Athlete stories have the power to touch, move, and inspire you. And there is great value in hearing others' experiences and learning from their journeys. On today's episode, we've got a BIG show with BIG stories from the BIG Island. Host Andrew Harley interviews three TriDot coaches who raced at the IRONMAN World Championship event. Kurt Madden, Joanna Nami, and Kyle Stone share how they qualified, trained, tapered, and traveled for the monumental moment at the finish line on Alii Drive. In this "one race, three journeys" series you'll get insight into preparation, mindset, racing strategy, and more! Huge thanks to Precision Fuel & Hydration for partnering with us on this episode! Head over to precisionfuelandhydration.com and check out the Fuel Planner to get your free personalized fuel and hydration strategy. Also, a big thanks to UCAN for being a long time partner of the podcast! At TriDot we are huge believers in using UCAN to fuel our training and racing. To experience UCAN’s LIVSTEADY products for yourself, head to their website UCAN.co! Use the code “TriDot” to save 20 percent on your entire order.
TriDot Podcast .161
One Race, Three Journeys – IRONMAN World Championship
Intro: This is the TriDot podcast. TriDot uses your training data and genetic profile, combined with predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to optimize your training, giving you better results in less time with fewer injuries. Our podcast is here to educate, inspire, and entertain. We’ll talk all things triathlon with expert coaches and special guests. Join the conversation and let’s improve together.
Andrew Harley: BIG show with BIG stories, all from the BIG Island. If you follow TriDot Triathlon Training on social media, it will be no secret to you that we were in Kailua Kona for a full week for the 2022 IRONMAN World Championships. Plenty of awesome athletes were there to race. Plenty more were actually there to volunteer and just soak in the atmosphere.For this episode today I’ve got three TriDot coaches who left the Big Island as finishers of the 2022 IRONMAN World Championships. Our first coach joining us is Joanna Nami. Joanna is better known as Coach JoJo, and has been coaching athletes with TriDot since 2012. She is a co‑founder of Hissy Fit Racing, a third-year member of the Betty Design Elite Squad, and at the moment has 18 Ironman finishes on her accomplished triathlon résumé. She has qualified for three World Championships now, and she raced St. George and Kona here in 2022, a big year for Coach Jo! Coach Jo is now a part of the TriDot staff as our Coaching Community Manager. Jo, welcome back on the show!
Joanna Nami: Thank you Andrew for having me back, I’m super excited to be with my good friends Kurt Madden and Kyle Stone today. Such an amazing experience with them in Kona. What was it, eleven, twelve days ago?
Andrew: Something like that.
Joanna: So I’m super excited to get to chat with them about it today.
Andrew: Next up as Jo alluded to is TriDot coach Kurt Madden. Kurt is a pioneer of the sport and a ten‑time Kona finisher. He is has three top‑ten finishes at the IRONMAN World Championships, and is a four-time North American Age Group Champion, plus a four-time No. 1 age‑group IRONMAN All World Athlete. And as if 140.6 miles is not enough, he is also a two‑time Ultraman World Champion, and in 2019 was inducted into the Ultraman World Championships Hall of Fame. Coach Kurt, welcome back for what I trust will be another stellar Kona-based episode!
Kurt Madden: Aloha Andrew!It is so awesome to be back, and to be with Kyle and JoJo. I know we’ve got a lot of good information we’re going to share today.
Andrew: Completing our Kona coach trio today is TriDot coach Kyle Stone. Kyle has been coaching since 2019. He was on staff with Matt Hanson Racing until he joined the TriDot coaching team in 2021. He is the owner of Race Day Tattoos and currently has twenty IRONMAN and five Boston Marathon finishes. Like Coach Jo, Kyle has qualified for three World Championships, racing St. George and Kona here in 2022. He is currently training for IRONMAN Florida, which he has in just a few weeks, as well as CLASH Daytona in December. Kyle, I’ll see you in Daytona, right? How’s it going? Welcome to the podcast!
Kyle Stone: Thank you Andrew! Yes, I’ve looked forward to this episode and talking about Kona, the experiences that we had and enjoyed. Yeah, I’m looking forward to joining y’all.
Andrew:I’m the Average Triathlete, Voice of the People and Captain of the Middle of the Pack. As always we'll roll through our warmup question, settle in for our main set conversation, and then wind things down with our cooldown. Vanessa will be talking with two TriDot Ambassadors, June and Angela Cuaresma. They just raced Kona as well, and they live in Kailua Oahu, just outside of Honolulu, so Vanessa will be interviewing them to hear all their thoughts on representing the Aloha State at the World Championships. So stay tuned to the end for that.
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Warm up theme: Time to warm up! Let’s get moving.
Andrew: When we make a tri purchase, there’s always a motivation to why we are buying what we’re buying. Sometimes it’s to save some watts. Sometimes it’s just upgrading an item. Sometimes it’s replacing a used item that’s at the end of its lifespan. And other times it’s simply because we are cosmetically attracted to the item. We think it looks good, and we know it will match our kit, our bike, or something else important. Kurt, Jo, Kyle, for today’s warmup question, what is a tri item that you have purchased simply because you liked the way it looked, you were cosmetically attracted to the item? Kyle, it’s your first time on the show, so you’re up first. Let’s hear it.
Kyle: Well this is an easy one. I went for the flashy bike shoes. I wanted to spice it up a little bit, so I got some nice silver bike shoes. I thought those would look good. Unfortunately they weren’t very comfortable, and after spending $300 on some shoes I ended up almost giving them away. So I went for the impulse buy, not for comfort, so I made my mistake there. Yeah, I’ve made a couple of those errors over the years.
Andrew: Coach Jo, what is something that you bought simply because you were cosmetically attracted to it?
Joanna: All things pink, of course!
Andrew: Every pink item you have.
Joanna: I am a diehard fan and rep Betty Design Squad, so I love all her designs. I started this a long time ago. Not as long ago as Kurt Madden, but I started this a long time ago. When I first raced IRONMANs, you had your choice between these black tri shorts or those black tri shorts. So finding Betty was key for me, and I’m all about matching my Vaporflys to my Betty kit so that I get the whole ensemble. It was kind of fun for Kona this year, because I do go for speed or saving watts and all those things when I’m racing competitively, but this was more about taking it all in, so I really focused on what this getup was going to look like for race day.
Andrew: Yeah, sure, and those Betty kits looked fantastic. There was a big Betty presence in Kona this year. I refer to the Betty Squad as triathlon’s greatest sorority. The Betty girls are outstanding. They are half of my Instagram feed at this point with how many Bettys I know. So shout out to Betty Design, fantastic kits.Coach Jo always looks great in her Betty Design kit. Coach Kurt Madden, what is this answer for you? I’m really curious here, good sir.
Kurt: You know, I had to give this one some really, really deep thought. The more I continue to reflect on this, I’m going to go right to my go‑to. It’s similar to Kyle: the running shoes. During a race it’s really nice when people say, “Love those shoes!” At the same time, like Kyle said, the shoe has to be functional. But I kind of build the foundation from the bottom up, and if you’ve got a nice pair of running shoes that are going to work for you on race day, and you’re going to be on your feet especially for a full that you’re going to run 26.2 miles, to me, the shoes can make it or break it for you. I’ve been fascinated after Kona, they’ve got a lot of press out about these new shoes. I will raise my hand and say I am a sinner. I have looked at that list more than once. I want to make sure if and when I pull the trigger on one of those really, really hot shoes that I’ve done my research. But it’s really, really nice to show up on race day with a nice pair of shoes.
Andrew: Kurt, I know when you pass by us at the races you always want to know your splits. You always want to know what place you’re in. You want to know how far behind you are from the guy in front of you – IF there’s actually somebody in front of you – and how far ahead you are of the guy behind you, as you’re competing for those podium spots. But from now on I’m just going to say, “Hey Kurt, nice shoes!” as you go by. Guys, we’re going to throw this out to our audience.Make sure you are part of the I AM TriDot Facebook group. I’m very curious to hear what you have to say, and very excited to see your pictures of what you have bought because it would match your kit, your bike, or you just liked the way a particular item looked over some others on the marketplace.So go find the post asking you: what is a cosmetic purchase you have made? Can’t wait to hear what you have to say.
Main set theme: On to the main set. Going in 3…2…1…
Andrew: One of my personal favorite Kona memories was hanging out with Andy Blow and the team from Precision Fuel & Hydration. They were doing some sweat testing from the same restaurant that was our home base on the island. On race day there was a shaved ice food truck on the course, and John Mayfield and myself enjoyed some shaved ice with the PF&H team. Good times for sure. We joked about needing to add electrolytes into our shaved ice. Earlier this year when Andy sweat-tested me, I found out that I lose more than 1,200 milligrams of sodium per liter of sweat. After taking that test I received a personalized hydration plan and was recommended their strongest electrolyte drink, PH1500, which is three times stronger than most sports drinks. It’s been a total game-changer for me, particularly training and racing in hot conditions. If you’ve ever struggled with hydration issues like dehydration or cramping during long, hot sessions, it is absolutely worth checking out precisionfuelandhydration.com and finding your closest center for a sweat test.You can also use their Fuel and Hydration Planner to get a free personalized strategy for race day. And don’t forget, as a listener of this show you can get 10% off your first order of electrolytes and fueling products by using the code TRI10 when checking out.
Kurt, this was a comeback for Kona. There had not been an IRONMAN World Championship here since 2019. It was my first time there ever, so I kind of forgot about that until we got there. You could tell the town was excited, you could tell IRONMAN was excited, you could tell the athletes were excited. So as a guy who goes basically every year – you love this race, you love the host location – what did it mean to you to see this event come back to the Island after so many years?
Kurt: It was well worth the wait. If you put the calendar in front of you, it was 36 months. So if I go back to 2019 to create a little bit of context, that was a splendid day, for lack of a better term. I think I was just honored to be racing there again, and at the same time have three TriDot athletes qualify, and all three somehow someway – Pele was very gracious to us that day – they all ended up on the podium. I was just like, “Wow.” It meant a lot because of the history. As I’ve thought about this podcast, I can go back to the beginning to see how history was made. We all know that tradition takes time, it doesn’t happen overnight. Every single year we’re building on that. I go back to 1982 when I was beyond fortunate to finish sixth overall. This was when Mark Allen went toe‑to-to with Dave Scott, the Iron War was right there on this course. Mark won there many, many times. Michellie Jones, she won right there. You look at Daniela Ryf and the great things she’s done, and Jan Frodeno. This is where the champions and the age‑groupers at the same time can get crushed. I’ve seen that happen before too. As we say, when I look at Kona it’s kind of like the bar exam. It’s the Mt. Everest. There’s going to be some casualties. This is where you come to the Island with a great deal of determination, also humility. And like I told JoJo as soon as we got off the plane – it’s like Mike Reilly said, it just happened to me when I got off the plane – “Oh, you can feel that vibe.”You can feel that Ohana. There’s just something about this place that kind of gets into your DNA. It’s just an incredible place. Plus the volunteers: volunteers are awesome anywhere, but on this course volunteers are just essential. Again, as you can tell, it’s a big part of what I can do. I can be totally honest transparent and say I don’t think there’s one day in my life where I don’t think about Kona in one way, shape, or form.
Andrew: Wow.And being there for the first time, there definitely was a feeling in the air. There was a buzz, an electricity. IRONMAN does a great job with the race production of all of their events, but there is something different about the way they produce Kona.The intensity ratchets up, the energy ratchets up. Now Jo and Kyle, this was your first time coming to race here for World Championships.You both are veterans at this distance. Kyle with 20 IRONMAN finishes, Jo with 18. You both have seen many IRONMAN venues over those finishes. What were your thoughts on Kailua Kona as a venue?Did this event live up to the hype for you?
Joanna: Yeah, most definitely. I had gotten a lot of much-needed advice from Kurt over the last couple of months as I prepared, especially after coming off of St. George. I’m one of those people that missed a number of family vacations and invites because I wouldn’t step onto the island before making it to the World Championships, so I had no experience of what it would be like. I knew that the moment I stepped off that airplane I wanted to take every second in. That was from even looking at the airport. I was like, “This is what it looks like? Oh! This is the airport!” But he had told me, “Take it all in. Smell the flowers. Feel the breeze.” So I tried with everything in me, every second of that week being there, to take every moment in, to enjoy every second. The water, to me, is my safe place, my happy place, so getting to swim every single day leading up to the race – I mean the race was spectacular, it was everything I wanted – but the whole week was getting to enjoy all of those moments, or getting to see Kurt at the swim exit. One of the moments or highlights of my week was riding on the Queen K, practicing a little bit, being a little bit nervous with one of my good friends, one of my Betty Design sisters Meg Dirito. A lot of traffic, wind, heat, and I hear Kurt’s comforting voice.He just pulls up right next to me on the bike, and I’m like, “Well hello friend!” It seemed to me that every moment that could have been perfect during that week just happened. Everybody I needed to see, everybody I wanted to see at certain moments were right there.I don’t think it could have been written more perfectly. Did it live up to expectation? I think beyond that. And even what Kurt said about tradition and building tradition, that I could just be a small little teeny part of that tradition is so much to be grateful for.
Andrew: I remember being on the plane. First of all, the plane flight to Kona, the girl sitting next to me was going to the race to sherpa for a friend of hers. And she looks over at me and was like, “So what race did you qualify at?” I was like, “I’m very flattered that you look at me and assume that I’m going to the World Championship to race. Because I am certainly not. I’m a 12‑ish-hour Ironman.” But we got to chatting, and it was a great conversation, but that was kind of fun on the plane flight there. Then we’re coming in for landing, and John Mayfield points out of the window and was like, “Oh, there’s the Queen K!” It was so surreal to look out the window, and just from having watched the race on IRONMAN’s livestream every year, the view that you’re used to seeing of the Queen K is that helicopter view of all the cyclists biking down the Queen K. So as you’re coming in for landing at the Kona airport, that’s the view you’re seeing of the Queen K, and it was like, “This is the view that I’m so familiar with of this location, but I’m actually here in an aircraft taking it in with my own eyes instead of watching it on the Facebook live feed.” And that just started the whole week, Jo, where we’re talking about just surreal experiences. Kyle, for you, once you got to the island, and having dreamed of being at this race for so long as a legacy qualifier, what was your experience in Kona, just the town, the venue itself?
Kyle: You know, I like to describe the town, the experience as kind of like the Disney of triathlon, because it’s a Disney for adult triathletes. Whenever you sign up for a race, one of the things that you’re doing – and TriDot does a great job of doing the pre-race podcast to let you know where T1 and T2 is – you have to get a card, you have to do this and that.The setup for this race is incredible.It’s all right there. There’s no real planning involved as far as getting where you need to go, out of T1 to T2 and all that. The setup is perfect as far as the race layout itself goes. Then we were fortunate to stay right off Ali’i Drive right down from where Kurt was, and you’d get up in the morning and you’re like at triathlon Disney. There’s people running, riding bikes everywhere. You go down to swim start and there’s thousands of people out there swimming the pre‑swim, going out to the coffee boats. Overall, it was just a great experience. You’re kind of in awe of all the people that are there, basically with one thing in mind: the race that they’ve been training for or qualified for to get to this stage of their life and their triathlon career. Man, overall it was just phenomenal. I’ve been to 19 races, and there hasn’t been one with the setup, the vibe, the atmosphere that IRONMAN does for Kona for sure.
Andrew: Yeah, both of you, Kyle and Jo, you both reference a couple of the activities that take place during the week, like swimming to the coffee boat, getting in those training rides. A couple weeks ago on the podcast, I recorded in Kona with TriDot coaches Mark Allen and Michellie Jones, both IRONMAN World Championship winners. We identified that Michellie has done the Underpants Run.Mark Allen has witnessed it, but he's never partaken in it himself. Talk to me about race week for all three of you. What did you actually partake in during the race week and what did you enjoy from all these traditions and all the things that Kona has to offer? Kyle, I’ll start with you.
Kyle: Sure. One piece of advice I’d gotten from Kurt and some other veterans was to make sure to get plenty of swimming in, as far as every day get in the water, get yourself familiar with how salty it is. Every morning we would get up and go do a 30‑minute swim. We went out to the coffee boat, that was quite an experience just to be able to participate in that. We did the Underpants Run, that was fun and exciting to do. I didn’t think I would ever participate in doing that. Then my wife and I had set up –so both of us were both racing for Legacy – we set up a photo shoot with Scott Flathouse, he’s a pretty popular photographer in the triathlon world. The Legacy banquet, seeing pros everywhere so you stop and talk to them.It’s quite a bit of things that we participated in, in addition to the athlete village. Hoka had a huge setup. TriDot over at Kai Eats, every day we had people that were coming there, and we were handing out TriDot backpacks. There was a lot of festivities to be done, but try to keep in mind at the back of your mind that you’ve got the race coming ahead. But I think we balanced it pretty well.Probably it’s hard for some to be able to cut back, but I think we were pretty disciplined in getting back to the condo and getting some rest.
Andrew: Yeah, I did partake in a swim to the coffee boat and back. John Mayfield and I went out there. What you don’t think about – because I like coffee, I’m a big fan of coffee – you don’t realize, by the time you get out to the coffee boat, your mouth has taken in some salt water. So I drank my entire cup of coffee, absolutely. I swam out there for it, I earned it. But that was the saltiest cup of coffee I have ever had. The coffee itself was fine, but my mouth was just so coated in salt water. But I drank every bit of it, that was an interesting experience. I did not get to do the Underpants Run. I was recording our podcast with Mark and Michellie shortly after that, so I wanted to make sure I was ready for that. Most of my week during the race week was spent at Kai Eats meeting with athletes and some other people. I did get to go – Bob Babbitt every year has what he calls the “Thank God I’m Not Racing” party the night before the race for all the people who are not racing, so we got to go to that and meet a bunch of people there.That was a lot of fun to partake in that tradition for the triathlon industry. Coach Jo, what did you do while you were there in Kona?
Joanna: Well, I tried to balance. But when you have a friend like Mark Allen, “wink wink” –
Andrew: He’s a good friend!
Joanna: He is a good friend. It’s nice to get into the Aloha reception early on. When I got there I was kind of star-struck the entire time, just quite an amazing experience to sit and talk to Kristian Blummenfelt for 15 minutes.I’m like, “Somebody pinch me, is this my life?” In that same respect, I was just determined to do all of the traditionally amazing events – the Underpants Run, swim out to the coffee boat – and I just wanted to do those with Terry and Kyle. I wanted to be around my people, my friends. I wanted to hang out with Kurt at his condo. I wanted it to be all of those experiences, I just wanted it to be with the people that I cared about. So that all worked perfectly, and it also kept me pretty relaxed and calm going into the race. Again, not at a real competitive frame of mind, but more to enjoy every moment.It’d be a shame if I didn’t talk about our swim out to the coffee boat with Kyle and Terry and me. We’re fresh onto the island, and we are completely overwhelmed getting into this water that we’ve dreamed about for years, and we finally get out there. The funny thing is that Terry, Kyle, and I are not coffee drinkers. So we get out there and they’re like, “No, we’re not drinking it.” And I’m like, “Oh no no, we HAVE to! This is part of the rule! It’s gonna be bad luck if we don’t drink!”
Andrew: It’s tradition!
Joanna: So at this point we’re sharing one shot glass of coffee between the three of us out there.
Andrew: Cute!
Joanna: And I can’t, due to children that may be listening, say what Kyle said at that moment, but it did reference that “This tastes like cat ____!” And he yelled it loud, which was great, because I’m sure they’re like, “Oh, look at these hillbillies from Texas that are now racing in Kona.” But that was one of my favorite memories of the three of us out there.We’d waited so long for this moment, and I was like, “No, we have to drink the coffee!” So we did, and we’re still not coffee drinkers. No.
Kyle: No
Joanna: But again, that was just one of the memories, and all of these events leading up to the race, like riding next to Kurt, where I’m like, “Is this my life? Somebody please pinch me!” It was just so much to be grateful for.
Andrew: TriDot of course was on the Island for the first time as a brand. We had a great time. We mixed and mingled with some other brands, we had some events with our athletes, we recorded a podcast with Mark and Michellie that everybody got to enjoy a few weeks back. We had a TriDot coach get‑together, Kurt, at your condo. It was very cool to be there as a brand. Did the three of you, as athletes and coaches, enjoy seeing the TriDot colors waving proud all week on Ali’i Drive? Kurt, was that kind of a new fun addition for you?
Kurt: It was. Again, this was where the giants of the sport are. This is where the big fish are. Everyone that is there is qualified or they’re on the Legacy Program. So I think, as I reflected on the week, it was about pride. I look at our journey at TriDot and a lot of people, as they’ve watched our brand get bigger and better, and the addition of Mark and Michellie and Joanna moving in full-time, supporting our coaches. It’s like, “You know, I think we’ve arrived.” We are a cult, but it’s a good cult. I think that presence, the word is out there, and the vibe and camaraderie.When Michelle Jones messaged me the day before like, “Hey, you’re going to have a great race! Make the best of it!” Then she says in her very nice accent way, “Giddyup!” I’m like, “Wow, who was that? That was Michellie Jones! She just reached out to me. She’s got plenty going on!” Then running into Mark Allen, that was huge. Being with Joanna out on the Queen K like she said, that was great. The support from everyone, like Kyle and the nice T‑shirts that he made, that was just really, really cool. John doing everything he could. I knew for Jeff being there, that was huge. His eyes, I think, got so dilated for the whole time, to say, “We’ve arrived.” But I think it’s something that we did it right, we did it well. It’s just so nice to be a part of this organization that’s like, when we think about our legacy, I know for sure we are going to remember 2022 and how TriDot had that presence, that efficacy to be there, interfacing.As you’re looking at Mike Reilly, looking at Bob Babbitt, you look at everyone, it’s kind of like I would call them our extended family. And that’s good, we’ve got a real, real good, strong network, and I think our future looks really bright. When we can have a presence in Kona, it doesn’t get any better than what we did this past year.
Andrew: All right, so let’s talk about the Big Dance, the Big Day. Let’s talk about the race! There were two race days this year: there was a race on Thursday and a race on Saturday. All three of you shared the course on Thursday. I’m just going to go one by one, and I just want you to hit me with your mini race report, sharing your thoughts on the swim, bike, and run this year in Kona, including any noteworthy stories from your time on the course.I’ll ask each of you some follow‑ups as you go along. Coach Jo, let’s hear about your race first.
Joanna: Oh my. Breaking it down, it all comes back.Starting with the swim, I have a super-close friend that’s one of my Betty Design Sisters, Sonja Barth, who’s a multi-time Kona qualifier and racer. Meeting her for the first time after being super-close with her for three years on the squad, getting to start hand-in-hand with her in the water was just incredible. The swim was amazing, I enjoyed every second. I definitely tried to savor it. I didn’t want it to end, so I tried to take it all in. Very smooth, very salty – I do agree with Kyle on that, you’re a little tired of that salt water by the end of it – but it was absolutely beautiful, it went by really fast. I tried to heed a lot of advice from Kurt on the bike. I played it very conservative. It started to get pretty warm pretty quick, so my thoughts turned to, “I’m going to make this a game of let’s keep yourself as cool as possible throughout the entire bike ride.” I was very cautious on the first half. Then sure enough, getting into the climb to Hawi, I dropped my chain. The bike locks up, I fall to the side, and I’m like, “Oh, wakeup call!” So I pulled my bike to the side, and I have the chain jammed against the bike frame.I cut myself all up getting that out, getting that done, and now the DI2 doesn’t work. So I’m in crash mode, freaking out, asking people near an aid station, “Does anybody know about DI2?!” and not getting any help on that.I messed with it for a while, got it working again, got up the climb to Hawi and had someone there help me to go through the gears and make sure all of that was good. So that was a stall for me, and it kind of throws you off your game because you’re then worried about the rest of the bike ride and whether I’m going to have any problems. The chain dropped about three or four times after that. So at that point all I could think about was Kurt saying, “These aid stations are far apart, you need to make sure you’ve taken in enough fluid and electrolytes.” So I proceeded to stop at every station, put ice in my helmet, take in as much as I could. The beauty of it is when I hit the run, I felt great! I was just like, “I haven’t done much out here today!” So I really tried to take it all in. I didn’t know where I was located in comparison to Terry and Kyle ahead of me. I knew they had passed me on the bike, so it was nice to have some switchbacks there, to be able to see where they are, and that I wasn’t far off. But probably my favorite thing of this whole journey was to be running in the dark in the Energy Lab, and to hear Kyle – we call him Scooter – but Kyle’s voice in front of me, and I’m like, “Scooter?” And he’s like, “Jo?” Then to get to run up on them with eight to nine miles left in this entire race and to get to share those miles with them, on and off talking about our journey over these 15 years, and laughing at ourselves and feeling like scrubs at Kona.Getting to have that time was probably the best part of all of this. Then telling them, “Y’all need to go ahead,” and Kyle’s like, “No no no, we’re gonna finish this thing together, I’m gonna carry each one of you on a shoulder as we go through the finish line!”
Andrew: That would have been a sight.
Joanna: I’m like, “Kyle, no, I know your back condition, I coach you. That’s not gonna happen. It’s time for y’all to have your moment, and then let me have my own.” So that was a long rendition of the highlights of my day. I probably answered for some of Kyle.
Kyle: I was racing on Thursday, with I believe four other groups of men. Kurt was one of them. Our age groups just happened to fall in to divide up all the athletes for Thursday and Saturday. So I started about 40 minutes behind the women in the race. I was really prepared for the swim. We had over 600 athletes in my age group, and when the cannon went off, some of the guys weren’t even coming down the stairs yet, it was such a big group getting into the water. So I was fortunate I wasn’t in a big group of people. Kurt had warned me about that, the first 300 meters is going to be just a madhouse, you’re going to have to go all out. Fortunately I didn’t really have to do that. The swim went great for me. I’m not a strong swimmer, but I came out and did a 1:17, which was good for me, I’ll take it any day. I got onto the bike, and I tried to take it easy on the bike. But I feel like, looking back on it, I over-biked a little bit. I kept the watts, but I went up those rolling hills. I’m not used to the altitude, as far as the climbing goes, being flat here in the Houston area.
Andrew: Kyle, I heard, when you passed Jo on the bike, you gave her a pretty hearty pat on the back that kind of caught her off guard.
Joanna: Oh my.On the descent from Hawi I feel this pat on my back. “Hey girl!”I’m like, “Aaaah!”
Kyle: Yeah, I was a little nervous that she was gonna wreck both of us, but I was confident that she was gonna be okay, so I just gave her a nice little pat on the back, and saw how she was doing. Of course, at about mile 90 I caught up with my wife, and she had her little light flashing on her QR, that’s still flashing today. I’m looking at it, I’m in the training room. We can’t get it to turn off. It’s been flashing for two weeks.
Andrew: What a battery!
Kyle: It’s unbelievable. We can’t get the battery out, and we can’t get it to stop flashing. So yeah, I passed Terry at about mile 88 and she gives me a comment, “What took you so long?” So I had that going on. But I got hot, I really did. There’s no mistaking that that island is very hot, very humid. It’ll suck it out of you. So I get to the run, and I get to T2, and it was probably the longest T2 that I’ve ever taken. Normally I’m out in two or three minutes. It took me 12 minutes to get out. I looked at my watch, I knew I had ten hours to get the marathon done, and I thought if I could just take about an hour and a half, a two-hour nap, I could get this thing done. And the guy in the T2 tent said, “You gotta get out of here, you can’t do that.” I was pretty tired. I don’t know what it was, if it was just the travel. I didn’t think that I overdid the activities, we came back and had plenty of rest. We brought our own food, which was one thing that was great, so we cooked in every night, didn’t have to worry about restaurants. But I was pretty spent after the bike. My wife actually made it to T2, caught up with me at T2, and I told her to go ahead and run, she was feeling great. We ran by Kai Eats, we see everyone there at Kai Eats, and it was awesome to see the TriDot people, everyone there. Then at the turnaround down Ali’i Drive, my family was there.Terry stopped and she was like, “You know, we get this opportunity once to be able to do this, and it just so happens all the stars align for us to be able to see each other on the run and be at the same spots,” so she actually waited on me. A pretty special moment, I didn’t think that it would be possible for us to be able to finish together, unplanned of course. We thought about it at one time, but we were like, “No, we’ll do our own race,” and as it turned out, it worked out wonderful. I got to finish up there with Jo a few minutes later, and Jeff Booher was down there, you were down there, John Mayfield was down there. And I actually had a lady from Ultraman – Jen, who does Ultraman Florida – Jen lives down there, and I had volunteered at Ultraman Florida this past year. She was at the finish line and gave me a big hug, so that was a pretty special moment for me, the end of a long journey. It was awesome.
Andrew: For some context for folks, when you all found each other in the Energy Lab in the dark, it was REAL dark out there. There are no lights. So for Jo to hear your voice and vice versa and then to connect up way out there, that’s a dark course out there. Kyle, I’m struck by you talking about how you just came off the bike. You thought you had conserved your energy well, but you just felt a little depleted. We heard from several athletes from the weekend, that at various stages of the race they just did not have the gas in the tank that they’re used to having or feeling. I mean, you hear about the conditions in Kona. Kona is famous for tough environmental conditions. Every spot on that entire course, you are baking in the sun of Hawaii.It is amazing. John Mayfield and I drove part of the bike course. There is nothing out there to block you from the sun, to chill you from the wind. Same thing on the run, very few parts of that course are shaded. So kudos to you guys for taking that on.I’m sure that was just part of it, right? Just experiencing those conditions for the first time. Now Kurt, I saved you for last. You’ve been here before, but I know it never, with all those conditions we’re talking about, it never goes the same way twice. Tell us about your race.
Kurt: Thank you, Andrew. You know, as I really tried to get my head focused in on this race – for me, that last minute of, “Okay, this is going to happen,” and “Thirty seconds, this is gonna happen” – that experience right there is worth the price of admission.It really is, to go through that mentally, and BOOM! We take off, the water’s really clear, I’m looking and I’m like, “Okay, I’m just going to go off the front right away.” All of a sudden two guys are sprinting and I’m like, “No, I’m gonna let those two sharks go!”
Andrew: “Don’t think I will!”
Kurt: Then here’s another guy, he looks about the same, and I just really connected right on his feet. He was good for about 500 yards, and then he just came up a little bit short and I’m like, “Okay, I can’t sit here, I’ve got to go ahead and go on.” So like ten minutes later I had already caught up to a woman who had left 25 minutes before me. Then I got to the Body Glove boat, and one of the straps of my goggles went over my head.
Andrew: Oh no!
Kurt: I said, “Yeah, okay, I got one more strap, but this thing is just flapping in front of me, let me put it back.” I glanced at my watch, I had hit 29 minutes and I’m like, “Okay, I’m at the turnaround at 29 minutes.” I go around the other boat, and coming back you’ve got much more of a current, then as I came back I was just passing woman after woman, trying to be respectful and mindful and watch the buoys. I came out in about 1:04, no problems in T1, and get on the bike.Everything is going like muy bueno until about mile nine. All of a sudden I start passing a guy on the left, and the wind is blowing from the left to the right, and simultaneously a marshal comes up and says, “You’re drafting!”I said to myself, “What did he just say, I was drafting? I think I was trying to pass somebody!” He says, “Sir, you have a five-minute penalty,” and it was just like getting hit right in the gut. I’m like, “Oh my goodness, what just happened?”
Andrew: At mile nine!
Kurt: At mile nine! We still had a lot of race left! Five minutes later I’m like, “Did that just happen? Yes it did!” Twenty minutes later I’m like, “Okay, I’m hitting 170 watts, I’m going 23 miles an hour, this is my love language, I’m really dialed in. But I can’t change what happened, so I’ve got to just man up, I’ve got to get this penalty tent out at Waikoloa.”So I get out there and pull into the penalty tent. I’ve got to sign the sheet, and this volunteer’s like, “Do you want to hold the watch?” I said, “No, you can hold the watch. I’ll suffer for five minutes, but do you have a plastic bag or something I can put over my head so no one can see me?” It’s the tent of shame, and I’m thinking –
Andrew: In your beautiful bright red TriDot kit in the penalty box.
Kurt: Exactly. I get up to Hawi, and all of a sudden there was a group that got there, and the poor kids were trying to hit the special needs bag, and I’m yelling, “ONE FIVE TWO FIVE!” and they’re like, “We can’t find your bag,” and I’m like, “No, it’s actually there, I put it there! Please find it!” And they’re trying, and they’re getting stressed, and I’m getting stressed, and I said, “You can’t break off. You have got to stay here and ride this out. It’s beyond your control. If you leave now, this will be fatal.”
Andrew: Yeah, you need what’s in that bag.
Kurt: Exactly. And it’s beyond your control. The poor little kid was crying, and I’m like, “Hey, relax. You did good. I just need my SuperStarch, I need my Precision Hydration. Aloha.” And I took off. I pull into T2, my bike split was about 6:05 and I said, “Okay, that’s fine because you took a five-minute break in the penalty tent, and then you were at special needs, so you’re good. Make sure you get your water bottle, get it with ice, get it with Gatorade, and here we go down Ali’i Drive.” And oh my goodness, Ali’i Drive is everything that you don’t want on race day. People are out there with garden hoses spraying you off. That first aid station seemed like it was forever, when I think it was like 1.6 or 2 miles. I didn’t feel super good at the start, but I felt much better than I thought I would.Then I got to the turnaround, I come back, and all of a sudden, I see Andrew Harley.
Andrew: Yeah you did!
Kurt: Perfect timing! What a catalyst, what a boost! Andrew, I say that sincerely, you’re like, “Kurt! Do you want to know how you’re doing?” I says, “Andrew, absolutely!” So you were looking real quick, you were running along –
Andrew: I had to jog with you, yeah, to have enough time to pull up your age group and see where you were. I should have been ready, Kurt, I should have known better!
Kurt: But still, at that moment, that was so encouraging. Before I know it I’m going up Palani Drive, and right then I see Heather Dekalb, and the encouragement like, “Kurt, you got this, you just gotta get up!” Then all of a sudden I get to the next aid station, and there’s Jan Frodeno, and I’m like, “All the rock stars are serving me!”
Andrew: Yeah! He was volunteering at an aid station, it was so cool!
Kurt: Yeah! To Heather, to Frodeno, and I’m like, “Okay, you’re at Palani now, you’re on the Queen K, get down to the Energy Lab.” Like you said, coming back out I saw Joanna, which was cool, then I get to the top.So I’m running down the Queen Kam, and I never, never realized how dark it was. I don’t know if it was the combination of the late start, but it didn’t cool off. Pele, I don’t know if he had Covid or whatever, but he didn’t want to cool it off that night. I’m thinking, typically when it gets dark it starts to cool off. But I’m like, “I’m going on a downhill,” and like you said, my batteries were just flat-out drained. But it was nice to come up that last little hill. I saw Julie Moss of all people, volunteering at an aid station.It’s like, “That’s class, she is just out there doing what she needs to do.” Then you come down Palani, then you make a left, then you make the right, and I know all of us, those last 200 yards, it really puts us in a great spot to say, “Wow, this is where champions are made. This is where age‑groupers have their moment, and this is where people can crumble in the last 200 yards.” But the last 200 yards, it’s always electric. So again, I was pleased. I looked at my results, eighth, and I said, “You know, I’ll take it.” Because I know for sure, as I went through it after the race and really reviewed people in my age group, there were probably at least five people that could have, should have beat me. But somehow, some way, I just kept hanging out there to finish eighth overall.
Andrew: No, congratulations on that Kurt. You know, they talk about the swim starting on the famous Dig Me Beach, and they talk about the finish line on Ali’i Drive, and I never realized how close that finish line is to where you started. The finish line in Kona is basically right on the edge of the bay, right by where you get in the water for the first time on Dig Me Beach. So it’s so poetic that you finish this race right where you started it.I never realized that, hearing the stories, watching the race coverage. When you get there in person, that was so cool to see how you’re crossing that finish line right at the same spot on Ali’i Drive where you got in the water hours earlier, obviously. So at that finish line this year there were three different MCs calling people home.There was Mike Reilly doing most people, obviously this was his final Kona. But two other announcers were subbed in from time to time just to give Mike’s voice a break, I would imagine. So not every athlete got to have Mike Reilly call them home at his final Kona, but all three of you did. Tell me about your finish line experience, and what you remember from Mike calling you across that finish line. Kurt, what do you remember from that?
Kurt: Mike is really a class act. I don’t know if Mike has actually memorized my résumé or the things I’ve done in this sport, because he really came through, and I can sense that. I was actually coming down Palani and I could hear the other announcer. I know with IRONMAN they have a spotter, so they pretty much know. I really cherish my relationship with Mike in a good way, that he’s always, always taken care of me. So as I was approaching the finish line, Mike literally went above and beyond to –
Andrew: He sure did.
Kurt: I’m humbled, I really am, that he nails it. It’s electric to get that moment with him. A lot of people kind of kid me, it’s like, “So how much do you pay Mike for each race? I know there’s an additional cost on your entry fee, because Mike always goes above and beyond.” But I think he is an individual that’s out there for all the athletes. It’s not about Mike. If you get to know Mike, and you listen to him and you read his book, you see that Mike has got your back. He’s in your corner. He’s in that rabbit hole with you all the way to the finish line. So it was huge. It doesn’t get any better than that, to have that opportunity. I think with Kona, if you can honestly assess to say, “Number one, I finished it. Number two, I executed. Number three, I followed my race plan. And number four, I came across that finish line, and I mastered that course.” In our world of triathlons, to me you’re at the highest level no matter where you finish. It’s like, “That’s it, it doesn’t get much better than that.” So again, Mike went way, way beyond what I would expect.
Andrew: Yeah, I was there for all three of your finishes, and for Kurt’s, he was ringing off your résumé, “Here comes Kurt Madden, 33‑time IRONMAN finisher, ten-time finisher at Kona!” It was very, very well done. He certainly gave you your due in that moment. Kyle, for you, as you were crossing that line with your wife Terry, you had a little bit of a different interaction with Mike. Tell us what he said to you.
Kurt: Yeah, he wasn’t praising my accomplishment so much when we came across the line. I gave my wife a kiss, and we were kind of interrupted. We wanted to get some pictures, you know, and there were some people that came through so we did it again, and Mike tells us to take it back to the room. So that was pretty funny. But Mike has been at quite a few of the races, at Arizona, Florida, obviously St. George a couple times there. From what I understand he’ll be at Florida and Arizona, and I believe New Zealand is the last that’s going to round out the year. So yeah, when I did my twelfth at IRONMAN Texas he gave me a shout-out that I was a Legacy athlete, just completed my twelfth one. My daughter actually has the recording of him saying that, “See you at Kona, buddy!” So for that to finally happen after – like Kurt said, 36 months later – to finally get to the stage and complete it with my wife, that was awesome.Great that Mike was able to do that.Yeah, that’s one of my favorite parts of the whole race.
Joanna: Well, some of you may know because I talk about it quite a bit, Mike and I have quite a history. I have been known to snag a kiss or plant one with Mike. It’s become kind of a joke between us at different IRONMAN races, and it all started in my delirium as I crossed the finish line at St. George and unknowingly kissed him on the cheek, which became an infamous picture. But we’ve chatted at races since then, at Des Moines and on the podcast. We followed up with the podcast, which was such an honor to record with you, Andrew, and him, right past his announcement of retirement. That was really special. As for the finish line, I had joked with him, “Okay, how are we going to follow this up in Kona? Are we gonna dip? What are we gonna do?” And I found out that he would be in the tower, so with the lights and flags and noise, and coming through the finish line – I have one of the longest names ever, so he did announce my name – but I was looking for him. If you look at the video, I was looking back to try to find him, but I couldn’t see because it was so bright. Then I did get his recognition when he was like, “JoJo! You are an IRONMAN!” It was special. That was very special to me, because I just admire him so much, and it was such a historical moment for him to be calling his last Kona, and I was just blessed to be a tiny part of that day for him. When he announced that, it was super special.
Andrew: Jo, one cool thing for me in watching you cross that finish line – I was in the stands in the VIP area, so I had a perfect view of you coming across – the person that put the medal around your neck was none other than TriDot coach, IRONMAN champion Mark Allen. We’ve all gotten to know Mark on a lot of film shoots, a lot of work meetings, a lot of events together now, and he’s just become a dear part of the TriDot community. But Jo, what was really cool for me, and knowing you spent some time with him, there was just the biggest smile on Mark’s face as he rushed up to you and put that finisher medal around your neck. Did you even realize in the moment that it was Mark doing that?
Joanna: I did. I did. After looking for Mike Reilly, and then having the blessing of having Heather, who is a good friend of mine, and not knowing that she was going to be my catcher at the finish line, and then just following that up and seeing Mark’s face. Life is so funny. It’s full-circle. I started this journey a long, long time ago by subscribing to Mark Allen online for a training plan that I would check every day. Every once in a while I might get an email response on a question for Mark Allen, and I’d run in there and tell my husband, “Oh my goodness! Mark Allen just emailed me!” Then come full circle to being on the TriDot staff, and to have Mark come on as one of our coaches, and get to know him personally and hang out and develop a friendship with him. You have such ideas about what these tri celebrities are like, and he’s such a normal, wonderful person. We have developed a friendship. It was really one of the most special moments of my life, because we’ve hung out a lot this last year and he’s an incredibly funny, kooky person sometimes, and I really enjoy being with him. It just solidified our friendship and him being a part of our TriDot family. I can’t believe that that was the storybook ending to my Kona journey.
Andrew: Jo, while we’re talking about the finish line, I couldn’t let this episode go by without giving a shout out to TriDot coach Greg McAuley. Greg McAuley is from the South Houston area where you train, where John trains. He’s a part of your training group. He was on a podcast episode himself, when you and I and Greg talked about the Legacy Program.Greg qualified for Kona through the Legacy Program, and like you, like Kyle, waited years and years to get the opportunity to do this race. He flew out, he had done the training, he had put in the work, he was ready to go. And Greg’s body just did not respond on the swim.He normally is a very, very competent swimmer, he makes the swim cutoff with ease at all the IRONMANs that he’s done.We were confident in his ability in the water. But he just had a tough day out there. He got the swim course done, he did make it back to Dig Me Beach, but he was just a few minutes beyond the swim cutoff. We all just felt for Greg. I really wish he had gotten a crack at the entire course with how long he’s worked and trained to be on the Big Island. So I just want to give Greg a shout-out, because I was blown away. Fast forward to 12, 13 hours later, whatever it was on Saturday. I was standing by the finish line area, and where I was standing, hanging out watching people finish, I was right by the chute where the catchers would stage before going out and catching the athlete that just crossed the finish line.I turned to my right, and I see Greg McAuley in a yellow volunteer shirt. We catch eyes, and he walks over to me. Just that morning he had DNFed. Just that morning he was pulled off the course after the swim, and he was like, “Man, I just knew that even though I couldn’t make it to the finish line myself, that didn’t mean that I couldn’t come back and help other people across the finish line.” That’s what he wanted to do, like, “Hey, I didn’t make it, but I want to come back and volunteer, I want to help other people cross that line.” I asked him, “Hey Greg, are you good, are you okay?” He was like, “I’m okay,” then he went on and did his thing as a volunteer. I stood there, Jo, for 10, 15 minutes, and I was emotional. I was blown away, just thinking about how hard Greg has worked to earn that Kona course. He earned it, he deserved to be there, and it just didn’t go his way.
Joanna: Yeah, and that speaks to the character and the beautiful heart that Greg has. I have been friends with him since the beginning of my journey. We started out on the Tri4Him team, forming that here in South Houston. He is an amazing friend, he’s an amazing athlete.But looking back on it – it’s something I have not gotten a chance to talk to him – is that our journey through Legacy, and all of the years and sacrifice, led to the honor of being at Kona.And he was at Kona, and he was on the course, and that takes nothing away from the dedication and the heart he put into that journey. He was a Kona athlete. He is amazing, and him coming back to volunteer, it is so touching. It was an emotional moment for all of us, but it didn’t even surprise me, because that’s the kind of man he is. He’s always giving back, and he’s always looking for the best in every situation. I will never count Greg out, he’s going to be back. He’s a remarkable athlete, and if I have any part of it I will help him back onto that course, and he'll have that finish. I strongly believe that that’s going to happen.
Cool down theme: Great set everyone! Let’s cool down.
Vanessa Ronksley: Hey everyone! This is Vanessa, your Average Triathlete with Elite-Level Enthusiasm! Today I’m so excited to welcome two exemplary human beings who happen to be TriDot Ambassadors. They live in absolutely paradise on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii. They both started triathlon in the early 2000s, they’ve been together for 14 years and married for nine – which congratulations on your recent anniversary, by the way – and they have two beautiful young daughters. I am super excited to welcome June and Angela to the show.
June Cuaresma: Thanks Vanessa, and thank you for having us! Congratulations on YOUR recent anniversary by the way.
Vanessa: Thank you!
Angela Cuaresma: Thanks Vanessa, glad to be here!
June: Oh, and also one thing to add, one of the reasons why Angela and I started talking to each other was because of a triathlon finisher’s shirt I was wearing.Our second date happened to be a run through Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Vanessa: Oh my gosh, I just got major shivers. That is so cool! So something I would love to know is how did you actually end up in Hawaii because you started off in San Francisco.
June: How we ended up in Hawaii was we got engaged in Kuai initially, and it was actually a running joke, every year since then, that we would move here. So every year we’d make a joke and say, “Hey, let’s move to Hawaii!” Then when the pandemic hit, we thought “Hey, it’s now or never.” I told Angela, “Tell your parents, tell your friends.” So we just up and moved.
Vanessa: That is absolutely incredible that you moved – well, it’s not across the country, but it’s far. That’s a far distance to move from the land to an island, and all of the details that you have to take into consideration. That’s incredible. I’m really impressed.
June: Thank you. We actually planned everything around the dog. Because the dog in quarantine was going to take a month, so we had to build in cushion to make sure our puppy got here. She’s not a puppy really, she’s a full-grown dog.
Vanessa: Can you tell me how the qualification for Kona actually worked after doing the 70.3?
June: Here’s how it worked from what I understood. There’s 24 Hawaii resident slots per year. They are sponsored by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, and this makes sure that the host state gets represented. IRONMAN started right here in Oahu, so it’s kind of nice that there’s a program like this in place, and the locals don’t get edged out, especially because it’s a home race.
Vanessa: That’s amazing.
Angela: So it’s always been a big dream and goal of mine to do Kona. I’ve always said it out loud, hoping it would one day become a reality.That wasn’t our purpose for moving to Oahu at all, but when the opportunity came about, we went to the awards ceremony at the Hawaii 70.3 race. I didn’t do as well as I had wanted, but then everyone was figuring that I was probably going to get asked to go. Then I was like, “Oh shoot, this is real now!” It was exciting and terrifying all at the same time.
June: So here’s the way it worked. It was kind of surreal, the way it all happened. At Hawaii 70.3 they award Kona qualifying slots, like the regular qualifying slots, to the super-fast people. Those AG slots, of course, depend on how many people participate in each AG group. Angela came in seventh in her age group, and I thought, “Okay, she’s got a chance for a roll-down, like a normal slot.” But there was only two slots available in her AG, and the fifth person got it. I was looking at the list, and number six was from Seattle, so then and there I knew she would get a Hawaii slot. So I started picking out what lens I would bring for my camera, who would take care of the kids, how I would take care of the kids while she’s out on her bike ride, things that I was going to do to help support her. It was really neat, because I was like, “Okay, I’m gonna go support Angela, and I’m gonna go cheer for her.” Then at the end, there’s this group of about 40 people in the hall – and Angela in her AG, she’s good – and I was looking around and I started doing the math, and out of the 40 people I knew that some weren’t Honu participants, so I thought, “Wow, I might still have a shot.” So I got the roll-down of all roll-downs, super-lucky, I snagged the last resident slot.
Vanessa: Oh my gosh!
June: So as soon as they called my name and they gave me the slot, the room cleared out.We were the last two paying for Kona at that point, and then we both turned to each other, and we’re like, “What did we just sign up for?” Because we knew it was kind of a huge commitment for the whole thing.
Vanessa: Oh my gosh!First of all, I just have to say that you two have a beautiful partnership in terms of supporting one another, that’s amazing. The second thing is that I’m so excited for you, that you got to experience this together, that is just absolutely incredible! I love that story, thank you!
June: As an aside, I’m glad that there was a two-day format, because if it was just a one-day format, we wouldn’t have been able to watch each other cross the finish line, or Angela would have done the, “I’m going to wait for you.” Like, “No, you’re faster than me, just finish!” The “let’s cross together” would have been a great picture, but it would have messed up her time, like, “Why would you do that?”
Vanessa: Now I’m wondering if you may do the same thing here, because we seem to have a lot in common. Whenever my family goes away on an adventure of some kind, we always ask our kids what are their three top highlights, so I’m going to ask you the same thing. Can you give me three of your top highlights from race week or from race day on the Big Island?
Angela: One of the top things that I always love when I’m doing races is to see my kids cheering me on during it or at the end, so having them there on the course multiple places.June and our friend saw me coming out of the swim, then he went and got the kids, they saw me on the bike a couple times, and then again came back to see me at multiple stops on the run.Just soaking it all in – I just was there for experience, so I stopped every time, gave them a kiss, a hug, made sure to soak in the experience. That was my number one. The other thing, too, is even though we live in Oahu, the Big Island is a little bit of a different feel, especially during race week, so the other couple things was just the energy, it’s so electric. It’s hard to explain until you go, which I’ve heard people say before, but it’s just amazing.You’re there with the best of the best.I couldn’t believe I was amongst that group, so just trying to soak in everything. Sometimes I just get so focused on the competition, but seeing the sunrise before the swim, it’s so beautiful. There was a rainbow on my bike run, and I’m coming back from the run, there was the sunset, just making sure to look over, look around me, not dwell on maybe being in a little bit of pain here and there, but really the experience was so amazing, so just trying to remember that.
Vanessa: That is so awesome, thank you for sharing, Angela.
June: For me, the top three highlights – coming from San Francisco, there’s a little bit of familiarity because San Francisco is international, but it blew me away how international the Kona race was. You turn in one direction, you hear French. You turn in another direction, you’d hear Portuguese. It was just amazing, it made me realize that we’re here with the best in the world. It was awesome. And like Angela said, number two is the energy. There is a different feeling once you step off the plane, and you try not to let it wear you down, because it’s kind of a weird feeling, the energy on the island. If you let it, it can suck the energy out of you, but if you just embrace it and take it in, you feel like you’re getting a little bit of a bump. Then really, the biggest highlight for me was when Angela told me that our six year-old also wants to be an IRONMAN when she grows up.
Angela: I have a video recording of it, too.
Vanessa: Oh wow, that’s amazing. I love that so much!
June: So for me, hearing that just made it like, “Yay, we’re doing these things that we love to do.” And who knows? Hopefully we’ll encourage her to do it, but just to hear that she wants to be an IRONMAN when she grows up just kind of melted my heart. We’re doing good things, I think we’re being okay as parents.
Andrew:That’s it for today folks! I want to thank TriDot coaches Joanna Nami, Kurt Madden, and Kyle Stone for sharing their experiences racing the 2022 IRONMAN World Championships in Kona. Shout out to Precision Fuel & Hydration and UCAN for partnering with us on today’s episode. Head to precisionfuelandhydration.com and get a personalized race fueling strategy, and use the code TRI10 for 10% off your first order. To experience UCAN’s LIVSTEADY products for yourself, head to their website, ucan.co and use the code TRIDOT to save 20% on your entire order. Thanks for listening. We’ll do it all again soon. Until then, happy training!
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