Feisty Triathlon

This week we're replaying an episode with Feisty's resident sports psychologist Dr. Erin Ayala, who joins the pod to answer all of our questions about mental performance, mental training, and tips for dealing with the mental stress of the world right now. First, the team tackles the latest news and the question: How do we keep the booming 20- to 29-year-old age group in the sport? Then: What menta...

To continue our theme of giving you coaching advice for your own racing, we sit down with renowned strength and mobility coach Erin Carson to talk about how strength training and mobility should support your triathlon performance, not hurt it! And first she helps us dissect the news around heat race cancellations, why she loved being on the ground at Ironman Texas, and her predictions for Challeng...

Kelly brings listener questions to two expert Feisty coaches, with different types of athletes and perspectives: Katie Zaferes and her Auxo Collective development squad, and Alison Freeman, a Level III USAT coach and co-owner of NYX Endurance. They bring their expertise and answers to a wide range of listener questions: How to choose the right coach — and when to leave your coach What data and met...

First, Joanne and Kelly recap this week's races — including a voicemail from Lydia Russell after her podium finish at the N. American 70.3 champs in Happy Valley. And then we hear from the young Daisy Davies after her Ironman S. Africa win earlier year. Daisy's only done two full-distance races and won both of them. What else can we expect from her? Why she moved from the short-course British syst...

Two-time Ironman champ and current Feisty CEO Sara Gross joins the squad this week to talk about the epic results and how she's now trying new things at gymnastics and CrossFit. And she wants to know: Is it normal for the pro women to all run sub-three-hour Ironman marathons now? What has led us to this point of massive speed and depth in the women's field? The epic race in Ironman Hamburg: Solvei...

In this bonus episode, Selene welcomes longtime friend, cyclist, and women’s sports powerhouse Kate Veronneau to the show for a preview of the first-ever FeistyFest in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. For Kate, the location is personal. The Valley Preferred Cycling Center is where she first fell in love with bike racing, found her cycling community, and eventually launched a career in the sport. S...

With all the pro athletes busy at races (!), Kelly, Joanne, and Katie dive into the latest results and dissect the drama of the week. Then it's time for a speed round: watch or no watch in the pool, socks or no socks in transition, mass start or time trial? They cover: Mud and triathletes at Unbound — and if they'd do it What exactly happened at the WTCS Alghero finish line, and Katie gives us her...

Fresh off her wins at Gulf Coast 70.3 and Chattanooga 70.3 — just one week apart! — Grace Alexander joins the show to tell us how she went from a 1:59 half-marathon to being a professional triathlete. But first, the news of the week: a hot day at T100 Spain (Are the dramatic finish line collapses over-dramatic? The squad says no.), Lucy Charles-Barclay is back, and could we see the first sub-8 at...

The one-and-only Jess Learmonth, Olympic relay gold medalist, joins Katie & Kelly this week for an unfiltered catch-up on all things triathlon. Jess and Katie argue about why short-course racing was more exciting "back in their day" They dissect the latest races at WTCS Yokohama & the IM Pro Series in Aix-en-Provence And preview the T100 Spain this weekend: Will Georgia Taylor-Brown win? H...

Joanne is back! And tells us her favorite place to train in the whole world... Then we have a special cross-over episode with our new Feisty running podcast, Another Mother Runner . Kelly joined the AMR team to talk about how runners can get started in triathlon — and she answers all the most common questions: Breaking down the different distances and picking races How to learn to swim as an adult...

This week the Feisty team is joined by the 2026 USAT Collegiate Club national champions Kasey Madsen and Maya Reilly — who each won the non-drafting Olympic distance and the draft-legal sprint distance, respectively. As they celebrate graduation this weekend, they also tell us all about college clubs and what got them into triathlon. Why club nationals is the best race ever How the college club sc...

Straight off the first WTCS race of the year in Uzbekistan (and still jet-lagged!), Olympian Kirsten Kasper comes on the show to tell us all about what goes down in the pack and how she got her start being recruited to tri out of college. How the inaugural WTCS Samarkand played out Balancing draft-legal race — and the constant points chase! — with trying to get a T100 ranking and wildcard Coming b...

Fresh off a dominant stretch of early season racing—including wins at Oceanside 70.3 and the T100 Gold Coast, plus a runner-up record-setting finish at Ironman Texas—Taylor Knibb joins the Feisty crew to catch her breath and share what's ahead and how she's having fun. (And, no surprise, it's a lot.) She dives into: Her race at Ironman Texas and why her mentality was different Running a breakthrou...

This week 3x para-tri world champ, 3x Paralympian, and Guinness world record holder Melissa Stockwell comes on the show to give us all a pep talk — and makes us feel like we could fit more into our days! Melissa has been *busy* since she announced her official retirement, but she also looks back and shares her story with us: How gratitude and optimism got her from waking up in a Baghdad Army hospi...

Super runner Tamara Jewett joins the show this week to update us on her new life in California (and the shark-related messages she sends Kelly). And then she dives into the latest triathlon debates: Why she's not concerned about gate-keeping professional triathlon and if you've qualified for a pro license then you deserve to be there as much as anyone. She talks to us about: Why the body image exp...

This week, Feisty editor Carrie steps in to host the podcast while our fearless leader Kelly is away. Katie recaps a jam-packed weekend of racing in Gulfport, Mississippi - sharing her athletes’ results along with her own coaching takeaways from both the America’s Cup and the Collegiate Club Championships. We’re also joined by Natasha Van Der Merwe, founder and CEO of NVDM Coaching, who brings her...

The gang is back together! Joanne joins us still from S. Africa, after commentating the epic Cape Epic eight-day mountain bike stage race. Katie is packing up to take her squad to the America's Cup that's totally full (Gwen's racing!) and combined with the U.S. Collegiate Club Nationals. What's the difference between college club and NCAA? Glad you asked. And Kelly ran the big trail pro race that...

With Joanne out, commentating the epic Cape Epic mountain bike race, the one and only Flora Duffy joins us on the podcast this week. She gives us her take on the canceled swim at Dallas 70.3 — and, no, we don't have solutions. Plus, what we think about the split women's and men's racing in the T100, with the first women's T100 race of the season this weekend on the Gold Coast. And how she was so c...

Joanne and Katie are out, so we have a special guest this week: the first female Black pro triathlete, Sika Henry, joins Kelly to talk about life, triathlon, and everything. Why was it so important to her that she spent a decade chasing the goal of becoming a pro? And what happens after you achieve all of your dreams? Sika and Kelly talk about why diversity isn't *just* an issue of expense. And, S...

If you tuned in last week, you heard our chat with pro triathlete Lizzie Rayner cut short when anti-doping officials knocked on her door mid-recording. So this week we’re back for Take Two. Lizzie joins the squad to share all the details of her anti-doping. Then, they dive into the start of the Ironman Pro Series season, and hear about her journey from a teenager inspired by London 2012 to 8th pla...

Lizzie Rayner (briefly) joins the podcast — before anti-doping knocks on her door... We then get nearly all our questions answered about what it's like for the athlete when anti-doping shows up: How long does it take to pee? Do they actually watch you? Do you get to know your testers over tea? Then we get caught up on Joanne's upcoming South Africa Cape Epic adventure. Katie explains the new Super...

An 11-time Ironman champion and 23-time Ironman 70.3 champ, Meredith Kessler crossed her final pro finish line at Ironman Arizona this past fall. She reflects back with us on her career and what she hoped her kids learned from her racing. Why did she do all her training inside? What was it like going all-in working four jobs, and deciding to leave corporate America to travel the world as a pro tri...

Special guest 6x Ironman world champion Mark Allen joins the podcast this week to talk about the women who inspired him through his career and why he wanted to launch the Limitless program to get more women into triathlon But first, we have to start by debating the latest triathlon news. Katie & Mark helped kickoff the LA28 Olympic cycle What could make the difference for U.S. triathletes at t...

This week, we have a special interview with Iris Nafshi about her PhD study, which analyzed over 300 moms who also compete in Ironman. She wanted to answer the question: Among those who experience high levels of "mom guilt" how do they complete the training anyway? What does it take? But first, Katie, Kelly, and Joanne discuss the latest triathlon news: the 20-meter draft rule for pros, the new Su...

In this special episode, your Feisty Women's Performance podcast host Dr. Erin Ayala brings together a group of experts on mental health to talk about the science and psychology of stress and collective trauma. Along with being a sports psychologist & therapist in her own right, Erin also lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota — which has been at the center of the news over the last month since it be...