Triathlon training with the pros in Girona - a podcast by Helen Murray

What's life really like for a professional triathlete? Do they just spend all of their time training, eating and sleeping? Helen heads to Girona to spend a week living with British professional Laura Siddall to get a unique insight into pro triathlon life. Plus Helen interviews former pro cyclist Christian Meier to find out why Girona has become such a hub for endurance athletes.
You'll hear: 
07:30 Start of the training audio diary with Laura Siddall and Helen as they take you behind the scenes of Laura's training programme for a few days
17:10 Helen joins in Laura's Sunday sessions - an'easy run'and an'easy'gravel ride. Helen's heart rate was sky high and she was struggling for a breather, while Sid was at conversational pace!
23:10 Helen heads to the 50m swimming pool in Girona where it's FULL of ITU athletes!
24:30 How many showers do professional triathletes have? And what's in a typical protein shake after a workout?
28:30 Laura encourages Helen to hire a road bike and do the famous Els Angels loop from Girona, while Laura herself heads out on a 5+hr ride.43:54 Start of the interview with Christian Meier, a former professional cyclist from Canada who has been living in Girona since 2008. He explains why Girona has become so popular with endurance athletes.
47:45"As much as we are blessed with good cycling route, the running is equally as good, if not even better. It's insane how many good athletes there are here. Way back when I first arrived, cycling didn't really exist here, but it's really exploded and the people here love to do their sports."52:42 Christian talks about La Fabrica, the first boutique coffee shop in Girona which he co-founded with his wife, Amber."It came about after the Tour de France in 2014, when I was at the peak of my physical level as a cyclist and it was about growing and having other interests and doing other things outside of cycling. It sure helped when it came to my retirement and the transition from professional cyclist to three businesses was pretty intense. The work load was very high, but I had a high tolerance to manage a high workload from being an athlete"1:02:05 What is it about coffee and cyclists and triathletes?"It's the social side!
1:03:25 Christian talks about making the switch from life as a pro cyclist to life as a trail runner."I just got hooked and started running more and more and got really inspired by that ultra running world. Cycling for a long time is interesting, like the multi-day bikepacking races. But this felt different. The ultra endurance running felt more natural, like purely a feat of human power."1:10:00 Christian talks about Chance, the running brand apparel he has set up which is focussed on making a difference environmentally.
1:14:58 An update from Helen and Rich as they train for the https://beyondtheultimate.co.uk/ultra/the-highland-ultra-marathon-2021/#!/2022 (Highland Ultra, 125km 3 day event from Beyond the Ultimate).Find out more about this week's guests
https://www.instagram.com/lmsid/ (Laura Siddall) Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/christianmmeier/ (Christian Meier) Instagram
https://www.lafabricagirona.com/about-us (La Fabrica) coffee shop, Gironahttps://chancerunning.com/ (Chance Running) - running apparel from Christian Meier
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