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Ruedi Wild on Life as a Professional Triathlete, Lessons From the World Stage, and Redefining Performance
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On today’s episode of Just In Stride, we welcome Ruedi Wild, a Swiss triathlete whose career has spanned the highest levels of competition. From toeing the line at the Olympics to racing on the world stage, Ruedi has built a reputation as both a fierce competitor and a thoughtful student of the sport.
In recent years, his focus has shifted toward understanding performance from the inside out. A key discovery around nutrition and sweat rate transformed not only his racing but also his outlook on training and recovery. It’s insights like these that Ruedi now shares with athletes looking to get the most out of themselves.
With decades of experience and a perspective shaped by both triumphs and challenges, Ruedi offers valuable lessons on what it takes to push limits and continue evolving as an athlete.
More on Ruedi:
-Ruedi Wild https://www.instagram.com/ruediwild/
-TriWild https://www.instagram.com/triwild_sweattest/
Ruedi is offering you 20 CHF / 20 EURO OFF the sweat test by visiting www.sweat-test.com
and entering code: Justinstride20
Offer valid until end of October 2025
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Offer from Xact Nutrition: This episode is presented by our friends at Xact Nutrition and they are offering you 15% OFF your order when you use the code JUSTINSTRIDE. So head to xactnutrition.com and fuel your goals today! Now shipping in Canada and the U.S.
Offer from Lagoon : This episode is also brought to you by Lagoon sleep pillow and they are offering you 15% OFF your order when you use the code STRIDE. Mininum purchase of $74 USD required. Limited to one use per customer.
Thanks for tuning in to the Just In Stride Podcast. I truly appreciate you taking the time to listen and I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. Please take a minute after this to rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts. With your feedback we’ll be able to make the show even better and it’ll help us reach new listeners too. You can also find us on Instagram @justinstridepod and YouTube @justinstridepod for all the latest episodes and updates. Glad you came along for the ride with Just In Stride!
Transcript
Introduction to the Justin Stride Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Justin Stride Podcast. I'm your host, Justin Pugliese. If you love endurance sports, you've definitely come to the right place. On this show, we'll talk to athletes, coaches, and professionals who can help us reach our true potential.
Justin's Experience and Podcast Promotion
00:00:18
Speaker
Being a student of distance running for over 10 years and interviewing people in the sport for the last five, I've learned a ton, but there's always more to discover. Everyone has a story and I know you'll resonate with each of our guests as we embark on this new journey together.
00:00:34
Speaker
Join us at home, on the road, or while you run. Together we'll have some fun. So follow along on Instagram at Just In Stride Pod and your favorite podcast platform and prepare to be inspired.
00:00:47
Speaker
Come along for the ride with Just In Stride.
Sponsorships and Offers
00:00:50
Speaker
This episode is presented by our friends at Exact Nutrition, a tasty and healthy way to fuel your body before, during, and after a solid training session.
00:01:00
Speaker
I never had out for a run without a few exact energy fruit bars in my pocket, and now they've made fueling even easier with their brand new minis. Same great taste, now in bite-sized pieces.
00:01:13
Speaker
Each reusable bag has 32 pieces, making it perfect for sharing with teammates or dialing in your fueling on the go. Stay fueled, stay strong, and fuel smarter with Exact Nutrition. Get 15% off your order with code JUSTINSSTRIDE at exactnutrition.com.
00:01:33
Speaker
We're also supported by our friends at Lagoon, the experts in deep restorative sleep, the ultimate recovery tool for your training. When I spoke with Ryan Hurley, the founder of Lagoon on episode 37 of the podcast, I learned just how important the right pillow is for optimal sleep and performance.
00:01:51
Speaker
After taking their two minute quiz and finding my perfect match, I finally started waking up refreshed and ready to tackle my goals. Now, Lagoon is offering 15% off your first purchase with the code STRIDE.
00:02:04
Speaker
So head to lagoon sleep.com and see for yourself why better sleep leads to better running.
Featuring Rudy Wild: A Swiss Triathlete
00:02:10
Speaker
On today's episode of Justin's Stride, we welcome Rudy Wild, a Swiss triathlete whose career spanned the highest levels of competition.
00:02:18
Speaker
From towing the line at the Olympics to racing on the world stage, Rudy has built a reputation as both a fierce competitor and thoughtful student of the sport. In recent years, his focus has shifted towards understanding performance from the inside out.
00:02:34
Speaker
A key discovery around nutrition and sweat rate transformed not only his racing, but also his outlook on training and recovery. It's insights like these that Rudy now shares with athletes looking to get the most out of themselves.
00:02:47
Speaker
With decades of experience and a perspective shaped by both triumphs and challenges, Rudy offers valuable lessons on what it takes to push limits and continue to evolve as an athlete.
00:02:58
Speaker
Good morning, Rudy. Thank you for joining me on the Justin's Drive podcast. Good morning, Justin. Pleasure to see you here in the podcast. Yeah, second time meeting. we I actually got to meet you on a community run, which was which was really nice to to run with someone like yourself, um such an established a triathlete with with so much experience and and wealth of knowledge. So great to have you on here.
00:03:23
Speaker
Thanks. Yeah. How have you been recently? I know you got back from holidays. Maybe your holidays look different now than they did even just a few years ago. Yeah, definitely. I just came back from a three-week holiday ah in Switzerland. It's probably the first time I took three weeks off. I cannot remember, actually, and without having the pressure to train all the time or ah or a busy working schedule.
00:03:47
Speaker
So we spent time in Switzerland, in the south, in Ticino. And it was probably the only place in Switzerland where it did not rain. We had proper summer there, whereas in the rest of Switzerland, it was really bad weather the last two, three weeks.
00:04:00
Speaker
And then um I also went up to the mountains, to the close to St. Moritz, another week there, ah just spending time with my family and also exercising like daily.
00:04:11
Speaker
no it It used to be my job and now it's my hobby, but it's actually it still kind of the same, yeah but with the only exception that... um Before I had to train according to a plan to always push myself. And now it's really about having fun and exploring the countryside.
00:04:27
Speaker
So went up running, doing a couple of trail runs on 3000 meters above sea level, like 30 Ks just in the mountains with the goats and, and deers and things like this. It's just amazing. You know, when, when you can switch back from as sports being your job to it's your hobby again, but it's, it's still the same. It's,
00:04:47
Speaker
Because I started doing sports, it's still the same thing that drives me day in, day out.
Transitioning from Professional Life
00:04:53
Speaker
yeah Was it hard to make the switch over from ah the pro life to the more everyday life? And is there different things that you appreciate now that maybe you didn't so much back when you were training so hard?
00:05:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's always for all the professional athletes, it's kind of ah of a really big step um coming back from from being a professional athlete to your normal life. But I would say I was well prepared for that step because I was always part-time working.
00:05:22
Speaker
And my my friends around me, they weren't just triathlete. They were mostly people outside of this, let's say, sports and triathlon bubble. And also, I think an important part is when you can decide yourself about when you want to finish your career, it's way easier than when you kind of you're injured or you don't have the results you were aiming for. And then maybe you don't have the sponsorship deals anymore.
00:05:46
Speaker
This kind of harder to accept. And as far as I know, it's kind of 80% of the athletes or so, kind of they are kind of forced into retirement. And um I was one of the lucky ones that could decide, okay, I finish probably after my best long distance race in my career, I can finish, ah yes, my sports career. And this definitely helped a lot.
00:06:09
Speaker
And I had a lot of projects already going on while I was an athlete. So it was not a big step. But of course, there are moments you think like it was actually quite a good time to be a professional athlete traveling the world and so on with all the highs and the lows. And now it's more like, you know, it's more like average. You have your job. Family is great. But this kind of extreme highs is probably one of the things that most of athletes do miss after their career.
00:06:35
Speaker
he And was that the plan to try and go out on a high? Because you you ended on such a such a high note, you know, and... it and Maybe was it even more difficult to walk away when you kind of reached that, you know, that, that kind of like extremely high performance, you know?
00:06:52
Speaker
Yeah. Um, no, not really. I always was joking, uh, telling my, my friends and my wife, if I'm still, um, a professional athlete at the age of 40, they can, they can, um, kind of destroy my bike or can, they can hide my bike.
00:07:07
Speaker
And, uh, So I was 39 and a half years old when I had my last race. I knew it's going to be my last race and and because like life becomes more busy with family. I have two kids while I was still training three times a day. I was working for more like five or six hours every day in the office.
00:07:28
Speaker
So it's kind of a lot of things going on and there comes the moment that you re realize, okay, having great results, it's really satisfying, but it's not everything that counts and ah Also after my last race, I imagined myself whether or not I should continue for another year.
00:07:45
Speaker
And I just assumed that, okay, if I keep pushing, let's say someone would guarantee me, let's say top three in Kona, in Hawaii, would I take it ah for the price of doing it one more year and really put everything and on the line?
00:08:01
Speaker
And I really had to be honest to myself. I wasn't really ready to do that. So for me, it was an easy decision. I knew it's the right decision. It felt right. And also now I have more time to spend with the family, with the kids. And before it was always like on one side, you have to be a really professional, recover well, and and use a little bit of time to recover properly.
00:08:22
Speaker
And on the other side, you're a family man. You're you're the dad of the kids. And it's just once once a lifetime day or at that date. And I really want to use that time to do something with them as well. So for me, at the end of the day, it was great.
00:08:35
Speaker
ah kind of an easy decision on what was the right thing to do. ah Were they of an age where they could ah realize the impact it had on them, like having you around more and like, why is that home right now? Yeah, they were still quite young when I were retired three years ago.
00:08:53
Speaker
yeah Our boy, he was um he was five years old and my daughter, our daughter, she was one year old. So the boy already realized a little bit what what I was doing.
00:09:04
Speaker
um But nowadays, i think they're were far more into sports and they probably would love seeing me kind of doing races because they're also very sports active and they really find great pleasure in doing sports activities.
00:09:18
Speaker
And um yeah, so they just recently asked me whether or not I'm doing more triathlons because they saw some pictures of me or some little videos and I said, no, no, I'm Daddy had has ah retired, but then I said, yeah, but you can still do it. It
00:09:36
Speaker
was not that easy to explain. yeah yeah they want to see dad they want to see dad on the and the podium. act but so like do you like So are they aware of the level of athlete that you were? like Do you have things around the house that...
00:09:50
Speaker
that that showcase this or is it more like if they see a picture randomly or like what, how does the household look like? What do you want for them kind of thing? it was more like, I think they saw a picture randomly. I have kind of displayed my trophies or something like this. i'm really I'm really someone that is really present in the moment.
00:10:12
Speaker
And them for me, it seems like a different ah different life now than before, even though it's just three years or a bit more than three years ago. i'm I'm living in the present. It was a great time, but ah I don't want to switch back anymore. It's it's it's a and new life now, and I really enjoy my new lifestyle.
00:10:31
Speaker
Still being active, doing different sports. I started playing tennis a bit more seriously. um i spent more time in the gym, which I think is helping me big time overall overall health and so on.
00:10:45
Speaker
So kind of use all my knowledge, which I use to really push my performance now to really kind of optimize my my health and longevity.
00:10:56
Speaker
And that was probably one of the, let's say, most remarkable remarkable findings I had over the last three to four years that I can use actually the very same knowledge as an athlete now for other purposes.
00:11:10
Speaker
And it's really um kind
Health and Performance Optimization
00:11:13
Speaker
of, it really was a bit shocking for me on how similar health works with performance, kind of same factors, same things. You really um kind of try to improve.
00:11:25
Speaker
So I remember when I retired, I said, I'm not really in in the mood of doing any more VO2 max sessions or things like this because it was kind of a hate-love relationship. And now I'm kind of back to it, and not because of performance itself, but because I know that, let's say, VO2 max ah number is probably ah the key number for your health, overall health as well.
00:11:48
Speaker
So I'm doing the same thing over again, but just for different reasons. And I find I really look more for ways to kind of integrate in my lifestyle that guide me in the right direction.
00:12:02
Speaker
So instead of having a competition, I want to perform at my best level. I try to find kind of a balance, a routine that is is a lot of fun for me. It's sustainable.
00:12:14
Speaker
but at the same time it's helping me to kind of reach my overall goals when it comes to health. So like last year, just out of nowhere with some friends, we decided doing a high rocks race. It was my yeah first race, which was really fun. I had no idea what what what it was all about.
00:12:31
Speaker
During the race, I had to look to my colleagues on the side on how they do the exercise. So I knew how to do it. But then I realized like all that the basic training you do for high rocks is is basically what you really have to focus on anyways when you want to kind of stay in good health, in good shape with activating your muscles, being staying strong over the years.
00:12:53
Speaker
So I kind of started implementing a little bit of high rocks during winter time when it's not so nice weather outside to still have kind of a motivation that drives me day in, day out.
00:13:04
Speaker
But not because I want to be the best high rocks athlete, but more because I know it's helping me overall in the long term. Yeah, i think I think to your point, like i don't I don't see myself doing a high rocks competition, but I do see something in like, I like that type of training as in and as an endurance athlete. I can see why you would like it because it's like you're pushing your cardio, you're using a different range of motion, doing different kind of with the roller and the wall balls and like the ski, like you're doing so many different types of activities. So I think the range for like overall health, think makes a lot of sense too. So that's great.
00:13:40
Speaker
What is that? What does your new routine look like? do you have a more or less a new routine or Yeah, I'm still figuring out what the best routine is, but it know it constantly changes, you know, ah during the seasons and sono so on. And that's one of the things I like about living in Switzerland. I changed my routine a little bit based on the season.
00:14:01
Speaker
So now in summer, and my ideal routine would be um in the morning when I wake up, maybe do to do some easy training, maybe go for a little run or something like this, just to kind of wake up and then come back home um and do some work um first at home, then maybe have a coffee with my wife and then going ah go to to the office.
00:14:25
Speaker
That's kind of my favorite routine in the summertime. ah In winter, it's more like when it's dark in the morning, I usually i'm very um productive early mornings um in terms of working.
00:14:38
Speaker
I usually work quite early, maybe 5 or 5.30 in the morning for two hours or so. And then when the family is awake, I have breakfast with them and then go to office right after.
00:14:50
Speaker
And then usually I try to fit in, and especially if I did not train in the morning, I want to do a training session around midday. ah because i really think that it helps me breaking up the the day, ah like get rid of the stress. um i Like when I have too many things going on without exercising, sometimes I get a little bit grumpy.
00:15:12
Speaker
So I feel like it's the best way to really be staying ah centered and balanced. And um yeah, this is usually what I do during day on midday in wintertime. It can be ah that I ah drive the 5Ks to the next class cross-country skiing slope and then maybe spend an hour or an hour and a half on the skis. And then I'm kind of happy.
00:15:34
Speaker
And in the evening when I finish work, I come back to family. I find it more easier to spend some time with family instead of feeling the need to do some more exercises. And that's why I think when you're normally working,
00:15:48
Speaker
around midday is probably the best time to exercise for me. who Yeah, that's good point for sure. Like, cause yeah, I find the same thing now too. And it's interesting how you switch things from season to season. Cause you have like the daylight shifts.
00:16:02
Speaker
So like summertime amazing. You have sun early, sun late, but then winter time it's like dark when you wake up. So shifting that later in the day makes, makes some sense too, but also like in the evening family time is, is is really, really nice. And,
00:16:17
Speaker
That's when the kids want the attention. Are they i know you came from parents with like athletic backgrounds. You find your kids. You said that they're into sports and stuff like are they getting into it now and do you see a little bit of yourself in them?
00:16:30
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Especially my son. He's probably very similar to me. And that sometimes is a little bit challenging during day, you know, when we kind of have the same dickhead, you know, it's like... But then sometimes I really have to laugh at myself, you know, how he acts. He's probably, my mother keeps telling me that I was exactly the same when I was his age.
00:16:53
Speaker
And then no matter what sports, he always goes for it. And he loves all kinds of sports. Now he's into ice hockey, tennis and and and and soccer. ah But then now recently when we were in St. Baritz in the mountains, he also did a triathlon there, the Nicholas Birik kids triathlon.
00:17:10
Speaker
Oh, wow. So that was really fun. So no matter what he does, he he kind of seems really sport is his thing. And he needs to spend this energy, get rid of the energy somehow. Otherwise, it can be quite challenging at home when he's not kind of um doing any sports.
00:17:25
Speaker
And my daughter is slightly different. She's really, i can enjoy coffee with her. I could spend the day going somewhere and she just enjoys being around and and and having like buffet for breakfast.
00:17:38
Speaker
That's when I asked her, what do you want to have for holiday? You know, what's your favorite thing? She said, ah, she loves the buffets. You know, it's really funny. So I can more kind of socialize with her. She's also sporty.
00:17:50
Speaker
I think she's really into dancing and swimming. Now we started swimming together and in in summer holidays. But she's more like, okay, let's hang out with with with a mom and dad and enjoy coffee and things like this. So this is, yeah, really nice also. they can They lean into different things, which is which is cool.
00:18:08
Speaker
Yeah. yeah yeah And they kind of figure that out on their own too. It's like you can't like really force them into anything. They just go where their interests lie. Yeah. And I think this is also very interesting ah important to me or to us that um we want to support the kids the way like they want to do things and not kind of push them into something.
00:18:27
Speaker
And now when I just ah and attended some of of the sporting events with my son recently, I figured, you know, other the parents, ah sometimes it's hard to to see to see whether it's it's the kid's interest or is it more like the parents that want to kind of reach their goals, which they never reached during their life. and And maybe they feel like their daughter or son needs to be ah professional athlete and for me sometimes it's it's a little bit shocking, it's kind of a negative example. but I'm more like the opposite. you know I support but I'm not pushing at all because I see both ways. you know I was a professional athlete for more than 20 years and it was a great time but it takes a lot of of sacrifice and a lot of commitment and and um unless you're really ready to to give it all i would say I wouldn't recommend it because the opportunity costs are quite high as well so you can spend
00:19:20
Speaker
a lot of time doing different activities socialize and and or develop your professional career um in your job so i don't think it's smart to push kids uh into doing sports but of course if if it happens that they love sports i'm the last one that one wants to prevent them from doing what they love so it's yeah it's still early age also at the age of five or eight, um I would say it's the most important thing is is they that they have fun and they spend their time in a surrounding that is really kind of positive minded.
00:19:55
Speaker
And I think as long as they do sports and they're part of a team or they know, okay, they have to work in order to reach a goal or whatever, it really helps them for life. And when I look back to my career or what was really the true value of sports, it was really like I i kind of learned on okay it takes something to reach something.
00:20:15
Speaker
it's It doesn't come at a free cost. You have to invest something. And this kind of commitment is this also helps in all different situations in in your in your life, whether that's your job or or whatever.
00:20:31
Speaker
it's really um yeah You need to do something. You're responsible for yourself. And in sports, it's a really good example to learn those skills that help you for the whole thing, I would say. Yeah, 100%. They teach you skills for sure. And like I never did it professionally, nothing like that. But I know that sports, team sports, ah in my case, like through you know football or through hockey, like invaluable and some of the greatest friendships that I have to like a camaraderie and competition and ah defeat and all these things that come up in life, you know, sports, the great like analogy for those things.
00:21:09
Speaker
Can you go back maybe to the start for you and like what your upbringing was like and kind of how it got you to to the the life of triathlon?
Rudy's Early Triathlon Days
00:21:19
Speaker
Yeah, when I was young, triathlon wasn't really a sport yet. I remember like ah at the age of 10 or 12 or something like this, and ah beginning of 1990s, there was kind of this special happening, which was called triathlon and you can do swim, bike and run. And I always loved to do different sports. So I thought, okay, let's give it a try. That sounds kind of interesting.
00:21:41
Speaker
And I remember the first race, I was um um wasn't really the best swimmer. I think I was... ah I was ah almost drowning. ah And that was the moment I realized, oh, maybe i need to to improve my swimming skills. And I joined kind of a private coach that was teaching his daughter back that time.
00:21:59
Speaker
So I joined them once a week to just to start learning how to swim. and But I always found great pleasure in riding a bike and running. ah So that was it was quite of easy for me.
00:22:11
Speaker
And then, of course, when I did some additional kind of competitions, whether that was skiing or running or triathlon, it kind of gave me extra motivation. also start So I also started to train a bit more deliberately.
00:22:26
Speaker
But as I said before, as a child, I never really did proper training. It was more like playing with with my friends outdoors and running around and doing from soccer to whatever. um It wasn't until the the age of maybe 14, 15 that I started properly training, um if you would call it so.
00:22:45
Speaker
And um for me, it was always, as you mentioned before, training is one thing, but I was lucky enough to join, for example, a running club with some good friends. And it was more like social life for me, actually. We did run training together and then later on we went for for for for dinner together.
00:23:03
Speaker
It was more part of ah spending the evening together than just go there for training. And I always, for me, I felt like it's very important to have a sustainable kind of lifestyle, meaning that I do things because I love them.
00:23:17
Speaker
And then out of that, I get my consistency and I don't train because I have a certain goal at that stage. Of course, you want to perform at your best level when you enter race.
00:23:27
Speaker
But for me, it was more like I always loved what I do. what i did and that was kind of the key driver and spending time with with with friends and never felt like i would miss out on on on on socializing time because we had that in the training sessions we had that after training session we were kind of a bunch of of athletes of friends and still nowadays we are all retired but we still meet ah like every other week or so here in zurich we go for a run and then have like dinner together and we talk
00:23:58
Speaker
It's still the same, except probably we're not racing anymore. so And I would say this is a good example on how you should establish your your lifestyle. And then if it happens that sport is kind of becomes your your job as well.
00:24:11
Speaker
and So it it developed step by step. I never really planned on being a professional athlete. I just figured, okay, I found great pleasure in it. I had good results and then I became more and more ambitious. And then first being like a Swiss champion, then maybe some first international races and as a junior internationally and then somehow I landed on the podium at European Championship and then okay maybe I could become a professional athlete at some stage and then it went on and triathlon became Olympic um at the end of the 1990s so that was for me kind of a thing when I realized oh maybe triathlon Olympic Games that would be a goal and then kind of I was at the Olympics back 2012 and
00:24:56
Speaker
And I also remember when I was watching those guys riding their bikes in Kona, Hawaii, like these crazy guys, I said, I never would, never ever I would do something like this. But then again, like step by step, by um I developed more in that direction. And before I actually realized it, I was in Kona, Hawaii as a professional athlete doing the Ironman. So it's it wasn't that really planned step
Balancing Education and Sports Career
00:25:20
Speaker
by step. it just I just followed my passion. And that's when landed there.
00:25:25
Speaker
being an athlete, um and but also I was always, um after my studies in Zurich, I did something completely differently. I studied economics here at university in Zurich.
00:25:37
Speaker
um And then um I started working here at at this company, Sponsor Sport Food. and But before I started working here, I was professional athlete for half a year, but I always ah gave up um triathlon.
00:25:53
Speaker
Because and for me, it was like before, it was always about education and sports. And then all of a sudden, I just cared about, okay, the three sessions every day about about my splits and so on.
00:26:06
Speaker
And I felt like that's not me anymore. I was too much into all those performance things. I kind of lost a little bit that distance, that natural distance. ah So I decided, okay, I start working here at Sponsor.
00:26:20
Speaker
And so I was working... part-time half the day I was working ah usually in the mornings so I would train early morning and then work from 8 to maybe 12 12 30 have maybe a little nap after lunch and then do two more training sessions afterwards and even though you would say maybe that's not the ideal situation for a professional athlete for me it I found a better balance in doing so than just being an athlete all day long and this is how I kept kept it for for all my 20 years as a professional athlete, I was always working here.
00:26:54
Speaker
and That gave me this kind of, as I mentioned, this distance, but also it helped me, I would say a lot, um like um looking or um thinking about how to optimize performance from a different perspective. Like we developed sports supplement and sports food.
00:27:12
Speaker
So was really also because of self-interest that really I started studying all the things, the effects, how it works on my body. And of course, with the people, with the staff, with the experts, always had the right people to talk to.
00:27:27
Speaker
But I wasn't just happy when it gave me an answer. I always wanted wanted to know it in a better way or really figure out whether or not it's working for me. i always um I would say that that was throughout my whole career, I was always very eager to find out this extra edge.
00:27:44
Speaker
So I started, um let's say, thinking about how can I optimize or how can I measure how much of an impact, let's say, that nutrition concept or that fueling strategy would have on my performance.
00:27:57
Speaker
and And I really started developing those things. And my final results on what I thought is best for my performance definitely differed a lot from what the theory or what the science up to that point would would tell you to do.
00:28:12
Speaker
And so I optimize, basically my whole performance. um And I kind of had to get off had to get rid of the knowledge I thought would be right into let's be open, let's figure out and then make decisions at the very end when I have the results. I would say that was the key driver for all my career and probably also the key driver because I was quite successful even though I was working part-time because I really doubted everything and tried to figure out better ways in order to
00:28:42
Speaker
improve the performance and measure it. And this is also leading to to to um to the nowadays when I help other athletes performing at their best level, which I do
Helping Others Optimize Performance
00:28:54
Speaker
nowadays. um It's not like I give them a recipe and say, this is like what you have to do.
00:29:00
Speaker
It's more like I have a good idea on what could help based on their performance or based on their strengths and weaknesses. But then we kind of establish protocol and we measure things and we do different intuitions and then we measure, okay, where do we get the biggest effect and from what intuition? And then we go with that direction and start developing it even further.
00:29:22
Speaker
And this is kind of the approach I took as an athlete myself and which I use nowadays to help the athlete to perform even better. Yeah, I think I was thinking about culture of the sport. um And just hearing you talk now, it made me think about something different. How like information was so...
00:29:41
Speaker
the how readily available information was back then is way different than it is today. Like someone can just Google something and figure and find something. Whether it's right or wrong, they can find an answer through ChatGPT or like these these tools that they have or resources that they have to to get these answers, right?
00:30:04
Speaker
Where like maybe back for you back then, it was really like, you had to test everything almost to to get to where you like get the answers you were looking for and ones that were really specific to you. Like, would you, would you agree with that? Or like, cause it sounds like a lot of, of this kind of testing and, and trying different stuff and then going back and making adjustments based on the actual results for, for you.
00:30:31
Speaker
Yeah. Yes and no. um I think nowadays we have a lot of data around. and but most people don't really know what to do with the data. There's a lot of talking and and um yeah studies have shown this or that, but the first question is always look at the study, who was part of the study.
00:30:49
Speaker
I don't compare myself with any random or average sporty people. I'm different. Everybody's different. So I need to figure out what works for me the best way and not what the study would suggest is working for the average athlete. So it's always...
00:31:04
Speaker
I'm interested in optimizing my performance and not in science in general to figure out what for the basic population can work or not. So maybe that's the starting point finding from a study.
00:31:15
Speaker
And then I want to, I would reflect on, okay, how could I implement this knowledge into my daily schedule? And can I measure if I adjust something, can I measure an impact or not?
00:31:27
Speaker
And then maybe is there another way of, I can reach similar things or doing it slightly differently. Let's take nutrition as an example because I'm i'm really into nutrition.
00:31:38
Speaker
And so like when I approached the whole thing was um after being an Olympic athlete, when I switched to middle and long distance, I knew, okay, at some stage, I would say in an 8K or in an eight-hour race, at some stage, at the availability of energy, of carbs would be kind of a limiting factor.
00:31:58
Speaker
So I knew no matter how good my VR2 max or whatever is, and if I'm running out of energy, um running out of fuel, um I would ultimately have to slow down my pace or to stop.
00:32:09
Speaker
So I was thinking about how can I kind of increase the capacity of my body to have a durable event over year over many hours without hitting the wall.
00:32:20
Speaker
So then I tried to optimize, for example, my metabolic rate. So meaning I did testing on a bike, um testing my metabolic rate, Looking at at my numbers, let's say um in Ironman, for example, I would average around 300 watts and of power output.
00:32:40
Speaker
So initially, when I measured it, I would use 90% of my energy would come from carbohydrates, whereas 10% would come from fat. And then you can draw the line and you would see after to maybe five or six hours, if you take in 100 or 120 grams of carbs, after let's say six hours or so, you would be hitting the wall meaning you run out of of carbohydrates um so i knew on one side is there a way to increase the way of how many carbs i can absorb and on the other side there would be ways on how to optimize my metabolic rate meaning i can sustain the same power output so at the lower rate of carbohydrates and using more fat so i started
00:33:25
Speaker
digging into that direction and try to optimize the capacity of my body to use fat as ah as a source, as a fuel at my race pace, not that going for a walk or an easy pace because that's not specific. I want to see how it works at my race pace.
00:33:40
Speaker
And if you but if you would take studies again, they would compare rates when they go when you go really easy, but that has no effect on my performance. um So I started doing different kind of training interventions and then went back to the lab a month after or two months to see whether or not it and my metabolic rate has in in increased, improved.
00:34:01
Speaker
But over many months, there was hardly any impact I could measure. I did kind of fasted training, long sessions, intermittent trainings, and polarized training.
00:34:12
Speaker
I had hardly any impact on my on my capacity to burn fat. um And then, yeah, it wasn't until I figured out ways in my general nutrition that I had to switch.
00:34:24
Speaker
which probably would contribute to big switch in my metabolic rate, meaning all of a sudden, like when I did my last races, I was able at the same pace to burn and to use 50% of my energy from fats and 50% of carbs.
00:34:39
Speaker
So going from 90% energy from carbs, I went down to 50 of carbs and 50 fat, meaning I can now sustain the very same effort for for much longer.
00:34:51
Speaker
And it wasn't somehow... um and connected to the training I did. It was more connected to the basic nutrition I took day in, day out. That it was a really interesting finding for for myself.
00:35:03
Speaker
um That's just the way, you know, um and I tried all the ways to training that people say help you to become more efficient. It had hardly any impact ah with me, maybe with other people.
00:35:16
Speaker
And this is just an example on how you can measure things and then it would ultimately guide you the right direction. And then also, for example, on thats on that route, and um I started um using different mixes of of of powders, of carbohydrate powders, because in my mind I had that that that thought that, okay, and the moment you start taking sugars, it's really hard for your body to burn fat because it prefers sugars to fat to use as an energy source because it's way easier to access.
00:35:46
Speaker
So, yeah. Then I thought, okay, is there a way I can take on carbs and same time allow my body still to to have the ability to burn lots of fat? And then I started doing some research and I figured that for diabetic people, for example, which have to avoid this higher blood um sugar levels, they take, for example, a carb source car called voxomized starch, which is a really long lasting carbohydrate source.
00:36:14
Speaker
And I started figuring out, for example, with that source, and i I had the hope that I can use carbs. And because it does not spike my my blood sugar, my body is still able to burn a lot of fat.
00:36:26
Speaker
Turns out, after weeks of training, that's exactly the the recipe for me. So I was using both energy sources at the same time. And I had this my special mix, drink mix, here at Sponsor.
00:36:40
Speaker
But ah we agreed that we will only make it the product the moment I'm retired because I want that knowledge for my performance and for my advantage. That's just an example on how things then worked.
00:36:54
Speaker
and Or another thing was um I was struggling badly when I switched to middle and long distance at the at the beginning. um After four or five hours, i was and in many cases, I was fading. I sometimes ended up in a medical tent.
00:37:10
Speaker
I remember being, I think, in third position at the World Championship 70.3 back in 2013 or 14. And then with five k's to go, I i kind of um had to go to the medical tent and I never made it back on race course again.
00:37:26
Speaker
And I didn't know what it was. It came out of nowhere. And I started doing research. I went from one expert to another, if one nutritionist to sports doctor and No one could really tell me and they all thought probably I was running out of carbs, but I knew it must be something differently.
00:37:43
Speaker
It wasn't until a few years later of research and I almost gave up that I figured that, okay, it has to do something with my electrolyte level in my body. And it was quite a common knowledge already in Australia when I was in a training camp.
00:37:58
Speaker
One guy told me if I have ever analyzed my sweats to figure out how many electrolytes I would need. I had no idea even what electrolytes were that time. I mean, I was at the Olympic Games, but I had not even the basic knowledge.
00:38:13
Speaker
It turns out that, okay, you need electrolytes for your hydration level. You need electrolytes to absorb the carbs that you take in. And then all of a sudden kind of made click in my mind. i thought probably that's the the missing element.
00:38:29
Speaker
So I started measuring and my my my sodium rate in my sweat. I basically analyzed my sweat, came out with a number, and then really started working with that number, trying different protocols.
00:38:42
Speaker
And out of that, I developed a special nutrition strategy in races that allowed me to really and kind of perform over many many hours without cramping, without having issues, and so on.
00:38:55
Speaker
What the years before always pre prevented me from kind of being successful on the long distance, then never was an issue anymore. And that was just another example on like, because of a self need and reflection. And and um I started doing the research and figuring out new ways on like, how can I adjust my nutrition strategy to to my own numbers?
00:39:19
Speaker
And once I really ah kind of ah figured that out, it for me, it was a complete game changer. because on that level, I could increase so much more my performance than training even more or even harder, because everybody's training on a really good level. Everybody is talented, is gifted.
00:39:38
Speaker
so um And as an athlete, especially as ah as a professional athlete, you tend to kind of just focus on new things more and more, training, recovery, which is, of course, it's crazy important.
00:39:52
Speaker
But sometimes you tend to forget ah to to take an overall and neutral look at the whole situation. Like, okay, if I invest one more hour, is it really making a difference whether or not I train 30 hours a week or 29 or 31? Or is it maybe is it maybe other things that in my system that ah have a far more impact and than doing one more hour of exercise?
00:40:19
Speaker
So I really started to analyze, you know, the whole performance system of me, of an athlete in general, with all the different elements from the training, the nutrition, the recovery, the the supplements, the, let's say the the mental status, the social life. It all has an impact on my performance. And my my general idea is to to figure out, okay, if I invest one more hour, that present moment, where is it invested the best possible way?
00:40:49
Speaker
you know, one extra hour, where do I get the most out of, and out of performance push? And most athletes and coaches, they just think in they they just think in numbers connected to training hours, intensity, and so on.
00:41:06
Speaker
But they sometimes neglect or mostly would neglect all the things around it that are part of the system. and And so I started kind of really analyzing what are the elements of the whole system, which is around me, and whether or not I can measure basically those different numbers, which are important. It turns out, yes, I can.
00:41:25
Speaker
And so I had kind of like a cockpit. You would imagine sitting in a car, you have ah the cockpit and you always, you can track the numbers and you see, okay, whether you're in the green the green zone or maybe in the yellow zone.
00:41:39
Speaker
And then also like, it's kind of a pre-warning system that you know, okay, if something is going in there in the wrong direction, you can make changes. before you become sick, before you become ill and and so on.
00:41:53
Speaker
And I developed it over the years for myself. And it turns out, I would say was really for me a game changer, um optimizing that system and looking after all that these elements and not just training or or exercising in general.
00:42:12
Speaker
Yeah, because think most people think, you know, i was going to ask you a question about how did you unlock, like go to the next level. And I think. A lot of people would say, oh, this or would answer this training or this this type of training or and whatever. But and for you, it sounds like it was the system it was the It's the nutrition system that you're that you worked on so so so much because like you're saying at that level, everyone's a strong athlete. It's just.
00:42:43
Speaker
how can you, you need gas, you know, to go. So, uh, it sounds like you figured that out. Is it with someone for someone that doesn't have all the resources, is there a way that they can, is it dangerous to try and, um,
00:43:00
Speaker
try this technique to, to increase the metabolic, uh, our metabolic state. Can, can we do it ourselves? Like, as like, let's say I'm a marathoner, ah you know, I'm training for a marathon. Is it, is it advantageous for me to, um, to try this, this method without adequate testing? Um, yes and no here again, I think, um, you can basically do a lot of the things, um, on your own.
00:43:28
Speaker
if you have the right guidance or if you know what it is all about. ah But maybe for the last few percent, it's probably helpful also to have someone on the side that is sharing the knowledge with you and giving you the right direction and ultimately also saving you a lot of time.
00:43:43
Speaker
I would say the most important thing, no matter what, is consistency. you know um As I mentioned at the very beginning, It's not about one specific session or one specific intervention. It's about doing it over and over again. And that's why my recommendation number one would be you really have to love embrace what you do.
00:44:03
Speaker
And then it becomes sustainable. It becomes part of your routine. And you only become a good athlete or a good person or become good at at what you're doing when you do it over and over and over again.
00:44:15
Speaker
So that's probably part number one. But talking nutrition and your scenario as a marathon runner, The first thing I would do is I would kind of um kind of try to figure out your own numbers, meaning like in ah in a marathon conditions, how much would you sweat at your marathon pace in your given marathon temperatures? That's ah one thing.
00:44:37
Speaker
The other thing is you're testing your metabolic rate, meaning if you went to a lab and I would make you run at your at your given marathon pace on a treadmill, and then we could see, okay, um how much energy you need and of those ah energy requirements, how much is contributed by carbs and how much you can use your fat.
00:45:02
Speaker
And the third thing I would test with you when it comes to nutrition is how does your sweat look like? Like what's the amount of of sodium? This is the key electrolyte in your sweat. What's the amount of sodium you lose for your sweat?
00:45:15
Speaker
And after having those three numbers, it would give me quite quite a good view on okay, with which which are the areas we need to maybe increase at the very beginning or to improve at the very beginning to make in order to make your performance better.
00:45:30
Speaker
Because if you kind of increase, let's say youre your marathon pace would take, or your marathon would probably take you three hours, and um you would um need probably 200 grams of carbs per hour at your marathon pace,
00:45:49
Speaker
and you can take on, let's say, 80 grams of carbs you can take on during an hour. This is a deficit of 120 grams per hour,
Nutrition and Hydration Strategies
00:45:57
Speaker
more or less. And you do do it three hours, meaning you have a deficit of 360 grams of carbs.
00:46:03
Speaker
Usually, if we do a proper carb loading, we can we should be able to to so to store um more or less 500 grams of carbs in your muscle as glycogen.
00:46:14
Speaker
So that gives us kind of an extra 120 as a reserve. So I would say even with those numbers, that should not be a big issue for you to perform at your best level.
00:46:24
Speaker
So if you increased your carb intake or whatever, you would not run any faster because you have enough carbs. And most people nowadays, they feel like the more the better. But it's like in Formula One, if you have more, let's say, let's say more more fuel aboard on board, more more petrol, whatever, they're not driving faster. They're actually driving slower.
00:46:45
Speaker
It's not until the moment they run out of fuel that, okay, they're they're they're slower. So I would say, okay, you should be fine with your with your nutrition. and yeah Of course, you need to do long runs and so on, but it's not the key. Number one is not to increase your capacity to be more to burn more fat.
00:47:04
Speaker
It's desirable, but it's maybe not making a big impact on your performance. ah But then I would maybe look at your sweat. And and if if you're similar than me, then um if you have an average Sweat, meaning you lose about one gram per liter of sweat of sodium.
00:47:22
Speaker
Natrium in German, sodium. Sodium is part of salt. The typical salt we have in our kitchen, ah one gram of of this salt is 0.5 gram of sodium plus 0.6 gram of chloride.
00:47:37
Speaker
And we talk about sodium here. Sodium is the key electrolyte, um which is important for your hydration and and um also... like and different many different things.
00:47:49
Speaker
But if you're like me, and you sweat out a lot of sodium every hour that you train. So when I was testing it in in my race conditions in Kona in Hawaii, I would sweat ah around three liters every hour in the run.
00:48:06
Speaker
Three liters. That's massive. And then with every liter of sweat, I would lose about one gram of sodium which is about 2.5 grams of salt. So meaning in the run, in the Ironman run, in Kona conditions, I would lose in the run three liters of sweat together with 7.5 grams of salt or three grams of sodium.
00:48:28
Speaker
So this is massive. If you imagine that, ah this is massive. And it's not written somewhere in the books. It's how I measured it. So now have figure, okay, how can I make sure that my deficit does not become too big over the time because my body maybe can sustain it for one hour, maybe for another hour, but then I would see massive dec decline in performance because my body is trying to to save itself from from having bigger issues.
00:48:59
Speaker
And I would say performance is maybe not the key thing for my body to maintain over hours. It would pick maybe to the the general functions of the body and it would prefer that to being like very competitive or to operate at optimal level.
00:49:16
Speaker
So what it would start is it would start diminishing my performance to save myself. And my idea is, okay, if I give the body everything that it needs to keep working at the optimal level, then I can kind of really use my full potential ah to reach the best possible performance according to my potential.
00:49:37
Speaker
But if if I kind of limit my potential because the body has an accumulated deficit in liquids or in in electrolytes, and then no matter how good my VO2 max is and no matter how fast I can do the 1K reps, it does not really matter at all because the other part will be the limiting factor.
00:49:56
Speaker
So coming back to your situation, I would figure out what are the key limiting factors to your performance and try to optimize those. And then we can go back to the overall picture and look again at the situation. Okay, is it is it now something differently that limit limits your performance? And then i would put the ah the most attention to that area, increase kind of that hole, and then compare the situation again. And this is the way I would say which is the most effective.
00:50:25
Speaker
And not just train and to increase this or that because I heard it's important. It's really about, okay, how you work, how you operate, where we see, okay, is the limiting factor and start right there.
00:50:38
Speaker
And this is far more time efficient than any other approach I would i would know of. I guess it gets more and more important the longer the distance, like for an Ironman, for example, nutrition becomes even more important because the body has to push for that much longer, even though the intensity might be a little bit ah less than you know half Ironman or Olympic distance, but you're you're going for a longer period of time. So you have to be able to sustain that energy for for much longer, i I guess. Yeah, definitely.
00:51:11
Speaker
And for example, um as I mentioned before, the longer you go, the more it is about really limiting your accumulated deficit when it comes to energy, to hydration, or to electrolytes.
00:51:25
Speaker
When you do long distance race or a 10K run, of course it's tough, but those factors are not that important when you run for 10K, because even if you don't drink anything, you might lose one or two liters and your body can still handle that.
00:51:39
Speaker
But comes the second hour and the third hour, it's becoming more and more crucial. So depending on the distance or the sport or the activity time, looking at that defines, okay, which factors we have to prioritize against others.
00:51:56
Speaker
and And um so this is also why training looks a little bit different for long distance races and for short course races, where you're probably working more on your VO2 max, putting more time into developing your engine.
00:52:11
Speaker
Whereas when you go longer, you might also work on your engine at the beginning of the preparation phase. But the longer it goes, the more you you you're looking after how to optimize, how to become more efficient with your with your body. So it can really be efficient with the energy and and electrolytes that it needs.
00:52:29
Speaker
And also, i guess you have to make adjustments too, based on, were saying Kona is super hot. So you're you're sweating much at a much higher rate. you but you have to make how How big of an adjustment is it between climates?
00:52:42
Speaker
Yeah, this is um can be a huge impact it can have a huge impact. You can basically measure it yourself. Let's say um you have your given marathon pace.
00:52:53
Speaker
And let's say you run for half an hour. Nowadays, when it's 25 degrees, you run at your given marathon pace for half an hour. ah You wait yourself before and after the session, ideally naked.
00:53:05
Speaker
And then you know, okay, how much and um fluids you lost during the half an hour. Let's say you would be 0.5 kilograms lighter. That means you have a sweat rate per hour of one liter.
00:53:18
Speaker
That's 25 degrees outside. And you can repeat that at 10 degrees or 30 degrees. And then you can draw the line and you see, okay, the the the warmer the weather is, the warmer the temperatures, the more liquids you will use, the more you will be sweating.
00:53:38
Speaker
You can compare that. And um there's some people that hardly sweat even at higher temperatures. like I can know of people in Kona, they sweat not even one liter per hour. but when ah when I was sweating more than three or around three liters.
00:53:52
Speaker
but That's a huge difference. And that's why we cannot just give general recommendations. It has to be based on on that number. And then the same, as I mentioned before, with every liter of sweat that we lose, we lose a certain number of electrolytes, especially sodium, which is the key electrolyte.
00:54:09
Speaker
And this is very constant over time.
00:54:15
Speaker
over time Meaning, you know, it's like a fingerprint and you can figure out how much sodium you lose with every liter of sweat. And this is coming back to the story I started ah before.
00:54:28
Speaker
ah What was the solution to my problem um having issues ending up in the medical tent? would i What I did is I adjusted the drink I have ah to my electrolyte amount in my sweat.
00:54:43
Speaker
Meaning I was drinking a drink that had the same ratio of electrolytes, the same ratio of sodium, the same concentration of sodium as I would lose in my sweat.
00:54:54
Speaker
So every liter per one liter of liquids I would drink, let's say um I put in one gram of sodium and with every liter of sweat, I would lose one gram of sodium.
00:55:05
Speaker
So I did not have to know how much I'm going to drink in a certain activity. I just kind of ah made my drink according to my sweats. And when I was feeling thirsty, I was drinking like I always did.
00:55:18
Speaker
And that way I was having a drinking solution that it could easily absorb. And that was giving me the exact right amount of of electrolytes according to my own um electrolyte amount in my sweat. So a very easy solution to ah to a very, very complex topic.
00:55:36
Speaker
And this is like when really things start happening increasing my performance really peaked when I did long distance when I really figured out this one um and also over the years we developed the test so nowadays um this is also part of the thing I do with athletes or how I help athletes we analyze their sweat while they're training they can go out for a run or for a bike ride it doesn't matter we put a patch on their forearm and um they they sweat a little bit during the training and then they can
00:56:09
Speaker
they can put that patch into a tube and it's being sent back to our lab and we can of analyze it. And then we can give specific recommendations on how to customize the drink, how much sodium they lose and how they can optimize the performance and recovery.
00:56:27
Speaker
It's actually very easy, ah very easy to do, very easy to handle. And if you just think about to give you an example, how important that that sodium or that electrolytes are in our life. We all know, but it seems like we forget when we do sports because if something happens in a race, if the ambulance shows up or if we have a car accident, no matter what, first thing they do is they put us on a sodium chloride solution.
00:56:54
Speaker
That's the first thing they do, no matter what, because it stabilizes the blood pressure and everything in our system. So we know how important it is. But come sports, it seems like, ah, let's just have a drink, maybe water, and the smart ones get a sports drink. But we have no idea, okay, how much do we need?
00:57:14
Speaker
But we all know on the other side, it's the most important thing when something happens. So my my my thought was, okay, make a drink, no matter what brand or whatever you're having. You just customize your drink. You take whatever energy you what you want to take on, whether that's 30 grams or 100 grams or no calories.
00:57:31
Speaker
It does not matter. And then you just, on the second level, you adjust the electrolyte level to your own sweat, electrolyte level in your sweat, and then you have your your perfect drink.
00:57:43
Speaker
So whenever I do a harder training session, when when I sweat a lot, for example, I would customize my drink that way. And it's, by the way, it's very easy. So I wouldn't do it if I go for half an hour run.
00:57:55
Speaker
But if if I do a two-hour bike ride or if I do interval session, I just adjust the drink accordingly. slightly and then I have my perfect solution and it helped me so much um for recovering and also for my performance.
00:58:08
Speaker
And um in Kona in Hawaii, I think over the eight hours of racing, I used approximately 80 salt caps. So like we have salt caps here in addition to the sports drink, I was consuming 80 salt caps. This is like 10 per hour. and This is like two grams of sodium. This is five grams additional salt per hour.
00:58:31
Speaker
pi e pi factor by factor eight. and and And if you look back on the general recommendation when it comes to sport nutrition or the WHO, they say the maximum per day you should consume is five grams of salt.
00:58:45
Speaker
And per hour, I'm sweating far more than five grams of salt. So you can imagine, you know, this is again, the typical example on how normal recommendations are useless for us, for athletes.
00:58:58
Speaker
You really have to look on your own numbers and then adjust you know your intake, whether that's carbs or energy or electrolytes, based on your own numbers instead of just following some blindly following some normal guidelines. And that's kind of my big takeaway.
00:59:13
Speaker
Guidelines are good, and maybe for people that not really are into it, but take it as a starting point and then do your own um reflections. and be be curious, ah ask things, don't just accept things when they're thrown at you, always feeling critical.
00:59:32
Speaker
And I think that was for me, was very important too to improve my performance, always be critical. And I was lucky enough to have great people around me. I could challenge, it could help me in different ways, in different areas.
00:59:45
Speaker
And nowadays, I feel like I have the knowledge from different areas, thanks to those people, but also thanks to things I tested, as I just mentioned before. And you're sharing it with others to paying it forward is ah is always nice and helping other people. Right. So I feel like you have to be a good chef, too, with these drinks, though, because I feel like in like when I did Ironman years ago,
01:00:09
Speaker
finding the right kind concentration was really important because otherwise you just get sick of it. And yeah that's the worst. Like on a hot day, you know you need it. But i like i I remember I abandoned my plan because I just got so sick of the concentration.
01:00:25
Speaker
I don't know if yeah if you have any tips with that. Yeah, I think, um you know, as I mentioned, and coming up or developing your own numbers is is yeah ah step number one. Then you know, okay, what you actually need to somehow cover.
01:00:41
Speaker
When it comes to products, then it's up to you how you want to cover it. Whether you want to take table salt or concentrated sodium tablets, or if you want to take drinks or or solid food, it does not really matter, to be honest.
01:00:56
Speaker
It's more important it matters to you, like it covers and you feel good with it. Of course, it matters because of some of the products you can take on more energy compared to others. so But whether you take the energy from solid sources or from liquid sources, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter.
01:01:14
Speaker
and It's really about staying in balance, keeping this balance, as I mentioned before, with electrolytes, with hydration and with energy. And how you do it ultimately is up to you.
01:01:25
Speaker
And once you get the understanding of it, then you also become more flexible. If you feel in a race like I just cannot have this drink anymore for whatever reason, Then you kind of easy, okay, I switched to something differently.
01:01:39
Speaker
But most people, their plan is based on take one bottle of this, take two gels of that. But guess what? If the weather is hotter than anticipated, they would have to drink more.
01:01:50
Speaker
And if they drink a second bottle, they take on too many carbs, they have stomach issues and so on. So it never really works out. So you have to have a system ah based on your numbers, which is flexible.
01:02:02
Speaker
instead of have having you know this kind of of number um of drinks that you have to consume, because this is an example, whether it's cold conditions or hot conditions, that amount will will vary.
01:02:16
Speaker
Whereas the amount of energy that you need per hour, this is more or less the same, whether it's hot or whether it's cold. Cool. That's, it's awesome. Like very great information to have. I think for anybody, any athlete, endurance athlete, you know, from, you know, marathon all the way to to big Ironman events or ultra trail runs and stuff like that. It's, it's something i like talking about this stuff because it's stuff that people know about. They just don't know enough about it or enough in detail. And I think it's super important to get into it and and find something that works for you. And that's,
01:02:50
Speaker
that really is for your own body because it's not like a one size fits all kind of deal and and you're your proof of that. um Definitely. And also, I think um it's not just related to one sports. These are basic things. And um this also nowadays when I'm helping athletes to perform at their best level, it's not just triathlon.
Sharing and Reflecting on Career Experiences
01:03:11
Speaker
It's mostly iso-key or it's like cross-country skiing i'm helping the norwegian cross-country skiing is to optimize the performance now for the olympic games together here with with sponsor so we use that knowledge for all different kind of sports and i think nowadays sometimes if you're caught in a sport you always keep doing what's kind of common in that sport but people tend to not look into other sports to see okay how do they handle the same very same situation and
01:03:41
Speaker
We here, we have the advantage or myself, when I work with different athletes, I get different approaches on how you can kind of solve the problem and then kind of use the best practice from all these different um approaches and make them and accessible also to other sports, to other athletes. And this way we can constantly develop you know the knowledge and the practicability of um of of this knowledge.
01:04:09
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Looking back on your career, what what would you say you're most proud of? um
01:04:18
Speaker
One thing is, um you know, I could always stick to my values as an athlete. I think if you ask other athletes around me, even though when we were fighting for world titles, whatever, I always i was always honest. I was always kind of, of um you know, and being, you see, the person I am.
01:04:39
Speaker
not being an animal and and success comes over everything. um I always try to know be the best version of athlete I am, but still stick to my um values.
01:04:51
Speaker
ah So this is basically one thing. and And also when I look back to my career, it's not results, which are the most important thing. Now, basically they're they're not important at all at this stage. It's more about okay, all the events, all the happenings, the friendships, the traveling, all this amazing experience. This is what really gives me something back nowadays.
01:05:13
Speaker
But when I look on results, of course, i I'm proud I had some really good ah results. um When I was younger, I was um under 23 European champion.
01:05:24
Speaker
I become became world champion with Team Switzerland twice. I was on the podium, a long distance world championship, as well as 70.3 world championships. um When I retired, ahead but back that time, it was the second fastest Ironman time ever recorded.
01:05:41
Speaker
So I would say i had some decent results. and I always enjoyed my my journey. um And as I mentioned before, I always ah stuck to my my values. And I think I had a great time with my fellow athletes as well. Even though we were racing each other in competitions, we had a great time after competitions or while we were traveling.
01:06:02
Speaker
And what were what were maybe some of the biggest challenges and and some of the best advice you can give? um Life is not always fair. So forget about that. I had to have to learn it the hard way, some kind of experience. You feel like i deserve it or whatever. But honestly, no one really cares whether you deserve it or not.
01:06:23
Speaker
But then again here, what I took away as a lesson for life is just keep pushing it and and never give up. stand Stand up one time more than you fall down. And ultimately, you will reach your goal and also really enjoy what you do. Embrace the challenges.
01:06:39
Speaker
Try to grow on it instead of make them kind of destroy you. And um yeah, see it as a challenge and and and constantly challenge yourself. Embrace yourself with with people that you love working with and make it part of of your lifestyle.
01:06:56
Speaker
Because if you don't love what you do, how you want to sustain your sport for 10 plus years to become a good athlete, So sometimes I even chose the second best option in training or whatever, because I knew i loved it.
01:07:09
Speaker
I had a great time to the best option, which I knew is not sustainable at all. And nowadays, sometimes it's too much about what's the best thing in terms of training, maybe in the short term, but you forget about for you as a human being along the way, and it has to be sustainable. So really keep that in mind and and keep the fun and Really ask yourself, why did I pick this sport or whatever I do?
01:07:35
Speaker
And try to keep that over your career or even over your time. And don't just switch to the side where you do everything for performance and you forget about your passion. Because ultimately, it will stop somewhere and your passion is what you drives you over years.
01:07:50
Speaker
Exactly. And what would you say that that sport has given to your life? ah Sports has given me lot, I would say.
01:08:01
Speaker
you know, the person I am was shaped by, by me being an athlete. That's a new, okay, I have to work for something in order to give, get something back. And then also, as I mentioned before, stick to your, to your personality, you know, when, when things are all good, everybody is nice and so on, but it is not until sometimes you have challenges that you see the real face of, of athletes or for us as human beings.
01:08:28
Speaker
And you really, learn on how to deal with success and also um with with losses in sports and take that in your normal life. It helps you a lot because in normal life, it takes longer to have success for a loss. And in sports, it can be on the very same day. You can be happy and it can be great, but can also turn out being a bad race.
01:08:50
Speaker
You really have the chance to to turn it around yourself with your mental mind, with your mental focus and use that. I've learned a lot from using that also in my everyday life. Would you say, like is it easy to be a like ah like a celebrity in Switzerland or like do you get recognized ah in the city and stuff like that?
01:09:10
Speaker
It depends a little bit on the community. If it's an endurance community, then vla think many people know me. Maybe the younger ones, when they retire, then you're quite quickly forgotten. I'm not really forgotten to theater or something like this.
01:09:24
Speaker
ah them you know i just love to kind of help people also with with my knowledge to to so to share my passion and to help make an impact whether it is improving the performance or establishing a healthy lifetime lifestyle especially ah ah amongst the kids you know to be kind of a good role model and and help them also to kind of choose the way of of doing sports ah because I know it gives them so much back for their general life it prevents them from
01:09:55
Speaker
from many things, there from from bad nutrition, from you developing a personality, things like this. I think sports is the best way way to learn for your life, I would say.
01:10:08
Speaker
um And lastly, where can people find out more about you, Rudy? um Well, I'm not that active anymore on Instagram. yeah Also, one of the things I said, um you know if you spend too much time on social media,
01:10:21
Speaker
But now and then I post something. So you will find me on on social media, Instagram on Rudy Wild. um I was mentioning before the sweat test. So we've besides working here at Sponsor Sport Food, the the biggest sports food company in Switzerland, with some friends, ah we also developed our little private business where we also offering the sweat test, which I mentioned before. You can find that on www.sweat.com.
01:10:48
Speaker
dot com And if you're based in Europe, and this um kind of test material is being sent to your place. You can do the test during your training session. You can send it back.
01:10:59
Speaker
And we will also provide, as we discussed before, we will provide a special code, a promo code. So people which want to use the same advantage ni that that I had for many years, they can um use that with the special promo code.
01:11:12
Speaker
um And we also plan on offering additional kind of services in the future. to help people for their performance, but also for health in general. And all those things are usually ah the result of of our own research based on our own numbers, which we feel like we want to make accessible for other athletes, for other people as well.
01:11:33
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah, we'll definitely put that all in the show notes for everyone to use here in Europe. And yeah, I just want to say it's been a pleasure, Rudy. It's it's just been an extension of our our run chat a few weeks ago. And I really enjoyed our our chat. day learned a lot from you.
01:11:49
Speaker
And I appreciate you sharing all your all the years of knowledge that you've accumulated. And hopefully hopefully it helps a few people. Thank you very much, Justin, for the interesting talk. and hope to see you again soon in one of the next running training sessions we do together. Absolutely. Take care.
01:12:07
Speaker
Take care, Justin. Bye. by Ready to crush your next goal with 15 years of experience across endurance sports from five K's to ultras over 10 marathons with a personal best of two hours, 45 minutes, including Boston, New York city, and Berlin plus two ironmans.
01:12:27
Speaker
I know what it takes to achieve real results. But training for a race is about more than just logging miles. It's about training smarter. And that's where a coach makes all the difference. As your coach, I'll create a personalized week by week plan tailored to fit your unique goals, lifestyle, and schedule.
01:12:45
Speaker
You'll also get guidance on race day strategy, nutrition, pre-race routines, and the insider tips that can transform your performance. With a coach, you're not guessing through training.
01:12:57
Speaker
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01:13:11
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in to the Just In Stride podcast. I truly appreciate you taking the time to listen and I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. Please take a minute after this to rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts. With your feedback, we'll be able to make the show even better and it'll help us reach new listeners too.
01:13:29
Speaker
You can also find us on Instagram at JustinStridePod for all the latest episodes and updates. Of course, this show wouldn't be possible without a solid team behind me. With logo and design by Vanessa Pugliese, as well as audio, music, and editing by Forrest McKay, a huge thank you goes out to both of them.
01:13:48
Speaker
Guest outreach, social media, writing, and advertising are handled by me, your host, Justin Pugliese. Finally, we'd like to thank you, our listeners, for coming along for the ride with Justin Stride.