Flora Duffy: 2021 Olympic Gold Medalist Women's Triathlon
Welcome to another episode of the Endurance Matters podcast. I'm your host Justin Metzler. And in studio today, I have the pleasure of welcoming gold medalist, Flora Duffy. Flora, welcome to the show.
Flora Duffy:Thank you, Justin. It's nice to be here. I haven't done a podcast in a while, so thank you for having
Justin Metzler:me on. It was my persistence, you know, kept hounding you and finally in studio. I'm really pumped.
Flora Duffy:This is true. I think you asked me in September of last year. Yeah. September, October of last year, but I can remember it because it was right after my middle distance race. And I thought, oh, now I can be on the Endurance Matters podcast because I'm a long course person now.
Justin Metzler:You know, we try to we try to show the love to everybody, you know, some cyclists or runners, long course triathletes. But, yeah, definitely interested in diving a little bit further in. Before we get into the meat and potatoes here, I have an icebreaker question. So would you rather live in the Flora Duffy Suite at the Hamilton Princess Hotel in Bermuda or have to drink Gosling's Flora Duffy Gold Bermuda Aged Rum every day for the rest of your life?
Flora Duffy:Oh, my gosh. Jeez, Justin. You know what? Probably live in the Flora Duffy Suite at the Hamilton Princess. It's probably overall much better for my health Yeah.
Flora Duffy:Than drinking the Flora Gold rum every day. Yeah. And the suite is beautiful. It's a very, very nice place. I'll I'll pick that.
Justin Metzler:Alright. I think that's a good good selection. Yeah. Have you I mean, you a rum drinker? Is that something that you enjoy?
Flora Duffy:It's actually kind of funny how that that came about. But I mean, Gosling's is a it's a worldwide company, but obviously, it's headquarters in Bermuda. It's a Bermudian company. And, I mean, everyone goes up drinking grows up drinking rum there. Their black seal is their most popular.
Flora Duffy:And so, yeah, as soon as you, like, turn 18 well, maybe a little bit before, you yeah. You have a few blackened Cokes. So I wouldn't say I'm a huge rum drinker. Obviously, I'm a triathlete. Yeah.
Flora Duffy:But, it's definitely pretty special because I have such a, like, strong connection to Bermuda and, like, to my, like I don't wanna say youth, but post 18 year old years in Bermuda.
Justin Metzler:Sure. Yeah. Very cool. Well, why don't you rewind a little bit and talk to me a little bit about growing up in Bermuda, maybe how you got into triathlon and just sort of like your beginnings?
Flora Duffy:Yeah. So I've been doing triathlon for most of my life. I did my one when I was either seven or eight years old, and it's called the Iron Kids Triathlon, and it still goes on today in Bermuda. I was actually there back for it a couple years ago, and there's so many kids that do it. It's incredible.
Flora Duffy:And so, yeah, I did it, and I absolutely loved it. I was in a swim club before. My my parents put me in a swim club and and my two brothers from an early age, and I loved running, which I was in the running club at primary school when I knew how to ride a bike. So I just did the kids triathlon. And I won, and I joined the local triathlon club tri heads, which still goes on today.
Flora Duffy:It's super popular. It's pretty incredible, the the longevity of that program. And I just had a lot of fun. Mean, Bermuda is a beautiful place, and it's great for triathlon because our water's warm. Super nice to swim open water there because it's crystal clear, very pretty water.
Flora Duffy:And then, yeah, we had this very quiet part of the island where we could learn bike skills and ride on the roads. And there's lots of places to run, and you could practice transitions and just everything that involves in triathlon. And I was doing it with a group of kids my age, and it was just a lot of fun. And that was kind of the start of it. After that, I did every local triathlon.
Flora Duffy:Obviously, I did every local cycling race, swim meet, running race. Just whatever I could do, I did. And from a pretty early age, I knew I wanted to be a professional triathlete. There was a World Cup there in the '90s. And so I got to see firsthand that you could do it as a professional.
Flora Duffy:And I was like, oh, that's pretty cool. It's like I have a picture of like Greg Welch and me when I'm 10 years old. And it's pretty cool. Fast forward now, works at Oakley and they're one of my sponsors. So it's like really come full circle.
Flora Duffy:But yeah, I kind of I'm now 38, so I've been doing triathlon a very long time. No, I'm 37. Oh my God. Don't age myself. Yeah, totally.
Flora Duffy:You don't
Justin Metzler:want to fast forward any years.
Flora Duffy:That's Yeah.
Justin Metzler:So it seems as though Bermuda has like a pretty endurance sport centric sort of population. Like, people are into cycling, swimming, running, triathlon there. It's a small country. Why do you think that's the case?
Flora Duffy:I know it is a very small country. So, like, you go for a bike ride and you cover, like, most of the island. But I presume it's because of the the climate. I mean, the climate really does well okay. Even in the summer, it's very hot and humid, but, I mean, the weather is, for the most part, really great.
Flora Duffy:So it is nice to get out and run. It's beautiful. So it's a great way to see the island and explore, whether it is doing some bike or run. And then, yeah, for whatever reason, the the triathlon community, the running community, the cycling community, the swimming community is really strong. And so that way, put on lots of races throughout the summer.
Flora Duffy:Kids can get involved. I mean, adults can get into it from they didn't do it as a kid, but they get into it when they're older or if their kids are into it, so they get into it. And for whatever reasons, yeah, it's created these really great communities and with passionate people that are really there to give back to the community. And, yeah, from there, they'll go organize races abroad so that you get to actually, you know, get out of Bermuda and see what the competition is out there. And I don't know, through all of that, it has really created this, really good endurance, community.
Flora Duffy:And you've obviously met Tyler Butterfield, Tyler Smith, Erica Holy. Yeah. There's a whole bunch of us here in Boulder, which is really cool.
Justin Metzler:Very interesting. I'm curious, how did your family end up in Bermuda?
Flora Duffy:Oh, yeah. So my parents, they're both from the North Of England, and they moved to Bermuda in their early twenties. My dad moved there for work. He's an accountant. And my mom, she was a hairdresser.
Flora Duffy:So they both just moved there because Bermuda is a British colony. I guess, yeah, they're like, well, it's better than the North Of England. And that was it. They moved there like over forty years ago now. Met each other, married.
Flora Duffy:And then, that's where my brothers and I were born and raised.
Justin Metzler:Cool. And at what point in your sort of youth and growing up in triathlon did you decide, okay, I probably need to leave Bermuda in order to take this to another level?
Flora Duffy:Yeah, when I was 16 nearly turning 17, I had we do the British curriculum in Bermuda, so I'd done the these exams called the GCSEs and that sort of was like a a good point of like, I finished most of my schooling here in Bermuda, but now I really want to explore, like I really want to pursue sport, and so I went to boarding school in The UK where I did my A levels. It's called Mount Kelly, and from there they had a really great swimming program, they had a triathlon program. So I could combine my training and my studies and get to race all of the local races around The UK, which was really great and really, like, yeah, pretty big exposure for me coming from a small island and going into that environment. But it was really great and exactly what I needed at the time because before that, I was like the only sort of 16 year old female doing triathlon. So that was pretty tough, like trying to train for it and no one else is doing it.
Flora Duffy:Your, you know, your peers are 16 and they want to go to parties and they're interested in just socializing and so, yeah. So I went away to boarding school and that was really like the kickoff, I would say, of my career.
Justin Metzler:Sure. And how do you transition from that to Boulder?
Flora Duffy:Oh, yeah. Well, I'll keep that simple because that could be a long convoluted story. But I finished my a levels and from there I started racing. I guess you could say professionally, like I went to the Commonwealth Games, I did a few World Cups And that this is before it was the WTCS series. They just had World Cups.
Flora Duffy:So I started doing that in preparation for the Beijing Olympics, which is in 02/2008. So this was 02/2006. And I'm trying to, like, get on track to go to the two thousand and eight Olympics, which I eventually did, but that was a whole drama in itself and didn't go well. And I had lots of issues going on, and I ended up quitting triathlon. So I quit at 20, took an early retirement.
Flora Duffy:And I moved back to Bermuda, and I was just working in a local shop. And I was like, okay. This I've got to do something else with my life. And so I'd heard about Boulder, that it was a great place for triathlon, and that obviously, it had university. So I just applied, I got in.
Flora Duffy:And February, I moved here and started at University of Colorado Boulder. I'd never been here before. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. But yeah, it was one of the best decisions that I've made.
Justin Metzler:Sure. When you decided to come to Boulder, was there always something in the back of your head saying, okay, I'm gonna still maybe keep a foot in triathlon? Or were you thinking, okay, I'm just going there to have the college experience. Triathlon's definitely behind me.
Flora Duffy:Yes. I definitely had my mind open to getting back into triathlon, but when I got here, I was for sure more of a college student and tried my best not to anyone that I met at CU, I did not bring up triathlon or that I just gone to the Olympics or anything like that. Like, I just tried to be pretty normal. I joined a sorority. Like, yeah, I really just tried to explore some new things and quickly realized that, wait, this is actually not what I wanna do at all.
Flora Duffy:I wanna get back into triathlon. And at the time, I was coached by Neil Henderson, and he had a group based here. And, yeah, he was very careful with his he he guided me well through that time. Like, just kind of allowed me to turn up to training in almost whatever state I was. Whether if I'd gone out, like, the night before partying, but I turned up, he was like, you know, this is fine.
Flora Duffy:Like, Flora's just gotta like find her own way back. And yeah, eventually I kind of got more and more serious. And then my last few years of university, I was racing, I guess you could say professionally again.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Very cool. Very interesting. I definitely wanna talk a little bit more. I don't wanna, like, over skip years or or time points.
Justin Metzler:I guess, like, one question that I have to follow-up there is how were you uncomfortable in sort of, like, that normal life? Because I think as triathletes, we feel like our life is very normal, and like the normal college experience or a normal person's existence, that's abnormal to us. Were you feeling like an outsider, sort of like maybe in a sorority environment or just being a normal person having done triathlon and already invested years going to the Olympics and being a high performance athlete?
Flora Duffy:Yes, definitely. I think for a while there, I tried. I was like, oh, no. I can do this. But very, very quickly, I realized that, well, this is absolutely not me at all.
Flora Duffy:This is a completely different identity. It does not feel authentic at all. And it just wasn't any of my interests, which took me a few months to realize that. But it was great because it actually made me realize, no, I actually really like triathlon. This is why I want to do it.
Flora Duffy:This is how I want to do it. And these are like I'm going to be very specific about my environment around me. So that it really helped me sort of organize a lot of the thoughts and almost make sure, like, the reasons that I stopped, I kind of confronted those and worked through them and knew that, like, I couldn't let myself get to the point of where I was in 2008 ever again in my career. So yes, I guess I did, yeah. I don't know.
Flora Duffy:If you're a triathlete, you're just always a triathlete, I suppose. You can try and hide those characteristics, so they're just they're gonna appear.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. You got like I mean, at least for me, I've only got a couple days a year where I can be a normal person. For three hundred and sixty days a year, I think I'm just like full athlete mode, and I think we're all similarly wired in that way. Yeah. I that's very maturing experience, and I think you probably grew a lot during that time.
Justin Metzler:What were the next steps sort of once you have that realization of, okay. I am a triathlete. This is what I wanna do. Are you immediately trying to just lock in for it would have been the London Olympic Games two thousand twelve?
Flora Duffy:It was. Yeah. So that so I took two years out of the sport and got back into racing in the February. And sort of from there, it was I mean, okay. I didn't know I was gonna qualify for the Olympics, but that was the goal.
Flora Duffy:And it certainly was not like a nice straight linear line of everything going well. I mean, was like huge ups and downs. And I'd race well in one race and then be absolutely terrible in the next. And I'm balancing school. And one minute, you're in classes.
Flora Duffy:The next, you're, like, flying to New Zealand for a race, and then you're flying back. And I'm like, this is a kind of ridiculous life that I'm leading right now. But I was, like, I don't know, 21, 22 years old. So you you had the energy to do that. I could no definitely not do that now.
Flora Duffy:But, yeah, I somehow did manage to qualify for the twenty twelve Olympics and which was great. That was a huge step for me because where I was four years previously, as I mentioned, just to get back to there and be healthy and actually be in reasonable shape. I'd started racing my racing was still very up and down. Like, I could come, like, top 10 in a world series one week, and then a couple weeks later, I'd be, like, Or I could win a World Cup, and then yeah. So there was definitely signs, but I was definitely not consistent.
Flora Duffy:But getting to the twenty twelve Olympics was a huge goal, and, unfortunately, the race didn't go quite so well. I did crash, but it still was like a really good step in the right direction for me.
Justin Metzler:Sure. And from there, yeah, like I said, I don't necessarily wanna fast forward through years, but I have a lot of questions specifically about the buildup to the Olympic Games where you won gold Mhmm. In Tokyo. And so I guess, like, just transitioning a little bit, I'm curious to hear throughout all of the years and remind me and remind the audience, did you go to Rio as well?
Flora Duffy:I did. I went to Rio when I was
Justin Metzler:Okay. So was definitely a step in the right direction.
Flora Duffy:That was a huge step in the direction. And Rio was interesting because I gosh. Let me get my years old. Okay. So we're in 2016.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. That was an interesting one for me because I had the previous year had my podiums in the world series. And then in the beginning of 2016, I had a few really good results. And I won I think it was the final race before the twenty sixteen Rio Olympics and I was ranked number one in the world. But it was not expected.
Flora Duffy:Like I hadn't planned for that like mentally, emotionally, and that threw a whole like set of circumstances that I was not prepared for at all at me. Suddenly, I was being talked about as a potential dark horse to win the race or to be on the podium to, like, completely mix it up. And obviously, Gwen Jorgensen was the huge favorite, but there was a few of us that were dark horses, really strong swim bikers that were gonna maybe upset how the races had been playing out. And, yeah, for me at the time, it was it was way too much for me to handle. And I ended up finishing which for a few years there, was really disappointed with.
Flora Duffy:And then, I mean, like everything with time, I'm now very proud of that result, and it was a great stepping stone into Tokyo.
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Justin Metzler:So if you wanna try that for yourself, head on over to pfnh.com and use code big mets twenty twenty five for 15% off. I wanna talk a little bit about, like, sort of that dark horse mentality. And I think around that time, you were perceived as, like, a game changer with the swip pushing the swim in the bike. I think particularly with Gwen being so dominant at the time, I feel like there were a lot of people who needed to maybe get ahead on the swim in the bike. How much responsibility did you feel at that time to really drive pace, to take the cycling and the swimming to another level?
Justin Metzler:Was that something that was on your mind in the preparation for the races?
Flora Duffy:You know, at it sort of happened accidentally, like a few times in 2015, and I just was like, oh, wow. Like, okay. This is interesting. We've got some separation here. We've got a bit of a bit of a group, and we're really maximizing the swim and the bike, particularly the bike.
Flora Duffy:And sort of, yeah, as that went on, it kind of did feel like I was one of the main, game changers that that created that scenario. And if I was in the race, then people knew that's what I was gonna I was gonna do and make it really tough from the start. And so I don't know if it really felt like a responsibility, but it did feel like, yeah, this is my style of racing. Like, I'm not one of the fastest runners, but I know I'm one of the best cyclists, so I'm going use that. And I'm one of the best swimmers and really try to manipulate the race as best I could using the swim and the bike and transition.
Flora Duffy:I mean, that was a huge piece of it as well. And so, yeah, as Etrace went on, that was sort of became my style and my niche, I suppose. And more women jumped on that. And, yeah, I mean, in 2016 and 2017, having Jess Learmonth and Katie Zafiras, like, we were just sort of this unstoppable trio, it felt like, which was really cool. And and they almost shared the the same mentality.
Flora Duffy:So if I was having a bit of an off day, it wasn't like it was just me pushing the pace. Like, they were right there. You you know, so we could really create this pretty cool dynamic that was a lot of fun to race in.
Justin Metzler:Sure. And from there, obviously, after Rio, all eyes are set on 2020 Tokyo. And so talk to me a little bit about, I guess, your mindset and the the preparation and the expectations going into Tokyo, I guess, before the postponement of the games and then maybe a little bit after the postponement of the games.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. That that's a crazy time to think of it. Like, there's, like, no way I could do that again to have a postponed games. But, yeah, so that was interesting. After I learned a lot in Rio 2016, and then I won the world title later that year.
Flora Duffy:And then going into 2017, I'm the reigning world champion. And so that kicked off my Olympic campaign going into Tokyo. And what was great is that I had the twenty eighteen Commonwealth Games. And that was a nice dress rehearsal for me because I was the favorite. Bermuda don't win a lot of medals, so you have that huge pressure on you.
Flora Duffy:And so kind of going through that whole process and really managing that pressure and expectation and winning there, that kind of like was like, oh, Okay. Like, I can do this. Like, each time you're exposed to that level of pressure, you kind of at least for me, you get used to it. You get accustomed to it. You build confidence.
Flora Duffy:One of the important things for me in that that time period, particularly the closer we got to Tokyo, was like publicly saying, yeah, I wanna go and win a medal and be Olympic champion. And really getting comfortable with saying that so it didn't become this sort of like thing that you just quietly mumbled. Like, you know, that was my goal. Of course, it was my goal. It's a lot of people's goal, but I wanted to get very comfortable with that.
Flora Duffy:So then when I stood on that starting line, like, I knew. Like, I could do this, and I wasn't afraid of it. So yeah. But I mean, even during that time, like, I had some bad injuries, so there was lots of ups and downs. And then, yeah, you fast forward into 2020 and COVID, and we get the news that the games is postponed.
Flora Duffy:And at I think for me, it was really hard to comprehend that because you're like, oh, okay. But I'm also locked in my house here in South Africa and, like, I can walk to the grocery store and walk back and that's all I can do now. So it it felt kind of like this, yeah, you just couldn't comprehend it. But I would say the the hardest day for me was we were meant to race let's say it was 07/27/2020. 07/28/2020, I was out for a bike ride with a friend and I thought, wow.
Flora Duffy:Like this day, it was all gonna be done. I was either gonna be happy because I won a medal or I was gonna be sad because I I didn't. But it was gonna be done and we were gonna move on. But I had a whole another year to sort of sit in that place of waiting for the race to arrive, handling the pressure. I mean, there was almost like not a day that went by that someone didn't talk to me about the Olympics or, you know, mentioned that I was the favorite or or whatever.
Flora Duffy:You constantly had that pressure and that burden on you. And so it was certainly definitely a lot to manage. And I think I managed it very well. And it only hit me after the race in Tokyo. And that time period was extremely difficult for me because everything that I'd been, like, shouldering for those five years just came crashing down on me.
Justin Metzler:Sure. You know, the final six months going into any Olympic Games are gonna be very important. Compare maybe how it would have been had the Olympic Games not been postponed. In hindsight, were you was there any piece of you that had some gratitude for the additional twelve months, whether it was for your mental approach or physical approach? Like, what did you do in that twelve month postponement to capitalize upon extra time?
Flora Duffy:Yeah. My coach, Nate and I, we talked about this a little bit. Like, I think I would have been very ready in 2020. Training was going really well that year. I had been injured in 2019 and missed a bit of training and racing.
Flora Duffy:But but even with that, like, yeah, 2020 training was going smooth, we were fairly confident that I would have been in great shape in July of twenty twenty. But I do think the year, it did help me. It wasn't it wasn't a negative in a in a physical sense. I mean, in 2020, I barely traveled. I was spent most of the year in South Africa, we didn't have much to do because of a lockdown.
Flora Duffy:So I just rode the trainer and trained and ran. And we didn't swim that much, but, I mean, that was fine. But, yeah, I kind of had this very consistent year of just training. Nothing crazy, but you just train. I wasn't traveling a lot, so that stress was off of me.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. So I I do think that given that it was an extra year and a tricky year, I it definitely was a net positive for me and did just give me an extra year, yeah, to get stronger and to yeah. Maybe also just kind of fully more embrace the being an Olympic favorite and all of that that comes with it.
Justin Metzler:Sure. One thing that I'm really curious to hear is about your relationship with Nate, who I know he's been a bit of a mentor of mine on the coaching side of things. Like, how did your guys relationship begin? Because I believe before you, he wasn't really in the triathlon space, and then he sort of has ascended to be a prominent triathlon coach over time, probably with a lot of majority help to your gold medal. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:I'm curious to hear about your the sort of impetus for you to start working with him and also what he brings to the table as a part of the team.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. So Nate, I actually met him at CU. We were there together. He's a few years younger than me. But he was a really great cyclist.
Flora Duffy:And so, yeah, I met him through the cycling team at University of Colorado. And whatever, when he graduated, he got into coaching, and he was around here in Boulder. And when I was looking for a coaching change, I like, I could have just been around Nate a lot and just saw how well he communicated with his athletes, how I Obviously, he's very smart. He loves learning. He's open to learning.
Flora Duffy:And he was open to being part of the team. And he knew that when I approached him, I told him, I want to build a team. I don't want to just have one central coach. Like, yeah, he does manage the main plan. But there's other influences, and I'm part of that influence too.
Flora Duffy:Like, I have a seat at the table and get to sort of guide how I want this to go. And and really wanted him to, like, listen to the areas that I thought really needed that I wanted to work on and what, in terms of racing tactically, the areas that, like, really exposed the race and where I think my strengths suited that. Anyway, just like he was very open to learning and understanding triathlon because, yeah, he didn't do any triathlon before. He just coached cycling. But, I mean, he's a very smart guy and understands physiology.
Flora Duffy:So he pretty quickly learned. He could see what training I had been doing. I mean, it's been a great partnership. I've worked with him since the beginning of 2018. And, yeah, since then, we won a lot of races together.
Flora Duffy:Yeah, I mean, he's just a really smart guy, and his communication is great. And he just looks at you, like, whole holistically, which I think is great. And, he's just, yeah, a very well tempered guy. And, yeah. He's young and so he's eager and hungry to to learn and that's yeah.
Flora Duffy:We've had great success and since then he's taken on quite a few other triathletes, as well as, the cyclists that he coaches as well.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Very cool. I'm curious to hear more about your influence on your overall picture. You said you have a seat at the table. What are the main things that you like to have control?
Justin Metzler:And what are the when you're having team meetings or team discussions, what are the points that you're really consistently bringing up?
Flora Duffy:Oh, gosh. Well, I guess when in the early days, I kind of, you know, explained, like, this isn't the racing style, and this is, like, how I win races because my run wasn't as strong. And so really putting that forward of, like, this is what I I need to work on. And that was really, like, the three to five minutes of the bike and really working on on that power, which is what we did. And then also, I guess, yeah, the the the races that I do do and having a pretty firm stance on if I don't want to race or if I do, like if they think I do, I really feel like I don't, then that's that's really important that they listen to me and the reasons as why.
Flora Duffy:Because particularly going into Olympics, I felt that I raced a bit too much going into the Rio Olympics. And I didn't know, wasn't as firm this way or that. And I think it was it was too much for me mentally and emotionally. And so going into Tokyo, it was a little different because there wasn't that many races. But being very firm of, like, what I wanted to do and why and sort of Nate, my running coach Ernie and Dan, yeah, really, yeah, taking that in.
Flora Duffy:And also just sort of like the breakdown of my training week and what swim groups I wanna join and this and that, and then just being fully on board, be like, that's your decision. You know what's best for you there. And we're not going to hound you to swim with someone that you don't like, and it's terrible for your mental health and environment. So just little things like that, really. But it's interesting being exposed to more triathletes because there's so many here in Boulder, and you hear some of, like, the horror coaching stories.
Flora Duffy:And I'm like, wow. Like, that's just crazy. You were in that environment. And so I don't know. I was never really exposed to that, but I just had a very clear idea of, like, that's not good.
Flora Duffy:This is how I want it. And having people that were open to that and very respectful of that, and putting me as a person versus me as Flora Duffy, the triathlete.
Justin Metzler:Yeah, very cool. Are there ever times sort of like when you get a training week and you're putting up your hand and saying, I don't like the look of this. That session's too hard. The session's too easy. The weekly layouts are wrong.
Justin Metzler:Or do you guys have a flow where Nate's writing the sessions and you're just going up? He has enough information from you to know what to do.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. I mean, he definitely has enough information for me to know what to do, but there's definitely times when I'll be like, oh, no. I think I actually can handle a little bit more here or no. I actually need to cut this run back or like build this swim out slightly differently. And so, yeah, if I see that, I'm not afraid to call him up and tell him why.
Flora Duffy:And sometimes, it's fine. And then other times, he's like, no, actually, you're fine and you need to be held back. You don't need to be doing more. And that happened a lot going into the Olympics in Tokyo. And I think that was a really big moment, particularly for Nate because, I mean, he's a relatively new coach in triathlon at that point.
Flora Duffy:He's coaching the favorite to win gold. And he was confident enough to be like, no. Like, you don't need to do more. You're in a great place. Like, be confident with that.
Flora Duffy:And so we I mean, we'd had years of working together at that point, and so really being able to trust him in in in that process. So, yeah, it's a bit of back and but never him being like, no, absolutely not. You know? It's like a very nuanced conversation.
Justin Metzler:Yeah, I could picture his reply. If you said, hey, yeah, I'd be very like, yeah, let's talk about this.
Flora Duffy:Let's unpack
Justin Metzler:it, you know?
Flora Duffy:Minutes later, I'm like, Okay, fine. I won't do that extra swim.
Justin Metzler:100%. And so you mentioned the team. Nate's obviously a a big part of that yourself. You're big part of that. Who else sort of like rounds out the whole picture?
Flora Duffy:And then Dan, my husband. He's involved, not not necessarily in writing the training at all by any means, but he does help facilitate it, particularly, like, in an Olympic build. You know, whether that's keeping me company at the track if I have nobody to run with on any run workouts, riding the bike next to me, just having nutrition, carrying a spare pair of shoes. I mean, just stuff like that, a very supportive Judy. Obviously does a lot of the cooking and just takes away all of the baggage or outside noise so that I can just focus on my training and recovery.
Flora Duffy:And then my running coach, Ernie, he's based in South Africa. He's a really he's a pretty well known coach there, but he's not someone on social media, not someone with a big ego. So but he's great. He's a really, really non knowledgeable guy, and I've been working with him since 2015. And, yeah, him and Nate collaborate really well.
Flora Duffy:And, again, I'm also at a point where, like, both kind of know what I need. Neither is crazy with what they give. And it all of meshes out. And Ernie's also a really great person that he looks out for you as the person before you as the athlete, which I think is really important for someone in a coaching position.
Justin Metzler:Yeah, for sure. I've heard a lot about Ernie. I hope I can meet him one day because Brad Weiss, who's a mutual friend of ours, he's spoken quite a lot about being coached by Yep. I want to talk a little bit more now about your injuries. I think that's something that obviously all athletes deal with, and you sort of run up against that when you're pushing the upper limits of professional sport.
Justin Metzler:Like, what have been sort of like the times can you pick out a time or like a common thread amongst the preparation going into maybe injuries and setbacks? Like I've done things that you maybe have done incorrectly in hindsight. Oh
Flora Duffy:my gosh. Yeah, Justin. Yeah, I've had some pretty bad injuries in my career, mostly tendon injuries. I've realized that's me. I'm a tendon injury person, which is super frustrating because you on one hand, you can kind of manage them.
Flora Duffy:But on the other hand, they're probably with you for, like, life. And you just yeah. It's a constant management. But I've yeah. I've tried to, think of, yeah, commonalities for all of them.
Flora Duffy:And it's really hard because all have kind of come at different points in my career or different points in, like, the year or under different amounts of load. But, yeah, I mean, my worst injury was my tear in my patella tendon that I had that took me out all of 2023. And, I mean, it's still something that I have to manage now. I don't know. It's it's really tricky.
Flora Duffy:Well, I'm actually dealing with a bit of an injury right now, which we've discussed off air. And the one thing that I the one thing I have noticed about myself is I see some athletes that they can just function in a lot of dysfunction, if that makes sense. Like, they can look all kinds of, like, skew, and, like, there's all sorts going wrong when when when they're moving, but they're just fine. Yeah. Whereas I've noticed with myself, if I get slightly out of alignment, like, chaos breaks out in my body.
Flora Duffy:And I think that's kind of yeah, that's what happens. I get like slightly out of my hips and I load that and then, nope, there goes my Achilles or my knee or something. And so I have to be really, really careful with that and really invest in treatment and massage and physio and doing the small things of preparing before you go for a run, all the activation and mobility and whatever else. Yeah, the things that take time and you just don't want to do and it's exhausting when you're doing twenty five plus hours of actual exercise. So that would probably be the one thing I have noticed.
Flora Duffy:I mean, it's very small, but those small things make a difference when you are loading them multiple times a day for multiple hours. Yeah. I've tried to, like, study my nutrition, but, mean, that's pretty solid. Yeah, it's tricky. I wish I knew the answer because maybe then I wouldn't get injured, but that's just that's like the weak part.
Flora Duffy:I think everyone has you know, a weak a weakness in them. For me, it's not like you know, some people maybe it's more mentally, emotionally. Mine is like, yeah, injuries. Like, can I stand on the starting line as a favorite Olympic champ to win the Olympics and embrace that? Yes.
Flora Duffy:But will I get a bad tendon injury? Yes.
Justin Metzler:Definitely. I feel your pain on the tendon stuff because I I'm a tendon guy. Touchwood, I've never had a bone stress injury. I'm just a tendon guy through and through. Always dealing with a tendon.
Justin Metzler:Yep. So I feel your pain because it is like yeah. My wife Jeannie just had a stress fracture, and it's just like she breaks her bone. Twelve weeks later, she's fine. She's back out there.
Justin Metzler:You know what I mean? My tendon has been like years and years and years, and the listeners of the podcast will know that I've dealt with my Achilles for a better part of four years. I am curious to hear a little bit about just the mental side going through injuries because most athletes will experience one. It's hard to be an injured athlete. Right?
Justin Metzler:Our identities as professional athletes, in particular, are very tied to being able to exercise and train every single day. What do you do when you're hurt and you can't do what you want to do?
Flora Duffy:Oh, it's so hard. I think I mean, it's hard for anybody whether you are just doing this for fun or whether it's your job. Like, it's a really difficult time because, yeah, you say your mental health, like, really suffers because you're not you're not doing what you're you feel you're most yourself doing. That's, like, been removed. And I think the hardest part for me well, in twenty third twin sorry, 2023 with my knee injury and I didn't race the whole time.
Flora Duffy:Like, at the at that point, I was the reigning Olympic champion and world champion, and suddenly, I'm like, I can't train, and I'm slow, and I'm even the bits of, like, swimming I'm doing, I'm getting hammered, and I'm just not It's you just don't feel like yourself at all. Yeah. And it's it's really, really tricky. I think I mean, yeah. Try to focus on the positives.
Flora Duffy:Okay. What can I do? And sort of block out everything else that's going on around whether it's people that beat you in training or whatever else. Just humble yourself to where you're at and know that it'll pass. It's a tough time.
Flora Duffy:But really focusing on what you can do and what you can do to improve and heal your injury and not try to push and do every single thing that you can possibly do. And by that, I mean for me, when I had my knee injury, I didn't suddenly swim 30 ks's a week. I kept my swimming the same because you're also trying to heal your body. And so you can't just be doing every single cross training activity that's out there. The main goal is to heal your injury and do your rehab.
Flora Duffy:And if you're too tired to do that because you've been on the elliptical for three hours, well, that's not helping you. But, yeah, it's it's really tricky. And something like each injury, I think, oh, I'll handle it fine, but it's it's hard. Like, I'm injured now. And it's been really, really difficult for me.
Flora Duffy:Almost harder than some of my other ones because you're like, gosh, again, like Yeah. I'm here. I call it like the waiting place because you you're not moving forward, you're not moving backwards, you're just here waiting for something to happen Yeah. And it's really tricky. So the the one, you know, one important thing is obviously to have a good good environment around you and good friends and good people.
Flora Duffy:But, yeah, it's it's not easy. I don't know. Yeah. Do have tips?
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I know. But, like, I'm with you in the sense of, like, the waiting game is the hardest piece because I feel as though even if I'm at my absolute lowest, if I have an action plan where I'm making, like, positive steps forward, you've just gotten treatment on your Achilles, like that's really positive because it's like, okay, that's actually doing something to help you move in the right direction. Now you have a timeline to like, okay, when can I get back on the bike? When can I run?
Justin Metzler:Like when I had my surgery and I was sitting there in a cast for two weeks, like that that wasn't a hard time for me. It was the wait until the surgery because it was like, I'm just standing here like a sitting duck. Like, I have nowhere to go, nothing to do. I can't run. My foot hurts.
Justin Metzler:I can't train for anything. Nothing's on my schedule because I'm gonna have to recover for six months after this. Yeah. Like that was the meant like psychologically that was the hardest time. Also like diagnosing the injury of like, okay, how what's the severity?
Justin Metzler:Sure. Yeah. So just like getting all the information for me has always been the biggest piece like for Jeannie and I. It's like, okay, you feel something? It's tipped the point of like, this is more than a niggle.
Justin Metzler:It's like MRI straight away. Get in front of the doctors, get in front of the physio,
Flora Duffy:like Yeah.
Justin Metzler:Make an action plan because if you can just lay out like the months, I think that can be helpful. But there is no way to like beat her on the bush if it sucks being injured.
Flora Duffy:It does, yeah. Then it's a good point. Will say like because my Achilles has been bothering me and I've been doing all the rehab and all the shock wave and I'm like nothing is happening here. And so yeah, finally got it looked at, saw there was a tear, the doctor was like, well, that's not going heal doing what you're doing. And you're like, Okay, I'm not crazy.
Flora Duffy:Also, I am feeling what I'm feeling. Okay, what's the plan? We're moving forward. Even though then you get more pain and you're like, oh, gosh, was that the right decision? You just have to be like, yes, it was, and we're moving forward now.
Justin Metzler:And I think you got to trust your gut a little bit too, right? Like, you're experienced. You've been doing triathlon for over twenty years, like both of us have. And I think when you feel something off in your body, you know the difference between, like, Achilles is a little stiff after a long run, and like, this hurts. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:And there's a difference between those two things. And I think a mature athlete knows the difference and knows when to be like, I think I need to actually take this seriously versus like, Okay, I'm going throw a heat pack on it and go run again, you know?
Flora Duffy:Sure. Yep.
Justin Metzler:I am curious to hear your perspective a little bit just on, like, the psychological pressures around, like, the races have a firm deadline. Right? So, like, if you're committed to the t one hundred series or you're preparing for a grand final in the WTCS or the Olympic Games, like, those dates aren't gonna change, but you can't manage the timeline for an injury. Like, when you're coming back from an injury and you have a set date for a race, what is that like in terms of your anxiety and, I guess, pressure to push along the rehab process?
Flora Duffy:Yep. Yeah. I mean, for me, I mean, the biggest stress was the Paris Olympics. And I'm coming back from my knee injury, and things are not going well. Like, even the beginning of twenty twenty four, the three months of the year were pretty terrible.
Flora Duffy:Like, both Dan and my running coach Ernie, because I was in South Africa at the time, they told me at the March, April separately, they were like, if you don't get your act together in the next, like, two weeks, like, it's over. Like, you're not gonna make it to the start line in shape to be anywhere close to fighting for a medal. And, like, that's that's extremely stressful. And, like, because you know you then that date's not changing, but you have this time that's just chipping away and you're way behind the ball and you know where you wanna be and you know where everyone else is, but you're like you you and you can't really cut that many corners because, like, the training's training. And if you do miss a chunk of your preseason training or, you know, earlier in the year, like, it's gonna come back to bite you.
Flora Duffy:You're not gonna have this nice base to build all of sort of race specific speed off of. And so for me, I was just constantly managing that leading into the Paris Olympics, kind of knowing I was behind it, doing my best to make up for it, and, yeah, got myself in the best position that I could, but Nate and I have talked about it extensively. I had, like, a big call with him, Nate, and Ernie, and Dan after to be like, okay. What what did we do right? What did we do wrong?
Flora Duffy:Like, where did we miss some spots? Like, obviously, it was super tricky coming back in with such a short timeline. But, yeah, it's it's not easy, and I've had so many people when I I went back to Stellenbosch this year. Was there December of end of last year and through April this year. And everyone was like, wow.
Flora Duffy:You're so much more relaxed this year, Flora. Like, you you're like a totally different person. I'm like, yeah. That's because I'm not preparing for an Olympics in six months time coming back from a mega injury. And so, yeah, it's just it's so hard.
Flora Duffy:But, again, that's part of being a professional athlete.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I think that just looking back on Paris, like, all of us here in Boulder who were, like, a very small part of that preparation, swimming with you and maybe doing a couple runs or whatever, we all just thought you were such a legend because we knew the abbreviated preparation that you had. Yeah. We knew that you just took every tactical advantage that you could from the swim and you just gave it your absolute best. And we could all see that watching the race.
Justin Metzler:Were like, Flora's like, she's doing the absolute best that she can. And I think at the end of the day, like, sometimes the cards are gonna fall in your way, like win a gold medal in Tokyo, and sometimes they're just gonna be a little bit dealt a little bit differently. And I think, like, as athletes, in hindsight, hopefully, we can all just, like, understand that's just how life is. You know what I mean? Yeah.
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Justin Metzler:Additionally, I've realized over the course of that process how important this could be for keeping me healthy and getting in some speed work without that pounding on the road, so I'm definitely gonna be using the lever over the course of the next months and years as I continue to get back fit, healthy, and ready to race. So if you're interested in trying a lever for yourself, head on over to levermovement.com and use code endurancematters20 for 20% off all devices. I am curious to talk a little bit more about your mindset. I wanna talk specifically about pre Tokyo and post So you said you're ten years old, Greg Welch comes, and he inspires you to become a professional triathlete. You say, I wanna win a gold medal.
Justin Metzler:How much time did you spend about, in your mind, thinking about winning a gold medal? And what was that moment actually like in terms of, like, comparing to what you had maybe built up the moment to be?
Flora Duffy:Oh, wow. Okay. I guess it's like you spend time thinking about winning a gold medal, but then there's also a difference between that and then spending time thinking about it and, like, knowing it's an actual real possibility. And then you go and do it. And for me, it was just such a big surreal moment that I, like, really couldn't fully take it in because you're like, wait.
Flora Duffy:What just happened here? Like, I just did it. You just race just blew by, and there I was just running on the blue carpet, and there there I am now an Olympic champion. And what was cool that day is actually Greg Welch was on the mic on the ground. So, yeah, hit another, like, yeah, small piece.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. It it's just like this whirlwind of emotions that is just so hard to take in. The further I get from the race and, obviously, my Paris experience made me realize, like, wow. There's so much that could have gone wrong that day out of your control. Like, even going there in the best possible shape, like, that just could have been taken out of your control.
Flora Duffy:You could have crashed. You could have got a flat, like, whatever. And so you just realize how much has to go right on that day every four years. It all has to align to have the perfect day and win a gold medal. And so, yeah, you're obviously very grateful.
Flora Duffy:But it's it's a whirlwind. You you cross the line. And I mean, even in a COVID Olympics with, I would presume, a lot less media there. Like, from that moment, from hours later, you're just going into all of these interviews. And then suddenly, everyone somehow gets your contacts.
Flora Duffy:And then the next thing I know, I'm on, like, CNN and just going everywhere after the race. And you're just like, wow. This is insane. And then to contrast that to, like, Paris, you come and it's like crickets.
Justin Metzler:And the margins are like, what, like thirty seconds. You know what I mean? Yeah.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. But but then post post Tokyo, that was a really tricky time for me because it was just I was just exhausted, and it was just so much emotion to take in. And then, obviously, it was a five year build and, like, the COVID and just all of that that came into it. Oh, and also, was Bermuda's Olympic gold medal. So there was that component to it.
Flora Duffy:And it just I think it blew up bigger because of that. And so I it was just for me, it was more of an intro introverted personality. It was so much to handle. And I actually think I spoke to my sports psych more after the Olympics than I did before the Olympics, just trying to manage everything and process it and still having to race. Like, it was it was a really challenging time, which yeah.
Flora Duffy:I mean, you you don't think about how you're gonna navigate that because you you don't think past crossing that line wherever you sort of finish.
Justin Metzler:Sure. Your physical world obviously changes. There's more opportunity. There's more media attention. There's more sponsorship.
Justin Metzler:Was there any change sort of in your, like, perception of self? Like, now that you've accomplished this life goal, life dream, did you view yourself any differently? Or does it just sort of go back to, like, okay, I'm just still Flora?
Flora Duffy:Yeah. No. I didn't I didn't view myself any differently. I'm like, oh, I'm still flora. Still have the same problems.
Flora Duffy:I still like, I don't know, turn up to swim. It's Scotty. I know it's about the same people and some days I'm good and some days I'm not good. And yeah, it just kind of like that's like one nice thing of coming back to Boulder is life kind of resumed to normal. So that, like, my day to day was normal in terms of my training.
Flora Duffy:But then outside of that was like chaos. So that definitely helped because obviously I had friends here and a familiar routine. But yeah, it's still the same. I mean, I think some other people's perception of me maybe changed. But mine, no, stayed the same.
Flora Duffy:And so that made it also kind of weird because you're like, oh, why do you think of me different now? Like, a week prior, you thought of me in one way and then a week other. Like, one of the funny thing is that that the Scott Carpenter pool, like, I mean, I've been swimming there for years, and then suddenly I won the Olympics, and they, like, all knew who I was. Oh, yeah. Last week, you didn't even, like, say hi to me as I came to the pool, and now they're like, oh, hey, Flora.
Flora Duffy:Like, congrats. You know, whatever. I mean, just yeah. It's all things like that. But, no.
Flora Duffy:I think, no, my sense of self is still the same.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Were there any big how did you handle the pressure, I guess, going into Paris with the injury being the, you know, reigning Olympic champion? I think a lot of people were talking about you, you know, like, even with a year hiatus in 2023, people are saying, you can't sleep on Floriduffy. She's gold medalist from the previous Olympics. Were you listening to that noise, was that getting into your head, or what was the preparation like from a mental perspective there?
Flora Duffy:No. I wasn't listening to that noise too much again because I kind of knew where I was at and that I knew yeah. I was maybe more of a dark horse again, but there were some clear favorites. And obviously, you know, Cassandra Bourgand, she was the favorite, and it was a French olymp a home Olympics. So yeah.
Flora Duffy:I I felt like I could actually kind of quietly get there. Mean, I had my own pressures or or own expectations that I put on myself and knew that, you know, somehow miraculously, I got myself into a pretty good shape and I had a shot. If everything kind of went right and a few people maybe misfired, I had a shot. And I was definitely gonna shoot that shot. So so, yeah, I think kind of be leading into it, I got more and more confident as I ticked off the training sessions.
Flora Duffy:But and also in the back of my mind, of knew that, like, you know, I know what it takes to win a medal, and I know I hadn't quite been able to do all of the work. But that was more just internal. Like, the outside stuff didn't really bother me at all. Cool.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. And you mentioned whether you win a gold medal or you come in Paris, you find yourself back in Boulder. Some of the stuff that you do, obviously, in training maybe grounds you a little bit. Is there anything else that you do here that helps you resettle back into normal person life? Obviously, it's never a normal person being a professional athlete, but just settling back in.
Flora Duffy:Gosh, I'm trying to think. What do I do? I don't know. That's thing. I don't really do that much.
Flora Duffy:Yeah.
Justin Metzler:It's like we're all just going do our rolling routine and go to bed at 08:30.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. I mean, just like hanging out with my friends and like, you know, they were like, they don't care if I won or not. They're pumped regardless. Because, yeah, I mean, I guess so many people knew the journey that I had to get there. And so, I mean, that's nice that, yeah, no one thinks of you in a bad way because you went there and you didn't win a medal.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. Like, no. So I think just kind of being back here in Boulder and being in my house I don't know. I really like my house here in Boulder. That's a very grounding place for me.
Flora Duffy:And just yeah. You can kind of escape a bit of the noise and just to kind of have a bit of time to reflect on on what happened and, you know, the good and the bad. And I think for me, it's as time goes on, my opinion on my race and my result changes for the positive. But, yeah, it's definitely like a work in progress to kind of organize all of those thoughts.
Justin Metzler:Sure. Well, you've had such a amazing career. Like, it's spanned five Olympic Games. Right? Like, it's Yeah.
Justin Metzler:In in reflection, you've accomplished so much. Like, but it seems as though you're not done and, you know, you've transitioned now into long course t 170.3. Like, you've spent so many years just pursuing these high level goals. Like, how much motivation is there for seventy point three t 100, like extracting this more out of yourself and more out of your body?
Flora Duffy:Yeah. It's it's definitely become more difficult. I mean, you know, I still still feel like I put the same intensity into my training and recovery and whole lifestyle that goes with triathlon. But, yeah, I it's it's very different once you have accomplished your ultimate goal, which for me was winning Olympic gold. And now transitioning into the t 170.3 at a much later stage in my career.
Flora Duffy:I've spent almost the entirety of my career racing short course. And so now switching over to that, and the t 100 is incredibly competitive and intense and fast. And so that's definitely been a bit of a shift for me because I also I kind of imagine that I would move to long course and it would be slightly different intensity from short course. Whereas, like, the t one hundred feels like an extension now of the World Series. And I'm like, oh, okay.
Flora Duffy:I I I'm still in the same kind of world, but it's just longer Yeah. Now. So, yeah, so that's kind of something you have to adjust to. But at the same time, I I do like that because I do enjoy that intensity and being in those, like, high pressure environments. But, yeah, I mean, I would really like to win a t one hundred race and feel like I can be competitive at the front of them.
Flora Duffy:I haven't quite shown that yet. It's been a bit of an adjustment for me on the TT bike and also just doing the the extra volume. And and and part of that is just like still like a a consequence of missing a year and having to build back very specifically for the Paris Olympics. Yeah. I didn't do any three hour rides really before the Paris Olympics just because I couldn't.
Flora Duffy:So, yeah, that's all just takes time. And when you're racing at that high level, if you if you are a little bit off, like, really gets exposed. So I I know the end of my career is not too far away. And so that also motivates me to make the most of it because this chapter will end at some point, and I won't be a professional athlete. So to really embrace that and enjoy all the opportunities that come my way and racing on the t one hundred, I mean, it's pretty incredible what they're doing and the opportunities that we get on that series.
Justin Metzler:Sure. When you're thinking about the races and maybe, you know, having a visualization in a middle of a hard rep or something like that, does it give you the same sort of, like, juice and sort of, like, pump up that it did when you were maybe 16 years old preparing for your World Cup, or is it different now?
Flora Duffy:It's very different now because I think when I was 16 and preparing for my worst World Cup, was like, oh my god. What am I doing? Like, I hope I don't get laughed out or laughed. Sure. Whereas now, you know, I'm lot more confident in my abilities.
Flora Duffy:And, yeah, I will say I do get the same sort of excitement or yeah. There's like, I guess, adrenaline that like Yeah.
Justin Metzler:Jitters and nerves.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. They're like, I can do this and I wanna be fighting at the front of the race. And like, I think the biggest piece for me is and maybe it's not necessarily winning a race, but I felt this since coming back from my knee injury to feel like I'm racing at my full capacity again. And I don't think I've done that, and that's what I really would like to do. And whether that means I come across the line or or whatever, then I think I'll be happy.
Flora Duffy:But I haven't been able to execute that, and that's, I think, what really is driving me to keep racing these next few years, assuming, you know, my body holds together. Yeah. To just kind of have that feeling again because I've had that feeling quite a few times in my career, and it would just, yeah, kind of feel like it rounds off nicely coming back from these injuries. And, yeah, feeling like, yeah, you're racing at your full capacity across the bike and run.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I resonate with that completely. Like, that's my main objective for the next year, probably like twelve months at least, is just get back to a place where I I can, like, trust my body again. You know what I I think that's so big, especially when you've lost that for an extended period of time. This is the time in my career I've had to go through that.
Justin Metzler:And so it's like, yeah, that's my North Star goal more than a win a race or get on the podium or whatever. So totally understand that. And you mentioned you're probably not miles away from retirement. With your identity and your career being so focused on this one thing and it more or less looking the same, like have you thought beyond the next couple years of like what does my life look like when I'm 45?
Flora Duffy:Oh, that's a scary thought, Justin. Yeah. I mean, I'm I'm 37 now. As I said, I turned 38 later this year, and I have been racing a long time, and I've accomplished most of my goals. Obviously, I still have a few.
Flora Duffy:I would like to win a t one 100 race, and I would love to win a seventy point three worlds. But, yeah, this comes to an end. And what think what I want to give myself is some time and space to figure out what I want to do next. I have a few ideas, but my life has been so regimented and so on a schedule and that I kind of want to just have time to be like, you know what? I'm going to do whatever I want.
Flora Duffy:And luckily, I I I have the ability to do that. I've done well enough in my career. I'm not seeing my husband, Dan. He works. So, yeah, I'm just gonna see what opportunities come my way, take whatever comes my way, but not be like, okay, I have to step into a job and get a nine to five.
Flora Duffy:Like, just kind of, yeah, enjoy and embrace it and do my best, obviously, to, like, not have a schedule and be regimented. Yeah. Yeah. I think it also depends where I'll be in the world. I mean, I'm married to a South African, and he's got a business interest there.
Flora Duffy:So we'll probably be spending a chunk of my time there. And I love to spend more time in Bermuda and give back to the community there. And yeah, so I think just seeing what comes my way and, yeah, being okay with that. But it is gonna be a big change in identity because you're not a professional athlete anymore, and you're you're you're not winning these big races or in these big races. And so it is certainly a shift.
Flora Duffy:And, yeah, I don't think I'll I won't be afraid to reach out to a lot of other athletes that have retired and gone through that process and see how they've handled it.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I I know, like, at least for myself, there was a time probably last year where I was thinking about early retirement being, I don't know if I can come back from this injury. So I was starting to think about, like, oh, what am I gonna really enjoy doing? And I think I made two rules for myself. I can't can't do a nine to five, and I can't buy a suit.
Justin Metzler:Like, I just can't do either of those two things. I need to be able to have my work attire be like what I'm wearing right now. So I don't know if you're similar in that way, but I think, like, it's it's difficult for athletes who have been professional athletes for twenty years, like, to to have to go to corporate world. Like, that sounds like a crazy idea.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:So interesting. I I yeah. I'll be curious to figure out what you do next, but I think you still have a lot of, gas left in the tank. One quick question here just in terms of like the South Africa, Boulder, Bermuda sort of triangle, no pun intended there. Like, what are the what are like the things you like about each place?
Justin Metzler:What are the things you dislike about each place? Because we have some common my wife, Jeanie, is from South Africa, so, you know, we spend some time there, not as much as you, but obviously live here full time at Boulder. Like, what what are the similarities and what are the things that you like about each place? Why do you still rotate around all three?
Flora Duffy:Yeah. Sure. I mean, I I like that they're all very different. So that's nice. It keeps it pretty fresh.
Flora Duffy:So, South Africa, I like it because I dodge the winter here, obviously, because they're Southern Hemisphere. But that's where my husband Dan is from, and we have we're in Stellenbosch, and we it's a great place to train. It has quite a few similarities to Boulder. There's a lot of athletes that go there, foreign athletes that they'll go come there for a few weeks and train. So it has that really nice feeling to it.
Flora Duffy:It has great facilities. I have some people there that I can train with. And you're out of the Boulder bubble, which I really, really enjoy because, yeah, I found over the years here that it's gotten, like, more and more triathletes. It's very popular now Boulder again. So I do enjoy escaping that and going to South Africa, and you're just kinda left alone there.
Flora Duffy:The downside to South Africa is obviously the safety. The riding is very monotonous. Monotonous? You're close enough.
Justin Metzler:They got got it.
Flora Duffy:Okay. Yeah. It it's it's very the same. I can only ride a few routes. So that that's a big piece for me that I really, really struggle with.
Flora Duffy:Then Boulder. Obviously, Boulder is great for training. It's so easy to train here. The roads are great. The trails.
Flora Duffy:Okay. The pools are a bit of a problem. But the one hand, there's a lot of people here to train with, which is nice. On the other hand, that gets a bit much. I think that was one of the pieces I struggled with last year.
Flora Duffy:They just got too much, and I just felt like you're hearing about this person, that person
Justin Metzler:A lot of people came here last year too. Lot new folks are just like like top pros who you'd know, not like a new crop coming in, you know, and that's a big difference.
Flora Duffy:Yes. So a lot of personality bigger personalities came here, so that that was an adjustment. So, I mean, maybe you could put that in the downside of Boulder, but I don't know. There's pros and cons to it. Yeah.
Flora Duffy:Mean, Boulder, it's great. It's easy. There's great massage therapists here. There's great physios. There's good medical.
Flora Duffy:So, yeah, it just makes it simple here. And then Bermuda, obviously, I love because it's my home and that's it's a beautiful place, and I feel very comfortable there, and it's very nostalgic. And yeah. I just like it. It's very hard to train there for me because I get pulled in a few directions.
Flora Duffy:And, obviously, it's quite small. So when you ride, you cover a lot of ground. You're like, oh, wow. Like, peep like, in Bermuda, people are like, oh, I don't wanna drive, like, all the way to Somerset, which is, like, one end of the island. And I'm like, oh, ride there and then to the other side of the island, like, all in one ride.
Flora Duffy:And when people, like, won't drive to those, like, extremities of the island, so it's kind of funny in that way. But yeah, I think it's a really nice balance and I'm very very lucky that the to call these three places my home and yeah, hopefully continue to spend time in in all of them even after my career.
Justin Metzler:Perfect. Well, that's a good transition here for our rapid fire questions. My rapid fire question before we wrap up the podcast today is if you have to choose one to be your permanent residence, but you're banned from the other two, Bermuda, South Africa, or Boulder.
Flora Duffy:Justin. What are
Justin Metzler:you it's hard. I know.
Flora Duffy:That's a terrible question. I do I have to this is not gonna to you don't have answer. It's too hard. It's too hard.
Justin Metzler:But you can maybe we'll we'll talk about it later.
Flora Duffy:Okay. Okay.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. So that's we'll we'll put a pin in that. Pass. Pass for number one and to be answered on the podcast with Flora in a year. Alright.
Justin Metzler:You can race any bike you like, but you can only choose one bike for training. What bike do you choose?
Flora Duffy:Oh, probably my Tarmac SL8.
Justin Metzler:Good standard choice? Yeah. Alright. You have a two parter here. Gas station stop or cafe stop for a long ride?
Flora Duffy:Okay. Yeah. I'm probably more of a gas station stop primarily because I like quick stops. I hate a long stop, and a cafe stop is a long stop.
Justin Metzler:That's perfect because the two parter here is what's the ideal stop duration?
Flora Duffy:Oh. Oh, five minutes. I mean, okay. Maybe it has to be a bit more five minutes, but you're in, you get your what you need, fill those bottles, and we're gone.
Justin Metzler:I'm with you.
Flora Duffy:Don't sit down. No dilly dally.
Justin Metzler:I'm not trying to people like to sit at the gas station, like, on the oil, on the gas and, like, gasoline on the ground, people I ride with. They're like, I
Flora Duffy:can sit there
Justin Metzler:for twenty minutes.
Flora Duffy:Okay. This is not rough because I know I was riding with Tyler Butterfield last week, and we did a stop. We're the opposite ends of the spectrum here. And I was like, Tyler, you gotta keep moving. Yeah.
Flora Duffy:He was getting so flustered with all of his stuff.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Oh, I've heard of Tyler enough to know exactly what you're talking about. Alright. Number four, favorite race of all time and favorite destination for everything other than a race.
Flora Duffy:Favorite race of all time, the World Series in Bermuda.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. For
Flora Duffy:sure. Favorite destination, like, go on holiday or something? Oh, I Yeah.
Justin Metzler:Race destination, like, maybe a race destination that, like, you enjoyed the stuff that wasn't the race.
Flora Duffy:Oh, well, okay. Bermuda is in that as well. Sure. But I would say Stockholm.
Justin Metzler:Oh, interesting.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. I've really enjoyed racing there. It's a beautiful place.
Justin Metzler:Cool. Yeah. I spent some time in Scandinavia. It's a very awesome I mean, it's just amazing. Okay.
Justin Metzler:Cool. How much of the swim warm up is acceptable for you to miss before you start stressing out?
Flora Duffy:In in a racer? No. At the pool. Okay. Yeah.
Flora Duffy:Okay. This is really getting around now. I do miss a lot of the swim warm up. I mean, I could miss at least five, six hundred meters.
Justin Metzler:And then 600, you're kind of like, alright. I better I better get out of
Flora Duffy:Honestly, I don't think I ever stress. I'm like, well, I'm in. It's fine. Go further.
Justin Metzler:And are you, like, trying to make it up at the end?
Flora Duffy:I do. I always make it up. I don't know why. Early. I'll be there on time, but I just cannot get in right away.
Justin Metzler:When you're doing something for twenty five years, it's tough to maybe Yeah. Get it going.
Flora Duffy:But but then at the end, everyone's leaving, and I'm there making up my 600. Like, Flora, when when are you gonna learn?
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Alright. Last one here. Best single piece of advice for a young triathlete who's listening to this right now wanting to win an Olympic gold.
Flora Duffy:Oh, wow. Okay. Two things. One, be patient. Like, it's it's not gonna come right away and we've all yeah, you don't just walk into this and then have great success.
Flora Duffy:Like there's going to be some hard years and that's totally fine. You got to be patient. And then my favorite quote is, it's not my quote, It's don't focus on being the best. Focus on being the best at getting better. So I think that really highlights this importance of the small details.
Justin Metzler:Love that. Well, that's a perfect way to end the podcast today. Thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate it, Flora.
Flora Duffy:Yeah. Thank you, Justin.
Justin Metzler:See you in the next episode. Peace.
