Tom & Kenny Talk Training, Running Shoes and the Triathletes Journey - Athletes in Motion Podcast

Narrator: 0:10

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

Tom Regal: 0:28

How are you today?

Kenny Bailey<br>: 0:29

Doing faster? Fantastic, Tom

Tom Regal: 0:31

are doing fantastic as well. Welcome. We've got a great show today.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 0:36

Yeah, we're excited about it. So it's the beginning of the season. For triathlon season, people are going to be crawling out of their cave soon and doing all that. We're also here to announce our second season of an athlete's journey. A triathletes journey is going to be commencing soon. We're excited about that.

Tom Regal: 0:56

Really excited about that we had such a good time last year, if you're just tuning in, you're just catching on to us. Check it out. We talked to three different athletes that did three different distances for the first time. So it was really fun. We got really good feedback on it. So we're excited. We've got a couple of cool people coming up to share to do the same. So yeah, and

Kenny Bailey<br>: 1:14

the whole notion of it is to be able to track these folks from the start of their training session all the way through every few weeks. We check in with them, we make sure they're doing okay, we talked about the highs and lows that you know, as we all know, these journeys aren't a straight line. There's there's challenges. There's everything from physical issues to just overwork or whatever. So we, we talked about the good and the bad and the ugly through the whole thing. Yes.

Tom Regal: 1:35

And we like to really focus in on the stuff that doesn't go right, right. Yeah, a lot of stuff doesn't go right, you've got a lot of challenges you go through. So that's what we want you to be able to kind of get that feeling for and relate to in your own journey as you go through. It's not always perfect. It's not always, it's not always smooth sailing, like you would see on Instagram. It's not perfect. There's a lot of bumps on the road. And how do you handle the bumps? How do you get through all of that stuff? That's the thing. We're trying to bring out the best.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 2:01

Yeah. So if you're a subscriber you get, you'll get the latest notifications that the new episodes will be coming up. So you know, make sure to subscribe and stay tuned for the next few weeks. Look out for some really cool episodes. Yeah,

Tom Regal: 2:14

we got some good stuff coming out. So we're beginning of March, here in Middle Tennessee. We have a beautiful rainy day today. Which means that everything is growing, the humidity is picking back up. It's warmer, we're getting back into conditions that we can get outside a little bit more regularly. And especially on the bike. Yeah,

Kenny Bailey<br>: 2:33

so let's talk about that. Tom, as a rumor has a Airtrack coach, I've been known. So like you said the weather is getting warmer, people coming to their caves are starting to take a look at sort of the training program. Okay, I'm circling things on the calendar that like this is what I want to do. How do they start sort of getting back into it? What should they you know, movement is great Is there good kind of movement back kind of movement, what

Tom Regal: 2:58

they're just they start doing? Yeah, I always I always encourage everyone to get started a little probably a little slower than they want to. Because it's a longer journey, I always look longer term. Getting out there and starting to hit your you know, your your big Sprint's and pushing big watts on the bike outside, it might be fun, and you're probably pent up and you want to do that, especially if you've been sitting inside all year, all winter. I always say just take it easy, kind of get your body ready for that type of motion, that type of thing, whether you're strength training, or whether you're on the bike or you're running, swimming, any of that, take it nice and easy. Consistency is the key. That's what we kind of build off of. So I think at this time a year. If you haven't put a couple of races on your calendar, you probably want to do that. Yeah. Because it's good to have a plan. Yeah, if we know what we're aiming for, then it makes it a little bit easier to kind of put that training plan in practice. So you can just go well, I'm just going to do the same thing every day and kind of hammer out until whatever race day shows up. So I think that's part of it. Yeah.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 3:59

And I know I'm impatient when it comes to like, you know, you get back into it. You want to just hop on your bike and yeah, warm up is not my I have to be reminded that you know for warm up so god

Tom Regal: 4:09

yeah, yeah, warm up is key. And there's there's a couple things that I like to tell everybody especially so things you might not think about for the swim, the muscles that you're using the most in the swim, that if you don't activate them before your swim session, probably aren't going to be activated and you're going to be kind of muscling through this is your lats, right. So take a take a nice spring cord or bungee or tape or whatever. And stretch a little bit, activate those those lats just a little bit. It doesn't take a whole lot, a couple minutes of just doing that, that will then create that circuit with the brain so that when you get into swim, you're actually using that proper muscle group instead of trying to use all the other small muscles in the shoulder. Excuse me in the shoulder. So that's one of the big keys for running and cycling. The big thing is that we don't activate your glutes. Yeah, so we're sitting like we are right now we're just sitting here, our glutes have just turned off our brain is just not even sending the signal that way. So when we stand up and start to walk after sitting for a while, there's just no activation in the muscles, we use our hip flexors, we use all these other muscle groups, smaller muscle groups to pull our legs forward. So I always recommend doing like 15 air squats. Before you get on the bike, even on the bike on the trainer outdoors, or running, especially, do some air squats, activate those glutes get those going, those are probably two of the big, big things that we need to work on.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 5:33

Yeah, and I think, to your point, just, it's gonna be consistency in volume. It's not You're not gonna, you're not gonna get back to the your race shape you were last last year, the first week. Yeah, and it is frustrating, right, you had a number you were running with, you know, this is my average pace, and you know, it was good. And then suddenly, you're a minute slower, like what happened? Well, you got fat, lazy and didn't run, if you

Tom Regal: 5:57

took time off over the winter, and didn't work out as much as you were, which is okay, it's actually recommended to take a little bit of a break, do some unstructured workouts, the your your functional threshold power on the bike will dip a little bit, everything will come down just a little bit. The idea is to not let your ego get in the way to retest, do that FTP number, even if it's going to be lower and FTP is so that you kind of work from that. So your functional threshold power that on the bike is kind of key. It is the the maximum power you can sustain for one full hour. So there's a couple of ways to test for that. One of them is to do a ramp test. If you're on TrainerRoad, I think Swift might even have a way to do. The velocity app I use has a ramp test on it. And basically the ramp test takes you up, you allow the trainer to control the resistance, and you just spin. And then every minute it adds another 6% of of resistance onto that fact. And then and then you just go into you fail, like you can't turn the pedals anymore. And then there's a calculation that's done. That sets that what your power would be that you could hold for 60 minutes. Now, it's not 61 minutes, it's 60 minutes. Literally, it feels pretty aggressive. I mean, it feels like on a rate of perceived exertion, your functional threshold power 100% of that should probably be a seven out of 10. On that for sure. So then when you do your workouts, when you're doing your interval workouts, you're doing your VO two Max and you're doing your threshold work. And he's those intervals is based on that number. Yeah, so you want to be above and below it's a really key number. And then every six weeks or so you want to retest because that number will move up as long as you're consistent with your training. And you're not just hammering yourself with the same level, every single workout you should mix your workouts

Kenny Bailey<br>: 7:47

out. Yeah, because when you see your workout program, it says zone two if you don't know what, yeah, you know, your zone two is different from mine, right? I have a lower heart rate. Or my max heart rate is not as high as yours. So my zone two is at a lower number. It's

Tom Regal: 8:01

a number. Yeah, and that's your your number. Yeah, right. And I know we get on Strava and we put our numbers up there and we see everyone else can can compare against it and go you're only pushing 200 Watts, I'm pushing 20 Watts literally the same. No, no, we're not. We've got different different, you know, ratios, weight ratios, and power ratios and all that stuff. So what's your number? It really doesn't matter whatever anybody else is doing at that point. So as long as you can settle yourself down and and I have the same issue that everybody else has it's just we get out there and we get kind of excited and we want to we want to go hammer and like it's beneficial for us to ramp up and get a good program in place. Yeah,

Kenny Bailey<br>: 8:39

like you said do the proper warm ups just kind of take your time to do it and yeah, and just sort of you know, you don't have to slam into it all at once. Yeah, I know around here and it's probably as on other parts of the world the globe we're global now. We're going we are we have we have so you have some days you have to go indoor and do kind of running on treadmills versus outdoor running is there something that you like from like a treadmill run perspective Do you like to do interval work on that do you like to just turn your brain off and

Tom Regal: 9:06

yeah treadmill is like training like the the indoor bike trainers for me the same thing is I think they're great for doing interval work. I think they're they're a nice controlled environment you'll be able to kick off some pretty high rates of of Sprint's doing some threshold and tempo work the same thing as you were doing the bike, you know that you're getting a little bit of assistance with the motor. Unless you're using one of those treadmills that self powered right then all bets are off, you're you're good. So don't be too concerned when you go to do the sprint outside and it's a little bit slower, or maybe a little bit more effort to actually hit the same number you were but I think they're great. Once again, it's something you don't have to worry about a stop sign or cars or people or any of that stuff you can get out there. And this is the best time the winter and now is the best time to really nail these intervals down because you can really get some good work in that you don't have to worry about it. Anything else, and then as you get more and more outside, the weather gets better. You just you just read their benefits from it at that point. So cool. That's good.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 10:08

So let's talk equipment a little bit. It feels like I know, we talked about in previous episodes, and we had an episode about, you know, hey, if you have a little bit to spend, what do you spend it on? If you have more than a little bit to spend? Yeah. For me, this is the kind of the time of the year where it feels like you got to get the bike out, check the bike, you know, is a bike fit, still get where it needs to be, because your body's going to be different as you age. Yeah, not be able to get down, no slam the front end down and get down really low. Or you may want to buy new equipment, maybe a new seat, or new pedals or whatever. It's kind of like, Hey, I'm gonna get my one thing. Yeah. Same thing with wetsuits, right, you may be an opportunity, get a new wetsuit this year, that was kind of thing. So you know, any suggestions on sort of make sure that fit feels good, just kind of do a quick little 10 mile test ride or something, just yeah,

Tom Regal: 10:59

definitely get out on the bike, you can get outside, right outside on the bike. Because if you've been inside on the trainer, doing all of that it feels a little different. Because we don't get that inertia pulling us forward. We're sitting with 100% gravity pulling us down, we're probably really annoyed with. The other thing is we've probably turned her brain off to being situationally aware on the bike. It's a really good point. And you don't realize that even little movements, even if you're doing it down an arrow on a tri bike, and you do a little bit of movements, that you steer the front of that bike pretty quickly. Yeah. And you're, you're not thinking about it, because you're on the trainer you're locked in, and you're just grabbing your water doing whatever. And then you get out on the road. And all of a sudden you reach to grab that water and you turn your bike hard right here. Hardly good point. Yeah, it's scary. It's scary to be behind the triathletes. It's just coming out of the, you know, the room being inside. Just following all of that. So I think getting out riding on the road getting a feel for it again. Yeah, and then see how it feels. Right? You might need to make some early season adjustments to your bike fit. Or if you've really worked hard over the winter, you've improved, maybe some tweaks, maybe you can get more aggressive in your physique. Yeah,

Kenny Bailey<br>: 12:05

that's a good point to an offseason. Yeah, you've been, you know, making a point to do it, where we may be first year on your trial bike, and you're pretty high. And then all of a sudden, you're like, Okay, I'm ready to Europe. Yeah,

Tom Regal: 12:16

if you, if you worked on core strength over the winter, or through that even just last season to this season, you know, where it gets stronger, you can actually hold yourself in a more aerodynamic position, you know, can be conceived as as aggressive, but it's just more aerodynamic, more power driven. So you can get into those situations, I think that's one of the things and then look at all your other equipment, natural shoes, you know, see where you're at with your running shoes, that's are they worn out? You know, they only get so many miles on them. And if you're a bigger guy, then you're definitely going to wear a suit. And then the smaller guys, you need to have

Kenny Bailey<br>: 12:52

a bit bigger. Tom, you said, you said Ellen

Tom Regal: 12:55

budget, budget for shoes, and then some other people I ripped her on pretty quick.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 13:00

So there's also some you know, I know like my wife, and I will psychologically you know, the shoes are starting to wear out but getting a new pair also. It's like it's kind of exciting. Yeah, it's like, oh, cool. I got a new pair of shoes, I'm ready to go run with it. It's part of the part of the spring stuff. Going back to the bike thing. I think it was kind of interesting. I noticed. I've been doing a lot of spin classes indoors, I think you've been hosting a lot of spin classes. There are a lot of folks when it comes to like Quora and other things. It's like, you know, the joke I have is it looks like people trying to burp a baby because they're bouncing all over the place on that seat. Yeah, and I know it's a spin class, but the same time you put into race what you practice, right? Yeah, so having that tight core or having the your quads kind of, you know, ready to go when you do that is kind of important to maintain that stability and maintain that you're all over the place, especially if you've been doing spin classes in the end to your point you go on a bike and you start doing that same thing you're going to be yep, yep, a dangerous and be losing a lot of energy because your energy is not being transferred to the pedal so and some of that stuff may not translate to that. So again, back to the same thing. Yeah, and it Take it easy. Yeah. To get on the bike, you know, get get acquainted. Like I bike. I'm kidding.

Tom Regal: 14:07

Yeah, so Yeah, cuz that I that that loss of energy is key. I don't think people realize that enough that if you're not, if you're over tense on the bike, or you're moving all around, you're just losing energy, left and right, you're just burning up energy, and it's not being directly driven down in pedals, we want to be biomechanically aligned with the mechanical alignment of the bike itself to be able to drive power efficiently. The idea is that you'll be able to push out watts. Yep, with less effort, we want to work harder. We don't want to work harder. We want to work smarter, basically. So we want to be able to be able to push those whites nice and relaxed, the more you can relax your upper body. You're not putting all this extra stress and tension and burning like all this extra energy. You can drive you can ride the bike a lot faster. Plus, you actually have better handling skills

Kenny Bailey<br>: 14:56

on exactly you if you're bouncing on that seat. That's the fastest way to saddle source. Oh my god. settle into the seat. Just check to make sure your height I mean, because if you see hips rocking and rocking

Tom Regal: 15:05

back and forth across the saddle, you're having saddle issues where things are sore. You're getting, you're getting saddle sores or something. Yeah. Any, any, any sharp pain or numbness? Yeah, those are two things to go get your feet checked. I mean, that's a that's a fit check. First saddle would be the second thing. If your fits not correct. And you're having issues like that. It could be just the fit the saddle might be perfect. Yeah. Right. But you're in the wrong position. And that's it's key to get that those are two things. You're going to have some discomfort being on the saddle, especially if you've been off it for a little bit. Yeah, yeah, there's gonna be a little discomfort, there might be a little bit of swelling or something that's in there. And it's just battle that you'll get used to that you'll get through all of that you're sitting on a post for crying out loud. It's nuts. But if you're getting any numbness, or sharp pain, that's a big no, that's a major No, like that's call

Kenny Bailey<br>: 15:54

call any any spots, right, your hands going numb. If you're if you have any hotspots on your foot. Any connection point, I guess would be right, you've

Tom Regal: 16:01

got your three connection points. So those are your touch points. Yeah. Especially

Kenny Bailey<br>: 16:05

if you're long distance are you doing a lot of hours on that? Those things will exacerbate fast. Oh, yeah. So okay, so I was looking at like, I thought we tried to do a segment on new equipment for 2024 and other than the absolute bonkers Time Trial helmets if you guys are watching road racing at all. You may have seen it on on the socials. But these time trial helmets, these new aero helmets are getting absolutely insanely stupid. Yeah,

Tom Regal: 16:29

I mean pucks at the mark and said, Hey, we've got an ugly arrow helmet. Yeah. And then specialized said hold and came out with a head sock, funky helmet on top of that, but JIRA this year decided like now we've got you all covered. Yeah. And they just set up the vibe of one of the craziest look, and I know you couldn't pay me enough to put that yet.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 16:51

So go check it out. If you guys want some fun. Yeah, go check these things out. It's hilarious. And of course, there's a lot of really smart people in wind tunnels that are trying to do everything again. You know, hiring professionals or you know, seconds matter that kind of thing. They're there for us everyday folk just get a comfortable helmet that's you know, fairly arrow and can breathe so you can not, you know, overheat. You know,

Tom Regal: 17:11

it's nice to be aerodynamic and we want to watch weight on the bike. And you want to do all that stuff, but it's all like it's less than marginal gains for us. And we're just getting started especially don't worry about any of that stuff. You'll be fine. Yeah,

Kenny Bailey<br>: 17:24

I will call your Lord helmet for meatballs. Were one of those will say that

Tom Regal: 17:28

Azure let us know what you think. Yeah, helmets if you Oh, yeah, send us a comment I want to see it especially Yeah, especially the old one Yeah, I

Kenny Bailey<br>: 17:36

found a picture myself like 1213 years ago with one of those original big gas teardrop I had one very literally

Tom Regal: 17:43

I still have Yeah, I do to have it up on the in the shops. The thing was one of the longtails then we went to the short tail is that I have a stub tail whatever have an LG helmet that is very comfortable and works for me but it's it's it's beyond what it really needs to be realized that it doesn't need to be that crazy. These helmets still look like nothing compared to Oh yeah, it's

Kenny Bailey<br>: 18:06

pretty They're insane so anyway, go check those out. But really when it comes to technology there wetsuit seem to be you know, the bikes are, you know, marginal gains, but the one area that seems to be getting a lot more attention is around running shoes these days. Yeah. Especially the high end ones with carbon fiber plates.

Tom Regal: 18:22

Yeah.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 18:23

Everyone's trying to max the size and that that rear rocker, yeah, nine yards. It seems a little insane. Cushing

Tom Regal: 18:29

was always was good. I mean, hookah hookah, definitely set that game up. What how many years ago now. It's been a while now a long time. But they brought that up and adding the rocker plate on to it and getting really funky with some of the other stuff is neat. I mean, it it definitely gives you a bump. Yeah, I mean, it definitely gives you a bump. That's why all the top marathoners and runners are using them. Whether you need it or not as a completely different story. I mean, they are super

Kenny Bailey<br>: 18:55

expensive. Yeah, it's $275 for the hookah. Yeah, it goes up from

Tom Regal: 18:59

there, there's some other ones that go up even even crazier. And I have to look up, there's one that we're going to need to talk about that you can you can actually replace just different pieces and parts, but it's like a four or $500 shoe, but they recycled the parts when it comes back. And then you can get replacement pieces for it. It's kind of weird. I've never tested it out or done anything with it. But it's it's a different it's a different mold going in that direction. But when we get back to the rocker plate type of stuff, I mean, I think it comes down to if if you're at that level where you've got some speed and you've got some extra cash just burning a hole in your pocket, besides call me because I can always take your cash I'd love to. I would I would probably get a pair, but I wouldn't train in them. Yeah, because they're only good for a couple 100 miles and then you're gonna just like rip rip through them. But for my race this year, I'm tempted to get a pair of triumph. Yeah. But I would only use them for the week or two before the race and the race. But I wouldn't train in them regularly because I'm a big proponent of using different types of shoes.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 20:09

I don't, I should probably do that, because I just have had, I've always had calf issues. So whenever I left a hookah, I got punished. It's four weeks of me dealing with Yeah, you know, and he gets cranky. Oh, yeah. Because I tried to run through it. And I don't Anyway, that's all but the story. Eight times kind of got cranky. Part Two, the. So yeah, you do a lighter shoe on a faster, right, you do kind of a heavier shoe for longer distance. And then you have a ratio is I

Tom Regal: 20:38

have Yeah, I have a I have a so I have a lightweight shoe with a drop. And the drop is the level from the heel down to the toe, you'll hear about no drop shoes, you'll hear about drop shoes, it's just 487 12 Summer get huge. So we're not talking about the stack of the shoe, the stack of the shoe itself is just the amount of foam that they have from from the bottom of the shoe like two foot, right? So they're stacked that goes all the way across the length of the shoe. And then what they'll do is they'll raise the stack in the back of the shoe and then taper you down. So it puts you in Delta. Yeah, that's a little different. Yes, the 4758. Like, I think there used to be as much as 12. The idea in the old days was that that would roll your foot forward. Yeah. So that the idea is that you would heel strike and then roll your foot forward, and it would assist you in kind of going through that. And we realized that heel striking is probably not the best way to run. So we've corrected people's running and then you have the no drop shoes, you have altroz and a couple of others that have come out that have zero drop whatsoever. And at one point they had zero cushion, which for some of us that doesn't work at all. So what I do is I have a drop shoe was always it's lately it's been the hookah mock fives. That's my speech here when I'm doing tempo work or I'm doing vo to max efforts and sprints. That's the shoe I'll use that. I've liked the the Saucony endorphins, endorphin pro without the carbon plate with lots of cushion. Once again, a drop it's got a little bit of a drop to it and I'll use that for my long days. And then I have an altra that has a little bit of cushion to zero drop and that's my recovery days. That's my easy days. Those are the three I run through and then I have a couple of different trail shoes. Yeah, same thing drop no drop that I rotate through for those

Kenny Bailey<br>: 22:35

now and I think it's important to note that Tom is you know, he's been at this game for a little while you're leaning into to this race right and for those folks that are leaning in, you know considering a carbon plate if that's something you're you're trying to add speed you know those kinds of things for the average you know, for the average person one or two pairs of good running shoes and and you know you and I've talked again we talked about in different episodes, big proponents of get a good pair of running shoes a good pair of trail shorts because it's contact point Yep. And you know, that's kind of you know, an a safety helmet you know, that's a safe helmet but other than that, you know, find yourself go to your you know, we are all big proponents of local shopping right go to your go to your learning store. Make sure you're fit comfortably in this you can find a good pair of shoes you know between 80 and $130 If you want to spend more spend more but it's not you know $275 plated shoe is absolutely not necessarily able to do that if if you're having fun. Yeah, if you're leaning in and it's important you tried to get in a podium or you're you're trying to get a PR and this is your year to lean in you know go nuts and again feedback you let us know what you guys yeah I don't run with multiple I don't run with multiple types of shoes like I said just because I've been injury prone so I just know I run with a you know the Hoka Clifton and I'll have you know the the new pair the not so new pair than you know the one that goes to the yard work so yeah, if the trickle down theory and make sure

Tom Regal: 24:05

you get some is dedicated to running shoes. Yeah, so like I know some people that like they'll buy their new pair of running shoes they'll run in them and then they'll also wear them to the mall or wherever else they're going running errands and back and forth and that just wears the shoe out prematurely. I mean they're expensive enough yeah, it's good point. She's spending 100 bucks more than more. Yeah, you're gonna tear through them a lot faster and just kind of do that I would always recommend having at least two pairs that you can bounce back and forth because they need to dry out they will get nasty and if you if you're actually run when it's wet or raining or after the rain or something like that you want them to be able to dry out and then you've got another pair to jump to they can be the exact same shoe whatever you're comfortable with. Yeah,

Kenny Bailey<br>: 24:45

and I haven't you maybe you guys should know this and if you do let us know but like I'm I'm not 140 pounds. I'm not 160 pounds, right? I'm just a little a little bit bigger than that. So I don't know if a spring forward you Get carbon plated shoe for my size is going to it's going to be worth it to that. Yeah. I don't know if you guys have experienced where you're No, I'm not Clydesdale but I'm getting there. Well, I mean, he's been hitting the gym in the winter. Well,

Tom Regal: 25:16

what about heavy heavy?

Kenny Bailey<br>: 25:18

Yeah, they call me the dishwasher been stalking the play. You know, but I just I don't. A Yeah, it's fun to watch these guys running marathons, but they're also a buck 30, right? I mean, they're less

Tom Regal: 25:30

they're springy. They're wet. They're Yeah, they're right. Yeah, they're crazy. So my

Kenny Bailey<br>: 25:34

point is, you know, also check your weight as far as like, what's appropriate, and what you need for stability and like, what your gait is, and you know, if your knees are shot, it's, you know, you're not going to go by speed shoe or whatever, just go to your local

Tom Regal: 25:47

running store, like he said, and build a relationship with them. They're really smart people, they're runners that work in the stores. I mean, that's why they love it, they will help you. And if it's, if you're not getting the right thing, go to a different store. I mean, just try it out. But they they will, they will help guide you, in a sense and get you through that hole. That hole. Yeah, and

Kenny Bailey<br>: 26:07

yeah, and the reason why I harp on like the seat and the shoes and stuff is if you're comfortable, you know, you're training enough as it is there, you're doing a lot of hard work. And if you're fighting your equipment at the same time, it's not going to be fun. If you're if you're not looking forward to sitting on a seat because it's uncomfortable or you're in if your shoes are making your feet hurt, you know, those you'll tend not to want to go nobody does. Right, it's hard to get motivated to get out the door. Yeah, making those contact points comfortable, then you can focus on being uncomfortable with the workout itself. There's plenty of other things to be uncovered. Yeah, you know, that kind of thing. So I think that's why I tend to be a little bit, you know, make sure your bikes fit correctly, make sure the seats are comfortable mix your shoes, those those touch points are comfortable, because you have enough to worry about rather than trying to figure that out. So if it takes, you know, 10 $20 more to do that, then do that. Yeah, for sure. So any last thoughts on getting ready for the season? Any words of advice other than get off the couch and go? Just go

Tom Regal: 27:06

find social groups? Yeah, well, the good point, find some social groups, I think at this point, especially if you've been working indoors a lot, find that try club, find that running group. Because you're all going to be in this together at the same point. And that helps keep us accountable. I know it's certainly motivating be able to be there's, there's some mornings, like nobody wants to get up and do this. But we don't roll out of bed thinking like, wow, I get to do my workout today. We get into it, it's it's hard. Once you get going, it's fine. And then you're certainly happy afterwards you did it. But that extra motivation in the morning, or in the afternoon evenings, whatever time it is, if you can get with a group make it a little more social. Yeah, it just takes the edge off of it. It just takes your you know, maybe you have conversation, or maybe you can't have a conversation which are running next to somebody, and you're just in this shared pain cave together, and you just know that they're going through it and you've got that camaraderie going through. And it's just it feels nicer. Yeah, and the social aspect is huge.

Kenny Bailey<br>: 28:05

And you may be a motivator for somebody else, you know, exactly right. Yeah, it's not, it's not one directional. Right, the fact that you're out there to and you're talking and you're enjoying yourself that just lends to the in the, you know, the endurance group for us has been, you know, an extremely positive Yeah, you know, these these folks are very supportive. There's not a there's, you know, there's not a lot of egos that are running around, there may be some, but it's just as always a few but vast majority are trying to get excited for people to get their PRs excited for people to progress and get better and, and, you know, just get out there and try. And if if, you know, if it, if it doesn't work, they're there to help you kind of figure it out, get to the next one. So that's a great idea. And you can join more than one group.

Tom Regal: 28:45

I mean, like, get crazy, right? We want to support everybody, I think the community is huge. Here we have, there's at least four different triathlon clubs, and they're all amazing people. And there's all cross pollination between everybody's members, which ones give all of that so we can go in go train with different ones, depending on what their training schedule. So look for what your schedule works out to be look at the different clubs around you. And then join one of those things get in and you know, find the different ones, maybe you'll find you like one better than the other who knows, or maybe just join all of them, and you just get your workouts and but that's that's probably the biggest mental hurdle to get through of getting started and a season. So I think that's

Kenny Bailey<br>: 29:25

huge. That's great. Well, Tom, thank you. Thank you. Make sure you hit the like and subscribe button. Let us know, are there new pieces of equipment that you're buying this year that you're pretty excited about? Is there a training program that if you guys have questions about training programs, or where to go if you have questions about sort of other things, you know, hey, where do I Where do I find a good saddle or what do I do that sort of stuff, please let us know. We'll we'll give

Tom Regal: 29:48

us some good topics. What you want to hear talk about will be intermixing. In some we've got our triathletes journey we just talked about before. We're gonna have some great interviews on we've got some great guests coming in. On the roof smart people, yep. Then there's gonna be a few of them where we just talk about different products and different different things ourselves. We're gonna mix up again, like we did last year, we're talking about a bunch of different things. So give us your thoughts. Give us your thoughts and comments about what you want to hear about your experiences as well. So that would be great. So and clicking subscribe. Get that out there. So thank you very much. We appreciate you all. Kenny. As always, guys, we'll we'll catch you on the next show.