Watts On Your Mind

Nine days out from Ironman California, this one gets personal. My brother told me that people who do endurance events are usually running away from something. I tried to shrug it off, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

On a gentle race-week spin on Zwift, I talk about losing my dad nearly three years ago, including the day he died, and how that’s tied up with why I took on long-distance triathlon. I also cover what the research says about exercise and mental health (spoiler: the hoovering counts), the stories of Dean Karnazes, Rich Roll and Julie Moss, how the Ironman started as a bet, my race plan for Sacramento, and the race-week nerves nobody talks about.

There’s a plug too: over 30,000 people in the UK have a cardiac arrest outside hospital every year, and early CPR doubles their chance of survival. If you’ve never learnt CPR, the British Heart Foundation has a free online course that takes minutes.

And this week’s challenge: tell one person you love them.

Content note: this episode talks about bereavement and performing CPR on a family member. Please skip it if that’s not right for you today.

Chapters
(00:00) Welcome, and a few technical gremlins
(01:52) Thank you, and why I’m doing this
(03:44) Exercise and mental health: what the research says
(04:40) Are endurance athletes running from something?
(06:04) Losing my dad
(09:20) Please learn CPR
(11:12) Why I really got into triathlon
(14:00) Dean Karnazes, Rich Roll and how the Ironman began
(17:16) Remembering my dad
(19:08) The Ironman California course
(20:32) Race-week nerves and the fear of a DNF
(22:24) My race plan
(25:12) This week’s challenge: say “I love you”
(27:04) Next week: the American special
(30:20) Where to get support

If anything in this episode brought something up for you:
Cruse Bereavement Support: 0808 808 1677
Samaritans (24/7): 116 123

Come and ride with me live on Zwift, 6am UK time on Fridays. Tell me in the comments what got you started in your sport, and like and subscribe so it reaches someone who needs to hear it.

YouTube: youtube.com/@theturbosessions

Watts On Your Mind is a cycling and triathlon podcast recorded live from the saddle.

I'm Teddy, a London bike commuter and age-group triathlete. Each week I get on the indoor trainer for an easy ride on Zwift or Rouvy and talk about training, racing, and fitting it all around work and family life.

Coming soon: guests talking about their sport and how exercise helps their mental health.

Watch on Spotify, or listen wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every week.