Average Age Groupers

IRONMAN’s New Women’s Community… and Our Real Kona Podium Picks Laura, Holly, and Maggie introduce their podcast Average Age Groupers and react to IRONMAN’s new women-focused community, “Woven,” describing its Strava/Instagram presence, member events, race meetups, and perks while questioning what concrete support it will provide beyond connection. They discuss how women-only racing (like IRONGIRL...

Laura, Holly, and Maggie welcome returning guest Tarah to discuss her upcoming Moab 240 ultramarathon in Moab, Utah, including how she’s training, fueling, and planning logistics with her crew. After a light intro about keeping too many browser tabs and saving Instagram posts, Tarahh shares that her Leadville Silver Rush 50 was canceled due to fires and low ferritin, but she’s stayed healthy by st...

Hosts Laura, Holly, and Maggie reintroduce themselves as the Average Age Groupers and catch up on Maggie’s two recent bike races. Maggie describes trying a Tuesday-night Minneapolis cyclocross race after winning a free entry, riding her gravel bike with 50mm tires on a grassy, switchback-heavy course, finishing mid-pack, and noting the high-intensity effort, timing chips, and playful “hand ups.” S...

On Average Age Groupers, hosts Laura, Maggie, and Holly welcome guest Nick, previously referenced for mishaps that inspired lessons like leaving a cellphone in transition, to share his endurance sports journey. Nick describes not playing organized sports as a kid, being inspired at 12 by watching Kona on TV, serving eight years in the Army, then impulsively training five weeks for his first half m...

In this episode of Average Age Groupers, Holly, Maggie and Laura open with winter fat-tire biking gear talk (ski helmet/goggles, bar mitts, socks/boots, flat pedals, and the “N+1” bike problem) before debriefing Ironman Wisconsin weekend. They recap Saturday’s Madison 70.3 (cool and windy, choppy swim, a reported athlete death believed to be a cardiac event, a faster new bike course with less tech...

On Average Age Groupers, hosts Holly, Maggie, and Laura welcome Waterfall Racing teammate Hector to share his endurance story, from always having bikes as a kid in Mexico City to moving to Michigan at age nine and later riding and commuting by bike in Chicago. He describes how his mom’s breast cancer shaped his early exposure to charity endurance events, then progressing from 5Ks to the Chicago Ma...

Laura, Maggie, and Holly reunite in person on Average Age Groupers, first joking about Maggie’s nonstop travel and their strong opinions on socks, then shifting to open-water swimming tips ahead of Ironman Wisconsin. They discuss why wetsuits can feel safer, how a wetsuit should fit (tight, worked up around shoulders), sleeved vs sleeveless options, buoyancy shorts, caring for gear, and using Body...

On Average Age Groupers, hosts Laura, Holly, Maggie, and Alyssa (returning guest) talk with Alyssa about how she became an endurance athlete, starting with swimming in Kansas, dabbling in college swimming and ultimate Frisbee, then discovering cycling during her LDS mission in California. She recounts buying her first road bike in 2015, doing an early sprint triathlon and multiple century rides, a...

The Average Age Groupers share a race recap from Ironman 70.3 Northern California in Redding, California, noting early recording technical issues. Laura describes her first-ever DNF, exiting the non-wetsuit-legal swim (78.1°F) after repeated stops, chaotic contact, difficulty sighting into the sun, and limited visible water support; she’s extracted by paddleboard/boat, returns barefoot to spectato...

Laura, Maggie, and Holly celebrate the podcast’s 20th episode, an above-average milestone, by sharing “20 tips” they’ve learned as non-elite triathletes balancing jobs, training, and life. They open with updates about helping a friend move and a warm open-water swim at Fireman’s Park with fewer weeds than expected, then move into practical race and training advice: find a community or team, keep a...

Maggie, Laura, and Holly open by describing nonstop summer travel and feeling perpetually packed, then shift to their upcoming inaugural Ironman 70.3 in Redding, California. They explain how their original North Carolina 70.3 plan pivoted after scheduling conflicts and Holly’s April 2 car accident, which later revealed whiplash and a concussion that derailed running and swimming for weeks. Holly d...

Holly, Laura, Maggie, and Logan open Average Age Groupers by restating the show’s mission to share non-elite endurance athlete stories, then dig into why Logan chose endurance sports: after college he quit hockey (which he’d played since age 3), got into road biking, and chased the longest bike race he could, landing in Ironman despite barely being able to swim. Logan recounts racing Milkman 70.3...

In Lake Placid at 9:34 p.m., the Average Age Groupers crew (Laura, Holly, Claire, Logan, Maggie, and Aaron) records an immediate post–Ironman Lake Placid recap after Logan and Maggie finish, while Aaron spectates due to a collarbone fracture and surgery (plate and 10 screws) from a bike crash, transferring to Ironman Wisconsin. They describe race-morning logistics, congestion at the swim start, th...

Holly opens an “Average Age Groupers” episode from Colorado amid headphone and recording issues, then steps aside so Laura hosts Maggie, Aaron, and Boulder-based Logan to discuss training for Ironman Lake Placid in two weeks. They recap deciding on Placid about a year ago after racing Ironman Wisconsin, discuss recent training—including a self-made swim-bike-run day—and compare build challenges af...

He Signed Up for a Half Marathon in 4 Weeks—Then Guided a Blind Athlete Through an Ironman (and Now He’s Training for 100 Miles) Laura, Maggie, Holly, with special guest endurance athlete Kelly' reunite in person on Average Age Groupers to discuss Kelly’s path from saying yes to a half marathon in 2008 with only four weeks to train—despite never running more than two miles—to completing multip...

On the Average Age Groupers podcast, hosts Holly, Laura, Maggie, and Claire share training updates two weeks after Unbound (including TT bike-focused tri training, big rides, and heat rash) before diving into Claire’s endurance journey. Claire recounts growing up playing soccer, switching to cross country and track, working at a run/tri store, and later running multiple half marathons and teaching...

Hosts Maggie, Holly, and Laura welcome guest Tarah on Average Age Groupers to discuss recent endurance events and Tarah’s athletic journey. They recap spectating Lake Mills sprint triathlon in Wisconsin and note an inequity in age-group categories—men had six or seven divisions while women had three decade-spanning groups, affecting results like Claire’s sixth-place finish. Tarah shares starting i...

Holly and Laura record outdoors without Maggie and interview Holly’s husband Aaron about his endurance journey, from farm work and high school cross country, track, and wrestling to a 20-year sports break, then returning via 5Ks and 10Ks sparked by a friend’s challenge. Aaron shares learning to swim from scratch, early sprint triathlons including a rainy Sugar River debut with a 17-minute 400-yard...

In this episode of Average Age Groupers, hosts Holly, Maggie, and Laura debrief the Unbound 200 gravel race just days after finishing, comparing drastically different experiences shaped by relentless, shifting weather (multiple thunderstorms, hail, heavy rain), mud, wind, and technical terrain. Laura and Tarah SAG the riders and describe chaotic conditions at checkpoints, while Holly recounts ridi...

Holly, Maggie, and Laura record together in Emporia, Kansas ahead of the Unbound gravel race, reflecting on how the final weeks went and whether they feel ready. Maggie describes heavy work stress limiting her usual pre-race planning, while Holly shares an anxious “taper crazies” experience, hunger, HR work stress, and ongoing post-car-accident issues; Laura discusses the challenge of SAG support...

Holly, Laura, and Maggie discuss the purpose of Average Age Groupers—sharing everyday endurance-sport stories and perspectives on training, rest, and balance—then dive into their Ironman Wisconsin build and race-day experiences. They describe winter base work indoors, a key 70.3 at Musselman, and how training escalated after mid-July, including nutrition struggles, bike discomfort, and the mental...

Holly and Maggie open the Average Age Groupers podcast with guests Emir and Alyssa. They recap a 140-mile out-and-back ride on the flat C&O Canal path, and share lessons about needing solid food (not just carb drink mix), managing nonstop pedaling, rotating pulls, and recovering enough to ride again the next day. Emir explains his role in a corporate-owned Trek location, how he got into cyclin...

Laura, Holly, and Maggie introduce Average Age Groupers, explain they’re part of Waterfall Racing, and share details about their local community team, Forward Endurance Club (formerly Forward Tri Club), built around uncoached group workouts and post-training coffee and tacos. They then dive into Holly’s background: early track, years running a horse training business, returning to running after bu...

Holly, Maggie, and Laura open the “Average Age Groupers” episode with Maggie drinking wine at a winery while Holly tries to recover from a concussion and Laura jokes she’s only starting 70.3 training after Unbound. They discuss being four weeks out from Unbound and compare training approaches: Maggie blends the Unbound/Garmin plan with triathlon training, while Holly works with coach Ann Tully, wh...

In episode five of Average Age Groupers, Holly, Laura, and Maggie recap weekend gravel riding amid wild Wisconsin spring weather and apologize for episode four’s technical issues. Holly describes tackling the Dairy Roubaix gravel event while recovering from a concussion after a car accident, pivoting from the planned 111-mile route to the 70-mile option due to cold, intense wind, fear on technical...