Just the boys this week. We're recording live from Kona, a couple of days before Paula toes the line at the Ironman World Championship. Eric and Nick recap the week so far, including the TTL Donut Run, which brought out some familiar faces including Flora Duffy, Heather Jackson, and Jodie Stimpson. Then listener submitted questions.

This week we discussed:

• Kona race week: what it's actually like to be here, the energy, the chaos, and the pro athlete sightings
• The TTL Kona Donut Run recap, malasadas, a big turnout, and some A-list company
• Best apps for finding triathlon training routes, gravel rides, and camping spots
• Hip mobility stretches that actually work
• Would Nick take over from Bob Babbitt someday, and what would he call the series?
• Miscounting laps in the pool: do you shorten the next interval or just carry on?
• Advice to your past selves at the inception of TTL, and what it means for anyone building something big from scratch
• Surviving washboard gravel roads: positioning, speed, and whether anything actually helps
• Hydration on long trail and gravel rides with no gas stations in sight
• Backing out of a race you signed up for with a friend, how to feel about it
• Why marathon swimmers hold 1:10 per 100m for 10K but pro triathletes swim 1:20 for 3.8K

A big thank you to our podcast supporters who keep the podcast alive. To submit a question and to become a podcast supporter, head over to ThatTriathlonLife.com/podcast

One week out from leaving for Kona, Paula is in the background sketching the donut run poster while we record. We open with a busy weekend of racing, Augusta 70.3, the World Triathlon Grand Final sprint in Pontevedra, and UCI Road Racing Worlds, then get into Team TTL applications opening today, the Kona donut run details, and your questions.

This week we discussed:

• Augusta 70.3 results: Lydia Russell wins, Samantha Skold third, Adele Likin's wrong turn with two miles to go, and what it highlights about race coverage
• The Grand Final sprint finish: Matt Hauser wins the race, Vasco Vilaça wins the world title, and whether Matt held his line
• Aerodynamic gravel bikes: what pro racing demands of equipment and what it means for the regular consumer
• Team TTL and TTL Racing Division applications are open now through October 19th, what the Racing Division is, who it's for, and how it's different from the main team
• Kona TTL Donut Run: Wednesday October 7th, 2pm, featuring malasadas
• Team Canada Kona shakeout run: Monday October 5th, 8am, hosted by Lisa Bentley at Big Island Running Co.
• FTP tests for seasoned athletes: how often pros actually do them, what Paulo Sousa uses instead, and why the scariest version might actually be a QOM climb you care about
• Nick's volume experiment: six minutes off a 27-minute climb after a month of Z2 only
• Paula's Ironman swim set: 10x400 on 15 seconds rest, no toys, no alternatives (well, maybe five 800s)
• Rest days vs. active recovery: how often Paula and Eric actually take full days off
• Backyard ultras: how long could each of them last, and why laps are their own special kind of suffering
• Strength training in a triathlon program: how to stay consistent without it wrecking your other sessions
• Looking up race results and imagining where you would have finished
• First 70.3 Worlds advice: why going three weeks early might be the wrong move, and what Paula's Kona build has taught her about not putting races on a pedestal
• The creative process in music and video: prosody, co-creation, and why you can't make art formulaic even when you really want to

A big thank you to our podcast supporters who keep the podcast alive. To submit a question and to become a podcast supporter, head over to ThatTriathlonLife.com/podcast

We're recording at 7:15pm and going to bed at 7:30, which means we are bending time and space to record this. First up: TTL Mad Libs, a new segment submitted by Mike the Botox guy, in which we fill in a Kona race guide and somehow end up with Pierce Brosnan at the finish line. Then we get through a full question bag before someone's bedtime.

This week we discussed:

• Kona apparel update: almost everything sold out; what's still available at the Castelli booth on race day and why you can't say "Kona" inside the expo
• Your proudest Strava CR or QOM — Eric's COVID-era Portland climb rampage, Paula's Bend segments, and Nick's Santa Monica Pier sprint Up
• Losing 30-45 seconds per mile in the second half of a 70.3 run: fitness limiter, pacing problem, or both?
• How pro personal needs bottles work at 70.3 Worlds — the sticker system, race number order, and why Paula's never actually used one
• The best triathlon commentators
• Should athlete vitals be shown on the broadcast?
• Alcohol before a key race — how Paula and Eric have approached it differently this year, and the NA whiskey price problem
• Waterproof shoes for a 240-mile trail race: Gore-Tex uppers, the bathtub water retention test, and the dry pair rotation strategy
• Cooling techniques for extreme heat: ice bandanas, hands, neck, and where not to put ice cubes
• Aero helmets, bucket hats, and the Omius — where the line is between functional and ridiculous
• Torn wetsuit: repair it, cut the sleeves off, or buy new?

A big thank you to our podcast supporters who keep the podcast alive. To submit a question — or a Mad Libs — head over to ThatTriathlonLife.com/podcast