For the final Feisty Triathlon podcast of the year, Kelly, Katie, and Joanne are joined by Chelsea Burns to recap the 2025 season and make their picks for most exciting race, comeback, and standout athlete of the year.

But first, looking ahead to 2026 and beyond: What's does the new PTO/T100 and World Triathlon partnership really mean? And what questions still need to be answered?

Then it's the bests of 2025:

• Kate Waugh’s breakout season
• Georgia Taylor-Brown's mind-boggling schedule
• Of course, Lucy and Taylor in Kona...and then Lucy and Taylor in Marbella
• And 80-year-old Natalie Grabow becoming the oldest woman to ever finish the Ironman World Championships

What are we looking forward to seeing more of next season?

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A surprise early show for you to mini-preview the T100 Grand Final in Qatar this evening. Watch on T100's Youtube at 2a.m. ET tonight (early Friday morning)!

A few highlights this week:

• Congrats to Kirsten Kasper who won her debut 70.3 at La Quinta and to Georgia Taylor-Brown for clocking "the fastest 70.3 in history." What does that mean? Do records matter in triathlon?
• Then it's a quick preview of the T100 racing in Qatar, where it's a winner-take-all situation between Lucy Charles-Barclay, Julie Derron, and Kate Waugh.
• Even more retirements! Is there something about 2025 that's causing all these pros to retire?
• And a kudos to Mark Allen and TriDot's Limitless initiative to get more women to triathlon start lines. There are over 1,000 women already signed up and a waitlist has been started.
• Which brings us to Joanne's question: How do tri clubs work in the U.S.?

And then we share some holiday season gift picks for the triathlete in your life (or for yourself) 🎁

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Next week, we'll be doing our final 2025 show, with all the picks for the year: Best race, best moment, best athlete. Send us your 2025 Best of Triathlon picks to [email protected]

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This week, as most of America recovers from their Thanksgiving food comas and Joanne winds down her race announcing season, we’re honoring the sunset of another iconic chapter in triathlon. The legendary Dede Griesbauer—yes, the 55-year-old powerhouse with 21 years of pro racing under her belt—joins us to celebrate her retirement and reflect on a career defined by an unwavering love of swim-bike-run.

And, no, she will not be returning to a job on Wall Street!

Dede gives us the scoop on what happened with Lisa Perterer's missed slot at Ironman Cozumel and helps us start to preview the final big race of the year at the T100 Qatar Final. Plus, how the pros have changed in her two decades and the amount of media obligations they have to deal with now.

• What retirement actually looks like (Spoiler: It involves 12 hours of training/week)
• How she knew it was time to hand in the pro card—and why it felt exactly right
• Her hard-earned longevity secrets that have kept her competitive, fierce, and injury-resistant through five decades

Dede leaves us with a final reminder that feels especially appropriate as we round out the year: love the sport, enjoy the journey, and don’t forget to savor every moment along the way.

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This episode originally dropped on June 20, 2025

Joanne, Katie, and Kelly are joined by endurance athlete, FKT record holder, and former IronWomen host, Alyssa Godesky, for a deep dive into the crazy world of adventure racing. 

Alyssa shares what she’s been up to lately, plus her favorite recent race performance (can you say: Lydia Russell at Happy Valley 70.3?!)

She then gives a behind-the-scenes look at multi-day adventure races — from logistics and training, to eating and sleep deprivation. We had all the questions and she had all the answers on:

• How teamwork, roles, and communication differ from solo sports
• Her best and worst experiences on multi-day expeditions
• How she trains for sports like trekking, paddle boarding, and mountain biking
• Tips on staying strong (and sane) during long, grueling races
• Her experiences in the adventure racing community and reflections on past achievements 
• A sneak peek at what’s next — including her big goal: the Spine Race in the UK

This episode is packed with Alyssa's passion for pushing limits and we can't wait to see where it takes her. 

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We're rolling into the holidays with a little festive competition and a whole lot of triathlon chaos. Joanne kicks things off with her legendary #fit4christmas challenge—the fun way to keep moving as the days get shorter. And for the (slightly) more dedicated athlete, we've got Feisty's new Winter Cycling Program for anyone looking to build up their cycling this off-season with a coached program and social group (Zwift) rides.

Then, it's all about the wave of recent retirement announcements from Meredith Kessler, Jodie Stimpson, Haley Chura, Dede Griesbauer, and so many more. Katie answers the question: How do you know when you're done? And are triathletes prepared for what(ever) comes next?

We also unpack the men’s T100 Dubai race drama, the new Ironman Kona qualification updates. And a quick look ahead to the final races of the year—including T100 Qatar—and some off-season TV recommendations (always Law and Order).

We'll be off for Thanksgiving! See you in two weeks.

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The team is back together!

Joanne Murphy and India Lee give us all the details from-the-ground in Marbella at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships (including a party we're not allowed to talk about), and then they try to tackle the question: What makes the challenge of Ironman so appealing?

The Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Marbella: The energy, excitement, activations, and vibes were next level with over 6,300 athletes from 114 countries. And the racing? It lived up to the hype with another Lucy Charles-Barclay v. Taylor Knibb showdown. They both showed they're not to be counted out!

Did this actually inspire our own Katie Zaferes to try for 70.3 Worlds qualification in a couple of years...?? And has Lucy reached superstar status?

Then, it's all about how athletes — including Indie — are getting through the last few big T100 races of the year, what changes could be made to the Ironman Pro Series, and why it's better when 70.3 Worlds is before Ironman Worlds.

She tells us about:

• Why the British female triathletes so good
• Her journey from short-course to medium-course to Ironman
• What it is that makes people want to sign up for another one
• And that allure of Kona

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This week, Laura Siddall joins us for an Ironman 70.3 World Championships preview.

But first Kelly & Sid dive straight into the 2026 Ironman qualification drama that isn't going away — and probably won't go away any time soon.

While Ironman had promised a fairer, more balanced system with 30–35% of total slots for women, the actual allocations of the "performance pool" spots are coming in closer to just 5%. Let your voices be heard, Feisties, and reach out to Ironman so they can hear your concerns!

Then, from frustration to anticipation: We turn our focus to this weekend’s 70.3 World Championships in Marbella, Spain. Even though we're barely over 24 hours from the women's race, the start list continues to change. They discuss:

• The Marbella race course and strategy—who will benefit most from the climbing?
• Will the favs (Lucy, Kat, Taylor, Solveig) still be too tired from Kona to lay it all out there? Will they even make it to the start line?
• Which dark horses should we be watching?
• Watch out for those short course athletes!

It's Kelly's favorite race of the year and you can catch it LIVE on Outside TV with the women at 11 p.m. PT Friday/2 a.m. ET Saturday (but North Americans may need to pull an all-nighter to catch it!) Here is a list of how to watch.

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She's won a WTCS, she's been 7th at the Olympics, and she's raced in the women's Giro! Maya Kingma joins Kelly, Joanne, and Katie to talk all things swim-bike-run... and bike.

First, she helps us tackle the big question: With so many series now on the calendar, how are pros supposed to choose? Between WTCS, T100, and Ironman races, it’s getting tougher to balance travel, recovery, and top-level performance week after week. And attract viewers.

Then, Maya Kingma tries to explain what the heck is going on with the Dutch federation — who, she says, have chose to remove individual triathlon from their Olympic program?!

• How she balances pro triathlon and pro cycling
• How bike racing changed her approach to triathlon racing
• Why the Dutch have chose to focus solely on the relay — and if this is a bad decision
• But first, apparently even the best face the lap pool conundrum: How do you get a workout in between the breaststrokers?

And you thought it was going to be a slow week.

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The gang’s finally all here! Joanne’s somewhere between the post-Kona high and a jet lag hangover, but that’s not stopping us from diving into what’s next.

First up: The World Triathlon Championship Finals in Wollongong. From the surprising upset in the elite race (and why it was surprising) to Katie's picks for the up-and-comers to watch and a few of our favorite para world champs.

Plus, a couple of the big headlines from the biggest week for World Triathlon:

• What's happening with T100?
• The new 2026 schedule
• And World Tri claims two new race disciplines: Fitness Racing and Swimrun

And of course, a quick update on the new 2026 Ironman World Championship qualification process and why people are upset.

Then we take our first look at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship start list. Yes, it’s definitely going to change in the coming weeks, but to begin: who’s in, who’s missing, and who might not make it to the start line.

From the lava fields of Kona last week to the golden shores of Wollongong, Australia: it's world championship season.

This weekend Wollongong hosts the World Triathlon age-group, U23, juniors, and para world championships. Plus, a stacked WTCS Grand Final (which determins the world champion) and the re-scheduled T100 race.

World Triathlon World Title: In the WTCS series, Beth Potter and Cassandre Beaugrand are locked in a tie for the top spot going into this final race — with SuperTri champ Jeanne Lehair 200 points back in third. Katie Zaferes helps us break down the complicated points system and how the race could break up. With a “hilly-ish” 7-lap bike course, will a break stick or will it come down to the run?

Watch on Saturday evening in North America — on TriathlonLive.tv

Plus, T100 Wollongong: Several (many many) names may be absent from the start list, but Ashleigh Gentle and Kate Waugh are headlining the favorites. Full start list + streaming info: t100triathlon.com/wollongong/pro

Watch on Friday evening in North America — on the PTO's T100 Youtube.

World titles, big names, and unpredictable plot twists — it’s another weekend of triathlon you don’t want to miss.