TriDot Podcast .245

10 Race-Day Tips from 10 TriDot Coaches

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Intro: This is the TriDot podcast. TriDot uses your training data and genetic profile, combined with predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to optimize your training, giving you better results in less time with fewer injuries. Our podcast is here to educate, inspire, and entertain. We’ll talk all things triathlon with expert coaches and special guests. Join the conversation and let’s improve together.

Andrew Harley: Welcome to the TriDot podcast! There is no day quite like triathlon race day, and today's episode is all about getting race-day tips from the mouths of our coaches to the ears of our listeners. I've gotten Triathlon Race-Day tips from ten different TriDot coaches. We'll listen to a tip, and then we'll reflect on what we've heard. Joining to help me in that reflection is a TriDot coach who has a very close relationship with race day. It's the one, the only, Coach Joanna Nami. Joanna is better known as Coach JoJo, and has been coaching athletes with TriDot since 2012. She's a co-founder of Hissy Fit Racing, a member of the Betty Design Elite Squad, and has double-digit Ironman finishes on her triathlon résumé. She is a two-time Kona finisher who loves helping her athletes chase their own triathlon dreams. Coach Jo, as an athlete, a coach, a volunteer, and spectator, how many multi-sport race days do you think you've been a part of at this point?

Joanna Nami: This question got me!

Andrew: I knew it would!

Joanna: I mean, it’s like 20 years! I have no idea. I mean, I can't imagine the amount of Ironman events, half-Ironman events. In the early years, it was a lot more local sprints, which I really, really loved all of those, as far as community. It's probably a thousand, I have no idea. But it was a lot for sure.

Andrew: More than most people, Jo! And that's exactly why, when I wanted to do this episode, I knew I wanted to hear a tip from a coach, and I wanted to talk through that tip with a coach. And I was like, “Joanna Nami is the person for this episode. She has spent more hours on the race course than probably anybody else when it comes to triathlon.” So thank you so much for joining this episode today. For our listeners, I am Andrew the Average Triathlete, Voice of the People and Captain of the Middle of the Pack. As always, we'll roll through our warmup question, settle in for our main set topic, and then wind things down with Vanessa interviewing a coach for our Coach Cooldown Tip of the Week. Lots of good stuff, let's get to it!

Warm up theme: Time to warm up! Let’s get moving.

Andrew: In all industries, there are brands that establish themselves and stick around for a while, and then there are brands that come and go, never to be heard from ever again. For today's warmup question, what is a triathlon-related brand that is no longer around, but you would bring back if you could? Jo, you mentioned you've been in the sport for about 20 years, so I imagine you might have a good answer here. What comes to mind for you?

Joanna: This was tricky for me. It's not so much a brand as a sponsor. I miss the days of my friend Mark Allen wearing the Budweiser – like they wore the tanks, and the shorty-shorts, and the visors, and Kona looked totally different during those days. So I was thinking about that. Then the reverse of it was, I was like, “What would I NOT want to bring back?” And I thought about my first years of racing, and we wore one-piece swimsuits. The Kona winners, the females, would be in one-piece swimsuits racing the entire 140.6. I think about that, I just think about how gear has changed, and sponsorship has changed. I mean, imagine if Kona or Nice was announced and they're like, “We're sponsored by Natty Lite this year!” Or, “We’re sponsored by Heineken!” You never know, but I find that so funny how the sponsors have changed.

Andrew: Can you imagine Sam Long hitting the run course and he throws a Natty Lite running visor on? That's what we're talking about here, that would be fantastic. Admittedly, my answer here kind of sparked this question, because we've been working on some video projects with some of the legends of the sport that are now coaching with TriDot. I was working on a video where I was pulling in some old photos of our friend Mark Allen racing, and you mentioned him. I noticed a start line photo from Kona. Dave Scott’s in the picture, Mark Allen’s in the picture, and there were a few pros in the picture that I didn't recognize. But all four pros in this picture were wearing a wetsuit that had a brand name that I'd never seen before. It was Aleeda wetsuits, and I was like, “I've never heard of this brand.” They're obviously not around today, but clearly in their day – 1989, 1990, whatever year this picture was from – they had to have been the premier wetsuit in triathlon, because you have Dave Scott wearing it, you have Mark Allen wearing it, you had multiple other pros in this picture wearing that wetsuit. So I'm just curious, Jo – I want this brand to come back just to check out what their wetsuit was like!

I'm curious to hear what our audience has to say on this. You can answer the warmup question in a couple different ways now. I will post the warmup question to the I AM TriDot Facebook group. We will post the warmup question to the TriDot Podcast Circle Community, and I believe it's going out on Instagram as an Instagram Story. So wherever you interact with TriDot on social media, the warmup question will be floating around out there. I'm curious to hear what you have to say – if you could bring back an older brand that no longer exists, or a product from the past days of triathlon, what would that product be? Can't wait to see what you have to say!

Main set theme: On to the main set. Going in 3…2…1…

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Episode .173 of the TriDot podcast came out on January 16th of 2023, and it was called “Ten Triathlon Training Secrets from Ten TriDot Coaches”. It was a smash hit, and currently it is our second-most listened-to episode of all time. So a little over a year later, we are following it up with ten RACING tips from ten TriDot coaches. And Coach Jo and I are here to soak in the tips and share our thoughts as we go. But Jo, before we get to that, I want to just give you a moment to share a bit from your personal life. Our athletes who follow you may already know that you were diagnosed with cancer and have been working through the treatments for that. In true Coach Jo fashion, you've already mentioned how you hope to use your story to help others who are going through any variety of a tough time. And Jo, I just know, personally as a friend, you're going to find the best way to do so in the coming years and in the next chapter of your story. A lot of our audience cares deeply about Coach Jo. They’ve soaked in a lot of triathlon wisdom from you, and connected with you over the years. So we'd love to hear an update on how you were doing. You're welcome to share as much or as little as you'd like, but the floor is yours.

Joanna: Thank you, thank you. Yeah, in all honesty I debated about talking about this. I have rushed, rushed, rushed my entire life, and pushed, pushed, pushed. And this is something that I'm sitting back on a little bit and taking some time to figure out what is the best way, and how I can help people by talking about my journey. This is something that really knocked me down. It challenged me. I've always prided myself on being super strong, and being able to handle everything, and being a leader in my family and amongst my athletes, and this really knocked the wind out of me. I will be sharing lots of details of my journey over the last five months kind of sporadically throughout this year. I'll be doing that through my Instagram at @coachjotridot. I'll be blogging and be on some other podcasts to help other women that are navigating breast cancer. I have learned so much in the last couple of months. I've changed tremendously as a wife, as a mom, as a friend, as a coach, as a believer. The amount of women being diagnosed with breast cancer is astronomical. There are seven women on my street that have been diagnosed in the last four years. When I got the news that there may be something wrong, I played the odds in my head and said, “No way. There's too many people on my street, it won't be me.” But then it is you. So as to my physical health, I am finished with treatment. I did catch this early. I had some complications due to reconstruction surgery, and had four surgeries in total. That was all within six weeks. So every time I went to the doctor, I was like, “I'm not going into surgery again!” Every time I went they're like, “Guess what? You're going into surgery!” So that was kind of insane that time. I did not have to have chemo, but I did have 16 sessions of radiation, which was harder than I anticipated. So physically I'm fine. I'm still wrapping my head around it mentally and emotionally, but I'm seeing the light now. I went and swam two days ago for the first time and my husband was like, “Please take it easy, please!” He was like, “What did you swim?” I said, “I swam 80 laps.” He's like, “What?! Why?”

Andrew: Just a casual – yeah.

Joanna: And I’m like, “That's the low end for me!” So I'm trying to give myself grace when I get on the treadmill, because the mind says I want to run eight miles, and I need to run two miles. I will get back. I will get stronger. People have asked me will I race IRONMAN again? Yes I've kind of set my goals on IRONMAN Texas, where a lot of this started. So hopefully I'll be back to a hundred percent by then. But I did want to say – because there will be more women, there will be people I know, and friends, and TriDot athletes, and triathletes that get diagnosed with breast cancer – I encourage you to reach out to me, because just having one conversation can mean so much, and it can change your perspective and attitude on it. So feel free to reach out to me if anybody is dealing with that, or any other health issue.

Andrew: Yeah. Jo, thank you so much for sharing with our audience. You haven't been on the podcast for a couple of minutes, largely to give you some space and some time to work through this. But I know myself – I know our listeners, I know all the TriDot athletes who are familiar with you, and have learned from you, and follow you, root for you – will be so excited to see you back on a race course, and will just be cheering you on for that. So absolutely take the time you need to ease back into it, and I can't wait to see you back on the race course. One, because I love seeing you on the race course. And two, we all know that will mean that you're just fully healthy again, and can't wait to see that.

All right Jo, let's get rolling to our ten tips. We're going to hear from a coach, and then you and I are going to discuss the tip they gave. How good was it? What did we learn from it? What can we add to it? It's going to be a load of fun. This will be a much more organic episode, as Jo and I are largely hearing these tips for the first time, kind of on purpose. Real, raw responses as we're hearing. Our first tip comes from TriDot Coach Kelly Mulvaney, an amazing triathlon coach. Just at the time we're recording this, she finished Ultraman Arizona, a little ways back. So she's an IRONMAN athlete and an Ultraman athlete. Let's hear what Coach Kelly has to say about the race course.

Kelly Mulvaney: Hello TriDot! This is Coach Kelly Mulvaney with Arizona Desert Endurance, with a race-day tip that I share with all of my athletes, and I encourage you to practice as well. My tip is to find a quiet spot without distractions, where you can close your eyes and visualize your race day, from the moment your alarm goes off all the way to the finish line, and maybe through recovery as well. Visualize your alarm going off, eating breakfast, and driving to the race. Walk your mind through setting up transition, putting on your wetsuit, and entering the water. Think about your strategy and pacing throughout each leg of the swim, bike, and run. Include things like nutrition timing, aid station stops, special needs bags, and getting through each transition. Visualize what your absolute perfect day looks like, but also visualize those things you might be afraid of happening, and what your response to them will be. Things like fogging goggles, or even the loss of goggles during the swim; a flat tire or dropped bottle on the bike; or maybe GI distress, or blisters on the run. Picture what that might look like, when it could happen, and what your response to the problem will be. And make sure your gear is set up so you can appropriately respond during your race. Visualization is a powerful tool, because it activates the same brain regions and pathways as if you were actually performing the actions. This means you are learning how to navigate your race long before the actual event. And when your race day finally arrives, or issues pop up, you are good to go, because you have already been there, and done that. Visualization is an outstanding way to help you gain clarity on what you want to achieve during your race, while reducing your stress and anxiety. Happy race season, everyone!

Andrew: All right Coach Jo, first reactions to Coach Kelly's tip about visualizing your entire race day before the race day.

Joanna: She's a smart cookie. That's my girl Kelly, I miss her. But that’s pretty brilliant. I love how she really navigated and talked about the details of a race. The only thing I would add is to spend a good 30 minutes to an hour writing out what your race strategy is, what your race plan is, the steps you will take. From before you enter the swim, what the 15 minutes before the swim will look like. Writing for me is great. I have my athletes write it back to me in an email, and the basics of their nutrition plan. They have a pretty detailed nutrition plan that we provide, but accountability-wise, I want them to give it back to me, otherwise they may not do it. As you get closer to race day, you're very busy, you're stressed, there's all things going on. So sometimes writing out your basic strategy for your race, as well as nutrition, is very important. The other thing that Kelly said –I think our minds work very similarly – I have my athletes do their top ten “what ifs”. “What if this happens?” She was talking about that. She's saying, “What if I get a flat tire? What if I lose my goggles?” What are their biggest fears? That's kind of how I play into it. Because if they can talk about, write out what their biggest fears during race day are, it eases the anxiety of those fears. If you could say it out loud, and plan out what you're going to do – that's exactly what Kelly was saying – “If I get a flat tire, this is what I'm going to do, because I've practiced it.” It takes away a lot of the fear and anxiety that we have when it comes to race day.

Andrew: Yeah, I loved this tip. And Jo, those are some great additions from you for sure. This is a crucial step for me for race day, whether it's a local sprint all the way up to the one IRONMAN that I did. I am a borderline ADD person, but even beyond that I'm not, by default, a super-organized person. I think most importantly, Jo, I am horrendous at multitasking. Horrendous. When it comes to race day for me, luckily on the race course you're doing one thing at a time, right? You're swimming, you’re biking, you're running. And while you're doing that, you have a lot of time to make sure, “Okay, drink some electrolytes. Do this. Do that. Check, check, check.” So bringing us back to visualization, I do this a lot in the training sessions leading up to race day. I do this the day before the race for sure. I'm doing this when I'm at home, making my breakfast on race morning, just thinking through those steps. And I had never heard the science behind it that Kelly gave, where she mentioned that if you play those things out in your mind, you're actually making neural pathways, you're making connections in your brain that it's almost like you've done it before when you actually get there. I can tell you, Jo, the times I’ve done like a local sprint or Olympic and I've skipped this step because it's “just a local sprint or Olympic”, that's when I forget stuff. I love this from Kelly. You can do this before the race, you can do this on race morning, you can do this mid-race. When you're on the bike and you're coming towards transition, start visualizing what you're going to do in transition, so as you get there you’ve kind of played it out and you know what to do.

Our next tip comes from Coach Joserra Callén. He is in Spain, he's our leader for TriDot Nation Spain. We have a lot of Spanish athletes coming on board with TriDot, we love to see it, and Coach José has a ton of wisdom, a ton of knowledge. He’s been on the podcast a few times already, so I was curious to hear what Coach José had to say about race day. Let's check it out.

José Callén: I love the moment of meeting with a triathlete in the days leading up to their main competition of the season. It's all excitement. It's all about looking forward to the most important day. The training process is over, and it's time to race. For each triathlete, I prepare a different meeting according to their goals, according to their personality, according to how the competition is going to be executed. And there is one thing I talked to all of them about. To all of them, I recommend the following – invest 15 to 20 minutes in reviewing all the training you've done leading up to the day of the triathlon. You will realize how well-prepared you are, and it will fill you with self-confidence. You've repeated hundreds, thousands, millions of times the same movements, the same power data, the same heart rate zones. You have swum, biked, and run over and over and over again, so your body and your mind are fully prepared. And we have one more advantage. Thanks to RaceX, we've analyzed your predictions for that race. We've been able to train perfectly for all of them. So you go into the triathlon with the best possible preparation. From my point of view, you have already done the hardest part. Overcome the day-to-day conditions to train and train, combining it with your work, your family, and other obligations. Now everything is ready for you – volunteers, circuits, aid stations, and the whole organization of the event. So repeat what you have done millions of times. Swim, bike, and run on the most beautiful day, the day of your competition. You have everything to enjoy a great day, the one we dreamed of. I think this is the best way to reinforce a triathlete’s self-confidence before race day.

Andrew: I have never heard this tip before. And what I think too, Jo, is normally I'm kind of the opposite. Instead of reflecting back on the training I’ve already done, I'm more like, “Oh, my gosh, that IRONMAN'S in a month. How many more long sessions do I have?” I'm checking off the boxes like, “Okay, thank God. Now there's three long bikes left. Now there's two long bikes left. Now there's one long bike left.” And I'm just trying to get through them, and feeling closer to race day because of it. But looking back before you get there, I think a lot of athletes – and I'm sure you've worked with some athletes, Jo – they always question, “Oh, was my long run long enough? Was my long bike long enough? Was my longest swim long enough? Do I have the stamina I need?” You start second-guessing everything when you're getting close to race day. And to do what Coach Joserra is suggesting and to look back, it's such a reminder of, “Oh my gosh, I've swam 1,063 laps in the pool getting ready for this. I've run 492 miles getting ready for this.” Whatever those numbers are, whatever the case may be for whatever your event is, to look back on that and know you've done the work, and remember that some of those were outside when it was hot, and some of those were first thing in the morning when you were barely awake, and some of those you almost bought, but you saw it through – to remember all the hard things you accomplished in training – man, what a confidence booster for race day. Coach Jo, what do you think about this tip?

Joanna: I love it. I love how José explained that. I think some athletes do that. I think the majority probably don’t. A reminder that I give my athletes, whether they're newer to endurance racing or they're a more seasoned athlete – if they're newer to racing, I will suggest, “Let's look back on everything you did during training. Let's look back on how much extra you did, how hard you fought, how much “great” you had. But let's also look back on what went wrong. What did you overcome during this?” Some people lost their jobs. Some people had personal issues. “What went on in your life that you managed to continue and to keep going?” We both know that half-Ironman, Ironman racing, the majority of it is mental. The majority is, “How do I stay in the game? How do I not get down on myself?” And when you look back on the training, and that you were able to overcome a lot of those obstacles and still get to the start line, it's huge. For my more seasoned athletes, as a coach you get super close with your athletes. And a reminder that I do, not right before the race but a couple days before the race, when I have a conversation, is “This is not the hardest thing you've done in your life. You've been through a lot harder stuff in your life and you survived. And you won't be alone out there. You've got a support system, you have all the people that have loved you and have supported you. You will not be alone in this.” That eases a lot of the anxiety. And what you talked about, that makes you really confident in yourself, knowing that this is not the hardest thing you did in your life. You will survive, and you will reach that finish line, and whatever is supposed to happen will happen. So I really love the tip by José. I think he is brilliant in working with his athletes, and knowing each of them, and knowing what you need to say to them before race day.

Andrew: Yeah, I love that reminder, Jo, that perspective of “This is not the hardest thing you've ever done. This is not the toughest thing you've ever been through.” What a testament, what a truth for everybody, regardless of your background in your life. What a thing to hold on to as you head into race day.

Tip #3 is from Coach Diego Navarro. Let's hear what Coach Diego has to say.

Diego Navarro: Hello, this is Coach Diego. My tip pertains to long-course racing, and that is to make full use of your special needs bags. Many athletes balk at the idea of stopping for, say, one to two minutes, thinking that will ruin their chances of a PR. When in reality, that brief stop will more likely enable you to have a good day, than to hold you back. So in these bags you will include items that you foresee you may need at some point. For example, on the bike you may want to include extra CO2 canisters, in case you’ve dropped some or used some on the way. Spare tubes, sunscreen, sunglasses, contact lenses, chamois cream, and of course extra fuel and hydration. You can mix this already in bottles, so you can just switch them out with empty ones, and then “boom”, you're off. On the run, you can include extra layers if you're expecting cold weather. Cooling towels or sponges if you're expecting it to get warmer. More sunscreen, dry socks, headlamps, treats to look forward to and to motivate you at the end of a long day. And of course more nutrition, because there have been cases where aid stations have run out of gels and other food items. So with these bags, you're limited only by the capacity of the bag, and of course your imagination. But you do have to keep in mind that you can get your bags back at some races, and at others you may not. So at the end of the day, I'd consider this as insurance. It is always better to over-prepare and have them but not need them, than kicking yourself in the butt wishing you had packed them.

Andrew: A quick reminder for Coach Diego and all of our athletes, it is now called a “personal needs bag” and not a “special needs bag”. We'll give Coach Diego a slight pass on that, as much of the triathlon world is still trying to get that to sink in after decades of calling it a special needs bag. That is a fantastic change that IRONMAN made for a variety of reasons. But Jo, I love what he said, you are only limited by the capacity of the bag and your imagination. What did you think of Coach Diego's tip on talking about personal needs bags?

Joanna: It's fantastic. I could probably write a book on this tip alone. For my athletes I have a document that I spell out – and I think this is one that you and I shared when we did Waco together. It can't be the larger wine bottle cardboard carrier from a grocery store, but the smaller one now, because the personal needs bags have gotten smaller over the years. They're not as big as they were. So one thing that Andrew and I did was buy the thermal foil bags at the grocery store, the ones that can carry ice, but a smaller wine bottle holder, the cardboard will sit inside that. That fits perfectly in a personal needs bag. So when you're trying to estimate how much fluid you’re going to need during a full Ironman – you're probably starting with three bottles on the bike. Any more would be too heavy. Or two bottles on the bike, and you're going to get to personal needs. You will be very fast and quick, and avoid having to remake bottles midway through these races, and mix powders, and do all of that. To have three full bottles ready to go, and cold because they've been in that cardboard and in that thermal bag, that's very important. I love everything he said about how there is a real mental boost to having a treat of something that you really love during a long bike. And you'll know this from your training. Whether it's a Coke, or a Dr. Pepper, whatever it is – physically I don't know if it really does anything to you, but mentally it is like a boost of energy. When you are feeling absolutely horrible during a race, having a Coke or a Payday, or something that you love, that could change the direction of the race. The last thing I'm going to say in relation to personal needs, is use the volunteers.

Andrew: Yeah, great point.

Joanna: They are there, but a lot of them are just kind of staring at you, because a lot of times they haven't done it before, and they're not real sure. I mean, I must sound like the bossiest human being coming into T1 or to personal needs because I'm like, “You!” And I'm dumping pills in somebody's hands, “I need water! Help me with this!” When I come into personal needs on the bike, they're refilling my front aero bottle. I'm not doing it, they refill it. I put people to work, because they are allowed to help you and assist you.

Andrew: Yeah, and they're happy to. They're happy too.

Joanna: And you'll save time by – don't come in there like you don't know what you're doing. Have it visualized in your head, like we talked about, how you're going to use that volunteer to help you.

Andrew: Tip #4 is coming to us from Coach Lauren LeBlanc. Let's hear what Coach Lauren has to say about race day.

Lauren LeBlanc: One thing I work with my athletes on a lot is the power of self-belief. That is not cockiness, but a concrete belief in ourselves and our ability to tolerate adversity, to work through problems in a positive way. That's really important on race day, because more often than not, something will go sideways. We'll lose a water bottle, or we'll drop a gel, or our rear derailleur will go out. So it's important, when those things happen, that we don't panic. We don't start talking negatively to ourselves, because that takes us down a whole sort of negative spiral. So instead, believing that we're a powerful problem-solver, that we're strong in the face of adversity, that we are good at handling these challenges, that we come out of the other side of all of these things positively. It's really important during races to be able to handle those things calmly and thoughtfully, and from a powerful position, and not let it drag us down, so that we can have a great race.

Andrew: Yeah, someone had to say this, and I'm happy that it was Lauren LeBlanc. When you hear somebody make a statement like, “Believe in yourself! The power of self-belief!” You hear that and it's just kind of like, “Yeah, that seems obvious.” But then the way Lauren really spoke to that, and personalized it, and gave you some action items while you're on the course, say about yourself, “I'm a good problem solver. I'm a hard worker. I can keep going. I can press on.” Giving us some examples of verbal affirmations that are the power of self, belief, and action, I think was really super helpful here. Coach Jo, what do you say to your athletes when it comes to the mental headspace like this on race day?

Joanna: I love this tip by Lauren. We have been in contact recently as she's been dealing with health issues as well, so that's a lot of friendship and a lot of support. I keep her in my prayers, and it's super nice to have that kind of support system amongst our TriDot coaches. The one thing that I think that's important to realize about this is that this has to be practiced as well. We talked about, “I don't know how to change a tire.” Well, practice it. That's very logical, that's easy for a coach to say, “You have to practice that.” A lot of times we don't talk with our athletes about how you have to practice this positive talk that you're going to have during the race. Because all these little things are going to happen, and you get thrown off. You get thrown off your focus. So for me, I have a couple of lines that I have said for years in my head. I've gotten desperate in races, and I'm starting to say them out loud. Those can be different for everybody, but there's something that's going to trigger emotion and drive and fight in you. One of the lines I said during an entire 70.3 run one time – the best 70.3 I ever had – was, “I am no slave of fear. I am a child of God.” And I repeated it 5,000 times, and it gave me strength. It gave me focus. When I rolled my ankle in the middle of the run, nothing threw me off. I think that is what Lauren is talking about, is you have to have those things planned out. And sometimes you’ve got to really dig deep. When you're not training, think about what is something that really makes you feel good about yourself, or that's going to allow you to refocus in that moment. So I think that's probably one of the best tips that's been given on here today.

Andrew: Yeah, so if you're at the races and you see Coach Jo go by and she's talking to herself – she's not dehydrated, she's just working through some stuff out there on the race course. She's just self-believing, and manifesting, and all that jazz.

Tip #5 comes from coach Dan Caskie. Let's hear what Coach Dan had to say about hitting the race course. Coach Dan!

Dan Caskie: Hey, guys! Coach Dan Caskie here, and I'm excited to give you a race-day tip that involves a system that we use with our athletes. One of the things I love to do is make sure we have a strategic plan for our race. I tend to have a meeting with my athletes, tell them to bring this to me, and then walk me through. Getting with your sherpa, your loved one, your family, or maybe just the coach. So now you walk through with a spouse or someone else, and now you're speaking into truth what you're going to do. “I'm going to get up at this time. I'm going to do this. I'm going to finish that swim in 36 minutes. I'm going to finish the bike in 2 hours and 25 minutes. I'm going to take this much nutrition on the bike.” Speaking it in, visualizing it. “I'm going to hit the run. I'm going to do a 12-minute mile, 6-minute, whatever it is. I'm going to do run/walk. I'm going to walk every aid station and take two things of ice and two things of water.” You're talking out that plan. The other thing that really helps your family is that now they know what to expect. If the bike cut off is 4½ hours and you say, “Hey listen, this bike is going to suck for me. I'm going to go 4 hours,” they won't panic as much. If it's something like, “Hey, I really plan to crush this bike. I'm coming in hot, and I'm giving it all I got,” they know where to find you on the course a little bit. You've said it out loud, so those expectations are there. Then the family members who maybe are not as familiar with it, they've gone through this guide with you. I think it's super helpful. It's really fun. If you can drive the course with them, or visualize the course with them when you're getting into town, that's another way to make this step really, really helpful. I love engaging families and participants in it, and I love being part of it with my athletes. That's what's been successful for our team. I hope this coach tip helps you guys have a great one.

Andrew: Yeah, so Coach Dan's tip is to verbalize your race-day plan to someone. And Jo, as many times as I've been to the races with the TriDot team – and maybe one member of the team, or most members of the team, or multiple ambassadors staying in the same hotel or something – we're always around athletes who are getting ready for the race. And I've seen yourself, and Coach John Mayfield, Elizabeth James, Jeff Raines, so many of our ambassadors, I've seen them just get with each other and do this. As many times as you've raced, “Hey, walk over here with me. Let me show you how I have my gear organized. Let me talk through my race morning and race day plan with you.” I know you know how to do this. I know you've been through the motions a million times. But the way you, and John, EJ, and everybody verbalizes their race-day plan to each other, it's doing exactly what Dan's talking about. It's helping you process it, and it's clueing somebody else into what your plan is. And I love the way Dan took it a step further and recommended doing this with family, especially if you have no one else to do this with. To have your family have an expectation of what your race day is going to be like. Great stuff from Dan Caskie. Coach Jo, what’d you think of this tip?

Joanna: I loved it. Some of it we talked about before, as far as whether you're visualizing it. I love the verbalizing it. The biggest thing I took away from this though was inclusion of family. We often really take for granted that this is an easy day for them. It's an easy day for a spectator, they're not racing. I think it's far harder to support and keep track of your athletes and your family members, especially when you're talking about a full Ironman day, and you want to make them feel included. This is not your job. You're not paid to do this. They are willingly coming out to support something that is a hobby to you, that you have dreams about, and they're supporting you. But again, we have to remember that it is a sacrifice for them to be out there. When people ask my husband Ryan if he's done an Ironman, he said, “Oh, I've done 20.” He's never raced, but he's done all 20. So to give them some structure on what the day is going to look like – and then to avoid some fights and frustrations, you need to tell them what your needs are too.

Andrew: Yeah. Know what you're expecting, yeah.

Joanna: You know, “Can you help me get my bike out? At this time I can get my bike and bags out. At this time I should be finishing.” There's a lot of advice and structure you can give to your family members that makes the day a lot easier for them, and it makes it a more enjoyable experience for the whole family.

Andrew: Yeah, great stuff. Thanks so much to coach Dan Caskie. Our Tip #6 comes from Coach Kristin Overton. If you've ever been to TriDot Pool school, she is one of the role models, one of the examples – there's always somebody at TriDot Pool School who is in the pool, showing the athletes step-by-step what the next drill should look like. And Kristin has her swim form down so polished, she's one of the examples in the pool. So shout out to Kristin Overton for that, a wonderful TriDot coach in the coach community. Let's hear what Coach Kristin has to say about racing.

Kristin Overton: Hi, Coach K.O. here, just giving you my best race-day tip for my athletes. I like to have my athletes get a flip-top tube to put electrolytes in – sometimes salt tabs, or things like Nuun tabs or Hammer Fizz – that you can throw in your water bottles on the bike. It's easy, it fits in a pocket, and also you can write messages on them. I like to tell my athletes to give the bottle to their family, friends, whoever's cheering them on, to write a message of encouragement that they'll have for them on the race. So as they pull that tube out of their pocket to throw an electrolyte in, they can read the messages and give them inspiration along the way. I hope this helps, happy training!

Andrew: Coach Jo, what do we think of Kristin's tip to carry a little flip tube to put some stuff in?

Joanna: Yeah, that's a definite. That's a must. I've mentioned this before on podcasts, you can order the skinnier Mentos gum containers, they come in like a 10- or 12-pack on Amazon. The lids are attached so they flip right open. So your family may have a year's supply of Mentos gum if you race a lot. But the purpose of them is great. I love that she talked about writing a message on there. That’s brilliant. But I always have my athletes have an “uh-oh” kit, meaning you're going to carry these tubes on the bike. You're going to carry them on the run. For ladies, they often carry them in their sports bra. But I like to hold it in my hand, and the rhythm of the shaking of the salt sticks or Tylenol or whatever you have in there, that might drive runners around you crazy, but I love the sound of that rhythm. So they're very useful. As a seasoned Ironman athlete, I forget that a lot of times newer triathletes to the half or full distance don't know exactly what is supposed to be in those. I always encourage you – under your doctor's direction – to carry Tylenol, or if you start to have intense pain, you need to have extra electrolytes, that can be salt sticks, whatever form you like in those. Imodium, we never know when we're going to have GI issues. So it's important to have that practical little safety kit on the bike and on the run, and you can have another one in transition. You get really discombobulated when you come out of the water, so in all of those locations, have that little tube ready with things that you need.

Andrew: Yeah, great, practical race-day tip from Coach Kristin here, absolutely love it. I personally always just carry my gels, and I always have my Precision Fuel and Hydration electrolytes. I'll have them in pill form, and they come in a little blister pack that is waterproof, so you just peel it and pop one. What I was missing, Jo, when I did my first IRONMAN, was that pill box with a few extras – the Tylenol, the GasX, the Pepto, whatever it is – and I definitely would have benefited from some additional items that I didn't have because I didn't do this particular tip. So listen to Coach Kristin, listen to Coach Jo.

Moving us on to tip #7. The last time we did our episode like this, I got a tip from IRONMAN World Champion Mark Allen, and this time I have a tip from IRONMAN World Champion Kathleen McCartney, who is coaching athletes with TriDot. Coach Kathleen is just a joy to be around, and she's a wonderful coach. Let's hear what Coach Kathleen, IRONMAN World Champion, has to say about race day.

Kathleen McCartney: Hello everyone! My race day tip is one that I've relied upon for many decades. It's pretty simple, but I find it to be a great source of empowerment throughout the race course, especially when things get tough. You can always find more. I learned this valuable lesson at my first IRONMAN World Championship in 1982. In the final quarter mile run at the finish line, I was in second place and closing the gap on the leader, Julie Moss. After starting the marathon with a 21-minute deficit, I was determined to finally get her in my sight and pass her for the lead. As I made my way down Ali’i Drive, I thought I was running as fast as I possibly could. Then someone yelled out from the crowd, “You can still catch her!” At that moment, I got the most incredible rush of energy that I've ever experienced. Suddenly, that one voice of encouragement inspired me to find more – more power, more strength, and more energy – that enabled me to dig even deeper and run even faster, all the way to the finish line. I unknowingly passed Julie Moss just ten yards from the finish line. I am so grateful to that complete stranger who helped me find more, with a shout out of encouragement when I needed it the most. Finding more is about optimizing every aspect of your race. It's when you can turn even the darkest moments into an opportunity. You can always find more belief in yourself, more commitment to cross the finish line, more willingness to suffer, more reason to put one foot in front of the other, more encouragement to give to your competitors, more gratitude for living the dream. Whatever you need out there on race day, remember you can always find more.

Joanna: That was like – I almost teared up. I think it's amazing when you've had a race experience that you can relate back to. She's talking about an experience she had. Once you've had a moment like that where you really, really surprised yourself, you don't forget that feeling. I had a moment like that. In my best IRONMAN at Cozumel, when I started the marathon, I thought, “There is no way I can run this.” And we all know the first mile is a liar, second mile is a liar, third mile is a liar. You know you're going to feel better, but in that moment you think, “I cannot do this.” And then I have the best marathon I've ever had, to PR that IRONMAN race. That experience I have thought about so many times, because I surprised myself. I found more, like what she's talking about. In those really dark, hard moments in a race, it is so difficult to find more, to keep going. I find in racing, I tell my athletes, “Give it 20 more minutes. Get to mile two.” In the moment, you can only deal with what you're dealing with right now. What can I do to make myself more comfortable? Don't think about six miles down the road. Don't think about, “How am I going to run this marathon? There's no way I'm going to be able to do this.” Just focus on what you're doing in that moment, and give yourself some grace in that moment. And that's very much in life, with my kids. I say, “We cannot figure out two years down the road. We can't figure out what life holds for us. All we can deal with is the day God gave us today, so that is what we're going to focus on.” And I love that she talked about how there is always more, because sometimes your brain is playing tricks on you. It's saying, “Nope, there ain't nothing left!” And it's amazing that 20 miles into a marathon, the difference you feel at that moment. You never know how you're going to be feeling, and you've got to keep going. And most of the time, within a mile or two, you feel much better.

Andrew: Yeah, and the emotive side of this aside, the biology here is your body is designed to not die. There's things in place to make sure you stay alive. Your body has this energy reserve pretty much at all times, and it's not going to let you overextend itself on those energy reserves. So to Kathleen's point, she gets deep into IRONMAN in Kona, and she ended up winning that race, famously, in front of Julie Moss, in a very dramatic fashion. She was trucking along, and she thought she was giving all she had, and as soon as she was tipped off to the fact that she could win the whole thing – oh man, there was more reserves there for her to tap into, that she didn't realize until that adrenaline kicked in, because her body was regulating it. We've talked about that kind of governor system that your body has on the podcast before in some other episodes, so I won't go too much into it. But there there's biology there and there's emotion there, that no matter what you're doing on race day, no matter what you're shooting for, if you haven't bonked – like a true bonk is when energy is depleted, and your body will stop moving – if your body is still moving, you have some more in there to give. So great stuff from Coach Kathleen. Can't wait to see her at the races, the next time I get to her at the races.

Tip #8 comes from Coach Chad Rolfs. Fantastic swimmer, that Chad Rolfs – I'm talking about he comes out of the water like fourth in an Ironman kind of guy – a great coach in the TriDot coach community. Let's hear what Coach Chad has to say about racing.

Chad Rolfs: One tip that I always tell my athletes on race morning is to set your attitude as soon as you get up. I tell them to race with joy. And what that means is to basically approach that day with a sense of gratitude. I mean, imagine if you were to do this race, there were no spectators, no volunteers, and no other race participants. It would be pretty boring and pretty lonely. But you GET to do this race, you don't HAVE to do this race. So approach it with a sense of gratitude that you can do this, and there are some other people that can't. So keep those people in mind, and also just thank everybody for being there, and just race with joy.

Andrew: I've been at a few races where Coach Chad Rolfs was racing, including his first IRONMAN, IRONMAN Arizona, and I can confirm that he does this every time he goes by. He's all smiles, giving it all he's got, which is truly a “racing with joy” attitude. And Jo, I know you have a very similar mantra for you and your athletes that you coach. Do you want to talk about your thoughts on Coach Chad's tip?

Joanna: From early on when I started coaching, my team races with a grateful heart. There's no other way that we race. A lot of them will do the heart sign when they come across the finish line. And everything he said is on point. If you're not racing with joy, if you're not enjoying this, then don't do it. Don't do it. I mean, there's a lot of hobbies, a lot of wonderful things to participate in life. But you need to not lose that joy and that happiness. If you've come to a point in training that you're really frustrated, or it's becoming monotonous, or you have zero motivation, that's the time I kind of take my athletes and say, “Let's take a two-week hiatus here. Let's do something else this weekend. Do something nice for yourself, but let's not do the long ride.” We need to be finding joy in the training and in the racing, and if you lose that spark, it may be a time that you need to refocus on some other things in your life. The good thing is that we're all kind of wired the same way, and we all come back to it. But if you want to have longevity in this sport, and you want to race for a very long time, and keep your love for training and racing, it's an ebb and flow. It's nice to take some breaks along the way, and then come back to it full force.

Andrew: Yeah, couldn't agree with you more on that, Jo, and great submission there from Coach Chad. We've got two more tips left. This is the last one that I'm going to have a pre-recorded coach submission for, and then Coach Jo is going to shut us down with Tip #10. So tip #9 is from TriDot Coach Jeff Short. He leads Rampage Racing out of Houston, Texas. Strong athlete, wonderful coach. Jo, I know you know well from the Houston scene. Let's see what he has to say about race day.

Jeff Short: Hey TriDot athletes! This is Coach Jeff Short with Rampage Racing and Endurance out of Houston, Texas, and my tip for you is this – there is no such thing as a finish line that should not be celebrated. I know we shoot for those great times. The times are important to us. That's one of the reasons that we do this, pursuing excellence. But don't forget you are one of the very, very small percentage of people on this earth that even finishes a sprint. It doesn't have to be an Olympic, a 70.3, or a full Ironman. If you're finishing the triathlon, you should celebrate that victory. And on the full Ironman scale, let's use that for an example. Let's say you're shooting for that 10-hour Ironman time, and you train for it, but certain elements on the day – maybe you got a flat tire, maybe the weather was poor, maybe you dropped some of your nutrition – all of those things are at play in a race. 140 miles is a long time for things to go sideways. If you're going for that 10-hour race and you make it in 14, don't be upset. Do not look down. Don't take it out on the people that loved and supported and got you there to that race, because I guarantee you didn't do it alone. So any finish line, ANY finish line is always worth celebrating, and patting yourself on the back, because you got there. And hey, if it wasn't quite the time that you wanted, we get to keep doing it.

Andrew: I've heard a very similar tip from IRONMAN champion and TriDot Coach Michellie Jones – Olympic silver medalist, let's throw that accolade as well – Michellie says something very similar to athletes about just celebrating the day that you had. Whether it was the day you wanted or not, it was still the day that you had. It was still the best you could do on the day, and there's no point in sulking about it. Great stuff from Coach Jeff. Coach Jo, I know you know Jeff decently well, what did you think of his tip to celebrate the finish line that you had?

Joanna: I love his tip. I take it a step further in that most of us are going to have a lot of race days. If we love triathlon, if we love running, we're going to have a lot of races. The odds are that they're not going to all go our way. DNFs happen. There are days that we just cannot control certain things, like he was talking about, and in that we have to remember that every single one of these race days is a learning experience. It's so hard to finish a race and then go the next day and jot down the good, the bad, everything that happened. But it's one thing that I make my athletes do, because I said, “We are going to improve on this. You're going to encounter some of these hardships later on down the line, but you're going to react differently. It's going to be a no-brainer for you.” So I try to remind myself, I've had my share of days that were just not great races for me, and my brain goes to the negative. That's how I'm wired, I get down on myself. But I try to take away three things that are going to make me a better athlete, and a better person, coming off of a race that just didn't go well. Every day in life is a celebration, so I love that Jeff said that. This is not life or death, this is just a sport that we absolutely love. So we need to celebrate every day that we get to participate in it.

Andrew: Jo, our last tip. I didn't want to go through this and not get a tip from Coach Jo, who has been on site at the races thousands of times. So shut down our main set today, Coach Jo, with our 10th race-related triathlon coaching tip.

Joanna: This one goes way back to my beginning days of coaching, like 15 years ago. And it has practical effects, as well as you showing your humanity, who you are and your integrity on the race course. But I always tell each of my athletes, when I talk to them by themselves before race morning, that I want them to be bigger than themselves on race day. What I mean by that is, triathlon is a very selfish, individualized sport. We think a lot about ourselves and our performance and our goals, but there's something really special that happens on the race course amongst competitors. A lot of times things will not go your way. It can be two hours into a race when you have to change your mindset, because things that were out of your control have really ruined the goals that you had for yourself for that day. So I challenge them to help. Sometimes I say, “I want you to help two people on the course today. I want you to help five people on the course today.” And the simple gestures of helping someone don't have to be as extreme as, “I'm going to pull over and change that guy's tire.” I've been in places and races where I could barely carry on, but just smile at another person who is struggling, or give them salt, or pat them on the back, or a word of encouragement. It changes you. It changes your race, it changes your day. It gives you new energy, it gives you new hope. You know I'm going there, this applies to life as well. Sometimes when we get out of our own heads, and we have to focus and care for other people, we become better. We become healthier, happier individuals. So I encourage all coaches to challenge their athletes, or if you are listening to this and you're an athlete yourself, remember to help somebody when you go out there. It's not going to take any time from you. It's not going to upset your race. It's only going to make it a better and happier day. And I will tell you, when I look back over my 20 years of racing, I don't remember when I took five minutes off a swim, or I don't remember if I got through personal needs fast. What I do remember is the few conversations that I would have with athletes on the course, and those special memories are the things that you're going to remember when you're long retired from triathlon. So I encourage you to be bigger than yourself on those race days.

Cool down theme: Great set everyone! Let’s cool down.

Vanessa Ronksley: Hello there everyone! I'm Vanessa, your Average Triathlete with Elite-Level Enthusiasm! And it is my pleasure to be here with Mike Rucker, who is going to share our Coach Cooldown Tip. Mike has an incredible background as a veteran of the US Army and National Security Agency. He currently works as a federal sales director in the national security field, and we can definitely say that he is very successful at everything that he does. Mike is an All American NCAA Div-I swimmer, Kona qualifier, and a member of the US Army World Class Athlete Program. He has been coaching triathlon since 1996, and has been with TriDot since 2018. Mike loves coaching beginners and elite athletes, and enjoys establishing the fundamentals with them and optimizing their performance. Welcome to the cooldown, Mike!

Mike Rucker: Hi, how are you doing today?

Vanessa: Oh, so wonderful! I'm grateful to be here with you. And I have heard that something that most people don't know about you is that you are an avid fly fisherman. So tell me about what drew you to this activity.

Mike: Yeah. So I had shattered my ankle, and mobility was limited for a while there. I'm watching one of my friends go through it now. But this happened, and then I had some health issues after that, with blood clots in my lungs and so on. So as part of that recovery process, the doctor's like, “Okay, you need to do something to get outside and be active and get some fresh air.” This was while I was living in Colorado, and one of the local fly shops offered kind of a beginner lesson. So for me, that was excellent just to be active. Then also the mental aspect of it, because that's kind of an individualized sport, a lot like doing training and triathlon, swimming, running, and biking. But it really focuses on getting the right technique, the right motion, the right equipment, and all those other things. So I was one of the lucky ones in the group and got one on the first day, and I was hooked.

Vanessa: Ah. You got hooked.

Mike: And I have pursued it ever since.

Vanessa: Awesome, that's wonderful. There is something to be said about those repetitive motions that are very smooth and delicate, and when you can pair your breathing with it, it's very meditative. And being surrounded by nature at the same time, I can imagine that it was healing on multiple levels for you, for your ankle injury and then the emotional side of coming back from an injury as well. That's wonderful.

Mike: Absolutely.

Vanessa: Now I am excited to hear what tip you have for all of us today.

Mike: So as one of the TriDot coaches, we prescribe a lot of the warmup and drills that you see. If you have the Mark Allen Edition, you have the explainers, or if not, the videos of how to actually execute the warmup drills. Those are actually very critical. And what I'll say as a coach is, “Do the warmup drills.” Part of that is, if you're into lifting weights and so on, it’s what's called muscle activation. Part of injury prevention is doing those drills, not necessarily in all the right order, but the bulk of them for the bulk of the time. It’s really critical to getting all those main muscle groups engaged, getting active, getting warmed up, getting the blood oxygenating the muscles. Then, as you start to go into your actual training session, your body is ready, from both the muscular activation, but also your breathing, your heart, and your mental time frame. Because you're doing some of the drills and they look kind of goofy, right? It's like Phoebe on Friends, she's running, it's kind of that way. But it's one of those things that when you do them, and you do them the way they're prescribed, it's great for activation. And similarly on cooldown, because that's part of the recovery process, to help your muscles cool back down, help begin to eliminate lactic acid and some of the other toxins that you've now generated. Especially during the high threshold sessions, you want to take that time and effectively cool down, because recovery is just as important to get right as the training itself. I almost wish we had a net training score for recovery, because I think people usually skip that. I know I used to, prior to coming to that program. And what ends up happening is you end up sore, and then you end up compensating, even unconsciously, with your body trying to overcome the soreness before you do something else training-wise.

Vanessa: I think that this is a very important point for all of the listeners, myself included obviously, to take into consideration. The warmup and the cooldown are just as important as the main set, and I think that they are the things that are most skipped over. I've known a number of TriDot athletes who have told me that, “What, you do a warmup before every session?” Yeah, it's really important, just for the reasons that you indicated. I do have some improving to do in this area. I do often skip my cooldown, especially in the swim, because I just don't have enough time to get to it. But it is something that's really important, and hopefully in the future I will be able to build that right back into my program. Yeah, these are very important tools that we need to be utilizing to benefit our training and our recovery and make sure that we stay injury free.

Mike: Absolutely. It's part of the program, it's part of the deal, and that's why we include that in there.

Outro: Thanks for joining us. Make sure to subscribe and share the TriDot podcast with your triathlon crew. For more great tri content and community, connect with us on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Ready to optimize your training? Head to tridot.com and start your free trial today! TriDot – the obvious and automatic choice for triathlon training.

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