Jackie: All right. Hey Lydia, thanks for joining me on the pod today. I'm excited to chat with you and hear how life is down in Tucson. lydia: Yeah. Hi, yeah, thanks for having me. I'm a big fan of the pod. I was listening this morning, so excited to be here. Jackie: Yeah, I saw in one of your Instagram stories you went on like a binge, like four in one one workout or what? That's like a big day. lydia: I know. Well, yeah, I don't listen. I can't listen during well, not I can't, but I don't listen during race week 'cause I'm so like dialed into my music so I missed like two weeks of episodes. So on my long ride I listened to three episodes. Jackie: Nice. So you're all caught up. ⁓ for you, you know, you're a you're a pretty new pro. I think we should just start straight off the bat by just kind of getting the history of Lydia Russell. ⁓ can you let us know where you grew up, like what sports you were into when you were a kid, and kind of just the progression of you that I guess leading up to college athletics. lydia: Yeah. Yeah, so I grew up just outside of Philadelphia in a place called Brynmar, Pennsylvania. and I grew up swimming actually. which some people are surprised by with my triathlon swimming. They're like, ⁓ I didn't know you swam until you started triathlon. I'm like, ⁓ thanks. ⁓ but that's true. Yeah. Jackie: You'd be a lot slower if you just started swimming, by the way. I think you're I it makes me feel a lot better that you were a swimmer. Yeah. lydia: Thank you. ⁓ yeah, so I swam, I like dabbled in other sports like basketball. I played lacrosse for a little while. and yeah, I did some water polo in middle school. And yeah, didn't run until high school and then when I started or I I did like a little bit of middle school track, but that didn't really count because I was doing like the hundred meter hurdles and the high jump. And then in high school I started doing cross country and I really liked it. So then I decided I was gonna quit swimming altogether and just went all in on doing cross country indoor track and track. So I did that all four years of high school and then got recruited to run at the University of Oregon and ran there for one year, but was injured and then transferred to the University of New Mexico and ran there for a year where I was also injured. And then I got into triathlon because I was injured. Jackie: ⁓ wow. Wow, that is a pathway. Injured the injured runner pathway is a real thing. So did you get to do any racing when you were at Oregon? lydia: Yeah. I did like one it was like a it was also COVID, so to be fair, like during cross country and indoor track there was actually no racing at all. ⁓ 'cause yeah, it was the fall of twenty twenty. So but yeah, I didn't race there except for like one weird cross country race that I don't think even counted for anything. Jackie: ⁓ yeah. That's crazy. So was that were you high injured in high school or no, just when you got to college? lydia: No, it was like a combination of kind of during COVID 'cause I it was COVID hit my senior year of high school. So I yeah. I was just kinda like doing my own thing. I was like really excited to go to college and I like ramped up my mileage a lot. And then like my some of my running buddies like went off to college, like or one of them, she was going to Air Force to like they start earlier. So she left and then I was like Jackie: ⁓ gosh. lydia: just completely unchecked in like how fast I was running, how many miles I was running. So I just like was just the hammering too many miles too fast all the time. ⁓ then got injured and then kind of same thing the next year was like I don't know why like I don't know who decided to let me start trying to run eighty miles a week, coming off a stress fracture. Like I I don't know who thought that was a good idea. I don't know why I thought that was a good idea, but so then that was how we got stress fracture number two. Jackie: ⁓ yeah. ⁓ geeesh. Yeah, you just need somebody to like pump the brakes for you, maybe a little bit. Yeah. Wow. lydia: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I needed to ride a bike is what I needed to do. Jackie: Yeah, 'cause then you can get in probably all the exercise you want to do without pounding your body so hard. So that led you to where did you finish up college and what did you get up to there then? lydia: Yeah, exactly. So I took a year off and got into short course triathlon. I was with one coach ⁓ kind of like through USAT and then I met Wes Johnson, who was like just starting the University of Arizona triathlon program at the time. So he convinced me to come here and join that team. So then I ended up finishing my degree at the U of A and did two years on the N C Jackie: That's pretty cool. They seem like they have a really good thing going on down there. And from when I saw you down there, I mean it seems like you have like a little a squad of friends and I mean, was it a positive experience, a good program? lydia: Yeah, it was amazing. I mean, I loved working with Wes and like the girls are I mean, I still swim with them. Like I like that is like my community here. So but yeah, they're like my best friends and they're so supportive and I feel like a big part of like why like the person I am now is 'cause of that. Like I was way more shy and like not very talkative before I before I came to that team. So Jackie: Yeah, that's pretty cool. So you got into the short course stuff, did probably w a bunch of Conti cups and and stuff like that. And how were you finding it? ⁓ did you enjoy the short course racing? Were you like feeling like you were making progress or how did that go? lydia: Yeah. I definitely liked it at first. ⁓ yeah, it's just I don't know, it's tough. I'm I've never been very aggressive. Like that was my issue, like playing like all like all sorts of land sports as a kid was I'm just not aggressive. Like my dad would always be yelling at me from the sidelines. He'd be like, be aggressive. And I was like, I'm trying. so yeah, it was just hard for me, like with the swim starts and I don't have a lot of like natural speed either. I'm definitely a long endurance. person. ⁓ so yeah it was just kind of a struggle like trying to get like I could never get in the pack I needed to get into and then like if the run is your strength that only like really is helpful if you've gotten up into that front pack. So it was kind of hard. Yeah like I I had some good moments and some like breakout performances but then I could I could never like get it to be consistent and like kind of stick in a way that would have really like gotten me to the next level. Jackie: Yeah, that type of racing is so tricky 'cause it's I mean, it's so short. Like you miss that that group and and what are you gonna do? Did you go did you travel with a lot of the team? Was it like a team type of thing in college? I don't know much about what happens in college triathlon. lydia: Yeah. Right. Yeah, it's a pretty short season, so there's like and it's hard when you're doing world triathlon at the same time. So like those of us who are doing world triathlon wouldn't necessarily I mean, there's only like four races anyway, but we wouldn't do the like kind of like invitational style races, like we'd just go to regionals and nationals. ⁓ but yeah, it was like a it was definitely fun to like go to those races with the team and I was able to do a little better in those in terms of like getting in the the main pack. So that was definitely hopeful. Jackie: So there's a whole, if I'm understanding this, there's like a whole all the colleges that have triathlon teams now, because this is still fairly new. I'd s within like 10 years, right? That triathlon's really gaining steam and more schools are getting actual collegiate teams and not before it was all just clubs. And now they're actual collegiate teams. And so then you guys travel as a team and then there's a bunch of teams. lydia: Yeah. Right. Jackie: Would that be the like at regionals, obviously, and then nationals, it's like from everywhere. Is that right? lydia: Yeah, yeah. It's like there's not obviously there's not that many. Like I think there's about forty or forty one schools right now that have it, like across all three divisions. So it's not it's not like a ton, but I mean it's enough to like have a event that feels like a big, legit event with lots of schools. So yeah. Jackie: Wow, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty cool. That's great progress. And I think hopefully, I mean, if that can keep growing, that would be a good feeder system for like USA triathlon, like the Olympic pipeline type of situation. I think is really what we need to keep bringing up ⁓ yeah, our injured runner ⁓ program here or swimmers that can run. ⁓ yeah. lydia: Yeah. Yeah, and it Yeah, and it it brings in a lot of internationals. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it brings in a lot of internationals, which is good because I think it like you know, you can't field these like triathon isn't super popular in the US, so you can't fill like tons and tons of teams with just Americans because there wouldn't be that many. But I think when you fill it in with internationals you get girls who like really know how to race it that like Like the 'cause the European junior races are like competitive. Like they're legit. So these girls who have been racing that they come over here and they they raise the level, like immensely. Jackie: Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, it's good to have those people on the team too. Then you can learn, probably learn a lot from them as well. Well, that's cool. So you had a few different schools and then found your home. And that's pretty cool. And so then what at what point was it just when you were done with college that you said, hey, I'm gonna give 70.3s a try? Or what was kind of the way that you moved from short to middle distance? lydia: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ I guess I always I always knew it was gonna happen eventually. But I mean, obviously when you're in that short course world you're like, ⁓ well the big goal would be to go to the Olympics, but like it was clearly not trending in that direction for me. Like I just could my swim was just not fast enough. ⁓ but I don't know, I was like prepared to give it like a year or two more at short course and then ⁓ yeah, after nationals end of twenty twenty four West just kind of sat me down and he was like, I think it's time for you to do a seventy point three And I was like, Really? It's time? I was like, Are you saying I suck at short course? And he was like, No, I'm not saying you suck, I'm just saying it's time And I was like, Okay, I guess. So then I signed up for Oceanside and my plan was to do both, like short course and long course for all of last year. And then after Oceanside I was like, ⁓ no, I'm I'm not doing short course ever again. I don't think so. Yeah. Jackie: Yeah. And Wes has coached he's coached other people. I know he was Sky Monch's coach way back in the day. And did he coach Trevor for a little bit? Was that that same guy or no? Who lydia: That's what happened. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, when Trevor was in Tucson, yeah. Jackie: Okay. So he has some experience and he's seen like what it looks like for somebody that is a good longer distance athlete. So he must have just spotted that in you right away and that's good. Yeah. So you went to Oceanside. I was there. I believe. Yes. And you did great. Well, I can't I don't have it here. What place did you get? lydia: Yeah, yeah. Yes. I was tenth. Jackie: In your very first one. That's so good. So then you were like, all right, I'm doing it. And yeah, that's awesome. So what was that experience like during the race? Did you have was it all positive? Like walk me through if you can remember ⁓ your first 70 point three. lydia: Yeah, I was excited. Yeah. ⁓ it was certainly not all positive, but I came out of the swim with Paula, which I was not expecting. So that was like a highlight of the day. I was like, ⁓ my gosh, like in this suddenly I'm a good swimmer. and only like Steph was out ahead of us. So I was like, Wow, we're second and third out of the water, how fun. so then I got on the bike and quickly got dropped by Paula. Jackie: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. lydia: I was so scared on the bike. I was like, I have no idea what I'm doing. This road is bumpy. Why are we on a bike path? What is happening? so I think I got past by about half the field, maybe more than that, over the course of the bike. But it was fine, you know. I I made my way to the to T two and then ran and ran some people down and the run didn't feel great, like my feet were hurting and certainly wasn't my best run, but I was having a good time, like it was fun and I definitely like trying to pass people on the run. That's always a fun little game for me. So yeah, I don't know. Overall it was a good experience. Jackie: That's nice. Especially Yeah, I mean it must have been. I think there's a lot as you know, there's a lot to learn ⁓ over 70.3 races and someday in ten years if you do an Iron Man, there's a lot to learn there too. But in a half Iron Man, I mean, it is really fun. No matter this is what I always keep in mind still, I've done a bazillion 70.3s, but no matter what happens on the bike. lydia: Yeah. Yeah. Jackie: you can still have a great run and pass a ton of people. Like I've had some and you're gonna have this too. You'll have some days where you're biking awesome and you're right where you want to be. And then the run's easier and those are the days you'll be able to win or be right up there. But some days your legs just anybody's legs just don't show up on that day. And as a runner, you'll be able to have the experience that lydia: Yeah. Jackie: You can have a absolute dumpster fire bike ride and you can still have an amazing run somehow. It's like magic. So that'll be that'll be something you'll always have in your back pocket. That'll be good. lydia: Yeah. Yeah. I do feel lucky, like in triathlon in general, like that kind of the order of the race is the order with long with middle distance it depends. Like I don't know if you would really consider my swim or my bike my weak point, but it kind of like goes in the order for me of like worst, middle, best. So I'm like, okay, it's only gonna get better throughout the race. Whereas like I'm like I don't if my run was my worst thing I'd be like I'd be so sad. Then I'd just be dreading it. Jackie: Well, there's a lot of people in that position that just have a backwards trajectory all day. So yeah, that would be really sad. Yeah. Yeah, that's a nice way. That's kind of how I've always been as well. It's a nice way to race where you know, like, okay, I can like save face or or make it really good here at the end of the day. ⁓ what do you think? You know, you've been this is year two of your middle distance. lydia: I know. Yeah, so I I feel I feel lucky. Jackie: pro life. I mean, what are you what are you finding that is improving the most? Like what are you focusing on? And what have you been kind of working hard on? lydia: Definitely the bike, which has been a struggle this year 'cause I c ⁓ crashed in the end of February. So I was like working so hard at getting comfortable on the bike and like building up my confidence and working on my power and all that and I was making so much progress and then of course I had to crash and break my collarbone. So now I'm slowly building back the confidence and learning to trust the bike all over again. But I've definitely like gotten a lot stronger on the bike and I feel like I showed that. in Happy Valley. Like I was not getting past by half the field, so that is good. So yeah, we're we're getting there. Jackie: Yeah. Yeah, that's super good. I mean we should like learning to ride a triathlon bike is different than another bike. So different than a road bike, different than like the commuter bike you probably ride around. So there is a bit of a learning curve and it really does seem like, although it might feel like a process, it seems like you've picked it up really quickly and you have improved quite a lot over the last couple of years, it seems to me. I mean you were You lost a lot of time back in Oceanside and now you're you're hanging in with everybody else and and that's just gonna keep improving, especially if you like keep the rubber on the road, which which hopefully you can do. Yeah. So lydia: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I lose so much time like descending and stuff. Or not even it's not like descending because we're not going down a mountain, but like I don't know, even like the longer like descents in Happy Valley where everyone's staying arrow and I'm like sitting up and I'm like, Don't break, don't break, don't break So I don't know. I need to No, certainly not. I need I need to get there. Jackie: You're not just like sending it. You just just pre well, you live in Tucson, so you can just go up and down Mount Lemon. Do you ever do that? lydia: Yes, but here's the issue, Jackie, is that my other no, I'm ⁓ cars are like actually the least of my worries. Like I am worried about them, but that's the least of my worries. My issue is when I broke this collarbone last year was because I hit a javelina that was running across the path. So I'm afraid of animals coming out of nowhere and running under my tires. So that's like Jackie: ⁓ no No Okay. lydia: I'm like trying to balance, like how do I like practice sending it but also not send it so much that I'm not like I need to be aware of my surroundings. So I'm like constantly like looking in the bushes as I'm going downhill. Jackie: That's kind of scary. So wait, I didn't know you broke your collarbone last year. At what point last year? When did that happen? lydia: It was probably two weeks out from Louisville. ⁓ 'cause I was supposed to race that and I remember I had one more week of hard training and then the start of that week I went out for a ride and Jackie: ⁓ that is sad. lydia: So yeah, it's been it's been twice in one year. Jackie: Wow. So you and both were bike crashes. You you need to ride maybe with somebody for safety, but maybe also to like maybe you just need to like practice I'm not sure what. You can't do much about a javelina. Like that's completely out of your control. lydia: Yeah. Uh-huh. No, like both were so random. Like the one that the most recent one I like was doing the the shootout route. Like not doing the shootout, but that route and I just hit something like small and sharp in the road and it blew out my tire. So I didn't even see anything in the road. Suddenly I was on the ground. Jackie: That first part of that route is so rough though. Those roads are garbage. Aren't they? sh. ⁓ shoot. ⁓ that's sad. See, you you do all these like selfie riding videos, and then like your first ride back after the collarbone, you're doing the selfie ride video. I'm like, no, no more. You need to go into like a bike safety bubble. lydia: It wasn't even that part. It was like the nice it was the nice part after you go past the gas station. Yeah. I know, I need to be bubble wrapped, I think. Actually I think that's just called riding inside, maybe. Jackie: For sure on the bike, it sounds like Ugh not all riding can happen inside though. That's a little too sad. Yeah. ⁓ so what do you think, if anything, has been kind of the biggest learning curve getting into longer distance ⁓ racing? lydia: Yeah. No. No. Don't even know. I think I'm definitely someone who tries to like not like tries to conserve my energy, but like I get anxious that I'm like, ⁓ my gosh, like this like is such a long effort. So I'm like scared to really like push super hard. ⁓ so then I'll like I don't like I just kind of like stay within myself. Like I don't let myself like go all out 'cause I'm like, ⁓ there's more, there's more. And then I like get to the end and I'm like, ⁓ shoot, now it's now it's the end. So I'm like learning how to kind of like measure that effort and like figure out where I can push and like especially on the run, like I think I'm like, ⁓ thirteen miles is kind of a long way. And then I'm like, ⁓ well, I don't want to blow up in the last four miles. Like four miles is still more than a 5K. And then I'm like, ⁓ okay, well, I didn't blow up. So I I'm like, okay, next time I guess I need to go harder. Jackie: Yeah, well, that'll all come. Let's talk through specifically the awesome races that you've had so far this season. You ⁓ well you healed up your collarbone, which was an extended and long process. ⁓ for a couple different reasons. It looked like it was healing and then not healing, and then you had a tube coming out of you. let's just lydia: Yes. Jackie: Close out the collarbone story and then we can talk through each of your races because I want to hear how each of them played out for you. So for anybody that has collarbone surgery or broken collarbone, maybe you can ⁓ teach them what you learned about it. lydia: Yeah, definitely if you I mean, if you don't get a surgery, one arm swimming is great. If you if you do get a surgery, definitely don't go in the water until the doctor says you can. ⁓ 'Cause yeah, that's what I did and it didn't end well for me. It did end in a second surgery. Jackie: Wow. Wow. So they had to go back in there and refix it or something and lydia: They yeah, they took the metal out. So now there's no metal. Jackie: Okay. Yeah. lydia: Yeah, we're we're all we're all natural in this call. Jackie: There you go. Nothing fake in that one. ⁓ well, you all healed up just in time to go to 70.3 Happy Valley, and that's where I saw you. And it was interesting because you won there last year. So you were bib number one, and it's always cool to return to a race, you know, that you've won before. So that was probably a huge goal of yours ⁓ to get back there, I'm guessing. And lydia: Nope. Yeah. Jackie: None of us really knew what to expect, I think, from your fitness or anything like that, just because you had been, I don't know, like out of commission pretty much all year till June. So yeah, what was your ⁓ like where was your head at? How were you feeling about it? And then we'll kind of just kind of walk through how the race day went for you. lydia: Yeah. Gosh, yeah, I was definitely super nervous, but I yeah, I wanted to be there so badly. Like I was so nervous that I wasn't gonna make it there in time. Like or be like, you know, like be ready to race in time for that race and I kinda w like almost wasn't, ⁓ because my I had there was like a little spot like here on my collarbone incision that hadn't closed up. Like literally as I was traveling to Pennsylvania, like it was still like a little bit open. But it was small enough that I could like cover it and seal it well and swim. so yeah, I don't know if technically I should have done that, but it all worked out and it is closed now. But yeah, I I was super nervous and like I didn't know what to expect from myself. And like I knew I'd been training well, but I was yeah, I mean I didn't know how I was gonna swim. I had swam for like two weeks total leading into it, which That doesn't even seem right. It might have been more like 10. I think I did count. It was 14 swims total before race day. But ⁓ they were like some of them were under 2K. So yeah, I think as much as like everyone else didn't know how I was gonna race, I didn't really know how I was gonna race. ⁓ I mean I knew my bike and run. Jackie: Mm. lydia: I just you know, when you're out of it for that long, it's like, ⁓ am I even gonna remember how to do this? Oddly I was most nervous about mounting and dismounting my bike. Like I was really stressed about it. I w I don't I don't know why. And that it ended up being fine, but that was what I was most nervous about. Jackie: Yeah, I mean, it's always strange to be away from racing for for a while. And I think especially if you have an injury, you're like, Am I in as good a shape as I think I am? And is my body gonna do what it's supposed to do? And it's just like rebuilding that trust in your body to to do what it's trained to do. So, but you got out there, your swim was fine, and then you got out on the ride. And were you feeling confidence on this ride? Were you struggling? ⁓ like you said, like feeling safe on your bike and or how did it go? lydia: I felt pretty good. I mean, la the good thing is like, cause last year it was pouring rain during the race and like I rode really strong and confidently last year. So I'm like, okay, if I could do that and feel safe, like I know that no matter what, like I can j I can kind of just like send it on these roads and I'll be fine because I've ridden them wet. Surely I can stay rubber side down when it's dry. So yeah, I I wasn't like I think it it was helpful for my first race back to be a course I'd done before. ⁓ 'cause otherwise I think I would have been a lot more scared for sure. But yeah, I I felt good once the bike got going. Jackie: Yeah, those roads there are absolutely perfect. So if there is a course to get back on, like there's not a a pothole practically the whole way. There's nothing to worry about. So that was a good one. and you felt good. You stayed like close enough to the front. What were you thinking when you were coming off of the bike? lydia: I know. I was kind of like, ⁓ well, if I'll if I just stay in fifth, like that'll be my best pro series finish and if I catch some people, like that's good. ⁓ I mean obviously you want to move up as much as you can, but like I don't know. I was like, okay, like if this is if this is where I finish, like this is fine. So I don't need to be like anxious about it. Like I just need to go try and execute a good run. But yeah, I don't know. I was excited, like there are people all around. that I knew and like it was it was a very happy moment that I was like, Okay, like I conquered the the other parts of it that like I was less sure about and now I get to do the part that like I I definitely know how to do. Jackie: Yeah, that's cool. So when you were out there, I mean it was like fairly close for a bit. And when was it that you started to kind of make your way up to the podium spots and like how was that feeling for you? lydia: ⁓ I don't remember really. It was somewhere in the Yeah, actually I don't I think I passed Grace and Hannah in the first lap and then towards the beginning of the second lap I passed Grace Alexander. But the thing is, I feel like if when you get into third on the run, I feel like that's a very unsafe place to be because you like feel happy 'cause you're like, I've I'm I'm in podium contention, but you're like it could be taken away at any time if somebody comes charging from behind me. Jackie: Right. lydia: So that's like, you know, that's not where I wanna be. I wanna get up to second because then if somebody comes charging from behind me, at least I'm still in a podium spot, you know. So I was like, all right, I gotta I've gotta p gotta go find second place. ⁓ but I did that eventually, so it was good. But yeah, that that run definitely hurt after not having raced for a little while. Jackie: Yeah. ⁓ for sure. Yeah, you had you had a super good run though. I think fastest run of the day. That away. lydia: Yeah, not as fast as last year though, so I was a little disappointed, but it was probably a h probably a harder bike than last year. Jackie: Well you pro I don't have your times, but you probably Yeah, you probably biked much faster. So Yep, you gotta lydia: Yeah, I think I was like five minutes faster on the bike, so that's that's fair. Jackie: Yeah. ⁓ real quick, is your video working? I I'm not seeing your video. You're like frozen. lydia: Yeah, it's it's working for me. How do I f here wait, do you want me to stop it and did that fix it? ⁓ Jackie: ⁓ okay, that's fine. There it is. You were frozen with a funny face, so it was hard for me to focus on chatting with you, but here you're back. well, and then you got second place to Paula. Were you just so pumped? Did that just give you loads of confidence? Like, you know, you're brand new in the sport. Like, how does it feel, you know, racing against all these girls that are older and have been racing much longer? What do you think about it? lydia: It's it's pretty crazy. Like I don't I don't think I like fully process it like on a day to day basis. Like I don't know, I always whenever I'm talking to Natasha I say there's like this quote that's ⁓ wherever you go, there you are. So it's like, you know, you can think like, ⁓ when I reach this thing I'll feel this way or like if I move this place, like I'll like I don't I think a lot of people think like, ⁓ if I move here, do this, like then I'll be happy but then you do that thing and you're like, ⁓ I'm still me. So it's like weird because it's like I do these things and I'm like, Huh, I'm still me. But I mean it is super cool. But it's just like after like constantly remind myself of like ⁓ this is like more than I thought I would have ever gotten out of my athletic career. Like when I was run starting to run in college, I was like, ⁓ if I could just get like any sort of sponsorship, like any contract to run and just like be able to Jackie: Mm. Yeah. lydia: call myself a professional athlete, like I'll be happy. And then like I get into this triathlon thing and I'm like actually competing amongst some of the best in the world. And then it's like I I have to like remind myself like, whoa, like this is way more than I wanted out of sport. Or like way more than like the baseline of like saying like, ⁓ I'll be satisfied if I do this. Jackie: Yeah. I mean it's pretty cool. And it seems like like you're progressing w really well and you're like good at it right out of the gate. So that's gonna that's gonna take you pretty far. And it's good to keep that like I don't know, kinda don't think too hard about it, just be be happy where you are type of attitude because as soon as you start to like overthink it and get too stressed about, you know, there's no point in overthinking it. You just do the thing. lydia: Yeah. Jackie: And it's fine. Well, I was very impressed. I'm impressed with anybody who goes back-to-back 70.3s, because I've done it maybe only one time and it hurt me so bad. It like it the run, especially was like a pain. I didn't really not enjoy. So good job to you. You went off to Montreballant the next weekend after Hap after Happy Valley. And lydia: Yeah. Jackie: how was it? I love Montreblant. I've raced ⁓ the Iron Man there and maybe also the half I can't can't remember, but for sure the Iron Man. It's a beautiful place. Did you like it? lydia: Yeah. It was beautiful. I like I don't know what I was expecting, but certainly not that. I was like, well, funny enough, I kept being like, I feel like I'm in a different country and then I like, ⁓ yes, I am. Yeah, yeah, true. But I was like, I feel like I'm maybe in a different continent would be a better Jackie: Well, they're all speaking French, aren't they? And it was a different country also. lydia: Yes, yes. But I drove there, so it felt like I was I was still in the same place. Jackie: Yeah. So you got there and you had according to Instagram a lot of good vibes. And were you traveling with anybody? Were you by yourself? Like what was your setup and how were you like gonna like mentally attack race number two? lydia: So after Happy Valley I drove up to New Hampshire and stayed with my brother for like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then went to Trumbull on Thursday. ⁓ so that was nice to have like a little ti like family time. I haven't seen him since like Thanksgiving. ⁓ he has three kids, so got to hang out with them. ⁓ dragged my niece around, she she biked with me while I ran, so that was fun. And yeah, then I drove up to Tromblant, but yeah, I was staying by myself. So that was I don't know, I kind of enjoy that, like being by myself. But also don't really I don't know, it's it's a hard balance for me to figure out. Like I like staying by myself, but then I like having people there that I'm like hanging out with. So I like when my mom comes to races but doesn't stay with me 'cause then I get my like alone time. But also she's there to like do everything with me. ⁓ so that's the ideal setup, but my mom had to go home after Happy Valley, so she was not with me. So I had to put my big girl pants on, do the thing by myself. But it was good. I had plenty of friends there, plenty of people to hang out with. So it was good. And I I love to just like walk around and like get a coffee by myself in a new location. That's it's a a passion of mine. So Jackie: It's a great passion. And that has like the like cutest, like the nut the funnest little downtown to explore there on that on that main street. So that's a fun place to do it. That race was not a pro series, so we didn't have any coverage. So you're gonna have to talk us through what happened. I heard from multiple sources that it was an absolute like brawl in the swim. Who was this meanie? lydia: Yeah. Terrible. It was it I don't know. I I literally don't know. It was like well, it was like everybody so we're like in a line. Well, it was like three lines. Like we were kind of staggered back. ⁓ but I like everybody just kind of like converged into one mass. Like instead of moving forward in like a line, everybody just like kind of cut in and went on top of each other. And I was in the middle, so I like Jackie: Call ⁓ out. We gotta blast ⁓ What? It okay. Okay. What ⁓ no. No. lydia: I should've I should have gone on the side. I don't know what I was thinking. But I know Rachel Zelenskis is a like crazy fast swimmer. I can't swim with her, but I was like, ⁓ if I can get out on her feet, she can like pull me out a little bit. So I Yeah, I just stood right behind her, but then everybody just like dove on top. Like somebody literally dove on top of Rachel. Like full, like this is her body, this is the other body, just on top. And I was like, So what's what's happening? Jackie: You can get pulled along for a couple of strokes, yeah. That's crazy. She's probably never had contact with anybody in a swim before in her life because she's so fast. ⁓ you got beat up. ⁓ I think everybody I talked to had like a really rough time. That that's a I hate starting a race like that. Honestly, I'd rather swim slow and I will just start way out in no man's land sometimes because I can't handle that. lydia: I know. I felt r I felt really bad. Yeah. I know. Yeah. Jackie: I never did short course, but it's what makes me think short course makes me think that's what short course is kinda like. lydia: This was like nearly worse. And I know Allie Brower said the same thing that like for her it was worse than or mm, she might have not said worse, but she said it was like similar to short course racing. Jackie: That's brutal. Yeah. So eventually you got free from the people. ⁓ how'd the legs feel getting on the bike? lydia: ⁓ pretty good. I felt like very anxious at the beginning of this bike for some reason. I don't know what what was going on with me, but I don't know. I just like was having a little bit of trouble like finding my groove. Like my power was good, but I was like I don't know, feeling a little like not shaky, but like mentally shaky perhaps. ⁓ but I got going eventually and felt pretty good. I just couldn't quite keep up with Lisa and Aurelia. there at the front just chugging along, but I I tried. Jackie: I mean, I have no clue who that girl is, but I did a little clicking on her once I saw that she was doing well and I think she might be the most aerodynamic individual, like current woman I've seen on a bike. She looks insane. Did she look that good in person? lydia: ⁓ so Lisa said that. I I don't I don't think I like notice things going on outside of me when I race. Like I was like I don't I don't think I like see when I race. ⁓ Jackie: That's the key to bike safety is having your eyes open. Seeing looking around a lot. lydia: Yeah, no, I I I have some worries about my awareness on the bike. I think I need to like take in more carb so my so my brain is working at a higher level. ⁓ But yeah, no, but I actually raced against her in Portugal in the fall where I didn't finish that race, but I remember her coming past me on the bike at an alarming speed. Like I tried to stay with her and I was like, ⁓ no. To be fair, I was sick, but Jackie: Maybe so. lydia: It was it was tough. So I I kind of knew going into this that the bike was her strength. And I had looked up her results and saw in Valencia she had the fastest split by like a couple minutes against some really strong bikers like Sophie Colwell, Katya Shar, like Marjolaine. Like they're all super strong bikers. So I I knew it was gonna there was gonna be some some fast biking happening. Jackie: Yeah. Yeah, I think she might be the real deal. So that's good you got to see her in person. ⁓ but you held it you you held your own, you did fine. And how did your legs feel ⁓ coming off the bike running? lydia: Yeah. I felt good, honestly. It's it's a nice I mean it's like hilly to get out of town, but then once you get on that bike path, it's really nice. But I like thought it was kind of downhill going out on the bike path, so I was like, ⁓ I feel good, but like I need to like I have to come back up to get out. But then I was coming back and I was like, wait, this like also feels like downhill. So I was like, okay, maybe this was actually flat and I've just been mistaken this whole time. So I was pleasantly surprised that the whole thing Like felt really good. Like that was a very and then you have to go uphill to come back, but it's like pretty short. Like you're mostly just on that bike path. ⁓ but I was nervous about the one lap run because in Augusta that was the only other time I've done a one lap run on a bike path. And that was the death march of my life. Like I had to walk towards the end of that run. ⁓ 'cause I was just like gonna die. So I was afraid of having a similar experience. But this one it like It was super nice. Jackie: I mean, anyone who's raced Augusta has died on that run. That run is horrendous. So I'm glad that didn't happen. Yeah, Tromblance, it's just beautiful. Did you check your like training peaks? Was it actually is it actually downhill one way or is it actually flat? lydia: Yeah. ⁓ I don't know, I didn't look I think it's I think it's flat. I I had looked at the map ahead of time and that's why I thought it like I wasn't it wasn't 'cause I felt like it was downhill, it was 'cause I had looked and it the map s like seemed but I think maybe it was just like the the hills go into like more of like a plateau. I don't know. But it it all worked out, so it's fine. Jackie: ⁓ it's probably flat and you were just having good feelings. Yeah. Yeah. Well that's cool. Two seconds in a row. so what have you been up to since then, and what's your next plans? lydia: So after the race I got in the car and drove eight hours to New York City, which was surprisingly like okay. I I wouldn't think an eight hour drive after a race would feel good. And it surely didn't feel good, but it like it kinda went by fast. Like maybe something about the adrenaline, like I don't know, I think maybe I unlocked like a secret to life is do your long driving immediately post race. so yeah yeah. Jackie: I've done it. It's fine. I agree. lydia: Yeah, I just drank some energy drinks and was like, ⁓ this is fun. ⁓ but yeah, then I went to New York, visited my friend, ran around Central Park, had some good coffees again, and then drove back to Philadelphia and spent some time with my grandma. And yeah, now I'm back in Tucson, back to normal training. And we have a few weeks till Boise. Jackie: Yep. Cool. Well that's a good deal. Boise should be fun. I've never been, but I think it looks pretty nice. lydia: Yeah. Yeah. I've been once, but not to race, so we'll see. Jackie: Yeah, well, we'll see. I think it's supposed to be a really nice course and I'm interested to see who shows up. It'll be Hannah. ⁓ and I don't know who else is coming because a lot of girls are doing Lake Placid. But people lydia: Yeah. I know. Yeah. Yeah, ⁓ I think I would imagine Danielle will be there 'cause it's her home race. Jackie: She really likes Lake Placid. lydia: Hey, crazier things have happened than than that double. Jackie: But I haven't messaged with her. Not many crazier things. ⁓ man. ⁓ seventy point three the week after an Iron Man. No. She did it last year though, didn't she? Pretty sure she did it last year. lydia: ⁓ was it was it the week after also? ⁓ then then yeah. Yeah, and she was on the podium, so Jackie: It what I think it yeah, I think it was the week after. She's absolutely crazy. That is a crazy thing to do. Ha lydia: Gotta do it for the plot. Mm-hmm. Jackie: Yeah, I guess. She's got a s some sort of story going. ⁓ well let's look even more ahead. Are you gonna did you take your niece slot? Are you gonna go there? lydia: Yeah, I got it in Augusta, so I've I've been set on that for a while. Jackie: But are you gonna do it? lydia: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jackie: Are you gonna go practice? Cause that's a big ass mountain. Oops. Now I've never sworn on my pod. Dang it. lydia: ⁓ yes. ⁓ no, now you're gonna get the explicit rating. Jackie: No I'm gonna edit it out. ⁓ okay, so you're gonna do it. Are you gonna go practice a couple times? lydia: Okay. Yes, I am. ⁓ but also we have Mount Lemon here, which like I can practice a lot, like just kind of switchbacking down. ⁓ is it? Jackie: It is actually similar. Yeah. Well similar enough, yeah you get a little bit of yeah. lydia: Yeah, I mean yeah, a mountain's a mountain, I feel like, at the end of the day, so but yeah, I'm gonna go out like like eight eight to ten days, I forget, ahead of time. So I'll I'll have plenty of time, I think, to get comfortable. My my mom will accompany me. She'll drive me up and down the mountain. Jackie: Yeah. Yeah, I forget. Nice. ⁓ good. That's so great. I love that you get your mom to come along. My mom, she comes, she does come every now and then, but she has kind of given up on me. But she used to come a lot when I was in my twenties. She would really like to ⁓ she attended a lot more then. ⁓ so more longer term, like lydia: Yeah. Jackie: Do you what do you have as your like well you don't w maybe we don't want to go into this, but what what makes you most excited over the next few years? Is it like finding new 70 point threes to do? Is it trying to win races? Is it going up in distance? Or like what what makes you feel excited about the sport? lydia: I I don't know. I mean I don't wanna say winning races specifically 'cause that's like I don't know. That's like a lot like only one person can be first and like first is a really like pointy end of the spectrum. But obviously like winning races is fun and I'd love to do that as much as possible. But yeah. I don't know. I think just trying to be I think like consistency is the big thing. Like if I could just kind of continue this year on the path that I'm on, 'cause obviously last year like Jackie: That is a goal, yes. Yeah. lydia: things started out well and we're I was kinda like building and then kind of had a rough end of the year. So I think if this year I can just like have a consistent season and then kind of each year kind of try and build off of that, that would be the Jackie: Yes, I think a good you should try to make it more than twelve months without breaking anything. That's my goal for you. I think you could do it. lydia: I know. I I mean I like I have to be done. I have to be done breaking collarbones. 'Cause that this it's this is number three. I've done this one twice, this one once. Like we we have to be done. Jackie: There's only two. What? Please be done. It's over. No more. It's not allowed to break anymore. ⁓ here's here's the deep question. ⁓ what about like five or even more, 10 years from now? Like, what do you wanna have going on? Do you wanna, do you think you wanna still be doing this? Like, what would success in the sport if you're still thinking? lydia: I know. Jackie: You would do triathlon, like what would success be looking like for you? lydia: Yeah, I mean I'd definitely like to still be doing it. I guess yeah, in five years it will only be twenty nine. So yeah, I I feel like I have a lot of time. So I think yeah, just not not brushing myself, like not putting a deadline on it. ⁓ but yeah, I think if I'm still enjoying it and still like making progress, then I would I would love to still be doing it, but Jackie: Yeah. lydia: Yeah, I don't know. I feel like I'm in a I'm in a pretty good spot right now, so I think if I just keep making those like small incremental jumps forward, like in five years I could be in a pretty good spot. I mean, I f I'm in a good spot right now. I'm happy with it, but Jackie: Yeah. I think you're you're Yeah, for sure. I think twenties is fun. It's all about like you just explore, try things, like there's no pressure because you have, you know, you have a lot of time. There's time to, you know, experiment with different ⁓ ways of racing. There's time to go try different types of races or or just race in weird spots. Like you can really do whatever. You don't have I mean, too many big responsibilities or anything like that. So yeah, just definitely enjoy that. That's a fun time. I got really lydia: Yeah. Yeah. I I do have my ⁓ go ahead. Jackie: No, you go. I gotta hear it. lydia: ⁓ I was gonna say I do have my two cats and a dog, so that's that's some responsibilities. Not not as big as children, but Jackie: I mean that kind of is. I couldn't I could have never had pets at your age. They would have just died because I never would have been home or took care of them. ⁓ but good for you. That's good. You must be more responsible. So you can't leave forever for too long. Yeah. lydia: Yeah. Yeah, well Yeah. My girlfriend does take care of them while I'm gone, so if it weren't for her they would probably be dead also. Jackie: Yeah. You have to have at least one responsible party ⁓ home at all times. That's good. Yeah. Well, nice. let's see, what else ⁓ do we want to cover? What is one race? Well, like when you look at the whole pro calendar, I've done pretty much all the North American races, I can say. but it doesn't have to be North America. What's one or two that jump out to you? lydia: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Jackie: that are ones that you like really wanna do. Maybe somewhere you wanna travel or something like that. lydia: ⁓ well I do have like I mean racing aside, but I I could race there. I do want to go to Australia and New Zealand. So like one one year I'll probably do like an early season race block there. but yeah, I mean Iron Man Texas would would be very fun. Maybe one day that'll be my first Iron Man. Who knows? It probably will be, I feel like. 'Cause like what else would be? Jackie: There you go, you could you could drive there. Yeah. No? I guess t I forget, Texas is huge. lydia: I don't think I would drive there. Ugh. And New Mexico's in the way, so like you've to go through all of New Mexico. Yeah. Yeah. Jackie: It's in the way. Too far. You know, maps are not my specialty. Texas is big. Don't drive there. We drove to Texas from Wisconsin, though, because we're crazy. And it the United States is beautiful. Sometimes it's fun to just drive across it and just check it all out. lydia: It's okay. ⁓ yeah, I d I did have a fun time doing my little east coast road trip, so I I can't knock it too much. Jackie: Yeah. Yeah. It's fun. It's good to drive. ⁓ well let's wrap it up. I like to close it out with ⁓ my little thing that you've heard since you've listened to some of these and it's what I'm loving right now. So what is it that you're loving right now? lydia: Yeah, good thing I listened, 'cause now I've been I've been thinking about it. well, this week I've been loving cooking in my own kitchen because I've been away. So it's nice to have my own kitchen back. Jackie: That's awesome. Are you the person who usually cooks dinner? Do you bake? Like what are you making in there? lydia: ⁓ well we we both cook in my household, but ⁓ I also I mean I bake well my girlfriend is a sourdough aficionado, so she she handles that. ⁓ I'm the sourdough consumer. ⁓ yeah, but I like to bake like banana bread or like something something fun like that. but yeah, I'm gonna tackle cooking a whole chicken for the first time this week. So I'm I'm excited about that. Yeah. Jackie: Yes. What ⁓ how you gonna cook this chicken? Beer can chicken or what? You don't do that? Up up north here, we shove the chicken on the beer can and put it in the grill, in the smoker. And you just let it go. lydia: I don't know what that is. That sounds like something from the Midwest. ⁓ certainly not that. Jackie: Good. Okay. You'll probably cook it in a more sophisticated way. lydia: N no, I so we just got this Well, we just got this like ⁓ like so we had a a crappy toaster and a crappy air fryer, so we got rid of both and upgraded to a nice like toaster oven air fryer combo thing. But it is big enough to fit a whole chicken and it has instructions for doing so. So that is my plan. Jackie: Mm. lydia: So it that might not be more sophisticated. Jackie: I can't wait to hear all about it. Well, what it is gonna be is interesting. Could you please tag us when you successfully or unsuccessfully make this chicken? We wanna see it. We gotta see how it turns out. Yes. lydia: Sure, yeah. That's gonna be a tomorrow a tomorrow project, so you'll be the first to hear. Okay. Perfect. Jackie: Whenever, no pressure. No pressure. Yeah. The the Instagram pod will be like, Why are you sharing Lydia's chicken? But someday they'll get it when I release the podcast. lydia: Well, you know who inspired me is Grace Grace Alexander co posted a whole chicken like like months ago. Like I don't even know if she remembered she did this, but it like it I I was like, I need to cook a whole chicken. Like if she's doing it, I need to do it. So ever since I've been like Jackie: It's it seems to be working. lydia: E exactly. Like if I want to bike really fast, I need to cook a whole chicken. Actually, this is a great fun fact for the podcast. So you know the Oregon running legend Steve Prefontaine? Apparently he used this I don't know if this is true, but apparently he used to eat two rotisserie chickens every day. Jackie: Yes. Mm. Wow. That sounds like running lore. I don't know if that's real or not, but maybe someone out there can try it and let us know what happens if you start running really fast. We can all copy it. But all right. Well, I think we should wrap it up here. Thank you so much, Lydia, for chatting and sharing a bit about yourself and your races. And we will catch up with you again sometime. lydia: That's the word on the street. Ha ha. Yeah. Yeah. Jackie: I'm sure, but for sure I will see you in Boise. lydia: Yeah, perfect. Thank you for having me. Jackie: All right, thank you.