JESSE: I kinda want to go back to Lake Placid that you did have to DNF as you mentioned is from mechanical. But can you kind of walk me through what happened in the race kind of leading up to that point? ADAM: Sure. I mean, Lake Placid is sort of a race of excuses for me. And then one that finally pulled the plug, or caused me to pull the plug on it with the mechanical but, I mean, I'd say it was like maybe a week and a half before the race or I will say two weeks before the race, my wife Rebecca got a stomach bug, and my mom was in town at the time and then she got it, and then my daughter got it. And it's a couple days later and I thought I was in the clear, and then it hit me. So, maybe like a week and a half ago, I spent basically three days in bed. It was absolutely terrible, I couldn't eat anything. Yeah, if you've had a stomach bug, you know it feels it. Yeah. JESSE: Yeah. Not really race ready? ADAM: Yeah, no. Yeah, I ended up just stand back not really doing anything about it but we had time to go to the ER with Charlie and all that just because she was vomiting so much. So, that certainly threw a lot of things in the question. And then shortly after that, that's when my hip started bothering me, and it just really put me in like, really wondering how that race is going to go. And I showed up to the race itself, I obviously wasn't sick anymore by then. I did some workouts beforehand still didn’t feel great. I just didn't really seem to have much pop, or like nearly as much as I normally would. And I’d say it showed a bit on the swim I just felt like I was at the limit the whole swim. And it was like guys I'd normally swim with I was absolutely killing myself to try and stay with and then finally sort of fell off the back of a group after the first lap of the swim. And then yeah, I mean it didn't feel absolutely terrible after that but more so than I that I would have preferred. So, yeah I mean by the time my DI2 battery died, which I will put the disclaimer that I charged it the week prior. JESSE: I think you wrote something on your blog posts like it was like, really old, like you should have replace it or something? ADAM: Yeah, I mean, I bought it used and I was told ?? 2:53> four years old. And that was well over a year ago, so I don't-- Yeah, I don't know what the lifespan of electronic shifting batteries is. Yeah, it showed the whole green light beforehand and - to go, I certainly haven't ridden a 2,000 miles in the past week. JESSE: Right. 10 is supposed to be like 10,000 shifts or something like, I have it on my bike as well. ADAM: Yeah. Crazy, you shouldn’t have to worry about it. Yeah, certainly after that race I bought a new DI2 battery. I'm even with how I was feeling on day, I was still sort of warming up into the effort. I was still riding at a pretty good power up. When I got to an hour to the race, I was at like, mid 280s on my power, which is now about standard for me in a full, maybe a little even on the higher side, depending on the conditions. I mean, it's certainly a hilly course there. But yeah, and I didn't feel like I was about to fade or anything. Yeah, so I certainly think the race could have been possible, and I was trying to stay in that mindset. But, I mean, a good race with one gear certainly wasn’t going to be awesome. JESSE: Right. I mean, especially there. Have you raced Mont-Tremblant yet? ADAM: I have not. JESSE: Okay. I was like I know that course is like notoriously hilly too. I didn't know how it compared to Lake Placid. I haven't had a chance to do either yet. ADAM: I haven't done Mont-Tremblant, but from just from my impressions I think Lake Placid is a little bit hillier. I've done Whistler as well and it seems like Lake Placid wasn't quite as silly as that one was. But yeah, there's certainly some longer hinds in it. JESSE: Yeah. Did you have any kind of, I'll say like mental effects from the DNF? I know, personally and then most of the people I know that race are not a fan of DNFing for any reason. Was it simply a matter of just accepting that well, the battery is dead and it just doesn't make sense? Or was it a letdown or kind of what was going on when you made that decision? ADAM: I’d say how I reacted to it was sort of based on the fact that my hip was still bothering me at that point just before the race, and I was very questionable about the marathon. So, honestly, it was a bit of a relief. Because if that hadn't happened, I mean, I would have refused to DNF no matter what. Like run could have gone great and I could have had a good race, but also with how things were going, it could have gone terribly. And yeah, I mean, that was sort of like it could have prevented something bad from happening. Like for me injuring myself because I mean, I’d resolve not to DNF unless it was pretty extreme ?? 6:03> Since I DNFed earlier in the year at Campeche, I mean, I really didn't want that to happen again. But I mean, yeah, something like a mechanical is sort of like they're really, really would have been no reason to continue on because fighting like I would have been only an hour plus behind if I’d decided to do in one gear. And then yeah, running-- I don't take running a marathon lightly. JESSE: Right. Well, I mean, it almost sounds like your hip was still bothering you, it's almost like a blessing in disguise like it took-- Especially it was a mechanical it's not some-- there's nothing you can do about it. Especially with the battery like if your chain came off okay, you can put the chain back on but the battery's dead, there's no charge or you can go stick it on in the aid station. ADAM: Yeah, so I certainly had mixed feelings about it. But respect it was a relief and it did allow me to race Wisconsin not too much later. And if I had finished Lake Placid and ran a hard marathon, that would have put me back considerably, I think for doing another race. Whereas this way, I mean, I basically didn't miss a beat in my training, other than the travel to and from Lake Placid, and the work hours associated with going to a race. So, I was able to jump back into training pretty quickly, at least bike and swim training and that led to me having a good race in Wisconsin. So, looking back, I'm not disappointed that it happened. I don't think it was like a failure on my part by any means or anything like that. Whereas a race like Campeche where something like that happened, that was a conscious decision that things weren't going well. Yeah, my body just sort of let me down type of deal. Whereas there wasn't a whole lot I could have done to mitigate what happened in Lake Placid. I mean, other than having the newest equipment that doesn't die. But I mean, there's enough costs in the sport that it's hard to justify every single upgrade. JESSE: Right. Yeah. So, just a short, I guess biography on me, I spent a lot of I spent the last eight years trying to get my professional license and not quite fast enough. So, I've kind of backed off but I always took the approach that like your fitness, justified the upgrade. You didn't get the upgrade to try to magically be faster. It's like you got faster then you're like, okay, now I can justify getting this next little thing, whatever it is, new bike frame or power meter pedals or the electronic shifting or whatever. So, I think I saw you talk with somebody about the merits of electronic shifting versus I think he had left a comment about just using a mechanical because you don't want to mess with electronic. ADAM: Yeah. And I mean, I've had failures with mechanical too. So, it's not infallible. I mean, just a few weeks after Lake Placid, I commute on a road bike that has a mechanical ?? 9:27> and a cable snapped. And that happens too you if-- you can take care of things and know how to work on things and it happens less often, but nothing is a battle. Yeah. And otherwise, I mean, electronic, VI2 electronic shifting is typically pretty reliable. It’s part of the game a little bit. JESSE: Yeah, figuring out your equipment. Over the years I've had various bikes, and tons of different mechanical issues with the gearing and the shifting. I haven't ever had a cable snap but I've had the cogs kind of come loose on the hub, and then they would stop shifting because it would get caught up and just all kinds of nonsense. And so I eventually moved to electronic shifting. So, there's not the variability of the tension when you are manually shifting it and putting a little-- displacing a little bit and kind of wiggling things around. ADAM: Yeah, that was I think, the second time, at least the second time I've had a cable snap on me. And normally while I’m commuting - on my computer bike because I simply just don't take care of it as well as my racing bike. But yeah, I mean, as far as upgrades and everything, I think it depends pretty largely on the individual. If you have a good job and you have good money and you want to, I encourage it ?? 11:01> certainly good. So, why not spend it on the things you like? I mean, I think people like us in our situation don't have a ton of resources. I mean, any money I spend on equipment or anything else is basically me saying, okay, but I'm gonna have to work these hours to compensate for that for my training, or recovery, or time with the family, so it's a factor. And I've always prioritize the upgrades that would allow me to become fitter, rather than the upgrades that are just gonna make me go faster on race day, rather. Power meter was one of the first things like heart rate monitor, that sort of stuff is sort of the first obvious thing so you can start getting that data and using it day in, day out. And even getting a coach or something like if you're hesitant about the cost, if you're considering anything before that like a disc wheel or something, you should always prioritize the things that are going to make you a better athlete first, I think for sure. JESSE: And we'll give a free plug to Epics here. I actually get my suits from Epics as well. What suit are you wearing from them? ADAM: So, the past year, approximately they've had the go fierce pro edition. It's a one piece that sort of the zipper opens up, but it's still attached in the back. Yeah, I mean, it's pretty tight fitting. I certainly don't notice anything flapping or any disadvantages on the aerodynamic side. I mean, I know I'm carrying about the same speeds as my competitors. At least the same if not lower power output. So, I mean, as long as it fits well and it seems to pretty well. It's got appropriate pockets, one on each leg and one on the back for carrying gels and stuff. So, been racing in that one for about the past year, sort of different ones of the retail line, which are just sort of the generic designs and just buy online. But soon I'll be moving back to a custom suit, which was made just for me with my design and all that stuff, which sort of their bread and butter, it's the custom stuff. They do a lot of design work, especially for teams. But I mean, they also do it for individuals, which is what I intend on doing. JESSE: Yeah. So, I actually crashed at Eagleman last year and destroyed my suit, so I had to get a new one. And between the two, my sleeves switched to that mesh versus like the same kind of solid material that was on the front that's on the back. Does yours also have that super breathable mesh, it’s like really fine on it as well? ADAM: So, the most recent one is the differing thing is the pro edition label is it they did change what materials wear a bit. So, on the arms rather than mesh all the way down, it now has that gripper that helps keep it in one place on the arm because before that it would bunch up a little bit ?? 14:31> wrinkles on our sleeves. It’s the worst thing in the world. So, it actually has grips that keeps it in place. I mean, I always go back and look at my pictures after the race from like the bike portion stuff to see if there are any wrinkles or how well fitting it was, and it seemed-- Once you get it, you come out of the swim and you get it where you want, it seems to stay pretty well. But it does - the mesh in a lot of places like the back because that mesh, I mean it stretches well, which helps with the fit aspect of things and then it's also really breathable. It can hold some water if you're pouring it on yourself or something, so if you want it, it's good but for the most part, it's pretty breathable which is good for the hot races. JESSE: Yeah, I felt like I had a lot of overheating issues in previous suits. I had a suit from ?? 15:33> when I was trying to go like ITU path and then I had a suit from Epics that was non-sleeve but it was just that regular material. They've since switched it out and I felt like I overheated a lot. I felt like they held a lot of water. But since I switched to the mesh I don't feel like I have like near the overheating issues I had before. I think it was just when water sits next to your skin, you're going to-- overheating instead of it evaporating. So, once the mesh was there it was like I could dissipate a little bit more of that and mitigate some of that issues for me. And I can overheat when it's 60 degrees outside if I've got-- just how it works for me, I guess. So, that's been nice. I was just curious if your suit was similar. ADAM: Yeah, I mean, that depends on the conditions, of course. On the bike, it's never gonna stay wet because it's going to be constantly dried by the wind. But yeah, on the run, if it's really humid, it might stay a little bit wetter, simply because they won’t evaporate off as well. Yeah, I mean, they certainly dries out pretty quick in dry conditions like here in Colorado where I am now. But yeah, I personally, I don't feel like I ever have any issues with overheating, but I certainly have a lot of issues with dehydration. I have a pretty high sweat rate, and I've never-- I don't frequently feel like I've gotten like extremely hot that I’m gonna pass out from it or something like that. I just sweat so much that by the time I get to that point, I just can't push hard enough to make it happen. I just get really dehydrated. JESSE: Thinking about, you're talking about the wrinkles on the sleeves, which is like everybody obsesses about all these little tiny details. It just made me think about where do you sit on the side of shaved legs versus not shaved legs in terms of do you do it and doesn't matter for your performance on the bike? ADAM: Yeah, I definitely do it. I mean, there's been a, at least a couple people out there that tested it and depending on how hairy your legs are naturally, then it certainly makes a difference on the bike. I haven't tested myself, but I trust the people that have. But I mean, even the past couple of races that I did, I took the time in transition one, which made my T one time’s a lot slower, but I put on socks, - socks. Which I sort of deemed it, the Ironman bike leg is long enough, even if it's like, half the benefit that they say it is, it could end up being worth it. And sometimes, unfortunately that can come at the expense of missing out on staying with other people ?? 18:41> out on the bike and that happened in Chattanooga. But I'm not a huge fan of playing tactics and staying behind people and trying to gain every last legal advantage as you can there. So...put on my socks and race my own race. Go to Part 3 Go to Part 1
Smart Athlete Podcast Ep. 27 - Adam Feigh - PREPARE YOUR MIND - Part 2 of 3
I kinda want to go back to Lake Placid that you did have to DNF as you mentioned is from mechanical. But can you kind of walk me through what happened in the race kind of leading up to that point?
