S6E9 -- Jen Annett : 515 World Record Holder

Jen Annett drops by to speak about her recent record setting 515 race in Canada and preparations to take on the Ultraman World Championships at the end of the month.   

Jen has not had the best luck when racing as a pro at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, but this time she has the backing of her entire community and she is ready for the challenge. 

She also shares her Precision nutrition plan for racing for those who are looking for racing tips.  Link below.

Reach out to Jen at her website.  #RaceTough
Instagram : annett_jen

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Ultraman World Championships
• Ironman World Championships 
• Ultraman Canada
• Ultraman Florida 
• Ironman Texas 
• Challenge Penticton
• Ironman Mt. Tremblant 
• Precision Nutrition Case Study
• T-Bones
• Okanagan Falls Barbershop
• Peach City Runners
• Podium Imports
• Penticton Tri Club
• Bike Works Kona

Shout outs and mentions in this episode:

• Steve King (S1E1) (S1E2) (S1E3)
• Simon Cochrane (S4E8)
• Dave Matheson
• Daniela Ryf
• Jason Annett 
• Nixon Annett
• Dede Greisbauer (S3E13)
• Jordan Bryden (S1E7)
• Kate Bevilaqua (S5E10)
• Stephen Stafford
• Tracy Clark 
• Johnny Caron 
• Mark Moody (S6E10)
• Keri Mandell (S6E10)
• Gail Laux
• Shelie Best  
• Gary Scatchard 
• Bob Vincent 
• Sandi Vincent
• Trisha Isaac
• Glenn Isaac
• Peter Burns
• Peter Beauchamp 
• Dave Michael
• Rhys Spencer 
• Dave Larson
• Neil Macdonald 
• Brian McCoy
• Steve Brown (S2E13)
• Maria Brown

Show Contributors:

Host : Larry Ryan
Contributing Raconteur : Steve King
Announcer : Mary Jo Dionne
Production : 5Five Enterprises
Music  :  Run by 331

For show notes and past guests, please visit the Podcast Website: https://515theultrapodcast.buzzsprout.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/515TheUltraPodcast
Insta : 515theultrapodcast
Email : 515Ultraman@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

The new world record is 21 hours 39 minutes 21 seconds after it. I'm telling you in the history about my candida about the Campasta 2 minutes and 19 seconds and 5 minutes number 2013 27.

Larry 1:03

Well, we've made it in November and 1959. Today's guest will be attending her first Osterman five, which is more than right.

Life as a Pro Triathlete

Larry 1:20

Today's guest started her Iron Man career in 2008 and went pro in 2013. She has podiumed at various triathlon distances no less than 20 times. And she's qualified for the Iron Man World Championship seven times. Usually finishing her Iron Man races with low nine-hour times. Last year she was able to cross that nine-hour mark at Iron Man Florida with a time of 854-14. The cycling discipline is certainly her strength, and she's been crushing records in many of the races that she's participated in. So it's no surprise that in an event that has 420 kilometers of cycling, she was also able to set a new women's world record in Pentikton this summer at Ultraman Canada. The first woman to go under 22 hours in a 515 race in a time of 213932. Joining me today from her home in Penticton is Jen Annette. Welcome to 515.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Thank you.

Larry 2:24

Now, did I also read this correctly? Did you at one time hold the fastest Iron Man bike time for females?

SPEAKER_01 2:32

I did. Back in 2018, I broke the Iron Man bike course record or bike overall record uh at Iron Man, Texas. Um, it was ended up being asterisk after that uh because they the course was actually three kilometers short. Um that being said, on the pace that I had, if you did the math, I still would have held the record at that point. Um since then, no surprise, Daniela definitely beat that record. And I believe there's been a couple of others that have been really close to that. But yes, I did hold that for uh a small amount of time.

Larry 3:16

So that's excellent. Well, I'm sure you'll hold this new one for a while as well.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

I hope so.

Larry 3:23

As I said in the in the opening, you are actually from Pentikton. Uh, so it's kind of a hometown race for you. And obviously, everybody knows the Iron Man Pentikton, and we had the last one this year in 2024. Uh, you raced in that. You came fifth in the women's division. It was a shortened race due to the fact that they weren't able to do the swim because it was so cold in the in the water. Can can you tell me a little bit about your final Iron Man Canada and what the race has meant to you over the years as a resident of Penticton and a pro tri-athlet?

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Uh well, Iron Man Canada is what totally kicked off track line for me back in 2008. Um, actually, it would have started a couple years prior to that when we moved to Penticton. Um, I only moved from Kelowna, which is not even an hour north of us, and then never heard of Iron Man before and went down and watched it um and was so inspired. I'm like, I don't even know anybody here, and just thought this was like just an amazing thing. And I'm like, you know what? Like, I want to do this. So did it in 08 and qualified for world championships, my first Iron Man, and that's what kind of like kicked it all off. I'm like, wow, like this is so easy. Well, no, not easy, not easy. I wish I could say that, but uh so it was kind of like the realization that I'd found something that I was actually good at, um, which I think in a way is something that I was lacking in my life at that point. So I got hooked on that and uh raced eight, nine, ten and ticked in. My husband finally decided he'd lived it long enough. So he raced 2011. Oh I stuck to the cheering side, had my son in 2012, and then was all set to go back in 2013 and hopefully go back to Hawaii. But uh unfortunately the city cut contract fireman at that point and challenge came in. Uh so I was I mean disappointed in that, but supported challenge at the same time. And once again, you can't pass up racing local. Uh it's such an amazing experience.

SPEAKER_04 5:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

And then uh yeah, when they announced it was coming back uh in 2019, uh was the announcement for 2020. I was super stoked. I'm like, awesome, I finally get to race. Hopefully it's a pro race. Um and that was kind of the thing is I'm like, I want to race here as a pro, hopefully get that big W. But uh then obviously things happen through COVID and force fires and everything. So uh was very happy that I was able to actually race this year. Uh couldn't pass that up. Timing, not overly great, being only four weeks out from Ultraman. I knew it was yeah, like probably shouldn't race physically speaking, but I'm like, I can't not race. Um, even if it's I'm like, even if I have a bad day, it's gonna be a great day. That was just kind of my mentality going into that day. I'm like, I really wanted that hometown win, but realistically, I the body was just not in the right place to be racing that the swim being canceled. That was honestly crazy for Penticton. Um two days prior to the race, it was borderline a non-bet suit swim for the pros. That's how warm the water was. When they announced that it had flipped, like Okanagan Lake will do that, depending on the windstorms that we get. It's known to just flip overnight. Yeah. Um, I was shocked to hear what the water attempt was. I think it was 14, something like that. So as much as I was disappointed that the swim was canceled, I'm not disappointed because I don't think I personally would have survived the swim at all. I can't do cold water anymore. Um, so it made for an interesting start to the race. I've never had a cancelled swim in a race before, so that was the first for me.

Larry 7:46

Did they put you off in waves? Is that how they they did it?

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Yeah. So for us, we had to draw numbers. So it was completely random. Okay. They just put numbers in a hat and we pulled a number, and that was the position that you started. And then we just went every 30 seconds. Yeah, they let one of us go. So it definitely changed it in the sense that especially on the run, you really actually had no idea what place you were in based on if there was somebody that started five or six minutes behind you. They could actually have been ahead of you.

Larry 8:20

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

So mentally it was like, okay, like, did she start behind me? Did she like how far behind is she? Like trying to figure that out.

SPEAKER_04 8:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

Um, definitely added something different to it. But I mean, overall, it it was a great day.

Larry 8:36

Yeah. And for people that maybe don't know, the Iron Man Canada is now moving to Ottawa. Will will you move on to Ottawa with it, or is Ottawa a little too far away based on your current career?

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Uh no, not necessarily. I mean, I raced Mont Tremblant back in 2022, I believe it was. And uh loved it there. It was such an amazing race. So um if I could stay within Canada, that makes it even easier for me to be honest.

SPEAKER_04 9:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Uh it would be a really neat experience. I've heard some really positive things from people that I know that live out on that side that they're like a great venue. It's gonna be really good.

Larry 9:28

So well, it is a definitely a beautiful uh part of our country. So hopefully it it does hold up and and and keep the people coming into Canada to race.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

I really hope so, because there is not much left in Canada for our men races, really. Like even for 70.3s, we're like kind of falling off the map a little bit, and it's quite sad to say that. So I would really, really like to see something successful day in Canada.

Larry 9:58

Yeah. Well, let's let's move on to your your Ultraman Canada race, the big one this year, the one that you you made your focus that you you announced you were gonna finally take the plunge. You've been watching it in town for a number of years. Um what was it about this year in particular that you were like, okay, this is the year I'm gonna do it?

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Um honestly, like last season I ended up on a really like negative mental note. Um, just really frustrated with I didn't have a terrible season. Um, but it was really the realization that I could not make a living doing this sport anymore. And I put way too much financial pressure on myself to do well at races, that it was just to the point where I was like, I just need to make a good paycheck. Like, that's all I'm here for. And I'm like, I'm not even enjoying doing this right now. I'm just trying to pay the bills.

SPEAKER_04 10:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

And once I finished my last race, I'm like, this is not why I started doing this sport. I did the sport because I loved it. I felt great about it, I loved everything about it. And that mentally is not where I'm at right now. So kind of through the off season, I decided that I'm like, you know what? Like, I I need to step back and work full time, I need to step up that financial side for my family and bring the love of the sport back into my life. Uh so that's why I didn't really race pro much this year, uh, was just because I just I needed that pressure break mentally. So we're like, you know what? Like, let's just race a couple of local races. I did a back to back uh Olympic one day, half iron the next day, uh local race here just for fun. Like I know it sounds stupid for fun, but like just for something different, right? And it it was like it was no pressure, it was just something different to do, and I had fun doing it. And Ultraman has kind of always been on the bucket list, minus get wrapping my head around a double marathon in one day. I think that was like the one biggest deterrent. Um but I'm really good friends with uh Dave Matheson, who held the record here for a number of years. And I've watched him race here, and I'm like, you know what? Like this is really cool. And if I don't just do it now, I'm probably just never gonna do it. So why not just wrap this in, check that off the bat list and just do it, just go have fun.

Ultraman Canada/World Record

Larry 12:48

Yeah, and and I mean, yeah, there are so many people in the local community that I'm sure you know and have watched race and have talked about it, and you you know what it's all about, and it's on your home course. And if if you're taking that time to to have that mental break from the pro races, there's probably nothing better than the ohana of an ultraman race. It's completely different.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

It is, and it was it exceeded any expectation that I would have ever had of that race. Um it yeah, I mean, I had no excuse. It is in my back backyard, right? I'm like, I got to sleep in my bed for two out of or well, I would say two out of the three of the nights, but like yeah, there was only one night that I didn't get to sleep in my own bed. Uh not many people are fortunate to have that.

SPEAKER_04 13:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

I just the whole experience was unbelievable. And it gave my, especially my family, a chance to actually be a part of it, if not even a bigger part of it than me just doing it.

SPEAKER_04 13:55

Yeah.

Larry 13:56

You know, just not just seeing me train, being on the sidelines cheering and waiting on that one part of the road for you to come by on your bike and then all right.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Yeah, exactly. But like my success completely relied on them.

SPEAKER_04 14:13

Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

And our whole kind of my whole goal going into this is I'm like, I'm just doing this for the experience. Yeah, I just want to go and have fun, but I am also want my crew to have fun. And that was so important to me. I'm like, I don't want you guys stressed out. I've been doing this for so many years. You don't need to stress out. I just want you to have fun. I want us all to have a fun weekend.

Larry 14:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

And it was that and so much more.

Larry 14:40

Yeah. And you have one young son as well. Was he part of your crew?

SPEAKER_01 14:44

He was, yes.

Larry 14:45

What's what's his name? What's his age?

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Uh Nixon, and he's 12.

Larry 14:50

12. Okay. So yeah, good and that's a good age to be out there and running around and and helping out and filling bottles and stuff. Was he able to keep his energy up?

SPEAKER_01 14:59

He was my main bottle passer offer on the bike and ran with me for a little bit on the run. And well, great. Yeah, he did a really, really good job. He even surprised me with a inflatable T-Rex costume on the run. It was great. Yeah, that was at about like the 65k mark into the run when it was like the super long six kilometer uphill.

Larry 15:27

Yeah. And you can you go up the hill and it's like, oh, I'm at I think I'm at the top. And then there's another little piece of the hill, and you think you're at the top, and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

It was very much that, but I know that road really well, so I I knew it was coming.

Larry 15:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Yeah.

Larry 15:43

Well, I I I want to share with the with the listeners some of the um times that you had, because this is a new world record time. So if you'll indulge me in in talking about some of your times for a second here, um you basically shattered the world record. Uh, as I said, your total time was 2139.32. And this was breaking the previous record of Didi Griesbauer, who set it in Ultraman, Florida in 2020 by just over an hour. So in in this world, you you shattered that record. And I think now, um, other than the swim at Ultraman Canada, I think you hold um all of the race records at that event, just like Simon Cochrane did the year before, came in and set all of the records except for the swim, which still belongs to Jordan Bryden. Yeah. So uh your swim time was a 251.18, and you were first out of the water. Your bike ride on day one was four hours nine minutes 35 seconds, which was a record. And your total time for the day was 753, um, which was about a half hour better than Cape Bevelacwa's previous record. On day two, you had a time of seven hours and fifty-two minutes 27 seconds, another record, giving you a bike total of 120202. You almost had your bike total down in the 11s, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

And you know what? I would have had it if I hadn't had a little mishap on day one, too.

Larry 17:20

So oh, did what was your mishap?

SPEAKER_01 17:24

Uh, I hit a pothole on one of the rollers that I has been there since I think I have started racing. And I it was just they had some construction going on, and I tried to deck around a construction sign, but there was a car, so I ended up hitting this pothole and I lost all of my flat repair stuff, and my bottle cages broke behind my seat. Yeah, so I was stuck on the side of the road for probably only like five minutes. We were thankfully my crew was like right behind me. That's great. Yeah, kind of rigged it all back up together. There's my kid running up the highway trying to find all of my flat repair stuff. Um, so yeah, it would have been just under that, but that's okay. It is what it is. That was the only like bad thing that happened, and it wasn't even that bad.

Larry 18:15

Yeah, that's that's a great race, then. Yeah, yeah. Um, so and that actually gave you the third fastest combined bike time ever. So ahead of you is Simon Cochrane, uh, Steven Stafford, and then you got just ahead of Dave Matheson. So I bet that made you feel pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

Uh well, we're very similar in strength, other than the swim. So yeah.

Larry 18:43

Uh so that gave a two-day total of 14 hours, 53 minutes, and 20 seconds, another record uh that you took away from Kate. And your runtime on day three was quite impressive at six hours forty six and one second, uh, another record. So you're as I said, your total time 2139-21, the new world record. Um, how does it feel to be a world record holder in an event? Uh, I mean, you've been racing triathlon a long time. You you must you must have been hoping for a great time, but could you have imagined that you were gonna go world record time?

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Uh no. That wasn't even on the radar, to be honest. I didn't even know what the world record was. I was going for a course record.

SPEAKER_04 19:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

If everything went well, that that should be attainable, or like a women's course record, of course. I don't think anybody will come close to Simon ever. Um But um I wasn't even aware of the world record situation until about 16k left into the run or left in the run. And my run pacer, which is a good friend of mine, couldn't keep her mouth shut.

Larry 20:07

Time to put the pressure on.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

And who was that?

Larry 20:11

Who was your run pacer?

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Uh I had three of them actually. So uh Tracy Clark and Dave Matheson. And my brother actually ended up surprising me and jumping out and running with me. So it was actually great because I had it, they just swapped off every 5k. So it's I had a different personality every five kilometers.

SPEAKER_04 20:33

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

So it it actually made it go by really fast. But uh yeah, Tracy was we were talking about, I don't know what we were talking about. I think Dave came up actually quite often in conversation. And she was just like, You are gonna make history. I'm like, okay, what are you talking about? She's like, You're gonna break the world record. I'm like, well, don't tell me that now. Like, I had no idea, but I feel like 15 kilometers is a long way to run, right? Yeah, so uh I was mind blown by that. That like I said, it wasn't even on the radar, and I really had no idea that that was even a possibility.

Larry 21:17

Okay. Wow. Well, that's yeah, that's uh that's a fun surprise to have. And uh I'm sure Steve King must have had a great call for you when you came across the line.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Yes, he did. Yeah, it was uh it was pretty amazing. You can there's a couple of really good finish line videos where you can listen to him and yeah.

SPEAKER_05 21:46

This is gonna be a real absolute time. It is gonna be a brand new run record. It's uncomfortable.

Larry 22:29

So you you had Dave Matheson uh helping pace you, and your time actually sandwiched between two of his total times. So you're now the third fastest ever Ultraman Canada finisher between uh after Simon and Dave and before Dave again. So yeah. Was it was was he really proud to be helping you to push that, or was he like, hey, I'm gonna kick your heel out here and slow you down a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 22:59

No, no. Dave's a really good friend of mine. And uh we while we may like compete, quote unquote compete with each other, yeah. Um I yeah, it was all it was amazing to have him out there. Uh so no, I don't think there was any any bad going on. Like to say that he was really proud of it. So yeah, uh, I mean, anything just to be a part of that, I'm happy that he was he wanted to be a part of that.

Larry 23:30

So and and you have some other um local help as well, too, right? What tell us about your your your coach?

SPEAKER_01 23:38

Uh yeah, so Johnny has been coaching me since 2015. I brought him on, and uh it's obviously it's been working out really well. Uh we're still working together.

SPEAKER_04 23:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

Uh he's been a great coach, just started off with like a basically with a swim squad and then took him on full time. And it's not that I couldn't self-coach, but uh like I don't need somebody to push me. I just needed somebody to see things in me that I couldn't see, uh, which is definitely where he came into play. He's also got a family, so he understands that training family balance, which I think can get lost in uh uh coaching sometimes, uh depends, obviously depends on the coach, but I needed somebody that understood that I needed that that balance there that family for me always comes first. So while my situation may not be ideal compared to other pros, I still wanted to make it work as best as I could. So it's been great and he's here locally, so there's no hiding.

Larry 24:58

Yeah. You can just come knock on your door. It's not like you have to meet over the internet.

SPEAKER_04 25:04

Yeah.

Larry 25:06

Speaking of the the the balance in the family, um, did I see on your Instagram or Facebook that you had gone camping with your family? I I think it was maybe before or after Ultraman. Um, and and you had the trainer set up at the campsite. Is that is that right?

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Yeah, that that one was uh I've done that lots actually. Uh that was after Iron Man Canada, so that was in September.

SPEAKER_04 25:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

Um, yeah, we just make it work. We do a ton of camping, and it's often in places where there isn't any pavement. I can definitely drive to access pavement, but we've had actually in September we had a few really cold nights. And I'm like, okay, well, we'll just set the trainer up. I actually trained last year for Iron Man Texas. I did my longest ride inside my trailer on Easter weekend. Oh wow. Yeah. So I know it sounds crazy, and I get a lot of weird looks from people in the camera that are really have no idea what I do, but it makes for a good story. And uh yeah, they just make it work.

Larry 26:23

That's great. That's awesome. Yeah, it's a great way to get to keep the balance.

Support the Podcast

Larry 26:30

Hello, listener. I love getting your feedback and suggestions for the podcast. Keep them coming at 515ultraman at gmail.com. For those that want to help me promote the show, I suggest that you tell a friend to listen to. Word of mouth is a great way for podcasts to get into it. And if you don't mind publishing your feelings, a free way to support the show is by leaving a five-star rating and review on your podcast app. It's a chance to tell me what you love about the show, and it helps others discover it too. Finally, if you're so inclined, you can show your appreciation for my work by clicking the support button at the bottom of the show notes to go to my Buy Me a Coffee page. Thanks for all of your feedback and support. Now back to the show. I know that people listening are always looking for race tips on how to complete or compete at a 515 race. So in this next segment, I asked Jen about her nutrition plan. And for those of you that like getting into the nitty-gritty of numbers, she shares them all.

Jen's Precision Nutrition plan

Larry 27:45

A lot of the people that listen to the podcast, they're they're doing it to get some tips from pros like you on how to race. Not that everybody's going to race the way you race, but tips are tips. And some people, you know, borrow here and there. I saw that you use uh precision nutrition and that they posted a case study on their website about your nutrition for this race. So maybe you can just run through some of the things that you did for your nutrition for the race. Um, and just how did you decide what it was going to be? Was that with Johnny's influence? Was that with someone from precision um talking you through it, or your own? Just this is what I've been doing for years. And I this is how I will approach the ultraman when I go from Iron Man to Ultraman. Give us a little feedback on how that all came about.

SPEAKER_01 28:38

It's always a million-dollar question, right? Well, nutrition is such like a personal thing, it's definitely not a one-size-fits-all, and gone are the days of Gatorade and Power Gels. That's pretty much all you had, right? Like you didn't have much to choose from, and there's so many different products over there. I have used a variety of different products over the years and just got on with precision last year.

SPEAKER_04 29:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

And love their stuff. Um, there's a lot of research now with the whole glucose, fructose uh combination. Back in the day, everything was just glucose, right? Um so fructose is digested through a different channel than glucose. So what it does is it allows you to take in more carbohydrates per hour without stressing the digestive system out. So gone are the days of the like typical quote unquote 60 grams of carbs an hour is the max you can take in because that's all your body can digest. Now you can tap into that fructose channel and take in. I take in 90 to 100 closer. I try to stick closer to the 100 grams an hour, and it's worked really, really well. That's how precision has their stuff uh set up because it's just glucose fructose combination. So I am a I believe in simple is the best way to go. Keeping everything as simple as possible. It just leaves way less room for error. So doing this whole like half a bar every half an hour, a gel every 15 minutes, some water every 10 minutes, a sip of sports drink every like whatever. I just do everything for the bike is all concentrated in bottles. So I use their like carb mix, and then they have a carb plus sodium mix. So I get all my electrolytes in there. So in a one-liter bottle, I'll put a thousand to twelve hundred calories with all of my uh electrolytes as well in there. So every 20 minutes, I take some of that. I know how long a bottle's gonna last me. So if I've got a six-hour ride, I've got two bottles. One bottle is gonna be three hours. So at an hour and a half, I need to be halfway down that. Uh, so I'm constantly just keeping tabs on that while I'm drinking it, uh, and then washing it down with water. So, really, the only thing that I ever pick up during a race is water. I just make sure that I'm taking in enough. I have a very high sweat rate, so I need to be replenishing that fluid.

SPEAKER_04 31:33

Right.

SPEAKER_01 31:33

So that is all I do for the bike for these super bottles of fuel and electrolytes and water.

Larry 31:39

And and then for Ultraman, because you have someone to be able to pass you off a nice cold icy one whenever you want, basically. Did you change the amount you were putting in your bottles and or how did you approach it with the Ultraman race?

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Honestly, I just stuck to the same thing that I always stick to.

Larry 31:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

Yeah. Uh, don't fix it if it ain't broke. In my opinion, not that I don't trust my crew at all. I a hundred percent trust them. Yeah, but uh like my nutrition is in my hands. So I think the only thing I ever had them pass off during the bike was I had my son pass me off a Red Bull at like 200k into the the second day bike, just because I'm like, all right, got this like long 35 kilometer climb. Like I need a little kick. Uh, but other than that, it was just water they were passing off to me every 30 minutes or so. Okay, yeah. Yeah, I just got a new bottle of water and then my nutrition I just kept on on my bike. So just stuck with the same thing. Actually, no, you know what? I'm gonna take that back. They did pass me my second bottle at like a halfway mark. So I didn't have to weigh my bike down with two full bottles of nutrition. But that being said, in the whole picture, nothing really changed. I just like to keep things in my own hands as much as possible.

SPEAKER_04 33:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:08

Um, I've just been doing this for so many years and do so much training by myself that I rely on myself for everything. Um, so yeah, that's basically how I do the bike.

Larry 33:21

Yeah. And I guess, sorry, the the great thing about the pace that you're racing at is you're not really going longer than your Iron Man races. So your body's used to it, you know what you're doing. Someone who's doing Ultraman and pushing that 12-hour time limit each day, they might have to approach this a little bit differently. Uh, particularly, you know, with Canada being as hot as it is. I know it wasn't as hot this year. Um, would do you think that like you would adjust the sodium intake if you were an athlete out there longer than than what you were on the road for?

SPEAKER_01 33:57

Um, I mean, that's honestly a really individual question.

Larry 34:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

Uh what I always say is people need to figure out their their sweat rate um and use that as a base. I know, like, like I said, I'm a heavy sweater. So I would go, I go through kind of like a series of before and after weigh-ins to try to find figure out kind of the average amount of fluid that I lose, and then play around with sodium amounts. I know for the last, I don't know, probably six or seven years, I've been doing the same thing and it's worked. So I haven't changed, I haven't changed it in terms of the amount of sodium uh that I take in. Uh, the one thing that I did change a few years ago is because I used to be terrible in hot conditions, was I didn't actually realize how much I was sweating. And once I upped my fluid intake, it made it all the difference. I would say figure out your sweat weight rate first. But typically a person that's slower can digest more than somebody who's working a lot harder. It's just the digestive system can digest that um a lot easier. But I wouldn't say it should really change anything. I think that sometimes athletes that are out there for longer can sometimes lose focus on taking in their nutrition and perhaps get sidetracked. So I think the biggest thing is just making sure that you stick to your plan and don't waver away from that.

Larry 35:43

And that you have a good crew that's gonna be counting the numbers for you.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

And a plan B.

Larry 35:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

Like I had a plan B if my nutrition decided to go sideways, if all of a sudden my body was like, you know what, I'm done with this, I don't want this. So I had a plan B because I would rather have a plan B and still have calories coming in than nothing at all.

Larry 36:08

And trying to make it up on the spot or yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

And I've had to do that in Iron Man races and just make it work. But I mean, if you want, I could just I could briefly just read off my summary of what I took during the swim bike run.

Larry 36:24

Yeah, let's let's hear it.

SPEAKER_01 36:25

Yeah. Um, so this is for Ultraman, obviously. So swim, uh pre-swim, I had a bottle with 250 calories of like of the precision carb mix with the sodium in it, um and water, and then a gel 15 minutes pre-start. And that's that's honestly typical of any race that I do. That's what I always do. No different for Ultraman. Uh, difference in Ultraman is to swim, obviously 10 kilometers, it's not an hour or less type event.

SPEAKER_04 37:05

Right.

SPEAKER_01 37:05

So I stopped every 30 minutes and took a gel with part of a bottle of um carbon electrolyte drink. So I was aiming for like 300 calories or so an hour in the swim. That was a little bit of a unknown zone for me because I don't typically take in any nutrition when I'm swimming.

Larry 37:29

Yeah, of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

So I wanted to make sure I was getting enough to feel okay getting out of the water and onto the bike, but didn't want to end up with some sort of gut issue either.

SPEAKER_04 37:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

Um, but that worked out really well. So the total, actually, I'm gonna take that back. Total amount was, yeah, this is why I wrote it down. Uh was 360 calories an hour, which is 90 grams of carbs and 500 milligrams of sodium an hour, which is really on the low side for me uh for sodium. Um, but it did work. Uh the bike, I did 400 calories an hour and 1200 milligrams of sodium an hour. So that's pretty typical for me as well. That was split between two bottles and then two bottles of water an hour on top of that. Day two of the bike was exactly the same thing classic 200k mark just to give me a little bit of something different.

Larry 38:32

Get out of Princeton and get up the hill.

SPEAKER_01 38:34

Yeah, exactly. You're right. Uh, and then the run was a little different. Um, I did one gel every 20 minutes with two electrolyte capsules. So I was taking 500 milligrams of sodium with a gel every two uh 20 minutes, uh, which worked out to obviously 1500 milligrams of sodium an hour. And I did basically two uncaffeinated gels, one caffeinated, two uncaffeinated, one caffeinated.

Larry 39:07

It's kind of throughout the whole day, you didn't like hold off on it or yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:12

No, well, that's just kind of how I decided to do it. I'm like, well, why not, right? And I do really well with caffeine. I I think I was born with coffee in my blood, so um, and then at the halfway point, I actually switched to one gel every half an hour, um, all uncaffeinated because I was doing uh Red Bull every 20 minutes or so. Not a full can, like a shot. They jumped it in like a shot, basically, like what you would get in an eight station. So I was alternating water with Red Bull. So I was picking up those extra calories and sugar with the Red Bull and didn't want to overload my system.

SPEAKER_04 39:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:57

Ended up being 100 grams of carbs an hour, and then the 1500 milligrams of sodium. And that was basically how my like in-race nutrition went. My like uh post-race every day was right chicken, rice, and soy sauce. So carbs, protein, and but very, very simple. I know it's not exciting at all, but that's what I had uh immediately after each race or each day. Uh and that I'm known to have really bad gut issues running. Knew I had to be really careful with that.

SPEAKER_04 40:38

Right.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

So simple is good.

SPEAKER_04 40:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:42

Uh so it was a lot of chicken and rice for like four days.

SPEAKER_04 40:46

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

Did not want to speed chicken and rice for a long time. Uh, but eating that like protein, high protein, high carb, like right after the race, along with some electrolytes and water was I think super key to recovering, getting that back in my system for the next day.

SPEAKER_04 41:05

Right.

SPEAKER_01 41:06

Because that's what a lot of people don't think about, even in training. Like obviously, Ultraman was an unknown or a new thing for me, having to race three days in a row. Um, but it really is no different than three long days of training, where you need to think that what you take in today directly affects how you're gonna feel tomorrow.

SPEAKER_04 41:28

Right.

SPEAKER_01 41:29

And if I decide to cut things short today, I'm not gonna feel good tomorrow.

Larry 41:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and I think that is one of those good tips for for the people that maybe haven't done the distance before and and haven't, you know, had to put together multiple days. Um, that the the overnight the recovery, right? As soon as you finish that, the finish line, whatever your um drink might be at the finish line and getting that food into you is it's all part of the race when in an ultraman.

SPEAKER_01 42:00

Yeah, it's definitely something nutrition is a hundred percent that fourth discipline. And it's really easy to let it go or forget about that. But I always believe in thinking one day ahead. And I think that was key in my success, was just making sure the thing is like the more like in order to take in that 400 calories an hour, I definitely had to like gut train. I I didn't just all of a sudden do that. I needed to work my way up to that in training. But the more you can take in during that day of training or racing, the less depleted you're gonna be. So it's not like you need to be like gorging yourself to catch up on to try to catch up. It's just kind of like you just ride it through and make sure you're getting the right combination of things.

Larry 42:56

Right. Yeah. Well, I'll make sure to add into the show notes the link to that precision uh case study as well. People can they can read the numbers for themselves and and see what it looked like for you on those race days.

SPEAKER_01 43:12

Yeah.

Larry 43:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:13

Um they'll say I overdid the caffeine on day three, but that's okay. I think I ended up consuming like three or four cans of Red Bull in the last half of the marathon.

SPEAKER_04 43:25

So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:26

It's a lot of caffeine, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_04 43:30

It's a next day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:33

It worked. Nobody needs to sleep after that, right? No, no, not at all.

Larry 43:39

As long as you don't have a heart problem, you're good.

SPEAKER_01 43:41

Exactly. Knock on wood.

Next Episode Preview

Larry 43:46

I hope you're enjoying this episode with Jennanette. It is the first of two episodes this month that are featuring athletes competing in Hawaii this year. In my next episode, I'll be speaking with Carrie Mandel. From Princeton, New Jersey, and Mark Moody from Bellevue, Washington. I first met Mark in Arizona crewing for Shane Duffy. Didn't know any of the guys on the team on the way into it, but we all bonded very quickly. Here's a quick clip about what he said. Something you picked up along the way?

SPEAKER_02 44:28

Well, no, no, no, no, no, no. This this is Gail.

Larry 44:31

Oh, this is Gail?

SPEAKER_02 44:32

This is all Gail. Yeah. And Gail has a vision and it involved uh me in a pink wig. We didn't even know each other, but she already had this stuff. She already had this stuff picked out. I don't know what she got the idea that I was gonna wear it, but I don't know if you you know how you get a uh you get a buff. You know what a buff is?

SPEAKER_04 44:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:53

So the I wore I wore the Ultraman buff as a mini skirt with absolutely nothing underneath, and a coconut bra with uh a pink wig and ran down the highway towards Shane. And he's on the bike, and uh yeah, the rest is history. I think that there's a video about that. But no, this is all this is Gail's vision of me for me, and it and it kind of I don't know. It's like why she sees that in me, I don't know, but yeah, it just took off from there. And she wasn't even at Arizona, and she had three outfits.

Larry 45:32

That conversation with Mark and my conversation with Carrie will be part of a special early release just before the world championships at the end of the month. Now, as we go back to my conversation with Jen, we're gonna get into what she hopes to accomplish in Hawaii.

Racing in Hawaii (past & present)

Larry 45:52

Well, I know that in addition to doing the Ultraman Canada, you will be going on to Hawaii this year. And um I I know that in the past for you racing in Hawaii with your with your Ironmans has not always been the best place for you to race. So I I'd like to think that you've used up your bad luck in Hawaii and that when you go there this time it's going to be all all good stuff for you. Um, but maybe you can just um give us a little bit of the history of your Hawaii uh experiences that maybe weren't always the best. I know you you get the classic bingo card uh mark by uh getting hit by a car when training. So tell tell us a little bit about what's been going on for you in Hawaii, and then we'll talk a little bit about what you're expecting in Hawaii.

SPEAKER_01 46:45

Um yeah, it definitely, but apparently I just want to go back because I just haven't I I think the island still owes me something or something along those lines. I don't know. Um, I still got some beef with the with the the races there. Um yeah, I mean 08. I was hit by a car 10 days out of the race. That was my like age group race. I still went and raced, but obviously not in the condition that I wanted to be in. Um 2018 was my very first pro race there. And I my electronic shifting shorted out, so I was stuck on the side of the road. I had like the best swim of my career was in like the perfect group of girls, like everything was perfect, and then I was stuck on the side of the road for 15 minutes with tech support. Trying to do something with my bike to make it work. Um, so needless to say, I didn't recover from that. I still finished the race, obviously, but I didn't recover from it. Uh 2019, I was hit by a medium motorcycle uh about three kilometers uh into the bike on Pilani. And then uh yeah, I finished the bike because I'm stubborn.

Larry 48:05

Good for you.

SPEAKER_01 48:07

Well, I uh yeah, I basically got a wheel from my husband's bike that like I would have been disqualified anyways because it would have been outside help, but that's not things I was thinking of. But that is the only DNF I actually have in my entire career. Oh, good for you, yeah, because I'm stubborn.

Larry 48:27

It took it took a motorcycle to take you out.

SPEAKER_01 48:30

It did, literally. Um, so yeah, that was 2019, and then 2022, I had a nutrition mishap where my nutrition for whatever reason basically coagulated and it was like it like solidified almost in my bottles. Yeah, so I had to go through eight-station nutrition, but that was the year that they did um men and women two days apart, and they were and they were lacking volunteers. Yes, so the eight stations were even further apart. Yeah, so my nutrition went sideways. I still finished, but it still wasn't the race that I was capable of. And then yeah, last year I would say overall the race went fine. I just didn't place as well as I wanted to. So yeah, that's my history of the island. So I'm really hoping for a great race here.

Larry 49:31

Uh you gotta you gotta remember to bring your sacrifice with you, I think. Maybe that's what you've been lacking. Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 49:38

I feel like I sacrificed myself, right? Um, yeah, I'm really, really hoping for for a great race.

Larry 49:46

So yeah. Um, after that 2008 accident, um, I understand that you had some other prolonged uh medical problems that came up after you had that accident. Can you tell us about that as well?

SPEAKER_01 50:01

Yeah, so uh after I was hit by the car in 08, I started having these like kind of like weird dizzy spells. And I went to the doctor, had everything tested, had my heart tested. They basically just boiled it down to like electrolyte issues with training, um, and kind of just swept it under the rug, and that was it. And then in 2010, I had a grandma seizure at work and was obviously was in the hospital. And after they assessed everything and went through my history, they're like, Oh, okay, you've actually been having small seizures since this accident. And it finally manifested into a grandmall seizure. Basically, your brain just was like, okay, now I'm on overload.

SPEAKER_04 50:55

Right.

SPEAKER_01 50:55

Um, so they gave me the epilepsy diagnosis and wasn't able to drive for six months. They basically told me like my independence was taken away. They're like, you can't, you can't go swim, you can't swim, you can't have a bath by yourself, you can't drive, you can't like can't, can't, can't. And that was like, what am I doing? Right. Um, so obviously worked through that. And then I had seizures on and off for a few years there, worked on different medications. I was actually on a waiting list to have brain surgery, which didn't end up happening happening for a few different reasons, but uh we have been able to find a medication that works well that I don't have negative side effects with. Oh, great. So I haven't had a seizure in like probably 10 years now. So I would like to say they were short-lived, but I did have a lot of them enough to actually cause some decent brain damage where it's all memory affected. So my short-term memory is like terrible. But it's just something I've learned to deal with.

Larry 52:17

Yeah. Um, so at that time when you were told that, you know, you can't drive, you can't swim, but you're, you know, a triathlete and you want to compete, were you how did that go? Like that there must have been some depression, or there must have been like a what am I gonna do? Or was it I'm stubborn and I'm just gonna keep doing these things anyway? And if I have a seizure while I'm in the water, well, I had good time. What was your what was your thought on this?

SPEAKER_01 52:49

Um, well, obviously stubborn. Um, but when it came down to it, uh, at that time, Iron Man was actually really good, and so were other race organizers with giving me a different colored swim cap and in some races, even assigning me a person that would keep an eye on me.

SPEAKER_04 53:10

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_01 53:12

Yeah, so that worked out really well. All of the um lifeguards at the pool were aware of my search situation. So like everybody kind of just made it happen. I would never go open water swimming by myself. Um, in terms of the bike in the run, well, his bike especially, that was just a risk I had to take. Um, the funny thing is though, is I did not ever have any of my seizures while I was training hard. All of my seizures happened in off season when I really wasn't training very much.

Larry 53:48

Do you feel there was a connection?

SPEAKER_01 53:50

Medically, they can't say that there's a correlation, but I I'm like, how can you argue that I went through this many years of that pattern? So I don't know, maybe triathlon's just kept me safe.

Larry 54:05

Some people say yoga saved my life, but for you, triathlon saved your life.

SPEAKER_01 54:09

There we go. Maybe not. May have opened a can of worms, but then we just made it work.

Larry 54:15

That's awesome. Yeah. So going forward into the the world championship this year. Um, I I was looking at their website, and I it looks like right now there's 19 athletes competing in Hawaii this year, at least according to their website. And you are the second youngest. I don't know if you've taken a look at that.

SPEAKER_01 54:35

Um it's funny that you brought that up. I actually just looked at the that like last night or this morning.

Larry 54:43

I'm wondering, you know, how do you feel yet that your your training is going leading into this? Have you learned anything in Canada that you think um I can fix this and be better in Hawaii? And should we maybe be looking for an overall female winner this year in Hawaii?

SPEAKER_04 55:03

Oh, million-dollar question.

Larry 55:06

Tell me, what are your plans for Hawaii? How do you feel is you think it's going right now?

SPEAKER_01 55:11

Uh honestly, my plan was just to like the race here couldn't have gone more perfect in every sense. Um if I could duplicate what I did here in Hawaii, that would be like the perfect situation. So I'm not, I'm I don't have higher expectations. Um I mean, I not to like I'm really bad with this, but like to poot my own horn, but I kind of set the bar high in Canada. Yeah, you did. That wasn't really the plan. Um, I don't even know. Like, obviously, Hawaii is a beast of its own, right? So in comparison time-wise, it that's a really hard one to like compare courses with times, especially a three-day race. So I don't think that can necessarily comparing course times is a realistic thing. Yeah, that's really but in terms of prepping for the race and executing the race, uh if like I said, if I could mimic the race here, I that is that would be my ideal situation. So training leading up to it, uh, I am working more than I was leading up to Ultraman Canada. So it's been a little bit more difficult, especially because it's colder and darker here now than it was in June, July uh here in Canada. So um that's been a challenge, but I'm basically just trying to replicate that build. So the whole plan was to kind of kind of detrain actually a little bit after Iron Man Canada just to avoid any chance of burnout.

SPEAKER_04 57:06

Right.

SPEAKER_01 57:06

Um, which definitely made the first couple of weeks of building back into Ultraman terrible. But uh that's kind of the hump and I'm over it now. Um so I would say we could just make the same thing happen going into this. I have the same crew coming with me.

Larry 57:29

Minus that was the other question I was gonna ask you is uh are you gonna be using the same crew?

SPEAKER_01 57:34

I am. There is uh one couple that's not coming, um, but the main uh part of the crew is the same crew. Oh, that's great. So that's what I wanted because they're they obviously know me inside out now. They're really good friends of mine, plus obviously my husband and my son.

SPEAKER_04 57:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:52

So I couldn't ask for anything better than that.

Larry 57:56

And and you've got a lot of people um within the Penticton community and within the pro-triathlete world that have all raced the Ultraman in Hawaii. So what kind of insights have you got into the course itself and and how to attack that particular course?

SPEAKER_01 58:17

Um, I mean, I've been to the Big Island a number of times now. The run course, I know like the back of my hand because it is literally the back half of the back bike course. Yeah. Um the bike basically, I haven't gotten a whole lot of insight on on things, probably because I actually haven't been poking around. Um it's definitely a day one bike, it's a totally different dynamic. There's a that's a really long climb up into volcano.

SPEAKER_04 58:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:51

Uh often raining. Yeah, and it's not that warm up there either. That's the thing, right? Like you're at elevation, it's not that warm for being on the island, which is gonna make for an un well, in my eyes, when I think of Hawaii, an unusually cold day to start.

SPEAKER_04 59:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:11

Um, and it's a decent right all the way like for the first bit. And then I know I have been to Hilo before, so I know how completely opposite it is of the Kona side.

SPEAKER_04 59:24

Right.

SPEAKER_01 59:25

So I do expect some rain, wind, all that stuff. So um, I don't know. Yeah, I haven't really gotten a whole lot of insight, but like I said, I haven't really been asking. Yeah, I I do know for the most part what the course entails, and sometimes unknown is okay, right?

Larry 59:48

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Um now when you've you've talked about um you're working full time. Sorry, and what is it that you you do for your for your job?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:01

Uh so my husband and I manage uh butcher shop here called T-Bones.

Larry 1:00:06

Oh, okay. Yeah. Um, so that must be more than full time, probably, if the two of you are running it together.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:15

Well, yeah, I mean, he's been there since day one. He's been there for like 15 years. I've been there for two and a half years, but not as a manager. I just got into this role like a month and a half ago. Okay. So the role is fairly new to me, but uh it's it's not any well, it's not that much extra work than what I was doing in the past as an assistant manager. So uh it's it's good.

Larry 1:00:41

Yeah.

Jen gives thanks to her Ohana

unknown 1:00:42

Yeah.

Larry 1:00:43

And and and what I was gonna say was, I mean, you're working full time, you're probably training more than full time, you're raising a child, you've got all the family commitments, your life is very full. Um, and you have all of the stuff that comes with that. And previously trying to live on your pro triathlete uh income, I know that these races can get very, very expensive. You had the uh the luxury of having it in your backyard at Ultraman Canada. Um, you were able to sleep in your own bed, as you said. Now you're gonna be moving the show over to Hawaii, not the cheapest place to visit and be in. So I know that there's people in your community that have been supporting you. Um, I'm sure maybe this might be an opportunity for you to give out some thanks and some kudos. Um tell us a little bit about some of the fundraising that uh has been happening around your journey, because I know so many people in Penticton really want to support this race for you. And uh I think there's also like GoFundMe, maybe, or there's been other raffles and stuff. Tell us what's been going on.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:55

Um yeah, I mean, apparently this was planned before I even crossed the finish line on day three here. Um people were already planning on how to make this work, and Hawaii was never in the cards at all, ever. And um it doesn't it wasn't even on the table. Yeah. Um, mostly just because like last year we're like last year we're going financially, we shouldn't have even gone last year. And there's just no way that I can make this happen because you've got your crew, you've got like it's just it's a it is Iron Man on steroids. Yeah, like it's so um I have honestly like a mind-blowing, amazing support group here. Um, it really showed in this situation. I am not one to ask for help at all. I have a really hard time doing that. I'd rather just say no, not at all, than ask for help.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:58

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:58

And they basically weren't no, they weren't at all. There, they nobody was taking no for an answer. And I had some friends that are like, you know, come over, come over for dinner and we'll uh, you know, we have some things we want to talk to you about. We show up and there's like 15 people there, and I'm like, is this an intervention? Like, what is going on? And basically everybody there was like, we really want to see this happen for you, and we're like, we're gonna do everything that we can to make it happen. We tried to brainstorm some ideas, and then um, one of the girls is uh one of my friends is a marketing person, and she's like, You should really look into a GoFundMe. And I'm like, I immediately said no. I'm like, I just don't like in my eyes, GoFundMe is just more for people that have had something significant, like a significant loss or injury or illness, or like something like that, like a life changing, like you know what I mean, right? Like that's what that should be for, not something like this. And I said I shut it down for probably a good couple of weeks until basically I don't know, they convinced me otherwise. And I'm like, okay, if you want to like word it like this, um I'm okay to like start it. Sure, it's not gonna be started by me, it needs to be started by somebody else. Yeah. And it was so successful, it raised everything within like a week and a half that we had hoped for.

Larry 1:04:45

That's excellent.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:46

Um which uh I I couldn't believe it, just tracking it. I'm like, I can't even look at this anymore. Like it's just like so. Between that and then I've had a couple of local friends uh make some very large donations, uh, just like per well personally. And then uh the Okanagan Falls barbershop, uh, the guy that owns that has done a few fundraisers for me over the years to get me to the Iron Man World Championships or to help help with that. So he threw together this uh raffle event, and that was like that blew my mind away. I couldn't even believe uh what came what came out of that. And uh yeah, so basically, like my friends and family and following are unbelievable. Um, I wish that there was a way that I could repay everybody for what they've done for me. Uh, this is not something that I ever expected would be possible. So From the bottom of my heart, like I can't say enough thanks to everybody that has made this happen. Whether it was a dollar or a thousand dollars that came in every little bit, adds up. And honestly, like yeah, I just completely blown away.

Larry 1:06:16

Yeah. Um, I don't know if they want to be mentioned, but do you want to personally name some of these people to say thanks?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:25

Um, yeah, I mean, a lot of it was my my crew. There was Shelly and Shelly Best, Gary Scatcherd, uh Bob and Sandy Vincent, uh, Trish and Glenn Isaac. Uh my coach was part of it, uh Peter Burns, Peter Beauchamp, who's the the barber. Uh he was the one that did uh did the raffle. Uh Dave Michael, Reese Spencer, Dave Matheson was part of it as well. Dave Larson from he owns a tire shop here in town. He made a huge donation to me personally. Well, Neil McDonald from Peach City Runners made a huge, yeah, huge, huge donation. Uh podium Brian McCoy from Podium Imports. Uh he made a huge donation and got my flights sorted out for me. Pintictin Tri Club, they stepped up and helped out as well for a very large amount. Yeah, Steve and Rhea Brown. Uh so Steve, you probably know Steve Brown. Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, yeah. They uh made a very large donation as well. Yeah, basically I've got like anybody and everybody behind me with this. You have the whole Okanagan there. I I do. Yeah. There was a numerous amount of people on GoFundMe that I can't even uh honestly go through in name. Yeah, and then of course there's everybody that donated to the raffle baskets, which I can't even can't even go there. Yeah, um, I don't even know everybody that did.

Larry 1:08:07

Well, it it it really sounds like an amazing community. And and I know Penticton and the Okanagan in general has an amazing community and an amazing tri-community. And for them to come and support you, it only makes sense as being one of their own and and being this uh new uh world record-breaking 515 athlete. You know, they want to see you do the big race, they want to see you get to Hawaii and see what you can do on that one as well. So um I'm sure you'll do all of them proud and um you'll you'll finally get your revenge on Hawaii and and have the race that you deserve there. Because it sounds like the training's been going well and and you got the support and you've got the plan and and and that's all it usually takes. It just comes down to a little execution and uh you know praying that you don't have that bike failure. I mean that's the only thing that could are you taking a second bike.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:11

That wasn't the plan.

Larry 1:09:13

I may take a second bike, take a second bite, take a second bike.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:17

Well, I might just look into the bike shop there, uh bike works and see if I can borrow a second bike. Essentially rent, borrow or whatever, a bike for uh the first two days.

Larry 1:09:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:29

So yeah, yeah.

Larry 1:09:31

You're not gonna be.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:32

I actually don't have a second bike. I had my coach's bike, backup bike here, which wasn't in great running condition. So I no offense, Johnny, but I mean it would have gotten me through. Yeah. Um, but yeah, obviously I'm taking backup wheels and all that stuff. But uh I know the bike shot there is pretty good. So I would hope that I could source something out there if needed. Yeah, excellent.

Larry 1:10:03

Well, listen, I want to thank you so much for squeezing me into what I know is a busy schedule. And I'm glad you didn't do this on your trainer so I could actually hear you. I appreciate that. Um thanks for joining us on the podcast, and good luck in Hawaii. I'll be watching and and listening for Steve King to call you across that finish line.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:24

Awesome. Thank you so much. This is great.

Mary Jo 1:10:28

Hey, if you liked what you heard today, please tell a friend and be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcast. We'd appreciate it. It'd be great to do this show while we're there. Thank you for listening to five.