Adjusting for Obstacles During Your A-Race Preparations

TriDot Podcast Episode 263

Adjusting for Obstacles During Your A-Race Preparation

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. When we are in the preparations, getting ready for our A-Race, whether that A-Race is an Ironman or a short course event or anything in between, sometimes the training can go perfectly, but other times, many times, oftentimes we end up with some obstacles that can hinder our training, throw off our training. It might be a little rare for a triathlete to actually get on the starting line for their A-Race, having had everything go perfectly in training. So what do we do? How do we adapt? How do we flex the schedule, flex our training regimen when a major obstacle gets in between us and our ideal training schedule? Today on the TriDot Podcast, we have a very special case study where we're going to be examining how one athlete and her coach navigated some major obstacles between her and her A-Race. And that athlete on the show today to walk us through this is my co-host for the TriDot Podcast, Vanessa Ronksley. Vanessa, thanks so much for coming on and sharing some fun stories. How are you today?

Vanessa Ronksley: I'm doing absolutely fabulous. It's always a pleasure to be on the podcast, and especially when it's with you, Andrew. It makes it even that much more sweet when it's with you. And I have to say, with the other guest that's on the podcast as well.

Andrew: Well, I mean, you're a host as much as I am, so please tell us who that other guest is.

Vanessa: Well, on the podcast today, we have a special guest, whose name is Mr. Ryan Tibball, and he is my coach and, more importantly, my friend. And I am honored to be sitting here with the both of you and being able to chat about my experience in Nice.

Ryan Tibball: I'm honored. I'm grateful. And we'll talk more about that. But, oh my gosh, seeing y'all two here, it's, wow. It's like, again, as others have said, celebrities, y'all are, for sure. But I am very, very happy to be here at this moment, for sure.

Andrew: Well, as usual on the podcast, I am Andrew, the average triathlete, voice of the people and captain of the middle of the pack. Almost forgot to say that. But, as usual, we're going to start with our warm-up question. We'll settle in for our main step topic, which, if you haven't picked up, we're going to be talking with Vanessa about her race in Nice at the IRONMAN World Championships. And we have her, we have her coach, and we're going to talk through how they navigated some major obstacles that could have really thrown off her training, could have really thrown off her race day, arguably did throw off her training. And we're going to see what we can learn as athletes about how to adjust our own training situations when we have to do so. And then we'll end with our cool-down. It's going to be a great show. Let's get to it.

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

Andrew: This question totally comes from having Vanessa just traveled to Nice, France. And I'm just curious, personally, about what the food is like in Nice, France. I would love to sit down at a French cafe myself and enjoy a wonderful meal. But this made me wonder, while we're talking about traveling abroad, going somewhere new, let's be foodies for a little bit here today. Not triathlon-based at all, but let's be foodies. What is the best meal you've ever had while traveling? This can be international. This can be domestic. But in all of your travels, what is the singular greatest meal you think you've ever enjoyed? Vanessa, maybe yours is from France. Maybe it's not. What do you think here?

Vanessa: Well, you know, I had a hard time with this question, as always. There's just so many to choose from. And I was going to go with Australia, but then I was like, that wasn't really traveling. I kind of lived there. So I am choosing one from France, but it's not from my trip to Nice. So my first instinct when I got this question was to go with this story. So we traveled to the UK a while back to visit some friends that we had met when we were traveling in Australia the first time we went there. And the four of us were going to be traveling to Paris for the first time. And so we went to Heathrow. There were a ton of delays. Like we're talking like 14, 15, 16 hour delays. And so by the time we actually got into Paris, it was extremely late and we were all starving. So we found this one restaurant that was open, and we could see the Eiffel Tower with its shimmering lights in the background. And the only thing that they were serving at this restaurant was croque monsieur, which is bread with, sometimes it has a slice of ham on it and then it has melted cheese and an egg on top. I don't eat dairy. I was vegetarian at the time. But I was like, this is the only thing they're serving. So I guess you're just going to have to roll with it. So I devoured it, and the real cheese, after not having any of it for well over a decade, was so sublime. It was incredible. And then also we had like the company, right? Our friends from the UK whom we hadn't seen for a really long time. The ambiance, it was just mind blowing, the whole thing. But it did take my body a minimum of six weeks to clear that dairy that I consumed on that meal, but it was worth it. So very memorable.

Andrew: Great story from Vanessa. I can just, you start talking about cheese and I can just taste it in the back of my mouth. Yeah, good cheese is, Ooh. Mr. Ryan Tibball, same question over to you. What is your best meal you've had in all of your travels?

Ryan: Well, I'm a big seafood fan, huge seafood fan. I love seafood, and if it's a location that has it, I'm definitely ordering it straight off the way. But it happens to be, ironically, in Kona. Where I've had some of my best meals is in Kona. And it starts with the appetizer, to be honest. So calamari, they make calamari, for those that may not be fans, it's not what you think of your typical calamari in these rings and all these tentacles. No, they do it much better. And just trust me when you go to Kona, if you go to Kona, order calamari. They cut it in strips. So they actually use the body of the calamari, and they do it like, it looks like really long chicken strips, but it's calamari and it's so delicious. And, of course, they have their own, they make their own tartar sauce, which is just, it just compliments it so well. But moving into the main meal, it turns into, okay, now I want more seafood. It turns into fresh fish and chips from the Island of Hawaii.

Andrew: As fresh as you can imagine. Yeah.

Ryan: Exactly. And they're like, and it's funny. It's like, when I ask them, Hey, what is your fish in your fish and chips? They'll say, well, it's just, ono. I mean, just ono. I was like, are you kidding me? I was like, I don't get that here in these States and in Texas. And it's like, well, that's all we have. I was like, no, what I'm saying is I want that please. And I mean, it is so delicious. So again, I'm just a huge seafood, big seafood fan. And I actually look forward to. I do it when I go do the 70.3 there, dream of Kona, hopefully, in the future. But again, that's what I go to immediately. And I have it at least three or four times while I'm there for the entire week. So it's a no brainer for me.

Andrew: I'm a huge seafood fan as well. I love this pick from you. And I know Hawaii is close to your heart, with your wife being from there. So Coach Ryan Tibball finds any excuse he can to go do a race in Hawaii, to go back and travel there, visit there. So happy for you, Ryan, that your pick is one you can have fairly regularly in your travels. My pick is a country I've only been to once and a little bit harder to travel to it as regularly. But when we went and raced 70.3 Greece, my wife and I went over and we did a two-week vacation out of that where I did the race on the backside of the trip. One of the destinations that we went to in our time in Greece was Santorini, that's just one of the places you gotta go see it. If you've never gone and seen it, there's no island like it in the world. And we were there, because the race was in March, we were there on shoulder season, like tourists were starting to come back to Santorini, but it wasn't like a really warm summer, the island wasn't packed. There were a couple other couples at every restaurant we went to, it wasn't full anywhere you went. I don't know if it's because of that, or if it's just always this way in Santorini, but we went to dinner one night at a restaurant called La Maison that’s on the cliff side, overlooking the beautiful caldera that is Santorini. We went there, you’re on a patio underneath the stars with the water, and the ocean, and just the ambiance, and the lights all over the hill, exactly like you see in the pictures of Santorini at night. The vibes were high. We basically had the whole restaurant to ourselves and they kept bringing us stuff. We ordered our entrees, but they brought us two or three free appetizers. They ended up bringing us a free dessert. They kept bringing us free drinks to try, things that we didn't order, things that I don't even know. I can't even tell you to this day what it was, but they just kept bringing us drinks. I'm not a big alcohol guy, but I didn't want to disappoint my waiter, so I kept drinking whatever he brought us. We were in a very good mood from the drinks we were consuming. It was a great time, just me and my wife at one of the most picturesque places in the world. And the food there, genuinely, was incredible. I don't know what it was. My wife ordered a steak. I don't remember what I got, but her steak, like we told the chef when he came out and chatted with us for a little bit, we're from Texas, which is a state that really prides itself on knowing a good steak. And that was the best steak either of us had ever had. And we spent some money on some steaks in downtown Dallas. So that's my pick. One for the location, two for the company, three for the food, genuinely, was so good. To this day, we bought a magnet in Santorini that looks like it's a little Santorini grease magnet on our fridge. The business card from La Maison is on our refrigerator to this day with that magnet. So just a memento from that meal that we enjoyed. So that's my answer here. We're going to throw this question out to our audience here at Tridot. And I'm going to scroll this post. I'm sure Vanessa will as well. And so will coach Ryan. And I want to relive through you some of the best meals you've ever eaten. So find the post in the I am Tridot group, find the post in the community hub asking you the question, from all of your travels, what is the best meal you have ever had? I can't wait to see what you have to say.

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

TRIDOT PODCAST VARLO MERCH (Andrew): Starting our main set today with just one last call, one last call. If you heard the podcast last week, if you saw some of the social media posts this week, we have for the very first time, a Tridot Podcast run shirt for sale. It's a limited time thing. So we're one week into the sale, there's one week left on the sale. So at the time you're hearing this podcast episode, this is the final week. I'll put the link in the description. I love the running shirts put out by a company called Varlo. And I asked them, hey, can you make me a Tridot Podcast shirt? We decided to do a small batch sale on them. So click the link in this description from today's show, or find the link on our link tree, or through our social media channels, and head out to the races, head out into your next run workout, wearing a Tridot Podcast run shirt. I can't wait to get my hands on my own. That's for sure.

Andrew: Onto today's topic, Vanessa, I am pumped to hear about nice and I'm pumped to see what we as athletes can learn about how Coach Ryan tweaked your approach to training, tweaked your buildup to the race based on what was going on in your life. And we will definitely get to that in a few minutes, but first let's take a step back to when and where you qualified for this race. Qualifying for a world championship is a massive accomplishment and it's one that can be a little surreal, if you're not expecting it. Take us back to that moment. Where did you qualify for Nice and what was that moment like for you, having your name called, and walking up and accepting that slot?

Vanessa: Well, I was racing in Sacramento for IRONMAN California. And in preparation for that, Ryan told me, about a week before, that there was a good chance that I would qualify. And my first reaction was, why did you tell me that? I just knew that knowing that could very well have changed my race plan because I am a super competitive person. And with that in mind, I was concerned that I would get very anxious as opposed to being happy and joyful, which was my initial race plan, was to go out and smile the whole way. So I was thinking, oh no, this is not something I wanted to know. But he did tell me this because he's very conscious always about how triathlon fits into an athlete's life. And Ryan wanted me to tell my family that this was a possibility and to talk to them, to see if this was something that I should pursue if my name was called. So, my husband PJ is a slow to warm up type of person. So it was a really good thing. I remember telling Ryan, I should have known this about five years ago, because that would actually get PJ on board. Because it takes him a really long time to process these kinds of things. But he was super excited when I told him and he was like, well, how could you not? If this opportunity is presented to you, how could you not take it? So he told me that if my name was called, then I should definitely move forward with it. So they were on board. And then I needed to talk to Ryan, obviously, about how this would impact my mental state going into the race. And so we came up with some keywords and phrases to remind me of what my purpose was for this race. And that was to race happy, and to hold back on the bike, because I have a really hard time doing that. And the whole point of that…

Ryan: Yeah, she does.

Vanessa: Yeah. The whole point of me holding back on the bike was so that my kids didn't see me suffering on the run. Which was partially my fault, because I showed them the video of Julie Moss crawling to the finish line. I thought it was a great example of how amazing humans are, but they looked at me and said, "Is that going to be you mommy?" And I was like, "Oh no."

Andrew: But Vanessa, I got to tell you, when I was going to IRONMAN Waco, Morgan, that was something she said to me. She was like, "I do not want to see you that way." She knew that was a possibility, she knew that happens in those kinds of events, and she was like, "please don't have that be something that happens to you, because I don’t want to see that." Our two promises in these kinds of races is that: one, at stuff like an Ironman, I’m not going to balk or take myself to the edge where I might balk, and two, if I’m racing in a foreign country, I’m not doing anything that sends me to a hospital so that we are in a hospital in a foreign country. Those are two of our agreements. So, very interesting that your kids had a similar reaction to mommy going into Ironman.

Vanessa: Yeah, so that was a challenge. I didn’t feel that great on the run but I had to pretend that I felt great because I never knew were gonna be. They kept jumping around, so I had to just have a smile on my face the entire time and fake it till you make it. It turned out fine, and it was good. Crossed the finish line, and was super pumped about it.

Ryan: I remember that. I was there, Andrew, in Sacramento doing TriDot at the races. It was this huge group, but it was actually the first time to meet Vanessa in person. Obviously we talked a lot, a lot. I had to constantly reiterate, hey, this is your plan, this is your plan.

Andrew: This is a possibility, yeah.

Ryan: Yes. But I need you to do the right things on the bike. I need you to do the right things there, and swim the swim. And the run, I mean, when I did see her multiple times. But she does fake it till she makes it. She has this look all the while, that’s, like, elite level of enthusiasm every single time. She's feeling great. And she comes by me, she says, yeah so my stomach's not feeling so good. But with a smile on her face. And I'm, okay, so here's our plan, Vanessa, and gave her a little plan. She comes back around. She's still smiling. I don't know how she's feeling now because she smiles all the time. And she goes, I'm actually feeling better. And I was okay, great. But there is something I remember that day, it was her crossing that finish line. I knew, I saw her time and I saw everything, and I was like, there's a really great chance here. And then, if y'all ever seen a picture of her crossing an Ironman finish line, y'all need to just go ahead and look that up. It's amazing. But I was driving on the way to the airport, cause I had an early flight to catch, and I had to miss roll down. She calls me, or she sends me a picture with her and the French flag and her. And I was like, holy cow. She did it. I knew she could. And that was just, I was so proud of her, and still am, of course, but that was an amazing day. And just to be out there and to witness, that, right there, is her first qualification for that event. It was awesome.

Andrew: I didn't realize until I started going to more and more races for Tridot and attending more of the award ceremonies. Where I finish in the pack, I'm not a threat to go to a world championship. So until I was working for Tridot, I didn't go to those kinds of ceremonies to know what those moments are like. And it's fascinating because what a lot of people might not realize unless they've been to a roll down ceremony, when your name is called, you have to go claim that slot right then and there. You can't think about it. You can't, “hey, I'll get back to you tomorrow.” Like it's, it's not like you have a one week window to really work out the kinks on do I want to make this trip or not? You have to walk up there, right then and there, accept your slot, pay for your race registration. You have to have your credit card at that ceremony. It's a pretty wild moment for the athletes taking that. And so, for Coach Ryan to have prepped you for that possibility is very, very wise of him. And Vanessa, little did you know, as you're walking up to accept that slot, for Nice, that by the time the race in Nice rolled around, your life would look dramatically different. Your life's rhythms, your life career, your employment, where you were living. A lot of those things just totally changed between accepting that slot and actually going to Nice. Just kind of walk us through what was going on in the life of Vanessa in that timeframe.

Vanessa: Yeah, so I had actually deferred entry into a master's of epidemiology to be able to race in California because I wanted to focus on it. So I had deferred my entry until the fall of 2024. I am extremely passionate about women's health. And so, I was very excited to do a project on perinatal health and nutrition. And then following that up with a PhD and then a lifetime in academia. Which, my husband said to me, he's like, that does not suit you at all, but it was a dream that I had. So I really wanted to do it, and I had wanted it for a really, really long time. So it just seemed really appropriate. But two days after the Ironman, my eyes popped open and there was this thought that went from one side of my head to the other. And it just was, I don't want to do a master's anymore. And I almost fell out of bed. I was legitimately horrified that I had wanted this dream to be reality for so long and that I could have a thought like this. And so I wrestled with it for a really, really long time to see if that was real or if it was just like a magical race experience had altered my brain chemistry in some way to make me think inappropriate things. But what actually happened was I had had such a magical race experience in California that I realized that I wanted to work in the field of triathlon and I wanted people to have magical race experiences like I did. Because it's life altering, when you go down that carpet and you've accomplished something so amazing. Like there's nothing that compares to that. So I wanted to be able to help other people to experience that as well. And I actually reached out to you, Andrew.

Andrew:  You made a call to a close friend, yeah.

Vanessa: And I had a really tearful conversation. Not tearful, it’s more like sobbing. And after that conversation, I had enough courage to reach out to TriDot and ask if there was something that I could do and have triathlon be a full-time career for me. And one thing led to another, and as of March in 2024, I became a full-time TriDot staff member, which was one of the greatest moments ever. So, that's how it all happened.

Andrew: That is how it all happens. And Vanessa, there's going to be a future podcast, actually, in the coming months, we're going to talk a little bit more about TriDot at the races. What we, moving forward, are trying to do for our athletes alongside Ironman at as many races as humanly possible. So I don’t want to get too much into specifically what you’re working on right now for TriDot, but what I want to hear about here is what is your role for TriDot, your main responsibilities, and how did those responsibilities impact your training for the world championships?

Vanessa: Yeah, I was put to the task of developing a formula that could be replicated at the races. We had TriDot at the races previously, in one form. But because of the partnership with Ironman, it developed into a larger role in terms of activating the expo. I was brought on to orchestrate the expo side of TriDot at the races, and continue to try to keep what was already happening for TriDot at the races there as well. So that’s what I do. I come up with ideas and try and implement them at the expo and make it as successful as for athletes, and for coaches, and for spectators as possible. And that results in a full-time job that has work hours, somewhat flexible work hours during the week. But that rolls into the weekend as well, and traveling quite a bit for various events. Those events are next level, there is no downtime whatsoever. You hit the ground running, and you are just busy from morning until night. And it’s very, very fun. It requiring a lot of energy, which, fortunately, I have a lot of, so it’s perfect for me. I had multiple jobs at the start of March, and that was super stressful. And to tie my training into that became quite overwhelming, because I am the type of person who doesn’t like to miss a session. So that lead to a lot of early morning sessions, like really early. And also some late-night sessions, which I actually prefer, but are not as good for you, obviously. And sometimes I would training during the day, and then work after the kids went to bed. So that’s kind of how it all panned out in terms of working and training.  

Andrew: I've had conversations with so many people. Some at TriDot, some that work for IRONMAN, some that work for some of our partners and sponsors and other brands, but you get to know people. And particularly when somebody like yourself or myself, where we come from a profession or working for a non-triathlon company, you enter the triathlon world and you would think, oh, you're working in a triathlon role. It must be even easier to get your training in and to focus your work and workout life. Surely your company, and our company does, let's be very clear, TriDot is very for us training and racing. But there's so much happening and there are so many great opportunities we have as a company and we all love the company and love our job so much that it actually sometimes can be a barrier to getting the training in. There are several people, not just with Tridot, that I've spoken to that work for other companies that have a very similar experience. They're engaged athletes. They train regularly. They take a job at a company in the triathlon industry and suddenly it becomes harder to train regularly. So, that was definitely part of it for you. But not only, Vanessa, were you busy with that job transition and the travel side of that, right? Cause it looks like you said, this year, you've been at more races than many athletes dream of traveling to in a decade, in the last singular year. So the travel that was involved and all of that was obviously an obstacle to your training, but then you picked up an injury along the way that became another major obstacle to your training. Tell us what that was and what, with that injury, were you capable of doing in your training?

Vanessa: I was heading to Europe for a wedding at the end of April. I was running and still strength training and doing everything that I could to maintain fitness and to keep advancing in the strength area. And on one of the last days that I was there, my friend looked at my ankle and she's like, whoa, your ankle's really swollen. And I looked down and I was like, oh my gosh, it's the size of a grapefruit. And to be fair, it had hurt the last few days of the trip. When I was running, I was like, oh, this doesn't feel that great, but I'm headstrong. So I just kept on going. And I didn't think anything of it up until my friend had said something, but then as the day went on and we were walking more and more, I was like, there's something seriously wrong with my ankle. Like, I know this is not your typical issue. So I tried to get an x-ray when I was there, but it didn't work out. And so I hopped on the plane a couple of days later and went straight to urgent care. Like we literally dropped the bags off at front door and I went to urgent care and had an x-ray and it came back negative. And the doctor said to me that I had arthritis and that I should try some cycling and some swimming. And I was like, cool, I'll do that.

Andrew: Done and done. Easy, too easy.

Vanessa: Right? I was like, “perfect.” Yeah, it was too easy. “Easy as”, that's right, as the Aussies say. But it got worse and worse. And so I decided to get a private MRI, which ended up revealing that I had a stress fracture and a split tear in my perineal tendon, which meant that I needed to go into a boot for six to eight weeks with zero lower body activity for a minimum of four weeks. And once we hit that four-week mark, I started at 15 minutes on the bike. Here I was riding hours and hours a few weeks prior. And then here I am, I can't even make it through 15 minutes without having pain. So I worked very, very closely with physiotherapists, chiropractors, sports medicine doctor, and of course with Ryan, to ease into it, and also to be really smart, but also take a few calculated risks to allow my body to heal in the time that it needed to. So that was where we were at, in a boot from May until the first week in July. So that was tough, tough times.

Andrew: So Ryan, and this is part of the crucial part of the conversation here, right? As coach, you're working with an athlete, the athlete has this big A-race coming up. It does not get any bigger than an IRONMAN World Championship in terms of a race. Your athlete could be on the schedule to go deal. You get this call from Vanessa. She tells you what's going on. We finally get the diagnosis of what the injury is and she needs to be in a boot for a while. She's got a job where she's working weird hours, a lot of hours, weekend hours. What do you do? What adjustments do you make to take that athlete, which in this case is Vanessa, our beloved co-host of the podcast. How do you get her to the IRONMAN World Championship start line and finish line under those conditions? What did you do?

Ryan: First of all, yeah, no pressure, right? The one thing I have to applaud Vanessa is with communication. She told me while she was there on vacation and told me that day before she was leaving to come home about this injury. I was like, what, whoa, timeout. What happened? It was definitely a challenge from the get-go because really working with her physio, her PT, and working with those physicians was crucial. For me to understand what I could and could not do with her.

Andrew: We can in no way cover all the obstacles on this podcast episode that somebody might face there. There's too many individual circumstances that could arise. So Ryan, I am curious, what were some of the tangible things you have Vanessa do to keep the fitness as there as possible to let the body recover from the injury and account for the working hours and the travel schedule that she had? What were the tangible things? She's got her TriDot workouts in front of her. What were the adjustments you made? What were the strings you pulled to get her ready, as ready as she could be?

Ryan: It was, “okay, tell me first off what your physio said you can do. Oh, you can bike. All right, let's start there. Let's just get you on the bike. And then we need to measure your pain through that.” And we did methodically increase the duration. And then I would back off the duration and started adding a little intensity to it when it was allowable at that point. It was important to me, looking back, it was important to me to maintain as much of her FTP as we could, especially looking into this course. And really now looking through everything, she did a darn good job of that, maintaining that FTP within say 10 Watts. I was great. But again, it was like give and take on the intensities, give and take on the durations. And then as soon as I could get her into the water again, kicking and being able to really move around through the water. I got her in the water as much as I could. We had her swimming more, we had her biking more, focusing on those two disciplines the most. And then it wasn't really until probably three months, not even that, where she was actually allowed to really try to do something that simulated running and using the lever system. And even then, her longest run, her lead up was four miles to Nice. And that in itself was like, whoa. But again, it came back to getting the conditioning, the cardiovascular conditioning out of the swimming, getting the time in the saddle. As I always believe, it's like the bike really benefits the run the most. And when you talk about those two disciplines together, so you can bike more, we can still maintain some degree of fitness to the run with that. And actually really even almost put a curb to how much you're actually going to lose on the run. But looking back, even at her race splits, was evident that that plan worked. I was confident in the plan and I listened, we have some legendary coaches like Mark Allen who talked the same way, and he knows what he's doing. I'm going to listen to that guy, too. And again, this is something Bobby McGee, same thing. I talked to Bobby about things too, and it was great to have to be able to fall upon other TriDot coaches in order to, again, I did not want to sit on an island here. This was important to me to consult others as well as her physicians, her physios and all that. So we did really meticulously go through week after week, day after day, telling her, this is up to the minute. This is how long you should go. And the calculated risk was, all right, if you're feeling okay at this point, then go another five minutes to another 10 minutes. And then also when you can get outside, as soon as you can on the bike, she's got some nice mountains climbing Canada. And I said, let's experience those. If you can, if it's safe, it's the right thing to do. If you're cleared to do that, clipping in and out. We had to go down to the nitty gritty of things on each discipline. Again, there was a mental side of things. We talked a lot about that mental side, the confidence side. It was an intangible. You have to do it. You have to do it. Vanessa kept that solid mind. Everyone naturally has a little bit of doubts here, there, but it was her and our relationship here was so important that we communicated and we just kept that train rolling up until she did her thing in Nice. She just absolutely crushed it. Looking at her race predictions now, aside from the fact that, yes, she was a little limited in her run, she nailed her race predictions. It was amazing. The joke was, Vanessa, you couldn't find that extra few seconds just to get below sub 14 hours, but, hey, that was a joke. I was just blown away at her consistency on the day-to-day leading up from months and months, those several months of leading up. It was such a joy to see her drive, but how she balanced life, balanced family. We made sure she kept her priorities straight, which was her family and her life first. And then we would make this other thing work. And it did. So very grateful to you, Vanessa, always will be.

Andrew: It's very interesting hearing some of those very specific, tangible things you did, right, to adjust the training, keeping her body and how her body felt in primary view the entire time. Vanessa, I want to ask you about this. Ryan mentioned it there, right at the end. I would imagine, we talked quite a bit about what it did to your body, right? Your injury. What your travel schedule did to your ability to train, your energy levels, your focus, you had a lot going on. And I imagine with all those obstacles, not only was it impacting the physical side of the training, but it had to have been impacting the mental side of your approach to this race. Just talk to us about what was your mindset through the training cycle? What was your mindset hopping on the plane and flying in Nice? What was your mindset on race week in terms of what you thought you could do out there and, just, where was your headspace at throughout the whole process walking through this?

Vanessa: Yeah, well, from the moment that I qualified, I was very nervous, because the Nice course is extremely daunting. When you see that elevation profile, which I had, I saw it every day. I looked at it every single day to remind myself that this is something that's very big, and that I want to do it, and I want to do it well. So when the injury happened, obviously, I went into a little bit of a mental tailspin for a couple of weeks where I was just beside myself as to, am I going to be able to accomplish my goal that I've been dreaming of for a really long time? Is this a possibility? But during that time, I picked up a book. We've talked about it before on the podcast, I think. It was The Comeback Quotient, and the whole premise of that book is to become an ultra realist with whatever situation is your reality. And so, that really changed my mindset right from the first chapter. Once I accepted that this is what was happening, then my option was to choose how I was going to react to it, and what steps I was going to take to make sure that I was going to get where I wanted to go. And I honestly told every single person that I was working with. With my therapist, with my physiotherapist, my chiro, my sports doctor. The first meeting that I had with any of them is, I am going to the start line of Nice. And what are you going to do to help me get there? And it was not a question of, I may go there, I may not. It was like, I'm racing. So you're either going to be helping me, or I'm going to find someone else who will help me. At one point, one of them said to me, this might be a career-ending race. And I was like, well, fine. Then that's what it's going to be, because I want to do it. I've put a lot of investment into this experience already. I can't let anyone else down. I didn't want to let myself down, obviously, but there were other people involved in this as well that I didn't want to let down. So I was going, you're either on my team or you're not. So I was feeling, after I had accepted the reality of what it was, and kind of went, changed my mindset from racing in Nice to completing and crossing that finish line. That's what the goal became. So I was like, okay, well, what are the cutoff times? I was thinking it's going to take me 17 hours. How much time do I have to do the bike? How much time do I have to do the run? And that's a strange place to be when that's not typical of what you're expecting of yourself. It took a lot of time for me to accept that. But once I accepted it, it was full steam ahead. Let's get to it and focus on what you can do. I didn't have very many moments, after I changed my mindset, where I felt that it wasn't going to happen, because I believed with my whole being that I was going to cross that finish line. But sometimes there was a little bit of wavering belief, and something that Ryan and I had talked about was imagine what it's going to feel like to cross that finish line. Imagine what it's going to sound like. What is it going to look like? Who's going to be there? And so I created this experience when I had a doubt, I had to flip the switch, which is something that Ryan taught me, to, okay, well, what's it going to look like, feel like, and I would go through the motions. And as soon as I had experienced my finish line with visualization, I felt better. And then I would just carry on forward with what I was doing. So my mindset was pretty good up until the race. And when I did my second race rehearsal, it was legitimately four days before I left for Nice. And it was after having activated in Wisconsin, which was an extra long activation because there was two races, 70.3 and a full. I did that race rehearsal on tired legs because I had raced the bike portion of the 70.3 and continued to do as much as I could while I was there. I did the Fulgaz course, and my bike ride was seven hours, and I almost finished the entire course in seven hours. And after that moment, I was like, I've got this. I want to race this weekend. I am so ready. There's nothing that is stopping me from crossing that finish line. Absolutely nothing. And I was ready. I felt so ready. And from that moment on, I was excited, very excited, to be a part of it and to have this opportunity. I was just ready to go. And, like Ryan had said, my off the bike run was 40 minutes on that day. And I had done a run, walk protocol and I had got to four miles. That was the max I had run from the end of April up until that point. And it just was what it was. I was like, well, that's just how it's going to go. And I had expected fully, I was prepared, my nutrition plan, everything. I was prepared to walk the entire marathon. But that didn't happen. No, it didn't.

Andrew: Well, let's, yeah, let's talk about that, Vanessa. Let's talk about your race day. I've ridden the Nice course on Fulgaz. It's really cool to see it on the screen as you're climbing the hills and feeling the resistance on your indoor trainer. You saw it in person. You swam out there. You biked out there. You ran out there. Just give us the quick, the quick-ish, version of your race report. How did it go in Nice? What was race day like for Vanessa?

Vanessa: Race day was epic. It was legendary. From the feeling, the vibe of the whole race, from seeing all of these people just coming out of nowhere, cheering for you. They were saying, “Go Vanessa!” It was so amazing. The swim was, it what it was. My swim had gone downhill after my injury, just because of the mobility of my ankle. I don't know what happened, but I couldn't swim after my ankle injury. So I was just going to have a good time in the water and enjoy it. It was very swelly. There were a lot of swells out there, waves. Looking back on the video, when we were just sitting in the water, waiting for the gun to go, it was up and down. I was like, “Oh, I didn't even know it was that much of swells”, but it really was. So I survived the swim. It was fine. I made it.

Andrew: There you go.

Ryan: I want to add that she was literally one minute faster than her race prediction in the swim split. So it was not shabby at all. You nailed it.

Vanessa: Yeah. I don’t know what happened. Maybe race day vibes came out, but yeah, we got through the swim. I was so glad to be out of it. I felt very dizzy, actually, and transitioned to the bike. I hopped on the bike, and I was just so excited. I've been looking forward to this bike ride for so long, because, I remember saying to Ryan, this course was made for me. This bike ride; I love climbing hills. It is something that, it just soothes my soul to be pounding out the Watts up a hill. It just is incredible. So, I know that's not a popular opinion, but that's how it rolls.

Andrew: It's not my opinion. We're very different. We're very different in that way.

Vanessa: So the bike ride was epic. The words, I can't even put it into words, how incredible it was. We had driven the course a few days before and it was beautiful. But then when you have this uninhibited view for as far as you can see, and there's cliffs, and there’s rocks, and there’s hills. It was just spectacular. I had a smile on my face the entire bike ride, even on the punchy hills. I saw one person walking, but everyone else was still on their bikes. And I was just in heaven. It was so incredible. I had a really great time. I got to the top of the hill and I was yelling in excitement. No one else was doing it, but I was so excited. Cause I mean, I just climbed to the top of one of the col, like the col de l'Ecre, which was part of the Tour de France. Like, am I dreaming? This is incredible. So we got to the descents, and this is where Ryan and I had talked about this a lot. I needed to be extremely focused and to make very smart decisions. So that was my game plan, was to be very smart. And I didn't go zooming down the hills as quickly as other people. They were passing me, and I was like, I don't care, because if I can't see what's around that corner and there happens to be a crash, I'm not going down. Cause I'm crossing that finish line. The descents were fine. I didn't find it scary at all. Thankfully I had attended all of the talks from the legends, from Michellie and Mark, every single one, and took their advice. They were feeding me with a spoon, and I listened to everything they said. I took it to heart, and I followed their advice. And it resulted in this amazing experience, because I got to the end of the bike ride, and I was all smiles. So it was amazing. And then there was the run. And I legitimately had planned to walk the entire marathon.

Andrew: The thing you hadn't done. Yeah, the thing you hadn't done in months.

Vanessa: I know. And so, I didn't have a nutrition plan, other than eating anything that I wanted at the aid stations, because I was planning on walking. But the plan was, this was the actual plan. Walk for 10 minutes, run for one minute, walk for one minute, repeat that. If it felt fine, my ankle felt fine. Then I could progress to two and ones, two minutes running, one minute walking, but no more than that. And so that's what I did. I walked for not quite 10 minutes. I cut it short, cause I got bored. So I jumped straight to two in ones.

Andrew: Pure honesty, yeah, pure honesty here.

Vanessa: It was just, it was too much. I couldn't handle it. So I jumped straight to two and ones, cause I felt really good. Ankle felt a little bit tweaky. It didn't feel great, but I was just like, I'll just keep on going. And see what happens. And then I forgot about it. And then I just continued running two and ones for the entirety of the marathon. And sometimes I forgot what minute I was on. So I probably ran four minutes in a row at some points, but it just happened. That's how it went. I was able to continue my pace. I think I've managed to keep my pace pretty well until the last loop, where I might've slowed down a little bit. But it was fabulous. And I came up with a nutrition plan on the fly. And it worked. It was perfect.

Andrew: So Ryan, I know you, like the rest of the staff and the rest of the TriDot Nation out there, we were all tracking Vanessa. What was your day like?

Ryan: Obviously, the race started while we were sleeping. And I told Vanessa straight up the night before. And I said, listen, by the time I wake up, you're going to be on the bike and you'll be crushing the bike. I just know that much. And I got up, started tracking her on the bike. And just saw the consistency. We talk about that all the time. She was just consistently, really hitting segment after segment. I was like, she just looks great. She looks awesome. She finishes that bike split and she'd, actually, I wouldn't say necessarily destroyed her RaceX, but certainly she did beat it. And really just, I mean, easily made cutoffs in all disciplines. And so, really, I knew her drive, been working with her for so long. It's like, this girl, she’s determined. And we knew that, I knew that. She's going to do it. She gets to the run, and I start seeing the run splits going off. And, of course, they’re in kilometers per hour. And I'm just like, hold on, let me do some math here. I'm used to miles per hour. So I was like, wow, she's nailing it. She's doing the plan. And she kept, just one marker after another, after another, just going off. And there was no slowing down. There was one time that maybe it looked a little funny, and it was around 24 and a half miles into the run. And I'm like, she's probably partying with somebody right now. She's probably stopped. And she decided to enjoy the moment there a mile and a half out from the finish. And then of course she finishes and we talked about her finish. And again, guys, you need to go find some of her epic finish pictures. But I told her, I said, listen, I had first, when I looked back, knowing her ankle, I said, please don't jump at the finish line. I just don't want this to end your career. Finish strong, have a good time, celebrate at the finish line. And then, I think that night before, I said, you know what, do your thing. Just do your thing. Jump, whatever it is, whatever you decide, you'll know what to do. And, again, just from the get go, her just one after another, after split, after split, it was just amazing. I knew that picture was coming, and I saw it, finally, the other day. And I was like, that's Vanessa right there. There she is. That's that champ. And I'm super proud of her. She did it. She did it. That was her. That was all her.

Andrew: So, Ryan's mentioning the finish line, and, Vanessa, you kind of cut your race report off right there, at the end of the day. And I know this year, obviously, for what your role is with TriDot, you've been to so many races and watch so many TriDot athletes cross the finish line, cheered for them, celebrated them. And it was your turn, not just across the IRONMAN finish line, but to cross the IRONMAN World Championship finish line on the French Riviera, under the lights, red carpet, the whole works. There was a tremendous amount of TriDot team there, giving support, cheering you on. Just kind of talk about, what did the support from the team mean to you being on this side of it, instead of being the one in the Dottie costume in the unicorn costume, right? Instead of playing that role, you were the athlete on course. What did the support from TriDot nation mean to you? And what was that finish line experience like?

Vanessa: Okay, I've made it this far without crying. Now I'm not sure I can make it through the rest. It was so magical. They say that Disneyland is the most magical place on earth, but I think the IRONMAN red carpet is number one for magic to happen. Having the TriDot staff there was, I can't even describe, or put it into words, how grateful I am to have had so much support throughout the entire week leading up to the race. But I remember, Coach Brandy had said to me before the race, she said, take snapshots, one snapshot, in your mind, of the swim, the bike, and the run. And I want you to describe it to me when you're done. I haven't had a chance to tell her that, but those words were so impactful, because it made me 100% present for the entire race. And so I had these snapshots of not only visual things, but I took in the sights, the smells, the sounds that surrounded those images that she had requested. And the one that had me in tears was when I was on the run. And the reason why I didn't run for the full 10 minutes was because I saw the TriDot hot spot coming up, and I didn't want to walk past them. So I started to run, and there were so many people there. All of the people were there on TriDot staff. And there were 15 people that were there in addition to other TriDot ambassadors and athletes, and families, and friends. And they were all screaming for me. That was one of the snapshots that I took for the run. It was absolutely incredible to feel so supported. They lifted me up. And I think from that moment on, that's when my ankle stopped hurting. I was just so grateful to have them cheering for me. And I knew, the Nice rod porous is like a double-edged sword. It's four loops, which is horrible. Who does that? Who makes you run the same loop four times in a row? It's torture. But at the same time, you get to run past your people four times. And so I knew that every time I went past the TriDot hot spot, I was going to get a massive eruption of cheering. And it just elevated me until the next time I could see them. So, that was absolutely incredible. When I came down towards the finish line, Sarah, whom I work really closely with, and you do as well, she came to find me and she said, there's a surprise waiting for you. You're so close, you can do this. And so I ran, I kept on running, and sure enough, there were two Dotties, not one, but two Dotties and who was it? It was Jeff Booher and Jennifer Booher. They had put on the Dotties, for me, just before I hit the red carpet. And that was so special. When I got to veer off towards the red carpet, which was the most exciting thing ever after having to pass it three times and be like, ugh, it's not my turn yet. When I finally got to veer off on the red carpet, there were bleachers that were lining the red carpet. They had put special seating in and it was packed. There were people everywhere. There were people who wanted to high five you as you were coming down the red carpet. And I just happened to be at a time when there was nobody else around. I had the entire thing to myself, and it was so incredibly overwhelming emotionally, because I had envisioned it so many times, and it was exactly as I had envisioned. But there was just a little bit of, this is what I believed I could do. But I couldn't believe what I had just done, because I had come through so much. Like that training cycle, the entire preparation was so different than what I had wanted it to be. And there was a lot of emotion attached to it. And so, I just kind of lost it, running down that red carpet. And I remember specifically the announcer saying, she can't believe it, but you better believe it. Vanessa Ronksley, you're an Ironman. And he was saying that because I had my hands on my head like, what have I just done? I couldn't believe it. I was covering my face and my hands, and it was so overwhelming emotionally. But not only that, the TriDot staff, Billy, had found a way to get my mom into the finisher shoot. And so I crossed the finish line, and there was my mom holding my medal. And there was my friend, Ronnie, and Davin, right in, they had got into the finisher shoot as well. And they were all there waiting for me. It was just incredible. I broke down and lost it. It was just so overwhelming to have that kind of support and to have people do these tiny little things that seemed little to them, but they were really big to me. To be able to share that with my friends and my family was, I’ll never forget that. That's for sure. So thank you.

Andrew: As a host, my natural inclination would just be to end on that story right there, right? Call it an episode, we all walk away. But, I do want to ask this, to Coach Ryan, specifically, because we, the athletes listening, probably can't replicate getting your mom and your best friend in the finisher shoot to put a medal around your neck. They might not be able to replicate the CEO of Predictive Fitness being in a unicorn costume, cheering you on, down that final loop, right. Some of those special touches are especially reserved for Vanessa, co-host of the TriDot podcast, and a very special member of the TriDot team. But what can be replicated for the athletes listening today is you can face obstacles in your buildup for a major race, and you can still have a special day and cross that finish line yourself. And again, Coach Ryan, we can't cover everything our listeners might face on race day, but what is a principle or two, or three, that our athletes can remember, and kind of log in the back of their minds and just know, if that happens to me, if I have a thing or two standing in my way between me and my ideal training schedule, what are some principles they can apply to get to that start and finish line themselves?

Ryan: Man, great question. And, Vanessa, man, I almost about lost it there. So thank you for that. Obstacles like this, man, the mental side of things, the positive thinking, the positive mindset, having the right people in your corner, whether you need that coach, your family members, I mean, there's no question, PJ and her kids, it was having that support around you. But again, the positive mindset, having the right people in the right places, and don't be afraid to ask for help. Oh my gosh. You know, it's like, if you're going through some struggles, this sport means that much to all of us, we do, we love this sport. And again, the thing is, get the right people in your corner. Keep that positive mindset. Consistency in the end, if we speak specifically to your training, consistency in that. Really, that's not a magic pill, but if you do those things, and keep that consistency and all of that, it will go well, but you gotta keep going. You gotta keep pushing. You gotta do it. And there's no doubt, you'll be successful. Doesn't matter, you don’t have to be super fast, but you will finish. You will do it. You get to the end.

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

Andrew: That was a hallmark time, hearing about Vanessa's trip to Nice and race experience in Nice. And just thank you both for sharing so openly on this episode. For our coach cool down tip of the week, we always shut the show down with an applicable training tip from one of our coaches. I'm going to make it a little bit different this week, while we're talking about Nice, and, Vanessa, for athletes who might have a shot at qualifying and think they could try to qualify, or want to qualify, there's a lot of buzz with this Nice course, right? Some folks don't want to go to the World Championships unless it's Kona. Some folks would love to go race Nice, but they're a little intimidated by the course in Nice. For whatever reason, if an athlete is thinking, I might want to go to Nice, but I'm not sure, what's your 30, 60, 90 second words of wisdom, as our coach cool down tip of the week, for what somebody could consider on whether or not to pull that trigger and go compete in that race themselves.

Vanessa: It's simple. The answer is yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Absolutely. Without a doubt, go to Nice and experience the culture, experience the beautiful race course. I can't even tell you how amazing that bike course is. You'd be so lucky to be able to experience it. And from all of the athletes that I've spoken to, it was incredible. Whether someone finished the race or did not finish the race, the bike course was a once in a lifetime experience. And, just to say, the completion rate for that Women's Only Nice race course was 89%. So it's an amazing experience. It is difficult. It's challenging, but to be honest with you, if you are going to the World Championship, all it takes is consistency. You need to train consistently, and you have to do the right training right. Like we've said that a thousand times on the podcast. If you do the right training right, and you follow your training program, you are going to be able to complete that course. Hands down. It's not a problem. The run course is super simple. It's flat. It's fast. The bike course is very challenging, but it's something that everyone needs to experience if they have the opportunity, because it's just out of this world to be able to climb up those hills and then to come down those hills. I highly recommend taking that opportunity to race Nice if it is presented to you.

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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