A Deep Dive into Triathlon: From Personal Experiences to Professional Insights
In the latest installment of our podcast, we delve into the intriguing dynamics of the triathlon community, exploring the convergence of professional athletes and influential figures within the sport. The episode features a riveting discussion on the implications of race decisions, specifically addressing the recent controversy surrounding the actions of athlete Vittoria Lopez during a competition. We provide insights into the upcoming professional races, including the T100 and Ironman events, examining the potential outcomes and the elite athletes involved. Furthermore, we analyze the significance of nutritional strategies, particularly the increased protein requirements for endurance athletes, as highlighted by recent research. Join us as we navigate these multifaceted topics, offering a comprehensive perspective on the evolving landscape of triathlon.
Links to topics discussed:
The TriDoc Podcast
Matt's Instagram
Jeff's Instagram
Email Jeff: tri_doc@icloud.com
Email Matt: Matt@thetemponews.com
Signup for the Tempo News
Signup for The TriDoc Podcast Supplement form
Transcript
What would happen if you brought together a professional triathlete and producer of one of the most widely read triathlon newsletters?
Speaker B:Together with the tridoc medical contributor for Triathlete Magazine, age group winner and coach at LifeSport coaching, I'd say you had.
Speaker A:The makings of a pretty good podcast.
Speaker B:Welcome to Tempo Talks.
Speaker B:Two perspectives, one sport.
Speaker B:All things triathlon.
Speaker A:Hey there, Matt.
Speaker A:How's it going?
Speaker A:It's good to see you again.
Speaker B:Yes, good to see you too as well.
Speaker B:Back for another week here.
Speaker A:A lot of stuff going down.
Speaker A:A lot of feedback over last week's discussion.
Speaker A:We'll talk about in just a sec.
Speaker A:I understand you had an anniversary yesterday, so congratulations.
Speaker A:Thank you, Kirsten.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:Three years.
Speaker B:Three years ago we got married in Victoria, Canada.
Speaker B:It was the best day of my life.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:That's fantastic.
Speaker A:And Victoria is where we had a 70.3 race just this past weekend.
Speaker A:Yet the latest example of a race where the swim was canceled, unfortunately.
Speaker B:Yeah, sad because I know that Elk Lake, it's beautiful.
Speaker B:It's like a gem of Victoria.
Speaker B:I love to swim there.
Speaker B:And algae issues very early on in the year, which is unfortunate because athletes didn't get to swim.
Speaker A:And I'm watching Boulder, what, two weeks away now and it's been raining like crazy.
Speaker A:And we all know how rain and runoff and Boulder Reservoir, not a good situation.
Speaker A:I have not checked on the coliform count.
Speaker A:Have you even bothered to look?
Speaker B:Haven't been thinking about it.
Speaker B:I actually thought at one point a few weeks ago maybe it was pretty warm.
Speaker B:I was like, hey, if this continues, we could have a non wetsuit swim maybe.
Speaker B:And now, oh my God, there's no way.
Speaker A:There's no way that's happening.
Speaker A:Cold?
Speaker A:Yeah, it's been cold.
Speaker A:It's going to warm up a bit this weekend, which is nice, but man, it's been chilly, wet spring, it's nice.
Speaker B:To get that wet.
Speaker B:But it is beautiful.
Speaker B:Yeah, beautiful here.
Speaker B:I've enjoyed getting out on the trails, on the roads.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:You got to enjoy it before it gets brown here again.
Speaker B:Which is exactly from now.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Before we dive into the meat of the podcast and we'll talk about the things we're going to chat about.
Speaker A:I wanted to just bring back the conversation about the DNFs that we had last week because I heard from a listener who really enjoyed.
Speaker A:Actually I heard from several who really enjoyed the conversation, but one in particular told me that they heard on another podcast, shall we say there's other ones.
Speaker A:I know TTL stands For that triathlon life, I think the Paula Findlay, Eric Lagerstrom, Nick Goldstein.
Speaker A:Nick.
Speaker A:Nick Oldston.
Speaker A:Is that his name?
Speaker B:Goldstein?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Goldstone.
Speaker A:So they do a podcast.
Speaker A:Some people may have heard of it.
Speaker B:One or two.
Speaker A:They apparently were having a.
Speaker A:Now, I didn't hear it myself, so I'm going to exaggerate a little bit and say that Eric was a little bit animated in his discussion of the DNF of Vittorio Lopez, saying that he did not at all agree.
Speaker A:He felt like this was not okay what she did, because she went out planning to have a DNF, but didn't announce that in advance.
Speaker A:And so therefore she was really having an impact on the front of race.
Speaker A:Now, I don't know how much she.
Speaker B:Contested the swim in the bike and then pulled out immediately at the beginning of the run.
Speaker B:Correct.
Speaker A:And apparently told Paula as they were starting the run together, told Paula, hey, I'm just doing 5K and then I'm pulling out.
Speaker A:And so she went blazing off and ran like an Olympics type, like an Olympic triathlon type of 5K.
Speaker A:And then she just stopped.
Speaker A:And Paula was like, okay, thanks.
Speaker A:See you later.
Speaker A:And I don't know, watching it as a spectator, Paula didn't look too fussed by the whole thing.
Speaker A:She just raced her race and she won by a lot.
Speaker A:As a pro, do you have a problem with what she did, Vittoria?
Speaker B:Not really.
Speaker B:Like, I can imagine a race, I guess if somebody was ahead and they were doing a lot of work at the front and pulling a group away that I wasn't involved with, yeah, maybe I'd be a little upset because I wasn't involved, but I just don't think it really had a big impact on the overall race.
Speaker B:I don't actually have a problem with Vittoria doing that because, like, she's paid the entry fee, she gets to race.
Speaker B:She obviously wasn't, I would say, interfering at all with people's races.
Speaker B:She was off the front, in the water, by herself.
Speaker B:No one was with her.
Speaker B:And on the bike, she was by herself for a lot of the ride until Paula caught her.
Speaker B:And then I think, did Paula go by her and Vittoria like, she wasn't even really.
Speaker B:I don't want to say involved in the race, but they were racing the same race.
Speaker B:But, yeah, they weren't going back and forth and pushing each other.
Speaker B:It was just like they happened to be there together.
Speaker B:And then Vittoria took off, quick out of transition, but pulled off pretty quickly.
Speaker B:So for me, I don't see A problem with that.
Speaker B:If anything, it maybe helped Paula have some motivation for someone to chase, because otherwise there would have been no one around for her to chase.
Speaker B:And that might have made it, I don't know, more likely for someone else to come up from behind.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker A:Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker A:And the reason I don't want to name the listener is because last year Eric made noise about Oregon 70.3, where there was not a pro series, but there were age groupers.
Speaker A:And this listener was an age grouper who swam and biked and was injured, couldn't run, and so did the swim bike, and as a training exercise, and then decided to not continue.
Speaker A:And that raised the ire of Eric in that situation because he became aware of this happening for various reasons which are not important.
Speaker A:And I'm like, really?
Speaker A:First of all, what do you care what's going on in the age group?
Speaker A:Ranks second of all, us age groupers are paying a lot of money to be involved.
Speaker A:And if I have an athlete who's racing, I'm going to tell them if they are, if they want to.
Speaker A:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker A:100%.
Speaker A:Go and swim and bike and then make sure you don't bring your running shoes.
Speaker A:I don't want you being tempted to run.
Speaker A:I don't want you getting hurt.
Speaker A:Yeah, I don't want you to get hurt.
Speaker A:But why not have a training exercise of swim and bike?
Speaker A:I just don't understand that part of it.
Speaker A:For him as a pro to.
Speaker A:Maybe he just doesn't really understand the dynamics of an age grouper's life.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:Yeah, Eric's.
Speaker B:He's an artist and he loves the purity of sport.
Speaker B:And maybe that somehow goes against it.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Personally, I don't have a problem with it.
Speaker B:The one thing I will point out is in the past, we have seen athletes, you know, be in races where they're totally not going to finish the race.
Speaker B: going back, way back to maybe: Speaker B:It was a while ago.
Speaker B:It was in the Alistair Brownlee, Johnny Brownlee, Javier Gomez days.
Speaker B:And I believe this other British athlete was essentially in the race to kind of mess with Gomez's race.
Speaker B:So you could see on the camera, this guy was sitting on Gomez's hip.
Speaker B:He was cutting him off, like dunking him.
Speaker B:So obviously, when you cross those lines into really interfering with someone else's race, yeah, that's a problem.
Speaker B:But both of the examples you talked about, but it's not an issue.
Speaker B:But that.
Speaker B:And that was like, purely on camera.
Speaker B:Like, you could tell this guy was totally messing with this race.
Speaker B:And definitely a lot of controversy.
Speaker B:Definitely not.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I think he got a ban or something, which.
Speaker B:Yeah, give it to him.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Let's talk about the topics we have lined up for today.
Speaker A:We have some good ones.
Speaker A:We are going to talk about the pro races.
Speaker A:We have a big weekend of pro races.
Speaker A:So Matt's going to give us a deep dive into those events.
Speaker A:There are three big races.
Speaker A:Three, Four.
Speaker A:Three big.
Speaker B:Three big ones.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So we have a T100.
Speaker A:We've got an Ironman in Germany, and then we've got a world triathlon race.
Speaker A:So we're going to discuss all three of those.
Speaker A:Matt came across an article that looks at the protein needs of endurance athletes.
Speaker A:And then we're going to talk just a little bit about what it takes to feel confident going into an event, be it a triathlon or any kind of other racing event.
Speaker A:But let's begin first with the professional races that are coming up this weekend.
Speaker A:There's three big ones.
Speaker A:Matt, take us away.
Speaker B:Yeah, a big weekend of pro racing.
Speaker B:We're getting into the meat of the season here.
Speaker B:June, May, June are always super packed and we're really getting into the thick of it.
Speaker B:So this weekend, T100 San Francisco on Saturday, just the second T100 race of the year.
Speaker B:So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.
Speaker B:We also have Ironman Hamburg, which is a women's only race that has an intriguing matchup for sure.
Speaker B:And then the third race of the weekend is the next, I guess the third world championship World triathlon championship series event of the year in Italy and has interesting course and a lot of the big names.
Speaker B:So a big lineup for sure.
Speaker B:But I think we should start by talking about what I think is the most important race of the weekend.
Speaker B:And that's the T100 in San Francisco.
Speaker B:It kicks off, I believe, at 6am or something.
Speaker B:That's when they jump off the boat.
Speaker B:Are you planning on watching this one, Jeff?
Speaker B:You're not going to be up watching them?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:No, I.
Speaker A:It's hard enough for me to get my training in and then to have to delay it to watch one of these events is just asking too much.
Speaker B:Would you wait till.
Speaker B:To not know results and watch on like the trainer or something or you just not really too fast that way?
Speaker A:Yeah, I got to tell you, I just.
Speaker A:The T100 just doesn't get me all that excited.
Speaker B:Interesting.
Speaker A:And I just not that.
Speaker A:Yeah, just not that interest.
Speaker A:I just.
Speaker A:I'm one of the outliers, I think.
Speaker A:But I just have yet to get really excited about the T100.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:That's fair enough.
Speaker B:I do think this weekend though, actually maybe could turn the tide a little bit.
Speaker B:It's a really.
Speaker B:Both a really fairly solidly stacked start list.
Speaker B:I think for the women's race.
Speaker B:The big thing is the return of Taylor Knipp because she was not in Singapore at that first T100 and she's been undefeated in T100.
Speaker B:So that's having her back kind of changes the dynamic.
Speaker B:Do you think?
Speaker B:Really, can anyone touch her?
Speaker A:Jeff?
Speaker A:I always hesitate to bet against her.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because she's just so.
Speaker A:Until it's like when Daniella was racing, you just assumed she would win until she didn't.
Speaker A:And then you moved to think maybe, okay, is it someone else's turn?
Speaker A:But Taylor's young, she's fast, she's dominant in all three sports.
Speaker A:It's really hard to imagine, especially at the.
Speaker A:At that distance.
Speaker A:It really suits her.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And the T100, I think they're really trying to manufacture some hype.
Speaker B:Some competition this weekend with Taylor Knibb and the Singapore winner.
Speaker B:The surprise Singapore winner, Kate Wolf from Great Britain.
Speaker B:Gosh, I hope I'm pronouncing her name right.
Speaker B:The two of them are getting hyped up as head to head, really.
Speaker B:And you talk about it, to me, it's not really going to be much, I think, of a battle.
Speaker B:I think Taylor actually had probably one of her most dominant races last year in San Francisco.
Speaker B:Like I remember she came out of the water right in the lead, just took off on the bike and really I think she had four minute gap or something on second by the end.
Speaker B:Like it was crazy.
Speaker A:And the thing about this swim is it's.
Speaker A:It's so current dependent.
Speaker A:You could be like I was.
Speaker A:I saw something online today where somebody has made that swim in as little as 14 minutes or something.
Speaker A:Just when the currents are really ripping.
Speaker A:It's really incredible.
Speaker B:I think last year it was around that time basically all the athletes, even Sam Long was right in the mix of that race last year, which he's not the best swimmer compared to others.
Speaker B:I'm hoping maybe for a current less swim, maybe they can have a bit more time in the water to break things up.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:It's probably going to be the nib show at the end of the day, but you also have some other solid athletes who can challenge for podium.
Speaker B:You Have Ashley Gentle, who, you know, a couple years ago, even last year, has been winning these T100 races, maybe in Singapore, didn't have the outing she wanted.
Speaker B:You also have Julie Darin, the Olympic silver medalist from last year and someone who lit up the T100 scene.
Speaker B:I think she had three podiums at the end of the year last year behind Nib.
Speaker B:She'll be there.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's not a given.
Speaker A:It's not a given that Taylor's going to win, but I think you just have to.
Speaker A:No matter who's there, I think you just have to look and say it's Taylor and everybody chasing her.
Speaker A:Those are phenomenal athletes.
Speaker B:Phenomenal.
Speaker A:Ashley's amazing.
Speaker A:Julie has proven herself to be very adept at these longer distances and Kate Wolf clearly already won at the distance, so obviously a threat.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I think we can see it's going to be an exciting race.
Speaker A:It's just a matter of who has the day.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I do think really the only way someone is going to take down Nib is if there's almost like a concerted effort of people behind her to almost like work together.
Speaker B:And it's honestly a course that maybe wouldn't even suit that because it's quite hilly.
Speaker B:It's really going to take honestly some kind of team effort to put a Julie Darin or Ashley Gentle within striking distance on the run.
Speaker B:That's the weaknesses.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I was going to say, is it fair to say that Ashley is a better runner than typically?
Speaker B:Yes, I would say so, yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:And Julie Darren as well.
Speaker A:Really.
Speaker A:So it's just a matter of them, like you said, staying close.
Speaker B:Yes, but they gotta stay close.
Speaker B:Staying close to Nib.
Speaker B:Good luck.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I will say too, like, I bumped into Nib on the pool deck before she.
Speaker B:She took off and she definitely had a fire.
Speaker B:It seemed like she had a fire in her belly.
Speaker B:These athletes are getting a hungry athlete on the start line, on the boat line, I guess.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that would.
Speaker A:So that was what I was gonna ask you.
Speaker A:Is it a boat start or.
Speaker A:They're not starting in the water, right?
Speaker B:Not starting in the water, no.
Speaker B:They're doing the classic Escape from Alcatraz boat jump.
Speaker B:Have you done that race before?
Speaker A:I have not.
Speaker A:Me neither.
Speaker A:It's a lottery entry and I just have never been able to get my act together for that one.
Speaker B:So the women's race, Nibs, probably to lose for sure.
Speaker B:But then the men's race, definitely intriguing, especially that we have the guy who won Singapore dominated, Hayden Wilde.
Speaker B:He's out with his injuries, although seems to be recovering quite quickly.
Speaker B:Quicker than I would.
Speaker A:I was going to ask, have you chatted with him?
Speaker B:I haven't, no.
Speaker B:I've just been following what he's putting out.
Speaker B:And yeah, he's already biking.
Speaker B:He's already running, it seems.
Speaker B:Walk running or something.
Speaker A:Come on.
Speaker B:So those Red Bull scientists are Frankensteining him back to life for sure.
Speaker A:Seriously?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:So he won't be there.
Speaker B:He won't be there.
Speaker B:So you're gonna have.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:You had last year this kind of epic sprint finish.
Speaker B:Did you ever see video of that?
Speaker A:I did, but I don't ask me who was involved.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's why I'm here.
Speaker B:That's why.
Speaker B:So you had Martin Van Riel last year, took the win, I think second, the guy who was really close to him was Kyle Smith from New Zealand.
Speaker B:And then third was the Young German Guy, 70.3 World Champion A couple years ago, Rico Bogan.
Speaker B:So those three are back looking to.
Speaker B:Martin's looking to hold that top spot in the podium.
Speaker B:Those other two definitely solid athletes to try and sneak out a win if possible.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker A:And our friend Jan Gels is there, right?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Yellow Geens, Yellow gains.
Speaker A:I eventually I'll get his name.
Speaker B:We'll get it someday.
Speaker B:Maybe in a few times for sure.
Speaker B:But yeah, he's there.
Speaker B:And these Belgian guys, crazy to the top middle distance guys in the world.
Speaker B:So yellow's there.
Speaker B:You have the guy who was staying at my house recently, Jake Birtwistle.
Speaker B:I really hope he has a good day to reflect on his time here, but he's definitely an athlete.
Speaker B:Solid across the board.
Speaker B:Seemed to be biking and running well when he was here.
Speaker B:And I think that's important because the swim might not be a factor really if the currents are like last year.
Speaker B:My kind of, I want to say sleeper pick or maybe under the radar, but not really.
Speaker B:If you follow the pro side.
Speaker B:There's a guy from Greece, his name's Panagiotis Bitatos, which is an awesome name.
Speaker B:Again, I just loved saying that, reading that one.
Speaker B:And he won the 70.3 Pro Series race in Venice not that long ago, coming in with great form.
Speaker B:You also have Jason west coming back.
Speaker B:Great runner.
Speaker B:Morgan Peterson, another great runner.
Speaker A:And then Sam's there.
Speaker B:Sam is not there.
Speaker A:Oh, Sam is not there.
Speaker A:I thought he was going to be there.
Speaker B:This is, yeah, super interesting.
Speaker B:He put out a video and it's funny, like sometimes I don't really want to watch the video, but I'll Read the transcript.
Speaker B:And in the transcript he was talking about how he's making decisions for his family, his season.
Speaker B:And I'm kind of like, I guess that means T100 isn't really your focus.
Speaker B:Maybe.
Speaker A:I'm reading between this.
Speaker A:I find all the athletes are like this.
Speaker A:They all sign these contracts and then they're like, ah, you know what?
Speaker A:I got something going on this weekend.
Speaker A:And I just find the commitment, the contract commitment is, I don't know, doesn't seem to be worth the paper.
Speaker A:It's signed.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:We can talk about that in another episode.
Speaker B:I'll do a deep dive on that contract situation.
Speaker B: s next week and then going to: Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker B:So he goes.
Speaker B:Going up north, going north of the border, which will be great.
Speaker B:That I'm really excited about that race.
Speaker B:Sad I'm not going to be there, but as Canadian.
Speaker B:But it will be great.
Speaker B:And I'm actually really pumped that T100 are going there.
Speaker A:All right, let's move across the pond.
Speaker A:And oh, before we do, do I get to buttonhole you for a pick?
Speaker A:Because I think we both thank Taylor Nib.
Speaker A:And on the men's side, yeah, I'm trying to.
Speaker B:I want to go against Nib, but it's just super hard.
Speaker B:I think based on the course, if Nib doesn't win, I'm going to go with Julie Darin from Switzerland.
Speaker A:Interesting.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And on the men's side, and on.
Speaker B:The men's side, Martin Van Real.
Speaker B:He won last year.
Speaker B:So you always have good vibes when you're coming into a race that you've won or had success on before.
Speaker B:And he got third in Singapore.
Speaker B:Absolutely brutal conditions, brutal race.
Speaker B:But that was off the back of a full distance Ironman.
Speaker B:Last time I checked, he didn't do an Ironman last weekend.
Speaker B:Looks like he's coming in pretty fresh, so it's hard not to pick him.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So I'm gonna.
Speaker B:I'm gonna pick Van Real.
Speaker B:What do you think?
Speaker B:Do you have any other yellow?
Speaker A:I can't say.
Speaker A:Yeah, yellow, yeah.
Speaker A:Yellow, Yeah.
Speaker A:I can't say Belgian.
Speaker B:A Belgian guy.
Speaker B:Just pick a Belgian guy.
Speaker A:Just a Belgian.
Speaker B:Have good odds.
Speaker A:I'm going to go with a Belgian guy.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think a Belgian guy's good stuff.
Speaker B:It'll be good.
Speaker B:I'll be watching probably.
Speaker A:All right, let's quickly talk about Hamburg.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:So the next pro series race on the same weekend.
Speaker B:This is a women's only Ironman pro series.
Speaker B:Race.
Speaker B:All eyes on the women in Hamburg and looking at the start list there's some depth.
Speaker B:I know Danielle Lewis who is a perennial podium adjacent athlete is going to be on the start line but really it's a, it's a two woman show this weekend.
Speaker B:You have Laura Philipp, the reigning Ironman World champion.
Speaker B:She raced last weekend, had a win.
Speaker B:She's coming in with some good form and she'll be up against Kat Matthews from Great Britain, the Ironman Texas champion who I think she just obliterated the Ironman world best time.
Speaker B:Am I correct in saying that?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:She's a phenom.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And she was runner up to Laura Phillip in Nice last year.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Grudge match.
Speaker A:It's going to be interesting Both, both.
Speaker B:Athletes coming in with great form.
Speaker B:They have similar skill sets.
Speaker B:Like I think they're both maybe slightly off the lead in the swim but are both quite dominant on the bike in the run.
Speaker B:Maybe Cat's a slightly better cyclist.
Speaker B:Laura is a slightly better runner.
Speaker B:So if we see Kat with a bit of a lead off the bike maybe she can hold it.
Speaker B:It's Germany.
Speaker B:Laura is going to be racing at home like this could be quite, quite the grudge match.
Speaker B:Quite the battle and it could go all the way to the line.
Speaker B:It's definitely a huge kind of Kona preview as well.
Speaker B:Form check before the World Championships later this year.
Speaker B:Maybe they'll race another Ironman, maybe they won't.
Speaker B:I'm not sure.
Speaker A:It's amazing to me that Kat racing Texas and then what, a month later she's in Hamburg racing.
Speaker A:I just think these athletes are incredible to be able to turn around and race with that kind of frequency and still stay fresh and be.
Speaker A:I guess at some point it's got to wear your body down and I just always.
Speaker A:Yeah but you want to see.
Speaker B:Cat is a very robust athlete.
Speaker B:Like last year she did that whole T100 and Iron Man Pro series.
Speaker B:She won the Iron Man Pro series.
Speaker B:It came I believe fourth or fifth in the T100 series.
Speaker B:And I think her, when she reflected on it at the end of the year she was saying how she almost left a bit in the tank in terms of the training she was doing because then she could show up on race day, obviously get great fitness boosts from racing.
Speaker B:But this year she seems to be exclusively focusing on the pro series.
Speaker B:She totally lit it up in Texas so I expect more fireworks in Hamburg.
Speaker B:It's going to be full gas.
Speaker A:It's going to be exciting.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's going to be Exciting.
Speaker A:And I look forward to seeing that one play out as well.
Speaker A:All right, let's shift our focus to the last of the three events and that's the World Triathlon Series race.
Speaker A:Got to admit, I don't even know where in the world it's taking place this time.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it's a new venue.
Speaker B:I've never raced here before.
Speaker B:It's on the island of Sardinia, so the last few years they've had a race in Cagliari, which I think is the capital city, the big city on Sardinia.
Speaker B:I was there last year with the Olympic qualification stuff with Kirsten, and this year it's in Alguero.
Speaker B:Again, sorry Italians for my pronunciation.
Speaker B:But this course is different than Cagliari.
Speaker B:Cagliari.
Speaker B:Famously flat.
Speaker B:Basic.
Speaker A:This is hilly.
Speaker B:This one's hilly.
Speaker B:It's got a bit of spice to it, which is great because that race we just had in Yokohama, again, quite flat.
Speaker B:Not too many features on the course, but this one sounds like it has some hills.
Speaker B:So I think it'll be a little more interesting in terms of how the groups are on the bike and how things shake out.
Speaker B:We're also just in a post Olympic year, so there is a little bit more uncertainty in terms of who's showing up.
Speaker B:Some people are skipping out entirely this year.
Speaker B:The Yokohama race was interesting because there was a couple packs, especially in the men's race.
Speaker B:I think the women's race will be a little more broken up this time, which could add a little more intrigue.
Speaker B:You don't know who maybe who's going to win until the final mile or so.
Speaker B:Who knows?
Speaker B:Definitely, I think could be an interesting race, but we'll see.
Speaker B:We've got Matt Hauser, the guy who won in Yokohama in that kind of pretty epic sprint finish.
Speaker B:He's back to try and take the win.
Speaker B:I believe Jen lahair, the woman who took off at the beginning of the run and soloed right off the front, the whole 10K, she's going to be there.
Speaker B:I expect maybe the men's race and the women's race to have a few more bike packs, distinct bike packs.
Speaker B:So I think that'll be.
Speaker B:I think it'll be really interesting to watch, for sure.
Speaker A:I like when they have hills on the course because I think brings out a skill set of some of these riders.
Speaker B:It shows the strength of the ride, the true strength of the riders, which is.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's important to showcase.
Speaker B:It's actually ironic.
Speaker B:I definitely, as a spectator, love the hills.
Speaker B:There's just throw the hills at them.
Speaker B:But as an athlete, ooh, hills were not my business.
Speaker B:So I'm like, give me the flat courses.
Speaker B:Let me just hang on here.
Speaker B:As a spectator, I definitely want these hills.
Speaker B:I want the action.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think it allows for a certain type of rider to try and get away and to showcase their ability on the bike and maybe establish themselves before the run.
Speaker A:I like when there's some good climbs.
Speaker A:So it's pretty cool.
Speaker B:And both races, like you won't see someone, obviously you won't say Hayden Wilde back on the start line.
Speaker B:He's doing T100 mostly this year, but it was planned like, I think he might have been at this race this weekend had he not crash and broke his scapula or whatever.
Speaker B:So not having him in the race actually changes the dynamic because he's usually bringing a big group of guys back up to the front of the race.
Speaker B:Cuz he's such a strong cyclist.
Speaker B:So definitely could see some more breaks on the bike which would make him interesting and hopefully maybe some gaps going onto the run.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then in the women's race, because we're after the Olympics, we've lost some, I would say, key front pack players like Flora Duffy.
Speaker B:Usually she's the front pack instigator.
Speaker B:She's not doing these world triathlon races, she's doing T100.
Speaker B:But you do have an athlete, Maya Kingma from the Netherlands, who has broken away with Flora before.
Speaker B:She's always in that front pack and on a course like this, I think she can change the dynamic of the race.
Speaker B:So I'm really excited to see what she can do on race day because I think she's going to light it up.
Speaker B:She's been doing a lot of bike racing too, so you know she's ready to rip it up.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:All right, let's shift our focus then from racecourse events to nutrition.
Speaker A:You said you came across an article and this is gonna be the first time that you've read the article and I haven't.
Speaker A:So I'm excited for you to educate me on what you've learned about nutrition intake for endurance athletes.
Speaker B:I read the article about the paper.
Speaker B:I didn't read the paper.
Speaker A:All good.
Speaker B:I'm not a.
Speaker B:I'm not really a paper reading guy.
Speaker B:That's your expertise.
Speaker B:But we will try and do it justice.
Speaker B:I'm sure the people will want their science from Jeff after this.
Speaker B:This was an article and outside.
Speaker B:Do you know, are you familiar with Alex Hutchinson?
Speaker B:He's a science writer.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So this is an article by him and he was talking about.
Speaker B:Yeah, a new paper, this is in the Journal of Sports Medicine, which I'm sure you've checked out once or twice in your day.
Speaker A:Just a few times.
Speaker B:Yeah, just a few times.
Speaker B:So basically the paper, the headline is do endurance athletes need more protein than previously thought?
Speaker B:And the answer, as it turns out is yes.
Speaker B:And protein.
Speaker B:Right now it's definitely having a moment.
Speaker B:They're throwing protein in all kinds of foods.
Speaker B:They're throwing protein, just more protein in foods that have protein.
Speaker B:So definitely top of mind for athletes and just people at large.
Speaker B:But the paper essentially asked two questions.
Speaker B:So the first one was how much protein do endurance athletes need to stay healthy and optimize for endurance performance?
Speaker B:And the second question was what can tactical use of protein play in speeding up short term recovery and performance?
Speaker B:And I gotta say, tactical use, yeah.
Speaker A:Have you ever heard of that?
Speaker A:But I love that use of the word for nutrition.
Speaker A:Tactical nutrition.
Speaker B:You throw tactical in front of anything.
Speaker B:It sounds.
Speaker A:The chat's awesome.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So the paper talked about how kind of the current government guidelines of protein consumption is like.08 grams per kilo of body weight, which if you're 150 pounds, it's about 55 grams of protein, which I don't think that's enough.
Speaker B:It sounds like it's really maybe should be more for everyone, but definitely not enough for endurance athletes.
Speaker B:And essentially they used in this study, it was like, have you heard of this amino, an amino acid indicator.
Speaker B:Are you familiar with this?
Speaker A:I'll need a little more context.
Speaker A:Amino acid is something to cater to.
Speaker B:To determine kind of protein consumption during your day or during your training or whatever.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And this is how they determine how much protein people need.
Speaker B:And as it turns out, the paper suggested that endurance athletes.
Speaker B:So not 0.8 of a gram per kilo.
Speaker B:Endurance athletes need 1.8 gram per kilo just to optimize for their health and their performance.
Speaker B:And one of the things that it also discovered with this study was that on rest days athletes need even more protein than the 1.8.
Speaker B:Just because I guess when you're on a recovery day, your body kind of kicks in its recovery adaptations and mechanisms and whatnot.
Speaker B:And it turns out you may need upwards of 2 grams per kilo per day.
Speaker B:So I'm curious, like, what do you think about that?
Speaker A:Yeah, I think a lot of that resonates and makes a lot of sense.
Speaker A:In my discussions with nutritionists and dietitians previously.
Speaker A:Nobody is saying endurance athletes should be eating 0.8 grams per kilo.
Speaker A:That's way too low.
Speaker A:I know that myself.
Speaker A:I am eating 1.5, 1.6 or so, possibly as high as 1.7 grams per kilo per day.
Speaker A:But there's a couple of reasons for that.
Speaker A:One is if you are trying to manage your body composition, something that a lot of age groupers are interested in doing, then having a protein heavy diet helps with feeling full.
Speaker A:And if you take a protein forward meals, so you know, adding protein to your breakfast, having protein bars in between meals, then you can supplementing with more protein.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So what you're doing is your stomach, it takes.
Speaker A:The reason you feel full is because protein takes a while to digest.
Speaker A:It sits in your stomach for longer and therefore it triggers these satiety sort of hormones and it makes you feel full and you feel less hungry.
Speaker A:So eating more protein will help with body composition management.
Speaker A:But the big thing I think that you mentioned and the really important piece is this idea of recovery days and increasing protein intake then because when you do a really hard workout, you are damaging your muscles.
Speaker A:And that's part of getting fit and getting more strength is you have to break down your muscles a little bit.
Speaker A:And in order to get this adaptation that we want from those hard workouts, we need to rebuild the muscles.
Speaker A:We need to rebuild the muscle fibers and make them stronger and better able to handle a hard workout.
Speaker A:And, and in order for that to happen is they need the building blocks to be able to rebuild.
Speaker A:And that comes in the form of protein.
Speaker A:So that's why it's so important to increase protein intake.
Speaker A:And there's a lot of ways to get protein.
Speaker A:If you're a plant based eater like me.
Speaker A:Protein can be found in tofu, seitan, it can be found in vegetable based protein supplements.
Speaker A:I will eat dairy.
Speaker A:So cottage cheese is a great source of protein.
Speaker A:And if you eat fish, then tuna fish is a great source of lean protein.
Speaker A:There's all kinds of ways to get adequate.
Speaker A:Lentils are a great source.
Speaker A:There's lots of plant and dairy and fish sources.
Speaker A:And then of course if you eat meat, then obviously it's much easier to get large quantities of protein.
Speaker A:You just got to be careful with the fat because anytime you add red meat, you're going to get fat.
Speaker A:Lean white meats, chicken, pork and things like that will have less.
Speaker B:How long have you been doing plant based eating like this?
Speaker A:Is this sidebar 20 years.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I'm curious, were you training at the time that you swapped over?
Speaker A:Yeah, I.
Speaker B:Was that a hard process to change from having meat in Your diet to going plant based in terms of getting enough nutrients and protein and whatnot.
Speaker A:It wasn't hard to get the nutrients and everything else.
Speaker A:I think the hard part was is that I grew up eating meat and I really loved the meat that I ate.
Speaker A:And I made the decision partly for health reasons and partly because I had been.
Speaker A:My wife and I had traveled for an extended period in Southeast Asia and your animals are a lot closer to your plate in Southeast Asia and so you're a lot more intimately aware of the process that's going on.
Speaker A:So I was just a little bit uncomfortable with the whole animals for my food and at that point just made the decision, you know what, I'm going to try this and if anybody's interested, listen, I don't proselytize about this.
Speaker A:I do it for myself.
Speaker A:And but if anybody's interested, the easy way to do it is just pick one meal and breakfast is the easiest.
Speaker A:You can become plant based for breakfast very easily.
Speaker A:Try that for a little while and if you find that's not so terrible and not so horrible, then you can add lunch and then eventually become more and more plant based.
Speaker A:It's definitely especially in North America where we have so many options for plant based foods.
Speaker A:It's not that hard.
Speaker B:Do you have a couple like go to's?
Speaker B:I'm just curious now because I don't do plant based but I'm always curious about what the options are.
Speaker A:Oh, there are Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.
Speaker A:Yeah, they just offer just an enormous range of plant based sort of meat substitutes and they're really.
Speaker A:I find them very tasty.
Speaker A:So I just like to make stir fries.
Speaker A:I very small amount of olive oil or vegetable oil.
Speaker A:I throw in one of these plant based substitutes, a bunch of vegetables, maybe some noodles or rice and.
Speaker A:And I'm good to go.
Speaker B:And are you ever worried about.
Speaker B:I mean you probably have it on dialed but are you ever worried about not getting like complete proteins?
Speaker B:Because plant based.
Speaker B:It's not.
Speaker B:Is it not complete like, like animal protein or am I totally off here?
Speaker A:No, you're.
Speaker A:There are some essential amino acids that you're not getting so you can supplement with them.
Speaker A:And I do.
Speaker A:I use a plant based protein powder that is.
Speaker A:It has added some of the essential amino acids.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker A:Very good.
Speaker A:So you can get everything you need these days.
Speaker A:It's pretty.
Speaker A:I mean, listen, women need to be worried.
Speaker A:Not worried, but women need to pay attention to iron because getting plant based iron is not as bioavailable as meat based iron.
Speaker A:And There are some people that need to be concerned about B vitamins, but honestly not that much because the B vitamin accessibility is overblown.
Speaker A:It's actually you can get quite a bit of the B vitamins, including B12 and A plant based diet.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker B:You've tart cherry juice fluenced me.
Speaker B:So maybe we're gonna get plant based.
Speaker A:Hey, you gotta.
Speaker A:My son loves watching the Giro d' Italia and we watch the Giro every day and at the end of every single stage, they show the winner of the stage and somebody hands him a tart cherry juice bottle every time.
Speaker A:And I say, ah, there's the tart cherry juice.
Speaker B:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker B:And one of the things that I missed from the paper, this is why you do it.
Speaker B:But it sounds like you and I never really thought of this, but it turns out you do burn protein while you're training.
Speaker B:Are you familiar with this?
Speaker B:Do you know much about this?
Speaker A:Well, so protein is a source of calories just like anything else.
Speaker A:It's just not a great source of calories.
Speaker A:So we can derive energy from glucose from fat and from protein.
Speaker A:We get the most calories from fat, but our bodies are not particularly efficient at burning it.
Speaker A:So you get 9 calories per gram of fat.
Speaker A:The problem is it's our bodies just don't do a great job.
Speaker A:And so we can only metabolize fat when we are exercising at a pretty low rate of intensity.
Speaker A:Once we start ramping up the intensity, we need to be able to metabolize something quickly.
Speaker A:And we metabolize glucose very well quite quickly.
Speaker A:That gives us four calories per gram.
Speaker A:And so that's why glucose tends to be the source we need.
Speaker A:And that's why protein should not be your food source or fuel source when actually doing training or racing.
Speaker A:It should be your recovery fuel.
Speaker B:I shouldn't put protein powder in my sport.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's interesting.
Speaker A:There was a time probably before you were racing, but there was a protein based energy drink.
Speaker A:I can't remember what it was called.
Speaker A:And there was this whole thing they were really pushing.
Speaker A:Oh, no.
Speaker A:Protein is what you want to be taking.
Speaker A:You need to have 40% of your calories in protein.
Speaker A:And it was, was total garbage.
Speaker A:It was like not true at all.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:We don't metabolize protein particularly well.
Speaker A:It's not quite as, as slow as fat.
Speaker A:But it's hard to metabolize proteins when you are working hard.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And your body obviously doesn't go to proteins right away.
Speaker B:But I think that's what the study was also highlighting.
Speaker B:Was the fact that, hey, you do use up proteins when you're exercising.
Speaker B:And so part of the reason why you need more is just for that reason, you may be burning more than you actually think.
Speaker A:And the big thing, again, I just want to say about protein is that delays gastric emptying.
Speaker A:So the idea of actually incorporating protein into your fuel during hard workouts or racing is not a good idea because it'll make your stomach stay full and you'll have nausea and all the other GI problems.
Speaker B:They never advertise that protein.
Speaker A:No, of course not.
Speaker A:Of course not.
Speaker A:All right, let's move from nutrition to our third and final topic.
Speaker A:And that is what it takes or what it feels like to be ready.
Speaker A:So you brought this topic up, Matt, what were you thinking?
Speaker B:I think I was thinking about this briefly before we came on.
Speaker B:And I think about almost, like, phases in my career.
Speaker B:Like, when I was younger, I didn't have as much experience, and maybe just because of the environment I was in, I took a lot of confidence from, I want to say, like, external factors.
Speaker B:Maybe my coach telling me I'm fit or he thinks I'm training well or something, or if I have other athletes I'm training with who are great athletes and I'm benchmarking myself against them, and if I'm within striking distance or beating them or whatever in training, that was always.
Speaker B:That gave me confidence going into races.
Speaker B:I would say now, and maybe it's just because of my environment.
Speaker B:I do a lot of training on my own.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:It's all kind of internal.
Speaker B:Like, I've.
Speaker B:I do certain training sessions, and maybe I've done them in the past.
Speaker B:So I know where I've done these training sessions before, like a hard race or a good race or something, so I can benchmark to that.
Speaker B:But also just now that I have a big body of work behind me, I feel like if I've done consistent training, even if it hasn't been perfect leading into a race, I think if I've done key sessions and nailed those, then that'll give me confidence as well.
Speaker B:It's not a simple answer.
Speaker A:So what does confidence mean to you?
Speaker A:Confidence that you're going to perform or confidence that you're going to win, or confidence, like, what is.
Speaker A:What do you mean by confidence?
Speaker B:In the past, it might be like, confidence within a certain situation or race, but maybe that kind of translates as well now.
Speaker B:Like, really, to me, when I'm confident in my abilities and I'm standing on the start line, if I'm asking my body to go to a certain level, to push at a certain effort.
Speaker B:Like, I know I'm going to be able to respond.
Speaker B:And it's not like I'm asking it beyond what it's capable.
Speaker B:If I know what I'm capable of really, and I've done the training to be there, then I'll be on the sideline, be like, hey, I know I can push to a pretty, pretty high level.
Speaker B:And even beyond, obviously coming off a taper, you're going to be feeling even better.
Speaker B:So that it's just like being in the race and knowing if things are happening in the race, I can respond accordingly.
Speaker B:How about that?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Do you ever feel nervous at the start of it?
Speaker A:Are you ever standing at the.
Speaker A:You guys all start together, so it's a different situation than it is for us.
Speaker A:Who is standing in that chute and listening beep.
Speaker A:And then you're getting closer and closer.
Speaker A:So there's this big buildup for us.
Speaker A:But for you, do you ever stand there and have, like, butterflies or nervousness at all, or is it just, you know what, it's another day.
Speaker A:I've done this before.
Speaker A:I know exactly what I'm going to do.
Speaker B:No, always have some sense of nervousness because honestly, if I'm standing in the start line and I'm not excited, I'm not nervous, then I really shouldn't be there.
Speaker A:Excited and nervous are not necessarily the same.
Speaker B:I would say, yes.
Speaker B:Nervous because you're always kind of.
Speaker B:Oh, like, you know, you want to do well and you want to show the effort you've put in, the work you've put in.
Speaker B:May, if you have a certain outcome, goal you're chasing, you get nervous because you want to do that.
Speaker B:I guess, like, I don't get the same anxiety.
Speaker B:How about that?
Speaker B:As I definitely used to.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's.
Speaker B:That's maybe experience.
Speaker B:So if you're doing a.
Speaker B:Your first season of racing and you don't have that experience to draw back on.
Speaker B:Yeah, it makes sense that you'd be a little anxious because you just.
Speaker B:You haven't.
Speaker B:I feel like I've experienced many things, most things that can go wrong in a race.
Speaker A:And that's what I tell my athletes that I coach.
Speaker A:I say, look, if you're showing up to a race and you feel nervous, the only reason to feel nervous before a race is because you don't know what to expect.
Speaker A:You haven't thought about the things that can happen and therefore you're not prepared or you haven't done the work and you don't know.
Speaker A:You have this lingering question in your mind about whether or not you can accomplish what you're there to do.
Speaker A:Now, I know you as a pro.
Speaker A:You've given thought to every possibility.
Speaker A:You've experienced all of this before, and you're darn certain from when you're standing there that you've done the work.
Speaker A:So those three things are not there.
Speaker A:I think the reason you're excited and reason you have nerves is because, hey, is this the day that I'm going to have a great day?
Speaker A:Is this the day that I'm going to really have a breakthrough?
Speaker A:So that's a different thing than for us.
Speaker A:And I realized I had been doing triathlon for many years and it was at my third or fourth Ironman where I was in the transition in the morning and I was waiting for the race to start and I realized, gosh, I'm not.
Speaker A:I don't have that sense of nervousness.
Speaker A:And it's because exactly what you said, it's like I had experienced it before and I was in that comfort zone and it was such a, like, really nice feeling.
Speaker A:Like I was excited, but I didn't have anxiety.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:And nervousness.
Speaker B:The connotations of nervousness maybe bring about or make you think of being anxious.
Speaker B:And I don't know if that's necessarily their one in the same.
Speaker B:Like, I definitely get nervous before every race because I'm excited and want to do well and push hard and all that good stuff.
Speaker B:But I would say I don't really have anxiety before a race just because I've seen a lot and experienced a lot.
Speaker B:And honestly, I've had a few experiences in my day now, and even the one in St.
Speaker B:George where I almost wasn't able to race, period.
Speaker B:So I've had the experience where instead of being anxious before a race, I was showed up to the start line and I was like, oh, my God, I get to race.
Speaker B:And really that's whenever I maybe get a little anxious or whatever standing on the start line, I'll always go back to that.
Speaker B:I'll always go back to flipping it and being like, like, I'm here.
Speaker B:Like, I get to race.
Speaker B:Like, I've worked hard, I put myself in the start line in a position to put forth my best effort and try and have a good day.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I think if you do find yourself in that situation where you're nervous, I think just going back to that position of being like, hey, I get to race, have a bit of gratitude to be there.
Speaker B:It puts you in a definitely a more positive ad space.
Speaker A:All right, Matt, I think we have reached the end of another excellent episode.
Speaker A:This was a lot of fun and hey, if you have something that you want you should let us know.
Speaker A:So make sure that you leave a rating and a review wherever you get the podcast.
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Speaker A:We would love to have you as part of the conversation, Matt.
Speaker A:I look forward to chatting with you again.
Speaker A:Tempo Talks is a production of the Triathlon Performance Hub and is produced and edited by me, Jeff Zankoff.
Speaker A:The music heard at the beginning and the end of the program is Rock by Henry Gregart and is used with a Creative Commons license from Pixabay.
Speaker A:I hope that you will leave a rating and a review wherever you download the show and don't forget to share with a friend.
Speaker A:Tempo Talks will be back again next week.
Speaker A:If you have something specific that you would like to hear us discuss on the program, I hope that you will drop us a line.
Speaker A:You can find our contact information in the show notes or you can send your suggestions along through the Talk Tempo Talks Facebook group.
Speaker A:You can search for Tempo Talks on that platform, answer the three easy questions, we'll grant you admittance and be would love to have you as part of the conversation there.
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Speaker A:Till then, train well.
Speaker A:We'll see you then.
