Tom Regal (00:01)
Hey Kenny, how you doing?

Kenny (00:03)
I am fantastic, Tom. How are you?

Tom Regal (00:04)
I'm fantastic as well. we have a great guest today, as we always have great guests. I keep saying that. It's kind of a it's kind of a thing I fall into. But we have Coach Sean Luchens here. got a great conversation. Met Sean through an advisory board that both of us were on and connected and realized that we've been racing well, he's been racing a little bit longer than I have, but we're pretty much all in the same age group, us guys. So it's kind of fun. So we've got a lot to chat about on that. so welcome, Sean. We appreciate you.

and a little bit of of of business to cover is to make sure everyone you know hits the subscribe button, give us some feedback, give us the thumbs up, the five stars, all that great stuff that helps the algorithm. So we appreciate all of you listening. even our great friends in Frankfurt, which we still see on there. So thank you for still listening in Frankfurt, Germany. We like, you know, like you guys. so so appreciate that. So Sean, welcome, welcome to the show.

Kenny (00:54)
Go Frankfurt.

Tom Regal (01:03)
Been racing for a number of years, triathlon, coaching triathlon. Have some other life that that pays for all of that, I'm sure, as well. but give us a little bit of a background. What got you into triathlon? What was the did you lose a bet? What's yeah, it kind of like what happened? What got you into this world? Number one well, I throw that out there because I just assume that's a you know, usually it's a bad thing that happened to people. It's like, yeah, well, someone dared me and I had to do it.

Sean Luitjens (01:22)
Is that the number that's probably the number one answer, right?

Kenny (01:25)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (01:33)
So what got you into this wonderful sport?

Sean Luitjens (01:34)
Yeah, no, cl close,

close. I I was a basketball player into college and got hurt. And so back in the days, you can't see on on the video here, but I am not tall. So that was the end of that with the knee injury. The rehab was to swim and bike. and I'd done a little lifeguarding through high school, so but I wasn't a great swimmer. you know, I'll say that now, not when I was applying for jobs as a lifeguard. wasn't a great swimmer.

Tom Regal (01:47)
Ha ha.

Perfect.

Yeah.

Kenny (02:00)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (02:03)
Got the pool, got on the bike for rehab, and then wouldn't say it was a bet, but I was kind of whining about not competing. And someone's like, Well, actually, they have these things that, you know, are called triathlons. and it was a sprint triathlon. And I'm like, How hard can that be? and you know, you swim, you're all on breath, you get on the bike, you're like doing well, and then you run and you realize it can get hard quick. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I was like, Yeah, I'm this is not hard to instant instantly got hard.

Tom Regal (02:24)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (02:25)
Yeah. Oops.

Sean Luitjens (02:32)
Ironically on the run part which I'd been running forever. And so just got hooked. And so it literally I think now is it kinda hurts. I think it's thirty eight years ago, that I did, yeah, first first race. which is crazy that you guys had the the race director on, of course, but that the music city race is much older than that, which is kind of mind blowing too.

Tom Regal (02:42)
Thirty eight years ago. Nice.

Yes. Yeah.

So you got started in the heyday. I mean the c tha that was the cool like just run what you brung type of get out there and and hammer away at whatever distance. I mean that's that's epic. Like

Kenny (02:58)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (03:02)
Yeah.

Well the kids don't

like the fact that you remember what we also wore back then. the kids aren't aren't so appreciative of the the speedo only outfit. Yeah. Yeah, speedo only and a half shirt. They're like, Dad, Dad, seriously. That was like yeah, and the big tri bars that are big triangle, right? Like those things.

Kenny (03:09)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (03:11)
yeah.

The Speedo the Speedo only or the half shirt, right? The the half sleeveless. Yeah.

Kenny (03:15)
Yeah.

Yeah. Half shirt. And then the igloo the igloo helmet that Yeah. So yeah. So how did you

Tom Regal (03:27)
Yep. Yeah.

Kenny (03:28)
dodge the buffalo in the plains? Was it thirty eight? Yeah, was that hard? So yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (03:32)
Yeah, yeah. The whole western back in the back in the day before cars.

Sean Luitjens (03:31)
Yeah.

Yeah. Back in the day. But yeah,

I've I've and I've kind of moved up and down the distances. I've been, you know, good years, bad years. I consider myself a bubble athlete for a long time, which meant, you know, I could go, you know, have been lucky enough to go to Hawaii and to n you know some worlds, but I kinda I'm on the bubble around I gotta have a good day, someone's gotta have a bad day, not to send bad ju do, but that type of thing, which means you gotta you gotta put in the work and then you know, have had those moments, I think.

Kenny (03:57)
Mm. Yeah.

Tom Regal (03:57)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (04:03)
You know, where a lot of people talk about, you know, enjoying the sport and not enjoying the sport. And so I did have a couple of years where I did more ultra running. just got really burnt out. And I don't know if you're gonna cover that. Like I got just burnt out on making it more of a job than you know, as I tell people, you can if you want to be miserable, you can go to your day job. That that's a thing. I did race in the early days. I raced probably in the early nineties. I did race as a pro for three years. I'm

Tom Regal (04:12)
Mm.

Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

Yeah.

Nice.

Sean Luitjens (04:31)
I think I did the math one year that I netted out more money making by hundreds of dollars than I spent. I won't talk about the other two years or the I was in the Blackbur A year. If you add the three years together, Kenny, not so much. Yeah. It was Yeah, it was it was the second year actually, 'cause then I'm like, I'm not making enough and you know, you went bigger and better players showed up and you know, as more people got in there it became more popular and you know, back in the day, I mean

Kenny (04:37)
Ha ha.

Tom Regal (04:37)
Ha ha ha.

Kenny (04:39)
But you're in the black. There you go, so there you go. Yeah.

Tom Regal (04:43)
For a year. Was that the first year or the third year? Or the second

year? What year was it? Okay. You peeked and

yeah.

Sean Luitjens (05:00)
It is cool to say you were on the line with Scott the Scott Tinleys and the Allen those guys. and I say I was on the start line with them because it was not long after that. I just didn't see until post race beer. So yeah.

Tom Regal (05:03)
Yeah.

Kenny (05:10)
Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (05:11)
Yeah.

So at the start line and after the finish party with

Kenny (05:15)
Yeah, so about that

Sean Luitjens (05:15)
Yeah, yeah.

Kenny (05:16)
kind of so y you know, you've you've seen a lot. I mean I got I got a c a couple of questions just leave to mind, right? One is sort of how the evolution of the sport, but you know, when you said you got burned out, how did you what brought you back? What was the was it just the itch to like or was it you released that whole I'm no longer have to be a pro, I no longer have to hit numbers, let's just go do it for fun?

Sean Luitjens (05:36)
So there were probably three spots in that, Kenny, when I guess I haven't really thought about it that way together. So when I when I switched out of pro I I was getting married and so that was pretty obvious of how that was gonna go because you had to make money and then we were a little older, so we wanted to have kids and what have you. I think then the two points that really got me were when 'cause then I was a c a very competitive athlete. And when we had kids, I went to not being a competitive athlete.

Kenny (05:38)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (06:00)
You know, for a couple years and a lot of it was just figuring out training and volumes and methodology. And if you go back, we didn't have the science we had. And so I mentally struggled for a couple of years. and just, you know, selectively picked some races or had one or two big races. Iron Man was coming out, you know, when you get to the nineties when the kids were born. So I kind of matriculated to that for a couple of years. But I had a mental struggle there. But probably the bigger one, Kenny, that I tell people to get warned about is, you know.

Tom Regal (06:07)
Mm-hmm.

Sean Luitjens (06:27)
Everyone says you want to go to Hawaii once, right? And that's their dream. It's like crack. You want you know, and so there was a period where I I you know, now it's probably almost twenty years ago, that I I wanted to go and I was putting in the work and I even wrote the check and was going to Iron Man, Wisconsin. that's how long ago it was. We had checks. and and I didn't didn't qualify, blew up.

Kenny (06:33)
Yeah. Absolutely.

Mm-hmm.

Tom Regal (06:50)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (06:55)
was sick actually going into the race, probably in retrospect overtrained. and I looked back and the three or four months before that, I realized I just wasn't having fun. Like I was so dialed into my numbers, my routes, my schedule, my everything, putting life second so that I could get this because I couldn't, you know, there's some cats who can walk up to a race and they take a spot. And there's, you know, others that have to work and even then you don't make it. And I that was the point at which I I I kept my streak alive.

For a couple of years and did a sprint or a Olympic distance over a couple of summers. But I went to ultra running and I kind of went from this, you're really competitive, you have to do well, this pressure that was all of my own doing. Cause I always tell athletes in terms of like almost nobody cares, right? You know. you know, my wife couldn't care less, you know, she just cares that I come home in theory. So she doesn't care. I was caring way too much. And I went to ultrarunning. I'm like, so the new bar is like finish and don't die. Like, okay, like.

Kenny (07:33)
Mm-hmm.

It always is, absolutely. Yeah.

Tom Regal (07:40)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (07:53)
That's solid. And so I was winning again in my own mind, like starting to do some ultras and like nobody cared. I didn't know everybody. And so and then, you know, four or five years really missed riding. I had done some riding with First Union back in the day, Tom. Like that, you know, like I'd I'd come from riding, you know, after I got into triathlon, I really got into riding. And so it just kinda came back into triathlon, but with more of a renewed, this is a hobby. and you can't control who shows up and

Kenny (08:11)
Hmm. Yeah.

Tom Regal (08:20)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (08:22)
I can like I said, I can go be miserable at work. I can go find I can find plenty of places to be miserable. I you know, I want to enjoy myself while I'm out.

Kenny (08:25)
Hmm. Yeah.

Tom Regal (08:27)
Yeah.

Kenny (08:31)
Yeah. And that's a that's a huge transition. I mean, that's the to to tell yourself as you like you said, you're very competitive, you know, you you want to do that. I I was racing road bikes, same thing, and I was spent years looking at the back of somebody's wheel and was just, you know, looked up one day and I'm like, Wow, I'm riding one of the most beautiful spots in California right now. I'm like, Yeah, wow, there's there's actually views like you if you stop, you know, hammering every once in a while and look up, it's it's kind of a beautiful thing. So,

Sean Luitjens (08:51)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it

Y

you know, it's funny you say that. I've been with Meta now, I think two years, Tom, which and then a couple years before that is where we met on the board of, you know, the group down in Carolina. And I'd gotten into coaching, but when Meta came and said, Well, how long have you been coaching, Sean? And I kind of was like, Well, I don't know, just a couple years. And then I'm like, crap, like 15 or 20. and I'd kept just on the side as people were matriculating into the sport, I'd found this this point at which I I guess in business wise you'd call it a sweet spot.

But in general, people who either new to the sport or were making the leap up to be competitive at longer distances and trying to help them where cost was an issue to get a training plan together. And also, you know, you can start the sport and you don't have to spend $5,000 and you can still have fun. And so I've just been coaching five to six athletes a year for probably 15 or 20 years. and with Meta, I've had a couple that I didn't know, but in general I knew them. And so you could put some parameters in place. Like I don't babysit, you know, I'm not.

Not the type to call and be like, hey, Kenny, did you do your workout today? You know, or what, you know, like that's a you problem, not a me problem. and that's changed a little bit with some of some of the athletes I've had because they need that.

Kenny (10:09)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (10:26)
I wouldn't know if it was that. I think what it keeps you the perspective is the joy. and like actually this last weekend my wife, right, did her first. So thir you I I met her 40 years ago. Yeah, you saw so first trial on ever. I think it might be her last. But but the joy of when the the the joy of both doing the sport and being out and playing and being fit and also not taking for granted like the base miles we have and the fitness and just keeping things in perspective.

Kenny (10:40)
At least she tried it.

Sean Luitjens (10:56)
of like, you know, you get in that point, Tom, where like I know you had did an event a few weeks ago where it was hot and, you know, super long event. And you kind of forget, like, that's sometimes hard to even explain to people that you thought that was a good idea in the first place. and and you know, so it gives you great perspective both in the joy, which also like if you're trying to compete, you know, you know, at long distances and you forget like that's actually a W that you're able to get out there and get on the start line and do it.

Kenny (11:09)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (11:24)
Let alone if you're trying to be competitive.

More than your efforts. I know when we raised in

when we raised in Nashville, I had an athlete doing a marathon the same day. And you know, as soon as I finished, you know, my son, I was like, how yeah, I'm like, where, you know, how'd she do? And they're like, what? I'm like, well, I'll f I'll figure out how I did later. Like, but how'd she do? I want to know how she did or where she's at, like where's she pacing, you know, on the thing. You're like that, that's more important to me than, you know, my stuff. And it's a little weird. It's out of your control. Like, you know, like that's the other weird word. Yeah, it is. You're like,

Kenny (11:59)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. It's actually more nerve wracking, isn't it? It is.

Sean Luitjens (12:18)
here, go run and

Kenny (12:19)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (12:20)
you're like, do everything hopefully well and like you don't have control or their mental side of things. Yeah.

Kenny (12:22)
Yeah.

And you're

looking at the split times like, Okay, they should be you know, I should be hitting that split time. Why aren't hitting that split time? They should be hitting that split time, right? So

Sean Luitjens (12:29)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (12:33)
Yeah.

Nerve wracking.

Sean Luitjens (12:52)
The only time I looked at my watch

last weekend, Tom, was the sprint triathlon my wife and I are both doing, which by the way, I wasn't thinking you'd be so stressful, but my kids kept sending me notes. I hope mom beats you. and all of a sudden it became highly stressful. Yeah, I know. Well, you know, the apple doesn't fall far, Kenny. I can't actually complain too much.

Kenny (13:07)
Nice kids you got there. Yeah, I know. There you go. Yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (13:16)
And so I remember the only times I looked at my watch, because you know, it's a sprint. So literally, like people are like, What'd you run for power and whatever? I'm like, I don't know. I just the you know, the bit the beeper went off at the swim and I just you you know, you it's full gas, right? Which I haven't done one in like 15 years. I mean, more props to those races. They they are weird, weird hurt fun. But the two times I looked at the clock were on the bike, it was an out and back where I saw my wife.

Kenny (13:25)
Yeah, just pedal. Yeah.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (13:44)
heading out. and I

was coming back and I looked to see where she was in the time and I started doing calculations. Meanwhile I'm on full gas. Like where's she at? Where's her split? How long was she in the water? Like I'm doing all this math that I shouldn't have been doing at the time. And then on the run, yeah, I didn't see I got to the finish before she headed out and I was doing the math. Like I was just all my I couldn't have cared less about mine. I'm looking up at the clock and I'm like, where's she at? What's her split gonna be? and what's she doing? Which

Kenny (13:52)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (14:12)
I thought she'd be excited, a little marital advice. I thought she'd be super excited to see me in T Two. as she was leaving. she was not ecstatic that I was done. Yeah, that was that that was not all the whole time I'm like, it would be cool if I got done, I could cheer her out of T two. no, no.

Kenny (14:22)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. No.

Yeah. Well that's good. There you go.

Sean Luitjens (14:37)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (14:37)
That's funny. So so

for both of you, you know, from a coaching perspective, I I I you know it's a rare chance that you get people that have the longevity you guys have in coaching and in in actual, you know, racing. And that's the one that's intriguing me the most. Like Sean, when you when you look at how you were coaching ten, fifteen years ago, how's that evolution changed between is it

You you apply the same techniques or is a different way to approach it, or do you feel like that, you know, did you learn and grow and kind of what was that evolution as a as a coach?

Sean Luitjens (15:09)
I think there's a couple the math is a lot better now. I mean, between training peaks and being able to go back and look at things in numbers and set ranges and zones. I think we've proven out that, you know, the old school beat yourself up every day, all day is not the way. So I think there's been a lot of that that is very positive around recovery, especially when you've been doing it this long, you also win the title of aging athlete, in a lot of spaces. and so recovery becomes so important. And, you know, I did you know

humble brag, I guess, whatever. Like I had a great race last weekend, so I was second. and you look around at the age of the players around you. And I think the only way you can keep up with that and and do that every so often is by recovering. and that science has come a long ways. The part that I think that the longevity I'm worried about long term, Kenny, is are are we having fun?

Kenny (15:59)
Mm. Mm-hmm.

Sean Luitjens (16:01)
and so I'm a big advocate of, you know, if the the science may say go do this, but if people are going out for a group ride, go ride a group ride. Like if you're doing a group run, go do a group run, you know, go get, you know, it may say go zone three or four, but the group ride's a drop ride and you want to go hang with a fellow and get beat up, go get beat up and then we'll adjust. And I don't know that the science is allowing for the fun. And I'm very concerned that people will, you know, do two to four or five years.

Kenny (16:18)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (16:31)
Do that and then the other's the long. Like everyone wants to chase long. You know, you're not cool unless you've done an Iron Man or I'm gonna do an Iron Man. And like there's a lot to be said for you can stay just as healthy at the you know, Olympic distance, and maybe be happier. And at the end of the day, it's about being healthy and happy. And so those that's my concern. I think the longevity piece, the science helps. And I won't lie, like a lot of it has to do with genetics. I don't stretch enough, I don't do enough. Like I don't do some of the stuff you're supposed to do.

Kenny (16:37)
Mm.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (16:59)
But the one thing I've done other than the times I mentioned to you is, you know, listen to my body and I I go have fun. I tell people I'm going to play outside and if I'm really burnt mentally on a run, I might go ride. Like I just I wanna make sure it's fun.

Kenny (17:12)
Yeah. So when did the qualifier

come in where it says it got, you know, well, you did really good for your age. Do you remember when that when that kicked in?

Sean Luitjens (17:20)
Well it's funny, I'm

still getting I'm I'm fighting it. So I got Cro I got Crohn's five, six years ago, and that was the first point five years ago that I really fell out of that. So even it even in Nashville, Tom, you know, the first thing I looked at was was I, you know, in the top 15 or 20 overall. So I'm still chasing that. So it's coming, Kenny. and it was fun this last weekend to be racing, you know, in the top three overall and looking around, but it's coming.

Kenny (17:23)
You know, well that was great for your age.

Yeah.

Tom Regal (17:34)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So at what point at what point did you then slide into coaching? When did that start to come along?

Kenny (17:38)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Tom Regal (17:46)
Okay.

Kenny (17:48)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (17:49)
But I think the perspective over time is has been that like that's the bonus. And the only thing it really made me do this last weekend was sit in the hurt locker longer. Because I think if I wasn't where I was in the race, I wouldn't have, you know, pushed at the same pace or, you know, Nashville where Tom and I both race, like it was not cold that day, Tom. and and Nashville's not kind with the amount of shade they don't provide. I mean, the one bridge twice as nice, but I didn't even notice my wife and kid.

Kenny (17:54)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (18:17)
I mean he's twenty six under the bridge a second time I was so enthralled with the little kid with the spray gun. I did not notice my family because that kid had a water sporter. yeah, but you know, you you can still push yourself into that place. And I think the age group stuff helps a lot, Kenny. Like, you know, with that.

Kenny (18:18)
Yeah.

Ha ha ha.

Tom Regal (18:27)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Perfect. Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (18:36)
Yeah.

Well, you feel pretty good. I mean, I guess for both of you, it 'cause Sean, what it you kind of embrace the suck a little bit, like you're saying, like, look, I I can go into the pain cave and I'm okay and I'm comfortable with it. I guess the question again again for both of you is when you when you are that way and I know Tom does that, Tom's like, Wow, you know, I broke a foot, but let's keep running.

Tom Regal (18:48)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So did that was that kind of help you transition back into triathlon, want you to get back into it again, from the ultra running side of things?

Kenny (18:59)
But some of your some of your clients aren't gonna be that way. They're gonna avoid pain, right? They're gonna avoid like this hurts. I don't like oui oui oui, I'm not gonna do the oui, where you're like, well, come time the oui's good. You know, sometimes you do need to suffer a little. like when I when I work out, I I try to suffer. But when my wife works out, she tries to avoid that, right? She's like, Yeah, I'm good. How do you how do you how do you kind of coach that and not feel like you're trying to apply, you know, like your mentality is well that obviously you're supposed to do that when when they're just not wired that way.

Sean Luitjens (19:01)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Tom Regal (19:11)
Sort of that, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (19:29)
I think the harder part of that sometimes is there's uncomfortable in two ways, right? So you have to be on, you know, and so the broken foot is a thing, right? And there are some people who run through that. That's just bad, right? In theory. Like and so Yeah, yeah. So something like that, you would say that's teaching an athlete or getting them to learn like what is good pain and what is just uncomfortable. And so, you know, I like when I can get athletes started in the fall for a couple of things, especially if they're new.

Kenny (19:38)
Yeah.

Well we realize that Tom's an idiot for that one, but you know, we'll just

Tom Regal (19:46)
For sure.

Kenny (19:49)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (19:56)
You can get your systems in place, which a lot of athletes don't have systems and then they fall apart. you know, when am I gonna train? Where am I gonna train? Where's all my crap? Where does my crap really go when I start training? And then you have the ability to build up over time this ability to feel uncomfortable. And so, you know, I think the technology's gotten better that way, you know.

Tom Regal (20:02)
Yeah, I know that's that's a big thing for me, is that's the thing I like about coaching, especially with the beginner to intermediate kind of athletes that are stepping into something that's brand new or they're stepping up a little bit is to the the excitement and joy that they bring to it and seeing them get excited about it. I know that draws me and gives me lots of energy to to kinda to kinda do that. Yeah.

Kenny (20:04)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (20:15)
Whether it's Zwift or the trainer or certain places, like you can you can give them a workout and say you have to go push this number for five minutes. And so they can see the end is near. and they lived, right? They came out the other side. They're like, I can do five minutes. Like, yeah, you could probably could have done 20, but I didn't say that out loud. You can do five to start. and so I think you can kind of walk them into that place. I do think at some point, I mean, you do. There's some of us who like the type two fun or like that flow for me, the flow state and the hurt locker, like.

Kenny (20:24)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (20:30)
Yeah. You're checking.

Kenny (20:31)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (20:38)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (20:44)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (20:44)
You

know, my kids were asking, like, how did you feel? It was only 5k. But I'm like, you know, I honestly don't remember much between like three quarters of a mile and then to last turn to the finish. And they're like, What? I enjoyed it like way more than I probably should have. And I was in it, and you're just one, you're one with everything. The machine, you know, you're managing the machine. And over the years, you're like, I'm not feeling you know, this isn't comfortable, but this is like the good uncomfortable. and that takes time and reps.

Tom Regal (20:49)
It is. Totally, totally.

Kenny (20:59)
Hm. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (21:00)
Yeah.

Yeah. Make make

it worse, go to the race and and be cheering them on from the sidelines. So I go down to the Chattanooga and I have usually have athletes racing the the the half and the full. I'm running around going like this is harder. I would just rather go race. Like I just get in it in that mode. But you're going like, where are they? Split times, right? I need to be where do I need to be to you know to see them run by and yell at them, you know, some encouragement, whatever. But yeah, totally get it.

Sean Luitjens (21:11)
and I think now you have the ability to move them up into that. But you're right, some people are gonna be like, but that's that's where I think coaching is about goal setting. Like, how bad do you wanna be on the podium? And people be like, Well, no, I want to be there. I know, everyone wants to be there, but do you wanna do the work? Do you wanna do you wanna hurt during, or do you just want to go out and be like super healthy, have a healthy lifestyle, do an Olympic distance and finish? Like that's cool. You can't kind of have both, but you can pick one and have a balance.

Kenny (21:22)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Tom Regal (21:48)
Yeah.

Yeah, it went. Yeah.

yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (22:44)
Mm.

Tom Regal (22:53)
Yeah. No?

Yeah. Note.

Yeah. No. No

no no. Not don't d disappear on the run course completely until she finishes. And then act like you just finished. Right? Yeah.

Kenny (23:16)
Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm. Yeah.

Mm. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (24:07)
They're

they're what I think what you said, Tom, there, that they're what and their why, right? And where they're starting. Like, and you know, I'm a big advocate. Anytime someone posts like, I'm looking for a coach, what should who should I hire? And I'm like, you know, you need to you need to have spend a few moments with yourself to start, and then you need to interview at least three and figure out if it's a match. One, I mean.

Kenny (24:11)
Uh-oh.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (24:28)
It's serious work if you're gonna do it right. You wanna make sure cause that you're gonna have some good and bad weeks. This relationship is not, you know, like to your point, Tom. If you want someone who's gonna be a yes person, just go get a plan, cause the plan always says yes. It doesn't care what's going on. But then, you know, are you matched and are they honest with you is the big thing. Cause I I I'm happy to take, I'll take athletes who are stepping up to the Iron Man and are like, I wanna do 16 hours. And I'm like, Well, where are we at now? Cause I think there's work involved, right?

But if they're like,

you know, I think if I c I think I can do sixteen hours and I think I can only put in six hours a week, I'm like, Yeah, I don't have any interest in that thing. but I think that's the match that's the matchmaking. Yeah.

Kenny (24:59)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (25:12)
Yeah. Yeah, depending where they're come from. But that that's where I think that that

matchmaking, and really being an honest co like you're doing a disservice to everybody involved. And for me, I have an advantage. I have a day job, so I don't, you know, I keep athletes I wanna keep.

and I think some coaches are put into space where they have to take an athlete and then they're selling, yeah, yeah, we can make it happen. Cause I'm a little bit more the opposite. They're like, you know, hey, I want to drop a 215 Olympic distance and I'm starting from scratch. You're like, that's great. You know, there's a lot of things I want too, but they are gonna happen. that's not one of them, right? You know, you're biking, you know, like you look at it and you're like, none of those three things to, you know, on their own look like you're gonna do it. And by the way, you do know you have to do these three together.

Kenny (25:33)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Tom Regal (25:45)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yep. Absolutely.

Kenny (25:54)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (25:55)
thing. And so

Kenny (25:55)
That's hilarious.

Sean Luitjens (25:55)
having that honest discussion of like and and by the way, if you want to do that next year, you know, based on your fitness, this is what the work looks like. And then hey, if you're down with it, I'm I'm down. Cause, you know, feel just as I feel just as responsible about this as you do.

Kenny (26:10)
That's funny. I did meet a guy

that had an Ironman Chattanooga backpack and I said, wow, you know And he goes, Well, he had three months to train. I'm like, I'm sorry. You you trained in three months for an Ironman. He's Yeah. And I'm looking at him like, How on earth? And he's like, Well, I was navy I was a Navy SEAL. I'm like, Well, okay. All right. You know You know Yeah. Yeah, no kidding. Right. No, it was just hilarious. It was like

Tom Regal (26:14)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (26:29)
You know, like if they come to you in three months and they've been Well, you know, if they came off of Unbound or something and you you know, like it's

their VO too, Matt, like you asking questions, but to your point, like, hey, I've been doing some local five K's and dropping fifteen miles a week and we have a pool in the backyard and I signed up in three months, you're like, dude, like, you know that's not gonna be fun.

Kenny (26:40)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, this guy came on me and sound

a seal. I'm like, Well of course you did it. Cheater.

Sean Luitjens (26:54)
Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (26:59)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sean Luitjens (27:03)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (27:04)
Had a water pistol, yeah.

Sean Luitjens (27:07)
Yeah. Five years. Yeah. So I thought,

Tom Regal (27:08)
Mm.

Sean Luitjens (27:10)
to Kenny's point earlier, when you get older, I actually, you know, the year before that I was starting to feel some some bummer things like less alcohol, couldn't train in the morning, dairy was bothering me, and I wrote it off to just being old. and you know, things are changing. But then I had several episodes and ended up in the hospital, which was the first only time I've really been in the hospital overnight other than bike crashes. or you know.

Kenny (27:33)
Mm-hmm.

Sean Luitjens (27:35)
Car bike incidents. I spent some time in there and so diagnosed with Crohn's. And in typical guy fashion, I took the first year, decided that the doctors really didn't know what they were talking about, and went with ignore and override, signed up for placid, which actually, in retrospect, way the way I manage my diet and race diet now, I did remarkably well. I had a good swim, good bike.

Kenny (28:02)
Mm-hmm.

Sean Luitjens (28:02)
was cranking through six miles of the run, seven, the wheels wobbled. Eight, I passed out. and all the wheels came off. Which by the way, if you do that at the eight station, conveniently you win a golf cart ride back to the start. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. that was nice. Yeah. yeah, I did not hear the end of that. I still have not heard the end of that here. which was the moment in which I'm like, I have to figure it out. And so both my base diet, which I had dialed in.

Kenny (28:16)
That's just nice.

Tom Regal (28:19)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (28:33)
and then just going kind of all in and figuring out my my race diet because I just can't at pace, I can't process calories the same way. And so there's just a finer line between what pace I'm running. and I used to be a much bigger PE, you know, perceived assertion guy than I am now. Now I'm a little more numbers driven because I know, well, one, I just get amped up, right? And when you're amped up, you're like, PE, I don't care. You know, you're like, I feel great.

Tom Regal (29:00)
Mm.

Sean Luitjens (29:01)
and I have to really watch

that or I can't process. And it really affects me half Iron Man any longer. There's always a weird discussion to have with people who are kind of not in the endurance sports because you're like, it actually really doesn't bother me for the first four hours, four and a half, five hours. Like, you know, I got like enough like that, that's okay. But then like the the residualness of that and not being able to process calories gets me. So I've been basically doing halves and you know, that's when I got back Tom into Olympic distance stuff.

Tom Regal (29:26)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (29:30)
And actually had written off being competitive. I, you know, to be honest, you know, it's the it's the company you keep, keeps you in you know, keeps you going and motivated and was kind of tooling around doing some hiking and stuff. And actually really cool guy that is at Rudy Project, does a lot of their stuff, Mike Bunting, kind of was kind of like, bro, why don't you just get off your ass and try to qualify for nationals then if you're gonna do Ola, you know, like why are you being a whiner? type of, you know, kind of brotherly love type of mode.

Tom Regal (29:37)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (29:59)
he signed me up for a race because I had, you know, I'm like fine. And then he signed me up for nationals, which has led to nationals and worlds this year. but you need that person to be like, you know, quit being a quit quit whining, work the problem, figure out what works for you and and go works and then yeah, I'll do a couple half, you know, a couple halves again this year. But I think the diet is a big thing and like how important is it? And so I stay right in my lane with Crohn's.

Tom Regal (30:11)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's picking picking the right athlete that you're going to coach. I mean, there's I I've probably turned away as many athletes that I take on. So because you have to find the ones that, yeah, wanna do the work and it doesn't matter if their their goal is just to finish is great. but they wanna do you want them to do the best that they can do finishing. I had a conversation with one athlete who was like, I just wanna I wanna do this Iron Man and I wanna just

Kenny (30:14)
Mm-hmm.

Sean Luitjens (30:27)
Yeah.

Kenny (30:28)
Yeah, I guess what would the be f

like what would it look like before Crohn's and you're racing what does it look like after?

Sean Luitjens (30:33)
So

I I'd call it an American diet with more of your grains and salads and whatever. So, you know, and maybe a burger and whatever. I'm a big, you know, earn your cheat within reason, you know, rationality. I think it's one of the ways you stay in long term. I think we go really hardcourt or you know, a couple beers a week. became a bourbon fan when I lived in Kentucky. So, you know, had the you know, required bourbon at home and stuff.

Tom Regal (30:40)
I just wanna finish. And I'm like, Well, you need to give me more than that. I need you to to give me the best that you can do and finish. Right. And they were thinking about it and we're like, I need you to commit to that because just aiming for the bottom rung of the ladder sets you up to miss the bottom rung, right? You're just aiming too low and your your trajectory is like easily to miss completely. So why are you gonna put all this effort in and then not put like

Sean Luitjens (30:59)
Now I have to stay kind of the anti athlete diet. I have to have white bread, you know, whites. So low FODMAP they call it. So basically, you know, much easier to process. So Crohn's as a whole is whatever upsets your GI tract and is hard to process, it then just gets inflamed and closes. We don't need to go into more detail, but bad nothing good happens from there in either direction. Yeah, in either direction. And so

Kenny (31:06)
Mm-hmm.

Tom Regal (31:07)
not enough effort in right to kind of go f just do the bare minimum thing doesn't work for me. So the athlete committed to doing the best job that they could possibly do. We put a program together, they knocked it out of the park. They did way better than they thought they were capable of. That's great athlete. Love to work with that. Someone else that's an athlete that's just like wants the result but doesn't want to do the work, easily to drop them. Like after a month or two, if you don't make that decision ahead of time, it's just like if I'm not the right coach for you. If you just want a training plan or you want to check the boxes

Sean Luitjens (31:25)
You're you're trying to avoid that. And so a lot of white breads, potatoes, very like raw vegetables. I can have peeled cucumbers and bell peppers. End of story. there's some I can have cooked. and so it just kind of figure that stuff out, you know, white meat, no red meat, no alcohol, no dairy. yeah. And I my wife deserves mad props. She has been taking one for the team for four years cooking and stuff here and figured out a lot of different recipes.

Tom Regal (31:37)
And do do the bare minimum on that. There's like there's free plans online. There's AI programs now. There's stuff that'll cost you, you know, twenty bucks a month. That's your that's the route you need to go. And that's not the athlete that I wanna commit my time to working with them. And then getting them to understand what what is bad pain and what is good pain. and and knowing that if there's structural damage or anything that's gonna be really, really debilitating, then that's no, that's a pull plug, step out of it, right? And go.

Sean Luitjens (31:55)
But I think it's like what's important to you mode, because I know some people cheat a little bit. I won't have candy if it has milk in the, you know, so you can imagine chocolate. I won't have any chocolate that isn't that has the word milk on the label or contains milk. So I'm pretty, pretty hardcore, more so probably March to whatever the last race is, October this year. And then I might get out of my lane and try something new that's outside of there. and then diet race wise, I used to be like, you know.

Kenny (32:02)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Tom Regal (32:07)
so I know I can't put my mentality and my mindset on another athlete. It's sort of like what this worked for me, it's so it must work for you. Not the same. Like there's plenty of science out there that you have to look at the individual and be able to do that as a coach and say, we're gonna do some testing. This is where you're at. I also know what motivates you. I also know your why. I also know a bunch of other things that works better for you than it does, you know, won't work for me, but it works for you and adjusting, I think that's kinda fun.

Kenny (32:07)
Mm-hmm.

Sean Luitjens (32:23)
night before race with kind of a meal, pasta and whatever else I felt like eating, couldn't care less cause the whole you know, twelve hours. now probably if a race is Saturday by Thursday day, I'm into this, like, I know what I'm having for Thursday dinner, Friday morning, Friday lunch, Friday, like the machine is getting itself set. I'm very regimented about the race morning. you know, plain bagel peanut butter. Peanut butter from a brand new jar, by the way, because you know the

Kenny (32:26)
Mm-hmm.

Tom Regal (32:35)
Figuring out what cues actually work for what athlete. Because it's not universal, right? So

Kenny (32:44)
Mm.

Sean Luitjens (32:51)
the slick stuff at the top of the jar makes you faster. I don't know. I want to share all my secrets, but I have to have a new I have to have a new jar every time. It's like I don't know how that started. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (32:55)
Yeah.

Makes me question if you do back to back races, how many jars peanut butter you have in your cupboard by that time. So

Sean Luitjens (33:07)
I had so I raced

I will say between Crohn's and I think Tom so Tom saw me on week two. So I did a hundred and three mile road race first week, second week was Nashville, third week was a couple of Fondo rides. one of them was heart a little harder speed, and then the fourth weekend I did Rockford. and so I did your point, Kenny. I had three three. No, I got through one during the week. So, you know, I didn't have to get to four, but we were we were borderline four. Yeah.

Tom Regal (33:14)
Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Kenny (33:27)
Mm. Four four charts of peanut butter. There you go. Yeah. There you

Tom Regal (33:27)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Or they come to you three months, right? Yeah,

Kenny (33:36)
go.

Sean Luitjens (33:36)
So you open the camper and it was like, What what can't you just finish one? I'm like stocked up forever. but yeah, the recover

Tom Regal (33:40)
three months out or six months out. I've got an Iron Man I'm signed up for, I've got three or four months. I think I should get a coach. I'm like, too late. Yeah. You waited too long. Yeah.

Kenny (33:41)
Yeah. Well there's your metric

for your race season, right? It's gonna be a four peanut butter race season, just so you know. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. There you go.

Sean Luitjens (33:47)
that's a good, that's a good maybe I should rank the races in peanut butters too.

all creamy because I can't have crunchy in general. But by the fourth weekend, my ability to process, you know, and recover and I and I'm almost 57, racing 57. Do you want to call it a race day age or actual age? Yeah. at 57, the four weeks in a row is also was a good and I knew it. Like I got to Rockford, I could feel I was tired.

Kenny (33:55)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (34:17)
I got out of the swim. So it a half. Got out of the swim, felt my mentally great, went to hit the gas on the bike. And my legs were like, I don't think I don't think today's gonna be the day that it's gonna happen. and the run, actually, same thing. Like I felt nutritionally fine, felt fine. And then you had the weird two loops of the run. The second loop of the run, you know, I had a choice to make too because I just couldn't run really at great pace. And my my mind was like, you know, we can hit it, you know, we can hit it for the last 10k.

Kenny (34:25)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (34:30)
Yeah.

Kenny (34:39)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (34:39)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. completely. Completely.

Sean Luitjens (34:46)
And and part of my mind was like, or we can just enjoy the river. Like that's cool. Like the podium the podium, the podium, you know, while you're kind of doing the math, you're like, there is zero chance you are in, you know, within the podium distance. At this point, what's the difference between sixteenth and twenty first? Enjoyment. and so you're having these, you know, all those discussions we all have with ourselves where you talk yourself into doing stuff or not. Like that was an or not moment. Yeah.

Kenny (34:46)
Yeah.

I love that debate on the turnaround. The turnaround debate is the best. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (35:04)
Yeah. They can do that.

Kenny (35:05)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (35:12)
yeah.

Kenny (35:15)
Yeah. I've been to races where you're like, well, you you get to the turnaround and you're like, well if I turn right the pain goes away, but if I turn left I still have pain. So why am I turning left? You know. It's and then you turn left and exactly.

Tom Regal (35:24)
Yeah. I'm st I'm still looking

Sean Luitjens (35:25)
That's what what you miss

Tom Regal (35:27)
for a bike. Yeah. Yeah. So so so the Crohn's. Talk to us about the onset of Crohn's that you said five five years ago now. Has it been five years?

Sean Luitjens (35:27)
in that, Kenny, is I think people are like, you made that decision. You missed the two minutes of discussion with yourself about all the reasons you should not turn to the left, but you do anyway. Like that's yeah, yeah.

Kenny (35:33)
yeah. yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Yeah. You just

beating down your monkey brain, telling just like I understand. But we're gonna go left. So

Sean Luitjens (35:44)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So I think I think the whole like be staying in your diet, and I think for anybody who's got, I mean, diabetes, di a diet as a whole is a big deal, and especially as you age, like I'm just seeing the recovery piece. Like, you know, last weekend I raced great. S and it wasn't even long. And Sunday was not gonna happen. I mean, after Nashville, I mean that Nashville beat me up and it was Olympic distance. I mean, it was

Kenny (35:54)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (36:12)
stupid hot and humid and like twenty years ago I'd have been like, Where are we going to play on Sunday? And I'm like, you know, I tell you, you know, we're not riding or running on Sunday, the day after.

Kenny (36:19)
Yeah.

Yeah, and I

think the epiphany you get in your fifties is sort of like when you're twenty-five, you're like, Why are these people like have knee braces and all this? And it wasn't like, you know, one weekend we got it all. It's sort of like, you know, in the thirties you a chink in the armor, and then in the forties you another chink in the armor, and by the time you're in your fifty, you've got four chinks that you're trying like you're you know, now I'm dealing with diet, now I'm dealing with a hamstring, now I'm dealing with you know you know, it's like, Well, I can't do that anymore and well that that's harder to do. So, you know, it's funny when you get to your fifties, you're just like, Yeah, there's three reasons why I can't do that.

Tom Regal (36:52)
To

the start. Save your time.

Sean Luitjens (36:52)
What's the A, B and C?

I mean, to that point, like you have to realize I think the big thing is realizing you're just not and I I won't lie, I've been really blessed with long term durability. But I think part of that is just genet you know, you can't do it. but I also, you know, the one of the benefits of being a triathlete is if I have a shoulder issue or an arm issue, I'm gonna ride and run more. If I, you know, if my leg issue, I'm in the pool with a pool buoy and you know, are the dudes you know, the the guy, you know, the

Kenny (36:54)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (37:02)
yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (37:03)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (37:18)
Okay.

Sean Luitjens (37:21)
People in the pool are going to give crap for riding the pool buoy for an entire session or two. Don't care. You know what? Because you know, I'll be here 10 years from now. and you know, the reason I do it is because I enjoy it and it's my mental safe space and I like being out there. And so I want to protect that. And so that I protect first. And so I really have, you know, I had an A race this year. And, you know, Nashville was great. Nashville, I signed up for a few weeks before because I wasn't sure how I was feeling coming off the core blocks. And then I signed up, but I wouldn't have been upset if I didn't sign up.

Kenny (37:24)
Don't care. Yeah. Don't care. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (37:35)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Kenny (37:42)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (37:42)
Okay.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (37:50)
Well now I would 'cause it was such a well, other than that run, I'm just gonna lodge a complaint. And by the way, can you guys do any work on it? What highway is that on, Tom?

Kenny (38:01)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (38:03)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Kenny (38:10)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (38:10)
my god.

Kenny (38:14)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (38:15)
Came into

I came into transition with my right arrow bar pad had come down, and I'd been riding all the time, and and my front water bottle in between the arrow bars, one of the screws for the thing in between had come out. I I literally was coming in like I needed a pit stop more than I needed to transition to. Like if to good, to good to good. Yeah, it was all I remember was like to good, to good, to good, to good, to good. Yeah, and then coming back, you're like on the way out. Yeah, on the way out, you were like.

Tom Regal (38:21)
Okay.

Kenny (38:21)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (38:29)
Yeah.

Kenny (38:29)
Yeah.

It's like twenty four hour Le Mond. It's like we gotta fix everything. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (38:42)
Nice.

Kenny (38:43)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (38:45)
man, this is rough. And then you're coming back faster and you're like, you know, the old Star Trek reference, Scotty, give me more. You know, hold her together coming into town.

Kenny (38:46)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (38:53)
Yeah, yeah.

Sean Luitjens (38:56)
Yeah.

Kenny (38:57)
Yeah, I was Half Iron Man in Oregon

doing a in the on the railroad tracks, there's a bunch of bottles on the way out. You're like everyone's ejecting bottles, and on the way back there was a actually a bike seat and a seat post. Like, he is gonna have a rough nineteen miles. Like his last nineteen miles is gonna be his quad. Like, what do you do? Like you're you're you're done. Yeah, right? Yeah. You're gonna spend the next you know, I think it was I think it was eleven miles to the finish. Like you are gonna spend the next eleven miles.

Tom Regal (39:00)
So what

does that look like? What does the diet for you look like at this point?

Sean Luitjens (39:12)
my gosh. Just gotta stand up the whole time. my gosh.

Kenny (39:22)
In a standing

position, so your run's done for the day. Like a bike seat. You're like, Well, okay, that's new. So just yeah, you get some rough races, right? So

Sean Luitjens (39:23)
my gosh.

my gosh. Yeah.

And I I think, you know, the thing with Crohn's is I I think too, I have to stay in my numbers, you know, so you don't worry. It's things and and experience, things you wish you could tell your athletes, but I've been made to tell, you know, like at at Nashville there was a guy, just 'cause top of mind, you know, that went by me on the bike, you know, four miles left. And I'm like, I I could go with that guy. I shouldn't go with that guy.

Kenny (39:40)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (39:42)
Okay.

Sean Luitjens (39:52)
and

you know, I'm kinda got into the mindset where you're like, you know, tell people you will see him again or you won't. Like those are the two things that will happen. He either deserved to pass you and you won't see him on the run, or, you know, you will, because he overcooked himself. Yeah.

Tom Regal (39:56)
Yeah, bad th bad things happen. Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (40:09)
Yeah. Gotta hunt him down. Yeah, just look,

Tom Regal (40:10)
Mm-hmm.

Kenny (40:13)
you don't you don't pass me like that. That's not that's not cool. So that's not that's not cool. So

Sean Luitjens (40:17)
It's why I can't I won't lie. I

Tom Regal (40:19)
really? Okay. Okay.

Sean Luitjens (40:19)
it's a lot about knowing yourself, Kenny. So when people are like, why don't you go do a training marathon or a training half? And I'm like, I cannot. I can't, I cannot do a race that I paid for and not maximize output. And so I can't go run that in zone three. That's an impossibility. Because the first person that goes by me that I don't think should be in front of me. I'm like, it's it's game on, right? And actually, even this last weekend, there was a gap between first

Kenny (40:21)
Yeah. I know.

Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (40:26)
Nice, nice.

Kenny (40:30)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (40:43)
Mm-hmm.

Sean Luitjens (40:46)
second and third. And you know, the kids were asking, like, well, did you let off the gas? And you're like, no, we're racing. Right. And I think like, but you need to learn that about yourself. And so I don't sign up for like some people need that event to go do it to test stuff and they'll stay in their zone. And other people, you're like, that is detrimental. It's detrimental to my season if I go do something like that because I cannot help myself.

Tom Regal (40:48)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kenny (40:58)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I think also the fifties kinda like I remember I was what, fifty three, right? And I'm I'm racing and you know actually I was I was lifting at the gym

And it was kind of interesting because I'm like sitting there like I'm fifty-three years old, this kid's twenty-four. If you're trying to compare yourself to me, like I'm literally old enough to be your father, my kids are your age. Like at what I I'm not competing with you anymore. That's that's not a thing. So now if somebody passes me and they're, you know, young and fit and they hey go nuts, right? I mean the if you're comparing yourself to like you pass me, that's not a very good comparison. You you you know, I'm a dude in my fifties trying to, you know, trying to keep fit and do what I can. So I think there's a there was a

Tom Regal (41:32)
I didn't know that. I'm gonna I I'm making a

note. It has to be a new joke. Okay.

Kenny (41:48)
a

a freeing event for me anyway that was like look I'm no longer competing with you right you're you're a so yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

Sean Luitjens (41:53)
But even even if you're the same age, like I tell people like at the very pointy end of the stick, if you're chasing the podium, like all the other variables come off, right? And because you that's that's what you're chasing, right? and you know, excuses or rationale. But

for everybody else, and I say that in the nicest way, like you are the only person doing the race that is 53, that's married, that has two kids graduating, that has this with a wife and like there are things that everybody else can understand. And so

Kenny (42:08)
Yeah.

Yeah. Exactly.

Tom Regal (42:18)
All right.

Kenny (42:18)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (42:19)
You know, every event that I have and I have athletes go into, like, there's multiple goals. And, you know, there's the we should have, like, that's the bare minimum, nice to have. And then there's the, you know, like we're chasing something. but remember what you're there for. And remember your variables, and particularly if you've a lot of stuff going on in life, like stress is stress affects your performance a ton. And so

Tom Regal (42:24)
Yeah, yeah. That's how you're playing. There you go.

Kenny (42:25)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Hmm.

Tom Regal (42:42)
Yeah, yeah. Whatever. We're good. Fift

Kenny (42:43)
Yeah.

Well, even

if it's a B race, they don't know it's your B race, right? Hey, I'm here to tune, you know, make sure the transitions are going well. I'm just checking the you know, checking the engine, you know, you know, I may have come off of an injury, you know, and then that kind of thing. You just gotta remind yourself, right, that sometimes I think you're in a fortunate situation where you you you still can hit that podium. I think for most people it's it's you know, remind yourself why you're there. Right. If your goal, you know, don't lose your goal. It can easily and and Tom's right, every once in a while I see a rabbit like that guy shouldn't pass me. Mm. That's not that's not a thing. So

Tom Regal (43:02)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (43:14)
Well, but you if your

Kenny (43:14)
Now I'm gonna go hunt him down.

Sean Luitjens (43:15)
goal is a three hour Olympic distance, like something reasonable, right? And you it is your A race and you're gonna do it at this, you might, to your point, you might be having some three ten, three fifteens because you're focusing on swim through T one, you're focusing on whatever. By the way, course comes into that stuff, weather, like, but yeah, you know, you you do you type of thing. And I think that's where longevity happens over time. Cause you know, to be fair, I mean, other than Tom, well actually one other guy, so I say two.

Kenny (43:16)
So yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Tom Regal (43:26)
Yeah. Yeah, we're that's cool too.

Kenny (43:28)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (43:42)
Two guys like from Nashville, like we won't see those guys again. And nobody cares. Like, you know, and so you do you type of thing. And yeah, I mean, I went into Nashville with a like I don't, you know, I knew I was gonna hit it because I had riding on both sides, but I couldn't have cared less. It wasn't my A race wasn't till you know, August. It was a great speed tune up and I'm gonna I'm gonna hurt. and they did me a solid and made it a downhill swim. So I didn't tell you did I tell you where I started that race from, Tom?

Kenny (43:45)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (43:47)
Yeah. Or not, yeah.

Kenny (43:56)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Tom Regal (43:57)
Yeah. Yeah. Why would I do that? Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (44:12)
This

is the problem with being a senior, Kenny. So two things. I signed up. It's it says on the application when you sign up. Are you is you is it your first time? To which I assumed was first time in Nashville at the race. So I signed up. Yeah. And my first time. So yeah. So that was great. And then which they then announced at the finish line too, to which my kids like, you know, senior moment. You can't even remember the other. I

Tom Regal (44:13)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (44:15)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (44:20)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It'll be all over soon. Yeah, yeah.

Kenny (44:31)
Sean.

Ha ha ha.

Laughed. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (44:42)
I they would so

when I showed up at the bracelet thing, I could see on her face I had done something wrong because I showed up and she's like, welcome to your first time. And I think, you know, I don't dress myself, but my wife had you know, like the shirt said I had, it was like 2023 or 24 national championship triathlon shirt. So I was like, they're like, Is this your first race? I'm like, No, why? Like, you know, your first so and the

Kenny (44:48)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Tom Regal (44:58)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Kenny (45:00)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (45:10)
The other was I thought the expected race pace for the swim seating was your anticipated swim or race time for the day. Your finish time. So I got seated back and they they're pretty hardcore on the boat for all great reasons. yeah, your number is when you go. So I got seated back in the two twenty two per hundred, you know, meters or yards. Yeah. which was there was

Kenny (45:25)
Yeah. Yep. They have to be, yeah. Yeah.

Dang, yeah.

Sean Luitjens (45:39)
It was a long ways back.

I'm like, and all I could think too, Tom being from the north, like, one, that's on me. I'm an idiot, right? And second, 'cause they're like, you can't I got to the thing and I'm like, this is your thing. I'm like, why do I can I start further up? They're like, no. I'm like, oof. and then all I could think of like it's only getting hotter. all all day. Yeah.

Kenny (45:48)
Mm. Yeah.

Tom Regal (46:00)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Don't care.

Kenny (46:00)
Yeah. By the

way, how

do you say on your left on a swim? Because you're just like, okay

Sean Luitjens (46:07)
Well, and it is I mean it's a funny

it's a funny swim. I got through a bunch of traffic and then I I I didn't read all the stuff. I've gotten to that point where like I'm not gonna be at the front, the very front, so I don't care. And all the sprint people are coming in at the same time. So you're like, what the heck is this now? Like, you know, yeah, yeah.

Kenny (46:13)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

That's

hilarious.

Yeah.

Tom Regal (46:31)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (46:32)
Yeah. What a great rate. What a great

Kenny (46:33)
First time swimmers, I can think, yeah.

Tom Regal (46:35)
that's on Ellington Parkway. That's you should you should have been down at River Bluff or waterfront down in Chattanooga. That that road is ten times worse than than Ellington Parkway. I was absolutely things were rattling off my bike last weekend. love the race, so

Sean Luitjens (46:35)
I mean, I all I can say is I didn't know that was the third longest standing and Tupper where I was this last week is forty four years old. So I don't know where it ranks, but yeah, I was doing some old school. But next year it'll be cool when it's in the city. Now I feel like I'm gonna have to go back.

Kenny (46:36)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Exactly. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (46:59)
I wanna get the mountain bike shocks out. Get the mountain bike shocks. Yeah.

Kenny (47:01)
Yeah, I was gonna say, just grab a gravel bike and see if you can do it that way.

Tom Regal (47:03)
Yeah.

Anything else? Put the crew break the crew out. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (47:11)
sure. So we go out

on Thursday night race is Saturday and you tell me two months later that's what you do. Like that's cool. That's that's cool. After I got some new fillings and some new bike gear. Yeah, that's great. I see too.

Tom Regal (47:16)
Yeah, yeah, there's a few spots. Yeah.

Kenny (47:18)
Ha ha.

Yeah. You have to experience it first. We can't let you you know.

Tom Regal (47:25)
Yeah. I didn't mind. Yeah, hold.

Kenny (47:28)
Now that you know. Exactly. Welcome to Nashville moment, right? So

Tom Regal (47:29)
You're just like just please don't fall apart, don't fall apart. yeah, it's a it's a little

Sean Luitjens (47:32)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it'll be good.

Kenny (47:42)
There you go.

Tom Regal (47:43)
Yeah, yeah.

Sean Luitjens (47:45)
Well, my son's in Nashville, so I'm I'm hoping

to I'm hoping it to work it around that again. Actually there's I don't know, there's the the my day job, their big national event that they do every year is gonna be in Nashville next year. So end of April. So I don't know if that'll be good or bad around then. I think it might be too early.

Tom Regal (47:51)
Yeah. Stand up the whole time.

Wow.

that's brutal.

Kenny (47:58)
There you go.

Tom Regal (48:00)
Yeah.

Yeah.

There's

Sean Luitjens (48:09)
Okay. Well you can just go you guys can just come yeah,

I'll just come down and you guys can pull pull me around. yeah.

Kenny (48:15)
There you go.

Tom Regal (48:26)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (48:29)
And

Yeah, I

Tom Regal (48:36)
Yeah. You will see him, yeah.

Sean Luitjens (48:36)
yeah, and I think there's so much choice now too. I mean, if you go way back, there was like a power bar, which is kinda you know, the power was that stuck to the top tube and would last for days. Like those had to be that's probably why we're all so durable, to be fair. That's still in it. I

Tom Regal (48:40)
Yeah yeah. That's that's always Kenny's challenge. He always tells the stories of like staying in his own and then having to chase a rabbit.

Kenny (48:49)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (48:51)
Yeah. That's that's not cool.

Kenny (48:52)
We're Gen X, we drank up a fire hose or a garden hose, right?

Sean Luitjens (48:53)
I think I think the there's so much choice.

So like you can find stuff that is more natural, less natural, more carbs, more sugar, more protein, more whatever. And so if you're mad sciencing around stuff that is, you know, like my number of calories, grams of carbs I can take per hour is like really limited based on pace. And so but I they're all pretty close now. You know, I mean they used to say what was in a power bar and that was your choice and like that was all you had and now if I don't like

Tom Regal (49:18)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (49:22)
You know, if I don't like this brand, I can go to another brand, I can go to something more natural. There's different choices. And so I think the ability to kind of mix and match on the nutrition side based for race. And I've gotten to that point now over time, which I like, you know, it's fun to noodle when you're coaching. And my wife is technically my coach too. So, you know, which is an int a whole another thing, having her done her first triathlon, having a non-triathhlete, I actually find pretty beneficial, both from a balance standpoint, but also

Kenny (49:37)
Mm.

Tom Regal (49:43)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sean Luitjens (49:51)
It's a numbers thing. There's no like other stuff. And so noodling on those calories at like at this pace, at this number of watts, you know, this is what happened over a period of time. and I think that technology helps too. I mean, I'm a big heart rate, Watts mix guy. Like, you know, you know, learn what works for you in ratio. you know, cause sometimes you get out of the swim and your heart rates, you know, people are like, Well, I'm on heart rate or I'm on power. And I'm like, Well, you know.

Especially Olympic distance and short, or like you get out of the swim and you know, just since we've been talking about Nashville, I mean, you pound the swim and then you get to run uphill. And so if you don't think if you have a good tran and if you double down and have a good transition, you know, you hit the first quarter mile of the bike and you look down at your heart rate number and you're like, I gotta lean way back, right? Or I gotta do whatever and you don't. Like, and so I think just the science has really helped a lot with being able to dial it in.

And you know, I know you mentioned the AI stuff too, Tom, but you know, I do AI in the daytime part of the job too. But I do worry that they believe too much in that like humans are I I say it at work a lot, humans are highly statistically predictable. They fall on a bell curve, very natural. They're amazingly individually unique. and so while they fit on a bell curve, they're all over the place. And so, you know, what you and I, the three of us need for an Olympic distance race from pre-race through the race.

Kenny (50:55)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (51:01)
Mm-hmm.

Sean Luitjens (51:16)
And even post race to recover is all different. and so when you find it and you're always noodling and dialing and getting it right, that I think has helped a lot, you know, and your heart rate to what your heart rate, you know, we're all in the same age group ish. you know, the power we put out the heart rate we need for that ratio or watts per kilogram is all gonna be different. And so I worry that there's so much science that people don't lose a little of the I think PE still has a place.

Tom Regal (51:19)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (51:43)
Yeah, that's a really good

point because I s I've seen, you know, I've got colleagues of mine there, buddies of mine, that will like just live and die off that wattmeter or off that, you know, heart rate meter and and every once in a while, you know, you know, that's what you said, that's what the zone said, that's what okay. Put it in your pocket and see how you feel. And you come out and you find out you're going ten watts faster because you and you feel good, but you've been so you you've relied so much do you s do you see that over correction too much? And how do you get to back off?

Tom Regal (51:49)
Yeah.

We still do that.

Totally. yeah.

Sean Luitjens (52:12)
Yeah, I saw when

my daughter did her first one because you know sometimes you're right. Putting in your pocket, you run without it too. Like 'cause people get tied up and it depends where you live too. So we live in the Berkshires, you know, it's really hard to coach people out here. Like zone two is hard. Like, so the last the last half mile to my house is three hundred and twenty feet of game. There's no zone two and get home. Those aren't those are two separate items.

Kenny (52:17)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Tom Regal (52:21)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (52:32)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (52:36)
And so how do you get someone to stay in zone

two? And and you're right, they might learn actually if they, you know, put it in their pocket or turn it off that actually I can drive, you know, five, 10 more watts at a natural cadence that's higher. But to stay at this number that was dictating me, you know, I'm actually working harder because everyone's got their own natural cadence. You know, you can move it a little bit through training, but like remember when you know Lance was out and it was all 100, 100 RPMs, there was zero chance I was carrying a hundred RPMs for more than like two minutes.

Tom Regal (52:38)
Yeah.

Kenny (52:38)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (52:39)
Yeah.

Yeah. It was always good.

No.

Kenny (52:49)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (53:03)
At that race.

Sean Luitjens (53:04)
I'm a little

Kenny (53:04)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (53:05)
bit more of a grinder, so I know where my cadence, my magic cadence number is. and I use that heart rate and you know, power all together because, you know, wind, hills, stress, like heat, like yeah, heat. I mean, dude, like my least favorite favorite thing ever on Garmin Watches is the the thing that tells you how you're doing, your plus minus. No, the plus minus guy.

Kenny (53:12)
Yeah. Exactly.

Tom Regal (53:14)
Did did you get the little bracelet?

Did you get the little bracelet?

Kenny (53:18)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (53:33)
Yeah,

the plus like how's your workout? Cause I got a minus nine at three quarters of a mile into Nashville. Cause it was hot and humid. I come off, I was jamming the bike, coming through, through traffic, transition, run out. And you know, once we got past our one underpass of shade, you know. Yeah, and and like my heart rate was jacked, but it was like, and it's like minus nine. And that's what the science was saying is it tying it all together.

Tom Regal (53:36)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kenny (53:37)
Yeah.

Mm. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (53:41)
You're like Oops.

Kenny (53:50)
Yeah. It's concrete jungle. It sucks. Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (53:55)
Yeah, your finish. Yeah, your race finish, yeah.

Kenny (53:59)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (54:01)
yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (54:01)
That's what the science

Kenny (54:01)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (54:02)
was saying I was doing to myself, but for all good reason, like, you know, this is what was happening. The heart rate was high, but I was settling in still. and if I'd have watched my watch and not because I actually turned my watch the first mile, I turned my watch in. so on the bike, as I come in, I turn I don't use so I basically I've stopped actually even clocking my swim time, which I know is weird. I just don't want to it is gonna be what it's gonna be. And by the way, every race tracks it for you.

Kenny (54:05)
Yeah.

Yeah. Mm.

Tom Regal (54:11)
So you were

about four hundred people back.

Kenny (54:18)
Mm. Interesting.

Tom Regal (54:21)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah yeah.

Sean Luitjens (54:31)
I don't know why I need to do it. and so

Kenny (54:31)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (54:32)
Oof, yeah.

Kenny (54:33)
It's a good point. Yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (54:34)
I do it. I well, I just it's one more thing to worry about. I go when I go, the time crosses over, I get on the bike, I run an element, and so I'm not using my watch. And so when I come into T2, I turn on my watch so that you know I've already turned it on once. So it finds the satellite and I spin it inside and I don't look at it for the first mile. I run off PE. and depending on that race, I've got a PE in my head, you know, half Iron Man, I'm like five, six, seven, you know.

Tom Regal (54:38)
yeah.

yeah.

Yeah. Excuse me, bubbles,

bubbles.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Sean Luitjens (55:00)
you know, sprinter only, like I don't, you know, I don't want to look. you know, type of thing. It's like foot's on the gas and it's gonna be what, you know, it's gonna be what it's gonna be. And then I'll turn it in because I'll look down and I wanna see when I hit the first mile, I usually look and see where that first split is. see like how I'm feeling because there is a point at which you're like, actually Nashville's just top of mind. Good example. Yeah, like I was there was not five more of those miles left.

Tom Regal (55:02)
Yeah. It's a little bit of a merge of the you get the slower the b the back of the pack kind of sprint all merging with with everybody else.

Kenny (55:11)
Yeah. Interesting.

Tom Regal (55:17)
Is forty four, Tupper is another. Yeah. That's great. That's great.

Yeah, you're gonna have to come back because they're gonna have to change a few things. I'm sure we'll still find a way to get onto Ellington Parkway. and they won't have repaired any of those potholes any better. So d that'll be the same. You'll be used to that. I run I run my PSI down at least five, maybe ten, ten PSI a little less on the on the on the tires just to absorb some of that.

Kenny (55:25)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (55:33)
yeah, yeah. You're like, okay, I'm hot, but like I can, you know,

Kenny (55:31)
Yeah. You're going hot, you're like, Okay, well that's yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (55:36)
that pace, but that's what the pace felt like. This is where it's at. And actually that's a good sign. Like you read it as a you always silver line. Like actually I'm feeling like I'm working hard, but I'm actually moving relatively well here. Now I can bring it back a little bit, you know, and try to negative split, you know, I try to negative split that those 10 K's.

Kenny (55:39)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (55:53)
Oops.

Sean Luitjens (55:56)
but there's so much science. But

all I can tell you, you know, have fun and then you do you. Like just don't, you know, find a coach who's willing to move and learn with you is probably the other piece. Like, you know, if you're new to it, your numbers are gonna move all the time.

Tom Regal (55:59)
Yeah. Yeah. I didn't want to take

away from that the Music City full on. I'll warn you about waterfront if you come down to Chattanooga, which they have to move they have to move that one around too. So there there's some development happening down there. So that's gonna change a little bit as well. But two two really good races.

Sean Luitjens (56:14)
Well and and the biggest disappointments 'cause you get used to seeing ten watts every month

and then all of a sudden it's like two. And those of us have been riding a long time, I'm like, my God, where'd I find two watts? Like that's the best thing ever. Yeah. Like, yeah.

Tom Regal (56:26)
Yeah, that'd be awesome.

cool.

Hm. It'll be too early. 'Cause it's it's gonna be that f that first weekend in June. that's that's when it usually is.

Sean Luitjens (56:47)
I think that's a big part of the coaching though, Tom, is like,

you know, having a coach that's willing to work with you, be like, Hey, Kenny, like I know your numbers are moving up and you're super excited, but you know, you need a down week. Like I can see it coming. You know, you're bummed, you know, the attitude listening, 'cause you know, sometimes you're like, you know, the you know, so stoked to go out on the Tuesday night group ride, and then all of a sudden it's like next week, like, my God, I'm gonna get my ass kicked on the Tuesday night ride. Like, well, you don't have to go. Like it's not, you know.

Tom Regal (56:50)
Yeah, there you go.

There you go. That'll be good. So do you think the science that we've that we've learned in the training and and nutrition and all of that has helped dealing with Crohn's? Do you think that's that's been, you know, a good a positive to dealing with it?

Sean Luitjens (57:13)
You jail, like you can so I think having that person who's willing to listen and be like, and we'll adjust the schedule. Like that's cool. That's it's a it's not fixed in stone, you know. we'll adjust because the goal is to be maximum whatever on your A race. You know, maximum performance on your A race and keeping that, having a coach who's willing to work with you to get there and and the plan never go like I'm always baffled when they're like, I stayed on the plan for 13 weeks. I'm like

Tom Regal (57:20)
God, yeah. Yeah.

It's still yeah, it's

still there. We're embalmed.

Mm-hmm.

Kenny (57:43)
That's

Sean Luitjens (58:02)
Your coach is nicer than mine. Mine, if I'm all green, will jack that

thing up to where I can't touch the like show, you know, on the on the hard session, all of a sudden it got hard. And it's like, you know, I had a yellow track session because there was zero chance it was gonna happen. But, you know, that's how you stretch your bounds and go faster. And then, you know, then you couple that with really good recovery. I will say like

Kenny (58:09)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Tom Regal (58:13)
yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (58:19)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (58:27)
yeah.

Kenny (58:28)
Yeah, but I

Yeah, I think I'd rather

have a red session during training so I can I'd rather screw up on a training ride and go, Well, that was stupid. It was ninety degrees out. I didn't bring enough water or the hydration, I didn't hydrate enough, so okay. You know, I'd rather have a few of those you know. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's a red session because, you know Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (59:06)
It's not it's not a bad session. It's a learning session. Like the question is did you do it again? Was it red next week on the exact same thing? Like now we gotta talk, Kenny, about how slow a learner

Tom Regal (59:14)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (59:16)
you are over a period of time. But like

Kenny (59:17)
Exactly. Yeah. But I'd rather

have that and make the make the correction so when I get to the race I know what the correction like I can feel it coming to your point. I think that's yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (59:25)
There are no surprises race day. I tell people like literally from the night before the meal is the

Tom Regal (59:28)
Yeah, yeah.

Sean Luitjens (59:29)
meal, you know, when you go to sleep, you know, I'll even have them try to stay up sometimes in training so they only sleep four or five hours because you won't sleep the night before a race. Your meal before the meal is the same meal you've had 20 times before an event. Same thing, like everything is the same. And literally, you know, you're pushing maybe a little on the bike and run. Like nothing is new at this and you know, putting some together.

Kenny (59:32)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes exactly.

Tom Regal (59:38)
Mm.

Kenny (59:42)
Yeah, exactly.

Tom Regal (59:45)
Yeah.

Kenny (59:52)
Mm.

Sean Luitjens (59:54)
but to your

Kenny (59:54)
Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (59:54)
point, Kenny, like that's the one I want. Like, I want to try a hundred and ten grams 'cause that's what the pros are running. And you know, how sick did you get, Kenny? Three hours in, you know, like how sick were you? And and I think what you said, Tom.

Kenny (59:57)
Yeah.

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah, let's Yeah. Or how

Tom Regal (1:00:05)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kenny (1:00:06)
your body responds to heat, right? Like you may, you know if you if you're lucky enough to do that before you have a hot day, right? It's like, okay, well now I know, you know, this is what I need to do. I need to back off, I need to back off the watts or not expla Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (1:00:12)
Yeah.

Yeah, I can't run, I can't run that much power because my heart rate will get out like this is the thing, right? And

Tom Regal (1:00:19)
totally. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (1:00:22)
I do think, Tom, it is really like why I tell people you should interview three at least three coaches, is that relationship to be able to have an honest thing to be like actually you, you know, when you feel like you have to put in notes to be like, I had a great session, and you're like in and you're blown up. I will say that is one of the advantages I have. I cannot lie, nor can I skip. I'm in the same house.

And so if I'm like, that felt great. And then I'm completely trashed. You're like, are you? How great? How great are you? yeah. So I think it's really important that that relationship that you have, that those notes are like, yeah, I I had a yellow track work on that literally was like the end of my limits at the end of that track. That's awesome information. Even if it's red, like I completely could not close out the last four hundreds or eight hundreds at that pace. You're like, that is amazing information.

Tom Regal (1:01:06)
Yeah. Yeah. It

doesn't work, yeah.

It's called Uber.

No way.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Heat. Yeah. Go, yeah.

Sean Luitjens (1:02:04)
Yeah, I like Air. They they went with somebody

Tom Regal (1:02:04)
Heat acclimation. Yeah. yeah, you're you're the

Sean Luitjens (1:02:06)
else. I'm like, you know, my only question, like, feel really good? They're Yeah. I'm like, good luck. You know, if if you remember, let me know. Let me know how it goes. That's great. It is a very personal like think about the time, you know, when you say yes to something, you're saying no to something else. So all the things you're giving in to do and be an athlete, like the coach is driving a lot of that. it's an important it's a really important relationship. And by the way, you're spending money that you, you know, probably hard earned money on that coach. So

Tom Regal (1:02:07)
plus minus, yeah, yeah.

Kenny (1:02:10)
Mm. Yeah.

Tom Regal (1:02:20)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (1:02:34)
Like I don't think any

good coach ever is like, We didn't quite jam, like and then they're like, I'm not gonna go with you. I'm like, okay. Like, that's fine.

Tom Regal (1:02:35)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (1:02:47)
Yeah. I'm usually like you have any weird questions

or think any's weird things weird, send me a note. Like that's fine. Like it's fine. It's you know, it's a tight community. Like we all want, you know, the I don't know w if I've ever been to a traff line where, you know, you get somewhere near the end and you see anybody booing anybody at the finish line. That's just not the that's not the jam in the endurance sports world, right? It's cheering everybody to the end.

Tom Regal (1:02:54)
Okay.

Kenny (1:03:04)
Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (1:03:05)
Mm.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Kenny (1:03:08)
Yep.

Sean Luitjens (1:03:23)
Yeah.

Sean Lucians,

pretty easy on Instagram and you know, LinkedIn. I usually joke if happy to, you know, tie some of the professional stuff in if people are in that space. You can't you have to be able to tell me between my two daughters, though. That's the bar for connecting on on LinkedIn. but happy to jam on this stuff, just like you guys. I mean, you know, we could talk for hours on this stuff and you know, people need where to look or whatever. And if they need a bike fit, go see Tom. Don't see. Do not see me.

Tom Regal (1:03:36)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it.

Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (1:03:57)
That's you know, do not see me for a bike fail. Yeah. Yeah, do not see me. I see

Kenny (1:03:57)
Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Regal (1:04:00)
See if it matches up. Yeah.

Sean Luitjens (1:04:02)
other people. That's how that works. Yeah.

Kenny (1:04:03)
There you go.

Tom Regal (1:04:05)
Yeah.

Yeah.

I guess.

Kenny (1:04:19)
Yeah.

Tom Regal (1:04:29)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nice. Well

That's it.

Kenny (1:04:40)
Five years.

Tom Regal (1:04:41)
Yeah.

Yeah. totally, yeah. And you're gonna see the biggest gains really quickly. especially if you're coming off the couch