Humans of Triathlon (H.o.T) Podcast

For as much as we love Triathlon, there are some things that we might not particularly like about it. For some, it may be the logistics, for others, it may be the alpha/competitive nature of the sport. But I think we can agree that for a majority it’s the high cost of the sport. Today’s guest, Katie Godec, is on a personal quest to start a conversation on this topic. She believes Triathlon should be for everyone because it is first and foremost a representation of the blood, sweat and tears of humans. Live from California, the land of the unicorns of Silicon Valley, the glam and glitz of Hollywood, and the land of breakfast burrito; we are excited to have this USAT coach and the Managing Director of Destination TriLife on the show.

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This week we have the first short-course pro to come on the show - Kristian Blummenfelt from Norway. Tune in as we chat about how Kristian got into the sport; the Norway Triathlon scene; life as a professional triathlete; his 2019 season which included the first WTS win of his career (at the Grand Final in Lausanne) and a 4th place at the 2019 Ironman 70.3 World Champs in Nice, France; and his prep for the upcoming Super League Triathlon and next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo.

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This week we have our first guest from South Africa - Tasneem Patel. She's a fully covered athlete who has been called as "The Covered One". Tasneem was never the athletic type, but a vicious cycle of mental illness began her journey to be active. In 2016, she ran her first Comrades Ultra; a 89km run within SA. By late-2017, she did her first Olympic-distance. 2018 was the year to achieve a 70.3, but life had unexpected turns. With the loss of her dad, she lost her way in training. However, in late 2018, her love, mindset & passion returned - and she's determined to complete an Ironman.

Tune in as we talk about all things South Africa and how Tasneem's story is yet another example that anyone can be a triathlete, regardless of religious beliefs...or anything else.

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There are moments in our life that stimulate us to make changes to our current situation. It might be an illness, the birth of a new baby, a new career, etc. Our guest today, Alfredo Allende decided to quit smoking and start Triathlon-ing with the birth of his first daughter. It all started with running - to help aid his depression & anxiety from nicotine withdrawal.  But he was always getting injured as his bones couldn’t handle the workload. Something was off. So, he started cross-training with swimming and biking. After dealing with pain, fatigue, etc. for a number of months, Alfredo was recently diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease with no cure - where your body pretty much attacks itself, destroying your joints & organs. But that hasn't stopped him from pursuing this sport and everything it means to him. He doesn’t know what the future has in store or how long he will be able to continue Triathlon, but he’s okay with it because he's living every day as if there’s no tomorrow - crossing each finish line as a celebration of life.

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This week's Human of Triathlon started her endurance journey with running back in 1998, But when standing along the finishing chute during her husband's first IM at Lake Placid - cheering and crying for all the finishers she saw - Phaedra Kennedy had an incredibly emotional experience & one she knew she wanted to experience herself. 4yrs later, she did her first IM at LP with her husband. She now describes it as the 2nd best day of her life, second only to their wedding day. After racing together for 4yrs, they decided it was time to start a family. They tried for a long time with no luck & were later told that Phaedra had stage 4 endometriosis & would not be able to conceive without medical assistance. She felt like she had failed as a woman & hated her body for what it couldn’t do. But after 2years of riding an emotional roller coaster, she knew she had to hop off - to do so she went back to the community she had left behind and started tri'ing again - allowing her to shift her focus from what she couldn't do to what she can do instead.

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After getting into the world of 3D art and developing video games, Ryan Lastimosa was a very heavy drinker & smoker suffering from Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) & was in the red zone for a heart attack at 30 years old. He was tired of being tired. He was done with being unhealthy. The right combination of life-changing events drove him to Triathlon. He started training & it turned it all around.

One of Ryan's uncle's, Uncle Rudy had always been a father figure to him, and he was wheelchair-bound from Parkinson's disease. One day, while watching the IM World Champs on TV with his uncle, Ryan gained his inspiration to want to race at the Big Island for both him and his uncle. Uncle Rudy passed away due to complications with Parkinson's Disease. Sadly, with his passing, he won't be able to see Ryan compete. But now with Ironman number 11 done, Ryan knows, through the Ironman Legacy Program, he will eventually get to Kona. And Uncle Rudy might not be there with him physically, but his spirit lives on with Ryan.

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Born in Ohio & based in South Korea our Human of Triathlon this week, Lynn was addicted to attention as a teenager. Maybe not all that abnormal for someone that age, but it often brought drama & consequences. When she was 16, she found out that she was pregnant. After a whirlwind of a few months, Lynn gave birth to a perfect little girl and placed her for open adoption. In the last few years, they have reconnected with each other. Although the story is of love & redemption, there are still wounds that needed to heal. That's where Triathlon came into Lynn's life. It gave her an outlet for the emotion that she didn't know she needed - allowing her to sort through feelings of self-doubt and the need for over-achieving to make up for past mistakes. Channeling her addictive tendencies into Triathlon & taking her love for the sport, she recently created an organization to help grow the participation of women in Triathlon - Fund Her Tri, Inc.

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Being smaller than his peers, Allan Espina was the object of bullying growing up in the Philippines. He got heckled, called "limp-wristed", & vividly remembers seeing the word “Faggot” scribbled by his cousin on a wall. At 7y.o, this was torture. He excelled intellectually to make up for what he lacked physically. At 38, he immigrated to the US having just completed his 2nd Master's degree & working a great job. After a spark from a co-worker, Allan completed his first Sprint after 4 months of prep, not having competed in any sport before. The high from the event gave him a new goal - he wanted to hold a doctorate degree & be an Ironman before 50. He chose to pursue the IM goal first and achieved it before turning 43. He says that he wanted to show that he may have been “limp-wristed” growing up, but now, he's done something his bullies have only dreamt of. That maybe this was a way for him to prove that he was a man after all & an Ironman at that. Although he knows that sounds kinda shallow if he could travel back in time to tell his 7y.o. self that it gets better - he would in a heartbeat.

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Robin started in Triathlon, back in 1987, when the sport was still in its infancy stage. Being a lover of the water, she had been swimming in college when her swim coach, an instrumental figure in her life, made the college swim team do a Triathlon. Running was her weak spot, and she wasn't sure she could even make the terrifying distance of 5k, but her coach took her out for a run one day and showed her that most of the barriers were only in her own mind and that she could accomplish far more than she believed she could.

Now, 30+ years later, even after going through various life-events, Triathlon still remains a constant in Robin's life. The solitude and serenity of the long miles of training and racing along with the companionship of Triathlon where people support all of their fellow athletes is what keeps her coming back for more. Being in her fifties now she also appreciates that being a triathlete has kept her making healthy choices for many years. She hopes to follow her role models in the sport, like Sister Madonna Buder, and still be racing strong in her 80s and beyond!

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Our guest this week, Jordan Graham beat cancer. After his recovery from surgery and chemotherapy, he wanted to prove to himself that he was better and stronger, he wanted to distance himself from just being 'the guy that had cancer'. He saw Triathlon as a way to do so. A year out from chemo, he completed 2 Triathlons in 2 weeks and was extremely proud. The following year, it started to go all wrong for him. In his rush to become "normal", back to work and training only 3 weeks out of chemo proved to be too much. In his second season of racing, he almost dropped out of one race and didn't even make it to another as his nerves for the better of him. He then decided to take a step away from Triathlon to work on his demons and come out a stronger and better person. He is now back to training and slowly but surely becoming a triathlete again.

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