The REST DAY Podcast - Episode 1
Morning Coffee, Shoutouts & Some Triathlon Industry Musings
I had a bit of time this morning, coffee in hand, and figured it was the perfect moment to record a quick update. This is one of those episodes that’s part community check-in, part industry philosophy, and part “what’s been on my mind lately.”
Let’s start with the people.
Carleton Early Bird: We’re Rolling
Big shoutout to the 15 athletes who registered for the Early Bird program at Carleton. First meet-and-greet: done. First swim session: done. A little hectic? Of course. First sessions always are.
When you’ve got a new group in the water, you’re figuring out:
Where everyone’s swim fitness actually sits
Who needs technical overhaul versus small tweaks
Who can handle structure and who needs more base
But we’re underway, and I’m confident there’s a lot of progress to be made.
Special mention to Mark for suggesting Robert Johnson for our first indoor bike spin playlist. That’s a bold trainer choice. I tried to split the difference with some Albert Collins—still blues, but with more energy. We’ll see if Mississippi Delta blues becomes standard spin-session fare.
Quick Athlete Shoutouts
Maria — take the extra day or two. A cold isn’t something you “push through” productively.
Deena — you’ve got a lot going on outside of triathlon. Staying consistent when life is heavy deserves recognition.
And to everyone quietly showing up through winter: that’s the work that counts.
Swim Filming – March 14
Next underwater swim filming session:
March 14
2:00 PM
Champaign Pool
The pool is booked. We’re sitting around 5–6 athletes right now. I’d love to see that closer to 10, mostly because it lowers the cost per person and makes it easier for everyone.
Underwater filming is extremely useful for:
Seeing real head and spine alignment
Catch mechanics
Crossover issues
Kick timing
Stroke asymmetry
And no—you can’t legally just film underwater at most public pools without booking them. That’s why we do it properly.
If you’ve been meaning to clean up your stroke before race season ramps up, this is one of the highest value sessions you can do.
A Week at Mont-Sainte-Anne
I just got back from a week skiing at Mont-Sainte-Anne.
The good:
Grooming quality was excellent
Trails were wide and consistent
Snow quality was what skiers call “hero snow”
Equipment looked brand new
From a surface standpoint, fantastic.
But here’s where my brain shifts into operations mode.
It was President’s Week in the U.S.—historically the busiest ski week of the year. And yet:
Some lifts weren’t running
Others were running at reduced speed
Staff mentioned being short-handed
If terrain is open and lift tickets are full price, my instinct is that lifts should be spinning at full capacity. I understand margins are tight in ski operations. I understand staffing is hard. But from a customer-experience perspective, it raises questions.
And that leads directly into triathlon.
Bike Course Design: Florida Reflections
Back in December, I was in Florida for Ironman 70.3 Florida with an athlete.
The course was fast. Road quality was generally good. Police were present at intersections and doing solid work.
But the bike course featured a large number of right-angle turns and long stretches open to traffic.
The dynamic looked like this:
Police stopped traffic at intersections
Cars backed up
Riders were moving 15–25 mph
Cars were creeping forward 5–10 mph
Which meant cyclists were weaving around vehicles—sometimes passing right, sometimes left—depending on relative speed and space.
Nothing catastrophic happened. But it was sketchy.
It got me thinking about course design tradeoffs:
What if the course were two loops instead of one?
Less total road to marshal
More feasible to fully close sections
Higher density of mechanical support
Potentially fewer bike/car overlap zones
The downside?
Faster riders lapping slower riders
Some athletes dislike multi-loop courses
But if safety is truly paramount, there’s an argument that rider density on closed roads may be preferable to long stretches of mixed traffic.
I’d love to sit in on those race design meetings one day. These decisions are rarely simple. They balance:
Cost
Community impact
Logistics
Safety
Athlete experience
And those priorities don’t always align cleanly.
Neutral Support Reality
On that Florida course, my athlete had a slow leak. We pulled off the road and, by luck, a neutral mechanic rolled up with a pump.
Great outcome.
But that’s partly chance on a long, single-loop course. On a shorter loop, support covers less ground. That matters.
Course design affects more than just elevation profile and scenery. It changes how supported and how safe athletes actually are.
Triathlon Instagram & “Punching Down”
I may have been a little spicy recently about parts of triathlon social media.
Here’s my take:
The memes that poke fun at ourselves?
Celebrating every swim set like a touchdown
Passing someone in aqua fit and feeling like a hero
Jokes about “nobody saw me cut refined sugar because I didn’t”
That’s funny. That’s community.
The content that boils down to:
“Five things I’d never do if I wanted to go sub-9.”
That doesn’t build anything.
Most athletes are balancing:
Jobs
Families
8–12 hours of training
If someone goes sub-9 at an Ironman, that’s phenomenal. Truly. But the way we talk about performance matters. We can share excellence without subtly diminishing everyone else.
We’re all working within constraints.
Late-Winter Reality Check
We’re in that dangerous time of year:
It looks runnable.
It feels runnable.
And then you hit slush over ice.
Be smart. Protect your ankles. And make sure your bike is clamped securely in the trainer—we don’t need any more indoor dismount stories.
Wrapping Up
Programs are rolling.
Swim filming is coming up.
Community is strong.
Industry logistics are endlessly fascinating.
And triathlon memes are finally improving my algorithm.
If it’s your rest day—enjoy it.
If it’s not your rest day… maybe save the podcast for when it is.