Latest / Find Your Edge: Training, Nutrition + Longevity for Endurance Athletes / From Broke Grad Student to Ironman: Coach Carlie's Journey into Coaching Ep 59

Transcript

From Broke Grad Student to Ironman: Coach Carlie's Journey into Coaching Ep 59 · Find Your Edge: Training, Nutrition + Longevity for Endurance Athletes

• 0:38
  Speaker 1: All right, welcome back to the Find your Edge podcast.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: I am your host, coach Chris Newport, and I am here today with Coach Carly.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Welcome, hello, hello.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: We are doing a series on all of our coaches, getting to know each one of them a little bit better, because the glorious thing, in my humble opinion, of working here is that I get to pick all of these wonderful coaches' brains every week, and kind of vice versa, instead of living in a silo like I did for many, many years, being like I don't know, am I doing this right?
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Sure, and now I have all these amazing coaches that we can all learn from each other, which is cool.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: So today is all about Coach Carly, and I am excited to talk to her because she is amazing and I know you guys are going to love her too.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Let's jump in, shall we?
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Let's do it All right.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: So how did you get into triathlon in the first place?
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: I, like many other triathletes, got into triathlon after being in running for a little while I was a broke grad student and couldn't afford a gym membership and just put on a pair of sneakers and started running and at some point I got it in my head that I wanted to do a full Ironman and I didn't know how to swim and I didn't know how to bike, but I was going to do an Ironman.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: So that is to swim, and I didn't own a bike, but I was going to do an Ironman.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: So that is it just started from zero, really.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: And, and figured it out as I went along.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: I love how we have these like harebrained ideas.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Like I'm broke, so I'm going to start running and then maybe also do triathlon, Yep.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Yep, yeah, I, uh.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: I'm a big, uh, set big, scary goals and spend a while working on them type of person, so it's true to my character.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Anyone that knows me wouldn't be surprised by that story.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: I swing for the fences.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Nice, awesome, so and big, scary goal.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: You did it right, yeah, and multiple times yeah.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: So cool, right yeah.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: And multiple times.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so cool.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: And when you got to the finish line, or when you got to the end, or days afterwards, weeks afterwards which perhaps we'll get into that as to what you're studying at the moment, was it all that you had thought of?
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's a great question.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: I told you we would go off script.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: By the way, it warns you.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: I actually really like that question because I feel like it absolutely has not to sound like so cliche, but Ironman absolutely changed my life.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: It started off as like I want to do this ridiculous thing, like let's go for it, and along the way found that it was impacting me in a far more profound way than I like to exercise.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Let's do something hard.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: And now I'm a multi-time Ironman.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: I'm getting my doctorate in sports psychology because it just I'm a coach.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: It truly changed the trajectory of what I was passionate about and what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, which is pretty cool and crazy all at the same time.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Right, yeah, can you briefly touch on some of those like life-changing things that you experienced while training for Ironman or during Ironman or post Ironman?
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: I'm sort of leading all the leading questions as to talk about her.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: I think her to talk about her thesis or dissertation.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, starting off with the hard hitting one, I guess I'll say I went in.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: I went into triathlon, I got it.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: I had a background in exercise science.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: I have my bachelor's in exercise science.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: I came from a very fit, played all the sports growing up sort of background.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: And again, ironman is just kind of like, hey, this seems crazy and hard and I was living that life so let's go for it.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: I would say it was way harder than I thought it was going to be.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: It challenged me in ways that I didn't think I would be challenged and post Ironman really realized how introspective I had to get to push through the obstacles to have the confidence that I could do it.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: Again, I taught myself how to swim Like that's not something you do in your mid twenties.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: None of my friends are doing this with me as the crazy one, just kind of along the train of figuring it out as I went along and the mental skills that I had to develop far surpassed the physical skills that I had to develop to get there, which led me into this whole sports psychology world where I am.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Okay, okay, you know it's coming.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: So what's the dissertation?
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: Oh yes, I'm getting started on my dissertation now, working on post Ironman blues specific to long course triathlon.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: But looking at that slump that many athletes go through post Ironman, post big grace, it can happen in marathon, even half marathon, when you put a lot of time into training, you dedicate a lot of space to it, and then have this slump afterwards, kind of looking at predictor variables as to why that might be happening and how we can prevent or lessen the impacts of that as coaches moving forward.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: That is super fascinating because, also, I don't think many people talk about that.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: You know they're like, oh cool, You're doing Iron man right on.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: You know, train for it, train.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: And then you do it and you're just like, oh, you know, hey, let's go for a bike ride.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Like how far Um 20 miles?
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Like why, yeah, why, why bother going for a 20 mile?
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: It's like cause it's fun and it's good for you and you like it and you're like I don't know, do I like it?
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: So that is very exciting that you're studying that.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: Anything else you want to say about sort of I mean, shoot, you've been researching this enough right now about post Iron man expectations, Because, again, nobody talks about that, which is why we are.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we often spend a lot of time thinking about that finish line.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: Right, it helps motivate us, it helps get us going and there isn't a lot of forethought into what am I doing the month after Ironman, what am I doing two months after Ironman?
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: And we end up getting home from our race and just kind of being in this weird place of what am I doing now?
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: I have nothing to do on a Saturday.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to work out for five plus hours today and I think just sort of preparing yourself for that phase and like have something on the calendar.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: It doesn't have to be a race, it can be a vacation, but something else to be looking forward to after that finish line.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: So you're not just sort of in this limbo of what now?
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I know you've touched on it a little bit, but what brought you into the segue to coaching, the irony being that I didn't have a coach training for my first Ironman or my second Ironman, but I feel like I I found the value in it afterwards.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Uh, definitely came in with the stubbornness of like I understand exercise physiology I'm going to figure this out on my own and the general brokenness of being a grad student.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: But really finding the value in that and feeling like I had a unique perspective of didn't have a cycling background, I didn't have a swimming background, didn't have a cycling background, it didn't have a swimming background, and just the nuances of of how to help someone navigate those waters felt really appealing to me and uh, yeah, it's kind of my motivation behind it, love it.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: So, tying into that, what is your philosophy or style of coaching?
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: Are you the like um, I mean, this totally sounds like you.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Are you the like, suck it up and just do it kind of coach, or you know, perhaps the opposite of that?
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: I would say I lean heavily in the opposite direction of that.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: But there's always a time and a place to, I think, as most coaches do try to take an individual approach to each athlete.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: I'll say that I often get paired with athletes that have really busy schedules and are looking for efficient, effective and likely to be completed workouts, but mostly someone.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: To I'd say less about the what I need to be doing and more about the like having the support, having someone help build my confidence up as I do this.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Um cause triathlons an individual sport a lot of people don't have a community coming into it and kind of finding a person to help you figure that part of it out, um, and feel a little less alone while you're on it on the journey to, particularly into a long course, where you're on it on the journey to particularly into long course, where you're spending extra time out there, oftentimes by yourself.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: But yeah, taking that approach of I want to make sure we're scheduling things that are enjoyable so you're more likely to get them done and time efficient, and I personally enjoy the more complex case study you are, the more I enjoy it the puzzle pieces of figuring out how to get it all in on those crazy schedules that people have.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: It's fun yeah.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: So any memorable moments with athletes you've had so far, or various achievements either of your own or your athletes, yeah, you prepped me with this question and I told you before that you always have the highlights right, like I started coaching someone as a runner and had the privilege of being there when she crossed her first 70.3 line, with no intent of ever becoming a triathlete, when we first met and then, and being there to see her a through all of that training but be across the finish line was really magical.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: And as coaches we all have those, those big moments that stand out.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: But truly I think my favorite moments are the, you know, the random Saturday when an athlete rode 20 miles for the first time and that just that was their Everest.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: Right, it was like they never thought that they could do that.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: So I'd say my favorite ones have nothing to do with the finish line.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: They're the random surprises, that kind of pop into training of oh my God, I never thought I would do this and I did it on a random Tuesday.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: You know, what's coming up for me is when we were sagging at camp back when we were in Virginia, and when Chelsea came to the top of the mountain and we were waiting at the top with drinks and snacks and she just like collapsed into your arms in tears and it was like the most adorable, sweetest moment.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: I was just like, so, you know, it's just like all the feels.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: I was like, yay, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: And I like I just got the chills just thinking about that moment again and those are also the moments that, as I was talking about before, and I feel like I'm sounding like this really big, sappy, emotional woman over here- and we're allowed to have the feels.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: Yes, I'm generally not, but like in that moment I could tell that she was forever changed.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: She now knew that she could tackle things that she never thought she could before, totally.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: And that's the craziness about getting into the long course triathlon even sprints in the Olympics too.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: I'm not trying to belittle them by any means, but obviously, if you can't tell, I love long course triathlon.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: That's where my my favorite distances lay.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: But yeah, those moments where it just hits you of like, oh my gosh, I can do something.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: I never thought that I could before and I worked really hard and I just did it.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: It's so cool.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: It is so cool.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: I agree.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: So, speaking of working with athletes, do you find that there are, that there's like a level of preparation an athlete has before getting into a coaching relationship, or like when do you know that it's the right fit either both for coach and for athlete?
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: Um, I like that question because we've we've had prior conversations too about how sometimes we get athletes in that that come in for coaching and we're kind of just like, hey, I'm not sure that you're ready for a coach yet and luckily we have this really cool team training classes that you can come in and still get coached feedback.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: When you're training, um, but not necessarily quite ready for the one-on-one and the higher contact of having a coach and asking to connect or find the line of like when you're ready for that can be a little bit tricky, but I feel like it's when you're ready to go beyond the little technique, specific type of stuff and ready for more of a I need to focus on my goal setting more big picture, long-term overview type of stuff, and have someone be there along with me is sort of when that crosses over for me.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: So less of a like hey, I'm going to do a sprint triathlon in three months and then, I don't know, probably go do something else.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: Then a little tidbit from a coach here and there, but not necessarily needing a full blown connection with someone to be there along with you in those moments.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: So we've already kind of touched on this a little bit.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: But what is?
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: I mean?
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: You know the, the, the athlete who climbs the mountain and like collapses into your arms in.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: I mean you know the, the, the athlete who climbs the mountain and like collapses into your arms in.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: I mean that you know it doesn't happen every day in the coaching world, but what keeps you doing it Cause I mean a lot of coaching is you're sitting behind a desk just like everybody else, you know.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the uh, somewhat irony of being in a health and fitness related field and sitting at a desk all day.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Right yeah.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: It's crazy.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: I very much recognize that those big moments don't happen without the day-to-day stuff that goes on behind the desk right the checking in on the training plans, the communication, the messaging back and forth, and all of that is what builds to those moments and I feel like I'm able to kind of look back and see like, yeah, we and all of that is what builds to those moments and I feel like I I'm able to kind of look back and see like, yeah, we need, we need all of this stuff to get to these other points, and without it the bigger points don't happen.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: Kind of reminds me of how athletes are like I have to go easier, like yeah, I think there's a perhaps a misconception in our fitness world at this moment of like harder is always better.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's a big fan of recovery over here.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: Any of my athletes that are listening to this right now are rolling their eyes like ah totally yes, but man, it pays off.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: Okay, so we're going to have a fun little game here.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: This is rapid fire question.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: Are you ready?
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm, what is your bike brand?
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Or let's say, bike brands?
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: I have two Cervellos in the garage right now, so I'll go with Cervelo.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: Favorite distance you like to race 70.3.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Favorite distance you'd like to coach Probably also 70.3.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Okay, swim, bike or run.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: What's your favorite right now?
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: Oh, bike Always, bike Always.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Okay, um, what's your favorite race?
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: This is not rapid fire, I love.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: Lake Logan, love it Absolutely.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: I would go back to Lake Logan every year and race.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: uh, I think that's setups event, a setup, so I think yeah, I think so, yeah, Out in the mountains out in the mountains, freezing cold lake water, beautiful views and super fast downhills.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: And then this like obnoxiously hot run, even though you're in the shade.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: It's like a sort of a roller coaster ride out there but the events always well put on and I just love it.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: It's great.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: What is your favorite workout that you like to program?
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Oh, that I like to program.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: I enjoy programming bike workouts that are not long rides, like more interval style bike workouts, probably because those are also my favorite workouts.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, that was that was my next question.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: Okay, least favorite workout that you don't want to do that you could do I I don't like lots of speed work in the pool.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: Okay, okay, pet peeve when you're racing.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: I don't like jerks, like, can't we all be nice to each other?
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: like, like I jerks in cars or jerks on bikes or just jerks in general I was specifically meaning jerks that are racing with you.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Okay, got it.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: Got it, okay, um, but yeah, I mean, be nice in your car too.
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: Please, everyone, let's be safe.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: We're all just trying to be healthy humans yep, and getting where we want to go right.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: Pet peeve than an athlete does who you're coaching.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: I have great athletes.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: That's a trick question.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: I don't have any athletes that do this, but I would be annoyed if I felt like an athlete was maybe stretching the truth on how busy they are and their availability, instead of being like, hey, I'm tired or I need a break.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Uh, cause again.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: I very much value recovery and needing the mental space, so just like tell me, don't pretend you have all these things going on and you don't.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: So I guess for communication.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: But my athletes agreed about it so that summarizes it beautifully.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: I don't know how rapid that was, but communication yeah, but my athletes are great about it, so that summarizes it beautifully.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: I don't know how rapid that was, but it was fun, are we ever rapid.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: No, no, that's all right though.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: So if you want to work with Carly, I would say you, as an athlete, would want to work with Carly.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: I would say you would be getting someone who is very empathetic and also will challenge you in all the right ways of when you need it at the right time.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: Also, this woman's background is ridiculous.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Like this is not just like a drag and drop kind of schedule programming.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Athlete Like you get well thought out workouts that are relevant to exercise, physiology and to your needs.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: So you, if you ever are to work with Carly, you will be in very, very good, competent hands.
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: So you're welcome.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: You sound so lovely.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: Would I have it any other way?
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, true, you, you, I would say.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: You are now known for hiring strong coaches.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: We have such a great eclectic group that you're going to fit with one of us.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: If you go to the endurance edge, we've got someone for you.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: All right, any parting thoughts or like final, one or two tips for folks to walk away with just in triathlon, in life, in multi-sport, in sports psychology?
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: That was a big ask, you're welcome.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: If you have a big, scary goal, it's time to get moving on it.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: You just got to start, no matter where you are.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: I love it, coach Carly, thank you yeah, thanks for having me, and if you guys want to work with coach Carly, come to the endurance edgecom and we look forward to serving you in the best way possible.