Jordon Shaw - Ep 039 Sprint Series - Athletes in Motion Podcast - Triathletes Journey

Narrator: 0:10

Welcome to the athletes in motion podcast from race to recovery. With your hosts Tom regal and Kenny Bailey.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 0:30

Morning Kenny, how you doing today? I am doing fantastic Tom, how are you?

Tom Regal: 0:34

I am fantastic as well.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 0:37

I would like to introduce you to Jordan Shaw, Jordan say hello.

Jordon Shaw: 0:41

Hello. Hey, George, how are you all doing?

Kenny Bailey<br>: 0:44

Well. Thanks for joining us, Jordan. So, this is our try series. What we've done is we this series hopefully people have been watching if you haven't and just give a quick update. We are following three athletes. We're following Jordan, Elizabeth and Sarah through their triathlon journeys from from the initial I think I'm going to sign up for this thing to what did I just do? So we're excited to have you on? We appreciate you being here. And let's talk triathlon. Yeah.

Tom Regal: 1:15

So what's your story? Yeah. What's your what's your story? So first of all, what distance are you doing?

Jordon Shaw: 1:21

Alright, so I'm doing the 70.3 and Augusta September.

Tom Regal: 1:24

Okay. And that's what what distances are we talking about?

Jordon Shaw: 1:29

Yeah, so it's a 1.2 mile swim. It is a 56 mile bike, and then a 13.1 mile half marathon.

Tom Regal: 1:37

Okay. And this is your first 70.3. So you've been doing some triathlons. So how long have you been doing triathlons? And then let's get into what's your story? Why, why did you join this crazy lifestyle?

Jordon Shaw: 1:51

So I did my first triathlon in April of last year. Perfect. So I've done three, total. So this unless I do any between now and then this will be my fourth one.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 2:03

Okay. Okay, what were those distances.

Jordon Shaw: 2:06

So the first one was a sprint, it was just a 300 meter swim, 11 mile bike and a 5k run. And then the second one was a longer sprint. So it was I think it was 900 meter swim. Open water is my first open water, and then a 12 mile or 50 mile bike, and then 5k Run as well. Okay. And then the fourth third one was Olympic distance. Okay. Okay. Nice.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 2:39

So the idea is that you thought okay, let's just continue graduating distances. Is that the like, that's the next next headline.

Jordon Shaw: 2:49

That's it. That's That's exactly right. So just looking to continue to expand myself. And so if you want to kind of get into the story, yeah. Hey, that. Yeah, what?

Tom Regal: 3:00

Got you what got you going? Did you lose a bet? That was the question I asked everybody.

Jordon Shaw: 3:07

I lost something. I don't know. No. So 18 months ago, it was 100 pounds heavier than I am today. Wow. And yeah, I've gotten to this point in my life. I was I was coming up on my 40th anniversary or 40th birthday. And I was well overweight, needed to get in shape. And you know, it's taking a toll on my health. So I said, You know what, I've got a wife and daughter who wants me here longer. So I've got to do something. I got a peloton to begin with, started doing some cycling and the clap of the house. And then that kind of led to Okay, let's take the show on the road. So I got a road bike, joined a local cycling club and started riding with those guys on Saturday morning. And then, you know, 2022 came along and I was like, Okay, what am I gonna do in 2022 to expand myself and I kind of set this motto for 2022 is do hard things. And as a previous fat guy, the hardest thing I could think of was a triathlon. It was unfathomable to even share consider a triathlon, but without a lot of thought, January 2022. I signed up one and guess what, I didn't have a clue how to swim. Nice. So I was like, okay, got a triathlon coming up in April, I've got to figure out how to swim so I found a coach swam my first lap in March of 2022 and did my first triathlon in April 20. There you go. And just has continued to grow since then.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 4:35

So it's to back up a little bit it seems like you have this sort of no fear mentality so you were 100 pounds overweight you got the peloton, you start working on the peloton. Joining a bike group is is can be a little intimidating, right where you're showing up. You know, everyone's you know, in lycra, some people are just you know, getting ready to chomp at the bit to take off and do you know, 23 average pace, that kind of thing. Um, how much weight loss did you do while you're on the peloton? And when you showed up to the How did you feel when you showed up to? Was it a welcoming environment? I'm assuming it is. I mean, I don't want to paint a picture that are all terrible people. But it's a group of fast ease, right? You get this group of everybody else.

Jordon Shaw: 5:15

Right. So fortunately, in the cycling group, they have a no man left behind, no penalty for one. And they also break it up in three different groups. So that A, B and C group, and they do different distances and speeds. So obviously, it started now and I was in the C group. I think I did, maybe one or two rides with them. And then I came down to Florida because my family and I come we come often, probably once every month or two to Florida. And I brought my bike with me, and found a local cycling group here. They didn't break it out. They just had different rides every day. So probably my third road ride. It was a 43 mile ride. And I was extremely intimidated. But fortunately, it's in Florida, so it's flat. So it was like 100 feet of elevation, which in Tennessee, we laugh. But I made it and that was it was really, again, go into that do hard things kind of was my motto. And it it worked.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 6:19

What was the trigger points of struggle, your weight loss that stuck this time? I'm assuming you tried it. Other times? It just didn't stick is is there? Was there something where it's like you said, I just want to continue to do hard things or what is it? You felt like it was always reaching for the goal? What was it? Yeah,

Jordon Shaw: 6:36

so in February 2022, like many, I started working from home, and I was had been overweight, but it just got even worse at that point. And I went to the doctor because I was on cholesterol medicine. So I had to do by at biannual lab work, went to the doctor who I've been with, I say I have the second longest relationship from my wife is my doctor. We've been together for 17 years at this point. And I, so I went to the doctor, he's like Jordan, you're heavier than you've ever been in your life. And I was like, Okay, I gotta do something. Because I was I was on what I call the fat boy cocktail and cholesterol medicine, blood pressure medicine and reflux medicine, and also had a CPAP machine. Wow. So that was that was kind of the trigger points. So okay, so what am I gonna do? You know, and honestly, I looked at weight loss surgery, because that was a quick and easy fix. I looked at all the different diet programs out there. And I was like, none of these, I've tried some of them and you get lose some weight, but then you gave it back. And a lot of times I've been back more than I started with. Yeah, that's it, you know, what they only tried and true solution here is diet and exercise. So so.

Tom Regal: 7:54

So how did you how did you handle the nutrition side of things and the diet? And we'll call it the I hate using the word diet? Because diet? I mean, if that's been taken over as something that you do just to lose weight, right. And diet is actually what you eat on a regular basis. So nutrition wise, what did you do? How did you handle that? I mean, that's usually the challenge, right? How do you how do you? How do you How did you do it?

Jordon Shaw: 8:19

Yes, so I did a lot of research on this. And what I found is, you know, in order to lose weight, you got to burn more than you take in. Yeah, so not having any type of diet program at all, or any type of diet in place. I first just said, Okay, I'm gonna limit myself to 2000 calories a day intake, and then try to burn more than that. Well, that's a that's a standard diet for most people is 2000 calories, but again, I didn't have any time to die. So I did that for about a month. Had some pretty good successes there. So okay, now I've been on this regiment for a month I was stepping down. So then I went to 1700 calories. And keep in mind I was working out every day. So I did that for another month. And then I stepped down 1500 calories and that's where I stayed for good. Probably 12 months or so from there. So I got to my my lowest weight. And then from there, it's just been maintaining so now I'm you know, 18 months into this, I'm sticking that 2000 or less calories a day. So I don't continue to add back on the weight that I've had in you're right it is a diet. I can I can go on I can have a cheeseburger if I want but guess what, I don't have the bread because the bread that adds extra calories. You know, it's not all about I gotta eat salads every day and I got the chills every day. That's part of it. But that's not all of it.

Tom Regal: 9:43

Yeah, it's getting a better balance to what you're actually eating. I think once you realize what you're eating, and then we all have different emotional ties to food some some people are more emotional and they eat more some people stress and they eat more the last and it's just so everyone has their own signature that that they, how they their relationship with food aspects. So that's, that's always fascinating. So how does it? How is it working with? I mean, the calorie, the calorie reduction is great. And that's the way to lose weight. How is how are you dealing with your training now that you're ramping up a little bit more? And keeping that calorie reduction? Are you? Are you finding the workouts are still good? How are you getting through those? Yes,

Jordon Shaw: 10:29

I haven't, at this point, started a hardcore training. I'm going to start that really in May kind of a regimental program. But for now, I've been like I just did a half marathon a couple weeks ago and just congratulation working on. Thank you. Running is kind of the Achilles heel for me, I thought it was swimming because like I said, I never swam before, but found out I really enjoy swimming. And so that ended up being something that I enjoyed doing. Cycling I've loved since I first got on a bike. But that running, it literally is a hardship to get out of my house or do anything to go run. I just don't enjoy it as much as I did the others. So that has been the biggest struggle is trying to run as much as possible. So what I continue to do is enroll in races like doing a half marathon and I'm down in Florida for two weeks, my family saw signs that I found a local race here. So next weekend, I'm doing a 5k just to continuously make sure that I'm pushing myself to train and if I don't sign up for something, then I don't have anything at work and for because even though I'm doing the 70.3 that's in September, it still seems far off to you know, have the motivation now. So I have to keep those quick motivations of those short term motivations to keep going.

Tom Regal: 11:53

That's great. Yeah.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 11:55

Yeah, it sounds like accountability is kind of something that

Jordon Shaw: 11:59

exactly,

Kenny Bailey<br>: 12:01

which is great. It's you know, I talked to my wife about this all the time, right? If you don't have a target to go for, you can just sort of languish and sort of do whatever but if you have this thing that a date that's not moving, right? What's what's fun about these events is they don't care if you're in shape or not in shape, or if you're ready or not ready that events gonna happen. Just it's gonna happen

Jordon Shaw: 12:20

and that's exactly right.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 12:23

So a couple questions on you know, you said swim was your most nervous Did you get a coach? Did you just start jumping in the water? How did you start overcoming that swim? Sort of deficit? Yes,

Jordon Shaw: 12:34

I did get a coach. There was a local lady that I had known for quite a while who's really big into swimming so worked with her a few times, you know, just kind of learned the the basis and then I took it from there and just started you know, going and practicing.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 12:50

How was the open water section most most people that are beginners, you know, you did your pool swim is your first sprint, or open water did you? Did you practice open water before you got in? Or do you just say, hey, let's see what happens.

Jordon Shaw: 13:05

I showed up for my first triathlon with open water swim, and I walked out, I saw the light and said, Oh, I really got to swim. And I

Kenny Bailey<br>: 13:13

loved I love the way your approach you're just gonna, what's the worst that can happen?

Jordon Shaw: 13:22

Yeah, exactly. It was, it was interesting. So probably 300 meters was, I think, the longest swim I had done. And that was all in the pool. I'm gonna show up for this open water swim. It was I think 900 meters. And I'm like, okay, so I had this vision in my head that I was something do their rest. And that's not the you can eventually find a boat or something to grab onto. But they're few and far between.

Tom Regal: 13:59

Yeah, there's not that many. They're not there. They're that close. Yeah.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 14:06

Yeah, Jordan.

Jordon Shaw: 14:07

So I

Kenny Bailey<br>: 14:10

there's a mindset thing that I'm starting to appreciate with you. There's this sort of a lot of people will kind of hold back for fear. It seems like your mindset is, hey, let's just give it a try. Like what's going to happen? Right? It seems you're okay with. I don't want to say fumbling around. But you're not. Yeah. Some people have to feel like they have to be good at something. Okay. I'm talking about myself right now. All right. If I, you know, I get nervous showing up to the line you feels like you what was is your mind? Like you said, it's 900 I haven't swim the distance. It's sort of like, well, let's see what happens and just kind of go with the flow. Is that the mindset?

Jordon Shaw: 14:48

That's exactly right. So, you know, at 41 years old, I don't show up to compete. I show up too late. And that's, that's really what I'm doing. I'm not going out there to try to beat the 20 guys 20 year old guys, I'm not going out there to try to win. I'm going out there for me and my family. And it's something that I've found that I enjoy doing. And hey, if I don't do the greatest, that's okay. i My goal every time has just crossed the finish line

Tom Regal: 15:15

to do it, so. So what's your definition of failure? What is what would failure look like to you,

Jordon Shaw: 15:22

DNF. Okay.

Tom Regal: 15:25

So, set your one goal, but what would that what would that mean? Just I'm gonna get your mindset on how people like, okay, failure if I failed, because I didn't finish but what does that mean? Is that, you know, is that a ruin your day or you just bounce back and go on and get on to the next one.

Jordon Shaw: 15:44

At the end of the day, and I've still got my job, I still got my family, I still got my health, as long as I'm alive. That's really all that matters. Perfect. You know, if I if I didn't reach that goal this time, guess what? There's, there's another time they, like you said the races are going to happen. Iron Man's not going anywhere. So I'll sign up for another one and try it again.

Tom Regal: 16:05

Yeah, just keep pushing through. That's the mindset.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 16:09

So you've done a sprint you done an Olympic? Which part of the half sounds like running maybe the one you're concerned about what you just did a half marathon congratulations. Of those three disciplines or have that sort of distance it what's the thing that is sort of your, you're trying to keep your eye on that you're nervous about SOP.

Jordon Shaw: 16:30

I think I'm nervous about all of them, I've done. Now that I've done the half marathon, I've done them all, all the distances independently. Putting them all together in one event is is really the thing that makes me nervous because I have no doubt I'll get to the swim, I have no doubt to get to the cycling. But now I've had both of those events, now have to run a half marathon, which by the way I just did a couple weeks ago, but it almost killed me to just do that one event. So now I have to do an income combination with the other two that I've already completed. Yeah.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 17:04

And your official training starts in about a month. Is that right?

Tom Regal: 17:08

Yes. Yeah. So this type training is

Kenny Bailey<br>: 17:11

something that you did online? Is it Where did you find that training session? Do you have a coach? Or how are you approaching that?

Jordon Shaw: 17:17

Yeah, so I've signed up for currently, and I've been looking at that and figuring out if that's going to work. My problem is that such a busy schedule, with work and family and all of that. I don't know that try not just having the online program and saying, Okay, this is what I need to do every or every week is going to keep me focused enough. I think I'm probably gonna have to have that personal interaction of a coach that comes to me every week and says, Okay, you were supposed to do this, but you didn't. So what are you going to do this next week to make up for it? Yeah, so probably will end up signing up.

Tom Regal: 17:58

Okay, yeah. Having right now an extra camera. Yeah,

Jordon Shaw: 18:04

for sure. Yeah, exactly.

Tom Regal: 18:06

So why did you choose Augusta location?

Jordon Shaw: 18:12

Well, not necessarily location. It was primarily when I first started looking at the Ironman it was. They said, it's the fastest swim in America. Because you're swimming downriver. So I say okay, if if I swim fast. I think I'm pretty good on the bike, then. That'll give me more time for my run. There you go. So that was that was literally what went into the thought process was nice. It's a fast oil,

Kenny Bailey<br>: 18:39

river. River swim. Right? You're driving distance from Nashville. So you're you're good.

Jordon Shaw: 18:45

Hi, I'm driving. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 18:48

Yeah. When when you started doing this, how was your family's reaction? What was your wife's reaction when you said, Hey, I'm gonna do this triathlon thing when she's like, okay, or was all supportive?

Jordon Shaw: 18:58

It's the same reaction today. She's like, You're crazy. I don't know why you want to do this.

Tom Regal: 19:05

Yeah. Yeah.

Jordon Shaw: 19:10

Keep in mind, my, my wife, she when we first got the peloton, she thought it would be a clothes hanger. But in order to prove that it wouldn't be because she's kind of tight with money. She didn't want it to be kind of like clothes. She started using it more than I did. So he is really done a lot of fitness as well. But anytime I bring up a race or something crazy, I don't know why you want to do that. Well, it's just it's my way of proving it to myself. I guess.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 19:38

I did my first half marathon because my wife did one and I didn't because I was a cyclist. And she started writing and she finished her first half. I'm like, wow, I want to do that. Wait a minute. You can't just have the only PR in the house. And then my daughter did it crushed us. She was like, you know, 18 year old Cross Country Girl and 17 year old cross country and just wiped us out on time. Like, you know, I'm like, that's not even fair, you're 92 pounds. So going back to the So Jordan, what's interesting with you, like you said, you're trying to stick to a caloric deficit to make sure you're not not doing, you know, not gaining stuff. And right now, you haven't quite gotten to that training program. They say the fourth discipline is absolutely nutrition, right? Because you can, if you don't fuel this, you move away from eating, and you move into fueling, I guess, would be the best way to say, and at least that's how I perceive it. Do you have a plan for how you're gonna approach that? Do you want to stick to your 2000 calories sort of limit? Or do you see you're just gonna fuel to what it makes sense? Or does that you may be gaining more than you should

Jordon Shaw: 20:42

know that that actually is a big concern. And probably another reason why I'll end up working with a coach because you know, I've done research on how to diet, how to lose weight. I've lost the weight. Now I need to know how to properly fuel for training and for 70.3. And I know there's a lot of programs out there, but just programs, there's differences. So determine which one best is. I don't know how to do that. So probably another reason I'll go with the coach is to help with that aspect of it.

Tom Regal: 21:18

Okay, yes, yes, certainly, because you'll be you'll be fueling your workouts and then you'll be eating the rest of the day. And you kind of break it into two into two buckets, that way to make sure that you have enough calories to get the workout done, and then making sure that you don't overeat afterwards, because you'd be really hungry. And you're gonna recover off of that. Trust us, right, Kenny.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 21:43

I'm, I'm currently in the overtrain part. So I got shut down for a few days. Thanks, Tom.

Tom Regal: 21:49

And listen, when you get a coach, listen to the coach. If he tells you to take a rest day, take a rest day.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 21:57

I should know this. I'm actually gonna know better. But I was like, Well, what is weights

Tom Regal: 22:02

on your rest day? Yeah. days?

Kenny Bailey<br>: 22:07

Yeah, it was interesting. Because Jordan, I was a lot like you. I was I was, I was 30 pounds overweight, I started cycling to lose weight. And then at some point in time, I started losing weight to better cycle if that makes sense, right? It's that I was cycling, just to you know, did you see that flip happen? You're like, okay, now I need to do this. So I can be better at this. Rather than I'm just here to lose weight.

Jordon Shaw: 22:33

Yeah, no, that's exactly right. Because even though I have the cycling group, I, I ride with this divided up a, b, and c. So they have some one to go, your next group. So Michael, I love I just can't get can't keep up with them. But I'm thinking, Okay, if I'll change for them that's on the bike, and maybe I can get a few more miles per hour, and I can start keeping up with a group. And then, you know, that kind of hasn't changed, in fact, because then now I'm 15 Or a couple pounds mph faster on my ride when I do the 70.3 as well.

Tom Regal: 23:14

Yeah, yeah.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 23:16

Are you using a tri bike? Or do you have a road bike? You're gonna be using this on this? Yeah, right

Jordon Shaw: 23:20

now have a road bike. So I'm kind of weighing out and trying to figure out if my wife will let me purchase the bike but definitely been doing some research there.

Tom Regal: 23:31

Yeah, and you don't unless you're going to continue doing like 70.3 distance and and up and distance and you really don't need to try bike because we're not your group rides and things you're not going to want to be on the on the

Jordon Shaw: 23:48

now now Caitlin, my wife listen to this. That goes against everything on calendar,

Tom Regal: 23:56

you still need another bike because you definitely want

Kenny Bailey<br>: 24:00

yours right. So so this is going to be point counterpoint, I think you need to try bike because you're going to be down in the drops using a different set of muscle groups and you'll go faster. And then that way you can relax on your bike because actually I am I get I'm more comfortable on my trail bike than I am on my road bike because I'm not up on on the handles, I'm down on my forearms and you can get really good power and you've got the triathlon bug. So let's just go ahead and get you to get you a nice just get

Tom Regal: 24:27

just get fit properly. And then it will actually help you run it certainly will try by opens up your hips and sets you with a good with the proper position and you'll actually be it'd be a little bit better on the run because you won't be as cramped up on the bike. So it's all and the race is even more the reason yeah, and triathlon is all about the run. Everything you do is about the run the swim, the transitions, the bike, it's all about the run. So

Kenny Bailey<br>: 24:56

good pair of running shoes is probably the best thing you can do. Have any injuries you're dealing with Jordan or you've been you know, knock on wood and did I just ruin your

Tom Regal: 25:06

Kenny as a habit a jinxing?

Kenny Bailey<br>: 25:08

I have a habit of doing that.

Jordon Shaw: 25:10

Not not currently now. Last year, six weeks before my Olympic distance triathlon, I did have a bike wreck. It was it was on the trails. Yeah, it was, you know, went out on the I have a mountain bike as well. So went out on the trails. And it was one of those 110 degree days and in Tennessee in the middle of summer, and I said, You know what, I'm not gonna put on these knee pads and they're like having sweaters on my knees. And within 15 minutes, I fell and just tore the skin off the front of my knee. And of course, that you know, that kills you on running because then every time you run, it breaks open that sore. So I've got a picture of me doing my first Olympic distance triathlon and I have this huge school sore on my knee. And it you know, that put me out of training the let the way that I wanted to, for that night, and I really struggled because of that. So I know how important being an injury free is.

Tom Regal: 26:09

Yeah, yeah, for sure. The trails and the mountain bikes are awesome, but you know, probably eight weeks out from your main event, I wouldn't. I wouldn't be on them. Right because you do crash. It's what have you tip over? I mean, yeah, it Yeah, he's gonna break for endurance. So it's funny how endurance Yeah, it's great to mix it up. And and, yeah, it's good.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 26:32

It's funny how you get closer, you start wrapping yourself in bubble wrap. As you get closer to the time like two weeks left to go. It's sort of like, I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that. Yeah. Right. It's like, Let's go for a hike. Nope. I'm gonna, you know, no,

Tom Regal: 26:45

I missed the race. Because the week before on a casual just shakeout ride I crashed. And I crashed bad. And on the road, and yeah, missed, missed that that race and many months of repair. Oh, wow. Keep your focus focus. I lost focus for a half second. And that was that was it that I was just a little too relaxed, and wasn't as focused as I needed to be. So it was a long road back from that. So.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 27:14

So Jordan, what did it feel like when you had to slide on like, or for the first time? Was it? Was it a harrowing experience? You're like, I can't believe I'm doing this.

Jordon Shaw: 27:28

When what was the question? I'm sorry,

Kenny Bailey<br>: 27:30

when you were sliding had to slide on like group shorts for the first time. Did

Tom Regal: 27:33

you hold up the first try suit that you had and went? What? How do I get?

Jordon Shaw: 27:40

Yeah, no, that's exactly right. Now, unfortunately, I had been wearing cycling clothing. So I was used to the spandex, but when I got the cycling status, okay, this is interesting. You know, the first thing on I didn't even know what a cycling or a tri suit was. And I was like, okay, so how am I gonna go from swimming to cycling and running and I'm soaking wet and and then I started realizing they made suits for this. And so I got it. It's like, well, this is interesting. And I looked interesting in it. I still think I look interesting. I'm not using interesting as in a good turn. Yeah. Yeah. So probably not always want to wear on a daily basis. But

Kenny Bailey<br>: 28:28

yeah, it's always weird. You have in your mind's eye that you think you look like this, bro. And then you get your pictures back from finisher pics and you look at yourself and like you're scrunched you know, your face, like you got dry wet all over. You're like, I don't quite look like the photo. I saw Triathlete Magazine. So

Jordon Shaw: 28:44

yeah, it's funny enough. So for my run portion, I typically throw a t shirt on over my trisuit just because I know that's when I take a lot of the pictures. Don't want to be in the driver's seat for the pitcher. There you go. Nice.

Tom Regal: 28:58

Nice. There you go. Work. So

Kenny Bailey<br>: 29:00

when people ask you about like, hey, you know, you know, when you tell people you're Hey, I'm doing a triathlon. I'm getting ready for a triathlon. What's their first reaction? Is it generally you're crazy is I don't know how to swim. I know, like you said, you'd like I don't even know how you do it. I can't swim. When you talk to those folks, do you? How do you let them know that it's not this scary monster?

Jordon Shaw: 29:22

It's kind of the I can relate to that because I was the exact same way. And so one of the people I've talked to you about have known me for a while and they're like, what, why don't we why are you doing this? And you know, I tell them the same thing. It's you know, I'm show up just a complete. It's not this big, scary thing that we all think it is and, and to me, it's just so exhilarating to finish one event, and then realize, oh, I have another event and then finish. That one's like, oh, I still have one more to go. And then you get done. You're like you're on top of the world. You just took three events that shouldn't be hard independently chained them together. And by the way, you just finished it. And that is such an exhilarating. It's just it's so cool. Nice.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 30:14

Yeah, we tend to agree. So does your family show up with you on these events? Are you kind of solo or injured?

Jordon Shaw: 30:21

Yeah. So a lot of times they do. And the very first one my wife shows up, she has a hat on the shirt said, but did you die? Like that. That's

Tom Regal: 30:34

perfect. Oh, yeah.

Jordon Shaw: 30:37

You do you get to the end, and you're on top of the world. But you're also exhausted. Yeah.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 30:43

Yeah. I say

Jordon Shaw: 30:45

my wife and daughter going down to Augusta with good.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 30:50

My wife not allowed to show up to these things. Because when she shows up, I always end up injured. I don't know why I get injured during races. Oh, there so I found out that, that she must be the bad luck. thing. So I'm like, you can't show up in my vs anymore. If I want to finish. Sorry. So she's like, that's fine. I'm not going to spend seven hours waiting for your ass so you do an Ironman, you're gonna be out there for a while. So it's like 930 at night she's alright bed and I'm still out on the course she's like, I'm go to bed. you text me when you're done. Alright, so Jordan, are you in? And this is by no means a pressure thing is is the ultimate goal is to go to the full distance, or are you do you just you're gonna see how you feel on the half. And that's how you feel. Or, and which is perfectly fine. What we're trying to encourage people is it's the end state doesn't have to be the big dog race, the end state can be whatever makes you happy. But having said that, is Is there some dream of doing that?

Jordon Shaw: 31:49

You know, and maybe someday down the road. Yeah, there is no way possible, given my current work schedule, families, and all of that, that I would ever feel comfortable enough to do a full distance. So you know, maybe down the road, I might, but at this point, I said me, point three is the aspiration that I have, that's where I'm going to finish out and you know, I might do one of these a year or whenever other year, I haven't decided. But you know, to do that full distance, I feel like I would definitely need to free up a few hours and several hours in the day, from what my current schedule was. So

Kenny Bailey<br>: 32:31

yeah, there's a there's a real conversation need to have with your family, when you when you say, Hey, I'm gonna do the full distance, because, you know, they joke around that you're gonna have Ironman widows, but it's, it's actually true, right? You're 15 hours a day, you know, hey, what do you want to do on a Friday night, it's like, well, I'm gonna sleep on a Friday night, because I have a four hour bike ride on Saturday and a three hour run on Sunday. And after I'm done with them and be on the couches, if I just died because my legs are quivering, and I won't be able to get up and you just need to shove food in and I'm gonna sleep for an hour and a half. Right? So it's it is a family affair when it comes to that. And so I appreciate the fact that you are acknowledging that, that that's a conversation you'd have to family, that's a conversation you may have to have with your work, right? Honestly, I did that my work is like, look, you know, I may be, you know, I'm going to come in dog tired on Monday morning. So if you expect to be bright and sunny on an 8am call, it's not going to happen. Right? Right? And don't when they ask you like, hey, what do you do over the weekend, you're like, Look, you just don't want to know, you don't want to just just move past it. But I think you bring up a great point. And that's what we're trying to encourage is for people to find the distance and find the race that that makes them get the right balance, that you're still enjoying yourself that you still feel like you're pushing yourself. That's the ultimate goal is to enjoy. I know that's a weird word to use. But like you said, be enjoyable. At the end of the race, even though you will go through some you're gonna go through some hardship during that race, but that's okay. Because at the end, you're you didn't die. And you just accomplished something. Great. Yeah,

Jordon Shaw: 34:02

exactly. And again, I'm not out there to try to prove to anyone else that I can do something, I'm out there to have a good time, because I found that I enjoyed it. Prove it to myself that I can actually do it and complete and that's it. So you know, if I never get to a full distance, I never do that. It's no big deal.

Tom Regal: 34:21

And that's perfectly fine. Yeah, it's, I always try to encourage people to make it a lifestyle. And, and the shorter distances make it easy to make it a lifestyle, because you can, you know, you can knock out a sprint race in the morning and then still be you know, at brunch with the family, you know, afterwards and you can do multiple races throughout the year instead of one, you know, one race or one big focus for the year. So it's just, it's, it's much, it's much more doable to keep it sustained. And because the conditions change year after year, you can do the same race every single year and get a different outcome. You know, timewise because one year it's windy next year. It's hot. Next year, it's cold that you know, it just kind of mixes it up. So it kind of keeps it fresh that way, and there's so many local races, so many local races that you can mix it up. And, you know, even you don't even have to go back into the exact same race every single year, you can just keep going to different races around here. It's you know, yeah, exactly. So,

Jordon Shaw: 35:21

and a lot of the local races, you know, you become a family. And I'm, I'm now part of the national, our national triathlon club. So I'm, you know, part of the leadership team with that, and helping with the website. And so it does, it becomes a family and you go and you see your family, your weekend family, and you get to interact with those guys. And by the way, you get to go do a race and have a good time at the same time. And you get to the end of it. And, you know, even if your your immediate family didn't show up, they slept animals Saturday morning, you have your rice family there with you as well. Yeah, exactly.

Tom Regal: 35:56

And they help hold you accountable. Right. You know, when you get there. They know you showed up for the race, because they'll give you a little grief if you don't, exactly.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 36:06

And even the opposite. I mean, I remember showing up to a race and my swim, I was at a really low point in my, in my swimming confidence. This was before I hired Tom to help me with my swim. And I just remember I was there with a with a team. And I was it was a doubting across the river, down river up river kind of thing. And, you know, I just had one of the colleagues, it's like, look, this ain't for that shoe for that, make sure you keep a nice consistent thing and do that you'll be fine. And it was like, thank you. So sometimes it's also just that reassurance of, you know, you got this kind of deal. So it's not. And then other times, it's, you know, I'm gonna go kick your butt, because, you know, let's, let's have some fun back.

Tom Regal: 36:46

How did you? How did you find the national try club? I mean, there's because there's multiple clubs out around here. What was your What was your first exposure to the clubs and getting involved? And now now that you're, you know, part of the part of the big team running the club. I mean, what was your what are their?

Jordon Shaw: 37:06

I really just did research, like you said, to find the clubs around and there was two that really kind of stuck out was the the Nashville Track Club and then Middle Tennessee Track Club. And they were based out of Murfreesboro. So I'm in Spring Hill, the meetings and the meetups and all that are typically closer to me for the national track club. So that was kind of the first thing and then met with a few people virtually, and just really clicked with them. And I was like, You know what this is this is perfect. They were looking to fill some leadership positions, my background is in it. And they needed a website director. So it's like, this is a great fit.

Tom Regal: 37:48

Perfect. That's, that's awesome. And much appreciated volunteering on these clubs, because it's, it's needed. And it's great that you that you're doing that we you know, from the different clubs that I've been involved with through the years, it's always great to have people step up and, and help out, especially when it's something that if they're, that's your expertise, right. Makes it easier.

Jordon Shaw: 38:13

Exactly, exactly. Yeah, they're looking for a social media director as well. They had to ask me to do that I probably would not have been, you know, as excited to be a part of it, but no would have helped out or I needed to, but yeah, that, like, you can do something, taking a couple of your passions and combine them together just is a perfect, magical experience.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 38:35

There you go. Yeah. Well, Jordan, we appreciate you telling us your story. today. We we applaud you for kind of taking, you know, what you had was a challenge head on and said, Hey, I'm going to do something that's hard, hold myself accountable, but also have fun doing it. I think that's, that's really what, what we hope people would want to do, right, which is be able to find something that you enjoy, find something that's challenging and, and just see what would happen. And if it's if it doesn't turn out perfect. That's okay, too. So we're excited to call you. We can't wait to kind of get some updates when you start officially getting that training program and trying to figure out how to juggle that sort of like you said, your time management is going to be probably your your biggest challenge. Right. Right. That and running. Challenge for everybody.

Tom Regal: 39:28

And right, yeah, for two. Yeah, no, this is gonna be exciting. Following your journey on this. This is awesome. We're so glad and appreciative for you for joining us on this.

Jordon Shaw: 39:39

Yeah, appreciate it. Appreciate the flexibility of being virtual today. And maybe next time we can get together in person. But yeah, it was. I'm excited to be here and help out. Work in

Tom Regal: 39:50

tweet. Great. Well, thanks. Thank you again, and thanks, everybody for listening and watching on our YouTube channel. We appreciate any thoughts, comments? and give us thumbs up gives us lots of feedback. We're on Facebook on Instagram. You can follow us on on any of the socials that way and give us your comments and feedback. Yeah, and we appreciate everybody. Kenny. Thank you, Jordan. Thank you. And for everyone, we'll we'll catch you on the next one.