Another Triathlon Podcast

Episode 63: Ironman Nice Predictions and Chicago Marathon Training

• Jenna-Caer • Season 2 • Episode 63

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Summary

In this episode of the Trathlon Podcast, hosts Jenna-Caer, Josh, and Fede discuss the upcoming Ironman World Championships in Nice, focusing on training updates, the importance of zone two training, and predictions for the women's race. They analyze the top contenders, including Lucy Charles Barclay, Kat Matthews and Anne Haug, while also addressing the recent changes in the T100 series and the impact on athletes. The conversation is filled with insights, humor, and a deep dive into the world of triathlon.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Trathlon Podcast
04:48 Training Updates and Experiences
10:11 The Importance of Zone Two Training
17:15 Previewing the Ironman World Championships in Nice
26:58 Analyzing the Women's Race Contenders
35:44 Predictions for the Race
39:00 Social Media Highlights and Banter
41:15 What the F: T100 Series Changes


Takeaways

  • Josh is in his first taper week and feeling good about his training.
  • The importance of holding back during races to avoid injury.
  • Zone two training significantly improves endurance and performance.
  • The Ironman World Championships in Nice is generating excitement.
  • Lucy Charles Barclay is a strong contender but has faced challenges.
  • Anne Haug's recent performance raises her profile in the race.
  • The bike course in Nice will be a significant factor in the race outcome.
  • The T100 series changes have created uncertainty for Olympic athletes.
  • Social media banter adds a fun element to the triathlon community.
  • The hosts are excited to recap the race next week.




Support the show

Stay connected with us! Follow us on social media - @anothertriathlonpodcast with hosts Jenna-Caer, Fede and Josh to keep up with the latest. And if you have any burning questions for the coaches, feel free to shoot them over to Jennacaer@maunaendurance.com

https://www.instagram.com/anothertriathlonpodcast/

Speaker 1:

Welcome to another triathlon podcast, the podcast that brings the electrifying world of triathlons right into your headphones. Journey into captivating conversations, share the excitement of race recaps, enjoy the humor only a triathlete would understand, and join us as we debunk myths and bring you the bare, thrilling truths of the triathlon world. Myths and bring you the bare, thrilling truths of the triathlon world. So feel your heart pound, breathe in anticipation and get ready to dive into the world of triathlon.

Speaker 2:

This is another triathlon podcast. Enjoy the ride. Welcome to another triathlon podcast brought to you by Mon Apparel. We are going to break down everything going on in the triathlon world, and next weekend we got a little race to talk about, with the ironman world championships coming up in nice for the women's race. So we're going to dive into all of that and then also go through our usual what the f and social media post of the week. The social media posts definitely had me laughing out loud. There's a a couple brands that we don't see using humor too often, so it was definitely a departure from the usual banter between a couple of the big brands. But to get started, we're going to catch up on what's going on with the crew. Let's start off with Josh. How are you doing these days?

Speaker 3:

In my first taper week and I can't remember how long it's like. I don't know what to do with myself. I have to be careful not to eat too much, not to twiddle my thumbs too much, but it's all well worth it. And had another good week last week and hit 54 miles, I think, running, so biggest week yet and had an awesome couple speed workouts at the track and ended up switching some things around because we decided to go to New York for the weekend and hop in a half marathon on Saturday and I have my track workout on Friday. So I did a really early morning Friday seven by one K and crushed that workout, hit all my times and then turned around and had a 20 mile, 19 mile run on Saturday, with the half marathon being the first 13.1 of it. So really cool doing that, hopping in and having the aid stations and the other people racing. I had to hold myself back. My first mile was probably one of my fastest, trying to remember I wasn't racing.

Speaker 2:

That's the hard part, right.

Speaker 3:

Yeah and pull back. But I uh, I treated it like I was doing the race and worked on a fueling strategy of carrying some of like the soft flask 500 milliliters and having that as my my carb and electrolyte source for a while and then using the aid stations for simply water and keeping my body cool if I needed to and things like that All of the first portion of the race. I'd have a good hour's worth of nutrition on me. Then the A goal would be to meet my parents somewhere along the way and grab a second bottle and use that if I needed to and use that if I needed to. Otherwise I'll just use the Morton, the Gatorade and the water on the course to get through and have enough on me electrolyte-wise to get by.

Speaker 3:

So it was a good, successful day. First, 16 miles, similar to last weekend's first 16 miles, just over race pace. And then I did about three and a half at goal pace and was able to hit that and it was warmer than last week. So another big step and felt really cool, really good about it and came back out of it really nice and did a brick on Sunday at Peloton Studio. So I did a hard ride and a 30 minute four mile run after that too. So body is recovering, responding and feeling good and it'll be interesting to see after this week, going into another 20-mile run in Chicago on some of the course with aid stations, how it all goes. So try and hold myself back, probably on this one as well.

Speaker 2:

That's always the the hardest part, especially when you're feeling good and everything's firing. You just want to go for it and kudos for holding back during a half marathon with all the people around you that is oh, that takes some self-risk too it is congratulations but second in my age group was like great there apparently.

Speaker 3:

Um, it was fun and it was uh it and it was really cool. It was right around in Queens, in Flushing Meadows, right by the US Open Tennis Stadium and the Unisphere Globe, so really awesome park that we did four loops around and then I did two more and, yeah, I got my new on-cloud strikes. So I tried those out at the track on Friday and I'm like seven and a half miles, you're retired until October 13th. They felt awesome. I mean, it's like that is, that is my ratio, so I am good to go.

Speaker 2:

That is so funny. I use those on a run this weekend too to test them out to see how they feel. Different opinion no, I they feel different. Opinion no, I like them, but I guess I'm so used to the on boom.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it just feels a little bit different with the upper but they're definitely springy and fast, so I will use all the help I can get there. Well, glad to hear that it's going so well and everything's going in the right direction, headed into Chicago. It is what a month out, a little under a month out now.

Speaker 3:

Less than a month, now that you've got your calendar up there too.

Speaker 2:

Oh craziness.

Speaker 3:

You and Fetty are getting good at this panic training stuff.

Speaker 2:

Right, just dive into it. Well, speaking of Fetty. How is the training going these days?

Speaker 4:

Hey guys, I was just mesmerized about listening to Josh. He seems to be doing everything right with a build like preparation, races and tapering and not overeating. Usually it's funny. But I think us coaches have that a little bit of an Achilles heel. We usually don't follow all the advice we give our athletes. And yeah, I remember when I taper I have a sweet tooth, so I'm all about the cakes and candy and ice cream and everything. I'm sure I put up a few pounds every time I'm tapering, but I guess that helps to deal with the anxiety of racing and all of that. But no, training's been going good.

Speaker 4:

I do need to get my bike wheels to the mechanic because I had a bit of an issue with the tubeless setup so I had a slow leak on my rear tire. So I need to get that checked out, probably change the rim tape and redo the whole thing, because tubeless is amazing. But once you have a bit of an issue then it's. You know a lot of problems come spiraling down from that. But yeah, yeah, I've been feeling good, doing good and, yeah, excited about the racing happening over this weekend. And yeah, I wanted to talk, you know, probably after the social media post of the week about the Boston Marathon qualifying times and there's a bit of controversy with that as well.

Speaker 3:

Well, I mean. So, fetty, you've been off for a couple of weeks but my like I guess, goal time what I've been training for has to have been hit 315, because my BQ was 320. So that was going to give me a five-minute cushion, knowing, if I felt well, I could push it closer to 310, would have been like everything worked out perfectly, a goal type day, and good thing I've been training for 315, because now it's the number I have to hit, and 310 is going to be like I might get in if I get 310, but at least I'll have that official BQ if I go under 315. So yeah, we can certainly talk about that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we'll definitely dive more into that, for sure. Oh craziness, people, you know what? The super shoes and just the changes in fueling and carb utilization and everything. People are getting faster and faster and we'll talk more about it when we talk about the women's pro race. People are getting faster and faster and we'll talk more about it when we talk about the women's pro race. But it's gonna take like 240s to low 250s likely to um win the women's race which a few years ago miranda carfrae just shocked the world with going to sub 250. Now it's practically a requirement, but we'll dive more into that as we get into the race breakdown for Nice coming up this weekend.

Speaker 3:

How's your training? Would you run 80 miles this week?

Speaker 2:

No, another 40 mile week. So I didn't go up but stayed steady there. But things are moving in the right direction. So you know, a couple weeks off running, a couple weeks back, full weeks back, full gas running, it's been interesting. Um, the good news is body's definitely adapting.

Speaker 2:

I had, uh, last weekend I ran 18 miles. Uh, well, biked for two hours on saturday and then ran 18 miles on sunday. It absolutely destroyed my calves like I was hobbling around for the next three days, had to take two days off running, which, like we say, don't do the superhero sessions that take you out of it for a while. Um, so I was just like, oh, this is gonna be interesting.

Speaker 2:

All of the volume throughout the week was kind of shorter runs and thought it was totally fine adapting to that. That long run really got me. Um, so this weekend went in with a bit of a wider range in there but ended up doing an eight mile run with some tempo work on saturday and then getting 17 miles in on sunday and zero calf issues this time. So I think it was just the uh, the body needed a little shock to the system to remember. Yeah, well, one just had to run well again and just deal with that breakdown and fatigue. But I will say, cheated a little bit in there and use some super shoes that weren't quite mild out, used too much to really race in but not entirely mild out so they. The way that it kind of prevents that breakdown and makes it easier on your body is significant and I think that was a big part of just it feeling easier on the body overall, even though I kind of increased volume again or had a bigger weekend.

Speaker 2:

So equipment definitely matters. Yeah, no, it's been going good. The volume is going well, legs are kind of coming around to it, but the biggest thing is just the headspace going into this. I know the group I'm running with is probably going to run 345 to four-ish hours. So I know I can run that. So it's kind of low stress. The training is more just to make sure that I'm fit enough to do that and enjoy the day instead of trying to chase the PR. So it's been a whole different mental perspective and just super low stress with all the training. As long as I don't break myself I'll be fine.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you. I mean, at that pace for you, you could probably stop and try out the cuisine in every different neighborhood.

Speaker 2:

There we go. Have some fun with it.

Speaker 3:

So I mean you talk about the equipment too, because there was that one week where I had that my quad act up and that long run that weekend I did in like my regular brooks tempo shoes, the flattest shoes I probably have, and that was the one that I didn't recover from, and now every other long run in at least a cushioned shoe with some speed board in it maybe not a carbon plate, but at least some cushion and speed board. I've had no issues bouncing back and it makes a big, big difference yeah, it definitely does.

Speaker 2:

But, like you tried the those on shoes and yeah, I think I'll be running in those they felt super springy and fast, so I'm excited about that. And they've got a wider toe box too, which felt a little bit different, um, but it's nice to kind of have that room it does.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you definitely have room, but you're gonna need room come mile 2024 right, it was swollen a little bit and probably gotten a little wet, and it was.

Speaker 3:

You got to get the lacing down right and that's the one reason I wanted to wear them for a little bit of distance and see how the foot because you're a good four or five, six miles in your foot's starting to go and swell anyway. So it was good to test that, test it with the nice bamboo-ish socks and see how that was in that combination. So I feel like that was the last piece I had to dial in Now. The rest is like what do I do on race day Been pending weather and do I carry something to start or not? So it's going to be nice not to have something on my back for the first time in months.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I hate carrying stuff when I go on my long runs.

Speaker 3:

I don't know.

Speaker 2:

It bugs me to no end.

Speaker 2:

But you know what? This has been a good reminder of how beneficial zone two training is. Um, every other year of my training I've been training for kind of iron man distance. So it's a lot of long workouts in zone two and you just your speed and capacity at that heart rate is crazy how much it actually adapts and how much it changes. I forgot how much that cardiac drift hits you if you do not have that foundation. It was a good reminder for me especially. I see it working with athletes and stuff. But just how dramatically different your body responds if you do have that long aerobic foundation work.

Speaker 2:

Before I could go run three hours at the same pace. My heart would maybe be two, three beats higher by the end. Now it's like 15 beats higher by the end because I just haven't done any runs over 10 miles until two weeks ago. So definitely a good reminder. If you are doing endurance sports, those long zone two workouts make an absolutely massive difference because if you're running a marathon and your heart rate is in zone two the whole time, it's way different than if your heart rate's getting into threshold by the end when it comes to carb utilization and just your ability to maintain speed. So good reminder definitely make sure you have that foundation. It is what all of the speed is built off of afterwards.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and I put up a post recently or a story recently where I was like I was running 11 minute 11, 30 pace in january and february and now how crazy is that now I'm running 7, 45, 750 comfortably in zone two with no drift, and it was like my heart rate didn't really move until I pushed the last three plus miles and that and even that it didn't go up to too much and it was just really crazy to see that and that's been the last couple weeks. We've talked about it. But you gotta trust that process of going slow to to build the base and then go fast, because now it's like I'm running at paces that used to be a good zone for a workout for me yeah, no, it's absolutely crazy and that's kind of the the lore of like the mark allen days and stuff at the beginning of the year everyone would just be passing him, destroying him.

Speaker 2:

He was going more the math cone method, but same idea, yeah, but as the year went on and on, that pace would increase. And then he's going and winning the ironman world championships year after year and just decimating everyone. So it definitely it's humbling in the beginning and it's hard to start because it always feels like you're going so slow, but stick with the process, it definitely pays off yeah, betty, you're gonna have a little fomo while we're in chicago in a few weeks.

Speaker 3:

Oh, yeah oh horrible.

Speaker 4:

I would have loved to be there with you guys, but uh, yeah, it was. Uh, it was so cool to see when you got your entry. And then Jenna and I was like, oh, come on. And by that point, the only way I could have gotten that if I entered one of these charities which they wanted to raise like a gazillion dollars. So, yeah, maybe next year. Actually I want to run. I want to run new york next year in november that would be a very I'll be there running it, ah there we go yeah we can.

Speaker 3:

So I have to do so. New york has a thing where if you do the virtual new york marathon the week of the current years, you have a guaranteed entry that you can pay for the following year. So I have to run another marathon on the end of the month or the first week of november so I can do that I can do that as well, I don't, so it was a lottery as well, so I got like you literally had to enter your name and get picked to do the virtual.

Speaker 3:

A lot of people did and somehow I got it and I just have to put up a single Strava activity. That's 26.2 miles. It could take me eight hours, 10 hours. I don't know if I want to do that that long. I just go and do it like 345, four hours maybe.

Speaker 3:

Yeah yeah, yeah, or go like on your bike and no, because then it would be like a right no, I do the right way, yeah, yeah, not trying to cheat the system, just trying to take it as easy as possible doing like the uh, the iron man winners, the pros just get through the course, validate your spot, yeah, and then go crush it yeah that's awesome.

Speaker 2:

Well, speaking of the pros and racing, we didn't have any pro series or t100 or any real big events going on this weekend. We did have some other 70.3s, but we're going to be sticking more to these bigger races because there are so many races going on all of the time. But let's jump into. I think we'll do the predictions for the World Championship first and then we've got some more things to talk about when it comes to what the app and social media does.

Speaker 2:

But this weekend it is time and we have the Ironman World Championships in Nice for the women's race this year coming up this weekend and it's just saying to the guys beforehand it feels like there's just not the same buildup and hype and excitement. With the men's and women's race separated, I feel like I almost forgot it was this weekend if I didn't know so many people like getting over to race it and be a part of it. So that's kind of a bummer there. But I just feel like the last couple of days we're starting to see some momentum, starting to see it pop up again. But we are going to have some big names out there racing this weekend. Are you guys going to be, uh, watching it all day?

Speaker 3:

not all day, because I'll be running 20 miles around chicago on saturday, or is it? Is it saturday or sunday? That's the one thing I don't know.

Speaker 2:

I can't remember what day the actual race is, which is crazy.

Speaker 3:

I think it's Saturday. It is Saturday, that's what I thought, but it's an Ironman, so I'll have plenty of time to do a 20 mile run and still catch most of it okay, I'm going to correct you there.

Speaker 2:

If it's Sunday the 22nd, ah, okay, yeah, because we always have Kona on the Saturday 22nd. Ah, ah, okay, yeah, because we always have Kona on the Saturday because, actually, because of church for the locals in Hawaii but it looks like we still do going off on a Sunday.

Speaker 4:

Ah, okay, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we definitely have a few.

Speaker 3:

So I will be watching all of it. There we go, and what's that?

Speaker 2:

the swim in the beginning of the bike's gonna be pretty early for us yeah, I wonder the time zones in there might be, uh, middle of the night. I always try to. That's the worst. When you know a race is going on, it, it's just like, okay, start the broadcast, see if you can rewind, and then don't go on social media at all until you finish watching it, because there's going to be a spoiler in two seconds as soon as you open up Instagram.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's tough to stay away from even the notifications on your phone. You can't even flip your phone down to look at anything, cause it's like the previews there.

Speaker 2:

And then way too many triathlon chats on WhatsApp. It's not.

Speaker 3:

Like the amount of going crazy recently.

Speaker 4:

It was like during the Olympics. It was like turn off your phone, do not open your laptop, just rewatch the race and then connect to the world back again, because otherwise it's impossible.

Speaker 2:

you know, yeah, exactly, it's definitely not as much fun to watch if you know the results of the race, but let's jump into. We'll give you an idea of some of the uh top names that are going to be racing this weekend. We have ranked number one lucy charles barclay, after her getting her win in kona last year, after her barrage of second places, uh, we got anyhow. Laura phillips, chelsea sedaro, kat matthews, jackie herring, danielle lewis, ellis alberts, nella langridge. Uh, we'll start with the top 10 there.

Speaker 2:

There are definitely some big names all the way down the race, but let's kind of chat about some of the women who are going to be out there and how we think the race is going to go, because the nice course since it is, you know the swim is going to be fairly normal in there. It's an ocean swim, probably going to be not wetsuit legal. But this bike course is an absolute beast and it'll be really interesting to see how it switches up for the women's race gear. We saw in the men's it definitely had an impact with uh that crazy, a couple crazy climbs and definitely a whole different uh climate than kona at the same time too. So year after year on the kona course, we kind of have an idea of how it'll play out just because they do it year after year. But this is going to be a complete change up. What do you guys think? I think the only thing that we can say for sure is lucy charles will probably bleed out of the water. What do you think?

Speaker 3:

probably a good bet. We can start with that one. I you. The more I look at these names, it's like the, the 10 you just listed. Any one of them could take this down with a good day. And and I think finella is the one unfortunate question mark, just because of her health coming into it and not really being in full form, uh, at least through her training, and having to come back down and then and go get back at it. So I think that's the one question mark in the 10 that we listed that I know she can do it, but I don't know how well she is right now. But of the other nine, literally any one of them could take this. I mean.

Speaker 1:

Danielle.

Speaker 3:

Lewis has had a great year, jackie Herring has had a great year, kat down at six is, I mean, probably the favorite, would be at least one of the top two, three favorites on the books. Who knows what. Chelsea Sonaro is going to show up, and then Laura Phillip has had another great year, and then it comes down to Annie and Lucy, and which one of them is going to show up, and so we've had it's a great blend of people who've had great seasons against historical performers.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely, and actually saw a few things on a few athletes that will be out that may have been affecting the race at all, but we've got Sky Munch is pregnant, so she's not going to be out there on the race course. We had Daniela Reif announced her retirement, which would have been so good to see her have an epic day as her last race um at ironman, but unfortunately she won't be out. She's focusing on her health, which is good, and a well-earned break from the crazy racing and training. I'm sure. Uh, amelia watkinson has said that she will focus on t100 races and won't race in nice. Uh, svenya toes actually was hit by a car during her bike training and it's unknown if she's actually going to start in nice or not, so we hope that she's okay.

Speaker 2:

That is gosh. Can you imagine going to race week and something like that happens? I mean, your bike not showing up sucks, but having something like that would just be devastating. Um, the other one we were kind of questioning was taylor nib. So we've confirmed that Taylor Nib does not have a wild card spot to Nis, which I'm pretty surprised, to be honest, with how Ironman has their rules kind of written out. They could have given her one, but she won't be starting here. That would have been cool to see how she'd go on this course with her wicked bike power.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, good luck to everyone in T course with her wicked bike power. Yeah, good luck to everyone in um in t100.

Speaker 2:

Afterwards, fresh taylor nib oh man, she'll be getting after it and fired up and having a little bit more focus and time on her tt bike, I'm sure after crossing down the list too, like els visser, penny slate penny's been over there training for a while.

Speaker 3:

I've seen, seen a bunch from her. I mean Elizabeth Georgia, I mean Laura Brandon. I mean there's some big names that could factor into this. I think that bike course is going to separate a lot of people and who's got the legs left for the run? I kind of like Alice for a podium spot, really Just been consistent. I don't think she can win it, but I do like her for a podium spot and really just been consistent. I don't think she can win it, but I do like her for a podium spot. I think she's such a good climber and her run has come along. But I just again the consistency. I like I love jackie, danielle and alice like to give cat uh some competition because I think those are. Those are my four. The other ones I just don't know. Like Lucy is broken down in every T100 race after Miami, and Annie, we don't know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's really tough with Lucy Charles. So obviously she pulled out of the last T100 race there setting some potential issues. It sounds like it was more of a playing it safe kind of situation so we don't know entirely what her form is going to look like. But with Lucy it just with that swim and that bike strength, she is going to be hard to chase down on this course. Now we don't know really what her descending and bike handling skills look like. I think that's one place where she might be kind of shaken up a bit. Um, but she definitely has the power to weight ratio and the watch she puts out and stuff to have a solid bike ride up that course and still be able to run well off of it if she's not injured and she's already raced and won in nice this year to validate too, so um she's familiar with it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I mean she's done some, but I and we've also seen her win a world championship with a torn calf on the marathon true, that's crazy seeing that afterwards, it was just absolutely insane which I mean.

Speaker 4:

it seems that after that, you know, kona win with the torn calf. It's not been smooth sailing for Lucy, and maybe it happened to Gustav in 22. You know, it's just, kona demands so much out of everybody that it takes a while to bounce back and be in that top pick form. But yeah, I'm with you guys. Of course Lucy has the goods to win, but it's Lucy against the course. The way I see it, if she's going to be able to win it, she's going to have to beat the course, because if she does that, then she's probably going to run away with the win. But yeah, other than that, yeah, annie, laura cat there's, there's, you know all the athletes you guys mentioned.

Speaker 2:

it's gonna be an exciting race for sure yeah, and it's hard to go past annie how like she's 41 this year but she is just so, lives and breathes and loves this stuff. And it's hard to pass her up after her performance at Roth this year Like she absolutely shattered that world record with no real kind of pushing competition and it's it's tough to see her with that run she has, especially on a flat course. It's hard to go faster on this one, like she's got the pretty solid power to weight ratio. Um, she's gonna lose a little bit of time and the swimming bike probably to lucy charles barclay, but and with a run like that it's it's hard with that. I think it was 244 that she ran and robbed like that's mind-boggling, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I'm curious to see how she goes in there. I think she's definitely gonna be pushing everyone. It's really, really hard to go past her. The question is can she turn around from roth to niece before? They used to say that you can do well in roth and do well in kona later in the year in october. But you know these, with the fueling, the recovery and everything that goes into it, it seems like athletes are bouncing back a lot faster than they ever have before. What do you guys think of Annie?

Speaker 3:

I mean, I keep looking at the list and it's like I just don't?

Speaker 2:

It's insane yeah.

Speaker 3:

Just don't know. We have.

Speaker 2:

Chelsea Sedaro, like we really don't know what insane yeah, just don't know um. We have chelsea sadaro. Like we really don't know what shape she's in. She's had a massive switch up the last few months. She changed coaches, changed bike sponsors like that is a whole new, brand new kit.

Speaker 3:

I mean, yeah, they're. Uh, yeah, there's a whole bunch of stuff going on. Yeah, what man she when she's on too, because what she did two years ago in Kona was just insane and we haven't seen the same Chelsea too much since then. She had a great like. Remember she was racing like every weekend over in New Zealand and Australia early in the year. Um, and winning but she hasn't been the same since she came over to the T100 races.

Speaker 2:

And let's be honest those Australia and New Zealand races. They're not typically the most competitive either, so we haven't really seen her do anything against some of the top names in all since Tona.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so Laura Phillip, I mean she's had a pretty good year as well. I would love to see Fenella up there, but, like I said, if Kat can have a decent swim and stay close to Lucy, I think her run is so strong right now.

Speaker 2:

She's investing Laura Phillip out on the run and stuff too. They've gone head to head a couple times now and she's gotten the better of her.

Speaker 3:

Her calf issue from Miami is gone. It seems like it's popped up a little bit, but she's gotten the better of her, her. Her calf issue from miami is gone, it seems like, and it's popped up a little bit, but she's been able to get through it when and do well at this distance this year. So I and to me cat's, my, my, my one to beat, and then I still love the the jackie danielle alice combo for one of the other two podium spots.

Speaker 2:

Got the U S athletes lined up to take the one in there.

Speaker 3:

One of them's going to get in the podium. That's how I feel. They've all worked really hard and raced really well this year.

Speaker 2:

I mean it's kind of wild to think that.

Speaker 4:

Oh, sorry, jenna, I was just going to say that it's kind of wild to think that a bunch of athletes that can challenge Annie on the run if she is not away on the bike from everybody and that's going to make a very exciting race, I think. I think it's going to play out like it did for the men last year. A lot of athletes are going to be worried about you know the uphills and the descents and you know paying a lot, a lot of attention to the bike course and, uh, I think it's gonna be a runner's race, to be honest. So I think it's gonna be up to kat, annie, uh, laura, you know the lighter, snappy athletes that are going to be able to take advantage on the run, because I don't think that there's going to be an athlete separating a lot on the bike. Like you know, a late low on the female side, that would have been Daniela Reif, but of course she retired. So I think everybody's going to be together on the bike.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's always the tough part with a course like this, where it has such a not a mystique about it, but, knowing that it is so challenging going in, a lot of times athletes will just kind of stay together and only go as hard as they need to just to make sure that their legs aren't completely blown for the run.

Speaker 2:

Now, that leaves a lot of open spaces. Someone has the guts to go off the front and really take that bike course like a sam light load, like that would be an absolutely massive move and great to see, um. But if they don't, I think we're gonna see. Like you said, a lot of it come together because the women who are slower swimmers will be chasing to get onto the pack and then there's that tendency when they get on the pack, just to kind of sit in so that they can recover and make sure that the run feels good. But really, if that happens, you got. You got to go for it because you know you're not going to outrun an anyhow or a laura phillip for most of these athletes or kat matthews on a good day, um. So unless you're one of those uber, uber runners, there's no other way to win this than just go hard on the bike and see what happens.

Speaker 3:

Is there anyone down the field Like where do we have 50 on the list? Is there anyone down further that you could see being a huge surprise? Like I see one name down there, india Lee.

Speaker 2:

But it's like I was going to say the same.

Speaker 3:

I mean there's some recognizable names down there too that could have a day, I would imagine but yeah, it's crazy.

Speaker 2:

No, it definitely like anyone. You look in els visser. Like I said, she's been racing a lot and stuff, but she's so strong on the bike that she can definitely mix it up and make people maybe work harder than they want to, and whether she wins or not can definitely have an effect on the race. India lee is kind of that same idea. Um, she's going to be out from the front and definitely shake up the dynamics of this. I'm really. I think it all comes down to how people play out this bike course, if they really push it and go for it and try to make that break and see if they can break the runners. If you're not running under 250, then you have to, or else it's game over because there are too many women right now that can run under 250 on a platform. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the fitness and super shoes these days question.

Speaker 3:

That's where I could see like a penny slater trying to like just slam the bike and then probably blow up pretty early in the marathon. Yeah, but how?

Speaker 2:

many other women did you take with her in the club?

Speaker 3:

She's the only one that's capable of doing it on the bike would be my guess. Definitely yeah.

Speaker 4:

Question Is Imogen Simmons on the starred list.

Speaker 2:

I don't.

Speaker 4:

No, I don't think so no, she's not that could be another athlete that could break up the bike course, with the likes of Els Visser and, you know, kat Matthews. That would have added a different level of dynamic to the race. But yeah, I think Els is going to try to get away and try to be a bit of a dark horse. Play to her strengths. She's a very good time trialist and she's a very good bike handler. So I think she's going to try to, you know, exploit more the descent than the uphill. But yeah, I think we're going to see a couple of girls trying to get away from the fast runners and if they manage to do that and maybe put I don't know, like a couple of five, six, eight minutes into the fast runners, then we have a race. But if not, it's going to be a runner's race.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. Then you have, like, marjolaine Pierre, who's super strong and that's practically her home race in there, so it definitely people can blow up this race by going hard on the bike and just see who follows and who blows or who holds out for that run to back, that run fitness at the end of the day. But it is going to be some exciting racing to watch for sure let's do some picks in here, let's go. Who do you think is going to win it and who is a dark horse for the podium? I?

Speaker 3:

like it you can go first oh, okay, pressure's on.

Speaker 4:

so okay, here we go. Uh, I'm going to go ahead and pick Laura Phillip for the win. She's been having a good year, like you guys said, but not over the top. It doesn't seem to me that she's overcooked it, so I think she's just going to be picking right on time, and her husband and coach, phillip, is a very cool guy and I like how they work together, so I'm going to go ahead and pick Laura for the win, and I just mentioned Els as a dark horse, so I'm just going to go Laura for the win and Els for my dark horse, for my yeah awesome.

Speaker 2:

I like it. How about you, josh?

Speaker 2:

you're next, you go next, I'll go okay let me rethink that, but I'm gonna go anyhow. I think you know her roth performance was so above and beyond. Um, yeah, with that run unless she completely blows or that took everything she had for the season out of her, I think she's gonna take this with a crazy run, hang on the bike, be close enough and then chase them down from there. Um, when it comes to a dark horse, yeah, I was gonna say elzisser, but let's go like I said india lee, she, just she was so strong that t100 race. I think she's getting more time in that time trial, but she's just such a strong swim biker. I think that really pays off on this course. How about you, josh?

Speaker 3:

I like it because she'll be right behind kat matthews who's gonna take the win, riding buddy, buddy, buddy. Um, maybe in in second with Indie Lee, but my dark horse. I'm going to go with one of the three Americans and go with Jackie Heron, the mom, when finishing her her comeback tour to full distance and seeing if she can complete a pretty good year.

Speaker 4:

You know what I like.

Speaker 2:

This race is so wide open that one no one picked ranked ranked number one, Lucy Charles for the previous winner.

Speaker 4:

None of us had the same pick for the winner at all. It's interesting because none of us picked Chelsea or Lucy, so no, last two winners yeah it just goes to show how crazy open this is.

Speaker 2:

There's so much talent in the women's field here and everyone's been racing different series and they just haven't come head to head in a while. So it's going to be exciting to see this all go down and how it shakes out there. It's going to be a good race.

Speaker 3:

And we like to keep it interesting Championship.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. And then when we eventually get a show race going on, whoever wins by the beers?

Speaker 4:

Exactly.

Speaker 2:

Well, let's jump into our social media. And what the F post week? Let's start with social media. There was a bit of fun banter on the socials this week, Josh this week, gosh, yeah.

Speaker 3:

So iron man had put up a post um today and saying that they had an announcement and swipe, swipe to see the announcement. And then it was like an error message with 140.6 loading and, uh, come back tomorrow and get the, the actual announcement. And then the comments started going off like comments do, and and someone asked uh said that they thought maybe t100 and iron man were combining forces, and an iron man immediately responded saying no, we said it would be exciting news, um, which apparently didn't think that would be too exciting a few other people chimed in and then the t100 came back with how many ads will we have to sit through before we get to see what the announcement is?

Speaker 3:

And Iron man combated with wondering how long it took T-100 to get that comment approved before it was allowed to be posted. So some really cool banter. So, like Jenna said, it's starting to heat up going into Nice and there has been some good content coming out of the Ironman try and a lot of the interviews are being done and a lot of the video shots and things pre-race are starting to come out. So definitely give them a watch for the rest of the week and obviously T100 has made some announcements. Ironman's trying to make some announcements to counter that and we can talk a little bit more about T100.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, definitely. And if you guys haven't checked it out, bob Babbitt we all love him, friend of the show. There he's doing his usual. Well, his usual breakfast with Bob is the Kona setup, but he's doing one in Nice as well. So go check it out. He always has great interviews with all of the athletes that are racing before the World Championships.

Speaker 2:

It's always fun, absolutely. Let's dive into what the F for the week, if you haven't heard already, the T100 series. It's going to be slightly shorter than announced previously, so we all know there are some issues with them announcing their series at the beginning of the year here, just locking down locations and not knowing where that's going to be. But we have the last race of the series has been canceled. We never did find out where it was going to be, but it is now canceled. And now Dubai is going to be the final race of this series. And now Dubai is going to be the final race of this series.

Speaker 2:

Now that brings up some questions because, as of well, previously, you had to have a number of races in the grand final to account for its year ranking for the T100 series at the end of the year. What this means is the Olympic athletes who haven't competed in the T100, who had to do one race less, will only have the opportunity to do two races before the grand final. So the what the F is that the Olympic athletes are going to do two races before the grand final and their third ranking, instead of a third race, is going to be an average of their two races in the T100 series and that'll count as their third points for the third race that they're not going to get a chance to do, plus the grand final. So I wanted to get your guys' thoughts on this change-up, on basically this new ranking setup, as they're trying to still get enough points going towards the grand final. What do you guys think?

Speaker 3:

I think they're going to make some changes on the fly.

Speaker 4:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

For the.

Speaker 3:

Olympic athletes especially, but it does. I think there was, I think, protri News or Mark put out there I think it was Oman that they were trying to secure for this year and it's just not ready. Reasons may be, um with the, the location, so interesting selection, um for sure, I wonder what it would look like and and all that. But they're, uh, they're just trying to get through this first year and know that a lot of these other leagues and f1 have all had their hiccups along the way too and I think they've done a decent job. It just stinks that they didn't have this lockdown for such a small series in a small number of races that these people were depending on and scheduling their seasons on. And clearly the athletes under contract started getting wind of this pretty early on and knew that they had to make some adjustments and you could see the shift to the Ironman Pro Series start to happen and I don't know if that's going to change because we've heard a lot of the talks around sponsors loving the full distance. And does T100 make some changes or is it? Do they lock themselves in by calling themselves t100?

Speaker 3:

There was a good interview on um with jack kelly on the triathlon hour too. That talked about that, so it'll be interesting. It's already like they're. They still don't even have a full list for next year's races and they're starting it off again. So, um, I think at the end of the day, everyone's going to be psyched to do the grand final and it's just not the race that we thought it was going to be. But it'll still end up being a championship race and world champion and everyone's we're going to have it's like wrestling we're gonna have multiple world champions in the sport triathlon yeah, I totally agree, totally agree.

Speaker 4:

and, uh, I think we're starting to see, like you said, josh, a shift from athletes chasing, uh, the m dot um, because to me it seems like the t100 are still looking for their brand identity. You know, we saw this happening when they were at the PTO and they were originally saying that the broadcast was going to be different. And you know, during the pandemic, we saw Challenge, daytona and the Collins Cup and all of this that they were pushing for the envelope for this over-the over the top amazing broadcasting platform, which worked for a couple of races. I'm not going to say that it worked for all of them and, uh, I'm not taking anything from the athletes because you know, all the collins cup and the and all the pto events and all of these are super hard events because everyone, that is, someone, is usually there competing.

Speaker 4:

However, from a commercial standpoint not from a competitive standpoint I think they're lacking what the MDOT brings to the table when it comes to an iconic race like Kona, or maybe not even kona, but like a tradition race that like a lake placid, or I don't know, ironman frankfurt, or this iconic, iconic events that ironman uh has, and uh, I truly believe that we are going to start to. I remember earlier in the year we were talking about nobody showing up for the 70.3 Worlds final, and now I think there's going to be a lot of athletes chasing that instead of the T100 Dubai race. So I think we're starting to see a shift in preference for athletes that, yes, maybe the paychecks are higher on the T100 events, but for branding, for partners, for brands, ironman is still more attractive for these purposes.

Speaker 2:

I think the biggest challenge with the pro athletes and the sponsors when it comes to T100 was just they didn't know about the long jump. That's been the biggest thing With races kind of popping up or confirmation of races happening so late in the year and the big question mark will it happen again in 2025? I think a lot of athletes and sponsors weren't ready to jump on board because you don't want to invest that time and effort and energy into something that could be gone the next year. So the T100 also announced their race dates and a number of locations for the series next year, which I think might start to shift the conversation a little bit now that they know at least there will be racing next year.

Speaker 2:

I think a few athletes will be more likely to kind of go in on it again, because you don't want to pass up the opportunity to do other races where your sponsors are going to pay you more for a series that may be gone in the next year. So at least we know we've got another year of it happening. I think that will help them a fair bit Again. It's funny that there's not as much buy-in from sponsors, because I feel like T100 gives the athletes a whole lot more exposure and even content for them to use and puts it out there a lot more than Ironman does. I think they just need to have a little bit more of that foothold and a little bit more consistency. Just need to have a little bit more of that foothold and a little bit more consistency.

Speaker 2:

What I find interesting, though, is for the Olympic athletes, with only having the opportunity to do two races before the grand final and getting an average of those two races, I think that's going to be huge. That first race is going to decide whether they put in any more effort to the series or not. If you have a really shit race on the first one and get, say, like mid pack lower, then there's no way for you to actually be competitive for the series rankings in the end. So I think that's going to turn off any olympic athletes that are showing up for these first two, because if you know you're going to finish in a mediocre spot even if you win the next race, that's not a lot of incentive to commit to it for the rest of the year. What do you guys?

Speaker 3:

think.

Speaker 4:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

The other part of that argument, too, was they screwed over Taylor Nebb because she could have validated, could have validated, could have been in Nice this week and instead did San Francisco. So now, when you talk about her two races, she's got San Francisco win. She's going to show up in Ibiza and probably win. Now she's going to have two wins going in. So like what does she do the rest of the season? Does she stop there and then wait until the group? I think for her.

Speaker 2:

I think the caveat with that was it's only for the Olympians who haven't done a serious race already.

Speaker 4:

So Martin Van Riel and Taylor Niv, they're kind of screwed in that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So it's kind of any case where you don't have the same rules for all of the athletes. If you're doing a ranking at the end, that's not great After watching her in San Francisco.

Speaker 3:

Imagine what she would have looked like in Nice, and I would have loved to see her in San Francisco.

Speaker 2:

Imagine what she would have looked like in Nice and I would have loved to see her in Nice. Like anything with a helipad course, she just absolutely destroys it.

Speaker 3:

She made everyone look like amateurs the last few years what if that's the announcement that Iron man is coming out with?

Speaker 4:

Taylor Niv is getting a wild card oh my god, I hope that's the announcement. There's nothing more exciting than that. Hopefully, yeah, hey, iron man, listen to Josh.

Speaker 3:

I don't know. Nobody commented. I'm surprised there wasn't a comment that said that Come on.

Speaker 2:

Let's stalk her social media. Where is she right now?

Speaker 3:

Let's check her Stra media.

Speaker 4:

Where is she right now? Let's check her Strava. Where was she?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, now you know, iron man, they would take any advantage to put that news all over there, all the place, to get it out there and get in the headlines, which that absolutely would do. Man, it would be good to see her in there. But at least that means we'll see her being fresh and super competitive in T. But at least that means we'll see her being fresh and super competitive in t100, and that's definitely an exciting prospect as well, because she's on in those races. She just makes everyone else look like an amateur.

Speaker 2:

It's insane yeah, for sure well, is there anything else that we're missing in the wild world of triathlon these days?

Speaker 3:

before we call it a day, can't wait for the recap on this one. And if, uh, if anyone's hiring in the endurance sport world, I'm a free agent yes, definitely like josh up here, because he's definitely been an asset to this podcast absolutely appreciate it, but yeah, it's. Uh, it's to be a heck of a race this weekend and I'm looking forward to chatting all about it next week already.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. And if you did apply to the Mana Apparel team, all of the confirmations have gone out this week. So if you did get a spot, congratulations, and we can't wait to have you join us. If you didn't keep applying, let us know. We look forward to seeing your application again next year, but for now, these team kits are sweet too.

Speaker 3:

They are.

Speaker 2:

They're so good they're under wraps until people sign up. We'll be revealing them next week. They are going to be wicked.

Speaker 4:

Yep.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you as always, guys, for joining me, and we will be back next week to break down the race this weekend and get into all the gritty details and see how it all happens. Have a great night, guys have a good one.

Speaker 4:

Have a good one guys.

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Jenna-Caer Seefried

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