Episode 154 - Sunshine Coast 70.3 Race Report

Sunshine Coast 70.3 Race Report

The Sunshine Coast 70.3 race has always been an event to look forward to, but this year, it took on a special meaning as it became the first TNA event. We had people fly in from all over the world and they’re sitting down with me today for a post-race recap.

For this discussion, I’m joined by Kelly (who made the journey from Idaho Falls, USA),  Steve (who travelled from a tiny town near Ontario, Canada), Lyn (from Adelaide), and Mokka (from New South Wales). It was fantastic to finally meet in person those we had only seen virtually for years. Steve won the award for the furthest distance travelled, covering a whopping 14,912 kilometres!

It’s no secret that proper race preparation often involves spending a lot of time alone, maintaining optimal nutrition, and resting. However, our excitement to be together meant we were constantly socialising. While it wasn’t ideal for race prep, it was too enjoyable to resist. Stephen, for instance, had to remind himself to step away from the coffee shops and retreat to the cool of his hotel room occasionally.

Despite the not-so-ideal prep, we all made it to race day excited and raring to go. I was particularly inspired by how everyone embraced the challenges, especially the ocean swim, which was far rougher than expected.

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Episode Transcription

Episode 154: Sunshine Coast 70.3 Race Report

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.

[00:00:24] Taryn:. This is our first TNA event where athletes from all over the world came in to do this race. And I would have to say it was a massive success. So we're definitely going to do it again next year. What do you reckon guys?

[00:00:40] Kelly: We're coming back baby!

[00:00:45] Taryn: Kelly who flew all the way from Idaho Falls in the USA, and we had Steve who came all the way from a tiny, tiny little town called Tiny near Ontario, Canada. And Lynn came from Adelaide, Mokka came from New South Wales, Leanne lives on the coast so she just had to drive, and a few of us came up from Brisbane, so it was so cool to meet people.

[00:01:08] Taryn: In the flesh that we've only seen like the top halves of for a number of years now. Steve definitely won the award for furthest distance traveled. He traveled 14, 912 kilometers or 9, 266 miles.

[00:01:25] Stephen: And that's about the same distance that I swam in the ocean the other day.

[00:01:31] Taryn: And Kelly came in a very close second with 12, 371 kilometers Or 7, 687 miles. So, oh man, thank you guys so much for making the effort to come across. It's been so good having you, one, in our country and all the observations you've made about Australia, but two, just to meet you guys, cause we've known each other since September, 2022.

[00:01:53] Stephen: It's crazy how fast that's gone by and that we have only ever done this online thing for so long and then to come here. It's like surreal to, to, actually physically hang out with everybody. It's been wild.

[00:02:06] Taryn: Maybe a little too fun because In an ideal race preparation, you'd, spend a lot of time by yourself and have your feet up and, you know, eat exactly what you need to eat. But you guys had a bit of FOMO in a way and just wanted to like get amongst it like little puppies, like tails wagging, wanted to be with everyone and talk with everyone all the time, which is, you know, not the ideal race preparation, but too fun to, to miss out and sit in your hotel room.

[00:02:28] Stephen: Absolutely. to remind myself to get away from those coffee shops and, uh, you know, go and chill in the room where it's nice and cool out of the sun. But yeah, so, so easy to get caught up in all the vibe, right? And it's just an awesome vibe over there at Sunshine Coast.

[00:02:42] Kelly: it is and I and follow up with what Steve was saying is, you know, when I am one of those people. that I am really careful not to do anything before race day. I'm trying to protect everything and make sure I eat the right things so I perform well. And I got here and I was just enjoying myself so much with everybody that I was eating all these things I probably wouldn't otherwise eat, enjoying the great food and the company.

[00:03:03] Kelly: And it was a great experience. 

[00:03:07] Stephen: was like, I didn't realize there was like 1, 428 ways to order a coffee here. So that really messed with my head and it threw me off.

[00:03:15] Taryn: But we got that sorted on day one, right? Teaching the Canadian how to order an actual coffee.

[00:03:20] Stephen: Gosh, long black, skinny lattes. I mean, there's just so many ways and I'm still spinning.

[00:03:28] Taryn: We didn't go down the magic route, so we protected you from all the options that you can order.

[00:03:34] Stephen: gotta come back for that reason.

[00:03:37] Taryn: how have you enjoyed traveling all the way to Australia to do a race?

[00:03:41] Stephen: I was nervous because our flight was like 22 and a half hours and then with layovers and all that stuff. You know, it was like 36 hours of getting here. So I actually kind of thought, you know what? I'm going to be just totally done. I'll need like three days to recuperate before I can even think about, you know, doing a 70.

[00:04:01] Stephen: 3. But, um, things went really well. , you did that master class on the, , jet lag and you talked about an app that I used and followed as much as I could. Yeah. , so anyway, some of the stuff that you've taught us worked really well for, so it made a big, I got here and honestly, goodness, like I felt great.

[00:04:19] Stephen: I'd never felt the jet lag thing. I never felt like, Oh my gosh, I'm a zombie. I need to sleep for a day or two. Nah, none of that didn't happen. So,

[00:04:29] Taryn: Just missed it. Bypassed the jet lag altogether.

[00:04:32] Stephen: Pretty much, like, honest to goodness, like, I, I, you know, genuinely, sincerely saying, did not feel the jet lag. And that's the, this is the longest flight that I've ever, we've been to Europe and flown to different places for six, seven, eight hour flights. Which isn't so bad, I guess, but this was a long one. And yeah, no, went super well.

[00:04:50] Taryn: Now you know how we feel if we ever want to travel to anywhere other than Australia, because it's like 24 hours plus to get somewhere.

[00:04:58] Stephen: like I wouldn't want to do it every other month, put it that way. But, going to come back. We're coming back.

[00:05:03] Stephen: I looked at the registration. I looked at the registration for next year. It's, it's September 14th, next year,

[00:05:08] Taryn: Oh, they've already got a date? Wow, that was fast. Of course they did. Get you in that post race 

[00:05:13] Stephen: registration's not open, but I put in the reminder thing so they'll email me when it opens. And, uh, but it's September 14th, 2025.

[00:05:21] Taryn: book your ACOM before the accommodation places realise that it's the sunny coast weekend and jack up their prices by more than 50%.

[00:05:29] Stephen: Yeah,

[00:05:29] Taryn: What about you, Kelly? How have you enjoyed coming all the way to Australia to do a race?

[00:05:33] Kelly: You know, it worked out really well. It's very similar to Steve's experience. I had a little bit shorter flight. I came through, uh, salt Lake City than LAX, and then it was like 14 and a half hour flight from LAX to Sydney. And that's difficult, whenever you try to follow some kind of plan, you know, you gave us a jet lag plan to help us out.

[00:05:52] Kelly: But on the flight, you're a victim to when they serve the food, right? And so you have to wake up and eat. Anyway, all in all, it worked out really well because I had like a, I think it was an eight hour layover in Sydney before I flew to Malibu. And, the way it all worked out with the timing and sequence of when do you sleep, when do you do certain things.

[00:06:14] Kelly: Uh, it just was, it worked out great. So when I got here, you know, typically my sleep schedule would be way off and I'd be trying to sleep in the middle of the day or take naps and things like that. And I didn't have any of that. I, I was tired when it was bedtime. But it all just tended to just kind of roll out really smoothly where I went to bed in my regular time and I slept really well.

[00:06:35] Kelly: I've been sleeping really well all the time that I've been here and so I can't really say the jet lag interfered or was even really that noticeable the entire time I've been here. I mean it's just been a great experience.

[00:06:45] Taryn: Oh, so good. How good is that to come all the way from Canada and the US with no jet lag? Or very minimal jet lag?

[00:06:52] Stephen: Yeah.

[00:06:52] Kelly: Yeah, I mean this is something that's going to be, you know, I'm going to incorporate into all of my future travel, so it's not just something I've learned here and it was, it was a one time thing. It's like, wow, this is a new tool that will fit in every aspect of future travel.

[00:07:05] Taryn: And everyone smashed it out there as well. I don't think anyone was, particularly unhappy with their race. We had PBs flying left, right and center. I think Lisa did a massive 19 minute PB. Paul did a whopping 15 minute PB. And Paul's time, get this, Paul did a 4. 44. 44. Not even joking.

[00:07:25] Stephen: He said he's gonna retire now. That's it. He can never repeat that again. Unless he does a three. Maybe he'll do a three 30. 3 33. I don't know. He's probably can do it. That guy, 

[00:07:33] Kelly: Yeah, 

[00:07:35] Taryn: so good. And look, Steve, you had a massive PB as well. Tell me about your 70.

[00:07:41] Stephen: There's not enough time on the podcast.

[00:07:44] Taryn: In the concise version.

[00:07:45] Stephen: yeah, I felt great. and I, I came in just under six hours, like 6 57. Lynn beat me by a minute. Thank you Lynn

[00:07:53] Lyn: no worries, Steve. 

[00:07:58] Stephen: and swim in the ocean, I'd be crushing it. Um, yeah, so no, I, the last half Ironman I did was seven hours in one minute and this was 6.

[00:08:07] Stephen: 57, I think, so like a full hour plus faster. And, , I will just say. The thing that I always going back to things that I struggled with and that was leg cramping. And I think, you know, in Taryn, you walked me through a lot of this stuff. We're going back like a year and a half, two years ago talking about this stuff and you talked about nutrition and hydration being the culprit, all of those things.

[00:08:31] Stephen: And so I've worked on that with, with everything, the recovery nutrition and everything else. And there was never once in the entire. six hours where I felt like, Oh, oh, here it comes. Like, I can feel the little twitchy. It's going to, it's going to go. Am I going to start cramping?

[00:08:46] Stephen: I never felt that at all. So it felt great. And yeah, I mean, I just kept moving. And I did a 48 minute swim and I was hoping for somewhere like 42 minutes. So even with that, and I, I got out of the water and I was really fricking exhausted. Exhausted. I was walking up the beach.

[00:09:03] Stephen: You saw me. I wasn't running to the train because I was like, Oh my God, I don't know if I can do this now, but you know, I got through that and hopped on the bike and it took about 10 K before the saltwater that I swallowed kind of evaporated, I guess.

[00:09:16] Stephen: And then I felt good And I did a pretty darn good bike.

[00:09:19] Stephen: It's usually, that's my strong point. And then with the run, , I did walk through the aid stations, a lot of them and, you know, hit the electrolytes, the Coke and the water, putting the water down the back of my neck. One of our other TNA athletes is Aaron Burge.

[00:09:31] Stephen: And she sets these three goals all the time. So I, I wrote them down and sealed them up. And I showed Lynn, my wife the next day, and I said, here are my goals. And one was five hours and 30 minutes, which was going to be like, wow. And the other one was anything under six hours. And then the other one was finished.

[00:09:48] Stephen: So I hit the middle one and I said, you know what? I'm happy. I hit one of my goals and I'm super happy. No cramping. Felt great. and so next year it'll be a better swim and it'll be running through those trans or those aid stations and we're shooting for something better. But I'm super happy. It was great.

[00:10:07] Kelly: you know, I'm looking out my window this morning because I'm still in my hotel 

[00:10:10] Stephen: tell me it's calm out 

[00:10:11] Kelly: looking out over the race venue and the water is as calm. just perfectly calm. There's all these people out there swimming and surfing, doing some kind of training and stuff. Taryn put a hex on the, on the swim venue on Sunday

[00:10:26] Stephen: cause she, cause she barely trained and goes out there and swims a 140 per hundred and crushes it with what, 36 minutes or something silly

[00:10:34] Taryn: 32 mate, 32.

[00:10:35] Kelly: it was hard I was miserable out there. That water was rough. I am not , an ocean swimming person. I mean, that motion sickness was, it was a hard swim for me too. And I struggled and I was so glad. When it was over. We got to that last green turn buoy, When we got there and turned, went to the finish line, I was so glad to get there. Because I did not like that swim.

[00:10:55] Stephen: Uh, my, my Strava buddies were commenting on my stuff saying, you know what, I'm not It's a great experience. It toughens you up. You learn from it. And yeah, I'm coming back. Like I'm, I'm going to do better on that swim next year. I don't care

[00:11:06] Stephen: how choppy or wavy it is. I'm going to, I'm taking that ocean back.

[00:11:10] Kelly: Yep, me too.

[00:11:11] Taryn: it was a very rough swim. It is not usually like that. So I'm sorry that you had to endure that.

[00:11:17] Stephen: love it. I love it. It's not usually like that. You know how many times

[00:11:19] Stephen: I've heard that in the last three days? It's a fricking broken record. It's not usually like that,

[00:11:24] Taryn: So I'm glad that I took you into the ocean a couple of days before then though, just to show you what it's like out there when it can be rough. 'cause I took you out when it was even worse than that and you were like, oh my God. I'm like, don't worry, race day will be better than this. But I'm glad that we did that so that you had an expectation and then hopefully we exceeded that with how calm it was.

[00:11:44] Stephen: And there, and there, I think the race theory was better than when we went out because

[00:11:48] Stephen: those on that day that you took us out there, I mean, I got smacked by a couple of waves. I mean, honestly, like it hurt. I got out of there and I said to you, Taryn, I'm like, wasn't panicking, but it was very uncomfortable.

[00:12:00] Stephen: Not going to lie.

[00:12:01] Taryn: swimming. Swimming in the ocean is very different to swimming in a lake.

[00:12:05] Stephen: Yeah.

[00:12:05] Kelly: Yes, very different.

[00:12:07] Stephen: huge,

[00:12:08] Kelly: The water, the water tastes different. A lot 

[00:12:12] Stephen: Yeah. 

[00:12:12] Stephen: Grace to might., my nutrition in my bottle wasn't as concentrated as that stuff. I don't think. Oh my gosh.

[00:12:19] Taryn: It's very salty.

[00:12:21] Taryn: I do have to say a big thank you to Lee for putting our team T& A together and forcing me out of retirement because I had a great time. I had the best swim ever. It's like just cruising along, being like, this is awesome. Why don't I do this anymore? But I'm glad that I didn't have to ride and then run off off the back of that.

[00:12:39] Taryn: Lee, you got to do the ride and we had Chris do the run, and we smashed it. 

[00:12:43] Taryn: How did 

[00:12:45] Leanne: Yeah, pretty good. We're very smooth on the changeover. You were a bit faster than I thought you were going to be, so I almost got caught in the, you guys call it the port a potty. , but I, I was there running out, doing up my helmet, mouth full of, , lollies. we did pretty well. I was a little bit naughty and got in the sin bin for drafting. Oops. I didn't do it on purpose, everybody. That's the first time ever in the sin bin in 30 years. So anyway, I'll take that. 

[00:13:18] Kelly: That's good aggressive behavior. That's how you win. You got to get out there and do it.

[00:13:22] Stephen: You just, you know, you gotta, you gotta force it. You gotta push the limits.

[00:13:26] Leanne: So my, my goal, I wanted to get it under three hours. So I got it in. 2. 55, and that included the penalty, so 

[00:13:37] Leanne: I was, happy, yeah, I was happy with that because I haven't, I've been doing a little bit of, riding on my trainer for an hour or so in the garage, and then I, um, yeah, went out on the road and went a little bit further. So yeah, that was great and it was good to, uh, see, I saw a few people from our TNA crew every now and then. , I saw Lisa a few times and I saw, , Lynn and I heard someone yell out to me but I didn't see who it was. So it might have been Steve or Kelly, I think. It was a man voice.

[00:14:08] Leanne: , but yeah, it was good and then, and then our team mate Chris, who's one of my mum friends, stepped in and she just, um, yeah, smashed it on the run course and just on two hours. So yeah, we were happy with that and the unexpected little trip to the podium, which is again, the first time ever for me. 

[00:14:27] Taryn: Yay! 

[00:14:28] Leanne: pumped. Yeah.

[00:14:30] Taryn: Yeah, so we have to try harder next year then.

[00:14:32] Leanne: Yeah, we will. We're definitely doing it. Yeah.

[00:14:37] Kelly: Ah, see that? So, Taryn's already committing to be on the team next year. 

[00:14:41] Stephen: That's what I was going to say. It sounds like Taren's signing up for that swim leg again.

[00:14:44] Taryn: Oh, I'm not

[00:14:45] Kelly: Although, you need to mix it up because Taryn's too fast on the swim. We need someone else to swim and she can do the bike or the run.

[00:14:52] Taryn: No, don't mess with the good thing, Kelly.

[00:14:55] Leanne: Yeah.

[00:14:56] Taryn: My goal was just to beat you North Americans and I did that. I swam 32 minutes, which actually surprised myself. I was like, all right, if I get under 40 minutes, I'll be all right. But yeah, I came out of the water and I looked at my watch and it said 32 minutes. I was like, yeah, so I ran up 

[00:15:10] Kelly: was, that was impressive. I, I couldn't believe you were that fast. That was 

[00:15:14] Stephen: oh my God, you had to, you, you went shopping, got some groceries, fed your baby, came back and then you watched me come out of the water 16 minutes later.

[00:15:22] Kelly: Yeah,

[00:15:23] Taryn: I should have actually swum faster. I wasn't sure. I've never done 1. 9 Ks in a year. 

[00:15:29] Stephen: should have swam. I could 

[00:15:30] Kelly: should have, I 

[00:15:31] Taryn: I had too 

[00:15:32] Stephen: I'm going to do a 28 minutes next year. I should have swam faster too but I freaking couldn't.

[00:15:38] Taryn: Ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha

[00:15:40] Stephen: I was swimming faster.

[00:15:42] Taryn: I honestly could have I had one, Ahahaha

[00:15:51] Kelly: ha, ha, ha,

[00:15:53] Stephen: think I was, I was probably like, 500 meters from the green buoy and I'm going ashore, baby. I was just, I was, I was like, where you going, mate? I'm like, I can't see the buoys. I'm, I'm like taking my goggles off. I'm floating in the water and I'm looking, I'm going. I can't, the sun's in my face. I can't see nothing.

[00:16:15] Stephen: Like, where the hell am I?

[00:16:17] Taryn: Okay, so next year we'll do a master class on how to cite because there's so many things that I know that I take for granted like 

[00:16:24] Stephen: I have a bone. I got a bone to pick with you, Taryn, because. After the race was done and I think we were at the restaurant and we were talking about this thing And you're like, well, I don't cite the buoys I find a spot on shore like a big apartment building or something and I just like I was like Thanks for telling me now that the race is done.

[00:16:42] Stephen: That's one of your secret powers. Yeah

[00:16:44] Taryn: Well, I forgot I knew that until I was in there, and I was like, I can't see shit, so I just used 

[00:16:48] Taryn: that skill. next time we'll go out and we'll do some ocean swimming practice, and I'll teach you some of those things that I forget that I know. It's been a long time since I've done something like this, remember?

[00:16:59] Taryn: Like, everything was dusty.

[00:17:01] Stephen: Yeah,

[00:17:01] Taryn: There's cobwebs all 

[00:17:02] Taryn: over the goggles. 

[00:17:03] Stephen: gosh, my, my 32 minutes. I'm so rusty on my swim. I can't just wait to wait till I train and do this. I'll be, you know, back in the Olympics again someday.

[00:17:12] Taryn: I was channeling my inner Chad, who is one of our athletes and a coach, and he's in the hall of fame for swimming he's so fast. So he was like, maybe you'll do about 40 minutes, Taryn, you'll still beat Kelly. It's okay. You should do three sessions a week. And, 

[00:17:26] Kelly: my coach and he was telling you, you're going to beat me. That guy, I'm going to have to have a talk with him.

[00:17:32] Stephen: You know what you meant to say, Kelly? He was your coach.

[00:17:35] Kelly: Yeah,

[00:17:36] Taryn: he's a great coach and Becky, another, another athlete that is a coach. She's like, yeah, you need to do three sessions a week. You need to do one. You need that strength. You need to do one that's endurance. You wouldn't need to do one that speed. I was like, Becky, I am lucky to get one swim a week in at the minute.

[00:17:50] Taryn: Stop over complicating things. So I was like, all right, all right. I'll aim for 40 minutes. I'll be stoked if I get under 40 minutes and yeah. Anyway, we had a great time. We came third. I had to stand on the podium by myself because everyone else had gone home to kids. So I was like representing for team TNA.

[00:18:05] Taryn: but yes, I am not committing just yet, but perhaps we will do it again next year. And I will perhaps swim. I was actually thinking, do I swim this week? Do I go swimming training tomorrow or is that it? Do I pull it, pull the card?

[00:18:19] Kelly: You don't need to practice. You don't need to practice. Just show up next year. You'll be fine.

[00:18:24] Stephen: Kelly and I are willing to book our flights and accommodation and come back here next year all that way,

[00:18:29] Stephen: you damn well better be in that ocean or doing one leg of a

[00:18:33] Kelly: Amen. 

[00:18:34] Taryn: It was, really cool. It was good to like high five my kids on the swim exit and stuff like that. And I wanted to get in and do it again. I was like, why is this over now? 

[00:18:41] Kelly: And your youngest will be older. You'll have more free time.

[00:18:44] Taryn: Yeah, that was pretty intense, but you know, it won't be like that again. so Lynne, you came to do the race off the back of doing Townsville Worlds just before and even drove down and, you know, you have been away from home for a long time. How did it go racing to Sunny Coast on tired legs from Worlds?

[00:19:00] Lyn: it wasn't too bad. I had a two week break in between. , so I just made sure I had my recovery foods from Townsville and then just chose healthy foods all the way down. And when I got to Sunny Coast, I had my race plan, I had my nutrition plan and even made like contingency in case it was going to be warm.

[00:19:21] Lyn: And because the race is of a longer nature than what I had up at Townsville, had a plan, but I had a backup plan just in case I needed anything during the race. , as it turned out, I didn't make any adjustments to , my nutrition plan, it flowed really well. , felt good the whole way.

[00:19:37] Lyn: , finished strong, which is great. And, best of all, no cramping.

[00:19:43] Stephen: Yay.

[00:19:45] Lyn: Finally.

[00:19:47] Stephen: Yeah. I know the feeling. I know the feeling.

[00:19:49] Lyn: Yeah, it's a good feeling because I kept thinking in the back of my mind, you know, sometime during the race, it's probably going to raise its ugly little head and start saying, 

[00:19:58] Stephen: you

[00:19:58] Stephen: floated by me at that one point we were going along on the run. And I watched you running away from me,

[00:20:04] Lyn: Yeah. 

[00:20:05] Stephen: it seemed to be somewhat effortless for you, but the way you look, you look very comfortable running out there. 

[00:20:09] Lyn: Oh, thank you. Yeah, it worked well. My, my places were right on target. , so I was super happy with that. , yeah, it was a good day. And I carry everything with me. Only thing I took from the aid stations was water all the meticulous planning we've did with New Terran, , paid off.

[00:20:26] Lyn: So, yeah, really happy keeping that plan.

[00:20:30] Taryn: Yes.

[00:20:30] Kelly: Yeah.

[00:20:31] Lyn: So, yeah,

[00:20:32] Taryn: It's nice when you finally get it right and you're like, yes, I got this now. I got it all figured out and everything's working. And now you can just make tiny little tweaks to it depending on what race it is, what the course is, whatever is happening for that particular event. But that's awesome, Lynn.

[00:20:47] Taryn: And yeah, I was stoked. Even, even Jerry was like, Oh, I'm worried about Lynn. She's been worried, worried about cram being, I was like, nah, she'll be fine, mate. Yeah.

[00:20:57] Lyn: yeah, well, every race up until now, I think I've had an issue. So, um, yeah, it's just refreshing to be able to just focus on what you're doing and not have to worry about, constantly stopping and rectifying things and trying to get your head back into the 

[00:21:14] Stephen: to, yeah, it was interesting to get out on the course. And when I was running and actually on the bike as well to see various people on the side and they're trying to work out their cramping and stuff, I thought, Oh man, I know what they're going through, and I'm like, doo doo doo, let's keep on going. 

[00:21:31] Lyn: and there was a few that had stopped. I noticed it too. And I thought, oh, gee, I know exactly what you're going through. I'm sorry. Yeah, it's not fun. Not fun 

[00:21:38] Stephen: Not fun. I will say, too, like, even, like, after the race was done, it wasn't like I was gonna lay down and die. I mean, I was like, oh, this is great. You know, we're walking around, Lynn, you and I, and, and Kelly and My wife Lynn and we're you know watching the rest of the people coming in and I'm like, yeah, I'm tired But I feel pretty good and like the next day.

[00:21:57] Stephen: I'm like if I needed to do a run I would easily go for a run. It's not like it felt like oh my god I got to take a one or two week break and I am done here My I'm cooked nothing like that at all, which is really amazing for me

[00:22:10] Taryn: Yeah.

[00:22:11] Taryn: is that a new new feeling for you? You haven't really experienced that before? 

[00:22:14] Stephen: Oh My 

[00:22:14] Taryn: Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss 

[00:22:20] Kelly: but, usually one of the things that I, always have to build in is I have to stop and pee someplace along the way, right? I mean, that's a long way, a six hour race. Taryn, you kind of changed up my plan and did some things that affected that, you know, the hydration protocols and the acute sodium loading.

[00:22:35] Kelly: So, the way this all worked out for me, And this particular race, I didn't have to stop and feed the entire race. And so for five hours, five hours and fifty minutes, I did not have to stop. Which is, is a first. So that of course saves time, right? I had a sixteen minute improvement of my fast, this was my fastest seventy point three.

[00:22:52] Kelly: And it was sixteen minutes faster than my race in June. And that one in June was a, , the fastest to date so far. So all these little things are adding up and really helping with my performance. You know, my nutrition plan overall was really great, but the hydrations were getting dialed in, sodium loading, acute sodium loading got dialed in, and this was a great performance here.

[00:23:15] Kelly: And the weather was perfect, of course, and I was full of energy. I mean, when we got done racing, I had went down and got my medal engraved and I was thinking, Oh, you know what?

[00:23:24] Kelly: I'm behind all these people are waiting for me. I better get to transition and 

[00:23:27] Stephen: I know 

[00:23:27] Kelly: gear. Yeah, so I felt good enough, which this I don't think I've really done this too much in the past, but I really felt pretty good. So I was way over at the Iron Man merchandise tent, which is at the opposite end of the whole venue from where Transition is.

[00:23:41] Kelly: It's probably a kilometer or more apart, maybe, I don't know, at least one. I'm thinking, man, I'm behind. So I started running. I felt good enough. That I, I was running through the crowds, through the venues, down the sidewalk, trying to get the transitions so I could meet up and do whatever we were going to do there as a group.

[00:23:57] Kelly: And as I'm passing, it was actually about the finish line at this point, and I hear people starting to yell at me. And I'm thinking, what are they cheering me on for? I'm not cheering me on, are they? And they're yelling, kill it, kill it. And so I stopped and turned around and all these, everybody was there already in the group.

[00:24:11] Kelly: They were walking along and I didn't even notice them. I was, you know, headed off, running, trying to, you know. Get the transition so I could catch up with everybody. But, but, I was really feeling pretty good. I mean, I was still able to get out there and get running.

[00:24:25] Stephen: I had

[00:24:25] Stephen: a new experience.

[00:24:26] Stephen: as well. Speaking of the hydration and all that, because I'm a heavy sweater like I never, get any remote sensation of having to go pee on any part of the course that I've ever done. But yesterday I said I was telling this to my wife. I'm like, oh my gosh I said it was like the last 5k And I thought I was gonna piss myself I thought oh, this is what incontinence feels like I'm, like I can't believe this is not how can this be me?

[00:24:52] Stephen: so I must have really hydrated well because I actually felt like Shit, i'm gonna have to stop and find a porta potty And

[00:25:00] Stephen: of course my kids were watching the youtube finish line And they told me after like dad like we saw you there was like 3k to go and I know he wants to get under six hours And they were rooting me on cheering me on because they thought I might not make it and i'm thinking to myself too If I gotta friggin stop and go for a leak now, this is like

[00:25:20] Stephen: But I just kept going but I actually thought I was gonna piss my pants at one point

[00:25:26] Taryn: So we have two end of the spectrums there. We have Kelly who like constantly pees in races and we're trying to get him to stop. And Steve who is so dehydrated normally that we're trying to get him to drink more. And he did a great job 

[00:25:36] Taryn: this time to the point where he actually felt like he needed to go to the toilet.

[00:25:39] Taryn: So we've had improvements in all facets of racing, which is nice to see. 

[00:25:45] Stephen: Absolutely. 

[00:25:45] Taryn: such an awesome time. So we are only a couple of days post race now recording this. And I miss you guys. Like I'm back home now. Everyone's gone to do their own kind of different thing. People are back to work already. I miss you guys.

[00:25:57] Taryn: It's good to connect already this, this early, but it was so much fun. And we are going to do Sunnyco 70. 3 next year. Cause Chris, one of our other athletes in the September program. That came through with this group was going to come this year, but he couldn't.

[00:26:12] Taryn: So he had to defer for next year. So we will be back at Sunnyco 70. 3 for 2025 for our annual TNA event. And then beyond that, we'll go a little bit further. Maybe we'll go up to North America or over to Europe or somewhere like that. A little bit closer to home for you guys. And we'll have to use our jet lag adaptation plans to get to you guys.

[00:26:32] Taryn: but yeah, thank you so much for, oh gosh, I guess like everything, entrusting me with your nutrition and then entrusting me enough to come to my country to do a race like it's the best ever! Woo!

[00:26:42] Kelly: absolutely love the experience. I mean, it's it was just in every way. It's been a great experience that the travel here was a good experience. It turned out well while we've been here. You guys have taken great care of us. We've had great social interactions, which has just been the most fun I've had in years and you know, you're always worried about am I going to get sick before race day or what's going to go wrong?

[00:27:02] Kelly: What's going to mess up? None of that happened. I mean, everything just worked out flawlessly. The race execution was perfect and the race is over. We had a great time. I mean, it's just everything's just been perfect. It's just I can't believe how well this has gone I really thank you guys.

[00:27:17] Kelly: They're here taking care of us. It's just better than I could have imagined that it would turn out

[00:27:22] Leanne: Kelly even drove on the other side of the road. That's 

[00:27:25] Leanne: very, 

[00:27:25] Leanne: very 

[00:27:26] Lyn: Ooh, 

[00:27:27] Kelly: I did I drove for the first time right and it worked out. Okay, I mean there's a lot of traffic It was pretty smooth. I did have one startling moment On the drive where I went to signal to change lanes and the windshield wipers came on.

[00:27:39] Lyn: Oh, . 

[00:27:40] Lyn: Whoops. 

[00:27:41] Stephen: ha, 

[00:27:41] Kelly: because they're on the opposite side of the steering wheel here, so it took me a little bit of time to figure that out.

[00:27:46] Kelly: , but other than that, yeah, I'm learning to drive on the wrong side of the road. And I'm learning how to talk. I'm learning how to talk like an Australian, which is, means I only need to know ten words and nine of them are the F word. 

[00:28:00] Stephen: And if you're not sure, you just insert an F word into whatever you're saying.

[00:28:03] Leanne: Yeah.

[00:28:03] Kelly: right. 

[00:28:05] Stephen: Right? 

[00:28:06] Leanne: Oh, you go 

[00:28:06] Stephen: baby. 

[00:28:08] Leanne: yna, 

[00:28:08] Stephen: Yeah. nah. yeah. nah. Cracka!

[00:28:11] Stephen: Cracka! 

[00:28:12] Taryn: All right guys, so to wrap us up, what is one word that captures how you felt about Sunny Coast 70. 3?

[00:28:19] Leanne: Oh,

[00:28:20] Kelly: magical.

[00:28:22] Taryn: That's a great 

[00:28:22] Stephen: Unforgettable. Unforgettable.

[00:28:25] Lyn: Brilliant

[00:28:28] Leanne: I can't think of one word. 

[00:28:31] Kelly: Well, that's because you live here. It's just another day in 

[00:28:33] Stephen: Yeah, 

[00:28:34] Leanne: know, I know. 

[00:28:35] Stephen: Leanne's thinking, well, routine, you know,

[00:28:39] Stephen: normal. 

[00:28:40] Kelly: Ho hum, 

[00:28:41] Taryn: Child, child free. You

[00:28:42] Taryn: should say 

[00:28:43] Leanne: yeah. That's two words.

[00:28:46] Taryn: Put a 

[00:28:46] Lyn: You can hyphenate 

[00:28:47] Lyn: it. Yeah, I can eat it. You'll be right.

[00:28:49] Stephen: hyphenate it.

[00:28:51] Leanne: You know, all the words. all the love. How about no words? How about this?

[00:28:56] Stephen: There 

[00:28:57] Kelly: Aww, that's a good one. Does my 

[00:29:00] Leanne: no words. Just hearts

[00:29:02] Taryn: We're on a podcast though, so for people listening, they can't see your little heart symbol with your 

[00:29:06] Leanne: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, well I'll give him that one then.

[00:29:12] Kelly: So, you can just say that. 

[00:29:14] Lyn: Oh dear. 

[00:29:15] Stephen: Hang on as if I could comment on the ocean swim.

[00:29:20] Kelly: Oh, I would agree, I would second that. That ocean swim, I am not looking forward to that.

[00:29:26] Stephen: will never forget the words. it's burned in my memory. Where are you going, mate?

[00:29:33] Leanne: we're gonna get you that on a t-shirt.

[00:29:36] Stephen: Leanne's right. I'm getting a T shirt made. It's going to be a, where are you going mate? and it's going to be some Some dude swimming in an ocean

[00:29:44] Stephen: him. in the ocean.

[00:29:45] Stephen: Yeah, which way you going, mate?

[00:29:47] Taryn: If it's any consolation, Paul and Lisa did the same thing, like a heaps of people went that wrong way, which is probably why you went the wrong way 

[00:29:53] Stephen: Oh, okay, well, time, 

[00:29:55] Lyn: we just followed each other. I did it too. We all sort of Let's It's like Yeah, they all went the wrong way, but they didn't swim 48 minutes. They still managed to swim like 30 something minutes. There was a guy in the hot tub at our place the day after. And I'm talking to this guy, he's in the 50 to 55 age group.

[00:30:13] Stephen: And he's from Australia. Somebody's like, Oh, that swim was brutal. You know, I was all over the place. And I'm like, well, like, how was your swim time? He goes, um, 28 minutes. I'm like, dude, I swam 48 minutes, like 28. And you're telling me you were off course. I hate to hell to see you if you were on course, like piss off. 

[00:30:34] Taryn: if you're coming back next year, then you have to do some open water swimming. That's your homework.

[00:30:39] Stephen: the swim, the swim was humbling, but the overall experience was just like second to none. 100%.

[00:30:45] Taryn: You'll always remember that swim. It'll always be etched in your mind. 

[00:30:49] Stephen: absolutely.

[00:30:49] Taryn: But, but 

[00:30:50] Stephen: I'll be telling 

[00:30:51] Taryn: with happy memories.

[00:30:53] Stephen: it. No, absolutely. You know what? Maybe 10 years ago, I'd be like more angry about it and, you know, ho hum, whatever. But I'm laughing about it. I just think it's hilarious.

[00:31:01] Stephen: Like that. That's how it went. And, but I got still kept going. Right.

[00:31:06] Stephen: And. Oh, gosh. Yeah. Absolutely great course. I mean, you know, you're riding your bike and getting ocean views coming down the hill and stuff.

[00:31:14] Stephen: Just amazing. everybody on this, you know, TNA programs, get your ass out here, sign up cause you're not going to regret it.

[00:31:22] Taryn: Yeah, 

[00:31:24] Taryn: I think we'll have a bigger cohort next year that come and comes across to do it. Kelly's already been working on a few people, but I think, you know, the FOMO is real. Everyone watching along back home was like, Oh my God, I wish I was there with you guys. Cause it has been so fun. So unreal to hang out together and, talk about all the Australian things that you need to know.

[00:31:44] Taryn: All right, legends. Thank you so much. And yeah, we'll see you back at sunny coast. 70. 3 2025 

[00:31:50] Taryn: come and join us. join the TNA so you can join team TNA. Yeah.

[00:31:55] Stephen: Go swim.

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!