Transcript
Rich: Welcome to episode 553 of the Grit to Greatness Endurance Podcast. I'm your host, Coach Rich Sores, and I'm on a mission to help endurance athletes train smarter, race stronger, and build the grit it takes to achieve greatness. Hey, I'm really excited today. I'm joined by Chris Shothan, who's a Grit to Greatness athlete,
Rich: and his journey is so powerful. it is, it is such a great example of what transformation really looks like. And he is going to bring some truths to this topic that I think people need to hear. And so, you know, he's faced one of the biggest challenges triathlon overcoming, you know, the swim of a 70.3 and after multiple attempts, setbacks in a,
Rich: And some lessons learned he successfully completed Salem 70.3 swim and finished the race strong. We're going to dive into the mindset shifts, the training breakthroughs, the persistence that turned one of his greatest obstacles into one of his greatest victories.
Rich: Hey, I'm really excited to have you here with me, Chris. Thanks for being here.
Chris Sjothun: Thanks, Rich. I'm so excited to be here.
Rich: Yeah. Well,
Rich: Let's have some fun here before we get into all of that. We're going to, like I said, we're going you're going to hear about how consistency, resilience, patience, and belief in the process can overcome even the biggest barriers.
Rich: So whether you're struggling with open water, swimming race, day confidence, self-doubt, We're simply chasing a goal that feels out of reach. Chris's journey is going to reach you, I think. And so we're excited to share that with you. But before we do, Chris, I'm going to, you want to do me a favor? You want to, you want to have some fun with this? You want to be a part of this with me?
Chris Sjothun: Heck yeah, let's do it.
Rich: All right. How about I do this? I am going to give a shout out to the first person on here. So it's going go like this. Hey, congratulations to all the grit to greatness athletes who raced last weekend. And this weekend, we're really excited.
Rich: We've got Mike Murphy racing the USA Cycling Track Cycling Nationals, August 5th and 7th this weekend. And I'm going to let you read out the second one.
Chris Sjothun: I gotta pull
Rich: the the
Rich: Don't mean to put you on the spot here. Tell you what. All right.
Chris Sjothun: it up. Okay, so is this one where you and Mike Murphy racing the cycle to the summit on August 8th?
Rich: Perfect. That's wonderful.
Chris Sjothun: There we go.
Rich: All right. I'm going to get this next one.
Chris Sjothun: That was exciting.
Rich: Coach KO, Lindsay Holmes, Anna Marie, and Emily Hanson all racing the Niantic Bay Sprint on August 9th. And I'll let you get this last one.
Chris Sjothun: And then we have Alice Kostrich, Maren Thornhill, Sarah Barr, and Ruth Fountain racing USAT Nationals in Milwaukee on August 8th through 9th.
Chris Sjothun: Very exciting. Good luck to everybody.
Rich: Yeah. Awesome. All right. Well, good luck, everybody racing this weekend. We're excited for you. boy that you four ladies going out to Milwaukee. We cannot wait to hear your stories. And folks, if you are new to great to greatness, you don't need to be coached to be a part of this great community. if you're just looking for support, inspiration, and a group of athletes who truly understand what it takes to balance life, work, and endurance sport, we would love to meet you.
Rich: come and visit our website, read from our athletes and you know their testimonials. We've got a link here in the show notes. Come check it out. e And even just listen to Chris here. You're going to learn a lot. So listen, I'm really excited. this is We're going to get into this right now, Chris. this is i just want to like set up for our audience. You and I started working together a couple of years ago.
Rich: you know, when we started working together, were just beginning this journey. So take us back. who was the Chris before endurance sports became such a big part of your life?
Chris Sjothun: Yeah, so I played a lot of sports as a kid. Baseball, basketball, football, tennis, everything up and up and actually through high school a little bit. Then after that, I went more into the the business world.
Chris Sjothun: So I kind of got away from sports outside of the company softball league, which is a terrible idea. But you know Not a whole lot until my probably late 30s. I started you know having having kids and got them into some Kung Fu. So was taking them to classes there and figured, well, if I'm here for two hours, I might as well participate. So I did that and actually got my black belt and became an instructor. and Went in hook, line sinker like I do with things. So, but then after that, not a whole lot. And then my wife and I went to Hawaii for her birthday.
Chris Sjothun: And while I was there, Kona had just wrapped. So and I knew about Ironman. was familiar with it just growing up. I remember being on TV. But I didn't really understand the distances and really what it went into it. So I spent the vacation just learning about Ironman. And before were ready to come home, I was ready to sign up. I'm going to prove i I still got it.
Chris Sjothun: so So I did come back and and started training for it, did everything wrong, did everything they said don't do. And then finally I conceded and went the much better route. And and that's where Rich and i we started working together and it's been fantastic ever since. I really have, I've learned so much and it's been such a journey, not not just physically, spiritually, are everything. i mean there's no aspect of your life it and in my life that it hasn't touched.
Rich: You know, one of the things I, you know, I, I've noticed is, i mean, like I look at you now and like, I'm like, i look at older pictures of you. I don't even recognize you.
Rich: i I mean, you, there's a, there's a transformation that you've,
Chris Sjothun: Yeah, I actually showed a picture to my brother, of all things. I showed my brother a picture and he said, who's that? I'm like, that that's me. He's all, no way. But yeah, it's been, it's it's a lot It's 107 pounds is where I'm at.
Chris Sjothun: So it's been pretty, pretty crazy.
Rich: 107 pounds that you lost.
Chris Sjothun: Yeah.
Rich: Is that right? Wow.
Chris Sjothun: Yeah, 107, yeah.
Rich: That's remarkable. And you said something just a second ago, you said it was beyond the physical, right? Yeah, the physical was part of it, right? The physical changes. Then you also said the spiritual changes.
Chris Sjothun: Absolutely.
Rich: Really want to dive more into that as we as we go deeper into this. So just let's not lose that, okay?
Chris Sjothun: absolutely
Rich: So we now know what drew you into triathlon. It's Kona, right? And man, how can you resist the allure of of triathlon if you're out there at Kona?
Rich: Now,
Rich: yeahre we're starting small, right? So the very first, i mean I'm going to go a little off script here. We're just going talk about like the very first race that you you you you were training for, what were you expecting was going to be the hardest part of this new experience?
Chris Sjothun: I thought it was going to be the run. I've never been a very good runner. and So I thought that running was going to be a challenge. I thought I was a good swimmer. and When you and i first met, like you asked me, and are you a good swimmer? Yeah, I'm a pretty good swimmer.
Chris Sjothun: Then we got out the camera and no I looked like a baby giraffe out in the pool that happened to fall in. So I had a lot a long way to go in swimming. so you know I knew that physically it was going to be tough.
Chris Sjothun: I didn't know psychologically, know, what I was getting into and the the ups and the downs and and all the things that come along with it and the rewards. I mean, geez, I had no idea. i thought I was just going to have some bragging rights and and I have so much more than that.
Rich: Well, all right. So no take us through the very first race. So, you know, we, we've been working together for a little bit. We put a race on the calendar. do you remember the race?
Chris Sjothun: i remember it's I remember it well. it It'll be one year.
Rich: Okay. what
Chris Sjothun: Next weekend, it'll be one year from that race.
Rich: tell Tell our listeners about this race. What's the distance of it? Where is it?
Chris Sjothun: Yep.
Rich: What's it like? How big, you know how big,
Chris Sjothun: Yeah, so it it was here in Vancouver, Washington, where I live. It was the Columbia River Triathlon, and i signed up for the Olympic. So you start off swimming in the Columbia River, start going against the the current halfway, and then you make the turn, and then yeah you ride it back down. And yeah there's not a lot of current. It really depends on the dam that's not too far away. So if if it's not open, there wasn't that day, there wasn't that much.
Chris Sjothun: It's at the Fisherman's Wharf, beautiful beach, and it's probably the biggest event hill here in Vancouver, at least. There's some others around, but certainly one of the bigger ones. And i think there was 300 people that were there.
Chris Sjothun: So i I signed up just just to check the box before I move on to my ARAs, which was Florida in December of last year, which I'm sure we'll talk about at some point.
Rich: All right, so this race, Olympic distance, you get there, take us through the day. How did, how did the race unfold?
Chris Sjothun: So, I mean, we had a plan. you You and I, we had a plan. I got there. i was one of the first people there. i met up with the guy that we went to swim the swims school liquid group with in Denver, which was really cool.
Chris Sjothun: And we hung out. i had everything laid out. I had my checklists out. And I was im pretty sure you could tell I was the first time. It was my first race. I mean, it was perfect.
Chris Sjothun: Then the day was good. The weather was was pretty good. We knew it was going to warm up, but I figured I'd be done before it got too warm. So, you know, the nerves start start kicking in a little bit, and then they called us all to the edge of the river, and it was time to go. So we...
Chris Sjothun: I started swimming. i got through the swim. It was brutal. i really i i i thought that I was just having, i was fatigued, but really it was there's a lot more to it.
Chris Sjothun: But I did get through it. that was one of the last, and I ended up finishing the race, but and i I did everything wrong. I got on the bike. i I didn't take one sip of water. didn't throw down one gel. I was just enjoying just being on the bike, and it was a beautiful day, and And at the same time, it was not the first time I'd been on my bike for that length of time. So I really didn't want to let go of the handlebars either. But then it started warming up. And as I started running, I really started to feel the fatigue kicking in. And think I bonked mine, don't think. I bonked a little bit.
Chris Sjothun: It's a crazy feeling. I'm looking at my feet I'm telling them to move and they're not. so but But yeah, I finished the race. I was one of the last ones. I was the one that fell over through the finish line and kind of sat there in the fetal position for a little bit, get my head and head right.
Chris Sjothun: but But yeah, I got it in the books. It wasn't pretty, but I i crossed the line.
Rich: But man, yeah, you you you got every ounce of yourself that you had available after, you know, but it was great. There were some lessons learned here that honestly, if it'd gone perfect, you might not have respected how how stark those, you know, how bad the penalty can be, you know, you know for not taking care of the nutrition.
Chris Sjothun: Absolutely. i Everything I've done since then, I am very hydrated and I'm not afraid to throw it down an extra gel just in case.
Rich: Yeah.
Rich: Yeah. All right. So swim was rough, but we were able to muddle through Olympic distance, 1500 meter swim. All right.
Rich: Learn some things about nutrition, tune all that up. Fast forward. Next big challenge.
Chris Sjothun: Then I'm off to Florida, 70.3.
Rich: Florida 70.3. Yeah. right. yeah all right
Chris Sjothun: Yeah. So, uh, kind of the same thing. We got there early. I felt good. I felt prepared. I'd spent a lot of time.
Chris Sjothun: Well, a fair amount of time in the pool. I thought I could get through it as a lake swim. There's no current. So, uh, a little, little extra work. but when Once I got out there, same thing. Air just gets really high in my chest.
Chris Sjothun: I started getting a little panicky, and I could not put my face in the water. The the lizard brain kicks in and it's just said, no, we're we're not going to do that.
Rich: Yeah.
Chris Sjothun: so Ended up, didn't finish the swim and DNF there. so That was disappointing. that i I didn't see that one coming. I didn't think i was going my body was going to react the way it did once I jumped in the water.
Chris Sjothun: so let's
Rich: Yeah.
Chris Sjothun: you know the first indication that to me that like there might be something more to this that you might want to dig into so and from there went on to galveston lot of time of
Rich: Now between Galveston, Yeah, a lot of time in the pool, right?
Chris Sjothun: time yeah we a lot of time in the pool i was i was swimming you know a mile mile and a half no problem no issues and uh my bike was really really strong ran a a little 10k but I did really well. My first 10k but it was I really felt good. It was a little trail run.
Chris Sjothun: I felt confident. you know i I felt like that was going to be the one. so and that my It's in salt water so you know I had a little bit better buoyancy. I felt like the the chips were stacked in my my favor and I thought for sure I was going to pull it off. so Jumped in the water before I even hit the same the first buoy. Same thing. I just can't breathe.
Chris Sjothun: My heart is just pounding out of my chest. I watched it go from about 52 to like 115, just like that. It just jumped right up. so But I didn't give up.
Chris Sjothun: I kept swimming and swimming. And i stopped a lot. Got to know the guys on the kayak a little bit. And I just kept going. and And as I was making the rounds, the the guy's like, you can still make it. You can do it. And I buckled down, tried to make it, missed the cutoff by three minutes.
Chris Sjothun: And you know it's that that was a big turning point for me because I know how I felt when I DNF'd in Florida. And I got out of here and I'm like, hey, I just did a 1.2 mile swim. Good for me. That's fantastic. I can do it. I mean, that is i at least I know I can. just got to do a little bit faster.
Rich: I want to pause on that. Like, so I mean, for our listeners, first of all, this is really key. I mean, this this says a lot about your mindset, right? This is like a fixed mindset person would have like, they would have just lost their mind, right? This would have been the most, this would have been a catastrophe, right? Like I missed it by three minutes. Are you f freaking kidding me?
Rich: But not you, you actually looked at that as a win. And I remember us talking about that and really wanting to, celebrate that and wanting to celebrate that with you. Cause it was a win.
Rich: You're right. You completed 1.2. Yeah. Three minutes shot and could we were those three minutes there? Yes. You could have got those back. It was a time management issue. we got to talk about your time management maybe, but other than that, like you you had it.
Chris Sjothun: Yeah. Yeah. let their head, head high. I, you know, I checked the box.
Rich: Yeah.
Chris Sjothun: I can do it. Just got to do it.
Rich: but that didn't but but But then you still were working on how do we make that better, right? So what were the things what were the things that you intentionally did between now Galveston and now you're like, all right, I need a redemption race.
Chris Sjothun: Oh yeah.
Rich: And it's going to be Salem 70.3, which just happened.
Chris Sjothun: Yep.
Rich: Talk about like, what did you do intentionally? It was different.
Chris Sjothun: A lot. in in And I, as we, you and I, we we we talked about it a lot.
Rich: Yeah, well, you did it.
Chris Sjothun: I mean, we really had to, we we had to, yeah, but we we we had to talk through everything.
Rich: i didn't swim one stroke of it.
Chris Sjothun: So I bought a new wetsuit. I went sleeveless on the wetsuit to start, hoping that that would be a little bit less restrictive. I went and talked to my doctor and and it's a thing, you know, this diver's is anxiety is a thing. A lot of people have it. And the more I've talked about it, the more people come up like, I would like to talk about that. I did a class getting ready for the or the little clinic for the Salem.
Chris Sjothun: I had three people walk up to me and like, can we talk about it? Because there's a lot of people dealing with it. So and it's you can't control it. You can manage it. And I've learned a lot. And obviously, i've pulled it off.
Chris Sjothun: But it was it's a process.
Rich: Talk about it.
Chris Sjothun: Yeah. So i mean so when where what I ended up doing, I put that on. I went with the sleeveless. And then I also found a really good close place to my work.
Chris Sjothun: And I just kept getting in the water and I would just sit there and I'd blow bubbles and I'm watching my heart rate the whole time. I spent more time just acclimating, know, both physically and psychologically to the water, paying attention what happens when, you know, when I put my face in the water, what does my heart rate do?
Chris Sjothun: And then I found, you know, I can control it a little bit. Like I know it's going to jump. So let's kind of get, get right in in my head and, uh, And then I started swimming and felt a lot more comfortable and went a little bit further out. we we We went where I went horizontal to the to the shore where I can always see something to see if that was the difference.
Chris Sjothun: Boy, I feel like I tried everything. Yep.
Rich: Well, you also, you also took advantage of a camp where they were going to swim the course.
Chris Sjothun: so
Rich: So talk about that. Cause that was pretty key. You got, she got in the water, swam the whole course.
Chris Sjothun: Swam the whole course. It was, so yeah, three or four weeks before the race, I signed up for the the camp through one of the local tri clubs here and went down and and it was it was fantastic. I mean, if if I went down there, finished the swim and hopped to my car and came back, and it was completely worth it. But we we went out and we did a bunch of biking and some running as well. so a lot of time on the course, which is really cool.
Chris Sjothun: But from a swimming side, it was, you know, you got on the wall, I got on the water and there was no time to low bubbles. It was, we all jumped in and away we went and it just didn't bother me as much.
Chris Sjothun: I, know, I, I recognized when I started to get a little worked up and, and it's a, it's fast there. Everyone knows Salem is really, really fast. So, you know, I was able to keep moving, but I felt really comfortable in the water.
Chris Sjothun: no Nothing panicky. And then once I got past the 100 100 yards, 200 yards, didn't even think about it anymore. I was having a blast. I stopped twice because I had to. i just wanted to look around. I wanted check out where I was and take it all in.
Chris Sjothun: And it was a really good feeling. And when I got out there and as I prepared for the race a couple weeks later, I didn't. It wasn't all-consuming like it's been in the past.
Rich: Your confidence level went up so high that day. i could just tell, right? You just like, the fact that you said I was just having fun looking around. I'm like, oh yeah, you, yeah, you were, you were feeling calmer. That's awesome.
Chris Sjothun: Yeah.
Rich: All right. So let's, let's really be, you know, let's, let's get to the T here, right? Were there moments when you questioned whether a 70.3 finish was possible?
Chris Sjothun: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, for sure. Galveston, mean, I did finish the race, but I mean, there's always doubt. I mean, there's, there's, you know, if you, if you don't cross it, I'm thinking maybe if I could do something different, maybe do these ultra marathons or who knows what, but, but really, know, leading up to Galveston, definitely.
Chris Sjothun: But then shortly after Galveston, not so much. I was, I was feeling really good. You know, i'd All the time I spent on you know running and all the other things, I've spent more time just getting myself psychologically ready for that swim.
Chris Sjothun: And i was ready. I was very confident. And I did everything you know that you you taught me to do and follow the plan. Trust the plan. I think I've heard that a few times.
Chris Sjothun: Or trust the process. i'm sorry. Trust the process.
Rich: Well, and the process here was, you know we went from really no experience doing this at all to, hey you know by the time you were doing your first, well, certainly by Galveston,
Rich: you knew that you could manage the, you had some skills to, you know, some tools in your tool belt to manage the anxiety, right? I i can get to, i can go from kayak to kayak and just get to know the kayakers and have a good time management plan. I could probably get through this thing to fully functioned,
Rich: No stress able to put your head down and actually swim it because you had done all of that work to understand the physiology of how your body's going to react, how to transition your body into it, how to actually you know get some experience on that course, get some get all of that familiarity. Those three, three you were going down to the that lake three days a week.
Rich: You were in the water that much and all of that exposure, I think really made a big difference. What, in my view, what was different about the approach on race day? or like maybe just take us through race day. How did race day happen or unfold?
Chris Sjothun: Well, again, just, it was all planned out. You know, it's you start a couple of days ahead, everything's laid out. All I have to do is just get up and go. So I know what I'm gonna eat.
Chris Sjothun: It's the same thing every single time. So I was really calm on race day. yeah I really didn't have the anxiety that I've had before. i was just ready to go down and knock it out.
Chris Sjothun: was pretty excited. Now, that's how you feel, but then once you cross into the athletes only, Then you're like, okay, i i it was game time. It was time to get focused.
Chris Sjothun: So maybe maybe a picture here and there, but outside of that, I'm here to drop my bike and do my thing go home.
Rich: Describe the moment that you exited the water, knowing that you had conquered that challenge.
Chris Sjothun: Oh, i like a million bucks. i you You run up a little spiral when you get out of the water there. And as i'm I'm running up, you know, people are walking, I'm running out of there. i'm and i I looked at the guy with the the wetsuit. You'd think I'd done it a a million times, but I just pointed at him. I said, you, and I ran to him and he knew exactly what it was. And I did the same with the water people later on. Like you'd think that, you know, I'd done it a whole bunch, but I knew what I was there to do. And I just felt so great and coming it out and I transitioned took a little bit longer than I liked, but I learned a lot.
Chris Sjothun: won't make that mistake again, but I was i was excited. i I felt very comfortable with my bike, and I felt very comfortable with the run that if I had the opportunity to get out there, I knew I felt like I was going to pull it off. So to me, I felt like I just won the race.
Rich: What have you learned about resilience through this journey?
Chris Sjothun: Oh, it can be tough, but it's so rewarding. you know Signing up for and an Ironman, it's it's definitely it's going to change your life for sure. and And you're going to find out a lot about yourself.
Chris Sjothun: And just never just never quit. you know always Always keep moving, as they say, or always be moving forward in Ironman. And that's how you get to the finish line. So you know now I'm on to to the next.
Chris Sjothun: my next obstacle or i may I call it my next summit. Like what's my next summit going to be? And it's going to be Ironman California in October and I'm training like crazy and feeling really comfortable.
Chris Sjothun: So we're confident. So it's pretty exciting.
Rich: My next summit, your next summit. Love that. Okay. So now listen, you're, you're getting ready for this next summit. You've climbed a couple of summits behind you.
Rich: You're now standing at this new place. Look at this next summit. What are you bringing with you from those other experiences to help you be ready for this next summit? Like what are the things that you're taking with you that you've collected in terms of skills and knowledge and,
Chris Sjothun: Sure.
Rich: and
Chris Sjothun: I think at this point, after two years working with the rich, I feel like I have the tools. I have all the, most of the tools. I'm sure there's more book to learn, but and now I'm just learning how to use the tools. So, you know, I'm looking at just the little or the smaller stuff, what you're talking about, like with my arms or looking at shadows and that kind of stuff.
Chris Sjothun: But, you know, I think, I think what I'm most of all, what I'm taking is I know I can do it. I know I'm, I'm, Now I'm tough enough to do it. I've overcome much bigger things.
Chris Sjothun: I mean, finishing an Ironman is going to be such a huge accomplishment, but you know that's so is life. you know there's There's a lot of lot of opportunity to make that summit and and keep on trucking. so it's not just you know the iron man has been we talked about the spiritual side professionally but my family i everything is it's touched by it my wife was down there and you know was telling you when i when i rounded the corner and she was there and she screamed out proud she was like started getting a little choked up but i still had 100 yards to go and i i couldn't breathe so i had to get myself together and keep going but it was really cool you know it meant a lot to me and it's been it's been a crazy journey but
Chris Sjothun: I can't believe where I'm at right now. I'm so excited where I'm going to see, I think I'll be you know going in the future. And I just hope that I can get the word out. But it's such an unbelievable experience to go through.
Rich: Yeah. Well, and your journey is is continuing here. Like you said, you've got this other summit to come. you know Would you also share with our listeners, you know you've you you you're a very curious person. So you've got this you've got some innate resilience for sure, but you're also a very curious person. You like to learn.
Rich: tell Tell our listeners like that that you went through The coaching program that TriDot offers, talk about that certification program.
Chris Sjothun: I did. Yeah. go Yeah, i I do like to learn. i like to know what makes the wheels turn and and there's just so much information out there, you know, so i I started kind of noodling around with it and I thought, oh, what the heck. So I signed up for it and got through it i got my certification a couple of weeks ago.
Chris Sjothun: not exactly sure what I'll do with it, but you know it just I learned so much going through it. you Even after a couple of years, there's just always opportunity to get a little bit better, little bit faster.
Chris Sjothun: so But yeah, I think it's really cool. I like to say that I'm a certified coach now. But I always tell them that when I talk about my coach as capital C, when I talk about me as a coach, it's it's lowercase c. So I have a long way to go.
Rich: Oh, come on. It's been a great partnership. It's been it's been it's been transformative for me as well. All right. I got two things for you here. So first, if you could speak to the version of yourself who doubted he could finish the swim, what would you tell him today?
Rich: Stay gritty.
Chris Sjothun: brought it up last time. And then I just did 1.2. So okay And that that's also part of the journey. You know, I i go out and do these 5K time trials time runs, and the i'm just like, geez, I was hoping just to get it done in the 30 minutes before. Now I'm you know knocking out so much faster. So don't count yourself out.
Chris Sjothun: we're As human beings, I think there're where theres where there's a lot of potential. We just we just have to tap into it.
Rich: So I love you. I love you just be gritty. And for our listeners who may not know this, we have turned grit into an acronym and it stands for the four values that for us are core to who we are as a as a group of coaches and what we believe of is important for athletes. And those are gratitude, resilience, impact and transformation.
Rich: When I put those four values at your feet here, gratitude, resilience, impact, and transformation, which one calls you the most?
Chris Sjothun: I want to say gratitude.
Rich: Yeah.
Chris Sjothun: got, and that's, I think why also why I would get my coaching certificate, you know, I was to do it, I, I, I, I would feel selfish if I kept all this to myself, not, not knowledge-wise, but just the, the opportunity and the, and just the life changing that comes from it.
Chris Sjothun: I'm so grateful that, that we met, I mean, and, and we've, I talk to you and i more than I talk to pretty much anybody else, I think. And we've come so far.
Chris Sjothun: I mean, i we're friends and and my coach. And, you know, we've been through a lot.
Rich: Yeah.
Chris Sjothun: and And that's what's really cool about it. You know, i've I've always said that you think that you're getting into an individual sport. You're out running by yourself. You're training by yourself. But you're really part of a community. And it's a really cool, such a such a cool community part of it.
Rich: You bet. Tell you what, I'm feeling an enormous amount of gratitude by self right now too, and it's because of you. So this has been amazing. All right. Let's have a little fun here.
Rich: We're going to do a transformation lightning round. You've got to answer each of these next questions in like, it's got to be less than a sentence. All right.
Rich: Hardest workout you've ever completed.
Chris Sjothun: It was a 10 mile run on Thanksgiving and it was raining buckets.
Rich: Love that.
Chris Sjothun: and It was cold.
Rich: Good one. Ooh.
Chris Sjothun: It was so cold.
Rich: bo I got a shiver just thinking about raining in cool Vancouver, you know, air in a downpour. right. Most intimidating race morning.
Chris Sjothun: Florida for sure.
Rich: One word that describes, describes Salem 70.3. Just one.
Chris Sjothun: Uh, wow.
Chris Sjothun: A chapter closing a chapter one word.
Rich: just one
Chris Sjothun: Geez.
Rich: Closing a chapter.
Chris Sjothun: yeah.
Rich: Okay. yes sir That's all right. Closing a chapter is good. Let's go with that. I love that. Favorite post-race meal.
Chris Sjothun: Man, I know what i I eat every Friday before the race. Probably pizza. I think that's kind of a staple for for a lot of triathletes.
Rich: Pizza. Okay.
Rich: Yeah. I'm a cheeseburger guy. All right. Swim, bike, or run.
Chris Sjothun: Bike. But i actually, I'm to say swim because im I'm still yelling out, I love swimming.
Rich: Bike.
Chris Sjothun: And one of these days, it's going to stick.
Rich: I love, oh, love that swim. It's gotta be a swim for this, right?
Chris Sjothun: absolutely It has to be
Rich: Biggest lesson, biggest lesson from endurance sports.
Chris Sjothun: be. Never underestimate what you're capable of.
Rich: Oh, love that people. So limit themselves. One piece of advice for athletes chasing a breakthrough.
Chris Sjothun: I mean, I'd say get a coach and and do it. it's it's just it's a better journey it's it's so much better to do it with a uh with a coach and being part of the community
Rich: Be part of a community.
Rich: Yeah. All right. This is your last one. Finish this sentence. Transformation begins when.
Chris Sjothun: oh wow that's a great question uh transformation begins
Chris Sjothun: When you've committed to yourself, when you've made the commitment to yourself that you're worth it.
Rich: Oh, when you made the commitment to yourself that you're worth it. Oh my God. My heart just went. That was awesome. Chris, this has been amazing. Stay with me through the end here. Okay, buddy.
Rich: Thank you for being on the pod.
Chris Sjothun: Will do it.
Rich: All right.
Chris Sjothun: My pleasure. Thank you.
Rich: Chris, I mean, Vespa, is it work?
Chris Sjothun: Oh, I couldn't imagine racing without it.
Chris Sjothun: It sounds really cliche, like commercially, but it's so true. i It's just part of the routine. note It's my watch, my Vespa, my chest, my my heart monitor, and away I go.
Rich: you go. You can save 15% off of anything in your cart anytime. There's a code here, G2GVespa15 in the show notes. The link will take you right to it. Thanks for spending time with us today on the Grits Greatness Endurance Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow us and leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts and YouTube. It helps us reach more athletes like you. Until then, stay gritty, train smart, and keep chasing greatness.
Rich: We will see you next week.
