A Dietitian Mom’s Real-World Olympic Triathlon Plan

I share a real-time update from seven weeks of Olympic triathlon training, including what my week looks like and how I’m adjusting my nutrition to handle longer rides and brick workouts. I also talk through the part that scares me most right now: feeling dizzy and nauseous during longer swims and what I’m trying to do about it. 

• Olympic distance goals now plus half Ironman and Ironman plans later 
• Managing training as a business owner and mom during summer break 
• Weekly structure for strength training, bike sessions, runs, swims, and recovery 
• Bike fueling timing with gels and why going too fast causes GI issues 
• Hydration strategy with water, electrolytes, and higher sodium when sweating more 
• High-carb days and food swaps that feel better for performance and recovery 
• Brick workouts, heat lessons, and why starting earlier matters 
• Swim dizziness and nausea, possible causes, and fear of open water 
• Consistency vs motivation and how I decide when to push or modify 

If you have Instagram, follow me at nutrition underscore with underscore Leonilla 
I am going to post this video also with this episode on my YouTube channel, Simple Nutrition Insights 

Thank you for listening. Please subscribe to this podcast and share with a friend. If you would like to know more about my services, please message at fueledbyleo@gmail.com

My YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0SqBP44jMNYSzlcJjOKJdg

Transcript

Welcome And Training Goal

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, hey, everybody. Leonita Campos, dietitian. Welcome to Simple Nutrition Insights Podcast. Oh my gosh. I haven't recorded in probably a month or more. It's been busy, which is a good thing. I I can't complain about that. Lots of changes, lots of good news, lots of growth, which is it always makes me happy as a business owner. I think it's important to celebrate that. If you are new, if you don't know me, I am the founder of Fueled by Leo Inc., a wellness and consulting company. Mostly I've worked with like one-on-one counseling. I've worked with like some companies and some corporations. I'm working on multiple projects at the moment, which is all amazing. And I'm super excited. I'm sure I'll share more with you. But today's podcast, today's episode, is really about giving you an update on my Olympic triathlon training. So on my last episode, I recorded my experience doing my second sprint triathlon and the things that I've learned. And so since then, I decided to train for an Olympic distance, right? It's essentially twice as much of what I did is 1500 meter swim, usually open water, a 24-mile bike ride, and then a six-mile run. So not super high mileage, but it is a step up from my last sprint, which is going to be the next step. And then my goal is to train for a half Iron Man either by the end of the year or something early next year. And then hopefully by the end of 2027, uh do a full Ironman. You know, man, I I want to say probably more people have to go through this, and then just not just me. Where you train, you start training so like so happy, right? You try you're like, okay, I'm excited, I'm motivated, I'm training, this is what I want to do. And then you get to a phase where you're like, what am I doing? Why do I want to do this? Why this is so painful, this is takes so much work. And then again, you're like, no, this I'm doing this because XYZ, right? I've I've had those moments like up and down since I started training like seven weeks ago. And there are definitely a lot of mental changes. Um, and here's why. So, aside from training for these Olympic distance, right? I'm a business owner, I'm a mom of two young boys. They keep me busy, they're in summer break right now. So I'm trying to like spend time with like everybody, right? Of course, my husband after work, uh, and there's not enough time. There's always not enough time to do everything. But I'm I'm doing my best. This week, my kids went to summer camp, uh,

Why Olympic Distance Feels Different

SPEAKER_00 2:35

which I'll have to do another episode on that, because for the past four years, we've hosted a summer camp and we couldn't this year. So I'll do another podcast, another episode on that specifically, uh, the logistics, the decisions, and the future for that. But so today I've had more time, right? Because I'm not having to like feed everybody every two hours. So I said, you know what? I'm gonna take advantage of that time. I did some uh work, some answers some emails, a few phone calls, and then I said, I'm gonna do this podcast in the next 30 to 45 minutes, and so I can upload it for this week. And I was trying to figure out what do I want to talk about, and I think it I wanted to share this journey, right? This progress so far. So, what my training looks like, right? Just to give you an idea, each person trains differently, totally fine. But here's a breakdown. Mondays are usually for like active recovery and strength training. For example, today I did a 20-minute uh low intensity bike ride in my stationary bike. Shout out to Luz, my best, best friend, one of my best friends, for giving me the Peloton bike. I've used it so much. Uh so shout out, Luz. And then I did a like 50, 45 to 50 minute strength training uh workout. So it was upper body, lower body, and core, full full body workout. And then I took the kids to camp. I came back and then I took my dog for a walk for like a 20-minute walk. And that's usually how Mondays have been for the past seven, seven weeks. Tuesdays are usually intense. I do, I because I've been progressively increasing my bike rides. Uh now I'm in a two-hour bike ride where it's like zone two to zone three on the Peloton. Um, so that has been a learning experience. That those have been like my longest rides ever. Uh and so I'm learning to like pace myself. I'm learning to, I'm learning about power and watts and resistance, but I'm also learning how to fuel,

Weekly Schedule From Strength To Runs

SPEAKER_00 4:33

right? And the timing of fueling. As a dietitian, working with like endurance athletes, mostly runners. I know because I'm a runner, originally, I guess naturally I'm a runner, I know more about like fueling for the distance. But on the on the bike ride, right, right, it's definitely different. So I've been learning like when to fuel, right? Like usually start slow at the 30 to 45 minute mark, again at 60-minute mark, 85 to 90 minute mark, and then again towards the end. And that has helped. Initially, I was just like, you know, finishing my gels in that 30-minute mark or like closer to 60 minutes. And that was that was making my tummy hurt, right? And so I was like, okay, I need to change it and just take it slower to not have these GI issues. And then within the bike ride, I have, I think it's an 800 milliliter, two 800 milliliter water bottles, with one with just water and one with electrolytes. And more so lately, because I sweat so much, I've been increasing my salt. So now I have an electrolyte supplement that my husband got me, thank you, husband, that has a thousand milligrams of sodium. Now, I usually, right, if I'm not training this hard enough, not sweating this much, I usually don't use the a thousand milligrams of sodium because it is high. I usually use a lower one, like maybe up to 600, depending on my activity and how much I'm sweating. But the 1000 milligram packet has helped because I'm losing so much, right, in just a short period of time. I usually finish both both bottles by the end of the ride. Sometimes I even have to ask my oldest son to like refill it halfway because I'm really thirsty, just because I'm sweating so much. It's been really hot lately. So yeah. Once I'm done with the ride, I usually have like a maybe 20 to 30 minute break where I feed the kids, right? I try to eat maybe a rice cake or a few dates just for some quick fuel. Uh, and then I have to swim. Usually the training is long, like a 2,000 to 2300 meter swim. And that has been really hard. Not because I cannot do it, but because my swimming pool is really short. It's only like 12.4, 12.5 meters long. So I have to

Bike Fueling Timing And Electrolytes

SPEAKER_00 6:48

do it, feels like a thousand laps. So many laps. But no, that's not the problem. The problem is that I have been feeling really, really dizzy and nauseous to the point where I've had to like get out of the pool and throw up just because of how bad I feel. Uh so I've been trying to figure out, okay, why is this happening? Right? Is it vestibular or something with like my ear, my inner ear? Is it because maybe I need to eat my carbs or my breakfast way earlier? Um, is it because I'm dehydrated? So I've been trying to explore so many options. So far, nothing really has worked. I was able to swim like 1500 meters last week and I did have to stop like two times to throw up. Um, but I felt I didn't feel as bad. So I don't know. I have to figure this out because I don't want to feel sick when I'm swimming in open water. And so that's like my biggest fear, right? I'm pretty comfortable with the bike and the run. Uh, even though I've been swimming right in a 25-meter pool in a group setting twice a week for the past three years, this is a whole different ball game. And I don't know why I'm feeling these sick. So it is definitely something that I'll keep in mind. I'll keep you posted if you're interested. If you know why this is happening, please let me know. Um and then we'll figure it out. I do have to do an open water swim maybe this week with uh my local tri triathlon group. Um, so I'll have to see how I feel. If it's uh if it's just that I'm because my swim pool is so short that I'm having to turn so many times that it is affecting me. And I don't even do flip turns. One, I don't know how to flip turn, don't judge me. Two, it makes me really dizzy. So I don't want to contribute the that to the dizziness that I'm already feeling and the nausea that I'm already feeling. So anyway, I guess once I do the open water swim, we'll see how it goes. And yeah, so that's usually Tuesdays. Uh my fuel is definitely higher on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, where I'm having to eat a lot more carbs, usually 200 to 300 carbs a day, which honestly I have to share this with you. It's the most I've had probably in like forever. Uh, during my maintenance phase, right

Swim Dizziness And Nausea Mystery

SPEAKER_00 9:05

before I started training for this triathlon, I kept my calories at a maintenance. And usually my carbs were like more in the mid to lower range, high a little bit higher protein because I was doing a lot more strength training. I used to do strength training five times a week, some cardio, I would add cardio, I would add the bike like once a week, and then swimming twice a week. Uh so I was still really active doing like different things. But now that I'm used, I'm doing a lot more endurance, I've had to get used to adding more, a lot more carbs. And I've tried like different variations. I've started with like a lot of white rice. That was making me really, really full and uncomfortable. So I've switched it to like potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice noodles, and that has been that has been a lot better. Um so definitely testing things out, right? I think is such a good idea and figure out why like really works for you. Uh and being okay right with increasing the carbs and increasing the calories when you're training at a higher level. That's that is going to make the difference in how you perform and how you recover. It's huge. So, anyway, Tuesdays are usually uh like longer, lower, I mean higher carb days, higher calorie days, lots of hydration. I think I'm up to like two gallons of water a day with electrolytes in between. Uh Wednesdays are usually like a medium run, like five to six miles, and uh strength training as well, like a full body workout again. Thursdays are usually a speed day, six miles of some kind of speed where like you know, I sprint or whatever. And I now usually do really well with that. Of course I'm like huffing and puffing because it's hard, right? But I'm able to do it without a problem. And then and then I run after. I mean, I'm run and then I swim after that. And then again, the swim has been I don't know. I'll I'll figure it out. Fridays are a full recovery day. Like before I started training for the triathlon, I used to like, ah, let me go for a like just a little easy run, nothing huge, or ah, let me do some core, or like a 10-minute something. No, I this day has been, I mean, every day I do some a little bit of stretching and warming up and cooling down. But Fridays are like a full day or a full time where I recover and like you just really listen to my body. I do a 30-minute session of foam rolling, I do 20-minute session of like stretching and flexibility, and like 10 or 15 minutes of like core. Um, and that feels really well. Like I my body knows already that Friday is the day. Um and I absolutely take advantage of that. Saturdays are hard. Saturdays are like my break day, meaning that I do another two-hour cycling session and then either a four to five, four to six mile run right after it, right? Like as soon as I'm done with the bike, I go for a run. So that also has been like I'm I'm definitely exploring like my fueling and trying to make sure that I'm staying on top of my fueling. And here's why, right? Because yes, we're able to accomplish

High Carb Days And Better Foods

SPEAKER_00 12:12

these harder uh sessions, but once our bodies are depleted, right, it's really hard to replenish them when you're training versus like if you're staying on top of it, right? If you stay on top of your nutrition, you're gonna perform better, but you're also overall, you're not gonna feel like, oh my God, what happened to me? Right. Because your body's utilizing that fuel, though that glucose that you're providing to power your workout, right? Versus like trying to get it from your muscles, trying to get it from like other sources while you're like working really hard, right? So staying on top of it makes a huge difference as well with your hydration. So, for example, this Saturday I did a two-hour bike session, and then right after it, I did a four-mile run. Um, I was feeling really thirsty, but also my fault, I started exercising later. So by the time I had to do my run, it was already 9:30. And it was going to be 102 degrees. So it was very hot. I was like so thirsty and already ready to be done. So yeah, I learned that lesson. I need to start exercising sooner, especially when it's gonna be over 100 degrees. So Sundays are usually a little longer ride, or I'm sorry, longer runs, so seven to eight miles, trying to keep it at zone two, which is extremely difficult because I'm usually going over like zone three and zone four. Um, so I've been trying to like be mindful, trying to slow down, listen to my body, control my breathing. So my heart rate, heart rate is not so high, uh, because that helps with endurance and performance too. So that usually I usually do well with the runs, even though the day before has been like insane. Again, because you and you know when you have, especially as a triathlete, right? If you're a triathlete, I almost feel like everybody has an area where they do really well. You know, I've I've read or heard people, I do really well in swimming, I have no problem. I've been a competitive swimmer for years, and I'm like, oh my god, that's like the area where I'm the most nervous, even though I've been swimming for three years. But in comparison to running, I've been running like pretty much all my life, right? And then cycling, well, cycling is something newer for me. Uh, the only time when I cycle a lot was when I did my last sprint triathlon, like seven years ago. So I'm still really nervous. Most of my bike sessions have been on the stationary bike, which yes, I am very nervous taking the regular bike out. One, because I have to get it fitted. I haven't done that. That's my goal for hopefully this Saturday to get it fitted. Two, because of the clip-in pedals. I am terrified of those things. I fail when I first got the bike and like I have scars. So, anyway, fears that we have to face. So my plan is to hopefully tomorrow um just get on the bike without the clip-in pedals and just take it for take it for a spin, a couple miles, just so that way I get up get over that fear,

Brick Workouts Heat And Hydration

SPEAKER_00 15:07

right? So, yeah, anyway, distraction there. In terms of fueling, right, my fuel definitely varies, but Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are my higher calorie, especially Saturdays are my higher calorie days where I'm eating about 3,000 calories in a lot of carbs. I'm trying to replenish that glycogen that I've used, also because I'm gonna need it for the next day. So I've been adding a lot of a lot of waffles and bagels, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice noodles. What else? Most mostly that. I'm not huge in like with like candy and like just sugar. Uh, I'm not something that I've never been like, I love these foods. Uh I'm honestly having more focus on like what's working well for me to help me perform better in this, you know, during these training sessions that are really hard and how it's and what it's gonna help me with recovery, right? Where I'm not feeling sore for days and days and I'm not able to perform. So uh it's really about that and just lots of hydration. Honestly, I think every day I'm drinking closer to two gallons of water a day. I'm thirsty all the time, but also just because I want to make sure that I'm not dehydrated going into these sessions that are like really hard. So that's a bit of an update. You know, I've been doing these voice memos, which I need to figure out what I'm gonna do. Every every two days or so, I give an update and I have all these memos in my phone. So I might do like a compilation of like all the voice memos. Uh it's basically just voice, not video, nothing. So I'll have to figure out what I want to do with that. But that is the update. I think what I have learned throughout these seven weeks of training is that it is hard. There's some days when I'm so tired, mostly my fault because I need to go to bed earlier, because I know that having a good night's sleep and enough sleep is going to help me. Work in progress, just like anything in life. But there's even some days when I rest really well where like I don't want to do it, right? I like I don't want to get on the bike today, right? Or I'm just gonna skip these today. But I remind myself, right,

Motivation Consistency And Listening

SPEAKER_00 17:12

this is part of the process, right? There's gonna be days when you don't want to do it or when you feel like really low motivation, but ultimately, right, what's gonna help you is just that consistency, like figuring out what how can I bypass all these thoughts, right? All these noise in my mind that is telling me not to do it, that you know, something that is gonna help me to get it done. And so it's usually just like I like consistency and I like knowing that, okay, I was able to do that. Great. I do have to say, right, on the days when you need to take it easy, take it easy. Like, for example, the days where I felt so nauseous and like just not well, I've I've had to stop, right? Like during my that swim and my last swims, it they've been like really, really short. I haven't been able to do like two over 2,000 meters. And and that worries me for sure, right? But I also have to keep in mind that if I'm having symptoms, if my body's giving me signs and signals of like, hey, this is there's something not that is not okay, um, then I'm listening, right? Because I don't want to feel even more sick and it's gonna take me longer to recover until I figure out why this is happening. So listen to your body for sure. You know yourself more than anybody, you know your limits and your boundaries. And if you know deep down that you want to skip that workout and it's only because you just don't want to do it, uh dig deeper, right? It could be that maybe just you just need to push yourself a little bit more if you're not feeling well, then taking it easy, right? It doesn't mean we're gonna skip it. It just might mean that we need to modify it where we do something that is lower intensity. Looking ahead, uh, one of the things that I have to do is doing that open water swim. I'm thinking maybe this week or next week, taking the bike out uh just to measure

Open Water Fears Race Plan And Follow

SPEAKER_00 19:00

my power, my resistance, my cadence. And I'm thinking of like putting it all together, like doing like a mini race sometime next this weekend or next weekend and see how it goes where I do the entire simulation for the race. And the Olympic distance trial that I'm thinking of doing is August 8th. I sh haven't signed up. Don't judge me because I have all these fears and I've seen like these little key messages in like social media or like someone tells me, like, hey, when someone like wants to sign up for a race, they should just do it and not think about it. And this that's where I'm at. Like, I just need to do it. I I don't know what what I'm waiting for because I'm training for it, but I think it's just that fear of the open water swim. I just need to get over it. So that's it for this update. I know lots of talking. Uh, if you have any feedback, if you have any comments, anything to share, please, please let me know. Uh, I am going to post this video also with this episode on my YouTube channel, Simple Nutrition Insights. I'm trying to do more, be more present in social media, mostly in like YouTube and Instagram. So if you have Instagram, follow me at nutrition underscore with underscore Leonilla. You'll find me there starting to post more of like my my food, like my goal for this week, right, is to add more color. So I'm adding more like colorful fruits and veggies for those antioxidants to help me with healing and repairing my cells. Yeah. Well, that's it for today's episode. I hope I hope you learned something. I'll I hope something was motivational. Or again, if you have any comments or thoughts, share them with me. I will see you in the next episode. Thank you so much for joining. Bye bye for now.