Welcome back or welcome to the humans of triathlon or hot podcast where we bring you the ordinary but extraordinary world of triathlon one human one story at a time with the aim to inspire and to celebrate this life-changing Sport and it's humans to real authentic raw and enjoyable conversations with humans of triathlon from around the globe and from all walks of life.Hello humans of triathlon swapnil Chauhan here from Melbourne, Australia joined by my to co-host as always Carlos against Charles hunk from London UK and Sheila to leaven from Ontario Canada. This is episode number 50 and we are joined by a special guest. So with over 30 years in his Ford and that is 3-0. Yes. She has done every possible distance you can imagine well, maybe except those.Crazy double triple Iron Man once right, but other than a super healthy lifestyle practicing the sport has enabled her to achieve multiple physical Feats across a vast number of geographies things like bike touring across Europe climbing to the top of the highest mountain in Africa or streaming across the deepest lake in the United States. She is clearly a veteran and her role model is none other than the famous iron none. For those who don't know who is she's oldest woman who finish an Ironman when she finished Ironman Canada, which by the way in Iron Man standards is not precisely a walk in the park when she was 82 years old. So your guest for tonight who you know ready as our lovely colleague and co-host of your hot boss gets during season 1 so we have welcomed the none other than the rat mom rat Robin. Y'all I don't know. Hey, it's really good to hear that again. Yay. How's it to hear your own intro after giving intros for others? Well, you know, I was kind of terrified when I heard Charles was going to do the intro because you know, he has these the crazy and dress. That was awesome. Actually guys, you know, I'd be here and I want to clarify that I am not 82 years old, but my idol is yeah. Yeah, it's awesome to finally get you on the show. Have you been listening to the podcast at all? Yeah, I've been trying to catch it where I can it's weird to hear it from the outside. I'm sure what are you listening you go? Like? Yeah, I would have asked that question a lot question. No, I don't know. It's it's different. It's like it's like my my brain is a listener and not a talker. I guess. I don't know but I do miss. I think the thing I miss the most is just meeting the people like, you know, you podcast host you get to meet all these amazing people. And of course the listeners get a medium just kind of you know along for the journey but it's it is pretty cool to kind of feel like you made that personal connection with these all these incredible athletes. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I agree with you. Totally that's been what's been, you know, one of the greatest things for for me coming in to the podcast is getting to connect with these people from all over the world and and all different types of discipline them and backgrounds. It's it's really exciting to be part of this. It's very motivating. Yeah. So like Charles mentioned you've been in the sport for 30 years. That's that's that's more than me Gila and Charles combined like how long we've been that's that's more number of years than I've been alive. Yeah, you make me feel old. You're not supposed to say those things. It's okay. I think swapping of the same age as my oldest kid. So like I'm you know, it's gonna funny. So as you know, we like to start things off by going back in time. So talk to us. Like how did it all start? When did it all start? And yeah. All right. Well, yeah kind of anticipated this question. At least I guess like I would say I was born to be a Amer like I think I was a dolphin in a former life or something like I just have this I've always had this connection to the water. My mom would probably tell you that I fling myself into any available body of water river like stream swimming pool mud puddle, whatever and refused to get out. So there's just like there's something there with me in water that I've always just loved and actually like sea creatures always come up to me to like I always have to warn my Scuba Buddy's like big thing like whales and dolphins and whales sharks and stuff just swim up to me. So it's like I don't know. Yeah, it's really weird. Like I've literally had all these different sea creatures matter raise ya whale swam right up to me just so I don't know there's something like in me and water that I just I feel like I recognize the water and the water recognizes me like you were a mermaid in your past life. Yeah. I don't know. I think when I'm dating online my my online name was I'm open so that's where I'm at. So I guess I always knew like I don't I would be a swimmer. But unfortunately, I had a truly terrible swim coach when I was an age grouper and he really discouraged me from swimming. He told me I was lazy and unathletic. Oh, yeah, when you're nine years old, that's kind of harsh harsh thing to hear and so he really kind of demotivated me I guess. And sometimes I think that's why I love to pass on my love of swimming because I want people to you know, really enjoy it and feel like they're excited by it and Powerful when they're in the water. So and I found out later on in life actually many years later that I am severely anemic. I just tend towards anemia and I'm always anemic and if I don't stay on top of my iron, I get really really badly and Meemic or as my doctor said I've never seen anybody. D with less red blood cells other than cancer patients. But so I think yeah, so I just tend to not have a lot of red blood cells so don't have a lot of oxygen and I think what I was experiencing as a kid was just I would just run out of air and when you swim, you know oxygen is hard to come by because your face is in the water. So I think what my swim coach was responding to is I would just come up and gasp and and he saw that as laziness so Yeah old school swim coach. Yeah. So are you from coaches out there, you know, like take it easy on your kiddos and and motivate don't demotivate. So I didn't really swim competitively again, which is kind of a bummer because you know, I'm a reasonably good swimmer. And then when I was in college, I took a swim Conditioning class just to lose my Freshman 15. I came from eating dorm food and the assistant swim coach taught the class and he was like you should be on the swim team and I'm like, I don't even know how to do a flip turn and he convinced me to walk on the swim team. So that is how I really started being a Competitive Edge. So we offer that coach after that coats like demotivated you you basically left it. Yeah. I didn't swim I didn't swim through high school. I didn't swim through. Yeah, I didn't swim from when I competitively from when I was nine too when I was in college. Oh, that's terrible. No. Yeah, I mean I swam I swam at Lake I swim in the river. I swam at the pool. You know, I always swam I've always when they didn't swim competitively. So there's a lot of things. I didn't know when I got into competitive swimming, you know, a lot of things just technique-wise and and I just didn't have that built up athleticism that kids have when they compete through high school sports and I didn't have a lot of endurance built up into my system. So so it's really different, you know becoming a college boy. Omer but I swam for the last three years of my college so so what was that like just walking onto the college swim team after not really swimming from the age of nine like as a competitive swimmer. Well, it was like being in the slow lane first. Yeah. I mean I had to learn like I had to learn how to do flip turns. You know what I was never the fastest person on the team, but you know, I began to be able to hold my own kind of middle distance. I If I had swum all the way, I would have been a distance swimmer, but I just didn't have the accumulated. Yeah, like endurance yet because I hadn't been swimming. I don't think my real Forte is like anything under a thousand yards. Okay, and and when I compete now, like if I compete in the swim meet like the last one they came in third in the 502nd in the thousand and first in the 1650s. Cuz I just swim the same Pace no matter what it just yeah longer I go the faster. It looks it's perfect for Irondale. Yeah, exactly. So perfect for a triathlon. So I just didn't know it and I tell people sometimes like, you know kids sports. They don't people don't really consider endurance when you talk about kids sports good sports are all sprinting sports like soccer and you know, or I guess football where it's called. Everywhere else most sports that kids play require a lot of sprinting and not a lot of endurance so I didn't really realize I'm an endurance athlete until a lot later. But my college swim coach was like really instrumental in that. I think I wrote in my bio for humans a triathlon that he was like the most influential person in my life at that point. So was he the one that got you into running a triathlon as well? Yeah. Yeah, he made us all do a triathlon which was fairly hysterical because you know, we didn't we weren't triathletes and and it was really a fairly new sports. This has been like 1986 so it had been around a long time especially in Oregon where I went to college and we all had like crappy student bicycles and I we just ran in like we threw some shorts on over our swimsuit or whatever and it was just sort of a motley crew and and I did not think I could run a 5k so that was like my big sort of mental hurdle. I knew I could bike because I rode my bike everywhere. It's a kid. I knew I could bike but I didn't think I could run. And my coach was he was nearing retirement age. So he was like 62 and he said well Robin you come out and go for a run with this old man, you know, and he had his stomach. He's like, I got a big Buddha belly and I'm in my 60s. If you can't keep up with me, then he you know, you're in trouble and so I did I went out for a run with them and it just kind of jellied me along. He talked to me through the whole time. He actually talked to me about scuba diving. He's the one who got me. Just didn't scuba diving. I remember him telling me all these Adventures of scuba diving in Baja. And and I just remember thinking. Oh my God, this is he was going to take me on a 1-mile run. This is so far A mile is so far. I cannot you know, I can barely finish this Mile and we got back to the bridge and I said coach, you know, I can barely run a mile. There's no way I'm going to run a 5k, there's just no way and he said Robin you just did. No, what about it? But you know that that was the best lesson ever liked it. The barrier was all in my mind. Hmm, right? Yeah. I mean I wasn't fast but I ran a mile. I mean I ran three miles. Yeah, I ran three. Yeah, it was probably my best like less than ever. It's just that so many of the barriers we have or just in our minds, you know, so that was it. I got so clearly the Fence between a motivating coach and your previous one. Yeah, he just had that thing, you know, you could make a move, you know, the movies with the inspiring coach. He was that kind of Coach. He was that kind of coached. He used humor and he used you know, he's just funny he was hard to he was really hard, but he was funny and You know, he just jelly just along then kind of beat us up a bit and Delight us along and you know that kind of coach that you really want to have and yeah, so I guess in a certain sense. He's just kind of Always There In My Head, even though he's passed on a few years ago. He's the coach with a Capital C. So he he just took care of so you guys did a triathlon with him. Was that your first try? Yep. That was my first try. Okay. And after that it just I just knew I you know, like so many people I just knew I wanted to do another one. So I just pretty much got hooked that was from my last year of college on I didn't really swim competitively again, but I got into triathlons and really started training and and you know, one thing leads to another you get another bike you want to do a long. Unger race and and it just spun off I guess for me it spun off this whole journey into having a body that could do so many things like I started bike touring and Hiking it just it created this sort of upward spiral in my life where everything felt like I could tackle it because I tackled this thing a little bit at a time and you know and the next distance in the next distance and I think that Carries over into everything sure so we're talking about 1980 something, right? Yeah want to make I don't want to focus again on the fact that maybe stop Neil wasn't born yet, but wasn't it like a like a weird sport back then? Like you said you just typical track and see all your basketball you're swimming noise like this combination of things that people seem to be doing and Training all day and all night. So what will how was it? What was the perception of the sport bike? Then? I think the perception of the sport was a little crazy. Especially I don't remember what year Julie mosses Ironman crawl was televised but that was that was kind of the perception of sport was a whole bunch of crazy people going out and training themselves to death and then like crawling across finish line and the sport itself was I mean, it was it's hard to explain now because now it's such Professionalized Sport and there's coaches and equipment and gear and all this stuff and none of that existed. I mean not even like really gels or you much in the way of drink mixes used to be able to order this drink mix from the sky in California. That was called gouken Aid and he made it in his light garage and it would come in this this baggie of white powder in the mail. I could she have your two pound bag of white powder in the mail. And pray that the you know, post office didn't think you were shipping cocaine or something. And the first person I know who did an Ironman like taped 25 Tootsie Pops to his bike because there was no gels he would just crunch up at it see Pop, you know, and we passed around recipes for like the iron cookies. They were the cookies that you baked up that had like the right protein, you know carb mix for an Ironman or whatever. It was just very like seat of your Pants, you know, there wasn't a lot of specialized like try suits are Triathlon Club a guy used to come from the local scuba shop and measure us all and he would custom make our wet suit. Wow, so there was no Triathlon wetsuit. You got measure yeah my first triathlon my wet suit was like custom made it fit me like a glove it was so nice nice, but of course none of them had sleeves because the neoprene hadn't gotten to that point of being flexible enough to have sleeves. So if you did like Ironman Canada and you know water temperature was like 58 degrees. Well your arms just fell off, you know, so it was just you know is fun in that sense is that it was evolving all the time and people were trying new things and and trying different things and it was just fun in that way and some of my race pictures from early on to some really horrifying outfits that I wore. Maybe I'll maybe I'll put one to go with the I cast you think you'll find I've got this one where I'm wearing these like ballooning neon lime yellow shorts and they're like flapping in the wind and on my bike and it's just they look ludicrous look like I'm wearing like a parachute on my but it's Mia. I'll see if I can find out one. So it was all experimental but was fun and the race distances were also not like so set in stone. So I went and looked back at some of my A race distance results you would get your results mailed to you in a manila envelope and they were like runoff on somebody's photocopy or something and I was like, these times are also weird, but I think it was just because the distances weren't standard like a Sprint Triathlon might have like a you know, thirteen point eight mile bike and a four point one mile run or something like my times were all over the map in terms of finished times. I think it's just because there wasn't like the Sprint the Back the 70.3 you know, so I think the other main difference is that people didn't really expect to do an Ironman like four maybe five or six years like it was seen as this far-off goal. And I think now it's such a draw such an appealing thing back then it was seen as like this crazy thing you would do lots you would really like paid your dues and you know, of course it wasn't advertised like it is now and didn't have the This kind of big appeal and it was only a few of them. You had to travel. Yes. Of course. That's a yeah for sure. You know, I just I I just remember watching someone like the old old YouTube videos like and it would be before even that sounds terrible before even your time. Sorry. It's okay. I'm good, but like seeing like that outfits it. The guys who are weary and they're like not even got a helmet on and they're wearing my jeans shorts. And yeah even heard like one of the first Ironman when they started doing them in Hawaii, it was like they put money in their pocket and stopped in the variety stores and like yeah, I got food or McDonald's. Yeah, they went through McDonald's drive-thru in on a bike in the Iron Man. Yeah. Yeah, you can get your calories and nutrition in. Yeah, there's some book of iron stores. It's like 12 iron stories or something and one of them is from um, either the first or the second year the Iron Man and it is the funniest Triathlon story I've ever read it's so good. I mean, it's just the guy who wrote it as funny and it and it really just shows that yeah. I think he couldn't change a tire. So he bought a solid rubber tires and he like taped a radio to his bikes. We could have music the whole way. It's just like, you know this big transistor radio. Yeah, so it was a little Little like that as well fun. Ryan is so tense be I think it set the stage because you know Triathlon now, it's still a different sport than other sports. Like there's still a little bit of a different attitude like, you know, you'd go and do a marathon they roll up the Finish Line the poor last place person. There's no there's nobody out on the course. There's a policeman following them on a motorcycle and and you know, they've wrapped up all the aid stations and they're coming in. There's Crickets at the finish line, and it's so different. From an Ironman Finish Line where you know that's where the party is everybody's cheering and it's just a different feeling to me than most sports is that everybody is kind of a rock star in Triathlon and it's instead of like just the pros. It's true. Actually, it's funny cuz you know, it's different. I've done two to Iron Man but he's so far. I've got a third this year, but you come in you watch like the pros come in and yeah, there's the cheering but there's only a little bit of cheering right? And people start coming in at the dark and there's it's hearing that party. You just said and the cheering in the crowd is huge and it's like you almost want to come in at the end right so that you can like that part of that. Yeah that energy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty awesome. Yeah. It really is a different. It really is a much different sport. Yeah, and I think that that it just is carried through I like that about it that it didn't get Marshall eyes to the point where people got jaded or there's a few like a grow people out there on the course and you know, but but for the most part triathletes are super supportive of each other and it's nice they really are it's a great Community. Yep, and maybe that's why I keep doing it. I know me too. Well, I'm gonna pull you back to swimming though. That's okay. Okay, you mentioned that after college you didn't you didn't like you weren't competitive anymore. And swimming. Well, however you oh go ahead. Yeah. No, no, go ahead. Good. I say that you are a master swim coach for a really long time now, so you must love that so I do swim and I swim and swim meet sometimes I guess I don't like there's some master swimmers who are pretty hardcore and they swim that's what they do like they swim and they go to Nationals and worlds and stuff and I've never been that hard core about just swimming. Because I never just trained like I don't just swim five or six days a week because I do triathlons. So it's just kind of a conscious Choice. Like there's a woman in Oregon who's in my age group who beats me most of the time except at the very long distances and like she'll our kids were little she used to tell me. Yeah. I got I got a babysitter who sleeps over on you know, so I can get to practice it 5:00 in the morning and I was like, oh my God that is just way more hardcore than Oliver be web swimming in. Again, yeah, so I guess I mean I swim but I don't swim like super competitively like I don't put enough time in it to it to be a what I'd call a competitive swimmer. Okay, so you're still at the bat Master swing but you're also a master's coaching. So you obviously like you said you loved the water. So yeah, what got you into coaching for the last 15 years for swimming. Um, well, let's see the club that I was swimming at. So I swam Masters when I lived in Washington. I had some really good. Coaches and then we move down here to Oregon and I was swimming at a club here and my then husband my now ex-husband and I were both pilots and we had been building an aircraft Hangar. This is kind of a long story roundabout way of saying this we've been building an aircraft Hangar and to sell as sort of our big investment and we built it and we got it on the market on. On September 7th of 2001 and on September 11th, the Twin Towers fell and aircraft stopped flying and the nation, you know just kind of froze in place. So is you know, obviously a very hard time for America in general but Aviation specifically so we had this huge debt out there that we were paying on every month. And so I had to drop my club membership which you know is like the I'm like, okay, I could stop eating maybe but I can keep my pool membership. But so it's really hard for me. So I went in and told my teammates that you know, I was gonna stop swimming there and and the woman who was in charge of the aquatics Department was like, well, you're always like helping people out. Do you want to just be the swim coach and then he could swim here. So that's how I got into coaching nice, but I had been like coaching. I just kind of always always been helping people and and stuff like that anyways, but yeah, so it was just kind of formalized it I guess. Well, that's a good way to get into it. It's a rather roundabout. But yeah things are you must really enjoy what you're doing? Because you're still doing it. You don't know that year, you know so far past that time period. Yeah, I mean it is it's hard because I have a pretty engaging full-time job now. So this may Actually be my last year some coaching at least for a while, maybe till I'm retired or something because it's just a lot and it really I do kind of, you know, brought my heart into it and but we have a great team here. We've got a great group of people and we've had some other coaches. I'm one of three coaches now, so I'm not the only coach and so there's other people that kind of carry the program boards, but we built up a really great team. So I'm going to shout out to my aquadecks who are you know, just also some of my good friend. And you know you develop that Community people they are definitely that a lot of athletes and Open Water swimmers and we had some great adventure swims and stuff. So so always be engaged with them whether I'm coach or not. Hmm. Yeah. So going back to the triathlon, you know, just you've been in the sport for 30 years now, so obviously it's been something that's been constant throughout your life throughout most of your life. So like I'm sure the meaning of the sport and the You do you do them and the way it fits into your life has like sort of changed over the years. So can you just talk to us a little bit about that? Yeah, I think in my early years it was just I guess for me it's always been like a really important Outlet because I'm kind of hmm. How do I put the sort of high strung? I've got a lot of energy and a lot of thoughts bouncing around inside my head at all times, and I've worked in some pretty Demanding jobs like I worked at Microsoft. I was a software engineer there and the time I spend in the pool or on my bike or On the Run. It's just my time to get my brain to quiet down to just be fully engaged and wherever I'm at and not just be thinking thinking thinking and so for me, it's been my outlet. It's been my thing. So I think that's part of why I stayed with it is it's just kind of that escape and And when my now ex-husband and I were going to have kids he kind of talked me into having kids and I was I was kind of that was the part. I was most scared about was giving up that time because I feel like it helps keep me kind of sane and together. He's my act together. So we kind of Drew up a contract where I would get one to two hours a day to exercise as part of our sort of parenting contract. And you know bless his soul he stuck to it. So I trained all through, you know, my pregnancies and after the kids were born and stuff and oftentimes very creatively with strollers and bike trailers and with other moms at a park taking turns watching the kids or whatever but it still remained kind of my way to reset reboot my day and I'm frankly gave me a lot of more patients for you know, things like Being a working mom being a full-time. Mom eventually became a homeschooling mom and that that time to myself just remained really necessary. So the sport itself, you know, the amount of competitiveness. I've been as kind of come and gone. Sometimes I've been super competitive in the sport and know coming in top five women in you know, a lot of races and then sometimes I'm just kind of it's Amateur hour and and that's it. Okay, I've just kind of got gotten to the point where I'm okay with all of that this wherever I'm at at that moment, you know, if it was one, you know a few months postpartum and I was nursing my kid right before the start line and then run into the roof finished shooting the nursing my keys right after the Finish, you know, because I had a baby and that's the way it goes. That was just that's what it was. And actually I'll say that was one of my one of my moments that shows the true nature of triathlon is I was standing at the triathlon start in that race and I had to put on this I bought this so, you know being a nursing mom anybody out. There has been a nursing mom will relate to this. I had to buy this bra called The Last Resort bra. Literally, I think it's from Title. Nine Sports is like keep those bad boys in place while you're running right motion control bra is what they're called. So so somebody asked me like, what are you wearing? During under your swimsuits and I just kind of explained and somebody's like so you're nursing like a four-month-old. I'm like, yeah and everybody turned around and started clapping and that was just one of those moments that was just like so like, ah, you know just to get that kind of support. Okay, it's going to ask you how that made you feel when I was clapping like yeah. It was awesome. It was like there I am wearing just dorky yet another Few Robin Triathlon outfit not looking like, you know, the Instagram pictures of everybody today all smooth and coordinated and you know your socks match your handlebar tape or whatever, you know, it was just nice. It's very supportive and I felt like I again it's why I'm here. It's why I keep coming back. Yeah, and honestly, that would be super inspiring to know that like that's amazing that you can do that. Right because we all know so many Any women that you know, they have a baby and then it's like they let everything go, you know, they're both hard and sometimes you have to let some things go. Yeah, let some things go bad. You don't have to let everything go right? Like it shouldn't be an excuse just to fall apart and eat bonbons and not exercise and take care. I'll you know, I'll have to say that's where having at that time. My husband being really supportive at that really made a difference. Because I think a lot of women they you know, they don't get the time to themselves. You neither their partner isn't available or they're, you know, not in a steady relationship with their partner or just they don't get the kind of support, you know, you'll see around age. They like 28 to 35 when women are really in child, you know, you'll see a lot of guys at triathlons in those age groups and sometimes there's not a lot of women. It's sometimes an easier age group been like 40 to 45 is artery. Age group right two women just kind of drop out. Yeah. So I think that that's part of it is I was just lucky to have the support know my Iron Man picture where I actually can't do this anymore across the finish line hold my kids hands and I'm and then they're like trying to ask me questions. I'm like run run the Finish Line still in front of us. You gotta keep running, you know, so getting to share that with them my husband at the time made that possible. So that was that was Very nice thing that I had in my life. Yeah, that's incredible. I hope you got lots of pictures from that time. Yeah. Yeah. I got lots of good pictures. So out of all the other races that you've done. Do you have any ones that stand out to you? Hmm? Yeah. So I think one of my favorite races I used to do in Canada was called the SRI chinmoy Triathlon at the time. I think it was the biggest Race in Canada. It was in there's on Vancouver Island, and I know that I think that might be where they have the 70.3 now, is that this this Lake there? It's beautiful. I mean it's you know, Vancouver Island's just lovely and but SRI chinmoy with this kind of Guru kind of a guy he was sort of a cross between like, I don't know the Dalai Lama and Jack LaLanne. He was kind of like a spiritual Our who is also sort of an exercise freak and he would have his followers. Do these kind of like weird Feats of like like for instance, he would sponsor a marathon but it was around a high school track. So yeah, right so like it was mental like it was really mental, right? So it was about sort of meditation as you know, and he would do these things where he would like lift incredible weight. Sort ooph. I don't know freight car or something. He just did these incredible things mind-body things. And so they put on this race and it was it was like I said as big as like 800 people mass starts was my first really big mess start and it was in this beautiful place and they would cook like this vegan Feast the night before and all of his followers would turn out for the race and they would like cheer and they have little bells and it was just like a really different vibe than It's races, but I just like combination of just kind of atmosphere the support and just sort of a natural beauty there. I remember being in the The Run finishes on this Trail around the lake and mercy in these two mink like run across the trail in front of me, you know, you're just kind of out in this beautiful nature. So I'd say that was one of my favorite races and I used to go up and do it every year and they had these really cool race t-shirts that had like weird metaphysical poetic kind of sayings on them. So it was fun. That is a standout maybe one of my other favorites is I used to do this race. It was called an Enduro Triathlon and I don't know if they do them in Australia anymore swap nail. It came from Australia the idea and it was you did an Olympic triathlon, but you did it as to Sprint's back to back. So you didn't Swim Bike Run Swim Bike Run. I haven't seen too many of those. That was a trip. That was really fun because For me, you know, you couldn't wear a wetsuit, of course your second time around so that always gives me an advantage because you know, when triathletes take off their wetsuits, it can't swim for shit. Right that was always a bonus for me. So and it was also on a trail around this lake. So it was really pretty so that would be hard. Well now that sort of racing is part of like the Super League stuff, right? They I think they have an Enduro stage of something on that as well. Yeah. I don't know it was cool. But it is really hard to get to start swimming again after you run. I'll have to say that was trippy. Yeah, like yes, can I say were there any drownings in the event? I think that's why they stopped doing this probably a liability. Yeah, because you would cramp up really bad. Oh, yeah, and then there's here's another funny one. I did I used to do this race up in in Washington at Lake Stevens. It was actually the same Lake where they had the 70.3 there eventually. Lee and they started out as a triathlon they moved it to a Quadra Thon so it was Swim Bike Run kayak or canoe so I didn't really know how to kayak so I borrowed a boat from a friend and then like I was I was actually out in front. So I was in first place women's when I got to the boat but I couldn't get in it and I almost tipped over and it was just really ludicrous and then as I'm kayaking I'm still out in front of all the women's field right, but I can't kayak in a Straight line. So I'm like zigging and zagging and I see us one behind me like gaining on me like a Bee Line like she's just going straight and I'm just like all over the lake and then you get to the end. Well, you swam and you fight you've run and then you've sat with your legs cramped in this kayak and you get out and you had to run like a hundred yards up the beach and like your legs don't work. So like crawling and it's just it's quite funny. Yeah, I did manage to hold on to Place by crawling part of the way to the finish line. So there's my Julie Moss moment right there sounds like a rough event, but it sounds like a lot of fun. I think that is one thing I miss a little bit with Triathlon now is it's a little more serious and the and people the events are so like they're always a Sprint or an Olympic or a 70.3 or one 40.6. There's not as much just experimentation. Nobody just puts on. An event is like hey, what if we do this, I think that's going to become more. It's kind of that's going to start happening a lot more like you see the swimmer runs happening this new these new formats coming up. So I'm sure that's where it's headed. Yeah, I want to do a swim run. That's one of my main goals for next year. I want to hear about it when you do it because I think it's so neat was like just all the different things. They were right the paddles and whatever and how you run with your swim with your shoes in your yeah, whatever. Yeah, so it's a Challenge it's like a different different kind of challenge. Yeah carry everything with you. Yeah. Well, they'll have new shoes. I'm sure eventually are you where those dependent guess it would depend on the train because you don't want to wear those like you should like to choose like the barefoot shoes or whatever because what if the trains really well, I'm I run about 80% of my miles in those and I run on 12 May the time so I probably I probably would wear those. Yeah because if he would think that would be the easiest if you wanted to keep them on for swimming they would be probably be the easiest. Easiest thing to do. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Like. I might actually have an advantage there. I mean almost never have an advantage in running because I'm a pretty terrible Runner but I might have an advantage there because I'm used to it. I'll be cool to hear about when you do it. Yeah. Well the trick there is finding a partner true, you know, because you have to finish together you have to do the whole race together. So most of the people I know are much better Runners than me and much slower swimmers than me. So I got some great people I'd love to do it with but I mean we Wolfie waiting for each other and you have to finish each leg together or could you just crossed? Yeah, I know finish though you do the whole race together. Yeah, so yeah, so that's the tricky part. So I got to find somebody who's has bad at running as I am and is pretty decent swimmer shout-out to your listeners there, you know, somebody's really interested in swim by and do you ever plan on going even longer than Iron Man's or because you know, you've done a few other events like the long swims that you've done you've done some climbing and mountains and stuff like that you is that you want Como into that or maybe try even these double Iron Man the triple Iron Man and stuff like that. Yeah. I do have some like dreams, you know, I guess most people have seen my stuff on Instagram know I had a really bad injury two years ago. I'm still I can't really talk about it because there's a lawsuit involved but I'm still not really fully recovered. So I don't know if I'll ever even be able to do half Ironman distance again yet. I'm hopeful. But I just don't know so there's kind of I had some stuff kind of out there in my mind, but I'm holding on to it and hoping and actually the one I really want to do is the arch to Arc which is the you run from London to the English Channel and then you swim the English Channel and then you bike to Paris. Oh, it's like an 87 mile run then the English Channel and then like a hundred and ninety mile bike. Something it's pretty crazy. But it's I guess like I don't know if I could just do multiple Iron Man's over and over but I could do something crazy like that. Is that race done? How many days is that race if it's you do as an individual so it's not like you're racing against anybody else, but I think the Finish times vary from like sixty eight to ninety four hours or something like that. Oh, wow, so it's you know, it is a I just thought I didn't know if it was like he did. Yeah, so one. Like one leg like one day and then two days later you swim the channel and then they do it all at once. No, so the times are all it's all concurrent. So and I think that there's some Logistics because swimming the channel itself is logistic thing where you have to have a boat and a pilot and the tides and everything. So you would kind of have to logistically plan your run accordingly and then you got to figure sleep in there. So I guess that's why it appeals to me like as opposed to one of those things where you do an Ironman today or Things just because you did it would be kind of a mental challenge like you'd have to work out all this stuff. Yeah. So yeah, so, you know something like that and if I can't do something like that, I probably can do some longer swims. So I've been looking at you know, Channel swims Marathon swims as possibilities, but we'll just have to see how they have a healing process continues. It is hard not to feel like at my Peak anymore. Like I'm I can't really go long or go hard and Anything so I'm just kind of training and so what's that like, I mean, you know having done this well for so long and being it being that outlet that you just talked about earlier. And now that you can do it as much what's that like really hard. I mean, I guess the my Saving Grace is I can I can go, you know a reasonable amount of time like at first when I was injured. I didn't know if I'd be able to run again for If I be able to bite, you know, that is mentally really hard where you're just saying to yourself. I don't know if I can do this thing. I love and I have not been able to return to martial arts, which is kind of my other passion. So that is hard. But now I guess I just feel grateful for whatever I can do so I can swim I can bike. I can run not as hard not as long but I can do it and I did a Sprint race last year. I'll probably do at least one Sprint this year, and I just am trying to be happy. With what I've got because you know, frankly, I don't I don't know too many people who get 30 plus years, you know in anything. So I'm just I'm grateful I guess but you know, like like my my idol sister Madonna and that's kind of where I always had hoped to see myself as just being able to do this, you know in into my later years and and I've I've divorced and remarried. My husband is 13 years younger than me, so We've kind of made a pact he we want to see our 50th wedding anniversary, which means I have to live to a hundred. So that's kind of a tall order. He only has to make it till 87. So I've got to keep myself in like a really great shape. So, you know when we get to do a lot of stuff together, we bike together and stuff and it's really so that again is just keeping my love of doing these things together. We've been doing some backpacking. Other stuff kayaking and I want to be in that kind of shape that you know that I can continue to keep up with them which you know, as you get older it gets more challenging. So so I have a question. It's not related to travel on but it is related to the first thing you have on your Instagram under your name and it says you are a student of the universe. So what does that mean? Exactly? Um, that's a good question. And just like my brain is like a giant sponge and I'm always reading learning experiencing. Like I think some people just kind of like you said, you'll go home watch a few episodes of something go to bed. Get up do it all over again. Like I'm never going to be like that. I want to you know both in sports and you know in my mental life in my spiritual life in my home life my life with love and family and friends. I just always want to be growing and learning and and doing new things. So I guess it's that's it. Like, you know, I don't know. I've learned to speak a new language in the last, you know decade like I'm never going to stop learning things doing things. I learned to play fiddle when my daughter got into Celtic fiddle. I just bought a violin and just like I'm going to learn to do this too, you know, like you never stop growing and learning. Like that, thank you. That's when I read that your Instagram has the first thing I said I said to my husband I said, I wonder what this means like student of the universe. So I like that I like your definition. Yeah. Alright Robin. So as you know, the we have a few questions to take us to the end of the show here. What's the message? You want people listening to take away from your story? Ah, I think that you know, if I look at bookending it was sort of those two things. things that that the start of triathlon I learned that most of my barriers were mental and that, you know, we can overcome a lot if we remove those mental barriers and that's what traf on just teaches me over and over and over and I think at the end that yeah just being a student of the University means always looking out and trying new things or try and the same thing a different way or going to a new place or you know So I think that that those two things are what make me love the sport that I guess that's what I'd hoped to pass on to somebody at least. Okay, and are there any people are bands that you like to give a shout out to cash? I don't know most of my most of my friends in the sport and stuff. I don't know that most of them on Instagram. So but you know, like I said before my aquadecks group and and my husband and my kids everybody that's been super supportive of this. Laziness through my whole life my husband Bryce who's just totally amazing and and really supports me going in and doing these things at all hours of the day and night and my kids Kenzie and ASA are pretty awesome people. So yeah, I guess that's it. Awesome. Okay, I'm before we ask our last question tell everyone where they can find and follow you online on Instagram at Read mom Robin, although I don't know. I keep thinking. I might change my username at some point. So it's pretty cool. Well, I didn't know it's because my youngest is turning 20 and I don't know the mom Hood phase is kind of like falling behind me a little bit. I don't know I gotta think about it. I guess cool. Okay, and I'll ask question. Why do you try I try because I love it so much and it keeps me sane. Shane thanks for coming on the show Robin. It was a pleasure. Yeah, thank you. Thank you is awesome. Like you knew the structure of the show is strange. Yeah, you know, you would think that that would be helpful but I felt like I was just as flummoxed as any other guest probably like you think oh, I'll know what to say and then you're like, yeah, I don't know. You're pretty good. Yeah, great. Well, thanks guys. I'm just so excited to see your ongoing cool things that you're doing and and you're making this Triathlon World better all the time. Thanks for listening everyone. Thanks for being a part of this humans of triathlon Community. Hope you're enjoying the show and the content make sure to join us again next week here on the hot podcast where we'll bring you another amazing guest and story from this Audrey, but I Audrey world of triathlon until then everyone keep trying
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! - ROBIN'S SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram  - SUBSCRIBE, RATE & REVIEW: if you've enjoyed the show, it would mean a lot to us if you could leave the show a positive review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. It would help us out a ton! - H.O.T SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram | Facebook | Strava | Website  - HOSTS: Swapneel Chouhan, Sheila Treleaven, & Carlos (Charles) Galan  - INTRO/OUTRO MUSIC: produced by Vasil Zguri at SoundPulse 