back is the three, three crew that, one of the other guests of honor was actually at our table and it was Mark Allen sitting next to me and they opened watching the scene of the iron more.
01:05:16
Rich
And this exact scene is like happening. And I got Mark Allen sitting right next to me. Who's not my coach. I'm like, I told I'm just like, I'm like, I'm geeking out so bad. I can't believe I'm watching this with you sitting right next to me.
01:05:29
April
Wow.
01:05:31
April
out
01:05:32
Lauren Brown
Awesome.
01:05:32
April
It is true. it is true. This iconic moment sealed of one of the greatest duels in endurance history with Alan winning his first Ironman world championship by just 58 seconds after more than eight hours of racing.
01:05:47
April
Woofta. that's a wrap on your spicy Kona trivia. Whether you nailed these answers with us or you got burned by the lava or the energy lab, you have officially earned some bragging rights here from the underpants run to Mark and Dave Hill. It's proof that Kona isn't just a race. It is culture.
01:06:07
April
It's a legend. Sometimes it's a comedy show in spandex and speedos back to you, rich.
01:06:15
Rich
That was exceptional. That was so much fun. What creativity. And honestly, those questions are were great questions. you know I feel very blessed to have had a chance to be out there and and learn some of these things.
01:06:24
April
I try. Thank you.
01:06:29
Rich
Uh, so anyway, awesome. Very cool. And hey you know, want to give you a big shout out. I don't know if people, if you, we don't, uh, you're going to, when you see our reels this week, uh, take a note of the really awesome grit to greatness polos that April has arranged for the coaches of the team. So thank you.
01:06:50
April
I'll be your interim Vanna White here. Yes, please.
01:06:55
Rich
Awesome. Folks, thanks for listening this week. Be sure to follow us at 303 Triathlon and at Grit to Greatness Endurance. Of course, please go to iTunes, give us a rating and a comment. We really do appreciate that.
01:07:06
Rich
And you stay tuned, train informed, and enjoy the endurance journey.