When , one of the first things she talked about in her post-race speech was period tracking.

“For this race, a lot of things were actually coming together,” she said in her finish-line interview after the win. “So for example, I was in the first half of my menstrual cycle, and I always told myself, once this happens on a world championship race day, this is the chance. I feel so much stronger than in the second [half].”

It’s not the first time Philipp called out her menstrual cycle as a factor in her triathlon success. After setting an Ironman record of 8:18:20 at Hamburg in 2022, period tracking was a “game changer” in optimizing her training and nutrition.

Does this mean all triathletes with a period should track their menstrual cycles with the same attention to detail as power meter data, nutritional intake, and sleep? Could period tracking really help athletes crack the code for a PR?

If you spend any time on social media, you probably assume the answer is “yes.” Women’s health and performance – specifically, as it pertains to hormones, is a hot topic right now. There’s no shortage of influencers and self-proclaimed experts offering advice on how to use period tracking to optimize athletic performance, but actual credentialed experts proffering detailed advice and protocols? Those are harder to come by. That’s because the science of period tracking for athletic performance is in its infancy, says Dr. Kelly McNulty, sports physiology researcher at Northumbria University and founder of .

It’s great that we’ve had this boom in menstrual cycle tracking,” says McNulty. “Menstrual cycle tracking is more common now, and it’s advocated for, especially within elite environments, as something athletes should be doing. There’s a tendency that everyone’s a female health expert now, but on the flip side of that, the science isn’t quite there yet. We don’t want to be giving bad advice off low-quality research.”

That’s not to say period tracking is a bad idea – only that athletes should beware of one-size-fits-all advice on how women perform during certain phases of the cycle. Let’s take a deeper look at how to make period tracking work for you, whether you’re just starting out in triathlon or an Ironman World Champion.

What the science says about period tracking for athletes

As Triathlete has written about before, . The major contributing factor to this dearth of information is a belief that it’s simply “too complicated” to study women – their monthly menstrual cycle and resulting hormonal fluctuations skew otherwise straightforward results. The lack of research on this topic means data collected on males is extrapolated to females, and female athletes usually train based on recommendations made for male athletes.

McNulty was part of a 2021 research team that reviewed more than 5,000 studies across six popular sport and exercise journals, , with as few as 6% of studies focusing exclusively on females.  that even fewer studies looked at women by life stage – a particularly “invisible” cohort is women going through midlife, perimenopause, and menopause. Simply put, the science on women isn’t that great, and though it is an area of increasing interest for researchers, McNulty says it will still be five to 10 years before there’s a robust body of high-quality research.

Still, McNulty warns, “Everybody’s an expert now. And so everyone’s coming out saying that they will tailor your training plan to your menstrual cycle, and it sounds too good to be true in a lot of ways. We don’t want to come in and tell people, ‘No, this is a bad idea,’ but we do feel really strongly about making sure that people know that if you’re paying for someone to do that, and they’re claiming they’re an expert, that nobody’s really fully an expert on that, except for the people who are currently doing the research – and even they don’t have all the answers.”

There are, of course, some already-published studies that indicate hormone fluctuations aren’t a complication; they’re actually key to understanding and optimizing athletic performance in women. Hormones like estrogen and progesterone rise and fall throughout a woman’s month-long menstrual cycle, influencing everything from how she performs in training or racing to how she recovers. have found hormones may affect ligament laxity, suggesting injury risk may increase at various stages of the cycle. There is also evidence that when hormones fluctuate, so too does a woman’s body’s ability to maintain proper hydration levels, metabolize nutrients, and regulate body temperature – unique factors critical to female athletic performance.

Should you avoid period-tracking apps for athletes?

These studies, plus a growing demand for women-specific health advice, have led to an influx of period-tracking apps for athletes, which help women monitor where they are in their monthly cycles. Some apps even recommend what kind of training to do (or avoid) and when.

Though such apps can be enlightening for female athletes looking for insights on their individual physiology, that there currently isn’t enough research to make standard recommendations related to period tracking and sport performance.

That doesn’t mean that period tracking is a waste of time; only that experts aren’t at the point to confidently say “on X day of the cycle, women are best off doing Y workout and recovering with Z food.” McNulty says the information period-tracking apps give is often generic, and given the variety in menstrual cycle experiences among women, the information presented might not always be suited to the specific athlete. Some with putting highly-sensitive health information into such apps.

While women wait for the scientific community to endorse a substantial body of evidence, there are still things athletes can do, McNulty says: ”If you are a female athlete or a coach/practitioner supporting a female athlete, then I recommend that you dive into the research and learn all you can about the potential effects hormones can have on women’s physiology. But do this with a critical eye.”

McNulty also says women can develop their own “bespoke athlete guidelines,” where each athlete uses her own expertise of her own body to identify patterns in performance. “When you learn more about your own menstrual cycle – what symptoms you experience and how you perform, train, and recover on certain days – you can use your knowledge and understanding to determine what bits of the research might apply to you and which don’t. From there you can begin to tweak and adjust things to maximize or manage performance/training depending where you are in your cycle,” she says.

It’s in these individual experiences of the menstrual cycle – not the advice of an app – where the biggest insights lie. “Every woman is different, and the research is only the beginning from which we can build our individualized content from,” McNulty says. “But this only happens if we understand our bodies first.”

How to track your period as an athlete

Tracking the menstrual cycle can be as simple as circling a day on a paper calendar or marking an X in your smartphone on the first day of your menstrual flow, or period. The menstrual cycle is counted from the first day of one period up to the first day of your next period.

The average menstrual cycle is 28 days long, but each woman is different. Some women’s periods are so regular that they can predict the day and time that the next one will start. Other women experience menstrual cycles that vary in length. Medically, periods are considered “regular” if they usually come every 24 to 38 days.

That menstrual cycle is further divided into four phases:

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As athletes look to eat healthy while saving money, Costco has become the place for scoring mammoth deals on groceries. After all, who doesn’t love affordable groceries?

And yes, Costco has plenty of affordable healthy groceries. It might seem like they’re hard to find amid the colossal tubs of M&Ms and lifetime-supply jugs of ranch dressing, but nutritious options at lower price points are plentiful. You only need to be strategic about what you buy.

I worked my way through the Costco product lineup to round up the healthiest Costco foods for athletes. Add these to your shopping list the next time you are ready to push around that oversized shopping cart.

The best healthy Costco foods for athletes

Kirkland Signature Organic Peanut Butter  

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Every Sunday afternoon I sit down in my home office prepping for next week’s clients directly in front of one of my favorite quotes:

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

While George Bernard Shaw has many famous expressions, the words “grow old” in this particular quote could be replaced by any number of phrases directly relevant to a triathlete.

We lose motivation when sessions get long or boring. We aggravate old niggles when our training is out of balance. We plateau with a lack of variability. I have found few in this sport who aren’t striving to remain youthful, vibrant, and competitive as they age. So if you’re one of these athletes, now’s your time.

is when we incorporate play, or “general athleticism,” into work to promote durability (resistance to fatigue/injury), enhance mobility (muscular tension, length, and coordination in movement), and reestablish stability (control). The spontaneity and variability of play help to recondition, stretch, and strengthen your muscle fascia – that super suit of connective tissue that supports every muscle and organ in your body. Healthy fascia gives us fluidity in movement (free watts) and that proverbial “spring” in our step (free speed) we all search for as the racing season hits full stride.

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Make Strength Training More Fun in the Off-Season with Play

Here are a few components I think about when planning strength sessions for my athletes that incorporate play, yet are still sport-relevant and excellent use of precious time.

1. Keep it fun

You might like skipping! I do not. It reminds me of warming up for high school track meets with an aggro coach wearing a whistle straight out of the military (literally). I avoid it even as a “fun” . Incorporating play into your strength routine should invoke light-hearted, positive feelings or memories. Find those activities that cause you to lose track of time, make you smile, or give you that much-needed social component.

2. Give it a little structure

I work with very few endurance athletes who feel comfortable without some simple boundaries or confines – even when the schedule calls for unstructured training. For example, adding a time limit (AMRAP – as many rounds/reps as possible) or building in a community component for support can mentally refresh the most mundane but necessary mobility workouts. I participated in several challenges for vertical feet this summer, which had me chasing some very steep Strava segments while hiking on my local Boulder trails. They were also incredibly effective, non-traditional strength workouts that replaced one of my weekly lower-body gym sessions.

3. Be creative, not reckless

I love a good Instagram highlight reel from a celeb or pro athlete doing something physically impressive in the gym. Just remember that juggling dumbbells while standing on a stability ball represents a fraction of the actual work that athlete has already put in to master it. Instead, try something that is a step or two away from movements you are already proficient in and then gradually add creativity. For example, I often have my triathletes warming up with throwing and catching this time of year, which can be elevated with movement, increased specificity, and gamification. Yup, even dodgeball.

Whether you incorporate the five D’s (dodge, duck, dip, dive, dodge) into your off-season, try an on-demand core class, or throw around a frisbee at the end of a gym workout, remember that off-season is the time of year to move differently. We want to bend, pull, turn, and twist in ways that are not strictly swim, bike, and run. Becoming more mobile, total-body durable, and generally athletic now in ways that are mentally refreshing (play!), will only ensure that we are healthy, well-rounded, and ready for our high quality, specific workouts to ramp up this spring.

has specialized in endurance training in both functional strength and conditioning, as well as technical program creation for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and multi-sport endurance athletes for well over a decade. She is a NASM cPT in addition to a NASM CES (corrective) and PES (performance) specialist.Ìę

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These are strange times for Olympians.

An athlete can win medal after medal, but should they be caught on camera in a compromising or hilarious situation, the ensuing tonnage of Internet memes will overshadow those accolades. Want proof? I dare you to Google French pole vaulter or Turkish shooter .

I fear that American Olympic triathlete is headed for a similar fate. I’m here to beg you, people of the Internet, to not let it happen.

Over the weekend, Knibb, 26, dominated the T100 world championships triathlon in Dubai, winning the race by over two minutes. But during the run portion Knibb pooped in her racing suit. Hey, it’s triathlon—indigestion and the occasional mid-race crap are . Knibb had the presence of mind to share her predicament with the cameraman who was trailing her: she asked him to spare viewers the unflattering view from behind. “I just shit myself,” she said into the camera. “So can you not get my ass?” The cameraman complied.

Alas, this short video clip has entered the Internet’s . I first saw it on Instagram on Sunday night, and by Wednesday, stories about Knibb dotted the Internet. Even —the surest sign that a story has become part of the Internet’s lowbrow sludge.

I understand why: pants pooping is almost always a little funny, and doing so during a world-class sporting competition simply adds to the knee-slapping appeal. Plus, Knibb’s calm, matter-of-fact demeanor in the midst of a could-be crisis moment won hearts. She’s a little like that meme of the dog in the burning room claiming “,” if that dog were also masterfully managing its own PR in real-time.

But as we all know, viral memes have a way of distorting reality and overshadowing facts. And the truth about Taylor Knibb is that she’s probably the most impressive American endurance athlete of her generation. Period. And I will say this until I’m hoarse: Taylor Knibb is far too impressive of an athlete for a goofy meme to define her online reputation.

Knibb wins triathlons of varying distances, and in 2020 she won Olympic silver in Tokyo. Not to be outdone, in 2024 Knibb qualified for the American Olympic team in both triathlon and road cycling. To the unfamiliar, this may seem pretty ho-hum. Cycling is one of the three legs of triathlon, after all. Isn’t this just like Michael Phelps winning medals in breast stroke, backstroke, and butterfly?

Nope—it’s completely different. It’s more like if Phelps won in the 100-meter freestyle and then donned a sequined outfit and did the Olympic synchronized swimming competition and totally kicked ass at it. No American has competed in triathlon and cycling at the same Olympics ever before. It’s a big deal.ÌęIn fact, Knibb was the only American to compete in two different sports at the Paris Games. She also raced the Olympic team triathlon and helped Team USA earn a silver medal.

Within the small community of endurance sports superfanatics—yes, I am a card-carrying member—Knibb’s double-Olympic qualification was mind-blowing.

“Threading that needle of being world-class in triathlon and cycling at the same time is beyond difficult,” says longtime coach Neal Henderson, who trains elite-level cyclists and triathletes. “It’s hard to put into words just how impossible that is.”

Henderson told șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű that the training demands to be that good in two different sports are mind-boggling. Elite cyclists and triathletes both train anywhere from 25-28 hours a week. But cyclists dedicate all of that time toward the very specific physiological act of pedaling a bicycle. Triathletes, meanwhile, split those hours between swimming, biking, and running.

And anyone who’s ever done a triathlon knows that running and cycling are not exactly complementary exercises. I’m simplifying here, but pedaling a bicycle requires your leg muscles to generate high levels of power. That’s why top cyclists often have brawny quads, glutes, and hamstrings.

Running, meanwhile, damages big, brawny leg muscles, and saps those muscles of the power required to push the pedals of a bicycle. If you examine the world’s top distance runners—and triathletes—you will see lithe, spindly legs.

“The physiological demands of running has a negative effect on being able to maintain the muscle mass, strength, and power that make you a good cyclist,” Henderson said. “And in elite sports, you’re talking about razor-edge differences that come from putting huge demands on the body.”

Henderson, who operates the Colorado-based coaching company Apex Coaching, coached Knibb when she was an 18-year-old budding professional triathlete. She had graduated from Cornell as an Academic All American and a top-level cross-country runner, and she had her sights set on professional triathlon. Knibb was the rare teenaged athlete with world-class natural talent, monk-like dedication to training, and personal ambitions that were sky-high, Henderson said.

But even he had his doubts when Knibb told him that in 2024 she hoped to qualify for the Olympics in two different sports. Her travel schedule for triathlon left very little time to train specifically for cycling. And the handful of American women competing for a spot in Paris included talented athletes who have spent years focusing on the sport.

“It seemed unreasonable for Taylor to go to the Olympics in both,” Henderson said. “But if you place reasonable expectations on athletes with unreasonable ability, you’ll never know what they’re capable of.”

Knibb had earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic triathlon team in 2023, and in 2024 a rare opportunity opened for her to go in cycling. USA Cycling, the sport’s governing body, held a in the individual time trial on May 15. The race fell right in the middle of Knibb’s international competition schedule for triathlon, just a few days after a major race in Japan.

After finishing second at the Japanese triathlon, Knibb traveled to Charleston, West Virginia, for the road cycling race. She faced off against the country’s best professional cyclists in the 22-mile individual race. Among the competitors included former world champion Amber Neben, former U.S. road champion Lauren Stephens, and even Kristen Faulkner, who went on to win two cycling gold medals in Paris. Everyone wanted the victory, because a win meant an automatic spot on the U.S. Olympic cycling team.

Knibb smoked them all—she topped Faulkner by 11 seconds to grab the spot.

When I read the news, I just about fell out of my chair. When Henderson learned of Knibb’s victory, he smiled. He knew she was capable of it, after all.

So, if you must, have your little laugh at the video, then take a minute to get to know Knibb for who she really is: an exceptional athlete with huge ambitions, crazy strength, and yes, the ability to stay calm and collected, no matter the situation.

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When it comes to bike training, most triathletes are locked into a power zone on their indoor trainer  or focused on getting to the top of the next hill as quickly as possible. Time-saving details tend to come in the form of gear, like the latest reduced-drag skin suits or . But even though building your aerobic base and finessing your position is always beneficial, you might be surprised just how much free speed – and time – you are leaving out on the course by not placing a bit more emphasis on those bike handling skills, particularly when it comes to descending.

One of the best examples of this is the Ironman World Championship course in Nice, France, with its 8,000 feet of elevation in the Maritime Alps. In 2019, we marveled at Rudy Von Berg railing it around the corners on familiar roads in the 70.3 worlds. Last year, we saw fellow Frenchman Sam Laidlow deliver similarly over the full distance as he became the youngest men’s winner ever. But perhaps the best example is that of British athlete Kat Matthews at the 2024 Ironman World Championship Nice, whose descending in the second part of the bike leg – much of it in the company of eventual winner Laura Philipp – meant that by the time the pair reached T2, they were seven minutes ahead of French local Marjolaine Pierre and the rest of the field had splintered in their wake.

To illustrate just how hard Matthews rode, she handily – and, thankfully, to give even more helpful context, so did many of the pro women she raced against. When we pore over the Strava data at different sections of the descent, we can can really show where the time gaps were created.

How Descending Shaped the Race at the 2024 Ironman World Championship Nice

As you can see from the graphic, the Ironman course in Nice is one loop climbing to a rolling plateau before dropping back to the coast.

We’ll look at each of the notable descents in turn and then put them into the bigger picture of the race.

Descent #1: Route de Grasse Toward Pont du Loup

Just over 20 miles into the ride, there is the first descent before the major climb to Col de L’Ecre. At 3.87 miles, the “Route de Grasse towards Pont du Loop” segment on Strava drops 618 feet at an average grade of 3%.

It’s not a particularly technical descent, but we can tell the women are racing it – and also benefiting from closed roads – because the top eight times on this segment are set during the race.

Matthews takes the QOM (“Queen of the Mountain” on Strava) and 13 seconds on Pierre. It’s worth noting that at this point, other than the descent, Pierre is on the charge, leading the race and putting time into everyone except Philipp (who is further back out of the water). That she loses even a few seconds here is a tell for what might come later.

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What should have been one of the biggest triathlon celebrations of the year was marred by tragedy yesterday as two athletes died during the World Triathlon age-group sprint world championship in southern Spain, according to officials.

A Mexican athlete lost his life after suffering difficulties in the swim and another male competitor from Great Britain died on the run course in Torremolinos on October 17. An investigation is underway over both incidents amid allegations of poor organization and lax medical procedures from participants.

A World Triathlon statement confirmed the news, saying: “Our deepest condolences go to the respective family, friends, National Federations and all the triathlon family. World Triathlon, the Spanish Federation and the LOC [local organizing committee] are in contact with their families and NFs [national federations] to provide all the support needed in these difficult and sad times.”

British Triathlon also confirmed that the family of a member of its age-group team had been notified and were being supported, adding: “British Triathlon and the Age-Group Team send their condolences and we request that their privacy be respected at this time.” World Triathlon said both families had requested the names of the deceased to be kept private.

, a professional triathlete and coach from Colorado, who was at the venue and witnessed the incident in the swim raised organizational shortcomings on social media in the hours following.

“I’ve just got back from the sprint distance,” he said. “I just want to say, World Triathlon, that was some of the worst lifeguarding, the worst awareness, the worst communication I’ve seen at an event ever.

“There was an older man that was clearly signaling for help a few hundred yards out from the finish. Everyone on shore saw it, everyone was yelling for somebody to go there. [The] kayaker is completely oblivious, paddling away.”

 

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World Triathlon responded by rejecting the claim that swim conditions were poor and told Triathlete that swim conditions were classed as “optimal” for the event by the local marine authorities. It also added that there were more dedicated water safety resources deployed than legally required.

Triathlete subsequently contacted another individual working in an official capacity at the venue who wished to remain anonymous but said: “To be honest, racing conditions were horrendous. [It was] too late in the day, so loads of wind, making it impossible to sight on the swim. People [were] swimming every way, taking ages. And after a week of rain, today was pretty warm while they were running.”

from the UK Meteorological Office show the average high temperature on race day in Torremolinos was 74 degrees Fahrenheit with humidity between 50 and 60 percent over the course of the day. Hourly average wind speeds were reported between 12 and 18 mph during the race.

To compound the allegations, a further undisclosed source working at the venue said that attempts to resuscitate the British participant, who had collapsed during the 5-kilometer run leg, were delayed by an absence of medical staff who had rushed to the swim incident, leaving the individual on the run without any medical expertise for almost 20 minutes.

World Triathlon said it is working with local authorities, including the police, to investigate both incidents and could offer no further comment at this time. When asked directly about allegations of poor organization, it reconfirmed that position.

The deaths follow a further recent tragedy in Ironman Calella-Barcelona less than two weeks ago, when Elena Smirnova, a 41-year-old Russian, was pulled from the water and died en route to hospital.

Another participant died after a medical emergency in the swim leg in Ironman 70.3 Oregon in July and two triathletes also passed while taking part in Ironman Ireland last year.

The event in Torremolinos near Malaga is the climax of the World Triathlon season. Running from October 17-20, more than 5,500 triathletes from over 80 countries are set to compete in categories running from amateur to elite competition as well as junior, under-23, and paratriathletes.

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The 23 Best Places to Travel in 2024

Our expert travel writers circled the globe to find the next-best destinations to explore—and why to go now. From beautiful just-built wilderness lodges, to fun sporting events in perfect adventure locales, to the most stunning place to see the northern lights, here are the trips you should take this year.

Read on  șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű

5 Rugged Guided Treks Every Backpacker Should Do Before They Die

Hiking with a guide can take you to places you’d never be able to experience on your own. These guided treks are some of the best in the world.

The Best Runs in North America For Every Type of Terrain

From steeps to glades to bowls, we put our heads together to compile a respectable list of must-ski trails at resorts across the continent.

Fifty More Classic Climbs of North America

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The 5 Best Road Rides in the World

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Travel To These 16 Places For The Most Tranquil Outdoor Yoga Practice of Your Life

Sometimes your outer experience can facilitate your inner one.

13 Bucket-List Triathlons That’ll Change Your Life

Whether it’s epic scenery, a killer challenge, or both, the editors of Triathlete present 13 of the best bucket-list triathlon events in the world.

The Best American Cities for Running

These cities have great running trails, races, shops and communities.

The post Where to Hike, Ski, Run, and More: The șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Network’s 2024 Travel Awards appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Friends, we have a crisis looming on our hands and something must be done.

If you’ve been living under the surface level of the pool, Strava sashayed into the zeitgeist last week when ·Ą±ô±ô±đÌępublished an article titled  According to the story, a pay-to-play, digital dating environment has ravaged younger American generations with swipe fatigue, and Strava, author Kelsey Borovinsky argues, provides a platform for people who enjoy endurance sports to find each other.

So far, so great. Endurance sports have infiltrated pop culture enough to get written up in the likes of Elle, without even Taylor Swift signing on? Rejoice! We can use Strava to find connection and community? Hallelujah!

But, Borovinsky, are we talking about the same ? The one with segments and leaderboards that breed ? The app that doesn’t even support direct messaging, much less discovery?

Sure, Strava has a “flyby” feature to see who you encountered on your outing. But if you manage to track down strangers you glimpsed for a quarter of a second on your run two days ago with this beta feature, what are you going to do? Ask them out in a public comment on their activity?

No, if you are a sane person with manners, you are going to find them on Instagram or something and send them a DM. Nicely. Politely.

I hear DMing is coming to Strava. We will deal with those ramifications later. One crisis at a time. Beyond practicalities, there lies the greater existential question that we must ask ourselves: Do we really want Strava to serve as a way to impress people in that dating-kind-of-way? It’s already a haven for those looking for validation and ways to look down on each other, but it could get worse, much worse.

±őČÔ»ć±đ±đ»ć,ÌęElle’s Borovinsky describes a Strava filled with young, single people like Ellie Gerson. She’s a runner and influencer from San Francisco who, after completing her scenic seven-mile run, “immediately opens Strava to upload her workout, along with a cute selfie and a relatable caption about the highs and lows of training for the Chicago Marathon.”

Marathon training, we love to see it. But Gerson isn’t here just to chronicle the highs and lows of her journey to 26.2. When asked if she hopes potential suitors will see her Strava uploads Gerson said, “One thousand percent. Whether it was a long run or I’m in a cute outfit, there have definitely been times where I’ve thought, he will see this.”

Look, it’s a free country. Gerson, Borovinsky, and all one hundred million Strava-ers (Strava-ites?) can use Strava however they want. But do we really need yet another platform for people to impress each other? Can’t someone just spend a long run thinking about pancakes, not thirst traps?

Strava’s where I connect with friends and family. I see my 72-year-old dad’s five-hour Zwift ride, and I know he’s just as deranged as he was 50 years ago. Thank god. It’s where I get beta on trail and road conditions from those more intrepid than I. It’s where we -yes the royal we of all endurance peoples – bond over our mutual hatred of wind. And it’s what I turn to when I need a little bit of extra motivation from my psycho friends who run at 4 AM.

In short, I rely on Strava to learn about what’s really going on. It’s like getting an honest answer to, “How are you?” without even needing to ask. Even for those people who call their hammer sessions “easy runs,” the heart rate data keeps them honest.

Strava feels like a safe haven for simplicity, silliness, and sincerity—segment hunting and threats of stalking put aside.

Maybe (probably) I’m being an overly cautious curmudgeon. I’ve been off the market for like six years, I’m old and out of touch. But in our overly digitized and curated world of filtered photos and painstakingly edited reels, Strava is the last place on the internet that hasn’t wholly succumbed to the dramaturgical trap of masking your true self in service to an impossible ideal. It’s a place to be yourself, and to celebrate others for being the same. And in a world saturated with insincerity, I need Strava to feel like I still have a semblance of a grasp on the truth.

So, Strava-ites, here is my plea to you: Keep posting those snot-encrused selfies and silly Strava titles. In the spirit of love, celebrate your friends for doing the same. And then, if Strava happens to serve as the most wholesome accidental meet-cute on the internet, we all win.

The post Strava Is a Den of Obsession. Not the New Dating App. appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

The first time I met Eli and Tabor Hemming, two of America’s most exciting “sub-ultra” trail runners right now, they were herding me and several other runners across a highway as if we were cattle.

I had joined a hut-to-hut trip in Colorado this July, guided by trail running legend Rickey Gates. He’d been offering this trip for the past 12 years, and he has a tradition to mark the one-and-only road crossing of the route: everyone has to come up with a fun theme for crossing the road. The quirkier the better.

Previous groups had acted as crabs. Others paired up and wheelbarrowed across. Our group decided that Eli and Tabor would herd everyone across the road as if we were stubborn cows. After all, they aren’t only two of the most promising stars in the U.S. trail running scene—they’re also ranchers on their family’s land near Kremmling, Colorado.

This introduction to the Hemmings made a lasting impression. After joining our group for the rest of the day, the married couple decided to casually run the 10 miles to their car and back home to their 200 head of Black Angus cattle, back to the trails on the family property where they’ve logged thousands of miles. The Hemmings have honed their unique lifestyle and training regimen to become two of the top runners in the (GTWS) international circuit of short and fast trail races. This week they’ve stepped away from ranch life to compete in the two-day GTWS Final in Noli, Italy.

Endurance from the Start

Eli and Tabor Hemming started their journeys in endurance sports young. Tabor, now 26, ran cross-country and track in high school. In 2013 and 2014, she competed in the World Trail and Mountain Running Championships as a junior, where she helped Team USA earn a silver medal. Tabor went on to run at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where she contributed to the Buffaloes’ 2018 NCAA cross-country championship team and earned All-American accolades.

After college, Tabor turned to trail running, and, in July 2022, won the USATF Mountain Running Championship in Whiteface, New York. This secured her a spot to represent Team USA and compete in last year’s World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Eli’s endurance started even earlier, when he was seven years old—the age most children learn how to tie their shoes—after his mother started a youth triathlon team in 2003. Eli took to swim-bike-run events and was coached by his mother until he was 19 years old, where he found his way as a professional triathlete for six years. After moving up the ranks and gunning to qualify for the Olympics, he eventually retired from triathlon in May 2021, not due to a lack of discipline, but a lack of inspiration.

“I was unable to do anything else in my life,” . “There wasn’t even any grief there, which was a little scary. It wasn’t driving me to happiness.”

Eli’s expertise in triathlon wasn’t Ironman—considered the ultra-distance of triathlon—but rather his expertise was the International Triathlon Union (ITU), or “short-course” triathlons, the faster and more dynamic distances. This speed would translate well to his move from triathlon to “short-course” trail running. In 2021, Eli finished sixth at the USATF Mountain Running Championships at Mount Hood in Oregon, then second in the same race last year, along with a second-place finish at California’s Way Too Cool 50K in 3:16:33, three minutes behind ultra-legend Tim Tollefson.

This June, Eli won the 23K at the Broken Arrow Skyrace in Olympic Valley, California, but perhaps an even more impressive performance was his second-place finish a week later at Mont Blanc Marathon in Chamonix, France, the second stop on the GTWS circuit. He was only a few minutes behind Swiss phenom Remi Bonnet, who currently after back-to-back victories at Pikes Peak and the Mammoth Trail Festival. Eli currently sits as the fourth-ranked in the men’s category for the Golden Trail World Series, the only American in the top 10 of the series going into the finals.

Ranching and Running

For Eli and Tabor, finding their way to the high court of trail running has been anything but conventional. After getting married in 2021, they bought a house in Louisville, Colorado, a suburb near Boulder, but found that, though on paper everything made sense, they weren’t happy. Eli was still following his triathlon dreams, while Tabor kept pursuing track goals. The two rarely saw each other.

“We wanted to be anywhere else but there,” says Eli. “We are trying to spend as many hours of the day outside as possible, and that setup wasn’t working.” Quickly, they flipped it 180 degrees, sold their house, and moved into the basement of Tabor’s 86-year-old grandmother’s house on the family ranch in Kremmling. They’ve never been happier.

“There are like three trail runners in Kremmling,” says Tabor with a laugh, teasing her own hometown located a few hours west of Boulder, with a population of 1,500 people. “My family’s been here for five generations,” she says. “I snuck away to college, found Eli, got married, and then was like, ‘OK, we’re coming back up here.’”

Ranching and running trails may sound romantic, but they are quick to mention that it’s not always the case. Often, Tabor’s dad, nicknamed “Shooter,” will walk into their house unannounced, sliding in “like Kramer from Seinfeld” to announce himself. Though privacy may have been forfeited in their relocation, the two have never been more aligned with their values.

“Where we live, you very much disconnect,” says Tabor. “We only have Wi-Fi and cell service at the house. As soon as you’re 400 meters from our StarLink, there’s nothing.”

This distance, however, is a welcome barrier between the buzz of scenes like Boulder, a healthy compartmentalization that invites a certain intention. When they’re training, they train. When they’re on the ranch, it’s chores, duties that often double as strength training.

“Right now is firewood season,” Eli says. “Yesterday afternoon we were getting truckloads of wood to bring down because we are the wood fetchers.” Eli and Tabor will drive an old beater truck into the woods, where Tabor’s dad (“Shooter!”) chainsaws wood that Tabor and Eli will load, stack, transport, and split
for the whole family.

They also occasionally help out at the Big Shooter coffee and ice cream shop that the family owns in Kremmling. With aging parents and two demanding businesses, the move home was ultimately to support Tabor’s family. “I just really didn’t want to see that go under for my family,” Tabor says. “Running is a time in our life. But the ranch is forever.”

Last winter, both Eli and Tabor signed on with Salomon’s elite running team. As a married couple who lives together, trains together, ranches together, and runs a coaching business together, “Aerobic Monsters,” their systems of dialogue and unending patience must be fully intact. And, by all accounts, they are.

“Everything comes down to communication,” Eli says. “Our athletic life and our personal life are one and the same. We always talk about things before a [training] session.”

RELATED: The Ultimate Guide to Uphill Trail Running

A critical key in their success is to not dwell on things, personally or on the trail. After a training run, they’ll take five minutes to debrief, and move on. “If something’s bothering us, we say it,” says Tabor. “There is danger in assuming the other person knows what you’re thinking.”

They find a ton of benefit in simply showing up, every day, for each other and for the training session, even if it didn’t go as planned. “C’s get degrees, is something I always tell my athletes,” Eli says.

Tabriz Holtz, 46, is a computer software engineer from Los Gatos, California. She’s been coached by the Hemmings for the past two years after experiencing a series of serious health setbacks. Eli and Tabor worked tirelessly, and she slowly moved from a one-minute run, one-minute walk, to a sub two-hour half marathon. “I never thought that was possible. Ever,” Holtz says.

“Tabor and Eli bring science-backed, evidence-based encouragement and belief to their coaching,” remarked Melissa Kovacs, 50, another one of the Hemmings’s athletes. She came to them “a mid-pack road runner beaten down by menopause, and their belief in me pulled me out of a dark place. They literally believe in me more than I believe in me.”

The Final Test

Eli and Tabor flew out this week to compete in the GTWS Final held in conjunction with the in Italy. But that wasn’t before the two ran the , last weekend in Big Bear, California, to qualify for next year’s OCC 55K in Chamonix.

Eli nabbed second place in 3:49:35, while Tabor made her way to the podium, finishing third woman in 4:40:49. After less than a week of rest, they’ll be racing the 5K prologue and the 24K mountain race (with 4,500 feet of vertical gain) of the GTWS Final.

Such race stacking might sound crazy, but it’s all part of their training strategy. “I don’t know if it’s mental or if it’s actually physical, but it just works really well,” says Eli.

“If you think about a taper, you’re kind of getting stale,” Tabor adds. “That stimulus of elevating lactate even a little helps clear the system. Then, mentally, you’re like, ‘Oh, I made it to that place and I survived.’ You know that place.”

What the two seem to prioritize is diversifying their races and having fun, while not being overly committed to one single race or result. “We work toward the race that’s coming up and find enjoyment from that,” says Tabor. “While not having all our eggs in one basket for the [GTWS] final. Because then, if the plan goes poorly, there goes the whole season.”

The Hemmings have become the American darlings of the Golden Trail World Series, the world’s leading series of lightning-fast short-course trail races around the world, including crowd favorites like Zegama, Sierre-Zinal, Pikes Peak Ascent, and others, while attracting some .

“What’s different about the Golden Trail Series is how it’s helping spark a sub-ultra push, especially for athletes like us who are just getting into it but who are trying to compete at the elite level,” Eli says. “They’re trying to create a college-type feel, organizing it so you feel like you’re part of the event.”

One of the many friends they’ve met during their time with Golden Trail World Series is Caitlin Fielder, one of New Zealand’s most talented trail and mountain athletes. Fielder, 30, lives and trains in Andorra.

“Before starting the GTWS, I went to races alone, stayed alone, and just kind of kept to myself,” says Fielder. “But the GTWS really made me feel like I’m part of a team, forming relationships with people like the Hemmings that would have been harder to create otherwise.” She is going into the GTWS ranked seventh in the women’s division, with Tabor close behind in 12th place.

But perhaps more than the glory of rankings is what this series has done to bring athletes closer together, to elevate each other’s performances through relationships.

“It’s just super cool to feel like you’re making lifelong friendships built on the foundations of a sport that everyone understands its difficulties and joys,” Fielder says. “It’s like you’re competing to make yourself and your friends better.”

The Golden Trail World Series has a total prize purse of about $315,000, which includes $18,000 spread among the top 10 finishers of each race during the season and nearly $8,000 for the finals. While it helps elite runners make a living at their craft, it also creates community.

“You get to live and breathe with them for a week. You’re making amazing friendships, seeing how everyone else likes trains, how everybody else lives,” adds Tabor. “They try to do a really good job of getting the best in the world together.”

The Golden Trail World Series finals will be held from October 19 – 22, and each day’s races .Ìę

The post Meet the Fastest Trail Running Couple in America  appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Lucy Charles-Barclay waited approximately zero seconds before making her move at the 2023 Hawaii Ironman World Championship on October 14, 2023. Powering through the choppy waters of Kailua Bay with her characteristic snappy glide, the 30-year-old British triathlete gapped the field by nearly 350 meters—almost four football field lengths

Charles-Barclay lead off the front for the next 140.2 miles of swimming, biking, and running, breaking the tape in a record-setting 8:26:18 for her first world title.

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A four-time runner-up in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022—the victory was a long time coming.

“If there was any way I wanted to win this race, it would have been like that,” Charles-Barclay . “There were many times when I thought I would always be the bridesmaid in Kona. It’s nice to finally be the bride.”

Her win is just the start of jaw-dropping moments from the inaugural women’s-only Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. (The inaugural men’s-only Ironman World Championship was held on September 9 in Nice, France.) From a run course record set by only fueling with protein to a series of historic firsts, here are our top 10 takeaways from one of the most important races in endurance sport.

1. Charles-Barclay Vanquishes Bridesmaid Curse

By earning the crown on Saturday afternoon, Charles-Barclay solidified her name on the list of Kona legends and broke a series of records—including the women’s course record previously held by Switzerland’s Daniella Ryf when she clocked 8:26:18 for the win in 2018.

No woman has led the wire-to-wire since Lyn Lemaire, the first woman to ever win the race in 1979. Charles-Barclay broke that 44-year streak after coming out of the water with a four-minute advantage. She also etched her name in history as only the second person ever to win the Hawaii Ironman World Championship after winning an amateur age group title here, which she claimed in the 18-to-24-year-old division in 2015.

Decked in a mermaid race kit that extended from the blue and grey scales painted on her Red Bull helmet to her , Charles-Barclay raced like someone who not only wanted to win, but even more so did not want to lose. She blitzed the 112-mile bike in 4:32:29, averaging over 24.7 miles per hour to further extend her lead over the competition.

In past years, Charles-Barclay’s blistering early pace has come back to haunt her on the run. Not on Saturday. She held on for respectable 2:57:38 marathon and a hefty three-minute lead. But it wasn’t until the finish chute loomed into sight on Ali’i Drive that Charles-Barclay allowed herself to comprehend what was happening.

“I really tried not to put not wanting to be second again in the back of my mind,” she said. “I was still looking over my shoulder when I turned onto Ali’i. I didn’t believe I would get the win until I broke the tape.”

As always, there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Charles-Barclay’s seemingly assured success obscures the obstacles she had to overcome this year just to get to the start line.

2. Charles-Barclay Breaks Foot and Breaks Records

In May, Charles-Barclay felt something in her foot while running into the water at the start of Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau in Germany. She thought little of it. She powered a slew of bike issues and mounting pain on the run to take second in that half-distance Ironman race. An X-ray the next day confirmed she’d snapped the third metatarsal in her foot, a zig-zag fracture all the way through the bone.

For better and for worse, she was no stranger to that type of news.

“It’s been a really tough couple of years,” Charles-Barclay said. “When I turned 28, I felt like my body didn’t want to do this anymore.”

Charles-Barclay retreated to her “pain cave” gym at her home in Chingford, Essex, where she cranked up the music, visualized the helicopters circling overhead in Kona, and nearly hit the 2024 Great Britain Olympic qualification mark on the indoor rower while wearing a “moon boot” cast.

Out on the Queen K Highway on Saturday, Charles-Barclay channeled those endless hours of monotony in the pain-cave. She credits that mental toughness training as well as the efficiency of riding the bike trainer indoors (no coasting on the downhills!) to her success, as well as her satisfaction.

“All I ever wanted was to win this race,” Charles-Barclay said. “I don’t feel like I need anything else anymore. That is the biggest prize, and a credit to the work we’ve all put in as a team. And they’ve all put up with me these last few months as I’ve been very tired and very grumpy, and all my friends and family putting up with that, and that means so much to me during this crazy endeavor to win this race.”

3. Anne Haug’s No-Carb Fueling Leads to Fastest Run Split Ever

With one of the deepest pro fields ever—particularly on the running front—we knew that if the conditions aligned, we could witness a run for the ages. Sure enough, as soon as she hopped off the bike and slipped into her Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next% super shoes, Germany’s Anne Haug was on a mission. The runner-assassin started the marathon in seventh place overall, 12 minutes back from the lead. But Haug remained composed and got to doing what she does best: passing people on the Queen K.

Haug clicked into her characteristically high cadence, butter-smooth stride, ticking sub-6:20 miles early in the marathon to reel in the field. At mile 18, deep in the heart of the lifeless Energy Lab, Haug decisively passed American dark-horse rookie Taylor Knibb to move into second.

The lead Charles-Barley carved on the swim and the run proved too large to surmount, with Haug ultimately running out of real estate to claim another world title. But in that attempt, she smashed Miranda Carfrae’s run course record of 2:50:38 set 2013 when the Australian won the race. Haug clocked in at 2:48:33, averaging 6:25 per mile through the oppressively thick, still air and road temperatures soaring above 100 degrees.

“The run always means a lot to me, and I always aim for a fast run,” said Haug, who owns a 2:36:13 open marathon personal best. “I’m absolutely happy. I couldn’t have done any better. Lucy was unbeatable today.”

The 40-year-old’s performance is even more remarkable this year in the face of the health and nutrition obstacles she’sovercome. Over the past several years, her body has grown intolerant to absorbing carbohydrates while racing. Rigorous testing and experimentation with her team in Germany led to the realization that she could only fuel adequately with the right types of proteins and amino acids.

Haug overhauled her entire nutrition strategy, saying she was careful to consume enough on the bike and fueled almost exclusively on protein during the run—a feat nearly unheard of in elite marathoning.

4. Rookie Taylor Knibb Shows America’s Future is Bright

Leading up to Saturday, all eyes were on U.S. Olympian Taylor Knibb. The 25-year-old based in Boulder, Colorado, has been on fire this year, winning the hotly contested PTO U.S. Open to the tune of $100,000 in prize money, defending her Ironman 70.3 world title in Lahti, Finland, and earning bragging rights as one of the world’s best short course, draft-legal and long-course triathletes. That range puts Michael Phelps to shame.

But Kona hits different, and despite watching her mom race here five times previously, Knibb had never toed the line herself. In fact, she’d never run above 19 miles. Ever. Would she be able to hang in the heat and humidity over the 140.3 distance?

“What challenges arise and how I overcome them will be the measure of success for me,” Knibb said in the days before the race.

That attitude proved prescient.

Knibb swam strong with the front chase pack, but she lost three nutrition bottles on the bike—the third caught by race officials and resulting in a one-minute penalty. Yet Knibb remained composed, chatting and laughing with the motorcycle film crew, thanking volunteers at aid stations, and taking her time at the turn-around aid to dismount from her bike, riffle through her special needs bag, and grab more fuel for the road. Even with the penalty, Knibb had the second-fastest bike split of the day in 4:34:00.

Ultimately, Knibb cracked under the run distance, slowing to a walk intermittently over the final seven kilometers. Her 3:05:13 marathon wound up as the 10th fastest among the pro women in the race. But her final time of 8:35:56 was good enough for an astonishing fourth place—just one minute off the podium and a time that would have been fast enough for the win in all but three other years.

Knibb will return her attention to short-course racing for a bit (the Paris Olympics loom just 10 months away), but watch out the next time the women race here in 2025. She’ll be armed with experience and a kind, quippy vengeance—Taylor’s version.

5. Americans Shine with Five in Top 10

Germany crowded the podium, with Haug taking second and her compatriot Laura Philip racing tenaciously for third. After those three first steps, the show belonged to the United States.

Along Knibb in fourth, the U.S. took five of the top 10 spots. Last year’s champion Chelsea Sodaro recovered from a disappointing first two-thirds of the race, in which 19 women out-biked her, to run a solid 2:53:02 marathon that moved her up to sixth. Compatriot Skye Moench finished just a minute later in 8:43:34.

Full-time graduate student Sarah True spent much of the week leading up to the race working on a research paper. She ended up asking for an extension on Friday—a choice which seemed to pay off with her best-ever eighth-place finish in 8:47:06 as she “played triathlete” for the day. An exceptionally strong bike from Jocelyn McCauley was enough for her to hang on during the run for 10th in 8:50:39—the fifth American and third American mom in the race, along with Sodaro and True.

6. Sixteen Women Break Elusive Nine-Hour Mark

It wasn’t until 2009 that four–time Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington of Great Britain broke the nine-hour mark on this notoriously hot, humid, and all-around hellish course. Until 2018, you didn’t always have to crack nine hours to earn a podium spot. We have officially said goodbye to those days.

Forget the podium, or even the top 10, with a nine-hour time. An unprecedented 16 women dipped under that elusive nine-hour mark this year. Women at the top of the race attribute the fast times to a combination of technology improvements—aerodynamic helmets, bikes, and race kits; wind-tunnel testing; supershoes—and steel sharpening steel.

“We push each other, and we always try to get better,” said four-time Ironman World Champion Ryf, who took fifth on Saturday. “The technology has also helped. We’ve gotten more aero, and materials play a role. But so does pushing each other. I’ve learned so much from my competitors like Miranda Carfrae.”

7. Forget Bikes. It’s All About Shoes.

Don’t get us wrong, at 112 miles long and taking up about 50 percent of the race, the bike leg remains indisputably paramount. But the impact of rapid fast shoe technology advancement over the past several years cannot be discounted here—both for racing and recovery at the Ironman distance.

All of the top 10 women elected to wear carbon-plated supershoes, including two prototypes on the feet of Ryf (sponsored by Hoka) and Sodaro (who runs for On).

Charles-Barclay held on for her best Kona run ever in the ASICS Metaspeed Sky+. She attributes the advent of supershoes to helping her whittle down her race times, as well as bounce back from injury.

“I guess obviously when I first started racing in Kona, we weren’t running in carbon-plated shoes,” she said. “But over the years that technology has developed, and I’m super happy in the shoe that I run in. They’ve helped me through the injuries that I’ve had, and yeah, I guess hopefully, like Anne has shown, we are just gonna keep running faster and the technology will help us to do that.”

8. All-Women’s Field Yields Historic Finisher Rate

Despite Ironman moving to an all-women’s field and giving out more entry spots this year, we already knew that the caliber of the field was as competitive as ever. On Saturday, the women proved they are also grittier than ever. Every single athlete who entered the swim completed the 2.4 miles straight out and back into the Kailua Bay chop. It’s potentially a first in the history of the event.

Of the 2,097 starters, 2,039 crossed the finish line in under the 17-hour cutoff. That’s an astonishing 97.23 percent finishing rate at one of the most physically and psychologically grueling race courses on Earth—up from the typical 93 to 97 percent finish rate here.

9. Autistic Athletes Make History

By each completing the race in twelve hours and change, Lisa Cloutier, Marylne Stutzman, and Adrienne Bunn, of the U.S., became the first three openly autistic athletes to cross the finish line at the Hawaii Ironman World Championship.

At 18 years old, the minimum age for entering the race, Bunn also earned the title of youngest finisher this year. Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age four, Bunn started running in school to occupy her thoughts and calm her mind. She started racing triathlons two years ago through a Special Olympics pilot program and earlier this year finished her first Ironman 70.3 race to earn her spot in Kona.

“Running totally transformed her,” Bunn’s mother, June, said. “It just calmed her—it took away her anxiousness.”

On the road to the finish line, Bunn balanced up to 20 hours of training a week with her studies as a high school senior.

“Adrienne got a lot of no’s—no way, it’s not going to happen,” June said. “We never put a ceiling on her. You say it’s not going to happen, she’s going to prove you wrong.”

10. ‘We Never Give Up’

Athletes represented 73 countries at the Ironman World Championships this year, including twelve finishers from wartorn Israel and four from Ukraine.

In addition to the psychological stress these athletes faced, many surmounted logistical nightmares to just make it to the Kailua Pier. Ukraine athlete Yuliya Azzopardi drove 1,000 miles from her home in Kyiv to the border of Poland while abiding by country’s midnight-to-5 P.M. curfew, passed through two border controls, and took two flights to make it to the Big Island. As athletes checked into their return flights after the race on Sunday, several major airlines informed passengers that flights to Tel Aviv, Israel, were suspended in the face of the ongoing conflict with Palestine so alternative flight paths had to be arranged.

Somehow, athletes from these countries channeled their stress into strength.

“I raced especially for Israel,” Sharon Zupnik, who crossed the line in 11:17:46, said. “I wanted to show that we are so strong and we can be here.”

“It means we can keep fighting,” Ukraine’s Kateryna Fedorova said moments after she finished in 11:44:57. “It means we are brave. That we stand for all the rights for freedom. And I want to show the example to everyone that we never give up.”

(Bonus) 11. More People Tuned into the Women’s Race

Not everyone was happy when Ironman decided to split the men’s and women’s world championships into separate venues this year. (The men’s Ironman World Championship was held September 9 in Nice, France.) And while the aloha magic, unrivaled history, and unique brutality of the Kailua-Kona course cannot be replicated, one thing is for certain—a women’s-only race leads to an unparalleled level of inspired racing.

In Ironman races with both men’s and women’s fields, elite and amateur women contend with men interfering with their race, whether that’s getting kicked on the swim, or inadvertently earning a penalty for drafting on the bike.Ìę (And of course, these same nuisances apply to men when women are in their races.) A two-gender race also means that each gender receives less TV coverage, with the women historically receiving less than half of airtime as they battle for contention behind the men.

Giving the women a day of unfettered, fully-celebrated racing allowed the day to play out on its own terms.

“It was very nice to not have men interfering with the race,” Knibb said. “And it was nice to know they weren’t. It was one less worry, one less thing to think about. There’s a lot of things to think about out there.”

And guess what? People tuned in—a lot of people. Over 769,000 fans tuned into the 2023 women’s race, up from the 599,000 who watched the men’s race in Nice last month, enjoying an interrupted view as the race unfolded.

“Cameras were everywhere this year,” Haug said. “Usually they’re just on the first women. We put on a show today and we showed it’s worth covering the whole race.”

A field of 2,000-plus women also imbibed the day with a special type of comradery and grit.

“All of the pro women were cheering me on,” Charles-Barclay said. “And to have their support even when we’re all out there suffering just shows how amazing this sport is.”

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