Ep. 3 From Backstroke Triathlons to Ironman Wisconsin — Laura’s Endurance Sports Story

In Episode 3 of Average Age Groupers, Laura, Maggie, and Holly recap a windy Wisconsin race day where Dave ran a 50K and nine teammates paced him via a 100K relay on the hilly 6.2-mile RRB loop, a USA Track & Field championship and Worlds qualifier. They then share Laura’s endurance journey: from dancing and cheerleading to college running, an undertrained half marathon, and a net-downhill marathon, before pivoting to triathlon—signing up for a half Ironman before truly learning to swim, backstroking her first sprint at Door County, and building confidence through open-water sandbar swims during COVID. Laura finishes Ironman Wisconsin 70.3 in 2022, completes Ironman Wisconsin in 2024 after difficult bike training and scheduling around 12-hour nursing shifts, and races Chattanooga 70.3 in 2025. She’s now training for the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Redding in August.00:00 Windy Episode Intro00:37 50K Relay Recap01:42 Race Logistics Breakdown02:27 Fast Field And Course03:49 Hollys Sports Origin05:52 First Races And Half07:55 Marathon Training Chaos10:42 Marquette Marathon Day12:29 Bored Of Running13:12 Learning To Swim Late16:07 Mud Bath DNF Story18:28 Backstroke Sprint Era22:32 COVID Pond Swim Grind24:52 Signing Up For 70328:01 Nurse Schedule Training29:15 Solo Training Safety30:20 Monsoon Swim Breakthrough32:19 From Full to More Races34:39 Signing Up for Wisconsin36:48 Ironman Training Grind40:33 Wisconsin Race Day Recap44:00 Aftermath and Recovery45:28 Chattanooga and Blues47:35 Redding 70.3 Decision51:43 Coaching and Work Balance54:51 What’s Next and Wraphttps://open.spotify.com/show/2LJ6G7l1oIRZUIa3lo7NFphttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/average-age-groupers/id1889949099https://www.instagram.com/averageagegroupers/https://youtu.be/b-LEBOeGSm8