Journey to Ironman 70.3 World Championship with Coach Peter Ep 78

Coach Peter shares his inspiring journey to the Ironman World Championships in New Zealand, detailing the experiences and preparation involved in competing at such a prestigious level. Through his account, he emphasizes the importance of understanding race distances, the qualification process, managing travel logistics, as well as tips for aspiring athletes to navigate the challenges of triathlon racing.

• Understanding the difference between 70.3 and full Ironman distances 
• The process of qualifying for World Championships 
• Explanation of the roll down process for race slots 
• Financial considerations for competing in international events 
• Pre-race activities and acclimatizing to New Zealand 
• Insights on the swim, bike, and run portions of the race 
• The thrill of crossing the finish line and receiving the medal 
• Encouragement and tips for aspiring triathletes seeking to compete

Experience the breakthrough when everything finally clicks! Train with expert coaches, fuel with incredible chef-prepared meals, and connect with athletes who love triathlon as much as you do. Join us April 22–26 at beautiful Lake Jocassee for four unforgettable days of swim, bike, run, learning, and community. Spots are almost full: Reserve yours here.

Transcript

Speaker 1 1:34

All right, y'all, welcome back to the Find your Edge podcast. We have a fun guest today. Coach Peter, who's going to, just had a pretty amazing excursion and a pretty amazing experience, so I thought it would be kind of cool for us to hear from him about all the things. So, peter, jump right in. What did you do and where did you go?

Speaker 2 2:02

So I just got back. It's now a week now. Went to New Zealand Taupo, New Zealand for my third world championship, so second, 70.3,. Went to St George in 21, Nice in 23 for the full and then obviously my third one last weekend. So just a little trip.

Speaker 1 2:22

Just a little jaunt, you know halfway around the world, whatever, yeah, yeah. So what a unique experience and I just thought it'd be really cool for us to hear from you. So, prior to jumping into too much, give a lot for somebody who maybe has never been in triathlon. Give a little bit of background on, like what you just said world 70.3. Like what the heck does that mean? And what's a full like. Give just like like the Reader's Digest version to somebody who may not be in triathlon.

Speaker 2 2:55

So 70.3, world championships is the half Ironman distance. So 1.2 mile swim or or 2k, depending on where in the world you are. So 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and then a half marathon, or 13.1, uh, obviously, for the full it's it's twice that. So 2.4, 112, 112 and then 26.2. So that is the difference between a 70.3 and the and the full distance.

Speaker 1 3:23

Uh, for the layperson nice, so is this something that you have to qualify for? For sure yeah, and how did that whole process go for you?

Speaker 2 3:35

uh, this year it was. It's always on the calendar to try to qualify. This year I I really only gave myself one shot, so we went to boulder 70.3 in.

Speaker 2 3:47

I want to say it was june yeah, I think that sounds right yeah, moved from august to j June due to other races, had a decent race for myself, went, 5.06, which getting ready for Roth full in a month later or six weeks later. So it was a perfect pre-race thing for Roth. So I was still getting ready to get into peak training for Roth but did it, executed what I thought was a good race plan. So I think it was like 32, 33 minutes swim to 35 on the bike and I think I went like one. I think I went like one 44. So, based on elevation and everything else, the power of good on the bike uh, heart, heart rate run was was perfect. On the run, finished 12th in my age group, which typically I wouldn't stick around for awards. But my wife's like, shoot, why not? We're here, um, we're not going back for a couple days, let's just go and see what happens. And we went for the roll down because we knew that this was the last race.

Speaker 1 4:56

Okay, quick pause. What the heck do you mean by roll down? So roll down Ironman likes to be a little tricky, right, yeah?

Speaker 2 5:04

So you have to look at your age group. So each age group is allotted X slots. Typically it's anywhere from one to I think it's three to five. My age group is 45 to 49, so so we get I think it's three, um, because I think we're a more competitive age group on the guy side. And so the roll down is if, if anybody ahead of you doesn't take the slot, it kind of just, I guess it rolls down. So if if the first guy takes it and two through seven don't take it, then the next person to to be allocated or would be available would be number eight, um. So, as luck would have it this time around, um, I was 12th. Literally I was the first one, one that stood that stayed around for long enough to get it yeah, because in iron man rules you have to physically be present for that roll down right you have to be present.

Speaker 2 6:06

They will not email now for saint george.

Speaker 1 6:09

They did because it was coded oh, okay, right, so I did worlds that yeah yeah, I did uh.

Speaker 2 6:15

I did uh, 70.3 Hawaii. So right there at the Fairmont and I got an email like on Tuesday morning the race was Saturday. It's like do you want the slot? I was like, yes, uh. So for Boulder it was everything was rolling down for a lot of age groups. I think the age group ahead of me, or two age groups ahead of me, it rolled down like 30th cause nobody was there.

Speaker 2 6:36

Group ahead of me or two age groups ahead of me it rolled down like 30th because nobody was there. So whoever was doing the analysis is like, hey, anybody in the top 10, anybody in the top 12. And my wife literally pushes me to the front of the line. She's like, yes, right there, that guy, right there.

Speaker 1 6:50

I knew I loved that woman.

Speaker 2 6:52

I literally looked at her and I go are you sure? She's like hell. Yeah, I'm sure, so go up. And the other thing about the roll down is you have to be present, but you have to have a credit card with a little bit of allowance on it because you pay right there.

Speaker 1 7:06

Pay in full, or like pay like a deposit. Okay, you're paying in full.

Speaker 2 7:11

You pay the eight bills right there on the spot.

Speaker 1 7:14

Okay, so $800 to enter worlds.

Speaker 2 7:17

I, you pay the eight bills right there on the spot. Okay, so $800 to enter Worlds. I rounded up, but it was like $750. Yeah, but, $800 sounds a little more scary. Yeah, but no $800, play it in full, do all the waivers and then, as soon as you do that, then they'll give you the I qualified thing.

Speaker 1 7:33

Oh cool.

Speaker 2 7:35

And that's the only way to get that, that piece of paper. And then, like, literally, like I think it was a week later they gave you the official like registration link.

Speaker 1 7:43

You sign up for it and that that picture is definitely going on the blog for this, by the way, because I do remember you sending that picture yeah, yeah, um, but that that's the roll down.

Speaker 2 7:55

uh, in hindsight, I probably should have stuck around for for North Carolina, because I had a better race at North Carolina. I finished like I think it was 18th or 15th. I wasn't sure it was going to come down that far and whatever. Yeah, so, but no, that's, that's how I got to spend a lot of money to go to New Zealand last weekend.

Speaker 1 8:14

Spend a lot of money to go to New Zealand last weekend. Okay, yes, so if you're okay sharing what is a lot of money? Cause I know some people are like, oh my gosh, going to New Zealand, let alone, you know, paying $800 for a race. But this seems like kind of a once in a lifetime deal. I've been not, and your wife was on board with it. Oh, my wife was on board.

Speaker 2 8:45

It's like we got passports for this particular reason. Yeah, it's amazing, it so. So two things like obviously there's cheaper ways to go. There are airbnbs, you can stay 30, 40, 50 an hour away and it'd be like 100 bucks like a regular hotel room. Um, we enjoyed the nice experience where we were walking distance to 800 meters to the start to the finish, yeah, um. And so nirvana europe, which is, I think, the official iron man travel partner, uh, got on their website and got one of the last rooms. Um, that was available about a thousand meters or 1200 meters away from race finish, but then we're only 800 meters away from, like transition and everything else. So like, literally outside of our window. It was basically a Leahy drive. We could see them, the loops and everybody doing that.

Speaker 1 9:27

Yeah, did you take some pictures. We'll have to post those too.

Speaker 2 9:31

I, I've got to do another photo dump, okay.

Speaker 1 9:33

Yeah.

Speaker 2 9:33

Yeah, super cool it was you get what you pay for and I pay for convenience. Yeah, I think it was like I think it was 3,500 bucks, okay, or?

Speaker 1 9:45

And you, but you guys were out there for what Like a week, 10 days.

Speaker 2 9:48

Yeah, we were Monday to Monday, so we flew out. Flew out of Raleigh Saturday afternoon, got into Auckland 8, 9 o'clock Monday morning, which would have been Sunday night, east Coast time.

Speaker 1 10:05

Yeah.

Speaker 2 10:06

Because it's 14, 16 hours ahead.

Speaker 1 10:08

Yeah.

Speaker 2 10:09

So, and it was a four-hour drive from Auckland down to Topo, so we got into Topo at 1 o'clock 1 30, went for a little 15 minute shakeout, had dinner, but yeah, we I having done what I do and not having a lot of time to plan, like paying the convenience fee to be right there, so that on race morning I didn't have to drive my car, find a place to park, because yeah, if that's what matters to you in the travel process, don't apologize, and what we found was we got there on Monday as Ironman started setting up you start you started to see roads shut down and and avenues where you were used to going out and doing stuff were not that way, and so it was nice just to be like literally like I think my wife and my daughter volunteered at swim start um Sunday morning, so like I walked down to transition, pump the tires up, drop stuff off, went, walked back to my hotel room and laid down for like an hour and then walked back to transition or walk down to swim start.

Speaker 1 11:16

That's pretty cushy.

Speaker 2 11:17

To be able to do that. I am perfectly comfortable with.

Speaker 1 11:21

Yep.

Speaker 2 11:22

And then going to Australia in October of next year. We are 600 meters away from race start, transition, everything else. So again, convenience. But it's a little cheaper for Australia than it was for New Zealand. But flights, flights I think I don't know if you're going to find a flight. It was $1,400 per person to fly out.

Speaker 1 11:45

That is far less than what I thought it would be.

Speaker 2 11:48

So you know that's going, I think going to Nice in Germany. It was about $1,000 per person. Okay, but it is what it is. New Zealand is a little more expensive than here, but the exchange rate was favorable. So a New Zealand dollar is like $1.50 US. So I haven't looked at my credit card yet to see Merry Christmas. Yeah, but like when you go to dinner or like, for example, like cause you know that I'm a big McDonald's guy, a McDonald's.

Speaker 1 12:25

I don't know if I have any play or any say in any of that. I mean, we're just letting it fly as Peter's like drinking his monster, right now A value meal was like 16 bucks.

Speaker 2 12:39

Oh, wow, okay, that's, you know, a buck and a buck and a half. It's maybe like $12. Okay, so I think it's comparable that way. Yeah, so once you've figured out the conversion rate for the currency, Right.

New Zealand Travel and Race Experience

Speaker 2 12:54

Oh, $200 for a Lululemon finisher sweatshirt probably isn't that bad, because it's only 120 bucks or something like that. So, yeah, we, we kind of like hey, this is probably once in a lifetime trip, we're just gonna make the most of it. Um the, the hotel had like a little kitchenette, so we actually did. What we did in germany is just like cooking a little bit at the hotel and then we just kind of ate out like one meal. So it wasn't, wasn't bad.

Speaker 1 13:21

So did you. Did you get adventurous at all in your eating?

Speaker 2 13:26

Oh, let's see, we went to McDonald's twice. My daughter likes Thai food and all that stuff, so we went to a Thai place because it was a lot of Asian cuisine, so like Japanese, chinese, thai Indian, so we had like I think I had what pineapple? Pineapple fried rice with chicken and that was pretty good.

Speaker 1 13:50

Okay.

Speaker 2 13:51

For not going outside of that box.

Speaker 1 13:53

Right.

Speaker 2 13:55

There was. We did a couple of local eateries that had really good reviews that we were able to walk back and forth um two really good pizza places that were recommended. So, like that's my thing, I'll find a local pizza place and that is either before the race or after the race.

Speaker 1 14:10

Okay.

Speaker 2 14:11

Um, and usually I'll do a chicken sandwich wherever I can find a chicken sandwich, and that is that is sits well with your jam. Yeah, it's well with the tummy. So like, a happy tummy is a race friendly tummy.

Speaker 1 14:22

Oh my gosh For sure. Yeah, okay, that is so cool. Did you guys do any like like excursions or outside of your race?

Speaker 2 14:33

So we say I have to please both the wife and the daughter I get that well, I'm trying to fit, fit in those last couple workouts. Um, they wanted to go to the uh, lord of the rings, because there's hobbit, hobbit town, hobbitville, that's like two hours north and it was like 180 a person. So we're like, no, we won't do that. Um, but there was New Zealand. Where we were is very similar to the big island um topography and just overall vegetation. So we're like, oh, it's just like, just like Kona.

Speaker 1 15:08

Um, was the weather relatively similar.

Speaker 2 15:11

I would say it was very, very similar. Um now, obviously they get a little more seasonal change than hawaii does. But like it was, it was perfect blue skies for saturday and sunday races. So, uh no, we did a boat tour of um of lake tapo and did some. They have some carvings that are like 40, 40 plus years old, that that kind of are give homage to the ancients and the, the original people that settled there. Um, there was, it's, there's a lot of thermal, thermal hotspots. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 2 15:46

Cool, um, so that was. That was craters on the moon, so that was a huge like almost like the volcano national or national park in Hawaiii, so we did that. That's like a walking tour, so it was like an hour, um, and then hookah falls, so I may have to post a picture of that one too, but yes, please that was brilliant blue water or green because of the that it could fill every 60 seconds.

Speaker 2 16:14

It could fill nine olympic size swimming pools. Wow, that's how much water was coming over the falls. Um, so yeah, we did. We did everything that was in the tour book, that was free and within basically 15, 20 minutes of of the hotel and everything else. So, like we, we hit a lot of stuff. There was a lot of little walking things that we did and places. So, like we did as much as we could without venturing north, east, west and south of where we were. But there's, if we went back, obviously there's there's more things and obviously going to the south island, going down to christ church and a couple other places, but yeah um we and we enjoyed it.

Speaker 2 16:51

it was lake. Tapo is the largest freshwater lake in the Southern hemisphere and it was formed Is that where the swim was? Yes, yeah.

Ironman Nice Race Experience

Speaker 2 17:01

So 66 degrees race morning which I thought it was going to feel colder than it did, but it was perfect, cool. And then where we stayed there was about like a quarter mile down the road along the beach. There was a thermal little pool. So it was coming out of out of the land and it would just feed into the lake. So you could go from the lake like cold bath in the lake and then go to this little thermal little bath and do like a contrast bath. So that was, that was super cool.

Speaker 1 17:33

Yeah, way cool, all right, so you get, you get there, you get. So now, like with all the race stuff, so you swim in the lake taupo, is that how you say it? Okay, um, how, how was the swim?

Speaker 2 17:47

uh, I would say crystal clear water nice um, it dropped off pretty quick once you got in. So, like I think when you're, we went 300 out, 1200 over and then 400 back in and on the, the flat, the flat outside. I think it was like maybe 30, 30 feet deep. You could see down to the bottom wow so it's kind of very, very much like kona or or.

Speaker 2 18:11

I'm trying to think of another clear place I swam, but like hawaii was probably like the next clearest not in north carolina not in north carolina, not not at 70.3 north carolina or well, I guess, maybe like lake lure or lake logan yeah, yeah, oh, in the mountains yeah, in the mountains um no, I, I tell my wife is like this is what I'm gonna do in the swim, yeah, in the mountains.

Speaker 2 18:31

Um, no, I, I, I tell my wife is like this is what I'm going to do in the swim, this is what I'm going to do the bike, this one. And she's like you came out like two months ahead of what you told me, so like, cool.

Speaker 1 18:39

So and I remember you mentioning that I think you've been like the last wave, so tell us about that. Like, where you know, race morning you put all your stuff up, you went back and kind of chilled out for a little bit, then came back down and then where, where were you at in the, in the? How many people were in this race too?

Speaker 2 18:56

They said there was between the guys and the girls. It was 6,200 people.

Speaker 1 19:02

And you, and it was men only, and then women only on a different day. Correct Women were?

Speaker 2 19:06

2,400 on Saturday, which would have left 3800 on Sunday. The final results only had about 3000 or a little over 3000. Pros went off at 7 am, so transition closed at 7. My wave, the last wave, the old man wave, semi oldold man wave. However, they want to vilify me 919, oh so the last wave to touch in the water was 919, to almost two and a half hours after the fact of the pros. Wow, we're. We're listening to the. The race announcers like oh, hayden wild is getting ready to get off the bike. I looked at a guy next to me.

Speaker 2 19:51

I go, that sucks yeah he's like it's great for the spectators, like well, it's not great for us no, no so interesting, because you're probably not used to being in the back in Nice.

Speaker 2 20:05

It was we were the last wave okay um, and that was a little discouraging because by the time I got in the marathon in Nice, they were starting to clean up the aid stations on the run. Yeah, um, like I, I get it because they want to get. By that time everybody should be off the course. So it's that eight hours, or eight and a half hours, whatever it is.

Speaker 2 20:25

Uh, it's just disheartening while you're waiting for two hours yeah plus to get in the water you're like I could be done, or sooner, but I could be done at noon, I could be done at one o'clock, but no, yeah, I've got to be done at three o'clock and for for me it was really like you knew it was going to get hot. So you're now. You're now, you're working about like well, how you're going to manage the bike to get to the run so you're not overheating, and everything else. So I literally texted Carly, you told me that she's like Peter.

Speaker 1 20:59

Peter, I need some last minute things.

Speaker 2 21:01

I'm freaking out and it's she's like you got it and it's different. Like I told my wife, it's different coming from somebody outside of your immediate circle. Totally. That puts it more at ease.

Speaker 1 21:15

Yeah.

Speaker 2 21:15

And cause, like my wife's, going to be there for me, regardless my daughter's so sports psychologists don't have it all figured out in their own heads, right? We do, but we want to make sure that we haven't figured out, so we just need that extra little, like a little nudge, like I think, yeah, I mean, that makes you human out, so we just need that extra little, like a little nudge, like I think, yeah, I mean that makes you human, peter.

Speaker 2 21:33

Yeah, it's okay. But yeah, starting starting two and a half hours after everybody else kind of sucks, but then, like carly told me, he's like there's just more people to pass there you go um. So I was like, well, you're not, you're not wrong.

Speaker 1 21:46

So I love how we all learn from each other all the time. It's so cool.

Speaker 2 21:52

And the different thing was is like like, while that is true, I was like I'm getting passed on the bike, I was like, well, did I just have a good swim and they just suck at swimming. And then like, well, by the time we get to the run, it's like my run was like. My wife, I think, said I was smiling the whole time because I was oh that was the run was good yeah um, and I'm just passing people, they're like I'll walk and everything else. I'm just like nice good I had a blast that's awesome.

Speaker 1 22:23

So how okay? So swim was cool. You could see a ton. How about the bike like, how was that?

Speaker 2 22:31

I'm. I'm kicking myself. So, like, the less I talk about the bike, the better. Um, I think I went a little too conservative on the bike. Um, I, based on the power that I was putting out, I could have gone faster, but what it was is like as I described on wednesday the roads over there are chip seal. So for everybody, like, the chip seal is literally a layer of tar with whatever rock, pea, gravel, whatever, and they just roll it out. So it's not. It's not your typical asphalt road which is super smooth and you can just roll and be fun with it. It's. You would go from different ages of chip seal to where it's like a new chip seal is probably pretty good, but then older ones have like little pockets of not potholes but just and it's not the smoothest of roads to begin with. So, um, I think I rode like 75 psi oh yeah, so air down a little bit so I aired down and people were going wider tires.

Speaker 2 23:33

Uh, I think a guy in transition had like like 30s or 32s oh, wow yeah, it was rolling 50 or 60 psi yeah just for the road dampening and everything else. So, and there was a couple steep descents. We actually drove like we've never driven the course, but we drove it um, just to see, and there was a couple of steep descents. We actually drove we've never driven the course, but we drove it just to see and there was a couple of spots that I was like, well, marty, can, can, dive, vomit.

Speaker 1 23:58

Coach Marty is our resident descender, so I'm with you, peter, I'm going to preserve my life.

Speaker 2 24:07

I will flutter the brakes and stay at 38, 39 miles an hour.

Speaker 1 24:11

Are you? Do you have disc brakes?

Speaker 2 24:14

Yes.

Speaker 1 24:14

Okay, yeah.

Speaker 2 24:15

So, like I, it's a lot better with the disc brakes. Um the two days I rode, cause they had the course open, I rode a short loop and the roads were a little wet from either the rain the night before and I don't. I was like if this is the way it's going to be, race morning. I was like if I can get through the, if I can get through the bike, we're fine. But it was.

Speaker 2 24:36

It was a gorgeous bike ride I'd say it's very comparable to to hawaii 70.3, a lot of rich farmland. Um, the wind was kind of negligible so it could have picked up and been, I think like Paula Finley or some of the pros were posting stuff on Instagram is like 40 K out and 24 K back. Was was what they were averaging on certain days, but we didn't, we didn't. I didn't feel that, um, but it was the bike was. What it was is just get through it in one piece, don't don't overdo things based on roads and and get to the run so maybe your slightly more conservative bike and getting a little bit more uh vibration led to a good run well, the other thing is the one screw I forgot to tighten on my bike was for my front hydration, cause I've got the, I've got the, the arrow water ball that cooks, hooks into my stem.

Speaker 1 25:38

Oh, okay, yeah.

Speaker 2 25:39

And the bike computer mount like screws into the top of that. So I'm looking down like 30, 40 minutes in and my my computer's going back and forth between the air bars and I'm trying to tighten up with my thumb and it's not working. So literally for two hours I'm like between the arrow bars, thumb on each side of my computer to make sure it doesn't pop off. So that's the one screw I need to make sure I tighten up.

Speaker 1 26:06

Yeah, because how was transporting your bike?

Speaker 2 26:11

I've done it for a couple of years now, so it's it'll take me. I think it took me an hour to pack it up before we left.

Speaker 1 26:19

And are you both wheels off?

Speaker 2 26:21

Yeah, Pedals, wheels, seat comes out, and then I just have to take the, the handlebars and just kind of take them out of the stem and just kind of tilt them on a little bit yeah um, but knock on wood, everything it made. It made it perfectly. There takes me 30 minutes to put it back together when I get there. Um, I've got a hard case, but I was probably in the minority of people with hard cases.

Speaker 1 26:51

Oh, interesting yeah.

Speaker 2 26:53

I saw what we saw at the airport and everything else. It was like 90% of those Psyicon soft cases and I've got one. But after I've seen them throw that on a plane, my wife goes no, you're getting a hard case, yeah, hard case, it is yeah. On a plane I. My wife goes no, you're getting a hard case, yeah, hard case, it is yeah.

Speaker 1 27:12

Um do they count that as an extra piece of luggage, or is it like a different fee for, like an oversized bag or something like that?

Speaker 2 27:21

depending on how nice the the gate attendant is oh, okay, nice oversize or overweight, uh, I think, going to germ. Somebody did it as both, and it cost 200 bucks, but this week or last weekend it was a hundred bucks, which I think is the basic bike fare.

Speaker 1 27:39

Yeah.

Speaker 2 27:39

So a hundred bucks going over the lady and at the airport in New Zealand was perfectly cool, and it was a hundred bucks coming back Nice.

Speaker 1 27:48

Didn't have to pay the extra because sometimes it's 52 pounds and they'll charge the excess fee for two pounds right, oh, annoying and so you brought your pump right like any other, like little things that you stuck in your bike case uh, I can't put anything extra in that case, to keep it it's snug as a bug in a rug then Snug as a bug.

Speaker 2 28:12

I've got one of those little portable, the little air pumps that go in your back pocket. So I got one of those. So I got one of those. I've got a really cool small mini floor pump that'll go in my check bag or in my, my transition bag. Cool Along with, I think, I've traveled with a pedal wrench and a set of. I got a torque wrench.

Speaker 1 28:33

Okay.

Speaker 2 28:33

So that all goes in the check bag Cause are you clinchers or tubular? Uh, I am clincher. My son is trying to get me to go tubeless.

Speaker 1 28:41

Oh, okay.

Speaker 2 28:42

All right, I'm just not. I'm not sold on the tubeless just yet.

Ironman World Championship Race Experience

Speaker 1 28:45

You're not. That that's okay, that's okay. So yeah know, you just have to have the right gear for the right type of equipment I, I've seen, seen tubulars, or, yes, tubulars go bad where it's all yeah, the glue gets all screwed up the glue gets all screwed up and it's just a mess.

Speaker 2 29:04

So like I haven't quite gone that far yet, it's's okay, we still accept you, peter.

Speaker 1 29:10

Okay, so we got the bike and then how was the run, how was the run course? I mean, I know you felt really good, but tell us about that.

Speaker 2 29:21

So the run course you come out of transition and it's it was two loops. The disheartening thing about the run course is you actually go out of transition and you head towards the finish line. You could see the finish line.

Speaker 2 29:39

You're like, I'll be there, you can taste the finish line and you had to do that twice. So, like, literally, you're within 50 meters or a hundred meters of taking a turn to go to the finish line. Um, so you get there, you're just going're just gonna do a little loop and go back out. Um, the run course suited me very much, like north carolina 70.3 it was so relatively flat ish flat ish.

Speaker 2 30:03

Two little little punchy hills that you had to do. Well, one one punchy hill that you do twice. Um, I'd almost say it was net down, because of how long the downhills were compared to the uphills. Um, you basically ran along the road, then you got on a a bike path that kind of went along the water and then you kind of made a little ue and then headed back on the road all the way back to um at the finish. So, like it was, it just kind of rolled like, um, I'm getting better at the nutrition on the run. Nice, so I was able to take, I think, two gels. I had four with me. I took two gels, I think, one at four, like maybe five or six, and then one again at maybe like nine or ten okay, cool, nicely spaced, out Cool.

Speaker 2 30:52

That's. That's good. The stomach allowed that, so I'm grateful for my stomach. Um and the only time I slowed down or did any kind of walking was just going through the aid stations just grabbing water um water for my little headband, omnius cooling.

Speaker 1 31:08

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 31:10

Um, um, so I'd had that and I I for this one. Because we started so late, I wore my arm sleeves, or my son's sleeves, the entire race. Um, so part of the water that I would take at the aid station was really just to douse the arm sleeves to keep that that part cool and then just put ice in the back of my, my kit.

Speaker 2 31:28

Um, but yeah it was, it was fun. It's fun passing people on the run and they're all talking have a good time. I'm just like yep, bye. I'm just like 145 beats, hey, roll it. Roll in 730s or 745s, whatever, yeah, um now, the only thing now I told my wife is like this is the first race ever that the last two miles like I lost feeling in my fingertips Interesting.

Speaker 1 31:55

Okay.

Speaker 2 31:56

Tingling, and I've never had that.

Speaker 1 31:58

Um, so I think your hands swelling.

Speaker 2 32:01

I don't think they were swelling, it was just. It was really weird that I was just. It was just like pins and needles type things in my fingers, in my hands. So I don't know if that was. I don't think it was dehydration or anything like that, but it's just a weird feelings. But did it go away relatively quickly, as soon as I finished and and kind of got some water in me, it kind of went away. It was just a weird sense that I hadn't had before during a race yeah, interesting but uh, no, it's fun.

Speaker 2 32:26

It was the the run compared to the bike in the swim I think some of the pros mentioned this it was people wall to wall, kind of like. Roth was just people everywhere from the time you got on the run to the farthest end of the run course and everything else. So that just the the atmosphere during the run I think was was really cool, like a, like a roth um, uh, but yeah that I think that was fun, it was. It was a. It was a great day to race.

Speaker 1 32:55

We'll say that yeah, the people and everything else was was super cool it almost sounds like it's a bit of a catch-22 because with triathlon is, you know, we don't have the chicago marathon with 30 000 people or 20 000 people. You just can't, you've logistically could not have that many people swimming, biking and running all at the same time. But, that being said, it sounds like having a bigger race, which in this case was, it sounds like 3000 ish there. You know, I don't know how many people DNFs, but um, that's a, that's a lot of people on a triathlon course, but it sounds like it. Even though you had to start so late, you get to enjoy the atmosphere and the spectators and like being, you know, versus. There are some races where you're out there and you're like am I all alone? Where are the people? I mean would you agree with, or or any?

Speaker 2 33:53

other thoughts on that even so, I we fit. I finished around three o'clock. Well, ish, um, and there was still people in the run course. So even by the time we got back to the hotel at like 4 30 there's feels still people on the course obviously very few and far between, but there are still people like cheering and everything, oh, cool. So that part of it was super cool to see some of the physically disabled, like the double amputees, oh, wow.

Speaker 2 34:24

There was at least one. We saw one that was coming up to the hill to finish, and some of the older, the older age groups, um, so it was. It was super cool. I, I, you know, just to have people on the course, and maybe that's why they spread us all out to to have that. But, like, even on the women's race, uh, because we were doing stuff back and forth and we were, um, we saw the pros race, the women's pro race, and then we stayed around town for lunch and everything else and just walked back and cheering everybody on. So I think that's super cool yeah, definitely I.

Speaker 1 34:59

I wish more people would do that because, uh yeah, it can be hard to be at the back, so needing some more spectating and yeah coach Car's being there. Like you got this, you know, so that's cool. So tell us about the finish. And like the metal and all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2 35:23

So I want to show you my last mile was probably like sub seven.

Speaker 1 35:28

Okay, okay, you were, you were cranking it.

Speaker 2 35:31

I was cranking, I think my last I, I, I think my last five miles I negative split if I, if I looked at my my straw and everything was negative split. My last, whatever, it was like 640 which was cruising for me.

Speaker 2 35:43

Yeah, I know your podcasters won't see it, but that's, that's, that's cool, that is like I, that's, that's a heavyweight that, oh, okay so that I have to stick that on the scale then man, that is I I'd have to compare it to like I looked at my roth medal. The roth medal is like not even like about a little smaller, but definitely, from a weight perspective, like the world championship medal is like it's got some girth to it yeah, yeah um no, it was super cool. Like iron man does the whole run up.

Speaker 2 36:21

So, like the last 100 meters, it's got the carpet and it's got the big banner thingy and they're calling you out and you can see the the name on the on the name on the thing and, um, I think I told my wife and my daughter's like please just get me a picture of me crossing the finish line so you can see my name. And she's like we couldn't get super close. We got what we think is you cross the line, but anytime crossing the line at a world championship or a big event like that is is really special.

Speaker 2 36:51

What they and what they say at the welcome banquet is like the hard part is getting here and then just enjoy the experience and like obviously I'm not going to be a world champion or top podium, so really for me it was just enjoy the experience, knowing that you never know when you're going to be able to qualify or get that roll down to go to the next one.

Speaker 2 37:10

So I I think that's why we we jump at any opportunity to go um. So like niece was super cool last year, topo was super cool this year. I think I'm only giving myself one shot next year. So we're going to musselman in june, which I think is one of the first races for whatever 26 will be Cause I think the window closes for Spain before that.

Speaker 1 37:36

So worlds will be in Spain in 2026.

Speaker 2 37:40

20, well, 25, they're in Spain, but I think it's a. I think it's an early. It's like I think it's November, october, so it's an earlier. It's earlier on the calendar. Yeah, so the qualifying window.

Speaker 1 37:51

I think it's November, october, so it's earlier on the calendar. Yeah, so the qualifying window, I think closes maybe May yeah yeah, so if this is ever on somebody's radar, they just you know.

Speaker 2 38:04

These are just things you need to be aware of so the the best hack that I can probably say is pick a race that's one of the last races or the last race when the qualifying window closes, so like, if you look at, if you and I think iron man does it so they'll have the whole race calendar and when the last race to qualify for whatever world championship it is, so like say it was like Boulder, boulder was the last race to qualify. Do Boulder or do something in that window and then go to the awards. If you finish in the top 20 or top 30, just go yeah.

Speaker 2 38:41

If you finish in the top 20, or top 30, just go yeah, then you might get, because everybody ahead of you is like well, I've already got my slot, I've already got this, or I don't want to pay X amount of dollars to go. And I think that's kind of my MO, because I don't think I've ever podiumed at an Ironman branded race. I've come very close.

Speaker 1 39:01

And you're no slouch Peter, so you know well, thank you you're welcome.

Speaker 2 39:07

I question myself sometimes, um, but that would be my suggestion, if you want this, if this is ever on your radar is it's called cherry picking?

Triathlete's Journey

Speaker 1 39:18

you pick your races if you want to go to I would just call that being strategic right, because you you never know who else is going to show up, you never know what their performance is going to be. What, what you can control, you can control.

Speaker 2 39:31

End of story right so, and if you want to go to the iron man full distance, you just have to choose a race to go to france, because nobody wants to go to France because nobody wants to go to. France, okay, everybody so like if I wanted to qualify for full worlds again. Not that I would pay to go to France to do that regularly, but I would go if I qualified, just pick and choose.

Speaker 1 39:56

Right, yeah, yeah, being strategic, yeah. So which ties into and you mentioned this at the banquet, like you've worked so hard to get here, and I know that I asked you this a little bit before we started recording what would you say to the peter who started triathlon in turn, like your peter just finishing worlds, and then the peter who's like just getting into triathlon, like what, what would be that conversation? Like what tips or pointers would you give him, and do you have any regrets in the way that you got there?

Speaker 2 40:34

See, my wife isn't here. So I ended up so I started in 95. So I ran an Elon. We didn't have track so I needed something.

Speaker 1 40:46

So my roommate and I just he was doing them, so like I did them um and did race from it was cross training and I know you talked about this um in your coaches um podcast we did so I'll link to that if anybody missed that. I thought that was really good.

Speaker 2 41:02

So I went from 95 to two I think oh one and oh or two, cause I did. I did Wisconsin in oh two, and then I kind of stopped. Didn't stop training, I just stopped doing triathlons. I was in graduate school, had two kids and everything else, so it was like. It was like, do I continue to try to race and train or do I take a step back, get the career started? And then so I was oh two. So then in 20, maybe 2012 or 2010 started back in.

Speaker 2 41:38

So in some cases you could go vote, you could do, you could say that that 12 years or 10 year hiatus actually helped and saved saved the body for what I'm doing now. Yeah, um, I don't know if I was to tell my 20, whatever year old self back then like, hey, in 20 plus years you're gonna have gone to the three world championships and done all these cool races. Just just, there's a plan out there. So like the door's going to close for a little bit, but know that something special is going to be on the horizon. So it's just, it's being consistent, it's being patient, regret wise, it is what it is. I've got two great kids, both grown through college, been married for 26 years.

Speaker 1 42:28

She's your best Sherpa.

Speaker 2 42:29

She's my best Sherpa. She's got the shirt to prove it.

Speaker 1 42:38

Yeah, um, so not, you know, not that racing isn't hard, cause I know it is. But Sherpa-ing well is I just made up a verb, by the way. Um, shering well is like there's a bit of a, there's a bit of some technique to it. Right, you can't just like sit in a lawn chair and, like you know, hold a spine there was on the schedule for last week.

Speaker 2 42:59

There was a a 30 minute block of sherpa 101 okay at the iron man world championships. A sherpa 101? Uh little thing that you could go to and my wife's like no, I already know how to do this yeah, she's a pro at it.

Speaker 1 43:17

Yeah, there's some things you don't say. There's certain places where it's nice for you to show up. Yeah, there's a whole kind of like you know. But hey, one way or the other, showing up no matter where you are in the race, I feel like is important, and then you know you learn, just like your athlete learns well, and then next year in australia it's it's a little different, so it'll be sprint draft and then olympic.

Speaker 2 43:41

To where my wife's like, well, maybe you just hate the kids, and so she's, she's flip-fl. Where my wife's like, well, maybe you just take the kids, and so she's, she's flip-flopping. But she's like, hmm, no, I'm going.

Speaker 1 43:50

No, that's just because the rest of us are all going to come with you. She's like you can have a break.

Speaker 2 43:57

I'm not going to let them go to Australia and me not go to Australia.

Speaker 1 44:00

Coaches field trip.

Speaker 2 44:03

I got my spot, I got, I got my room we're. We're 600 meters from the start, so like that's so cool, convenient that's gonna be awesome, okay.

Speaker 1 44:10

So I wanted to finish on some you were sharing this. In our coaches meeting last week, there was some like you had some really cool experiences that were, um, I mean, outside of. We'd share some of those, some pro experiences you know cool conversations and like, oh my gosh, I'm actually doing this.

Speaker 2 44:33

So with every world championship they do like a fun run, so it's an opportunity to get another medal, another t-shirt, what?

Speaker 2 44:42

There's a medal that goes with this you know, you're gonna have to give so many pictures participation medal all right so they uh, the guy that was announcing goes well and three-time world championship winner miranda cat. Uh, carfrae is like right there and she's like literally like two people over. She's. Renny is right there and I'm a big tim and renny podcast, or or like when they were on youtube yeah I always enjoy, because tim was a naval academy graduate, which is a hometown thing, um, so I didn't run with renny. I was ahead of her the whole time, so I did beat a three-time world champion I mean, okay, all right you know that's fun, so fun.

Speaker 2 45:23

So it was seeing, it was fun to see that world championships, former pros, are right there with, with the lay people, the regular people. And then so that was that was Wednesday, thursday, team Zoot did a, a shakeout run, we did the three mile run. So you had like Ellie salt house, no, a three mile run. So you had like Ellie salt house, nope, yeah, ellie salt house, um.

Speaker 2 45:47

And then Crowey Craig Alexander, um, he ran, and we just started shooting the crap for for three miles and I asked about the Ironman coaching certification and how that all is, and he's kind of like, well, he doesn't write anything, he oversees the content and everything else. So like we were talking about that, his daughter goes to the um, charleston southern or university of charleston and runs. So we were just talking about that and the differences between, like the european mileage coaches and then the how that translates to american coaches, and told him that I coached college and so it was. It was fun being able to talk to him for for that and just getting like I was like, yeah, maybe I do know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 1 46:28

Yeah, yeah, you totally do, peter.

Speaker 2 46:31

And then what was it? So that I got a picture with Renny, I think Saturday morning for the ladies she was she was walking from the broadcast booth to wherever she was going and I kind of got her attention. So I've got got a little, a little selfie with renny, um, and then the cool part was uh, greg, welch and crowey were doing broadcasts, like right behind us, so I've got a picture of me like pointing to the, uh, to the broadcasters, yes, cool so, and then we got to see taylor nib, which is one of my favorite pro females, her and Ellie.

Speaker 2 47:05

And what was the other one? Oh, paula Finley. So like, literally like, paula like walked right in front of us getting in a van to go to dinner one night, I think. So like I was like, oh my gosh. So I was like I was a fan boy for like a little bit. It's like, oh, I follow them on Instagram. That's so cool.

Speaker 1 47:25

That like a cup a little bit. Uh, it's like oh, I, I follow them on Instagram. That's so cool, that's really awesome. So I think you've given some really good tips and like experiences. But if somebody were listening and they're like, Whoa, that sounds really cool, Maybe I could do that. What would be maybe a couple of tips that you could offer to them?

Speaker 2 47:41

Uh, I think just trust the process. I think that's the biggest thing is like it's not going to happen overnight. Um, I kind of joke around. It's like I've been doing this for I would say 30 years. I'm going to say 20 years, um, with time off, but like it's it's going to happen organically and it's going to be a very fluid when. When it does happen.

Speaker 2 48:04

So I think, just like little piecewise type thing. So maybe it's it's top 10 year age group to top five locally and then um test yourself with regional type championships or national like age group type championships, so like um, I'm a big believer now that while I, while I feel I'm a good regional and state athlete um cause I always check my, my national rankings and everything else Um, it's it's fun testing yourself nationally when you go to like age group nationals or a world championship. You go, man, I thought I was pretty good but I finished 200 out of like 300 in my age group of the worlds and my wife's like dude, it's a world championship. So that's that's the fun part, I think, is just doing that.

Speaker 2 48:54

I think when I looked at my Ironman all world stuff I think I'm 95th in the country for my age group and like top 500 in the world. Wow, so like that's cool, like putting in perspective, like well, I finished here. But then when I look at the world rankings and all world, I was like that's super cool that I'll be an all world athlete for years running, which I know is probably not big in the, in the grand scheme of when you see people's bikes that have like all these stickers or or they're like they're wearing their Ironman stuff from 15 years ago. Uh, I still haven't gotten to the point where I can wear old race stuff to races. I think that's a conversation Marty and I'll have to have.

Speaker 1 49:37

Yes, totally yes.

Speaker 2 49:39

But it's also a conversation is like I've got Marty in the back of my head and I've got my daughter. He's like why are these people wearing this race stuff during the race? Why do you do that? That's bad luck. That's bad juju.

Speaker 1 49:53

Yeah.

Speaker 2 49:55

Bad juju, Don't do that. But no, I think the the just test yourself and be patient and ask questions and don't be afraid to jump in the deep end, because who knows?

Speaker 1 50:10

Yeah, great words of wisdom. I love that, coach. Great job, peter. Congratulations, thanks, and thank you for sharing your story and we're going to post some pictures. So give us a giant photo dump and we'll put as many as we can. That medal definitely Participation medal, if you can find that and whatever like selfies you have. That'd be really cool to share.

Speaker 2 50:37

Well, when they, when they said it at the welcome banquet, it's like well, if you cross the finish line, you get the big medal, which we all want. We all want the big metal. Right, we get the finisher's hat, the finisher's t-shirt and then the finisher's towel. So you're getting like, like some swag right there.

Speaker 2 50:53

Yeah, super swag. So, like my wife's, like, as long as you get off the bike, I don't care. You can walk the run, but you're getting those four things. That is a Sherpa princess right there. It's like I want you to have that stuff. So you're going to make any means necessary to get to the finish line.

Speaker 1 51:10

Give me my gear. I freaking love it Awesome. Well, peter, thank you for sharing your story and thank you, everybody else out there, for listening, and we will catch you next time.