What it takes to be an Ironman – with Sam Long

00:00:11: Hello and welcome to a brand new episode of Powerbrains.

00:00:15: My name is Daniel Herzog and this is the podcast that strengthens your mind, provides you with the best nutritional knowledge and gives you exactly what you really need for your best performance.

00:00:26: How does it whole thing work?

00:00:27: I give you a short outline of the show.

00:00:29: We start with our little warm-up, getting to know our guests and then we jump right into our workout.

00:00:34: that consists of four quiz elements.

00:00:36: We have start, halftime, final sprint and a community question.

00:00:40: For each correct answer, you earn six points, except at halftime, where you can even collect seven points.

00:00:45: And once during the game, you are allowed to phone a friend for advice.

00:00:48: In the end, we go to our cooldown, check in on the score.

00:00:52: Reward is a powerbar voucher and a donation into the charity fund of this

00:00:56: podcast.

00:00:58: And that's why we're doing the whole thing in English today, a world premiere, so to speak.

00:01:29: But it is not only his racing, it is his mindset, his transparency about the highs and lows, and furthermore, his belief that failure is a necessary part of being successful.

00:01:38: Very warm.

00:01:39: Yo, yo, yo.

00:01:39: Welcome to Powerbrains.

00:01:41: Great to have you.

00:01:41: Sam Long.

00:01:42: Yo, yo, yo.

00:01:43: It's so great.

00:01:44: Whoa.

00:01:45: Yeah, you get

00:01:45: on the plows.

00:01:46: Yeah.

00:01:46: Wow.

00:01:47: So great to be here.

00:01:49: And I'm really honored to be the first episode in English.

00:01:51: Yeah, that's true.

00:01:52: And we just talked about it.

00:01:54: It's your first time in a podcast studio.

00:01:56: How do you feel?

00:01:57: Yeah,

00:01:57: exactly.

00:01:58: You can tell I got caught off guard because I was like, whoa, people are people are applauding me.

00:02:02: So it's it's really cool.

00:02:03: I've recorded.

00:02:05: I bet I've done fifty podcasts, if not more than that in my life and never been in a studio.

00:02:09: And so it feels a lot more legit.

00:02:11: And I had a nice coffee and some sugar going.

00:02:14: So I'm on my A game.

00:02:16: Yeah,

00:02:16: you're prepared.

00:02:17: You're prepared for sure.

00:02:18: So is it is your first time we recording in Hamburg right now?

00:02:21: Is it your first time in Hamburg?

00:02:22: It

00:02:22: is.

00:02:22: Yes.

00:02:23: OK.

00:02:23: What did you see from Hamburg right now?

00:02:25: Well, so far I haven't seen too much.

00:02:27: The airport.

00:02:28: I got the airport.

00:02:29: Then I got in a taxi cab and then I came here to the studio, which has been really cool.

00:02:33: The downstairs level is quite nice, actually.

00:02:35: We had a coffee there.

00:02:36: They've got like eight bins full of sugary candy.

00:02:39: So I got some sugary candy and then we came up here.

00:02:43: Is that

00:02:43: allowed?

00:02:44: Can you have some sugar?

00:02:45: Yeah, sugar.

00:02:46: Yeah, of course.

00:02:46: You need sugar.

00:02:47: Yeah.

00:02:49: Especially if you're training or racing, then sugar is... is the gas and the engine.

00:02:54: I maybe don't need sugar right now, but it's still tasty and always good.

00:02:59: So when I look at you right now, because you're sitting right next to me, so I see the power bar cap for sure, but I see also the yo-yo-yo shirt.

00:03:07: So what is the yo-yo-yo about?

00:03:10: Yeah, yo-yo-yo.

00:03:11: So it started actually.

00:03:13: I guess how a lot of good things start is by by accident or or not like setting it out to be something right.

00:03:20: like and I think that's a good conversation with branding is often companies or individuals.

00:03:25: we start we try to like think oh this is a great catchphrase to be branding but I feel like that.

00:03:31: It doesn't always work.

00:03:33: Sometimes the best things as with nicknames are if they just come up like naturally.

00:03:37: And so it was just something I used to say to people like, yo, yo, yo, what's going on?

00:03:41: Yo, yo, yo, how are you doing?

00:03:43: And I would say it to all my friends and people gave me a hard time about it.

00:03:46: And then eventually people were like, that's actually really cool.

00:03:49: And then started saying it.

00:03:50: And then when I got some breakout results on the scene, then suddenly everyone started to say it to me on the course to cheer me on.

00:03:58: And now since then, It's kind of become like a symbol of the community around me and to show support.

00:04:06: And because it is, it's a very inclusive phrase.

00:04:08: It's essentially saying like, hey, what's up?

00:04:11: How are you doing?

00:04:12: And so everyone can say it.

00:04:13: And now that I have like a baby too, babies love to say yo, yo, yo.

00:04:17: And so it's really now to me, it's about inclusive.

00:04:21: Inclusivity.

00:04:22: anyone's welcome into the community and it's also about supporting each other and then it's about going out there and giving your best and and.

00:04:31: Triathlon and racing and whatever adventure you're in in life.

00:04:34: That's a really nice explanation.

00:04:36: so but you have to learn your new hamburger now and if you wanted to say or translate yo yo yo into into hamburger language it would be more and more.

00:04:45: Moin Moin Moin

00:04:45: Moin Moin Moin Moin Moin Moin Moin Moin

00:04:57: Moin Moin Moin

00:04:58: Moin Moin Moin Moin Moin Moin Moin Moin Moin.

00:05:02: Of course, I always want to be prepared best for my guests.

00:05:16: I went on to your homepage and I found that phrase or that sentence about you on your homepage.

00:05:23: He's the guy next door, relatable, down to earth, yet he crushes superhuman workouts and an insane race schedule.

00:05:30: Is that the self description you would give someone about you that don't know who you are?

00:05:35: Yeah, I suppose I would actually.

00:05:37: I think it's quite... Quite a good way to describe me because I am just sort of your everyday guy.

00:05:43: I'm I'm struggling with all the same issues.

00:05:45: We're all doing.

00:05:46: I'm trying to be the best parent.

00:05:47: I can be.

00:05:48: I'm trying to Work and spend time with my wife.

00:05:51: I'm trying to save for retirement.

00:05:54: I'm trying to do all the same things that we're all doing but then I also go out the door and do insane workouts and race incredibly fast.

00:06:01: Yes, yes, you do really insane for sure.

00:06:04: So what?

00:06:05: um, what makes a guy?

00:06:07: What makes someone a guy next door in your eyes?

00:06:11: Yeah, I guess a guy next door is like someone you can approach, I suppose for one, right?

00:06:17: Like you think of maybe, I guess it depends who your next door neighbors are, but if you think of... maybe somewhere you've lived in your next-door neighbor was like nice and approachable and you'd come outside and it's a sunny day and you want to say, hey, what's up, Sam?

00:06:30: Like, be in that guy, you know, or, oh, hey, do you mind taking my trash cans out?

00:06:34: I'm on vacation for the week, but I'd like if you take my trash cans out like a guy like that that, you know, you can ask small things of that you can say what's up that you can hopefully tell them how you're feeling or things you're dealing with and they're not going to judge you.

00:06:48: Yeah.

00:06:48: Do you know people that are not that way?

00:06:52: I mean, of course, I think we all know.

00:06:53: I think we all know people that are that way, right?

00:06:55: And I do think as you move up in the world of professional sports, it can get harder, right?

00:07:02: You in some ways want to close yourself off, but I think it's very important to continue to be open-hearted and open to everyone.

00:07:09: Yeah,

00:07:10: I agree.

00:07:10: I agree.

00:07:12: Do you sometimes have to pinch yourself that you made it from being one of three premature triplets who had to fight for for life, basically, up to that superhuman workouts that you're doing right now.

00:07:24: Yeah, for sure.

00:07:25: I mean, it's true.

00:07:26: I

00:07:27: mean, it's a crazy story if you think about it.

00:07:29: Yeah, it's a crazy story.

00:07:30: Like being born, I don't know in kilograms, but being born at five pounds in six, seven weeks early.

00:07:37: And I was the biggest of my triple brothers.

00:07:40: And then I was kind of a slow learner at the beginning of my life, kind of in special ed a little bit and stuff.

00:07:46: And then now to be where I am as one of the world's premier athletes, I've come a long way and it's been a great journey.

00:07:54: And I think that the journey is also what it's all about.

00:07:57: And so I suppose the pinching myself is both like, whoa, I've done this, but it's also to remind myself of anything is possible.

00:08:05: And by doing this, let's continue to.

00:08:09: There's still more things out there that are possible, right?

00:08:11: Yeah, that's

00:08:12: that's for sure That's for sure.

00:08:13: So I I have a brother, but he's twelve years younger than me.

00:08:17: So I would not consider I grew up with him basically.

00:08:20: So how is it growing up as a triplet?

00:08:22: Yeah, I mean growing up and God bless my parents, you know because

00:08:27: Now you know because you have your own kids.

00:08:28: Yeah, and three boys all at once would be would be mayhem from their perspective.

00:08:34: also so much love.

00:08:35: but it was basically like having my two best friends and two play buddies all throughout life.

00:08:42: and so I think I was incredibly fortunate because I never really spent much time on screens because why would we spend time on screens?

00:08:49: I had two people to play with all the time and we got into some Crazy stuff.

00:08:54: I mean one time we figured out how to turn the car on And and reverse the car and and we reverse the car into a fire hydrant.

00:09:03: really and the fire hydrant like exploded and the electricity went off in the whole neighborhood and We were like six years old or something at that point.

00:09:15: Okay, so you had fun.

00:09:16: you had fun with your with your brothers.

00:09:18: you grew up in Boulder, Colorado.

00:09:20: Maybe the it's.

00:09:21: it's the Mecca of triathletes.

00:09:23: It's so Tell us a little bit about growing up there.

00:09:27: Yeah, it's the it's the Gerona of America basically, right?

00:09:31: I think we could say and for me, I wasn't really like I didn't grow up as a triathlete.

00:09:38: I found triathlon later on in life.

00:09:40: Relatively later speaking, I still discovered it.

00:09:43: I guess you could say it's seventeen.

00:09:44: But for me, it was just all about the outdoors and Boulder.

00:09:48: Yes, it has that very elite endurance community.

00:09:51: But I suppose the overall culture there is just.

00:09:54: It's more of a culture that just loves the outdoors, whether that be rock climbing or hiking or skiing.

00:10:01: And those were the activities I was doing growing up is I was a big, big time skier.

00:10:05: I love to go mountain biking.

00:10:07: And I also did a lot of the team, team sports soccer football, as you would say, and American football.

00:10:14: And I was just very much exploring my body, exploring what sports I liked.

00:10:19: And it was a great.

00:10:20: Great place to grow up in a small town feel.

00:10:23: So I rode my bike everywhere just because it was it's such a so easy to get around.

00:10:28: So but how did it start then?

00:10:30: with swimming cycling running?

00:10:32: Yeah.

00:10:32: So as I got into high school, I was still playing American football quite a bit and I was playing tight end.

00:10:39: And so I was lifting a lot of weights.

00:10:41: and Our team sucks though.

00:10:43: We were like the worst team in the division.

00:10:44: And so we had our coach, it's like a classic American football thing, maybe a soccer thing as well, where however many points the other team scored on us was however many hundred meter sprints we had to do on the Monday morning practice.

00:10:58: Of course, soccer is much lower scoring, but we often would be like fifty four to zero.

00:11:04: This is how bad our team would be.

00:11:06: like fifty four win sprints, you know.

00:11:09: And all the American football players, you know, they're big, they're typical American football players, they would all be like puking and throwing up after five of them.

00:11:17: And I would be like just basically laughing everyone.

00:11:20: And so the coach actually pulled me over one day after practice and he said like, hey, we like having you on the team, but I can tell like your talent lies and endurance sports.

00:11:31: So please like quit playing football and go and join the cross country team.

00:11:35: And then I went and did that.

00:11:37: And then I got into cross country and I was still mountain biking and doing road racing in the summer, but the winters were still devoted to skiing.

00:11:46: And then my senior year of high school, I was still skiing and I got into pretty big stuff skiing.

00:11:53: So I would do like jump off cliffs and stuff like this.

00:11:56: And over spring break, I jumped off a cliff, I don't know, fifteen, twenty feet and my binding had a malfunction.

00:12:02: And so the ski came off and I tore my MCL.

00:12:06: Which was one of the most painful things in my life.

00:12:08: I tore my ACL, so I know what you were talking

00:12:10: about.

00:12:10: Yeah, it was so painful, but that's how I discovered triathlon, believe it or not, because the first thing I could do was swim with a pole buoy and then bike with a knee brace and eventually got back into running.

00:12:23: and my dad said, He said why don't you do a triathlon is like your proof of recovery basically and and I love the idea.

00:12:31: and so Not just a triathlon, but why don't you do an iron man a full iron man?

00:12:34: And so I committed to the full iron man and five months later I

00:12:38: did.

00:12:38: that was your first competition and I remember

00:12:41: well, so thankfully then my mom You know my dad had the idea to do the iron man, but my mom was basically the coach at the time She said hold on let's let's

00:12:50: start easy.

00:12:50: She said let's come up with a training plan.

00:12:52: Well, not that easy.

00:12:53: She said why don't you start with?

00:12:54: like an Olympic in two months, then do a half a month later and then a month after that do a full.

00:13:01: Okay, that's

00:13:01: not so easy.

00:13:02: So I

00:13:02: progressed over the course of still five months up to a no triathlon to a full Ironman.

00:13:08: Wow.

00:13:08: Wow.

00:13:09: And how was that?

00:13:09: How was the result at the end?

00:13:11: It was quite good.

00:13:12: I mean, I thought I went nine hours, twenty seven minutes at eighteen years old.

00:13:16: And

00:13:17: that's impressive.

00:13:18: Yeah, it was impressive.

00:13:19: It was good.

00:13:20: It showed your talent already.

00:13:21: So what I asked myself, so You made it to Triathlon.

00:13:26: When I look at your brothers, I hope that's right, Brian and Justin.

00:13:30: Yes.

00:13:30: One is a musician and one is a banker.

00:13:32: Yes, correct.

00:13:33: How did that happen?

00:13:35: Yeah, I think, again, I would definitely have to give a lot of credit to my parents, right?

00:13:40: And I've got an older sister as well.

00:13:42: She's eight years older and she's a teacher, so we've got four drastically different fields of life.

00:13:46: And for me, growing up a triplet, I guess it's awesome having your playmates, but one thing about growing up a triplet that's difficult is everyone always wants to put you basically as being the same.

00:13:57: And we're fraternal, so we're not identical, so we look different.

00:14:01: But I do very distinctly remember my whole life, basically people being like, and our birthdays are December twenty-third, which is two days before Christmas.

00:14:10: So like a very salient memory is people would get us one present, all three of us.

00:14:15: But for birthday and Christmas combined, they would be like, oh, well, you guys are all the same.

00:14:19: And since your birthday is very close to Christmas, here's one present for all three of you.

00:14:22: And we're like, whoa.

00:14:23: That's not fair.

00:14:24: You just divided that by six.

00:14:26: Like you divided that by six, or people in school would always, they'd like to categorize us.

00:14:32: So they'd say, I was the athletic one.

00:14:34: My brother Justin was the music one.

00:14:35: And my brother Brian was the smart one.

00:14:38: And I know it was like, on one hand, it's a compliment.

00:14:41: Okay, I'm the athletic one.

00:14:42: But on the other hand, it was kind of like minimizing who we all were as people.

00:14:48: But I think my parents did a great job of seeing who we were as individuals and allowing us each to develop our own talents and interests.

00:14:56: And at the same time, I think because people were categorizing us like I basically said, because my brother Brian, he is really smart and my brother Justin is really musical and creative.

00:15:05: I was like, oh, I have no chance with them.

00:15:07: So I just go all in on sports, you know.

00:15:10: But this is really interesting.

00:15:11: so that you have three brothers that are basically, as you said, the same, but they're completely different.

00:15:16: So that's what I found really, really interesting when I just wrote about that.

00:15:20: So yeah, thanks for the explanation.

00:15:24: And as we've grown up, we continue to get more different, right?

00:15:27: Yeah, certainly.

00:15:28: So I think now the audience knows you a little better.

00:15:33: They're listening, and I think we can jump to the start.

00:15:36: OK.

00:15:37: Start.

00:15:41: Start.

00:15:41: Quiz number one is about performance and training.

00:15:45: Within this quiz, I'll present you with a statement and you'll have to decide whether it's true or false.

00:15:50: If your answer is correct, you'll earn six points.

00:15:52: If it's incorrect, unfortunately, you won't get any points, but you have the phone a friend joker.

00:15:56: So if you don't know anything, then just call your wife.

00:15:59: Okay.

00:16:01: So true or false.

00:16:02: Training your calves via strength training helps to improve your running economy.

00:16:08: Is that true or false?

00:16:09: I would say that's true.

00:16:11: Why is that true?

00:16:12: Well, I know in general, I don't know.

00:16:14: I'm having to extrapolate a little bit, but I know in general they've shown that heavy strength training.

00:16:19: It improves basically your resilience.

00:16:21: It can improve your ground contact time.

00:16:24: And so I'm imagining that this is just being continued to your calves.

00:16:27: And obviously your calves act essentially as a spring and a lever.

00:16:31: And so that's why I'm going with true.

00:16:34: Okay.

00:16:34: Then we log in true and We will have a look.

00:16:39: Is true?

00:16:40: Correct.

00:16:41: Boom.

00:16:42: There we go.

00:16:43: Six points.

00:16:44: Easy.

00:16:46: Easy start.

00:16:46: Yeah, it's true.

00:16:47: So the calf muscles, particularly the musculosuleus, are responsible for up to forty percent of the metabolic cost.

00:16:53: Training this muscle group leads to improved running economy.

00:16:57: Yeah.

00:16:57: Great.

00:16:58: So we... That's also a purpose of this podcast.

00:17:01: We want to give the audience something that they can learn, you know?

00:17:05: Yeah.

00:17:05: I

00:17:05: would say I learn that because I would say... I've focused my strength training on kind of full body movements and maybe could target, target the calf specifically then.

00:17:14: Yeah.

00:17:14: So that's, that would be my next question.

00:17:16: So speaking about improving.

00:17:17: So what's, what's your favorite type of workout?

00:17:19: Any, any special drills or sessions you love?

00:17:23: Oh, across all three sports.

00:17:25: Uh, I mean, I guess we could go with, with a running session.

00:17:29: I do love getting on the track and getting on the track and maybe doing.

00:17:33: Ten times one K. And

00:17:36: what, what, what, what does it give you?

00:17:38: I think it's about the runner's high.

00:17:40: There's something about running specifically, especially if you run hard.

00:17:44: It's just, and even on the track as well, because it's kind of like you against the clock, right?

00:17:49: And if you do multiple reps, it's like, okay, you get your baseline.

00:17:53: The first one's your baseline, whether it's three, ten.

00:17:56: And then you say, okay, let's slowly start ramping this down.

00:17:58: And then by the end, you're going faster and faster.

00:18:04: But yeah, it's the feeling afterwards, even just to, Two days ago, I ran like thirty five K and afterwards I just came back and you would think I would be tired, but I was actually like wired.

00:18:16: I was just like in a great mood and and that's thirty

00:18:20: five kilometers.

00:18:20: Yeah.

00:18:21: Yeah.

00:18:21: The pace

00:18:21: you run that thirty five kilometers.

00:18:23: This is crazy.

00:18:24: Yeah.

00:18:25: So if you look at all the three different disciplines you have in triathlon, which one is the one that you have to improve the most?

00:18:31: The swim.

00:18:32: Yeah.

00:18:32: For sure.

00:18:32: The swim for me.

00:18:33: Why is swimming so difficult?

00:18:36: Uh, I mean, I guess for me, swimming is difficult.

00:18:39: I started, it's, it's the most technique oriented.

00:18:42: So it's not just training the engine, but it's also training.

00:18:46: It's like learning a complex instrument and trying to become a master at that.

00:18:50: And, and I really do believe swimming requires like very good control of almost every muscle in your body because it, it really does use your entire body from your fingertips all the way down to your feet have to be in like this.

00:19:04: musical harmony in order to perfect it.

00:19:08: We were talking about, or you talked about the runner's high.

00:19:10: Did you ever had a swimmer's high?

00:19:13: I don't think I've ever had a swimmer's high.

00:19:15: Do you

00:19:15: think that's even possible to have a swimmer's high?

00:19:20: I guess the closest thing I've had to a swimmer's high is if you go for a beautiful swim in the open water and the feeling out there, and if it's just you and you can stop and look around and it's just you and this.

00:19:33: beautiful water and you're looking out on the coast is, is having this feeling just of like, wow, this is like really beautiful and really cool.

00:19:41: And it's, it's, and then you're in the water and it's like an oasis of calm, right?

00:19:45: You don't have any sounds.

00:19:47: You don't have anyone else.

00:19:49: You don't even really have any vision because you're just looking at like blue water.

00:19:53: And that, for me, I guess that would be the swimmer's eyes.

00:19:56: It's almost like this sense of calming.

00:19:58: And if you're If you're really stressed out, actually, swimming for me is one of the best things to do.

00:20:03: It's a calming thing, right?

00:20:04: It calms you down.

00:20:05: Yeah.

00:20:06: And because you have to focus just on what you're doing.

00:20:08: It's very hard to swim if you're thinking about other things.

00:20:12: No, that's true.

00:20:15: So how much do you like the gym?

00:20:18: I mean, this is also important.

00:20:20: We're talking about, of course, you have to run.

00:20:22: You have to get on your bike and you have to go swimming.

00:20:24: But how important is the gym?

00:20:27: Yeah, the gym.

00:20:28: I mean, I do think that the three primary sports are the most important and I guess I'd say like the gym.

00:20:36: For me, I think the gym sounds like a location.

00:20:40: I think it.

00:20:41: It doesn't necessarily have to be a specific location of like, oh, you have to get in your car or go to a specific gym.

00:20:47: I found out a way to basically do the gym all from my house.

00:20:51: I just saw you, you posted on Instagram with your son and you did some lunges with him.

00:20:55: That was really nice.

00:20:57: Yeah.

00:20:57: And so like, I think for most triathletes, frankly, age groupers as well, obviously they're working a job.

00:21:03: They most likely maybe have a family.

00:21:06: We don't really have the time to spend twenty minutes driving to the gym each way.

00:21:10: So you have to find a way to be very time-effective with it, but it's still extremely important to get some of those economy gains, and especially, I think, just to stay injury-free.

00:21:20: So I don't know if I researched it right, but you started coaching yourself a couple of years ago?

00:21:25: Yes, that's correct.

00:21:27: How was that decision made?

00:21:29: So yeah, the decision was made kind of over, I would say it was like ten years in the making, right?

00:21:36: I've had.

00:21:38: I definitely want to give credit.

00:21:39: I've had some great coaches who have taught me some fantastic things along the way, as well as in school.

00:21:44: I studied physiology and also psychology, which I think is equally important in coaching.

00:21:51: And then I kind of came, I do think with coaches as well, sometimes you're a student of them.

00:21:57: And I was with one coach, Ryan Bolton, for four or five years.

00:22:00: And I felt I had learned what I needed to learn from him.

00:22:03: And then I tried another coach and that coach The philosophy didn't quite work for me.

00:22:08: And so then it was like, okay, why don't we try this on my own?

00:22:12: Let's see what happens.

00:22:13: And I, it was actually meant more to be an in-between phase, but then I was quite good at coaching myself and the results were quite good that I said, okay.

00:22:22: For now, there's no reason to change it, but I continue to reevaluate if I should get a coach.

00:22:28: I'm not like up here saying, oh, I'm the best at coaching myself that there's ever been, or I know everything there is to know.

00:22:34: I'm always trying to learn more knowledge and be open to new things.

00:22:38: What would you say?

00:22:39: What are the advantages, but also the difficulties of self-coaching?

00:22:44: Which one do you want to start with

00:22:45: the difficulties

00:22:46: the difficulties?

00:22:47: I think the biggest difficulty in self-coaching is basically the ego.

00:22:51: I think the ego is the enemy when it comes to self-coaching and that you have to.

00:22:55: you have to be brutally honest with yourself.

00:22:57: and I think For sure, that's the hardest thing right because As people as ourselves, it's hard to necessarily want to admit weaknesses.

00:23:08: We maybe don't want to really truly see or realize how weak our weaknesses are.

00:23:13: And we also maybe want to over emphasize our strengths.

00:23:16: And you have to actually evaluate yourself super critically and say, okay, this is where I'm good.

00:23:21: This is where I'm bad.

00:23:22: This is where I need work.

00:23:23: And then you have to come up with a plan with that.

00:23:25: And I think, I think that's where things get the most off coaching yourself.

00:23:29: But after feeling you have a, you, you do that really well with, uh, with really, I don't know, realizing what your weaknesses are and then tell what your weaknesses are.

00:23:38: Yeah, I think I do think I'm able to do that well.

00:23:40: And I can thank my wife too.

00:23:43: She's, you know, I can ask her and she can give me an honest answer.

00:23:46: And so it's also about surrounding yourself with a team.

00:23:49: that's not just like yes meant, right?

00:23:51: Like surrounding myself with a team who, because I want to get better.

00:23:55: And so for me, negative feedback is actually, I don't consider it negative feedback.

00:24:00: It's positive feedback because it's trying to make me better.

00:24:03: So I'm always actually trying to seek out.

00:24:06: things of like, okay, this is what I can be better at and then find the answer or this or the method of how I can improve that, right?

00:24:13: That makes sense.

00:24:14: That makes sense.

00:24:14: And advantages?

00:24:15: I think that the biggest advantage is you can actually save time with communication and flexibility.

00:24:22: So, especially now with the family, like I've found there's When you're coached, you've got a schedule and you've got a template, right?

00:24:31: Of course.

00:24:32: And I've coached other people.

00:24:33: It's the only way you can really do it.

00:24:35: And then say your kid's up all night or any number of things that can happen or you're supposed to travel, but your travel's delayed.

00:24:44: Well, when you've got a coach, you then have to basically communicate with them, okay, how do we modify and how do we do this?

00:24:49: And if you've got different time zones, well, okay, sometimes that process can be quite time consuming.

00:24:56: Well, if you coach yourself, it's kind of like, okay, I guess it also can be quite time consuming if you're in your head trying to think about how to do it.

00:25:03: But I've basically also have templates now where like, okay, if this goes wrong, I know more or less what to do in this situation.

00:25:10: So then I'm able to implement the changes and carry on pretty easily.

00:25:15: That makes total sense.

00:25:16: I think we made it to halftime.

00:25:19: Okay, halftime.

00:25:21: Halftime.

00:25:24: Halftime means quiz number two.

00:25:27: It's about sports nutrition.

00:25:29: This time it's multiple choice.

00:25:30: I give you a question, you have four possible answers and just give me the right one and you get seven points.

00:25:36: Wrong answer, of course, no points.

00:25:38: and still think you have the telephone joker if you don't know the answer.

00:25:43: So question is about glucose.

00:25:45: You can store up to thirteen to eighteen grams glycogen per kilogram muscle mass as muscle glycogen.

00:25:53: How much can be stored in your legs alone?

00:25:55: What is crucial for cycling and running?

00:25:58: So A, one hundred grams, B, three hundred grams, C, four hundred or D, six hundred grams?

00:26:06: And you can think loud.

00:26:08: Okay.

00:26:08: Yeah, I'm trying to think this out.

00:26:10: So what I'm thinking about here is I know... Well, first I'm trying to convert the grams to the calories, right?

00:26:15: Which it's for... One gram has four K-cals.

00:26:20: And so I know that overall we're storing about twenty-five hundred K-cals of muscle glycogen.

00:26:28: But that also includes the liver glycogen.

00:26:32: As far as I know.

00:26:33: so that would put us which liver glycogen is about five hundred calories.

00:26:37: So I think most people have about two thousand mm-hmm But that's kind of it in between.

00:26:42: obviously it depends on your size.

00:26:44: So if you're bigger depending on the size of your

00:26:46: unit then yeah,

00:26:47: then you might have a little more.

00:26:48: So like for me, I would maybe be closer to six hundred than four hundred mm-hmm, but I'm gonna go with.

00:26:55: for your average person I'm gonna go with four hundred C.

00:26:59: We're four hundred, you're sure.

00:27:00: So this is your final answer.

00:27:03: I mean, you say it like that.

00:27:05: I don't

00:27:05: know.

00:27:06: I mean, I'm famous for just.

00:27:09: Yeah.

00:27:13: You still could call someone.

00:27:16: I want to save that for later.

00:27:17: That's fine.

00:27:19: I'm going to go with C. I'm going with C.

00:27:20: Go with C for sure.

00:27:22: Well, four, eight, twelve, sixteen.

00:27:24: I feel like there needs to be a five hundred option.

00:27:28: Okay, you go, you go.

00:27:29: see, we will log in answer C. And the answer comes from our nutrition expert, Philipp Rauscher.

00:27:36: The right answer is B. Runners and cyclists can store an average of three hundred grams of glycogen in their legs, which is sufficient for about eighty minutes of endurance exercise before glycogen stores are depleted.

00:27:55: I just

00:27:55: trying to help you.

00:27:56: That's a big red button there.

00:27:58: That's a big one.

00:27:59: Yeah,

00:27:59: that's true.

00:28:00: The whole studio, so you can see the whole studio is red now.

00:28:04: Yeah, so three hundred.

00:28:05: Okay.

00:28:06: Surprised to you?

00:28:07: Yeah.

00:28:08: Yeah, a little surprising.

00:28:10: I suppose everything's individual because I know I've done.

00:28:12: maybe my own individual testing has thrown me off because I know I'm definitely much higher than three hundred.

00:28:18: Yeah.

00:28:18: But we were talking about average athletes and not athletes like you are.

00:28:23: That's another league where you are.

00:28:26: So let's talk about food for a second.

00:28:28: How would you rate your nutrition?

00:28:30: Is there still room for improvement?

00:28:33: Yeah, I mean, there's always room for improvement.

00:28:35: There's always room for improvement.

00:28:36: I mean, nutrition is like, it's a huge thing.

00:28:39: And I mean, I would say The only way you could like really, truly master nutrition is if you basically hired a professional chef, which would be an amazing thing

00:28:47: to do.

00:28:48: That would be awesome, right?

00:28:48: And get them to calculate all of your micros and macros and basically also be tracking your training so they know exactly how much, I mean, that would be an amazing, incredible thing to do.

00:28:58: I really

00:28:59: think if I had all the money in the world, that would be the first thing I would hire.

00:29:03: I would hire my personal chef because that would be so awesome.

00:29:05: It would be great from a performance standpoint and also just

00:29:08: for everyday standpoint.

00:29:09: Exactly, exactly.

00:29:11: And so I have started doing some more frequent blood testing.

00:29:15: There's a new company in the US called Rhythm.

00:29:18: And they do like a once a month testing.

00:29:20: And so through this, I was actually able to see, because we've had our, our carbo-lution, right?

00:29:26: I think we call it the carbo-lution of, okay, taking a lot more cars when we train, also after.

00:29:30: So that basically were never carb depleted and this increases performance.

00:29:34: But I was so focused on this, I was actually not hitting quite my protein needs.

00:29:39: And so Through this I realized okay, so now I've been really focused on upping my protein as well Which ups the overall calories because we also saw I was in a little bit not like the red ass situate not like totally But just with how much I train.

00:29:53: they were like you actually have to feed the engine even more and so yeah continuing to try and hit believe it or not more calories and more protein is what I've been working on recently.

00:30:03: Do you have a go-to meal before race?

00:30:06: A go to meal, I would say, I mean, most of our races, like you're talking the morning of the race.

00:30:12: So most of our races are early in the morning.

00:30:14: I like a big muffin.

00:30:16: I like a big muffin.

00:30:17: And recently the new power bar, it's the recovery drink, but it's got twenty grams of protein and sixty grams of carbs.

00:30:24: So I actually quite like that with a muffin and then that, the recovery drink, but it's actually, it's actually a pre-race drink for me.

00:30:32: And so that was before the race, so when we're talking during the race, what is the most important thing nutrition-wise?

00:30:38: What would be your best advice for the triathletes listening now in this podcast?

00:30:43: I mean, certainly as you get longer up to the Iron Man, it's you got to get fuel in the engine, right?

00:30:49: And I think you also got to get- Just fueling,

00:30:51: fueling, fueling?

00:30:52: Yeah, within reason.

00:30:54: I mean, I guess within reason, I think some people maybe... could over fuel, I guess.

00:31:00: I mean, I think it's hard maybe to over fuel in an Ironman, but I suppose it's possible.

00:31:04: and I would say, but fuel, but fuel was something that you like and that is not like, if it tastes horrible or you're not enjoying taking it in, that's also going to be hard to do for twelve or fifteen hours, right?

00:31:16: And so, and then practice it.

00:31:19: You want to practice it and you want to have an idea.

00:31:21: Like you shouldn't go out if you're used to taking say a hundred grams an hour and then try and take two hundred grams an hour because your body is most likely never felt what that's like and it's going to be in a bit of shock almost.

00:31:33: Did you have any major fails when it comes to nutrition?

00:31:38: Like in a competition?

00:31:39: To be honest, I don't think I've had any, I don't think I've had any major fails.

00:31:44: Yeah, I mean, I've come a long way.

00:31:46: My first Iron Man, I was reading the book.

00:31:49: the book Born to Run.

00:31:50: Oh, I know that.

00:31:51: Yeah,

00:31:51: it's a good book.

00:31:52: And you know about the tarmara, how they would use

00:31:55: chia seeds.

00:31:56: And you ran barefoot.

00:31:57: I didn't run barefoot.

00:31:58: But what I did is I put my nutrition on the bike as I mixed.

00:32:03: Back then I was also, I was like, eighteen years old.

00:32:06: So I was very much on a budget.

00:32:08: I bought like lemonade from the grocery store.

00:32:12: I poured it in the sports bottles.

00:32:14: And then I put the chia seeds because that's what they said the tarmara did.

00:32:18: But they soaked overnight, but the chia seeds expanded to be like this big.

00:32:23: Sorry.

00:32:23: You couldn't

00:32:24: get any out of it.

00:32:26: Well, no, I actually was drinking it.

00:32:28: I had this set up with the straw.

00:32:29: Okay.

00:32:29: But they basically were like coming into my these these big chia seed balls.

00:32:34: better.

00:32:37: I didn't bonk or anything.

00:32:39: Okay, if this is your biggest fail, that's actually great because it's just a nice story.

00:32:45: Because I had some people sitting here and they were like, okay, I had to puke.

00:32:51: They had some really issues, some big issues.

00:32:54: So it's nice that you don't have that.

00:32:56: So what you're doing, you're journaling your life very precisely on social media.

00:33:02: So I just recently saw posting you a lot of food on your Strava account.

00:33:08: Why is it so important for you to share almost everything?

00:33:13: Yeah, I guess.

00:33:13: And I like how you said that I do view it basically.

00:33:18: I view my social media almost as a private journal rather than thinking of, okay, however many people are seeing it because I feel like if I treat it as a more private thing or just as if it's like with my close friends, then it's more Personable and it's more real.

00:33:34: and honestly, I just try to have.

00:33:36: I just like to have fun with it and it's also Especially on Strava like it's almost a training log for myself to help motivate me or to notice my own own thoughts and to continue my own improvement.

00:33:47: and I mean, I think we all we all feel the same.

00:33:51: we all love to exercise also to eat right and and i've been in italy the last month and good food and good good good food.

00:34:00: and so the highlights always yeah and i've got i've got a know now my wife's grandma you know living with us feeding us and so every time i finish this training it's just like i'm just an amazement.

00:34:12: a huge plate of delicious food comes and it's always different.

00:34:15: and i'm just Yeah, it's a special, special trip.

00:34:20: Yeah,

00:34:20: it looked really good.

00:34:21: To be honest.

00:34:23: But this, the posting is- Actually,

00:34:24: sorry.

00:34:25: I had to get a scale.

00:34:28: Because I'm training for niece world champs, you know, which has a lot of elevation gain.

00:34:34: And I was like, I'm eating a lot of food.

00:34:36: And it's like technically all pasta, pizza, desserts.

00:34:40: I'm like, I got to get a scale to make sure that I'm not like putting on ten.

00:34:44: ten kilograms.

00:34:45: I haven't gained any weight at all.

00:34:47: So there's something to it.

00:34:49: Yeah,

00:34:49: well, then you train a lot as well.

00:34:51: For sure.

00:34:52: But there's posting on Strava.

00:34:54: So especially your training sessions and everything.

00:34:57: I know Fred Funk, you know Fred as well.

00:35:00: He does the same.

00:35:00: But there are many, many athletes that are really hesitant in doing that.

00:35:03: Do you have an explanation?

00:35:05: why is it?

00:35:06: maybe the new generation of athletes, they're more into posting stuff or is it What is your explanation?

00:35:11: No, because I think there's plenty of older athletes who post, and there's also plenty of athletes who are fredderized age who don't post anything.

00:35:23: I think there can tend to be a feeling of, oh, maybe what I'm doing is secret or I want to keep it from other people, or if other people do it, they all get good or something.

00:35:37: Or maybe some people they're just not very social, right?

00:35:40: They just like don't.

00:35:42: yeah, they're very just Private people.

00:35:44: they don't want anyone to know anything about them.

00:35:46: So I think there's there's lots of reasons but for me I've come to realize like I don't really think there's Really that many secrets to it like First off, we're all individuals.

00:35:58: So like yes, I'm trying to basically find the secret recipe for how to train Sam long and that's effectively what my Strava is about.

00:36:05: and Yeah, maybe you're gonna get, I hope actually people, because there's a difference on Strava.

00:36:11: Like, ninety-nine percent of the people who follow me are age groupers.

00:36:15: And I don't mind sharing all the information with them.

00:36:17: But I suppose it's that one percent of your competitors, you feel like you might be giving them the edge or showing them things like this.

00:36:22: But it's also, well, we're all individuals.

00:36:25: So like, all of us at the top level have to find our own things that work for us.

00:36:29: And even then, it's like, you still have to even if I'm giving all the secrets, well, you'd have to go out and do every single training session, which would be like, if someone's willing to do that, if they're gonna copy every single training session and look at it and figure out how to do it exactly, I can tell you that person's gonna end up being good anyways, because they're clearly highly motivated.

00:36:52: That's for sure.

00:36:53: Are there any things you wouldn't share?

00:36:56: So sometimes I do occasionally hide my power on there.

00:37:02: Now why I don't really know.

00:37:05: it's hard to come up with a concrete answer.

00:37:07: I guess it's maybe around Like how the media can perceive it because sometimes I think people cannot Like almost you sometimes hear false power numbers.

00:37:19: So like there's been a couple times like I've hidden my power because like supposedly the people in the race were doing, like, so much more power than me, but I'm like, well, how's this possible?

00:37:30: So then I'm like, if I post it, people might think I was drafted, that I'm just like, I don't want to get into that, you know?

00:37:35: So there's sometimes, for various reasons, I won't show it.

00:37:40: Even though rationally, I'm like, gosh, it really doesn't matter because, like, we all know every power meter's different, weight's different.

00:37:48: Like, that it's, it's incredibly, it's not like running pace.

00:37:51: Like, if someone If two people run the same course and one person runs three twenty per K and one person runs three ten per K Well, you know who ran faster, but like two cyclists one could have done four hundred watts.

00:38:04: Let's say one could have done three hundred and fifty watts.

00:38:06: But like it's hard to say which one actually went faster.

00:38:09: That's true, but sometimes the the general Public I guess can mix that up and so it can create confusion.

00:38:16: So I guess it's sometimes just been done to avoid confusion.

00:38:20: So I would say you're not only a triathlete but also an influencer.

00:38:24: You have over one hundred thirty K followers on Instagram and your own YouTube channel.

00:38:29: What would you say?

00:38:29: How much time do you invest in that?

00:38:32: Yeah, I mean, I don't know how much I like the word influencer.

00:38:35: How would

00:38:36: you call yourself?

00:38:38: Storyteller maybe.

00:38:40: Storyteller's better.

00:38:41: But do

00:38:42: you influence

00:38:43: people?

00:38:43: Yes, for sure, I guess you influence people.

00:38:48: It's a fair bit of time, for sure.

00:38:50: I mean, it's definitely part of... I think being a pro triathlete, probably any pro athlete now is more complicated in a lot of ways than it used to be because it's not really just about performance.

00:39:03: I think you also should be developing these other... these other channels and these other aspects of you.

00:39:10: And so YouTube especially is quite time consuming, especially because I film and edit.

00:39:16: some of the videos on my own.

00:39:17: Oh, well.

00:39:18: But even when I don't, like, I'm always coming up with the story arc, basically, and that takes, it takes thought for sure.

00:39:26: So that's where the storyteller comes from.

00:39:28: Yeah.

00:39:29: Now I get it.

00:39:29: So, okay, I would say we're coming not to the end, but we're moving on in the race.

00:39:34: So it's the final sprint.

00:39:36: Okay.

00:39:37: Final sprint.

00:39:40: Yeah, we reached the quiz number three.

00:39:41: It's a sport trivia question.

00:39:43: like a general sports question this round is who said that I'll read you a statement and you have to decide who said that and if you need it I will help you a little bit with possible answers.

00:39:54: if you hit the mark you'll see.

00:39:55: you earn six points.

00:39:56: if you miss unfortunately no points Don't forget you still can call someone.

00:40:01: So statement is about triathlon history and the statement is, you can keep going and your legs might hurt for a week or you can quit and your mind will hurt for a lifetime.

00:40:12: First off, what do you think about the statement?

00:40:17: I agree completely.

00:40:18: I almost feel like I've said this at some point.

00:40:21: Where's my answer?

00:40:23: Yeah.

00:40:24: And yeah, I mean, I can, because I have, when I was younger, I DNF'd a couple of Ironmans.

00:40:31: I think I've DNF'd.

00:40:32: two aren't well I've DNF three Ironmans but one of them was because of I had three flat tires and at the end my tire was completely shredded.

00:40:40: and so it was that one was like essentially a failure of equipment that I couldn't do anything about.

00:40:47: but I had two other ones and I'll tell you like in the moment when I was young and mentally weak, like I thought, oh, I'm saving myself basically pain.

00:40:57: And then like, I just thought about it for a month at least.

00:41:00: And I'm like, if I just would have gone out there, like, even if it, and both of them were on the run, like, okay, even if I had to walk another thirteen miles, like it would have been a couple more hours of misery and then I would have been done with it as opposed to having to think about it for a whole another month, you know?

00:41:16: So you have that, you still have that, that those kind of feelings?

00:41:20: during races?

00:41:21: Well, now I'll be honest with you.

00:41:22: I have a solid hard rule with myself.

00:41:25: Like, unless if something is properly wrong with my body, I am finishing that race.

00:41:30: Like, because now I have a rule and I have a thing that I believe like quitting is a pattern and quitting is a habit.

00:41:38: And so if you teach yourself to quit in one race, you're more likely to quit in another race.

00:41:42: And it teaches you to find that way out when it's painful in a race.

00:41:46: So now my rule is like, You get it done like you're on the start list You figure out a way to finish that unless if maybe I don't know say you crash your bike.

00:41:57: But even if you crash your bike if it's just road rash and stuff you better finish it.

00:42:00: But yeah, if you have a broken femur, okay, then I guess there's a few exceptions, you know, but Or your equipment totally fails.

00:42:07: Okay, then yes, but like I just believe Even as a professional sometimes it can be okay.

00:42:13: Maybe you save yourself or are you jumping a race next weekend?

00:42:16: But I just like to say no you need to.

00:42:18: You need to never let that door open up.

00:42:21: Okay.

00:42:21: I like that mindset.

00:42:22: So let's do that.

00:42:23: Let's keep that mindset.

00:42:24: Yeah.

00:42:25: And let's answer this question.

00:42:26: Okay.

00:42:27: So what do you have an idea?

00:42:30: I mean, can you give me like an era of who said this?

00:42:36: I would give you four possible answers.

00:42:38: Okay.

00:42:38: Was it David Goggins?

00:42:40: Yeah.

00:42:41: Was it Jan Frodeno?

00:42:43: Cameron Haynes?

00:42:44: Or was it Mark Allen?

00:42:47: You know all of them?

00:42:50: I'm less familiar with Cameron Haynes.

00:42:52: Cameron

00:42:52: Haynes was like a bow hunting athlete, but also the triathlons.

00:42:58: Maybe we phone a friend.

00:43:00: I'm pretty sure it's David Goggins, because this is right up David Goggins.

00:43:05: But I also could see Jan or Mark Allen saying this.

00:43:09: Okay, let's let's who we will be calling.

00:43:11: so

00:43:12: well We have to remember I'm American so that's a nine-hour time change, so it's three ten in the morning back home.

00:43:19: Can we

00:43:20: do that?

00:43:20: most of my friends are not awake?

00:43:21: Yeah, but that's why I'm gonna call

00:43:23: but

00:43:24: my wife who is in Italy so she's on the same time zone, okay, and we'll just pretend that It's because of the time change, not that I just don't have very many friends, you know?

00:43:34: Okay, then we call your wife and then you can just do your call.

00:43:40: Okay, we'll try it like this.

00:43:44: Okay, it's ringing.

00:43:50: Hey, hello, can you hear me?

00:43:51: Yeah.

00:43:53: So I'm phoning you because I've got a trivia question here.

00:43:59: So you have to guess who said this.

00:44:02: Here's the quote, you can keep going and your legs might hurt for a week.

00:44:07: Or you can quit and your mind will hurt for a lifetime.

00:44:14: So possible answers.

00:44:16: And

00:44:16: we got possible answers here.

00:44:18: David Goggins, Jan Frodeno, Cameron Haynes, or Mark Ellen.

00:44:28: You can keep going and your legs might hurt for a week.

00:44:32: Or you can quit and your mind will hurt for a lifetime.

00:44:42: That's what I was, that's where I was starting to lean to.

00:44:44: So you think that's what I go with?

00:44:52: Okay.

00:44:53: Okay.

00:44:54: Then let's put our answer in.

00:44:56: Mark Allen.

00:44:59: Yeah, you can stay on the phone and find out.

00:45:01: You

00:45:01: can stay with us.

00:45:01: So, okay, we log in Mark Allen.

00:45:04: Let's have

00:45:05: a look.

00:45:07: Boom.

00:45:08: There we go.

00:45:08: Yo, yo, yo.

00:45:11: We got it.

00:45:12: Yeah,

00:45:12: six points.

00:45:15: Yo, yo, yo.

00:45:16: Let's go.

00:45:18: Yeah.

00:45:18: Okay.

00:45:19: Okay.

00:45:20: Okay.

00:45:22: Okay.

00:45:23: Thank

00:45:23: you.

00:45:23: Yeah, thank you.

00:45:24: Bye.

00:45:26: Of course.

00:45:29: So that was what you were thinking as well.

00:45:30: Yeah,

00:45:31: I was starting to lean towards Mark Allen.

00:45:32: Okay.

00:45:33: Do you know him personally?

00:45:34: I met him.

00:45:35: Yeah, for sure.

00:45:35: I mean, he lives in Bolt for, he used to live in, he's been in a round Boulder at times.

00:45:41: I don't know if he actually lives there.

00:45:43: What kind of a guy is he?

00:45:45: He's a pretty mellow guy now.

00:45:46: I mean, he's, but I guess he's got that fire beneath him, but now he seems like a pretty, pretty mellow.

00:45:55: Chill, he almost seems a bit like a Buddhist monk now, to be honest.

00:46:00: Yeah, greatest endurance athlete of all time by ESPN, was called by ESPN back in two

00:46:06: thousand twelve.

00:46:06: Wow.

00:46:07: Six, I think, yeah, six time Ironman world champion between nineteen eighty nine and nineteen ninety five.

00:46:13: Yeah.

00:46:14: Crazy, crazy guy for sure.

00:46:17: So that intensity and emotion in while you're running, can you take us?

00:46:25: to a moment where you had to push through really serious pain during a race, during a competition.

00:46:35: Yeah.

00:46:38: Every race.

00:46:39: I mean, yeah, it's usually pretty painful on the run.

00:46:42: I mean, what comes to my mind immediately is the battle with Lionel Sanders in back in... Yeah, in St.

00:46:48: George.

00:46:48: ...in St.

00:46:48: George.

00:46:49: That was incredible, what you did there.

00:46:51: Yeah, that was just on the limit the entire time, you know?

00:46:55: I also can look at back at that because back then I would say I really was, I'm a much better runner now and I've really progressed in the running.

00:47:03: But back then I truly exceeded what I was capable of.

00:47:07: And I think I did that by just, yeah, just wanting it so bad.

00:47:13: But there's no, in that moment, there's no thinking, right?

00:47:16: There's just functioning.

00:47:18: Yeah, it's

00:47:19: the flow state.

00:47:20: I mean, I think when you're racing, there's, if you're properly in the race and... For me, there's rarely much thinking going on.

00:47:28: Of course, there's some thinking of, okay, I need to take a gel now, or the competitor is doing this, so I need to respond to that, but you're really reacting to the environment.

00:47:37: You're not cognitively thinking, you know?

00:47:40: And that's what makes racing such an amazing thing.

00:47:42: Yeah.

00:47:43: So while we were talking about Lionel Sanders, this is, I mean, this rivalry you had is almost a love story, because now you're BFFs, basically.

00:47:51: So how did that friendship evolve?

00:47:53: Yeah, I mean, Lionel's a great guy, and it started basically, yeah, in COVID, I was down there in Arizona.

00:48:03: He had this KOM on Mount Lemmon, all the racing got shut down, and I went and I was like, at that point I was... younger and more brash and uh very very brash and basically said like okay Lionel who had I don't know a lot of more wins than me at that point sort of still has a lot more wins than me let's be clear.

00:48:22: um and I went and I got the KOM from him but he loved it and he was up for the challenge.

00:48:27: but then he went and got it back.

00:48:28: but it kind of sparked this whole community thing.

00:48:31: and then certainly at uh St.

00:48:34: George then we had our battle and I think a lot of mutual respect there.

00:48:37: and then And now how we've become, but I've now moved there.

00:48:43: We're essentially neighbors.

00:48:44: We live like up two kilometers away from each other.

00:48:47: And is

00:48:47: he a guy next door as well?

00:48:49: Lionel is somewhat of a, yeah, you have to get to know him a little bit more though.

00:48:54: He's at first.

00:48:55: He would water your plants and take out your trash while you were on vacation.

00:48:58: For sure.

00:48:58: Yeah, for sure he will.

00:49:00: But he's a little more guarded at first, which I also think is completely understandable.

00:49:08: Our wives essentially became best friends, especially when now we both have young kids.

00:49:12: And so our wives really became best friends and saw each other every day.

00:49:16: And then we'd all get together.

00:49:18: And now, I mean, I had Easter dinner with him.

00:49:22: He was there.

00:49:23: at my wedding.

00:49:25: I mean, we went on the bachelor party together.

00:49:28: I mean, there's been a lot of things now.

00:49:30: A lot

00:49:31: of memories.

00:49:31: Okay, I get you.

00:49:33: So who would you say?

00:49:35: I think this is a difficult question.

00:49:36: Who's the best triathlete at the moment in the world?

00:49:41: Yeah, it's a good question.

00:49:45: And I think the interesting thing is at the moment, right?

00:49:48: At the moment, we're talking at the moment.

00:49:50: because

00:49:51: obviously it can always fluctuate.

00:49:53: I think so far this year, Christian Blumenfeldt has put out probably the most consistent high level of performances, winning these big races by eight minutes, I think is what he's been winning by.

00:50:08: And so it's been quite impressive to see what he's done, of course, also in combination with his accolades.

00:50:15: What does he do better than the others?

00:50:21: Can you really point that out?

00:50:22: What is better, or is it just, okay, his form right now is better than yours, or better than...

00:50:27: Yeah, I mean, I guess he just seems to be stronger than... Like he's pulling ahead on the run, he swims in the front pack, he seems to kind of bid his time on the bike, but then he's essentially always pulling away from people on the run.

00:50:43: So there's one quiz left, and this quiz comes from our community.

00:50:48: The Community Question.

00:50:51: Yup.

00:50:51: Last quiz, and it's a question about... No, I don't tell you already what the question is, so if you're right, you get six points.

00:51:03: If you're not right, you get zero points, of course.

00:51:04: A telephone joker is done, but it was successful at least, so that's fine.

00:51:09: And the question this time comes from Thomas from Berlin.

00:51:14: And he wants to know, how many steps does an average runner take to complete a marathon?

00:51:20: Wow, okay.

00:51:23: Have you ever thought about this?

00:51:27: No, I mean vaguely, I suppose.

00:51:30: We're going to run into average.

00:51:33: Yeah,

00:51:34: average.

00:51:34: We're talking about average.

00:51:35: We're talking about

00:51:36: average.

00:51:36: Not

00:51:37: like big unit athletes.

00:51:38: I

00:51:39: mean, I suppose the best way to work if we try and do some basic math, right?

00:51:44: Okay.

00:51:45: I'm not good at math, so you have to do the math.

00:51:48: Yeah, I guess I'll probably do it in the imperial system since I know the imperial system is better than the metric system.

00:51:53: You can

00:51:53: call your brother who is the

00:51:55: banker.

00:51:56: We've got, yeah, sixteen hundred and nine meters to a mile, right?

00:52:03: Or fifty-two, maybe I'm better in the metric system actually.

00:52:09: Sixteen hundred and nine meters.

00:52:10: Can we write some stuff down on the paper?

00:52:14: Okay.

00:52:15: There you go.

00:52:16: So we've got forty.

00:52:20: Actually, we'll go with the metric system.

00:52:21: Forty two point two kilometers

00:52:23: easier for me as well.

00:52:24: We've got one thousand meters to a kilometer.

00:52:28: And so I'm going to try and figure out how many basically steps they take in a thousand and one kilometer and a thousand meters.

00:52:38: And let's assume the average stride length is maybe about one meter.

00:52:47: If you say so, yeah.

00:52:48: It's hard.

00:52:49: That could really change a lot though, right?

00:52:51: One meter.

00:52:51: I mean,

00:52:52: it's a range for

00:52:53: sure.

00:52:53: It's about this much.

00:52:55: Is

00:52:56: this a meter?

00:52:56: Yeah.

00:52:59: That's probably a little over that.

00:53:01: Yeah.

00:53:01: One and a half.

00:53:02: Let's go with one and a half meters.

00:53:03: Don't you think about that far?

00:53:04: That's

00:53:04: a lot.

00:53:05: One meter is probably about

00:53:06: that.

00:53:07: I think one meter is fine.

00:53:08: Yeah.

00:53:09: Okay.

00:53:09: I would go with one meter.

00:53:12: So that means a thousand steps to a kilometer times forty-two.

00:53:20: Which is forty two forty two thousand two hundred steps.

00:53:26: Yeah, this

00:53:27: is your answer.

00:53:28: I mean, I give you the solution.

00:53:30: I mean, I'm not really.

00:53:31: I'm not saying okay.

00:53:32: It has to be forty two thousand K steps or something.

00:53:35: I'm

00:53:35: gonna say roughly I give

00:53:36: you a range Roughly about.

00:53:39: I'm gonna say Let's say Yeah, about forty thousand steps

00:53:43: about forty thousand steps.

00:53:45: Yeah, okay.

00:53:45: Let's let's have a look if it's right or wrong.

00:53:49: Six points.

00:53:50: There we go.

00:53:51: No, it was really good.

00:53:53: How you came to.

00:53:54: the solution was correct because with a stride length of zero point eight to one point two meters, that's approximately... uh, thirty five, uh, to fifty three K. So that, that would have been if you were in that range, it would have been the, the correct answer.

00:54:10: So it was, it was completely right.

00:54:12: I think you were almost exactly in the middle.

00:54:13: So there was,

00:54:14: yeah, was

00:54:15: the, was the correct answer.

00:54:16: Yeah.

00:54:16: Uh,

00:54:17: it's still a lot of steps.

00:54:20: Do you, do you think about those kinds of things while you are running or while you are in the competition?

00:54:25: So how, how much you're really doing in that moment?

00:54:29: Or is it just like, okay, you focused and you know what you have to do?

00:54:34: One thing I do like to do is I do like to do math while in or even just training like.

00:54:39: I love computing average speeds and stuff like even on my Garmin like I love to just have the distance and the time but not the average speed.

00:54:50: and I've always.

00:54:52: Just because it gives me something to do maybe more so in training than racing.

00:54:56: But I think you know I'm out there for so many hours training and I guess it gets a little boring that I'm always like it's a game I play like okay, what's the average speed you know?

00:55:04: and Doing that or then computing like okay like if It's always fun to compute.

00:55:10: Okay, if you get off I get off the bike and say someone's hmm two minutes ahead over a half marathon.

00:55:16: Well, how much faster per mile do I have to run in order to catch them?

00:55:19: And then if it changes, then you compute it and it's just kind of fun games to play with myself.

00:55:25: So

00:55:25: that doesn't get boring during eleven or seven or eight hours.

00:55:28: So

00:55:29: yeah, I have

00:55:30: to do it.

00:55:31: But so we were talking a lot about the training, you know, the swimming, the running, the biking.

00:55:38: How big is the mental thing?

00:55:42: How would you rate that in that big picture?

00:55:45: The mental, I think, is huge.

00:55:50: It's hard to, I think, overstate it.

00:55:52: I think at the elite level, I think oftentimes, yeah, you can lose races.

00:55:57: Like, sometimes people are just physically stronger.

00:56:00: But if you're at a close playing field, I do think it's often decided based off the mental attributes of the athletes in the race and how they mentally handle it.

00:56:11: And most of us are, if we're honest with ourselves, we're relatively close physically to each other.

00:56:17: I mean, we're all out there training full time to be the best we can.

00:56:20: And so it's how do you, and sometimes a win can be separated by a handful of seconds, you know, over four, over a four hour race.

00:56:28: I mean, that you're essentially the same physical capabilities then.

00:56:31: So it's decided based on the mental attributes.

00:56:34: So when we were talking about mindset, so I think that must have changed a lot since your first son was born back in in two thousand thirty-three.

00:56:43: You said, I'm just kind of rethinking my whole life.

00:56:46: So

00:56:46: how did your life change as a pro athlete?

00:56:48: That's what I said back then.

00:56:49: Yeah, you said back then.

00:56:50: I'm just kind of rethinking my whole life.

00:56:54: That actually sounds.

00:56:55: And

00:56:55: I understand that because I have a son is one year old and I'm rethinking my whole life as

00:56:58: well.

00:56:58: That actually sounds exactly perfect because now our son just turned two.

00:57:03: And what I said is I said, you know, when he turned one, My expression was basically this, thank God I've made it to one.

00:57:12: This was a grind, and I'm just so glad he's one to old, basically.

00:57:18: And now at two, I was so happy at his birthday, and now my expression is like, I'm a parent, I'm a dad, and I love being a parent and a dad, and this is the greatest thing of life.

00:57:30: I don't think as a parent we ever figure it out.

00:57:34: I think it's always continually evolving, but the first year was certainly extra overwhelming and getting systems in place and all sorts of stuff.

00:57:43: And now it feels like the greatest joy is coming back to all of them and and getting to see the family and getting to be with them.

00:57:53: Yeah.

00:57:53: And now you're doing it all over again.

00:57:54: You're you're a wife.

00:57:55: Flora is expecting your second child now.

00:57:57: It's it's coming soon.

00:57:59: So what are your feelings about this?

00:58:00: rethinking life again?

00:58:02: What is it?

00:58:04: Or you know everything already?

00:58:06: No, definitely don't know everything.

00:58:07: But my idea with the set, my hope with the second one is to really be more present.

00:58:12: Like I felt with the first one.

00:58:14: Yeah, I guess really thinking Rethinking my life like the first one I felt like I was always.

00:58:21: I was Basically behind the ball the curve all the time and I was having to figure things out.

00:58:26: and I was really stressed with racing and stressed with finances and stressed with all these things that Obviously I saw the miracle happening in front of me, but I wasn't like.

00:58:36: you wasn't there

00:58:36: I wasn't as fully there as I would have liked.

00:58:39: so this time I really hope to also realize like, okay, maybe the racing at times can take a little bit of a backseat because it goes so fast and I really want to be present and soak in the precious moments.

00:58:50: I have another quote for you that you said.

00:58:53: I think it was back in that time as well.

00:58:56: Life is harder than triathlon.

00:58:58: What did you mean by that?

00:59:00: What makes life so hard?

00:59:03: This quote I actually got from.

00:59:05: I stole this quote from someone.

00:59:07: I don't know.

00:59:08: Mark

00:59:08: Gellin.

00:59:09: No.

00:59:09: Yeah,

00:59:09: Mark Gellin.

00:59:10: Yeah, exactly.

00:59:12: This quote I got from someone.

00:59:13: I was in Chile.

00:59:14: I had just done a race.

00:59:16: Yeah, my son Leo was like five months old at this point.

00:59:20: And it was the day after a seventy point three Pucon, which I won, but I was deciding to go on this adventure and explore.

00:59:28: So I was riding my bike up to this volcano.

00:59:31: but it turned to gravel and it was raining and this guy came and he picked me up in this big van.

00:59:36: And he said, like, come on in and I'll take you up.

00:59:38: And at first I'm like, you should have get in vans with random people.

00:59:43: In Chile, it's okay.

00:59:45: I did.

00:59:46: And he had like served in the military and he was like, six years old.

00:59:50: He was sharing his whole life story and he was then saying like life, it was him.

00:59:55: He was saying like, life is harder than a triathlon.

00:59:58: That's why it's anyways.

01:00:00: I just had this great talk with him and I realized like it is true like We often think especially as pros.

01:00:06: I think that okay the time or your result or what happens in the triathlon is like.

01:00:12: But the complexities that we face in our day-to-day life are certainly far greater than triathlon and it's it's to put it into perspective of like.

01:00:20: yes this Obviously, it's an incredibly complex sport to become as fast as we want to become and we want to win everything or we all want to get PRs and we all want to do all this stuff.

01:00:30: But like, at the end, it's a pursuit of excellence and it's also something we do for enjoyment.

01:00:38: And we also do it, I think, to find another level to push ourselves so that.

01:00:43: The real goal is that we can carry over that mental toughness and that I can do this attitude to life when we're faced with other things, right?

01:00:51: I think this is, yeah, there's a really good words to end this quiz session.

01:00:56: And I think we should go to the cooldown now.

01:00:59: Okay.

01:01:01: Cool down.

01:01:03: Okay.

01:01:03: Now we can breathe a little bit and we did it.

01:01:06: You did it.

01:01:07: So how hard was the quiz today?

01:01:10: It was uh, I mean I got three out of four, right?

01:01:14: Yeah, you

01:01:14: got you get Six plus six plus six is eighteen points.

01:01:17: Yeah, but eighteen points is good.

01:01:18: Yeah,

01:01:19: so good

01:01:20: You're happy with it with the result.

01:01:21: Yeah, I'm happy with it.

01:01:22: So that means the power bar voucher for this episode is just eighteen percent.

01:01:26: You will find it in the in the show notes and of course this goes as well as a donation into the charity fund of this podcast.

01:01:33: So before I let you go I, of course, have a lot of, a couple of other questions for you.

01:01:39: How would you rate your season so far, Sam?

01:01:42: Yeah, the season, the season so far, I'd give it like, I'd give it about ninety percent.

01:01:49: Okay.

01:01:49: So I'd actually say it's been quite successful.

01:01:52: And I've, I really did want to win St.

01:01:55: George.

01:01:55: So that one hurt not to win.

01:01:58: But it always hurts not to win.

01:01:59: But I feel my preparation has been really good.

01:02:02: I've made really good decisions.

01:02:03: I've stayed healthy and there's still a lot, there's the biggest goal left of the season.

01:02:08: And so, like I had to maybe sacrifice, I didn't get myself in the past, I've gotten myself in my peak form in May to win the races in May.

01:02:18: And this year, I purposely held back a little bit in the hopes of being stronger here at the World Champs.

01:02:24: And so, the fact that I was still able to accomplish, get three podiums, two wins, do all these things, while also knowing that I was purposefully holding myself.

01:02:34: back a little bit makes me, makes me feel I've really metered out my effort.

01:02:38: Good.

01:02:39: And

01:02:39: then, uh, then I have.

01:02:40: the next question is what's up next.

01:02:41: So when I just saw that you signed up, uh, yeah, basically last minute for T one hundred in London.

01:02:46: Yeah.

01:02:46: So I'm literally today.

01:02:48: I'm like on my way to London.

01:02:49: So I flew here.

01:02:50: I'm here for the podcast to connect with power bar.

01:02:53: And then I fly out to London later today to race on Saturday.

01:02:57: And

01:02:57: what's the idea behind that?

01:02:59: It was last minute call.

01:03:00: Last minute call.

01:03:01: So it's, uh, they had a cancellation of Las Vegas and that was in October and I still have to, I'm signed with them.

01:03:10: so I have a certain amount of races I need to meet and so this then made the most sense to do this one as the replacement.

01:03:18: So I'm essentially responding to the changing environment around me.

01:03:23: But I'm still hopeful.

01:03:24: It'll be nice to go to London and then we've got New World Champs coming up in six weeks now.

01:03:30: Okay.

01:03:30: Okay.

01:03:30: A lot of, a lot going on.

01:03:32: So do you have, do you have a goal in your life as an athlete that you still want to, want to reach?

01:03:40: Yeah.

01:03:41: I mean, obviously the big goal is to win the Ironman World Champs.

01:03:45: So to be a world champion.

01:03:46: and

01:03:47: how, how, how would you, would you personally rate yourself?

01:03:49: How far are you away from that goal to reach that goal?

01:03:54: It's hard to rate like.

01:03:57: It changes.

01:03:58: Sometimes I feel very, very far away, you know, but then other times I feel quite close, you know, and I think, yeah, it's like it could happen.

01:04:12: It could potentially even happen this year.

01:04:14: Like I know it's a possibility.

01:04:15: I have to focus on having my best possible day and obviously like long term, if I can really get my swim down better, it's going to make it a much more Feasible thing, you know, because right now I have to I'd have to do something like beyond insane on the bike and the run.

01:04:32: But it's still possibility that I could I could have that day and and then you see you got to look at all the other world champs And you realize like unless if they're a repeating world champ like everyone who became a world champ who wasn't already like They were a far long ways away from doing it before they did it right, but then You go out and you make it happen.

01:04:53: It was really nice talking to you, Sam.

01:04:56: You're a really, really good guy.

01:04:58: A really guy next door.

01:04:59: I understand that thing better.

01:05:01: Really, really nice stories.

01:05:03: Last question that I have for you is, where do you see yourself in ten years, still racing, mentoring others, completely different life?

01:05:12: Yeah, I do think I hope to still be racing in ten years and obviously we'll see how the world's changed since then and it would be great.

01:05:20: Yeah, to maybe be mentoring people more as well then, but I realized the athletic life is short and I turned.

01:05:29: I turned thirty this year.

01:05:30: And so, yeah, making it to right about forty would be a huge and great goal and it's a great lifestyle.

01:05:36: And so I hope to do it as long as I can within reason.

01:05:40: And I also know it won't last like forty years old.

01:05:43: It's still only halfway through my life.

01:05:45: And I'll have to completely reinvent myself, basically.

01:05:48: Yeah.

01:05:49: So that means we meet each other here in ten years and we will see how far you got from here.

01:05:56: Thank you so much.

01:05:57: It was really nice to have you.

01:05:59: That's it for today on Power Brands.

01:06:01: I hope you had fun and maybe picked up a few points yourself and that you'll be joining us again for the next episode.

01:06:08: if you have your own ideas for quiz questions, sports nutrition.

01:06:12: or just want to leave some feedback for us, then feel free to write to us or comment on Instagram as always.

01:06:18: You'll find the link in the show notes.

01:06:20: And of course, if you like this podcast, Powerbrains, I'd really appreciate if you rate us with five stars and subscribe to the podcast.

01:06:27: Thank you, Sam, and see you guys next time on Powerbrains.

01:06:31: Thank you.