December 5, 2025 • 54 mins
What does it take to chase Ultraman while working 12-hour shifts in emergency care? We sit down with Erica Riley—critical care nurse, coach, and multi-time ultradistance triathlete—to unpack the systems, habits, and mindset that make high performance sustainable in a busy life. From 3 a.m. Zwift rides to meticulous time boxing, she shows exactly how to build consistency without sacrificing your health, your job, or your relationships.
Erica takes us inside the toughest days of lockdown, when PPE, quarantine hotels, and strict radius rules forced radical creativity: ocean swims inside a five-kilometer bubble, stacked run commutes, and eight-hour trainer marathons. That crucible led her to Ultraman and a new goal—to not only finish but compete—under coach Tim Franklin of KOA Sports. We explore the art of crew selection, live-stream storytelling, and keeping a tight bond with the UM Australia Ohana.
Nutrition and strength become Erica’s quiet superpowers. Longtime plant-based, she refined protein intake, embraced whole foods, and saw clear changes in lean mass and visceral fat. Race fuel is simple and effective: Infinite custom blends, salty chips when the gut turns, and a well-timed orange Fanta for mood and carbs. Off the course, her secret weapon is reformer Pilates—45 minutes that deliver strength, mobility, posture, and injury prevention for time-poor athletes who need durability as much as speed.
We also dig into coaching. With Synergy Sports Coaching, Erica builds plans for real people—shift workers, parents, and professionals—using TrainingPeaks as a living diary. She treats sessions like meetings you won’t miss, teaches sleep hygiene around rotating rosters, and helps athletes fit training into life, not the other way around. Along the way, she shares favorite races (hello, Cairns and Nha Trang), a brutal and beautiful lead-in at Alpine Ascent Extreme, and the mindset work that turned perfectionism from procrastination into fuel.
If you want practical tools to train smarter, eat better, and perform under pressure, you’ll find tangible tactics you can use today. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s juggling big goals, and leave a review to help more athletes discover the show.
Contact Erica : @synergysportscoaching on Instagram
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- UM Australia
- Ultra 355 Australia
- KOA Sports Coaching
- The Proof Podcast
- Australian Alpine Ascent Extreme Triathlon
- Happy Thoughts Tri Team
- Training Peaks
- Challenge Nha Trang
- IM Cairns
- IM Busselton
- Infinite Nutrition
- Kenilworth Country Bakery
- UM New Zealand
- King’s Canyon Cruise
Shout outs and mentions in this episode:
- Nestor Alejandro Ochoa Rivera
- Tim Franklin
- Simon Hill
- Hayley Fry
- Jackson Gash
- Andrew Trout
- Simon Cochrane
Show Contributors:
Host : Larry Ryan
Contributing Raconteur : Steve King
Announcer : Mary Jo Dionne
Production : 5Five Enterprises
Music : Run by 331
For show notes and past guests, please visit the Podcast Website: https://515theultrapodcast.buzzsprout.com
Facebook: @515TheUltraPodcast
Insta : @515theultrapodcast
Youtube : @515TheUltraPodcast
Email : 515Ultraman@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Erica (00:00):
Okay.
Oh, ooh.
This is hard work, Larry.
Larry (00:06):
Do you got anything in that drink to help you get
through it?
Erica (00:09):
Well, that's another thing you should probably, if
you've seen my social media,I've become a little red bull.
Larry (01:15):
She has competed in over a dozen half Ironmans and two
full Ironmans, as well aspodiumed at the Ultra 355
Australia and competed in twofull distance 515 UM Australia
races.
She joins me today fromBrisbane as an athlete in
profile for the 2026 UMAustralia, which is happening in
(01:38):
Noosa this coming May.
Welcome to the podcast, EricO'Reilly.
Erica (01:43):
Hi, Larry, how are you?
Larry (01:45):
I'm well.
I'm well.
Thank you for joining us andworking out the time delay that
it takes to get the Australianpeople on with me here in
Vancouver.
I appreciate that.
Erica (01:58):
No, it's all good.
It's it's middle of the dayhere for us, so it's nice sweat
on my on my end.
Larry (02:05):
Yeah, and and here we're just uh in the evening, so it
works out well on thisparticular hour.
It's great.
Um so Erica, I've I've beenfollowing you on Instagram since
last year when you were givingback to the to the Ohana by
working as the race medic at UMAustralia, and I was doing the
live stream for it.
(02:26):
And uh since I've beenfollowing you, my first question
that comes up to you or comesup for you is uh when do you
actually clip because or do youclick?
Because it seems to me that youhave at least four full-time
jobs, uh, from what I can tellfrom what you post online.
You're a critical care nurse,you train probably, I'm
(02:48):
guessing, at least a full-timejob, you're doing coaching now,
and you also post to socialmedia about the other three on a
regular basis.
So when do you sleep?
Erica (03:00):
That's an excellent question, Larry.
Um I do I do sleep, I promise Ido sleep, but some days, you
know, uh longer than others.
Uh, it just comes down to timemanagement techniques, which is
actually one of the big thingsthat I try and teach my own
athletes.
Like time management is key.
(03:21):
And once you learn some ofthose unique skills, it's it can
be easy, and it's just aboutlike, you know, anything that is
of high priority, you have toallocate time for.
So usually by the end of theday, not everything on the to-do
list is done.
But like you said, my my lifeis very busy, but the but the
(03:43):
key things are done usually whenI go to bed at night.
So yes, I do sleep.
Larry (03:48):
And and I'm I'm guessing you must go to bed fairly early
because a lot of your postsstart with you at 4 a.m.
Erica (03:56):
Yeah, the um the 3 a.m.
wake ups is something that Iactually haven't really let go
of since the second Ultraman, toto be honest with you, um
purely because that was just thetime I available to me to train
around shift work.
So it just sort of stuck andnow I just enjoy it.
(04:20):
Start early, finish early, theysay in Queensland.
Larry (04:23):
So and with your job, how how does it work out for your
shift work?
Are you like four days onreally long shifts and four days
off, or what do you do?
Erica (04:35):
So for a very long time, Larry, I was on full-time, uh
well, nearly full-timeequivalent nursing hours, uh,
which sort of works out to three12-hour shifts per week.
So because they're stretchedout to 12 hours instead of an
eight-hour workday, yeah, youcan combine all those hours into
(04:59):
three.
So whether you do three not12-hour night shifts on the
bounce or three day shifts, youcan still utilize the rest of
those days off.
But I do work a 24-7 rotatingroster.
So nights, days is good whenit's 12s, but if you're working
less than that, then it's anytime of the day or or evening,
(05:20):
really.
Larry (05:21):
So yeah.
And you you work as anemergency critical care nurse.
What exactly is that incomparison to like other
nursing?
Erica (05:32):
Oh, well, basically, I work uh in emergency and I have
done for my entire nursingcareer.
I haven't really workedanywhere else.
I've I've dabbled in teachingand a bit of management here and
there.
But basically, it's you know,I'm either in the recess room
accepting category one, categorytwo patients, whether I'm at a
(05:55):
trauma hospital or not.
I'm triage competent, so I'mthe face of the organization
when you come to the window andyou're you're distressed and and
want to see a doctor.
Um, so yeah, I just focus onemergency mostly, and my
specialty is um advanced lifesupport teaching for other
(06:17):
nurses.
So I do teach as well.
Yeah, so mostly research andtriage and in charge.
Yeah.
Larry (06:24):
Yeah.
And so I can understand whyliving in that world you need an
outlet somewhere else.
And I I'm guessing that's whyyou've you've turned to
triathlon.
Erica (06:37):
Oh, absolutely, Larry.
And at the time, so when Ifirst started embracing the
sport was about 2015, I wouldsay.
Um and I was only, you know,five years into my nursing
career at that point.
And you sort of see in thosehigh trauma hospitals quite a
(07:01):
lot of confronting cases, uh,are very regular with big
tertiary centers.
And so you the nursing cohorttend to go down, there's like a
split in the road.
And it's like, how are wecoping with what we see every
day?
And and some folk turn toeither leaving critical care and
(07:23):
go into easier work, somepeople um embrace like holidays
or travel and that type ofthing, partying, and and people,
some other people embraceexercise um as an outlet.
And so I t I went down thatroute and I used triathlon as
just something else to focus onoutside of work.
(07:46):
I needed something that was myidentity that wasn't like, oh,
critical care emergency is myidentity.
I'm like, no, that's myprofession.
Larry (07:55):
Right.
Erica (07:56):
That's not who I am.
Larry (07:57):
Yeah.
Um, well, you're saying thatyou've been in this for for
quite a while now, uh, whichmeans that you went through
COVID as well as a nurse.
And I know down in Australiayou had some of the, you know,
strictest lockdown rules in theworld as far as not being able
to leave your own neighborhood.
Um in your case, I'm guessingit probably affected you a
(08:21):
little bit as well, because Iknow in your first UM Australia
race, you ran your last 5K inPPE in order to honor those
frontline healthcare workers.
Can you tell me a little bitabout that?
Erica (08:34):
I did.
Um, it was, yeah.
Look, let's just say umMelbourne lockdown was one of
the toughest things I've everexperienced professionally, uh,
for sure.
Absolutely.
And personally, like I I was inMelbourne at the time and
(08:54):
living alone.
Um and for the start of itanyway.
And you know, I was in hotelquarantine in 2020, and it was
it was like there's certainthings I can't disclose here,
obviously, because of of thegovernment and whatnot with
rules, but it was a hard time.
And I remember turning aroundto my colleague in one of the
(09:17):
hotels, and I was like, I thinkthis is the hardest thing I've
ever done.
And she turned around to me andshe's like, Well, you do Iron
Man's, don't you?
That's pretty tough.
And I'm like, This is harderthan than than Iron Man, I swear
to God.
And then we had a little bit ofa conversation, and she said,
Well, you should find somethingthat's harder than Iron Man and
(09:39):
show COVID who's boss.
And then that's when we putinto Google and we found out
what Ultraman was.
And uh the rest is history, asthey say.
Larry (09:50):
So yeah, I'm sure many people have Googled what is
harder than Iron Man and come upwith Ultraman.
Erica (09:58):
Yeah.
That's pretty much exactly howit happens.
So we had all like the masks onour faces and everything when
it happened, and we were justsweaty and getting the stuff
off, and I'm like, this is thehardest thing I've ever done.
And we were just having atantrum, it was quite funny.
Larry (10:17):
Yeah.
And and how was it to trainduring that time?
Because I'm assuming you didn'tgive up your training.
Erica (10:23):
Uh no, I didn't.
Um, no, I did not.
So basically, I was taken underthe wing of my coach at the
time, who is actually now afellow competitor for UM26.
Um and who's that?
Larry (10:41):
Let's drop some name, chair.
Erica (10:44):
Yeah, so that's Nestor.
Nestor Alejandro Riviera.
Oh, yes, my Colombian friend,who I was team captain for.
Yes.
So I I joined his tri-clubduring COVID.
Um, and that's where we firstmet.
And um so we tried our verybest, you know, and I was just I
(11:07):
was grateful that I lived inPort Melbourne at the time.
So the the bay was actuallywithin my five-kilometer radius
bubble, so I could still swim inin Port Phillip Bay without
leaving my radius, which was notbreaking any rules.
Um the indoor trainer, we havebecome best friends.
(11:28):
Um, I think the longest I everdid on that thing was eight and
a half hours on the kicker.
Um and home strength workoutsjust virtually through through
Zoom with him.
And um running, we were allowedto run within our five
(11:51):
kilometer radius, but wecouldn't exercise for longer
than one hour per day.
But but however you chose tocommute to work for your
employment if you were stillworking was your choice.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Right.
Erica (12:10):
So then to increase run volume, it was a lot of um maybe
not so direct routes to thehospital from home running.
So you know, some days I mightrun three times a day just
because we included the commutesbecause work commutes weren't
breaking any lockdown rules.
unknown (12:33):
Yeah.
Erica (12:34):
So that's the only way we could increase the volume.
Larry (12:37):
Um, I I know that you you post a lot of your workouts
with videos on Instagram.
I've been seeing these as well.
Uh just in talking about yourworkouts.
So now you're you're free to doas many workouts as you want.
And you seem to do a lot.
Uh and you really enjoy Oh, I'mabout to say, but no, I'm not.
Erica (12:58):
Oh I've gotten lazy in my old age.
Larry (13:04):
Um, you really seem to enjoy the reformer Pilates
workouts that you do.
That seems to be every week.
There's there's another videowith that.
Um I did that one time and Ithought it was super hard.
Um, why have you made that suchan integral part of your
training?
Erica (13:21):
It is hard.
So reformer Pilates has been anabsolute game changer for me as
an athlete, and not even, youknow, mentally.
Mentally, it gives me abeautiful time to zen out.
I get it, but it's actuallyhard work, like when you do it
properly.
Like it's like it's a strengthworkout.
(13:42):
But at the same time, you know,being triathletes, let alone
ultra-athletes, right?
Our our time is precious.
We have X amount of timededicated to swim, bike, run.
And the the way that I see itis triathlon has more than just
three disciplines, and strengthand conditioning is is an
(14:05):
essential one.
But in saying that, injuryprevention is key.
So reforma Pilates allows youto gain lean mass, get strong,
and helps with conditioning andinjury prevention within one
45-minute window.
So, in terms of longevity inthe sport and athletic
(14:31):
performance, it it's just sobeneficial on so many levels
that I even incorporate it formy own athletes now at least two
to three times a week ifthey're willing.
Larry (14:42):
Oh, yeah.
And and what's your schedule?
How many times are you going?
Erica (14:47):
More than my coach would like me to.
Larry (14:56):
Who's your coach?
Erica (14:57):
My coach.
So I'm I I think because thisis gonna probably be my last
rodeo as an ultra-athlete,Larry.
Um, I'm gonna be this mightthis is probably gonna be my
last hurrah.
Um, I really love and embracethe Australian Ultraman dream
team and the crew.
(15:18):
Um, and I've I've gone fullcircle with it now, being an
athlete twice myself, and then Iwas team captain for another
athlete, and then I was themedic this year.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Right.
Erica (15:31):
And just to be to be part of the Ultraman family is just
such an honor.
So I thought there was no oneelse who could coach me besides
someone within that space.
Um, so Tim uh Franklin from CoaSports is my coach purely for
that um ultraman connection thatwe have together.
Larry (15:51):
Yeah.
Well, that makes sense.
Yeah.
Um for people that don't know,Tim has also raced there
numerous times.
He's the man who ran around theworld and uh is now the the
voice of UM Australia um when hedoes all the announcing for the
race down there.
So he's definitely wellconnected to that uh thought
(16:14):
process and that ohana downthere in Australia.
And that makes sense that youwould go to a coach like that to
to keep you tied to thecommunity.
Does he bring anythingdifferent to to coaching you
that you would first of all as acoach be like, I don't know
about that, but then maybe youtry it out?
Or how does that how does thatconversation go?
Erica (16:38):
How does that conversation go?
Well, it's a very difficultquestion to answer.
Um, I find it that I so I dohave to put my athlete hat on
and not my coach hat.
So I I need to, you know, andand that's fine because he he
(17:01):
knows that I'm ready to to go upa level, I guess, like have a
not just finish, but to actuallycompete in this in this round,
uh, which is different from whatI've I've done previously.
So my last two races were morelike just aim to finish, right?
Where this time it's I'm I'mgonna go out with with Saw's
(17:25):
hammer, just slam.
So, you know, I think he he isgoing to be able to give me that
that increased performance thatI'm looking for.
Okay, and he is with co-sportsthat are quite uh renowned for
the results that they uh thatthey obtain.
So I think that it's a smartmove for me as an athlete.
(17:49):
But definitely there's there'sbeen some side-eye emoji sent
his way about like, really?
You am I doing that?
And he's like, Yes, just dowhat I say.
And so I'm like, yes well.
Larry (18:04):
That's great.
That's great.
Uh and he's got so muchpersonality that I'm sure he he
tells it to you with a lot oflove.
Erica (18:12):
Um, I'm sure I'm not sure if it's with a lot of love.
He just tells me.
But no, he he does he said hewould take care of me, and I and
I and I believed him when hewhen he said that.
So I agreed to take him on asmy coach for that reason.
Larry (18:27):
Yeah, yeah.
Um, I did look up your previoustimes.
Uh you were a 33-18 in 2021 anda 32-39.
Uh, so you, you know, youimprove by almost an hour, but
I'm guessing you have someloftier goals from what you just
said.
Are you willing to share any ofthe goals that you have for for
(18:48):
this year?
Erica (18:49):
So there were a few factors um with my time from
last time that I I'm not sure ifI'm allowed to say here, but I
did crunch the numbers and I didthe math um about how much time
I actually lost for femalehealth reasons.
Um, took a lot of time on myaccumulated time.
(19:14):
So it yeah, I which I won'thave that issue this race.
So it'll be interesting to seeif the math in my mind is
correct.
Um I also think that because ofReforma and because my
nutrition has totally changed,my whole life has totally
changed since the last race.
(19:34):
So I've reduced a lot of thestresses.
Um my shift work is a bit morebalanced, my nutrition's totally
different, I'm stronger interms of my body composition.
So I think my aim is just to doa lot better than previously.
But um we'd we'd like we'd likea top-end female finish.
(20:00):
Nice, nice somewhere in there.
Yeah.
Larry (20:04):
Get back on the podium like you did at 355.
Erica (20:08):
Oh, I didn't want to say the P word.
Larry (20:12):
You didn't.
You didn't say it.
You're good.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Yeah, you did.
Yeah.
Larry (20:17):
Well, you you're talking about your nutrition.
Um, obviously, there's twoparts to nutrition.
There's your your dailynutrition while you're you're
training and things like that.
And I I are you plant-based?
Is that what you are?
Erica (20:30):
Yes, I am.
Larry (20:32):
Yeah.
So tell tell me a little bitabout how that goes for your
your meal prepping and and howthat has changed your ability
to, you know, work with yourwith your daily life stresses
and things like that, and andchange to plant-based.
Uh obviously you feel it'sbetter.
Uh, tell me a little bit aboutthat.
Erica (20:53):
Yeah, well, I've actually been plant-based since 2011,
I'd like to say.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
All right.
Erica (21:01):
Regardless of whether I'm plant-based or not, it was just
nutritional habits, propermacro tracking, the things that
every athlete should probably dothat I've that I've changed.
Um, and it's changed my bodycomposition dramatically.
Um so in 12 months, I I lostabout three liters of visceral
(21:28):
fat.
Um, I went from I I gained 2.3kilos in lean mass, and I
reduced um, I lost six kilosaltogether, and I lost, oh, this
is all just off the top of myhead.
I think it was like 5.8% totalbody fat.
So I think that for any athletethat would change how they
(21:51):
perform in general.
Um, but it was just simplethings like um eating more whole
foods, increasing my proteinintake every day, um, just other
types of supplements and thingslike that, like just to help.
Larry (22:10):
Right.
Erica (22:10):
So I think that that's definitely enhanced my
performance as an athlete.
Larry (22:15):
I was gonna say, do you have any go-to kind of um
websites or something where youget your recipes?
Because I know for some peoplethe idea of taking on a
plant-based diet is like, Iwouldn't know how to prepare the
food enough to support me.
Erica (22:32):
Yeah.
Um, so I initially earlierearly on in the piece um
referred to a uh um a guy who isquite famous in the podcast
space.
He was a physio turn to Mastersof Nutrition.
(22:52):
Um his name's Simon Hill.
I'm not sure if you know him.
He has a podcast called TheProof.
Larry (22:57):
No.
Erica (22:59):
Um, okay.
So he's a huge advocate for umlike nutrition and longevity and
that type of uh research.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Right.
Erica (23:10):
And he has a whole website full of plant-based
recipes.
He's even redesigned the wholefood pyramid and that type of
thing.
So I just followed a lot of hisresources initially, and now
it's just become habit, really.
I do tend to get quite boringand have the same meals on
rotation.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Yeah.
Erica (23:29):
Um, for example, I've just done my meal prep for the
next four days because I'mworking four shifts in a row.
So I'll be the fridge is full.
It's just kind of be the samething on rotation, day in, day
out for the next couple of days.
But um, you know, I think thatthat's just the key.
(23:50):
It just stops that type of um.
And I think in the in theendurance space too, sometimes
you just don't realize howbehind the eight ball you are if
it's been like a high volumeweek and you're just constantly
just going for whatever.
But at least um the meal prepsort of when you have those
moments, it's like I'm gonna gofor whatever, but in my
(24:11):
allocated stash of stuff.
Larry (24:13):
Right.
Yeah.
And and now as you're preparingfor UM Australia in May, we are
here at the end of November aswe record this.
It'll be coming out inDecember.
Um, where are you in your inyour cycle for preparing for
that?
Where is your volume at now?
Like where will when will youreach your maximum hours in a
(24:36):
week?
And what will that look likefor you as far as swim, bike,
run, breakdown, and and andother training?
Because you like to do all theother cross training as well.
Erica (24:46):
Yes.
So I do have a feeling that uhTim is gonna reduce my allocated
Pilates time.
Um that's just a given.
Um, I've actually, Larry, I'vegot an extreme iron man
triathlon happening here inFebruary.
unknown (25:07):
Oh, okay.
Erica (25:08):
Um, so I'm training for for that at the moment.
And so that's sort of like irondistance kind of volume.
Larry (25:15):
Right.
What's the name of that one?
Erica (25:17):
It's called the um Alpine Ascent Extreme Try in Mount
Kosyosko.
So um that's sort of like avery cold lake swim, um, all
altitude ride up into the skifield in our highest peak here
in Australia, like the KosyoskoNational Park.
And then it's a marathon trailrun up to the summit.
Larry (25:40):
Okay.
Yeah.
So have you put in a trainingpeak to prepare for that as
well, then?
unknown (25:47):
Yeah.
Erica (25:48):
Yeah.
So that's sort of going to belike my lead-in race.
So I have a feeling that myvolume will significantly
increase in about December.
A lot of speed work currently.
So yeah, I think I'm hopingit'll get up to about 30 hours a
week maximum.
As usual, that's what happenedmy last two.
(26:09):
So it should be around 30 isthe peak.
Um, 17 will be low, around them20, 20 will be average.
Larry (26:20):
And and of the three disciplines, which one do you
need to improve your time on themost?
And and how much extra focuswill you give to that?
Erica (26:27):
Oh, swim.
Swim.
Me and the pool are not friendsright now.
We will be, we will becomeclose friends over the summer.
But right now, she's a mission.
She's a mission.
So yeah, no, definitely myswim.
Like my form is okay, and I andI do strongly believe that
(26:49):
Pilates has helped make my soeven though I'm not swimming as
much as I probably should be, Ifeel like the strength that I'm
getting with Pilates makes thoseswims easier when I get there,
if that makes sense.
Larry (27:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, yeah.
And do you know who you'll bebringing for your crew?
Do you have any experiencecoming?
Do you have people coming backfrom previous races?
Erica (27:13):
Um, so Nesta has always been my team captain.
So with him racing, I was justlike, what are we gonna do?
What are we gonna do?
I I rang him when I when I sawthe application, I was like,
bro, we've been each other'steam captain.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Like, what are we going to do?
Erica (27:34):
Um, so I actually have um asked, and I think this is
basically the first announcementof this, but with the the
growth of of my business and mycoaching um business, I I will
need assistance coaches in thenot too distant future.
(27:57):
Uh so one of my athletes whohas just done Iron Man World
Champs at Kona, actually, shegot there on her very first Iron
Man attempt.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
Oh wow.
Erica (28:09):
Um she, yeah, Haley, sweet Haley.
Um, she's gonna be my teamcaptain for me.
Larry (28:16):
Excellent.
And and she has dreams of doingUltraman herself.
Erica (28:22):
I have a feeling she will, yes.
Yeah.
Um, so she's um gonna teamcaptain this round.
Um and it's funny when it wasthe the morning of the athlete
breakfast for the beforeUltraman this year had kicked
(28:44):
off the first day when all theathletes arrive and they do the
course conversation andeverything.
Um I was standing alongside theauditorium like um hall with
the rest of the dream team, andI just looked over across the
other side of the room and Imessaged Andrew Trout and I
said, Buckle up.
(29:06):
You better get the van ready.
I'm booking you now.
And he's like, This race hasn'teven started yet, and I'm like,
I'm booking you now.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
Nice.
Erica (29:16):
Yeah, so I scored Trouty.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
That's the way you gotta do it down there, I think.
Erica (29:23):
So from Andrew.
Oh, absolutely.
He is a hot commodity, thatman.
Yeah, he is like there is awaiting list for Andrew Trout.
Oh, yeah.
So I booked him nice and early.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Excellent.
Erica (29:37):
I'll have um Andrew, I'll have Haley and her partner, um,
and then a few of my closefriends from Brisbane are coming
up um to be as part of thecrew.
And then we have um Nestor's umcommunity club, the Happy
Thoughts team.
Uh he they're gonna donate someof their members.
(29:59):
Between the two of us to assistus.
Larry (30:03):
Excellent.
Erica (30:04):
Yeah.
So we're going to have a wholecontingency up there.
Larry (30:08):
That's awesome.
Hello, listener.
I love getting your feedbackand suggestions for the podcast.
Keep them coming at 515ultramanat gmail.com.
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you're going to be able to dothat.
(30:28):
And if you don't mindpublishing your thoughts, a free
way to support the show is byleaving a five-star rating and
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It's a chance to tell me whatyou love about the show, and it
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Finally, if you're so inclined,you can show your appreciation
(30:52):
for my work by clicking thesupport button at the bottom of
the show notes.
To go to my Find Me a Coffeepage.
Thanks for all of your feedbackand support.
Now back to the show.
Well, when I was looking backat some of your older Instagram
postings from 2021 and thematerial that you were
(31:13):
producing, not you, because youwere racing, but your crew were
producing, uh, it was awesome.
And it's the kind of stuff thatI want to have in the live
stream this year.
So one of the things I learnedfrom our live stream was that um
asking people to send in avideo and then trying to look at
it and edit and post and all ofthat while I'm at the same time
(31:36):
directing and commentating andwasn't working.
So this year's plan for peoplethat are listening is just going
to be to open the Zoom link toall the crews so that they can
just join direct in, no sendingin videos.
They can just click in rightinto the Zoom with us and we'll
put them on air and show what'sgoing on live at the time.
Erica (31:59):
That is so good.
Yes, that's awesome.
Yeah.
Larry (32:02):
That's I hope you got some people that are good with
the camera again to to take onthat role.
Erica (32:08):
Oh, yeah.
Absolutely.
We're gonna have a whole properlike vlog system happening.
Larry (32:18):
Now, when we were talking about your your own coaching,
let's uh let's get the name outthere because maybe some people
wanna want to know about thisand and contact you.
Erica (32:27):
So my business name is called Synergy Sports Coaching
at Synergy Sports Coaching allone word.
Uh you'll find that in the inin Instagram in the bio.
And I really thought long andhard about how and why I'm gonna
go into the coaching space.
And it was literally from allthe Ultraman footage from the
(32:49):
past two.
It was like all the DM in justlike, how do you how do you do
this?
How do you have time for that?
Just people just want andwanting advice.
And my um my my now ex-husbandactually said to me at the time,
he's like, You should begetting paid for that.
(33:09):
He's like, Why are you justspeaking to us?
Because this is all your yourlike hack secrets.
And I'm like, Well, maybe, youknow, and I was a bit burnt out
from the pandemic as well, to befair.
So I was like, if I cangenerate something that allows
me to just nurse a little bitless, that's something that I'm
still passionate about, thenI'll give it a no.
(33:32):
Um, and it's actually turnedout to be quite amazing,
actually.
Sometimes I just sort of I lookinto training peaks and I'm
just like, I'm like, this isjust surreal to me still.
I'm just absolutely so gratefulfor for everyone who's decided
to come on board and and andtrust me the way that they do.
Um, it's been wonderful.
(33:53):
It's been a wonderfulexperience.
Larry (33:55):
Yeah.
And when you decided to getinto the coaching field, then
you did you go out and getcertifications to to back that
up, or are you just going withyour your knowledge from being
an athlete?
Erica (34:06):
No, yep, I did.
Um, so I got the training peakscertifications and I'm with um,
they used to be calledTriathlon Australia, but Oz
Triathlon, the the coachingcourses that they deliver uh as
part of um onboarding educationand and coach registration
because all athletes with withtriathlon Australia have to be
(34:29):
either um you join as a as amember or you can have a coach
membership.
So I just started to go downthat trajectory.
Um and I've done sportsnutrition now as well.
Larry (34:45):
Excellent.
Yeah.
And I I kind of liken coachesto teachers in that, you know,
all of them have differentstrengths or different ideas for
delivery, different ways ofconnecting with the athlete.
Um, what do you think is yourstrength and your way of
connecting that if people werethinking about, oh, do I want
(35:07):
to, you know, see what Erica'sall about?
What how would you describeyourself to someone who wants to
find out about that?
Erica (35:14):
I think I sort of describe myself as someone who,
you know, I understand that alot of coaches have all of the
kudos behind them and theundeniable proof that they, you
know, have had lots of podiumfinishes and et cetera, et
cetera.
Um, I think that my proof thatit can be done and what Synergy
(35:37):
actually stands for is dedicatedto the recreational athlete.
It's dedicated to the parentswho don't know what to do with
their time, the spare time thatthey have.
I'm designed for the shiftworkers who just don't know how
to get around proper sleephygiene for their night shifts,
and how do I still train aroundthat?
I'm designed for the busyprofessional.
(35:58):
How do I time manage properly?
I have an endless to-do list.
How can you possibly expect meto do this when I have all these
meetings?
And it's like, well, let's justtake a deep breath.
Because the only way that youcan succeed as a recreational
athlete is the rest of your lifehas to work in synergy, like
(36:19):
wheels in a cog together, or thewhole thing will break, and you
won't be able to do anything tofull capacity.
So when I speak to athletes, weuse training peaks like a
diary.
It's your personal assistance,it's not just a place where you
(36:40):
data dump a cookie cut a programand say, just do it.
Larry (36:43):
Right.
Erica (36:44):
It's a place where my athletes can say, Oh, my kids
got swimming between four andsix.
I'm working between two andthree, these are my and we time
box technique the entire week.
Speaker 4 (36:59):
Right.
Erica (37:01):
To then create that consistency in their training
that gives them the results thatthey're after.
Larry (37:06):
And I'm guessing within that, you're you're teaching
them to prioritize that trainingas much as they would the other
parts of their lives and getthat box on the calendar.
Erica (37:18):
Yep, because I in my first and second Ultraman, you
know, I it was like I said,pandemic stuff was the first
one.
I just become a full-time umlike stepmom for the first time.
I did it was a lot.
And so and so I've I've livedit, I feel it, I get the
(37:40):
pressure, but let's just do abit of self-care for the
athlete, and you know, youwouldn't need you wouldn't miss
a Zoom meeting with your boss.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
Right.
Erica (37:55):
So if you've allocated this time to yourself, that is
your meeting that you will notmiss for yourself.
If your Zwift rides at 4 a.m.,that's the meeting time.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
Right.
Erica (38:08):
So we tend to look at it with that type of mindset.
And it does take a lot of theathletes a few weeks to get a
hold of that concept, but onceit's you know, I think I told um
one of the other athletes wedon't want to try and make your
life work around triathlon.
Triathlon has to integrate intoyour pre-existing life, yeah.
(38:32):
That's perfect.
So, how do we best do that?
Yeah, that's it.
Larry (38:37):
And and obviously you live that life.
We've been talking about allthe different things that you do
and how it seems like you don'tsleep, but you you do get
sleep.
Erica (38:46):
Um with within that I promise, I promise I sleep.
Larry (38:51):
Within that, you you have said that you have an
overachiever syndrome still.
Um, so you're still working attrying to get as much done as
you can from time to time.
That's not new, but that's notunique in the 515 world.
Uh, but where do you think itcomes from for exactly the
overachieving?
(39:12):
Yeah.
Erica (39:13):
Um, I I definitely think it comes from definitely my
childhood.
Um, I had an don't get mewrong, I've had an amazing
childhood.
Amazing.
Uh, but I am a middle child.
So it's, you know, forever thethe the comparison to your
(39:37):
siblings growing up, but andthat validation that you need
when you've when you dosomething really well.
Larry (39:43):
Right.
Erica (39:44):
And it's just that's one of those things that I've taken
into adulthood.
And to be quite honest withyou, even in in my professional
life, you know, you can eitherbe that nurse that rocks up and
does the bare minimum, or do youwant to be that nurse that does
everything?
That one, that nurse that whenpeople are in trouble, they go,
Erica will know what to do.
(40:04):
Do you know what I mean?
So it's just every little sortof life journey that I've taken,
it's stitched itself in theresomewhere.
Larry (40:13):
Yeah.
So it it's it's been a benefitto you throughout your life,
despite being something thatmight be seen as a bit too much.
It's you're you're embracingthe the benefits of it rather
than the the times where itmight be more of a challenge.
Erica (40:30):
So that yes, and I think until I really started to do a
lot of deep work on myself umbefore my first Iron Man, to be
honest, in 2019.
So it was pre-pandemic.
Um, from 2017 to 2019, I did doquite a lot of therapy.
(40:51):
Um, and I learned about myattachment style and and things
like that.
And I think the overachievingperfectionism was more of a
hindrance up until that point.
But then when when I did thehealing and the inner work, the
(41:12):
the perfectionism that ended upbeing procrastination actually
turned into a perfectionism thatwas enhancing to my life and
and allowed myhyper-independence to to be a
bit more of a superpower toachieve my goals in racing and
(41:35):
in life and and without being ahindrance to me.
But I think unless I did thatwork, it would have ended up
just being an endless loop ofI'm not going to do anything
with my life because I can't doit perfectly.
That's sort of where I wasstuck.
Speaker 4 (41:51):
Yeah.
Erica (41:52):
Um, so I'd rather not try, rather not do it than if I
couldn't have it, if I couldn'tdo it perfectly or have the
optimal result for whatever itwas that I did.
Um that now I think like likeposting content, for example, I
(42:12):
don't care if it looks likerubbish, I'm gonna do it.
And if you don't want to seeit, you don't have to see it.
But if you see it still anddon't like it, it benefits me.
So why would I not do it?
Larry (42:25):
Yeah, no, your your content's great.
Erica (42:28):
It's a bit more of a healthy, a bit more of a healthy
um channel now with thehyperindependence for sure.
Larry (42:34):
Right.
Yeah, you know, you've beengiving us some some great
information on coaching andpeople listening to the podcast,
they always want tips, theywant ideas, they want, you know,
how are you training?
What are you doing fornutrition, all that stuff?
Where do you rate?
What's my next what's my nextgreat race?
Um, so one of the things that Iwould like to find out from
(42:55):
you, you've done um quite a bitof 70.3s, two Ironmans, a couple
Ultramans.
Um, other than the Ultraman,because I know that's
everybody's favorite.
Um can you tell me it'severyone's favorite?
Where where have you raced andand and maybe what's been one of
your favorites um that you'vedone?
Not necessarily because it wasa great race for you, but you
(43:18):
know, hey, this is a greattravel race.
Go here, check this out.
Erica (43:22):
So I have to say, one of my favorite, favorite races I've
ever done.
Um, I don't know even sure ifit exists anymore.
Um was it was a challenge eventof all things.
Um it was challenge Natrang,which is a a city in Vietnam.
Speaker 4 (43:40):
Yeah.
Erica (43:41):
Um, so racing in Vietnam was amazing.
The water temperature was 28degrees.
It rained, it was like 100%humidity.
It was awesome.
But here in in Australia, I I'dhave to say the most iconic
race, and I would just go backevery year if I can, is Iron Man
(44:04):
Cans.
And it's just iconic.
Larry (44:09):
Yeah.
That's I I know every Aussie Ispeak to.
They they love that one.
And and WA as well, if you knowthe ones that get out that
side.
Erica (44:19):
Oh, WA.
Yeah, yes, yes, and no.
I mean, you wouldn't want toget a flat tire on those roads
because the flies will just beall you won't even be able to
see to change your tire.
You just uh those flies justboom, they're hectic.
(44:40):
Um, but the swim is gorgeous inBuckleton.
Yeah, it's beautiful.
Larry (44:45):
Yeah, yeah.
Um I I kind of I jumped overthis and I I meant to ask you
earlier when we were talkingabout food as well.
What about race nutrition?
Where where are you on that?
And and what sorts of thingsare you are you taking that you
find will help maybe bumpsomeone up from that iron to
ultra if they need it?
Or if you're like SimonCochran, you just I do what I do
(45:09):
for Iron Man because I'm on thecourse for the same amount of
time.
But for other people, what whatkind of nutrition do you employ
when you're when you're doingan ultra?
Erica (45:21):
Um, so I I have the same concept as as Simon, to be fair.
Like I use um a company calledInfinite Nutrition, and I have a
custom mix made by Infinite,and my concentration of how much
I have per bottle can be, youknow, either stronger or weaker,
depending.
(45:42):
Um so I pretty much will domost of the Ultraman weekend
with Infinite, um, and then havethe occasional solace, which
will be changing for this nextrace for the first time since
what I use what I would normallyhave.
Um, and I think everyone loveslike the emergency Coca-Cola.
(46:03):
I I like Fanta.
Oh so my crew always had.
Larry (46:09):
What flavor of Fanta are you having?
Erica (46:12):
Oh, orange.
Larry (46:13):
Orange.
Erica (46:15):
Always orange.
But I remember like they I wasso close to the end for the last
one, and they my crew did likea Ferrari pit stop because my
stomach was starting to rejectthe infinite a little bit.
I was just like, I think I've Ithink I'm capped out.
And it was just um salty chipsand Fanta got me through to the
(46:38):
end.
Larry (46:38):
Nice.
And and then what strategy doyou use in the evenings to
refuel?
Erica (46:45):
Oh, okay.
So I basically do all of mymeal prep for my crew before I
leave, or I tell them exactlywhat I want them to cook.
Um, and it's usually verysimple.
I have um pasta, um, butusually like a buckwheat pasta.
Um, and I make a high proteinlike bolognese sauce um with
(47:11):
something called texturedvegetable protein.
So it's like intense, like justdehydrated soy basically that
you turn into a mince.
So it's super easy for thewhole crew.
You just add water, justrehydrate it and just cook it
like normal mince.
Um, yeah.
And I I try not to actuallychange my regular diet too much.
(47:32):
If I'm not having the pasta,there's also something that I
had for my races that Nestaended up taking into his race
when we were team captain forhim.
Um, and it was something calledErica's donuts, which were
literally just like rice cakeswith peanut butter and jam.
Larry (47:54):
Okay.
Erica (47:55):
Just something, just something crunchy, something
fatty, something with a bit ofsugar, just to put a solid in
the belly and then just backonto the infinite after that.
Larry (48:03):
So quite a quite a bit different than the donuts you
get on the is it the day twocourse?
Erica (48:09):
Yes, like Kennelworth Bakery.
Larry (48:12):
Yes.
Erica (48:14):
Yes.
Nice.
They are delicious.
Larry (48:18):
All right.
So looking ahead now, you yousaid that this Ultraman
Australia is probably gonna beyour final hurrah.
But then, you know, they didcome out and announce this thing
called UM New Zealand.
Um if you're not racing it,what's gonna be your connection?
Erica (48:41):
Well, they're gonna always need a medic.
Larry (48:45):
Yeah.
Erica (48:46):
Um, or a volunteer of some description.
I'll put the cones out.
Larry (48:53):
You're gonna be the cone girl.
Erica (48:54):
I can be yeah, the cone girl.
I can, what else can I do?
I can just be the emotionalsupport for the dream team.
They'll find a place for me,I'm sure.
I am sure that the racedirectors will have a good
purpose for my being there.
Larry (49:14):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But you're not you're notwalking away from the the UM
family, you're sticking with it.
Erica (49:22):
Oh, never.
They're stuck with me fulllife.
Larry (49:26):
Well, you did move, you did move up to Brisbane just to
be around this, right?
Erica (49:31):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Larry (49:39):
Although I understand you grew up in Alice Springs, is
that correct?
Erica (49:44):
Yeah, I was there for a bit.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, where do we move?
Oh, you never, never knowunless you go.
It's it's something else.
Yeah, for sure.
Um, no, I loved growing up inAlice Springs.
(50:04):
It was definitely life, a lifeexperience that has helped make
me who I am.
Um you sort of have a bit moreof an understanding of what the
real world is like.
How do you mean when um oh howdo I say this politely without
(50:25):
ruffling feathers?
I think people think ofAustralia, and there's a quite a
lot of the population who liveon the East Coast who have been
to more overseas countries thanto destinations in their own
country, if you get what I'msaying.
Speaker 4 (50:41):
Yep.
Erica (50:42):
Like people like to to show the world their beautiful
front yard with a picket fence,but they don't want to take a
look in their own backyard,some.
Speaker 4 (50:52):
Yeah.
Erica (50:56):
So yeah.
unknown (50:57):
Yeah.
Erica (50:58):
No, it's beautiful out there, honestly.
And it's just you the clearestof skies, just you can see so
many stars.
It's just one of the mostbeautiful places on earth.
Larry (51:10):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I I did a year teacherexchange in Australia, went all
around the country, flew intoAlice Springs to go up to Uluru,
and uh that is the hottest I'veever been.
When I got out of the car at Ithink it's like National Crater
Park or something, there's somegiant crater.
Got out of the car, the airconditioning was on in the car,
(51:32):
got out of the car, and it waslike being thrown into an oven.
Erica (51:37):
Yep.
Yep, absolutely.
Bring on the heat.
unknown (51:42):
Yeah.
Larry (51:43):
Well, that would be an extreme triathlon.
Erica (51:48):
Well, there's where do you that they do have a great
tri-club there?
Actually, there's an amazingtri-club there, and they do this
fantastic event, which is oneof the best things I've ever
done in my life.
Um, called the Kings CanyonCruise.
And the Alice Springs CyclingClub like organized support
buses.
(52:08):
They have like everyone gets aswag, everyone cooks, and you
ride from Alice Springs out toKing's Canyon over like three
days.
And then the bus brings youback from the resort back to
Alice Springs.
Larry (52:22):
Oh, yeah.
Erica (52:22):
And you just ride in a Peloton for like all day.
Larry (52:27):
I assume that's in the winter.
Erica (52:30):
Yes, it is.
Larry (52:33):
And you then do you're riding at night?
How do you beat the heat?
Erica (52:39):
No, it's and maybe this is why I still wake up at 3
a.m., Larry, because it wasagain one of those things where
it's like if you don't want tosee any of the parentes or the
Gowannas or the snakes, yougotta get out early.
Like you're out riding.
Larry (53:00):
That's great.
Well, uh, Erica, thank you forbeing my first athlete in
profile for UM Australia comingup.
Uh, good luck with the rest ofyour training.
And uh let's make sure that wefollow you on Instagram.
What was your handle again?
Erica (53:16):
Oh, they've I've got a fair few, but you can follow me
at Synergy Sports Coaching onInsta.
Larry (53:23):
All right, we will follow you there and and watch the
build up to the to the right.
Erica (53:30):
It's gonna be good.
It's gonna be a good summer.
Larry (53:34):
Awesome.
Thank you very much.
Erica (53:37):
Thanks, Larry.
Bye.
Okay.
Oh, ooh.
This is hard work, Larry.
Larry (00:06):
Do you got anything in that drink to help you get
through it?
Erica (00:09):
Well, that's another thing you should probably, if
you've seen my social media,I've become a little red bull.
Larry (01:15):
She has competed in over a dozen half Ironmans and two
full Ironmans, as well aspodiumed at the Ultra 355
Australia and competed in twofull distance 515 UM Australia
races.
She joins me today fromBrisbane as an athlete in
profile for the 2026 UMAustralia, which is happening in
(01:38):
Noosa this coming May.
Welcome to the podcast, EricO'Reilly.
Erica (01:43):
Hi, Larry, how are you?
Larry (01:45):
I'm well.
I'm well.
Thank you for joining us andworking out the time delay that
it takes to get the Australianpeople on with me here in
Vancouver.
I appreciate that.
Erica (01:58):
No, it's all good.
It's it's middle of the dayhere for us, so it's nice sweat
on my on my end.
Larry (02:05):
Yeah, and and here we're just uh in the evening, so it
works out well on thisparticular hour.
It's great.
Um so Erica, I've I've beenfollowing you on Instagram since
last year when you were givingback to the to the Ohana by
working as the race medic at UMAustralia, and I was doing the
live stream for it.
(02:26):
And uh since I've beenfollowing you, my first question
that comes up to you or comesup for you is uh when do you
actually clip because or do youclick?
Because it seems to me that youhave at least four full-time
jobs, uh, from what I can tellfrom what you post online.
You're a critical care nurse,you train probably, I'm
(02:48):
guessing, at least a full-timejob, you're doing coaching now,
and you also post to socialmedia about the other three on a
regular basis.
So when do you sleep?
Erica (03:00):
That's an excellent question, Larry.
Um I do I do sleep, I promise Ido sleep, but some days, you
know, uh longer than others.
Uh, it just comes down to timemanagement techniques, which is
actually one of the big thingsthat I try and teach my own
athletes.
Like time management is key.
(03:21):
And once you learn some ofthose unique skills, it's it can
be easy, and it's just aboutlike, you know, anything that is
of high priority, you have toallocate time for.
So usually by the end of theday, not everything on the to-do
list is done.
But like you said, my my lifeis very busy, but the but the
(03:43):
key things are done usually whenI go to bed at night.
So yes, I do sleep.
Larry (03:48):
And and I'm I'm guessing you must go to bed fairly early
because a lot of your postsstart with you at 4 a.m.
Erica (03:56):
Yeah, the um the 3 a.m.
wake ups is something that Iactually haven't really let go
of since the second Ultraman, toto be honest with you, um
purely because that was just thetime I available to me to train
around shift work.
So it just sort of stuck andnow I just enjoy it.
(04:20):
Start early, finish early, theysay in Queensland.
Larry (04:23):
So and with your job, how how does it work out for your
shift work?
Are you like four days onreally long shifts and four days
off, or what do you do?
Erica (04:35):
So for a very long time, Larry, I was on full-time, uh
well, nearly full-timeequivalent nursing hours, uh,
which sort of works out to three12-hour shifts per week.
So because they're stretchedout to 12 hours instead of an
eight-hour workday, yeah, youcan combine all those hours into
(04:59):
three.
So whether you do three not12-hour night shifts on the
bounce or three day shifts, youcan still utilize the rest of
those days off.
But I do work a 24-7 rotatingroster.
So nights, days is good whenit's 12s, but if you're working
less than that, then it's anytime of the day or or evening,
(05:20):
really.
Larry (05:21):
So yeah.
And you you work as anemergency critical care nurse.
What exactly is that incomparison to like other
nursing?
Erica (05:32):
Oh, well, basically, I work uh in emergency and I have
done for my entire nursingcareer.
I haven't really workedanywhere else.
I've I've dabbled in teachingand a bit of management here and
there.
But basically, it's you know,I'm either in the recess room
accepting category one, categorytwo patients, whether I'm at a
(05:55):
trauma hospital or not.
I'm triage competent, so I'mthe face of the organization
when you come to the window andyou're you're distressed and and
want to see a doctor.
Um, so yeah, I just focus onemergency mostly, and my
specialty is um advanced lifesupport teaching for other
(06:17):
nurses.
So I do teach as well.
Yeah, so mostly research andtriage and in charge.
Yeah.
Larry (06:24):
Yeah.
And so I can understand whyliving in that world you need an
outlet somewhere else.
And I I'm guessing that's whyyou've you've turned to
triathlon.
Erica (06:37):
Oh, absolutely, Larry.
And at the time, so when Ifirst started embracing the
sport was about 2015, I wouldsay.
Um and I was only, you know,five years into my nursing
career at that point.
And you sort of see in thosehigh trauma hospitals quite a
(07:01):
lot of confronting cases, uh,are very regular with big
tertiary centers.
And so you the nursing cohorttend to go down, there's like a
split in the road.
And it's like, how are wecoping with what we see every
day?
And and some folk turn toeither leaving critical care and
(07:23):
go into easier work, somepeople um embrace like holidays
or travel and that type ofthing, partying, and and people,
some other people embraceexercise um as an outlet.
And so I t I went down thatroute and I used triathlon as
just something else to focus onoutside of work.
(07:46):
I needed something that was myidentity that wasn't like, oh,
critical care emergency is myidentity.
I'm like, no, that's myprofession.
Larry (07:55):
Right.
Erica (07:56):
That's not who I am.
Larry (07:57):
Yeah.
Um, well, you're saying thatyou've been in this for for
quite a while now, uh, whichmeans that you went through
COVID as well as a nurse.
And I know down in Australiayou had some of the, you know,
strictest lockdown rules in theworld as far as not being able
to leave your own neighborhood.
Um in your case, I'm guessingit probably affected you a
(08:21):
little bit as well, because Iknow in your first UM Australia
race, you ran your last 5K inPPE in order to honor those
frontline healthcare workers.
Can you tell me a little bitabout that?
Erica (08:34):
I did.
Um, it was, yeah.
Look, let's just say umMelbourne lockdown was one of
the toughest things I've everexperienced professionally, uh,
for sure.
Absolutely.
And personally, like I I was inMelbourne at the time and
(08:54):
living alone.
Um and for the start of itanyway.
And you know, I was in hotelquarantine in 2020, and it was
it was like there's certainthings I can't disclose here,
obviously, because of of thegovernment and whatnot with
rules, but it was a hard time.
And I remember turning aroundto my colleague in one of the
(09:17):
hotels, and I was like, I thinkthis is the hardest thing I've
ever done.
And she turned around to me andshe's like, Well, you do Iron
Man's, don't you?
That's pretty tough.
And I'm like, This is harderthan than than Iron Man, I swear
to God.
And then we had a little bit ofa conversation, and she said,
Well, you should find somethingthat's harder than Iron Man and
(09:39):
show COVID who's boss.
And then that's when we putinto Google and we found out
what Ultraman was.
And uh the rest is history, asthey say.
Larry (09:50):
So yeah, I'm sure many people have Googled what is
harder than Iron Man and come upwith Ultraman.
Erica (09:58):
Yeah.
That's pretty much exactly howit happens.
So we had all like the masks onour faces and everything when
it happened, and we were justsweaty and getting the stuff
off, and I'm like, this is thehardest thing I've ever done.
And we were just having atantrum, it was quite funny.
Larry (10:17):
Yeah.
And and how was it to trainduring that time?
Because I'm assuming you didn'tgive up your training.
Erica (10:23):
Uh no, I didn't.
Um, no, I did not.
So basically, I was taken underthe wing of my coach at the
time, who is actually now afellow competitor for UM26.
Um and who's that?
Larry (10:41):
Let's drop some name, chair.
Erica (10:44):
Yeah, so that's Nestor.
Nestor Alejandro Riviera.
Oh, yes, my Colombian friend,who I was team captain for.
Yes.
So I I joined his tri-clubduring COVID.
Um, and that's where we firstmet.
And um so we tried our verybest, you know, and I was just I
(11:07):
was grateful that I lived inPort Melbourne at the time.
So the the bay was actuallywithin my five-kilometer radius
bubble, so I could still swim inin Port Phillip Bay without
leaving my radius, which was notbreaking any rules.
Um the indoor trainer, we havebecome best friends.
(11:28):
Um, I think the longest I everdid on that thing was eight and
a half hours on the kicker.
Um and home strength workoutsjust virtually through through
Zoom with him.
And um running, we were allowedto run within our five
(11:51):
kilometer radius, but wecouldn't exercise for longer
than one hour per day.
But but however you chose tocommute to work for your
employment if you were stillworking was your choice.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Right.
Erica (12:10):
So then to increase run volume, it was a lot of um maybe
not so direct routes to thehospital from home running.
So you know, some days I mightrun three times a day just
because we included the commutesbecause work commutes weren't
breaking any lockdown rules.
unknown (12:33):
Yeah.
Erica (12:34):
So that's the only way we could increase the volume.
Larry (12:37):
Um, I I know that you you post a lot of your workouts
with videos on Instagram.
I've been seeing these as well.
Uh just in talking about yourworkouts.
So now you're you're free to doas many workouts as you want.
And you seem to do a lot.
Uh and you really enjoy Oh, I'mabout to say, but no, I'm not.
Erica (12:58):
Oh I've gotten lazy in my old age.
Larry (13:04):
Um, you really seem to enjoy the reformer Pilates
workouts that you do.
That seems to be every week.
There's there's another videowith that.
Um I did that one time and Ithought it was super hard.
Um, why have you made that suchan integral part of your
training?
Erica (13:21):
It is hard.
So reformer Pilates has been anabsolute game changer for me as
an athlete, and not even, youknow, mentally.
Mentally, it gives me abeautiful time to zen out.
I get it, but it's actuallyhard work, like when you do it
properly.
Like it's like it's a strengthworkout.
(13:42):
But at the same time, you know,being triathletes, let alone
ultra-athletes, right?
Our our time is precious.
We have X amount of timededicated to swim, bike, run.
And the the way that I see itis triathlon has more than just
three disciplines, and strengthand conditioning is is an
(14:05):
essential one.
But in saying that, injuryprevention is key.
So reforma Pilates allows youto gain lean mass, get strong,
and helps with conditioning andinjury prevention within one
45-minute window.
So, in terms of longevity inthe sport and athletic
(14:31):
performance, it it's just sobeneficial on so many levels
that I even incorporate it formy own athletes now at least two
to three times a week ifthey're willing.
Larry (14:42):
Oh, yeah.
And and what's your schedule?
How many times are you going?
Erica (14:47):
More than my coach would like me to.
Larry (14:56):
Who's your coach?
Erica (14:57):
My coach.
So I'm I I think because thisis gonna probably be my last
rodeo as an ultra-athlete,Larry.
Um, I'm gonna be this mightthis is probably gonna be my
last hurrah.
Um, I really love and embracethe Australian Ultraman dream
team and the crew.
(15:18):
Um, and I've I've gone fullcircle with it now, being an
athlete twice myself, and then Iwas team captain for another
athlete, and then I was themedic this year.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Right.
Erica (15:31):
And just to be to be part of the Ultraman family is just
such an honor.
So I thought there was no oneelse who could coach me besides
someone within that space.
Um, so Tim uh Franklin from CoaSports is my coach purely for
that um ultraman connection thatwe have together.
Larry (15:51):
Yeah.
Well, that makes sense.
Yeah.
Um for people that don't know,Tim has also raced there
numerous times.
He's the man who ran around theworld and uh is now the the
voice of UM Australia um when hedoes all the announcing for the
race down there.
So he's definitely wellconnected to that uh thought
(16:14):
process and that ohana downthere in Australia.
And that makes sense that youwould go to a coach like that to
to keep you tied to thecommunity.
Does he bring anythingdifferent to to coaching you
that you would first of all as acoach be like, I don't know
about that, but then maybe youtry it out?
Or how does that how does thatconversation go?
Erica (16:38):
How does that conversation go?
Well, it's a very difficultquestion to answer.
Um, I find it that I so I dohave to put my athlete hat on
and not my coach hat.
So I I need to, you know, andand that's fine because he he
(17:01):
knows that I'm ready to to go upa level, I guess, like have a
not just finish, but to actuallycompete in this in this round,
uh, which is different from whatI've I've done previously.
So my last two races were morelike just aim to finish, right?
Where this time it's I'm I'mgonna go out with with Saw's
(17:25):
hammer, just slam.
So, you know, I think he he isgoing to be able to give me that
that increased performance thatI'm looking for.
Okay, and he is with co-sportsthat are quite uh renowned for
the results that they uh thatthey obtain.
So I think that it's a smartmove for me as an athlete.
(17:49):
But definitely there's there'sbeen some side-eye emoji sent
his way about like, really?
You am I doing that?
And he's like, Yes, just dowhat I say.
And so I'm like, yes well.
Larry (18:04):
That's great.
That's great.
Uh and he's got so muchpersonality that I'm sure he he
tells it to you with a lot oflove.
Erica (18:12):
Um, I'm sure I'm not sure if it's with a lot of love.
He just tells me.
But no, he he does he said hewould take care of me, and I and
I and I believed him when hewhen he said that.
So I agreed to take him on asmy coach for that reason.
Larry (18:27):
Yeah, yeah.
Um, I did look up your previoustimes.
Uh you were a 33-18 in 2021 anda 32-39.
Uh, so you, you know, youimprove by almost an hour, but
I'm guessing you have someloftier goals from what you just
said.
Are you willing to share any ofthe goals that you have for for
(18:48):
this year?
Erica (18:49):
So there were a few factors um with my time from
last time that I I'm not sure ifI'm allowed to say here, but I
did crunch the numbers and I didthe math um about how much time
I actually lost for femalehealth reasons.
Um, took a lot of time on myaccumulated time.
(19:14):
So it yeah, I which I won'thave that issue this race.
So it'll be interesting to seeif the math in my mind is
correct.
Um I also think that because ofReforma and because my
nutrition has totally changed,my whole life has totally
changed since the last race.
(19:34):
So I've reduced a lot of thestresses.
Um my shift work is a bit morebalanced, my nutrition's totally
different, I'm stronger interms of my body composition.
So I think my aim is just to doa lot better than previously.
But um we'd we'd like we'd likea top-end female finish.
(20:00):
Nice, nice somewhere in there.
Yeah.
Larry (20:04):
Get back on the podium like you did at 355.
Erica (20:08):
Oh, I didn't want to say the P word.
Larry (20:12):
You didn't.
You didn't say it.
You're good.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Yeah, you did.
Yeah.
Larry (20:17):
Well, you you're talking about your nutrition.
Um, obviously, there's twoparts to nutrition.
There's your your dailynutrition while you're you're
training and things like that.
And I I are you plant-based?
Is that what you are?
Erica (20:30):
Yes, I am.
Larry (20:32):
Yeah.
So tell tell me a little bitabout how that goes for your
your meal prepping and and howthat has changed your ability
to, you know, work with yourwith your daily life stresses
and things like that, and andchange to plant-based.
Uh obviously you feel it'sbetter.
Uh, tell me a little bit aboutthat.
Erica (20:53):
Yeah, well, I've actually been plant-based since 2011,
I'd like to say.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
All right.
Erica (21:01):
Regardless of whether I'm plant-based or not, it was just
nutritional habits, propermacro tracking, the things that
every athlete should probably dothat I've that I've changed.
Um, and it's changed my bodycomposition dramatically.
Um so in 12 months, I I lostabout three liters of visceral
(21:28):
fat.
Um, I went from I I gained 2.3kilos in lean mass, and I
reduced um, I lost six kilosaltogether, and I lost, oh, this
is all just off the top of myhead.
I think it was like 5.8% totalbody fat.
So I think that for any athletethat would change how they
(21:51):
perform in general.
Um, but it was just simplethings like um eating more whole
foods, increasing my proteinintake every day, um, just other
types of supplements and thingslike that, like just to help.
Larry (22:10):
Right.
Erica (22:10):
So I think that that's definitely enhanced my
performance as an athlete.
Larry (22:15):
I was gonna say, do you have any go-to kind of um
websites or something where youget your recipes?
Because I know for some peoplethe idea of taking on a
plant-based diet is like, Iwouldn't know how to prepare the
food enough to support me.
Erica (22:32):
Yeah.
Um, so I initially earlierearly on in the piece um
referred to a uh um a guy who isquite famous in the podcast
space.
He was a physio turn to Mastersof Nutrition.
(22:52):
Um his name's Simon Hill.
I'm not sure if you know him.
He has a podcast called TheProof.
Larry (22:57):
No.
Erica (22:59):
Um, okay.
So he's a huge advocate for umlike nutrition and longevity and
that type of uh research.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Right.
Erica (23:10):
And he has a whole website full of plant-based
recipes.
He's even redesigned the wholefood pyramid and that type of
thing.
So I just followed a lot of hisresources initially, and now
it's just become habit, really.
I do tend to get quite boringand have the same meals on
rotation.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Yeah.
Erica (23:29):
Um, for example, I've just done my meal prep for the
next four days because I'mworking four shifts in a row.
So I'll be the fridge is full.
It's just kind of be the samething on rotation, day in, day
out for the next couple of days.
But um, you know, I think thatthat's just the key.
(23:50):
It just stops that type of um.
And I think in the in theendurance space too, sometimes
you just don't realize howbehind the eight ball you are if
it's been like a high volumeweek and you're just constantly
just going for whatever.
But at least um the meal prepsort of when you have those
moments, it's like I'm gonna gofor whatever, but in my
(24:11):
allocated stash of stuff.
Larry (24:13):
Right.
Yeah.
And and now as you're preparingfor UM Australia in May, we are
here at the end of November aswe record this.
It'll be coming out inDecember.
Um, where are you in your inyour cycle for preparing for
that?
Where is your volume at now?
Like where will when will youreach your maximum hours in a
(24:36):
week?
And what will that look likefor you as far as swim, bike,
run, breakdown, and and andother training?
Because you like to do all theother cross training as well.
Erica (24:46):
Yes.
So I do have a feeling that uhTim is gonna reduce my allocated
Pilates time.
Um that's just a given.
Um, I've actually, Larry, I'vegot an extreme iron man
triathlon happening here inFebruary.
unknown (25:07):
Oh, okay.
Erica (25:08):
Um, so I'm training for for that at the moment.
And so that's sort of like irondistance kind of volume.
Larry (25:15):
Right.
What's the name of that one?
Erica (25:17):
It's called the um Alpine Ascent Extreme Try in Mount
Kosyosko.
So um that's sort of like avery cold lake swim, um, all
altitude ride up into the skifield in our highest peak here
in Australia, like the KosyoskoNational Park.
And then it's a marathon trailrun up to the summit.
Larry (25:40):
Okay.
Yeah.
So have you put in a trainingpeak to prepare for that as
well, then?
unknown (25:47):
Yeah.
Erica (25:48):
Yeah.
So that's sort of going to belike my lead-in race.
So I have a feeling that myvolume will significantly
increase in about December.
A lot of speed work currently.
So yeah, I think I'm hopingit'll get up to about 30 hours a
week maximum.
As usual, that's what happenedmy last two.
(26:09):
So it should be around 30 isthe peak.
Um, 17 will be low, around them20, 20 will be average.
Larry (26:20):
And and of the three disciplines, which one do you
need to improve your time on themost?
And and how much extra focuswill you give to that?
Erica (26:27):
Oh, swim.
Swim.
Me and the pool are not friendsright now.
We will be, we will becomeclose friends over the summer.
But right now, she's a mission.
She's a mission.
So yeah, no, definitely myswim.
Like my form is okay, and I andI do strongly believe that
(26:49):
Pilates has helped make my soeven though I'm not swimming as
much as I probably should be, Ifeel like the strength that I'm
getting with Pilates makes thoseswims easier when I get there,
if that makes sense.
Larry (27:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, yeah.
And do you know who you'll bebringing for your crew?
Do you have any experiencecoming?
Do you have people coming backfrom previous races?
Erica (27:13):
Um, so Nesta has always been my team captain.
So with him racing, I was justlike, what are we gonna do?
What are we gonna do?
I I rang him when I when I sawthe application, I was like,
bro, we've been each other'steam captain.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Like, what are we going to do?
Erica (27:34):
Um, so I actually have um asked, and I think this is
basically the first announcementof this, but with the the
growth of of my business and mycoaching um business, I I will
need assistance coaches in thenot too distant future.
(27:57):
Uh so one of my athletes whohas just done Iron Man World
Champs at Kona, actually, shegot there on her very first Iron
Man attempt.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
Oh wow.
Erica (28:09):
Um she, yeah, Haley, sweet Haley.
Um, she's gonna be my teamcaptain for me.
Larry (28:16):
Excellent.
And and she has dreams of doingUltraman herself.
Erica (28:22):
I have a feeling she will, yes.
Yeah.
Um, so she's um gonna teamcaptain this round.
Um and it's funny when it wasthe the morning of the athlete
breakfast for the beforeUltraman this year had kicked
(28:44):
off the first day when all theathletes arrive and they do the
course conversation andeverything.
Um I was standing alongside theauditorium like um hall with
the rest of the dream team, andI just looked over across the
other side of the room and Imessaged Andrew Trout and I
said, Buckle up.
(29:06):
You better get the van ready.
I'm booking you now.
And he's like, This race hasn'teven started yet, and I'm like,
I'm booking you now.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
Nice.
Erica (29:16):
Yeah, so I scored Trouty.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
That's the way you gotta do it down there, I think.
Erica (29:23):
So from Andrew.
Oh, absolutely.
He is a hot commodity, thatman.
Yeah, he is like there is awaiting list for Andrew Trout.
Oh, yeah.
So I booked him nice and early.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Excellent.
Erica (29:37):
I'll have um Andrew, I'll have Haley and her partner, um,
and then a few of my closefriends from Brisbane are coming
up um to be as part of thecrew.
And then we have um Nestor's umcommunity club, the Happy
Thoughts team.
Uh he they're gonna donate someof their members.
(29:59):
Between the two of us to assistus.
Larry (30:03):
Excellent.
Erica (30:04):
Yeah.
So we're going to have a wholecontingency up there.
Larry (30:08):
That's awesome.
Hello, listener.
I love getting your feedbackand suggestions for the podcast.
Keep them coming at 515ultramanat gmail.com.
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you're going to be able to dothat.
(30:28):
And if you don't mindpublishing your thoughts, a free
way to support the show is byleaving a five-star rating and
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It's a chance to tell me whatyou love about the show, and it
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Finally, if you're so inclined,you can show your appreciation
(30:52):
for my work by clicking thesupport button at the bottom of
the show notes.
To go to my Find Me a Coffeepage.
Thanks for all of your feedbackand support.
Now back to the show.
Well, when I was looking backat some of your older Instagram
postings from 2021 and thematerial that you were
(31:13):
producing, not you, because youwere racing, but your crew were
producing, uh, it was awesome.
And it's the kind of stuff thatI want to have in the live
stream this year.
So one of the things I learnedfrom our live stream was that um
asking people to send in avideo and then trying to look at
it and edit and post and all ofthat while I'm at the same time
(31:36):
directing and commentating andwasn't working.
So this year's plan for peoplethat are listening is just going
to be to open the Zoom link toall the crews so that they can
just join direct in, no sendingin videos.
They can just click in rightinto the Zoom with us and we'll
put them on air and show what'sgoing on live at the time.
Erica (31:59):
That is so good.
Yes, that's awesome.
Yeah.
Larry (32:02):
That's I hope you got some people that are good with
the camera again to to take onthat role.
Erica (32:08):
Oh, yeah.
Absolutely.
We're gonna have a whole properlike vlog system happening.
Larry (32:18):
Now, when we were talking about your your own coaching,
let's uh let's get the name outthere because maybe some people
wanna want to know about thisand and contact you.
Erica (32:27):
So my business name is called Synergy Sports Coaching
at Synergy Sports Coaching allone word.
Uh you'll find that in the inin Instagram in the bio.
And I really thought long andhard about how and why I'm gonna
go into the coaching space.
And it was literally from allthe Ultraman footage from the
(32:49):
past two.
It was like all the DM in justlike, how do you how do you do
this?
How do you have time for that?
Just people just want andwanting advice.
And my um my my now ex-husbandactually said to me at the time,
he's like, You should begetting paid for that.
(33:09):
He's like, Why are you justspeaking to us?
Because this is all your yourlike hack secrets.
And I'm like, Well, maybe, youknow, and I was a bit burnt out
from the pandemic as well, to befair.
So I was like, if I cangenerate something that allows
me to just nurse a little bitless, that's something that I'm
still passionate about, thenI'll give it a no.
(33:32):
Um, and it's actually turnedout to be quite amazing,
actually.
Sometimes I just sort of I lookinto training peaks and I'm
just like, I'm like, this isjust surreal to me still.
I'm just absolutely so gratefulfor for everyone who's decided
to come on board and and andtrust me the way that they do.
Um, it's been wonderful.
(33:53):
It's been a wonderfulexperience.
Larry (33:55):
Yeah.
And when you decided to getinto the coaching field, then
you did you go out and getcertifications to to back that
up, or are you just going withyour your knowledge from being
an athlete?
Erica (34:06):
No, yep, I did.
Um, so I got the training peakscertifications and I'm with um,
they used to be calledTriathlon Australia, but Oz
Triathlon, the the coachingcourses that they deliver uh as
part of um onboarding educationand and coach registration
because all athletes with withtriathlon Australia have to be
(34:29):
either um you join as a as amember or you can have a coach
membership.
So I just started to go downthat trajectory.
Um and I've done sportsnutrition now as well.
Larry (34:45):
Excellent.
Yeah.
And I I kind of liken coachesto teachers in that, you know,
all of them have differentstrengths or different ideas for
delivery, different ways ofconnecting with the athlete.
Um, what do you think is yourstrength and your way of
connecting that if people werethinking about, oh, do I want
(35:07):
to, you know, see what Erica'sall about?
What how would you describeyourself to someone who wants to
find out about that?
Erica (35:14):
I think I sort of describe myself as someone who,
you know, I understand that alot of coaches have all of the
kudos behind them and theundeniable proof that they, you
know, have had lots of podiumfinishes and et cetera, et
cetera.
Um, I think that my proof thatit can be done and what Synergy
(35:37):
actually stands for is dedicatedto the recreational athlete.
It's dedicated to the parentswho don't know what to do with
their time, the spare time thatthey have.
I'm designed for the shiftworkers who just don't know how
to get around proper sleephygiene for their night shifts,
and how do I still train aroundthat?
I'm designed for the busyprofessional.
(35:58):
How do I time manage properly?
I have an endless to-do list.
How can you possibly expect meto do this when I have all these
meetings?
And it's like, well, let's justtake a deep breath.
Because the only way that youcan succeed as a recreational
athlete is the rest of your lifehas to work in synergy, like
(36:19):
wheels in a cog together, or thewhole thing will break, and you
won't be able to do anything tofull capacity.
So when I speak to athletes, weuse training peaks like a
diary.
It's your personal assistance,it's not just a place where you
(36:40):
data dump a cookie cut a programand say, just do it.
Larry (36:43):
Right.
Erica (36:44):
It's a place where my athletes can say, Oh, my kids
got swimming between four andsix.
I'm working between two andthree, these are my and we time
box technique the entire week.
Speaker 4 (36:59):
Right.
Erica (37:01):
To then create that consistency in their training
that gives them the results thatthey're after.
Larry (37:06):
And I'm guessing within that, you're you're teaching
them to prioritize that trainingas much as they would the other
parts of their lives and getthat box on the calendar.
Erica (37:18):
Yep, because I in my first and second Ultraman, you
know, I it was like I said,pandemic stuff was the first
one.
I just become a full-time umlike stepmom for the first time.
I did it was a lot.
And so and so I've I've livedit, I feel it, I get the
(37:40):
pressure, but let's just do abit of self-care for the
athlete, and you know, youwouldn't need you wouldn't miss
a Zoom meeting with your boss.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
Right.
Erica (37:55):
So if you've allocated this time to yourself, that is
your meeting that you will notmiss for yourself.
If your Zwift rides at 4 a.m.,that's the meeting time.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
Right.
Erica (38:08):
So we tend to look at it with that type of mindset.
And it does take a lot of theathletes a few weeks to get a
hold of that concept, but onceit's you know, I think I told um
one of the other athletes wedon't want to try and make your
life work around triathlon.
Triathlon has to integrate intoyour pre-existing life, yeah.
(38:32):
That's perfect.
So, how do we best do that?
Yeah, that's it.
Larry (38:37):
And and obviously you live that life.
We've been talking about allthe different things that you do
and how it seems like you don'tsleep, but you you do get
sleep.
Erica (38:46):
Um with within that I promise, I promise I sleep.
Larry (38:51):
Within that, you you have said that you have an
overachiever syndrome still.
Um, so you're still working attrying to get as much done as
you can from time to time.
That's not new, but that's notunique in the 515 world.
Uh, but where do you think itcomes from for exactly the
overachieving?
(39:12):
Yeah.
Erica (39:13):
Um, I I definitely think it comes from definitely my
childhood.
Um, I had an don't get mewrong, I've had an amazing
childhood.
Amazing.
Uh, but I am a middle child.
So it's, you know, forever thethe the comparison to your
(39:37):
siblings growing up, but andthat validation that you need
when you've when you dosomething really well.
Larry (39:43):
Right.
Erica (39:44):
And it's just that's one of those things that I've taken
into adulthood.
And to be quite honest withyou, even in in my professional
life, you know, you can eitherbe that nurse that rocks up and
does the bare minimum, or do youwant to be that nurse that does
everything?
That one, that nurse that whenpeople are in trouble, they go,
Erica will know what to do.
(40:04):
Do you know what I mean?
So it's just every little sortof life journey that I've taken,
it's stitched itself in theresomewhere.
Larry (40:13):
Yeah.
So it it's it's been a benefitto you throughout your life,
despite being something thatmight be seen as a bit too much.
It's you're you're embracingthe the benefits of it rather
than the the times where itmight be more of a challenge.
Erica (40:30):
So that yes, and I think until I really started to do a
lot of deep work on myself umbefore my first Iron Man, to be
honest, in 2019.
So it was pre-pandemic.
Um, from 2017 to 2019, I did doquite a lot of therapy.
(40:51):
Um, and I learned about myattachment style and and things
like that.
And I think the overachievingperfectionism was more of a
hindrance up until that point.
But then when when I did thehealing and the inner work, the
(41:12):
the perfectionism that ended upbeing procrastination actually
turned into a perfectionism thatwas enhancing to my life and
and allowed myhyper-independence to to be a
bit more of a superpower toachieve my goals in racing and
(41:35):
in life and and without being ahindrance to me.
But I think unless I did thatwork, it would have ended up
just being an endless loop ofI'm not going to do anything
with my life because I can't doit perfectly.
That's sort of where I wasstuck.
Speaker 4 (41:51):
Yeah.
Erica (41:52):
Um, so I'd rather not try, rather not do it than if I
couldn't have it, if I couldn'tdo it perfectly or have the
optimal result for whatever itwas that I did.
Um that now I think like likeposting content, for example, I
(42:12):
don't care if it looks likerubbish, I'm gonna do it.
And if you don't want to seeit, you don't have to see it.
But if you see it still anddon't like it, it benefits me.
So why would I not do it?
Larry (42:25):
Yeah, no, your your content's great.
Erica (42:28):
It's a bit more of a healthy, a bit more of a healthy
um channel now with thehyperindependence for sure.
Larry (42:34):
Right.
Yeah, you know, you've beengiving us some some great
information on coaching andpeople listening to the podcast,
they always want tips, theywant ideas, they want, you know,
how are you training?
What are you doing fornutrition, all that stuff?
Where do you rate?
What's my next what's my nextgreat race?
Um, so one of the things that Iwould like to find out from
(42:55):
you, you've done um quite a bitof 70.3s, two Ironmans, a couple
Ultramans.
Um, other than the Ultraman,because I know that's
everybody's favorite.
Um can you tell me it'severyone's favorite?
Where where have you raced andand and maybe what's been one of
your favorites um that you'vedone?
Not necessarily because it wasa great race for you, but you
(43:18):
know, hey, this is a greattravel race.
Go here, check this out.
Erica (43:22):
So I have to say, one of my favorite, favorite races I've
ever done.
Um, I don't know even sure ifit exists anymore.
Um was it was a challenge eventof all things.
Um it was challenge Natrang,which is a a city in Vietnam.
Speaker 4 (43:40):
Yeah.
Erica (43:41):
Um, so racing in Vietnam was amazing.
The water temperature was 28degrees.
It rained, it was like 100%humidity.
It was awesome.
But here in in Australia, I I'dhave to say the most iconic
race, and I would just go backevery year if I can, is Iron Man
(44:04):
Cans.
And it's just iconic.
Larry (44:09):
Yeah.
That's I I know every Aussie Ispeak to.
They they love that one.
And and WA as well, if you knowthe ones that get out that
side.
Erica (44:19):
Oh, WA.
Yeah, yes, yes, and no.
I mean, you wouldn't want toget a flat tire on those roads
because the flies will just beall you won't even be able to
see to change your tire.
You just uh those flies justboom, they're hectic.
(44:40):
Um, but the swim is gorgeous inBuckleton.
Yeah, it's beautiful.
Larry (44:45):
Yeah, yeah.
Um I I kind of I jumped overthis and I I meant to ask you
earlier when we were talkingabout food as well.
What about race nutrition?
Where where are you on that?
And and what sorts of thingsare you are you taking that you
find will help maybe bumpsomeone up from that iron to
ultra if they need it?
Or if you're like SimonCochran, you just I do what I do
(45:09):
for Iron Man because I'm on thecourse for the same amount of
time.
But for other people, what whatkind of nutrition do you employ
when you're when you're doingan ultra?
Erica (45:21):
Um, so I I have the same concept as as Simon, to be fair.
Like I use um a company calledInfinite Nutrition, and I have a
custom mix made by Infinite,and my concentration of how much
I have per bottle can be, youknow, either stronger or weaker,
depending.
(45:42):
Um so I pretty much will domost of the Ultraman weekend
with Infinite, um, and then havethe occasional solace, which
will be changing for this nextrace for the first time since
what I use what I would normallyhave.
Um, and I think everyone loveslike the emergency Coca-Cola.
(46:03):
I I like Fanta.
Oh so my crew always had.
Larry (46:09):
What flavor of Fanta are you having?
Erica (46:12):
Oh, orange.
Larry (46:13):
Orange.
Erica (46:15):
Always orange.
But I remember like they I wasso close to the end for the last
one, and they my crew did likea Ferrari pit stop because my
stomach was starting to rejectthe infinite a little bit.
I was just like, I think I've Ithink I'm capped out.
And it was just um salty chipsand Fanta got me through to the
(46:38):
end.
Larry (46:38):
Nice.
And and then what strategy doyou use in the evenings to
refuel?
Erica (46:45):
Oh, okay.
So I basically do all of mymeal prep for my crew before I
leave, or I tell them exactlywhat I want them to cook.
Um, and it's usually verysimple.
I have um pasta, um, butusually like a buckwheat pasta.
Um, and I make a high proteinlike bolognese sauce um with
(47:11):
something called texturedvegetable protein.
So it's like intense, like justdehydrated soy basically that
you turn into a mince.
So it's super easy for thewhole crew.
You just add water, justrehydrate it and just cook it
like normal mince.
Um, yeah.
And I I try not to actuallychange my regular diet too much.
(47:32):
If I'm not having the pasta,there's also something that I
had for my races that Nestaended up taking into his race
when we were team captain forhim.
Um, and it was something calledErica's donuts, which were
literally just like rice cakeswith peanut butter and jam.
Larry (47:54):
Okay.
Erica (47:55):
Just something, just something crunchy, something
fatty, something with a bit ofsugar, just to put a solid in
the belly and then just backonto the infinite after that.
Larry (48:03):
So quite a quite a bit different than the donuts you
get on the is it the day twocourse?
Erica (48:09):
Yes, like Kennelworth Bakery.
Larry (48:12):
Yes.
Erica (48:14):
Yes.
Nice.
They are delicious.
Larry (48:18):
All right.
So looking ahead now, you yousaid that this Ultraman
Australia is probably gonna beyour final hurrah.
But then, you know, they didcome out and announce this thing
called UM New Zealand.
Um if you're not racing it,what's gonna be your connection?
Erica (48:41):
Well, they're gonna always need a medic.
Larry (48:45):
Yeah.
Erica (48:46):
Um, or a volunteer of some description.
I'll put the cones out.
Larry (48:53):
You're gonna be the cone girl.
Erica (48:54):
I can be yeah, the cone girl.
I can, what else can I do?
I can just be the emotionalsupport for the dream team.
They'll find a place for me,I'm sure.
I am sure that the racedirectors will have a good
purpose for my being there.
Larry (49:14):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But you're not you're notwalking away from the the UM
family, you're sticking with it.
Erica (49:22):
Oh, never.
They're stuck with me fulllife.
Larry (49:26):
Well, you did move, you did move up to Brisbane just to
be around this, right?
Erica (49:31):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Larry (49:39):
Although I understand you grew up in Alice Springs, is
that correct?
Erica (49:44):
Yeah, I was there for a bit.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, where do we move?
Oh, you never, never knowunless you go.
It's it's something else.
Yeah, for sure.
Um, no, I loved growing up inAlice Springs.
(50:04):
It was definitely life, a lifeexperience that has helped make
me who I am.
Um you sort of have a bit moreof an understanding of what the
real world is like.
How do you mean when um oh howdo I say this politely without
(50:25):
ruffling feathers?
I think people think ofAustralia, and there's a quite a
lot of the population who liveon the East Coast who have been
to more overseas countries thanto destinations in their own
country, if you get what I'msaying.
Speaker 4 (50:41):
Yep.
Erica (50:42):
Like people like to to show the world their beautiful
front yard with a picket fence,but they don't want to take a
look in their own backyard,some.
Speaker 4 (50:52):
Yeah.
Erica (50:56):
So yeah.
unknown (50:57):
Yeah.
Erica (50:58):
No, it's beautiful out there, honestly.
And it's just you the clearestof skies, just you can see so
many stars.
It's just one of the mostbeautiful places on earth.
Larry (51:10):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I I did a year teacherexchange in Australia, went all
around the country, flew intoAlice Springs to go up to Uluru,
and uh that is the hottest I'veever been.
When I got out of the car at Ithink it's like National Crater
Park or something, there's somegiant crater.
Got out of the car, the airconditioning was on in the car,
(51:32):
got out of the car, and it waslike being thrown into an oven.
Erica (51:37):
Yep.
Yep, absolutely.
Bring on the heat.
unknown (51:42):
Yeah.
Larry (51:43):
Well, that would be an extreme triathlon.
Erica (51:48):
Well, there's where do you that they do have a great
tri-club there?
Actually, there's an amazingtri-club there, and they do this
fantastic event, which is oneof the best things I've ever
done in my life.
Um, called the Kings CanyonCruise.
And the Alice Springs CyclingClub like organized support
buses.
(52:08):
They have like everyone gets aswag, everyone cooks, and you
ride from Alice Springs out toKing's Canyon over like three
days.
And then the bus brings youback from the resort back to
Alice Springs.
Larry (52:22):
Oh, yeah.
Erica (52:22):
And you just ride in a Peloton for like all day.
Larry (52:27):
I assume that's in the winter.
Erica (52:30):
Yes, it is.
Larry (52:33):
And you then do you're riding at night?
How do you beat the heat?
Erica (52:39):
No, it's and maybe this is why I still wake up at 3
a.m., Larry, because it wasagain one of those things where
it's like if you don't want tosee any of the parentes or the
Gowannas or the snakes, yougotta get out early.
Like you're out riding.
Larry (53:00):
That's great.
Well, uh, Erica, thank you forbeing my first athlete in
profile for UM Australia comingup.
Uh, good luck with the rest ofyour training.
And uh let's make sure that wefollow you on Instagram.
What was your handle again?
Erica (53:16):
Oh, they've I've got a fair few, but you can follow me
at Synergy Sports Coaching onInsta.
Larry (53:23):
All right, we will follow you there and and watch the
build up to the to the right.
Erica (53:30):
It's gonna be good.
It's gonna be a good summer.
Larry (53:34):
Awesome.
Thank you very much.
Erica (53:37):
Thanks, Larry.
Bye.
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