20 Lessons from 20 IRONMAN Finishes

“The finish line is not a final destination, but a breathtaking view that fuels the next journey.” In this episode, Coach Stephen Horan celebrates a major milestone: completing his 20th IRONMAN. With over 15 years of endurance racing Stephen takes time to reflect on the lessons learned from each finish line. From the power of community in training, to embracing pressure as a privilege, and finding strength through adversity, Stephen shares personal stories and hard-earned insights that go beyond the race course. Whether you're an athlete, a goal-setter, or simply seeking motivation, this episode will leave you inspired to chase your own next finish line.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome to the Tri Dot podcast.
Today I have coach StevenHoran, longtime tryout ambassador
and now the head coach of IronMind endurance.
Coach Steven just completedhis 20th Ironman at the world Championships
in Nice, so I asked him tocome share the top lessons he has
learned from his own racing experience.

(00:22):
I'm Andrew, the averagetriathlete, voice of the people and
captain of the middle of the pack.
We treat the show like anygood workout.
We'll start with a warmupquestion, settle into our main set
conversation where we'll seewhat we can learn from coach Stephen
and then wind things down byhaving coach Steven answer an audience
question on the cooldown.
Lots of good stuff.
Let's get to it.

(00:43):
This is the Tridot podcast,the triathlon show that brings you
world class coaching withevery conversation.
Let's get started with today's warmup.
All right, Coach Stephen,welcome to the show.
So happy to have you on forthe very first time.
And since we're talking aboutyour race history and all the different

(01:04):
races you've done, we're goingto hear a lot of different Ironman
this, Iron man that thrownaround today, I thought a fun warm
up question would be this.
From all the races you havedone, what has been your favorite
swim course, your favoritebike course and your favorite run
course?
Take it away, sir.
Oh, Andrew, thank you.
This is very exciting toactually be on.

(01:26):
So glad you reached out for meto be able to be here.
So it was hard, right?
When you kind of think aboutlike favorite, you have to like,
okay, what is it?
Is it like the best location,is it the fastest?
You know, you have to kind ofthink through that overall.
So I'm kind of hit a both,both and on those in that sense.
Right.

(01:46):
But you know, swim course, myfavorite no doubt has been Kona.
That is like the mostbeautiful water.
When you go, it's hard, right?
I mean I'm not the great swimmer.
I know you said similarthings, right.
It's like, it's like I'm notthe greatest swimmer and it's non
wetsuit but it's really beautiful.
But when I think about myfavorite swim, it was actually Ironman

(02:09):
Chattanooga because it's fast.
It was wetsuit legal.
You can jump on the water andyou can basically float down and
easily, easily make cut off.
So yeah, kind of kind of aboat from a bike standpoint.
I mean, I've done nice twicenow and nice is the most beautiful

(02:29):
bike course.
I mean it is really hard.
So that doesn't make it reallya lot of Climbing, but it's.
And also the downhills, butthe scenery was beautiful and we'll
talk a little bit more aboutthat today.
But, you know, I really tookthe time this year to spend the time
looking at it.
I don't remember a lot from2023 doing it.

(02:51):
I was like, man, I just got toget through it and.
But just spending the time was.
Been really good this year tobe able to kind of really enjoy that
course a little differentlyand then run.
That one was a hard one.
And I think, you know, there'sa couple of races and you know, the
loot courses are nice, butalso the crowd support is really

(03:11):
good.
And I had really two that Iwas going back and forth because.
Nice, yes, very good crowdsupport, but it's an out and back,
out and back out and back outand back.
Just down to the airport andback down to the airport and back.
Exactly.
And.
But I'll tell you, Ironman,Texas is awesome.
Yeah, that's a good run course.
You know, I mean, it's justthe crowd support.

(03:33):
You're kind of running your group.
If that's with you, yourfamily can jump back and forth.
Really easy to see youmultiple times.
There's another race, though,that I was able to do and we'll talk
about it in Ironman Frankfurt.
But that was like really very,very similar and it was just the
same way.
I mean, the Europeans are justcrazy in the sense of their amount

(03:54):
of support.
And it's just really.
It was pretty awesome both atthe finish line also, because you
go into this small area, youkind of funnel down and then they
just have stands with bunches of.
Bunches of people just outthere and it's just like it was a
whole party all day long.
So I would say Texas andFrankfurt were really the two for
that one.
Yeah.
And I love here, Stephen, thatwe're already getting a glimpse of

(04:16):
some of the races you've doneand we're going to talk about all
those races in the main set alittle bit more.
This answer for me, the swim.
The swim course was theeasiest decision.
This one course is undefeatedfor me and will probably remain that
way.
Ironman New Zealand, ifanybody's been there, it is crystal
clear lake water.
I'm sure it can get choppy ona stormy day, but for the most part

(04:36):
it is just a tranquil,peaceful flat.
It is just the easiest.
You can see everybody around you.
You can see the buoys, you cansee everything so easy.
The temperature is perfect ina wetsuit.
That was my Very first Ironmanevent and it spoiled me for the rest
of them.
I have done the swim in Kona.
I obviously haven't raced Konabut while I was there representing

(04:57):
Tri Dot we went and daysbefore the race got in the water
at Dig Me beach, swam in theCoffee boat and back.
So that, that is a great swimvenue that I have not raced personally.
But yeah, Ironman New Zealandis my swim for the bike.
All the Ironman events I'vedone, I've never loved any of the
bike courses.
I've liked some of them.
My favorite bike course I'vedone is the bike course at Clash

(05:18):
Daytona.
You cannot beat spending thefirst few laps of your half Ironman
just being on your bike onDaytona Motor Speedway doing, doing
laps around the NASCAR track.
Such a cool experience.
We rave about it and raveabout it and rave about it because
it is, it's just a unique one.
So I'm going to give a shot tothat one.
Once you're off the racecourse the rest of the day is kind

(05:41):
of boring but it's flat andfast so no complaints there on flat
and fast.
For my run I'm going to give ashout out to two races.
My favorite triathlon run everwas probably the run at Escape from
Alcatraz.
It's just such a unique experience.
You're on and off trails,you're going, you go through tunnels,
you go up and down the sandladder, you're on the beach, you're
off the beach, you're climbinga hill, you're, you're bombing down

(06:03):
a hill.
The Golden Gate Bridge isalways right there.
Just so cool.
That's not an Ironman event.
So to give a shout out to anIronman event I'm going to say 70.3
Greece.
I really enjoyed that run course.
They've moved this race sincewhen I did it.
So if someone goes and doesIronman Greece and they hear me say
this, it's probably adifferent run course now but when
I did kind of went throughthis kind of protected marsh land

(06:28):
that was like on the coast andso it was just like this, this really
cool like gravel trail runningjust always by the ocean, always
by the bay and it was justreally beautiful.
And when you weren't by thewater you were kind of going through
these rustic Grecian smallvillages that had some crowd support
out cheering for you.
So really cool run coursethere in Greece.

(06:48):
Those are my shout outs.
I'm in New Zealand.
Clash, Daytona, Greece, Alcatraz.
We're going to throw thisquestion out to the try that audience.
Make sure you answer this question.
You can answer it either onYouTube, watching the YouTube video
of this conversation.
You can answer this questionon Spotify watching the Spotify video
version of this conversation,or you can answer this question on
our social media accounts.

(07:08):
We'll post the questioneverywhere because I want to hear
from you, from your ownpersonal triathlon race experience.
What's your favorite swim course?
What's your favorite bike course?
What's your favorite run course?
Can't wait to hear what ouraudience has to say.
Let's go onto the main setwhere coach Steven is going to walk
us through the 20 Ironmanevents he's done, specifically pointing

(07:31):
out from each race one lessonthat he learned.
And coach Stephen, it's yourfirst time on the try out podcast,
so before we get to that, I dowant to kind of give our audience
a chance to get to know you,who you are, what your history in
the sport is, and then we'llrip through those 20 lessons.
So let's just start here.
Just where did you even startas a triathlete and what has been

(07:53):
kind of the short version ofyour journey from new triathlete
to 20 time Ironman finisher?
Yeah, you really have to think about.
So my background, I'm aMarine, you know, so I was in the
United States Marine Corps.
I was kind of more of a runnerby trade.
And you know, I think a lot ofpeople have transitioned from running
into triathlons.
And I'm really that same story.

(08:14):
So it made it a little morechallenging for me kind of going
into, hey, how do I swim?
How do I bike?
And I started in 2001.
I got recalled back to theMarine Corps just for a period of
time after 9, 11.
And one of my other Marinesthat was with me, he kind of challenged
me to do something a littlebit different, more than just running.

(08:36):
And he motivated me to be ableto go back and say, hey, let's go
do a triathlon.
And I returned back home,bought my very first road bike and
signed up for my very first,first pool swim.
Probably similar to mostpeople, I barely could swim across
the pool without stopping, youknow, and thank God it was a pool
swim because I did have and.

(08:59):
But it was funny, I went backand looked at some old pictures before
and you know, I was wearingthe typical tight run shirt and I
really didn't even have tri shorts.
It was just regular shorts.
Yeah.
And.
But that created that movementfor me and saying, hey, how do I
do something different?
How do I Challenge myself.
And, you know, as the typicalrunner, you know, I was always running

(09:22):
and I just couldn't continuedoing it.
And that motivated me to say,hey, let me go to that next step
within triathlons.
And once I started, you startforming that community.
And it was the community thatkind of drove me along to my very
first Ironman.
And I was doing a little bitof 70.3 distances.
You know, White Lake is one ofthe local races here in North Carolina

(09:46):
that I did multiple times.
And then I started the 70.3series with an Ironman and I did
like Ironman or 70.3 Raleigh,which is not around anymore.
But my very first Ironman wasan Iron distance race.
It was 2008 with the Iron orBeast of Battleship in North Carolina.

(10:08):
And my friend that was I wastraining with actually kind of taunting
me saying, hey, let's go dothis together.
And the funny thing is, is heactually did not even go and race.
He kind of dropped out.
But I formed that communitybecause I started grabbing on with
other people that were training.
And I learned more about theIronman brand.

(10:30):
I learned more about those races.
And immediately after beachthe Battleship, I signed up the day
after for Ironman North Carolina.
And this is the time in 2008when you, when you went to go register
for a race, if you weren't onthe next day it opened, you would
not get an entry.
And it was just, you know,just really excited to be able to

(10:52):
go do that, but, you know,kind of continued on through, you
know, and to be able to go dothat and realizing that, hey, what
does that take?
What is that community?
And we'll go into a lot ofthose details with some of those
different races.
But it was really a wholeaspect of just starting at the very
beginning and, you know,saying, hey, can I go do this?
Learning how to swim, learninghow to bike, forming that community

(11:17):
and really jumping forward tobe able to kind of taking those steps
as I kind of progress along.
So, Stephen, I'm curious,where in your training and race history
did you start racing?
With Tridot.
You're a Trident coach now.
You coach your athletesthrough Tridot.
You've been a longtimeambassador for Tridot.
I've known you for a number ofyears, met you a couple times at

(11:38):
races.
You're already rocking the tridot polo here in the podcast video.
How did you discover us?
When did you start usingTridot and what difference has it
made for your journey?
Yeah, so most people don't know.
I did my very first stancewith Tridot in 2014, it was before

(11:58):
all the apps.
Everything had to be printed off.
I remember meeting with Cindyand having my first discussions with
Cindy.
And in the preseason project,one of the things that you ended
up having to do very differentthan where we are today is you had
to do.
You had to submit a paper atthe very end about all the stuff

(12:19):
and all your learnings.
I decided at that point, andit was mostly probably due to timing
for me.
And when I ended up doing it,it was not right for me.
I ended up doing the preseasonproject over Thanksgiving and over
Christmas, and I'm like, yeah,it was killing me.
And I'm like, this isn'tflexible enough or anything.

(12:39):
So I did not take on tried outat 2014, but I came back to try that
in 2020.
I was kind of started thewhole process in 2019 and 2020.
I came back to try it out fulltime in the sense of trying to say,
hey, how do I want to do that?
And probably like most peoplethat have been in the, you know,

(13:01):
in the triathlon and kind ofcontinue doing it, you know, you
start going and you do allthese different things.
And I wanted something different.
It wasn't because I was injured.
It wasn't because.
But I wanted something becauseI felt like I was very stagnant with
my overall fitness.
And so for me, getting thetrident, really trying to do and

(13:23):
being very focused in thetraining become very important for
me.
And I, again, I was.
You know, my kids were alittle bit older at the time.
You know, in 2020, I mean, they're.
My kids today are 21 and 18.
But, you know, in that sense,it just gave me the opportunity to
be really focused and we'll go through.

(13:44):
I mean, you know, really, I'mstarting set bigger goals.
I wanted to ensure I was goingto get, you know, to Kona, and this
was an opportunity for me togo and do something different.
Yeah, absolutely.
I love it.
So I want to get us to theheart of our episode where we're
going to hear from you on your20 Ironman events, and you have one

(14:05):
takeaway lesson from each of them.
I'm just going to kind of letyou go race by race and share what
the race was, what thetakeaway was.
You can kind of share themoment or the race story behind your
takeaway, and we'll just kindof see how our conversation flows
for the next 40 minutes.
But I'm excited to get into it.
So let's start with Iron mannumber one and lesson number one.

(14:27):
It was Iron Man Florida in 2009.
What was your takeaway there,Coach Stephen?
Yeah, I mean, you know, my bigtakeaway is find your reason.
And I know a lot of peopletalk about, you know, you got to
understand your why, you know,and this first race really taught
me the most fundamental lesson.
Right.
Of that.
You know, I mean, again, I wasimproved a little bit, but there

(14:48):
was some community behind it.
But it was really, I had tostart understanding that and you
know, understanding that withthat it was my loved ones.
You know, I'm setting theexample for my family, you know,
what, what those overall aspects.
And I think you need to makesure as an athlete that you really
do understand the why.
And I was, you know, I gavesome, some stuff.

(15:10):
And you know, Andrew, as wewere talking earlier, it's like,
you know, every race is hardand no matter how many I've done.
And so you have to understand that.
Right.
And because that's what'sgoing to help you get through those
toughest miles.
And for me, yes, I had done arace in 2008, you know, the beach
to Battleship, but it reallygoing to Florida, you know, the,

(15:33):
the, you know, getting outinto the ocean for the very first
time, I mean, it was justvery, very challenging.
And it just, I had tounderstand that I was setting the
example for my kids, you know,to be able to go do that, that I
wanted to be able to kind ofcontinue thinking about being healthy
and setting those overallexamples to be able to get through
all of the training, you know,and the overall race.

(15:55):
But it's, you know, you got tohave that and that becomes the basis.
I think that kind of led.
And I'm not saying your whydoesn't change, but it's what led
me.
Every single race isunderstanding that why.
And so I, I'm glad I did learnthat early on because it became that
basis to be able to move forward.
Yeah, when I did my first fulldistance Ironman and only full distance

(16:16):
Ironman to date, my why,honestly was just to have it on my
resume as a triathlete that Ihad done a full distance Ironman,
I wanted to be able to callmyself an Ironman.
I wanted to be able to put anIronman window decal on the car and
have people be like, oh, youdid an Ironman and not have to say,
oh, I did a half.
I wanted to just know that I'ddone one full and I've only done

(16:39):
the one full, frankly.
I mean people, longtimelisteners will know I just enjoy
the middle distance more andso that's more what my target is.
I think I will do a full again.
But yeah, I got to find thatreason, I got to find that why.
And honestly, I think thatreason and why will probably be eight
years from now, seven yearsfrom now, when my, when my kid is

(16:59):
old enough for her to realizelike, oh, dad is chasing something
hard, he's doing somethinghard, he's putting in a time and
effort to do something hard.
And that's what it looks liketo dream and work towards a dream.
And that will probably even bemy why on Ironman number two.
And that will probably be along time from now.
But I love this being yourvery first one.
You had to find your reason onrace number one.

(17:21):
And I love that you mentionedthat in the 20 it's changed from
race to race, but each timeyou've identified what that reason
is, correct?
Yes.
And I'll tell you, no doubt myfamily is fully behind and my daughters,
even as old as they are now,love going to races.
And you know, my oldest endedup not being able to go because she

(17:44):
works now.
But she, we FaceTime her inwhy I'm actually racing and that
she said, I know this was hardand you know, congratulations.
And so that example, I thinkmakes a big difference and I think,
you know, you can havemultiple whys also.
And, you know, one of thethings as, you know, as your daughter
grows up, I think it's justawesome to be able to continue setting

(18:06):
that example.
Yeah.
So Ironman Wisconsin 2011,this was race number two.
What was your lesson from that race?
Yeah, it was Trainwoodcommunity and a little bit of background.
Right.
I mean, you know, you gottarealize that racing and doing all
of this is not really a solo endeavor.
It makes it hard if you try todo it that way.

(18:28):
And I was during that time, Idecided to go back and get my NDA
at the same time.
Oh.
And you know, it was kind ofthis community that we had originally
formed in 2009 that helpedpull me along to Wisconsin.
And they're like, oh,Wisconsin's an awesome area.
You got to be able to do that.
But, you know, finding thatgroup and working with them, they

(18:50):
helped bring me along, get meprepared for Wisconsin.
It was Wisconsin.
And it has been my slowest ofall my races because I did not prepare
as much because of school.
But, you know, reallyunderstanding that and sharing that
passion with a group of folks.
Right.
Just made the biggestdifference overall to be able to
kind of continue trying tosay, hey, how do you make this Happen.

(19:14):
And again, I mean, a littlecouple, you know, I went from 2009
to 2011, I did a bunch of 70.3in between.
But it was that same communitythat we were able to be able to go
and do Wisconsin with.
Yeah, I love this one.
I think my first two or threeyears of doing triathlon, I would
roll up to a local sprint or Olympic.

(19:35):
I wasn't in a tri club.
I didn't know anybody else whowas doing this.
And so my wife would comesupport me, so we would hang out.
But I think finally my thirdor fourth year in triathlon, I got
plugged in with a tri clubthat was based out of a local triathlon
store in my area.
And it really just brought myexperience in the sport to life.
Right.
Like all of a sudden you're onSaturday group rides, you're at Wednesday

(19:57):
track runs, you roll to racesand there's, there's 20, 30, 40 people
wearing the same kit as you.
And oh my gosh, it just reallybrings the whole experience to life.
So I love that that's, that,that, that you, that's a lesson you,
you caught so early on in yourrace career as well.
Race number three, Ironman,Chattanooga in 2014.

(20:18):
A three year gap, Stephen, athree year gap from Wisconsin to
Chattanooga.
Maybe you think you werefinishing your NBA.
I'm not sure.
But what was your lesson fromChattanooga in 2014?
It was really, I mean, andagain, it's about that time in between,
but it was around settingbowls right and really being able
to go do that now.
I really kind of transitionedat that point because it was Chattanooga

(20:41):
and pre Chattanooga that Ikind of set the goal to go to Tona.
And that's kind of thebackground was like, hey, how do
I go do this?
And I got to give you thestory and is like this group that
I had been training withWisconsin, there were two folks in
my town that actually gotlottery slots.

(21:02):
Now this is.
They used.
Ironman used to do lotteryslots to go to Kona.
Two people that did not knoweach other got lottery slots the
same year to be able to go to Kona.
And that like just startedmotivating, like, how do I go do
that?
Well, that's when Kona endedup, or excuse me, where they got
rid of the lottery slots.
And basically, I think it was2015 they ended up doing that.

(21:25):
But Kona became that biggergoal and having that goal in place
to say, hey, how do I go do that?
And again, working really hardin between on 70.3, loving life you
know, kind of realizing I canrun pretty well, still need to work
on my swim, but, you know,really trying to think about, like,
how do you set those goals andreally making them in manageable

(21:47):
segments.
Ironman Chattanooga that yearended up being my fastest race out
of all of them.
And even though it's a.
And officially at the time,ironman Chattanooga is 114.6, so
there was two extra miles onthe bike.
It is a fast swim.
But realizing that that wassomething that I was working really

(22:08):
hard for, right?
And really kind of saying,hey, how do I move forward?
How do I set that into place?
You know, do I.
How do I go, qualify to beable to get to Kona?
And that was really what Ikind of started, setting my eyes
for my overall goals to go.
Yeah, and goals in this sportcan be all sorts of things, right?
It can be to finally crack thetop 10 in your age group, to land

(22:30):
on the podium in your age group.
It can be qualifying for theworlds are similar.
My current goal in this sportis I really want to go under five
hours at the half Ironman distance.
I. I went 5.
02 in Daytona a number ofyears ago.
I don't have that fitness now.
I'm trying to get that fitnessback and I'll get there thanks to

(22:51):
tr but, yeah, I want to gounder five hours of the half Ironman
distance before I think aboutgoing long again.
So anyway, yeah, there's anumber of quality goals somebody
can have, and I love that.
That's lesson number threehere, right around.
The corner, just right next toyou, Stephen.
It's so funny you say that.

(23:12):
Yesterday in our company chat,coach Ryan Tibble put out the post
that it is officially sold out.
It is officially sold out.
A lot of triathletes in Texas,and I'm sure they knew that.
And so it sold out pretty quickly.
I was toying with the idea ofdoing it, and I just didn't jump
in in time.
Did not jump in in time.

(23:32):
So I do have a 70.3.
Gotta come up and see me.
Okay.
Stephen.
The swim start is 21 minutesfrom my house.
So I was like, how could I have.
I have to go do this race.
It's so close to the house.
But I will be there cheeringfor sure.
That.
That's.
That's absolutely certain.
If they release more slots,I'll think about it.
But yeah, I'll be there for sure.

(23:54):
I am in Louisville 2015.
What was your takeaway from that?
That this is number four?
Yeah.
Pressure is a privilege.
Right.
Again, got to give you alittle bit more background.
Yeah, I had a bike wreck aboutfive weeks before Ironman Louisville.
I separated my shoulder, and Iwas pretty dinged up.
I mean, you.

(24:15):
I couldn't go outside.
I couldn't run.
And it was a lot of pressurekind of going into that race.
And, you know, I was reallytrying to think about, like, how
do I get to that race and beable to compete?
And again, you know, I nowhave this goal, you know, to get
to Kona, and I'm like, youknow, I signed up and, yeah, still
a little bit of conservativeand cheap and didn't want to lose

(24:37):
the money to be able to go.
You know, I really had to say,hey, how do I go and just have.
And reframe my mind and havejust a race to get completed.
And so really kind of takingthat pressure and saying, hey, how
do I do it?
And really being able to be,you know, agile and saying, hey,
how do I go in school train?

(24:58):
I mean, you know, I wasactually sitting on the trainer with
my arm in a sling and, youknow, just making sure couldn't slim.
But, you know, it's one ofthose things to be able to kind of
make happen.
But you know, what.
What you have to do is kind ofreframe that pressure, right?
And saying, hey, what is it?
You know, what am I able to go do?
How am I able to kind of goand celebrate what I do have the

(25:19):
ability to do?
You know, and we always saycontrol what you can control.
You know, I couldn't control that.
I couldn't go swim, but Icould control making sure that I
was taking care of my arm.
What I did go do as I was, youknow, went and did kick drills, you
know, in the pool, you know,so you have to do those things and
to be able to take thatpressure and really realizing that
you can still go and performand really kind of take yourself

(25:43):
to that next level.
Yeah.
And to put it in a differentway, just.
Just the fact that we get todo this, the fact that we get to
line up and do is.
Is a privilege.
Right?
It's.
It's.
We have the health, we havethe body.
And in your circumstance herein Louisville, even though the circumstances
were not ideal, even thoughyour body was not 100%, the fact
that you could go toe theline, knock out that race, enjoy

(26:05):
the day.
Yeah, it's a privilege to getto do this.
Ironman Frankfurt, in 2016,you finally went overseas.
You went international for a race.
All of our European listenersStephen finally came your way in
2016 to Frankfurt.
What was your takeaway from Frankfurt?
Yeah, it was make it fun.
I mean, you know, again, mygroup has continued to grow, you

(26:29):
know, all through these times.
And you can kind of see I'mstarting to do a little bit more.
I went from 14 to 15 to 16 andyou know, with that I had a group
and we actually went as threeother families.
With me, this was the firsttime my family got to go over to
Europe.
I had been there for workpersonally, but you know, it's like,

(26:49):
how do we make it fun, right?
And you know, this was a brandnew country.
You know, I mean, Frankfurt isan amazing area, right.
And again, I think theEuropeans do a great job.
And I highly recommend forthose in the US if you don't, if
you, you gotta go take theopportunity and go race overseas
at least once.
I mean, it's just a verydifferent experience.

(27:11):
I mean, the roads are 100% closed.
I mean, that was awesome.
You know, you're going throughthese beautiful towns, but you know,
really kind of taking that asan opportunity.
Right.
And I think, you know, we haveto remind ourselves in all the midst
of the hard training and allthe midst of it, the race, the actual
race and the finish is about,you know, really being able to celebrate,

(27:31):
right.
And you know, being able totake my family over to Europe, being
able to go spend a little bitof time and we went from Frankfurt
down to Paris afterwards onthe train.
But you know, you got to makeit fun, you know, I mean, you know,
I.
It, you know, a lot of peopletalk about it's not just racing,
but you know, going on theserace stations, right?
And be able to have fun whenyou able to go do it.

(27:51):
But it's also kind of, it'snot just race day and it's not just
at the race.
You got to have fun alsoduring the time while you're training.
And I think this was reallygood because we had a few people.
There was actually five of usracing all together there.
Again, it was only four, youknow, three other families, but five
of us were racing.
And it was just fun to be ableto all be racing for or training

(28:14):
for the same exact race.
And again, I think, you knowthat you'll see that as a theme overall.
You've got to find yourcommunity, right?
And I think that's what makesit fun.
And bringing your family alongand having those abilities just really
make the difference for allyour races.
Yeah, I think of an age groupathlete in particular, like like
we're not going to the racesand earning money.

(28:35):
Like this isn't ourlivelihood, right?
And I imagine for the folksthat who it is their livelihood,
it's probably fun for them cuzthey're fast and they get to be fast.
But for, for the rest of us,like, like yeah, you can have goals,
you can have aspirations, youcan, you can have nerves going in
the race day because you, you,you want a certain outcome.
But if in your day to daytraining or your race weekend or

(28:55):
your race day, if it's notfun, if you're not enjoying it, like
you've, you've kind of lostthe plot, right?
And so I love that reminderhere and I, I, it reminds me of that
there's a Trident ambassadorwho's coached by Brandy Ramirez.
His name is Chris Tubbs.
Shout out to Chris Tubbswherever he is.
I'm not sure if he's a podcastlistener or not, but we follow each
other on social media.
Anytime he posts about histriathlon training or triathlon racing

(29:17):
on, on Instagram, he alwaysputs the hashtag I love this S H
I T and it's I, I love, I lovethat mindset, right?
I won't say the word on thepodcast, but I love that mindset.
That, that just like, likeman, I just, I just got done with
a grueling workout that was,that was wild.
Try to have me do what?
Man, I love this bleep.

(29:38):
Like yeah, it should be fun.
Chris, good, good job, good job.
So Chris, Chris gets it.
Ironman, North Carolina 2016.
What was your takeaway?
Yeah, the bigger picture.
Right?
And you know, I talked alittle bit about the, you know, beach
to battleship in 2008 andgoing back to Ironman North Carolina

(29:59):
just was, you know, kind oflooking at the bigger picture.
The other thing is if you lookat just the dates of everything that
I'm doing, this is the firstyear of doing two races in the same
year.
So I went from Frankfurt, turnback around, I went to North Carolina
and you know, just realizingthat yes, it's a beautiful area but
you know, kind of rememberingthis bigger picture of where I started

(30:22):
from to where I am now andthen also realizing this bigger goals
that you end up having.
So it's kind of a tie back oflike, you know, really take the time
and realizing it's not justthe specific race that you're doing,
but it's more about like whatyou've done and what you've been
able to accomplish, the peoplethat you're impacting.

(30:43):
I Mean, it's all of thosethings that I think kind of are the
bigger picture of these races.
I mean, I'll just use Nicejust as a quick example.
I mean, Kurt Madden, I workwith Kurt Madden, saw him on in the
cmg and you know, I was ableto find other athletes that did not
even know that we're going there.
And it's just like realizingthat it's community.

(31:04):
Right.
And it's like an importantpart of, not just like your local
community, but the broadercommunity of the Ironman events and
all of these other pieces.
But again, just, it's not myopic.
It's not just finishing yourfinish time.
It's not just being able to godo it.
It is that bigger picture ofwhere you've come from and what you're
doing.
And again, it goes back to theprivilege that, you know that we

(31:26):
have to be able to go do these races.
Yeah.
And I think expanding thatpicture, right.
And making race weekend,making the experience of being a
triathlete about more thanjust the race itself like that, that's
what helps people stay in thesport longer.
That's what, that's whatbrings people back again, again and
again like yourself, becauseit just enriches the experience both

(31:49):
on race weekend and day to day.
So really, really good onethere from North Carolina and you're.
And for folks who I didn'tmention this in the intro, Coach
Stephen is based in North Carolina.
So easy for him to go do thatone every single year, I imagine.
I imagine ironman Maryland in2017 was your next race.
What was the lesson from that?
Yeah, I put this one as onerace at a time.

(32:11):
And again, you got to look atthe bigger picture a little bit here
too.
I went from Ironman, Marylandto Florida and that those were going
to be my closest races andthey were at that time six weeks
apart.
Maryland was in October,Florida was in November.
Sorry, it was five weeks.
But so I had to think aboutthis very differently.

(32:31):
And it also ended up being myanniversary weekend while we were
going to.
Yeah, so it was, we had a goodanniversary, but, you know, it was
just, you know, you got tomake sure you're backing away and
realizing not thinking so far out.
And again, you know, we justtalked about the bigger picture.
You know, that's what we wantto go do.
But you don't want to getahead of yourself either.

(32:52):
Right.
You got to make sure thatyou're keeping what's right in front
of you at that period of time.
And so, you know, this oneIronman, Maryland, if you haven't
done it, I mean, it's.
It's a really good race.
It's a little out in kind of.
Kind of the edge of Marylandin the sense of where it is.
But it, you know, you got tomake sure that you're continuing

(33:15):
to focus on where you are, youknow, being kind of being currently
focused versus trying to think ahead.
And so.
And I'll give just a realquick example why.
I also thought it was like onerace at a time.
I'm, you know, I show up racemorning, you know, to be able to
go check on my bike, to beable to go do it.
And this is the first time Iended up going into transition.
You know, I, you know, IronMan 7 that my bike tires were flat,

(33:39):
both of them, right.
And I'm pressing, and itbrings that in.
And again, it's like dealingwith not just the race, but, you
know, what you have, what youcan control, and to be able to go
do that.
Like I said, the big.
The bigger picture here, whythis was one race at a time, is like
I was really stressing aboutdoing these both back to back with
Maryland and then Floridaturning around.

(34:00):
And then it's like I had tomake sure I was staying kind of in
that sense again, justfocused, right?
And not jumping ahead ofmyself and saying, hey, how do I
go do this?
How do I make sure I can getto this next one?
I'm like, deal with what Ihave right now in front of me, or.
I'm in Florida in 2017.
What was your lesson from that one?
Yeah, it was helping others.
And again, you know, you gotto understand a little bit about

(34:22):
the background is, you know,in the midst of doing Maryland, I
was doing it, did it by myself.
I didn't really train withanybody for it.
And immediately when I cameback, I was able to connect.
It was a.
It was a local tri store atthe time.
They're not open.
They kind of connected me witha guy doing his first Ironman in
Ironman, Florida, that same year.

(34:43):
And he lived in my community.
So it was just like, man, howdo we go?
How do we connect with each other?
And one of the things is, Imean, he was a really good athlete,
but being as first, you know,he didn't know what he was really
doing.
And so in that sense, I think I.
That was the first time Istarted working closer with folks

(35:04):
to be able to help, kind ofmentor and to be able to go do that.
And, you know, I mean, yeah, he.
I mean, he was a really goodswimmer, good cyclist, and, you know,
he was struggling and it wasone of the things that I gave up
some of my race to be able tosupport him.
I helped him cross the finishline and to be able to go do that.

(35:24):
And again, I'm not sayingyou're always going to want to do
that, but, you know, it reallyjust makes a big difference, you
know, I mean, are you going tostop when somebody's hurt on the
side of the road?
Are you going to give them a tire?
You know, if they have a flat,you know, are you going to.
You know, I mean, I've givenmultiple times in a lot of races.
Salt, you know, when peopleare cramping, you know, but really
trying to think about helping others.

(35:45):
And I tell you it does.
It helps me also.
Right.
As an.
When you're helping others, ittakes the pain away from you.
Right.
And so I think there's.
There's an added bonus of notjust helping those others, but also
helping yourself to be able togo do that.
So it's really about how doyou help lift people up, how do you
help bring them along?

(36:05):
I mean, you know, one of thethings I do on the runs all the time
is I try to highlight and helpmotivate people.
Hey, good job when I'm passingthem, you know, to be able to kind
of say that because it reallyjust helps them and you don't know
that overall impact all the time.
And so I just think it's agreat thing to remember.
You know, I mean, we alwayssay thank volunteers, but, you know,
help the other athletes whileyou're out there.

(36:27):
Yeah.
So it took you eight.
Eight Ironman events beforeyou were officially the.
The old codger who could helpa long ironman Texas in 2018, you.
You referenced this as one ofyour favorite run courses.
What was your lesson fromIronman Texas?
Yeah.
Hard work required.
Right.
Is like there's no shortcutsin the sport.

(36:49):
Texas is great, but the timeof the year, it's hard, you know,
depending on where you live.
I mean, you end up having toreally kind of think about how are
you going to train and beready to go.
And it really tested my discipline.
I mean, I had to spend a lotof time, I'm a trainer getting ready
for Texas.
You know, when you're doingsix plus hours on the trainer for

(37:10):
your long rides, it even hurts more.
Right.
And so it really takes a lotof hard work to be able to kind of
continue thinking about that.
Also with Texas, I mean, youcan get, you know, a lot of wind
out on the party to.
You end up being pretty hot.
Right.
You know, and you just got torealize that every race, right, it

(37:31):
is hard and you got to go intoit in that mindset and being prepared.
Right.
Because it really is right.
I mean, going through thefinish line, it's about a reflection
of your consistent work thatyou're putting in right when no one
is watching.
And that's the hard part.
You got to do the work, no oneelse can do it for you.

(37:51):
And it really takes the otheramount of time.
Yeah.
Ironman number nine doesn'tcare that you finished Ironman one
through eight, right.
Like it's a new race, it's anew day and you got to go earn it
just the same.
And it's, it's easy to takethat for granted.
I've taken it for granted atshorter events.
I'll roll up to a local sprintor a local Olympic thinking, oh,
it's just a local sprint,local Olympic.

(38:13):
And then it ends up kicking mybutt because I just didn't take it
seriously enough.
Right.
And Ironman especially, you'vegot to do the work for every single
one that you do.
So very, very, very goodlesson here.
Ironman, Chattanooga in 2018,what was your takeaway?
Yeah, challenges happen, right?
I mean, I think you, you gotto make sure as an athlete that you're

(38:33):
preparing.
I face two flat tires right.
On the actual bike.
And because the swim wascanceled at Chattanooga, which I
love the swim and I wish theywouldn't had canceled it, but because
the swim was canceled, I stillended up going out early.
I ended up having almost likea two hour wait to get tech support
out there.

(38:54):
And, and again, for me it'slike, how do you pivot, you know,
when you're two hours behind?
And I mean, I'm like worryingabout getting to the cutoff time
and you know, you're alwayslooking at your watch, okay, am I
doing it?
And you know, it's alwaysbased on when you start and all these
other pieces.
And I come running into the.
Or running or not running, butriding into the bike finish and I'm

(39:16):
yelling at my wife, did I makecut off?
Did I make cut off?
You know, because I did notwant to run.
Yeah.
The full 26.2 miles and not.
And get a DNF, right.
That was not what I wantedbecause I'm working towards legacy
at this point and I like, Ijust needed a complete.
And so I did make it, was ableto get it completed barely Made.

(39:37):
It was like, like four minutecut before cutoff to be able to have
it.
And.
But it was, it was achallenging race and because I pushed,
ended up being so hard on thebike to try to make up time that,
you know, it really punishedme on the run.
And so again, challenges happen.
You got to be prepared for them.
Whether you drop waterbottles, whether you have flat tires.

(39:59):
You gotta really think aboutthat as an athlete, right.
And prepare in advance.
And that really kind of taught me.
And it goes into this mindsetaspect of, like, how do you prepare?
How do you visualize, how doyou do those different pieces?
Because understanding that andknowing that they happen and you
can't control them, you know,you need to make sure that you're
trying to put yourself in aposition to control what you can

(40:21):
control.
Yeah.
Jeff Booer, CEO, founder oftri.he, he always puts it this way.
Like, on race day, expectthree things to go wrong.
And if they don't, great, they don't.
But when they do, instead ofgetting frustrated about it or instead
of saying, oh, I just got aflat tire and I gotta wait, it's
like, well, okay, there'sthing number one.
I knew it was gonna come.

(40:42):
I didn't know it was gonna be,but I knew it was gonna come.
And it just, it just, it justchanges your mindset about it, right?
It does.
Ironman Lake Placid 2019 Lake Placid.
First time there.
I've.
I haven't been there yet.
I've heard great things aboutthe swim there.
In particular, what was yourtakeaway from Lake Placid?
Yeah, I mean, Lake Placid wasenjoy the race.

(41:02):
I mean, you know, you know, you're.
I'm kind of going through, youcan see kind of.
I'm building kind of thiswhole, you know, repertoire of all
the different races.
And I'm like, I haven't donePlacid yet.
Let me go and enjoy it.
Right.
And that's one of the iconicraces to be able to go do that, you
know, but again, I'm trying towork towards Kona also and knowing
that Lake Placid was a prettychallenging race, even though very

(41:25):
iconic, it's like, you know,how do you go and prepare to be able
to go do that?
And so, you know, I had theposition because again, you got to
look a little bit at what Ihad already registered for.
I got Montre Blanc.
That's actually two weeksafter Lake Placid that year.
And so again, you know, Ireally needed to kind of position,
okay, where do I want to raceversus where do I want to kind of

(41:49):
maybe set back just a little bit.
But you know, this is aboutbeing present again in the moment
and enjoying that area.
I mean, Lake Plass isbeautiful place and highly recommend
to go if you have anopportunity, you know, whether racing
or not, but it's a site, youknow, go and enjoy that area and
realizing that, hey, you gotto make sure you're able to do it.

(42:10):
And again, it's funny because,you know, I talked about my two girls,
but this was a greatopportunity and I just love all the
photos of my girls to be ableto add all the races.
And you know, we actually, youknow, spent the time there.
You know, they were able tomeet Mike Riley.
You know, he had his book outat that point and we got the book
signed.
You know, just being able togo in and do those things right,

(42:32):
and having the time with thefamily was just also really enjoying
for that specific race that year.
Your next race is.
Is also one that, that I'veheard is Fairly Hilly.
Ironman Mount Tremblant in 2019.
What was your lesson from Tremblant?
How different is Tremblantfrom like Placid?
They're kind of in the same,same vibe, I think.
Yeah, they.
They really were.

(42:53):
I mean, the, the lesson wasability to push through, right?
Like I said, it was, you know,three weeks apart to be able to go
and, and to do those.
But I mean, beautiful area.
I mean, I hate that they don'thave the full and Montre Blanc anymore.
It's only the 70.3.
Because honestly that if I wasto pick a race to say, you gotta

(43:13):
go do, that would be one, right?
I mean, go to huge endorsement.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Really, really just an amazingarea and.
But, you know, the ability topush through, I mean, realizing I
had just come off a Placid,you know, I was actually being coached,
you know, kind of getting kindof feedback via proe at the time

(43:35):
for, for Lake Placid.
And you know, I was like,okay, how do I reconfidence, you
know, And I had to reallylearn that whole aspect of recovering
to be able to turn right back around.
And it was just like, youknow, pushing through and you know,
I ended up feeling having areally good race, but I.
My body shut down on the run, right?
And you know, I had to figureout how to be, you know, look at

(44:01):
closely and say, hey, how do Ipush through this, right?
And push through that pain,you know, overall, because I had
to dig Deep.
And that was probably again,the run in that course.
I just remember specificallybecause it hurts so bad to be able
to go and finish the secondhalf of that.
And.
But also I also remember very.

(44:22):
It was amazing finish.
Right.
Mike Riley was there also.
Just.
Just an amazing finish and.
But just great opportunity inMontre Blanc.
But I think you got it as anathlete, really determine how deep
can you go, how can youcontinue forward.
I mean, we talk aboutresilience with nice this year, but,
you know, that ability to pushthrough is hard, and I think you

(44:44):
got to make sure you're ableto do it.
And you got to train hard too.
Right.
I mean, if you think you'regoing to only do it on race day,
you're probably not.
And I think that becomes animportant part to kind of push through.
Yeah.
It's amazing how it's so funnyjust what moments from a course,
what parts of a course stickout in your memory ten years later,
five years later.

(45:06):
And so just you recalling thepain you were in on that run course.
Yeah.
It made an impression on youfor sure.
It sounds like.
So Ironman Tulsa, which Ithink this is where I first met you.
Ironman Tulsa, 2021.
What was your takeaway?
Yeah, by the way, I rememberyou yelling after coming off the
bike in Tulsa.

(45:26):
Right.
To be able to go do that.
I was, you know, kind of, youknow, realize this is in 2021 and,
you know, delays happen.
And realizing going from 19 to20, you know, with COVID and then
2021, I mean, I think Tulsamaybe was the very first race back
after Covid.

(45:47):
I mean, I remember going intothe Ironman Village and there was
nothing.
And you're wearing masks allthe time.
But just, you know, really tokind of realizing that delays happen
and whether it's, you know, Imean, Covid was a big delay.
I mean, I went from, you know,kind of.
So.
And I. I got to back up alittle bit because Montre Blanc ended
up being my 12th race for legacy.

(46:09):
That was the other thing thatwas important for that.
And so I had already submittedmy Legacy slot to be able to go to
Kona, and I had to.
So then you had.
You have to do an Ironmanevery single year to stay eligible.
Yeah, that's correct.
So I'm like stressing in thatsense, but, you know, they gave us
the WAIVER because of 2020,you know, and I'm like, I gotta go

(46:29):
sign up because that, youknow, 2021 ended up being the date
they gave me at the time.
To be able to go to Kona.
So I gotta do a race.
I gotta at least register for it.
And Kona, by the way, ended upgetting delayed another year because
of Hawaii was a little bitmore restricted.
And so I had to go do a race.
I had to go race Tulsa.

(46:50):
And this was the first yearfor Tulsa.
Only my oldest daughter wentwith me with Tulsa.
But it was like, you know, howdo you continue doing that and realizing
that delays happen and things are.
It goes back to controllingwhat you can control, right?
And realizing that, you know,we all had those challenges.
Everybody is in the sameposition, you know, but you have

(47:11):
to adapt, right?
And that becomes the big partfor all of us to kind of take into
consideration, right?
Because, you know, we got tobe flexible.
We got to be patient.
We got to make sure that we'recontinuing to kind of accept some
of those things, you know,whether it's, you know, you know,
again, delay in races orsomething changes or they cancel
the swim, right?
I mean, all those different people.

(47:32):
And I think that's justimportant for us as athletes, right?
To continue trying to thinkabout and making sure that we take
into consideration.
And we do.
I think we have seven or eight left.
We're going to try to blitzthrough these to finish the list.
Great takeaways from all these.
But, yeah, Des Moines 2022.
Yeah.
I mean, so one of the dirtysecrets, right, is Iron man says,

(47:54):
hey, you got to do 12 onLegacy, but then you got to sign
up, really, for another one.
And so, you know, this one,Des Moines was no One More, right?
And, you know, it's just like,you know, I had to make sure that
even though I was like, had togo, had Kona already on the books,
you know, what does that look like?
You know, and it just made abig difference because, you know,

(48:15):
I had to be able to take thatnext step.
And I think the value for usas athletes, it's like, you know,
can you go one more?
And, you know, I. I kind ofuse bpn.
If you're familiar with bpn.
Bear performance, nutrition.
You know, he's like, go one more.
Right?
And that whole concept ofgoing one more.
And I think that's, you know,we got to think about it, like, one
more stroke, one more step,one more, you know, pedal stroke,

(48:39):
in a sense.
And so, you know, that reallyhas to help us to be able to kind
of get through.
And I think it's a goodmantra, right?
Geek in, right?
And realizing that you cancontinue to go further than what
your mind Actually is telling you.
And I think that's animportant part.
We've talked in the podcastbefore, physiologically, in your
workouts, if you have fiveintervals of zone five or six, you

(49:02):
know, four intervals at zonefour, like that last interval, particularly
the last few minutes of thatlast interval is where the biggest
physiological adaptations take place.
Go one more.
Go one more minute, one more interval.
See the workout through to thefinish line.
Great mantra for our sport for sure.
Steven.

(49:22):
So you finally go to Kona,ironman Kona in 2022.
I saw you there as well.
What was your takeaway fromfinally making it to Kona?
Yeah, and again, I mean, itwas, you know, the finish line doesn't
mean finish.
Right.
And that's, you know, and youreally have to think about that.
You know, yes, we hit a finishline, but that really is just the
close of the chapter of the book.

(49:42):
I mean, and, you know, Kona nodoubt was a very, very big goal for
me, but, you know, as I builtthis up, it came out lifestyle now.
And that's really the difference.
That for me, it's like, okay, what.
What do I want to go do next?
How do I go do that?
And this is where, you know,you asked the question earlier about
coaching, and I was like,okay, this is the bigger view for

(50:03):
me, saying, hey, how do I gohelp the next area?
How do I go and do that?
I mean, I actually am stillworking to try to be a guide.
I want to be a guide to beable to help people.
And it's like realizing that,yes, Kona was there, but that's just
that a stopping point for youto go to that next step.
And that's really what itmeans, right?
It's not just a finish line.
You're not finished.

(50:24):
Know, you can continue as wetalked about, go one more.
You can continue to be able todo that.
So for 2023, you.
You combine two races here onyour list.
Ironman Texas and IronmanQuarter Lane 2023.
Why are these combined in your notes?
And what was your takeaway?
Yeah, so the.
The theme was adapt and overcome.

(50:45):
And that was part of thereason I combined them.
So I decided to go back toTexas again and I had a bike wreck.
It was my very first DNF inTexas out of all my races at this
point.
And I tell you, it was hard.
You know, I was on the hardytoll roll and there's expansion gaps
in the.
In the toll road.
And my.

(51:06):
My tire dropped into theexpansion gap.
It threw me over.
I hit my head I was bleedingso bad from that, not so bad, but
I was bleeding from the head.
And you know, they said, hey,we can't let you continue.
Which was fine, you know, andit's just, you know, but I, you know,
wanted to be able to go dothat, but, you know, I had to figure
out what, what do I do?
How do I continue to adapt and overcome.

(51:28):
And again, that's one of thethings with as a Marine that's like,
hey, how do you adapt andovercome to be able to go accomplish
your mission?
Well, one of the missions was,is like, we knew Nice was coming
around and I'm like, hey, Ireally want to go to Nice.
And one of my buddies that wasracing with me, you know, qualified
for Nice in Texas.
And so I basically got, youknow, bandaged up, you know, got

(51:50):
everything set apart and wentright back and then jumped.
Right.
And like the day after toCoeur d' Alene to be able to go do
that.
And if you haven't been toCoeur d', Alene, I mean, you know,
again, good training for thesefor sure because of the climbing,
but, you know, it really was,it was unexpectedly hot and for me
a little more hilly than Iexpected also.

(52:11):
Right.
So, you know, I had to kind ofadjust, you know, for what that plan
ended up being.
But so that whole year for 23was adapt and overcome.
Yeah, because how do I go andshift from, you know, having something
that I didn't complete DNF forthe very first time, mentally, it
was hard.
How do I overcome that andpush myself to that next level?

(52:34):
But, you know, this is whereas athletes we gotta take that step.
Right.
Don't be fearful of it, youknow, realizing that a outcome does
not define you.
Right.
And so that's the importantpart for us to be able to say how,
how do we overcome some ofthose outcomes and we're all going
to have them.
And I think that's one of therealities that is out of all these

(52:54):
races, you're going to havegood races, you're going to have
bad races, and I think you canovercome all of those other pieces.
Yeah, I absolutely love it.
If you're in this sport longenough, maybe if you're in this sport
for a race or two, you willencounter some obstacles, you will
have some things go wrong.
And yeah, you got to press on.
Right.
You gotta, you gotta adapt and overcome.
Absolutely love it.

(53:14):
Ironman, Nice in 2023, this isthe first time you went to Nice.
You did qualify and you went.
What was your takeaway fromgoing to France and racing on the
French Riviera.
Yeah, celebrate and, you know,celebrate the outcome.
You know, I mean, you know,again, I had really tough, you know,
with Texas and Portland, and Iwas just ecstatic to be able to be
able to go to Nice for thevery first time, you know, get another

(53:37):
world championship.
This was the first year ofNice, so no one really knew what
to expect.
But, you know, again, I wentwith a buddy that also qualified
in Texas.
You know, was good for ourfamily, but really just took the
time.
Right.
I mean, you know, Kona waslike, no doubt inspiring to be able
to go and do, but Nice was different.

(53:58):
Right.
And again, being able to gooverseas, you know, understanding
the history of Nice and withtriathlon, I mean, it was just something
to be able to go celebrate.
And I think, you know, one ofthe things that I would give as feedback
for athletes in general, it'slike, you know, celebrating your
outcome.
Maybe it's not perfect, butyou still got to celebrate it.
Right?
And realizing that, you know,and, you know, there's a quote, you

(54:20):
know, that I ended up saying.
It's like, you know, it's notjust about what you've done for the
outcome, but did you do it well?
Right.
And, you know, I did it well.
I was happy with it, you know,and being happy with it yourself
and acknowledging all the workthat you end up putting in is really
the important part.

(54:40):
And I think sometimes weforget that.
Right.
As all the stuff that happens.
And so I think that's justsomething you want to do.
The other thing that's kind ofbehind this is, you know, being able
to celebrate with my family.
And, you know, it was reallygood to be able to do that again.
And it was just, again, greatexperience overall.

(55:01):
Coach McKeely Jones, regularon the podcast for people who don't
recognize the name.
She is a Ironman worldchampion, Olympic silver medalist
in her pro career.
Now coaches through Giddy UpRacing, powered by Tridot.
And I've heard McKeely anumber of times say to athletes,
celebrate the race you had,not the race you wish you had.

(55:22):
Exactly.
And it's that same notion,like, you can wish it went a certain
way, and sometimes it's goingto go the way you want, Sometimes
you're going to nail it, butsometimes you're not.
And, okay, well, you had therace you had, and you got to the
finish line, you did the bestyou could with the way things went
down.
And every outcome deserves tobe celebrated because, again, it's
a privilege to be out there.
So I love that McKeely says that.
The other thing, Steven, I wasthinking as you were talking and

(55:45):
I know you've been at theseIronman events a lot of times we
have tried out coaches thereand if there's trot coaches on site
for an Ironman, often there'sa shakeout run led by Tridot.
And a number of times whereI've been at these shakeout runs.
A question that we go aroundand ask the athletes is, what Ironman
is this for you?
Is this Ironman 1 or Ironman 20?

(56:06):
And it's so funny because youhave a group of 40, 50 athletes circled
up just, just very quickly,what's your name?
Where are you from?
What number Ironman is this?
And then we go for a run andpeople really clap really hard for
people who say it's theirfirst Ironman that get.
That gets big applause to ifsomeone says it's their third, fourth,
fifth, sixth, it's kind oflike a polite golf clap.

(56:27):
And when you get athletessaying, oh, it's number 10, number
20, number 15, you get intothose high numbers and people clap
really hard for those.
And it always strikes me thatno one really claps hard for the
people that it's their third,their seventh, their sixth.
And it takes me back to likethat one.
Every Ironman finish, whether it's.

(56:48):
Even if it's those middlenumbers, it's worth celebrating.
Like you win out, youaccomplish something.
Because like we said before,like no finish line is guaranteed.
You have to go out there andearn every single one of them.
And whether you do it for thefifth time or you're doing it for
the 12th time and legacying itlike it's, it's worth celebrating.
So that, that's the otherthing I thought about here that I
wanted to say.
I'm rambling.

(57:08):
We.
We need to get through theselast couple.
Ironman, Lake Placid 2024.
You went back to Placid, Talkabout it.
Yeah, it was be with friends.
I mean this was the 25th yearfor Lake Placid, so it was a pretty
big deal for those that maybewere just getting into the sport.
Mike Riley had already retired.
He did go back to Lake Placidand do an announcement.

(57:29):
Announcing.
And so I had a couple offriends that were there.
And so that was just really ahighlight, right, to be able to bring
them along, share that experience.
Neither one of them had beencalled by Mike Riley before, so know,
pump that up.
And so it was just really theability to train Together and race
together was just, you know,again, just continuing to build that

(57:51):
bond.
Right.
That kind of last beyond that,that finish line.
So again, just awesome to beable to go back to Lake Pl and celebrate
the 25th year and also getcalled in one more time by Mike Riley.
Yeah, he.
He loves that race.
He loves that race.
And yeah, that's.
That's one I'm sure we'll seehim turn up for again and again.
Ironman Ottawa.

(58:11):
We're now into the currentyear 2025.
Ironman Ottawa.
Brand new race in Canada this year.
Right.
I think.
First.
First.
Yeah.
What was your takeaway from Ottawa?
Yeah, it was train and help others.
I mean, you know, so Iofficially started coaching right
at the beginning of this yearand so, you know, I've started bringing
a few people on that I'mcontinuing to coach and I had a coached

(58:33):
athlete that was there with meand he trains in my area so we did
a lot of training together.
He ended up having a PR on his race.
So, you know, you know,leveraging try that where he wasn't
before, kind of taking him tothat next level, but really trying
to be able to go out there and help.
Right.
And so that just again becomesvery important for me to be able

(58:55):
to kind of be with community,to be able to continue to do that.
And so Ottawa was just one of those.
But it was more around anathlete that was with me going to
Ottawa.
Yeah, no suit.
Super cool.
I know a number of coachesthat will try to find the races where
they have a number of athletesracing and that's how they pick their
races.
Right.
Because it does really enrichthe experience for our coaches.

(59:15):
They get to see their athletesracing like that.
Okay, number 20 on the list.
We made it to the end.
And coach Steven, bang up jobto you.
Huge kudos for really keepingthese concise but rich in detail,
rich in stories, rich inlearning opportunity for our listeners.
What was your 20th takeawayfrom Ironman nice in 2025?

(59:37):
Yeah, and it goes to the themethat Nice had this year or the Ironman
had this year for resilience.
Right.
And you know, no matter whatrace that you've done, what race
that you're doing, you knowit's going to challenge you.
And I think it becomes reallyimportant that, you know, we got
to continue to buildresilience ourselves as athletes.

(59:58):
And it took a lot of resilience.
I mean, I'll be very honest, Ialmost quit after the swim.
Right.
I mean it was shivering that bad.
You know, my wife Looked overat me and there's a lot of gates
and knees because of security.
And she looked over and waslike, I'm surprised you were able
to even get your bike becauseI was shivering so bad and it was
hard, right?

(01:00:19):
And you know, but realizing,and it goes back to the whole aspect
of understanding your why,understanding the community and the
impacts that you end uphaving, but really kind of pushing
yourself, right, and realizingthat resilience is something you
got to train and you got tocontinue to go and push.
And so I think, you know, itreally was awesome to be able to

(01:00:39):
kind of be at Nice, really asmy 20th Ironman.
As I stated before, it was notsomething I had planned exactly that
way, but it was just, it wasawesome to be there because Nice
also being very much, youknow, a global race, I mean, it was
86 countries were representedfor 2500 people, right?
And yes, the US was the biggest.
But being able to be there,you know, I mean, as you're, you

(01:01:02):
know, I'm standing the lineand you're talking to all these other
athletes about where they'vecome from.
And you know, and it is, Imean, I look at the 20th, really
school is just a steppingstone, right?
And it's both the resilienceof completing all the races to the
resilience of just, you know,completing that specific race.
And, and it's important, right?

(01:01:22):
Understanding all these, youknow, what I would call lessons,
but just insights that I canbring, you know, from all these different
races that I've been up and a half.
So, Coach Stephen, lastquestion for our main set.
Before you answer, an audiencequestion on the cooldown, what's
going to be Ironman.
Number 21, I am thinking rightnow for Jacksonville, Florida, that

(01:01:44):
is probably 21.
So still kind of workingthrough it.
I have a buddy, a couple ofbuddies racing Chattanooga and next
weekend and so looking atmaybe Florida for next year.
Excuse me.
Like I said, Jacksonville,Florida, next year, which is early
in the race.
That's kind of one that's out there.
Still gotta push it acrosswith my wife too, make sure that

(01:02:06):
she's okay.
So I may get in trouble herenow, but that's okay.
All right, onto the cool downof the show where Coach Steven is
going to answer an audiencequestion and then we are done for
the day.
And today's question, I pulledthis from the Iron Trident Facebook
group.
Michelle asked this question,how to train for hills.

(01:02:29):
When you don't have any hillsaround you, what do you do?
Do you use.
With.
Do you use Ruby, she, sheexpands saying, I'm decent on the
bike, but hills are where Ireally lose steam.
I am very much the same way asMichelle, so I totally get this question.
It is a little tricky.
So, Stephen, you're based inNorth Carolina.
There's definitely some hillsaround you, but nothing like Nice

(01:02:51):
France.
Definitely.
You've definitely.
I picked this one for youbecause on your list you have some
pretty hilly races.
So what would you say toathlete Michelle here?
Yeah, I think there's threeareas that I would recommend for
if you don't have hills tobuild and do it.
But I would would remind you,power is power.
It doesn't matter if it's flator if it's on a hill.

(01:03:12):
But really there's still thismindset that you got to go practice
on some hills.
And I do recommend that.
And the smart trainer reallyis a good opportunity.
I used Ruvi specificallygetting prepped for Nice.
All I did was use it numberone visually so I could see the actual
course.
So that was very helpful.

(01:03:33):
So really do recommend using asmart trainer.
I personally like Ruzi becauseit has very good course course.
Not just profiles, but alsovisuals to be able to do it.
Since you're on Tridot, youhopefully should see some of these.
But big gear workouts, right?
That is really, really good.
Right?
Big gear power builder, Power intervals.

(01:03:54):
Exactly.
You know, focus on that low cadence.
Right.
And high torque intervals.
You know, that really becomesvery important.
You know, I think that'sreally big and I think the big gear
workout, which goes to mynumber three is really work on your
strength training off the bikebecause that makes a big importance
to be able to go do that.
You know, focus on those.

(01:04:15):
And if you're using tri dotuse, you know, do those lunges and
those squats and those stepups, you know, I think make a very,
very big difference as you getprepared for hills.
Thanks for listening to theTridot podcast.
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(01:04:37):
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