May 16, 2025 • 17 mins
Do you have a streak going? Laurie Hug, retired professional triathlete and masters swimmer, shares her 34 year streak, training wisdom and remarkable journey from the deck of YMCA Masters Nationals Championships in Orlando. Her approach to swimming, coaching, and competition showcases how consistency, smart training, and positive mindset contribute to athletic longevity and continued success at the highest levels. Laurie is a member the 1776 Masters and swims in the 60-64 age-group.
Laurie List:
• Coaches swimmers of all levels in the Philadelphia area with 1776 team
• Recommends swimming at least three times weekly for beginners to make real progress
• Adapts training for triathletes based on race distance, sometimes incorporating recovery swims
• Swims daily with a rotating group of 13 friends, many former college swimmers
• Incorporates strength training twice weekly alongside focused stroke/IM work
• Overcame undiagnosed anemia that severely impacted performance in her 30s
• Shares key differences between pool and open water swimming techniques
• Has a 31 year streak going, can you guess what it is?
• Transformed mindset during difficult races to maintain performance
Email us at HELLO@ChampionsMojo.com. Opinions discussed are not medical advice, please seek a medical professional for your own health concerns.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Champions Mojo.
Join us for conversations thatinspire and empower you as an
adult athlete, fitnessenthusiast or master swimmer.
Our goal is to make eachepisode insightful and
inspirational and to discoverwhat it takes to build or keep a
life of personal excellence.
(00:22):
I'm your host, kelly Pallas,and we're here to champion you.
I am at YMCA Masters NationalsChampionships in Orlando,
florida, and doing an on-deckinterview with Lori Hug.
Lori's been one of my heroes.
She's a retired professionaltriathlete but now an
(00:45):
extraordinary coach, coaches aton of people in Masters and I'm
going to let her tell us aboutthat.
But she's also a great swimmer.
She just swam the 1650 here atY Nationals.
The age group win there Broke20 for the first time in a while
.
So anyway, lori, welcome toChampions Mojo, thank you, Kelly
.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
It's a pleasure doing this with you.
I haven't seen you in a coupleof years and I like racing you
as well.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yes, I'm always at the top of the age group and
you're at the bottom, so wedon't get to race a whole lot,
which is good for both of us.
Tell us about what you're doingwith your coaching.
So who are you coaching?
Where are you coaching?
And tell us about your coachingto high school.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
I also coach for 1776 in Philadelphia area and we
have several pools and so we'relike nomads we move around and I
coach all levels.
What is?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
your go-to advice.
If somebody is newer toswimming, newer to master
swimming, how many times a weekshould they swim and what type
of stuff would you have them do?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I recommend they swim at least three days a week.
A lot will just do one and Idon't think you can really
progress much if you're swimmingone day a week and I would ease
them into it Like if we have anewer swimmer.
I don't want them to do thesame thing the people in the
next lane are doing.
I encourage them, do what youcan, stop when you need to and
maybe do 50s instead of 100s.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
So if you were now talking to the triathletes
because you've been a triathlete, I've been a triathlete
certainly not at your level, butI just remember all the times
that you've done a ton of biking, you've done a ton of running
and you're just exhausted.
What do you recommend for thattriathlete, how many days a week
and what distance, to make it agood investment?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
It depends on the distance that they're training
for.
If they're doing an Ironmanthey've got to put some training
in for the swim, but some of itmight be a recovery swim.
If they're putting all thatmileage in, then maybe do an
easy 2000 and you'll still getthe yardage up there a little
bit, but it's a recovery swim.
So for you now.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You've got this busy schedule as a coach, coaching
all these different programs,and you're swimming at a high
level.
Where do you fit in yourtraining and what does that
training look like?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I actually swim every single day.
I never take a day off, but Itake Christmas off and I don't
recommend that for everybody andI don't go hard every day.
But I have a great group offriends that I swim with.
It's fantastic because after Icoach, my friends come and we
get in and we swim.
So there's a group of 13 of usand on any given day someone
will be there.
Some of them won't.
(03:08):
So Tuesday, thursday andSundays I'll swim with them, and
then Monday and Wednesday I'lldo strength training and then
I'll go and swim on my own orI'll convince somebody to join
me.
Every Wednesday I was doingbutterfly focus, which I've
switched that to an IM focus,and then let's see Friday,
whenever I can.
(03:28):
There's people that swimdifferent times during the day.
So I have all these people thatare retired now.
Before it was like me swimmingby myself.
My friends have all retired.
They're all former collegeswimmers.
It's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Oh, that's a great training group.
It's like such a gift.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
And that's why it's every day, because I get to see
different people each day.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yes, that's wonderful .
Has there been a good comebackstory?
Because we all need a goodcomeback story.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I've been doing triathlon since I was 24.
And when I was, I startedgetting faster.
I was like, oh, I think maybe Iwant to go pro.
And then at 30, I just startedgetting really slow and I was
like, oh, I guess I'm justgetting old.
And it turns out I was anemicand I didn't know it.
I just kept getting like weakerand had trouble walking
upstairs and it was just sofrustrating because I was like
(04:12):
I'd be on the track running ashard as I could and I couldn't
even do an eight minute mile,whereas I used to race a lot
faster than that.
So I finally just I'm justgoing to do this socially and
I'll have fun with it.
I went on the pill and it evenedout my menstrual cycle and all
of a sudden I started gettingfaster and a friend of mine
realized, like I was neverdiagnosed but I had been chewing
ice and that's something calledpica or pica, and it's a
(04:35):
symptom of anemia, and so I hadno idea.
My dentist has stopped chewingice because I kept breaking my
teeth and I'm like I can't.
I went on the pill and all of asudden, like within a year, I
started getting faster and moreenergy and my friend who's
immersed was a figure.
She's like you're not chewingice anymore.
I said, no, you are anemic.
I'm like, oh my God.
(04:57):
And I just started gettingfaster and when I was having
that problem.
I still love the sport, so Ijust changed my focus.
I'm like I'm just going to havefun and be social with it.
So when it gets to that point,it doesn't mean you have to give
it up.
So I really appreciate myhealth now, because you don't
know when it's going to happenagain.
You don't know when something'sgoing to happen, but I know
that the sport's going to bethere, even if I can't be at a
high level.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, absolutely, Health is the real wealth.
Tell us about the differencethat you saw as a person who
might swim a mile in open water,and then you just did a try an
open water swim.
What would you say?
Some of the similarities,pitfalls, things that you would
(05:50):
recommend?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
They're very similar but they're also different
because in open water it's morephysical, Like you're bumping
into people, you need to sight,there's waves, you have all the
conditions to deal with and Ienjoy that.
And some people don't enjoy itbecause it's not the same.
The pool is just black lineback and forth.
So for an open water swimmer tobecome more of a pool swimmer,
(06:11):
I think it might be a littlemore boring.
They're going to have to focusmore on their turns and
streamlining off the walls.
I do breathing patterns to keepmyself occupied when I'm doing
my lengths.
I do these breathing patternsin open water.
I'm just racing and I'm tryingto stay with someone or I'm
trying to bridge a gap.
And so for open water you'regoing to need to have some
(06:32):
skills that you don't have inthe pool.
But you can practice them inthe pool, like pickups in the
middle of the swim, because,like you're chasing somebody, if
you're open water going intopool, sometimes what I recommend
is swimming with your eyesclosed and then breathing.
So if you're actually let meflip this if you're a pool
swimmer training for open water,I sometimes recommend having
your eyes closed and then, whenyou turn your head, open your
(06:55):
eyes so like you're used tohaving the dark, because that
was one of the things.
When I first do an open water,I'm like, oh, it's scary, like
it's murky and you can't seeanything and do some drills like
swim a 25 with your eyes closed, just things like that.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Do you find one to be more painful than the other?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
they're different.
I don't know.
That was very painful.
Right now, I feel like if I'mopen water, you don't know what
your time is, so you can easeoff a little bit maybe, whereas
in the pool, if you had a badswim, like you can see, you're
not hitting your splits where.
That's why I know some peoplewon't do like pool races,
because they don't really wantto compare themselves to what
they were when they were younger.
(07:33):
Open water gives you a littlemore freedom.
Okay, I got the got.
The sun was in my eyes.
I can blame it on that.
Something you have, like moreexcuses in water, I think.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
The course was different.
It was longer.
It's never measured exact, butthe pools are definitely
measured exactly.
Nobody's going to yank yourfoot, at least in the pool, and
pull you back, that's true, yes,no-transcript, you got to be in
(08:18):
little packs, but I did have anexcuse.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I'm like I felt like I was being hit the whole time
and I know Eni Jones who she's afantastic swimmer.
She got kicked in the mouth.
She didn't finish the race, soit's much more physical.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
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(08:53):
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Forward slash pathways.
There's nothing worse thanbeing in a heat that's
mis-seeded.
What is like one of the wilder,open water stories that you can
share with us?
Okay, so there?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
was a championship USMAS championship at Fire
Island in New York, and thewater the day before was 72.
It had dropped below 64.
Like one woman measured it atthe upper 50s, they said it was
64.
And you can't wear wetsuits forthe championship race and it
was choppy and it was crazy.
So we went in and it was socold and I got in the lead pack
(09:38):
and it was great and swimming,and I know it's three laps, but
when you're that cold you losetrack of where you are.
And after two laps like we mustbe done, we have to be done I
feel like I've been swimmingforever.
And then I just lost feeling.
I was still with this.
These three guys, the three ofus were swimming together and I
had the lead and then the lastleg.
I was like, oh wait, but therewas a one mile swim, so I know
(10:00):
we have another lap.
And so we just kept going andthe water got choppier and I
just went.
I was at a bad place.
I was like, oh no, I justwanted to quit.
And then I just, you know what.
You're doing, something youlove feel the warm sun on your
back and just enjoy it.
Don't care about the wind ifgirls catch you, that's fine,
just enjoy it.
Don't care about the wind.
If girls catch you, that's fine, just enjoy the swim and the
rest of it.
I was numb, my fingers werecold, like I couldn't feel my
(10:21):
fingers or toes.
The guys dropped me big timeand I just enjoyed the rest of
the swim, came out and ended upwinning by 20 or 30 seconds.
The younger girls were catchingme, but just that I was able to
change my attitude made all thedifference.
It change my attitude made allthe difference.
It made the swim go fromsomething horrible to something
like I was really proud of.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yeah, a mindset shift is so huge in the middle of a
of an endurance race.
For sure, because you caneither tank yourself or push
yourself forward just in thespirit of like having a coffee
conversation here.
I don't know if you rememberthis USA Triathlon World
Qualifier.
I don't know how old I was.
I want to say I was in my 30sand you were probably there at
(11:01):
that point.
I don't know if you were doingpro, but they, it was a World
Qualifier in Claremont, florida,and that little lake that they
have.
I had come, I was coaching atthe University of Arkansas and
I'd flown all the way out toFlorida from Arkansas, so it
wasn't like I was around thecorner.
Was this 1999?
I'll tell you the story and youcan tell me what you think it
was.
(11:21):
Being swimmers, we need theadvantage of that swim.
We need a minute ahead ofpeople before we get on the bike
and usually I had that and youtoo.
I heard some rumor that youwere like undefeated in the swim
for all of your pro races, ormany, or you came out at nine
out of 10, you were the firstswimmer out, but I went up the
night before they had the buoysout.
(11:41):
I was in the triangular course.
I swam that really easy.
I'm like, okay, I'm just goingto swim the whole swim course.
And I think I swam it in 22minutes or something, because at
that point I was probably a 17minute miler.
So 22 minutes was a nicecruising and I thought, okay,
tomorrow I'll come out in 19 orsomething.
And so the next morning we allhave our watches.
There had been a windstorm thenight before and when I went out
(12:05):
to swim I was busy getting mybike ready and getting the whole
thing going and I didn't paythat much attention to how the
buoys looked.
But I thought, god, that swimcourse looks so small.
Today I came on my watch Ofcourse we all start to watch
this I came out of the water in12 minutes, yep.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yep, that was the race.
That was my breakthrough race.
Oh, okay, yeah, tell us aboutit.
So that's crazy.
When you said that, I'm like,yeah, I remember being so mad
because I saw mad.
I'm like this is my advantage,just like you said, yeah.
So I first out of the water andI got on the bike and I went so
(12:42):
hard.
I was like, and in the past,because I was right after I got
over my anemia, I had just sothis is, I was just starting to
get fast again and I'm like Iwas never the first off the bike
at local races, I was the firstoff the bike in my age group.
I'm like what the heck?
The heck is going on.
I'm never maybe one girl caught.
No, one girl caught me and shewas always way ahead of me.
And then I caught her on therun.
(13:04):
So I was like I'm leading thisrace and was a champion, was a
qualifier.
I'm like what the heck?
I've never, I don't even leadthe local races.
And then somebody finallycaught me on the last 5k.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
I think two, one or two girls caught me, but I was
like I took that and I got, Iused that as fuel.
I was so mad that, yeah, andthey and Lori Hug was born, the
triathlete was born on that race.
Yeah, I'm so glad to hear that.
I remember it correctly becauseI was like, oh my gosh, and
back then they only took, I wantto say, top three or something.
It was 10.
I think it was 10.
Yeah, now they take a ton, butwhatever it was, I missed by one
(13:41):
place and five seconds.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
It was something and it was a swim.
It was a swim.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
It was a swim, but imagine what you would have done
on that, I know, with a realswim.
Or maybe you wouldn't have beenas motivated and fired up.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
I don't what the yeah you became.
You became my championship.
I think I had gone to Mrs T'sin Chicago and I was like 67th
in my age group.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Lori, everyone has that race where they become
somebody, but that's cool,that's a memorable one.
Yeah, that was a memorable one.
Yeah, I think we could tell alot of open water stories, just
where goggles are kicked off andpeople are the last time I went
to World Championships inChicago, and that's why I don't
go anymore.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Right before our wave went we were the second to last
wave, the women, whatever agegroup we were and the pontoon
broke or something and they heldus up.
We're in our wetsuits, ready togo standing there for 20
minutes.
And they're like, oh, we'recutting the short down, we're
cutting this one down to 700meters.
And so I was like are youkidding me?
And so I was still.
I came off the bike in second.
I would have been off the bikeso far ahead.
And then the run.
(14:42):
Not only that, the run was longby half and the two girls
passed me on that last bonus one.
I was like never again.
This is world championships.
They can't even have the rightswim, bike and run distances.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
It's tough, swim is always shorter.
I always wanted do you rememberthe balance bar?
I don't even know if they stillhave the balance protein bar,
but it's called the balance bar.
I always wanted them to sponsora triathlon where they did even
even amount.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, even even amount.
Yet there used to be one invermont, the vermont, it was
even up or something.
Not met.
I went, doug and walker wentlike I never him.
He was triathlete of the year acouple years ago.
It was.
You had a choice of a longcourse or short course.
The long course was three and ahalf mile swim, 30 to 32 mile
bike and then a half marathon.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I was like it was great, it was equal yeah, it
should be equal on time, butthen it wouldn't be the hardest
race ever, because it was theone course was brutal, it was
dirt roads and nothing but hills.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
But I went back three times, I did three times, I
loved it and then theydiscontinued it because they
didn't have that many peoplegoing up.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Yeah, Lori, it's been great to spend time with you
today.
Is there anything that Ihaven't asked you that you think
you want to share with people?
One thing that.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I don't know if it will keep going on this year or
whatever, but I've won a race intriathlon every year since 1991
.
Oh my gosh.
So I'm trying to keep thestreak going.
I love a streak, I love astreak.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
But yeah, that's my little fun fact.
Have you picked your triathlonfor the summer?
I have a few picked out.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
So I'm getting into these super sprints so I don't
like running.
So you do maybe a 300 meterswim, maybe a five or six mile
bike and a mile run.
I love it.
It's so much fun.
It's 30 minutes and you just goall out.
It's really fun.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Now do you have to win your age group or win
overall, overall, oh, overall,oh.
That's a tougher streak to keepgoing.
Oh my gosh, good luck.
I'm going to have to check inwith you on that.
Thanks, that's beautiful.
Thank you so much for spendingtime with us today.
Thank you, thank you, Kelly.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Thank you for listening to the Champions Mojo
podcast.
Did you enjoy the show?
We'd be grateful if you wouldleave us a five-star review on
iTunes to help others find us,and we'd also love to hear from
you.
We're on all social mediaplatforms or you can reach us at
championsmojocom.
Welcome to Champions Mojo.
Join us for conversations thatinspire and empower you as an
adult athlete, fitnessenthusiast or master swimmer.
Our goal is to make eachepisode insightful and
inspirational and to discoverwhat it takes to build or keep a
life of personal excellence.
(00:22):
I'm your host, kelly Pallas,and we're here to champion you.
I am at YMCA Masters NationalsChampionships in Orlando,
florida, and doing an on-deckinterview with Lori Hug.
Lori's been one of my heroes.
She's a retired professionaltriathlete but now an
(00:45):
extraordinary coach, coaches aton of people in Masters and I'm
going to let her tell us aboutthat.
But she's also a great swimmer.
She just swam the 1650 here atY Nationals.
The age group win there Broke20 for the first time in a while
.
So anyway, lori, welcome toChampions Mojo, thank you, Kelly
.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
It's a pleasure doing this with you.
I haven't seen you in a coupleof years and I like racing you
as well.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yes, I'm always at the top of the age group and
you're at the bottom, so wedon't get to race a whole lot,
which is good for both of us.
Tell us about what you're doingwith your coaching.
So who are you coaching?
Where are you coaching?
And tell us about your coachingto high school.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
I also coach for 1776 in Philadelphia area and we
have several pools and so we'relike nomads we move around and I
coach all levels.
What is?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
your go-to advice.
If somebody is newer toswimming, newer to master
swimming, how many times a weekshould they swim and what type
of stuff would you have them do?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I recommend they swim at least three days a week.
A lot will just do one and Idon't think you can really
progress much if you're swimmingone day a week and I would ease
them into it Like if we have anewer swimmer.
I don't want them to do thesame thing the people in the
next lane are doing.
I encourage them, do what youcan, stop when you need to and
maybe do 50s instead of 100s.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
So if you were now talking to the triathletes
because you've been a triathlete, I've been a triathlete
certainly not at your level, butI just remember all the times
that you've done a ton of biking, you've done a ton of running
and you're just exhausted.
What do you recommend for thattriathlete, how many days a week
and what distance, to make it agood investment?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
It depends on the distance that they're training
for.
If they're doing an Ironmanthey've got to put some training
in for the swim, but some of itmight be a recovery swim.
If they're putting all thatmileage in, then maybe do an
easy 2000 and you'll still getthe yardage up there a little
bit, but it's a recovery swim.
So for you now.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You've got this busy schedule as a coach, coaching
all these different programs,and you're swimming at a high
level.
Where do you fit in yourtraining and what does that
training look like?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I actually swim every single day.
I never take a day off, but Itake Christmas off and I don't
recommend that for everybody andI don't go hard every day.
But I have a great group offriends that I swim with.
It's fantastic because after Icoach, my friends come and we
get in and we swim.
So there's a group of 13 of usand on any given day someone
will be there.
Some of them won't.
(03:08):
So Tuesday, thursday andSundays I'll swim with them, and
then Monday and Wednesday I'lldo strength training and then
I'll go and swim on my own orI'll convince somebody to join
me.
Every Wednesday I was doingbutterfly focus, which I've
switched that to an IM focus,and then let's see Friday,
whenever I can.
(03:28):
There's people that swimdifferent times during the day.
So I have all these people thatare retired now.
Before it was like me swimmingby myself.
My friends have all retired.
They're all former collegeswimmers.
It's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Oh, that's a great training group.
It's like such a gift.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
And that's why it's every day, because I get to see
different people each day.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yes, that's wonderful .
Has there been a good comebackstory?
Because we all need a goodcomeback story.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I've been doing triathlon since I was 24.
And when I was, I startedgetting faster.
I was like, oh, I think maybe Iwant to go pro.
And then at 30, I just startedgetting really slow and I was
like, oh, I guess I'm justgetting old.
And it turns out I was anemicand I didn't know it.
I just kept getting like weakerand had trouble walking
upstairs and it was just sofrustrating because I was like
(04:12):
I'd be on the track running ashard as I could and I couldn't
even do an eight minute mile,whereas I used to race a lot
faster than that.
So I finally just I'm justgoing to do this socially and
I'll have fun with it.
I went on the pill and it evenedout my menstrual cycle and all
of a sudden I started gettingfaster and a friend of mine
realized, like I was neverdiagnosed but I had been chewing
ice and that's something calledpica or pica, and it's a
(04:35):
symptom of anemia, and so I hadno idea.
My dentist has stopped chewingice because I kept breaking my
teeth and I'm like I can't.
I went on the pill and all of asudden, like within a year, I
started getting faster and moreenergy and my friend who's
immersed was a figure.
She's like you're not chewingice anymore.
I said, no, you are anemic.
I'm like, oh my God.
(04:57):
And I just started gettingfaster and when I was having
that problem.
I still love the sport, so Ijust changed my focus.
I'm like I'm just going to havefun and be social with it.
So when it gets to that point,it doesn't mean you have to give
it up.
So I really appreciate myhealth now, because you don't
know when it's going to happenagain.
You don't know when something'sgoing to happen, but I know
that the sport's going to bethere, even if I can't be at a
high level.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, absolutely, Health is the real wealth.
Tell us about the differencethat you saw as a person who
might swim a mile in open water,and then you just did a try an
open water swim.
What would you say?
Some of the similarities,pitfalls, things that you would
(05:50):
recommend?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
They're very similar but they're also different
because in open water it's morephysical, Like you're bumping
into people, you need to sight,there's waves, you have all the
conditions to deal with and Ienjoy that.
And some people don't enjoy itbecause it's not the same.
The pool is just black lineback and forth.
So for an open water swimmer tobecome more of a pool swimmer,
(06:11):
I think it might be a littlemore boring.
They're going to have to focusmore on their turns and
streamlining off the walls.
I do breathing patterns to keepmyself occupied when I'm doing
my lengths.
I do these breathing patternsin open water.
I'm just racing and I'm tryingto stay with someone or I'm
trying to bridge a gap.
And so for open water you'regoing to need to have some
(06:32):
skills that you don't have inthe pool.
But you can practice them inthe pool, like pickups in the
middle of the swim, because,like you're chasing somebody, if
you're open water going intopool, sometimes what I recommend
is swimming with your eyesclosed and then breathing.
So if you're actually let meflip this if you're a pool
swimmer training for open water,I sometimes recommend having
your eyes closed and then, whenyou turn your head, open your
(06:55):
eyes so like you're used tohaving the dark, because that
was one of the things.
When I first do an open water,I'm like, oh, it's scary, like
it's murky and you can't seeanything and do some drills like
swim a 25 with your eyes closed, just things like that.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Do you find one to be more painful than the other?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
they're different.
I don't know.
That was very painful.
Right now, I feel like if I'mopen water, you don't know what
your time is, so you can easeoff a little bit maybe, whereas
in the pool, if you had a badswim, like you can see, you're
not hitting your splits where.
That's why I know some peoplewon't do like pool races,
because they don't really wantto compare themselves to what
they were when they were younger.
(07:33):
Open water gives you a littlemore freedom.
Okay, I got the got.
The sun was in my eyes.
I can blame it on that.
Something you have, like moreexcuses in water, I think.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
The course was different.
It was longer.
It's never measured exact, butthe pools are definitely
measured exactly.
Nobody's going to yank yourfoot, at least in the pool, and
pull you back, that's true, yes,no-transcript, you got to be in
(08:18):
little packs, but I did have anexcuse.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I'm like I felt like I was being hit the whole time
and I know Eni Jones who she's afantastic swimmer.
She got kicked in the mouth.
She didn't finish the race, soit's much more physical.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
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(08:53):
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There's nothing worse thanbeing in a heat that's
mis-seeded.
What is like one of the wilder,open water stories that you can
share with us?
Okay, so there?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
was a championship USMAS championship at Fire
Island in New York, and thewater the day before was 72.
It had dropped below 64.
Like one woman measured it atthe upper 50s, they said it was
64.
And you can't wear wetsuits forthe championship race and it
was choppy and it was crazy.
So we went in and it was socold and I got in the lead pack
(09:38):
and it was great and swimming,and I know it's three laps, but
when you're that cold you losetrack of where you are.
And after two laps like we mustbe done, we have to be done I
feel like I've been swimmingforever.
And then I just lost feeling.
I was still with this.
These three guys, the three ofus were swimming together and I
had the lead and then the lastleg.
I was like, oh wait, but therewas a one mile swim, so I know
(10:00):
we have another lap.
And so we just kept going andthe water got choppier and I
just went.
I was at a bad place.
I was like, oh no, I justwanted to quit.
And then I just, you know what.
You're doing, something youlove feel the warm sun on your
back and just enjoy it.
Don't care about the wind ifgirls catch you, that's fine,
just enjoy it.
Don't care about the wind.
If girls catch you, that's fine, just enjoy the swim and the
rest of it.
I was numb, my fingers werecold, like I couldn't feel my
(10:21):
fingers or toes.
The guys dropped me big timeand I just enjoyed the rest of
the swim, came out and ended upwinning by 20 or 30 seconds.
The younger girls were catchingme, but just that I was able to
change my attitude made all thedifference.
It change my attitude made allthe difference.
It made the swim go fromsomething horrible to something
like I was really proud of.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yeah, a mindset shift is so huge in the middle of a
of an endurance race.
For sure, because you caneither tank yourself or push
yourself forward just in thespirit of like having a coffee
conversation here.
I don't know if you rememberthis USA Triathlon World
Qualifier.
I don't know how old I was.
I want to say I was in my 30sand you were probably there at
(11:01):
that point.
I don't know if you were doingpro, but they, it was a World
Qualifier in Claremont, florida,and that little lake that they
have.
I had come, I was coaching atthe University of Arkansas and
I'd flown all the way out toFlorida from Arkansas, so it
wasn't like I was around thecorner.
Was this 1999?
I'll tell you the story and youcan tell me what you think it
was.
(11:21):
Being swimmers, we need theadvantage of that swim.
We need a minute ahead ofpeople before we get on the bike
and usually I had that and youtoo.
I heard some rumor that youwere like undefeated in the swim
for all of your pro races, ormany, or you came out at nine
out of 10, you were the firstswimmer out, but I went up the
night before they had the buoysout.
(11:41):
I was in the triangular course.
I swam that really easy.
I'm like, okay, I'm just goingto swim the whole swim course.
And I think I swam it in 22minutes or something, because at
that point I was probably a 17minute miler.
So 22 minutes was a nicecruising and I thought, okay,
tomorrow I'll come out in 19 orsomething.
And so the next morning we allhave our watches.
There had been a windstorm thenight before and when I went out
(12:05):
to swim I was busy getting mybike ready and getting the whole
thing going and I didn't paythat much attention to how the
buoys looked.
But I thought, god, that swimcourse looks so small.
Today I came on my watch Ofcourse we all start to watch
this I came out of the water in12 minutes, yep.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yep, that was the race.
That was my breakthrough race.
Oh, okay, yeah, tell us aboutit.
So that's crazy.
When you said that, I'm like,yeah, I remember being so mad
because I saw mad.
I'm like this is my advantage,just like you said, yeah.
So I first out of the water andI got on the bike and I went so
(12:42):
hard.
I was like, and in the past,because I was right after I got
over my anemia, I had just sothis is, I was just starting to
get fast again and I'm like Iwas never the first off the bike
at local races, I was the firstoff the bike in my age group.
I'm like what the heck?
The heck is going on.
I'm never maybe one girl caught.
No, one girl caught me and shewas always way ahead of me.
And then I caught her on therun.
(13:04):
So I was like I'm leading thisrace and was a champion, was a
qualifier.
I'm like what the heck?
I've never, I don't even leadthe local races.
And then somebody finallycaught me on the last 5k.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
I think two, one or two girls caught me, but I was
like I took that and I got, Iused that as fuel.
I was so mad that, yeah, andthey and Lori Hug was born, the
triathlete was born on that race.
Yeah, I'm so glad to hear that.
I remember it correctly becauseI was like, oh my gosh, and
back then they only took, I wantto say, top three or something.
It was 10.
I think it was 10.
Yeah, now they take a ton, butwhatever it was, I missed by one
(13:41):
place and five seconds.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
It was something and it was a swim.
It was a swim.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
It was a swim, but imagine what you would have done
on that, I know, with a realswim.
Or maybe you wouldn't have beenas motivated and fired up.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
I don't what the yeah you became.
You became my championship.
I think I had gone to Mrs T'sin Chicago and I was like 67th
in my age group.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Lori, everyone has that race where they become
somebody, but that's cool,that's a memorable one.
Yeah, that was a memorable one.
Yeah, I think we could tell alot of open water stories, just
where goggles are kicked off andpeople are the last time I went
to World Championships inChicago, and that's why I don't
go anymore.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Right before our wave went we were the second to last
wave, the women, whatever agegroup we were and the pontoon
broke or something and they heldus up.
We're in our wetsuits, ready togo standing there for 20
minutes.
And they're like, oh, we'recutting the short down, we're
cutting this one down to 700meters.
And so I was like are youkidding me?
And so I was still.
I came off the bike in second.
I would have been off the bikeso far ahead.
And then the run.
(14:42):
Not only that, the run was longby half and the two girls
passed me on that last bonus one.
I was like never again.
This is world championships.
They can't even have the rightswim, bike and run distances.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
It's tough, swim is always shorter.
I always wanted do you rememberthe balance bar?
I don't even know if they stillhave the balance protein bar,
but it's called the balance bar.
I always wanted them to sponsora triathlon where they did even
even amount.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, even even amount.
Yet there used to be one invermont, the vermont, it was
even up or something.
Not met.
I went, doug and walker wentlike I never him.
He was triathlete of the year acouple years ago.
It was.
You had a choice of a longcourse or short course.
The long course was three and ahalf mile swim, 30 to 32 mile
bike and then a half marathon.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I was like it was great, it was equal yeah, it
should be equal on time, butthen it wouldn't be the hardest
race ever, because it was theone course was brutal, it was
dirt roads and nothing but hills.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
But I went back three times, I did three times, I
loved it and then theydiscontinued it because they
didn't have that many peoplegoing up.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Yeah, Lori, it's been great to spend time with you
today.
Is there anything that Ihaven't asked you that you think
you want to share with people?
One thing that.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I don't know if it will keep going on this year or
whatever, but I've won a race intriathlon every year since 1991
.
Oh my gosh.
So I'm trying to keep thestreak going.
I love a streak, I love astreak.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
But yeah, that's my little fun fact.
Have you picked your triathlonfor the summer?
I have a few picked out.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
So I'm getting into these super sprints so I don't
like running.
So you do maybe a 300 meterswim, maybe a five or six mile
bike and a mile run.
I love it.
It's so much fun.
It's 30 minutes and you just goall out.
It's really fun.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Now do you have to win your age group or win
overall, overall, oh, overall,oh.
That's a tougher streak to keepgoing.
Oh my gosh, good luck.
I'm going to have to check inwith you on that.
Thanks, that's beautiful.
Thank you so much for spendingtime with us today.
Thank you, thank you, Kelly.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Thank you for listening to the Champions Mojo
podcast.
Did you enjoy the show?
We'd be grateful if you wouldleave us a five-star review on
iTunes to help others find us,and we'd also love to hear from
you.
We're on all social mediaplatforms or you can reach us at
championsmojocom.
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