In this special episode of the Be Fierce and Tri podcast, host Jill Bartholomew engages with the Ironman Foundation team to discuss their impactful community initiatives, youth sports programs, and the importance of coaching for triathletes. The conversation highlights the Foundation's commitment to giving back, the challenges athletes face, and the excitement surrounding upcoming events like Kona. The episode emphasizes the value of racing for a cause and supporting community-driven efforts. Also tune in for a special announcement and coaching offer from Be Fierce Multisport. Looking to level up your Triathlon Training? Let Jill and Be Fierce Multisport help you - sign up at http://www.befiercemultisport.com
Takeaways
Jill Bartholomew (00:00)
Hi, and welcome to another episode of Be Fierce and Try podcast. I'm Jill Bartholomew and I'm here for a special episode today here at the Ironman headquarters in Tampa, Florida. And I'm here with some of the Ironman Foundation crew. So if you guys want to introduce yourself.
Hi, I'm Audra Tassone. I'm the executive director for the Ironman Foundation. Hi, I'm Caitlin Brunner. I'm the director of operations and communications for the Ironman Foundation. Hi, I'm Kemper Reback. I'm the marketing and community relations specialist. She is also the reason why the mics work. So Audra, you know, we've been talking about Ironman Foundation for a while on the podcast. You were actually on, what was it, episode two?
I think episode two, it's very early on. I love foundation and what you guys do for the communities that we race in. Do you wanna talk a little bit about foundation, what it's all about and how you impact the communities? Sure, no, absolutely. We're gonna tag team this. It's gonna be myself and Caitlin. since 2003, the Iron Man.
Foundation has given back over $60 million to over 10,000 nonprofit organizations. So we have two pillars. First and foremost, we give back to our race communities. And the second is that we support youth in sports. And then I am going to hand it over to Caitlin, and she's going to talk a little more in depth. Thank you, Emma. You are so welcome. Thank you.
Audra loves to hand it over to me. Yes, so as Audra said, we really have our pillars and this year we've already given back over 1.5 million dollars through our community grants, volunteerism grants, as well as our swim ready programming. And swim ready is something that we've really invested a lot of time into and are really working to expand even further and it's aimed at providing swim lessons to underserved kids in our communities.
around the North America communities. And right now we're focused in five regions or five cities, which are Chattanooga, Boise, Idaho, San Diego, California, with Oceanside, California, Ottawa, Canada, as well as Wilmington, North Carolina. I had a chance to attend the one in Chattanooga. That was pretty cool. It spent, what was it, an hour? It's an hour that we spent with the kids, teaching them.
some basic swim skills. The girl that I was paired with was hysterical because she was a little fish. She was a little fish who couldn't swim. She was like, why am I here? But now it's fun. Like the kids all seem to enjoy it, seem to get something out of it. Yeah. And have you done any of them? Yes, I went to the one in Boise. So that was with the Challenged Athletes Foundation where we had children with physical disabilities.
We took them through swimming, biking, and running one-on-one with coaches, and then they did a little mini paratriathlon. So that was super inspiring to watch. that's cool. A little mini triathlon? Mm-hmm. They crushed it. The kids were awesome, and a lot of them hadn't used these kinds of equipment before. it was How many kids participated in that? That was nine children. Nine? That's a very cozy triathlon. Well, with all the hand cycles and everything, there's lot going on. Right, right. Yeah.
What were some of the projects that you did outside of the SMIM program last year?
trying to remember. Well, we did bike building. That's right. Lake Placid and Kona. And Cape Epic. So we brought a team to Cape Epic, and we gave back 100 bikes and helmets to the local kids in the community, which was amazing. And we've committed to that community in South Africa for the next two years, so a total of three. So you did bike building for Lake Placid last year, Cape Epic. Kona. Kona. Kona.
We also provided grant funding and complimentary race entries for Iron Kids Race in Taupo, New Zealand. So our grant funding actually is covering more than 50 % of their years programming with education on nutrition as well as the swimming, sorry, as well as ⁓ education on the swimming, the biking, the running, but nutrition as well and just teaching the youth in Taupo about triathlon and.
and getting them into the sport. So grant funding is going to cover at least 50 % of the year for them. And how many athletes do we have this year racing with Ironman Foundation? For Kona? In general. In general, we have close to 300 athletes racing with Ironman Foundation. But what's really exciting is this year for Kona, we have 31 women that we're bringing to Kona this year to race the world championship. Wow, 31.
That's a huge contingent. We're incredibly excited. That's record breaking. And how many of them are repeats? So I would say out of all of them, a total of about seven are repeats. You being one of them? I have raced with you a few times. Yes, you have. Jill's one of our big supporters. I'm on the Troop of Fire program. Make sure we need to punch her past as she leaves.
Fair enough. See, you put four women in a room late at night after one of them just drove 24 hours. gets really goofy. So you and I have been talking a long time about racing and how do we get more athletes across the finish line and get them across stronger and feeling better about themselves in the race. so...
now's a good time. We have a little announcement to make, right? So as we started this, what, about a month ago now? I would say, about a month ago. Yeah. No, but we've been having conversations for probably a good solid six months, I would say. Is that all? At least six months. least six months. But I mean, you know, so Be Fierce Multisport, my company, is now providing, you know, coaching services.
to your athletes who desire it at a pretty significant discount. And, you know, I think this is a great, you know, a great new benefit as many, you know, what we know is about 8%. I've heard different numbers than ranging from like eight to 11%, but let's face it to say that the vast majority of athletes do not have coaches, you know, not specific to foundation, but like foundation or otherwise.
Most athletes do not have coaches or even a training plan that they're working down. And it shows on the field, right? Unsurprisingly, the top 8 % of finishers all have coaches. Yeah. Right. So I mean, I'm sure if we dug into the statistics, there's absolutely Kona qualifiers who don't, but I think your chances are much higher of having a successful day if you have a plan that you're following. Right.
I would agree 100%. So I think, you know, we have two programs, right? One is, coached at a discounted rate, also includes like inclusion and other social media and, you know, groups, coaching groups. And then also, like, if you don't want to coach, give you a plan that you can.
follow it's not very specific to you but it's better than what you'd get through chat GPT. Right? It's sort of guideline that sets you up for success. Give some guardrails, give some guardrails and you know we mentioned AI a lot these days but yeah I've had a few athletes come to me through Foundation to look at their chat GPT generated training plan which I think is actually how we started this conversation.
Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. That is how we started this conversation. I was like, you hey, you know, I'm getting a few folks coming at me wanting to review their training plans and their progress. And I looked at some of them and some of those chat GPT generated training plans. And was like, there is no way you're going to make it across the finish line with that. Yeah. And so I think this this will be good. I hope people take us up on the offer, either coached or uncoached.
The uncoached is free Yeah coach does not but it's a Pretty good discount. I think it's phenomenal Why don't you share with everybody how many 70.3 or Ironman events in general you've done me? overall Well, I mean this year alone. I have what? three four folds Yeah, in the last 12 months. I have four folds five folds five folds in 12 months and I think
I think the same number of 70.3s. Yeah, that sounds about right. And she's getting married on Saturday, by the way. Three days from now. Three days from now. So we're recording this on wedding brain at this point.
So here's a question for you, Jill. And with all the athletes you come in contact with, what is their biggest fear when it comes to triathlon? that's it totally depends on their experience level and where they're coming from. The vast majority of the athletes I've encountered,
are really kind of fearful of the swim, even at the sprint distance, right? And like most sprints are like 400 to 600 yards or meters for the swim, which is, know, for most of us, we would think that pretty short, but if it's your first one, like I've seen people DNF in sprints on the swim, you know, because if you don't have the skill, then it's, it's scary. but you know, I was,
talking to someone this morning who was expressing concern about their bike. You know, it's like, Hey, I'm a strong swimmer. I'm a strong runner, but I'm to need all the time I can get for the bike. Yeah. Yeah. So I think it's really individual, but I think as we talk about like full in half, it's really the distance. Yeah. Have you ever been in a situation with one of your clients and you're at an event and you see them starting to have a panic attack before the start?
or just really just uncomfortable in their own skin, skin, excuse me. And if that happens, how do you talk them down from a situation like that? So one of the things that I mean, yes, panics are very common. Unfortunately, it usually happens in the water. Uh, open water panics, super common. So. You know, when I do race prep with my athletes, I know a ton of coaches do the same thing, especially for the first, if someone's doing their first race.
⁓ we will walk through the entirety of your day, you know, how are you approaching, you know, getting up in the morning, what times your alarm set, what are you eating for breakfast? You know, what did you prepare the day before versus that morning and walk through the day because like giving for most people, giving them like that, that program to follow helps to ease the anxiety of the day.
Got it. And like some race nerves are normal, but if it's paralyzing, then, you know, we want to do everything we can to prepare the athlete for the race that they're about to have. Have you ever come across an athlete or a potential client of yours where you're at an event and they say this is the first time they they're doing an open water swim? And if that's the case, like, how do you handle a situation like that? Or do you just turn your back and be like,
I would never turn my back. I would never turn my back. But I mean, yes, I have been at events. And she would never turn her back. I think we mentioned that. We're good on that. But to answer your question, yes, I have been at events where people have basically decided cold turkey, they're going to do this thing. And they've never been in a large body of water.
Now, for some people, like they train in the pool and they train consistently, follow a rigorous training plan, but they just don't have access to open water. Got it. Okay. So I think like getting in the water, like if you don't have access to open water, at least getting in, you know, if there's a practice swim or finding some body of water that you can swim in in advance, just so you know what it's like to swim more than 25 yards or 50 meters or, you know, whatever. And, ⁓
You know, for a lot of people not having that wall is really a shock. And if you're used to having like pretty decent times in the pool, translating that to a decent time in open water, it's not the same. Cause you know, you don't have the push off, you're sighting. So if you're swimming a squiggly line, your 1.2 miles or 2.4 miles might be more like three. Right. Exactly.
There's one athlete, I think it was actually at Texas, who swam almost an entire extra mile. Could you imagine how much that takes out of you to swim that much extra and then get on a bike and do 112? Yeah, that's incredible. When you compete, what is your favorite discipline? it swim? Is it the bike? Is it the run? Or is it just in general?
⁓ you know, it changes over time. Okay. I, I was a runner and you know, I was a cyclist when I was younger. and I was a swimmer when I was like this tall, but you know, as an adult, you know, I basically had to relearn how to swim because everything I was taught was wrong. Apparently.
Right? Yeah, like that whole S thing. Like if you're listening and you do the S stroke, please stop. But no, like, you know what I'm talking about. know what I'm talking about. So cycling, I think, is my strongest. And I enjoy cycling the most. You give me like an open white sheet of paper for a day and say you can do any one of these three things.
it's gonna be the bike. It'll be the bike? Especially outdoors. I love cycling outdoors. And not on paths. I have a diversion to paths. I've seen too many people hit railings and hit other people and destroy themselves and their bikes. Have you ever, when you're competing in an event and just have those dark moments of like, don't wanna do this, I'm just gonna stop, why am I doing this?
And if, if you do, how do you talk yourself out of that? So Audra, you've known me for a while. What do you think the answer to that is? Yes. Uh, yeah, of course. So like these races are endurance races, uh, whether it's like your first 70.3 or your 50th or your first full or your 50th or 200th.
Like there's dark places that you get into for a lot of different, saw me at Lake Placid. We've talked a lot about Lake Placid, but you know, there was some dark moments there where my nutrition plan kind of didn't go the way I needed it to go. And, you know, I was, I was in that fight or flight moment for a little while. And that's where like you have to come back and rely on your training because your training is what teaches you.
how to survive that and the mental toughness that's needed to say everything about this sucks in this moment, but I'm going to keep going anyways. Yeah, exactly. And like nice last year, going up that mountain about two thirds, three quarters the way up there. I was definitely in that. Like I want to be anywhere but on this bike right now. Yeah. Yeah. Now we've heard a lot about
knees and the complexity of the course. it just, was definitely mind over matter from like, from our athletes that we brought. ⁓ absolutely. Like I loved the course. I loved the swim. I, I, that swim was fabulous. I thought, I know not everybody likes that swim. the run I felt was boring. it's like, it's flat. It's like, go run a little more than 10 K and then turn around and do it again.
and do it three more times. Right. But that bike, I felt was like really interesting and entertaining, but those like 13 miles that were, you're climbing like what 9,000 feet of elevation, basically all at once about three quarters of the way through there. That's when it just sets in. You're like, is this ever going to end?
because it's also got all these switchbacks. So you climb and you can't see where the path goes because the road then like doubles back on itself. But the scenery was beautiful. The scenery was gorgeous. And it's funny, I remember seeing drones overhead. And then when we had the like banquet the next day, I'm like, I was able on one of the drones to see me.
down on there, like the little like pin sized, you know what I'm like, because I couldn't see me, but I could recognize the tie dyed bike. Nobody else has that same tie dyed bike. I didn't realize this was going to be turned into an Audra interview. Jill, mean, this has been like an interesting turn of events. Usually it's me. So any other questions? No, I'm good right now. Are you sure? I'm positive.
I think you should show off your hat. My hat? So I believe this is the new Kona hat for this year, right? For foundation. Yeah. What's that? Race for more on the back. I'm not going to show the back of my hat. So anyways, anything else ladies? What are you most excited for at Kona this year? Oh, what am I most excited? I mean, is Kona. It's pretty epic. And my kids won't be there.
There's that. No, I'm excited to race on the big island. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. And I love these swims where the water is actually clear enough where you can see beyond the surface of the water. Right? It's like, no.
And the swim in Hawaii, uh, that bike though, I'm actually really excited about the bike in Hawaii. I'm excited about the bike because I got new wheels. Yeah.
I used, you know, I almost always ride with the disc, which isn't allowed in Kona. And right before going to Lake Placid, one of my zip wheels broke. the carbon fiber started delaminating. So we ordered a custom set of Princeton Carbon Works trisokes that should not come as a surprise to anyone, are pink.
I was just saying, a tie-dye or a paint? Not the whole wheel, but the decals that would normally be white or something, they're doing pink. And that's when I found out that they're not actually decals. They're embedded in the epoxy that the garbans cured in. And I called them up. I'm like, hey, could we get this with pink decals? They're like,
Yes, but it's going to take six weeks. So fingers crossed it shows up. yeah, now I'm like, you know, usually a fan of not changing up equipment right before race, but I'm excited about that. We got it. It'd be exciting to watch you to cross the finish line and celebrate all your hard work. Well, you know, that's what that's what they say. Your race is a celebration of the work. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Celebrations tend not to get you across the finish line, so you still have to do the work. But I'm not looking forward to the run though. I've still got that hamstring thing going on. And this year runs have been kind of painful, so my goal is crush the swim, crush the bike, and not cause permanent damage on the run. Sounds like a great plan. Yeah. But I have surgery right after we get back.
All right. I'm looking forward to watching the underpants. You could underpants walk it. You got to do it. I'm capable of running. It's the underpants part. You know, there's shirts where it's like the white shirt and then you could do that. I tell you, I'll tell you what. I'll have John do the underpants. There you go. That's your.
I was in one group that today on the WhatsApp, the whole channel was all people talking about which bathing suit they were going to wear for it. Which bikini bottoms to wear. Yeah. Like you're going to wear tops too, right? Right.
So I'll see. And by the way, UPR is a fundraising event for the Ironman Foundation. And Jill, why do you race with the foundation?
Why do I race with? I race with the foundation because one, at the end of the day, it doesn't really cost me that much more to race on what's essentially.
charity bib versus, you know, a direct bib. Like by the time you put everything together, it kind of comes out about the same for the athlete. And the money's going to like really great causes. And that's what, that's what kind of attracted me to keep coming back. And of course I like the people, but no, I think it's, I think it's a great program. think it's, it's especially the swim program is investing in the communities and doing good work and you know, like.
Not everyone can afford to do it themselves. And having access to programs like that, I think is invaluable. Well, we appreciate you. All the support and just, yeah, it's great.
Well, thank you ladies for joining me and thank you, Audra, for having me and using your badge to get me in the building.
Absolutely. Thank you for coming. Thank you for supporting us. Absolutely. And I will continue to, and I encourage all of our listeners to support Ironman Foundation as well. Come race for more. Come race for more. Thank you for joining this episode of the Be Fierce and Tri podcast. If you liked this, please like, subscribe and download.
We'll see you next time.