Triathlon Dynamics: Examining the Intersection of Competition and Coverage
The latest episode of Tempo Talks opens with an intriguing insight into the drug testing process faced by Olympian Kirsten Kasper, as the hosts navigate the complexities of athlete regulation and the importance of compliance with testing protocols. They discuss the ramifications that missed tests can have on an athlete's career, highlighting the rigorous standards that professional athletes must adhere to. Transitioning from this serious topic, the discussion shifts to the Ironman Pro Series, which has recently garnered attention due to its substantial financial incentives for participants. The hosts analyze the implications of these developments for both elite and age-group athletes, shedding light on the strategies necessary for success in an increasingly competitive environment. They share practical training tips related to transitions, emphasizing the often-overlooked aspect of race-day efficiency. By weaving personal anecdotes with expert knowledge, the hosts create a compelling narrative that resonates with both novice and experienced triathletes, fostering a deeper understanding of the sport's evolving dynamics.
Links to topics discussed:
Talk Tempo Talks FB group
The TriDoc Podcast
Matt's Instagram
Jeff's Instagram
Email Jeff: tri_doc@icloud.com
Email Matt: Matt@temponews.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 winter 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, Matt, how's it going tonight?
Speaker B:All good.
Speaker B:Actually, there's a little bit of action going on in the house right now.
Speaker B:My wife Kirsten is getting drug tested as we speak just outside our bedroom door here.
Speaker A:Ooh.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:So tell us what's involved with that.
Speaker A:Now, wait, I actually, I have some.
Speaker A:I have.
Speaker A:Wait.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Before you get into the mechanic, first of all, we should probably say who we are, right?
Speaker A:I'm Jeff Sankoff, the Tridoc, and you are.
Speaker B:Matthew Sharp, editor of Tempo News, and professional triathlete.
Speaker A:And together we are here giving you Tempo Talks.
Speaker A:And look, we have an inside scoop for you right now.
Speaker A:Kirsten Casper, US Olympian, being drug tested at this moment.
Speaker A:But does she have.
Speaker A:Does she get some kind of special dispensation for the fact that she just had surgery and she's very clearly gonna have some opioids in her system?
Speaker B:Yeah, she told them all the list of the drugs that she's been taking.
Speaker B:Oxy, all those other ones.
Speaker B:I think she's fine.
Speaker B:She'll be fine.
Speaker B:I don't think those are.
Speaker B:Any of those are necessarily.
Speaker A:That's not what they're looking for on this particular.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker B:But yes, blood testing and urine testing as well.
Speaker B:They had somebody here taking the bloods protracted.
Speaker A:So give us an insight, give us an inside scoop as to how the.
Speaker A:Now she's getting tested as an Olympian.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:This is.
Speaker B:So this would be under the USA Triathlon, like USA Triathlon's doping pool or registered testing pool.
Speaker B:So her and the other national team athletes like Taylor, knb, Taylor Spivey, Pearson, et cetera.
Speaker A:So give us the kind of like the chronology of this.
Speaker A:I assume they, they didn't just show up because you could be out shopping.
Speaker A:So do they give you like a text alert that this is going to happen at this time?
Speaker A:How does it work?
Speaker B:Definitely no text alerts.
Speaker B:That's not what they want.
Speaker B:They do not want you to know that they are coming in case you could, I don't know, somehow mess around with the test or take something.
Speaker B:These are always unannounced.
Speaker B:Typically, though, for these drug tests, if you like, normally you give an hour every day, usually it's the same hour.
Speaker B:Like, I remember when I was in my registered testing pool in Canada, I was always doing 6:30 in the morning because typically I'd be just getting out of bed, then wouldn't be going off to the pool or anything quite yet.
Speaker B:And I think curses is in the morning too.
Speaker B:But sometimes they come later on unannounced.
Speaker B:And some, I think often, if they show up in this context where it's not within your hour, then they will message you if you're not at the house or something, and then you immediately have to come home.
Speaker B:Actually thinking about it, funny story.
Speaker B:One time, I think it was New Year's or around New Year's, and this is in Arizona, we actually had gone to the casino down.
Speaker B:Down in Phoenix.
Speaker B:And I remember we were, you know, I don't know, I probably lost a bunch of money in poker or something.
Speaker B:And I remember Kirsten got this call saying, hey, it's, you know, the drug testers, where are you?
Speaker B:And so we had to bust back out of the casino and rip home.
Speaker B:I thought that was pretty funny.
Speaker A:Just think about how much money they saved you by pulling you away from the table.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:It was a divine intervention, probably in some ways before I went full tilt.
Speaker A:So they come and if you're not home, they're going to call you and say, hey, where are you?
Speaker A:And you have X amount of time to get here.
Speaker A:What happens if she's out on her bike and she's 20 miles from home?
Speaker B:Not sure.
Speaker B:I feel like there is still give her a grace period.
Speaker B:But if it's within that hour that you specify, like you're supposed to be there, and if you're not gonna be there, you end up getting what's called a missed test.
Speaker B:And if you have, I think, three missed tests in a year or something, then it becomes a whereabouts violation.
Speaker B:And that is an anti doping rule violation.
Speaker B:So you do not wanna miss three tests.
Speaker B:Because even if you haven't taken any drugs and you're innocent, that's painted on you, essentially.
Speaker B:And great, you don't want that.
Speaker A:And if you're going on holiday or something, you just file that somewhere.
Speaker A:It's, hey, I'm going to be out of the country or out of the.
Speaker A:Out of town for you.
Speaker A:Just let them know.
Speaker B:Yeah, you just change your hour or your location in the.
Speaker B:The app that they have.
Speaker B:You just.
Speaker B:You go manually change it.
Speaker B:It's funny, I feel like back in the day, people were saying, oh, they need to just give us chips that we can implant us so they know where we are all the time.
Speaker B:But then, I don't know.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's maybe a little draconian.
Speaker B:Yeah, I don't know about that one.
Speaker B:But if they had access to your phones, then probably.
Speaker B:That's essentially the thing.
Speaker A:Nowadays we're talking about drug tests, and that brings up something that we just touched on before we started recording, and that is I was over on the Slow Twitch website, a website that, if you're not familiar with, probably don't want to familiarize yourself with it, but if it's.
Speaker A:It can be a bit of a dark place sometimes, but it can be.
Speaker B:Although, to be fair, Slow Twitch, I feel like it's a pioneer.
Speaker B:So we got to give our respect to Slow Twitch in some ways.
Speaker A:For sure.
Speaker A:They were 100%.
Speaker A:100%.
Speaker A:It's the forum that can get dark.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Anyways, I was over there because I sometimes will go over and scroll through the topics just to get some ideas for the Tridock Podcast.
Speaker A:And I came across something about Jack Kelly's podcast.
Speaker A:And I know I haven't heard Jack Kelly's podcast, but it's quite popular.
Speaker A:And I went in and it was just a stream of people taking the piss out of him.
Speaker A:They were none too happy with him.
Speaker A:Matt, who is Jack Kelly?
Speaker A:Like, why did he even break into the scene?
Speaker A:Why does he get such prominent guests?
Speaker A:I don't like when he started, I was like, I don't even know who this guy is.
Speaker A:And yet he's.
Speaker A:He's talking to everybody.
Speaker B:I feel like Jack Kelly, I think he is a triathlete.
Speaker B:Maybe not a full on all the time triathlete, just loves the sport.
Speaker B:I think he's a coach as well.
Speaker B:And I remember when his podcast first came on, it was.
Speaker B:It had a different name.
Speaker B:I forget the name now.
Speaker B:I should know this, but he was.
Speaker B:Essentially when he came on, he started just interviewing high level coaches, athletes really getting like these deep dives into the pros training.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I remember these episodes were quite popular.
Speaker B:A lot of great insights from the pros.
Speaker B:I think he did a really good job of doing that.
Speaker B:And now he's evolved.
Speaker B:I think he's styling himself as a bit of a journalist now.
Speaker B:I think he's still doing a bit more of these training podcasts.
Speaker B:But yeah, he's definitely, I would say, one of the top two to three or four, whatever, triathlon podcasts based on.
Speaker A:What people were saying in this.
Speaker A:Again, Slow Twitch.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So these all had.
Speaker B:These people all had their real names.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:They weren't at all.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:And they had their axes to grind, clearly.
Speaker A:Because they seemed to be insinuating that they no longer listen to Jack Kelly because Jack Kelly's podcast is pretty much about Jack Kelly.
Speaker A:And what kind of set them off was when we spoke about Imogen Simmons, you and I think we did so in a way that was respectful, I hope.
Speaker A:I feel like we gave.
Speaker A:I certainly feel like I gave her the benefit of the doubt.
Speaker A:It sounds like maybe Jack didn't do that.
Speaker A:Now I haven't heard the episode, so I don't know.
Speaker A:But people were none too happy.
Speaker B:What was like, why were they mad?
Speaker B:Were they mad because he was a bit aggressive in his reporting or what was the story there?
Speaker A:They felt like he was self aggrandizing in breaking.
Speaker A:I'm making air quotes here, that he was breaking this story that he felt obligated to do and yet at the same time he was backhanded apologizing for doing it.
Speaker A:And it's, oh, I'm so sorry to be the one to have to do this and to disparage Imogen.
Speaker A:And at the same time, he was almost gleeful about the fact that he had this scoop.
Speaker A:And I don't know, it was just, again, I haven't heard it myself.
Speaker A:I am totally paraphrasing what I read on the forum there, but it was interesting.
Speaker A:It was, as you like to call it, podcast beef.
Speaker B:I think what happened was to, I think the boys, the folks on the Pro Try News, they kind of maybe had the similar comments towards him.
Speaker B:And then he actually released a podcast that was like my response to Pro Try News.
Speaker B:This is Triathlon's Kendrick Lamar vs Drake.
Speaker A:Situation because Pro Try News is Talbot, right?
Speaker A:Talbot Cox and somebody else.
Speaker B:Kyle Glass, Patrick Lemieux, Mark Matthews, these guys are probably in the same, definitely in the same echelon as Jack Kelly.
Speaker B:So you got some heavyweights in the triathlon media going after each other, which you don't really want to be the story.
Speaker B:I feel like if you're in the media, you don't want to really make yourself the story.
Speaker B:But maybe this day and age, that's actually what you need to do to continue to generate the clicks, like with the algorithms and all that.
Speaker A:I think we're okay.
Speaker A:We're okay sitting behind and do it.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker B:Happy to observe the beef.
Speaker B:I don't really have a skin in the game or a dog in the fight, so to speak.
Speaker B:I think personally, I don't think you want, you don't want to become the story.
Speaker B:So I feel like with Jack, if he really wants to go down the journalist road, it's almost a tough.
Speaker B:It's a really tough road because if you're a journalist, there's certain standards and ethics that you have to really hold yourself to to be a journalist.
Speaker B:And that doesn't necessarily lend itself to what works in this media environment in terms of generating outrage and attention.
Speaker B:And so I love that.
Speaker B:If he wants to be a journalist, that's great.
Speaker B:Just don't say you're a journalist and then.
Speaker A:And then go full Joe Rogan.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Speaker B:It's tough being a journalist and it doesn't.
Speaker B:I think these media companies like New York Times, blah, blah, blah, they're all finding that in a lot of ways it costs a lot of money to do this.
Speaker B:And these media, these other media entities that can just basically lie and say whatever, they get the attention, they get the clicks versus the well thought out argued research and balanced journalism.
Speaker B:It's almost a microcosm of our whole media environment and the structural changes that we're seeing, which is super interesting.
Speaker A:Speaking of clicks gives me the opportunity to let listeners know that after much demand, much demand, meaning I don't know, a handful of people, but still, yeah, your mom plus a few others, they wanted to be able to continue the conversation after the episode ends and they requested a place to be able to go and have a discussion, to be able to ask Matt and I different things.
Speaker A:And so we have started a Facebook group.
Speaker A:You can find it on that platform, just search for Talk Tempo Talks that will take you to the group membership page.
Speaker A:You can answer the very simple questions.
Speaker A:I'll give you a couple of hints to answer those questions.
Speaker A:Matt and I are both from north of the border and we now both reside in the same state.
Speaker A:There we go, that square state back.
Speaker B:Into the group now.
Speaker A:Yeah, that square state in the middle of the country with the Rocky Mountains in it.
Speaker A:Knowing that you should be able to answer those questions to get you into the group, we'd be happy to have you along there.
Speaker A:And please come in because one of the things that another person, Jeff Galloway, commented on both of our Instagrams recently that he would love for us to do a Q and A show where listener submitted questions are something that we then take to answer on an episode.
Speaker A:And we think that's a fantastic idea.
Speaker A:So one of the ways you can ask those questions will be in the Talk Tempo Talks Facebook group.
Speaker A:Another way will be just to send them by email to us.
Speaker A:You know, our emails But I'm going to tell them to you anyways.
Speaker A:It's Matt Thetemponews, right?
Speaker A:Have I got that right?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Correct.
Speaker A:Correct.
Speaker A:Mattemponews.com or you could get me@tridocloud.com so we'd love to hear from you.
Speaker A:Send us your questions.
Speaker A:And as soon as we have probably four or five questions, maybe a little bit more, we will definitely do a Q and A show.
Speaker A:And if it's something that you guys like, we'll do more.
Speaker A:All right, let's talk about what we're going to talk about today.
Speaker A:Matt, what's up on the menu for today's episode six of Tempo Talks?
Speaker B:Episode six?
Speaker B:We got a few interesting tidbits, content to line up here.
Speaker B:First thing is talking about the Ironman Pro series that's kicking off this weekend.
Speaker B:And I'm using that almost as a way to just figure out what actually pro races are meaningful and worth getting into.
Speaker B:So we'll get into that.
Speaker B:Jeff.
Speaker B:I think we're going to talk about transitions.
Speaker B:We've done what swim bike run tips and now we got to do something on transitions, which should be a fun conversation.
Speaker B:And the final piece just dropped today.
Speaker B:This little bit of news that the T100 PTO has received another injection of of funding, another investment.
Speaker B:We'll get into that and understand what's going on there.
Speaker A:All right, before we get to the Ironman Pro Series, we should take our usual visit to the penalty tent to revisit any errors we might have made in episode five.
Speaker A:I'm happy to say I did not detect any when I re listened to the show and I haven't heard from any listeners pointing any out.
Speaker A:I think we get to just skate on by and leave the penalty tent empty this week and we can just launch right into our first segment which is the Ironman Pro Series is about to start.
Speaker A:Tell us what that's about, Matt.
Speaker B:So the Ironman Pro Series.
Speaker B:This is the second year of this Ironman Pro Series.
Speaker B:Basically it was almost in response to this T100 PTO series.
Speaker B:So Ironman dropped a bunch of new money into these races trying to create what these entities are calling a season long narrative.
Speaker B:So instead of just focusing on kind of one world championship race at the end of the season, it's a way to be in the media, to be in involved in the whatever's going on just to have people's attention for much more time in the year, which dovetails well with our current media environment to always be on.
Speaker B:So yes, this weekend Ironman 70.3.
Speaker B:Geelong is the starting point of the Iron man pro series.
Speaker B:This year it's Iron Man's dropped.
Speaker B:I think it's 202.5 million additional dollars in this pro series.
Speaker B:So more money at the pro series selected races and the big bonus pool at the end where the win of each male and female competition wins $200,000, which is a great way to end your season, I'd say.
Speaker A:I think it's great.
Speaker A:For a while I was struggling to understand why they were doing this.
Speaker A:Ironman especially makes their money off age groupers for the most part.
Speaker A:Definitely you would have thought that pro racing was not necessarily a winner in terms of profit margins.
Speaker A:But at the same time, as a fan of the sport, as I've said a few times to you, I love the idea of racing at the same time and racing on the same course.
Speaker A:And to me, I have always been a huge fan of seeing professional races.
Speaker A:And when I've gone to 70.3 events where there isn't a pro race, it just feels like there's just a little bit something missing.
Speaker B:Missing a little something there.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I'm not jealous of the private porta Potties and everything.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:There's no FOMO that way.
Speaker A:Keeps going back but.
Speaker A:But I'm really glad that this is continuing to grow and continuing to be a success story for the sport.
Speaker A:I think it's good.
Speaker B:Will you watch these pro races?
Speaker B:If they make sense time zone wise, will you kind of tune into these races?
Speaker A:Yeah, I like to tune in when I can.
Speaker A:I'll be very honest, I'm so busy that it's hard for me to do.
Speaker A:The other problem is they just don't do a really good job with the broadcasts, which makes it a little bit hard.
Speaker A:Sometimes what I do is I turn the broadcast on but turn the audio off.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Just to turn my attention to the broadcast for a second.
Speaker A:We as people watching the show get so much data and we don't even get that much data, but we do get enough data that we know what's going on the course.
Speaker A:And yet when you watch the program they don't provide you with any of the useful information and it just.
Speaker A:That disconnect.
Speaker A:I'll never understand like how they.
Speaker B:I think if they had more data on the screen or these guys had more access to like power, numbers, heart rate.
Speaker B:Do you think that would make it more engaging for you?
Speaker B:That would be great.
Speaker B:Minus let's say the quality of the broadcasters, just more data.
Speaker B:Would that be intriguing?
Speaker A:I don't Need.
Speaker A:I don't need the data on the screen.
Speaker A:Like, I like the T100.
Speaker A:They fill the screen with.
Speaker A:Half the screen is like data stuff.
Speaker A:And I find that very distracting.
Speaker A:I like looking at the athletes.
Speaker A:I like seeing on the bottom, who's in first, second, third, whatever.
Speaker A:But the problem is they don't have a lot of cameras.
Speaker A:And so they only have one camera on the leader.
Speaker A:Sometimes they'll have another camera a little bit further back looking at the tracker.
Speaker A:You know exactly where everybody is.
Speaker A:So while you're showing me the person who's in fourth place, because they happen to be an interesting person, you could tell me what's going on, like, instead of.
Speaker A:Because I find the broadcasters do a terrible job of basically just focusing what's on the screen and just talking about what's on the screen.
Speaker A:They need to be more like my favorite bicycle guy, Carlton from I can't even remember the network in Eurosport.
Speaker A:When he does cycling races, he's amazing to watch because he entertains you and he keeps you interested and he's talking about all kinds of things peripheral to what you're actually watching, but yet it's still connected.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And cycling, similar.
Speaker B:Triathlon, it's an endurance sport.
Speaker B:It's a long.
Speaker B:These cycling events are what, five hours plus and half.
Speaker B:Ironman is shorter.
Speaker B:But for some reason, the cycling commentators, they just are able to paint this beautiful picture and fill the space.
Speaker B:And they don't have to talk the whole time too, because sometimes the landscapes and the shots do the talking for them.
Speaker B:So maybe more.
Speaker B:More picturesque kind of shots.
Speaker B:I think they could also, with the broadcast, maybe just get a little more creative.
Speaker B:Maybe if, you know, a certain athlete could be watching or paying attention, man, get them on the phone, especially if they're an engaging athlete and get their thoughts on what's going on the race, what they would be thinking if they were in certain position, how they would attack certain parts of.
Speaker B:Get that athlete insight for sure.
Speaker B:Like on demand.
Speaker B:I think that would be super interesting because if you want to rely on two people to talk about a race that's four hours, it might get a bit tired.
Speaker B:So if you can bring in some, you know, engaged athletes, whoever, ex pros even, like, it doesn't matter.
Speaker B:I think that could be filling up some space.
Speaker B:How about that?
Speaker A:And how about piping in some audio from the actual location?
Speaker A:Because we know that the broadcasters are not live and most of these events they're in Boulder or some remote location.
Speaker A:Usually Boulder.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that's fine.
Speaker A:I understand budgets and everything.
Speaker A:But how hard is it to just get some audio from where the camera is so that you actually feel a little more immersed in the race?
Speaker A:Because when you hear the announcer going, here's your winner.
Speaker A:And the winner is running down, and you could see the crowd is cheering, but you don't hear it.
Speaker B:Yeah, that would be nice to get that feeling like you're on the ground, like watching a basketball game, football game, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker B:Super interesting.
Speaker B:But I always want to ask if you're paying attention.
Speaker B:You're the age group representative here.
Speaker B:You're the bulk of the triathlon space.
Speaker B:And so it's interesting for me to understand.
Speaker B:Understand if people are paying attention, because really, there is a lot of pro races.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I don't know if I'd say there's too many, but I don't think.
Speaker A:There are too many.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Okay, good.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:That's great for pros, but there, I feel like if you're gonna spend your time paying attention to certain races, I actually thought of a bit of a list of maybe the more meaningful or interesting races to watch this weekend.
Speaker B:I think we've got a few coming up.
Speaker B:I think the.
Speaker B:In April, the Oceanside Singapore T100 double weekend.
Speaker B:So that's the kickoff.
Speaker B:The Oceanside race is the traditional kickoff to the North American tri season.
Speaker B:It's usually the first big race of the tri season.
Speaker B:There's a lot of industry representatives there.
Speaker B:There's just a buzz.
Speaker B:But also at the same time, you have the kickoff to the T100 season.
Speaker B:So it's almost like this battle between Ironman and T100 for kind of attention and media.
Speaker A:So it'll just, once again, T100.
Speaker A:I think, as we've talked about before, not doing the right thing, putting yourself up against Oceanside is probably.
Speaker A:I know you think it's a permitting issue, but yes, that was something.
Speaker A:They had to.
Speaker A:Anyways.
Speaker A:They'd done it.
Speaker A:Oceanside's a Saturday race.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Do you know the date of the T100 race?
Speaker B:The T100.
Speaker B:If it's on a Sunday in Singapore, it's going to be Saturday afternoon here.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So it's there.
Speaker B:They might be on at the same time.
Speaker B:Man, I would love to see if they had YouTube.
Speaker B:If it was on YouTube, you could see how many people are watching or something.
Speaker B:And that would be interesting to get the hat on display.
Speaker B:Figures.
Speaker B:I'm sure they'll both be able to inflate them somehow.
Speaker A:Yeah, of course that's going to be A that's going to be a heck of a head to head.
Speaker A:Do we know who the headliners are?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:In the T100.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Sam Long, Leo Bergere, you got.
Speaker A:Oh, is he.
Speaker A:They're going T100.
Speaker B:They're going to be T100 in Oceanside.
Speaker B:You're going to have.
Speaker B:I don't think Magnus Ditlev will be there in terms of the men, but you will have the Norwegian athletes.
Speaker B:So Christian and Gustav will be there.
Speaker B:I believe Lionel will be there.
Speaker B:A lot of those top five, top 10 Ironman Pro Series athletes will be there.
Speaker B:So that'll be interesting Ironman perspective.
Speaker B:I think Taylor Knibb will be in Singapore.
Speaker B:I believe she'll be in Singapore.
Speaker B:I don't know if she's announced her schedule yet, but she'll most likely be in Singapore.
Speaker B:If she's not for some reason, then she'll be in Oceanside, I'm sure.
Speaker B:I think Kat Matthews, the Ironman Pro series winner last year for the women's competition, she'll be there.
Speaker B:So it's just this really big kickoff and an interesting dynamic between.
Speaker A:I'm intrigued, I'm intrigued to see what a few different athletes do this year.
Speaker A:And one of them is Tamara Jewett who had an off season last year, who won Oceanside a couple of years ago.
Speaker A:I don't know if she's racing Oceanside.
Speaker A:I haven't seen her training in that area so I don't know if she's going to be there.
Speaker B:She's jumping up to the Ironman too, which and I do believe the next race that I think people could tune into or should tune into is this Ironman Texas.
Speaker B:So that's.
Speaker A:Which is a weird race, right, to have a big pro field at.
Speaker B:What's happening these early season full distance Ironmans, they are so important to nail if you want to be successful in this pro series.
Speaker B:Because let's say you, you mess up your first one, okay, you're a little behind the eight ball to let's say qualify for the world championships and then yeah, you just don't want to be behind the eight ball.
Speaker B:So that's why so many people are jumping on this Ironman Texas race.
Speaker B:Again, it's the same folk.
Speaker B:Patrick Lanninga will be there, the Legends will be there, Kat Matthews, all these smokes like these.
Speaker B:Honestly the.
Speaker B:Because of the time of year, athlete health, all this kind of stuff like this Ironman Texas race could honestly be better than the World championship fields potentially.
Speaker B:Just because how many people are wanting to be there so that, that'll be I think pretty wild watching not, not.
Speaker A:A challenging course unless the weather.
Speaker A:Because the weather can, it can be hot and humid, that's the big thing.
Speaker A:But bike is flat, it tends to not be particularly difficult and then the run is pretty flat too.
Speaker B:Have you done it before?
Speaker A:Interesting.
Speaker A:I have not.
Speaker A:I try to avoid the hotel in humid races.
Speaker A:Except for Kona.
Speaker A:That's pretty cool.
Speaker A:And then after that, what are we looking at after that?
Speaker B:I would say go, go down to July.
Speaker B:That's when challenge Roth will be cracking on and that's.
Speaker B:That race is interesting to me because within this Kona knee split situation that we have with the Ironman World Championship, this challenge Roth is almost kind of positioned itself as an alternative Kona or almost like to surmount Kona in a way and try to become the ultimate full distance.
Speaker A:It's become the hardest race to get into.
Speaker A:Without a doubt.
Speaker B:They sell out I think every year now they sell it within 45 seconds or something.
Speaker B:So for me it's.
Speaker B:It has a prestige to it, it has a gravita to it, it always has crazy fast pro performances but also just the whole consideration with it trying to become the full distance race.
Speaker B:I think it's super interesting to follow that.
Speaker B:And then again next couple races people might want to tune into or be aware of anyways again in July.
Speaker B:Is this Ironman Cairns Cans.
Speaker B:How did everybody say it?
Speaker B:Cans?
Speaker B:Ironman cans and Ironman Frankfurt.
Speaker B:And both these races, I'd say for the men and the women are the last opportunity to race full distance Ironmans before the World Championship qualifying window closes really early, huh?
Speaker B:Pretty early in July there.
Speaker B:So I think there's just going to be crazy fields because yeah, if people lay an egg in the first Iron man or two of their campaign, they're going to have to try and get to these races.
Speaker B:They're going to have to go all the way to Australia.
Speaker B:And I think it'll just make for pretty crazy fields, especially if people are really fighting for World Championship slots because of how important the World Championship is.
Speaker A:Obviously just to win mention.
Speaker A:You didn't mention St.
Speaker A:George.
Speaker B:St.
Speaker B:George.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:I think St.
Speaker B:George is going to be a great race.
Speaker B:I just don't know if it's.
Speaker B:In terms of the importance of what's going on with it.
Speaker B:I think it's a great race because it's just iconic.
Speaker B:But yeah, I think these other races maybe rank a little higher in terms of the, the gravitas or just the narrative around them anyways, very Cool.
Speaker B:Very cool.
Speaker A:Before we move on to our next topic, I want to take a moment just to give a shout out to some of the folks who have left reviews and the various platforms where you can do wherever you download this content.
Speaker A:It's really helpful to us if you leave a rating and especially if you you leave a review.
Speaker A:A couple of comments that were made over the past couple of weeks, somebody wrote we don't have names for these, so I'm just going to read the what they wrote.
Speaker A:And one person wrote quote, episode three was really was especially good, end quote.
Speaker A:So thank you for that.
Speaker A:And then another comment came as the podcast was excellent as a sweet spot duration, meaning that the episode that went 45 minutes was at that sweet spot.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:And then there was a comment that said love this pod combo of relevant training advice and updates on the tri world.
Speaker A:So thank you so much for all of your reviews.
Speaker A:They really mean a lot to us.
Speaker A:We are looking at them, so please do keep them coming.
Speaker A:If you haven't yet left a rating or review, we hope that you'll consider doing it because it really does help to make the show more visible to others.
Speaker A:As Matt was saying at the top, we have discussed training kind of segments on each of the episodes so far and we have tackled the three major elements of triathlon.
Speaker A:But as I am always telling my own athletes who I coach, you cannot forget about transitions.
Speaker A:And transitions count as time.
Speaker A:They are part of your overall time.
Speaker A:And it's amazing to me how much I see or how often I see athletes in transition doing things that they probably shouldn't be doing and taking so much more time when you figure you train so hard to try and gain a couple of seconds in the swim, or train so hard to get a couple of minutes on the bike or run, and then you're willing to give it all back by having a chair in transition and maybe eating a snack.
Speaker A:And it's like clothes.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's really pretty amazing.
Speaker A:And if you've watched Matt or other pros go through transition, they are in and out of there in no time flat because they know that a fast transition or a slow transition can be all the difference.
Speaker A:And I have had the experience personally where I have come into transition in second or third place in my age group and left transition in first place in my age group simply by virtue of having a better transition.
Speaker A:And so it's a super important part of triathlon and we wanted to spend a little bit of time just talking about our own personal ways that we make transitions go quicker.
Speaker A:So, Matt, what are your maybe top three things that you would consider as making your transitions?
Speaker A:And let's focus first on swim bike, and then we'll talk about bike run separately.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's funny, actually, I was thinking, last year, I made a mistake in transition.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:It ended up being a mistake.
Speaker B:I thought it was the right thing to do.
Speaker B:I put these kind of taller socks on the transition from swim to bike because I thought it would be an aero advantage having the tall socks.
Speaker B:The socks are.
Speaker B:And calf sleeves are supposed to be aero.
Speaker B:But ultimately, I think because of my feet and everything was wet from the swim.
Speaker B:Man, I was sitting on the ground just struggling, just fighting with these socks, trying to get them on.
Speaker B:I was getting flustered.
Speaker B:Oh, it was a scene.
Speaker B:It was an absolute scene.
Speaker B:So for me, that was actually, yeah, definitely a personal.
Speaker B:I think do not do unless you're really worried about chafing your feet or something.
Speaker B:I just really think putting those socks on in T1, not the play.
Speaker A:Do you wear socks for the run?
Speaker B:I do.
Speaker B:Yes, I do.
Speaker B:I do.
Speaker A:But typically, short course, you didn't, right?
Speaker B:No, but ultimately, and I think for a lot of folks, if you're.
Speaker B:If you don't wear socks for the run, I just don't know if you're getting those blisters and stuff.
Speaker B:I don't know if a few seconds or whatever, 20 seconds in transition is worth those gnarly blisters the day.
Speaker A:Or when you're running around the Boulder Reservoir and getting all those little pebbles.
Speaker B:Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker B:I think socks and T2 is definitely the way to go if you want to avoid those.
Speaker A:It's interesting.
Speaker A:So Juliette Hockman, who we both know from LifeSport, she convinced me to try socks in T2.
Speaker A:I have always put my socks on in T1.
Speaker A:I have little ankle socks, and I basically roll them up so that I just have to get my toes in, and then I roll the socks up over my ankles.
Speaker A:It's fairly quick.
Speaker A:And she made me realize that it was easier to do that when your feet are dry.
Speaker A:So do it in T2.
Speaker A:And I thought, oh, what a great idea.
Speaker A:The only problem was, when my feet were wet, I couldn't get them in my shoes.
Speaker A:My bike shoes.
Speaker B:There we go.
Speaker A:My bike shoe problem.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Another new problem.
Speaker A:And so it brings to mind a really important tip that I have, which is practice your transitions.
Speaker A:Lay out your transitions exactly as you're going to in a race and make sure you.
Speaker A:It's very hard to go, obviously, swim to bike because we don't have a place to do that all the time.
Speaker A:But you can easily just put your wetsuit on up to your waist, have a little transition area, get yourself a little bit wet and just step in a kiddie pool or something and then see about getting that wetsuit off, see about putting on whatever you're going to put on and then get the heck out of there and see if you can't find ways.
Speaker A:Because I'm always telling athletes, find the things that you don't need to be doing in transition and get rid of them.
Speaker B:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker A:You need to do the bare minimum of things possible.
Speaker A:What is another kind of high level thing that you would make a suggestion.
Speaker B:I feel coming from the short course background?
Speaker B:Yeah, the transitions were huge.
Speaker B:Getting the position in transition was massive, if maybe less so for longer races.
Speaker B:I think sprint distance.
Speaker B:Yeah, you can save some seconds.
Speaker B:That's meaningful in a sprint distance race.
Speaker B:But I love, I do love seeing athletes, amateur athletes, age group athletes, really go for that flying mount.
Speaker B:I think it's fun if you can really nail that it's flex in transition to be able to do that, to pass people as you're running, flying and mounting the bike.
Speaker B:If there's a crowd there and you nail it, usually some folks will give you the kudos, which is great.
Speaker B:It definitely is faster when you can do the flying map.
Speaker B:But, but really, you could also, it could also go side.
Speaker B:It's like risk reward, right?
Speaker B:If you hit your bottle or something trying to get your leg over or you miss it, you might go viral on the Internet too.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I think it's, it could be worth practicing.
Speaker B:There's definitely modifications to it where you can step on the bike, push off or, sorry, step your foot on the one pedal, push off and then mount from there.
Speaker B:Anything like that.
Speaker B:It's fun.
Speaker B:And yeah, it's definitely a little quicker to do for sure.
Speaker A:And that is all assuming you're keeping your shoes clipped in the pedals.
Speaker A:Because you try running with your bike shoes on versus running barefoot and it's just an amazing difference.
Speaker A:So taking the time to learn how to be able to keep your shoes clipped into the pedals both when you start the bike and end the bike is a very worthy thing to learn because it really can save you just an enormous amount of time.
Speaker B:What do you think takes the most time for athletes when they get to their bike?
Speaker B:Is it taking off the wetsuit, putting on the helmet or the shoes?
Speaker A:No, take it.
Speaker A:So I think number one, a lot of athletes Take way too long to get to their bike because either they are walking from the swim.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Or they are lost because they haven't spent the requisite time scoping.
Speaker B:That might be the biggest.
Speaker B:The biggest thing to do is just know where your bike is.
Speaker B:Find a place.
Speaker B:Usually, if you're in.
Speaker B:I don't know, these transitions are in parks.
Speaker B:If there's like a tree or some kind of thing.
Speaker B:A balloon.
Speaker B:Not a balloon, but, like some decal from a sponsor logo on the.
Speaker B:Whatever the railings.
Speaker A:It's got to be.
Speaker A:It's got to be something fixed, right?
Speaker B:A landmark.
Speaker B:A fixed landmark, yes.
Speaker B:So that's always good.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because I think.
Speaker B:I feel like there's been a couple times.
Speaker B:Yeah, I've definitely run past my bike and lost 20 seconds or so that I didn't really need to lose.
Speaker B:Yeah, definitely a great thing.
Speaker B:But, yeah.
Speaker B:The wetsuit.
Speaker B:Do you have a wetsuit tip for getting it off quickly?
Speaker B:What do you think?
Speaker A:I use the wetsuit strippers when they are there.
Speaker A:They're not at every race.
Speaker A:I just find that for me, I'm willing to sit there and take the 10 seconds or so to have them strip the wetsuit, and then I jump up and.
Speaker A:And take it and go.
Speaker A:Because I just feel like once I get to my place and I'm trying to get the wetsuit down, I always watch you guys, and I'm always amazed at how fast you can get the wetsuit off.
Speaker A:And I have the same wetsuit as you, and there's.
Speaker A:I just cannot get it off that fast.
Speaker A:It gets stuck around my calves and my ankles.
Speaker A:It's this.
Speaker B:The blue 70 helix.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Do you ever cut under, like, at the bottom of the wetsuit?
Speaker B:Do you ever cut off some of the bottom?
Speaker A:So some of us have access to as many wetsuits as we want.
Speaker A:Others do not.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:So I am not eager to take a pair of sharp implements to my wetsuit.
Speaker B:That's totally fair.
Speaker B:Although I will say if you can cut a bit off the bottom, because it usually tapers in towards the ankle.
Speaker A:Oh, you mean just cut.
Speaker A:Make the legs shorter?
Speaker B:Make the legs a little bit short.
Speaker A:You cut, like, just below the calf, just wider.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:You cut just below the calf.
Speaker B:There's no buoyancy loss, really, because of that.
Speaker A:Oh, you go that high?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I would say just below where my calf kind of really starts.
Speaker B:And if you can cut to there, around there.
Speaker B:If you feel comfortable doing that and you almost put some kind of.
Speaker B:Usually body glide.
Speaker A:I'll put body I use body glide.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'll put it on the inside of the calf and the outside of the suit.
Speaker B:And so basically, when you're taking off the wetsuit, you can almost step down on one side and then step out of it.
Speaker A:Yeah, I've seen you do it, and I now.
Speaker B:But you can't do that when it's not cut is what I'm.
Speaker A:I'm thinking.
Speaker A:We have an art project for a weekend coming up where I'm gonna have to bring my wetsuit over.
Speaker A:And because I don't trust myself to do this right.
Speaker B:I do think that wetsuit, if you can cut it a little bit, it really.
Speaker B:Instead of sitting on the ground trying to wrangle your way out of it.
Speaker A:That's a great idea.
Speaker A:That's a great tip.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker B:Yes, that's the.
Speaker B:That's definitely one of the biggest, bigger transition hacks, for sure.
Speaker B:And if.
Speaker B:And again, if you can nail that, a person beside you in transition, they'll be in awe for sure.
Speaker A:The other tip I have is if you're wearing the.
Speaker A:Any of these brands of super shoes, so especially the Nikes.
Speaker A:So I have the Nike.
Speaker B:Is it the alphaflys?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:But I don't remember.
Speaker A:I don't remember.
Speaker A:Vapor Fly.
Speaker A:Oh, Nike, whatever.
Speaker A:So the uppers are incredibly tight, and so putting your foot into them is really difficult.
Speaker A:And what I think it was again, Juliet, who tipped me off to this, she's bring a shoehorn.
Speaker A:And so I don't know this shoe.
Speaker A:Bring a shoehorn?
Speaker A:Yeah, I have a shoehorn that sits in my shoe.
Speaker A:And as soon as I get to transition, I don't have to futz around with it anymore.
Speaker A:I'm able to just slide my foot right in, thanks to the shoehorn.
Speaker A:And it really saves me a lot of time because I.
Speaker A:Because especially with.
Speaker A:It's not so bad.
Speaker A:I mean, my son has the hokas, the version the Hoka makes, and they're much easier to put on.
Speaker A:They're still difficult because they still are pretty tight.
Speaker A:The uppers are still pretty tight.
Speaker A:And a shoehorn would help there as well.
Speaker A:So I'm guessing any of these super shoes, any of these long distance super shoe with the really tight uppers, a shoehorn is very helpful.
Speaker B:Do you also put any kind of body glide or bake.
Speaker B:What is it, baby powder?
Speaker A:I think people put baby powder in baby powder.
Speaker B:Do you do it, do you do any of that with your shoes?
Speaker A:I tried that and no, it didn't really do anything.
Speaker B:For me, I guess if you're putting socks on too, maybe that's.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's why I know some people put baby powder in their socks to try and make them easier to slip on and off.
Speaker A:And also probably helps dry your foot out too, I would imagine, coming out of the.
Speaker B:I think so.
Speaker B:There we go.
Speaker B:Shoehorn, though.
Speaker B:That's a great one.
Speaker B:I'm definitely stealing that.
Speaker A:All right, that's what we've got for you for transitions.
Speaker A:What about you?
Speaker A:What are the things that you have used in transition that you would like to share that you think others could learn from?
Speaker A:Join the Talk Tempo Talks Facebook group and you can let people know and of course you could send them in to us and we'll share them on the next episode.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Also if you have a funny transition story, then we'll take that too especially.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, for sure.
Speaker A:My best transition story is that I know triathlon season is coming because I start having nightmares about being lost in transition.
Speaker B:Amazing.
Speaker B:Amazing.
Speaker A:All right, let's talk about the last subject and that is the new sponsorship for T100.
Speaker A:So what's that all about, Matt?
Speaker B:Yes, the T100 PTO.
Speaker B:I just call them T100.
Speaker B:I don't know why they still keep the Professional Triathletes Organization moniker.
Speaker B:Anyways, they actually today just announced a new injection of funding.
Speaker B:They have received $10 million from.
Speaker B:It's called Cord.
Speaker B:Cordillera.
Speaker B:I don't know how to say it.
Speaker A:Is it a Spanish?
Speaker B:It doesn't have a Spanish like accent on it.
Speaker B:Cordillera.
Speaker A:Anyway, it seems like it looks like Cordillera.
Speaker B:We'll, we'll get a fact check on that penalty.
Speaker A:Sounds like we're going to be.
Speaker A:Yeah, it sounds like we're going to be visiting a penalty tent.
Speaker B:So these guys, Cordiera, it's a firm that invests in niche non correlated assets.
Speaker B:So I guess that's, you know, T100 is in that bucket.
Speaker B:So these kind of non correlated niche assets include whiskey boat, marinas, water advantage, permanent crops and short form video content.
Speaker B:So it's definitely alternative investments for sure.
Speaker B:And the T100 is going to fall into that.
Speaker B:So essentially just announced that they've invested $10 million in the T100.
Speaker B:The press release didn't actually say what they get or what it's going towards.
Speaker B:No real details.
Speaker B:Just hey, they got some money, which is great.
Speaker B:Anytime the sport can get more funding investments like these guys, I don't think they're giving it away for free.
Speaker B:I think they want to have a return or they might.
Speaker A:I'm continually asking myself, why are people throwing money at the T100?
Speaker A:They have not demonstrated a really great business acumen so far.
Speaker B:No, but they must know something.
Speaker B:Don't know exactly.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:They must be incredible salesman too.
Speaker B:I got to get some skills on that.
Speaker B:For sure.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:And then the other thing is like for all the people who are complaining about, oh, Ironman is just a money making venture.
Speaker A:It's hey, somebody puts $10 million into your business, guess what, you're a money making venture also.
Speaker A:Because that is not for free and they're going to have expectations of a return on that.
Speaker A:Nobody gives away $10 million.
Speaker B:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker B:I just don't know what kind of if it's equity or not because before and initially the PTO was supposed to be quote, athlete owned and they've had a bunch.
Speaker A:That's not happening anymore.
Speaker A:That ship has sailed.
Speaker B:So I just don't understand that whole thing.
Speaker B:I think, I don't know if the athletes have much equity left after all these different funding rounds, but who knows?
Speaker B:I haven't received.
Speaker B:So, you know, this athlete doesn't maybe doesn't own.
Speaker B:Own enough.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:But we'll see.
Speaker B:Although, to be fair to Cordy, man, I got to figure that out.
Speaker B:Cordiera, this investment isn't huge.
Speaker B:I looked on the website, they have I think 1.5 billion assets under management.
Speaker A:And this is a 10, $1.5 billion not.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So this is not a huge investment.
Speaker B:Maybe they're just friends with some PTO people and want to help out.
Speaker B:Who knows?
Speaker B:This is essentially a seventh of a percentage of their assets.
Speaker B:It's not huge.
Speaker B:It's not a huge thing for them.
Speaker B:It doesn't work out.
Speaker B:I don't know if it's going to be end of the world for, for these guys.
Speaker B:Again, it's a great sign that they're putting in money.
Speaker B:It's better than, I don't know, PTO folding.
Speaker B:It's great to see them getting money.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And look, obviously this is a company that's not going to just throw money away.
Speaker A:They're.
Speaker A:They obviously have a belief in the T100's ability to provide them with a return.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:They've made some interesting decisions.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Moving their grand final to Qatar, which is not exactly a destination that a lot of people are going to be wanting to saddle up and ride off to.
Speaker A:They, I don't know, whatever.
Speaker A:But obviously these companies, because they're not the first One Cordier.
Speaker A:I think there was another announcement not too long ago about a different investment somehow.
Speaker B:Yeah, they've had a few.
Speaker B:There was one, I think, maybe two years ago.
Speaker B: in the PTO, I think it was in: Speaker B:He put in 12 and a half million.
Speaker B:So this is close to that initial investment.
Speaker B:We don't have any details on what that's going to cover.
Speaker B:I think with this investment and also going back to those meaningful or races, you might want to be paying attention to a couple of the PTO ones.
Speaker B:First off, the one that they're going to be doing alongside World Triathlon Valencia.
Speaker B:Valencia, where they have a T100 event alongside a World Triathlon, World cup event along with age group racing.
Speaker B:That's going to be meaningful to watch, to see the age group participation, to see how those two events work together.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then like you mentioned, the Qatar race, they're obviously probably receiving some good subsidies from Qatar.
Speaker A:For sure.
Speaker A:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So that'll be great.
Speaker B:It's good that they've got that kind of financial stability there and it'll be interesting to see what that event looks like in Qatar.
Speaker B:They've got age group racing as well planned there, so to see what kind of numbers they get in the first year, that'll be something to follow as well.
Speaker B:And it's the Grand Final, so that'll be great racing.
Speaker B:No doubt.
Speaker A:Like we said previously, more triathlon is more better and that's really.
Speaker A:We'll see.
Speaker A:We'll see how it all plays out.
Speaker A:I think we have come to the end of another episode, Matt.
Speaker A:It's been another fascinating conversation.
Speaker A:I think our listeners will have enjoyed it.
Speaker A:I don't really have anything else really to say at this point.
Speaker A:I think we've exhausted.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Thank you to everyone who's got this far.
Speaker B:Thank you for listening.
Speaker B:Thank you for your reviews and ratings.
Speaker B:We love it.
Speaker B:We appreciate it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And keep the question or bring us the questions because we would love to do a Q and A episode.
Speaker A:So if you want to email us, put them in our Instagram feeds or join the Talk Tempo Talks Facebook group.
Speaker A:I know I've said it several times, but hey, advertising is based on repetition.
Speaker A:So here I am repeating it for the last time, this episode.
Speaker A:Look for it on Facebook.
Speaker A:Answer the easy questions.
Speaker A:We'll get you admittance.
Speaker A:We'd love to have you as part of the conversation and we'd love to hear your questions that we can consider for our Q and A episode, which will come up as soon as we have a good number of questions to answer.
Speaker A:Matt, I look forward to chatting with you again next week.
Speaker B:Perfect.
Speaker B:Yeah, another banger.
Speaker B:Thanks Jeff.
Speaker A:Depot Talks is a production of the Triathlon Performance Hub and was produced and edited by me, Jeff Zankoff.
Speaker A:The music heard at the beginning and the end of the show is Rock by Henry Graggart and is used under a Creative Commons license from Pixabay.
Speaker A:Tempo Talks will be back again next week week with a new episode.
Speaker A:Until then, please leave a rating and a review and subscribe to the show wherever you get your audio content.
