Episode 89 - Athlete Case Study: From Cyclist to Triathlete with Steve Duquette

Athlete Case Study: From Cyclist to Triathlete with Steve Duquette

Just because you think you eat really well, doesn’t mean you’re eating properly to support triathlon training. A great lesson to learn, sooner rather than later in your triathlon career!

Joining me on the podcast is Canadian cyclist turned triathlete from Ontario, Steve Duquette. He’s been “out and about” doing triathlon for a year or two after making the switch and shares with me his journey from a training and nutrition perspective.

 In this episode he shares:

• What are the biggest things he’s learnt about triathlon nutrition specifically
• What’s changed in the way he now eats specifically for triathlon
• Some of the biggest myths or misconceptions around endurance nutrition that I’ve busted
• His biggest wins - from a training, nutrition and body composition perspective
• What he’s currently working on with his nutrition as he heads towards 70.3 Muskoka with a score to settle

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Episode Transcription

Episode 89: Athlete Case Study: From Cyclist to Triathlete with Steve Duquette

Taryn Richardson  00:00

Welcome to the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. The show designed to serve you up evidence-based sports nutrition advice from the experts. Hi, I'm your host Taryn, Accredited Practicing Dietitian, Advanced Sports Dietitian and founder of Dietitian Approved. Listen as I break down the latest evidence to give you practical, easy-to-digest strategies to train hard, recover faster and perform at your best. You have so much potential, and I want to help you unlock that with the power of nutrition. Let's get into it.

Taryn Richardson  00:41

Joining me on the podcast today is my favourite Canadian from Ontario, Canada - Steve. And I just love the way he says "out and about". It really takes me back to my time sliding down the slopes in Canada during the seasons I spent at Big White. But Steve has been doing triathlon for a couple years now and is really looking to step it up and do his first 70.3 this year. He's come from a cycling background and I really wanted to get his thoughts around what it's like eating for three sports instead of one and is a great case study that I'd love to share with you. So welcome to the podcast, Steve!

Steve Duquette  01:15

Thank you, Taryn. Favorite Canadian is about to be interviewed. But you have some new Canadians in the other group, so I'm probably going to get displaced as your favorite Canadian when other people join the TNA Academy, right? So, I'll be at the bottom of the pile after that. I don't know.

Taryn Richardson  01:31

You're the OG - the original.

Steve Duquette  01:33

Oh, the goat? Oh, no, that's way too much.

Taryn Richardson  01:36

Alright, let's get into it. So, who are you, Steve? And how did you fall in love with this crazy spot?

Steve Duquette  01:42

Yeah. So as you said, I came from more of a cycling background. I've always loved cycling - did a lot of cycling. So I'm 59 years old. With my cycling background, I've gotten to know lots of good friends that some of which are or have been doing triathlon. And I was kind of intrigued by the whole idea of doing the three sports. Never been a swimmer. I taught myself how to swim. I started doing that over a year ago, and got in the pool and fumbled around and I've been improving on that. But it was more of a thinking about the challenge of doing those three sports. So you know, I started reading more about it and talking to my friends about it. And I thought this would be a pretty cool challenge to set my sights on. And it's interesting because when we talk about this stuff with our triathlon and cycling friends, our cycling friends are all about cycling, cycling, cycling. We're like, you know what? Go and do some training for swimming, biking, running, and strength. Do that altogether and see how that goes for you, right? Because it's a major amount of dedication required, right? But I fell into it just in terms of my association with my cycling friends that happened to be doing a lot of triathlons.

Taryn Richardson  02:48

So it wasn't a midlife crisis?

Steve Duquette  02:50

Well, I'm not at my midlife yet. So how could it be a midlife crisis, right?

Taryn Richardson  02:54

You're gonna live to what? 120?

Steve Duquette  02:56

Telling you - I'm 59, sitting 40?

Taryn Richardson  02:58

And how long have you been doing triathlon for now?

Steve Duquette  03:00

Yeah, so actually, I did three events last year. So last year was my entry into triathlon and I completed a sprint, then I did the Half Ironman, and then I did an Olympic near the end of the summer. And that's kind of where I knew, after doing all three of those, that I needed some help, because, you know, I always had mixed emotions when I did them, because I really sucked when it came to finishing. And when I got on the run, I suffered. Like I really suffered. I walked, I ran, I hurt, I cramped, and all of that. And I knew there's something, like this is ... so in as much as it did hurt, and I did suffer, you know, the funny thing is, is like I've got to do better. I want to do better with this, right? So I did the three last year and I finished all three and proud of myself for particularly doing the Half Ironman in July - where, when I started swimming at the beginning of 2022 being able to barely swim 50 meters in the pool and being exhausted thinking, "Oh, crap. They're gonna pull me out of the lake with a lifeboat because I'm never going to swim 1900 meters, right?"

Taryn Richardson  03:00

Yeah, that's a long way for a non swimmer.

Steve Duquette  03:02

Yeah, I mean, my swimming lessons were when I was five years old. My dad kind of threw me in the lake and, like, "Let's go swimming", right? So I've always enjoyed the water. But my swimming was more of a "Let's go to the beach on a sunny hot day and cool off and play around in the water". So my proudest moment up until last year was guess what? I did that 1900 meter swim. That was like 218 per 100. But I don't care. I finished it, I got on my bike. But then with 20k to go on the bike, guess what? I'm on the side of the road cramping up. And then I hobbled back to the transition. Started my run, which became a walk real fast and I suffered on that.

Steve Duquette  04:47

So, I did the three triathlons. Extremely happy. You know, triathlon community is so supportive, right? You know, I wanted to do better than I did initially, but I finished them all. And my more seasoned triathlon friends explained to me, "You know what? You're one of the ones that's not sitting on the couch doing nothing. Like you went out there and you finished it". But at the same time, like classic triathlon, where you finish it, you're suffering like, "Okay, well, when's the next one that I can sign up for?" Right? But each of those three, which were all three different distances, and on every single one of them, like I suffered on the run. And I remember you talking about, you can kind of get away with crappy nutrition on the swim and on the bike, but it's going to bite you in the arse on the run. And it bit me in the arse on the run in every single one of those events. It's like the definition of insanity, right? You do the same thing over and over again and you expect a different result. So I don't want to do the same thing over and over again. So that's why we're here.

Taryn Richardson  05:44

That's why we're here. So good! So you've been in the Academy program for six months now. You're almost finished Phase 2. And coming from that cycling background and getting into triathlon last year without any nutrition support, what's been the biggest thing that's changed for you in the last six months?

Steve Duquette  06:03

There's a lot of things. I'll just run through some of them real quick if I can. I mean, the one funny thing was, I actually thought I was doing pretty well. I mean, I'm a healthy eater, generally speaking. And I know that you laughed about this, and you were the one who set me straight on this where I was very happy way back when, you know, six months ago to tell you how, hey, I get up every morning, you know, five o'clock, I have my bowl of orange with my fruit and a little shot of maple syrup and my flaxseed and all this stuff, right? And a banana. And then Taryn says, “Yeah, but you know, you don't want to eat the same thing every day? You need to be eating 30 different plant based foods during the week.”

Steve Duquette  06:41

So one of the things that I learned is being able to prepare for and plan how and what I eat, not just from a lifestyle perspective, but more importantly, from a training perspective. And then that'll translate into a racing perspective. Like we're still in the winter here in Canada. So you know, it's March. Well, it's actually springtime officially yesterday, but we got lots of snow here. So I've learned a lot about the macronutrients planning. You know, if you're going to do a certain type of workout, what do you eat? And when before that workout, you know? What are you putting in your body during that workout? What are you doing to recover after that workout? And so, my approach on that before Triathlon Nutrition Academy was pretty haphazard, off the cuff, seat of your pants. Like sometimes I would eat something. I always had liquids when I did my training bike rides, but I've learned a lot more in terms of how to dial it in and how to properly focus on the right amount of carbohydrates and protein and whatnot, macronutrients. So it's all about being much better prepared before, during and after doing those workouts. And I was never that prepared in that way prior to that.

Taryn Richardson  08:04

I love watching the food that you eat evolve. Because we have a community group for our Academy members and people post food photos in there because it's encouraged, right? Food porn, I love it! And it's amazing watching what you eat and what you're sharing evolve over time. Like you're putting things in smoothies that you never thought you possibly could add to smoothies to try and increase your overall nutrient profile because we need that as endurance athletes. Like I think that is a huge shift for somebody that yeah, you eat really well. Like there's nothing wrong with the way that you eat. Except for maybe that, like, cream that you put in your coffee. But we've worked on that, too.

Steve Duquette  08:40

And I'll still put the cream in my coffee.

Taryn Richardson  08:42

We went down to 5% from 10%, right?

Steve Duquette  08:44

That's right. Yes.

Taryn Richardson  08:46

I'm happy with that. I'm happy with that.

Steve Duquette  08:48

Yeah, me too. Me too. It's all good.

Taryn Richardson  08:50

But getting that food right and matched to training load is one of the key things that I like to teach athletes. And that's really important. And what you ate was really good but that didn't match training load, whatsoever. It was consistently the same every single day. Didn't evolve based on training demand. And that's been a huge shift for you which has been great to see.

Steve Duquette  09:08

Yeah, I mean, it's the variety of that food, like you mentioned, but also like I was never very good at the recovery part. And what I mean by that is, there was a lot of times when I didn't really do recovery at all.

Taryn Richardson  09:20

You are not alone in that.

Steve Duquette  09:21

And it's just amazing when I think about it, like why wasn't I doing that? Just don't know what you don't know, I guess. Sometimes I might eat something but it wasn't even planned out as far as what does a proper recovery meal look like based upon that workout that you just did and based upon my body composition and whatnot. So you've helped us quantify how to go about preparing those foods, those meals in the right proportions of macronutrients and also getting all the micronutrients in there, too.

Taryn Richardson  09:49

And how do you feel as a result of those changes? Do you feel any different? You feel the same?

Steve Duquette  09:54

If I were to do a really long, hard bike ride, I would be one of those people that would be lazing around on the couch for several hours after - my legs would feel like really tired. And running was worse. If I did like a one hour run, I mean, I paid for that for the next day or two. And I actually didn't really look forward to running because I knew that what was going to happen after I did the run the next day or later that afternoon, I was going to be suffering. And I can tell you very honestly, I mean, I'd feel a lot stronger during the workouts, but I probably noticed that even more after the fact. So that, you know, I'll get done a workout and do my recovery meal or smoothie, whatever it might be, and hop in the shower and I'm ready to go. Let's go do something now. It really has made a difference.

Taryn Richardson  10:51

Yes, you got so much time back and you're not risking getting divorced, right?

Steve Duquette  10:55

Let's hope not after 30 years of being married.

Taryn Richardson  10:57

Yeah, triathlon does that to families. So you got to watch that. Are there any big misconceptions or myths that you've learned about endurance nutrition? Maybe it's from cycling, maybe it's from dabbling in triathlon and having lots of noisy voices around you that I've busted over the last six months?

Steve Duquette  11:17

I would say the thing that has resonated with me and it comes back in our Power Hours and Masterclass I think, is the myth I guess, that carbs are evil, don't eat too much carbs, you're going to get fat or that sort of thing. And I was never one to completely cut out carbs. But there was a time in the last couple years, where I consciously backed off. You know, I didn't want to eat potatoes. I didn't want to eat rice. I didn't want to eat white pasta. Because I thought I'm going to gain too much weight and this will be bad. I need to be a really super thin person. If I'm going to do these triathlons and be successful and get PBs, you know, I got to back off. So I was concerned, again, I wasn't extreme. It wasn't that I didn't cut them out altogether but I dialled them way back. And so what I've learned in the program is, no, like, it's okay. You need ... carbs is the best fuel for endurance athletes. You need carbs. Carbs can be your friend and you're not going to get fat - because we're not sedentary. Like we're not sitting on the couch, watching TV, right? So if you doing that, maybe carbs are bad. But I don't think that applies to us. So that was one thing that I think, if I walk away, if I never came back, I would always know that, it's okay. Eat the carbs. You need the carbs. We've learned so much about carbs. And I mentioned potatoes and rice and pasta, but there's, you know, all the other like the liquid kind of stuff and whatnot. So that was one thing.

Steve Duquette  12:49

And maybe what goes along with that is that, over the years, you get a lot of advice from your friends. Right? And somebody will say to you, "Hey, here's what I'm doing. This really works good. You should do this. You know why don't you try that? And have you tried this? You should do that". And I was guilty of that sometimes. I mean, I'm my own person, but at the same time I think well, if I'm having an issue with my, say, cramping and whatnot and somebody says, "well, here's what I do". I mentioned this one time to you where when I finished that Muskoka Ironman 70.3 when I cramped up and this one triathlete said, "Well, are you taking magnesium supplements?" And I said, "No". I didn't know anything about magnesium. And she said, "What? No, you need to take magnesium all time, you know. It'll prevent cramping". So guess what I did, Taryn. You know what I did? I went and bought a bottle of this stuff. And that was before joining the program here. And of course, then I told you all about the magnesium. And of course you're like "What the hell are you doing Duquette? You know, you don't need magnesium. If you're taking all the proper foods and natural foods and blah, blah, blah, you don't need this stuff."

Taryn Richardson  13:56

(Hahaha) Blah, blah, blah. I love that's how ... ,like, you paraphrase what I say.

Steve Duquette  14:05

What? Oh, I love it. We're going to write a book about that someday. But you get it. Everybody means well. The triathalon community are super supportive. I love the community. Like, they're just everybody wants you to do well. Everybody's so supportive. It's not about me beating you. It's about us doing great together, right? Whether I finish last or you finish last, doesn't matter. So you get all this advice. And I remember the day before my Ironman race and one of my friends who...he's a phenomenal triathlete, and he qualified for the worlds and did great ... and he was telling me what he did before the race and during the race and when he went and did his qualifying race. And of course, oh, yeah. Okay, well, I mean, if it worked for him, it must work for me, right? Not necessarily. So I've learned to not rely on that. And when people talk to me about that stuff, it's like I take it with a grain of salt because I also, now I think I'm much better equipped with science based information, which is this program. It's not something you've thought about that you say, oh, this is going to work, but you haven't really tested it. Well, we know this from science and experience and data that this stuff is true and it works. So, I'm happy to do that.

Steve Duquette  14:15

We just put you into a little box, blah, blah, blah. That's all you need to know.

Taryn Richardson  15:00

What would Taryn say?

Steve Duquette  15:17

So a couple things were just the carbs are not evil. Probably shouldn't take all the advice from your well meaning friends and other athletes, right? And I always kind of felt like, yeah, I need to be the leanest person possible to be successful. And I will admit to you that I'm probably a few pounds heavier than I was six or eight months ago but my workouts are much better. I feel much stronger. And my numbers are better. Like when I'm running, I'm amazed at myself because I'm doing these runs. And I think, well that's not me. I didn't do that run - like my heartbeat can't be that low. And I can't be that fast. Now I'm talking relative terms here. I'm not like a super fast runner but relative to what I did before, I'm much better. And so that's been a real interesting thing to observe.

Taryn Richardson  15:17

Have you put on muscle though? That's not body fat that's increased. I know you're in winter and you may have put on a bit of winter pudding. But do you think that including the performance gains have been because of muscle tissue?

Steve Duquette  16:16

Yeah, most definitely. I'm very confident that it's not an issue of putting on fat.

Taryn Richardson  16:21

Belt buckles to the same belt hole?

Steve Duquette  16:23

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for saying that. Because I used to weigh myself every day. And I don't do that anymore. But it's the belt loop. And you're right, it hasn't changed.

Taryn Richardson  16:32

Yeah, I think that's really important because we equate mass, so our number on the scales, as body fat. Those fluctuations we're like, oh, crap, I've put on fat or I've lost fat. And it's honestly, most often not. Like it's changes in muscle tissue. It's changes in our hydration status. It's changes in how much fibre we have in our whole gastrointestinal tract. Like is there more bulk in there because you're eating more plant based foods? So it's really important to make that distinction. And for a lot of athletes, that's something that they should kind of work on in their mindset is that weight on the scales, numbers on the scales, does not necessarily equate to an increase in body fat.

Steve Duquette  17:09

Yeah, absolutely. And I used to weigh myself daily, like I said. What I came to realise was that from one day to the next, there was some pretty serious fluctuations. And I thought, what the heck is going on, man? And so that was sort of I don't know what the word is, but...

Taryn Richardson  17:24

A mindfuck?

Steve Duquette  17:25

Yeah, that's it.

Taryn Richardson  17:26

That's the Australian term for you. I'm not sure what the PC term is.

Steve Duquette  17:30

I'd say that's a Canadian term, too.

Taryn Richardson  17:33

Love to make this episode explicit.

Taryn Richardson  17:35

Yeah, right.  18+? Yeah, so I got away from weighing myself. I still weigh myself the odd time. But yeah, the belt buckle thing is what I go by. Thank you for saying that.

Taryn Richardson  17:46

I think that's a good method to use, because it doesn't fluctuate day to day, and then we're not getting in our head and getting caught up in those numbers shifting.

Steve Duquette  17:55

Yeah, absolutely.

Taryn Richardson  17:55

So there's some of the things you've learnt and some really good takeaway points there. Like carbs are not bad. We just need to understand how to harness the power of carbohydrates so that we're eating strategically to support different types of training days. I think that's really important for triathlon, because no two training days are the same, are they? We're not like a gym goer that maybe does five gym days a week and two rest days and you can eat relatively stable through that. Like we have six hour ride days and we have one hour run days and the energy expenditure and the tax on the body is so different for those types of training sessions. So eating to support the work is very, very important if you want to survive. What are you focusing on with your nutrition now, Steve?

Steve Duquette  18:36

As I mentioned, we're getting towards the end of March. So this has been like offseason for Canadians, you might as well say. I'm starting to think about the racing. So I've signed up for that same Muskoka Half Ironman again and I'm going to sign up for a few more events. So I'm starting to focus on some of the stuff that we learned in Phase 2 recently with regard to carbohydrate loading and multiple transportable carbohydrates, if I got that terminology correct?

Taryn Richardson  19:08

Well done, yeah.

Steve Duquette  19:10

Sweat testing. So I'm focusing, or are beginning to take more note of, what I'm going to be doing on race day or leading up to and on race day and so on. And again, like I loved when I learned from you that "Oh, well, I had a big plate of spaghetti on Friday night before the race on Saturday morning". "Well, you know, that's not carbohydrate loading you dumb ass". And it was very eye opening to realise just how much that you need to put into your body to properly load those carbohydrates in, ahead of time.

Steve Duquette  19:45

So I'm focusing on working on developing my carbohydrate loading strategy. We just recently talked about the multiple transportable carbohydrates (that's a mouthful!).  And I'm quite interested in that and I'm guilty of using products that… I just had lots of gel. It's got some carbs in it. It's got 100 calories or whatever. And you kind of wonder why you're not performing or getting the results that you were hoping for. Because I think that's a big part of why. You think about your body chemistry and so on. You know, working towards what I need to be doing, when I'm going to actually be doing these races. And practicing and implementing those things ahead of time. Because as Taryn says, "You don't try new shit on race day. You need to do this and try this before and ahead of time". So.

Taryn Richardson  20:36

Without the swearing, but yes.

Steve Duquette  20:37

No, I think you said that, actually.

Taryn Richardson  20:39

Definitely explicit episode.

Steve Duquette  20:41

So like sweat testing, for me, I knew that I was a heavy sweater, just qualitatively - like, looking at the puddle of liquid on the floor. But actually going through that process that where we learned how to do a sweat test, right? So I've done it a few times, like, wow! This is incredible. And so by doing that, realising that here's the volume of liquid and frequency, like, here's how many millilitres of fluids you need to take in per hour so that you don't dehydrate. And I've never, again, I've never quantified that. Of course, I've been guilty of ... I'm chucking in all this fancy product into my water bottles. I should be ready to roll, right? And again, I think about my races last summer. And I really truly believe that part of the reason why I didn't perform the way that I thought was due to some of that. So recognising like from the beginning of this program, where it's all about fundamentals and just kind of like we're in Grade One. And you're teaching us here's what you do, to we're kind of in high school now, where we're more independent, and we can do some stuff where we know we've got the building blocks. And I'm using those building blocks now to better plan for what's coming ahead.

Taryn Richardson  21:51

Yeah, amazing. It's like you've progressed to the next level. One of the things I encourage everyone in the program to do is to go back and start it again. Because you will take in so much more information the second pass with the more advanced knowledge that you have by the end of the program. And then you become like a super triathlete!

Steve Duquette  22:09

Absolutely, 100% I will be going back through because frankly, there is so much in there. There's the Masterclass and then there's the Power Hour where we get to banter back and forth and have questions going back and forth, and whatnot. It's a wonderful learning opportunity that way. But at the same time, it's almost overwhelming how much there is there. It's kind of like when I watch a movie, I'll watch the movie a second time and I'll go, "Geez, I don't remember that part".

Taryn Richardson  22:37

Yeah, the human brain is amazing like that, isn't it?

Steve Duquette  22:40

Yep. So yeah, there's just an immense volume of material and content in there. So I totally plan on going back. And  I think if I'm right, we've got like a break now coming up. So that'll be the time to go back and re listen. And I mean, I print all the worksheets and stuff. And again, there's just … there's so much, right? But it's exciting. It's like going to school. It really is. I guess that's supposed to be a compliment - that's it's like school.There you go.

Taryn Richardson  23:08

Yeah. We do have four weeks of like rest adaptation in between phases, just to help you soak in all that information before we then move on to the next bit. Because yeah, you're right, it is overwhelming. There is so much to learn about triathlon nutrition. Like we have 36 Masterclasses in the Academy program. It goes for nine months. And that still doesn't cover everything that you need to know.

Steve Duquette  23:31

Yeah. I'm excited just because I'm looking forward to when I do my races, because you know, I've got some goals and I want to do better than I did last year. But also I think that it's ... this is, like, a multi year thing, right? It's not a one and done, right? This is like a lifestyle. And so the more that you do this, and the more you practice it, the more it becomes good habit, right?

Taryn Richardson  23:52

Amen. I hope that I can set you up with the knowledge and skills to take this with you forever. That's my goal. Like I want to equip triathletes to be independent and have that knowledge so that you can do your own nutrition, in a way, on the fly without having to pay for expensive apps, or keep forking out money for someone to write you a plan. I'm going to teach you how to do that yourself, which I think is so much more powerful. So what have you got coming up, Steve? So you've got 70.3 this year? What's next on the cards for you? I know we've talked about the big full distance word before. What's the grand plans?

Steve Duquette  24:26

So right now, I've signed up for the Muskoka 70.3, which is the same one that I did last year because I've got unfinished business on that one.

Taryn Richardson  24:34

Absolutely. Looking forward to seeing that huge shift in time this time.

Steve Duquette  24:38

There you you go. Me, too. There's a race a few weeks before that race that I'm going to sign up. It's got a 2000 metre swim, 56k bike and a 15k run. So it's kind of like a hybrid between an Olympic and a half. So, I'd like to do that. It'll almost be like a warm up, if you will, to doing the Muskoka Half Ironman. So then July is the Muskoka Half Ironman. And then there's another half in I think it's late August or early September. It's a 2000 metre swim, and then a 90k bike and a half marathon. And then I'm toying around (and maybe you and I can talk about this later. You can tell me I'm crazy or not), but it's the Florida 70.3 - December 10th, I believe. So, I don't know if I'm biting off more than I could chew in doing four of those. So, the Florida thing may not happen. But I like the idea of going to Florida in December, just because it'd be warmer than it is at home here in December.

Taryn Richardson  25:35

Maybe you could just go for a holiday instead of having to do a 70.3 - thrown in the mix.

Steve Duquette  25:40

Absolutely. Yeah. But you know what triathletes are like, right? Your holiday is doing the race, and then the holiday?

Taryn Richardson  25:44

Totally. Yeah, needs to be a tax deduction.

Steve Duquette  25:47

Absolutely. I can work that out. I've got to have a client down there somewhere.

Taryn Richardson  25:51

Just put some business meetings in there.

Steve Duquette  25:53

Absolutely. And then, as you mentioned, or alluded to, and you and I've talked about this, some of my triathlete friends are trying to push me to do a full Ironman. But I've decided that I'm not ready for that. I'm going to do this. But I'm very seriously thinking about jumping on and doing that full next year - make that a focus, right? So in and amongst there you know, I still love my biking. And so there's a Gravel Roll bike race coming up at the end of April. We're not going too hard at that site - it's not like we're going out there to try to win something. It's more of an early for us. It's early season, right? So it'll just be a nice, it's like a, 110k gravel race. So that'd be fun.

Taryn Richardson  26:30

That sounds good, Steve. Like it's definitely a triathlete thing. They just ... it's like, "What's next? What's next? And what's next? How do we go bigger? How do we go faster? How do we go longer?" But I think you're smart and focusing on the 70.3 distance for a little bit until you can build up your swimming, build up your running and get all of the nutritional foundations right around that so that you can go and have a great Ironman Distance event, rather than do what you did last year and suffer through a 70.3. Like you did it and you finished it, which is a true testament to you, but it was pretty not enjoyable. And you wouldn't want to do that for a full distance. So yeah, just hold the horses. Hold your horses. Do you say that over there?

Steve Duquette  27:08

Yeah, hold your horses. I like to use the 'Slow down Seabiscuit'.

Taryn Richardson  27:09

(Hahaha) Yeah. Classic.

Steve Duquette  27:10

You know Seabiscuit, right, from the movie?

Taryn Richardson  27:18

Yep.

Steve Duquette  27:19

Yeah, that's it. 'Slow down Seabiscuit'. And I'm just going to add one last thing in. I don't know if you could fit this in here, but in terms of myths and misconceptions, and whatnot, and I completely missed saying this, but you talked about the fourth leg of triathlon being nutrition. And you've talked about the one percenters I think is how you describe it, where, and I'm guilty of this, where I love my gadgets. Like I like my Garmin watch and I like my Garmin cycling computer and my power meter and my fancy bike and whatnot. But it's not much good to you, if you're not prepared physically for the race. You got to make sure that you get that nutrition in order first, and you can have a crappy bike and probably still do better than what I did on a good bike with proper nutrition.

Taryn Richardson  28:03

Amen, Steve. So well said.

Steve Duquette  28:05

Yeah, we've got some goals for this year with the races, and we'll see how it goes. But I feel good that ... being methodical and having a process, right? We do that with our training, right? Like we have all these structured training programs. Why don't we have a structured nutrition program? Like, it's, like, the obvious - but it's not for most people. I have not yet met anybody that when I've talked to them in the last year that ... where they said, "Well, yeah, you know, I'm doing this nutrition program for my endurance sports". People don't talk about that. It's interesting.

Taryn Richardson  28:33

Yeah, it is crazy. I'm trying to change that landscape though, right? That's my passion - is to try to educate as many triathletes as possible how to eat for not one but three sports because we're all high achievers. But you really can get it so wrong. It's not that hard to get it right with a bit of information, too.

Steve Duquette  28:49

Yeah. Yep.

Taryn Richardson  28:50

Thank you so much for sharing your story and sharing your journey with me, Steve. I've loved all of the "out and abouts." I've counted so many on the podcast. And if you are listening and you're not on our waitlist for the Academy program, then you’re going to want to do that so you can get all these mass performance gains like my friend, Steve here. Make sure you go to dietitianapproved.com/academy. I am doing a sneaky little waitlist opening next week. If you have been watching along for a little while and want to kind of get a sneaky entry in, in April. But you have to be on the waitlist. It's not a big open to the public type opening. So dietitianapproved.com/academy. Make sure you're on the waitlist to hear all about that. Thank you so much, Steve, and for sharing your supercharged journey with us. I love chatting with you as always, my favourite Canadian.

Steve Duquette  29:40

It's been a real pleasure. I was glad to come on and share what I've got going on - so much appreciated. Thank you.

Taryn Richardson  29:46

You're welcome.

Taryn Richardson  29:47

Thanks for joining me for this episode of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. I would love to hear from you. If you have any questions or want to share with me what you've learned, email me at [email protected]. You can also spread the word by leaving me a review and taking a screenshot of you listening to the show. Don't forget to tag me on social media, @dietitian.approved, so I can give you a shout out, too. If you want to learn more about what we do, head to dietitianapproved.com. And if you want to learn more about the Triathlon Nutrition Academy program, head to dietitianapproved.com/academy. Thanks for joining me and I look forward to helping you smashed in the fourth leg - nutrition!