Prepare to have your passion for cycling and endurance sports rekindled as we embark on an epic journey through the realms of triathlon glory and the raw thrill of adventure racing. Buckle up as DJ Snyder, Ironman Maryland champion and multi-faceted athlete, joins us to share his incredible story from cross-country roots to the pinnacle of triathlon success. Not just an athlete, DJ opens up about the delicate balance of running a mini-farm and thriving in a bustling business career, all while managing to stay at the top of his game.
The spirit of multi-sport athletes is truly inspiring, and we're diving straight into the heart of what it takes to train, strategize, and compete. I'll recount my own transformative experiences, from my first breathless year of triathlon training to battling the elements in a 24-hour adventure race in Texas. It’s a no-holds-barred insight into the mental and physical fortitude required for such feats, with personal accounts of strategy, endurance, and the communities that fuel our fire.
We round out the episode with a look at the enchanting blend of technical skill and natural splendor that Xterra racing offers, and how the simple joy of animal rescue intertwines with the demanding lifestyle of an endurance athlete. Whether you're intrigued by the behind-the-scenes of elite sponsorship evolution or seeking tips on improving your cycling technique amidst a hectic schedule, this episode has it all. Join us as we celebrate the unyielding strength of athletes and the extraordinary lives they lead, both on and off the racecourse.
Instagram @djsnydertri
Prepare to have your passion for cycling and endurance sports rekindled as we embark on an epic journey through the realms of triathlon glory and the raw thrill of adventure racing. Buckle up as DJ Snyder, Ironman Maryland champion and multi-faceted athlete, joins us to share his incredible story from cross-country roots to the pinnacle of triathlon success. Not just an athlete, DJ opens up about the delicate balance of running a mini-farm and thriving in a bustling business career, all while managing to stay at the top of his game.
The spirit of multi-sport athletes is truly inspiring, and we're diving straight into the heart of what it takes to train, strategize, and compete. I'll recount my own transformative experiences, from my first breathless year of triathlon training to battling the elements in a 24-hour adventure race in Texas. It’s a no-holds-barred insight into the mental and physical fortitude required for such feats, with personal accounts of strategy, endurance, and the communities that fuel our fire.
We round out the episode with a look at the enchanting blend of technical skill and natural splendor that Xterra racing offers, and how the simple joy of animal rescue intertwines with the demanding lifestyle of an endurance athlete. Whether you're intrigued by the behind-the-scenes of elite sponsorship evolution or seeking tips on improving your cycling technique amidst a hectic schedule, this episode has it all. Join us as we celebrate the unyielding strength of athletes and the extraordinary lives they lead, both on and off the racecourse.
Instagram @djsnydertri
What is up? Cycling Oklahoma? Thanks for tuning in for another episode. Welcome to 2024. I'm not sure when you are listening to this, but we are off to a crazy cold start in 2024 and hopefully you're surviving and getting those miles in on the trainer or bundling up and getting out there on the trails and enjoying life. It is dirt season around Oklahoma, so hopefully you're doing some of the endurance mountain bike events or getting ready for some of the great gravel events that we have coming up.
Speaker 1:Definitely go and check out our Instagram at cycling Oklahoma to see the events that are happening around Oklahoma uh, everywhere in Oklahoma. Every event that I can find I try to put on there and at the first of the month, to show the race calendar. So make sure that you're checking that out and if you have comments or sometimes I miss races because they are not on the sites that I'm looking at so if that is the case, please make sure to send that over to me so we have a good, accurate calendar for everyone that's looking at that. Also, any groups that are out there, any bike shops or just people that are putting on group rides or races make sure to tag cycling Oklahoma on Instagram and I will share that on the stories, because we definitely want to be a resource for people to find information for training. Uh, group rides, races, events, anything that's going on around Oklahoma that has to do with two wheels. We want to make sure people know about it. So make sure you tag cycling Oklahoma on Instagram so we can get those updates out there.
Speaker 1:Uh, today's episode is going to be a cool one. Um, this is one that I have recorded and it was a perfect time to to send it out. Um, some of our cycling people out there that are just roadies, uh, maybe like oh, another triathlete, yeah, another triathlete, and he is a bad dude. Uh, dj, um, man, I don't even know. This guy's won so many things and done so many different types of races, um, from adventure races to triathlons of every kind of discipline and distance. Um, he's done, he's done a little of everything, to be honest with you, and him and his wife have basically a farm at their mini farm, at their house, with just the most wild collection of animals. So, um, go follow DJ Snyder on Instagram because you get to see all the animals and it is wonderful. But, uh, but, dj is a super, super, super fast dude. He was an overall winner of Ironman Maryland a handful of years ago, so we're not talking just a fast guy locally, we're talking one of the fastest dudes out in the country. So, um, he's got a great story and, um, he's incredibly intelligent and a very successful businessman. So he's got a little of everything going on. So I think you'll really enjoy this episode. So stay tuned.
Speaker 1:Uh, even if you're a roadie, I think you're going to find some fun information, some fun stories here and, uh, but reach out and follow DJ. Um, make sure you're tagging Cycling Oklahoma in any of your posts when it comes to something that you want to share with the community, and I'll do my best. I can't get every one of them shared, um, but I will do my best to get those shared on there. Hopefully, we have some really fun things coming. Um, I've started working on a project that I think all of our fans are going to love, but it's taken some time and I have been busy with training and work and all those kinds of things, so I'm doing it every chance I get.
Speaker 1:But, um, because of the support of more overhead door, this project is going to be able to come, uh, come to life. So I can't thank more overhead door enough for their support of Cycling Oklahoma and uh sponsoring the podcast, but also that money is just going right back into the community. I'm trying to put their money to good use and put their money to uh to work in the cycling community to make it better here in Oklahoma. So more overhead door is supporting us. Please support them. Um.
Speaker 1:For anything garage door related, if you're looking for a new one for a new house, um to replace yours, this winter it's miserably cold because your pain cave is in the garage and you need to insulate a garage door. These are a great group of guys and gals to reach out to. Um. If you have one of your springs break or something goes on with this winter weather, please reach out to more overhead door. They're, uh, they're supporting us. We want to support them. You can find them at more overhead doorcom or reach out to them on the phone uh. 405 799 9214 more overhead doorcom. But please support the people that are supporting us and, uh, I hope you guys enjoy this one and stay warm out there, and hopefully we have a lot of really fun, cool episodes coming soon. All right, dj, we're now recording, so we'll clean up the conversation a little bit. We won't be as personal, but I want you to. Uh, we've really tried to do this for, like I don't even know how long. It's been a few months.
Speaker 2:It's been a few months so.
Speaker 1:I'm glad we were finally able to sit down and do this and make it happen. Um, so, before we get into any of the good stories cause I have a couple of them on to ask you about give a quick elevator pitch of who you are and where you come from, and then let's get into the good stuff.
Speaker 2:Uh, DJ Snyder live in Edmond, Oklahoma, from Idaho. Um shoot, I started running cross country in high school and then really got into endurance sports in college, Just kind of trying to stay out of trouble. And, um like, I had some friends in Madison, Wisconsin, so I watched the Ironman in Wisconsin and then I kind of like, oh well, I can maybe run like a three hour marathon and well, biking's not that hard, you know and then, like I, can pick up swimming and I, you know like 10 hours is pretty okay.
Speaker 2:And then like, like said that out loud and then I was like, okay, well, shoot. Then you got to do it. No, I got to back that up, uh-huh. So then um found a coach and this was like 2007. So it's been a few years, mark Allen online, louise Vargas and Mark Allen like put together a program and then just stuck to that program for the entire next year and then like came and did like I think it was 946 or something, your first one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so yeah. So hold on, you leave. You've left out a lot of stuff, or you're just a freak.
Speaker 2:There's, there's been a maybe a year or two left out.
Speaker 1:Okay, Okay, Uh so when did you, when did you start doing cross country? Like what age were you? So?
Speaker 2:16 and 18 is when I you were just two years across country track.
Speaker 1:Did you do any?
Speaker 2:ball sports or do anything else I grew up playing ice hockey Okay, so that was like my big sport, and then skiing and just normal outdoor, normal outdoor stuff, yeah, and then found running, and then it was in college that you found. B-wantana. It's like 2000 person school, completely engineering focused. It's a dead mining town, so it's a whole bunch of like a lot of bars, a lot of drinking, and I was just like maybe I want to try something a little bit different stay, stay athletic.
Speaker 2:Cause at that time it was just like getting out and running, running up mountains and hiking and stuff, and getting outside riding a mountain bike.
Speaker 2:Um, that was like the lead into it, yeah, running, and then I ended up doing an ultra marathon like my sophomore year. So it was really just like I had no idea what I was doing. Uh, this was like the beginning of hammer nutrition and feed. Uh-huh, there weren't, there wasn't any nutrition or anything out there. Right To say so. It was really just kind of trial and error. And then building up mileage. You know, your knees get hurt and so I picked up a bicycle and started mountain biking and then it was really. Then I saw the Ironman, wisconsin, and that was. I think that was 2007. So that was probably sophomore year. And then 2008 is when I raced it. So I raced in Olympic in between.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I had a little experience. He literally had like clue what transition was and stuff. Yeah, yeah, lee, your first full was a 947.
Speaker 2:Something like that, that is smoking.
Speaker 1:Did you realize at the time like how fast that was?
Speaker 2:No, I mean I like once I was like okay, here's kind of my goal of what times and everything. Cause each one of those segments you can go. Okay, I can. I can handle 20 miles on a bike, then 20 miles an hour on a bike. It's not super and that doesn't sound like a lot and you kind of got to break it down. Well, that's on top of the swimming. And you just got a marathon so I could for sure run a three hour marathon.
Speaker 1:So running you were naturally gifted in. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, we had a really good cross country team. It was a good like sports environment. Everybody was supportive.
Speaker 1:Did the other sports come pretty easy to you as well. Like, because sometimes, like runners struggle with the bike, with having power on the bike, I did for a ton of years.
Speaker 2:So like my bike always hung around like 515 forever and ever and ever. And then I put more of an emphasis on the bike in like 16 maybe, okay, so it was like 10 years later, gotcha.
Speaker 2:But it is really like try to break, like take a step back, break down every sport, because they are sports themselves. Swimming is swimming, so it's all focused on form and not effort, and that took like years to figure that out Right. And then biking is like power. So again, starting back then, like my hands are strong, had power and that was about it. So it was all like my training was all based on heart rate.
Speaker 2:So heart rate zones and then just trying to keep your nutrition in Gotcha. So like those were the four sports.
Speaker 1:Which one did you struggle with the most from the start?
Speaker 2:Swimming was the biggest struggle, but then biking as far as the amount of time it makes up in that race was the bigger struggle.
Speaker 1:Did you because, like for one, I hate swimming and so I don't do it enough because I'm like so, so so I did it Basically. I do it enough to not be like sucky, but I don't do it enough to actually get any better. It's kind of my thought in it, but really like there was one year that I tried to put in a lot of effort into it and I really just I was putting in a lot of effort and seeing very minimal gains, and did you have that? Or did you say like, or were you kind of like because some people are just like naturally asked like read Foster is a perfect example Whenever he started doing it and really paying attention, really working out, like he just really progressed quickly, like it just continued to get better quickly. Was it kind of that way for you? Or did you kind of like beat your head against the wall for a while?
Speaker 2:No, I beat my head against the wall for years and it really was like taking a step back and slowing it down.
Speaker 2:Because, at first I was like young, 20 years old and super athletic and you can recover pretty quickly. So the efforts are really hard but you're not getting faster, right. And so that was a struggle. I just remember doing my first like 20 by 100s and just wanted to quit, like it's completely anaerobic, it just feels horrible and the times are just slow, right. And then it was like I think it was maybe 14 when it was, hey, take a step back and really just do it every single day. Okay. So in Houston, we lived in Houston for five or six years and we found an endless pool on Craigslist, bought the endless pool, brought it back to the house you have that, your house now, yeah, yeah, and that, the endless pool was taller than the fence and we used to Kelsey and I used to put like an
Speaker 2:inner tube in there and then put the little floaty on and we just like bounce around and like look into the neighbor's yard. That's awesome, that's hilarious. But it was like you go for a bike an hour bike and then you just come back home and do 15 minutes cool down and like that consistency every single day. Like went from you know an hour kind of on average for a swim down to like I think I did 52 minutes in Mallorca, damn, that's fast. But then now also I'm like back to that 30, 31 minute half iron man. So you do kind of lose it. But now, like my swim efforts are like a half an hour Right, maybe a Monday or a Friday, and then it's just kind of slow, focus on form and really like I don't think I've done intervals in years, so it's just like the effort and then focusing on form for the swim.
Speaker 1:Gotcha. So you had a like a seven year roughly chunk of just like grinding it out before it finally clicked and really took off. But you had to swim decent at your very first race to do a 947.
Speaker 2:It was a 103. I was expecting like 115. But it was really like what is it? The scrubs of like where the guy is like picking up from tree putting in the puck picking up from tree. And it's all I was doing is like catch and pull. It's like that was. My mantra is just do a catch and pull. It's like this arm doesn't move until this arm moves, and that's, that's how I made it through that, and I remember looking down at the watch and going, holy shit, how did that happen?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Man, that's awesome, but that's a good problem to have. For that. Your first race would be in that level, in that world. How did you finish? Did you win your age group?
Speaker 2:No, there were some killer guys. There's, like, I think, a guy that did like 915 or something, and back then that's pretty outrageous.
Speaker 1:That's outrageous, especially at that young of an age group. Yeah, so I was wild.
Speaker 2:I was third, but I still qualified for Kona.
Speaker 1:Okay, so there are like Madison was constantly here, you qualified.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's wild and then so the whole next year. I basically I think I did one half in Boise and then just trained up for Ironman Kona Okay Gotcha, and then going to Kona was just unreal. What did?
Speaker 1:you think you're first? Because we talked about that a little bit before, because I wanted to ask you about several things, so we'll just jump into that now. What did you think your first year? Oh man, back then it was like it was a brand new world.
Speaker 2:And then going I think we got there Tuesday and came into the parade of nations and then just seeing like everybody's the fittest person in the world, and then they're like speaking all sorts of foreign languages so they're from all over and it was just something so unique at like 20 years old, like never seen it, never part of it, and I knew I wanted to go like 930.
Speaker 2:Okay, was kind of where my mindset was. It's like, if I can put it all together, I could hit 930. And so I came out of the swim at like 105, 106. And I was a little behind what I thought I could do. But it's saltwater, it's like just focused on the bike and going out on the bike is killer right, it's 100% humidity.
Speaker 1:It's the humidity.
Speaker 2:Complete exposure super windy.
Speaker 1:And I think that's the one thing that was not. I didn't grasp. Like you're like, oh, it's like 90 degrees and it's black top, like I can kind of relate that in Oklahoma in the summertime Like, okay, the humidity, yeah, it's just, it's awful, awful, like 24 hours a day. Like you don't get a relief, so you sweat from the time you get off to a plane until the time you get back on the plane. Yeah, oh, it's brutal.
Speaker 2:I remember we yeah, we got a hotel without AC and it was like the next two years we got AC. The first time was like awful, the place we just stayed in it has.
Speaker 1:It was like a garage that they had converted for like an Airbnb and the living room, kitchen area didn't have AC, but our bedroom did. Going in that bedroom was like walking into an icebox. It was so mace but man sitting on the couch and none of the houses had AC, like they all have their windows open the whole entire time. I'm like, how do these people do it? It's freaking awful, so bad. Yeah, it's a different, it's a different kind of misery, for sure. So your first experience how did you end up finishing that? Well then, you get off the bike and the run's brutal.
Speaker 2:So getting off the bike and, yeah, it's just complete Like down a. A li-i is just uh, it's like stagnant air, so it's all just kind of sits there, hot and humid and like the sweat just gathers up. And I think it was like I just can't slow down. My like my pace was six thirties or six forties and I was like I know I need to slow down, I need to slow down and I just couldn't. So it was like well, I'm just going to go until I can't. And then climbing up Poulani and then going out to the energy lab, I think I remember it was like my parents parents were like you're in 10th or something, and I was like okay, just keep chugging, keep chugging. And then going to the energy lab and coming back out and I think one of the coaches was on the scooter and was like you're in sixth, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:And I was like fuck, just keep going and then uh like I wish something happened so I could sweat hurting so much and then, like Luis pulled up to me I think like three miles left, and he's like fifth is right there and I was like damn, and it was a time X guy and I was. I was like time X was like the big hit that everybody wanted to be on and I was like I kind of bugged.
Speaker 1:Tristan, and then he was sponsored a couple pieces of the.
Speaker 2:They were like the I think the bike course.
Speaker 1:And yeah.
Speaker 2:And so I was like trying to, I really wanted on the team and the manager had a guy in Marseille age group and so he was like he didn't blow me off, tristan's awesome. But I was definitely like, oh man, I want to hunt this guy down. And I finally passed him and then, like, going up like the last I think it's mile, my hamstrings just started cramping like a knot and I was like no, and then just struggling back in and I think I hit 930, like 30 something.
Speaker 1:Oh man.
Speaker 2:And it was like spot on, and it was awesome.
Speaker 1:Fourth place, just like didn't even realize A couple of races you had. Yeah, you're like man, this is easy, like this is great.
Speaker 2:Oh, it was at no point did I ever think it was easy, but but did you realize what you were actually pulling off Like are? We still so young and you're still like.
Speaker 1:This is what. This is just what's been normal so far.
Speaker 2:It definitely wasn't normal, but I was really like happy with the efforts. Yeah, it was a ton of effort. It was like very methodical approaches and sticking into like exactly what the coach wanted, because back then it was like 20, 25 hours working out a day.
Speaker 1:That's what I felt.
Speaker 2:And I was in college so I could wake up early, I could do it between classes, I had time to recover.
Speaker 1:So you were doing 20, 25 hours a week, all the time, all the time. Yeah, start training.
Speaker 2:January 1st and doing two to two days and like Wednesdays would be three a days, and that I think has helped build up the base and like just the good practice of like knowing when to back it off. And but now everybody's kind of changed training methods lactic acid power I think that brings up the level.
Speaker 1:And it works so well with your engineering brain to multi sport is like perfect combination for you.
Speaker 2:Well, it's like I don't want to think about it. That's why you hire coaches.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Like I don't have the brain power to like put to that, so as I'd rather have somebody who knows what they're doing direct me into what to do, so, I'm not wasting my time learning and failing and getting injured and then frustrated. So it was hey, I know at the beginning that I want to do well, so I'm going to invest in a coach and just have them direct.
Speaker 1:So you've always had coaches.
Speaker 2:Up until probably like 13, where I started really going more full time engineering and then, because I had the right around that, that time is do I want to go professional.
Speaker 1:That's what I was going to ask, Because it was like God, there were like the three guys.
Speaker 2:One guy ended up the guy that won our age group ended up having a heart problem from Austria, but he was like an insane biker, gotcha. And then second place, I think his name was like Tim Tim Reed, but he won the 70.3 Ironman World Championships like the professional. And then Rodrigo was from Columbia and he's still a professional triathlete like through South America. So, like all of those guys have gone on and stayed professional. But I just saw by the time I'd hit 40, 45, like the body would be destroyed Right and then you'd have to reinvent yourself at 40. So I figured, okay, stick with the professional career and then enjoy this as a hobby.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 1:So you knew early on that was just going to be a top age group kind of grind.
Speaker 1:And then, as a fun thing, yeah and me and Smoke were actually just talking about this this week I'm like these guys that are we were talking about Reed, he was one of them, you know like he's kind of that level where if, like, if he like was, had the ability to put in like just a little bit extra more time, or it started a few years earlier, like in this, say you like anyways 20 or 18, you know, because he came to it late it would be. Then you have to make that decision Like, and we were both talking like it would be better to be instead of being like a mid-pack pro and just grinding so hard to just scrape by. Especially nowadays, you can be a top age grouper and get probably better endorsement deals, better like support from companies and enjoy winning stuff and competing, instead of like just grinding to not like lose another spot. And I think it would be so much more enjoyable to be a top age grouper than a mid-pack pro.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's interesting that everybody's approach to that and for me it was take the professional route and enjoy it as a hobby, which is still I mean, it's easy to say that, but it's still like, hey, I want, I have goals, I want to do, you know, break nine hours, I want to hit this pace and like then all that stuff kind of goes out the window and you hyper focus on that goal, right?
Speaker 1:So there's that balance. Well, and your so that was your first year of Kona was in 20, as a nine don't we say oh nine, oh nine, so you get back in for 10.
Speaker 2:10, I mean, I think after that point I was, I had graduated and working full time as an engineer. So, I think I did like a 946 again and a 945. So I mean, I think it was like top 10 and then I aged up and it was just middle of the pack. Again, great experiences. But at that point I think it really was like the world level. Competition was way way past me.
Speaker 1:How quick that's like gone up yeah it's crazy, Do you? So you've kind of been in the inside for a long time now, like in racing at a top level. What do you think has changed to make the athletes so much faster?
Speaker 2:I think the training for sure is what's made everybody faster. The nutrition has changed completely. Like we've done all these trials and errors and now we kind of know what not to do, like the super high threshold workouts all the time, like you got to back it off. You change up your paces to prevent injury. Cycling and power is huge. I think like I really don't enjoy it and I definitely didn't get into the sport to stay on an indoor trainer, but that for sure has up to everybody's game. You see everybody riding indoors right now and it drives me crazy. Like I got into to get outside and go see things and do things and a lot of these guys that are just awesome athletes spend all the time on the trainer.
Speaker 1:So it's what's your goal, right?
Speaker 2:I would much rather be outside and maybe not as good as get a real workout in and still go go see things and enjoying, but enjoy I think I would enjoy that. I know I would enjoy that better than indoor training. There was so kind of to this is I got heat stroke really bad at Redman and 16. And then so I decided to do indoor training for pretty much all of 17.
Speaker 2:And I remember doing like the indoor type trainers. It wasn't on Zwift or anything, but it was like hey, these are the power ranges I'm going to hit, and it's four hour workout, five hour workout. You do these intervals at these times and, like I ended up having a one Ironman, maryland and 17. Okay, because I was going to bring that up.
Speaker 1:I knew you won an Ironman, but I didn't know when it was.
Speaker 2:And that that bike was like 436 or something. So it went from like a five hour average to like so it was there Significant yeah?
Speaker 2:And so that just consistency, focusing on power, the types of workouts, but like and hitting your zones, for sure there's a lot to that big drop in time. That's wild, yeah. But then going outside and cycling here, like obviously we have hills up and down hills, Like my normal route is down to Jones, luther and then back into Edmond, so that's like a 40 mile plus loop of 2,500 foot of climbing, like you're not doing 250 Watts, perfect. But now I can climb hills pretty well.
Speaker 1:Right, so like but Well, okay, let's go back to Maryland because we're going to jump all the way and I don't care, that's totally fine. So when you did Ironman Maryland this is seven years now, into eight years, into being an adult of having a big kid job and not getting just to do a training with how, wherever you wanted to, what was like? Was it that year of just more focused into our training and just like laying him out there, that kind of helped you step up that game? Or was it just like one of those magical days and it just worked out?
Speaker 2:I think I was doing sales back then, so I think I had a more open schedule so I could work out like kind of in the middle of the day and I dropped from two workouts a day to just one and so it was really put a focus on nailing that one workout today. Mm hmm.
Speaker 1:How many hours a week were you training during that time? 10 to 12. Oh wow, yeah.
Speaker 2:Not, not much. It was an hour a day and maybe four or five on the weekends.
Speaker 1:Wow Okay.
Speaker 2:But it was like on the bikes I'm going to hit these power numbers and these intervals, or this tempo, this is very structured.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was very structured, um, but you'd also at this point, got 10 years of miles in you, yeah, and training in you, and that's huge, huge, like I can't understate like hey had a huge base, like you probably can't do that off.
Speaker 2:I mean 10 to 12 hours of like just off the couch, Right, right. So it does take quite a few years to build up an endurance base, for sure, yeah.
Speaker 1:What was I like that day? Were you in the front from the beginning?
Speaker 2:Oh, no, I um it was like a base swim and I remember there was some sting like uh, jellyfish, and get stung and like coming out and I think it was like 103 on the watch or one of like and I was like man, I really was thinking I'd get a whole lot better swim, and then it was like, okay, I need to make up a little time on the bike.
Speaker 2:So I went a little bit harder early on and then I saw like a group of skinnier athletes that were cruising along pretty good like a pack of five or six, and I was like, okay, I can, I can cruise along with these guys or I can like make a surge and really try to put an effort in, because my my goal was to break nine hours and so it's one. Do you want to kind of sit, sit in a group and ride at a controlled pace or like try to push it and go on your own? So I, I pushed past them maybe like 30 miles in, and then after that point I didn't see anybody else and it was just like put the head down and and keep grinding, I think, and then watch, watch the power, and then like a hundred miles in all of a sudden, like this lead car comes up and goes.
Speaker 1:You're in first and they've got the time up top and I'm like holy shit, Like how did this happen?
Speaker 2:Like mind blown and pulling into transition like nobody's there. And they're like oh, this is DJ Sire's first blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 1:And I was like wow, like super cool, and like oh man, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then I just remember, I got off my bike, you hand it off to a person, you go and grab your other other bag and then, like you sit down in the transition in the chair and I was like oh shit, just breathe. Then just take a couple deep breaths, put my socks, shoes on and then and then went off.
Speaker 1:How far of a lead did you have going into?
Speaker 2:the run. I think I had like 12 minutes.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, You'd put it into those guys.
Speaker 2:But it was like three out in backs. Oh, so you're going to see each other, and so, like I was, out and then I looked at the watch and I think it was like 12 minutes. And then coming back the other way. You see, it's like down to six. And it's like a pack of runners and it's like a pack of 10, and then it's a pack of six, and then it's just out and back, and out and back, and then like the last 10 miles. Somebody was within 30 seconds of me.
Speaker 2:And I just like just don't let him pass, Don't let him pass. And then, well it was, it was all about time. It's like okay, I'm on pace, Everything is good. Feed or kill in, Just keep getting, keep getting drinks in. And then it was like a red bull in water at every eight stations, which is like your stomach must have been a wreck.
Speaker 2:It was horrible. And then it was like two miles left and I was like, if this guy really wants it, I'm going to make him work for him. And it's like grab the red bull, drink it. And then you know you immediately want to put in more effort and then everything just cramps. But he must have been hurting a lot more than me.
Speaker 1:You just held him off, and how much did you win? By like 30 seconds.
Speaker 2:It was like two minutes Okay.
Speaker 1:So he was feeling it too. Yeah, oh my gosh, what a cool feeling.
Speaker 2:It was insane.
Speaker 1:But you didn't go back to Kona that year. No, you just didn't want to go anymore.
Speaker 2:Well, I finished, and then all our overalls wild, like I mean, he came up to me. He's like, hey, I was in a car accident last year and it was like my goal to go to Kona and, like you know, and he did really well, I think he was third overall, his family was there and I was like he's like, are you going to take the Kona spot? And I was like, yeah, I was going to take it because obviously, like my mom was to go to Hawaii, right, right, right. But then he was like you know, his kids are there.
Speaker 2:Oh, my gosh and I was like yeah, man take it, have fun Okay.
Speaker 1:So, so he got to go. Yeah, well, you're a very that was a. That's definitely your good deed in the multi-sport world to pass that up because that's clearly not a once in a lifetime opportunity for you. But like you don't know if you're ever going to get to go back, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, have you qualified since or tried 17, that was my last Iron man, that was your last full, okay, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:What did you feel? Like you had a natural, because people kind of fall into like the distance that like naturally suits them. Did you feel that the full suited you pretty well, like naturally, or was just something you enjoyed doing and that was just kind of what you did?
Speaker 2:I think it's a big build up and it's the execution. So I think it's like you have your mindset and a goal and it's you have to be able to be there on that day and somehow I've just been able to do that you like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you like that piece of it, yeah, yeah. And then during that seven year, eight year period where you do in other distances, are we really just focused on the fulls?
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure, I was still doing halves and then playing with Olympics. I've raced a few sprints and then still dinked around.
Speaker 1:It was like adventure racing and because I knew you had done a couple of ventures but I want to talk about that in a second but because they look so fun.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's really is just like getting out and experiencing new events, because it really wasn't like I just want to go be a really good athlete. It's like I want to go places and see things Right, and the way I could do that is by racing. Well, gotcha.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, well, okay. So let's get into adventure racing and ask you something else that we talked about just really briefly. So the adventure races how many of those have you done? I don't even know. A couple dozen. Oh, okay, so a couple of few, two dozen so I mean, because adventure races can mean anything and they could be any distance. Yeah, what was like? What's like your normal one and what's like the craziest? Let's start with the normal one. What's like a normal one?
Speaker 2:that you would do. I enjoy the like the two, three hour. They're like sprinted adventure races, so like the course is actually kind of marked. It's typically like mountain biking, some type of trail running and then canoe paddling, okay, and then they usually have some mystery events like puzzles or things like that. So kind of goofy, some cognitive stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I've seen it where they've like make you memorize numbers and you have to like undo them later and stacking foam blocks like doing puzzles Interesting.
Speaker 2:I mean, where did you go to?
Speaker 1:do these at Texas.
Speaker 2:So when I was an intern in Texas and there were a couple other Montana tech guys down there and one friend was kind of getting into adventure racing because there was a bigger group down there in 2005, six, seven, you know and so there was a Texas adventure racing series, terraferma. Okay, put on races throughout Texas and they had five or six and it was like cumulative points to a Texas state champ title.
Speaker 1:Cool and so they still do this.
Speaker 2:They've gotten. They're down to one race. I really wish they'd come back with yeah, but it was. It was a ton of fun there Outside of Austin, dallas and grapevine. They even did one in downtown Houston. I didn't get to catch that one, but it was like.
Speaker 1:it was like a city adventure racing. That would be so fun. Yeah, man, that would be awesome if they still had that stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wish they did Like I know it's a lot of effort, but cool yeah. The longest one we ever did was 24 hours Okay.
Speaker 1:Where was that oh?
Speaker 2:my gosh, I think it's Camp Eagle Okay.
Speaker 1:It's like west of Austin, so everything you did was pretty much Texas.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah 24 hours, so that you actually they give you GPS coordinates and they give you a map, okay, and then you have to go plot those coordinates and then you find basically either stamps or a book and you pull your team bib number out of that book. We're teams of two or four, so this was a team of four, okay, the sprints were typically teams of two or a solo. Okay, gotcha.
Speaker 1:Did you know how to do the like? No, I was just a long for just along for the ride then I mean, that was way more about we were doing repelling.
Speaker 2:We're doing multi mile kayaks.
Speaker 1:It was all at night Super fun, but, man, you better know what the hell is it. Somebody's got to know what's going on, or somebody's going to get really hurt. Wow, so you didn't. You were just like I'm here to be the athlete, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then I remember at like two in the morning is it's. There's just a bunch of mesquite trees out and like the spiders are out and they all got their webs and then they put these checkpoints at the base of trees, and so it's like, okay, it's like we're plotting the map. It's 800 meters down this ridge, and so we're walking, trying to count our steps, but I'm leading and like every time I go through a web and I'm like, shit, there's a spider in that.
Speaker 1:There's a spider in that, just eating a mount stop. Yeah, that's all I could think of that whole night. They're like listen, man, you can't do anything, so you get up front and break spider webs.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Everybody's got their job After. That is exhausting. But I mean again totally different world. I would love to do the eco challenge. Oh, have you seen that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that thing's nasty. Yeah, that looks that's. That is like next level intense yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, super cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's some of those races that I like watching. I'm like, well, the dual documentaries are just like race things and you watch and you're just like I can't let I remember which one I watched. I don't remember what race it was, but it was. They had to like, basically they were going across a river but then they had to get up and go around because it would be like blocked off or whatever. But they'd have to like pull their kayak out of the water and hike it straight up a muddy, slippery mountain to get around. Whatever was the obstacle. But they may spend four hours going like 150 yards trying to drag the kayak straight up a mountain with in mud, in a thick, dense forest, and I'm just like I would lose my mind, like, yeah, the amount of mental fortitude that those people have and the amount of suffer that they can go through is incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's wild four straight days with maybe like three hours of sleep and still be able to coordinate.
Speaker 1:And, yeah, physical activity like and it's not like riding a mountain bike, a draper, it's like like the nastiest, hardest and hiker bikes everywhere and yeah, oh it. I think the idea of it sounds cool. I think the execution of being inside of it would. I don't know if it would be real cool.
Speaker 2:That's why I enjoyed those sprints. It's like you're there. You get a taste of it.
Speaker 1:You get a taste of it. I did one like that. They had it and I don't know if they still have it. It was in Muskogee and it was called port to port, I think is what it was. So you started off and they were like you have a swim, all the stuff. The swim was like you can almost jump over the water. I mean it was like 30 yards maybe. Basically they just wanted to get you wet. And then you had a trail run. It's like a five mile trail run. Then you had, like I was like a 10 mile trail mountain bike and then you had a two mile kayak back and you kayaked on the Arkansas River.
Speaker 1:I have never been in a kayak and I went down here to rent and one at the boat house like the week before, because I'm like well, I got to get in here to like understand what's going on and try to figure out like an efficient way. So I'm watching YouTube videos like what's an efficient way to paddle and clearly I was. I was not efficient, I was just like surviving. But I took a really good wreck on the mountain bike, separated my AC in like, sprained it, and I was like I don't know, and I was wearing a tank top, so I was just in.
Speaker 1:It was on a gravel road, I was eating up and I'm like this kayak is going to be miserable and I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't know how to read water or anything, so I just try to stay over by the shore because I feel like that would be less current or be easier. But then you get to a spot where two rivers meet and there's boats going down and like the swell and waves were like I don't know for a kayak or that knows what's going on. They would be like just go through it, like whatever. But I'm like if I tip out of this, I don't know how to get back into.
Speaker 2:I was so scared.
Speaker 1:It was one of the most fun events I've ever done in my life. But man, it was so scary because I'm just not proficient on the water. But I would love to do more of those so fun. But I didn't realize that had I been Texas. Yeah, I'll shoot you the links. Okay, yeah, I meant that would be awesome. Well, let's talk about teams, because you had mentioned the Timex team and you were on you've been on several over your career. Did you get on the Timex team with that?
Speaker 2:I did Okay, the next year I'd. Yeah, I poked Tristan right after that. I got accepted.
Speaker 1:Well, so me and a couple buddies joke about this all the time now because now, like, everybody's on a team and it's basically like pay us money and you're on our team and we give you a 10% discount. So I have my own thoughts and humor about that. But back, but there has been legit teams and Timex was one of them back then it was, it was quite a bit different.
Speaker 2:Yeah it was like it was a team and it was fully supported. I mean they had?
Speaker 1:what did it? What did it work Like? What did it look like from the inside?
Speaker 2:So Timex had and I'm sure I'm screwing this back end up right they had hired a management consulting company to come in and manage the actual athletes. Okay, so it wasn't just Timex sponsoring the team. It's like it ended up being Quintana Rue or Cervelo Shimano. I mean, we had a ton of great sponsors throughout the years and they would provide products and support at races and for the professional athletes bikes and then like mechanic support.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh they had, they would actually travel around and support all the. I think it was like seven major US Ironman races.
Speaker 1:So you'd be in the age group or you would go there and you would have. There would be mechanics that you guys could use.
Speaker 2:They would have a big semi there and then you'd drop your bike off and they'd take care of it. But wow, you know, every year in like February or March, they'd fly us out and we'd go to to New York or Tucson and we do a team camp. You'd learn about the products and the sponsors and like what makes them unique and what, what are their goals as a company, and, and so it was really cool to see that.
Speaker 1:I mean, you're a true ambassador for that.
Speaker 2:those brands, yeah and that's kind of what sponsorship should be.
Speaker 2:You know you're representing a company. Why do you have them on your kit? Do you like them? Do you even know who they are? And so that was a big thing is like okay, if they're committed to you, you need to put a little effort in and understand who they are. Right, and they did a really good job at that we did. I mean, it was training courses we used to do, like VO2 max and lactic acid tests, so they'd bring in like KU or a university, come in and study and do a test, and then we'd get that results back.
Speaker 1:Body fat tests like I mean, it's like a professional.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so this was the more cool. The coolest thing about it is we were at the New York Giants training facility. This time, mix was a sponsor of the New York Giants, so like we had free range of their entire training facilities, it was like they had just the cafeteria with professional chefs. Oh my gosh. Yeah, and then we'd have parties at the stadium. What?
Speaker 1:the heck. So it was like how many athletes were there there?
Speaker 2:were 50 athletes from all over the world, and then it was initially it was focused on triathlon and then, kind of later years, they ended up bringing in trail running and then time mix, I think. I mean technology's boomed, so I think they wanted to focus on more like the leisure and fashion type watches, and then soon so came in and picked up the team Gotcha, because you were on that.
Speaker 1:You were on that team for a long time. It was the same management team and they ended up transitioning basically soon.
Speaker 2:So came in as a title sponsor, gotcha. And then, and then they put the emphasis more on trail running and not necessarily just on Ironman triathlon, and so they they mixed it up 25 and I think, 25. Gotcha, more trail racing, very heavy trail racing. So then the team camps were out in St George and it was. It was very cool to see like ultra marathoners right doing Mont Blanc and all of what the races that they do.
Speaker 1:They brought in a bunch of extra like Josiah yeah because your cultures and stuff from those camps are just ridiculous.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean just over the like. The coolest stuff that I think in this sport is like you had to be like legit in shape to go to camp?
Speaker 1:Yeah, because you're showing up with the baddest people around like you can't go lay an egg at camp. We're like rolling in like right off the couch for the last two months.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I'm sure it's a contest. I mean running in the middle of like New Jersey in the winter like freezing with yeah, man, so how long were you on that team? God, 10 to 14, and then, I don't know, 17, 18, 19. Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:So do they. They provide you product or deeply discounted product. And then did the events, like stuff, change over time or whenever you showed up to one of their big Iron man races, like you still had like this valet service of what. They were there to support us like we didn't.
Speaker 2:They didn't try to force people to do certain things. You didn't have to certain races you had to require to do. You don't need to do five races you didn't need to do what you wanted, yeah do what you wanted and they would be there to support you. If you want to do a clinic in Oklahoma City, they'd send you some hats and go do that.
Speaker 2:That's cool, like it was really like what I would think teams should be Right. Then I will say they have kind of changed a little bit, right Things have kind of come back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now they go the influencer route and things like that. Yeah, but you guys weren't well, I guess, first started that stuff didn't really exist and so, yeah, did that, was that requirement, as those last like 17, 18, 19, was there more requirements?
Speaker 2:with us. Yeah, I think that's when I got an. Instagram account was like 17. They're like I didn't get it up until then. They're like you need this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. And then now, going forward, you have a new chapter with your team stuff. So what do you got working now?
Speaker 2:So soon to kind of took. I think they really wanted to focus on the marketing, the influencer type, so they focused on just a handful of athletes instead of sponsoring 50. They focused it down really just to like the ultra runners and really like the top tier ultra runners, gotcha. So then we kind of sat with COVID like the sponsorship was all kind of in question and so slow twitch kind of took lead on on bringing together, keeping somewhat of a team Gotcha. So like a handful of individuals kind of stayed with the group. A couple kind of went off.
Speaker 1:Did like the management group kind of stay involved, or how did you guys stay connected? Management?
Speaker 2:kind of they went off and got professional careers Gotcha and then so Eric went from slow twitch. Slow twitch media house kind of took charge on creating a new team Gotcha and then so that's kind of been brewing the last couple years. So you see, like I've been racing a slow twitch kid is there's a handful of us, or more than a handful, and Eric's kind of built up the sponsorship over that. So, like certified Piedmontese and Good Life Brands like became a title sponsor and I think just recently in Kona they had launched the team kind of as broader Gotcha. I don't know what it'll look like as far as like next year, but I really like I have high hopes that it'll be bring back more grassroots and really focus on good quality sponsors. And why are you working with these individuals in these groups Interesting?
Speaker 1:It's kind of cool to be a part of something starting out.
Speaker 2:It is neat and it's such a slow twitch.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're such a staple in the multi-spore community.
Speaker 2:Been around forever, forever. And then I think the focus is not just on triathlon is hey, gravel is taking off like let's. Let's research gravel and give, give good articles on gravel and good insight on gravel. Where is that going? And then we'll shoot gravel triathlon. Did my first gravel triathlon this summer Did you?
Speaker 1:Where was it at? It was in Nebraska.
Speaker 2:So certified Piedmontese, their team put it on.
Speaker 1:So they're out of.
Speaker 2:Lincoln, nebraska. They've got a bunch of ranch around Nebraska and then basically they're they're big supporters that I mean that split between gravel and triathlon, so like there's a lot of cycling influence in, like the good life racing. So they had a team and now merging together with slow twitch, so interesting taking the gravel.
Speaker 1:and then, is that why you? Because what bike did I see you got a sponsorship with? What bike is that you were?
Speaker 2:with.
Speaker 1:Cervelo. Is that your gravel bike that you were doing pictures for?
Speaker 2:Oh, that was.
Speaker 1:Vent Vent, because I remember you had pictures that you were doing in gravel and I was like I didn't even know you rode gravel.
Speaker 2:Well, again, the neat thing about hanging out with the guys is like so slow twitch is involved with a handful of bikes and they have to shoot them and like we get. We get to play with them. Yeah, that's awesome, so they said hey, dj, I'm gonna be in Oklahoma. Do you want to ride this, this vent? I'm just like hell, yeah, sure, hey, we've got these looks that just sent in. We've got to take some pictures and tear them down and it's like well, yeah, I'll go ride it over, yeah, and then yeah, going up to Nebraska borrowed a Cervelo Espero, oh, I love those bikes.
Speaker 1:I love them. I love everything Cervelo's ever done and then so, and my 3T was designed by them, as you know are essentially by Cervelo. Yeah, I've always Cervelo's always been my favorite bike. So, and I saw the other day in one of the in the mountain mountain bike races they got a mountain bike now. Yeah, yeah, it was this year, it just came out.
Speaker 2:When we, when we raced Beaver Creek in Colorado, eric had brought out a this oh, they even in production yet?
Speaker 1:No, I didn't think so.
Speaker 2:No, so it's cool to like see, like all this stuff that hasn't even come out, the Cadet stuff is like that stuff is sick yeah yeah, yeah, I'm super excited to see if Cervelo bike in person because I've just seen them on the UCI races.
Speaker 1:So on the mountain bike side, they're pretty cool. Yeah, pretty slick, they are pretty slick, yeah, so how'd you do with the gravel?
Speaker 2:Second overall. Okay, it was a ton of fun yeah.
Speaker 1:Simon Cheek.
Speaker 2:So it was. It's a little more random. It was like a 1100 meter swim, 30 something mile gravel and then a 10k run, oh.
Speaker 1:So it was just kind of yeah, kind of whatever the course allowed.
Speaker 2:Which is fun. I mean, I think we've in the last like 10 years hyper focused on just times Like, hey, this is, you know, it's an Olympic distance, I want to hit 230 or two hours, and same thing with the 70.3 and the Ironman is like we're just going to make the courses flatter and then and then loop them and then everybody can get a really good time. Where it's like hey, this is kind of a challenge, maybe not focus on time and focus on, like the effort of the place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so that was. That was a lot of fun, because then it's not like your training goes out, like and that's something with the exteriors. They kind of give you a general idea of like. It's always typically about 1500 meter swim and then anywhere from like 15 to 20 mile bike. Well, that's a pretty big range and then different off a mountain or like hills and then the run is typically like around that six mile part, six mile mark Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the, they did. The USA Nationals the last two years was in Bentonville, fayetteville area and they had gravel, gravel try there the last years and I was planning on doing it this year. But I wanted to do the off road, do Athlon or the off road try and I was like I just I started swimming again. I was like I'm so open.
Speaker 2:I don't remember. I don't like that yeah.
Speaker 1:It's like. So I'm just going to do the do Athlon piece of this. But I wanted the off road is what I cared about the most. So I was hoping, because they were back to back days so if they did the off road the day before then I would have done both. But I was like I really want to do well in the off road and the gravel would have just been for fun, and they had the gravel the first day so I didn't do it. Yeah, but yeah, I would love to go out and do one of those because I mean it's just fun, it's just so much, it's just. I'm hoping that the gravels personality kind of penetrates the multi sport personality a little bit, because that was the reason that I got out of the tri world, the multi sport worlds, because I just I couldn't take it the so uber type A. The only thing that matters is this heart rate and my macros and my numbers and I have to wear all my compressions and I got a chest out while I'm walking around, like ever. I'm like man, we're all just age groupers, man like just because you're faster, you just calm down and like yeah
Speaker 2:think about when I came into the sport like, that's what I really liked is like everybody was a small little community and it was new to everybody. And so, like you see that in different, different sports and gravel for sure, right now, um Xterra is still that way for sure, you can still have seven, eight hundred people out of race, but it's a lot more relaxed, like the race I think starts at like nine o'clock in the morning, like.
Speaker 2:I would love an Iron man to start at nine o'clock in the morning and hang out have their dogs.
Speaker 1:It's just, it's the mountain bike vibe with a multi sport race in the middle. Yeah, I love Xterra stuff. We did it for a couple of years and I love them as probably my most favorite sport I've done in endurance. But I just got tired of driving because nothing is around here. Yeah, like, and that sucks. Um, and then you go down to Texas and it's the same courses every year and those local guys, just it's tough to hang with them, yeah, when they race the same trails every year and you have no clue what's coming around this corner. Yeah, you know. But yeah, and if you're an Xterra again, since I suck and hate swimming, it's a, it's so.
Speaker 1:Swim heavy as far as, like, where you come out and having a clean trail. So if I would come out mid pack, it was a nightmare on the mountain bike. That is a big part of it, too Huge part of it. Yeah, because you can be a great swimmer and an OK mountain biker and survive to get to the run. You can't be an OK swimmer and be a good mountain biker. You'll never get to the front of the pack, ever. It is hard, yeah, especially on those tight single tracks where it's you can't get through people, yeah, but so that was kind of where I'm like man. If I want to be good at this, I'm really going to spend more time swimming, and I was like I have to drive and swim more and this is a good combination for me. Yeah, but I love them. They're so fun. What, when did you get into the, into the exterior side a little bit heavier, because you did quite a few of them recently.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think we raised Kelsey and I had raised Xterra Waco in was it 2020 or 2021? And then I did Beaver Creek and I was kind of lead into. It is like well, you can survive the triate Thunderbird. Oh then the triate Thunderbird was right around that same 2020. Yeah, around that time.
Speaker 1:And it was like my mountain biking was not great.
Speaker 2:You know it's that's that and that's again. It's more technique than it is just laying out power, and it's a lot of like sprinting to get up to speed and then trying to coast through curves. Instead of like speed hard brake turn. So, like there's a lot more technique to it. Yeah, that takes time. For sure it takes time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just learning and they were a ton of fun and I wasn't super great at it, like I could run and I could swim, but the mountain biking is a huge part. Yeah, it's massive. You could burn yourself out and not not have a good run if you try to bike too hard, for sure, and so like those were good races to just get completely destroyed on, and it's good whenever you've kind of been at the top of something and then you go do something and you think, oh, that's another triathlon, but it's not, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you're like, oh man, I got so much to learn and you get to like start the process over. Yeah, that's what I loved when I jumped into. Mountain biking is coming from multi-sport of like well, for me to get to that next level like I'm never going to be like top level but for me to go, I know how much more work I'm going to have to put in. Like I just don't really want to put in that many more hours to go up like a couple of minutes, Like it's not worth it. But when I started the mountain bike, I'm like I suck so bad and have so much to learn, and so every time I went out it was fun because I felt like I either got better or I learned something or I'm like could experiment with something. And when you're just doing the same thing all the time, you kind of just like stuck in that loop, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's fun to learn some new new skills.
Speaker 1:Yeah, new, new techniques, new terminology, new bikes.
Speaker 2:I mean it has nothing to do with getting a new bike.
Speaker 1:No, never, no no, that's not fun at all. Yeah, so are you riding on a mountain bike now?
Speaker 2:Yeah, kelsey and I like to go ride Arcadia a bit Again. The working out's gone significantly down with the new business Right, it's still in joy, yeah.
Speaker 1:Right For sure, and she's racing a lot nowadays, yeah. And podiuming them all over the place.
Speaker 2:I can't get her to swim, but she can bike around.
Speaker 1:She likes to doathlon stuff yeah.
Speaker 2:She's got her first half marathon in Tulsa. Ok, at the Tulsa one in two weeks, got you.
Speaker 1:Has she always been. And for people that don't know Kelsey's your wife, Kelsey's my wife.
Speaker 2:And you guys been married for three years OK, but together for maybe 13 or 14.
Speaker 1:Oh man, maybe we need to talk to her to get a piece of this episode, maybe not, so does she always been into endurance sports or is this a new thing for her?
Speaker 2:She's getting more into it. She was into weightlifting, more Gotcha, and then now we've traveled around competitions. Yeah, she used to do some bodybuilding competitions. Ok, gotcha.
Speaker 1:So she has that driven personality as well, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then we got a mountain bike for her. Well, we mountain biked a little bit in Texas, I think, and then, moving up here, we got her a little bit nicer mountain bike, and then, you know, we went on a few trips and I'll say you guys take really great vacations, yeah. Kind of grew and grew and grew and then I finally got her to do it yeah. But, it's been fun. I mean she, she did that gravel. Try, she did the gravel do Athalon?
Speaker 1:Oh, she did. Ok, nice yeah, nice yeah, that was. That was a fun court, beautiful area. Yeah, yeah that was really nice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, nice rolling hills. It was like a lot of rolling hills like here, but the gravel is more like actual gravel and not clay.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, you had gravel, not just hard packed, fast dirt roads. Yeah, yeah, and then I saw she did well at is it Alabama? The exterior in Alabama? So where's that?
Speaker 2:Navisoda.
Speaker 1:That was a Navisoda. That was the one that's in the big. Is it nationals or the regional one in Alabama? Did you go out there this year? I guess not. Maybe I'm just misremembering, maybe I'm misremembering that. So the Navisoda, that's the one out in South Texas, right? Yeah, south College Station. Yeah, I know we did that one, ok, and then she's been cleaning up the podiums. Every time I see you guys go into a race. There's always podium picks.
Speaker 2:I know People are giving me shit if I don't win, and she, she wins. Yeah. Well, you created a monster, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, speaking of her, because this is something I was going to lead off with, but since we're here now, let's talk about the amazing amount of animals that you have at your house. Oh yeah, yeah, that's like my. We've got a zoo, you and I love every second of it. I love that she's always posting great pictures and you're posting them as well. What all animals do you guys have?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've had chickens and turkeys and peacocks and guineas. We've got dogs and cats, we've had horses and goats and pigs. We've got a few acres and Like We've got.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's real.
Speaker 2:They're a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:So at one time, how many animals have you had? I think it was like 47. Where do all these come from?
Speaker 2:Kelsey worked at an equine hospital.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So like it's unfortunate what some people do to animals, Right, and so you guys would just take them in, we would just take them in?
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. Yeah, Because every time you guys post them like where the hell did they get these from? It was always something new. They're always fun. Yeah, Pets are great. What do you do with them? Do you just rehab them up and like foster them, or do you guys keep all of them? Keep all of them, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Keep them at home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how many acres do you have to keep all these animals? Just three, three. It's got to be full. Yeah, yeah, sounds like you need more acres, yeah, one day. What do you do whenever you guys leave to go to trips? Who takes care of?
Speaker 2:all this. We always have to ship a parent in. Okay yeah, we ship her parents in, or my parents in and they watch the place. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:So much work every day, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:We got the RV and now we take them with us.
Speaker 1:You take all the how many dogs and cats? We just take three dogs. Three dogs and three cats. Go in the RV with you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh my gosh, not the cats, but the dogs. The dogs do Okay, and of course the dogs like sleep on the beds and stuff. Well, of course.
Speaker 1:That's pretty Exactly how it should be. Yeah, oh my gosh, I know I love the pictures that you guys post. It's like my favorite thing, man. Okay, well, that's good stuff. Then there's a couple of other things that I want to get into, but one of the things we talked about beforehand I was like what are you talking about? What are some like cool races or events you've gone to? And you mentioned the Norsemen and the only reason I know anything about this for when I watched the documentary on it and it's wild. And then a buddy of mine wants to go and I would have to go crew him. But tell for people that don't have a cook, because all the cyclists that lived to this are like they probably already tuned out because we talked about Kona. But if they're still here, let's talk about Norsemen, because they think they're a little gravel. Races and stuff are hard. Let's talk about what's a really hard event is yeah.
Speaker 2:I think Norsemen is a full Ironman distance in the northwest of Norway. So it's like down in the valley, in the fjords, so like glacial cut mountains, like 5,000 foot immediate cliffs above them, and it's I think it's the end of July every year and so the water is still freezing, there's still snow up in the mountains and it all runs down into these fjords and it's just glacial water and it's 50 degrees, maybe in the 40s, and so it's a two and a half mile swim. They take you out on a barge in the middle of the I don't know fjord and then you have to swim back and then start super early in the morning.
Speaker 1:They say it starts basely at dark.
Speaker 2:And I was lucky enough to be able to go out on the barge.
Speaker 1:Oh really. Oh, that's cool.
Speaker 2:And then see him jump off, take some videos of that. So I paced Tim Hola, who's part of the Slow Twitch team, and then Eric was over there documenting it for Slow Twitch Got you. So we crewed Tim Hola for the entire thing Because that's the thing you have to bring a crew with you. Yes, so there are no aid stations, it's all self supported, I think. What is it Like? 150, 200 people? Yeah, it's not very many people.
Speaker 1:I think it's around 200, yeah.
Speaker 2:And so it's a small little town. I fjord. I don't even know if there's a couple hundred people there. A few hundred people. You're in the middle of nowhere. You're in nowhere, yeah. So you get done with the swim and your crew helps you take off, like your wetsuit and stuff, because you're absolutely frozen, like I swam in the lake with a wetsuit for like 15 minutes and I couldn't talk.
Speaker 2:Like you, are absolutely frozen, because I would think that there's got to be a significant percentage of people that don't finish, based on the swim only the neat thing about this race is everybody is so focused on it being so extreme that, like I think the finish rate for that is actually pretty high, really, yeah, interesting, wow, because it's I don't know what the stats are.
Speaker 2:They're for sure, time cut offs, and there's a time cut off where you can go to the top of the mountain versus going straight to the. They make you do loops.
Speaker 1:Okay, got you. Oh, interesting. So you still get the distance, you just don't get the official finish. It's the black shirt Gotcha, okay, I know what you're talking about.
Speaker 2:Yep, okay. So you get out of the swim, you help get dressed in all your clothes and this year this was in 2022 and it's sleeting, and so you know, you put them in leg warmers, arm warmers, jackets, gloves, and you're putting all this stuff on them because they can barely move, and then you say, okay, pat them on butt.
Speaker 1:Good luck.
Speaker 2:And then you kind of follow them, but you can't really follow them, so you have to get ahead of them. But it's a straight 4,000 or 5,000 foot climb, like out first 20 miles, oh my gosh, you get up on the ridge and it's just complete exposure and it's just like you go from so many different like Ecosystems. Essentially.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And to just like, wind, blown, snowy, like the pictures you see of the race are extreme. And then you're going, and then you get into ski towns. So basically you're just going up and down mountain passes, so you've got big pine trees, and so I forget 10 or 15,000 foot of climbing over 112 miles.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I want to say it was like around 12 or 15,000. It was ridiculous, it was a lot yeah.
Speaker 2:Some huge climbs, really long climbs, and then just really cool scenery. And then you get to transition down in the small little town and you run along the lake, along the valley, and then from that it's maybe not quite halfway you can have a pacer run with you and you go basically just straight up to the top of the mountain and it's like European switchback. So it's not even like we're going to control the grade at like maybe 5 or 6%, it's like 15%, 20%.
Speaker 1:It's an exposed rock. It's not like a pretty Colorado trail. It's nasty. It's scree. It's big rocks and it's a very end of the Ironman, so the very last 13 miles is just straight up the mountain, oh my gosh, I don't know what the run elevation was, but I just know, I just remember watching it and you can't like there's most of it, once you hit the mountain part that you're not really running. It's just oh yeah.
Speaker 2:You have to try to like survive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how long did it take him?
Speaker 2:I think it was a little over 12 hours.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:I mean, tim's a beast, that's it ridiculously fast, yeah, oh my gosh, wow, okay.
Speaker 1:Well, that was definitely a neat race, do you want to?
Speaker 2:try that. I don't know, maybe a long, long, long time.
Speaker 1:So what are you focused on now, before we kind of get into wrapping this up, what are you kind of like right now? Is this the XTERRA? Is that what you're kind of wanting to focus on? Just having fun? Yeah, I think XTERRA has been a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's a nice race. The world championships this year. You're in Malvino. So that was so it's not in Maui all the time anymore. They changed that. So I guess Xterra is very big in Europe. And so they changed the world championship from Maui to Italy.
Speaker 1:So it's always in Italy now.
Speaker 2:I don't know if it's always in Italy, but it was last year, this year and next year it's in Malvino, which is like two hours north of Verona, so like central north, so as you're in the Dolomites. So again it's that super steep mountains, glacial lakes, and how was it? How'd you do? Oh man, I think I was like a hundredth overall, first American amateur, so, so, I'm not, I mean a good race.
Speaker 1:I guess there's no other American there, it doesn't matter, just stick with the first part. Still take that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but God, it was just so cool. Like you come I mean it's like European switchbacks in a manual car and like people are passing you going up those hills and you get up to the top and there's a ski resort, and then you drop down and you come into this thousand-person town and a 50-acre park that's just got like red bull written all over it. You got platform drops oh my gosh, you've got these bridges and, like Xterra just did like an urban course and then so, like the two days leading up to the race it was all raining so couldn't practice. It was the lake swim. So like you go out, do a triangle, come back and you have to run along the beach and then run out of pier and then jump off the pier and do another triangle.
Speaker 2:So again, just like little tweaks to our normal races like make it quite a bit more fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do love how Xterra almost always has lap swim. You have to come out on the beach and run or do something, yeah that's awesome.
Speaker 2:It's horrible because you like. It's horrible. You're. You know all your blood goes from your arms to your legs, to your stomach, and then you want to throw up.
Speaker 1:Then you run faster than you should. Now you've spiked your heart rate more than you should have. Yeah, wow. So what was the bike course? Was it really technical?
Speaker 2:Oh, man, the bike course. Yeah, you come out, you kind of go over some wooden berms and then you go bike around the lake and then it's basically straight up the mountain like 15, 20% grades. Oh my gosh, it had been raining, so it was just cake. And so you hike a bike a little bit and ride, and then all of a sudden you get up to the ski town, you turn around this lake and then you just go straight down some single track and they set up berms and jumps and then Super fun so.
Speaker 2:Rudy rocks and that's one of those. If you can scope out the course and more technical competent on a mountain bike, that's really where it pays off. Huge difference. And then you kind of do a rocky section and then you come down into the road that you'd come into town, and then that's where Red Bull actually closed the town. They put up barriers. You go through in between buildings, you're dropping downstairs, you're going on brick roads Just so unique, so fun. And then you come back through the park and then you're doing wood drops.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:And this is part of the race and then you have to do two laps of that Two laps. Ten miles per lap. So fun though.
Speaker 1:It was a ton of fun. It was like playing yeah, yeah, man, that's awesome. How bad was the run.
Speaker 2:And then the run was like you kind of run I think it was east of town along the lake and then all of a sudden you jet off and you're side-hilling and it's super steep and muddy and then you actually have to use a rope to climb up a good 100-meter section. Oh my gosh, like it's extreme. That was extreme and it was all muddy, and then you do two laps, of course.
Speaker 1:Did you like being muddy and nasty? Oh, yeah, yeah, because it's really just playing. Yeah yeah, dude, that's awesome. I think that's a good race story to end with. But we always like to end every episode with a section called yard sale, and now that you're in the trails, you understand what yard sailing is all about. The first question that we ask every person is your favorite piece of equipment under $100? I know it's a tough one, because everything costs more than $100.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, are we talking?
Speaker 1:Well, since you're multi, I mean it could be anything you could be like. Well, I just love my goggles. I mean you could go like nutrition.
Speaker 2:Nutrition is the fourth sport. Goggles are always important. What's your favorite?
Speaker 1:piece of nutrition. What's your favorite recovery? Nutrition, God recovery nutrition as soon as you get off of a four-hour bike ride and you're like I'm just spent, what's the first thing you grab? Sometimes it's chocolate milk. Okay, were they one of your sponsors at some point?
Speaker 2:No, they did a big sponsorship in Ironman, like years and years ago, but I mean it's proteins and it's sugar and it tastes good.
Speaker 1:What else do you?
Speaker 2:want, that's recovery, but as long as you get some calories, what's?
Speaker 1:your favorite piece of cycling equipment that's under $100, because that's a hard one.
Speaker 2:Is anything in cycling under $100? Exactly.
Speaker 1:Well, in the past we've had bags, we've had gloves, bar tapes, glasses, and sometimes people fudge and be like, well, it's not under $100, but I really love this tire man.
Speaker 2:I don't. Let's set price aside. Okay, yeah, that's fine, because we can't hyper Everybody. Price, price, price. What value does it bring? Is it going to make you a better athlete? Is it really worth the dollar? I think I've written some of the 3D printed saddles. I really think those are game changers.
Speaker 1:I've written.
Speaker 2:the same saddle. Tri-saddle is a specialized Tri-Tip saddle for 15 years now. These new 3D printed saddles because your weight, the padding isn't all the same, you don't get the same hotspots. I really think that's something that maybe I've really liked riding those saddles. What 3D printed saddle are you?
Speaker 1:writing.
Speaker 2:A specialized God.
Speaker 1:I don't know the name of the saddle, those have really been Just technologies that are coming out.
Speaker 2:3d printing is something that's got a lot of potential and 3D printing and saddles was unique, but then actually getting a Tri-M out.
Speaker 1:It's the real deal. Yeah those certified Piedmontese.
Speaker 2:Their team has got the coolest gear. So being able to try some of that stuff out has been that is cool. You normally wouldn't see it and you go oh man, that's pretty expensive.
Speaker 1:I don't know if I want to spend that, but yeah, if you're going to spend money good bib shorts, a bike fit, a good seat, good shoes, like your contact points you need to be dialed because if not, it makes the entire experience suck For sure.
Speaker 2:I think you kind of have to set price aside and get something that works, because then you're going to want to do it, it's going to be more enjoyable and you're not going to hate it as much For sure, yeah, hardest event you've ever done.
Speaker 2:Man I paced. Shane Pied on an Ultraman. I didn't have to do it, but that was a hell of an event, and so that's a three-day. It's like more than two Ironman's. I'm going to get a total distance totally off, but like six and a half mile swim and 95 mile bike the first day. Second day is like close to 200 mile bike, and then the third day is like a double marathon. Yeah, I think it's a double 52 miles.
Speaker 1:So basically you go around the entire island, island of Kona. Yeah, we did the one in.
Speaker 2:Scottsdale. Oh nice, it was really cool track Like you're up, I think, north at a lake and then you kind of bike around the area and then so it's all kind of like on the outskirts of Phoenix and Scottsdale.
Speaker 1:You do loops like that.
Speaker 2:It wasn't even loops.
Speaker 1:So they found like that's amazing. Yeah, Wow, Smoke did that in the World Championships last year for a guy and he was like dude, you just. I was like I'm always, that always has like interest to me, Like it would be miserable but I could see how it's doable. He's like dude, it's a different beast, it's a commitment. That's what he said. He's like it is wild. Yeah, so how much of that Did you actually ride or run with him at all? Because smoke was able to run with him the last day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we ran with him the last day and then most of the time you're with them or very close to them. You got a kayaker out there. You're prepping all the food and all the and so we were. We took a van around and we were cooking bacon and beef, bacon and eggs and all sorts of food like as he's running.
Speaker 1:That's a miserable three days. That's wild yeah.
Speaker 2:That's probably the toughest event I've well Been part of. Yeah, I'd say. The next, the Norsemen, my personal ones, like the effort at Maryland, the effort in Kona, probably the two biggest.
Speaker 1:What's your favorite place to ride?
Speaker 2:Some mountain, somewhere, anywhere. Mountains what's your favorite?
Speaker 1:state to ride in Mountain bikes Because I know you guys go home and ride and you guys have taken great vacations and ridden.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately I haven't gotten a ton of mountain biking in the mountains.
Speaker 1:The.
Speaker 2:Beaver Creek Race is really cool. The lake is like 7,000 feet and you go up to like 11,000 feet, so it's like straight up the mountain out of ski resort and then you bomb down single track and so that's super fun? That would be super fun. Mountain biking in Montana was a lot of fun because there's a lot of BLM land and you can just go out and ride, but I wasn't as competent back then Right, so you take advantage of it if you get to go back now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what's your like a bucket list event for you to do? You have one that's like out there, like at some point I got to go do this. Well, you said the adventure race.
Speaker 2:I mean Movino, like yeah, movino was for sure a bucket race list.
Speaker 1:The adventure race, the big one Roth is always cool Like If I was going to do another full, I think that's the one I would. I don't ever have it. I don't know if I'll ever do another full, but if I did, I think I would try to figure out a way to make it happen there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's like the top 10 Ironman in the world. Like I thought Wisconsin was one of them because it's in the university and a ton of support. There's Penticton, canada, which the whole town got around, and it's beautiful Canadian mountains. That'd be cool and passes. Hawaii is on the list for sure. Got Roth is on the list, yeah.
Speaker 1:Roth looks so fun. Yeah, it's fast and looks super supported and fun and just it looks like just a good experience. Not so much the race, like the environment is what you would be there for which would be so cool.
Speaker 2:And that's again a little mindset change is like the environment. It's like go and enjoy the environment and you'll enjoy the race Right.
Speaker 1:Do you have a dream bike?
Speaker 2:I don't know, those Cervelo sparrows are pretty cool.
Speaker 1:I like them. Yeah, they're sweet.
Speaker 2:KDEX. I just like the goofiness of that. That would be pretty cool. I got the P5X that I've enjoyed the last few years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you've had that for a while. Yeah, it's been a really big bug. What gravel bike are you riding?
Speaker 2:A Ventum GS1, and then I've got to ride the Time. I forget which model that was. And then I borrowed Ryan Lipos, cervelo Sparrow, which was like all tricked out it was cool, had all the stuff on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll end on this. If you were talking, let's just go for a multi sport and brand new triathlete, what would be a piece of advice that you'd give them?
Speaker 2:So many. So many pieces of advice Don't take it too serious and like just you got different gears, so don't always go tempo at your aerobic threshold, because it's like you're getting a really good workout and you feel tired, but you're also going to get injured and you're going to be like a one gear guy. So you have to have those hard days, you have to have those easy days, the moderate days and the balance. So you have to learn to change gears instead of just like one tempo.
Speaker 1:I said that was the last one, but, finishing up with that, what's your favorite workout that you've ever done or that you do Like you're like on the bike? This is the workout that I love. It's miserable or it may be great, but I love this workout.
Speaker 2:I like my 40 mile loop. I could do a two hour tempo on that in the dead of summer, so you got to have like yeah, I used to like sleep in, have breakfast and then start my ride at like noon. So make sure it's good and hot and then you really have to like nail the nutrition part, so it's not just biking and effort and power, then it's also the nutrition part.
Speaker 1:Do you like? Just like I'm going to smash the hills, or you just run, ride as a pretty hard tempo the entire like yeah, try to carry momentum into the hills and really that's where you can make up some time and like what?
Speaker 1:do you do on the hills? What's the technique that you use on the hills to like focus on? Because that's something I see so much with newer, especially newer triathletes, because no one's ever taught them they don't ride in groups, so they don't pick things up that to help them ride a hill more efficiently.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think, and that's it's all techniques, so I don't think you get that on the trainer right, so it's out in the real world that you really learn that stuff.
Speaker 2:But it's, I think you know, as you come into the hill you kind of overpower into it and you don't downshift until a little bit past of where you normally would you raise your power. I don't even know if this percentage is right to say like 10 or 15% over what you would do. So if it's 225, you go to 240, 250, and settle into that rhythm and then you don't stop until you've crested the hill, flattened or going down. So you're carrying that little bit of momentum up and over. So if you stop because you see the top, it's like, then you slow yourself down. You got to carry it up and over, just like, again, the coaches at the beginning of my. It's like you always crash that last mile. So you got to picture that finish line a mile past the actual finish line, right Run through the finish line.
Speaker 1:Yep, for sure. And I see that with cyclists all the time they get close to the top or at the top and they just back off to start or they just keep in the same gear because it was kind of hard right, and then they don't start shifting until they get going down the hill. And I'm like but if you can start shifting before you get to the top of the hill, and let's say at the bottom of the hill we're all going to be at 30 miles an hour, just for a random number. But if I can get to 30 halfway down the hill and you don't get to 30 till the bottom of the hill, I'm going to carry that momentum farther and I'm going to be going faster over that period. And it's like oh yeah, that does make sense.
Speaker 1:So I agree, it's, pedaling over the top is so important. Yeah, and shifting usually before you think you need to, because you see people and they just stay in the same gear and they go to like 85, 80, 75, 60, and then they never get on top of the gears again. That's why they're so jacked when they get up there. Yeah, so, um, so you self coach now, yeah for the most part, I guess.
Speaker 1:I guess you'd call that if I get to work out four hours a week. I don't know if that's all you're getting to do now. Yeah, life of a businessman. Yep, that's it. Well, cool man. Thanks for taking time. I know you're busy, yeah good luck with the new company. I'm excited to see where that goes and I'm excited to see you out on some trails. I'm going to get you some just mountain bike races now. Oh man, yeah.
Speaker 2:Cyclist, I can do that.
Speaker 1:All right, cool man, Thanks Thanks.