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: Hey folks! Welcome to the show. I’m really looking forward to today’s conversation. You only get to race your first Ironman once and you experience a lot and you learn a lot your first time out at the full distance. So I wanted to just catch a few of our TriDot ambassadors fresh off their first Ironman finish to see what we can learn from their time out on the course. Our first athlete joining us today is TriDot athlete, Chad Rolfs. Chad lives in Seattle, Washington and is a Photoshop specialist at Adobe. He swam collegiately at UC Berkeley and started his tri journey in 2017. Chad became an Ironman on November 21, 2021 with his finish of Ironman Arizona in Tempe. Chad, welcome to the show.

Chad Rolfs: Woo-hoo! Thanks Andrew. I’m really excited to be here.

Andrew: Also joining us is TriDot athlete Kristin Meurer. Kristin is an occupational therapist from South Kingston, Rhode Island. She raced her first triathlon in 2013 and did a do-it-yourself Ironman when her 2020 Ironman Chattanooga was canceled. This year she officially got to cross the Ironman finish line on September 26 in Chattanooga. Kristin, thanks for joining us today.

Kristin Meurer: Hi Andrew! Thanks for having me on the podcast. I’m really excited to be here.

Andrew: Well, I’m Andrew the Average Triathlete, Voice of the People and Captain of the Middle of the Pack. As always we'll roll through our warm up question, settle in for the main set conversation, and then wind things down with our cool down. Lots of good stuff, let's get to it!

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

Andrew: An Ironman training cycle and race week provides plenty of photo opportunities that help us document the process of becoming an Ironman. Thinking back to the days where folks documented their life adventures by making a slideshow and burning those slideshows to a DVD, if you were making a slideshow with all the pictures of your race week, what song would you use as the soundtrack? Kristin, what one song would perfectly fit behind pictures of your Ironman journey?

Krisitin: Well Andrew, I think I’m going to go with the Muppets song “Mah Na Mah Na.”

Andrew: Stop it.

Kristin: Yes.

Andrew: That’s great.

Kristin: It’s silly, it’s repetitive, it’s a lot of fun and it just kind of gets you in a little bit of a goofy mood…

Andrew: Yeah, sure.

Kristin: …when you’re doing a lot of very similar things for long periods of time training for an Ironman.

Andrew: You’re on the bike just spinning and you just kind of feel a little “Mah Na Mah Na.”

Kristin: Or even on some of those track sets when you know you’re just kind of going around in circles and you need a little something extra. Yep, definitely.

Andrew: Yeah, no I’m a big fan of the Muppets so I’m a big fan of this pick. This is not at all a pick that I would have expected and so that almost makes it even greater in my eyes that you pulled that one out of left field to bring the Muppets onto the podcast for the first time ever.

Kristin: Welcome Muppets.

Andrew: I almost want to just like pull up your Facebook and pull all of your triathlon photos and make this for you just to see it come to life.

Chad: That would be amazing.

Andrew: So Chad, for you what is this pick for you? If you’re taking all of your training photos, all of your racing photos from your journey to becoming an Ironman, what song is the soundtrack for that slideshow?

Chad: Yeah, I was looking through my playlist. I don’t know if I was going with the Kool Kids, a modern day answer it might be “Coming in Hot” by Andy Mineo and Lecrae.

Andrew: Okay.

Chad: A little modern flare because all the races that I’ve done have been far south from where I’m at and much more tepid than here. But I’m going to go with the old school classic, the “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin.

Andrew: Okay!

Chad: You know, coming from the land of the ice and snow, being up north, and the last race that I went to it was a 40 degree difference. I also love how that song was used in Ragnarok.

Andrew: Great movie…

Chad: Yes.

Andrew: …that did a great job with its soundtrack. So yeah, I mean that’s going to be– a lot of people Chad are going to hear that pick and be very, very pleased with it. So kudos to you for that.

Chad: I hope so.

Andrew: That could definitely lay underneath some photos of you crushing it on the IMAZ course. For me, I probably spent way too much time today kind of same thing, perusing my Spotify playlist trying to decide what song would I actually use if I were to do this and there were some options there. There were some options. Some that are on my workout playlist that are kind of pump up songs. Some that are kind of fond, remembering type songs. But the one that I kept going back to is “How Far We’ve Come” by Matchbox 20. Now I have not– I like that song well enough. I wouldn’t say I love it and I certainly haven’t listened to it in years just because it’s not on the radio a ton. I had kind of forgotten about that song, but that song was playing at the starting line of Ironman Waco. So I’m in my wetsuit, I’m in the chute. I was actually standing with TriDot coach Kyle Stone and his wife Terri Stone. They were both racing. They were both jumping in the water about the same time I did. So the three of us are standing there. We’re on the edge of the Brazos River. We’re walking towards it in line and that is just the last song I remember playing before hopping in the water and in a moment where I was full of anxiety and a moment where I was very, very nervous at the start of that race, it just kind of took my mind off where I was and what I was doing there for a minute. I just kind of, you know, tapped my foot and bobbed my head and before I knew it I was 1000 yards into my swim in the Brazos River and so that song– again, not necessarily a song that I love, but I just feel like after that race day– I have no idea what song was playing when I crossed the finish line. They say that that’s a common thing that people remember and hold onto. I have no– Do you guys remember what song was playing? Did you guys know this?

Chad: Not at all.

Andrew: Yeah, so you guys are with me. So I have no idea what song was playing when I finished, but that was the song that was playing when I started and ever since I’ve added it to a couple of my Spotify playlists and it immediately takes me back into that moment. So it would just be the perfect pick to me to kind of put underneath those pictures and let it be the soundtrack to my Ironman journey slideshow. So guys, we’re going to throw this out to y’all as a question on the I AM TriDot Facebook group. Make sure you are a member of that group. Every single Monday when our new episode of the podcast drops we throw these warm up questions out to y’all and I love seeing your responses. So for your Ironman journey or for your A race, if that A race for you is a half Ironman, if it was an Olympic, if it was a sprint, if it was a local duathlon; whatever you race this year and it was just your A race, if you were taking the pictures from your journey to finishing that race what song would you put behind your slideshow chronicalizing your journey?

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

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Andrew: You only have one chance at your first Ironman attempt. Any Ironman after that becomes number two, three, four, five, and on and on and on. So as the year winds down and a good number of TriDotters became Ironman finishers here in the class of 2021, I wanted to pull a few of our athletes onto the show to hear their experience taking on their first crack at reaching the Ironman finish line. So, Chad, before we hear all about Ironman Arizona from you, just kind of give us some background on what inspired you to try triathlon in the first place? Where did your tri journey actually begin?

Chad: Hmm… How far back do you want me to go Andrew? I’ll go back four years. Let’s say four years where I reconnected with some old college buddies and we went to the D1 NCAA Championships for swimming and diving in Minneapolis. Shout out to my Cal Bears.

Andrew: Yeah. Go Bears!

Chad: So a couple of guys that I swam with after we were done swimming went on to become actually really good triathletes and at that time I was doing a lot of other endurance and strength events like Tough Mudders, Spartan Races, Go Rec Events just trying to stay active and fit and continue to challenge myself. So after one of the days of swimming, after watching the meet we all went out and I started asking those guys about their triathlon experience and without thinking I said, “Yeah, you know I think I might want to do a full Ironman before I turn 50.” So I kind of let the cat out of the bag.

Andrew: Okay.

Chad: And one of the guys said to me, he said, “You’ve run all those mud races, you could do it now. It wouldn’t be pretty, but you could do it.”

Andrew: Yeah.

Chad: So that kind of planted the seed for the journey.

Andrew: So Kristin, same question to you. What led you to get into triathlon years and years and years ago?

Kristin: Well, I had been working on trying to finish my first 5K without stopping and I had a housemate who wanted to do a sprint tri, but she needed some help with swimming and so I decided to sign up for the sprint tri and we worked together to train and help each other out in the areas that we needed it.

Andrew: I wonder how many people’s triathlon journey starts off with just a conversation with a friend like that. I mean, because Chad for you it was hanging out with some swimming buddies. Kristin for you it was a fellow housemate of yours that wanted to do a triathlon and now all of a sudden you’re Ironman finishers. So, you know, it all starts somewhere and I never get tired of hearing what that starting point is for people. So thanks for sharing that.

Kristin, once you knew that you wanted to take on an Ironman, I’m assuming you did that first sprint triathlon, assuming it went okay, and you were hooked on the sport because here you are sitting here as an Ironman finisher. So once you wanted to do Ironman, what made you pick Ironman Chattanooga?

Kristin: Once I had made that decision to make the big leap to Ironman I actually was trying to decide between Chattanooga and Mt. Tremblant. I had originally signed up for Mt. Tremblant actually.

Andrew: Really? I didn’t know that.

Kristin: Yep and so obviously with 2020 and COVID around, Mt. Tremblant was canceled and initially we weren’t really sure what was going on, but we knew we definitely weren’t crossing the border.

Andrew: Yeah.

Kristin: And so when Coach Elizabeth and I had talked about it more, we decided to defer to Chattanooga because that was a little bit later in the season and we were staying within the states and maybe it would happen. Obviously it did not.

Andrew: Yeah.

Kristin: I probably could have seen that coming, but you know, still hopeful at that point.

Andrew: And we all, we all had to keep training as if it was going to happen because if it did work out and it did happen you had to be ready for it.

Kristin: Absolutely.

Andrew: And I imagine for you– so your coach Elizabeth James has professed her love of Ironman Chattanooga on the podcast several times. So I’m sure for her it was not very hard to convince one of her athletes to head to Chattanooga to race, huh?

Kristin: No. Probably not.

Andrew: So Chad for you, what made you pick Ironman Arizona?

Chad: I’m going to throw out my coach as well. Jeff Raines, you know, he said “Do it.” So I did it.

Andrew: Yeah. Good talk. Yeah.

Chad: No, but seriously like– yeah. The plan kind of came down to when the pandemic started, kind of like what Kristin said. That was when I got real serious about it, about training for it and trying to figure out when that was going to happen. So that was when I signed up for coaching and I was fortunate enough to get connected with Raines and we talked about how we were going to lay this out. What’s the plan? What’s the first race? What’s the next race? So I signed up for Indian Wells in December. That got deferred due to COVID and the next one that could actually work was St. George in May as my first 70.3. It was a little brutal, but it was awesome.

Andrew: Yeah, easy. Real easy course in St. George for your first half. Yeah sure. Nice walk in the park.

Chad: Then we just kind of dialed it in from there that Ironman Arizona was going to be the place. I’ve got some family down there and also I’m a big fan of vitamin D.

Andrew: Yeah, sure. I think all of us are. We like showing off our tan lines as well to prove how much we love vitamin D. So in both of your triathlon journeys, you both raced multiple triathlons before stepping up to Ironman. Chad, for you it was kind of a well-planned approach to Ironman. Kristin, for you it was starting at the shorter distances back in 2013 and over time working your way up. You both have also trained with TriDot for quite some time before starting that race prep phase for Ironman. What did you learn about the sport and about training for the sport from your experiences before Ironman? Kristin, I’ll start with you.

Kristin: When I had first started doing triathlon I wasn’t using any type of training plan or anything and I was just kind of winging it, making sure that I could do the distances and then trying to get faster. I think one of the big things initially that really helped me get faster was a gym that I had joined at one point and it really helped to focus on the strength training component. I noticed that my times continued to improve and get faster, but I also noticed that I was getting fewer of the overuse injuries and then probably within the next year or two after that is when I had found TriDot with the PSP program and the structured training and using like development cycles and assessments to really help pinpoint, okay these are the paces you should be running at. These are the heart rates you should be looking for. Like, that was all completely new to me and helping to kind of just pinpoint that structure a little bit more and give me better direction really helped to further continue my ability in the sport and eventually make me feel confident enough to say, “You know what? I think I could actually do an Ironman as crazy as that sounds.”

Andrew: Right? It’s like the very first time that idea gets kind of almost inceptioned into your brain somewhere like it’s super hard to shake that idea until you actually get out there and do it.

Kristin: I mean the concept of going longer was definitely very gradual.

Andrew: Yeah.

Kristin: It was an, “Okay, I’m comfortable doing sprint. Well, what do you think about maybe doing an Olympic? I don’t know, that sounds kind of nuts.” And then somebody asked, “Well, when are you going to do a half?” And I was like, “Are you kidding? No way.” Then it continued to progress from there.

Andrew: No that’s awesome, and Chad for you it sounds almost like you started with TriDot kind of from the beginning.

Chad: Not necessarily. I started TriDot, I think I signed up in 2018, 2019 and so I did a few before that and they were okay. One was kind of a disaster. I mean I finished it, but by the end I crossed the finish line and I was lying down and started shivering. I was just so depleted.

Andrew: Yeah.

Chad: So like one of the biggest things that I learned in my training was really how to dial in nutrition. I really didn’t have a clue on how to fuel well during a longer distance race like that when you’re pushing that hard. So that was a big learning and again some of the things that Kristin shared too and I’ll echo those for sure. The power-stamina paradox, like learning what each of those phases; the development and stamina, like how to train with those, train with power. I never trained with power before like on a bike and how to do that. Yeah and like how to do those type of workouts. Then working out every day. Even when I was collegiate swimming we had one day a week off.

Andrew: Yeah, it’s funny that you bring up the power-stamina paradox because that was an episode for me; it was one of our early episodes– episode 9, 10, 11– I’m forgetting off the top of my head. We’re in the hundreds now. But when we did that episode, I mean I hadn’t trained for an Ironman yet. I had done some sprints and Olympics. I had done some 70.3’s, but I hadn’t done a full and so it made sense in my head when Jeff Booher and John Mayfield explained hey when you start training for stamina, when you start training to go longer you really lose that ability to work on your high end power. Like it made sense, but when I started training for Ironman I saw that firsthand. Like when you leave a five hour bike ride on a Saturday just so depleted from working on that stamina, that power run session the following day you just don’t have that high end speed that you have when that Saturday bike ride is only an hour and 25 minutes. So yeah. That’s a great point there Chad. Chad, when you were swimming what was your longest event when you raced collegiately in the pool?

Chad: Uh, it was the mile. Like the 1500 or the 1650, but that wasn’t the most painful one. The painful one was either the 400 IM or the 200 fly.

Andrew: Yeesh. I don’t know if I could do a 200. I don’t know if I could get to the other side of the pool swimming butterfly to be honest with you. Like I referenced in the intro, Kristin, when your 2020 Ironman was canceled, when that Chattanooga was canceled you transferred from Mt. Tremblant to Chattanooga which I didn’t know. That’s interesting. I didn’t know you had done that. So Chattanooga also got canceled and you decided to kind of take that fitness that you had earned and do the race yourself. How did you organize that and tell us just about what that experience was like?

Kristin: Well, I had already been training for Mt. Tremblant and with the help of Coach Elizabeth we kind of changed where I was in my training cycle in order to switch over to Chattanooga. At the same time I also knew in the back of my head that there was a very real chance that that one also would not happen.

Andrew: Yeah.

Kristin: It was something where I was just kind of like, you know what, if I’m doing all of this I want to race on September 26th no matter what. If it’s in Tennessee that’s amazing. If I end up doing it here in Rhode Island, okay. I’m doing it.

Andrew: It’s happening.

Kristin: It was very securely happening in my head.

Andrew: Did that help you out in the training at all, just knowing that regardless it was going down?

Kristin: Yes. A lot of other TriDotters out there I remember throughout 2020 that were training as if it was happening, but not really knowing. It’s mind boggling for me because I think it would be really frustrating. Like, is it going to happen, is it not going to happen and just mentally for me at least I know there was something at the end of this. It’s not a we’re taking it week by week and kind of seeing it going. I needed a definitive plan and so there it was. We made it.

Andrew: Yeah, no that’s so cool and then I just remember from Facebook, Instagram just your post when the whole thing was done you had a finish line with fireworks on the beach when you completed that marathon. Tell me about kind of that ending moment on the beach when you finally finished your do-it-yourself Ironman.

Kristin: That was the one thing that I did not plan at all.

Andrew: Okay.

Kristin: I don’t know. You would think that would be like the first thing that I would plan.

Andrew: Finish line!

Kristin: I never made it. I was just kind of like alright, I’m just going to run onto the beach and boom. Okay, I’m done. Cool! But that was actually all Pete with the fireworks. I had no idea it was coming. You can see the beach running back down the road probably from like a half a mile or so out and so you could all of a sudden see something happening on the beach…

Andrew: Yeah.

Kristin: …from far away and I was just kind of like, “Oh, what’s that?” And the people that were running with me like knew what it was and they were like, “We’re so close! We’re almost there.” So then you get there and you’re like, “Oh, those are for me! Those are fantastic. That is so, so cool!.” And part of me was like, “I wonder if the cops are going to come over and like bust us for bringing like fireworks on the beach and they didn’t, but a lot of people that had been there during the day and some that hadn’t came back like for the finish.

Andrew: Yeah, that’s cool.

Kristin: So like there was a group of people there again at the finish and I was just kind of like, “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe you guys are all here.” I love that everyone is here.

Chad: Oh, that’s awesome.

Andrew: So in 2021 however, there was no need to put on a DIY triathlon because Ironman Chattanooga happened as scheduled. So Kristin, how did your training go for that event and how are you feeling kind of race week leading into the big day?

Kristin: Because it was technically my second full distance at that point I had learned a lot..

Andrew: Okay.

Kristin: …from the first time around. I knew that nutrition was an area that I still needed to make a lot of improvements and tweaks on. So Coach Elizabeth and I worked on that a lot. One of my hesitations with Chattanooga was also the temperature because down in Chattanooga it’s very well known for being rather hot…

Andrew: Yeah.

Kristin: …and humid on race day and I tend to not do as well in heat. I just don’t get a ton of opportunity being from the northeast to do it during the summer. A little bit, but not enough to really fully, truly acclimate to it.

Andrew: Gotcha.

Kristin: So we had worked a lot on nutrition and fluid intake and kind of playing with salt and how much I would need versus not need at certain temperatures. Then we also did a little bit of heat acclimation towards the end of the training cycle to help me out and make sure I was more comfortable with being very uncomfortable…

Andrew: Yeah.

Kristin: …in a warm environment. Overall it went really good. I felt like I was more than ready by the time race week got there.

Andrew: No, that's awesome and I know Coach Elizabeth raced that race as well. There were some other TriDotters there as well so just once you got on site in Chattanooga and things started becoming more real, I mean, what was that race week experience like down there in Tennessee?

Kristin: We had ended up getting down there a day late because of flying logistics and flights being canceled due to weather issues. So it definitely threw me off a little bit with me thinking that I was getting an extra day down there. But luckily we had planned it so we were getting there early so we still had time. We spent more time napping and kind of catching up on sleep…

Andrew: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kristin: …when we got there than I was thinking, but you know that kind of helped to reset me a little bit. Going down to Ironman Village I was expecting something similar to when I had done a couple of 70.3’s and the vibe of the place was just even stronger than it was at a half and like just taking it all in– I wanted to be part of it, but I also wanted to like step back and just like let it come to me as well. I had a chance to talk to some of the volunteers, people that are working there, pick up my bike because I had shipped it out like a week or two before. We did have a little get together of some of the TriDotters and Coach Elizabeth was there too to get to meet and just say hey before the race and good luck and kind of–

Andrew: Yeah. No, it’s always a ton of fun. It’s always a ton of fun being on site for all of those shake out events and the workouts and just the scene. I’ve never heard anybody use the word stronger to talk about the Ironman vibe compared to the 70.3 because Ironman Village it’s not that much bigger. I mean the race itself is a little bit bigger. The feel is a little bit bigger, but it’s super similar to being on site at Ironman Village for a 70.3, but it is different and just saying that the vibe is stronger, that’s such a good way to put it that I haven’t heard before. So kudos to you for that adjective there talking about the race day scene. So for you the race day arrived. Take us through your swim, bike, and run in Chattanooga. How did it go out there?

Kristin: With the swim, it’s a point-to-point swim so the swim start is a couple miles further up than where the exit is and so they kind of bus you up there. You can walk if you want to, but I didn’t get there early enough for that so I took the bus and a friend who had done it before had given me a heads up. Okay, usually they ship you on a bus, you get over there, you get off, you get in, and go swimming. So you want to get there early. So I did. I jumped in the water from the dock, got started. I’m coming up on people really quickly. People are overtaking me really quickly. It’s a little all over the place when you get started and eventually you kind of get into a grove. Because it’s a point-to-point swim there aren’t any turning buoys and the buoys are set up along the curve of the river, but for me because I’m used to sighting really far off, I just tended to swim in a straight line towards the bridges. I kept within the boundaries of the race, but it didn’t make sense to me to follow the buoy line because it was really busy there. So I stayed really far out and I was thinking of Jeff Raines in the water actually.

Andrew: Wonderful! He’ll be pleased to hear that.

Kristin: Yes! And so I found myself thinking about swimming a tangent when normally you run a tangent.

Andrew: Yeah.

Kristin: So got out of there, got on the bike. There were some train tracks there that I knew how to go over them because I’ve heard people talk about them and seen videos of, you know, how to go over them. They were covered, but they were still very large train tracks that were high elevated from the ground. So I was just kind of like, “please don’t lose anything. Please don’t lose anything!” and I didn’t. So luckily that was good.

Andrew: All of your cages did their jobs.

Kristin: Exactly and they haven’t in the past despite them supposedly being strong for it so I was very glad and it was fine. It’s a two loop rolling course and so working on being able to ride up the hill, crest the hill, go down the hill, but then very quickly doing that over again. It wasn’t the type of course where you get a good climb and then you get like this great descent afterwards. There were just a lot of “oop…you’re doing it again.”

Andrew: Up and down and up and down and up and down.

Kristin: Up and down going back and forth and that was an area that I had been trying to work on in some of my outdoor rides.

Andrew: Okay.

Kristin: And on race day I was like, “Oh, I think I’ve got it. This is good.” I finally felt like I was getting into a rhythm of it.

Andrew: It all clicked on race day.

Kristin: It did. I don’t know why it waited until then, but it was perfect timing. During special needs when I was getting my special needs I remember all of a sudden like it got crazy noisy and the crowds were going kind of wild behind me and Lionel Sanders had liked zoomed by at that moment and I was like, “Oh! I think that’s the green shirt.” that I see him back there.

Andrew: Hey Lionel!

Kristin: Right. So that was kind of cool, you know, a fleeting moment on the course. Then finally coming back down that last little lolly pop section of the course to transition one of the levers for my brakes had popped out.

Andrew: Oh goodness!

Kristin: So it was a little loose.

Chad: Oh no!

Kristin: Like the brakes still worked, but I had to like hold it in place and so luckily that was within the last mile or so before transition and I was just kind of like, “Alright, we’re done. I don’t have to worry about this. Whatever. Onward.” Then being able to hand my bike to somebody else…

Andrew: Yeah.

Kristin: …and like they took it for me and then bring it back to transition– that was amazing. That was the first time I’ve ever had that experience.

Andrew: I’ve seen it in like video footage. Like, Waco didn’t have that unfortunately. I had to walk my bike like a peasant, but yeah. No, super thrilled for you that you got that experience. That’s cool.

Kristin: That was great. I loved it. The volunteers in the tent were fantastic. I had almost kind of forgotten about using the Vaseline on my feet. It’s not something that I’ve ever really needed in training and so it wasn’t like an automatic, “Oh, don’t forget it. Don’t forget it. Don’t forget it.”

Andrew: Yeah, sure.

Kristin: But somebody else near me was getting some so she was like, “Here. Here’s one for you too.” And so I put it on and I was like, “Yes!” I absolutely knew that I needed it. While I was still winding my way out I noticed that I had a rock stuck in that area that the Vaseline probably picked up. So I had pulled over to get it out of my shoe and I had ended up stopping right in front of another TriDot racer’s family.

Andrew: Oh I love it.

Chad: Yay!

Kristin: And so they were checking in on me making sure I was okay and then when they found out that I was just clearing rocks out of my socks…

Andrew: Like “why are you stopping?”

Kristin: Yeah exactly. It’s like, “No I’m good. I just need to get rid of those rocks so I will stay good.”

Andrew: TriDot Nation is everywhere.

Kristin: Like the placement of them could not have been better. It was so fantastic to just see family members and they were like “Ooo TriDot!” So had left. The first half was interesting. I did come across some GI issues that I’ve never had any issues with before. Hadn’t changed anything nutrition wise like leading up to the race or during the race, but it happens. Surprise! So when I had made it to special needs that Imodium was there that again I had packed because people told me you need it or if you do need it you will be grateful for it and they were absolutely correct. There it was. I needed it. Fantastic. So the second half of the race went a lot smoother.

Andrew: Oh that’s great.

Kristin: Which is good because I was getting tired by that point you know. There is one huge hill that you go over several times in Chattanooga called Barton and it’s kind of like the nemesis of the run that everybody knows.

Andrew: I’ve heard of it. Yeah.

Kristin: And I had driven over it so I knew exactly kind of like what to expect before the race and I had already decided or given myself the okay if you will– no matter where you are in your running plan–

Andrew: Just walk it.

Kristin: –walk up this.

Andrew: Yep.

Kristin: It will help with your recovery. It will help you to continue going forward no matter what part of the race you’re at.

Andrew: And we had in Waco, we kind of had the same thing. There’s one area– the Waco run course is a three loop course and there was one area that had a really gnarly hill or two and so I went in just kind of same as you. Like, “Hey, when I get to that hill, there’s no value in running that hill. I’m just going to walk that hill.” and it was a planned walk break and throughout the day you almost need to take walk breaks anyway and so for me it was almost like relief when I got to the hill because it was like, “Oh, yes! My walk break is here.”

Kristin: Yep.

Andrew: And it just gives you a moment to kind of reset and just kind of enjoy the little walk up. So yeah, I did the same as you when I was in Waco.

Kristin: And it definitely helped.

Andrew: It definitely did help. Yeah. So what was the kind of finish line, the last stages of the run coming into the finish, seeing that dream realized. What was kind of that moment like? Kind of that last hour of Ironman Chattanooga?

Kristin: So you’re crossing one of the bridges in Chattanooga for the second time and at this point it was dark so they had all the lights on and just kind of had a little bit more of a mood lighting feel which was a lot different than when I had crossed it earlier in the day and there were a lot of spectators and visitors that just happened to be on the bridge and cheering you on. But both times crossing the bridge, like anyone on the bridge when you were running they were just kind of like, “Oh hey! There’s somebody racing right now. Let’s stop what we’re doing and kind of cheer you on a little bit.” So you cross the bridge and then you make the turn coming towards the finish and it’s the point where you either go right to go to a second loop or you go left towards the finish and there was one volunteer at that point and he was like, “Are you going out for the second loop?” and I was like “No I am not! I am going towards the finish.” And he was like, “Alright, go that way!”

Andrew: That’s such a good feeling.

Kristin: And after I had seen him, you know it’s pretty dark in this one stretch. There aren’t a lot of people there because I think if you’re right there you want to be at the finish line at that point.

Andrew: Yep, absolutely.

Kristin: And so it was pretty quiet for a little bit, but then all of a sudden you’re coming up on the finish line and you have heard the announcer for a handful of miles before hand at this point, you know announcing people and talking, but finally like it’s starting to get louder, it’s starting to get brighter, you’re hearing the music again and then all of a sudden you hit the red carpet and there are so many people on both sides of the red carpet. You can barely see anything because it’s so bright so you’re just kind of like following that red carpet and it was fantastic. Everybody out there is just so excited to see you finish. They all want high fives and so of course I obliged and gave them all high fives.

Andrew: You were the super star in that moment. Yeah.

Kristin: Oh yeah! I was going to take my super star moment, totally.

Andrew: Love it.

Kristin: There were more people coming up towards the finish that even though I couldn’t see them it sounded like they were family members of TriDot so again that TriDot Nation…

Andrew: Yes!

Kristin: …coming up again towards the finish and then you cross the finish line and you’re just kind of like, “Oh my gosh. I just did it. That was amazing.”

Andrew: So I was at a lot of races this year. I was not at Chattanooga. I’ve never seen the Chattanooga course so Kristin thanks just for sharing those stories and sharing your time out there. I know it’s just a great course that hopefully I’ll get to visit one of these days. I was, however, in Arizona Chad where you raced. So I got to see you several times that week as you prepared for the race. How was race week in Tempe for you?

Chad: Oh, the pre-race stuff was great. That’s one of my favorite memories I think of that. It was just all the TriDot at the Races Events. The pre-race shakeout runs and rides and there was a happy hour with the coaches Q&A and it made it even more fun that my coach was there doing the race with me.

Andrew: Yeah for sure.

Chad:  You know, having Jeff there and just I think my favorite was probably the shakeout run where you can just run alongside people and start to get to know people. I met some teammates that, you know, finally see them face to face. You know, you’ve been on calls with them or on Facebook and then just hearing people’s stories, just like Kristin shared. Like stories of how they got there and you know, making new friends. So that’s my favorite part of the pre-race stuff. But otherwise it was just like trying to stay relaxed, out of my head, and keep the nerves down.

Andrew: Yep, no for sure. I’m just like you. I never get tired of hearing people’s stories because in a way all of our stories are similar, but in a lot of ways all of our stories are very different and I just never get tired of hearing what got somebody to Ironman. I never get tired of hearing what got somebody to their first sprint or Olympic and so yeah, Chad, I’m the same as you. I always enjoy the shakeout runs. I always enjoy the shakeout swim while you guys are in the water, kind of checking out the water. We were just kind of standing and watching everybody’s bags and just chit chatting and it’s just so cool at every single race to get to meet athletes like yourself face to face. I totally get that. You referenced the nerves and trying to stay calm, trying to keep the nerves at bay. The closer you got to race day did those increase or did you successfully kind of stay calm the whole week? How were you feeling heading into your first Ironman?

Chad: Yeah, I mean being around people definitely helps a lot. Like if you’re just hanging out by yourself in your room, that’s when it’s– you know, it’s like “Okay, what movie can I watch to distract myself.” You know, trying to get out of yourself. So it went pretty good. I wasn’t too nervous, but the nerves were still there.

Andrew: So all week long your coach, Jeff Raines, he had told us that you had a shot at being the first person out of the water on the swim course. And normally I’ve heard coaches say things like that and normally it’s slightly hyperbole, but not for you. You came out of the water a wildly impressive 7th overall and you looked great on your way to your bike. We got to see you transition. So just starting from the morning before you hopped into the water with the fasties, just kind of give us the play-by-play of how your race shook out.

Chad: Alright, yeah, sure. So yeah, before– it was a pretty long walk after we dropped all of our stuff off to go over to the race start swim where you self-seeded and it was cool because Jeff was with me because he’s roughly the same speed so he was right behind me and we were just hanging out getting ready to go in. You and John Mayfield and Matt Bach were all there which was really cool. So we were just trying to stay relaxed, getting ready. Jumping into the water it was awesome. It was perfect temperature for me. It was mid 60s, it was great. It wasn’t too murky.

Andrew: It’s not the most pleasant. For people who haven’t seen Tempe Town Lake, it’s not the most pleasant body of water to swim in, but it’s not terrible at the same time.

Chad: It’s not terrible, yeah. There’s definitely been worse and better. So yeah. The swim felt great. Again, I knew, like you said, I was 7th coming out. I knew I wasn’t first because after we settled in for probably about ten minutes I knew there were a few that kind of just took off and I just got into my grove. It felt great. I came out and–

Andrew: Chad, tell me this before we move on from the swim.

Chad: Yeah.

Andrew: Because this is something that Kristin and I cannot relate to and I kind of just want to hear what it’s like frankly. So when I’m in the water for Ironman Waco. I’m in the Brazos River. I started with the 1:15 to 1:20 group where I expected to finish and I’m just– the entire swim, Chad, at any given point I could look in front of me and there were just athletes swimming as far as the eye can see down the river and I could look behind me and there were athletes just as far as I could see coming behind me down the river because I was in the middle of the pack and that’s where most of us land on Ironman swim day. I mean, most of us have a ton of athletes in front of us, a ton of athletes behind us. You just kind of stay in line until the end. But for you when you’re in that front pack, I mean, you look forward and is it just open water, maybe a few dots on the horizon of other swimmers? I mean what is it like being up there in the front knowing you’re in the front group of that race?

Chad: Yeah, I mean, that’s exactly what it was like.

Andrew: Wild!

Chad: You know, I could sight up and there’s clear water in front with a few people up and off to the side and stuff. I looked behind me a few times just to make sure nobody was drafting off of me because I just hate that. Like when they’re right on your heels and you’re working really hard and they’re just like getting a nice ride. I was like, “Nope.” I’m going to slide off to the side and avoid that. Then from there, yeah coming out of the water was awesome. I saw y’all there yelling and the run from the water from T1 was like crazy long. Like, I just kept going and I just kept running. I’m like, “Wow. This is a really long time.” I think it was over half a mile.

Andrew: It was a little ways.

Chad: Yeah, getting into T1, but once I got into T1 they said there wasn’t going to be wetsuit strippers, but the volunteers were just so amazing. Like he was like, “put your feet up!” and he just helped me rip it off and then I was on my way on the bike. The bike was super bumpy. I don’t know if it was because of Arizona the heat and then the cold. There were just a bunch of gaps and bumps and stuff. It was a pretty bumpy ride and on the first loop my bike computer came off and so–

Andrew: Really?

Chad: Yeah. The vibration was so high that my bike computer popped off so I stopped and was luckily just able to get out of the way and then was able to grab it and the rubberband was still attached to it so I was able to put it back on. But when I stopped my chain came off, one of my water bottles came out and cracked a lid. Like, it was just kind of crazy. I was like, “Oh boy!” That happened to Raines as well. I think he lost all of his hydration pack. It just like cracked and like broke off. So it was kind of crazy.

Andrew: I’d be curious to see that bike– I’ve seen parts of that bike course. I haven’t seen the whole bike course because Waco was incredibly bumpy as well. I remember, Chad, I think I was between mile 80 and 90 on loop two and I just remember thinking to myself like– going into Ironman I thought by mile 80-90 I would want to get off the bike because my butt would just be hurting, but the truth is my butt was fine. By mile 80-90 I was just sick of being jostled. I think I like outloud to myself at one point was like I’m just so sick of being jostled. Like, get me off this bike, get me off this road, but I didn’t lose anything though. So that’s interesting that so many people were dropping stuff. I would be curious to see– and you guys had quite a bit of wind kick up out there as well correct?

Chad: Yeah, so it was– the bike course was three loops and the wind was on the– there’s a highway called the Beeline which, that’s the incline right?

Andrew: Okay, yeah.

Chad: You go all the way up and then you turn around and so you had a head wind going out each time so you had to stay in aero to just avoid like slowing down. But yeah. So that was– Overall though my bike split I was really happy with it. I was only like 15 minutes off RaceX’s prediction.

Andrew: Oh that’s awesome.

Chad: Yeah. So it was like with the headwind and all that, all the mishaps, just in that first one it was like, “okay, made it past that.” Then you know, coming into transition and I was just happy to be off the bike. Like the vibration and I even posted this on Facebook like, I couldn’t see straight like the end of the last loop. It was like one eye was focusing different from the other and I don’t know if it was just the vibration or…

Andrew: Yeah, I feel like I was kind of like tunnel vision by then. Just the last three, four, five miles you’re just hoping nothing goes wrong. You’re hoping nothing, no one gets in your way because you’re just not fully with it at that point at least I certainly wasn’t. But the whole time you were biking, Chad, I had as many TriDotters as I could have in my tracker and you Jeff Raines, and Coach Kurt Madden, I mean all three of you guys racing were just kind of in a row the entire bike split. So I mean for you to go out there– Kurt and Jeff are both monsters on the bike and…

Chad: Oh, they’re amazing.

Andrew: …you were right there with them the entire bike split. So hats off to you. So you transition. You’re on the run. How was the run?

Chad: Yeah, I was just happy to be off the bike at that point and I think in fact when I came out I saw the three of you; you, John, and Matt, and I think you guys were yelling at me that I was smiling too much and I think John yelled out, “Work harder!” which made me laugh. Yeah, into that first loop I was feeling depleted, like tired. I realized I couldn’t hold the pace that I wanted to and that the heat was starting to get to me.

Andrew: Yeah. The heat was starting to kick up.

Chad: Yeah and I wasn’t fully acclimated coming from– it was mid 80s and I was coming from low 40s up here.

Andrew: Slight difference.

Chad: So slight difference. Just a little bit. But I stuck to my hydration plan so that wasn’t an issue and I was like what’s going on? So I started like dumping ice every aid station; dumping ice down my kit front and back and that seemed to help. I actually caught up with Raines who was unfortunately having some back spasms. So we walked it out for a little bit and chatted. But yeah, there was a lot of walk/run.

Andrew: Yep.

Chad: I didn’t have as many hills as y’all did, but I did my fair share of walk/running. Starting that third loop– and it was great because the run was three loops as well so you got to see a lot of spectators. I saw my wife, my son, my family encouraging me. I saw y’all encouraging me and you even ran with me at the start of the third loop which was really, really encouraging. You were like, “Hey, you’re going to finish!” and it was like, “Yeah you’re right. I am!” So that was really encouraging and helped out a lot. Yeah, and it was just the last few miles it was like, “Okay I’m going to run to the next aid station, fuel up, and then I’ll walk a little bit, and then okay I’ll run to the next one.” Then it was like really dark before you actually get into the chute because you can keep going for the next lap or there was a turn off if it was your last one you turn off and then it was just like dark and there wasn’t a lot of people there. Then it was like everybody, right?

Andrew: Yep.

Chad: Coming into the finish.

Andrew: I’m certainly jealous of both of your finish experiences. The one in Waco unfortunately– and it was a great experience. I’ll never forget it. Great moment for sure. The problem for me is I’ve seen the other courses and I know what the finish chute is typically like and in Waco there’s a suspension bridge that was built in like the year 5 B.C. I don’t know. It’s really freakin’ old and so they normally end the race– you run over this really old suspension bridge and the finish line is at the end of it and so you have this nice long straight away over the Brazos River to the finish chute. Well that bridge was under construction this year so they routed us kind of a weird way and then you hit the chute as you were turning right and the finish line was right there. So like at IMAZ and Chattanooga and Ironman Florida this year, I’ve seen Ironman Coeur d’Alene, like it’s typically just; Ironman Tulsa– It’s typically just a long straight away where you can see those lights, you can hear the booming voice of the announcer, you can see where the red carpet starts, you can see the crowd dead ahead and it kind of lets you build into that realization of that “Oh I’m almost there, I’m almost there, I’m almost there, I’m there.” Whereas for us it was like, “Hold onto your hat in the headwind, turn the corner, and you’re there.”

Chad: Surprise!

Andrew: Yeah. Yeah and you’re done. Again, it’s totally fine. It was what it was. It does not take away from my Ironman finish at all, but Kristin definitely got to talk about just the glitz and the glamor of her moment. Chad, what was that finish line moment like for you?

Chad: So yeah. So the darkness coming in and then like seeing that there it is. It’s coming. I think the first people I saw were you and John and Matt which was awesome to see you guys cheering me on, but then it was like, “Okay where’s my wife? Where’s my kids? Where’s my family?” But then also like hearing Mike Riley, coming into the lights and everything, and it was just like I was filled with gratitude. I was just so thankful– well to be done of course. It was like ahh! So exhausted, but just everything that led up to that and I just felt so supported from the volunteers to the TriDot staff to like going back to Coach Raines and then everybody that supported me on the journey to get here. The PT, the chiropractor, the bike fit… like all the people. Everybody. I was just so, just grateful after it.

Andrew: So when you reflect on your triathlon journey and you reflect on becoming an Ironman this year, what nugget of wisdom would you pass on to other triathletes that are considering making the leap to Ironman? Chad, we’ll start with you.

Chad: I think my nugget of wisdom that hopefully is encouraging for everyone is a lesson that I’ve relearned doing this Ironman is that you can do way more than you think you can.

Andrew: Yeah that’s great.

Chad: Our limits are way more mental than physical. I mean you can be exhausted after doing an Ironman and your kid is in trouble, like 500 yards away and you’ll sprint. Like you could be exhausted and you’ll run. Like there’s– Jeff Raines calls it grit, your mental toughness. So I don’t know. Maybe a future podcast episode on mental training, some mental toughness. I know there’s one on grit, but–

Andrew: We have already recorded one of those that will be coming out in the early springtime.

Chad: Oh! Look at that.

Andrew: Yep, yep, yep, yep and it’s myself, Elizabeth James and he’s a famous run coach named Bobby McGee who works with several–

Chad: Yes.

Andrew: For people who have been on TriDot for a while he was in the old run drill videos. He’s more or less a coach/consultant for a lot of Ben Kanute, Gwen Jorgensen, and a whole long list of big time names that he works with on specifically their running form. But yeah, anyways. So yeah. That episode…

Chad: Awesome.

Andrew: …Chad, will be coming out in I believe March. We’ll see. We’ll see how it shakes out. Kristin, for you what nugget of wisdom as you reflect on your tri journey overall would you give to somebody considering making a leap to Ironman?

Kristin: Umm, I would definitely say learn to work on being flexible. I went into it thinking that I had a good idea of what I needed to do in terms of what to expect training, what to expect nutrition wise, and then some of those things worked, some of them definitely did not.

Andrew: Okay.

Kristin: And so being able to talk to my coach, being able to talk to other athletes, you know both people that I trained with locally and with other TriDotters, it gave me a really good idea of how to– well this isn’t working out so well for you. What can you do that maybe would be a little bit better? I think being able to look at that and apply it to training also really worked well on race day as well. I mean, overall there weren’t– I had a really good race. There weren’t like major hiccups there…

Andrew: That’s great. Love to hear that.

Kristin: …that were unexpected, but it felt to me like if I was going into it with the expectation that if there was a hiccup that’s okay. Part of the race is figuring out how to respond to that and kind of like keep going rather than having it be more of a roadblock in my plan. So I think the flexibility is definitely– was a huge piece for me that helped a lot.

Andrew: So 2021 was the year you became an Ironman. So what is next for each of you as you look ahead to racing in 2022 and beyond? Kristin?

Kristin: A lot of 2022 is still up in the air. The one thing that is definitive is Lake Placid next July.

Andrew: Alright. So that full distance Ironman #2 is already on the books and you’ve got a little climbing to do on that bike course in Lake Placid.

Kristin: Umm-hmm I sure do.

Andrew: Chad, for you what’s next my friend?

Chad: Uh, yeah. A lot of it is up in the air too. I’ve been spitballing kind of a two year plan with Coach Raines. I am signed up for Oregon 70.3 in July next year and that’s the only thing I’m currently signed up for, but looking at a few others. I want to do some, I think like you, some shorter distance stuff and but also my youngest son is going to be a senior next year so that’s going to kind of take a little more priority.

Andrew: Yeah, sure. Love that.

Chad: Yeah, but I think there’s another full Ironman in the future.

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

Andrew: It’s been a minute since we’ve wound the show down with TriDot book recommendations. So while I had two new voices on the show I thought it would be a good time to check in and see if they’ve read anything lately that they would recommend. I personally always travel with my Kindle so I’m always looking for my next read. So Kristin, let’s let you go first. Any book recommendations for your fellow athletes listening today?

Kristin: Umm…I’m going to vere away from the triathlon theme for a little bit.

Andrew: Okay, we’ll allow it.

Kristin: I have recently read a book called “The Buried Book” and it’s more of a suspense fiction type novel. It’s a book that I like to read like if I go away somewhere. You have a long drive or you have a long plane ride and just time to sit and read.

Andrew: Alright. So a quality fiction entry into the TriDot Bookshelf. I love it Kristin, I love it. It’s good to have a personal recommendation on fiction to me because I do enjoy fiction, but I’ve got to know going in like, okay this one’s a banger. This one’s a good one and to sick with it. So I will mental note that for my Kindle Bookshelf. Chad for you, which book do you want to add to the TriDot Bookshelf of recommendations?

Chad: Well, I’ve got several and I hope that’s okay, but I love that you use the word banger to denote a really good book.

Andrew: Thank you, sir.

Chad: I do a lot of audio books so a couple of the recent ones that I’ve listened to are both of Tim Grover’s books. One’s called “Relentless” and the other one’s called “Winning.” He was Michael Jordan’s trainer and he was on the Netflix series The Last Dance.

Andrew: How cool.

Chad: So those are really good books. There’s a quote in there that made me pause and skip back ten seconds where he says– and I think this is what he says to his clients. He’s like, “Get comfortable with discomfort or go fail somewhere else.” It was like, oooh.

Andrew: Wow.

Chad: That kind of stings a little bit.

Andrew: That’s like– there’s layers to that quote. That’s a very layered quote.

Chad: Ohh, big time. On my long runs training for Ironman Arizona I went through Chris McDougall’s book “Born to Run.”

Andrew: Yep that’s a great one.

Chad: That’s a great one. But the last one that I just finished just actually two nights ago is called “The Comfort Crisis” by Michael Easter. It’s a really good book. The subtitle on the book cover is “Embrace discomfort to reclaim your wild, happy, healthy self.” Like he goes into health in it but also interweaves it with stories of this long six-week trip he did in the Arctic. You know, talk about discomfort.

Andrew: Oh cool.

Chad: But, yeah. It’s a great read.

Andrew: Alright, very cool. Thanks to both of you. The one I will leave everybody with, I read it I think on the plane flight to and from Ironman Coeur d’Alene this year. So a little earlier in the year I read “The Perfect Mile. Three athletes, one goal, and less than four minutes to achieve it.” It’s by Neal Bascomb and basically it’s about the goal and the three athletes who were striving to be the first one to break the four minute mile. So it was a Brit, an American, and an Aussie. Roger Bannister, Wes Santee and John Landy. All three of them were trying to become the first man to go faster than four minutes in the mile. Three very different athletes. Three very different backgrounds and they had three very different training approaches so it was just really interesting to read their stories and read kind of what they were trying in their training in an attempt to get just seconds faster to be the first man to go under four minutes in the mile. What was cool is, it’s kind of like the movie Titanic. Even though you knew the ending– I mean we all know Roger Bannister was the guy to do it, but I was just so often on the edge of my seat reading the accounts of their time trials and their races and Kristin kind of like what you said, not directly triathlon related, but I think all of the athletes out there, just the inner athlete in us everyone will enjoy that one. So that’s my recommendation today.

That’s it for today folks. I want to thank athletes Kristin Meurer and Chad Rolfs for sharing their Ironman stories with us today. Shoutout to UCAN for partnering with us on today’s episode. Head to UCAN.co and use the code TRIDOT to save 20% on your entire order. Enjoying the show? Have any triathlon questions or topics you want to hear us talk about? Head to tridot.com/podcast and let us know what you’re thinking. We’ll have a new show coming your way soon. Until then, Happy Training!

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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