Meet The Coaches & Get Inspired to Try Triathlon Ep 27

Welcome to the Find Your Edge podcast. I'm your host, Chris Newport, founder, head coach, sports nutritionist, and exercise physiologist at The Endurance Edge. Our mission is to empower people to reach and sustain peak performance and health. So get ready to dive into all things training, nutrition, recovery, and more. We hope to give you detailed information and inspiring stories to help you be your best. Let's do it. OK, welcome back to the Find Your Edge podcast. Find your edge. I feel like that's been— not being able to speak clearly has been probably the last few months between the last podcast and this one. But we're back in action, excited to be here. And today we are with our awesome coaching staff. So I'm excited to have Coach Carly, Coach Marty, and Coach Ryan on as well as myself. And And now that we're in the spring and we're kind of getting back into racing and COVID is kind of easing off. So, uh, I figured it would be a great opportunity for everyone out in the podcast sphere to get to know some of our coaches and our unique journeys into triathlon and hopefully perhaps get you inspired to do a triathlon. So, um, where I wanted to start off with is the fact that we have such a unique Coach, we have such a diverse Coach group. So Marty, I think I'm going to start with you. Give us a little bit of background on sort of the Reader's Digest on your background in education and coaching and what you kind of feel like is your unique coaching superpower.

Um, let's see. Well, education, my background is in exercise physiology, um, exercise science, you know. Um, you know, coaching-wise, I've been a certified coach for USA Triathlon, I believe, 6 years now, but I've been coaching track and field and cross country, you know, for 20-plus years now. Um, I think one of the unique things is being able to use my exercise science background to put together training programs that are solely based on an individual's goals, you know, versus just like an overall, like, okay, I train everybody the same way. So I think the biggest thing is, you know, being able to train each person individually. Um, I think that's the biggest thing a coach can do.

Awesome. Love it. Um, Carly, you're next. Tell us the things. Sure.

So my education is also in exercise science as well as psychology. Um, so I kind of bring both worlds together. Um, not quite in a sports psychology sense, but with background in both, I like to look at, you know, not only the training aspects, but the life aspects and how those can impact training and performance. Um, so it's helpful for me to have those backgrounds to look at a whole life and not just the athlete side, because lots of us have families and full-time jobs and we're still trying to accomplish goals in triathlon. So it's really helpful to look at the whole picture. Um, and that's kind of where both of my backgrounds can come in handy. Um, and for me, this is my 8th year in triathlon. So been in the game a little less than Marty, um, just due to our age difference there.

But I think she just called you old, Marty, respectfully.

Well, technically I did my first triathlon back in 1992.

Yes. And, and that, yeah, that's where we're going next, but Ryan. Um, let's hear about some of your background and your unique coaching superpower.

Great. Thanks. Um, I have a background in psychology and a master's degree in counseling and human services. So I have been a school counselor for the past 16 or so years. Um, a triathlon coach just for the past several months. Um, I've been in triathlon for about 5 years as a recreational athlete, a proud back of the pack kind of, kind of participant. And I just really like that the sport lends itself to be a social environment or a recluse environment. You can, you can make it however you need it to be, and it can be both in the same day. Um, I like connecting with people. I like to hear their stories and I like to be part of their story as they grow. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel connected to them. And that is why I like to coach.

Awesome. Love it. So, my background, I would say, is more in fitness and exercise physiology. I actually thought that I wanted to be, I started off doing athletic training. Um, and then was like, no, no, I want to be a physician. Uh, and then fell into fitness sort of as a, as a byproduct of that, uh, in a way. Um, and loved it, but then saw the whole of like, hey, there's more that goes on to this fitness thing. Um, with nutrition. So then ended up getting into nutrition and got my master's and my dietetics license and, um, have been working with athletes in particular with hydration. Trying to figure out the, the hydration and fueling conundrum that we find ourselves in when we're doing anything from sprint distance to Ironman to ultra marathon, and how can we make all that work. So I would say, um, that's kind of the unique thing that I bring to this group, which is so cool that we have. I love the fact that we can all bounce workouts off of each other and ideas and strategies and how to deal with every client. So that's kind of cool about Being coached here is you don't just have one coach, you have 4 and 2 dietitians and another exercise physiologist. So anyway, um, so that's our coaching staff. Now I think it would be interesting to think, to hear about how everybody got into triathlon because it's such a unique, uh, everybody just has a unique story. And Marty, since you're the old guy in the group, I remember actually when the Ironman started.

I got my background in triathlons just from watching it on TV, ABC Wild World of Sports, which doesn't exist anymore, used to broadcast the Hawaii Ironman every year. And it was the year that the women were first allowed in, I believe it was '83. And just sitting in the living room, you know, and they're showing Julie Moss about to crawl across the finish line and nobody saw the other woman beat her. And I just remember watching that day, turning to my parents and saying that, you know, when I get done, you know, at that time I was more of a soccer player. I was like, yeah, when I'm done soccer, I'm going to do the Ironman. Everybody laughed. And I still remember when I got started in triathlons in 1992, I said, when I qualify for Hawaii in a few years, nobody else is going. You can't go because you laughed back in the day. And so I did my first triathlon in '92 and I had my first trip to Hawaii in '95. And since then I've had some breaks. I like, I did, I took like a 6-year, uh, hiatus from triathlons where I chased marathons. I got my PR down to 2:27, and then I got back into road cycling. So I started doing that. And of course, while doing that, I made the mistake of watching the Ironman again and got back into the sport in 2012.

Awesome. Love it. Okay. Uh, Carly, let's do you next.

So just so we can laugh at it, I was 3 when Marty got into triathlons. So we're going from our oldest coach to our youngest coach here. But, um, so I had a somewhat similar story to Marty actually. I had run a couple marathons and was looking kind of for my next big goal to just push me out of my comfort zone. And one day I randomly saw an Ironman being broadcasted on TV and was like, What is this? It looks super duper hard and I'm going to do it. Um, and within the next 2 weeks I bought a bike cause I didn't own one and got a membership to a pool. And I had no resemblance of any sort of forward motion in the pool or putting my face in the water or anything, and just taught myself how to swim. Um, and sort of use my exercise science background to, you know, progressively overload and make my way up to Ironman. Um, luckily during that time I learned that there was such thing as a sprint and an Olympic and half Ironman. So I signed up for a few of those and, um, it took me 2 years and I crossed my first Ironman finish line. So it was really fun journey.

Uh, and you have one coming up this year.

I do. I have Ironman Florida in November.

Nice. Very cool. All right, Ryan, you're up.

I don't come from an endurance, um, background at all. Um, but everybody here, I think, played soccer. I think so. Soccer was really my love coming up. Um, as a young athlete, um, I was around 12 or 13 at the time Marty was getting in the triathlon. Um, and playing a lot of soccer at the time. So I don't know, maybe the middle half of my adult life around my, my mid-30s, just after being a grown-up and not participating in anything athletic at all, started to gain weight, started to not really like everything about the way that I looked or my, my mood and things like that. And just going to the gym to work out was not an effective strategy. Well, my friend of mine, we were really good friends in high school. He was coming down through the state to race at White Lake, and we had not been in touch for several years. We were best friends in high school, early college, and then adult life didn't— we didn't match up that way. So it was like a reason to go see him and, um, see what that's about. And I was in awe by the whole event. Um, still didn't really quite get the idea that it was something I wanted to do, but then a couple of weeks later, I got stuck in, um, traffic with all of the bike riders, um, on the half Ironman in Raleigh. So I was literally like just stuck riding next to these guys, and they all had their cool bikes and their tight clothes and their fancy helmets that look like aliens. And then I just got kind of like really intrigued and reached out to my friend again, say I kind of wanted to try this sport out. And it was hard enough and different enough and something I never did that really allowed me to get fit, um, as, as a reason to kind of improve my life, to just set a goal that was something I was totally different. I didn't think that I could do it, which is what made it a good goal for me. That's why I started.

Super cool. Yeah. Um, I think I would say I was probably a little similar in the intrigue to Ryan. Um, I was young when I got into triathlon. I was in my early 20s, which, uh, the average age of triathletes is typically like late 30s. Um, but my grandmother had just been diagnosed with cancer and, um, I worked in a place where, uh, I met a, uh, I was, I was a barista at Starbucks. It's also where I met my husband, but my now husband, then, you know, random person off the street came in with this other guy who did triathlon and we were chatting about it while I was behind the counter making them a latte. I was like, wow, that sounds really neat and crazy and hard. And I, like Carly, did not have a bike. And I found a program called Team in Training, which is a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society organization, which is kind of gave me this sense of like I'm doing something for my grandmother who has cancer and also learning this really cool sport. And it was coached. And so I got to meet a whole bunch of awesome people, and I still keep in touch with them. And that was in the early 2000s, and, uh, did my first couple of races with them and then ended up going through their coaching program, got to coach under Dave Scott, and then got USA Triathlon certified. And, um, but I similarly— I think, I think this is hopefully a good exercise in seeing that there's different ways of getting into the sport and also different, um, journeys in the sport. I think Ryan sort of alluded to that too. So I think that would be like a nice shift to, uh, and again, Marty, let's, let's start with you. You intend— you started in Ironman, but now do you have like a favorite, uh, distance and/or, you know, specific discipline in triathlon?

I'd probably venture more to the 70.3. I really, you know, I only do the Ironman because I want one last crack at Hawaii because then I'm going to retire. Like I joke with my friends because, you know, 1995, '97, we didn't have any of the cool gear that you have now.

Yeah, you were like going down the road with like a tighty whitey, right?

You did Speedos.

Yeah, and not a tighty whitey, not in your underwear, but it seems like close enough.

Yeah, so basically I tell my friends if I ever get back to Hawaii, It's, I'm going old school and I'm going to retire from the distance as soon as I crossed the finish line. That's it. No more Ironmans. I'm done. Um, you know, but no, most of the time I think, you know, I enjoy the 70.3 because it doesn't take, you know, your entire life to train for sometimes. Um, you know, but I definitely think, you know, anything shorter than that, I think they hurt worse than the longer races.

Can you— is for anybody who's not done triathlon, can you clarify what a 70.3 is? Because 70.3 is actually a brand, a brand.

Um, but okay, so you would have your half Ironman, so your 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, um, and your 13.1-mile run. It's kind of funny because I go to stretch zone and, um, the guy who is taking me through my routine, he was talking about how he's done marathons, wants to get into triathlons. And he's talking about all the different distances. I said, if you do a sprint, you're a triathlete. I'm like, that's all it is. And like, he had no concept that even sprints were that short. You know, it's just like, if you just want to do one, just do a sprint. You know, you don't have to do an Ironman to be a triathlete.

Yes, good point. Um, Carly, what do you— what would you say is your favorite distance and/or discipline? And has that changed much since you got into triathlon?

Um, I have to agree with Marty. I think the 70.3 is my favorite of the distances. It provides a little better, uh, you know, life balance with training, but still gives me that like mental push of the longer training days, um, and the longer race day. Um, but also like the competitor in me Wants to say sprint because those are like, you know, you really push yourself. Um, and I'm also like a better competitor at the sprint distance where when I get into the longer, more endurance racing, um, it's more, more a mental fight for me where, you know, a shorter distance is more of a competitive fight for me. I'm not sure if I'm making sense when I'm saying that, but Um, but yeah, I agree with Maria. The 70.3 is where it's at for me.

Cool. Love it. All right, Ryan, how about you?

I like the sprint distances. Um, I think that, uh, there are a lot of fun. I think that you can train to get faster, um, and get really rewarded based on your, on your training. Um, it's more marginal gains, but for me, I have like too much ADHD to manage a 3-hour ride, uh, as a, as a training part. Um, but that's me. Other people really hit their zone. Um, and, and like to kind of ride in that space. I've met many many people through, uh, coaching that that's just how they live and they like that steady, long, um, kind of thing. For me, it gets convoluted into the, the nutrition pieces of it and the, the how much power you're, you're using over the course of a period of time. And I guess those details, um, start to, start to wear on me a little bit. And those details don't exist and sprint. It's just go about as hard as you can. And then, um, the good news is when you get to the finish line, you don't have to go any further. Um, the other good news is that nobody says you have to do just one thing. Um, so last year my goal was to complete a half Ironman, and I did, and I feel very accomplished by that. Um, I did not go back and just sign up for another race right away. Um, but this year I'm focused pretty much all on sprints for myself, but next year it doesn't have to be that. It doesn't have to be that way. It might be trail running. It might be, um, just long swim, swim races or something. I could be swim, swim runs. So it could be anything that you want it to be from season to season right now in this moment. I like sprint distances.

Nice. I love it. Yeah, I would say I got in— when I got into the sport, I was most into sprints. Um, and then recently got into swimrun. Uh, hopefully some of you have heard that on the podcast. And, um, but I would say my favorite discipline is, um, off-road triathlon. So in 2009, I got, uh, on the road, got hit by a car. Hopefully that doesn't, um, shy people away from the sport, but I just made the decision that I was gonna compete with trees instead of vehicles. Um, and I was terrified by mountain biking, like truly terrified. And it was kind of this unique blend of like still having triathlon, which is generally Olympic distance. So about typically about 1,500-meter swim, um, somewhere around 25-ish miles of biking, although it might be a little different than an off-road race and then typically a 10K run. Um, but I was convinced that I was going to still, cause I love riding. Um, I was going to still compete in some way, shape, or form, but it just presented a different level of challenge to figure out how to not do it when you have the stability of pavement underneath you. Um, so that was— that's kind of my— that's always been sort of my most recent journey, but a lot of it is more finding races on the East Coast. They're a little bit more of a challenge to find. But in the meantime, I'm gonna do some on-road sprint triathlons and hopefully relays this year just to like get out with the team and be, um, part of the group and, uh, and still have fun, especially for somebody who might not feel comfortable swimming yet, or who really wants to work on the bike and they want to do that leg. And, you know, so cool. So now let's go to what your favorite thing about triathlon is, the hardest thing, and what would you tell yourself if you had to rewind the clock when you started in this journey? Would you tell yourself something different knowing what you know now? Marty, you're up.

Favorite thing? The finish line. You know, knowing that everything came together finally on one day, you know, um, maybe not always the best results, but getting to the finish line. Um, you know, the hardest part, you know, is all the training. Racing is fun day, you know, and that's what people should look at. The hardest part is the training and being disciplined. Um, but if I had to go back to 1992 and tell myself, I tell myself not to be so damn serious about it. You know, I look at some of the results I'm having now, and I do— like, I mean, I'll be— I'm gonna admit I was crazy. I was counting calories, I was writing everything down. Now I don't even keep track of anything. You know, obviously I'll log my training, but I don't worry about other things. It's just I go out and do what I need to do and I'm having fun with it, but I'm still getting the results, you know? And that's what I look at. So I would go back and say, don't take it so seriously, you know? And I, and I think about it, you talked about the social aspect and I go back and I look, you know, early '90s, I can recall being at races and hanging out with the guys like Scott Tinley and those guys, the pros were accessible. And that's, you know, and that's when triathlon got started. It was grassroots. It was absurd. I mean, everybody looked at it as like, okay. You're doing that because you're not good at any one of them, you know, and it was fun, you know. And I think people now, you know, the reason triathletes get picked on by other people, you know, other athletes, is we brought it on ourselves. We take it too seriously, you know. And it's just have fun with what you're doing, you know. Your life's not going to be determined by your race results, you know. It's just enjoy it while you can.

Were you the one who said that we're walking around looking like aliens? Or no, that was Ryan, I think, right? Like with our helmets and like our weird spandex.

And like, uh, I will say this, one of my favorite things to do, and I do it every year at Lake Placid, I go to the same restaurant, is I sit outside at this picnic table and I do it. I take pictures or I will comment on Twitter or on Facebook, guess what I just saw walking down the street? It's like, save the race kit for race day. You don't— you know, like the first thing I ever saw, like my first time at Lake Placid, I'm sitting there The lake is a half mile away and the guy's still walking down the street with his wetsuit on. What are you doing? And I turned to my friend at that time and I said, and you wonder why triathletes get picked on right there.

That's awesome. Um, all right, Carly, you are next.

Uh, remind me what the first question was.

Oh yes. So hardest thing, and then what would you tell yourself if you had to go back knowing what you had now, knowing what you know now?

My, well, my favorite discipline is the bike. Um, it's definitely my happy place. I love a quiet country road on my bike at the crack of dawn. It is just literally the happiest thing that I can think of doing. Um, and I just, Also really love race day, any race, any distance. I don't even have to be racing. I just like the atmosphere and the buzz and the nerves and the excitement. It just like, it gets me going. I love it so much. Um, as far as like what I've learned and advice that I would give, um, it would be to not overthink it. Um, think about like the basics, you know, if you are If your race has an open water swim, make sure you get in some open water swimming before you get there. If you haven't ridden your bike on the road, make sure you get out on the road, practice clipping in, practice clipping out. Um, you know, don't focus so much on how fast you're going or, or, you know, the details of things like that. But like generally, are you going to swim in the open water? Make sure you get that in. Um, because those, Little things can be overlooked and then can create some really big snafus come race day.

Cool. Love it. Great advice there. Um, Ryan, how about you? Favorite thing about triathlon, hardest thing, and what would you tell yourself if you had to do it all over again?

There's a lot of things I really like about the sport. One, I do like the gear. Um, and like trying to like, I don't know, it's like a, it's like the shallow part of my personality is like part of trying good is looking good. So I want to have like all the things. Um, so I think that's pretty important. Um, I also like that, and I guess this probably goes along with sort of an image gain as well. Um, we're all together a lot. Like, the triathlon community is a real thing, and there, there's a lot of people that do it, but there is a lot of people who do not. And, um, you could walk into any conference or any store or any workplace, and nobody does what we do. You know, you climb out of a lake in your wetsuit while there's people like putting on their parkas and getting into a canoe for some fishing. It's like you kind of feel like pretty bad when you're doing that in a good way. I think the hardest part is in the training. Um, and that it is consistent, that all the gains are made with consistency. It doesn't really matter even how hard you work or all the zones and stuff. And the stuff is important, but it matters not unless you do it, um, on a regular basis and have a routine. So making sure that you work training in as part of your lifestyle, um, I think is hard at the beginning and then you reap the benefits later. And advice is the information overload that occurs when you're just, especially when you're first starting out in sport. Um, that's the kind of trap that I got into. Watch every silly video, serious video, uh, read every article. Some things start to you know, work against each other where, you know, this sounds like conflicting information now. And I mean, the first time that I got out of the water in my, um, at Buckhorn Sprint Triathlon, um, like I remember I had to set up my transition and I picked all these landmarks and, uh, where my bike was going to be so that when I get out of the water and it would be like disoriented, I'd be able to find my stuff and hang a hat where your bike is and all these things. Well, when I got out of the water, everybody was gone. There was 3 bikes in the parking lot. It was like, what did I need to know and like do all of these things for, um, when it looked like the entire place just exploded? There's just wetsuits all over the place and 3 bikes, and mine was not hard to find. So just trying to remember that, um, and I think that goes with what Um, other coaches have been saying to just take the information overload, the seriousness of it, like simplify this down to some manageable parts and have fun with it. Um, would be great advice to give myself 5 years ago.

Cool. Very good advice. I love that. Um, I'm going to have to go with Carly on my favorite thing about triathlon. I love all things race day. I love ringing my cowbell. I love like that, like feeling you get when you're all in your wetsuit standing right on the edge of the water, like, here we go. Um, I, it's just whether you're racing or cheering, I just love all things race day. I'm also like a big weenie, but nobody knows it. I mean, now a lot of people are going to know it, but I'm the person who's always wearing sunglasses because especially when I see somebody who looks like either one of our athletes who— this is like a really big deal. And one of my favorite, um, moments in coaching was actually helping a guy, like, literally who was like the very last finisher. And like, we were all like surrounding him and like encouraging him. Was like the very— I'm like that ham who like cries at the Hallmark commercials, you know? So I'm like behind my sunglasses like, I love this, this is Oh great. Um, but you'll never know it because I'm behind my sunglasses. So anyway, I just, I love all things race day too. Um, hardest I think is what everybody's already echoed already, is just the consistency and just putting in the work, whether it be early mornings or hot days or whatever, just getting out, ripping the Band-Aid off. I mean, sometimes it feels like ripping the Band-Aid off. And just getting out there and being consistent about doing it. If I had to go back and tell myself something, I think I would say, you know, you're on the right track. Like, I'm so grateful that I had that coaching program. I think I would have been on information overload. Like some of the other coaches have mentioned, like all the things and all the gear and all the different strategies. And I think I just would have been lost. Had I not had, um, my coach and other athletes to— for them to ask the questions that I didn't know to ask. Um, so I think those would be my— the things that I would tell myself. So, um, so let's, let's top it off with your funniest story in triathlon. And so hopefully we get people laughing before, and, you know, get them entertained before feeling like they're, um, scared of doing all this training and looking like an alien with all the gear. Um, I can see everybody's faces. They're like, ooh, I need a funny story. So, uh, Marty, you're up first.

All right, now here's the funny part. Is prior to this event, I had several people at triathlons ask me You know, because they always mentioned how I look like Mark Allen. And so when I was working for Nike in Las Vegas, we needed a guest runner because somebody canceled. And I'm like, well, Mark Allen, he was the original guy in the Air Max commercials. And they're like, okay. I didn't hear anything. And then so like Friday they come into my department, they're like, do you want to— what are you doing tomorrow night? And they're like, I don't know. You want to go pick up somebody at the airport? You know, and so I'm like, sure, what? You know, they're like, it's Mark Allen. And so I get to meet and hang out with the greatest Ironman triathlete ever. Really cool guy, because you know how it is when you meet your idol, they're either the biggest ass or they're cool as hell. And he was really cool as hell. And I told him, because I had a sign that on one side said Mark Allen, the other side had his nickname, The Grip. And I joked with him, I said, I wasn't sure what side to flip for you to get it. So prior to that, you know, it was a year, I think at that time Outside Magazine had him on the COVID and it was World's Fittest Man. And I was telling the story because people always said, you look like him. And I was like, yeah, I'm buying the magazine. You're on the COVID And I'm writing out my check. And the cashier kept going, is that you on the COVID This is a woman who doesn't know what a triathlon is or who that— I look at her, she's like, seriously, is that you on the COVID And I jokingly go, do I get it for free? You know, so he goes, I'll top you on that one. He goes, I didn't know it was coming out. He goes, I'm walking through the airport, I see it. He goes, I go up to cashier, I'm literally holding it underneath my chin, and the cashier looks at me, goes, that'll be $3.95. So it's not really triathlon in an event, but it is like when— it's the greatest triathlete that ever lived.

That's cool.

That's awesome.

Um, Carly, what do you, what do you think?

Ah, I, I honestly don't know that I have a funny story, but I'll tell a story.

Yes, please.

Um, at my very first sprint, um, I was so nervous that I racked my bike at the wrong bike number. So I was like 171 and I racked at like 117 or something. Like I, I mixed up my numbers and racked at the wrong one. And then the ref came over and told me that I needed to move my bike, uh, to another rack. And I just like died a thousand deaths and thought I was like never going to survive this triathlon if I can't even put my bike in the right spot. But here I am still living. I survived it. I went on to finish.

Nice. Awesome. All right, Ryan, you're up.

Oh, I already shared the one about getting out of the water late. Um, so I'll stick with a water theme. Uh, there was my first Olympic distance race at White Lake. It was a sprint, um, I'm sorry, it was a spring event. Uh, so my preparation leading up to that was not ready, especially in the open water format. To do that event. And the thing that bothered me most, I was already kind of psyched out about it, was that the swim was going to be 2 laps around and it was driving me nuts. I always felt like if it was just one big loop, then you get out there, you got to get back. So that's like, that's psychologically, it's like, well, I'm just swimming until I get back. But to go around again was really tough. Um, so I started in the swim. It went horribly off the bat. Lost my goggles, got kicked or something. And the swimming was going really badly too. Um, it was like hypoxic, couldn't breathe, uh, couldn't swim straight. I think I went straight to breaststroke. Um, and I made it to the, uh, like a kayak. I held on and then I looked behind me and the old guys are waving the next wave up. So I I was like, oh man, I got to take off because these old guys are going to catch me in a second. So I got up to the first buoy, the first turn buoy. And sure enough, the whole train of guys was just like, like the walking dead. They're just like going to consume me. Um, so I quit. I took the diagonal pathway right across the course, um, back to the, uh, swim finish. I was like, there's no way I'm going around twice. It's, it's not going to happen. Um, so the guy on the kayak followed me all the way, kept on offering me a ride and I was just like back stroking back. Well, by the time I got to the exit, um, my friend that I was with was just about to turn his next lap and he's like, what are you doing? Why are you here? And, uh, I was like, dude, I'm done. I'm, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna swim. I'll wait for you to get around and we'll go ride together. I said, come on, just come in, just jump in, we'll go around together. I'm like, I already cut the course, I can't go back in. And, um, he's like, they won't know, they won't know. All the, all the crew is around us, it's like, they won't know, they don't care. And, um, I was like, no, just go, like, and I'll wait for you and we'll go on the bike together. And then, um, he said, fine, I'll go. And then he started taking a couple of strokes and I said, hey David, and he popped up and he's like, what? I said, hurry up. And, uh, so he laughed that way, that all the way around the rest of the course. Um, and we still laugh about it today because I was like, hurry up. But I cut the course. I also lost my contacts. It was rough.

So that's awesome.

Swim adventures. Now open water swimming is my favorite thing to do. I love swimming in the lake. It's great.

Isn't, isn't that cool? The another like evolution story when you're Terrified at first and then suddenly becomes like, yeah, this is my jam. That's really cool. Um, I've got a little story from what, from my very first race. I was like obsessed with, of course, you know, naturally being a dietitian and, um, being obsessed with like fueling and hydration. And I just, I don't know what got into my brain, but first of all, I pinned my number on a shirt. Which is, we all know, like, that's like a big no-no. Um, like, I was, I was, I, I pinned it on a shirt that I was gonna put on in transition instead of like getting a race number belt, which I highly recommend everybody get a race number belt. Um, so that, that this comes around, I promise. Um, but in my first race was a sprint, so it was a 12-mile bike and a 750-meter swim. And a 5K run. And for whatever reason, I felt the need to bring a CamelBak full of probably like a liter and a half, as well as a bike bottle on my bike. Um, and I remember my coach coming up to me and she's like, are you going for 3 days or are you going for 12 miles? I was like, what? I don't need all of this. So she convinced me to like set some of that aside. I didn't need a CamelBak. Um, and then I, you know, I was all excited about pinning my number all beautifully. And of course, naturally, I get into transition after getting on the bike, I go to put this t-shirt on or whatever it was, I think it was a tank top. And of course I go like, I put my arms through it, it's like ping, and all the pins come off. So I was like running with my number and just, you know, the awkward things that sometimes happen and are sort of bound to happen in You know what? It's okay. We survived and, uh, had a great time. And, and then of course I got a race number belt. So anyway, all right. So to tie it all up, what would be the 2 or 3 things you would tell a new triathlete? Marty?

Simple. Get a coach.

I dig. Carly?

Be consistent.

Cool. Ryan?

You can do anything.

Oh, I like that. Um, and I would say get a community because it's way more fun when you have people to bounce ideas off of and to train with and play with and have fun. All right, y'all, thank you guys so much. Coach Carly, Coach Marty, Coach Ryan, and myself, Coach Thank you guys all for listening, and hopefully you too will get involved in triathlon and we will catch you in the next episode. Thanks for listening to the Find Your Edge podcast. If you like what you heard, don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode. And if you're interested in learning more about our endurance coaching, sports and wellness nutrition, metabolic and sweat testing, triathlon training team, or our triathlon training library, Be sure to check us out at theenduranceedge.com and don't forget to follow us on social media at The Endurance Edge. Thanks again. And we'll catch you next time.