Live from Ironman Boulder 70.3: Kevin McDowell, Colin Szuch, and Sam Appleton
Hey, everybody. Justin Metzler here. We are fresh off the heels of Boulder seventy point three race this morning, and we're at Avery Brewing where the awards are. Everyone's gonna be getting their seventy point three worlds qualifications. And today, we have three podium finishers.
Justin Metzler:We interviewed Colin Such. We interviewed Kevin McDowell, and we interviewed Sam Appleton, the champion from today. As for myself, I came eighth place. It was, yes, good day, solid. I definitely happy to be back out there, and it was nice to mix it up with the boys' hometown race.
Justin Metzler:I can pretty much see my house from where we're sitting right now at the brewery. So, you know, you can never turn down an opportunity to race against the guys you see every day and on home training roads. So definitely a fun day out there, more to come for me and all the athletes we interviewed. And so enjoy this live episode from Avery Brewing here in Boulder, Colorado. Okay.
Justin Metzler:Welcome to the first ever Endurance Matters live podcast. I am have the pleasure here of welcoming the second place finisher from today, Colin Such. Remind tell us how you say your last name. Just Such.
Colin Szuch:Take out the
Justin Metzler:v. Cool. So I got it. Yep. Nailed it.
Justin Metzler:Awesome. Well, well done today. Colin swam twenty six minutes. He biked one fifty two forty three, which is like very impressive on this course. It's a fast course, but one fifty two is blazing.
Justin Metzler:That is, yeah, almost 30 miles an hour and then one sixteen thirty to bring it home and Yeah. So Colin, well done today. Tell us a little bit about your day.
Colin Szuch:Thank you. Well, it started off pretty I was pretty nervous at the beginning of the race because I left my wet suit at home and luckily, Tyler's parents were nearby. They had an extra wetsuit which really came in handy. It was my size and everything fit perfectly. So that was a rough way to start the day.
Colin Szuch:And then getting into the swim, it felt pretty like pretty smooth, but I just lost the pack, didn't swim super great. But I was just with these guys and didn't really move up or down and then like a smooth transition and I had like good legs on the bike. I felt like pretty smooth the whole way around and then on the run, was really just about like staying cool with
Justin Metzler:the heat. Yep. For sure. Have you ever had a situation like that before where you show up to a race and you're missing like a critical piece of equipment?
Colin Szuch:Never. I have like checklists. Like I have like pages and pages of checklists I go to and I just had like take bag one and bag two and bag two didn't have the wet suit. So
Justin Metzler:Wow. Did you drive from Evergreen this morning? I did. Early? Yeah.
Justin Metzler:So there was no turning back. It's like an hour drive to the reservoir. Right? Yeah. Like to Boulder Res.
Colin Szuch:Exactly. Once I noticed, I did the math and I was like, oh, it won't work.
Justin Metzler:Were you freaking out internally or were you like trying to stay cool?
Colin Szuch:No. Was pretty calm. Like I got a new suit that works really well in the water. So I was just like, oh, worse comes to worse. I'll just swim with some goggles in the suit and I'll have a faster transition.
Colin Szuch:I try to keep like a positive head space throughout the race and the day. Like, no matter what happens, just like find something positive about it, even though it's definitely not a positive situation.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I think that's such an important thing from a mindset perspective and I think like just two weeks ago in Shanghai, I had a DI two failure and had to ride in the big gear all day, and it was kind of the same thing where it wasn't even a thought in my mind that I wasn't going to complete the race. I sort of saw you going through that process. It wasn't like, oh, my wetsuit's not here. I'm going to go home.
Justin Metzler:It was like, no, I'm going find a way to get this done. So that was really cool. Yeah. Talk to me a little bit more in detail about like, yeah, getting on the bike and maybe just how you felt, how you felt moving through the field. Were you getting positive momentum?
Justin Metzler:How was it sort of on the back half of the bike? Because I rode with you for probably about 10 miles from maybe about mile 25 to 35 where after the halfway point, you were just too strong. Like, how were you feeling sort of throughout the entirety of the ride?
Colin Szuch:Yeah. My whole goal was just not to bring people to the run. Like, I didn't wanna just be a rabbit for someone. So my goal was really to to like work as hard as I could, like making the passes and make them as hard as possible so that I could like kind of get on the run like with a bit of a gap.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Did you Is that something you've been working on in training? Is Because your run has been really solid this year. A third in St. George with a strong run.
Justin Metzler:Are you getting to a point where you can sort of back yourself on the run, or do you still feel the need to sort of push the bike up and give yourself some space?
Colin Szuch:Well, I didn't talk about it at all, but after Saint George, I had like a really bad strain and I just wasn't able to run for like two and a half, three weeks and I was really like not sure if I was able to race Boulder. And so I've just been training the bike as hard as I could. For some reason, it didn't really affect the strain. And luckily, I've had like good PTs and been working through that and I had good likes today. So Awesome.
Colin Szuch:Some time.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Talk to us a little bit about your training and you're living up in Evergreen, so you're like an hour away from Boulder. We got the Boulder, you know, bubble here where all of us seemingly run into each other every single day. What's it like sort of being like Boulder adjacent and sort of being up there doing your own thing?
Colin Szuch:Yeah. Well, I've lived in Girona in the past and that kinda gives you like a bit of the It's a bubble. Like you run into all the pro triathletes there and being in the bubble, you kinda like get influenced to change your training and change your methods. Where like living up there, you kinda You you have a plan and the plan's like to race as well as possible and there's nothing else to that plan. It's not like impressing anyone or doing anything particularly special.
Colin Szuch:Where in Drona I was like, maybe I'll ride like a little harder today and show like this guy that where it's it's stupid like there's no point to that.
Justin Metzler:Sure. How much, you know, you're a young guy. It seems like you've got a pretty good grip on your training, like you're really coming through. How much of that do you like sort of put on maybe an evolution of your training versus just time and evolution of you as an athlete, like now just sort of stacking year on year?
Colin Szuch:Sure. It's a little bit of both. Like year by year, you do get better, but you also learn what doesn't work for you. Like, I'm sure it's different for everyone, but for me, like, I've tried high volume, I've tried low volume, like very low volume, And like neither of those work particularly. It's kinda somewhere in the middle and like the right blend of intensity, but not too much.
Colin Szuch:And then, like you look at other people's training, it's easy to get like, maybe like, I'm not doing enough. But then again, it's like, if you're not doing enough and it's working, you are doing enough.
Justin Metzler:Sure. Can you give us three takeaways of three things that you have found work for you and three things that you have found don't work for you?
Colin Szuch:I'm not gonna talk about the swim because
Justin Metzler:it's not working. You gotta come to Boulder. That's that's that's the key.
Colin Szuch:Well, I could talk about the bike and for me it's like really prioritizing the sessions and like having for example like a three hour tempo session and that that sessions like executed at Ironman pace with Ironman fueling and that's that's it. And nothing nothing else to that. No harder. No no easier. And then like doing your sessions exactly as you prescribe them.
Colin Szuch:Like I coach myself and sometimes it's easy to like change things around but if you like have a plan, you gotta stick to it. And I think that's that's two tips and my third tip would just be like don't focus too much on the numbers. Like sometimes feeling is also like a really important characteristic that you shouldn't ignore. Sure.
Justin Metzler:And what about maybe one or two things that you have found over the course of coaching yourself and training that haven't worked?
Colin Szuch:Doing eleven hour rides does not work. It just tires you out. Yep. That's true.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I think we both got lucky because last year, probably not too far off this time of year, I sent you a message and I was like, oh, you wanna go do the grand loop, which is probably a twelve or thirteen hour day and the weather was too challenging. It was too snowy, we didn't end up doing it. But it was probably for the best for your season. My season was done, so I was getting surgery the next week.
Justin Metzler:But for your benefit, that one got snowed out. Talk to us a little bit about maybe how you choose and decide Ironman versus seventy point three because you're just a racing fiend. You're you're out there. You're getting lots of races in. I think 13 races last year.
Justin Metzler:Is that And so how much emphasis are you putting in the 70 threes? Because you've seen two podiums here this season versus Ironmans for the remainder of 2025.
Colin Szuch:Sure. My goal this year is just to race as well as I can, not race like a ton, not race a little, just show up to races prepared and be able to execute those races well and not just be like tired from the previous race, which I was in Chattanooga and I didn't finish. And it's just like another lesson like it's important to like stick to a plan and execute that plan.
Justin Metzler:How do you hold yourself accountable to the plan with self coaching? Because that's something I really struggled with when I coached myself. I think on the acute level of, oh, day to day, you know, maybe I've planned two by thirty and next thing you know, it's six by 10. Mhmm. And then also, oh, there's a shiny object in terms of a race.
Justin Metzler:I'm gonna go chase that. You don't necessarily have that sounding board. How do you keep yourself in check?
Colin Szuch:Sure. I kind of put on like a coaching hat and like look at myself from like a second or or like a third perspective like like a coach would. Like unbiased, not emotional about like like if I'm injured, I'm injured. Like there's nothing else to that. Like you can't just like show up to race injured and maybe it'll work out.
Colin Szuch:It's just showing up like and really not being emotional about it. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:Sure. Talk to us a little bit about what the rest of the season looks like for 2025.
Colin Szuch:Well, I just I wanna show up to my next race prepared and my next race is an Ironman and I haven't I don't think I've ever executed an Ironman well. So I've been really prioritizing like doing the long sessions and fueling correctly and like getting I've had the little injury, but getting my run volume back up and just showing up prepared for an Ironman properly.
Justin Metzler:Cool. We have a mutual sponsor in Precision. Talk to us a little bit about the fueling plan for today and then what you're planning for the Ironman.
Colin Szuch:Okay. Today did not go as planned. In the first 400 meters, my bottle just ejected and then that that was a 100 grams of carbs gone. And then I just had two five hundred mil bottles with 90 grams each, which was enough and some chews. I finished all of it and I was a little thirsty on the run.
Colin Szuch:But luckily, it was just enough to finish. Whereas in the Ironman, you can't do that. You will blow up.
Justin Metzler:Yeah.
Colin Szuch:So my my plan is just like, I'm gonna have four liters of fluid on the bike and like, hopefully, I can and then I can take more from aid stations and it's really about nailing the fueling. It's so critical.
Justin Metzler:Yep. 100%. 100%. Well, cool. Is there anything else that you wanna sort of touch in on?
Justin Metzler:Any sponsors you wanna sort of shout out or anything you wanna talk about from today?
Colin Szuch:Well, I have a great team behind me and I have Resolute in a local store, Nevada. They hooked me up with some really nice TT upgrades, really came in handy today.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. How much of your ride today would you put down power versus aerodynamics or equipment? Because this race is seeing I think every single year, I ride two minutes faster, but I feel like I'm always sort of in this territory in the race of being like three, four minutes from the fastest bike split. So what would you put today's performance down to and then what would you say in terms of the overall improvement of everyone's speed?
Colin Szuch:It's hard to tell. My power meter just kept going to zero for like a minute and then it'll come back. So I had no idea what the average power was. But like I knew I had good legs, but I also knew like I've been working really hard on my aerodynamics and position, like really refining like how to get in that position for a long time and be comfortable. So I think aerodynamics was a real big part of it and clearly just the race gets faster and faster every year.
Colin Szuch:So equipment's a huge factor.
Justin Metzler:Alright. Well, this is definitely a guy to
Justin Metzler:watch Colin Such. Thank you so much for coming on the the first live podcast here. It was great to learn about him. Let's give him a round of applause Colin. Thank you.
Colin Szuch:Thank you for having Sure.
Justin Metzler:Think we've got Kevin McDowell. I saw him wandering around. So if
Justin Metzler:we could call Kevin up here.
Justin Metzler:Maybe in the meantime, does anyone have a does anyone have a question for Colin for a reward of a precision fuel and hydration? Tim, any question for Colin?
Justin Metzler:So, yeah. Tim's question was if you were to go back in time, would you have done anything differently today?
Colin Szuch:I would have brought my wet soup.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Yeah. That's a good one.
Colin Szuch:And I would have like secured my bottles better.
Justin Metzler:Yep. You know what? When you're a young guy, you learn these things and you only you only have to learn them once. I can almost guarantee that Colin's never gonna forget his wetsuit at home again. So that's good.
Justin Metzler:Yep. Alright. Well, thank you very much and yeah. Just appreciate you coming out early to get on the podcast with us.
Kevin McDowell:Thank you. Thank you. Cool.
Justin Metzler:Sponsor of today's episode, Precision Fuel and Hydration. These guys have been an amazing partner for the show, and it's really a product that I use every single day of my training to help me go faster, feel better. So in today's day and age, we all know high carb is sort of the thing, and so previously, I've spoken about how much I like the chews, and I'm still munching on those pretty much every single day in training, but I've really been getting into the p f 90 gels. That's been a really big value add for me to have three gels in one, I feel like sometimes I'll just take that entire gel all at once or go half and half. It just allows me to get a little bit more carbohydrate and sort of just bump everything up and feel a little bit better in training.
Justin Metzler:So if you want to try that for yourself, head on over to pfnh.com and use code big mets twenty twenty five for 15% off.
Justin Metzler:Alright. Now we're bringing up the third place finisher from today, Olympian Kevin McDowell. Can we give him a round of applause?
Justin Metzler:Oh, we got a fan? Oh, yeah. I You know what? I take it seriously here. You're taking care of me.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. My
Kevin McDowell:car does not have air con. So
Justin Metzler:Oh, so you already
Kevin McDowell:Like, I was heat acclimated for today.
Justin Metzler:Perfect. There you go.
Kevin McDowell:That's what
Justin Metzler:I do.
Kevin McDowell:Oh. Like, touch it? Like, kiss
Justin Metzler:Like, almost touch it.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. Yeah.
Kevin McDowell:Oh, you just want it close.
Justin Metzler:Yeah.
Kevin McDowell:Okay.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I guess I can do that. How you doing, man?
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. I'm alright.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Well well done today.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. I'm I'm overall happy with it given everything that like kinda went down in different stuff during parts of the race.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Absolutely wanna dive in but for those that don't know, Kevin McDowell, this is your third 70.3?
Kevin McDowell:Fourth, actually.
Justin Metzler:Fourth 70.3. Yeah.
Kevin McDowell:I did one last year, like a little under the radar one.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Little under the radar. Remember that one. Yeah. We did a little bit of training in preparation.
Justin Metzler:Feel like you've come a long way since this time last year, is awesome to see. Fourth place in Saint George just a few weeks ago. Yeah. So that was huge and then third place today. So yeah, tell us a little bit about how the day went for you.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. I mean, I was stoked on just like being able to race in Boulder. It's like you're to race at home, what I call this home now and like have so many friends and family and people around here that support you. I think that's pretty special and my grandpa was able to come out and it's the first time he was able to see me race in fifteen years. Very cool.
Kevin McDowell:And he's like the biggest triathlon fan in that bit. So it had me really excited for the race and I just woke up like there was this excitement which like after last year I was like, I didn't know if that was gonna happen anymore. I thought my excitement of just racing and I was wondering if I was gonna be done and I said I'm gonna give it one more give this long course a go and I've been enjoying it. So yeah, woke up and my coach Nate, he lives here and he rode over with me. I was able to bikes of course which was awesome.
Kevin McDowell:Thank you Ironman for letting us not racket the day before. I think that was a huge advantage for many reasons for a lot of us. And then, yeah. It's like the swim. It's like Sharpie's here and we train together a lot, race together all the time and I stood on the sideline with him and I was like, well, this is You know, last time we started literally next to each other like this was in the Olympics.
Kevin McDowell:So let's not have a black eye or like do you have a boat in front of us or something.
Justin Metzler:I think Matt actually got a black eye today.
Kevin McDowell:He did. So it's actually ironic. So that's why I mentioned it because it's pretty funny because then after I was like, you literally got a black eye and I told you don't get let's not
Justin Metzler:get man.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. But no, it got off to a good start. I feel like the swim we were pretty on like.
Justin Metzler:Oh, was I I was I was up swimming pretty much full on.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. Like I was surprised how many people still were with us there. Yeah. And like Matt took it out well and it was great and then he'd like backstroke off to let someone else go and then I ended up there and I like, I don't want up here because I'm learning like there's still so much to learn. I need to save the energy.
Kevin McDowell:Yep. And so then you came by actually too and I hopped on you and I was like, alright, we're good here. And then, yeah, got on the bike and pulled for a little bit. Apple went by and I'm like, okay, he's gone. I can't keep up with this right now.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. And he's having a day. It's great to see. And then I struggled a little bit and then Josh Brillis? Is that what I was
Justin Metzler:saying? Josh. Yep.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. He came by me and he's like, let's go. Can catch some of these guys. And was like, you know what? Alright.
Kevin McDowell:Let me get ahead of my ass right now. Let's get this going. And yeah, like started going and then we caught Matt and unfortunately at that point, I like He made the pass and I sat by Matt, met there's a little bit of gaps. I went around and I slotted in and I got a penalty.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. A bummer. I saw that all happen. I saw the referee because I was riding like 20 meters behind you guys and I saw the slot in and I was like, I think he's fine, but then I saw the referee come up and I was hoping he was just communicating that you were It was okay.
Kevin McDowell:Because I was even asking. I'm like Yeah. Am I good? This looks good. And it was.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. Like there was another rep, so she went off on me and then it's like, you can't argue that. And I'm like, whatever. And there's two ways you can go. And I'm like, well, let's just go hard until the pretend.
Kevin McDowell:Sure. Try and reset and I did. But I kinda was like, man is that the point because the group was there. I started to have legs at that point. Was excited to be in amongst it.
Kevin McDowell:Colin had come by. Was like, let's get on with him like how I did in Saint George. And I had momentum going and then you just lose it all in that tent. I was like, have two options here. And I was like, well there's so many people here supporting him.
Kevin McDowell:Let's just see what can happen and it was freaking madness out there within the like just going through people and Totally. Chris Lieberman came by. He's like, let's go. We can do something and that lifted me
Justin Metzler:a bit and Yeah. Yeah. And then on the run, I mean, we came off the bike together and you were able to bridge the two minutes in the final 45 k that you lost in the penalty tent. And then yeah. From there, you were able to yeah.
Justin Metzler:Catch the the group at the end and then we got a special guest Yeah. That Yeah. You're gonna have more future triathlete. Yeah. 60 grams of carbs.
Kevin McDowell:Good to go. Fueled well. The four
Justin Metzler:year old is gonna be buzzed up this evening.
Kevin McDowell:It is candy. That is one of my favorite things. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:Have one
Kevin McDowell:of those before the race.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. So I was saying you bridged the gap in the final 45 k, you were able to get off the bike with the main group and then on the run, it seemed like you just had great legs and stormed right away. I mean, you
Kevin McDowell:were flying right away. Yeah. I'm still learning about that coming from the short course racing. Sure. You take it out fast and I got excited.
Kevin McDowell:I think I just like I'm learning more. It's a long day a lot can still happen and like sometimes I can be an emotional racer and like there's pros and cons to that but I need to learn more how to contain that and I got stoked when I came into transition because I still thought I was about ninety seconds behind you guys or I had no idea where I was.
Justin Metzler:Yeah.
Kevin McDowell:And so I saw my parents and I'm like, think I'm still in, I can run, I I feel good energy and they're like, you're in it. And I get in transition and you all were there and I was like, oh my gosh, I am in it. Yeah. And then I'm running, I'm like, wait, that's the bike. I'm third.
Kevin McDowell:And then I I got excited and had to chill out a little bit and I paid for a little bit but yeah. I'm still learning a lot on that side of stuff and was able to Yeah. I knew Colin and at that point where unless I had a huge blow up they were gone. So I was kinda trying to run my race, enjoy things and talking to everyone that was out there, my friend friends and family and
Justin Metzler:so That's cool. It seems like throughout the day, you did a really good job of sort of just building momentum throughout each sport like picking up Obviously, there was a bit of a setback with the penalty but other than that, you know, you built momentum throughout the day. Talk to me a little bit about like sort of the acute sense of momentum building with getting on the podium or getting the fourth place in Saint George and what that does to your confidence and sort of like mindset heading into this race and whatever you end up doing next.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. I'll tell you. Saint George might This if Saint George hadn't gone well, this was my retirement race. And I'm like kinda I know people say that but like I was already looking at some other pathways of some possible stuff in the fall. I mean I'm actually gonna be guy I'm a guide now for Paralympics Yeah.
Kevin McDowell:So that was still gonna be a big focus on that but I was also looking at a different pathway of some other And like my training had been going so well, like almost like like so well and people have been like, oh, you're doing really well and all these things but I hadn't been able to put anything together. Oceanside was a disaster. The brim brake was rubbing a lot and that was a problem that like But you know, those things happen and you question still am I actual Was that How much did that affect me on the day? And so Saint George was just the relief of like, oh, here we go. He's energized now from that Those energy tubes.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. You're Here we go. You're up all night now.
Justin Metzler:These guys ate it. You know what?
Justin Metzler:Precision fuel and hydration. That's a good advertisement.
Justin Metzler:The kid loves it.
Justin Metzler:He was just running a four
Justin Metzler:minute mile here sprinting through the the transition. Yeah.
Kevin McDowell:So it was just like a nice solid race and there was a lot still that I could have picked apart as me as like being athlete like, this went wrong, this went wrong, this went wrong. But I was like, well, other these things went right and most importantly, I had fun. And that was like a success for me like, okay, let's just see. Let's just keep this momentum going and it gave me some belief that I needed.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I think as athletes who have been doing it a long time, I think we're a similar age. You have those peaks and valleys and they're inherently those moments where you're questioning like, okay, how many more legs do I have left? And you get these little snippets or these injections of, I still got gas left in the tank and I believe you have a lot of gas left in the tank. So definitely not a retirement race for you.
Justin Metzler:I have two questions here. First one is, how are you know, with some of these prize winnings, are you getting on an on a new bike? Are you still gonna be rocking the red rim brake track that's rubbing the disc, the the brake in the back? What what are we doing?
Kevin McDowell:No. I'll be getting a new bike.
Justin Metzler:Alright. Good.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. I've been like in the works of like figuring something out. And I actually like after Saint George, I talked with Mark Andrews and he was kinda like, let me set you up. But then things were a little off. I was hoping I'd have it by now.
Kevin McDowell:It's going be after this. So Well, I think you've done a
Justin Metzler:really good job solidifying your your bike frame coming in. So that's Yeah. That's definitely positive.
Kevin McDowell:So I'm excited about that to be able to like because I think there's a lot of room for improvement just simply on that side of stuff just from like even just I mean, I know power is relative to everything but it's like hearing some and then what I'm doing I'm like, okay, there's stuff. And I like I was just getting destroyed today on like the flat some of the the fast parts and like that's what St. George saved me with which I was a little nervous here is it wasn't as hilly. So I like that every time I'd come to a hill in St. George was like, oh yes.
Kevin McDowell:Or going up Snow Canyon, was like, thank goodness. I have some Yeah. Like this saves me.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I think just that other piece is just continuing to have fun with it too. You know what I Like how, you know, you've got the commitments with the guiding later in the season. How much are you putting into like, okay, now I'm really committed to this long course. I'm like all in eat, sleep, train long course versus like I'm still gonna keep this fun light balance and just sort of go into these races with open expectations?
Justin Metzler:I think it's the balance and I've
Kevin McDowell:learned that's worked really well for me. I'm definitely someone where even when I'd go on training camps back in the day, I'd struggle at times where it's like all in like and I'm just learning that I am someone who like there are some people they need to be all in and there's phases yeah where it gets close to a race where I do then learn like not do as much but I'm just like doing more things on my terms to some degree. I think that's I want. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:You gotta retain that.
Kevin McDowell:I mean, I like learned to ski this year. Was like, I wanna do that. So I'm gonna do that. And like I would have never done that before. Just even like other just little activities or things or visiting friends at different times.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. The happy is fast is getting a lot of rhetoric right now.
Kevin McDowell:It sounds cliche. Yeah. It's like the most cliche thing, but it is true.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. 100%. Happy and healthy. If you're those two things and you're gonna be doing big things, especially with the talent that you have like, you know, you're you're a strong guy, you've been doing triathlon for a long time, you got a lot of miles under your belt. So I think sky's the limit for however high you want to take it in the long course world, you just got to keep at it, you know.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. We'll see. So I'm enjoying it right now. We'll keep at it and so now the next bit is learning I'm getting fit on the tandem tomorrow figuring out the tandem side of stuff. So Perfect.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. So in addition to the the guiding, what's on your personal 70.3 or longer race schedule for the rest of the year or shorter?
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. No. I'm done with shorter.
Justin Metzler:Okay. Shorter's
Kevin McDowell:done? Especially Well, once I especially take the guiding roles, you retire You give up your ability to race Olympic stuff but I'm done with that. I know people have been like, oh, like what about maybe trying for LA Olympics? And I'm like, it's home. I'm like, I've been there, I've done that.
Kevin McDowell:Like, it's just it was too much and I wanna have some fun in different ways guiding one is I'm excited about too. From the personal side of stuff, I I mean I qualify for 70 with three worlds. That's definitely something and I think the course really suits me with the hills and all that side of stuff and I'll hope to be more dialed and I'd love to get a t 100 wild card at some point Yes. But I and but I also am making sure I'm on the equipment ready for it. Because like I think I have the ability to be there but I also like those guys are dialed and you got to respect that.
Kevin McDowell:Like I'm even learning that today. It's like it's like I hate to say it. It's there's like the equipment side is part of the game and 100%. Learning for me like what is worth the time to put in and what do you not need to put the effort into.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Absolutely. Well, keep on climbing. Do you have anything else you want to talk about from today or any shout outs for for
Kevin McDowell:appreciate everyone out there. I had a blast like with everyone. It's funny. One person was like, dude my like, it's like talking and different things to some people and it was a way to distract me and have some fun and like just cheer on people. There's like, even people like the group I swim with, the Julie Divens group.
Kevin McDowell:There's like a lot of just different level of peoples there and the age group is racing and you see some of them. There's one section of it. There were like three of us out there plus some others on the crowd cheering us and that was special. I was like, this is really cool. Like we're out there.
Kevin McDowell:So I don't know. I think there's a lot to be said about that.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I think this is a a unique race in that sense of like even if you're struggling or grinding it out or looking thinking you're not looking very good, there's someone every 10 feet that you gotta kinda turn it up for. Yeah. You gotta be like, I gotta turn it up right now and keep pushing. I That accountability is huge.
Kevin McDowell:I will say doing an Ironman does sound daunting because every time I've done one of these, I'm like, could I do this for two more like twice as long? I know you wouldn't be going quite as fast but I still think it seems to be pretty fast. Yeah. And it's still like that and I'm like, I don't know because at mile 10 I looked at the guy who was biking next to me, I'm like, half marathon's a long ways.
Justin Metzler:Sure is. Sure is. Dude, a marathon's a very long way.
Kevin McDowell:Know. That's an auto I'd be more daunted by the swim like these swims feel so long Yeah. And doing it twice, I don't know. It's like in there I I just get bored. You'll have to
Justin Metzler:do it. You'll have to do one.
Kevin McDowell:I'll do at some point maybe Kona next year. That's kind of I wanna do Kona at some point so.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Cool. Well, thanks so much for coming out early and coming on the podcast. Kevin McDowell.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. Yeah. Thanks guys. Appo. Where is he at?
Kevin McDowell:I saw him there.
Justin Metzler:Does anyone have a question for for Kevin before we move on to Sam? Colin does.
Justin Metzler:What's your next race? Next race.
Kevin McDowell:Montreal with Owen Gravens guiding for Next Ironman race. Next 70.3 race. TBD, maybe maybe in Europe, August. Is that how you
Justin Metzler:say it? Nice. Is awesome. That's a
Kevin McDowell:great race.
Justin Metzler:It's amazing race.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. Either that or a t 100 if I can get a wild card. So, is that you'll be there? Yeah. Alright.
Kevin McDowell:It looks beautiful. So How
Justin Metzler:did it feel the moment you realized you qualified for the Olympics?
Kevin McDowell:It was like this wave of every emotion you can think of from like relief like overjoyed like, oh my gosh, I can't believe this happened. I mean, I cried on the spot. Just the like I Everything you can think of because I mean it for me it was when I was 10, I was like, I want to go to the Olympics. And I remember watching the races and I was like, that's where I want to do. And at that point, I learned about triathlon and I'm like, that's what I want to do and I always I don't know.
Kevin McDowell:When you're 12, I was telling people I'm like, I want to be there one day. So then for it to happen, it was pretty surreal.
Justin Metzler:Amazing answer.
Justin Metzler:Alright. Round of applause for Kevin.
Justin Metzler:Thanks, guys. Woo hoo. Thanks, Ryan. Sam. Finally got it done.
Kevin McDowell:Got it done. Yep. I've been I've lived in Boulder ten years. I think I've done this race four, maybe five times. A couple of podiums.
Kevin McDowell:So yeah, finally that top step after ten years, it feels good.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Was that the plan for today? Were you going in being like this is winter or go home type vibes or what was the plan?
Kevin McDowell:I mean, not really. Like I feel like races I mean, races were always really hard to win but I feel like especially these last few years, it's You know, the level's so insane. You need so much to go your way to win a race. So I try like, you can't control what other people do. You can only control what I can do.
Kevin McDowell:So, you know, I thought if I put together a good race and had some luck go my way, then I could be in a fighting chance. And yeah, fortunately, had good legs and had a good race. So but yeah, it's like I don't know. I never like to go into a race thinking, you know, giving a a position because I just feel like there's so much outside of your control that can dictate what position you're in. So I always just go in with, know, race my best race, do myself proud and you know, whatever whether whatever the result is is what it is.
Kevin McDowell:And yeah, today it was the win which is nice.
Justin Metzler:Amazing. What was your last victory?
Kevin McDowell:It's been a while actually. I was thinking it's gotta be Oh, I did win Ironman Australia last year.
Justin Metzler:Okay.
Kevin McDowell:Yes. But before then, it might have been, know, I feel like, yeah.
Justin Metzler:The last 70.3 maybe.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Last 70.3 was maybe three or four years ago, think. And, know, there was a period in my career where I, you know, managed to win a couple each year and, know, as the years have progressed and the sports progressed, now it's like I said, it's just so hard to win these races.
Kevin McDowell:So yeah, you gotta make them count and yeah, you gotta relish in it.
Justin Metzler:Did the elation of winning still feel the same as it did maybe five, ten years ago when you, you know, win your first race in America or win your first 70.3?
Kevin McDowell:I mean, like it always feels good but I think, you know, ten years ago when I was winning races, I was a younger kid, a little bit more attitude and you know, a little bit of a chip on my shoulder. Now, I'm just, you know, I'm a, you know, 35 year old man that's just trying to get it done and I think I'm a little bit more, you know, not don't race quite as angry and don't really have that chip on my shoulder. I'm just kinda grateful to be out there. So, you know, it still feels good, but I don't think, you know, perhaps the the celebration isn't as quite as triumphant as it was when I was maybe first winning my races ten years ago.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Talk to us a little bit because I've been thinking about this myself. I think it's probably my like sixtieth 70.3 or something crazy like going through the motions of race morning. Do do you still get the same anxieties, the same stresses like especially racing at home, sleeping in your own bed, still taking care of Toby and stuff like having it all be so normal like what do you do to sort of flip that switch and get into race mode?
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. I'm generally like a pretty anxious person like before races. I tend to, you know, I like to kind of be alone and just, you know, in the day or two leading in, just be in my own space, you know, get get my gear ready and just focus on the race. But to be honest, I think this race having it at home, know, being sleeping in my own bed, having Toby and Sarah, my wife, you know, it kind of felt like a little bit more relaxing I think because it just felt like any other day really. Like I was just going out to the Boulder Reservoir to to do it.
Kevin McDowell:Not a training session but you know, like it's familiar roads. It doesn't, you know Yeah. It just felt a little bit more relaxing I think.
Justin Metzler:Yep. Talk us through the day specifically and how it all sort of played out and yeah. That's you you mentioned you needed a little bit of luck and obviously, you needed a lot of power and a lot of good legs. So talk us through both of those components through throughout each swim bike run.
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. I think everybody that, you know, races knows that there's an element of luck to every good performance. You know, you have to have mechanical luck and you have to feel good. You have to have some competitors, you know, maybe not have the best day. But yeah.
Kevin McDowell:I mean, I think yeah. We started out on the swim and there was quite a big group of us. And I thought the swim was quite like it felt fast to me. Like it didn't feel like a slow swim. So I was kinda surprised that there was I think what was it?
Kevin McDowell:10 of us or so?
Justin Metzler:Thought commented nine out of 10 RPE.
Kevin McDowell:Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I like, it wasn't an easy swim at all, especially coming back in.
Kevin McDowell:I felt like that that second half was quite a bit harder than the first half for me. And but yeah. Onto the bike, I mean, I didn't necessarily go out with the intention of, you know, going off the front. I just kind of, you know, I think Kevin was first out onto the diagonal highway and then Matt Sharpe and then myself and I was like, oh, you know, I, you know, took on my nutrition, hydration, got my feet clipped in. I was like, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good.
Kevin McDowell:I'll go to the front and pull a turn and and then, yeah, I just I guess I put my head down a bit and I saw some good numbers and just kept rolling. And then I think I looked back around kinda halfway along in 36 and I noticed that I was by myself and I was like, well, guess I'm committed now. So I just kind of kept going and yeah, to be honest, I think that's when I race my best, when I'm not put under pressure by other people, when I'm dictating the pace, you know, I can I can ride my own rhythm, ride the hills the way I want them, ride the downhills the way I want them? And yeah, I just I felt good. I didn't really know the time gap until the after the first lap.
Kevin McDowell:I think I had two minutes. And I was like, okay. If I hold the same, you know, maybe I could make it four minutes by the end of the bike. And then yeah. Onto the run, I think I knew Colin was coming in pretty hot and he's obviously in some great form.
Kevin McDowell:He had a great race at Saint George and I just kind of set out at a manageable pace. I think I've made the mistake a few times. I raced Chattanooga a few weeks ago and went out with Jason West for the first like three k and we were running like three tens. Bold move. Yeah.
Kevin McDowell:Bold move. And then which might have cost me a podium in the end there. But yeah, I just kinda wanted to settle into the run. But man, this run's just hard. It's slow.
Kevin McDowell:It's I felt quite good. And then I was running like five forty miles and I was like, man, that's not that fast for you know, I feel pretty good. And then Colin was pulling a bit of time out of me and I was like, you know, he's running quite well. But then on to the second lap, I actually felt better and I think I negative split the run. I actually was running faster the second lap than the first lap.
Kevin McDowell:You know, maybe that's the Ironman. You know, I've done a few Ironmans now over the last couple of years, so maybe there's a bit of resilience in there. So yeah. And I think this this race kind of suits us. It it's a strong man's run.
Kevin McDowell:It's not necessarily fast. It's all off road. It's hilly. It's hot. It's kind of a strength based run, which I think suits me.
Kevin McDowell:And yeah. Kinda after the first lap on the run, I just knew I just needed to keep it the same and, you know, I didn't need to do anything crazy. I just needed to tick it off and yeah. I mean, I got to the top of Monarch and I think I had seventy seconds to Colin and I was like, man, it's about four k to go. He's gotta he's gotta pull out about fifteen seconds a kilometer to to beat me here.
Kevin McDowell:So yeah.
Justin Metzler:In your mind, are you thinking like, oh, know, if I'm running three thirty fives, three twenties is doable?
Colin Szuch:Yeah. Do that. Yep. Absolutely.
Justin Metzler:I think We all do
Kevin McDowell:that math
Justin Metzler:where you try you try to convince yourself to stay on the gas a bit, you know?
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. And but to be honest, when I I kind of run better when I'm not put under pressure, I think. So if I can convince myself that I'm not under pressure, I actually seem to relax a little bit more and actually run better. So that's kind of my whole mantra in that run just like, oh no, you know, it's a you know, I'm fine. I'm fine.
Kevin McDowell:I've got a, you know, I can pick it up if I need to kind of thing but in the moment, you probably can't.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Yeah. A 100%. Well, that's that's awesome. What is the rest of the year looking like for you?
Kevin McDowell:So I think I'm gonna do Boise 70.3 next month, July 26. And then I'm gonna start doing a bit more Ironman training and I'm gonna do a couple Ironmans to close out the year, think. I might do Ironman Chattanooga in September. And then I wanna go back to Australia and race Ironman Western Australia, which is in December. That's now the Asia Pacific Championship, so it's a pretty big race.
Kevin McDowell:And I love racing in Australia. It's it's great. So, yeah, that's probably the plan. And I've held back from Ironman for this first half of the year because it just I mean, some people can do it, but it just breaks me down and it I feel like I lose that 70.3 speed as well. So this first half of the year has kinda been set more 70.3 focused and now kind of switch towards more of an Ironman focus probably after Boise next month.
Justin Metzler:Sure. So now you've got a fourth in Chattanooga with no swim, which would have had you probably a bit higher, a first here. How much does that sort of give you confidence for the remainder of this season and maybe future years to come? Because I feel like sometimes I see you, you're like, oh, man. It's dog days out here.
Justin Metzler:I'm feeling tired. I don't know how many more weeks I wanna do with this crap, you know. But then you obviously turn up, you're still in great form, you still got you still got the juice. So like what what does winning a race do to that mindset?
Kevin McDowell:Yeah. For sure. I mean, think everyone goes through it, you when it's you you feel like you're Sisyphus rolling the the boulder up the hill for it to roll all the way back down and yeah. I mean, I had a bit of a rough couple of months, you know, earlier this year where I got sick and just got a bit of an injury and just training wasn't clicking. And I think it's easy to get into that, you know, I wanna just retire and get a day job.
Kevin McDowell:You know, I'm 35 so I'm not, you know, I'm not necessarily a spring chicken anymore. But yeah, I mean, a win like this does give me confidence and I I know I've got so many years of racing and training in me that my body kinda knows what to do even when I haven't had the perfect training prep. But yeah, I mean, this year for me is kind of I wanted to maybe not do as many high pressure races because I think that takes a lot out of me. It takes a lot out of my family as well, and it's a big stressor. And I kinda wanted to try and remove as much of that stress as possible and focus more on, you know, racing and trying to have fun again and doing races that I think I can do well at rather than chasing, you know, world championships and things like that, which, you know, not only a financial sync, but also, you know, like I said, the sports getting so hard and so fast that it's it's hard to kind of at the end of the day, we're running a business, you know.
Kevin McDowell:We have to make a return on our investment and I've got a little boy to provide for as well. So I need to, you know, I need to make sure that I'm training and you know, earning a bit of money as well to justify it to myself.
Justin Metzler:Totally. Well, exceptional work today. I commented on your Instagram. This must have been sixteen weeks ago or something saying top tube Appos built different. This guy
Justin Metzler:You put a top tube on this guy, he's
Justin Metzler:gonna be flying and sure are.
Kevin McDowell:Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You did too. Yeah.
Kevin McDowell:That new giant. Yeah. Yeah. It's awesome. Here
Justin Metzler:he is. So anyways, that's all the questions I have. You have anything else you wanna talk about from sponsors or today or anything to wrap us up?
Kevin McDowell:No. I just think, yeah. Congrats to everyone racing and I always love racing with you guys. It's fun to be out there and and mix it up. So yeah, good job to everyone and thanks for supporting.
Justin Metzler:Awesome. Well, anyone have a
Justin Metzler:question for Sam? Free precision fuel and hydration on offer for any questions for Sam Appleton.
Justin Metzler:That's it. No
Kevin McDowell:questions. No one wants it. No. That's it.
Justin Metzler:Oh, cool. Thanks so much, Sam.
Kevin McDowell:Thanks, man.
Justin Metzler:I appreciate it. Beers on me. Okay. Alright.
