Kaizen Blueprint

Aldo Chandra (00:00)
Corey, how are you? Well, good. Welcome to the show.

Korey Aukerman (00:03)
Good yourself.

Thank you, thank you, thanks for having me on. I'm excited.

Aldo Chandra (00:10)
Awesome. The first thing we want to get out the way because this is all we're going to talk about maybe more is triathlon. So as someone who competed in Ironman and, you know, a world championship, the whole nine yards, what the hell is a triathlon?

Korey Aukerman (00:32)
Well, I love this question because I feel like I've talked to quite a few friends about this where they're just, you know, talking to coworkers, people who aren't in the sport and they're like, you did a triathlon this weekend. That's a that's, you know, you just ran like a 5k, right? And so a lot of people are definitely confused about the sport. But to put it simply, a triathlon is where you swim, you bike and you run. And it is in that order.

Aldo Chandra (00:49)
Hahaha!

Korey Aukerman (01:02)
There are kind of four distances within the sport. You have the sprint distance, which is the shortest Olympic half iron distance and then full distance. And so, like I said, sprints the shortest and then it goes all the way up to that full iron distance. I won't dive too deep into the distances. I mean, we can if you want.

Aldo Chandra (01:16)
Mm -hmm.

Gotcha.

Hahaha!

Korey Aukerman (01:30)
but a lot of times it can vary just because you're playing with nature here. If you're swimming like I did this weekend in the Cumberland River in Nashville, you might only, possibly could only use part of that river. And then from there, you have to dodge the city and have road closures and things like that. But to kind of put it in perspective, the Olympic distance,

called that because it's also, you know, they do this at the Olympics and that is a 1500 meter swim, roughly a mile. It is a 40 K bike, which is about 25 miles. And then it is a 10 K run, which is 6 .2 miles. And like I said, sprints about half of that half iron is.

kind of double that roughly and then full iron is double that.

Aldo Chandra (02:27)
Hahaha.

Now, when doing a triathlon race, do you recommend someone to start off like right in the beginning like that sprint or do you just be like, screw it. I'll just go full Ironman. What would you recommend?

Korey Aukerman (02:49)
I mean, it really depends on the person. I did when I did my one and only full iron distance in Maryland, that was in twenty twenty two, the guy right behind me, it was his first ever triathlon. And I mean, I was blown away because to talk about that distance. So we can let the people know.

Aldo Chandra (03:07)
Wow.

Korey Aukerman (03:16)
The full iron distance is a 2 .4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and then a marathon, which is 26 .2 miles. So the fact that the guy right behind me, yeah, yeah, exactly. And the guy right behind me, he's never done a triathlon before. I thought that was very ballsy, but some people love that. Some people have that confidence. They have that ability to just show up on race day.

Aldo Chandra (03:26)
Right. That's long.

Hahaha

Korey Aukerman (03:46)
even if they haven't truly practiced exactly what a triathlon is. But for the average person, I recommend starting with that sprint or potentially that Olympic distance. But it really all comes down to what training and what background you have. If you haven't been training for this race, then you want to start on the lower end there with a shorter distance. But.

Aldo Chandra (04:04)
Got it.

haha

Got it.

Korey Aukerman (04:14)
I think it all depends on the person. So yeah.

Aldo Chandra (04:18)
Yeah, well, triathlon, at least the longer distance, and it seems like majority of it is cycling. And I think like someone for me, like my side, I come from the running background and you know, you did a marathon. It's like, okay, what's next? You could do an ultra or maybe you could try something, something different. However, Corey, you come from a swimming background, 20 years experience in a...

in a swimming and obviously you're like a fish at this point, but tell us more about like why, even though swimming is the shortest, right? Shortest distance in any of the triathlon races, how did you transition into, you know, making yourself suffer a little bit more with the bike and the run?

Korey Aukerman (05:06)
Yeah, I mean, so I grew up competitively swimming. I did that all throughout from when I was six years old up until the end of high school. At that point, I was burnt out, so I wasn't going to go into college swimming. Had some fun in college, obviously got my degree as well. And then I don't know why, but I always thought a full Ironman was impossible.

I even like talk to people about who have done a full iron man. And I was like, okay, yeah, you say you've done it, but like, actually, how do you run a marathon after biking 112 miles? And they're like, consistent training, consistent training. I'm like, okay, yeah, sure. and so after, after college, you know, I, worked in the corporate world and.

Aldo Chandra (05:53)
Hahaha!

Korey Aukerman (06:05)
Like that was my main focus. My main focus was how can I perform the best within my career, work my way up the corporate ladder. And that was fairly fulfilling at the time. I enjoyed that. I liked really pushing myself, working with the people that I did. But it got to a point where I was like, I kind of want to challenge myself outside of just my professional career.

And that's when during COVID, I was talking to one of my buddies and we were talking similar to this, where it was like, an Iron Man's impossible. It's like, what's going on? How do people do that? And so we just made a promise to each other that we would do a full Iron Man in the next couple of years. So, like I say, I know I started doing a little bit of running.

I joined T3, which is a multi -sport club in Philadelphia. Made some incredible friends there and it just kind of kind of snowballed after that. So to really answer your question, I stopped swimming after high school and really didn't start swimming again until I started training for triathlon.

Aldo Chandra (07:23)
Got it.

Korey Aukerman (07:25)
And that was just cause I'm not in love with the swimming portion, just because I've been staring at that black line, the bottom of the pool for all my damn life. so I felt like this was just another way to challenge myself. and a good, you know, just, just, yeah, a fun challenge that has a little bit of the swimming background that I excel at, but has things that I have no clue about, like honestly, biking,

that same year, May of 2022. So I did Maryland Ironman at the, it was September of 2022. In May was the first time I ever biked more than 20 miles. And then what was that?

Aldo Chandra (08:12)
So you did two, so you made that promise or some sort of pact with that friend in 2020, and then you did your full Iron Man, Iron Man Maryland in 2022.

Korey Aukerman (08:28)
Yep. And then,

Aldo Chandra (08:29)
And then when was the Iron Man? Maryland.

Korey Aukerman (08:35)
That was September, 2022.

Aldo Chandra (08:38)
September 2022, but you didn't do more than 20 miles in that May of 2022? If I could get that math right, it's like from May till September, you must have biked 500 miles a week for you to prepare for that race.

Korey Aukerman (08:46)
Exactly.

Yeah. So it's what's wild as people say that, but it's, it's just about consistency. Like if you're trying to train for that full distance, it's possible to do that without biking a lot. Like when I say a lot, I mean, just like one big distance in one big session. it's more of, okay, how can I.

Aldo Chandra (09:04)
Mmm.

haha

Korey Aukerman (09:23)
you know, bike an hour on Tuesday, an hour on Thursday, and maybe two hours on Saturday. And I need to do that week in, week out until that race comes. Because over time, your body is just going to keep adapting and growing to that. So.

Aldo Chandra (09:42)
But if you're doing an hour, and I think on average, at least the full Ironman, because we're talking about Ironman Maryland, I'm assuming that's the full Ironman, right?

Korey Aukerman (09:51)
It is, yes.

Aldo Chandra (09:52)
Right. And it's, it's 112 miles. and that takes roughly between, you know, depending how fast you are, you could finish in three hours, maybe less if you're like, you know, the top, top of the top of the league, but then it caught, I mean, it's more what four or five hours maybe for an average person that's training consistently. how do you prepare your body? Yeah, that's, that's where I'm getting at. It's like, if you're doing an hour.

Korey Aukerman (10:15)
it's.

Aldo Chandra (10:22)
every day or maybe like a couple of times a week for a triathlon races. It's like it's because some people are afraid they're like, I got to do an hour. That's a long time. And I think on average, that's like, you know, 15 to 20 miles if you're biking on a relatively good pace. But then you're doing two, three times that during a race, maybe even five times that during a race. How do you kind of change that mindset or?

Like how do you not be intimidated by?

Korey Aukerman (10:57)
honestly, you're going to be intimidated at the start. And that's, that's part of the fun of it is you're like, for me, I was like, holy shit, this is impossible. I was like, I actually don't think I could do this. And that's what was so enticing about it is that like, okay, well, let's just start training.

Aldo Chandra (11:02)
Hahaha!

Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (11:26)
Let's just start by signing up. We'll sign up in 2021. So I have a full year to get after this and try to make it to that start line. That's goal number one is just starting. And so that's, that's really what I recommend for people is when you're getting into the sport is signing up for a race because then that gives you.

Aldo Chandra (11:30)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (11:55)
a goal. It gives you a certain date that you have to try to make it to that start line healthy. So for me, the first thing I did when I got into the sport might've been dumb, but I signed up for an Ironman. I said, okay, I think I signed up. It was like end of September cause yeah, cause usually they release the

Aldo Chandra (12:11)
Ha ha!

Gotta be 2021. Yeah.

Korey Aukerman (12:24)
the following signups, like right the day after the following year. so like end of September, I signed up or end of September of 2021. I signed up for the September full iron man, Maryland race in 2022. and so I was like, well, I just spent the money. I at least got a now start training.

Aldo Chandra (12:47)
hahaha

Korey Aukerman (12:52)
This is going to be a goal of mine now and let's just start with a couple miles a week. You know, a couple miles running, you know, maybe swimming once or twice, you know, a bike here and there, just going out and doing it. You don't have to have structured workouts. You don't have to have goals week in and week out of, I need to do 10 hours of biking and five hours of running and six swim sessions.

Aldo Chandra (13:09)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (13:22)
No, it's just, okay, each day of the week, try to do something that will better you for that race in the future. And that's how that builds that foundation. Yeah.

Aldo Chandra (13:32)
Yeah, and you're training for a year. Yeah, you're training for a year. So I think this is the common misconception or not misconception, but more like the fear, right? People are looking at Ironman. It's like, no, it's like, that's so scary. But then you know what they say is like 50 % of everything is that you just showing up. I think that signing up is that showing up aspect. And these tickets aren't cheap. I remember when I did the half Ironman, it was...

It was like close to $400 for and it was like an Ironman, you know, sponsored type type of race. So it was like real. And, you know, once you drop $400 on a race, because typically a marathon is what? 100, maybe 150, depending where you are, right? Roughly. But if you're dropping, you know, almost half a grand on just tickets itself, you better be there and show up and, you know.

pull your heart out and start training. So these new tickets are not cheap.

Korey Aukerman (14:34)
No, no. And that was the thing is I was like, I prolonged signing up for a year, really, because I made that promise in 2020. And when I signed up, it's the full Ironman is really depends on when you sign up, but anywhere from 700 to $900. And so I put my credit card number in and

Aldo Chandra (14:37)
Hehehehe

Ha ha!

Korey Aukerman (15:01)
clicked register. And so at that point, yeah, you like for me, and I'm more of a frugal individual, I like to take frugality into the sport as well, to make it a little more affordable for myself and the people that coach. But so for me, when I spent that money, I was like, shit. I was like, one, wow, I just spent a lot of money to I have to do this.

Aldo Chandra (15:22)
Ha ha ha ha ha

Yeah. Yeah.

Korey Aukerman (15:30)
Like not only is it a goal for me to push myself and better myself, but now it's a goal for my wallet because it's empty.

Aldo Chandra (15:38)
I'm starting out doing a triathlon. That's let's have a sprint or Olympic. Like these are shorter distances. Triathlon. It's like, okay, I signed up.

Got the ticket, already know what the end date is or the race date is. What do I do now? What's next? Do I go to a swimming pool or do I, obviously, depending on what type of background, but assume like I don't have any athletic backgrounds. Like I'm just a regular Joe Schmo or, I was just like, okay, me and my friend just made a pack. Like what are some tips? What are some first things that you need to do?

Korey Aukerman (16:39)
that's just such a loaded question. And that's why I love this sport is there's so many like intricacies. You can simplify it entirely, but you can really get in the weeds about this. So I'll just kind of simplify it a little bit. And if you want to talk about more on how you can like take it to the next level, we can definitely talk about that. But so once you click register on that really.

Step one is finding a bike. Now, that can be kind of attacked in a couple different ways. Like I said, I like to try to educate people in a way that they can get into the sport as cheaply as possible. So one option is, you know, you could rent a bike or borrow a bike from a friend just for that race. And when you're doing the training,

Aldo Chandra (17:12)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (17:38)
You can train at your local gym on a stationary bike. I would say that is probably the cheapest option. There's so many awesome people within the sport that they're probably more than willing to let you borrow their bike. Honestly, they probably have more than one bike, so they might not even use that bike. So they could sell to you for dirt cheap. So, you know, that's that's kind of step one because.

Aldo Chandra (17:41)
No.

Hahaha!

Korey Aukerman (18:07)
Like we talked about earlier, one part of the triathlon is biking. So you need a bike for that. You know, obviously running shoes are important and, you know, swim goggles and things like that. So getting those smaller items to at least do the training, you can be as basic as possible with your running shoes and just get a pair of trainers from your local running shop.

Aldo Chandra (18:12)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (18:35)
eBay shockingly has like some deals where they're like showroom displays that they'll sell for cheaper with like almost no miles on it. You can get goggles very cheap on Amazon. Also within the triathlon community, there's people that are probably willing to give you goggles as well. I mean, I have quite a few pairs that I've just gifted to some of my friends. So.

Aldo Chandra (18:43)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (19:05)
It's getting kind of those, you know, those basic items. It's a, it's goggles. It's a bike. It's running shoes. and then from there, it's starting the training. So like I said earlier, it's, you know, just trying to do one thing a day that will better you for that race. So trying, you know, maybe on Monday.

Aldo Chandra (19:12)
Bye. Yep.

Mm.

Hmm.

Korey Aukerman (19:34)
Swim for a little bit. On Tuesday, bike for a little bit. On Wednesday, run for a little bit and try doing that. There is obviously quite a lot of science behind training. So if we're gonna take it to that next level, there's plenty of resources online where you can get free training plans. So you can...

Aldo Chandra (19:36)
Mmm.

Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (20:04)
kind of kind of go that route doing just some standard Googling and and reading some articles and finding some free training plans. You can also purchase a training plan that's a little more tailored to you or you can get a private coach which is what I do and that is going to be the most customized and personalized to that athlete where we're going to look at.

Okay, week in and week out, how are you feeling with your training? Are you really tired? Are you over training? Are you under training? Can we push a little bit harder in this workout? Okay, do you want to do interval work or do we want to just do easy riding or easy cycling? When do I do running? And then when do I do biking within the week? Can I do that back to back days, even though my legs are tired?

Aldo Chandra (20:38)
Gotcha.

Korey Aukerman (21:03)
So that is kind of the ideal, you know, the, just the ideal situation. And honestly, it makes it the easiest for the athlete because they don't have to think about the science and, and breaking out what they have to do. They just have to go out and do it. But it is the easiest, but it's also usually the most expensive.

Aldo Chandra (21:23)
got it.

Got it. Well, before we dive into the coaching, I know you're a coach and then we'll dive deep about that towards the end. But going back into the bike, right? Like what type of bike do I need? Is it, I don't know, is it like a road bike or is it a gravel? Can it be a mountain bike? Can it be a BMX bike? Like what type of bike does it, or does sizing matter?

Korey Aukerman (21:58)
Yes, sizing is very important. So ideally, you know, you want a road bike or something that's called a triathlon bike. It's not mandatory. It does make it a little bit easier because they're faster. You know, a road bike is meant to go fast on the road, which is what most triathlons are. They're on paved surfaces.

Aldo Chandra (22:14)
Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (22:27)
but I've seen people to triathlons on fat tire bikes, on mountain bikes, on beach cruisers, you name it. So it, that's where it's like the entry level into the sport. You just need a bike. as far as sizing, you know, it's pretty important to have a bike that, that, has the correct frame size, but you can kind of play around with that.

by adjusting seat height and some other aspects within the bike. So, you know, you can even get professional bike fits that fits you perfectly to a bike. That's like another level within it. But for someone just getting into the sport, you know, there's plenty of resources online. You can go to your local bike shop and they can just measure your inseam and say, okay, you're a medium sized bike frame. And then you can, you know, talk to some friends and.

Aldo Chandra (22:59)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (23:27)
see if they have a medium and use theirs. And then you can adjust the seat height to fit you personally.

Aldo Chandra (23:35)
Yeah. And I think, I think when I first starting out, you know, I was intimidated. I was looking at bikes and especially at races, these are, it's like, you know, you're driving a Toyota Corolla and people were driving like Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Like they're there when I was at the race there, cause I knew a little bit about the bike, like especially like these, these tires and you know, how much they cost. And sometimes.

Korey Aukerman (23:52)
Yeah.

Aldo Chandra (24:03)
You're looking at the bike. It's it's more expensive than a car that they're driving. It's it's absurd. So and I remember when I first first bought my bike, it was it was a Cervelo. It was like 10, 15 years old Cervelo that bought on Craigslist. And for people's list of really it's like one of the prominent bike companies in the sport. And a lot of like major triathletes uses them. But.

Korey Aukerman (24:09)
Yeah.

Aldo Chandra (24:28)
I bought mines from Craigslist and it was the most expensive thing that I bought at that time. It was like 1600, but it was old. All I searched up was carbon frame bike. That's it. I knew that I wanted to be light and I was looking at aluminum and steel. I was like, no, that sounds heavy. I can't even carry it in my car, things like that. So.

Korey Aukerman (24:44)
Love it.

Aldo Chandra (24:56)
I think for people who's just starting out, you know, get a cheap, maybe a lighter bike or you could even rent. And I think for a little bit more intermediate and advanced, you know, bike fits is a good investment. What do you think, Corey?

Korey Aukerman (25:13)
Yeah, I mean, I love how you searched carbon bike frame because that is just such a hot, hot topic for everyone. You know, people love the word carbon. People love carbon with, you know, within a bunch of different sports because it is the lightest, technology that we have right now. I mean, what I recommend is yeah, utilizing Craigslist and Facebook marketplace.

Aldo Chandra (25:26)
Hahaha

Korey Aukerman (25:41)
And just finding, you know, a road bike that, you know, is that correct, frame size to you. and then just starting off with that. so you can also go to your local bike shop. They're probably going to be a little bit more expensive because they mostly sell just new bikes, but there's a lot of benefits behind that. One, your support and local business, to,

It's a brand new bike, so you know it's in good condition. Also three, you have a bike shop that is backing the performance of that bike. You know, if something goes wrong, you can call them up and they're most likely going to fix it. A lot of times free of charge if you buy a new bike from them rather than you buy some off Facebook Marketplace. And, you know, you might not know what you're getting, but there are some great people out there.

Aldo Chandra (26:19)
Mmm.

wow.

Korey Aukerman (26:40)
You know, there's like cycling declassified and, there's another Facebook group blanking on it. and it's just like selling triathlon and cycling gear. a lot of these people are knowledgeable and can teach you as, as you're working through that. But yeah, I mean, just like a, pretty standard road bike, something that's within your budget. Like it's very challenging.

I'm like trying to generalize and make people feel comfortable with getting into the sport, but it really all depends on that person. You know, if your budget's a thousand dollars versus someone's who's 500 versus someone who has infinity money, you're going to kind of approach this a little bit differently. But what I did, I just had my great uncle's 1987 Trek.

Aldo Chandra (27:10)
Yeah. Yep.

Korey Aukerman (27:38)
1200 it was state -of -the -art back in 1987 Yeah, and that's what I started training on so I gotta admit I have no idea if that frame is the right size for me Still don't know to this day because I just use it as like a city cruiser now but I just use that to train, you know and What's great about this sport is you can continuously learn?

Aldo Chandra (27:39)
Woo! Back then.

Korey Aukerman (28:08)
and learn new things. I am on a weekly basis. and so, you know, you can get that bike and be like, okay, well now I want to learn what seat height should I put it at? And so you get to play around with that. you know, this is what, you know, based on my inseam, people recommend for that seat height, but you know,

Aldo Chandra (28:21)
Mm. Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (28:32)
Everyone's a little bit different. So I like it a little bit shorter a little bit taller or something like that. So that's what kind of makes it fun. I know it can be a little overwhelming at first, but You know just finding something that's within your budget You don't have to go carbon you don't have to have the nicest wheels or things like that Just something that gets you into the sport. I think is what's important. I mean you don't know

Aldo Chandra (28:37)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Korey Aukerman (29:01)
Especially once you sign up for that race and you're just getting into it. You know, you might do that first race and you're like, this is this is not really for me. So I'd hate for someone to spend thousands and thousands of dollars and then realize they're not loved the sport. And then that affects them being able to follow a different passion that they truly love. So I like to start out small.

Aldo Chandra (29:10)
Yep, yep.

Yeah.

Korey Aukerman (29:29)
You know, just get the basics. Do your first race and see how you like it. and then go from there. You know, I, like I said, started out with a 1987 bike. and now I don't want to tell you how much shit I have.

Aldo Chandra (29:44)
Well, yeah, I think I think a lot of people when they got into the sport, I mean, triathlon itself is not a cheap sport, right? But you can make it cheap, cheap as possible and make it as expensive as possible. I think when first starting out, don't I this go for any sport, not just triathlon. Like, don't get the state of the art stuff. Don't get the most expensive stuff. I think you've got to be.

you know, starting out from the bottom, like just try things out. You're learning things on the way. Because once you start spending more like you kind of feel that luxury and you don't get like the true, you know, the true thing about triathlon that is just swimming, biking and running. That's it. It's like you don't need all the extra stuff. Even I think David Goggins, right, when he did his first ever like

triathlon, like he had a bike that was completely run down. It was broken. The wheels flat tires the whole nine yards, but he still, he still kept on going. Now, then again, not everyone is David Goggins, but like, you know, you don't really need that, that expensive gear. And I think, and so we'll, we'll end the bike there. We'll just finish off the bike and let's, let's move on into the swimming aspect. What if I'm in the city and.

Korey Aukerman (30:52)
Hehehehe

Aldo Chandra (31:10)
like I don't know how to swim. Like where do I start? Like a lot of, I think like Americans in my opinion, my own experience, like when I ask most of my friends, I might be biased towards my friends, like they don't know how to swim. So sometimes people like you Corey doesn't, you know, doesn't come, well, you came from a swimming background, but most people doesn't come from a swimming background. It's like, what would you recommend for them to do? I think the first thing is like,

understand what a freestyle swimming is because the majority of triathletes or people in triathlons do, right?

Korey Aukerman (31:48)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah. so there's four strokes within swimming really. freestyle is the fastest, but what is a, you know, we talked about earlier misconceptions. freestyle is actually not really a stroke. it is within the swimming world. Freestyle is you can do whatever the hell you want. You know, so if you see the a hundred freestyle, yeah, exactly.

Aldo Chandra (32:09)
Mmm.

Hence the name.

Korey Aukerman (32:20)
You're free. You're free to do whatever. So I think it's technically like the front crawl is what a traditional freestyle looks like. And so that is, you know, just like one arm at a time. You're taking strokes like this. And that is the fastest. That is the most efficient. So, you know,

Aldo Chandra (32:32)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (32:49)
If you're getting starting, if you're starting out with swimming, the first step is obviously to find a pool. Philly, if we're talking specifically Philadelphia, it is phenomenal. How many public pools Philly has? I think they have the most in the US. There's like there's like one in every neighborhood. It's insane. So if you live in a bigger city, a lot of times there will be public pools that you get.

Aldo Chandra (32:56)
Hmm.

wow.

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (33:18)
in the summer you can go to for free. Most other, you know, most cities also have a YMCA that have a fairly cheap membership cost. Almost all YMCA's have a pool. They also are such a great organization where they'll take like almost any insurance that will pay for.

membership there. They can also do financial aid and things like that. So the YMCA is such a great way to get into swimming because of that aspect. You know, you obviously have a lot of other private gyms that have pools and things like that. So there's a couple different routes you can take there. I belong to the YMCA mostly because one, it's fairly cheap. Two,

Aldo Chandra (33:47)
Mmm.

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (34:14)
If you are a YMCA member, at least in Philadelphia, you can go to any Y, not any, most Y's who are part of the nationwide program in the U S and even more. I've actually been to Y up in Canada. So with me traveling so much, it's just a, you know, just great because I can look up, okay, YMCA say I'm down in Columbia, South Carolina while they have one in.

Aldo Chandra (34:22)
Mm.

wow.

Korey Aukerman (34:43)
West Columbia and one in downtown. And then boom, I can go there, scan my same code that I have up in Philly. And next thing you know, I'm swimming. So.

Aldo Chandra (34:54)
Yeah, yeah. And I think I tell this people all the time and it's funny because people don't really know the terms and conditions or even the benefits of their health insurance. So I have Independence Blue Cross. And one of the benefits with that is there's this thing called Active and Fit Direct, which is a website. You can look it up or fitness your way where you pay, I think it's like twenty nine to like

$40 depending on they do tiers now back then it was just a one -time fee of $29 a month and you have access to most of franchise gym nationwide so outside of the YMCA maybe like a not lifetime finish anytime fitness might have a Might have a pool or LA fitness might have a pool as well and you could utilize those and even

using YMCA, like they have a couple of YMCA's at least where I go, it's like the Ridley Creek YMCA, like that was included in that insurance. And you just pay one price. I mean, as opposed to going different gyms and stuff and you're like, yeah, these are expensive and might be that gym. So you might have reduced price, but obviously, you know, people don't really look at their health insurance policies that much, but it's worth to note that.

there are a lot of benefits and they want you to be healthy, right? They don't want you to be in a hospital and they're spending, you know, thousands, hundreds of thousand dollars on your medical bills, but they want you to be healthy. They want you to, you know, maintain your body so they don't have to spend money. So it's a win -win scenario. So yeah, I think with the swimming aspect, you could, you know, look, look at a lot of opportunities. And even if you're in college and maybe you want to start on triathlon, look at your...

college gym and see if they have a pool. I mean, Drexel, you know, we're based out of Philly. Corey and I, Drexel have, if you go to Drexel, their gym is phenomenal. Like, holy hell. Like even, you know, athletes trained there sometimes. So it's take advantage of everything that you have or even ask, you know, your local networks of triathlon or even Facebook groups to see if there's any available pools around. So.

Korey Aukerman (36:58)
Okay.

Aldo Chandra (37:13)
There's definitely a lot of resources.

Korey Aukerman (37:14)
Yeah, I mean, there are there are it's almost too many. It's overwhelming. But that's such a good point. I mean, for the for the college folks out there, like almost every college has a rec center with a pool. I have yet to find one. So if you do find one without a pool, please message me and we'll advocate to get them to add. But so, yeah, there's there's.

Aldo Chandra (37:18)
Yeah

Mm -hmm.

You

Korey Aukerman (37:43)
shockingly more pools out there than you know really really you'd think.

Aldo Chandra (37:50)
Got it. And let's put a pin into the swimming aspect. Well, one last thing. It's like, what if I don't know how to swim? We forgot to hit that part. What would you recommend?

Korey Aukerman (38:02)
Yeah. what I would recommend, is doing a couple of swim lessons. they're fairly cheap. I mean, you're talking anywhere from $40 to $70 for a half hour lesson. and that's a one -on -one lesson. If you go in group lessons, it's a, a little cheaper. and you know, they'll work with you to, to, to get your honestly, just to be able to swim.

Aldo Chandra (38:10)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (38:32)
you know, and then what you can do is maybe do that once a week and then also practice another time a week to practice what they're, what they're telling you. And I know for a fact, the YMCA is they all offer swim lessons. I know Drexel offers from lessons and so a lot of the colleges do as well. and then, you know, you obviously have private swim coaches and.

I'm triathlon coaches like myself that offer swim lessons too. So, I do recommend a swim lesson, you know, because like we just said, there's a lot of resources out there, on kind of how to, how to learn how to swim like on YouTube and things like that. And I do still recommend looking at that, but not all of them, can be very reliable. And you know, it's, it's better to have someone there with you in the pool.

To one, make sure you're safe. I mean, nine times out of 10, there's a lifeguard there. But also, you know, they're there to personalize it to you. Also try to communicate it in a way that you're gonna understand rather than someone on YouTube that's trying to communicate it to the general public. Still great resources. I still utilize YouTube to try to find those, you know, different drills that I might be missing out on, just ways that I can kind of...

Aldo Chandra (39:33)
Yep.

Hmm.

Korey Aukerman (40:00)
grow a little bit as a coach and also as an athlete. But you're going to find such a life changing and quick kind of process to be able to swim through some lessons.

Aldo Chandra (40:17)
Yeah, coaching is a huge one. I think we went to the same. We kind of did a swim lessons together that or like a group session with Andrea, I think, right, that the one in downtown. And that was super helpful. I think during a one on one, you know, benefits for having a coach, even though it might be expensive for 30 minutes, but you're 30 minutes in the pool. Like it's nonstop. It's not like there's rest or anything.

and a coach can dictate it's like, okay, maybe you're, you're stroking a different way or, you know, you're putting too much shoulder, it also to avoid injuries and we'll talk about injuries later on, but you know, swimming is, is all about technique. It's not, you don't have to be, you know, the strongest guy in the gym with the most muscle mass, at least, you know, that, that's what I thought when I was in the gym, well, in a YMCA, I was usually in the morning. Like.

I thought like, okay, I'm pretty healthy. I'm young, right? I'm like, I'm going to swim fast. And there's this like 50, 60, 70 year old ladies just like boosting like non - like back and forth non -stop. I'm like struggling. I'm like, this is when I first started swimming. I couldn't go towards the deep end. Like I was at the shallow end. I'll stop when I can't like, you know, put my feet on ground and I can't stop breathe. But.

Yeah, the importance of technique in a swim is such a huge, huge aspect. And like I said, there are these older people that could, they're basically mermaids like, and it doesn't matter what your muscle mass is, doesn't matter, you know, how strong that you're, you're stroking things like that. But if you have a proper technique, you will swim faster. And I think that's the most important thing about getting a coach as well.

Korey Aukerman (42:11)
100%. Like I'm so glad you brought that up. Swimming is is so heavy on technique. I mean, I've been working with one of my buddies. He's one of my athletes and. We've almost taken his swim time per 100 down by 20 seconds just on technique, like not like he's going from two minutes per 100 to 140 per 100.

Aldo Chandra (42:18)
Mm.

That's huge.

Wow.

Korey Aukerman (42:40)
just working on technique. So it's so heavily focused on that. And I do also want to say that learning how to swim when you're older is significantly harder than when you're younger. So I respect everyone who tries to swim when they're older. I mean, it is it. I mean, I'll be at the Y and I'll be talking to some people and they're like, yeah, I just like started to learn how to swim a couple of weeks ago. And I'm just

Aldo Chandra (42:51)
Yeah. Yep.

Korey Aukerman (43:09)
so amazed by them because the guts it takes for you to get in water knowing that you can't really stay afloat and you're going to try to swim and try to get better at that. That is just so impressive and something that I honestly take for granted on a daily basis that there are people that can't swim. So don't when you're trying to learn how to swim, don't

Aldo Chandra (43:31)
Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (43:38)
you know, be all caught up in your head about it. There's a lot of people that don't know how to swim out there. And the fact that you're going out there and trying to do it and trying to learn how to swim and are just trying to be a better swimmer. That's amazing. I mean, it is like, it's like, it's just incredible, honestly.

Aldo Chandra (43:57)
And not only that, I mean, there's a ton of benefits with swimming, especially at an older age when, you know, your joints and your bones might be more, you know, vulnerable to, you know, breaks and things like that. And injuries swimming, you know, you're just in the water, your body heating up. So you're burning calories that way from the cold water, right? And, you know, you're doing these techniques where you're just on the water. You're not like.

you're not like in martial arts when you're like getting punched in a phase or you're doing weightlifting when you're, you know, when you accidentally lift a super heavy weight and you're like, I just twisted something or like swimming is relatively, you know, not, I mean, if you do a proper technique, like you, you don't get injured as much.

Korey Aukerman (44:43)
Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's it's very low impact. Like think about running and just pounding on your knees and your ankles and your hips and things like that. I'm working with this. I don't know. She's probably like seventy five year old lady. Such a such a sweetheart. She's awesome. And so she's like trying to get better at swimming at that age, which is one so great. And two, like, yeah, yeah. And and two, like,

Aldo Chandra (44:51)
Mm -hmm.

Wow.

Korey Aukerman (45:13)
I'm going to be honest, no way she can run. Like she's just at that point where that's just like not possible for her at her age. you know, there are some 75 year olds that can run. I've actually seen them do half ironmans before things like that. but this lady like swims three, four times a week. So it is such a great sport to get into because you can do it for a lifetime.

Aldo Chandra (45:17)
Mmm.

Wow.

Korey Aukerman (45:40)
And it's full body exercise. It's you know, obviously aerobic but also muscular Yeah, so it's it's a great sport I know I'm not like in love with getting in the pool, but I've been quite a few laps in my time frame But it's it's cool. You know, it's it's a really cool sport

Aldo Chandra (45:40)
Got it.

Hahaha.

Got it. Well, one of the benefits in swimming, it's like that swimming body, it's like it's pristine. I think that's a lot of women like swimmers. I had a couple of friends who are girls. I have a girlfriend. So if she's listening, she's not girlfriends, but friends who are girls that when they see like

Korey Aukerman (46:14)
yeah.

I'll advocate for you.

Aldo Chandra (46:28)
swimmer, the Michael Phelps and all those other people, they're like, wow, really great body. You have to knit the shoulders, you have to length, all that. You're slim, you're not so like those weightlifting guys. So outside of your internal body, there's also external benefits into swimming.

Korey Aukerman (46:44)
Mm -hmm.

yeah, look up Caleb Dressel. You could probably type in Caleb Dressel shirtless if you want. That guy, dude, like, I like women, but damn, Caleb Dressel is, he's got a good looking body. And yeah, I mean, you would see anyone at NCAA champs or at the Olympic swimmers and they're just absolutely jacked and so cut like.

Aldo Chandra (47:03)
Hahaha!

man. That's awesome.

Yeah. Yep.

Korey Aukerman (47:23)
12 packs, like, didn't know there was that many abs, like, I'm like, Jesus, maybe I should swim more every time I see that.

Aldo Chandra (47:25)
12 packs, wow.

Another benefit to swimming is eating. I don't know how you are, Cory, but when you did the past 20 years of swimming or just doing a swimming session, you get hungry, man. Super, super hungry. I don't understand. I could eat a whole Thanksgiving meal right now, but then I was like, I know I can't because I'm going to run the next day and I'm going to feel it. But you get really like, even Michael Phelps, he eats 12,

Korey Aukerman (47:47)
my god.

Aldo Chandra (48:02)
times a day or something like that. Like it's, it's astronomical. Do you feel the same way?

Korey Aukerman (48:07)
Yeah, I don't know. 100%. I actually haven't figured out why that occurs. I mean, obviously, you know, if you're swimming as much as Michael Phelps, you're burning so many calories that you need to eat. And that's just going to happen. But that's the same thing with running or runners, cyclists, triathletes, all that. You know, the more calories you burn, the more hungry you're going to get. But for some reason, Aldo, I like I.

Aldo Chandra (48:10)
Hahaha!

Right, right.

Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (48:37)
get out of that pool and I'm like, I want four egg sandwiches. And it's just, I don't know, maybe it's the chlorine, maybe it's just like being horizontal. I don't know what it is, but yeah, I get so hungry after I smoke.

Aldo Chandra (48:55)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I think you provide us a good segue about the older women earlier, but running. What are your thoughts of going outside versus treadmill?

Korey Aukerman (49:10)
Ooh, coming in hot. I, I personally think running outside is far superior. there's benefits of both, but when it comes to, if you're going to do a triathlon or a running race, you're not going to be doing it on a treadmill. So ideally you want to practice what you're going to race at. So.

Aldo Chandra (49:12)
Hahaha.

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (49:39)
You know, you might be running around your neighborhood and there's these slight little inclines or, you know, off camber and things like that that will strengthen certain muscles in your feet and your knees and things like that. That will make you a better runner. And it also will make you better prepared for your race. Also, you get to see shit when you run outside. I mean, it's like and that's what I love about cycling as well. It's like.

Aldo Chandra (49:44)
Mmm.

Hahaha!

Korey Aukerman (50:08)
When you go out there and run, I love going to new cities and running or cycling because you're like that. You see stuff that you would never see if you just stayed inside. so between those two things, I'm a big proponent of, of running outside. but there, you know, if it's a little softer on a treadmill than it is on concrete, asphalt's a little bit softer than concrete, but.

Aldo Chandra (50:12)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (50:37)
But so if you have like a little bit of aches and pains, a treadmill is good. You're also can control kind of the incline. So if you want to do like high incline and hill work, you can do that on a treadmill. Or if you want to do like intervals, things like that, don't have a track. So you can control the environment more. But.

Aldo Chandra (50:47)
Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (51:04)
I mean, just running outside is one, so much fun to gives you a little bit more real life. kind of like just a situation and, yeah.

Aldo Chandra (51:15)
Yeah. What about, what about shin splints? Let's move into the, you know, the elephant in a room because sometimes in, in, in training for, especially in the longer distances, triathlon, like you're running, you know, miles after miles, maybe 20, maybe 30, you know, miles per week. And that could be, like you mentioned, you could have significant injuries. You're in your knees. shin splints is a huge one, right? Maybe a,

An ankle or something like that. What are your thoughts on that?

Korey Aukerman (51:49)
Yeah, so it's, it's kind of funny that you bring that up because past couple, couple of weeks, I've been dealing with a little bit of shin pain, got in my head a little bit. I'm like, I probably have a stress fracture. I'm out for like eight weeks. I'm screwed up on how that whole mindset goes sometimes. But I think it was just a little bit of shins once. So when what usually occur, like what

usually causes shin splints is essentially like if you want to simplify it, it's over training. It's also training on hard pavement too. So the thing with running, it's such a high impact sport that when you are starting out running, take it slow speed wise and to mileage wise. So if you've never run before,

Aldo Chandra (52:26)
Mmm.

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (52:46)
start out by doing maybe a minute running, a minute walking, and just do that for 10 minutes, three times a week for the first week. Then maybe if you can, if you're feeling good, bump it up to 12 minutes and then maybe bump it up to 20 minutes. So you really want to slowly work your way up because if you go from running zero miles to trying to run 20 miles in a week,

You are a hundred percent going to injure yourself. Yeah. So take it slow is tip number one with those running injuries. Just slowly build that volume there. The second thing is, is try to work in not running on hard pavement. So I try to do like off pavement running, like whether it's like gravel or trail running, you know, at least once.

Aldo Chandra (53:17)
I'm going to get... Yep.

Korey Aukerman (53:47)
Like it'd be great if I could do it twice a week. It'd be great if I could do it for every run, honestly. but it's sometimes hard to find that, that, material to run on, but that's just softer. It's less of an impact. Also with trail running is like I mentioned earlier, that off camber, the rocks that you're hitting. So your feet are going to kind of grow and, and become stronger.

Aldo Chandra (53:59)
Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (54:13)
because you're putting them in kind of weird situations. So those are the two biggest recommendations for those running injuries, whether it's shin splints or if you've got some plantar fasciitis or things like that. I'm definitely no physical therapist, so if you're having severe pain, see a physio. But that's a good way, the major two ways to...

Aldo Chandra (54:17)
Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (54:41)
to kind of help that out. There's obviously a lot of third in here is doing some strength training with that as well. So there's quite a lot of different exercises to strengthen the little muscles around the knees, your hips, your feet, things like that. So if you can work in some of that, you know, prehab is what they call it. So strengthening those.

Aldo Chandra (54:48)
Mmm.

Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (55:10)
little tiny muscles before you get injured so you don't get injured. That is, you know, kind of that next step up. That's ideal to add that in. Honestly, I should add that in more. Unfortunately, I sometimes skip those.

Aldo Chandra (55:21)
Yeah. Yeah, I put a lot of emphasis on the physical therapy aspect. I think that is super, super important. I tried when I had shin splints, especially during like when I trained it for a marathon or something like I had shin splints all over and obviously it's because overtrain like I tried many different ways. Is it is it my shoes? Is it my technique or is it?

lack of strength training. Like I even tried acupuncture to see if it works. I tried, you know, rolling, but I think having, you know, some investments towards physical therapy to avoid injury down the line is, it's a really, really great investments because similar to coaching and swimming, right? Nobody knows your body than you do. And the person in the front of you, whether that's a specialized coach or a doctor, like they know what's going on in your body. They could,

Korey Aukerman (55:55)
Thank you.

Aldo Chandra (56:16)
you know, feel it and they know like, okay, maybe you're over -shriding, things like that. I think sometimes getting a running coach with a physical therapy background helps a lot and also helps if they're also like a bike fit. So it's like, you know, one stop shop, maybe that's a business plan for somebody who is listening. Like you have some physical therapy backgrounds, like you could do a bike fit and you could do a running coach at the same time. That's just crazy. But...

That leads me to my next question. What about running shoes? You see the past few years, right? Between Nike when they came out with that new carbon fiber like you could get super super fancy with running shoes and they get pretty expensive. So what are your thoughts on like what are your thoughts on running rotations and what type of shoes to get and how do you know if a certain type of shoe is best for you? Let's start off with running rotations.

Korey Aukerman (56:49)
Mm -hmm.

Aldo Chandra (57:13)
like running shoes rotations. Do you have two, three?

Korey Aukerman (57:18)
so I have one pair of trail shoes, one pair of racing shoes, and then a pair of trainers. So, you know, those trainers, it really kind of depends on the shoe, but you're talking 400, 500 miles. so that's like, I usually switch those out a couple of times a year.

the racing shoe, which is that carbon fiber sole that you were talking about those, unfortunately only about 150 miles for their lifespan. But you're most likely just going to race on those. So those those usually last me a full year, depending on obviously how many races I do. The trail shoes about the same as the trainers.

It all depends on the shoe really. and you know, because I don't do as much trail running, you know, those are lasting me a little bit longer. so yeah, it's like, you shoes are very important. I said, I said what I say for like not getting injured was, slowly increasing your volume. Also, you know, running on softer pavement.

Aldo Chandra (58:34)
No.

Korey Aukerman (58:46)
You mentioned, you know, doing physical therapy and things like that. That's very important. And shoes are also, also very important. I mean, I was in high school, I just randomly said, senior year, I'm going to run track. You know, all these people have been running the entire, their entire high school career.

Aldo Chandra (58:54)
Mm -hmm.

haha

Korey Aukerman (59:12)
And next thing you know I go from running zero miles to try and run in 20 miles on like old -ass shoes like shoes that were just completely destroyed immediately shoes once like immediately I like they were so bad. I couldn't even walk and So like if I slowly ramped up my volume and I had proper shoes. I probably would have been fine

Aldo Chandra (59:18)
Hmm. Yep.

Yup. that's the worst.

Mm -hmm.

Got it. Now, how do you go about figuring out which shoes to get?

Korey Aukerman (59:46)
Go to your local running store. They're the experts on that. So a lot of stores have like a foot pressure measure. I don't think that's the true technical term, but I'm going to call it that. And it'll tell you if you have high arches, where you put a lot of your pressure. It'll show you the exact like length of your feet if one's smaller, shorter than the other.

Aldo Chandra (59:58)
Hmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:00:16)
And they're going to fit you to the best shoe for you. a lot of times also watch you run or watch you walk to see how, how you move throughout that stride to pick the best shoe for you. And, and that's the thing about running shoes. I'm a huge Hoka fan, just because that's what I started out using and they just work for me. like my trail shoes are Hoka, my running, my.

Aldo Chandra (1:00:24)
Mmm.

Okay.

Korey Aukerman (1:00:45)
trainers are Hoka, my race shoes are Hoka. And that's just because they work for me, but they don't work for everyone. You know, each shoe is a little bit different, just like how each person's foot is a little bit different. So, you know, I know friends that run in Brooks or ASICs or Nikes. So there's a lot of different options out there. And I would just really recommend going to a local running shop that they'll walk you through that whole thing.

Aldo Chandra (1:00:47)
Hmm.

Mm.

Yeah, yeah, no, I agree. I have my rotation is sockony. I really like Hoka, but then like sometimes they're it's super, super thick, at least in some of the running shoes. They are super comfortable, but I don't like that much cushion. Sockony is a good kind of like in a middle man between not too thick at the same time. It's good for wide shoes. I tried running in the Nike, but man, they crunch up my toes really tight.

Korey Aukerman (1:01:26)
Yeah, yeah.

Really? Yeah, I've heard that about those.

Aldo Chandra (1:01:45)
Yeah, like you would. Yeah, and I mean, granted, I ran in like the first Alpha fly and it is a cheat code. But if you don't like cut your toenails, sometimes it'll attach to the skin and it gets really ugly down there. So.

Korey Aukerman (1:01:59)
yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. That's a losing toenails is definitely a culprit of not like of shoes that don't properly fit. I got to admit I'm like, I've only lost one toenail and that was because I did 44 miles of running in two days. So, so that's, you know, that's kind of bound to happen to lose a toenail on that, but like, because you know, the hook is fit so well to my feet.

Aldo Chandra (1:02:13)
Hahaha

Whoa!

Korey Aukerman (1:02:38)
And I'm picking the right model too, that's important. The right model that depends on kind of what your goals are with running. You know, I haven't had a whole lot of injuries and haven't lost a ton of toenails.

Aldo Chandra (1:02:56)
there we go. Well, yeah, I highly recommend, I think the shoe company is, if you're based out of Philly, Philly Running Co., right? Yeah, Philly Runner, like go to them and obviously they do all the shoe analysis and your foot analysis for free with the hope of you buying stuff from them. But it's really good that you have someone there who's, you know,

Korey Aukerman (1:03:06)
Filly runner, yeah. Filly runner, yep.

Aldo Chandra (1:03:21)
doing this somewhat for free from your end. Obviously they get paid by the store, but they look at your feet and they analyze things, see how you're shredding, your running technique and kind of provide you a good recommendations for a shoe. And I tell that to my friends all the time when they're like, what type of shoes do I get? It's like everybody's feet's different, right? Because you might have white feet, you might, you might.

do heels, you might do front foot, things like that. So everyone's very, very different. I recommend going there.

Korey Aukerman (1:04:01)
Percent like I real quick just want a second Philly runner to like they're phenomenal I mean one there I believe their Workers don't get paid on commission So they're not gonna pressure you into buying shoes there. They're gonna want to find the best shoe that fits you So that's a good aspect and to I remember during kovat I

Aldo Chandra (1:04:21)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:04:30)
I was like kind of buying my first pair of like new running shoes and wanted to figure out what to get. And they, actually did like a, what did they call it? I guess it was just like a stride analysis where they, I essentially did like a video call with them and put the phone on the ground and they just said, okay, put it to the left side and just walk.

Aldo Chandra (1:04:51)
wow.

Korey Aukerman (1:04:59)
this way and then I want you to walk towards it. And based on how I walked, they were like, okay, you're like a heel striker or toe striker or you pronate right or left. And they were able to analyze that and then find the right shoe for me on that. So they are so knowledgeable. We also got a couple of T3 friends that work there. So it's great. They got a treadmill there too. You can try shoes out. Just Philly runners. Awesome.

Aldo Chandra (1:05:03)
Wow.

Yeah, that's awesome. One thing that we didn't touch on in this entire segment is tracking. Now, I know you have one and I have one. We're both huge Garmin fans. I'm anti Apple, you know, Apple watch after I realized I got to charge them every night and they last, you know, eight hours, but Garmin can last for, you know, a few days to a week or so.

How are you tracking things? Do I need to get the latest Phoenix whatever? I think they're at seven now. It's like, what are your thoughts on tracking? Cause obviously you want something you could swim with. You want something that you could do cycling and avoid getting hit with debris and stuff. So something that's strong and hopefully lasts long enough to do a triathlon race. So.

Korey Aukerman (1:06:19)
Yeah, I mean, I got my garment on right now. I like I don't ever remove this thing. I mean, like, well, if I do real quick, you might be able to see the pretty, pretty solid tan line there. But so I mean, I recommend Garmin just because, you know, it's it's meant for multi sport. It's meant for like running.

Aldo Chandra (1:06:21)
Hahaha

Yeah

There you go.

Korey Aukerman (1:06:49)
They have cycling stuff. It's completely waterproof. You know, also has crazy metrics like sleep analysis and your body batteries. So it's like, okay, how much energy have you spent today? You can also like try and estimate like where you are at in your training. If you're like tapering, if you're, you know, being productive, things like that. So there's a lot of cool aspects to it.

Aldo Chandra (1:07:09)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:07:16)
I don't think it's necessarily mandatory. Really what you could do is just like bring your phone with you and download Strava and you can just record through Strava. If you want to understand like, you know, the mileage and the pace, you can do that both for the bike and the run. Swimming is like a little bit different. I don't.

Aldo Chandra (1:07:28)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:07:45)
necessarily think you really need to track that if you're just getting into the sport. So I'd say cheapest way to kind of go about it is just download Strava and track that way. The best way is, in my opinion, getting a Garmin watch. And I do want to like mention that the information that these watches give you, it's

Aldo Chandra (1:07:50)
Mm.

Hahaha

Korey Aukerman (1:08:14)
it's interesting information and I have a little bit of an issue with it. It's more of a love -hate relationship, honestly, because it gives you all this cool information. You know, how did you sleep last night? It'll rank it on a scale of 0 to 100, which is cool to look into, but take that stuff with a grain of salt, because one reason...

Aldo Chandra (1:08:16)
Ha ha ha ha!

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:08:43)
you know, where, or just one way it kind of screws with me a little bit is like, I'll wake up and I'll be like, Ooh, I felt like I got some good sleep. I'm feeling good today. And then I'll go look at my watch and it says, your sleep score was like 50%. And I'm like, what are you kidding me? And then I'm like, maybe I am a little tired. Maybe I am not feeling that great. Whatever. So

Aldo Chandra (1:08:59)
Hahaha!

That placebo effect, yeah.

Korey Aukerman (1:09:11)
Exactly. So, use just the data they give you as, kind of an assist to what you know, or what your coach is telling you. don't like heavily rely on that because it's, it's pretty incredible from the knowledge I know about training and then what the watch will kind of tell me. Sometimes it's completely opposite.

And it's, it's like nothing against Garmin. It's just trying to, trying to guess like these aspects based on everything it can read through this watch. So it's like trying to get based it on HRB and heart rate and your O2 levels and your movement and things like that. And so it like doesn't have enough data to sometimes give the best full representation of what's going on.

Aldo Chandra (1:09:52)
Hmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:10:08)
Like you said earlier, the person that knows you the best is you. So, yeah, just want to have that disclaimer there because honestly, I'm just saying that because I have a battle with this on the tail. This is with myself. So it's more of a reminder for me, but.

Aldo Chandra (1:10:20)
haha

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, that's one of the biggest reasons I switched to Garmin was that battery life. I think Garmin is such a great piece of and it's not even that heavy. It's not, you know, those those fancy watches. It's not like it's like a handcuff. It's pretty light. It's it's nice. And I really enjoy it. I think if you're an athlete, Garmin is like the way to go and you don't have to go, you know, a thousand dollars or seven hundred dollars you could get.

you know, some, some, hand me downs or some cheaper, cheaper versions. I think those, those are a good start as opposed to dropping. But even, even if you are dropping, you know, a good amount on a Garmin watch, they're really great outside of like, you know, sports, like you could still tell time, you could still get text messages from your phone. I think that's, that, that's, it's just the essentials, but ultimately it's for, people who are in the sport.

Korey Aukerman (1:11:24)
sure. I yeah, I mean the battery level on this, it says I have six days left and I haven't, I don't think I've charged it for a week now. And I like, you know, the more you GPS, the more it obviously drains, things like that. But yeah, like you said, like you can get text messages on this thing. It's like pretty incredible what this watch can do. And, there also is like,

Aldo Chandra (1:11:34)
haha

Korey Aukerman (1:11:51)
Not just Garmin, there's Wahoo is another big player in the sport. I've heard good things. I just like personally haven't tried it, so I can't say for sure. But I think some of those companies also sell like refurbish maybe that are a little cheaper, but either way. Yeah, like you might be dropping 700 to $1 ,000 on the watch, which seems like a lot, but I've had.

Aldo Chandra (1:11:53)
Mm -hmm.

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:12:20)
this watch for like three years now. And I've had like a couple issues here and there, but Garmin's customer service is unreal. Like I, it's insane. I'm like the altimeter on my watch was screwed up where sometimes I'd go on like a, you know, five mile run. It said I climbed Mount Everest twice. Obviously not true. And

Aldo Chandra (1:12:31)
Yeah, it's phenomenal.

Hahaha!

Korey Aukerman (1:12:49)
So I reached out to them and they're like, okay, we'll just have you try these things. And so I tried those things, didn't work. And they're like, okay, just send it to us and then we'll send you a new one. And so they like, this is technically a newer watch. It's not the same one I've had for three years, but same $700 that I initially spent. And yeah.

Aldo Chandra (1:13:02)
Yeah, yeah, it's insane.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, those investments go a long way. These customer service are phenomenal. I remember when I had an issue with the rubber around the Garmin watch and they were like, yeah, we'll send it to you for free and then just let us know if you have any other issues. And the thing about Garmin watch, I have a Tissot, which is kind of like a fancier watch.

It's like, I don't wear that anymore. It's like, I want to track my steps and I want to know what my heart rate is as opposed to just telling the time. I get it if I'm going on a date or like some fancy events, like it's nicer to have, you know, some sort of platinum or whatever, whatever material that they use. Like, I don't even know these watches material anymore because I just been wearing garment on a daily basis. So it's like, I know what that guy, what, what?

what type of garment he has is like, that's like a Vivo active or okay, you have like the, you know, the, the nine 65 or something like that. It's like forerunner, right? It's like, I know that one. I know more about government watches than like the typical, you know, watch collection guys. So yeah, I can't take it off. I think it's, it's, it's just an amazing piece of equipment. Talking about equipment.

Korey Aukerman (1:14:24)
That was good.

You're going to start you're going to start trading Garmin watches. You're going to be like, like that, that was, you know, the 1998 edition, you know, you know, Lance Armstrong wore that one. Not actually, but yeah, yeah, exactly.

Aldo Chandra (1:14:33)
I know, right? It's like lifetime warranty. But yeah, awesome. Well, let's cut into the software aspect. You mentioned Strava. I think shout out to you for like one of the only, you know, among other people, one of the only ones that give me kudos on a

on a frequent basis.

Korey Aukerman (1:15:05)
It's only because you have it in German, that's why.

Aldo Chandra (1:15:08)
But let's talk about the softwares, right? I think you mentioned it a little bit. Shrava is one. Garmin is have their own free app that you could track your training. And then TrainingPeaks is I think what you use for coaching. I think that's usually the three main ones other than Zwift if you do a biking indoors or

using your own, what is it called? The Wahoo or some sort of tracker, right? Yeah. Trainer, yeah. Yeah. So you have, you have Swift maybe let's just cut that out for now. Cause not really a necessity other than if you're using a trainer, but you have Garmin, you have Shrava and you have Training Peaks. And what's amazing about these three and you could, you know, once I, once I asked the question, you could tell us more if there's any other software that's a necessity.

Korey Aukerman (1:15:44)
Like a trainer, yeah. Yeah.

Aldo Chandra (1:16:06)
Like these talk to each other. Like you could get a training plan from your coach or a training plan from training peaks themselves. And you could upload that at least if you have the premium version and that talks to Garmin, which is your watch. And then you can get training plans from them. Like once you hit running, it's like, you actually have a training session based on your training peaks. And then you could post on travel or you could track with Strava too. And that's.

That's really amazing because Garmin talks to Shrava and you can upload your workouts for your coach or for your peers. Right?

Korey Aukerman (1:16:45)
Yeah, I mean, it's pretty insane what you can do now. I talked to my dad and my dad ran at University of Tennessee and he's like amazed by this watch and all the different softwares and things like that because he's like, dude, we had our coaches with a stopwatch and that's about it. And he like, you know, rolled out.

Aldo Chandra (1:16:49)
Hahaha.

Hahaha.

Korey Aukerman (1:17:11)
rolled out the little like roll, I don't know what it's called, the thing that just like measures how far things are. And that's how you like knew how far you went. You can use GPS and stuff like that. So it's pretty amazing what we have available. But you know, Strava is kind of the social media of just endurance sports. I mean, you can also add like rock climbing on there. You can add those types of activities.

Aldo Chandra (1:17:38)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:17:40)
It's a cool way to just kind of interact with other athletes. You can also track on it too, which is nice. One thing that's really cool is there's like segments and routes. And so routes you can see like, you know, people can kind of plan a route on Strava and post it and then you can utilize that route. Say you're going to Philadelphia for the first time and you want to...

Aldo Chandra (1:18:09)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:18:09)
cycle, you know, 25 miles, you can look on Strava for routes in that area. And there's, you know, some posted routes and things like that that you can utilize to make sure you're going on like safe roads and roads that are paved well and things like that. Then you have segments, which are kind of cool. It makes a little bit competitive. So people just like put certain sections of a road or like.

climb up this big hill or a trail wherever and People try to set like the fastest time on there So I know like at the temple track there's like the 400 meter segment and it starts in you know the northeast corner and You can hit record and try to get the fastest time for that section now that one's gonna be a hard one because I

Aldo Chandra (1:18:39)
Yeah.

okay.

Korey Aukerman (1:19:06)
You know, there's collegiate athletes running on that track. but it's still cool. You're like, like you can also like separate it out by, like clubs. So like T three, what we're a part of, or other like endurance clubs or whatever. You can see who has the fastest time within the club and kind of make some, make some, I had some competitiveness and some fun around that.

Aldo Chandra (1:19:26)
Hahaha.

Korey Aukerman (1:19:34)
That's kind of the gist of Strava. The big ones from like data analysis. Training Peaks is the biggest one. I've found it like it's pretty user friendly. It can analyze data pretty well based on like what metrics you're recording, like heart rate and pace and things like that. But it's nice for like.

Aldo Chandra (1:19:43)
Bye.

Korey Aukerman (1:20:01)
coach and athlete relationships or buying plans through Training Peaks. So what you can do with that is there's a bunch of coaches that make a generalized plan and post it to Training Peaks and then you can buy that plan through Training Peaks. And when you buy that plan, a lot of times when you connect your watch,

Aldo Chandra (1:20:03)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:20:31)
two training peaks, you can essentially have something that is scheduled within that plan for that day. You know, you click go to swim on your watch, you hop in the pool and it will record to that workout. It'll tell you the workout on your watch, which is really cool. And that's like same thing for running and cycling and other other sports too. Also like.

You can kind of communicate through that. There's a lot of aspects to training peaks. I mean, it's, there's a, there's a reason why I use it. There's a reason why almost every coach uses it. and then if we want to talk kind of the, the fruit frugality side of things, you have something called intervals .ICU, which is,

Aldo Chandra (1:21:24)
you

Korey Aukerman (1:21:26)
Kind of a free training peaks. So they're like Wikipedia where they rely on donations. And it's free for everyone to use. You can connect your Strava, your garment, all that stuff, just like training peaks. And you can analyze your data throughout there. It's trying to guess, okay, how well are you performing right now? Are you too tired? Are you in really good shape?

you can also do that coach to athlete relationship. It's just not as user friendly as training peaks is. and honestly, training peaks is pretty affordable for, for what you get. So that's kind of the gist. There's more, there's a lot more, softwares out there, but those are kind of, kind of the big ones.

Aldo Chandra (1:22:08)
Yeah, those are an essential. And one thing about Training Peaks, and I actually done this this morning, right? It's pretty quick to update. As long as you mentioned connecting your watch, I think if you have a Garmin watch, you just connect your Garmin account towards Training Peaks. And if you change, like I said, a workout, like, okay, today is Wednesday, right? I wanna change my swimming. Maybe it's Wednesday now.

and I'm supposed to swim, but then I can't really swim because my car broke down or something like that. Okay, I'll move it to Friday and then I'll do running today because I just got to go outside. Like it'll update relatively quick. Like once you go outside after you change it on a calendar, cause you can move stuff around. Like they know it's there. Like once you're, once you're click on that run, it's like, you have a training session today. And this is, you know, whatever interval run or temple run. So it's, it's, it's super, super.

User -friendly, it's quick.

Korey Aukerman (1:23:07)
Yeah, it's live like What's today Wednesday? Yeah yesterday I was kind of switching some of one of my athletes like Run so like we were going to essentially doing her Sorry, I put on his plan a run for yesterday evening and

Aldo Chandra (1:23:28)
That's okay.

Korey Aukerman (1:23:37)
I was just kind of going throughout the whole week and realized, okay, let's, let's switch that to something a little lighter just because we don't want to over train here. and so he saw that I kept two running workouts on there just because I just wanted to keep that running workout until I was able to switch it. And he messaged me as a K.

And it was like why we were kind of chatting about it. It was like, Hey, I just want to let you know that there's like two runs on there. Is that like a mistake? And I'm like, I'm at this exact moment, like removing the other ones. It was like, it's crazy how live it is too.

Aldo Chandra (1:24:10)
Hehehe

Yeah, yeah, it's pretty quick. Gotcha. I want to shift gear here. I think this is we talked briefly about it, but we mentioned physical therapy. We mentioned overtraining, right? These type of aspects. Triathlon and training aspect can be a lot, right? We even didn't we didn't even go over brick workouts yet, but the we could we could go like dive deep into all type of training.

Korey Aukerman (1:24:17)
Mm -hmm, for sure.

Aldo Chandra (1:24:43)
But one thing that you mentioned is like do a little bit of each one every week. You could do double training days. You could even add in like weightlifting, things like that. So what about recovery? I think, you know, if you miss a day, at least when you start being more consistent, at least once you get the groove of things, if you miss a day, mainly maybe because it's too cold, right? If I live in Canada and I'm training in, I don't know,

December, January, February, and it's, you know, you can't do stuff and maybe I don't have a trainer. I want to use that as a recovery day. Like for you, Corey, and maybe for your clients, what are your advice on recovery days and how can you emphasize how important recovery days is compared to like actual training days as well? Because these two are just important. I think if you're...

consistently working out, missing a day or so because of recovery might make you think like, I'm slowing down or something like that.

Korey Aukerman (1:25:51)
Yeah. Yeah. Recovery is.

This is going to be a hot take, but I'd say the most important thing when it comes to training. it's so, you know, what happens within your body is when you're training, you're breaking down your muscles. when you're recovering, that is when you're making those gains. The recovering is actually where you're going to see the increase in fitness, you know, that increase in speed.

Aldo Chandra (1:26:01)
Hehehe

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:26:30)
that increase in power on the bike, that's where you're going to see it. Not in those workouts. So you're going to do the workouts to break down your body and the recovery is going to make you faster. So recovery is so important, like so important to the point that, I.

Aldo Chandra (1:26:39)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:26:57)
Like, I actually have recently started tracking how much I drink. which is, you know, you know, once again, love hate relationship with that. but I've done like, I think it's 130, 140 days, of not drinking at all where in, you know, that might not seem like a lot to, other people, but you know, for me,

Aldo Chandra (1:27:05)
Hahaha

Korey Aukerman (1:27:26)
for my, for what I've done in my history and stuff like that. I used to drink, you know, every Friday, Saturday, and maybe once or twice during the week and stuff like that. But now I understand that like recovery is so important and drinking affects that recovery that I have like significantly decreased my drinking. you know, right now I'm recovering from my race that I had on Sunday. and so like it's important.

Aldo Chandra (1:27:38)
Hmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:27:56)
It's just recovery is so important and a lot of that recovery comes from sleep. But obviously it comes from stress and a lot of other aspects too.

Aldo Chandra (1:27:58)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, no, that makes sense. What about you mentioned it slightly weightlifting? Would you consider that as like a recovery day or perhaps there's this word going around called active recovery? What are your thoughts on on those two aspect, weightlifting and active recovery?

Korey Aukerman (1:28:14)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah, yeah. So weightlifting, definitely not recovery. I just want to make say that right off the bat. What I recommend is when you do like if you're trying to work in weightlifting into your triathlon training, the most ideal time is to do it immediately after a hard run. And that's because you kind of want to make.

Aldo Chandra (1:28:33)
Hahaha

Interesting.

Korey Aukerman (1:28:57)
those hard days hard and those easy days easy. Because those easy days is where you're going to recover, where you're going to absorb that training. So if you do a hard run on Tuesday and are destroying your muscles in a good way, and then Wednesday you lift, you're not really recovering from that run. You're not absorbing that training. And then you're tearing your muscles again.

Aldo Chandra (1:29:01)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:29:25)
once again, in a good way. But that's just going to kind of onset more and more soreness and less and less recovery. Big proponent of active recovery. I think that's very important for a couple reasons. One being it's a good way to kind of get additional volume in. And two, think about

Aldo Chandra (1:29:26)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Gotcha.

Korey Aukerman (1:29:55)
like recovering while you're driving a car. So say you're sitting in a seat, driving a car after you do a race, say your race was Sunday, then the next day you got to drive back from, I don't know, Ohio or something like that. And it's eight hour drive. You're sitting in that car, not moving your muscles really at all. how are you going to feel when you stand up? Probably not that great.

Aldo Chandra (1:30:21)
it's gonna be terrible. Yeah.

Korey Aukerman (1:30:24)
You're probably going to fall over. So getting your body moving helps kind of flush that lactate, flush that muscle soreness and help you recover to then perform again on the next day. So active recovery, I think is very important. Weightlifting.

Aldo Chandra (1:30:46)
Yeah, yeah.

Korey Aukerman (1:30:50)
also very important, but that is definitely not a recovery aspect. And, you know, recommend doing that kind of within that same hard day as other stuff. To add another layer real quick, you can do like what we were talking about, physical therapy or like prehab is what some people call it. You know, you could even go as simple as like yoga or stretching.

Aldo Chandra (1:31:10)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:31:20)
that will one, help you recover a little bit to prevent injury. So some people kind of look at that physiotherapy as a little bit of weightlifting, but so I don't define it as weightlifting. And that I think is still good to do on those easy days because it's not as intense.

Aldo Chandra (1:31:44)
Yeah, I think when you get older, that yoga aspect, that stretching becomes more prevalent and important because you start feeling pain where you don't notice when you were younger. And I think that's super important. Obviously, when you're doing a long distance or long training sessions, you are pounding your body nonstop and sometimes even stretching and yoga.

Korey Aukerman (1:32:01)
Yeah.

Aldo Chandra (1:32:14)
I'm a big proponent of yoga as well because I tried it before and took classes. It's real. And I think for most guys, we kind of like, we don't need, you know, women are much more flexible than men, at least in my experience. But once you get to these yoga rooms, you think that it's all namaste, all easy. But man, when I was in that class, it was just...

Like, okay, we're gonna do like one more set. Like I was sweating, it was just, it's real. Especially when you start doing hot yoga, that's, you're burning a lot of calories.

Korey Aukerman (1:32:55)
yeah. I've actually never done hot yoga. Have you done hot yoga?

Aldo Chandra (1:32:59)
I've heard a lot of good stuff about it but I've done just regular yoga but I'm already like sweating really hard and they're making me do... yeah yeah they definitely make you do positions that you've never done before but in a good way.

Korey Aukerman (1:33:08)
Yeah, I'm a big proponent of yoga. Sorry, go ahead.

Yeah, 100%. Like just the chair position, I feel like sometimes where you're just like pretty much in a squat. They're like, OK, we're going to hold this for 10 seconds. I'm like, yeah, you might be holding it for 10 seconds. I got four seconds in me that I'm out of here. It's it's some of those are intense. Yeah.

Aldo Chandra (1:33:23)
Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Yeah, it's like...

Yeah, you start feeling cracks in your body and you're like, is it supposed to do that?

Korey Aukerman (1:33:45)
Yeah, exactly. But I love yoga. I did actually a little bit this morning. I think it's great for recovery. And it's like, I think it's really good for just your mental health as well. It gives you some time just to be present and really also like focus deep into like how you feel, but without judgment.

Aldo Chandra (1:34:00)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Korey Aukerman (1:34:15)
You know, just like as you're kind of working through those motions, it's like, okay, how do your hips feel? Do your hips feel tight today? Whatever. But let's not like is tightness bad? No, not necessarily. So it's I think it's really important. It also helps with mobility, which is important within sports. So big proponent of yoga, yoga with Adrian. If I want to give a little plug there on YouTube, she's my girl. She's awesome.

Aldo Chandra (1:34:22)
Mmm.

I love her. Yeah, she's awesome. When I'm at home, if I want to watch yoga and stuff, I would do yoga and need some sort of guidance. Like yoga with Adrian is top flight. Yeah. Let's talk about one of the last topics of training for triathlon, which is nutrition. You think that...

Korey Aukerman (1:34:53)
Mm -hmm, for sure, for sure.

Aldo Chandra (1:35:04)
So at least for me initially when I started, it was like, I'm doing this many runs. I'm doing cycling or swimming, right? And you get super, super hungry and you have this notion of I can eat whatever I want because I'm training really hard for it. I'm burning a lot of calories. Now it might work for some people with higher metabolism, but what are your thoughts on still maintaining a good

Korey Aukerman (1:35:21)
Mm -hmm.

Aldo Chandra (1:35:34)
healthy habits as opposed to thinking that just because you're burning so much calories, you could start eating junk foods. And obviously if you're a triathl... or just cycling or just endurance, you love your bakery a lot. So just what are your thoughts on nutrition? And then we'll dive deep into doing races and even more.

Korey Aukerman (1:35:51)
yeah.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. For nutrition in general, like my dad always says, you know, like you're a Porsche, you're not just, you know, Toyota Corolla. So you want to put premium fuel in you and not just, you know, that regular gas. And that's like kind of a cool way to look at it. So ideally, you know, I try to eat whole foods as much as possible.

Aldo Chandra (1:36:18)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:36:31)
but I do, and I think this kind of should be the case for a lot of like higher level athletes. maybe not necessarily folks getting into the sport, but, the aspect of like, I weigh more quantity and more macros over the quality of food.

Now I try to like ideally if I could, you know, eat 3800 calories a day and they all be like non -processed whole foods, perfectly balanced between good fats, a fair amount of protein and a lot of carbs. That's ideal. But I rather get to my 3800 calorie count.

If that is adding in, you know, some chips or, you know, some chocolate or treats or snacks or things like that. I believe that it's important to, to, when you get to that, like higher stage within the sport, not eating enough is going to be very detrimental to you. So I rather eat more and not as good of quality, than the other way around, but.

Aldo Chandra (1:37:48)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:37:57)
You know, if you can, I'm a big proponent of whole foods, non -processed, you know, eating as little meat as possible. I think meat every once in a while is important. Just to get that, that level of protein. And there's also nutrients in meat that you can't get other, in other aspects like a complex and iron and things like that. But.

Aldo Chandra (1:38:09)
Hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:38:25)
You know, when we're talking, if we look at kind of a more of an entry level, beginner triathlete, you know, still try to get a fair amount of calories in. But I think if you're a little under your calorie count, but you're getting like a really quality foods, I think, that it's probably more of the route you want to take, but.

I'm no registered dietitian. I've done a fair amount of research and just it's kind of a passion of mine, like nutrition. So it really depends on the person. I mean, I know like some dairies don't treat me well, but like I can eat yogurt all day long. So it really just depends on the person. So, but if we're talking general, those would be my insights.

Aldo Chandra (1:38:55)
Yeah, yeah.

Mmm.

Gotcha.

Got it. Do you recommend eating right after a training session at least?

Korey Aukerman (1:39:29)
Yes. Yeah. A hundred percent. I think no matter who you are. Yes, definitely. And try to get, you know, protein and carbs. You know, people definitely push the protein, protein, protein right after, a workout, which I do believe is very important, because that is what, you know, re forms and kind of, reconnects those muscle fibers and makes those muscles grow.

Aldo Chandra (1:39:32)
No.

Gotcha.

Korey Aukerman (1:39:58)
But carbs is really what fuels you throughout your day. I mean, you're burning glycogen to therefore create energy and glycogen comes from carbs and sugar. So the thing within endurance sports is carbs are king. Definitely, you know, on that, on that side.

Aldo Chandra (1:40:17)
Ha ha!

Yeah, definitely. I see at least a couple of our mutual friends, they would go to a bakery. Maybe it's you too. Just eat croissants or some sort during a long cycling day, you guys would do a quick pit stop at a local bakery shop and just have a good time.

Korey Aukerman (1:40:40)
For sure. One, I mean, that's just a ton of fun. Gives you a little break, have a little coffee, try out new places. But yeah, then you're also fueling too to keep that workout going.

Aldo Chandra (1:40:54)
Gotcha. What about during the race? Like if you're, what do you eat during the race? What do you recommend people eat? Because sometimes when, especially when you're doing a longer, maybe in a shorter one, you don't really eat anything. You just go and finish. But in a longer sessions, you kind of need some sort of fuel during your bike and your run. Obviously you can't eat anything during your swim. So let's talk about doing the cycling aspect and the running aspect.

Korey Aukerman (1:41:25)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, I think not just races, but also working out really anything over an hour. You should be taking in fuel. And that fuel is predominantly carbs and sugars. When I say predominantly, actually, it's 100 % carbs and sugars. So, yeah, because after a certain amount of time, your body doesn't have enough glycogen.

Aldo Chandra (1:41:35)
Hmm.

Hahaha!

Korey Aukerman (1:41:55)
to keep it going. So you have to supplement by intaking those carbs. So I recommend anything over an hour you try to eat during it. So if that is a sprint and you're taking more than an hour, then I would recommend having carbs from that. And there's a couple different ways to kind of take that in.

Aldo Chandra (1:41:57)
Gotcha.

Korey Aukerman (1:42:26)
You have like powder mixes that you can mix with water. You have gels. You have, you know, bars and, and like gummy bears and gummies and things like that. What I do for biking is I do mostly the powder mixes. It's just a lot easier to intake while you're cycling. You don't have to open something up.

Aldo Chandra (1:42:48)
Mmm.

Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:42:55)
and potentially crash because we definitely don't want that. and it's also, you know, you can kind of take it in smaller, but also larger doses, if that makes sense. So like a gel, you open up a gel, you're essentially can't, yeah, yeah, you can't, you can't just like slip that in your pocket and you're like, I'll just save one little bit later where like you can take one or two sips of your drink.

Aldo Chandra (1:42:58)
Yeah.

Hmm. Yeah, yeah.

one size.

Yeah

Korey Aukerman (1:43:26)
And slowly work your way through it. And then for running, I usually do gels because I don't like running with a bottle. And yeah, so it's just like they're smaller, easy to run with. And yeah, and so like, but it's fun to mix in like other things while training, just so you don't get kind of burned out on.

Aldo Chandra (1:43:28)
Mmm.

Makes sense.

Korey Aukerman (1:43:55)
you know, the same mix or the same gel each time. So like every once in a while, I'll just like, you know, grab a banana or like some gummy bears or something like that. Something that's just like almost strictly carbs and munch that down. Those like strip waffles are really good. Those things are like candy.

Aldo Chandra (1:44:02)
Yeah, makes sense.

True waffles are really good, but they're terrible during the summer session. They get super icky after. So what do you put in your water then? Or what type of mixes do you put in your drink?

Korey Aukerman (1:44:20)
yeah, yeah, I bet. That's a good point.

so I use goo rock tamed. so you might've heard of goo, like the, the gels that have like a million different flavors. Yeah. Like, you know, what do they have? Like banana split and things like that. the gels, but, but the powders, the powders are a little, they just have like grape, strawberry, things like that. but those, that's what I use.

Aldo Chandra (1:44:34)
Mmm.

Dechel.

Wow, okay, I didn't know that. I'm gonna give that a try. Yeah.

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:45:00)
in my essentially water. So it has like a large amount of carbs in it and then it has some sodium and then I supplement with, sea salt. just simple sea salt as my sodium, to make sure I'm getting enough of that. And so that's mostly what I take in as my powder. Morton is also really good.

Aldo Chandra (1:45:12)
Interesting.

Hmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:45:27)
You know, Vitargo I used to use a lot of. So like it really just, you know, just try some of these things out. And if you like the taste, if you feel like it's keeping you going, then, then that's kind of kind of your bread and butter there.

Aldo Chandra (1:45:48)
Yeah, I think it's important to mention when you said trying stuff out, trying them out during training and not during a race is, I feel like a lot of people, we'll dive into the races for a little bit after this, but like, you know, the importance of experimenting stuff during your training sessions to figure out what's the best for you during the race session is crucial because a lot of people is like, I want to try out, you know, what they put.

Korey Aukerman (1:45:57)
Yes.

with this.

Aldo Chandra (1:46:16)
during the race, right? Whether that's goo gels or other type of gels, I want to try those out and then you have a little bit of a stomach ache or you know, your stomach not feeling too well and you start going to the porta potties and that affects your race time. I think it's important that people, whatever that you do on training day is the same thing that you're doing. Well, whatever that you're doing on training day that makes you the most optimal is what you're going to do in a race day.

Korey Aukerman (1:46:45)
Yes. Yes. Thank you for bringing that up because that is the most important thing. There's the saying of, don't try anything new on race day. so if you've been training with goo, rock, tain, don't just, you know, start eating only bananas on the, on the bike, cause that probably won't do you too well. I mean, with my athletes, I try to do, you know, it kind of depends on what they're training for, but.

Aldo Chandra (1:46:47)
Hahaha!

Korey Aukerman (1:47:15)
You know, at least, you know, two sessions, I would say at minimum two sessions where you're practicing exactly what you're going to intake during your race. So not just that type of mix or gel that you're using, but also that quantity. So really, I guess I didn't state this earlier. There's kind of two things that keep you going.

Aldo Chandra (1:47:27)
Mmm.

Yeah.

Korey Aukerman (1:47:43)
with endurance sports and it's carbs and sodium or electrolytes, I guess is a better way to put it, but sodium is the dominant electrolyte. And so when I look at a race, I think of, okay, how many carbs am I going to intake per hour and how much sodium will I intake? The carbs pretty much stays the same.

Aldo Chandra (1:47:48)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:48:12)
like doesn't really matter. Like the, okay. The carbs stay the same if it's a certain distance. but the sodium can vary depending on the climate and the conditions of, of the, of the race. So I did 70 .3 Gulf coast earlier this year.

Aldo Chandra (1:48:24)
Mmm.

Gotcha.

Korey Aukerman (1:48:41)
It was going to be pretty hot, pretty humid. So my sodium intake is going to increase where that following week I did independence outside of Philly. It, I think was like 60 degrees, maybe 55 degrees for the majority of the race. So I'm going to decrease my sodium content just because I'm not sweating as much, not losing those electrolytes. so that's kind of what you'll play around with where those practice sessions.

Aldo Chandra (1:48:47)
Mmm.

Mm.

Korey Aukerman (1:49:11)
I was talking about, you're going to try to intake that same amount of carbs, but you're going to, you're going to match that sodium content to the conditions that you are currently practicing it. So, you know, say it's, say you're going to do this race simulation fueling practice today and say it's 75 degrees out.

Aldo Chandra (1:49:23)
Got it.

Korey Aukerman (1:49:36)
You're going to be doing a bike for two hours and then say a run for a half hour. And your goal during the, during the goal race is to do a hundred grams of carbs an hour. and so what you're going to do is for those two hours of the bike, you're going to consume 200 grams of carbs.

And because it's 75 degrees, you feel that, you know, maybe 800 milligrams of sodium will get you through that pretty well. So you'll do that 200 grams of carbs, 800 milligrams for the bike. And then it might dial back a little bit for the run because it's a little harder to eat during the run. And so you might do for a 30 minute run, you might do like 25 grams of carbs and, you know, 400 milligrams.

of sodium. So you're going to do that workout and then kind of take note throughout the workout and at the end of the workout how you feel. Okay, did was I able to get down all those carbs? Did I feel like sick? Did I feel like it was too much? Or do I feel like it wasn't enough? I needed more. Also, did I feel like really, really tired at the end of that workout?

Aldo Chandra (1:50:30)
Mmm.

Hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:50:58)
Like, was that because I pushed too hard? So then you can start looking at pacing. Like, okay, no, I think I paced it pretty well because we're looking at the heart rate and stuff like that. But I didn't, I'm really tired because I didn't eat enough carbs because that is what will keep you going. Or I feel like really weak and like,

There's a lot of salt buildup on me and it was hotter than I was expecting. And I ate a lot of carbs. So you're like, I probably didn't consume enough sodium. So that's like the first practice. Then you try to apply what you learned from practice number one to then that second practice and try to dial it in on that one. And so that way.

Aldo Chandra (1:51:30)
Hmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:51:50)
When you go to race day, you know exactly what you need for, for, you know, what your fueling and nutrition is because with those longer distance races, like you can get by and sprints and Olympics with kind of just like, you know, not dialing it in perfectly, but you get to that half Ironman distance and that full Ironman distance. Nutrition is very, very, very important.

Aldo Chandra (1:52:15)
Yeah, and you know, you mentioned it too. It's not, you know, what type of things that you're taking in, but it's also in a quantity based on, you know, the temperature, the conditions, what type of race is it? You know, those things plays a huge factor on your nutrition. I think people just like, I'm going to do a one scoop of, I don't know, Gatorade or something like that. And I'm ready to go. I'm going to take, you know.

one or two Gator bottles or Powerade, whatever, and then I'm just gonna go or I think water is good. So I think people underestimate the amount of strategy behind the nutrition that you're in taking both during training and race day.

Korey Aukerman (1:53:02)
Yeah, you're totally right. It's if you can try to look at the grams that you're in taking or milligrams in the sodium content and then also those ounces or milliliters of water because if you are looking at just, I'm taking in one bottle per hour. Well, what if you get in a situation that, okay, you're

Aldo Chandra (1:53:09)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:53:26)
taking in one bottle of Gated Endurance, but now we have just the powder available. Well, now you're not gonna know how much powder to use because you were just only looking at the bottle where, you know, it's all, you know, whether it's the powder to the bottle or this and that, you know, it's grams or grams, grams of carbs or grams of carbs. So.

It's good to kind of have that knowledge so then you can utilize that and vary that depending on the conditions and how you're feeling that day.

Aldo Chandra (1:54:03)
Yeah, yeah, for sure. And I think people who are starting out in the triathlon or just the just endurance sport, everything that we mentioned in this entire episode or show, it's a lot, right? OK, I got to do swimming. I got to do biking, you know, tracking, softwares. You could get overwhelmed. I think the most important thing is like just start off slow, like you mentioned earlier, you know, get one or two runs a week.

or one or two run cycling, one or two swim sessions, start applying to the YMCA, figure out if your insurance provides some sort of discounts or access to certain gyms. And you could go so hard on the tracking things and you could be so dialed in, it's like, I'm doing this and that. But I think the most important thing is the consistency of just going out there and trying things out.

be more self -aware of, like you mentioned, the nutrition, how you're doing things, like making sure that it's accurate, talk to your coach, things like that. And this, you know, all that information might get people intimidated, right? We talked about it in the first few minutes, like it is intimidating and scary. And I think the best way to mitigate that or pass by that is community, right?

We talk about this, I think this is how we met the T3 and I'll let you give a little bit of spiel on that. But I think community is very, very important to have people around you. And it doesn't have to be in person too. Sometimes, you know, I'm on travel and I see Corey doing, I don't know, you know, a full Ironman. I'm like, all right, let me just do this three miles. It makes me feel better. But yeah, the important...

Korey Aukerman (1:55:28)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Yeah, like I can make it through it, yeah.

Aldo Chandra (1:55:58)
Yeah, I can make it if he's doing that today. I was like, I got to do not as much as him, but enough for me to feel good about myself. So I think, you know, having that community and, and Corey, you mentioned this a lot, especially in your affiliate area, there's a ton of resources, but having fellow triathletes who are active and who, who can coach you, I think in...

Korey Aukerman (1:56:07)
Yeah.

Aldo Chandra (1:56:24)
as opposed to the weightlifting or maybe other sports where there's some sort of huge competition. It's like, I'm better than him, especially when you play basketball. It's like, I can do stuff better than you in some form of way. Triathlon communities or just endurance sports in general, it's very nice, very kind people, very helpful because at the end of the day, you're not

competing with these people, you're competing against yourself. And I think, you know, if you can better yourself through a community and do these things continuously on a daily basis and become better at it, you know, you'd be so phenomenal. But Corey, what are your take on community and how has it helped you down to where you are today in your journey?

Korey Aukerman (1:57:23)
my God, I mean, it's been life changing. I mean, there's no way I would be where I'm at today or where I might be in the future without, you know, T3, without the triathlon community, without my friends, my parents, my brother. Like, it is, they are so important because no one knows everything.

Aldo Chandra (1:57:24)
Hahaha

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (1:57:50)
I can guarantee you, I don't know everything at all. and there's stuff that I still learn all the time and like I learned them from other people. And like you said, the triathlon community is amazing. I mean, they're so selfless. They're always willing to help people get into the sport, help them, you know, with like,

insights on a new bike to buy or with nutrition and things like that. So it's always good to lean on other people. Having that support system will help you be successful wherever you kind of define success. And like it makes it really fun. I mean, you can, you know, if I want to go on

Aldo Chandra (1:58:26)
Mm -hmm.

Mm.

Korey Aukerman (1:58:46)
a long bike ride. The fun I have between if I go alone and with the people within the community is it's night and day. So, you know, what you can do is USA Triathlon has a club page where it has all the USA.

essentially triathlon clubs. Ironman also has a page too. So if you just like Google USA triathlon clubs or Ironman triathlon clubs, they have a specific page where you can look up in your area, those triathlon clubs. Highly recommend joining one. I mean, that is really why I'm here today is because I joined T3.

Aldo Chandra (1:59:40)
Hahaha.

Korey Aukerman (1:59:43)
And I mean, I've made friends like you that like, I mean, it's, it's just, it's incredible. I mean, friends that like inspire me to be better every day. And, and we push each other just to be like, not only better athletes, but better people, you know, help people out in the community who want to get into the sport, but, you know, might not be able to afford some of the things.

I mean, like when I first got into the sport and joined T3, I, the amount of like help I received was insane, not just from like knowledge. I mean, the knowledge obviously was, the knowledge sharing was incredible, but also like things like a bike trainer where I was like, one, I don't even really know what that is. Two,

Aldo Chandra (2:00:41)
Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:00:43)
I can't spend $500 on a bike trainer if I, if it's cold outside and I don't want to go outside. Like, so if I didn't have a bike trainer that was gifted to me by someone in T3, then I would be missing out on a workout and stuff like that. So it's like, like we mentioned earlier, it's a little intimidating with some of the things you have to buy and get into the sport, but.

If you join a triathlon club, it is amazing how many people are willing to just give you stuff or give you knowledge to help you succeed and get into the sport. So it's, you know, it's awesome. I mean, the community is phenomenal. You know, like you said, I'll pop on Strava and see some of my friends doing a hundred mile bike ride this weekend. And I'm like,

Aldo Chandra (2:01:34)
Yeah.

Hehehehe... Hehehehe...

Korey Aukerman (2:01:38)
okay. I'm not skipping my workout. I thought about skipping it, but not anymore. I guess I'll get it going. And like, if you're ever feeling like sad or like, just like a little down on where your training's at, you can lean on them. I mean, you can always reach out to me too. Like, even if I don't know you, I'm willing to help out in any way. if it's, you know, you just want to talk about something like,

Aldo Chandra (2:01:43)
Yep, yep.

Korey Aukerman (2:02:08)
People are here to help you out and definitely lean on them.

Aldo Chandra (2:02:14)
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think the most important thing is network. I think and Corey, you can attune to this too, and the business and corporate world, right? Where we are constantly have to network, especially if we want to get a job or you want to get a promotion or you want to do sales. You know, these network is important. I think network is your net worth. I think in the triathlon world, maybe it's like, I don't know, net net.

your network is your net watts. I don't know. That's something stupid. But like, yeah, it's the amount of resources that you have from just being around people. And some people are, I think maybe this is different than other triathlon group, but majority of the people there are doing the things that you're doing, right? Not everyone there is like a world -class triathlete who's doing,

Korey Aukerman (2:02:48)
Yeah, yeah, there you go. I like that.

Aldo Chandra (2:03:13)
you know, Kona or something like that, but they're just regular people with jobs, just as you are maybe going to school and have the same busy hours and still trying to do this race because maybe it's, it's a bucket list that they have. Maybe this is what they do on a day -to -day basis. Maybe this is their brand. Right. So you're not being, you are surrounded by people who are maybe better than you, but

Korey Aukerman (2:03:26)
Mm -hmm.

Aldo Chandra (2:03:42)
They're just in the same shoes as you in terms of the amount of commitment, the amount of money to spend and just overall investments into the sport. I think that's very important to realize.

Korey Aukerman (2:03:55)
Yeah, you're definitely right on that. Like, I feel like a lot of people think like, you do a triathlon. So like you have to be fast. You have to be like the best at running and biking and, and swimming. And that's not true. Like, especially with T3 and, but there's a lot of clubs like this. There's so many varying levels. You have folks who are trying to get their pro card.

Aldo Chandra (2:04:19)
Mm.

Korey Aukerman (2:04:23)
to folks who are just trying to finish the race. And what's great is they all want to be there and they all want to kind of do it together. and so like, don't be scared to just kind of show up, at a travel on, club practice or reach out or anything like that, because.

It's definitely a little scary at first. I get that, but, make yourself uncomfortable because you, you, you will not regret that because there's a lot of people who are probably showing up to that practice who are maybe there for the first time or, you know, haven't run in a year or something like that or have never run. And so.

Aldo Chandra (2:05:01)
Hahaha

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:05:16)
Like they might just be as uncomfortable as you, but they're putting themselves out there and you can kind of grow that relationship with them and grow together within the sport and make each other better people. So.

Aldo Chandra (2:05:30)
Yeah, yeah. A lot of these things and especially in a triathlon sport, it's a lot of uncomfortables. A lot of things that is outside of your, you know, out of your circle that you just got to do, especially if you haven't swim or you haven't rode a bike in a while or you haven't ran in a while. These are just new things. And that's what I really enjoy about doing like triathlon is that there's so much levels into this.

Korey Aukerman (2:05:41)
Mm -hmm.

Aldo Chandra (2:06:00)
There's so much learning and so much new technologies that you can get bogged down with, but it's also the amount of people that are trying things out. Like you said, when you first sign up, you don't know anything and look where you are now. I think you took a lot of consistent steps and actions to get where you are. And I think for most people, maybe Triathlon is there, maybe doing Ironman is there, Bucketlist.

Korey Aukerman (2:06:19)
Okay.

Aldo Chandra (2:06:29)
But you can definitely do it.

Korey Aukerman (2:06:34)
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I can guarantee you, I would not have been able to complete an Ironman without others, like without that network, without that community. one, I would probably be still doing it on a 1987 road bike. So that would make it a little more challenging. and two, I would be not eating enough carbs every single workout because at first like,

Aldo Chandra (2:06:40)
Hehehehe

Hahaha

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:07:02)
100 mile bike ride, I did not eat enough and I died. But that my friends were there to like, you know, here's why this is happening. You know, let me teach you about this. So I'm a big proponent of you have to be uncomfortable to feel comfortable. So you have to like put yourself out there and in weird situations and different experiences. And and, you know, it's scary at first, but like,

Aldo Chandra (2:07:14)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:07:32)
The more you do that, the more you'll feel comfortable in those quote unquote uncomfortable situations. The more you push yourself to like talk to that stranger that, you know, you might not feel a hundred percent comfortable with talking to them. The more you're likely to continue to talk to strangers and, and then have these incredible experiences behind it. And you know, that's just not what triathlon to, I think that's with everyday life. Like,

Aldo Chandra (2:07:39)
Yeah, yeah.

life. Yep.

Korey Aukerman (2:08:02)
I enjoy traveling and experiencing just random stuff because like it makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable, but I learn something from it or I meet some cool people from it or just I have fun with it. And so like I feel like that just can can make you a better person.

Aldo Chandra (2:08:12)
Mmm.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, gotcha. Now I want to go back to your story, right? You're in a coaching realm now, but before you were in a corporate world. Can you give a brief overview why you transitioned to that, to where you are now that you're coaching?

Korey Aukerman (2:08:44)
Yeah, yeah, definitely. So I graduated college back in 2018 and I graduated with a marketing and finance degree and I got really close with one of my professors. She like mentored me and pretty much got me this job out of college. So that once again goes back to that network like because.

She was willing to help me and I was willing to listen. I got this phenomenal job which was working for Textron, which is a Fortune 500 company. I was in the EZ -Go and Cushman branch, which is their golf car and utility vehicle side of their business. But they also make helicopters and airplanes and it's like...

Aldo Chandra (2:09:38)
wow.

Korey Aukerman (2:09:41)
unmanned aircrafts and water crafts, they do all sorts of things, but, so got that job right out of college. and was part of the sales development program. And, honestly, that was just kind of a shit show. It's like, go shadow this person, go over there, do whatever. and eventually like moved into, a.

Aldo Chandra (2:10:00)
Hahaha.

Korey Aukerman (2:10:11)
I guess I'll kind of skip that because that's not very important. But after about nine months living down in Augusta, Georgia at the headquarters there, I moved into the consumer territory for the Northeast. So never really spent a lot of time in the Northeast. But this job position opened up and, you know, some reason they...

Aldo Chandra (2:10:14)
Hahaha

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:10:40)
wanted me to go into it. I was 22 years old. And so with that, I managed about 40 or 50 distributors who sold our products. I essentially worked with them to make them or to help them be successful, whether it's like, OK, here's what you can do for advertising and marketing. Here's what you could do for pricing in your showroom.

Here's what you should stock. Here's who you should reach out to like businesses and things like that. And so grew within that position and kind of went from consumer to commercial. The position kind of moved around a little bit and worked at that company for almost six years. And it was kind of last year at some point where I.

Aldo Chandra (2:11:28)
Hmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:11:38)
like started to get a little burned out on kind of the corporate, kind of the corporate world. It was more like I was still finding success within the roles, but a lot of that like success was kind of like dampered because of like other people's lack of performance, them not really caring about their job and things like that. And I was like,

Aldo Chandra (2:11:42)
Mmm.

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:12:08)
I'm putting in a lot of work for, you know, I'm still being fairly successful, but like, I feel like I could be miles ahead of where I'm at now. If, you know, there wasn't all these other aspects that were kind of like, just like holding me back kind of. and now, you know, also the van life thing got really popular, like,

Aldo Chandra (2:12:27)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:12:34)
after COVID and that, like, you know, I was watching YouTube's and Instagram's about all that stuff. and then really, you know, at that, you know, midway through last year, I was like, really, really getting into triathlon and I'm like, this is like an incredible sport. Like, I feel like I'm doing pretty well. I kind of want to see what I can do as an athlete. also like I do like mentoring and like giving or.

I guess giving people resources that they're kind of looking for, you know, helping people out and, you know, whether it's not like the knowledge that I have, but connecting them to people that have that knowledge. And I felt like coaching like was a good, good segue that I could kind of accomplish that. And then also on top of the aspect that T3 and the triathlon community gave so much to me.

Aldo Chandra (2:13:07)
Yeah. Yep.

Korey Aukerman (2:13:32)
and helped me grow as an individual, I really wanted to return that favor. So however I could be as a resource to others to help them be more successful within triathlon, also just within their everyday life, coaching is a great thing for me to accomplish that. So essentially last year I was like, well, what would be sweet is I could train.

and coach and live in a van. But that would also, yeah, exactly. and so I'm like, but something has to be removed. I also to add another layer, like as soon as I got out of college, I was trying to be the best I could within.

Aldo Chandra (2:14:04)
Mmm.

Talking about frugality.

Korey Aukerman (2:14:31)
my career, but I also like wanted to be financially independent and all these other aspects. I feel like I was just doing a lot. You know, I bought a couple investment properties. I, you know, was doing this and that and all this, all these things, like a lot of like what felt like responsibilities. and I kind of made a promise like at the beginning of last year.

Aldo Chandra (2:14:38)
Hmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:14:58)
2023, I was like, okay, if you take on a new hobby or new responsibility, you have to remove something else. Like there's no, you just don't have the capacity because now you're spreading yourself too thin and you're not putting in the effort and the passion into each and all these things because you're doing too many of them. It's kind of what I was telling myself. So I was like, okay, if I want to,

Aldo Chandra (2:15:07)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:15:28)
push as hard as I possibly can to be an athlete and also coach and also like potentially travel and live in a van. Like I need to like essentially cut ties with some things. And, you know, I felt like really it was just like that my career wasn't like where it was just like the best thing that I could like.

really cut ties with and pursue those passions that I had. And so like, I kind of fulfilled that promise of, okay, when I take on new responsibilities, I must remove others. And so like this February, like, so what four months ago now, I had the tough conversation with my boss who was an, he's an awesome guy.

Aldo Chandra (2:16:03)
Got it.

Korey Aukerman (2:16:27)
my team was phenomenal. I don't want to take anything away from them. They're all great people. I actually just had like a dinner with one of my old coworkers and her husband, like a couple of days ago. So like I still keep in contact with them a little bit. Like it was so hard leaving them, cause they were so great, but I just knew this was like the better route for me. Yep. Yep. And I, I felt that like,

Aldo Chandra (2:16:27)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah, this is a better choice. Yeah. Got it.

Korey Aukerman (2:16:57)
Yeah, I might not have a directly clear path. Like I don't currently have like defined like big goals within me as an athlete. Like I think it'd be great to be pro, but I also like still want to be social and I still want to focus on coaching and like being pro could would probably limit those other things. So like I don't have like set set long term goals with that. And I felt like that was important.

with me quitting my job because I felt like something good would come about. Like if I followed this passion with it. Exactly. Yeah. And so if I followed this passion behind triathlon, behind coaching, behind being an athlete, behind traveling, you know, something would happen. You know, say I'm not as successful as I like as an athlete or I, I don't like it long term.

Aldo Chandra (2:17:34)
Yeah, you start being more passionate.

Yeah.

Hmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:17:56)
You know, maybe I'll go just work at a bike shop, like, and be a mechanic and then I'll learn more things about bikes and stuff like that. So, you know, that was the long winded kind of whole thought process of ebbs and flows. It was not easy. But I'm like very happy that, you know, my parents were very supportive emotionally about the whole situation.

Aldo Chandra (2:18:00)
Mm.

Hahaha

Korey Aukerman (2:18:26)
and my friends were, were questioning me, but in a good way, like there was quite a few people who challenged me. Like you're just like, what kind of, kind of, kind of living a fan or like travel or, and just like be a coach and athlete. Like, what are you talking about? But like that helps me like, okay. One, I want to like prove all the haters wrong. And two, I.

Aldo Chandra (2:18:39)
Yeah, yeah.

Hahaha!

Korey Aukerman (2:18:55)
Also, like it helps me think more about what I'm getting into to to make sure I'm making that right decision because, you know, I worked at that company for almost six years, me quitting, you know, there's a potential I could go back to that. Like I felt like I left on good terms and my boss actually even said, you know, there's a position, you know, maybe in the future if I want to come back, whatever. And so.

Aldo Chandra (2:19:03)
Yeah.

Hmm.

Mm.

Korey Aukerman (2:19:25)
But it was still like, I talked to my boss and I tell him I'm quitting. I'm all in now. So people questioning me on that helped me be more confident in that decision.

Aldo Chandra (2:19:32)
Yeah, yeah, I think... Yeah.

I think you found that passion, especially younger guys who's coming out and gals who's coming out of college. They don't know what they're going to do. They're trying to figure stuff out. And they actually want to be in your shoes where I want to pursue my passion. I want to have this corporate job, this good paying job. But you went to the opposite of that where you found that first, yeah, with the help of

you know, your community in school, but you found your passion to triathlon because one, you were good at it, two, you had a lot of network, and then three, you just use, you know, that passion and that turned into something greater than that and you want to be your own boss. So, and in turn, it's like that just happens in a coaching aspect. So I guess we're getting to the final end here.

Korey Aukerman (2:20:27)
Yep.

Yeah, for sure.

Aldo Chandra (2:20:37)
What makes you different as a coach to other coaches and why should people reach out to you?

Korey Aukerman (2:20:45)
I like that question. So I'm going through like the USA triathlon level one coaching right now. And one thing that I like about it is they like challenge you to create a mission statement for you as a coach. So they ask essentially, okay, what are your three strengths or your three weaknesses?

Aldo Chandra (2:20:46)
Yeah

Mmm.

Mmm.

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:21:13)
And then like, who are some coaches you, you kind of look up to and then like, okay, here, what are your values? What are your core values behind coaching? So it's like really made me think about that recently. so I'd say that one of the biggest things is, I'm always willing to learn and I want to continuously learn. I know there's kind of endless knowledge out there. so.

Aldo Chandra (2:21:20)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:21:42)
Just because I know what I know now doesn't mean like my whole theories can kind of change the more I learn about stuff. So I'm always open -minded about learning new ways of coaching, new training techniques, new theories. I mean, like lactate training is really big right now. And like I was with the coach for a little bit.

Aldo Chandra (2:22:03)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:22:08)
who did a lot of lactate training. And I think it's cool and it's really important, but you know, there's, it's cool to incorporate that somewhat with other stuff that you learn. So I'm always wanting to learn, learn from others and continuously grow my knowledge to help pass that along to my athletes. So I think that's one big thing. And then the other is I, I don't jump to conclusions.

Aldo Chandra (2:22:27)
Got it.

Okay.

Korey Aukerman (2:22:38)
which sometimes can be bad because in certain situations you want to maybe make a decision right then and there, but I like to look at the full picture. So when I'm looking at the data, like say the heart rate data from one of my athletes at their track practice yesterday.

Aldo Chandra (2:22:51)
Mm -hmm. Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:23:08)
And I'm like, okay, well, their heart rate was a little higher than last week. You know, it was a little different workout, but this and that it's like, okay, well, what was the temperature? Why, you know, maybe that costs a little bit higher heart rate. Okay. Let's not only look at that. Let's also look at like what they've done for training the past couple of days, what their sleeps like things like that.

Aldo Chandra (2:23:22)
Hmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:23:34)
Because you could immediately look at that higher heart rate and jump to the conclusion that they tried too hard on that workout and they're becoming too fatigued and too tired. Yeah, that can be like, okay, that's immediately happening. We have to back off training, boom. But you start looking at the fact that when they first did that workout three weeks ago, it was 60 degrees.

Aldo Chandra (2:24:03)
Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:24:03)
Where they just did the workout again and it was 85 degrees. Your heart rate's going to be higher even at the same pace. So I think it's. Yeah, exactly. So I think it's like what I excel at. Is one I continuously like to learn and like to gain knowledge from others and I'm open minded and in kind of those training techniques and also.

Aldo Chandra (2:24:10)
Yeah, just a different environment.

Korey Aukerman (2:24:32)
you know, I like to look, look at the big picture, not just one data point, not just one feeling that that athlete has during that one interval. Let's look at the full picture and try to paint that picture to, to perfectly personalize the training, to meet whatever that athlete's goals are.

Aldo Chandra (2:24:54)
Got it. So if we could conclude that into like one word values. So optimism, right? Analytical and I guess patience would be your values there. If I could sum it up in three words.

Korey Aukerman (2:25:08)
Yeah. Yeah, I'd say those are, those are definitely good. yeah, yeah. I think also like honesty kind of plays into that as well. just because you, you want to be like honest in how that athlete performed at that, you know, say practice or whatever, like you don't always want to sugar coat it. You want to be optimistic, but you can't just like,

Aldo Chandra (2:25:13)
Yeah, cool.

Mmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:25:36)
obviously lie to the athlete, but you need to be honest in like what that data is telling you. And just like share that full, full kind of picture that with the athlete. So, so they understand where you're coming from and, and they kind of built that trust within you.

Aldo Chandra (2:25:44)
Yeah, yeah, 100%.

Yeah, yeah, well, I think people mistaken honesty with the wrong delivery. Like you want to be honest, but you want to deliver it the right way. You don't want to be like, you suck, you slow. But like.

Korey Aukerman (2:26:13)
Yeah. Why'd you, why'd you just like, yeah, exactly. But, but, but I do want to say some people like that, like the delivery all depends on that person. So, I mean, I hate to like nail it down to a couple values because like, it's, it's all, it's a lot of things that like, like, makes a great coach. Great. And like communication is another big aspect. It's like, okay.

Aldo Chandra (2:26:22)
Hmm, interesting.

It's a lot.

Mm.

Korey Aukerman (2:26:43)
one athlete might like it when you tell them just straight up, hey man, that workout sucked for you. You did not do a good job on that. You did not push yourself. Where another athlete might be, they might not like that communication sound. Be like, hey, like maybe next week let's push a little harder. Or you don't even like maybe address that past practice at that next workout or practice. You say, hey,

Aldo Chandra (2:26:49)
Mmm.

Got it.

Korey Aukerman (2:27:12)
You know, let's try to bump up that pace a little bit. Let's try to get that heart rate a little higher. Push yourself. I want you to feel a little pain on this one. And so like.

Aldo Chandra (2:27:22)
like positive reinforcement basically. You don't insult them, but you're just pinpointing out the positive aspect of their training and be like, hey, let's emphasize on that more. So that's definitely a good session that how you're, you could be versatile with many different athletes based on their personality type and obviously their...

Korey Aukerman (2:27:26)
Yup.

Mm -hmm. For sure.

Aldo Chandra (2:27:50)
their training and how often they're trained. Let's go into the last bit of the show. And I ask this to every guest, whether previous or after, and I kind of word it differently every single time because it might be confusing at first, but I know we talked about a lot of things that is consistent, but for you yourself, the podcast name is Kaizen Blueprint. The word Kaizen means

Korey Aukerman (2:27:54)
for sure.

Aldo Chandra (2:28:19)
It's a Japanese term for continuous improvement, which what we talked this entire, you know, this entire show, which is constantly doing things better. What for Corey, for Corey, right? What are like one habit or routine that you do every single day that can benefit other people? Whether that's mindset, whether there's tools, systems, like what are...

the daily things that you do that could benefit other people.

Korey Aukerman (2:28:53)
Hmm.

That's tough because there's things I wish I did every day that I know I could benefit me. And I've just been kind of kind of slack and a little bit. But I would say just initially off the top of my head is journaling. Journaling, I think, every single person can benefit from that. I know you were talking about how you journal.

Aldo Chandra (2:28:57)
Okay.

Mm -hmm.

Korey Aukerman (2:29:26)
And, you know, it's something I've been honestly slacking on recently. I used to journal every morning and every night. like every night I'd kind of recap some great things that happened every morning. I kind of like get myself just amped up and sorry. someone was calling me there. and get myself amped up and have some good affirmations, but like just with, how much travel I've been doing, I've been kind of slacking on it. So.

Aldo Chandra (2:29:29)
Hahaha

Korey Aukerman (2:29:55)
But I 100 % like journaling, I think will change people's lives There's no construct behind it as well. You can kind of do whatever you want But it's good to get that those thoughts out and and kind of just like write it out and also kind of Recap like what great things happen. So like reflecting on on gratitude

Aldo Chandra (2:30:04)
Sure.

Yeah, that's a huge one.

Korey Aukerman (2:30:25)
you can do within journaling too. So yeah, now that you asked me this question, I will be restarting my journaling tonight. It is happening.

Aldo Chandra (2:30:33)
Yeah, I think journaling is super, super important. Not just for training itself, but it's your wellbeing. I think journaling can allow a person to be more self -aware, especially during training sessions, right? You can attune to this where if you're constantly, especially without a coach, if you're constantly like just doing whatever Training Peaks is doing and...

and you're like, okay, I'm doing running, biking, swimming every single day. And you have that tunnel vision of like, you just got to wake up and do this. You don't have that reset time of why am I doing this? Or how do I feel this day? You don't have that some sort of entry that you could go back to and understand yourself or even just use that current time, whether that's five or 10 minutes to just think about,

How's your current situation? And you could even journal, this might sound weird, like during a run, right? If you're doing a longer run, you wanna just check yourself every few miles or so and be like, okay, you have this mental journaling in your head. It's like, okay, how am I feeling? Am I thirsty? Am I getting tired on one leg? What's the cause behind it? And yeah, just in general, journaling helps with self -awareness. And one thing that...

I have done differently now that I'm doing a podcast is adding a section. I know you mentioned that you could go super, super structured with this or super lenient. I go very structured. And one of the things that I do now is who do I have to reach out to? I definitely put you, Corey, for a few days before I had enough confidence to reach out to you and be like, hey,

Korey Aukerman (2:32:12)
Mm.

Aldo Chandra (2:32:29)
Podcasts. So, so it's, it's, it's super helpful. Yeah.

Korey Aukerman (2:32:31)
I appreciate that. I love that ad too, because like we talked about community and like how much others can help. So the fact that you're like reaching out to others and bringing that community and that connection, like that's, that's impressive, man. I love what you're doing. And I love how you journal so much. You're motivating me now, just like Strava motivates you sometimes to run.

Aldo Chandra (2:32:53)
haha

Yeah

Yeah.

Korey Aukerman (2:33:01)
you journaling is going to make me get back into it because, I've definitely been slacking. So thank you.

Aldo Chandra (2:33:07)
Got it. I highly recommend, I know that you like to have your green days on training peaks and so is a lot of other people as well. The app that I use is called Day Ones and this is for the viewers too. And Day Ones I think it's for iPhone and Mac only so it might be tougher for somebody who's have an Android but what I like about it is like you have these calendars.

Korey Aukerman (2:33:18)
Mm -hmm.

Aldo Chandra (2:33:35)
at a given year and then you could have, you know, pin like it's colored in if you filled out something, whether that's a few words or a whole, you know, paragraph. But I like to keep that on a consistent. It's like on Duolingo when you have these shrieks, I like to have that shriek in journal and that kind of pushes it even even further of like, okay, I journal. And it's actually really good, especially at the end of the day that you write down.

Korey Aukerman (2:33:51)
Yeah, yeah.

Aldo Chandra (2:34:02)
What are you grateful for? What did you learn? And what are your wins? Like that sets up a really good night's sleep in my opinion. And also reiterating what you learned the past day, whether that's something small, like I learned what's wolf is in Garmin or right. I learned, I learned like, you know, training pieces is the most optimal training plan. Like something simple like that.

Korey Aukerman (2:34:12)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

Aldo Chandra (2:34:31)
because one of the things that helps you learn is reiterating things and actually memorizing what they mean and understanding them as opposed to just a one second, okay, I didn't know about that. But then you're reiterating towards the end of the day and that's super helpful. So yeah, it's a great way to journal. Corey, where people can find more about you.

Korey Aukerman (2:34:48)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah. So, we got AUCAthletics .com. It's AUCAthletics .com. That's my website there. we also, I say we a lot because I like talking about community, but it's really just me, right now. And, so also AUCAthletics, on Instagram, like I said, AUCAthletics. And then you can also email me, AUKermanAthletics.

Aldo Chandra (2:35:07)
haha

Korey Aukerman (2:35:24)
It's a UK ER man athletics at gmail .com. if you got any questions, reach out to me on Instagram. I have a contact me button on my website. So, also got a personal Instagram page. It's Corey Ackerman. So if you ever want to reach out, just chat.

I don't have to coach you. You can just ask me questions. I'm willing to help in any way or just want to chat just for fun. Whatever. I'm here to help out here to here to be a resource because so many other people helped me out. So however I can help you. I'm here for that.

Aldo Chandra (2:35:52)
Hahaha

awesome. Well you could also find him on the RV.

Korey Aukerman (2:36:13)
Yeah, yes, exactly. I'll be traveling around the Southeast here this summer and I got a couple of Aukerman Athletic stickers on the side there. So if you see that, you know, feel free to knock on the door and say, what's up?

Aldo Chandra (2:36:23)
Hahaha!

Or honk if you're driving. Might have mixed feelings, but... Corey, thanks.

Korey Aukerman (2:36:30)
Yeah, yeah, there you go.

Yeah, yeah, that's fine. I'll honk back. I got a pretty cool horn on that RV. It's so old school.

Aldo Chandra (2:36:38)
Awesome. Well, Corey, thanks for being on and then yeah, we'll see you on the next one.

Korey Aukerman (2:36:48)
Although I appreciate it, thanks for having me on, man. It was a treat and I'm honestly like blushing that you asked me, so this is awesome.

Aldo Chandra (2:36:52)
haha

Awesome. All right, Cory, thanks a lot.

Korey Aukerman (2:37:00)
Yeah, have a good one.