Vanessa’s 5 Favorite Coach Cool Down Tips

TriDot Podcast Episode 274

Vanessa’s 5 Favorite Coach Cool Down Tips

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 everybody, welcome to the TriDot Podcast. It is an Andrew and Vanessa episode. This whole episode is me and Vanessa, your two hosts of the TriDot Podcast, just chit-chatting about some really fun stuff. Vanessa, how's it going today?

Vanessa Ronksley: Well, the day has just begun, and so far it's a little bit rainy here. I'm in Sydney right now, recording from an enclosed patio. So yeah, it's raining, but my heart is completely full, and filled with gratitude, to be back at a place that I absolutely adore.

Andrew: Yeah, the time that we are recording this episode and releasing it, Vanessa was just on site at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Taupō, New Zealand, and is now in Sydney, Australia with her family. You're just a jet setter this year; you're all over the map. And the reason it's me and Vanessa today, this is our 100th podcast episode since we started doing Vanessa's Coach Cool Down Tips of the Week. 100 episodes ago, we started a new thing with the Cool Down on the podcast, where Vanessa would interview a different TriDot coach, and she would get a tip. And she would just have that coach share; we would meet who that coach is, and we would get just a different training, or racing, or triathlon lifestyle tip from that coach. And it's been really cool every single week hearing from a new voice. It's been really cool to see Vanessa just blossom as another voice on our podcast, and it's been really cool to hear just what the breadth of knowledge that exists within the TriDot Podcast coaching roster. And we just wanted to take an episode and celebrate that. So what we're doing today, I've asked Vanessa to pick her five favorite Cool Down Tips that she's heard while hosting that segment of our show, and we're going to play the audio from those Cool Downs and just hear them again, and get Vanessa's thoughts, my thoughts, and just really kind of hear some triathlon coaching wisdom by revisiting the best of our 100 Cool Down Tips of the Week. Vanessa, did I say that well? That's the mission today, right?

Vanessa: That is the mission.

Andrew: Yes!

Vanessa: It's been great.

Andrew: Yeah, fireworks. So we'll hear five from Vanessa. I have picked my personal favorites, so six in total of our favorite Coach Cool Down Tips of the Week. So Vanessa, let's get to it.

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

Andrew: While we are talking Cool Downs and focus on the Cool Down portion of our show, I have a cool down-themed warm-up question for the week, and here's what I want to know from Vanessa and our TriDot Podcast audience: after a good workout, what is your favorite way to cool down? There's a lot of things that a triathlete can throw in their rhythm for the cool down portion of their workout – and it probably varies just depending on when in the day you're doing that workout and whether it was a swim, bike, run, or strength session – but just from all the things that you do in your cool down routine after a good workout, what is your favorite thing to do to get in a proper cool down after a workout? Vanessa, what's your answer to this?

Vanessa: Well, to be honest, I read this warm-up question in the middle of the night, and so my first reaction was like, “How do I physically cool down my body?” So we're going to go with that. But I do have to say, the hottest triathlon workout I have ever had in my entire life is being in the Dottie unicorn costume, and that actually happened in Taupō. It wasn't that temperature-warm, but everyone was just melting. Like, it was so hot. That sun was so intense. And I think it was probably 130 degrees inside the Dottie unicorn costume, and when I unzipped to get a little bit of electrolyte drink in me, it looked like I had jumped out of Lake Taupō. So as soon as I actually came out of Dottie the Unicorn, I did go and jump into Lake Taupō to cool myself down. So that was one thing. But I actually have another tip, because this is the podcast.

Andrew: Yeah, do it. Yeah, do it, go there.

Vanessa: When I was doing a lot of strength training, my favorite way to actually cool down from a workout was to freeze my recovery drink. So I would get this really thick and creamy recovery drink, that was chocolate flavored, and I'd freeze it into a popsicle. And that was the ultimate way. It was like the greatest treat to be able to have once you cool down, or once you finish your session. So that's what I'm going to go with. But I do have to throw in one more thing, because I just always want to do one more thing. So my favorite way to get my body to slow down is to do some yoga. I really, really like doing yoga. It's a perfect way to transition from– getting your heart rate back into a nice state of relaxation. And then it's also a really great way to get some mobility thrown into your session, as well.

Andrew: Your answer is smarter than mine, Vanessa. Because truthfully, probably the thing I do the most often, is finish a workout and just either sit, or lay, on the floor under a fan for a little bit. And that definitely cools me down. But is that the best thing to do for my muscles right after a tough workout? Probably not. If I just went out for a run, obviously, I'll walk a little bit around the neighborhood as I'm cooling down from that run and let the muscles cool down properly. And bike sessions, often you spin in Zone 2 a little bit right before you finish your session anyway. But in general, as soon as my muscles have properly slowed down a little bit, I just find a nice spot of carpet on the floor and lay down for five, ten minutes and let my mind relax for a minute, let my body relax for a minute, and then go about whatever I'm doing next for my day. So that's my answer here. Guys, we're going to throw this question out to you, the TriDot Podcast audience. So make sure you're in the TriDot community hub, and make sure you're a part of the I AM TriDot Facebook group because those are the two places where we throw out the warmup question. I want to hear from you, when you're done with a workout, what is your favorite way to cool down from that workout? Let us know.

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

Andrew: Alright. On our 100th TriDot Podcast episode with a Coach Cool Down Tip of the Week, I'm excited to sit with Vanessa, who hosts that segment of our show, and find out from her, what are her 5 favorite Coach Cool Down Tips she's heard in the previous 100 episodes. And Vanessa, let's get into it. Do you want to tell us who your number one pick is? And these are in no particular order, by the way. No particular order.

Vanessa: Alright, so I categorized these tips. So this one, I called the ‘best tip’. And it came from Donnye Winship, who is just an incredible human to begin with. And I think he's quite the master at getting his athletes to alter their mental abilities in the sport. And so this tip is just a little window into what he offers to his athletes. And I just took this one to heart and loved it so much. So I think this is classified as the ‘best tip’.

(RECORDING START)

Vanessa: This is all part and parcel to your Coach Tip for the Day about the mental aspect of training and racing. And I know a couple of your athletes, and they say that this is definitely one of your strengths. So what do you share with your athletes about the importance of training the mind and not just the body?

Donnye Winship: We first started – I say we – when I was a swim coach, my boss and I started messing with the mental side of sports because we found that every athlete works their butt off in training, and they become phenomenally fit and just great athletes. And then they'll go into a race and vomit. So we started exploring the whole mental side. For instance, we had a 400 IM swimmer, fantastic taper. She gets off the block, and after the 400, excuse me, after the 100 butterfly, she was almost a 25 in front of everybody, just undoubtedly fast, and was just going to crush the entire race. And then all of a sudden, she stopped, and everybody caught up to her. After she got out of the water, we were talking to her, and she told us she just freaked out because she didn't see anybody. She thought she did something wrong. Mentally, she was not prepared for the race. And since that point, even in triathlons, I would talk to people, and I find so many limiting factors in their belief system that stops them from being the best that they can be. So I listen closely to what athletes are telling me as they're talking so that I can pick up on their mental cues. And then I start probing and pressing to find out where they are mentally. I think every athlete should work on the mental game. It could be as simple as closing your eyes and getting a bird's eye view of yourself succeeding. Just convincing yourself that you can succeed. For some people, it's a little bit more difficult. We will probe what their limiting factors are, and then we'll find positive elements, and we'll start interrupting those negative patterns. Usually your thought process is cyclical. Think of it like a record. It just spins in a circle, and it's going to play the same thing over and over and over, just the way it was written. So if we have a negative belief written, and it's just playing over and over, we're always going to stop, or limit ourselves. But if you scratch that record, it stops. So we'll find what our limiting factor is, what's holding us back, and then we will start interrupting that with positive thoughts.

Vanessa: Great. And I had a question about how you get your athletes to, first of all, recognize this pattern of thought that they have? And I find that the first step to changing a pattern is to recognize that you're doing it in the first place. And a lot of times, people don't even recognize that they have this negative thought pattern. So do you have any suggestions on how to, first of all, recognize that something is not happening as well as it should in the mind?

Donnye: Ask yourself “Why?” I guess if you were trying to figure it out by yourself, you would start by just asking yourself the question “Why?” I mean, the tricky part is recognizing that it happened in the first place. And when you do, you just have to keep asking “Why?” “Well, why did I do this?” Then you'll come up with an answer. I mean, the human mind is developed to answer questions. We're always going to answer questions. If you ask yourself, “why am I such a loser?” I guarantee you, you're going to find an answer. But if you ask yourself, “What am I going to do to become successful?” You're going to search for an answer, and you're going to start pursuing that. So you got to start asking yourself the right questions, and you start with simply: “Why?” So learning how to recognize it can be challenging, but you have to just simply start with the question “Why?” And then when you can recognize it, and you start seeing your limiting beliefs, or your negative beliefs, once you catch them, you got to be prepared to interrupt it with some positive beliefs.

Vanessa: That's a really valuable aspect of training. And I think that, as you said, a lot of people put so much emphasis on training the body, and our mind is way more powerful than we give it credit.

Donnye: Absolutely. In any sport, it's 80-20, right? It's always 20% physical, 80% mental. And the mental part always starts with the self-belief that you can do it. And I'll give you a simple example of how we start with many, many athletes. Because when you start probing – when I start talking to people, and you start probing – if you take it too far, it gets really emotional, and we don't want to take it that far. But you can simply just start by reflecting back to that one sports event, that one triathlon where you just felt unstoppable, that when you finished, it was such an overwhelming, positive feeling that, when you think of it now, you just get goosebumps all over. And then start tying that emotion, and that thought, to red buoys on the swim, timing mats on the run, turnarounds on the run, turnarounds on the bike. Start forcing yourself to think about that moment in various different parts of the race so that when you run over that timing mat, boom, you're thinking those positive thoughts again. You're on that turnaround, boom. You're thinking those positive thoughts again. So that you can keep mentally staying strong.

(END OF RECORDING)

Andrew: Yeah, so really interesting conversation there, Vanessa, between you and Coach Donnye. And just, the mental part of sports is so interesting and fascinating. And I love what Donnye's saying here because you can see it manifests at the professional level, you can see it manifest at the amateur level, and no one is immune to the importance of the mental side of being a triathlete, or an athlete in general. And so really interesting conversation that played out here between you and Donnye. Vanessa, why from the 100 are you labeling this like your favorite, best, top tip?

Vanessa: I honestly think that this tip is applicable to every single person out there who is doing any kind of athletic endeavor. And so I classify it as the ‘best tip’ because each and every one of us can take some aspect of this tip, and put it into our own practice, and allow ourselves to overcome these barriers that we impose on ourselves. And I think every one of us can improve on that. Even just watching, like, the Pro Series or the T100, some of those athletes, you can see them blow up. And at some point, yeah, it might have been nutrition, or it might have been that they're exhausted, or they have some other random thing happening. But how much of that could possibly be the mental aspect, as well? Was there just one point where that athlete had that doubt for just a split second that they couldn't do it? And that's when they turned off the gas. And that also may be why we see people who are excelling and winning all the time, maybe that's because they don't have those thoughts, and that allows them to push through the discomfort and all of those things that we know happen so often in racing. So I think that it's applicable to everyone, on any level of training, in any sport.

Andrew: As he talked about, if you ask yourself, “Why am I a loser?” you're going to find reasons. And if you ask yourself, “Why can I do this?” you're going to find reasons. And that starts in training. That starts in your training sessions. Start asking yourself that question about small things in training and change your mindset around to viewing yourself positively as an athlete, in your training, so that you're just that much more well-practiced at doing so when race day comes, no matter what level you are, right? No matter what your race goal. Vanessa, on to your second choice. What do you got for us?

Vanessa: I labeled this tip as the ‘most fun to record’. And it was with my friend, Kristin Overton. She is a fabulous coach, and we've become friends through the sport of triathlon, through TriDot. And so I think that this one was the most fun because, at one point, we had to stop recording and hit the mute button because we were laughing so hard we were crying. And so it sticks out in my mind because that's what this sport is to me. It's about connecting people. It's about having fun. And it's about passing on knowledge that we have gained from one person or another, or from reading, or from watching. And so the fact that we can take all of that knowledge and then have fun with it, as well, is something really special.

(RECORDING START)

Vanessa: When we were in IRONMAN California, I was lucky enough to be staying with the Fab Four. And all of you are multi-IRONMAN finishers. So the whole week was basically a clinic on how to prepare and execute all the things that happen for racing, and particularly the long course racing. So I think it would be really great if you were to share some of the things that you do, naturally, in preparation for a long course race so that everybody gets to benefit from the knowledge that you have gained over the years in this sport.

Kristin Overton: Yeah, absolutely. And I learned a few things myself as we were all sitting around the table, getting our things together. So yeah, there's a lot of little things as you're prepping for the race – the week before, the night before, the morning of – so we'll go through a couple of little things. So, you know, kind of as you're packing your bags and getting your transition bags together, always a good tip to mark it with something really noticeable so that you know that your bag is yours amongst the thousands of bags hanging on hooks or on the ground. It's a bright duct tape. Another thing that I've always done – whether it's long course, short course, depending on if you're wearing socks or not – in the transition, roll your socks all the way to the toe so that you come out of the pool – out of the lake, the stream, wherever you're swimming from – get into transition, and you want to put some socks on and get on your bike. You can put your toe in, and roll straight up, and you don't have to struggle about trying to put your feet in wet socks. And even if you transition and you're putting on socks for your run, you could do it the same way. Makes it super speedy and easy to do.

Vanessa: Have you– some people, like, dump powder in their socks. Have you ever done that before?

Kristin: I haven't done that, but I know people that have, and, yeah, that's not a bad idea either.

Vanessa: Something that worked really well for me, especially in the run this past time in California, as we were running through what felt like streams of water because it was pouring so hard, the 2Toms wipes were phenomenal. I did not get a single blister on my feet, which is mind-blowing.

Kristin: The exact same thing for me, too. I just wiped my foot from the tip of my toes all the way up my ankle with the 2Toms wipes, and agreed. Through all that rain, and wet, and stomping through puddles, not a single blister on my feet, which can make a huge difference when you're running a marathon in the rain, or any other time. Definitely. What else? A transition bottle. A bottle with a little concentrated electrolyte and/or nutrition that you can have in your transition bag going from swim to bike, or bike to run – just to get that little extra fluid, salt, calories as you're transitioning through – can make a big difference on the run, and the bike, as you're starting out, so that you just kind of get that in transition. You can get your rhythm and not have to worry about taking nutrition in right away as you're starting the bike and the run.

Vanessa: I found that to be, actually, a really wonderful idea. I know that for myself on the bike, for some reason, I thought I was going to finish a lot faster than I did. And so I ran out of nutrition and electrolytes in the last half hour. So having that bottle in transition was exactly what I needed. I didn't have to wait to get to the first aid station on the run. I could just rely on what I had in my transition bag. And I was very grateful for that. So if I didn't say thank you already, thank you.

Kristin: My pleasure. Anytime. And then the last little thing I had was for the swim. So, you know, as you and I were standing at the swim start, and we're zippering up our wetsuits, you have that little tail cord on your zipper. And at the end of the cord, all of the wetsuits have Velcro on the end of them. It's the soft side of the Velcro. And what that’s for, is to stick underneath the Velcro tab at your neck so that your cord is right there at your neck. So when you get out of the water, you have it right there to zip down and start taking off your wetsuit. And it also just kind of keeps it out of the way while you're swimming so you don’t have this long tail behind you.

Vanessa: So brilliant, right? Like, it's funny because all of these companies think of these things, and then, maybe it's me and I don't read the instruction manual, but it's nice to know that this exists for that purpose, right?

Kristin: Yeah, for sure. So there's a purpose for everything. How do they have that Velcro on the end of the tab? I have no idea, but now you know.

(END OF RECORDING)

Andrew: What I like here, Vanessa, is that – just three super practical tips, right? Like nothing super game changer, or in depth, or no major light bulb, like epiphany. “Oh my gosh, this changes everything for me in my life.” Just three super practical tips. And like, this is what you get when you partner with a coach in your triathlon journey, right? Like, you might have race day coming up, and your coach starts going through all the questions to make sure you're prepared, and they might point out five or six things like this. And let's say four of the six things they mentioned, you're like, “Oh yeah, I already know that.” But those other two, you probably don't know. And it's going to revolutionize that one little specific corner of your race, right?

Vanessa: She did deliver some great little, like she had said, tangible things that anyone can implement, probably geared towards someone doing their first Ironman. But sometimes coaches forget those little things to tell their athletes, as well.

Andrew: Alright, Vanessa, who is our third tip?

Vanessa: So the third tip is called the ‘one that made me cry’. And I've cried multiple times on this Cool Down segment. But this one was probably the most recent one that had me shedding a few tears. And so this comes to us from April Spilde, and I had heard a lot about her prior to meeting her and doing this Coach Cool Down with her, and everything that I heard is absolutely true. She is one amazing person. And so this tip that she shared is just, it's one that is so personal, and how the sport of triathlon has changed her life, and what it's all about. And I think that this is really – maybe for newer athletes, it's a wonderful way to listen to someone's journey about the sport. And for more well-seasoned athletes, it could be a reminder as to why this sport is so important to the community.

(RECORDING START)

Vanessa: Welcome to the Cool Down, everybody. It is still Vanessa here, your average triathlete with elite level enthusiasm. And I have decided to keep April on with me. She is just one of the most phenomenal coaches that I've had the pleasure of meeting. And so I thought it was really important that she was able to share a little bit about her journey and her story about triathlon. What has the sport of triathlon done for you and how has it changed your life?

April Spilde: So this one – triathlon has transformed my life, inside and out. And being in the military, it's not always been easy. And I feel like a lot of people can relate to this, it can be very difficult on not only your personal life, but on your key relationships, your health, those things that are the most important, it can really drain that. And I think triathlon has been the thing that has kept me engaged with not only what's important, but who I want to be as a person. And triathlon has given me the skills to develop my character in a way that it has preceded the military, and I feel like it has helped me with dealing with some of the greatest adversities I've faced. I used triathlon when I was going through one of the most dark periods of my life. I had a really public humiliation that occurred in the military. And I use triathlon as a way to show myself that I have grit, that I have the ability to recover and grow from trauma. And for me, that is the thing that I feel like I can give to other people. And it's why I wanted to become a coach, is because I do meet people often who have experienced trauma, who don't have belief in themselves anymore on how they can get through a day, let alone through more adversity. So for me, triathlon has been the antidote, in a lot of ways, for the things that I used to think were holding me back. And I think that when we look at it not only from the lens of a coach helping someone achieve a goal, but when we look at it from the lens of building someone, building their resilience, building their ability to see themselves as a victor instead of a victim, I think that is one of the most powerful, and potentially underrated, aspects of what this sport can do for people.

(RECORDING END)

Andrew: Talk to us about, just, kind of, that moment, and why hearing April – as you're hearing it again, you're getting emotional again. What really makes you connect to April's story there?

Vanessa: I think in partnership with being at the races and seeing people cross the finish line, what she said is so true for the vast majority of finishers who come through, particularly at the end of the race. You can just see that they have overcome something insurmountable in their life because of the way that they are expressing themselves. And they have this pure joy, and their heart is just, you can see, is just glowing. And so you know on a deep level. I feel so connected with these athletes because they have gone through something, as April described, and it has brought them to the triathlon community. And to be a part of that journey in any way – whether you are a coach, or you are cheering on the sideline, or you're doing anything – but knowing that you can play a small part in making that moment really special for that athlete is just one of the best things about being involved in the sport. And here I am, like, bawling my eyes out again, just because that connection with her story and seeing the athletes that I've been able to interact with through TriDot at the races has been one of the best parts of my role at TriDot. So my heart just goes out to everyone who has gone through something and triathlon has helped them to heal.

Andrew: Just talk about – how much have you enjoyed hopping on and, one-by-one, taking somebody whose name you've heard – and maybe whose name you've seen around the staff circles, or the Facebook groups, or the community groups – and then you get to know them. How much have you, as Vanessa, the person who likes connecting with others, how much have you enjoyed being a part of that process, and just one-by-one, by-one, by-one, by-one, by-one meeting all these coaches that are part of the TriDot family?

Vanessa: It has been such a profound aspect of my development in terms of a triathlete, in terms of a person, in terms of coaching, as well, because I get to meet all of these fabulous people who all have stories like April. It's funny because every single one of us has gone through something, and it's like we relive it as we're doing triathlon, and we're gathering ways to allow us to overcome these things. And so having the opportunity to learn about that aspect of these people's lives has been one of my favorite parts of my role. And when I was doing these Cool Downs on a very regular basis, when I first joined the media team, it was like this dream had come true because I really – one of the things that I love about living life is connecting. And the Cool Down has allowed me to do that in so many different ways. And I'm the type of person who, I will spill my heart out to anyone within five minutes of meeting them, if it's the right person and the right time. And so the number of times that I have been able to have these deep conversations about whatever – life, triathlon, racing, not racing – it's been just so amazing to be able to share that experience with so many different people. And then when I get to meet them at the races and see them–

Andrew: Yeah, so cool.

Vanessa: That, oh, it's just like, it's just this full circle. It's like, we have known each other forever, even though we've only met online at first. And then we get to see each other in real life, and it's like this reunion of old friends.

Andrew: Okay. We've got three down and three to go, and the three to go have a lot to live up to. What is the fourth Coach Cool Down Tip you want to highlight today?

Vanessa: This next one is the tip that everyone needs to tell themselves every single day. So you wake up, you go to the bathroom, you look at yourself in the mirror, and this is the tip that you need to repeat to yourself. And it comes from a fabulous Raya Usher, and I think that this is, just, something that we need to do on a regular basis. Every one of us.

(RECORDING START)

Vanessa: Alright. So what tip do you have for us today?

Raya Usher: My biggest tip for anyone doing triathlon, no matter whether you are a total beginner or you are a Kona qualifier, is: you do you, boo. And I say that to every single one of my athletes, probably on a weekly basis. Because most of us who get into triathlon are A-type personalities, we’re very driven, we're very ambitious, and probably more so than so many different sports because why would you try and perfect one sport when you can perfect three? And that means that we're a certain type of person. That certain type of person is competitive. They can be competitive with themselves, but more often than not, we can be competitive with other people. And so many things can influence us – the social media, and the influence of what people are posting, and what they say is going on with their lives. Or, your teammates telling you what watts they've pushed and how fast they're running. And at the end of the day, even though these might be your friends, we don't know how accurate social media posts are, or whether their FTPs are what they are. So you do you, and don't worry about what everyone else is doing because you're on your own triathlon journey. And that journey is going to have its peaks and troughs just like everyone else. But those peaks are going to be at a different time as your training partner. You do you, and don't worry about what anyone else is doing.

Vanessa: I think that's a really important message for everyone, just like you said. It's hard. It's really hard to not compare yourself to everybody. And, just as you said, being competitive, how many times have we seen this gif that comes around? “If you're asking, the answer is yes, we are racing.” Have you seen that one?

Raya: Yeah, right! Yeah.

Vanessa: And it's so true, right? Like, you're always trying to compare yourself to somebody. You have no idea what their background is, what their training program is, or what their workout is for the day. But we just have this innate sense that we need to be in competition.

Raya: And I had something really, like, I don't allow these things to affect me many times. And this is why I love this tip, because I have to eat, sleep, and live this own mantra myself because I am a competitive person. And I look at what's happened in my training, and go, “Oh God, why couldn't I break that 2.5 hours on that bike course?” Or, “Why didn't I do this? Why didn't I do that?” And I recently had a really bad bout of illness, and I'm very, very lucky to be alive right now, and that happened only four months ago. And I just got back to running, and I've only done 3 ‘runs’. And when I say ‘runs’, I have to put inverted commas around it because they're not really runs right now. They're little like light jogs where I'm walking, I'm briskly walking, and then I'm running a little bit. And someone commented on social media going, like, “How far you've downfalled,” and one–

Vanessa: What?

Raya: Yeah! And one – that makes you feel so insignificant, but it also is a true reflection on that person, as opposed to something you've done, or the achievements that you've achieved. And there are so many different parts of this sport that are amazing, but there's also that competitive side that can, unfortunately, almost feel toxic to some people. And you focus on you, and don't worry about what anyone else is thinking about you or what anyone else is doing. And you follow your own path, your own training, your own guidance. You speak to your coaches and your small group. You will be far more successful than allowing other outside influences to impact your training or your own personal journey.

Vanessa: Yeah, I 100% agree with you. And I think another thing that's really important is – one of the things that I love about triathlon is that it is a solo sport. Like, you are the only person that matters with what you're doing. You are doing your program. You're doing this for yourself. And yes, we can be competitive with other people, but ultimately we're in competition with ourselves. And I think that lends itself exactly to your tip. You do you, boo.

Raya: You do you, boo. There's this amazing – I don't know if you guys have seen him, and if you don't follow him on social media, I really recommend you do. His name is Chris Nikic. He is one of the very first Down Syndrome men to compete at IRONMAN full distance; he did Kona. And he has this, like, 1% rule, right? It's just: be 1% better. And as long as you're 1% better, and you're doing you, and you're following your own path, you are going to succeed. Don't worry about anyone else.

(END OF RECORDING)

Andrew: So Vanessa, I just want to point out that this is, like, a tip that if Andrew Harley were a triathlon coach, and I got on a call with one of my athletes, and I told them, “You do you, boo,” I don't think I could pull that kind of phrase off. They would look at me, and be like, “What did you just tell me? What did you just say? What do you even mean by that?” Like, it would not go nearly as well, but Raya Usher says it on a podcast, and you're like, “Yeah. Yeah, I'm grooving with you. I'm vibing with you. I get it.” Like, she's just so, she's so cool. And she absolutely pulls off that phrasing. And then obviously, the explanation, where she really unpacks what she means by that, and just do your thing. You do you, boo. I really liked this one. Vanessa, why did you, personally? But please, please take this away and expound on this and not make me say that anymore.

Vanessa: Well, the way that you say it just makes me giggle. So I think maybe we should have you say it more. This tip is just basically saying that the great message here is to follow your own path. You need to follow your heart. You need to find out what ‘your success’ means. You need to know what that encompasses. You need to know what your level of success is going to be because we don't know what someone else's goal is, or what is driving them. Your journey is different than everyone else, and you have to follow your own path to make sure that you're actually happy. And for any of us, what more is there to life than being happy? I think that this is a really valuable tip for life-living, in addition for triathlon-living. And it's something that, again, can be applied to any single person who's listening to this podcast.

Andrew: And frankly, my favorite Coach Cool Down Tip, that I'm going to share at the end here, has some similar themes, and you guys will see that in about five or six minutes. But first, Vanessa, let's go over to your fifth and final of your favorite Coach Cool Down Tips from the past 100 episodes. What coach gifted us the fifth and final Vanessa pick?

Vanessa: Well, this coach, and this person, always has wonderful things to share every single time he opens his mouth. You just say hello, and then you're going to be imparted with some words of wisdom. So obviously, I'm talking about Coach Kurt Madden, and the name of this tip is the ‘tip with 10 tips’, because this is exactly Kurt. You ask him a question, and he gives you, like, an encyclopedia of knowledge. And I think that he needed to be highlighted on this episode. And I feel extremely fortunate to not only have had him on the Cool Down, but to also be able to work with him on staff, and then to meet him because he races. So it's been great to be able to see him multiple times throughout this year and to just soak in everything that he has to offer. He's been in this sport for a really long time. He is ridiculously experienced, and he's one of the most positive people, that is someone that you want to be around, because you know you're just going to absorb everything that he has to give just by being in his presence.

(RECORDING START)

Vanessa: I would love for you to share one of your tips that has helped yourself, and also your athletes, to build wild success.

Kurt Madden: Okay. So as I've reached down to my toolkit on coaching tips, I think this one is something that I've learned, I think that there's a lot of transfer, and it's really looking at your main set, and trying to say, “How can I get a bigger return on investment?” So I want all of our listeners to think about all of your races – from an olympic, to a 70.3, to a full. And the real question means, when you, at any level, when does the race kind of actually start? And what I've found is that in the swim, usually olympic distance, the race kind of starts really at about, say, 1000 yards. I go up to a 70.3, the race really starts at about 1500 yards. Then I go to a full, probably right around 3000 yards. So what that means is that's later in the swim. Aha. So why don't we adjust our training a little bit to kind of take it easy in the beginning part of the workout, even though the main set might be initially, move some things around to say you want to be at your peak performance in all of your swim sessions from, say, 40 minutes to about an hour. And in doing that again and again, those repetitions day after day, week after week, you build up to that A-race, all of a sudden that muscle memory goes right there. So that is for the swim. Now on the bike, very similar. You look at the olympic, same thing. When does the race start? Probably at about mile 15. When you go to the 70.3, it's probably at about mile 40. For the full, it's at mile 70. You never, never, never want to get to those points, on those race distances, to say, “Now what? I've already burned all my matches. I've got nothing left.” And “Oh, wait a minute. There's something called the run after that.” So by pushing out that main set, not to go into it in the first 10 or 15 minutes on the bike when you've done your spin-ups, but push that out. Probably the best way I could explain it, if you have a 3 hour and 30 minutes bike ride, you would stay in Zone 2 all the way up to about 2 hours. Then do the main set. It might take an hour, and then cool down. This is why, when you race, you want to feel at that point on the bike that, “Okay, I'm warmed up now. I'm mentally hanging in there. I've done this many, many times.” Again, your legs, your muscle memory can be fantastic. I find that people that jump right into that main set on the bike in the first 20 minutes, two things happen. They push way too hard. The second thing that happens, they can't get their heart rates back down. And then thirdly, often, they kind of give up. They kind of give up, and they don't quite finish with good form. Versus, stay in Zone 2, stay in Zone 2, get after that main set, cool down, now we're going to go ahead and take off on the run. So that's what I find on the bike. And then the run is identical. Biggest mistake people will admit to you is, “I started way too fast on the run.” Break it up into small chunks. I find for the olympic, get to the 5k. Like, “I still know my name, and I know that I'm still the same person because I want to finish strong in the second half.” When I look at the 70.3, athletes tell me again and again, “I was fine until mile 8. The last 5, the wheels came off.” In the full Ironman, mile 16, typically, is that time when you can have your biggest gains or your biggest losses. So when you're training, look at a 2-hour run, look at an hour and 30-minute run, push that 15-minute main set all the way to the end. I've seen it myself. I drink the Kool-Aid. You do that week after week, all of a sudden in the race, you get there, and it's like, “Oh my goodness, this is just like training.” My legs know exactly what to do. So I think by pushing that main set out, it really makes a huge difference. And it teaches an athlete patience. And I think in our sports, even at the olympic distance, patience is really key versus, “I'm kind of impulsive. If I'm a guy and a girl goes by me, I'm going to start to chase her because I don't want a girl to go by me on the bike.” No, sit back a little bit.

(END OF RECORDING)

Andrew: Lots of good coaching perspective on walking you through a race, walking it, and just, mindset for training, mindset for racing, mindset for when you're looking at your main set of a workout, things you can be thinking in terms of how you're going to execute the main set of that workout. Kurt is definitely a gift to our community, and I'm glad you chose to spotlight him here. As you listen to these tips over again, and you listen to that conversation from Kurt, what stood out for you?

Vanessa: When this Cool Down was recorded, I thought that racing was about completing the race to the best of one's ability, and it was about reaching targets that, maybe, RaceX had projected. But what Kurt's talking about here is the art of actually racing. So you know when you're getting towards the end of a race, when you're hurting big time, you might think that this is the point that all athletes are reaching into that pain cave, and then believing in themselves to, just, get ‘er done. However, he is actually telling us that you can practice this in your training sessions, and how to mimic this in your racing at the later stages in the–

Andrew: Yeah, 100%.

Vanessa: –swim, bike, and the run. And when you have the ability to practice that, and then to implement it in the race, then you can add this extra layer on top of that, of reaching into the grit bank. Like, that comes as a secondary option that you have as a racer. So once you have practiced this in training, and you know what it's going to feel like, then you add in the grit, and that's when you're going to actually achieve what you thought was not possible for you at that time. So I think that is something that's really valuable to be able to implement in anyone's training journey.

Andrew: That was five clips handpicked from Vanessa. But Vanessa, how hard was that for you, out of 100 clips, to choose your favorite five? Was that actually easy, or was it pretty difficult?

Vanessa: No, it took me weeks to do it. It was really hard to do because I find value in every opportunity that I've had to speak with coaches. There's been something that's been valuable there, in terms of what the tip they offered, but also in getting to know them as a person, and as a coach, and potentially as an athlete. And so they all could have been highlighted. So it was really difficult to choose. So that's why I had to pick a category, and then narrow it down so that we could share the best of the best.

Andrew: Every single coach, like you just said, said something valuable and gave some good wisdom. I've really enjoyed the process, and the one that I've chosen to highlight – I wanted to highlight one I really liked – this comes from Jason McFaul, who's from San Diego, California. It aired as the Cool Down on episode 238, and he talked about identity, which is not something that I usually, like, “Aw, man, yes please,” but it just – what he says here, it kind of pairs nicely with what Raya offered on her “You do you, boo” tip. But let's listen to Coach Jason from episode 238, and we'll close out our main set talking about it.

(RECORDING START)

Vanessa: Let's talk about the tip that you have for all of us today.

Jason McFaul: Okay. The tip today is about identity. So we have, very likely, different identities. Some people are a mom, or a dad, or an accountant, an attorney, a friend, a partner. Anyway, within the context of triathlon, I find that there are a variety of identities that people can embrace, but three big ones are participant, triathlete, and racer. And to offer an example, what happens when we embrace one of these identities, is that typically informs how we're going to train, how we're going to ‘behave’ – I'm using air quotes here – in a race, how we're going to approach this sport. So when I was a participant, I remember doing a – it was just a standalone half marathon in San Diego, and my dad was a bike racer, and he was there to support me. And his mentality was, this is 13.1 miles. You're going to go as fast as you can, and you're going to fall over at the end, and you won't, you can't walk anymore, like, once you cross the finish line. But I was a participant, and so I didn't have any intention of racing. I remember it was really cold that morning. And so I kept my sweat pants on because why would I want to be uncomfortable? I just want to have a good time. I'm a participant. I want to have fun. And I remember getting to the first aid station at mile 1, and they had a whole bunch of gels. They were handing out gels. And I thought, “Oh my gosh, these are a dollar each.” So I was like, “Can I have 2,” and they were like, “Take as many as you like.” So I filled up my pocket, and then I got to the next one, and I filled up my other pocket, and then I got to the next aid station. And by the time I finished, I mean, I ended up eating probably 7 or 8 gels, but by the time I finished, I think I had 14 or 15 of those gels in my pockets.

Vanessa: And stuffed in your pants, right?

Jason: Oh, completely. I was holding some in my hands. My dad goes, “What's all that stuff in your – what do you have? What are you carrying with you?” And I go, “Dad, they're giving out these gels for free.” And he's just like, “What's the matter with you?” So, his identity, for a very long time, was a racer. He's a racer. He was a bike racer. And, for a very long time, I was a participant in triathlon and, in that case, in the half marathon, and there's nothing the matter with that. I love the participant mentality. It's just: go out there and have a good time, and it becomes a part of lifestyle, right. But on the flip side – so let's go to the other extreme – when the person decides, “Okay, I'm a racer.” Well, that helps inform other things about the way we train and the way we prioritize our training. Once I finally got to that other side and identified as a racer, I remember agonizing, twice, over being, kind of, in quotation marks, the ‘first loser’. So the first person not to get a Kona qualifying spot. And I would look at the time; I'd be like “Three minutes, where could I have gotten these 3 minutes?” And finally, my wife was just like, “You keep talking about these three minutes. I've seen the way you go through these aid stations, and you slow down.” She's like, “You're running a good pace, and then you slow down.” And she goes, “You're basically walking.” And I go, “Well, I need to get the fuel into me.” And she goes, “But other people, they run through.” And she goes, “And somehow they're getting the fuel.” And so she was actually thinking more like a racer than I was. And I was like, “Well, I need to work on that.” And she goes, “Well, let's do it right now.” And so she got a card table. She set it out in the front driveway. She got a bunch of Dixie cups, filled them with water. Our dog, Kona, was out there with her. And she was like, “Okay, go. Run by.” And I kept trying to do it, and I was splashing water everywhere. And she's like, “Use your pincers.” And I was like, “I don't even know, what is that?” And she's like, “These 2 fingers, your second finger and your thumb, use those, squeeze the cup.” And so I kept working on it. My neighbors thought I was nuts, and probably, by association, thought she was nuts too. But that's the type of stuff that we do when we identify as a racer. And it's not better than being a participant. It's just different. And so we spend so much time and so much money in this sport. We should probably know who we want to be, or who we are, so that it can help us attain the goals that we really want for ourselves.

(END OF RECORDING)

Vanessa: You know, listening to that clip, my reactions are exactly the same as they were when we actually originally recorded that. I'm just giggling, and laughing, and nodding my head because this is such a valuable piece of information that people – I encourage people to think about because who do you want to be when you show up to that start line? What is the reason for you being on that start line? And think about that prior to you actually getting to that start line because that's going to inform how you're going to race, or how you're going to train. Who you want to be in that race is going to make you train in a certain way. So if you want to be a participant, then train as a participant. If you want to be a beast, then you train as a beast. And so I think that it's really valuable for anyone to think about while they're in their development phase, because how you train is going to influence how you're going to show up to that race. And I think that the more that you can put that through your mind and to chew on it, I think that's going to allow you to become who you want to be in that race situation. And like he said, everyone has a different identity when they get to that race. And I think that this is going back to what Raya had said, like, “You do you, boo.” Because when you show up to that start line, you know who you are. You've gone over it in your head. You're not going to race on anybody else's race plan, except for your own, because you have a reason for being there. You have a reason for wanting to cross that finish line. And as long as you embrace the reason and the identity that you have for that race, it's going to be a success, regardless of how your day turns out.

Andrew: Really enjoyed that from Jason so I wanted to highlight that as my personal favorite Coach Cool Down Tip from the past 100. And yeah, we'll see how long we keep doing this before we change up the format of the Cool Down. I'm still itching. I'm trying to get Vanessa hosting more and more full-length episodes of the TriDot Podcast because she's such a great change up from host Andrew Harley. So we'll see how we balance it out through the next 100 episodes or so. But I'll just say this, we're going to transition to the 101st Cool Down of this Coach Cool Down Tip journey. And today, Coach Ryan Tibball giving a tip on bike gearing. So Coach Ryan, take it away.

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

Vanessa: It's Coach Cool Down Tip time. I'm Vanessa, your average triathlete with elite level enthusiasm. I have to warn you that I am feeling extra enthusiastic for our guest coach here today, because it's my very own coach, Ryan Tibball. He is going to deliver a stellar tip. I just know it because I get tips all the time, every time we speak. So I know he is going to give you an amazing tip. Now, a few words I would use to describe Ryan are humble, patient, encouraging, kind, and funny. And I also have to tell you that my favorite thing about Ryan is that he is always there for you when you need him, even if you don't know that you need him. Ryan is on staff with TriDot with the role of Business Coach, and he is also a founding Master Coach. He has been coaching for over 10 years and has been a triathlete for more than 22 years. He has tons of racing experience, from 70.3s to fulls, and has completed over 50 half marathons. Ryan's coaching specialty is beginners all the way to Kona qualifiers. He is very experienced with swimming and running technique, and he is a CrossFit coach. Ryan lives in Fort Worth with his beautiful wife and two pups, Zoe and Mila. Welcome to the Cool Down, Ryan.

Ryan Tibball: Thank you, Vanessa. It's always a pleasure to just talk to you, but nonetheless be here on the Coach Tip Cool Down. I'm really excited about this.

Vanessa: I'm glad that you're excited because it's so much fun to get to have one more extra opportunity to chat with you. Now, a cool fact about Ryan is that he played soccer for 29 years and then began triathlon. I think we would all like to know what the impetus for the switch was.

Ryan: Wow. So yeah, 29 years of playing ball, and I can tell you, I actually still do miss it. Long story short, actually in the year of starting triathlons, I blew out my knee playing soccer. And that ended that career of soccer playing and really forced my hand in many ways. I had a lot of experience in swimming in my background, plus a lot of running. All I needed to do was learn how to bike. And so the irony of today's tip, nonetheless, but I've learned a lot in 22 plus years, to put it that way. But that's what happened, is I transitioned over to the sport of triathlon right after, essentially, ending my career, not necessarily by choice, playing soccer.

Vanessa: Yeah, that makes sense. I think that anyone who has played soccer pretty much has some sort of injury that they've sustained while playing soccer. And unfortunately, for a lot of people, it is the end of the road. So, sorry to hear that. But I'm grateful because, if that hadn't have happened, then you and I might not be sitting here right now.

Ryan: Absolutely. That's right.

Vanessa: So I would like to know, along with everyone in the audience, what is your tip for us today?

Ryan: Well, it is like I mentioned, biking. It has to do with biking–

Vanessa: Perfect.

Ryan: –and it has to do with anticipating hills. A lot of people fail to use all those gears on the bikes that we have. We have these fancy, expensive bikes and all these gears, but yet, only fail to use, maybe, one or two. But why? So when, on a hilly course – or even just rolling for that matter – anticipating hills in order to, really, successfully maintain your power output, your effort, is so important. So coming up, when you're, for example, coming up on a rolling hill, or a big hill, either way, knowing that hill’s coming, and you're sensing the change already, make that change. Don't wait until you're headstrong into the hill and it's too late. Because at that point, you're now starting to, potentially, grind some gears, start, maybe even, having issues, drop the chain, et cetera.

Vanessa: Yeah, yeah.

Ryan: But anticipating the hill, just adjusting that shifter, one little gear at a time – or for those who have nice fancy buttons on their bikes now, that's great, I don't have those yet. It's something that needs to be practiced. And I can tell you, you can do this both indoors and outdoors. You could pick, on Zwift, you can find a hilly course on there. You know, you can see the terrain is coming. You could begin your shifting, if you're not riding in erg mode. Or, again, outside, you could do the same thing, and should. Once you start creating that anticipation and start making those adjustments, and therefore maintaining a pretty consistent cadence, power output, or effort, it is so – you'll find that your rides become a lot smoother. And not only your workouts, but racing, for that matter. And one last little piece to this is that most of us don't ride the one big up front – the single big ring up front. Most of us have two rings up there. So for those that aren't using that small chain ring up front on a big hill, hey, listen, put the ego aside. Don't be afraid. Use it. It's okay. It's all right. Keep the cadence up. Don't be mashing those gears. Don't be spending those matches too quickly. Don't be burning it out so fast on the bike, but anticipate the hills and make those adjustments. And, again, it's gonna take practice, but you'll get it.

Vanessa: Right. So something that you said, that I find to be really important, is that you want to make sure that, when you're on the hill, that you're maintaining the same cadence that you had just on a flat. Is that correct?

Ryan: Relatively close. There's expected to have a slight change. We had a great podcast about cadence on the bike so we know where we want to be there. And you try to avoid the giant swing. So you might've been spending somewhere around 80-85 cadence, right, on the bike, but you didn't anticipate the hill, and suddenly your cadence is 60.

Vanessa: Right.

Ryan: Wow, you know. Again, you start really just plowing into those fast twitch muscles there and start spending a lot of energy, too.

Vanessa: And now I have another additional question for those of us that live in very hilly areas. I like what you said about being able to anticipate the hill. And I think something that comes from learning – like, the process of actually riding outside and learning – is you get better at knowing what grade of hill it is when you have a look at it. So you can see in the distance, you see that it might be a low grade or a steep grade hill, and then changing your gearing accordingly. Now my question is, what happens if the hill is so steep that you have to go into that gear mashing of 50, 60 RPMs?

Ryan: You know what, that might become a time where you actually have to get up out of the saddle, take that rear end out and jump up. And it is what it is. And again, it's just trying to, well, if it's that steep, get over that thing as best as you can.

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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