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Magic Moments
8 Plays3 months ago
#501 Part 2 TPS
Welcome
Welcome to Episode #501 of the 303 Endurance Podcast. We're your hosts Coaches Rich Soares and April Spilde. Thanks for joining us for another week of news, coaching tips and discussion.
Today we have a truly magical episode lined up—literally. Joining us is Max Davidson, a professional magician who just pulled off one of the greatest endurance feats out there: completing his very first IRONMAN at Lake Placid two weeks ago.
April, you ready to have a magic episode?
Yeet April! Absolutely! Every time I think about Magic Max, I picture his huge smile and infectious energy so I can’t wait to share his story with our audience.
Announcements and News:
Our Announcements are supported by VESPA Power today.
Vespa Power Endurance helps you tap into steady, clean energy—so you stay strong, focused, and in the zone longer. Vespa is not fuel, but a metabolic catalyst that shifts your body to use more fat and less glycogen as your fuel source. Vespa comes in CV-25, Junior and Concentrate.
Less sugar. Higher performance. Faster recovery.
Home of Vespa Power Products | Optimizing Your Fat Metabolism
Use discount code - 303endurance20
TriDot Pool School July 26-27.
We had another amazingly successful TriDot Pool School in Colorado Springs.
In all seriousness, we are super excited to have three athletes from G2G joining us. Shout out to Erin Johnson -38
Cristi Wayne -20
Stephanie Heitkemper -26
Chris Sjothun -18
Huge shout out to coaches Brandy Ramirez, Kristin Overton, Dennis Hetland, Diana Hassel, Will Nichols and of course Jeff Booher!
Thanks especially to Diana Hassel for stepping up and being the clear choice to be the swim model.
Ask A Coach Sponsor: G2G Endurance
Let’s cut to the chase: you want results, and we’ve got the tools. Grit2Greatness Coaching + TriDot = smarter workouts, better feedback, and real progress. Join through our TriDot links, get 2 weeks free, and train with purpose from day one. After that, it’s just $14.99/month. Ready to train like an athlete with a plan? Hit our link in the show notes and get started today.
Website - Grit2Greatness Endurance Coaching
Facebook page @grit2greatnessendurance
Coach April Spilde
April.spilde@tridot.com
TriDot Signup - https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/aprilspilde
RunDot Signup - https://app.rundot.com/onboard/sign-up/aprilspilde
Coach Rich Soares
Rich.soares@tridot.com
TriDot Signup - https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/richsoares
RunDot Signup - https://app.rundot.com/onboard/sign-up/richsoares
Recommended
Transcript
The Ironman Atmosphere: Intimidating or Inspiring?
00:00:00
Speaker
you go to an Ironman for the first time and you're like, these are the most in shape people ever.
00:00:04
Speaker
Everyone has an Ironman tattoo.
00:00:06
Speaker
Everyone has the shirt from the 16 races that they've done.
00:00:09
Speaker
So you feel very intimidated by it.
00:00:11
Speaker
And it's like, it doesn't matter.
00:00:13
Speaker
Like nothing you do is going to impact your fitness right now.
00:00:15
Speaker
Like you can mentally help yourself by running the course or whatever, but your fitness is set that two days before the race.
00:00:22
Speaker
So yeah,
00:00:23
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, as far as like, if you're starting the journey of training, just it's like, it just is brick by brick.
00:00:29
Speaker
I mean, it's just the, it's the perfect example of like, you're going to start and you won't be able to run an Ironman.
00:00:34
Speaker
And then like, you know, seven months into the training, you'll be like, wow, if it was today, I could probably pull it off.
00:00:39
Speaker
And like, no, when that point comes, but you will realize it in hindsight.
00:00:43
Speaker
And
00:00:44
Speaker
it's the ultimate version of trust the process and just wake up and do it
Podcast Introduction and Episode Preview
00:00:47
Speaker
every day.
00:00:47
Speaker
Welcome everybody to your 303 endurance podcast.
00:00:50
Speaker
Aloha everybody.
00:00:51
Speaker
Get ready for your 303 endurance podcast.
00:00:54
Speaker
Woo.
00:01:08
Speaker
Welcome to episode 501 of the 303 Endurance Podcast.
00:01:11
Speaker
We're your hosts, coaches Rich Soares and April Spilde.
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Speaker
Thanks for joining us for another week of news, coaching tips, and discussion.
00:01:18
Speaker
Today we have a truly magical episode lined up, literally.
00:01:22
Speaker
Joining us is Max Davidson, a professional magician who just pulled off one of the greatest endurance feats out there.
00:01:28
Speaker
He just completed his first Ironman at Lake Placid two weeks ago.
00:01:32
Speaker
April, are you ready to have a magic episode?
00:01:36
Speaker
Yeet.
00:01:37
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:01:38
Speaker
I kind of wish I had some of those cowbells right now.
00:01:40
Speaker
It's in honor of Magic Max.
00:01:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:43
Speaker
Ding, ding, ding, ding.
00:01:45
Speaker
Every time I think about him, too, I just picture his huge smile.
00:01:48
Speaker
He has such an infectious energy and I can't wait to share his interview with our audiences.
00:01:55
Speaker
Awesome.
00:01:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think he's going to have, I mean, being, you know, at first, you only have your first Ironman once, you know, and, you know, after you've been doing this a while, you start to kind of lose that perspective of, you know, you know, the first time, you know, you just, you kind of, the first one blends into the second, blends into the third, you know, and, you know, it's really good to get an athlete who had a successful day and hear about what made it a successful day.
00:02:20
Speaker
So I'm excited about this too.
00:02:22
Speaker
Well said.
00:02:24
Speaker
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00:02:28
Speaker
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Vespa's Benefits for Endurance Athletes
00:02:48
Speaker
In today's show, we have our announcements and news.
00:02:51
Speaker
We have our guest interview with Max Davidson.
00:02:55
Speaker
He's going to talk to us about what do we need to know for our first Ironman.
00:03:00
Speaker
We have a special get gritty tip where Rich and I are going to share what it means to use a skill called reframing and how to make meaning out of hard events.
00:03:10
Speaker
And then Rich is going to bring us our try.workout of the week.
00:03:12
Speaker
And I'm going to finish up with a fun segment that I created just for this specific swim focus to swim.
00:03:20
Speaker
Yay.
00:03:23
Speaker
All right, well, let's get into our announcements and news sponsored by Vespa.
00:03:28
Speaker
Vespa Power Endurance helps you tap into steady, clean energy so you can stay strong, focused and in the zone longer.
00:03:34
Speaker
Vespa is not fuel, but a metabolic catalyst that shifts your body to use more fat and less sugar as your fuel source.
00:03:41
Speaker
Vespa comes in a number of different products.
00:03:44
Speaker
They've got CV25.
00:03:45
Speaker
They've got the Junior.
00:03:47
Speaker
And these are two packets that you just take the whole thing as it's mixed.
00:03:50
Speaker
And they also have a concentrate.
00:03:52
Speaker
I have seen people take concentrate shots, but I don't recommend it.
00:03:55
Speaker
That's for putting into your water bottle.
00:03:58
Speaker
Less sugar, higher performance, faster recovery.
00:04:03
Speaker
And there's a link right here in the show notes.
00:04:04
Speaker
You can use our discount 303 Endurance 20 to save 20% off on your first order of Vespa.
00:04:11
Speaker
Check it out.
00:04:12
Speaker
It's great stuff.
00:04:13
Speaker
Yeah, I'll throw in there too that I am doing a three and a half hour mountain bike ride for getting ready for the banana belt in Salida in September.
00:04:23
Speaker
So I plan on using Vespa to help me stay focused and keep my rails on the trails.
00:04:30
Speaker
Don't need to go head over handlebars anytime soon, Rich.
00:04:33
Speaker
So yeah, I want to give a shout out to Vespa for helping me stay grounded.
00:04:37
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:04:38
Speaker
I am going to be sure to have plenty of Vespa in my tri bag when I deliver it to Wes Smith from Pro Bike Express.
Race Preparations and Logistics
00:04:50
Speaker
I almost said tri bike transport.
00:04:53
Speaker
From Pro Bike Express, on Monday, I'm dropping off my bike to be shipped to Milwaukee and I get to put a bag, I try a bag with my bike.
00:05:00
Speaker
That's going to be great.
00:05:02
Speaker
CO2 cartridges and Vespa and running shoes and bike shoes and wheels and all that stuff.
00:05:09
Speaker
All the things.
00:05:10
Speaker
All going, yeah.
00:05:12
Speaker
Oh, and, oh, this is totally a sidebar, but I also booked a trip, I booked a flight to California for Ironman California.
00:05:18
Speaker
Yes, you did.
00:05:19
Speaker
Oh, that's so great, Rich.
00:05:22
Speaker
And I'm staying in the same hotel with Stephanie and Caroline.
00:05:26
Speaker
Very nice.
00:05:27
Speaker
I'm so glad that you could be there with them.
00:05:28
Speaker
And it's going to be a great Grit to Greatness team showdown.
00:05:33
Speaker
Not showdown, like show out.
00:05:36
Speaker
Wouldn't that be cool if we get the kits before then?
00:05:38
Speaker
Oh, man.
00:05:38
Speaker
Oh, man.
00:05:39
Speaker
Okay.
00:05:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:40
Speaker
I'm believing.
00:05:41
Speaker
I'm believing it'll
Tri-dot Pool School Success
00:05:42
Speaker
happen.
00:05:42
Speaker
Yes.
00:05:44
Speaker
Hey, one of the things I just wanted to say, you know, in our announcements this week is we just had a fabulous tri-dot pool school down in Colorado Springs.
00:05:53
Speaker
It was so successful.
00:05:55
Speaker
And we're really, I mean, just our athletes alone, April, I mean, Aaron,
00:06:02
Speaker
Aaron saved 38 seconds from her benchmark test before pool school to her after.
00:06:11
Speaker
How about that?
00:06:12
Speaker
Yeah, let me tell you, Coach K.O., who was her lane lead, sent me a video actually today of Aaron's reaction when she found out that she cut 38 seconds.
00:06:23
Speaker
And I had tears in my eyes.
00:06:25
Speaker
I was like, Aaron, you are...
00:06:28
Speaker
I'm just so impressed and so proud of her.
00:06:30
Speaker
And I know that this specifically, this discipline has been her hardest.
00:06:36
Speaker
And I asked her to trust the process and she went in wholehearted.
00:06:41
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And even though it was scary and she had some
00:06:45
Speaker
you know, reality checks with how it can be, right?
00:06:49
Speaker
Learning a new skill.
00:06:51
Speaker
She just above and away owned it.
00:06:55
Speaker
And these are the results to show for it.
00:06:59
Speaker
So I want to say congratulations, Aaron.
00:07:01
Speaker
We are incredibly proud of you.
00:07:03
Speaker
And so great to hear your Minnesota accent.
00:07:07
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Yeah, it was nice to meet you in person, of course.
00:07:10
Speaker
And Christy Wayne, 20 seconds off of her 100,
00:07:15
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Stephanie Heitkamper, 26 seconds off of hers.
00:07:19
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And Chris Steuthen, 18 seconds off of his.
00:07:23
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Yeah, Chris was amazing.
00:07:25
Speaker
He was such a riot.
00:07:26
Speaker
I had so much fun with him in my lane.
00:07:28
Speaker
Isn't he funny?
00:07:31
Speaker
I also want to say one of my favorite things.
00:07:34
Speaker
So Chris...
00:07:35
Speaker
lives in Vancouver, Washington.
00:07:37
Speaker
This is where my mom used to live.
00:07:39
Speaker
So I'm very familiar with this place.
00:07:42
Speaker
She, he, he lives there.
00:07:44
Speaker
His very first triathlon that he's preparing for in a week from now, actually, or two weeks from now is the Columbia river,
00:07:55
Speaker
Triathlon, Olympic distance, very first triathlon.
00:07:58
Speaker
And his next triathlon, his big race, his A race for the year is Florida 70.3 in December.
00:08:05
Speaker
I am driving to the pool school on day one.
00:08:09
Speaker
And I have this gentleman, Steve, in my car with me, who's also in the pool school.
00:08:14
Speaker
And I'm just asking him about himself.
00:08:16
Speaker
And he's like, well, I'm from Vancouver, Washington.
00:08:18
Speaker
I'm like, well, no kidding, huh?
00:08:20
Speaker
He's like, yeah, I'm a new triathlete.
00:08:21
Speaker
I'm like, oh, is that right?
00:08:22
Speaker
He's like, yeah, my very first triathlon is going to be the Columbia River Olympic.
00:08:26
Speaker
I'm like, and I'm preparing for my very first half Ironman, which is going to be Florida 70.3.
00:08:33
Speaker
I'm like, wait a minute.
00:08:36
Speaker
Like, this can't be.
00:08:38
Speaker
I totally thought I was getting punked.
00:08:42
Speaker
And so Chris, meet Steve.
00:08:44
Speaker
Steve, meet Chris.
00:08:46
Speaker
Besties.
00:08:47
Speaker
Yep.
00:08:47
Speaker
Isn't that crazy?
00:08:48
Speaker
Yes.
00:08:48
Speaker
That was just one of my favorite things.
Team Bonding: Dinner and Fireside Chat
00:08:50
Speaker
Yeah, I love that.
00:08:51
Speaker
I also have a favorite thing.
00:08:53
Speaker
When we were out to dinner on Saturday night after our first day, Brandy, Brandy Ramirez, who's the director of Tridot Pool School, we were all sitting together and we were just kind of...
00:09:06
Speaker
opining over how it went.
00:09:08
Speaker
Right.
00:09:08
Speaker
But she asked the question, you know, what's up, what's something that you learned about yourself?
00:09:12
Speaker
What was your aha?
00:09:14
Speaker
And I thought, and kind of like a white elephant, right?
00:09:17
Speaker
Um, I thought the answers that not only the athletes, but the coaches gave was so insightful and I felt closer.
00:09:24
Speaker
I felt like we all got closer because of that question, those questions.
00:09:29
Speaker
And that was one of my favorite things.
00:09:30
Speaker
I felt like we were all like, just,
00:09:33
Speaker
much more in tune in and yeah, rooting for each other.
00:09:38
Speaker
Yeah, the whole team just gelled for sure.
00:09:41
Speaker
You know, later that evening, we actually had a little fireside.
00:09:44
Speaker
We had a little fireside thing over.
00:09:47
Speaker
Jeff got a bottle of wine.
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Speaker
We'll probably cut this out.
00:09:50
Speaker
But got a bottle of wine.
00:09:51
Speaker
We were just hanging around the fire.
00:09:53
Speaker
Oh, cool.
00:09:54
Speaker
Just a little bit.
00:09:56
Speaker
That's why y'all looked groggy the next day.
00:09:58
Speaker
Actually, I went to bed by night.
00:10:01
Speaker
I was like, okay, guys, bye.
00:10:03
Speaker
See you in the morning.
00:10:06
Speaker
Yeah, getting to know Coach Will Nichols was awesome.
00:10:08
Speaker
It was great coaching with him side by side in lane one.
00:10:11
Speaker
You know, he's great.
00:10:12
Speaker
He just picked it up right away, had a great rapport with the athletes, gave great instruction.
00:10:16
Speaker
That was a lot of fun.
00:10:18
Speaker
I love Dennis Hetland cannonballing into the pool with all of his clothes on.
00:10:24
Speaker
I love swimming.
00:10:25
Speaker
Coach Dennis, you are crazy.
00:10:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:30
Speaker
So much fun.
00:10:32
Speaker
I was really proud of Coach Diana.
00:10:34
Speaker
She was my lane mate.
00:10:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:37
Speaker
Her stepping up to be our demonstrator and her just kicking butt.
00:10:42
Speaker
Like I was like, you were a pro, you're a pro swimmer.
00:10:46
Speaker
Uh, yeah.
00:10:46
Speaker
I just really impressed with her and, um, very fortunate that we got to coach together and she's going to be at our, um, at, uh, tri-dot pool school Tempe.
00:10:55
Speaker
So we get to hang out again.
00:10:57
Speaker
I don't know if we're going to be in the same lane, but I get to see her, um, her again.
00:11:01
Speaker
And I'm really looking forward to that.
00:11:03
Speaker
You guys have your swim model.
00:11:05
Speaker
Yeah, we do.
00:11:06
Speaker
I mean, locked in, locked and loaded.
00:11:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:09
Speaker
Huge shout out to all the coaches, Brandi Ramirez, Kristen Overton, Dennis Hetland, Diana Hassel, Will Nichols, and of course, Jeff Boer.
00:11:19
Speaker
All right.
00:11:19
Speaker
Now we are going to move into our Ask a Coach section, which is sponsored by Grit to Greatness Endurance Coaching.
00:11:25
Speaker
So let's cut to the chase.
00:11:27
Speaker
You want results?
00:11:29
Speaker
We've got the tools.
00:11:30
Speaker
Grit to Greatness Coaching plus TriDot equals Smarter Workouts.
00:11:34
Speaker
better feedback and real progress.
00:11:37
Speaker
You can join through our try.links, get two weeks free and train with purpose from day one.
00:11:42
Speaker
After that, it's as low as $14.99 a month.
00:11:45
Speaker
So we know you're ready to train like an athlete with a plan.
00:11:48
Speaker
Hit our links in the show notes and get started today.
00:11:52
Speaker
Wow, that's awesome.
00:11:53
Speaker
Thank you, April.
00:11:54
Speaker
And guess what we've got going on right now?
00:11:57
Speaker
We've got Max in the house.
00:11:58
Speaker
Max, it is good to have you here with us.
00:12:01
Speaker
I'm going to formally introduce you here in a minute.
00:12:03
Speaker
But good to see you for the first time after your Ironman.
00:12:07
Speaker
Congratulations.
00:12:08
Speaker
Thank you.
00:12:09
Speaker
Great to see you both too.
00:12:10
Speaker
And hi, April.
00:12:10
Speaker
Great to see you.
00:12:11
Speaker
I heard you're in the Big Apple.
00:12:13
Speaker
Yeah, right now for like three days and then a little more and then into going to Scotland.
00:12:18
Speaker
But yes, I'm a stopover in New York right now.
00:12:21
Speaker
What an international jet setter, man.
00:12:23
Speaker
That's so cool.
00:12:24
Speaker
You guys have shows in the city, right?
00:12:26
Speaker
Yes, we're doing a show every day from August 1st to August 24th.
00:12:30
Speaker
So we will be very busy in Edinburgh.
00:12:33
Speaker
Wow.
00:12:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:34
Speaker
Are you doing, are you also doing shows there in New York city too?
00:12:37
Speaker
Oh, am I doing shows in New York?
00:12:38
Speaker
Yes.
00:12:38
Speaker
I'm doing one show this weekend in the Hamptons technically.
00:12:41
Speaker
Okay.
00:12:42
Speaker
So we're going to go there.
00:12:44
Speaker
So yeah, it's a busy, it's a busy week.
00:12:45
Speaker
A week from right now, I'll be in Scotland and yeah, it's all over the place.
00:12:49
Speaker
How cool.
00:12:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:52
Speaker
I had to, when we had the Fit Kit party last weekend, I had to tell them the story and some of the tricks that you guys did.
00:13:01
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:13:01
Speaker
And yeah, Tess's memorization of the book was just incredible.
00:13:08
Speaker
It's so funny, right?
00:13:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:09
Speaker
But your memorizing everybody's name in the audience was amazing.
00:13:14
Speaker
How many people were in the audience?
00:13:15
Speaker
Just out of curiosity.
00:13:17
Speaker
I think it was around 75 or 80.
00:13:19
Speaker
Wow.
00:13:19
Speaker
It seemed like 100 to me.
00:13:22
Speaker
I'm glad.
00:13:23
Speaker
Maybe it seemed like 200.
00:13:24
Speaker
Yeah, it was about 75 or 80.
00:13:27
Speaker
Incredible.
00:13:28
Speaker
Thank you.
00:13:29
Speaker
Thank you.
00:13:30
Speaker
All right.
00:13:31
Speaker
As an Ironman U certified coach, I have had the privilege of watching Max transform from an already pretty experienced and determined athlete into a full-fledged Ironman this weekend.
00:13:42
Speaker
A little bit about
Max Davidson's First Ironman Journey
00:13:43
Speaker
Max here.
00:13:43
Speaker
He's got a pretty good running background.
00:13:46
Speaker
He did serious training as far back as 2019.
00:13:49
Speaker
He's got a marathon PR of 310.
00:13:52
Speaker
Actually, yeah, 310, I think, is still your PR.
00:13:55
Speaker
You got pretty close recently here.
00:13:57
Speaker
Yeah, close Vanessa guy.
00:13:59
Speaker
Close, but no cigar.
00:14:00
Speaker
We'll talk about that.
00:14:02
Speaker
I completed four marathons to date.
00:14:05
Speaker
Actually, now it's probably five, I think.
00:14:09
Speaker
And three half Ironmans and Boulder.
00:14:13
Speaker
I think there were actually two in Boulder or three in Boulder or something like that.
00:14:16
Speaker
I think I've done four 70.3s.
00:14:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:17
Speaker
With three in Boulder.
00:14:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:20
Speaker
Three in Boulder.
00:14:21
Speaker
Exactly.
00:14:21
Speaker
Exactly.
00:14:22
Speaker
Well, he's here today to share his raw, real, and inspiring story of what it took for him to get through this Ironman this past weekend.
00:14:30
Speaker
And we wanted to have him on the show specifically because this was his first one and he's got some, you know, you know, kind of first time Ironman finisher lessons to share.
00:14:40
Speaker
So without further ado, let's kind of just dive on in.
00:14:44
Speaker
And, um, first, you know,
00:14:47
Speaker
I just want to tell you, it's been an absolute pleasure being a part of your journey.
00:14:51
Speaker
Would you, would you, this is going to be a bit of a play on your career here, my friend.
00:14:56
Speaker
If you could describe your Ironman experience as a magic trick, what would it be and why?
00:15:03
Speaker
Great question.
00:15:03
Speaker
And also thank you for being a part of my journey too.
00:15:06
Speaker
I mean, this has been amazing and I've, you know, obviously gotten to know April through it as well, which has been excellent as a magic trick.
00:15:11
Speaker
It's funny.
00:15:12
Speaker
You mentioned the name thing earlier, because I think that is the closest thing where, where people think that memorizing, you know, 80 names is insane, but it's the same process of training.
00:15:21
Speaker
Like you just go name by name, step by step, and you do it quite slowly actually.
00:15:27
Speaker
And the speed that you do it at allows you to,
00:15:31
Speaker
increase and go faster later so i think that's a pretty good analogy because it's the same thing as training where you just you just go brick by brick and then eventually you're at the start line of an iron man man that's good max that's so good well i gotta ask what inspired you to sign up for your first iron man because that's a big leap and and lake placid is historic it's beautiful but why did you choose that one as your first one
00:15:56
Speaker
I wish I knew the exact reason I signed up for Placid.
00:15:58
Speaker
I knew that I wanted to train in Colorado and so just New York city, not being very conducive to an Ironman training schedule.
00:16:06
Speaker
So I knew I'd kind of leave during the summer when New York gets really hot and humid and Lake Placid was timed really well with me going to Edinburgh in August and just having a summer to train.
00:16:16
Speaker
So I think part of it was the date.
00:16:18
Speaker
And then I don't, I, I, my memory is realizing how hard the course was after I signed up, which is pretty funny, but it wasn't as intimidating because I knew I'd go home to Colorado and I knew I'd have the mountains to train on.
00:16:32
Speaker
So I was like, okay, 7,000 feet of climbing on the bike.
00:16:35
Speaker
Obviously that's a lot.
00:16:35
Speaker
But like, I knew that I was going back to a place where I could fully train for that.
00:16:39
Speaker
And it's just so historic.
00:16:40
Speaker
It's just such a cool race.
00:16:42
Speaker
And I got to learn about all the history as I was training for it.
00:16:44
Speaker
So that validated my decision.
00:16:47
Speaker
And as far as the actual Ironman, I think it was like, you know, you do a 70.3 and I just think that every person has their own threshold for what is enough.
00:16:54
Speaker
And for some people, it's not enough till they run 250 miles or something like that.
00:16:59
Speaker
And so I guess I'm still finding like what my threshold is, but I knew, I knew I could do more than a 70.3.
00:17:05
Speaker
I knew I wanted to do a full.
00:17:07
Speaker
And so it was just kind of a matter of time before I just lined up my life to do it.
00:17:11
Speaker
Excellent.
00:17:12
Speaker
Excellent.
00:17:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:14
Speaker
Well, and I want to say, I think your decision to train in Colorado, where you had the altitude, where you had the elevation, you had the ability to do a lot of climbing really suited you.
00:17:23
Speaker
And I think it ended up being a really important part of your training because the demand of Lake Placid, it's, it's, it's not for sissies, you know?
00:17:32
Speaker
So we'll come to that in a second.
00:17:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:35
Speaker
Let's go back to the beginning of the Ironman, right?
00:17:37
Speaker
We've done all this training.
00:17:38
Speaker
We had even talked the day before, I think, your race.
00:17:42
Speaker
And you were pretty cool, right?
00:17:45
Speaker
I mean, aside from the little break thing when you first unpacked your bike.
00:17:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:50
Speaker
Everything.
00:17:51
Speaker
You're a pretty cool cucumber.
00:17:53
Speaker
What was going on in your head when you were standing at the start line, when you were in the shift?
00:17:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:58
Speaker
I was not that cool.
00:17:59
Speaker
I mean, I went to bed the night before being like, all right, this is about to be a horrible night of sleep.
00:18:02
Speaker
And it was.
00:18:03
Speaker
I think it was...
00:18:04
Speaker
two, three hours of sleep, which seems pretty normal from what I hear from other people.
00:18:07
Speaker
It's like such an early morning, plus you're stressed.
00:18:10
Speaker
But a lot of it was just, it was so surreal because I'm just standing on the beach being like, you know, I've thought about this every day for the past year.
00:18:17
Speaker
I just can't believe that I'm here right now.
00:18:19
Speaker
And then there's a lot of excitement and the announcers did a really good job.
00:18:22
Speaker
The announcers were really like, you guys need to smile, enjoy it, like really get in the water and have fun.
00:18:27
Speaker
And luckily the Lake Placid swim course is
00:18:30
Speaker
probably one of the easiest swim courses on the whole circuit, despite how hard the rest of the race is, just because they have that cable under the water.
00:18:36
Speaker
So it's effectively like you're in a big pool.
00:18:39
Speaker
So I knew that going in that I was like, okay, there's no current to fight with.
00:18:42
Speaker
There's no waves.
00:18:42
Speaker
There's no saltwater.
00:18:43
Speaker
Like if you can just get in and stay on the line, you will literally just like swim two loops and get out of the water.
00:18:49
Speaker
So I was absolutely nervous, but just trying to focus on just like, just go swim in a straight line.
00:18:54
Speaker
That's all I got to do.
00:18:56
Speaker
Can I just do a follow-up question on that?
00:18:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:00
Speaker
You said that one of the things with Lake Placid is that everybody's trying to stay on that line.
00:19:04
Speaker
Talk about the dynamic of congestion in this particular.
00:19:10
Speaker
It's super interesting and almost impossible to train for unless you were to just set up that same thing and have a bunch of people fight for that lane line.
00:19:17
Speaker
So yeah, you have to hold your line and you have to be a little aggressive, which is weird because like, I think that in general, most people racing an iron man are really, really kind and supportive.
00:19:25
Speaker
And you see that on the bike and the run constantly, but you don't get to hear them verbally.
00:19:29
Speaker
So it's easy to like antagonize those people in your head when they're fighting for the same position.
00:19:34
Speaker
And it's okay, I think, to be a little aggressive without obviously hurting anybody of just like holding your line and just being like, I'm going to hold mine.
00:19:42
Speaker
And if you want to get in there, that's totally fine.
00:19:44
Speaker
You can go behind me or you can go next to me or you can go in front of me and still being very aware of people.
00:19:49
Speaker
So I think it's just was a really interesting dynamic.
00:19:52
Speaker
And you just want to find that balance of like staying true to yourself and being like, this is my race too.
00:19:57
Speaker
I'm going to hold the line.
00:19:58
Speaker
And as long as I'm not disrupting someone else's race, I'm just going to let them do what they need to do.
00:20:03
Speaker
Oh, I love that mindset, Max.
00:20:05
Speaker
It's really good.
00:20:06
Speaker
What an interesting challenge too.
00:20:08
Speaker
I would love to know what part of the race challenged you the most and how did you overcome it?
00:20:15
Speaker
Yeah, definitely the bike.
00:20:16
Speaker
No question.
00:20:17
Speaker
I mean, the swim wasn't nothing in Ironman is easy, but the swim was definitely straightforward, but I'm not a swimmer.
00:20:23
Speaker
I don't come from a swimming background at all.
00:20:24
Speaker
I did the least amount of swimming and training like that.
00:20:27
Speaker
That's the thing I'm the worst at without question.
00:20:28
Speaker
And so I wasn't, my body wasn't used to coming out of the water after not only two and a half miles of swimming, but of like pretty aggressive, thoughtful swimming where you're being more tactical than normal.
00:20:39
Speaker
So my stomach wasn't super right.
00:20:41
Speaker
I think I was just hungry.
00:20:42
Speaker
And so I,
00:20:44
Speaker
all of a sudden my plan is not necessarily what I expect it to be.
00:20:47
Speaker
I need to consume more carbs, but I also don't want to consume too many or I'm going to be nauseous.
00:20:52
Speaker
So you add that to the fact that it started raining for basically for me, 90% of the bike and your plan is out the window.
00:20:59
Speaker
And it's just a different, it's a different world.
00:21:00
Speaker
I mean, I didn't have, it's my own fault, but I didn't have clear biking glasses.
00:21:04
Speaker
I just had sunglasses.
00:21:05
Speaker
So it was like just, it was dark out.
00:21:08
Speaker
And then the other issue with the bike that I wasn't expecting is a lot of people have, you know, issues with their legs or cramping or stomach, but I'm out here having issues with my bladder.
00:21:17
Speaker
I was peeing too much.
00:21:18
Speaker
And so that starts impacting the race because you're starting to question your hydration plan.
00:21:23
Speaker
And I was literally stopping at every single port-a-potty.
00:21:26
Speaker
There was not a single aid station that I just got to breeze through and do the really fun thing where you just toss your bottle and you keep going, you feel really good.
00:21:33
Speaker
I had to stop every time and go to the bathroom because I was so uncomfortable.
00:21:36
Speaker
So that was a huge challenge and it slowed me down.
00:21:39
Speaker
And, you know, by the second loop, you're just tired.
00:21:42
Speaker
And, you know, the, the end of each Lake Placid loop is uphill.
00:21:46
Speaker
So around a hundred round mile 102, you're still going on a pretty considerable uphill.
00:21:52
Speaker
It was raining.
00:21:53
Speaker
I'm much more alone because most people have started the run at that point.
00:21:57
Speaker
So that was definitely the darkest point was kind of the end of that bike ride when I'm like, ah, these problems still haven't, you know, solved themselves.
00:22:03
Speaker
And now the marathon is staring you in the face.
00:22:06
Speaker
But I think I got over it by just like accepting like, okay, end of this, end of this bike, I'm bonking a little, like, what can I do?
00:22:12
Speaker
I relied much more on solid food than gel.
00:22:15
Speaker
My gel plan went out the window.
00:22:16
Speaker
It's just my stomach wasn't having it that day.
00:22:18
Speaker
So luckily Ironman has a lot of different choices.
00:22:21
Speaker
And so I went for solid Morton bars, which were really, really tasty, like granola bars.
00:22:26
Speaker
And I just ate my way back.
00:22:28
Speaker
And when you eat and you, when you start, I started consuming mortal and they had the mango mortal flavor, which was delicious.
00:22:33
Speaker
Like you can kind of, you can kind of eat and drink your way back into contention.
00:22:36
Speaker
You really can.
00:22:37
Speaker
And I was like,
00:22:38
Speaker
You can, you feel yourself get happier and better and just a little bit more ready to go.
00:22:44
Speaker
Another strategy I did was I took my sunglasses off because I wasn't going super, super fast that I needed them and it was just lighter out.
00:22:52
Speaker
And then I engaged with the crowd.
00:22:54
Speaker
There's people cheering and I would cheer back and it would give you, give me a big boost of energy.
00:22:58
Speaker
And so those final 10 miles were instrumental of just changing my mood and being like, the bike went how it went.
00:23:04
Speaker
It was slower than I wanted it to go.
00:23:06
Speaker
but now I'm ready for a solid marathon.
00:23:09
Speaker
This is a different sport.
00:23:10
Speaker
Let's just put that in the past and keep moving.
00:23:15
Speaker
Thanks for taking us through that.
00:23:17
Speaker
I think it's really good for people to hear someone's real experience out there and how you can come back from that.
00:23:24
Speaker
For sure.
00:23:25
Speaker
Hear it from you.
00:23:26
Speaker
That's really powerful.
Adapting When Race Plans Go Awry
00:23:28
Speaker
What is one thing that you wish I had told you before this race?
00:23:35
Speaker
I mean, I feel like there's no way you would able to say, but part of me is like, uh, that, that the plan won't always work, you know, and that's fine.
00:23:42
Speaker
Like the plan can work in training.
00:23:44
Speaker
Cause like, I'm going to go out to Chatfield again and to go do the same thing again and in the same conditions and I'll do my gels and I'll be feeling great, but I won't have the nerves of race day and I won't have just done an aggressive swim.
00:23:55
Speaker
And so it's like, I mean, I think in magic, you learn the exact same thing you practice and then the first time you put something on stage, it's just, I have had this feeling a million times, it just completely goes in another direction because it's the first time you're doing it.
00:24:09
Speaker
And it's the first Ironman.
00:24:11
Speaker
So it can't go according to plan.
00:24:13
Speaker
You have no idea what you're doing.
00:24:15
Speaker
The only way to get good at anything is through experience.
00:24:17
Speaker
And so the next Ironman I do, if I do another one, like we'll be better.
00:24:21
Speaker
Right.
00:24:22
Speaker
And so, yeah, I feel like the lesson is like it, you'll have your plan.
00:24:26
Speaker
That's fine.
00:24:27
Speaker
Like have it in your head and be able to stick to it for as long as you can.
00:24:30
Speaker
But like, I think when it doesn't go according to plan, like when it starts to go haywire, like just accept that.
00:24:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:37
Speaker
Not if, when it's a, it's a 13 hour day or a 12 hour day, however long it's going to take you for me, 13 hours.
00:24:41
Speaker
So yeah.
00:24:43
Speaker
You can't plan for 13 hours and that's fine.
00:24:45
Speaker
Like that's okay.
00:24:46
Speaker
That is so well said, Max.
00:24:48
Speaker
I think, I think there's a lot of wisdom in that.
00:24:52
Speaker
And I love that you, how you applied it to magic because I, I can't imagine being on stage and you think this joke is going to land or this trick is going to land.
00:25:02
Speaker
And then that crickets, I'm sure that is such an unnerving feeling.
00:25:08
Speaker
So I feel like your, your magic expertise is,
00:25:11
Speaker
probably really helped you in being adaptable in this experience in and of itself.
00:25:16
Speaker
So that's such a cool skill that you have.
00:25:20
Speaker
Thank you.
00:25:20
Speaker
Yeah, it definitely helps you just perform under pressure.
00:25:22
Speaker
And in this case, it's almost less pressure.
00:25:25
Speaker
Like that's my job and it matters how it goes and I'm getting paid and that's how I'm paying my rent.
00:25:29
Speaker
And for this, like I obviously care immensely about how the race went, but it didn't, it wouldn't affect my livelihood if something went, you know, haywire.
00:25:36
Speaker
So that's, it's nice.
00:25:38
Speaker
Nice.
00:25:39
Speaker
I would love to know what advice would you give to another first time Ironman athlete who is just starting on their journey?
Advice for First-time Ironman Participants
00:25:47
Speaker
I mean, I'd say that as far as like the race day goes or around the race to really stay within yourself, like what I mean by that is like my hotel room overlooked the lake.
00:25:57
Speaker
So I would wait.
00:25:58
Speaker
I woke up the first day, opened the window and I'm like, oh, my God, there's 100 people doing a practice lap right now and I'm not doing a practice lap.
00:26:04
Speaker
And I got all stressed and it's like, there's no, like I, there's that stupid.
00:26:08
Speaker
Like I just woke up, I'm in a new time zone.
00:26:10
Speaker
Like I went for, I did all three sports that day.
00:26:12
Speaker
I swam, bike and ran that day.
00:26:14
Speaker
Like it just happened later, but you go to a Ironman for the first time and you're like, these are the most in shape people ever.
00:26:20
Speaker
Everyone has an Ironman tattoo.
00:26:22
Speaker
Everyone has the shirt from the 16 races that they've done.
00:26:25
Speaker
So you feel very intimidated by it.
00:26:27
Speaker
And it's like, it doesn't matter.
00:26:29
Speaker
Like nothing you do is going to impact your fitness right now.
00:26:31
Speaker
Like you can mentally help yourself by running the course or whatever, but your fitness is set that two days before the race.
00:26:38
Speaker
So even when you can literally see the people in the water to like, just not worry about that.
00:26:44
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, as far as like, if you're starting the journey of training, just it's like, it just is brick by brick.
00:26:49
Speaker
I mean, it's just the, it's the perfect example of like, you're going to start and you won't be able to run an Ironman.
00:26:55
Speaker
And then like, you know, seven months into the training, you'll be like, wow, if it was today, I could probably pull it off.
00:26:59
Speaker
And like, you won't really know when that point comes, but you will realize it in hindsight.
00:27:04
Speaker
And
00:27:05
Speaker
it's the ultimate version of trust the process.
00:27:07
Speaker
You just, you have to trust the process and just wake up and do it every day.
00:27:10
Speaker
That was a just amazing lesson for anybody who's listening to this, who's considering doing their first Ironman or maybe even their fifth.
00:27:20
Speaker
Honestly, those are some really great pearls of wisdom.
00:27:22
Speaker
I, you know, when you and I did our debrief, um, it was a couple of days ago now.
00:27:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:28
Speaker
It was very clear to me that, you know, you have a way of capturing your experience and capturing these lessons.
00:27:35
Speaker
And I think these like really wise tips in a way that you just package it very well.
00:27:40
Speaker
And I just thought it would be great for our audience to hear it.
00:27:42
Speaker
I am incredibly, I don't know, I'm inspired to work with you and really, really super proud of you.
00:27:50
Speaker
What a great race.
00:27:51
Speaker
I mean, can I just tell the audience what your times were before we go?
00:27:55
Speaker
Yeah, please.
00:27:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:57
Speaker
Ladies and gentlemen, Max had a 126.18 swim, which is respectable.
00:28:02
Speaker
For sure.
00:28:03
Speaker
Respectable.
00:28:04
Speaker
You bet.
00:28:05
Speaker
Very respectable.
00:28:06
Speaker
Seven minute, four second transition, which in an Ironman, let's be fair.
00:28:11
Speaker
You're changing.
00:28:12
Speaker
You're doing a full change.
00:28:13
Speaker
That's pretty good.
00:28:16
Speaker
729.09.
00:28:16
Speaker
That's the challenging course we're talking about for the bike.
00:28:20
Speaker
That's a slow bike and I'm okay with that.
00:28:21
Speaker
That's okay.
00:28:22
Speaker
Hey, yeah, that's okay.
00:28:24
Speaker
You know, hey, there's only one way to go.
00:28:26
Speaker
You know, now you're already thinking about how my next one, right?
00:28:29
Speaker
I mean, if I didn't go to the bathroom 30 minutes quicker, like it literally was like crazy.
00:28:33
Speaker
I've seen the moving time and stoppage time, but yeah, that's, it's okay.
00:28:36
Speaker
That's what we need.
00:28:37
Speaker
We need the little splits.
00:28:38
Speaker
We need the port-a-potty splits in here.
00:28:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good point.
00:28:42
Speaker
That's more than enough.
00:28:45
Speaker
717 T2 and then your run.
00:28:46
Speaker
Now, this is what I want to talk about with folks.
00:28:48
Speaker
I want to highlight this.
00:28:50
Speaker
As beat up as you felt on the bike, you must have really ate your way out of that dark place because you negative split the run.
00:28:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:58
Speaker
Your second lap was about at least five minutes faster than your first.
00:29:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:04
Speaker
So that never happens in a marathon in an Ironman.
00:29:09
Speaker
You know that, right?
00:29:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:11
Speaker
I was, I mean, I felt so happy that like, I literally just like, I walked T2.
00:29:15
Speaker
Like there was, I was, I did not run at all.
00:29:18
Speaker
I literally like, I took more time than I needed to.
00:29:20
Speaker
I like stopped my bike computer.
00:29:21
Speaker
I was in zero rush.
00:29:22
Speaker
I,
00:29:23
Speaker
took my helmet off.
00:29:24
Speaker
I changed my socks because they were wet.
00:29:26
Speaker
Like I took my time, which I usually rush.
00:29:28
Speaker
And I was like, we're taking our time here.
00:29:30
Speaker
And I just kind of did a little like jump in a clap and I started to run.
00:29:34
Speaker
And, uh, you know, I think that's just where the experience came of like, I've been doing marathons for so much longer than I've been doing.
00:29:41
Speaker
Not so much longer, but I'm longer than triathlon for sure.
00:29:43
Speaker
And it's just like,
00:29:44
Speaker
out of the three sports, it's by far the one that comes the most naturally to me.
00:29:48
Speaker
And so I just started running and the Placid course does start downhill.
00:29:52
Speaker
It's very hilly, but it starts downhill.
00:29:54
Speaker
So that's a nice little, you know, boost in your sales.
00:29:57
Speaker
And I was just like, you know what, like, I don't know quite how, but I have this and I'm going to enjoy it for all it's worth.
00:30:06
Speaker
And yeah, it was nice.
00:30:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:09
Speaker
You were, uh, you were grinning and loping out of TQ.
00:30:13
Speaker
Loping.
00:30:13
Speaker
Yes.
00:30:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:16
Speaker
And you were flying through the finish at the end.
00:30:18
Speaker
You look great.
00:30:19
Speaker
Thank you.
00:30:20
Speaker
Thank you.
00:30:21
Speaker
Um, before we let you go, you want to really quickly share with our audience where your journey is going next.
00:30:26
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to Edinburgh after this to do a bunch of shows there, which will be fun for their Fringe Festival.
00:30:34
Speaker
So I'm excited about that.
00:30:35
Speaker
And then as far as sports go, I have the New York Marathon, which is my favorite day of the year.
00:30:41
Speaker
So I can't wait for that.
00:30:42
Speaker
And then I'm going to do the Philadelphia marathon like three weeks afterwards, which I like.
00:30:48
Speaker
I like stacking them because I think you can just stay in the racing mindset a little bit.
00:30:52
Speaker
And there's enough time, I think, to recover and then have a solid race in Philadelphia.
00:30:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think so.
00:30:58
Speaker
And Philadelphia is an easier course.
00:30:59
Speaker
So I think it's a nice progression.
00:31:03
Speaker
And then long-term triathlon will come back at some point.
00:31:07
Speaker
It's just really, really hard in New York city, but I still love it.
00:31:09
Speaker
And I think I can see myself on the start line of the Leadville 100 at some point in the future.
00:31:15
Speaker
So I think that's my, I get to pace you.
00:31:18
Speaker
I get to pace you.
00:31:19
Speaker
I would be honored.
00:31:20
Speaker
I would be honored.
00:31:22
Speaker
But I think that's, I love the, I love that an Ironman is such like a massive thing.
00:31:27
Speaker
And I need another one of those.
00:31:28
Speaker
And I think, I think it might be Leadville.
00:31:31
Speaker
So.
00:31:32
Speaker
Wow.
00:31:33
Speaker
That's fun.
00:31:33
Speaker
All right.
00:31:34
Speaker
Hey, Max, thanks for being with us.
00:31:36
Speaker
Thanks for sharing the story.
00:31:37
Speaker
Yeah, it's a pleasure.
00:31:39
Speaker
And yeah, thanks for having something we can celebrate.
00:31:46
Speaker
I was going to say, we are definitely celebrating you, Max.
00:31:48
Speaker
Fantastic job.
00:31:50
Speaker
Honored, and it's due to both of you.
00:31:51
Speaker
So thank you both for all your help.
00:31:52
Speaker
I really appreciate it.
00:31:53
Speaker
All right.
00:31:54
Speaker
Bye, guys.
00:31:55
Speaker
See you later.
00:31:56
Speaker
Bye.
00:31:58
Speaker
That's pretty awesome, huh?
00:31:59
Speaker
Oh, that was magical.
00:32:02
Speaker
All puns intended.
00:32:03
Speaker
I like how, and he kind of showed up into the recording just right on cue, right on time.
00:32:07
Speaker
I know.
00:32:08
Speaker
He's a perfect performer.
00:32:10
Speaker
He really is.
00:32:10
Speaker
He's a pro.
00:32:14
Speaker
Well, we definitely have some headline quotes in there for sure.
00:32:18
Speaker
Yeah, that was great.
00:32:22
Speaker
I think it's ready to go to get gritty.
00:32:24
Speaker
Yes, this is, and this has been such a great episode, Rich, and I'm really, really proud of this Get Gritty.
00:32:33
Speaker
We talked before we started recording about some of the tools that we have learned in our resilience journey that have made a huge
Turning Negatives into Growth Opportunities
00:32:42
Speaker
difference.
00:32:42
Speaker
So you and I are going to be sharing a couple of vulnerable things here.
00:32:46
Speaker
that I think is going to be relevant to our audience, especially for those who've dealt with any kind of setback when it comes to performance anxiety, when it comes to fear.
00:32:55
Speaker
So we're going to be talking about using a tool called reframing, and it's learning how to reframe how we view negative experiences.
00:33:04
Speaker
It's one of the best skills I learned as a master resiliency trainer through the Air Force, and it helps with looking at those dark days,
00:33:16
Speaker
And learning how to shift the meaning so that you can find something purposeful that helps you grow out of it.
00:33:24
Speaker
And I'm going to give you my story first, Rich, and then I'm going to bring you in to share your experience.
00:33:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:31
Speaker
But I had a pretty embarrassing moment back in 2018.
00:33:36
Speaker
I was receiving an award.
00:33:38
Speaker
It was one of the highest awards you can receive in the Air Force.
00:33:42
Speaker
It was called the 12 Outstanding Airmen.
00:33:44
Speaker
And I was on stage at a large conference where there were about 500 people, including all the top brass.
00:33:53
Speaker
And I had this moment of panic and ended up passing out on stage.
00:34:00
Speaker
People videoed it.
00:34:01
Speaker
And of course it went online and people made fun of me.
00:34:05
Speaker
So what should have been an extremely proud moment, it turned into a pretty large pain of humiliation and it followed me.
00:34:13
Speaker
It like,
00:34:14
Speaker
I felt inadequate.
00:34:16
Speaker
It, it, people would bring it up.
00:34:18
Speaker
Um, you're the girl that passed out on stage at the bop, a bop.
00:34:22
Speaker
Right.
00:34:23
Speaker
And it just was, yeah, it was just one of those things that it felt like I couldn't get away from it.
00:34:29
Speaker
So in 2020, um, I decided I needed to do something about it.
00:34:34
Speaker
And one of the tools that I use was reframing, which it's a series of questions really on how
00:34:42
Speaker
You can make meaning of something by staying curious.
00:34:46
Speaker
So asking myself, what else could this situation mean?
00:34:51
Speaker
Can anything good come from it?
00:34:53
Speaker
Are there any new opportunities to learn or lessons?
00:34:57
Speaker
And can I develop any strengths?
00:34:59
Speaker
And through that process of questions, I came across this therapy called eye movement desensitization and reprocessing.
00:35:07
Speaker
It's EMDR for short.
00:35:09
Speaker
And that actually really helped me through a series of specific therapy sessions to re
00:35:18
Speaker
process how I viewed that specific event so that I didn't feel fear in front of people.
00:35:24
Speaker
I mean, I'm talking on a podcast to an audience, right?
00:35:27
Speaker
I don't feel that same level of panic that I used to feel in large groups of people or standing at attention for too long.
00:35:35
Speaker
And through that process, I haven't had a triggering event since.
00:35:40
Speaker
And it's just such a powerful way to look at, I don't want to say taking control, but
00:35:47
Speaker
feeling like I have the ability to overcome.
00:35:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:52
Speaker
That's a, well, thank you for sharing that really very personal, very vulnerable story.
00:35:59
Speaker
Um, April, that is, um, that's tough.
00:36:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:03
Speaker
And, uh, you found something that really helped you get through that, that, and, um, thank you for sharing that.
00:36:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:10
Speaker
And I'd love to hear, I know you had something kind of similar,
00:36:15
Speaker
I, you know, probably a little bit different.
00:36:18
Speaker
Mine was, you know, my experience early on in, uh, in triathlons, this is actually sports specific was just having a, um, a panic attack in open water.
Overcoming Panic in Open Water Swimming
00:36:28
Speaker
I was training for my first Ironman back then.
00:36:30
Speaker
It was, uh,
00:36:33
Speaker
2009, I guess.
00:36:33
Speaker
So it's been a while and I was in the middle of the reservoir and I just, I got to the point where I just could not move.
00:36:41
Speaker
And fortunately I had a colleague with me to help me get to shore.
00:36:45
Speaker
My, my good friend, Sean, who did my first, we did our first Ironman together.
00:36:50
Speaker
He was a Navy SEAL rescue diver.
00:36:52
Speaker
So it was nice to have that particular individual with that particular set of skills.
00:36:58
Speaker
But the real problem was I now had a panic attack that had made an impression that now was stuck in my head, that every time I was going to get in the water, I was going to be carrying that with me.
00:37:13
Speaker
And I had a friend and just contact at the time, Coach Will Murray, who is a local coach here in Boulder.
00:37:24
Speaker
He specializes in, as a therapist with, I don't know his exact credentials, but he's a credential.
00:37:32
Speaker
Licensed therapist, yeah.
00:37:33
Speaker
And he...
00:37:35
Speaker
He works with victims of PTSD and panic attacks in particular.
00:37:44
Speaker
And he had a couple of sessions with me and I was able to put that into perspective through that process.
00:37:51
Speaker
And I think whether it's passing out on stage and the trauma of that and everything else that followed that, April, that followed that you had to deal with,
00:38:02
Speaker
or if you have some kind of a traumatic event or a panic attack, you know, these are things that you can overcome.
00:38:09
Speaker
Obviously seek, you know, proper, you know, certified professionals to give you help.
00:38:15
Speaker
But hopefully this is just hearing April's story and mine gives you something to think about.
00:38:21
Speaker
And I know you've got more on this.
00:38:23
Speaker
Yeah, and I wanted to, I think that's such a perfect example of what both of us, we sought help, right?
00:38:30
Speaker
We didn't just stay in the trauma.
00:38:33
Speaker
We both saw that we needed an intervention to help us with overcoming that fight, flight, or freeze response, right?
00:38:42
Speaker
And I think that if either of us would have stayed in the mindset, right, and I even doubted my accomplishments, I had issues with insecurity, feeling like I didn't deserve because of the things that were coming out.
00:38:57
Speaker
But recognizing, taking that step back and being curious about, okay, well, how can I learn from this?
00:39:04
Speaker
That helped pull me out of that pit of whatever, right?
00:39:08
Speaker
Of that vicious spiral, right?
00:39:11
Speaker
And I think that is something that a lot of people can relate to.
00:39:14
Speaker
I know that our listeners, there's every person has had some kind of experience where you either feel embarrassed by it, you're
00:39:24
Speaker
scared or there's some kind of pain there that once it, uh, something triggers that it puts you back.
00:39:32
Speaker
And I think that seeking help through therapy, such as EMDR or cognitive behavioral therapy, talking with someone who can help you can make such an incredible difference in how you one, uh, process that event into how you turn it around.
00:39:49
Speaker
Like the fact that I'm sharing this story, I think is a big part of victory.
00:39:54
Speaker
Like I feel victorious that now I am on the other side of it.
00:39:57
Speaker
And I'm sure there's people that can relate and you can walk through it also.
00:40:02
Speaker
So I want to say that because I think this is absolutely what the bones of resilience are, is being able to share how you not only went through something that was hard, but how did you get through it and how did you grow because of
The Importance of Resilience
00:40:16
Speaker
it?
00:40:16
Speaker
You increase that courage zone, right?
00:40:19
Speaker
To be stronger, to be grittier.
00:40:20
Speaker
So yeah.
00:40:23
Speaker
That's our get gritty tip.
00:40:25
Speaker
I'm so glad we could talk about that, Rich.
00:40:27
Speaker
That was awesome.
00:40:29
Speaker
I think we've got to be that vulnerable to grow.
00:40:32
Speaker
So thanks April for putting us through that.
00:40:38
Speaker
Yeah, you're welcome, Rich.
00:40:41
Speaker
That's so funny.
00:40:42
Speaker
All right.
00:40:44
Speaker
Let's go have some fun with the tried out workout
Orientation Swim Workout
00:40:46
Speaker
of the week.
00:40:46
Speaker
Listen, I pulled this.
00:40:48
Speaker
This is kind of fun.
00:40:49
Speaker
I pulled this from...
00:40:52
Speaker
Caroline's workout this week because she is doing Boise 70.3 this weekend.
00:40:58
Speaker
So Caroline, this one's for you.
00:41:00
Speaker
This is the orientation swim.
00:41:03
Speaker
So this is the swim that you're doing probably a day or two before your race.
00:41:08
Speaker
You're trying to find the, you're obviously hoping to do this in the same body of water that you are doing.
00:41:14
Speaker
going to be swimming in for your race.
00:41:16
Speaker
So this is, you know, you show up a couple of days early and this is that orientation swim on the course.
00:41:22
Speaker
It's best if you, if you can practice, you know, where the turns are going to be, hopefully your race will have some buoys out.
00:41:30
Speaker
You know, the course won't be all the way out where the, the course will be, but if they can, if they have,
00:41:36
Speaker
Buoys out, practice your turns.
00:41:39
Speaker
Here's what you're going to do.
00:41:39
Speaker
You're going to warm up, just do a couple of rounds, you know, of 100s at zone two.
00:41:47
Speaker
You can do this in open water.
00:41:49
Speaker
You know, one of the things I like to do so I can kind of keep, have a gauge for my distance when I'm in open water is when I'm in the pool, I like to count my strokes per length.
00:42:00
Speaker
Let's say you're in a 25 yard pool.
00:42:02
Speaker
and it takes you 10 right arm strokes to go 25 yards, well, then you know for pretty much every 40 right arm strokes in the water, you're going about 100 yards when you're out in open water.
00:42:15
Speaker
So have a barometer like that, and you can just kind of keep track.
00:42:19
Speaker
You're doing some warmup just to get some 100s in, just to get things opened up.
00:42:26
Speaker
You're probably...
00:42:29
Speaker
When you try to do a little bit of recovery, if you're out in open water, just back things off.
00:42:34
Speaker
Or heck, for that matter, if you're in your wetsuit, you can just sit there and just back float for a few minutes if you want to take a little bit of a breather.
00:42:41
Speaker
Your main set is going to be, again, completed on the race course.
00:42:44
Speaker
You're doing three to four at three minutes at race pace once you're warmed up.
00:42:49
Speaker
Practice siding and turns, and then you're cooled down.
00:42:52
Speaker
You know, I like to do this maybe as I'm coming, you know, if you're doing an out back, they usually have a couple of buoys out there.
00:42:57
Speaker
You're coming back.
00:42:59
Speaker
I try to site back to the swim exit.
00:43:02
Speaker
Hopefully they already have the swim exit arch already blown up so that you can learn to see what that is and try to lock that into your memory because you're going to see it again on race day.
00:43:12
Speaker
And there is your orientation swim.
00:43:15
Speaker
April, what do you think?
00:43:17
Speaker
I think that's so good.
00:43:19
Speaker
I wanted to throw in there too, something that I used at the Boulder Peak try because I got a little off course and I was making sure I was siding regularly with the sun being an impediment, right?
00:43:32
Speaker
So what I was doing, Rich, was I was counting one
00:43:35
Speaker
two, three on the four, I would look up one, two, three, look up.
00:43:39
Speaker
It was such a nice rhythm.
00:43:41
Speaker
I actually felt extremely confident and the breathing was really good.
00:43:45
Speaker
And once I got into that rhythm, it was smooth sailing.
00:43:48
Speaker
So that's another thing you can do is practice how you're going to sight and even counting, uh, in a repetition like that too, can help with calm, calming yourself.
00:43:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:43:59
Speaker
You know, and I love that.
00:44:01
Speaker
And it also made me think, you know, if you can do it on the same, around the same time of day as you're going to be doing the swim, you know, just like we experienced in Boulder with the, and the sun's always coming up right in your face when, you know, except for the,
00:44:16
Speaker
70.3 course, all the other races, you're coming off the swim beach and you're right into the sun.
00:44:21
Speaker
But to that point, no, if you can, if you can do your, your orientation swim around the same time, so you can get a sense of where the sun is at that time and what kind of the conditions, light conditions are going to be, take your goggles out there, you know, obviously you take a couple of different pairs just to see what's going to work best.
00:44:41
Speaker
And you can also use the sun position to help sight too, you know?
00:44:47
Speaker
Yeah, that's such a good point.
00:44:48
Speaker
Well, there we go.
00:44:51
Speaker
Is it?
00:44:51
Speaker
Oh, my gosh.
00:44:52
Speaker
Here comes the fun segment.
Swim Yay or Nay: Quirky Habits and Sayings
00:44:54
Speaker
Yay or nay.
00:44:55
Speaker
Buckle up.
00:44:56
Speaker
Yeah, I'm about to take you through your paces here on the swim yay or swim nay, Rich.
00:45:02
Speaker
Now that we have learned how to sight and make the most of our orientation swim, we're going to put those new skills to the test, Rich.
00:45:10
Speaker
It's time for swim yay or swim nay.
00:45:13
Speaker
I am going to read some quirky things swimmers do, Rich, and you need to tell me swim yay or swim nay.
00:45:20
Speaker
Are you ready?
00:45:21
Speaker
I'm ready.
00:45:22
Speaker
I like this.
00:45:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:24
Speaker
The first one, wearing fins the entire workout, swim yay or swim nay?
00:45:30
Speaker
That is a swim nay for me.
00:45:33
Speaker
Well, I'll tell you what, it's a workout.
00:45:39
Speaker
And here's the thing.
00:45:41
Speaker
We do this when you go to pool school, you're on fins most of the weekend, pretty much.
00:45:48
Speaker
And so we tell athletes they've got to really get some time in fins.
00:45:52
Speaker
And so wearing your fins for an entire workout in preparation for pool school is not a bad idea.
00:45:58
Speaker
But for me personally, oh man, I'd rather go nay than yay.
00:46:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's almost like unlocking a cheat code in a game.
00:46:08
Speaker
I would say once you have figured out how to do the skills and drills and fins, when you get to that main set, put those fins away.
00:46:17
Speaker
Right.
00:46:17
Speaker
So I feel like you're kind of you're you're you're hurting your possibilities in mind by wearing fins because you're taking away the strength building and the balance.
00:46:31
Speaker
and learning how to kick without assistance.
00:46:34
Speaker
That's how I look at it.
00:46:36
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:46:37
Speaker
For sure.
00:46:38
Speaker
Okay, Rich.
00:46:40
Speaker
Next one.
00:46:41
Speaker
Single lens goggles, yay or nay?
00:46:45
Speaker
All right.
00:46:45
Speaker
So, of course, this is a nay for me, but I got to say, I have, I'll bet you they're still out in my garage in the goggle drawer.
00:46:55
Speaker
I have a tool case.
00:46:57
Speaker
Of course you do.
00:46:58
Speaker
And there's a goggle drawer.
00:47:00
Speaker
And I'm pretty sure in the back of that goggle drawer, there are a pair of single lens goggles from like 2008 or something.
00:47:09
Speaker
I don't know.
00:47:10
Speaker
Did you use this for scuba or something?
00:47:12
Speaker
No, no, no.
00:47:13
Speaker
Like there's like a real, like they were a thing.
00:47:15
Speaker
Like I believe it.
00:47:17
Speaker
I know.
00:47:17
Speaker
I know.
00:47:18
Speaker
I'm totally kidding.
00:47:21
Speaker
Oh, that's hilarious.
00:47:22
Speaker
I have never, I, I, I've tried them on once that I just couldn't, I couldn't like the seal and everything.
00:47:28
Speaker
I'm like, nah, I can't do this.
00:47:30
Speaker
So that's a nay for me too.
00:47:31
Speaker
That's a no for me, dog.
00:47:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:34
Speaker
It's just goofy looking too.
00:47:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:36
Speaker
All right.
00:47:37
Speaker
This one, I thought of you specifically eating a peanut butter and jelly on the pool deck.
00:47:44
Speaker
A hundred percent.
00:47:45
Speaker
Yay.
00:47:45
Speaker
Yes.
00:47:47
Speaker
I slammed a PB and J today for lunch in between meetings.
00:47:51
Speaker
So yes.
00:47:52
Speaker
Yes.
00:47:52
Speaker
You got to do what you got to do on the deck.
00:47:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:55
Speaker
I'll probably bring one.
00:47:57
Speaker
All right.
00:47:58
Speaker
Swim jammers.
00:47:59
Speaker
Yay or nay.
00:48:01
Speaker
Yay, that's my jam.
00:48:05
Speaker
I love it.
00:48:08
Speaker
I love it.
00:48:09
Speaker
All right.
00:48:10
Speaker
This one I pulled up from an article about weird things that swimmers do on the pool deck to get ready for a swim, right?
00:48:17
Speaker
Chest slaps.
00:48:19
Speaker
Yay or nay?
00:48:20
Speaker
What is that?
00:48:22
Speaker
It's hitting yourself really hard to pump you up to get in the pool.
00:48:26
Speaker
I know, but I mean, I get, I don't know.
00:48:29
Speaker
It's getting the circulation going.
00:48:31
Speaker
I don't know.
00:48:31
Speaker
I don't know.
00:48:32
Speaker
Hyping yourself.
00:48:32
Speaker
I don't know.
00:48:33
Speaker
Pain?
00:48:34
Speaker
I don't know.
00:48:35
Speaker
Yay or nay, Rich?
00:48:37
Speaker
That's a nay.
00:48:38
Speaker
Okay.
00:48:38
Speaker
All right.
00:48:39
Speaker
Same.
00:48:41
Speaker
All right.
00:48:41
Speaker
How about splashing yourself with water?
00:48:45
Speaker
I've seen this.
00:48:46
Speaker
I'm a yay on this, especially open water, especially when you're getting into open water.
00:48:52
Speaker
Splashing yourself in the face, giving yourself a good dunk.
00:48:57
Speaker
I don't splash myself at the edge of the pool.
00:49:00
Speaker
I just kind of jump in.
00:49:02
Speaker
So I guess it depends on the environment.
00:49:05
Speaker
How about you?
00:49:06
Speaker
Yeah, I would say I just jump in the water and like dunk my head and maybe do a couple sink downs, but that's about it.
00:49:12
Speaker
I don't actively splash water on my face.
00:49:15
Speaker
All right.
00:49:16
Speaker
But I've seen people do it and I've always kind of wondered what they're doing.
00:49:21
Speaker
Okay.
00:49:22
Speaker
Church steeple.
00:49:24
Speaker
I don't even know what the hell this is.
00:49:27
Speaker
It's when you push off from the wall and you make a steeple over your hands.
00:49:31
Speaker
Oh, streamlining.
00:49:32
Speaker
Oh, streamlining.
00:49:33
Speaker
Well, yay.
00:49:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:34
Speaker
Yay.
00:49:35
Speaker
Yes.
00:49:35
Speaker
All right.
00:49:39
Speaker
Excellent.
00:49:39
Speaker
I got one more thing I want to share with you that I really loved.
00:49:43
Speaker
And I was kind of thinking of Emily when I pulled this up.
00:49:46
Speaker
But these are seven things.
00:49:47
Speaker
This is put out by USA Swimming News.
00:49:49
Speaker
These are seven weird things only swimmers say.
00:49:52
Speaker
Just to run it by you.
00:49:55
Speaker
Leave on the top.
00:49:56
Speaker
Have you heard that one before, Rich?
00:49:58
Speaker
Leave on the top.
00:49:59
Speaker
Leave on the top.
00:49:59
Speaker
Okay.
00:50:00
Speaker
What is that?
00:50:00
Speaker
So only swimmers refer to a clock as having tops and bottoms and how one should leave on a top or a bottom.
00:50:06
Speaker
Occasionally, the author has said to friends when leaving or sitting at a restaurant, let's just leave on the top.
00:50:13
Speaker
Long, confused stares.
00:50:15
Speaker
Yep.
00:50:15
Speaker
I know this one now.
00:50:16
Speaker
Yep, for sure.
00:50:17
Speaker
Okay.
00:50:17
Speaker
How about this one?
00:50:18
Speaker
Or it's leave on the 10 or leave on the 15.
00:50:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:21
Speaker
Uh-huh.
00:50:23
Speaker
This water feels fast.
00:50:25
Speaker
Oh, hell yeah.
00:50:26
Speaker
I've got, especially my swimmers, the people that are former collegiate swimmers, they'll tell you what pools are fast and what lanes are fast.
00:50:33
Speaker
And yeah.
00:50:33
Speaker
That's so crazy.
00:50:35
Speaker
Green hair.
00:50:36
Speaker
Don't care.
00:50:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:39
Speaker
Chlorine hair.
00:50:39
Speaker
You bet.
00:50:40
Speaker
Yep.
00:50:40
Speaker
Yep.
00:50:41
Speaker
I like that one.
00:50:42
Speaker
Yep.
00:50:42
Speaker
I like that one.
00:50:43
Speaker
If you touch my foot without passing again, I will end you.
00:50:48
Speaker
Yeah, that's me, actually.
00:50:51
Speaker
That's you.
00:50:51
Speaker
I can see it, yeah.
00:50:54
Speaker
All right.
00:50:55
Speaker
A couple more here.
00:50:57
Speaker
Eight 100s, breathe every 3, 5, 7, 9, each 25.
00:50:58
Speaker
Descend every 1 through 4, then 5 through 8, negative split.
00:51:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:07
Speaker
shoot the person who wrote that.
00:51:08
Speaker
I know, that's mean.
00:51:10
Speaker
And the whole hypoxic drill thing just... Yeah, I know, I hear you.
00:51:17
Speaker
All right, last one.
00:51:19
Speaker
I'm leaking again.
00:51:20
Speaker
Yeah, you guys said that twice.
00:51:24
Speaker
Sometimes I have to get out of the pool and go to the bathroom for it.
00:51:33
Speaker
We're officially off the rails now.
00:51:34
Speaker
We are off the rails.
00:51:36
Speaker
Well, I hope you enjoyed this round of swim yay or nay.
00:51:40
Speaker
We would love to hear from y'all.
00:51:41
Speaker
What would you keep or yeet?
00:51:44
Speaker
Love that.
00:51:45
Speaker
I love how you incorporated yeet like three or four times.
00:51:49
Speaker
You're welcome.
00:51:49
Speaker
I'm going to have to let my girls know that we've done that for them.
00:51:53
Speaker
Folks, thanks again for listening this week.
00:51:55
Speaker
Be sure to follow us at 303 Triathlon and at Grit to Greatness Endurance.
00:51:58
Speaker
And of course, go to iTunes, give us a rating and a comment.
00:52:01
Speaker
We sure would appreciate it.
00:52:02
Speaker
We appreciate you.
00:52:03
Speaker
Stay tuned, train informed, and enjoy the endurance journey.
00:52:07
Speaker
For your 303 Endurance Podcast.
00:52:09
Speaker
It's your 303 Endurance Podcast.
00:52:10
Speaker
It's your 303 Endurance Podcast.
00:52:25
Speaker
Endurance Podcasts is Chip 303.
00:52:27
Speaker
Endurance Podcasts is Chip 303.
00:52:29
Speaker
Endurance Podcasts is Chip 303.
00:52:31
Speaker
Endurance Podcasts is Chip 303.
00:52:34
Speaker
Endurance Podcasts is Chip 303.