IRACELIKEAGIRL

What an amazing, epic, challenging, and rewarding race day!  From race week island vibes to pineapple rompers to the actual race day, we cover it all in this one.  This was Amy's first Kona experience as an athlete racing, and Angela's first Kona as race support, so we have two fun perspectives on the whole week.  This race is everything that they say it is. On paper, the course looks challenging but not daunting.  Yet add in ocean swells and currents, wind and heat on both the bike and run, and being exposed all day to the sun with no shade in sight, well... you get probably the most brutal course on the Ironman circuit. However, 2039 of the 2097 athletes who started the race finished, the highest single day finish rate in all of Ironman World Championship history.  Go women!  We are proud to have witnessed this race in person, so have a listen to our Kona race recap! 

This episode features Laura Moretti Reece, a Board Certified Sports Dietitian specializing in sports performance based nutrition as well as treating low energy availability, disordered eating, and eating disorders in athletes. She works in the Division of Sports Medicine and the Female Athlete Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. Topics covered:

• Disordered eating vs eating disorder
• How many calories you should eat in a day 
• How do you know if you are underfueling and what does underfueling do to your body?
• Iron levels 
• How do we lose weight safely while training and not lose performance 
• Why underfueling makes you gain weight
• Timing and structure of when and how you eat 
• Why you might gain weight when training 
• Protein and carb needs/ keto diet 
• Alcohol and metabolic health
• On-the -go snacks and meals for busy people 

https://www.lauramorettird.com/

@thefemaleathleteprogram 

We are back with part 2 of our listener questions! We touch on topics such as managing training with a busy life, and what happens when you have to miss a workout and how to manage that. We delve into food journaling, macros, and diet trends; and we finish by talking about self-sabotage and how to overcome a negative mindset. Have a listen! 

Today we have part 1 of our listener questions! This week, we answer questions about what we did right in our best race builds; how to bounce back after a crappy race or a DNF; the benefits and drawbacks of indoor bike training; and why you may not have to take an end of season training break. Have a listen! 

Whether you are pro or age grouper, race mishaps happen.  Some of them are funny, some are embarassing, and some leave us wondering, "What was I thinking?" In this episode, Angela and Amy share their crazy race stories.  But through the laughs, we hope you learn a few things- namely how to pick yourself back up when something happens, how to deal with adversiity, how to think on the fly, and how to laugh at yourself. Because most often, being resilient is the difference between having a great race or wishing you never showed up (which we hope is never the case!).  

Although technically it’s still summer for a couple of more weeks, we all know that Labor Day weekend signifies the symbolic end of summer. As race season winds down, athletes sometimes struggle with figuring out what to do from September to December?   Do we take a training break? Find a fall race?  Swim more? Swim less?  In this episode, we to give some direction for the fall and beyond. We also do a bit of a case study with two of our athletes and talk about the arc of their seasons and what they will be doing in the fall. Have a listen! 

When this episode airs, we will be six weeks from the women’s World Championship in Kona. This race preview covers everything, from heat training to packing to best food spots in Kona, and then of course, we go into the race! Amy and Angela will both be in Kona this year to race and as race support, and to celebrate women in sport. Lots of great info in here, and a few surprises, as usual. Send us a message if you will be in Kona- racing, spectating, or working the event!  We would love to hear from you! 

This episode revolves around the Champion’s Mindset- what it is, how to find it, and more importantly, how to live it.  As coaches and athletes, we know that there are some common traits and actions that make some athletes stand apart from the rest- it’s more than just “working hard." So what separates the good from the great? From grit to goal setting to flow state to risk taking, we tease out what makes people perform at their best in sport and in life.  Have a listen! 

 Today we talk about the team aspect of sport. As we move into fall, triathlon and cycling teams will open up to application, including our own teams, I Race Like A Girl and Girls Get Gritty.  So we thought it would be great to talk a bit about our teams and why Angela started these two teams.  We also talk about why you might want to join a team and what you should look for when joining.  Mark your calendars for September 1, so you can be a part of our teams.  Slots are limited!

This episode will help you find ways to get faster in races without actually needing to train more in swim, bike, or run, or as we are calling it- FREE SPEED.  And yes, even though we say “FREE,” some of the things we talk about do cost money, but we mean FREE in terms of “you don’t have to train for for the gain.” So we are not going to be talking about heart rate or power or intervals. Instead we are going to be talking about things like drafting in the swim, waxing your bike chain, aero helmets, super shoes, transition tips, and more. You would be surprised at how many ways you find seconds or minutes without training! Have a listen! 

We are so excited to bring you our conversation with Dr. Kate Ackerman. Dr. Ackerman is the medical director of the Female Athlete Program in the Sports Medicine Division at Boston Children's Hospital and is now on the forefront of research involving female athletes and perimenopause and menopause. There are very few reliable studies involving older female athletes and Dr. Ackerman and her colleagues are working to change that with the Female Athlete Program , an innovation hub for the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance. Their center brings together national and international sports medicine clinicians and researchers with the aim of answering fundamental physiological and sports performance questions related to female athletes. We cover a lot, including what supplements she recommends, why hormone replacement (HRT) can work, if you are a candidate for HRT, and what we women can do to help us feel strong and perform well from our 20s and 30s to our 60s and 70s.  Have a listen!

What a day!  This episode recaps Ironman Lake Placid, one of the most iconic Ironman races on the circuit. Angela was 4th female pro with a time of 9:32:23 and Amy was 10th in her age group with a 12:14:50 and got a Kona slot!  We start with race week, and then head into the race. Angela shares her race strategy, her goals, and some funny moments, including Angela’s T1 mishaps, getting peed on during the bike portion (!!), and Amy's biofreeze moment on River Road. The best part about this recap is that even though there may often be differences in the way an age grouper and a pro approach and execute an Ironman, we are all still on the same course, on the same day, experiencing the highs and lows, the challenges and setbacks, and that is the beauty of triathlon. Have a listen!

This episode is your mid-season check-in. It’s a good idea to take moment to stop and reflect on what your training and season has looked like so far, how you are doing now, and where you are headed. Topics covered:

• Amy and Angela's check-in
• Mid summer burnout - why it happens and how to deal with it
• Raced out?
• Skip a late season race?
• Mixing up types of racing
• Vacation and training 
• Dealing with mid season injuries or annoyances 
• Stop trying to turn everything green on training peaks
• Communicate! 
• Refelct on your training plan and goals 
• What excites you?
• Take a break!
• Training and recovering between races that are close together 

Have a listen! 

It's time for another listener Q and A!  Topics covered:

• Race swim anxiety
• heart rate variability
• strength training
• handling the heat
•  liquid vs solid nutrition
• the best training advice we’ve gotten!

This episode previews the Lake Placid Ironman venue and course. Lake Placid is one of the most iconic Ironman venues, and is the longest running North American Ironman, besides Kona.  People sign up year after year to do this special race and this year, both Amy and Angela will be lining up to race.  Angela has done this race a few times and has trained up in Placid many more times, so she is well versed on the course.  So, as a newbie to Ironman Lake Placid, Amy takes this opportunity to interview Angela about the course, including the climbs on the bike course and that infamous Keene descent.  Have a listen!

This episode focuses on the mental side of race week and how to decrease nerves and anxiety leading up to a race. As coaches, athletes, and friends who have raced together, Angela and Amy give a 360 degree view of how to get to the start line confident and calm, while also acknowledging that everyone approaches race week differently. Topics covered:

• Outcome vs process goals
• What does trust your training mean?
• Highlight reel
• Going in undertrained
• Find your why
• Create goals for yourself that reflect who you are 
• No expectations 
• Need a freak out time 
• Your race week is not other people’s race week 
• Control the controllables
• Visualizing your race 
• Self-Talk
• Shift to the mentality that the past is the past  
• Get rid of negative constructs 
• Stop fearing “failure” and why that word shouldn’t be a negative 
• How do deal with a DNF
• Why Angela gets quiet during race week

We hope that after you listen to this episode, you go into your next race week relaxed and ready to roll. Have a listen! 

Today’s episode focuses on Angela’s two big gravel races- Unbound and Finland Gravel. Unbound is part of the Lifetime Grand Prix series, and is a  200 mile gravel race in Emporia, Kansas and it’s known for its crazy weather and mud, both of which Angela experienced this year.  After Unbound, she got on a plane to Finland for the inaugural Finland gravel race, which was 177 km. She had strong showings in both races.  Instead of just doing a regular race recap, we review Angela's biggest takeaways from three weeks of racing and travel.  We talk about the women’s pro field, the mistakes she made in fueling in Unbound, how and why she ran over 20 miles in the 24 hours after Unbound and Finland, her speeding and parking tickets in Finland (!!), and more!  

BONUS EPISODE TIME! Fresh off the finish line, Angela and Amy recap their race at the Patriot Half Triathlon in Lakeville, MA.  It was a fun local race, with lots of friends, some rain and some speedy race times.  Lots of takeaways in here for racing, pacing, and fueling a 70.3 distance!  Have a listen! 

This episode recaps the Unbound 350 XL gravel race with Scott Myers and John Skarupa, who finished 6th and 7th. For those who don’t know, the 350 XL starts at 3 PM the day before the rest of the distances start, and the racers ride through the night, stopping at gas stations to refuel.  It’s a long difficult race, not just because it’s 24 hours (if you are fast) but because the flint hills of Kansas and the weather will challenge your grit and your spirit. We talk about their build to this race, their strategy, their bike set up, fueling, pacing, and more. 75% of the 350XL field did not finish the race this year, which makes John and Scott's success even more impressive.  Have a listen!

Physical Therapist Christine Saleeba is back and answering all of your physical therapy questions so you can be your healthiest, strongest, and most durable self in training and racing.  Christine is also a runner and triathlete, which helps her understand the unique needs of endurance athletes.  Topics covered:

• How often should you do PT at home?
• 5 things a PT wished people did/did not do 
• When to train through an injury or pain, and when not to
• Plantar fasciitis 
• How much do we really need to stretch? 
• Hip flexors: mobility or strength or both? 
• 3-5 things to do after biking 
• Rotation- mobility and strength 
• SI joint controversy 
• The neck- soreness and stiffness in riding and swimming
• Thoracic spine mobility
• Wrist pain on the bike
• Shoulder issues- separated shoulder/ shoulder stability 
• Top 3-5 exercises for runners