Latest / Crossroad Conversations with the Lewis Brothers / Ep. 70 - From Ironman to Injury: Discipline, Setbacks, and Starting Again

Transcript

Ep. 70 - From Ironman to Injury: Discipline, Setbacks, and Starting Again · Crossroad Conversations with the Lewis Brothers

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_04: Hey everyone, welcome to Crossroad Conversations with the Lewis Brothers, where we aim to share real stories about running a successful family business, working through adversity, and pouring back into the community that keeps our door open.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_04: We're your host, Matt, Shelby, and Taylor, and we bring you relevant local business advice and automotive insights that are sure to change the way you look at running a business.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_04: And maybe even throw in a plug for you to do business with us.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Crossroad Conversations Fitness Edition, may you call it.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: Back in the lab.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: Mixing it up.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: We're back in the lab cooking up good things for the new year today.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: Got a special guest, Miss Tracy Byrd.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: Tracy, thanks for being here.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: We're super excited to dive in and kind of cut up on the stories you've learned and the things you've been through and just whatever comes.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: Today we're on the bikes, right?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: We're on the bikes.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_04: That's what we're doing.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we're getting the heart rate up there.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_04: You know, there's uh once you get that heart rate up conversations, they're better, you know.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_04: And I've noticed whether it's riding or biking, like once that heart rate gets up there, you just start having great conversations.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_04: So we thought, let's bring that to the podcast.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_04: And we reached out to our friend Miss Tracy Bird, and we've crossed paths along the years, whether it's been on the trails or the bike or an Iron Man here and there.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_04: And and Tracy is a seven-time finisher of the Iron Man race, and not only that, qualified and went to Kona, which is the Mecca.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: Which, if you don't know, is really hard to do.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like we haven't qualified.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: No, you know what I mean?
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_04: And we've trained a whole lot, and uh Tracy just smokes us.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_04: So you know what?
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_04: You bring people on your podcast that are a higher level than you are, and then we get to relate and have some fun.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_04: So, Tracy, thanks for joining us today.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_04: We didn't even start to tip into all the stories that you got and all the success.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_04: So thanks for being with us.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, I got it before we go any further.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: Taylor over there, I bet you're wondering.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh What the heck is he?
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: This is a new kit.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: So this is that's called the work in New York.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: Right here, this is Echo Shoes.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_02: Lewis socks.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_02: Not looking for a sponsor unless you want a sponsor, but we're filming this at the end of the year.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's our busiest time of the entire year.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: And so Taylor was deep into card deals on the desk, and we drug him over here, took his work shirt off, threw a pair of shorts at him.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: He's still got his work shoes on, but he's down for anything.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_04: Here I am.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_04: You know, and I think I think that's the point of when you've got a great culture and you've got great leaders that your team follows and will just follow your lead.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_04: And luckily, Taylor is just following Shelby and I's lead, and he's like, okay, come on, put me in the game.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, here we go.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: Because we are in our gym.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: This is on campus in our gym, right?
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_04: That's right.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_04: So let's dive in and let Tracy kind of guide us.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_04: It's a new year, and Tracy, we've been talking about at the new year, something triggers in people's minds, and they're like, and and I don't know why.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_04: But they say, January 1st, I'm gonna do this.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_04: And and a lot of fitness and being a better version of yourself then translates over whether it's in the business, you're a better leader, or or you're a better person at home with your family, or you affect the other people around you, and you've been doing that for a long time.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_04: You know what I mean?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_04: Affecting, and you've seen a lot of people change just by they gotta first be a better version of themselves, though, right?
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_04: And and you guys have just grown leaps and bounds and and food first fitness.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_04: So kind of walk us through your journey and how you got into fitness and if it started just with you and then all the different groups in the training.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness, that's a that's a big can of water.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, I guess it really fitness started for me in high school, and uh realizing I was a cheerleader, of course, and realizing you know, you're gonna go off to college and you hear about all the weight gain and all that stuff, and I'm like, not happening to me.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: So um I took up running.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And uh started running when I was 18 and skipping through a lot of years, um moved up to South Dakota, um, which we love, but wound up kind of getting in getting into biking and swimming up there.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: The swing looked easy.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_04: That was never the easy part for me and the triangle honest.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go, let's go back and look.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: Looked easy, right?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: I heard what you said.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: You weren't.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you get in the water and you're like, well, I can do this, and you're out of breath at the 25 yards.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm like, what did I do?
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: I've ran marathons, why can't I do this?
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, anyway.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: So started getting into that and um really got into distance running more, more the marathon stuff when we were up there.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: And um anyway, moved back down here and just kind of luckily fell into the terathlon groups.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, made a lot of friends, and next thing I know, I'm you know, racing like Ozark Valley or you know, our friend over there at all sports production.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so anyway, that's just kind of one thing led to the other, and um wound up reading an article about a guy that was a coach.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, well, I'm just gonna call this dude.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I called him up, and he he's like, okay, and so we met and I said, Hey, you know, I now I'm not I hadn't done anything more than play a sprint triathlon.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, uh, you know, kind of what are your goals?
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, I want to go to Kona.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm going to Kona.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's all good, yeah.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: So anyway, he wound up coaching me for several years and led me through the seven half ironmans and the seven iron men's and the Kona and all of that kind of stuff.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, again, back to met friends in the world of triathlon, and one in particular, we decided that we should put the food fitness piece together.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: And had lots of conversations, as you guys know, starting a business.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And um turned out to be pretty successful, and um we both coach people swimming, biking, and running, and um that was part of what food first fitness was, but it was also bringing in the nutrition piece to make sure that you remember we're eating to train.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Right, okay, we're not training to eat.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_04: Now, I don't taste that quite a second.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_04: At some point in time, and I think we all got there, is this like, you know, if the oven's hot enough, you can throw whatever in it.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this is this is a bit true.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_04: I found out that's not the truth.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_04: And uh, you know, I I heard somebody say this, and I'm glad you're talking about the food aspect of it too, is you can't outrun the fork.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: No, you sure can't.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_04: You know, so no matter how many hours you put in each week, you've got to start with the food to give you the power to work out and also to recover properly.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_04: Right, exactly.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_04: So it's an interesting take that you guys started weaving that in, and you we you you brought it into the name of it.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, yes, yeah.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: So we did really well with that, and um, I don't know, I've I have my um, as you guys probably know, I have my USA triathlon race director certification.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a coaching certification.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: So lots of years swimming, biking, and running, um, meeting people.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, for me, the I've always said the training is really the work.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's really the work.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: The race is for the stories.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: That's right, isn't it?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's like the victory lap, right?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I always says, like, that's not the hard part.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: And most people think it is, and it's hard, right?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: It is hard work, but you've put the work in, the legs know what to do, the arms know what to do, the mind knows what to do.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's the victory lap.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: It is, it is.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: So when you ask me about which one's your favorite or you know, whatever, whatever, I've got stories for all of them.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that to me is what makes it so fun.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, what race did you qualify for Kona at?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Iron Man Louis.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I had I had done it once before.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it was my first Iron Man, placed 10th in my H brew.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I've got this coach, okay, and he's dialing me in.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so then we went back, and um when I got out of the water, I looked down at my watch and I'm like, man, that's the best swim I've ever had.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, of course, then the adrenaline kicks in, you know, and you're like feeling all yourself and everything.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: So uh jumped on the bike.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, our buddy Bruce Dunn was there.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm good friends with his wife, and she was racing, but um he's he's he's he understands the whole timing and what you're seeing and all that.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so when he would see me, he would yell out to me and tell me where I'm at.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Give you some splits.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep, yep.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's important.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: So there's one little hill, you go down and right back up.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know what possessed me, boys, but I took, I had an extra tube and I had rigged it up underneath my seat.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_04: Tire tube in case you had a blowout, okay?
• 9:25
  unknown: Yeah.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't think a thing about it.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Hit that bump at the bottom of that.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: That tube dropped down, wound up in my wheel.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, I didn't know what was going on.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: So immediately I'm trying to get out of the way of these bikes coming down the hill.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: I get the tube.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I'm going to qualify, so I'm following all the rules.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: I can't just trash it, right?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Shoved it in my jersey.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Rode the last 60 miles with that tube in my shirty, and Bruce is yelling at me, you know, telling me where I'm at, and then I get off the bike and he says, You're in first place.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Where is the second place?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me what I got.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: I said he said, You got six minutes.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, oh shit.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm running 26 miles thinking about with six minutes.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: With six minutes, thinking about how fast is this.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: And you know at this point you can't do math, right?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, no, no, no.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's gone.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_04: It's gone.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to figure out speaking math is bad.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to figure out how fast does that girl have to be running to catch me.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: So break that into pacing is just, it's not achievable.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: It isn't, it really is.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_04: It's tough.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, I do think we we gotta pause for just a second because we're all familiar with what an iron, a full Iron Man is here.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_04: But you just said something when I got off the bike, I've now got a marathon 26.2 miles to run.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_04: So up to that point, what had you already done?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Swam 2.4 miles.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, biked 112.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_04: So we're we're 2.4 and 112 in now to do a marathon.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now I gotta go run 26.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_04: And they say that the run the running part is for the dough, isn't it?
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: They say that, but that I don't know.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_02: Your legs are like do your legs feel like concrete?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, for sure.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_04: They just want to make sure that wasn't just me.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: You're just like, are you kidding me?
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_04: What is wrong with me?
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_04: This is the part I knew I was gonna be good at.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: But I got to mile 20 and my stomach started bothering me.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm still doing the math thinking, where is this girl, right?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, we're still in first.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: We're still in first.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and mile 23, the stomach gives away.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Boom.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: And y'all can just use your magic.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Fill in the details.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: I had a 5K left.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Is this really happening?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Let me just say I was really glad I had on a real tight-fitting kit.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I ran in and um, yeah, she never caught me, so I I won.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then I spent the next 45 minutes of time to figure out where I can go get cleaned up.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, that's where I that's where I fought.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like that.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_02: Because uh, does it change per race or is it only the top three in the category they get a coin to go?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and those rules have changed.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, but then the rule was if you win your age group, you're going.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, you're in.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Each age group was allocated a certain number of slots.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's what it was, okay.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Based on how many people were racing in that age group.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: So for my age group, there were only two slots.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the interesting thing about that is you don't know that before the race.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: All you know is you're trying to qualify because you don't know how many you're racing, how many you're going to get across the finish line.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, by the grace of God, there were two slots.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the girl that came in second and I are still early friends.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, that's awesome.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_04: Um, if you're I want the listeners to understand this because you because you and Shelby both hit on, you know, all the work happens in training.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_04: You know, the day's hard too, but all the work's already been done.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_04: If you're coaching an athlete to do a full distance Iron Man, about how many weeks of prep would you like to have?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Would I like to have?
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um the answer to that question is uh it also depends on what they have done.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, sure.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: Where is their base?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: And there are unfortunately people who want to do an Iron Man.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: Couched Iron Man?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I've actually coached someone that's doable.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: And he he had a he was a he's a good athlete anyway.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: But he didn't break.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: But in general, let's assume the person has some kind of base.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_04: Um 20 weeks would be good.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, so 20 weeks.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_04: And then on average, on a full Iron Man, are you having to put in 12, 14 hours a week?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_04: On average, yeah.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, okay.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_04: So so I'll do the math real quick here.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_04: 20 at 14.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_04: That's 280 hours.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_04: 280 hours.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_04: And and during a full Iron Man, if they finish somewhere in the 12 to 15-hour range, so let's take 14 hours.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_04: So when you think about that, how important it is that the consistency of training, you put in 280 hours to accomplish a 14-hour event.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_04: And and I think that's the piece that people miss, whether it's in fitness or in business or in sports or whatever it is, is all the consistency of all those blocks that you're building on, then to perform at a high level.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's funny you bring that up because um one of the many things I've done in my life is I sold pharmaceuticals.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: And they'd hire on people, and I was doing very well with it.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: And they would come up and ask me, you know, what's the key to success?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, listen, you've got to be consistently persistent and persistently consistent.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, I like that.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you think about it, that's how you're successful in almost anything.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing on riding this bicycle.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody's not even been on a bicycle, they're like, I don't want to ride a bicycle.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I can't go more than a mile down the road, and I'm raised off the motorcycle or off the bicycle, you know, but it is, it's it's getting back on.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's getting back on.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_04: That's that's so good.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_04: So you finish qualifying, and then does the coaching start, or when does it the when does the light bulb go off of like, man, I think I could help some other people.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that light bulb probably went off.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to think about that.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_04: Um, not that big second date.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: No, I yeah, I'm thinking probably probably somewhere around that same time frame.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was coaching a few people when I went to Canaan.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_04: I think what's important when when we talk about coaching, um, because there's a lot of people that are eager out there to help.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_04: We all want to help each other.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_04: Naturally going as humans, we want to help each other.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but it's important to get somebody that's got a pedigree and some certification.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_04: And you brought it up earlier.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_04: You've got multiple certifications.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_04: That wasn't easy to get, was it?
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: No, it wasn't.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that in itself took some time and it took some energy because you've got to, you know, you have to study and pass the test.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_04: You didn't just get them in triathlons, you also got them, did you say, in in the running section?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, it's uh, you know, there are all kinds of certifications out there, and when I was doing all that, I really tried to lean into USA triathlon.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: And um I just thought, you know, they've got their finger on the pulse and know what and need and all that kind of thing.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: It was done, you traveled to a site and you did a you know a the course with some other people, with these people.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I really, I really like that.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, certainly nothing wrong with something just online when you can get amongst other people and share those stories too.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_04: Sure.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_04: I think that's good.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_04: What what what kind of tips would you give to people?
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_04: You know, obviously they should come see you for helping coaching.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_04: But generally, you know, it's kind of like somebody asking us for a tip on a car.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_04: Like, let me tell you where you need to come to buy it.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_04: Um, what should they look for when they're looking for a coach?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think that they they should look for someone whose coaching style aligns with their goals.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: So if first thing to maybe is sit down, literally, pencil and pad, and write down just three fitness goals.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that could be I want to walk a mile.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I want to run a 5K.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, um I want to I want to be able to swim 500 yards, whatever.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: But put those down and then seek out a coach who can align with those goals and get you there.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes you know, it's just gonna take longer.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: It is.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: It is I think that's one of those things because we've learned this and we've been coached before, and then more or less we've been Wild West.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: Just figure this out.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: When you get into the ultra world, there's much more Wild West.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: And triathlon, it was very specific of numbers and wattage and pacing, and ultra was and that we kind of got into ultra because sometimes in those things you get kind of burned out and you need another character to chase.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: You know, sometimes it's just another race, Louisville and then Chattanooga, you know, you just kind of, but then sometimes it's giving me something different.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_02: But in coaching, we saw someone that was really good lined up in this, but was not so good, and we just see it across the world that's that doesn't have the pedigree in this, but they did in this.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: That, yes.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's important, like you said, to do their goals line up or does their knowledge or training line up with what they're trying to do.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly, exactly.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you know, the coaching, the the theory that's behind all of that, you have to know.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I do think the experience of a coach can go a long way towards helping someone reach through goal, you know.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_04: There there's so much wisdom in that in like any type of coach in life of like somebody who's who's been around it and they've been there because everything's not gonna go perfect, right?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_04: So they gotta have the experience when something happens, what do I do?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, you know, not just coaching on the perfect day, right?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, you know, back to it's New Year's Eve and all that, just picking three simple fitness goals, okay.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, if you want to, what I'm having my athletes do is I'm having them give me three fitness goals and three nutrition goals.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and then we kind of meld them together.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: I like that.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: I've got one guy that he's a big guy.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um good athlete.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: And he let me drop some leg.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: But I I keep having a reminder.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well you're doing great over there.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: Look at how well you've done over Taylor is this just an athlete.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: He's a better athlete than all of us, right?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: And if you if you took a book for its cover value, you might not assume that.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_03: But majority of the race I'm at they talk me into people are concerned for my health whenever I'm out on the track.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: The last event we took him to was Running Man and it's a it's a festival which is really cool of just this event.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_02: But it's on a one mile horse track.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just you keep going and you just go a little bit further and go a little bit further.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: Well Taylor ran 15 miles around this thing and then when you get done there you go to the sauna you go to the cold plunge or the recovery area.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: And so then then there was other people coming to Taylor and they were like oh how far did you run I ran a 5k and so he kept telling them like I ran 15 miles like oh my god are you okay I'll tell Taylor I learned a long time ago you don't size anybody up at the starting line.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: No just don't know I've been eaten up and humbled a million times especially when we started by people that were older than me.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: Right, yes the wisdom and knowledge of knowing when to kick it in and when to eat this and maybe like Jeff Galloway and his run walk how many times did he qualify for Boston by walking and then running and so you know quickly I was like alright well I'm not going to say I can beat all those people because you have no clue right I don't know if y'all know this just throw this out there.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Here in Northwest Arkansas we actually have the world's first Iron Man.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Oh really?
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know that yes great guy he won the first Iron Man World Championships.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah but what's his name it's just a minute I'm gonna tell you well I you can think about it.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: No no that's okay.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: I saw him uh in Fayetteville when we tried to get Iron Man here.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: He was there.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yes yes yes and I'm awful with names probably way worse than you are but I remember that um and I was like oh my gosh that that's the guy because we did try to get uh half Iron Man here.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_04: Yes yeah I'm friends with this guy I just can't think of his name right now the way that goes so on the food side so I I love the idea of of the food first fitness um so so how did that kind of integrate in y'all saw the need for that and then you've got so so do you work more on the fitness side or on the food side more on the fitness side but I you know obviously have a lot of nutrition knowledge but mostly on the fitness side so then on the food side who do you have involved on the food side at um at the time um a comrade of mine okay uh is doing that yeah okay all right okay and and I think that's important and and I'm glad that that you say that you're like hey I can do both button hauler yes thank you for playing so it's okay that's good um you know just like anything in life it's like okay I can do the food part but I'm better at the fitness part yeah yeah so let me find somebody that's better at me than the food part and combine them together no different in business there's areas that I know but Taylor's better at right and I'm like okay Taylor takes the lead on this exactly I'll take the lead over here and then together get there you can get there I I think it's just so much wisdom that you guys did that and you put that together because I think so many people mess up on the food part oh gosh and you know that's I was gonna say about this one athlete I have he's wanting to lose some weight and something as simple as this he loves almonds.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_02: Okay almonds are good for you I'm not debating that but we're not gonna eat his whole handful of almonds that's the problem right therein lies the problem nuts are very dense and are very calorie dense and can have a lot of fat.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: Almonds are pretty clean in that but if you're not reading and measuring to see how much oil needs to go in the engine exactly you're probably gonna overfill it especially with almonds yep exactly so I'm trying to tell him you know why don't you just get 10 out before you start eating.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah yeah but see I love that advice of like okay you don't have to scrap the almonds but let's just get 10 out.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah you know then and then wait 30 minutes to see if you're still on yeah not right there.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_04: Or I you know I love and I'm sure you do this too but some of the advice about hey let's switch out barbecue sauce for mustard or something like that.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_04: Something simple like you don't have to remove your condiments let's just get the right ones.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly yeah small adjustments like that because then they're sustainable and they can turn into a habit.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: One of my pet peeves is you know all the different kinds of diets and people get so caught up don't they ma you know now I just think it's back to what we were talking about early on it's in general is calories in and calories out.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_02: Sure period now your engine's gonna run better if you put the better oil in there right guys and that that's a theory that we constantly say and and people that are really working hard I say hey treat your body like a high performance race car like a Ferrari you're not gonna pull up in a Ferrari and find the cheapest gap that you don't know the contaminants to so whether you are a Ferrari yet or not you're on your way to be there treat yourself and put proper fuel in there like if you're just indulging and everyone has that inner sense of I want to treat myself or it's my birthday or I worked hard I want this it's like just think of your and it's so basic and it's very hard to do but it's the discipline treat your food like fuel not like the enjoyment or the reward and and it makes all the difference.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: It does how long do you think that habit takes of going from eating whatever to discipline eating to make that a habit well you're asking the wrong person because for me for me it was just turn the switch on.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: You might be just like me right just flip it over just do it yeah just do it I think part of the part of the situation involves education.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay you know and so for the average person that doesn't understand the food labels um and how your body uses that fuel it's all very confusing.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: So that is much longer process okay okay um so the one thing we haven't dug into um because I promised Taylor this wouldn't be an hour long podcast um yeah yeah he needed to get better than the first we needed to get back to work but um injury let's talk about when you get setbacks right when things are going perfect and then they're not then they're not do you have experience of this um I've actually had uh several okay some some appear very minor right now okay fair enough um you know I I fell and broke my wrist on the bike okay so that was that's a setback yeah we've we've had some broken collar balance yep yep that kind of stuff um I tapped someone's wheel in a charity ride went down to the ground skidded the guy behind me who's a friend of mine rode right over the top of it so I wound up in the ER with a hematoma that the nurses said that was the biggest one they'd ever seen.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh that always makes you feel good right so I had you know I had to have surgery to get that thing there.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: But three years ago um my world really changed because it was um by 9 30 in the morning I was living in an apartment above a garage at a friend's house and you can open the door and go up the stairs and the apartment is here.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I had decided there were wooden and I had decided I was gonna swiffer there.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I got my swiffer out okay and I'm gonna go backwards.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna swiffer this one I'll step back for that one step back.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well that lasted for one step oh gosh and I missed it the railing was on this side okay there was no railing on this side and that's the way I fell and so I fell down 20 stairs and landed on a concrete floor um I knew when I landed I'd messed up and uh wound up I had broken my neck in three places broken my hip my pelvis eight ribs tore my diaphragm punctured that's all that's all oh my gosh wow had a couple scratches on my nose that's rough like and I was by myself my phone was upstairs I was delirious of course reached up as I opened the door to the outside and started screaming.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: My neighbor came over called my came and got me put me on a helicopter and flew me down to Little Rock to the trauma unit at the UAMS and um lots of surgeries and chest tubes and all kinds of stuff I was there for about two months okay and then of course lots and lots of physical therapy.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: Right I'm a huge advocate of physical but um it's still just not the same.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah I'm just I mean there's a lot of things broken right yeah so how does how do you change you know you recalibrate right of what you were doing to what you still want to be active right we've whether you wanted to or not we talked some bike right um but how do you recalibrate yeah well for me it kind of goes back to you know I I I I had the drive you know and there was that part of me that said you know you you've got to just keep moving forward day by day.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know I was non-weight bearing for a very long time and that was tough but you know you start to see the progress in when you're getting well when you're doing the physical therapy or when you're you know the number one motivator is not money the number the number one motivator is progress.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: So every day that I would see progress it would make me want to do more.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I just kept doing it and doing it and doing it until finally one day I wasn't in a wheelchair and then I wasn't having to use a whopper then I didn't have to use the cane and went out and you know ran a half mile and was thrilled to death feeling it was so I'm very slow now but I'm doing the things right it's a it's a new stage of life right and it's not not about comparing to yesterday.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: No and that's very hard.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: That is so hard very you know it's in some of the things that we've all competed in at one point in time we were at absolute peak level that we could be and it's hard to go out and run a 5K and not to be able to accomplish or a half marathon or whatever but you just calibrate of of today on my best version of my exactly that's exactly right and so that and that's hard the inner demon will say why can't you run 618 pages you know what's the matter with you and all of that.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_04: Well I think it's okay to recalibrate yeah it is okay to recalibrate and it's certainly like I say I think for someone that might see this and who's just wanting to start getting fit on some level they're just we go back to you've got to be consistent okay you've got to be persistent and you will see results period yeah that's really good and what would you say to anybody out there I mean obviously you've gone through that's that's a massive event that you've had to come back through what advice do you give somebody that maybe is going through an injury or going through just a life event and trying to get back on track be be nice to yourself yeah um that's important remember everything that you think is not your thoughts okay um you can change those thoughts you can kind of take control of them um set small goals put them put a time frame on them work towards them and then move the bar okay and do it again do it again no matter where it's at just get started even if the bar is down here just I'm gonna I'm gonna run from here to the uh mailbox okay okay you ran from here to the mailbox you do there for a little while now I'm gonna run to my neighbor's mailbox and that's what you do there and I think for those who are considering wanting to take up running I hear this so often it's so hard okay I can't breathe number one you're probably trying to go too fast we're not talking about speed we're just talking about covering the distance that's right and that's what you have to do is slow down cover the distance the lungs will come around that's such great advice like I think no matter what what shape you're in that first mile it takes the lungs a while to come around you does it really does yeah all right we got we got a quick round here for you and just kind of uh your pick okay okay so just what comes to your mind here all right what is more important working out or nutrition if you if you could only pick one man I know that's tough that's I mean that's a tough question um I'm gonna give it nutrition okay okay what about motivation or discipline discipline okay discipline okay protein shakes helpful or overrated overrated overrated running or biking I'm a cyclist at part so you know the nice thing about cycling is it's not hard on your body and you know as we all get older and the art trivus and all of those things start to kick in this is something that doesn't really get you there.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yep pouncing up and down on your feet is hard on you.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_04: That's good.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_04: Is breakfast actually the most important meal you gotta get the fire burn.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_04: Okay okay that makes sense okay yeah biggest nutrition mistake most people make fascinating how's that I think that's really good I you know I think one of mine in there is you know especially early on if I had looked at how many calories I had burned on my watch going I can go eat that because I have just earned I got another thousand calories I can just do.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_04: That's so deadly exactly you know in that I mean that that's tough.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_04: Okay we'll get back to the either ores carbs friend or enemy here's the answer to that question.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's the number one fuel for us that's the way God made us um if you're gonna do anything that has any endurance whatsoever you better be putting some carbs in I think people are so carb scared.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yep yep and I'm like that is not your enemy now the kind you're putting in that is the important part and when you're putting it in you know if you're burning you need that feel exactly if you're sitting on the couch you don't need a hundred grams of carbs an hour you know I mean it's just you got to take in context and that's a good point I mean for all my athletes I am very like you could call on right now and they would they would tell you this if you're gonna go out and you're gonna do go do something for over an hour bite swim run whatever you need to be putting something in every 45 minutes.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: Don't wait don't go well don't wait until you hit the walls into it right you ain't it isn't gonna catch up you just not want to I've learned that the hard times many a times I've been spot on a few times but I've been the exploratory lab rat many more times right you just have to I'll tell them you know you may it may not sound good you may not want it but you just got to stick it in and right that's right sure so if if people want to find more information uh about you about food fitness first how do they get a hold of you where do they find more information out okay all right well you know there's always the easy easy social media stuff you can look up Tracy Byrd B Y R D okay I'm on LinkedIn as well um my email is T D Bird B Y R Double 1 at ATT.net all right um yeah so just reach out and it's it's for all levels it's for beginners or for it's those that are trying to qualify for Kona and everything in between 100% absolutely one of my athletes ran her first marathon shear.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay and she's a good example she follows and she set two PRs on halves and had a solid marathon.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: Some of the best athletes are the beginners that would follow all the rules I know right I remember some of my best races and it was I didn't know could I cover that distance and I didn't know could I run that fast and I never missed a workout spent a lot of time not moving on a bike but moving on the bike and they were my very best because once I got where I could accomplish that then you could get lazy and wing it like nah I know I can do that.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_04: So some of the best are the beginners that will fall all the bosses absolutely Tracy I got to say something kudos to you and your team but one of the biggest things I've seen as a benefit trainee is accountability partners.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_04: Yes and you guys have a great group like I always see it on social and whether it's the group run or the bikes or any of that stuff like there's plenty of people around holding people accountable on those days that are tough to train.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know I'm gonna go swim after this if Deb Dunn wasn't meeting me I could talk myself out of the there's so much truth to that we all need that.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_02: But she's gonna be there better be there I gotta show up well anything else that you want to share with the world before we uh wind this thing up and just say you know dream big life short I love that so forth right you never know unless you try exactly exactly all right well thanks so much Miss Tracy for joining us today it's been so much fun thanks for just sporadically I threw this at you yesterday we can't be on the bike but that's when the idea came to us so thank you so much for doing that as always check us out lowsuperstore.com or crossroadconversations podcast dot com.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_02: Make sure you hit the like follow subscribe so you see our latest and greatest and you never know where our next one's gonna end up it might be in the sauna it might be on the steermaster it might be Taylor's choice who knows I'm picking the next one you fool We'll see you guys soon and have a wonderful day.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, ma'am.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, thanks for joining us today, and we hope you enjoyed this episode.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_04: Make sure to give it a like, share it with your friends and family, visit our website, and send us some questions.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_04: We want to know what you'd like to hear, who you'd like to hear from, and what you want to see, or maybe even some questions for us to answer about either the automotive industry or just business in general.