Trevor Foley: Breakthrough Ironman Triathlete - Hard Work and #NoTalent
Welcome to the Endurance Matters podcast. I'm your host, Justin Metzler. You might know me as Big Mets in the, endurance community. Alright. Today's guest is Trevor Foley.
Justin Metzler:He's a good friend of mine, training partner, and insane triathlete. The man bursted on the scene and really has taken everybody, by storm and put all the other pro athletes on the Ironman circuit on watch. We recorded this conversation back in May, and since then, he's gone on to come 3rd at 70.3 Chattanooga. He smashed 70.3 Boulder by a long margin, went on to win his first Ironman at Ironman Lake Placid, and then 6 days later, win 70.3 Main. So the man's really on a tear, and I think if you followed his social media or followed his YouTube, yeah.
Justin Metzler:He's she puts on definitely a confident figure there, and I I tried my best in this episode to kind of pull back the curtains a little bit, get to know a side of Trevor that maybe not everyone does, and one that I, maybe get to see a little bit more on the day to day basis. So it was a really insightful conversation and one that I enjoyed very much. So I enjoyed this conversation with Trevor Foley. Trevor, welcome to the, the Endurance Matters podcast. Thanks for coming on.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. Thanks for having me.
Justin Metzler:Honored to be the, the first guest. The inaugural inaugural guest. I'm really excited to do this podcast, and I couldn't think of a better first guest to have. I got my buddy here, T Foley. Yeah, somewhat of a of a new friend, but a new face on the, on the triathlon scene.
Justin Metzler:And, yeah, it's just it's good to, I've been really inspired by kinda your journey in triathlon. Yeah. You're you're motivating me to be become better athlete. So, wanted to have you on the podcast. And, yeah, a little background on Trevor Quickley.
Justin Metzler:Trevor, 24 years old?
Trevor Foley:Yep. Yeah. 24.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Previously a, collegiate NCAA runner at the University of Florida, 5 k PR of 1403 and 10 k PR of 3046.
Trevor Foley:Yes, sir.
Justin Metzler:Is that correct? I mean, that's smoking times. That's moving, man.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. And the 1500 of 344. That's probably, like, my best one.
Justin Metzler:It's not bad running, man. That's not bad. It's alright. And you turned it over to triathlon running as well, becoming a 2 times 70.3 champion and now 9 times 70.3 podium finisher.
Trevor Foley:Yes, sir.
Justin Metzler:I had to edit that this week because he went from 8 to 9, after becoming, getting 3rd place at 70.3 Chattanooga a couple days ago, and also the, owner of, and founder of T Foley Racing.
Trevor Foley:Yes, sir.
Justin Metzler:So you're you're coaching as well.
Trevor Foley:So Yeah.
Justin Metzler:Coaching, racing, the whole 9 yards. Awesome, man. Well, look. I wanna start the podcast loose. I wanna start it fun.
Justin Metzler:I've got an icebreaker question here to begin things off with, and I'm just gonna go for it.
Trevor Foley:It. Go for it.
Justin Metzler:If you had to delete all but 3 apps from your smartphone, which 3 apps would they be? You have to keep 3. You can only keep 3.
Trevor Foley:I only can keep 3. Yeah. Well so you need Garmin Connect to use Strava, or can I, like, just say Strava?
Justin Metzler:You can only have 3. Okay. Strava, because then no one I don't, you
Trevor Foley:know, I don't need to own my own stuff. I'm gonna stalk everyone else. So Strava, YouTube, Instagram. So basically, 3 stocking platforms to stalk my competition.
Justin Metzler:Perfect. So he's gonna, only exclusively communicate with his fiance via Strava DMs. Yeah. No Imessage. No Whatsapp.
Justin Metzler:Instagram too. Instagram DMs. Perfect. What do you think my 3 are? Your 3,
Trevor Foley:Strava.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. 100%. 100%. I feel like you'd be YouTube as well. It's up there.
Justin Metzler:And then probably WhatsApp.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. I don't use WhatsApp.
Justin Metzler:I hate using WhatsApp. I just, like, use messages. But, I have to use WhatsApp because, like, a
Trevor Foley:lot of people in Europe use it.
Justin Metzler:That's the international thing. I mean, my wife is international, you know, South African, so I need that WhatsApp to to, you know, stay in touch. And, so you you hit it right on the head. Strava for sure. Strava's number 1.
Justin Metzler:Absolutely. Can't miss Strava. Nope. I mean, it's just the way to go. If you're an endurance guy, you gotta be honest too.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. And then mine would be Twitter. I'm actually probably Twitter over YouTube.
Trevor Foley:Really? Yeah. I had a Twitter. This is actually a really funny, embarrassing story, but, I made a Twitter in, like, 8th grade, 7th grade, and
Justin Metzler:I was so cocky.
Trevor Foley:A little middle schooler just, like, running really I was at the fast kid in school, so I was, like, thought I was, like, hot crap. And, so I made a Twitter, and I titled it Kane_ Foley. And it's my Twitter name is still Kane Foley. Yeah. Kane Foley.
Trevor Foley:Oh my
Justin Metzler:god. It's this guy.
Trevor Foley:The reason I did that, though, is because, you know, Ed Chez, who ran Oregon? Yeah. He was Kane Chez.
Justin Metzler:So I was like, oh,
Trevor Foley:I'm the next King Chez. I'm King Foley. Man. And then I was stuck with it. And I don't really use Twitter anymore.
Trevor Foley:I use it, like, sometimes to keep up
Justin Metzler:with, like, news and stuff.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. But, yeah, I'm King Foley on Twitter.
Justin Metzler:Oh my gosh. I have to follow King Foley. Yeah. Yeah. That's where I get all my news.
Justin Metzler:So I gotta I gotta stay on there. But,
Trevor Foley:Oh, TikTok would actually be in my Uh-huh. Yeah. TikTok would be up there.
Justin Metzler:I'm a big tick like, I don't post
Trevor Foley:on TikTok, but I use TikTok quite a bit.
Justin Metzler:I'm glad you said that because Gina was like, oh, you gotta keep TikTok. Like, you're totally your TikTok guy because it I mean, it's just like it's you can there's everything on there.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. Well, also too, like, Sofa makes fun of me, my fiance, for using TikTok. But, like, I really use it as, like, a new source as well. Like Yeah. The just like like when the submarine thing sunk and, like, all that kind of stuff.
Trevor Foley:Like, it's, you swipe through, and I know what's going on in the world.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I just like to go on there and just, like, check out for a minute and just, like, laugh and just watch funny videos.
Trevor Foley:So I can burn some serious
Justin Metzler:time on it. Totally. Yeah. We were so focused in training. Sometimes you just need that, like, 15 minute, like, relief.
Justin Metzler:I'm just gonna sit here and just watch some, like, cat videos or dog videos for a minute. You know?
Trevor Foley:Well, and speaking of that too, like, I I actually have 2 YouTube channels. Like, I have, like, my Trevor Foley Triathlon YouTube, which I post all my YouTube videos on. But that's, like, my triathlon algorithm. So, like, I see Lionel Sanders' videos, Sam Long videos, but then I have, like, a Trevor Foley just, like, I've had it since I've been, like, in 6th grade, and it's, like, Fortnite, Xbox, all this kind of this, like, dumb like, Mr. Beast, like, all these kind of videos.
Trevor Foley:But, like, that's when I'll, like, watch at night. So I'll just, like, check out of YouTube and then watch, like, some Fortnite or Mr. Beast. And, like, when I'm watching, when I'm eating dinner, that's what I'll watch. So I don't wanna mess up my algorithms.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Well, you're you're definitely showing off your age there a little bit. I feel like our our 6 year age gap sometimes, like, that's funny. Yeah. We'll get into it later, but, you know, we both train with people of all different ages in the sport.
Justin Metzler:That's one of the beautiful things about endurance sports and triathlon. Like, I feel like there's no age limit. You can be great at it when you're 20 4. You can be great at it when you're 44. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:I mean, we saw Matt Hanson. You know, he's almost
Trevor Foley:40 winning. Yeah. Matt Hanson won Yep. Chattanooga. Michael Weiss was top 5.
Trevor Foley:He was, like, 42 plus. Yep. Yeah. I mean, anyone.
Justin Metzler:You can still keep keep getting after it, but definitely definitely wanna get into a little bit more about your your background right off off the bat here. Mhmm. So tell me a little bit about kind of, your journey in endurance endurance sports growing up. You know, we already spoke a little bit about your n c, double a running, but I guess catch me up, a little bit on how you got into endurance sports, how you got into running, and kinda how you made it to the NCAA level, in running?
Trevor Foley:Yeah. I, so I grew up pretty small town, outside of, like, Tampa, Florida. Instantly grew up just playing soccer, from the age of, like, 4 to 12, just, like, traveling all over the state of Florida, playing competitive soccer. Parents probably spent so much money on that. Like, we were traveling everywhere, every weekend to do these tournaments.
Trevor Foley:And as I started getting older, I realized, like, you know, when you do, like, club sports, like, some kid's dad can be the coach sometimes and, like, that kid's, like, probably trash sometimes. And, the kid's playing. Like, the coach's kid is playing all the time. It's like, I'm on the bench or, like, not playing as much. And that, like, really rubbed me the wrong way.
Trevor Foley:And so, like, one, it was fit in 5th grade. We did a 5 k. This was like a fundraiser for, like, autism awareness, and, I ran 20 44, at 5th grade. I don't know how old that 10 years old. Won my age group, obviously, any 10, 11 year old's gonna love something that they win.
Trevor Foley:So I kinda, like, sparked the fire for that and then, went to, like, 6th grade and middle school and that's when tracks offered, like, at the county level or the school level and ended up, like, hiring just like a local run coach and, ended up running, like, 507 my 6th grade year, which was, like, one of the fastest times in the country that year for a 6th grader. And, I kinda, like, really fell in love with it, and I love the simplicity of, like, you know, like, who's good and who's bad. And like I said, I was pretty burnt out from, like, that team sport mindset of, is super subjective. Right? Like, if you wanna go to college, be a professional, some people might think you're trash and some people might think you're really good.
Trevor Foley:But in swimming or running, it's very, you know, it's very easy to tell who's good. So I stuck with with running at a very competitive level, starting at the age of 12 and 6th grade and, worked with this coach. His name was Drew for 3 years and became, like, addicted to running in middle school and ended up going to high school. I went to, like, 3 different high schools. I went to 3 different in person high schools, 1 each year of high school, and then I did homeschool homeschool my senior year.
Trevor Foley:Just always dealing with, like, high school coaches. Like, you know, it's not their own fault, but sometimes it's just like the math teacher who's like the high school coach. And at that point, Drew had moved away, so I had to start coaching myself. And I'm sure we'll get it out later, but I was I've been coaching myself since I've been 14 years old. And so we were always just trying to go to different schools where I could basically just coach myself and stuff.
Trevor Foley:And that's how I started running, ended up winning 5 state titles in high school and, yeah, ended up getting a scholarship to run at the University of Florida. That's, like, very early days of running.
Justin Metzler:Yep. Yeah. No. That's that's really cool, man. Like, it's I'm I'm interested in hearing it's it's cool for me to hear that.
Justin Metzler:Like and that's part of the reason why I wanted to do this podcast was, like, you know, Trevor and I buddies, and, you know, we we ride and we tell stories or whatever. But I didn't you know, I don't have the opportunity to necessarily ask you that question before. So it's, yeah, it's it's opening my mind up to some, potentially, some more questions about the self coaching because, like, you feel you feel kinda comfortable in that. I guess that's, like, a decent segue. Like, yeah, I wanna I wanna circle back ultimately to the n c, double a, but I I guess we can jump a little bit to that self coaching while we're on it.
Justin Metzler:You know, you've transitioned from n c, double a, to triathlon. And I feel like in the time that I've known you, I've always been I've been a fan. Thanks. Just because I kinda see I see some of myself in you. I see that kinda you got that dog in you.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. For sure. That work ethic. I think you like to hurt yourself in training. I think that's such a a important quality in triathlon.
Justin Metzler:And I think as a fan of the sport, when I see someone who's just down to put their their head in, you know, into the ground and just work hard like that, Yeah. I I I like that a lot. I have also been observing your career Mhmm. And and wanting you to succeed. And, you know, you've had a couple coaches along the time.
Justin Metzler:Like, I feel like you always kind of revert back to that self coaching. What is it about the self coaching that you that you like?
Trevor Foley:Yeah. I so like I said, I started self coaching at 14 years old, and, it I I think when you do something on your own and it goes bad, then obviously you're gonna look for other avenues of success or guidance. And I guess a good problem in about around the problem was is I was doing really well by myself, so then you kinda get cocky or get, like, the self belief and it's like your own little science project. Like, I've had my own little science project of myself since I've been 14 and, you know, coached myself to I ran 14:30 for the 5 k at 18 years old and 4:10 in the mile. Like, I did all that from the age of 14, 18 all by myself, and massive student sport.
Trevor Foley:Like, always on Letron, always on YouTube videos, always listening to podcasts, just reading Jack Daniel's books, just all this stuff just but loving it. And then then I went to college for for 3 years. I ran track and I ran under Chris Lunsky, who's arguably one of the best American distance runners of all time. And so I learned a lot under him for 3 years, but, I think in in triathlon, it just kinda revert to self coaching because, 1, triathlon's really expensive. Triathlon coaches are really expensive, and I'm very money driven, money oriented, and having having to pay someone 100 of dollars, if not 1,000 of dollars a month after prize money percentages and all that to, like, I don't know if they're helping me that much, like, x amount of dollars per year.
Trevor Foley:So it's, like, in my head, I'm just, like, I don't I don't know if that's worth it. Like, a return on my investment if I have to pay someone $800 a month and I'm getting 1% better, you know, like and then also, I'm a very social person. I I love training with you. I love training with Lionel, Sam, and all these other great athletes and just I love doing group rides. I love just going to master swims.
Trevor Foley:It's I personally, I don't think it's rocket science. I think you need to work hard and you need to recover and you need to eat and you do all these things. But I have a coach telling me, hey. I want you to do 6 by 10 minutes today, but Justin's doing 6 by 9 minutes. Like, dude, it's the same thing, bro.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. Like, I'm just gonna go do what Justin does or do what Magnus Ditliff's doing. I'm gonna ride with him late. Like, I'm just gonna do what other people do. And also too, like, I when I was trying the coaching thing earlier this this year, I just kinda dread it sometimes because Yeah.
Trevor Foley:I'm a very, intuitive person, I think, is the right word. Like, if I don't feel like if I am tired and I don't feel like doing a bike workout, I'm just gonna ride easy. I am not a, like, man, if I rode on the schedule, I have to do it. I'm just gonna ride easy. And so it's like a coach sometimes, it's like, you know, you're kinda scared.
Trevor Foley:And then I'm dreading these workouts. And that was my biggest sin, I think, the last few months is nothing against the coaches I've ever worked with. I just have so much fun doing this. And then I look on the schedule and it's like, I have to do a workout. And then I'm like, yeah, then I'm not having fun.
Trevor Foley:And it's hard. For sure.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. It's not having a coach is it's an interesting one. Right? Like, I think sometimes you get people who are just like a free bird or a free spirit, and you just kinda need that outlet. And I think about that that all the time.
Justin Metzler:I think endurance sports for me, I've always looked at it as kind of a creative experience and kind of, like, my outlet and my art. And I think sometimes when you pigeonhole an athlete, you you can't let them fly. And I think for someone like you, I I see it, and I think it it's working. Right? Like, I think if you're not getting the results, then you maybe have to sit there and say, okay.
Justin Metzler:What do I need to do? Yep. Maybe I need to hire a coach. Maybe I need to hire an adviser, and you kinda bump up against that in the sense of sometimes you get a result, but you think you can do more.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. And sometimes, like, I I've had a 1st class, ticket to watching, like, one of the best athletes in the world, Lionel Sanders. Yeah. And he's been self coached for 10 years, and he had you know, he's the winningest 70 point 3 athlete of all time, 2nd world champs twice, like, amazing athlete, probably the biggest brand in our sport. But now he's 36, and now he's gotten a coach.
Trevor Foley:So, like, maybe one day, like, I'll wake up, and I'm like, alright. I need structure. I need a coach. And he did that. He did that last year.
Trevor Foley:He woke up. He's alright. I need a coach. Yeah. But it worked for him for a long time.
Trevor Foley:So maybe I'll get there eventually, but I'm not there right now.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I'm enjoying it because me and Trevor are training together quite a lot. So it's great. Yeah. And I think I think we're good training partners in the sense of, you know, we may balance each other out a bit.
Justin Metzler:Like, yeah, I can help you in the swim. I feel like biking, we can do quite a bit together, and then you probably had the edge on me on the run. So, you know, once you get your full health, I'm looking forward to doing some Yep. Sessions together. And I'm self coaching right now as well, so it allows us to be super flexible and Yeah.
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Justin Metzler:That's endurance for 15% off all first time purchases. For anywhere else in the world, head to pillar performance dot shop and enter endurance for 15% off all first time purchases. I do wanna ask more about the Lionel situation. Yeah. I'm I'm curious to learn more about that.
Justin Metzler:I think I've also had the fortune of having a mentor or mentors throughout my time, in triathlon. I mean, I've been a pro for 11 years. This is my 11th pro season. And Wow. I had a really long stretch there where I was coached by Julie Dibbons Yep.
Justin Metzler:Who you know, who helped you for a little bit. And Tim O'Donnell was coached by, Julie Dibbons for a decent amount of that stretch, and he had the majority of his best results second in Kona, under her. And so I spent hours and hours and hours with Tim, similar to what I believe you went through with Lionel. Yeah. So I'm curious to hear a little bit about, like, what what were your main takeaways from training with Lionel?
Justin Metzler:Because a lot of the things that I picked up from Tim weren't necessarily, oh, this is how hard he goes or this is how easy that he goes. It was more about his approach Yeah. Maybe psychologically or maybe some of the things he did in recovery or maybe some of the things that he did with his family or the way he set up his business. Like, I'm curious to hear what were your, like, three main takeaways from being with Lionel.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. I think I was actually just talking about this is so fun the way here. I think, honestly, one of my biggest takeaways, probably the biggest takeaway I got from Lionel is, like, self branding. And, like, I learned a lot training wise, but I think the first one would be the importance of social media and how you make yourself valuable as sponsors. Like, he does it better than anybody.
Trevor Foley:Right? So learning the importance of like, he talked to me a lot. Like, he knows a lot about like, the YouTube algorithm and what works and what doesn't work and, just how to provide value to sponsors. So I learned a lot of that. And then I you know, Lionel's a very funny guy and a fun guy to hang out with.
Trevor Foley:And but when he's in training, I guess the second thing, he's very intense and very focused. Like, sometimes my friend Ben, he would train with us as well. And me and Ben are, like, joking around on the pool, like, between sets, and Lionel is just locked in. And I'm just, like, oh my lord. Yeah.
Trevor Foley:And, so he he brings an intensity, which is great. Like, Lionel one of the like, I remember we did it was one of the first workouts we ever did. We were doing, like, a 2 by 5 mile tempo or something. And, you know, I'm, like, a weekend running with Lionel, my idol, my, you know, my superhero, and I'm, like, talking to him on the on the tempo.
Justin Metzler:Like, I run-in 3 20 k, 5 20 mile, and I'm just chatting enough. I'm like, how
Trevor Foley:are you feeling? Like, how how are you doing? And, he like, he's kinda talking a little bit back and forth, and he tells me after,
Justin Metzler:he's like, why are you flexing on me? I'm like, what? He's like, you're talking before running.
Trevor Foley:I'm he's like, you're you're flexing on me. You're trying to show how easy this is. I'm like, no, dude. I promise not at all.
Justin Metzler:Like, he's the kind of guy, like, he doesn't talk during the warm up. Like Yeah.
Trevor Foley:When we show over to the trail, it is locked in for 90 minutes. Afterwards, it's all good. Sure. But I think that's an important thing of, like but he unplugged great. That's an important thing I learned as well of just, like, when I go to practice, I wanna be locked in.
Trevor Foley:I wanna be focused on my it's a job. I wanna focus on my job and execute it to the best of my ability. And I think 3rd, I don't I don't really know. Like, I learned so much, but, I can't really say a 3rd. I mean, he's he he really is smart.
Trevor Foley:Like, he helped me he coached me a little bit last year. He's he's a massive student of the sport. He uses all kinds of metrics, heart rate, lactate, RPE, and I guess that's maybe the 3rd. Like, he uses every sort of metric. Like, maybe he doesn't believe in the lactate that given month or whatever.
Trevor Foley:He still records it, and he he logs everything. And as I've really been trying to do that is because sometimes I'll just go a month and train,
Justin Metzler:and I I don't know what I've done because
Trevor Foley:I just train. But he logs everything, not see his logs from 10 years ago. So he just goes back, like, alright. How did I get second Kona? And he knows everything he's done.
Justin Metzler:So I
Trevor Foley:think that's really good.
Justin Metzler:Yep. I mean, the best predictor of, you know, upcoming or current performance is what you've done in the past, particularly for an athlete with with such success. And, yeah, that's that's really cool to hear, and it's good that you're doing that now. I think I have been very similar in that way. I think with all the coaches that I've had, I've always kept, like, pretty detailed notes and logs about what I've done.
Justin Metzler:I have Garmin I've I've also been a nerd. Yeah. About triathlon, and I think, like, we're similar in that way where we're focused on things like aerodynamics and power and, you know, race speed and this and that. I think I got my first Garmin in 2009. Wow.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Garmin running watch. And so, like
Trevor Foley:all the data.
Justin Metzler:I've got everything. Wow. And, yeah, I've, like, I've just been obsessed with Strava and stuff, so it's amazed. It's it's really fun now, in today's day and age to have all that data and to be able to kinda analyze it. I think it it is a weird world that we're we're in right now.
Justin Metzler:I've been thinking about this quite a lot. I was thinking about it on my run this morning where there's so much at your fingertips, whether it's lactate, heart rate, power. You know, you've got things like RP, but now you've got all these sensors on you. You've got core data. You've got sweat analysis going on in real time.
Justin Metzler:And maybe it's because I've been in the sport for 11 years, but I'm interested in hearing your perspective a little bit on just the element and the and the need to just simply sometimes shut that stuff off and work hard.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. I think we've talked about this a few times Yeah. On on my on on training. And I think I, like, I love Rocky movies. I was raised on Rocky movies, and I just I see myself as, like, such blue collar.
Trevor Foley:Like, I'm a live in a basement, outwork everybody. And like Rocky. Right? Like, in Rocky 4, when he's training and, like, they're Russian using all the science stuff, like, I wanna be Rocky of, like, just training by feel and hard work. And I don't know.
Trevor Foley:Maybe that's because I have, like, I've come to the bike very well, so I don't, like, stress about it a lot if that makes sense. Like, I what am I trying to say? I like, I do go a lot on on feel, but I think it's also, like, I'm really young. This is a new stimulus for me. This is only my I'm starting my 3rd season.
Trevor Foley:So it's, like, so fresh. Right? I'm in the honeymoon phase still. Like, I love like, I was a little burnt out
Justin Metzler:of running a little bit. So the bike and the swim, I'm like
Trevor Foley:I really like doing. But I, yeah, I just work a lot on how I feel. I I don't I don't use a lot of the lock to heart rate. I just like to train. I think it's like I said, I I love it, so I don't stress about it.
Trevor Foley:If that makes sense, it's kinda hard to put into words. But No.
Justin Metzler:No. It totally makes sense. I think it's it's cool to it's cool to have a record. I feel like it's always good because things are always changing. There's gonna be potentially a phase in your career where, you know, you're gonna wanna use something like a heart rate monitor or a lactate, you know, monitoring device or whatever.
Justin Metzler:But I think at the end of the day, hard work wins.
Trevor Foley:Yeah.
Justin Metzler:You know, that's a popular catchphrase in in our community, but but it's true. And I think one of your big catchphrases is your all hard work, no talent. Yeah. This is a big t foley hashtag here. And I gotta give you a little crap for it, man.
Justin Metzler:For sure. I gotta give you a little crap because here's from my perspective, I'm gonna give you my perspective on on Yeah. People hate when I say that. No hard work, no talent. Because I it took me 41, 70.3 starts to win 1 until I won 70.3 Oregon in 2022.
Trevor Foley:Yeah.
Justin Metzler:So 41, 70.3, which is pretty pretty gnarly. And if I remember correct, Lee, when you came into the sport in 2022, we raced for the first time at 70.3 Boulder, where I was second. Yep. And I think you were 8th.
Trevor Foley:Yes.
Justin Metzler:Or 6th.
Trevor Foley:Something. Yeah. I was somewhere in the money lowdown.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Like 6th or 8th. And I think that's when the t foley chatter started beginning. And people were like, oh, wow. Okay.
Justin Metzler:This kid can run. He's having a tough time with the swim, but he can bike his way up. So he's he's got something, this kid to look out for. Next thing you know, fast forward, we've got 70.3 Augusta Yeah. Where I raced you for the 2nd time, and Tee Foley beat me.
Justin Metzler:He was second. I was 3rd.
Trevor Foley:Mhmm.
Justin Metzler:I remember you catching me on the bike. I think we came into t 2 together, and then you and Jason West took off. Jason West won. You guys both ran, like, 109 something.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. Here in 107, I ran 108. That was the fastest, hardest run of my life.
Justin Metzler:And I ran, like, 111 high. Yeah. And I was 4 minutes back. Yeah. It was nuts.
Justin Metzler:It was nuts. Which is crazy. But, yeah, I was, like, okay. This is this kid's gonna be legit. And then probably 4 weeks later, we raced for the 3rd time at 70.3 Waco Yeah.
Justin Metzler:Where you got your first 70.3 win, and I was second. Mhmm. So from my perspective, I was like, okay. This kid's good at triathlon Yeah. Straight away.
Justin Metzler:So there's clearly some talent in there. What I I see you working hard, but, you know, we all work hard. We all train a bunch. What what was the genesis of the all hard work, no talent? And why does that keep certainly, you recognize there's a certain level of talent that you have.
Justin Metzler:Why do you keep going back to that?
Trevor Foley:Yeah. I think it just kinda, like, humbles me. And, like, I don't wanna like, yes. I understand. I have probably a lot of talent.
Trevor Foley:Like, I never biked before in my life. I did a 20 minute power test, and it was 370 watts. Like, that's probably that's pretty dumb. So but I I just like to stay humble and stay, like, down to earth. Right?
Trevor Foley:Because if you just think you're the most talented person in the world, which I have done in the past. I did in high school. I won my 1st state title as a sophomore, and then that whole junior season, I thought it was, like, the crap and got my crap kicked in in cross country because I just didn't really run because I thought I was just alpha. And so I think that's why it's like, I just wanna make sure I'm always working hard and I'm less, like, earning my keep, if that makes sense. And also, I think I I was obsessed with running for a long time.
Trevor Foley:Like, there was a point in college when I was 17, 18 years old till I was, like, 20 or that's, like, 900 days, 3 years, and I went less than 10 days of never missing a day of running. Like and it's probably why I was burnt out because I would run 2 a days every day. So that's also too when I say, like, no talent, like, around 114 2 days ago off of literally no running. Yeah. It's also it's probably some talent, but it's also years of 100 mile weeks, 2 a days every day.
Trevor Foley:Just like a lot that's the genesis, I guess, of what you're saying. Like, there's been a lot of work and a
Justin Metzler:lot of crying. Like, I like, I remember so many days in college where
Trevor Foley:I just did not because I ran twice a day, 6 days a week, every day. And that second run, I would just procrastinate
Justin Metzler:Totally. So, yeah, I think if that all makes sense, that's kinda why I go back to the Totally.
Trevor Foley:So, yeah, I think if that all makes sense. That's kinda why I go back to that.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. No. It totally makes sense. It's, yeah. I mean, look.
Justin Metzler:You're a talented guy, and I think in order to be a professional triathlete and get on 70.3 podiums and Ironman podiums, there's gotta be a certain level of talent. I can sit here and say it took 41, 70 point threes for me to get to win a 70.3, but I've got I've got a lot of talent in me as well. Right? And I think, in order to get to this level, you have to have a certain there's, like, a barrier to entry. Not everyone can be a professional triathlete.
Justin Metzler:Totally. It just doesn't happen overnight, and I think it's a combination of hard work and some level of talent. And we all have a, you know, a different combination of those two things. And I think
Trevor Foley:I think Yeah. I think talent and, like I've heard someone say this, like, some good science doctor, dude. Like, talent genetics, it kinda determines how good you get, like, how quick. Like, what's your startup? Right?
Trevor Foley:So, obviously, I have probably pretty good genetics, pretty good talent, so I was able to get good really quickly.
Justin Metzler:But then that kind of
Trevor Foley:goes away. And then if you wanna, like, be the best and then have a lawn stinker, that's when hard work comes. Does that make sense? So, like, it happens faster for different people.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. And I think the fact of the matter is there's always someone more talented. There's always someone out there working harder. Yep. And I think that's what keeps me super stoked on the sport and keeps me showing up every day.
Justin Metzler:And I think that's been a tagline of mine is just keep showing up because there's always gonna be somewhere out there who's training an extra hour a day, who's doing an extra 50 watts, who's showing up to the pool when they don't want to. And so, yeah, I think we're both cut from the same, vein in that regard where, yeah, I think there's, like, this this balance between, you know, believing in yourself, but having the humility humility to understand that, like, there's a lot of very talented athletes out there on the start line. I'm curious to hear a little bit more. You know, we've talked a lot about hard work in this podcast. You know, you've told me a little bit about your upbringing and your family.
Justin Metzler:What, degree does that impact your work ethic now? Just kinda your family upbringing and kinda, like, the the values that your parents maybe instilled in you or your family.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. I think it, like, determines a lot of it. My dad is, well, I was the first person in my family to go to college, so there's that. And my dad, he's had the same job since he's been 18. He's just like, like, he works for Frontier, like, in saw us TVs and Internet and stuff, like, really hard laborious job.
Trevor Foley:And I remember as a kid, like, he was the only like, my mom didn't work. She was a stay at home mom, so he was working, like, 80 hours a week. Like, there was days like, he came home every day, but there were days I just didn't see him because he was, like, leaving by, like, 6 something, home by 10. And then you just kinda become, like, in your head, like, oh, it's normal. Like, people have work all day.
Trevor Foley:Like, it just they don't see, they don't see the sunlight. They're just, like, working all day. So So I think that that becomes, like, ingrained in my mind of, like, oh, we wanna be successful. You gotta work hard. And also to, like, the parents of all, like, always been very, supportive of my dreams and journeys.
Trevor Foley:But in a really good way, like, my parents would probably like, my parents don't really know if my 5 k PR or, like, they don't know if, like, a 3 30, 70.3 is really fast. Like, they don't It's kinda over their head, but they're just, like, oh, yeah. Like, we love that you do triathlon. I love that you run. So it's, like, they they care enough and they're supportive enough, but they're not, like, that helicopter parent where it's, like, oh, you're in 411 in high school and not 409, so you're back.
Trevor Foley:Like, they don't really know. If I did a 10 mile run at 6 minute pace, they're just, like, cool. Like, they just don't know. So I think that helped a lot because if I know if I don't wanna run as a kid, my parents, like, didn't care if if that made sense. You know?
Trevor Foley:Like, they just wanted me to have fun and not on the streets, like, hanging out with the wrong crowd.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I mean, that's huge. Like, you need that support system. Mhmm. Right?
Justin Metzler:And it needs to be it needs to be the right level of support. And I think, again, in order to get to this level, you need support from all angles. And I think yeah. I mean, I turned pro when I was 19 years old, so it's kinda similar to when you got there. And I think triathlon's not the most, it's not the easiest sport to get into.
Justin Metzler:I think you you need that support, with people around you, not only you know, it takes a lot of money to do this. It takes a lot of time away from from people, in your life. And so, yeah, it sounds like your support system has set you up to be, you know, really consistent and Yeah. And obviously have the work ethic to continue to get out there. Like, I think another big part that I've understood about you is the role that your, fiance, Sophie, plays in in what you do.
Justin Metzler:And, you know, my wife is also a professional triathlete, and, you know, Sophie's very into endurance sports. It seems like she plays a huge role in supporting you and supporting your coaching business and and doing all that. Like, I'm curious, to hear more about kinda your guys' relationship and and kind of the ride that you've guys have been on together? Because I think she I want yeah. I think you guys met in college, and it's it's been a journey.
Justin Metzler:Right?
Trevor Foley:Yeah. Actually, it's we started dating junior year of high school. So Wow. A long time. So, like, end of 2016.
Trevor Foley:And, yeah. I think the thing that's, like, different with Soph and I is Soph has, like, I've been crazy for a long time with sports and she's she's seen me, like, trying to win high school meets, trying to win college meets, now trying to win professional races. So she's been on, like, the journey the whole time. So she's known, like I'd I've been training every day since I've been 16, since we've been dating. And she, like, she ran at Florida too, so she was a great athlete.
Trevor Foley:But, yeah, she's, like, all in on my triathlon stuff. She, was gonna go to PA school, or, like, med school or something along those lines. And luckily, my triathlon and career has been going well, and, we have a great coaching business now, but she deals with a lot of that. Like, I just get to train and eat and sleep a lot. She bikes next to me, like, all the time when I run.
Trevor Foley:She comes to the pool. She sits in the pool deck for, like, 2 hours just to time me, like, all that kind of stuff, which, sometimes if I'm training by myself, like, she is my training partner. Right? So I that, like and that's the other thing, like, going back to coaching. Maybe I would wanna coach if I was solo or you know what I mean?
Trevor Foley:But I so it's kind of my coach. You know? Like Yeah. Because she also knows what works for me. She's been with me for 8 years of this whole career.
Trevor Foley:Like, if I don't go to the pool, she's like, why aren't you going to the pool? Or, like, she knows if I do a 8 mile tempo at 5 20 pace. Like, she knows that's crap, like, why you're running slow. Yeah. Stuff like that.
Trevor Foley:So I think she plays a massive role of, like, manager, coach, cook, wife, like, all that kind of stuff. So it's game changer.
Justin Metzler:Honestly, sometimes it's the biggest role that, like, a partner can play is just being a sounding board. Yep. That's so huge. And I think, like, just speaking from my own experience, you know, having my wife be a professional triathlete and kinda be on a parallel journey. And it sounds like, you know, Sophie isn't racing professionally, but she understands it just the same way that, you know, a pro maybe would.
Justin Metzler:You kind of need that level of understanding to support the person at the level that that we go to For sure. In order to pursue this. It takes every ounce of your body, mind, spirit. Once you know it's too, like,
Trevor Foley:like, when I'm racing or having a bowel workout, like, when I'm racing, I'm not a nice person. Like, if you mess up the time gap or don't tell me what place I'm in, I'll lose it. And it's not because I'm, like, act like, I'm just, like, in the moment. I'm also 3 quarters dead. Yeah.
Trevor Foley:And so she knows that. Right? Like, because she ran at the NCAA level, so she knows what it takes, which, like you said, is huge.
Justin Metzler:Yep. And you kinda ride that you ride that journey together. I know Jeanne and I do. Like, when when it's going well, it's going great. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:When it's not going well, it's not going great.
Trevor Foley:You know? That's that's my
Justin Metzler:that's our last 3 months, so
Trevor Foley:it was not going good. And I
Justin Metzler:was I was not a nice person to be around. Yeah. What do you do or you guys do when you're down bad like that?
Trevor Foley:Yeah. I it's hard. It's hard. I mean, to be honest, we we just have each other, and we just, I don't know, pick a little little thing to get us out the door, like, to get excited. Like, I wasn't able to train for, like, a month, and, we go get coffee or Yeah.
Trevor Foley:Get ice cream or just, like, I don't know. It sounds dumb, but it's, like, small little things to just, like, keep you happy. And,
Justin Metzler:yeah, we just do stuff like that.
Trevor Foley:It's a little little things in life. Right?
Justin Metzler:You gotta get a dog. That's our that's our thing. That's easy.
Trevor Foley:We did, and I guess that's we did have a dog. That's right. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:We had
Trevor Foley:a golden retriever. And, yeah, it was she was like our daughter, and we ended up losing her. She had lymphoma. And so I think if we stay in Boulder full time, I think we're gonna get another golden. Yeah.
Trevor Foley:But a 100%. Yeah. We haven't had her over a year now, but that was our our everything. Like, we we love taking her to to coffee shops and on walks, and we used to live at the beach. And so we would take her to the beach, and that was massive.
Trevor Foley:And I really do think it's left a little hole, like, in our in our little home.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I can only imagine, like, our our little dog, Millie, has become, like, such a big part of our life and our daily routine and even just that relief from triathlon. Yeah. Because, like yeah. I mean, triathlon is it's the training and the lifestyle, it's it's so all consuming.
Justin Metzler:And the great thing about a a dog is, like, they don't know anything. You know?
Trevor Foley:They yeah. Especially Goldens. Like, they're just, like, happy all the time. Totally.
Justin Metzler:I I give it I give it 6 weeks for Trevor and Sophie. These guys are gonna be bringing home, you know, puppy dog here and,
Trevor Foley:We live right next to, Golden Colorado. And, apparently, there's, like, a national golden retriever, like, day where, like, thousands of goldens come together or something to have some, like, party outside. So we might be showing up at that pretty soon.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. 100%. Well, you know what? We'll we'll help you, dog sit. We can trade.
Justin Metzler:Because I'm I'm convincing Trevor to move to Boulder here. Yes. So gonna be the move.
Trevor Foley:Here, and, she came here in in a few years ago when we were in college with the UF Cross Country team to train here for, like, a month during the summer. And ever since then, all I've heard is, I wanna move to Boulder. And Yeah. Now I've never really been until now, and I'm like, I understand the hype. And now I'm like, like, she sent like, I'm sending her pictures of, like, hey.
Trevor Foley:Let's rent this place.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Yeah.
Trevor Foley:So I think we might be ended up end up moving here.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I mean, the the thing is it's hard to beat this place. I think just the, know, you you touched on the the the community aspect and just the social aspect of training. I think, yeah, the the Boulder scene has kinda been up and down. I think there's been moments in when it's been really hot, and there's been a lot of people here.
Justin Metzler:And I felt like there was kind of a little bit of a lull in the last couple years, but I'm trying my personal best to create a community and get, you know, swim squads going and get group rides going, because, yeah, I'm I'm a social guy too, and I just like I just love triathlon. I just like being around people who like triathlon, so hopefully you and I can get that off the ground. Sponsor of today's episode is Precision Fuel and Hydration. These guys have been an awesome partner of mine for many years and I really love the entire product line. They helped me tremendously when it came down to getting my fluid needs, sorted out, getting my electrolyte needs organized, and also just figuring out how many carbs per hour I needed.
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Justin Metzler:You know, you've you've taken things off, and you've done done amazing work. I think you're kind of on that precipice of becoming one of those real Ironman, you know, 70.3 guys. Mhmm. I think this year, you you mentioned it a little bit just being injured in the last couple months. You know, your plans were a bit, thrown off course with the injury.
Justin Metzler:You had a bike crash in was it March? Yeah. End of March. Okay. So, you know, I think your goals were to participate pretty heavily in this new Ironman pro series.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. You know, the the crash put a, a little bit of a dent in those plans, but you're you're back on course now with with a third place at Chattanooga, which was a really good series event. What is your 6 month goal? Now looking at it through the lens of coming back from injury, you're getting healthy again. You have a score on the board.
Justin Metzler:What do you wanna do for the remainder of the year?
Trevor Foley:Yeah. I I would like to get top 5 in the Ironman Pro Series. I still I think I got back literally just in time. Like, I, you know, if I was gone for 1 more week, if I had missed this race, like, it would have been really tight. But I think I got back literally in the nick of time.
Justin Metzler:So like you said, I was able
Trevor Foley:to do this pro series race, and I'll do 70.3 Boulder. That's a pro series race. And then the big ones of I'll do Lake Placid, and then I'll do Ironman Frankfurt. So all of those combined, that's a pretty good pro series, like record. And then hopefully,
Justin Metzler:in that time, qualify for Kona and then go race Kona
Trevor Foley:as well. So that's kind of the next 6 month goal is still a 100% all in on the Ironman Pro Series, but I don't have much time. But Yeah. I think I got there some time.
Justin Metzler:The good news is I really hope that the Iron Man Pro series is something that sticks around for a while.
Trevor Foley:For sure.
Justin Metzler:You know, we've seen things come in and out of the sport, especially I have just having been around for 11 years. You have big sponsors that come in. You have race series that come in and out. And I feel like there's always been a relatively consistent amount of revenue, you know, to be had. I feel like now is probably the best time ever to be a professional triathlete.
Justin Metzler:And so to be able to capitalize upon that is is really big, but, you know, the good news for someone like you is you're 24 years old. Right? And so even if this year isn't, you know, you isn't exactly what you want, you still have so much time to be able to to repivot. And I don't think the Ironman Pro Series is going anywhere. I believe in you for this year.
Justin Metzler:But yeah. Yeah.
Trevor Foley:I don't think so. Have you done a pro series race this year?
Justin Metzler:I did Saint George. Yeah.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. I mean, it seems like Ironman really cares about it. Like Yeah. That it's world class, you know. Like, they're taking it really seriously.
Trevor Foley:Like, I should just email them, before this podcast to ask for content, like, for my YouTube channel, like, I had Instagram pictures, like, 5 minutes after the race, like, they're doing the call outs. They're doing interviews. Like, it seems like they they really care about it. And I think it adds value to Ironman's brand because
Justin Metzler:you don't have a I I don't know.
Trevor Foley:It's my opinion. But if you don't have a professional, like, organization or race, it kinda, like, devalues the brand. I don't know. It just makes it, like, that much more, like, special, if that makes sense.
Justin Metzler:I totally agree. And I think, like, I I believe in Iron Man personally. And, you know, Jeannie, my wife, and I have had conversations about, you know, the the pro series starting up, and you've got things like the t 100 popping up as well, you know, sort of rival, you know, race race entities, and Iron Man has made my career. So, like I love Iron Man.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. It's I mean and a lot of people crap on Iron Man. And, 1, you
Justin Metzler:know, you don't wanna bite the
Trevor Foley:hand that feeds you. And, 2, like, I
Justin Metzler:don't know. It's pretty good for me.
Trevor Foley:Like, there's a lot of races for me to do and a lot of money for me to be made. And, I mean, if you're nice to them, like, they're nice to you. So it's Yeah.
Justin Metzler:Couldn't agree more.
Trevor Foley:And I also too, like, I I mean, it's an American based company, so I'm also a little biased. Like, I love all the races in America. Like, I don't wanna go over to Europe. It's pain. Yeah.
Trevor Foley:So, yeah, it's great. I mean, I think it's awesome.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Yep. Totally. So that's a 6 month goal. I'm gonna be riding a parallel track to you.
Justin Metzler:I think we're gonna see each other at, hopefully, a lot of races here. Yeah. Definitely Boulder, Lake Placid, Frankfurt, if things go to plan for myself. And I look forward to I think the biggest thing for us has just been, you know, we've had conversations around. That's awesome because we just get to train together a little bit more, so that's fun.
Justin Metzler:I'm you know, so I've asked you about the 6 month goal. What's the 6 year goal when you're my age? So I'm 30. I'm turning 31 in, just a cup yeah. A couple weeks now.
Justin Metzler:30 hit me pretty hard. It'll hit you hard when you get there. Sure. What's the goal? What where do you wanna be when you're 30 years old when you're my age?
Trevor Foley:Yeah. I think I have this, like, massive plan in my head of what I wanna do. I want I wanna build, like, a massive brand and a massive team. So like an age group team. I wanna build a massive age group team, and I wanna build, like, a massive, or a big, like, semi pro pro team as well.
Trevor Foley:I wanna coach pros as well. I wanna coach guys, yeah, trying to win Ironman races. And then, eventually, I wanna, you know, take all that revenue and all that money and build, like, a training compound, kinda. Like, I wanna have, like, a track, and I wanna have, like, pool, and I wanna have, like, this whole centralized place where, like, all my people can train. And then, like, be with the same sponsors forever and have, like, those sponsors sponsor that.
Trevor Foley:Like, that's kinda what I wanna build. I wanna build this big community and team and, yeah, it's because I love coaching. Like, I've been like I said, I've been coaching myself for years so I love it. And then from an individual standpoint, like, my own career, I don't know. I think I can be one of the best top 5, top 10 guys in the world.
Trevor Foley:Can I do that? I don't know. I think I can. So I've, like, you know, 22 is my 1st year as a pro. I was 40th in the world.
Trevor Foley:Last year was 2nd year, and I was 30th. So maybe I can be 20th in the world this year. It's kind of moving up. Obviously, it gets harder and harder the higher you move up. But just being remotely, like, in the conversation to be one of the best guys in the world, and then, I don't know, if I get a lucky year and it all comes together, be one of the best to be on the podium.
Trevor Foley:So I think that's kinda a 6 year goal.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I think the biggest thing is just being super consistent. Yeah. Like, I think you just gotta keep yeah. I said it before.
Justin Metzler:You just gotta keep showing up year after year, and I think you're starting from such a solid place that if you just get, like, 1% better and you can avoid injuries and stuff, you're gonna be you're gonna be a star. Like, that's just what that's the track.
Trevor Foley:Baseline was was thankfully, was so so much higher than a lot of other people. So, like and that's the other thing too. Like, I know what I was doing 2 years ago, and I just gotta get a little better, like you said, every year. And, you know, like you said, stay healthy. Yeah.
Trevor Foley:And I think I can get pretty close to where I wanna be.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. What so, you know, just reviewing some of your results, you know, you've had good success at 70.3. I feel like that distance having just trained with you a little bit, like, it suits you so well. You know? You just got such firepower on the bike, and then you can run you can run so consistently in that kinda 110 sub 110 range, and that that is great for 70.3.
Justin Metzler:I think, like, the Ironmans have probably been a little bit of a harder code to crack. You know, with the Ironman series coming up, you're gonna have to do 3 Ironmans whether that happens this year or in upcoming years, it's definitely gonna have to be a transition more towards the full. I think, initially, at least from my perspective, in my career, ignorance is bliss when it comes to Ironman.
Trevor Foley:Oh, yeah.
Justin Metzler:And when you get kicked in the teeth by an Ironman and you're walking 10 miles at the end, which I've done multiple times I've also been on the podium of multiple Ironmans. When you have those tougher experiences, it kind of it becomes tougher, I think, to almost get back to that place. So having had hard you know, some hard experiences at Ironman, do you still feel like you have enough ignorance in the Ironman to just go in there and keep smashing it, or do you feel a little bit like, woah. This thing's really hard?
Trevor Foley:I I so I've gone 2 Ironmans. My first one I did was 2022 Ironman Texas with, Magnus Ditliff and Ben Hoffman. They went 12 or whatever. I don't know. A lot of people know the story, but I think I would have won that race that day.
Trevor Foley:My aero bars fell off my bike, and I, like, bridged up to the Hoffman Group. My arrow bars fell off my bike. I biked at, like, 405 watts for 30 minutes in the middle of an Ironman holding my arrow bars, not feeling a drink the whole time and then pulling over on the side of the road for, like, 15 minutes. Age giver stopped. We built my bike again.
Trevor Foley:And then, like, the whole time, that whole hour, I was biking. I couldn't drink anything. So I was bonked from mile 40 of the bike and then still ran, like, a 248. So I went, like, 8 16, my first Ironman ever. I was, like, 22 years old.
Trevor Foley:I think I know how to do it, like, decently because that was a pretty good first one. I got 5th. I was only 7 minutes off of the k q. So I was like so, like, maybe if that wouldn't have gone, it's good, but I think I had a pretty good first one and I'm pretty good at biking. And I think the Ironman is very dictated on the bike.
Trevor Foley:Just because if you can make, I I don't know, 300 to 320 watts pretty easy, and you can take your nutrition, and you can swim relatively good, like, think you can run pretty good. Obviously, I could be totally wrong, but I think I have a lot of the, like, I don't know, goods to do good on an Ironman, but we'll see. I mean, I have I have no idea, but I think I can do decent.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I mean, you need to have that belief in Iron Man too, I think. Sure. Yeah. Big thing about Iron Man and I you know, I've realized this just having done quite a lot of them and being very successful at some and being very unsuccessful at others.
Justin Metzler:It's not really about going very fast. Yeah. Ironman is not fast. It's not hard. I think when you get to our level, we train so much that the the pace itself is pretty pedestrian for us.
Justin Metzler:It's just a matter of, like, responding to the race and deciding whether or not you're gonna try and win the thing, or you're just gonna maybe be a bit more conservative because I think Ironman rides that razor's edge of if you just go one step too far, you're so far behind. Yeah. And it blows up in your face dramatically. So, yeah, I think, you know, you can be really savvy and you can be a smart racer, or you can just be someone who just bulldozes through the field and is just stronger than everyone. Those are your 2 choices for Ironman.
Justin Metzler:So I think you kinda gotta decide in your preparation which direction you wanna take it. But, yeah, I mean, you've just got again, you've just got such an abundance of time. I'm jealous that I'm 6 years ahead of you, and in triathlon age, like, double the the amount just having done it, for 15 years. But yeah. It's yeah.
Justin Metzler:I mean, it's you you just have so much time to figure it out to succeed, to fail, to learn. You know, every every Ironman I've never had a Ironman, and you know this now because triathlon is is hard to have a perfect day even on your best day.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. Even even the 70.3 is hard.
Justin Metzler:Totally. Yeah. And Ironman is just about problem solving. It's it's just a constant problem solving equation of Yeah. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:You gotta be super fit, but very rarely is it the fittest man who wins on the day. It's the man who can be very, very fit and strong and, and fix all the problems that you encounter.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. Just not die. It's so hard. It really it's so hard.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Totally. I I am curious. I have one question written down on my notes because as we alluded to first in the podcast, I asked you about your 3 favorite apps. And, you know, Strava was number 1.
Justin Metzler:And, you know, they put the little time stamp on there.
Trevor Foley:So I'm Which time stamp?
Justin Metzler:The time stamp is when you started the session. Right? Like, what time of day? Yeah. And so, like, I'm a pretty routine oriented guy.
Justin Metzler:You know that about me just having trained. I like to just, you know I'm I'm up at, you know, 6:30, 7 o'clock. I'm out the door training at 8. I'm done by 5. And I're eating dinner at 6, winding down with the dog.
Justin Metzler:Starting my day at 6. I'm I'm seeing some crazy time stands on some T Foley workouts. What is going on with the 4 hour ride starting at 5 PM in the summer, finishing at 9 PM? What's going on with that?
Trevor Foley:Well, 1, first of all, I I love golden hour rides. I love just, yeah, I just love, like, evening rides. It's great. But I I have been, like, track track and field, like, professional track and field, NCAA track and field, the championship racing high level, like, Peyton Jordan type time trial racing, it's all at night. Like, it's all at 8 to 11 PM at night.
Trevor Foley:So, like, in college, we do workouts at 7 at night. Like, that's the norm. Like, I ran my 5 my 5 k p r, like, 9:30 at night. Like, that's just the norm for running. So I think I just got on that routine of in college, I would do morning.
Trevor Foley:Morning is 10 AM, like, 4 mile, 5 mile shakeout, but then main session was in the evening, because you have to learn how to run fast in the evening. And I don't know. This is just the way pro running works or elite level running works. So I just kinda got on that schedule, but then also in college as well for 3 years, I was I worked, part time full time job in the summer, part time job in the, in the school year. And I was a valet driver.
Trevor Foley:There's 2 shifts to work as a valet driver. It was, like, 6 AM to, like, 1 PM or, like, 1 PM to, like, midnight. And as a valet driver, you're gonna make way more money in the PM shift. So I would work, like, 1 PM to midnight, like, every day during the summer, and then 3 days a week during the school year. And so I would just work and then run at midnight from, like, midnight to 1, and I got on that, I guess, really I don't know.
Trevor Foley:I say it's a bad schedule, but it worked for me. I don't know. Like, what like, whatever, but I I just got on that schedule of train working in the day and then training in the evening and then just sleeping in all day. And I just kinda liked it, and I just got on a routine. And I don't know.
Trevor Foley:In Florida, that's when I'm born and raised. In the summer or most years, most months of the year, it's 85 degrees in the morning, 100% humidity. In the evening, it's 90 with 70% humidity. Personally, I like 30% less humidity, 5 degrees hotter. And because I just I hate, like, in Florida, you are drenched.
Trevor Foley:Like, I raced in Shadi this weekend, and I was I was wetter on the bike than I was in swim. Don't even know how it's possible, but I was so wet on the bike because it was a 100% humidity. Yeah. I did me and Jackson both tossed the visors in the, at at a a station, so we literally couldn't see. Yeah.
Trevor Foley:So I think I just got on that routine of just training in the evening, and I just like sleep. I just sleep at I start my day very slowly, and and I I like I said, this just means so far, I have no responsibilities. So Sam or Lionel or maybe, like, you, you guys have other things or what. Like, you're just busy professionals. Right?
Trevor Foley:I just play Xbox in
Justin Metzler:the morning and then start my day in the evening. So Alright, man. You're not gonna catch me at a 4 starting a 4 PM ride. We're riding tomorrow. We're definitely starting that thing at 8 AM.
Justin Metzler:So Which is good. Like, as long as
Trevor Foley:I have people to meet, I don't I'll go as early as you want. It's just, like, if I'm solo Yeah. I'm sleeping
Justin Metzler:until 10. 100%. Totally. Totally. Alright, man.
Justin Metzler:Well, yeah, I appreciate all the, all the answers. We're we're wrapping things up here in a bit, but I do have some rapid fire finishing questions. So are you down with that? Yeah. Alright.
Justin Metzler:Cool. So some of these are gonna be quick ones. Some of them might require a little bit of thought. So I'm gonna make sure I've, you know, explained them properly. So first one, coffee date or dinner date?
Trevor Foley:Coffee date. A 100%.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I'm with you on that. Second 1, would you rather not earn another dollar in prize money for the rest of your career? Said you're financially motivated guy, no prize money. Or have a million a $100,000,000 and you never get in the top 10 again?
Trevor Foley:Wow. Like, yeah, I wanna I wanna win races. So, like, the other option.
Justin Metzler:So you got no money?
Trevor Foley:Yeah. No money. I'm just grinding.
Justin Metzler:Alright, man. No. I I I respect it because I'm the same and
Trevor Foley:I don't know. Like Yeah. That's a lot of money, but, like, then you're just not good.
Justin Metzler:I mean Yeah. Like, I don't like, not it's, like, kinda bad
Trevor Foley:of your self worth and, like, your career. I don't know how like, some of my self worth is in triathlon, but, like, I don't wanna be good. I wanna be an alpha out there. So, like, I don't wanna
Justin Metzler:I don't
Trevor Foley:wanna be the guy who won the lottery and just, like, tries a Lambo around. Just that.
Justin Metzler:I mean, I'll tell you, having done it for a really long time, you look back, oh, what were some of the best days in your career? Well, they were the days that I won or got on the podium. They weren't the days that I extracted the most out of myself and came 17th. Yeah. You know?
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Exactly. Like, it feels Yeah.
Trevor Foley:It feels good to be at the pointy end of the race.
Justin Metzler:100%. Feels good to win. I mean, like, look. That's just what it is. Alright.
Justin Metzler:You dive into the pool or jump in? I kinda I jump in. I'm I'm not a good swimmer. And especially being here in Boulder, I'm surrounded by a bunch of good swimmers. I'm gonna I'm gonna my dives are terrible, so I'm not gonna make a fool of myself.
Justin Metzler:Alright. We're gonna we're that's gonna be, Trevor and I's next, swim workout is gonna be 10 by 50 from a dive. Jeez. And we'll get it on camera for you guys. Alright.
Justin Metzler:Question number 4. Would you rather only ride your bike a 100 miles per week, including training? 100 miles is your cap. Or have to ride your bike everywhere, grocery store, airport, ride your bike to Chattanooga for the race.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. A 100 miles a week. But you, you know, I'm gonna be smashing those Hyundai a week.
Justin Metzler:That's what I said. Yeah. I I I'm kinda with you on that. I feel like, yeah, you're just destroying yourself. You gotta ride, you know, Boulder to DIA before everyone.
Justin Metzler:That's brutal. Yeah. But, yeah. No. I'm not e bike.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. It's no e I don't I mean, I didn't stipulate in this question, but I thought about these questions pretty deeply. You know, you're trying to find the, you know, the cracks in my questions here.
Trevor Foley:Yeah. Because I think I could live in Boulder with just an ebike and be Yeah. Pretty okay.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. For sure. For sure.
Trevor Foley:Well, at least this time of the year. I don't know. I've never really seen snow in my life, so I don't freaking know.
Justin Metzler:We can see some snow if you hang around here. I'll tell you that. Alright. Final rapid fire question is, are you working hard or hardly working?
Trevor Foley:Yesterday, I only swam, so I was hardly working. Today, I'm back to working hard.
Justin Metzler:Alright. It's all hard work. No tell. You know? Alright.
Justin Metzler:Final question for the podcast before we wrap things up for today. When you are done and you look back on the sport and, like, the legacy that you left, what do you wanna leave the sport for people having known you for?
Trevor Foley:I kinda go what I'm trying
Justin Metzler:to build now. I just wanna
Trevor Foley:be, like, the hardest worker in the room. I just wanna be, like, that guy that shows up to a 70.3 that hasn't ran, doesn't care what place he gets, but I'm gonna send it and show myself. And now I can't walk because I'm so sore. But, yeah, I just wanna be that guy.
Justin Metzler:I just wanna extract everything from myself and, hey, might not have ever won Kona, but he worked really hard. Love it. Awesome, man. Cool. Well, I appreciate you being on the podcast.
Justin Metzler:I feel like this is a really fun first episode.
Trevor Foley:That's great.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I'm looking forward to, our long ride tomorrow. Sounds good. Thank you, man. Alright.
Justin Metzler:Thank you.
