We invited Adina of Team B*REAL to Tell Us A Story...
Ordinary People Extraordinary Athletes
In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Adina O'Neill, a dedicated triathlon and swim coach who specializes in working with non-traditional athletes, particularly women over 35. Adina shares her journey of building confidence, belief, and a sense of belonging in athletes who may not consider themselves traditional athletes. Through her business, REAL Fitness, and the supportive Team B*REAL community, Adina provides both group and private coaching, helping her clients set and achieve their personal fitness goals. Tune in to learn how Adina empowers her clients to embrace their unique journeys, how she overcame the challenges of growing her business, and the importance of celebrating every milestone, no matter how small.
Key Topics:
- Building confidence and belonging in non-traditional athletes
- Encouraging athletes to set and pursue their own goals
- Overcoming the challenges of business growth
- Signature talks on injury recovery, feeling left out, goal adjustment, and celebrating achievements
Guest Bio:
Adina O'Neill is a triathlon and swim coach, author, business owner, and speaker. She specializes in working with non-traditional athletes, particularly women over 35, who may not see themselves as athletes or who feel like they don't belong. Adina's mission is to help these individuals define their own goals, progress at their own pace, and find a supportive community through REAL Fitness and Team B*REAL.
Links:
Website: TeamBREAL.com
Instagram: @adina_oneill_real_fitness
Facebook: adinaoneillREALfitness
YouTube: adinaoneill_realfitness
Join us for this empowering conversation with Adina O'Neill, where we dive into the world of fitness coaching for non-traditional athletes and learn how to embrace and celebrate every step of the journey.
_________________________________________________________
Welcome to 'Tell Us a Story,' the podcast by Belmont City Press where business owners, entrepreneurs, and sales professionals share their journeys, insights, and strategies for success.
What to Expect
In each episode, our guests reveal how they've overcome challenges, established their brands, and leveraged their stories to promote their businesses. Whether you're an aspiring author, a seasoned business owner, or looking to elevate your personal brand, this podcast offers valuable lessons and inspiration.
Join Us!
For compelling stories and expert advice to help you write your own success story, join us as our guests… Tell Us A Story. If you have a story to tell, visit TellUsAStoryPodcast.com.
About Belmont City Press LLC: Belmont City Press LLC (BCP) is a Boston based PR and marketing agency masquerading as a boutique book publisher. BCP works with entrepreneurs and salespeople to centralize their expertise so they may position themselves as the go-to expert in their niche. Anyone looking to establish credibility, brand their expertise, simplify their life, or gain more business can benefit from our courses, coaching, workshops, publishing, and PR services.
Check us out at BelmontCityPressUniversity.com, which is our online program where we literally help you write your book in 21 days.
Looking to launch or promote your business? Visit LaunchOrPromote
Would you like the AP News to pick up the story of your appearance on Tell Us A Story Podcast? Visit OurPressCoverage.com to see how to get your business national and international exposure.
on this episode of tell us a story so let's talk about the time I thought you were dead your point is a good one that in that case it was you know it was an accident it was a good day I did an Ironman didn't lose any toenails you know so shout out to Mike we were in Dorchester on top that then we're gonna put a wet suit on out of my mouth ice cream through tears there's my strong swimmer think we're just a school on team be real not fitting in is almost kind of our superpower doesn't have to be a big goal that's a horrible idea what time we've all taken gym class team be real we understand that not everyone who has the desire to achieve a big athletic goal feels like they belong like there's so many rules and how do you follow but I do enjoy the visual I get when I say off the bike welcome to tell us a story the podcast by Belmont City Press we're entrepreneurs and sales professionals share their journeys insights and strategies for success in each episode our guests reveal how they've overcome challenges establish their brands and leverage their stories to promote their businesses so you can too I'm Red Hilton your host for this episode today I'm joined by Adina O'Neill founder of team be real so Adina tell us a story hi I'm Adina O'Neill I am the founder and head coach at team be real and here at team be real we understand that not everyone who has the desire to achieve a big athletic goal feels like they belong a team be real is a community we're regular people where everybody is accepted we've got access to practical resources an experienced coach that's me and a judgment-free support environment where you'll feel empowered to reach your personal athletic goals our specialty is building community triathlon and swim coaching for new athletes we offer options for group and private coaching at all levels and you can connect with us at team be real calm and you'll also find all our social media handles there on the website that's fabulous thank you for sharing that I wanted to so you had said you do triathlon and swim coaching for those people who maybe do not feel included in other triathlon and swim coaching environments talk to us about what that means talk to us about the people that come to you and how they measure their successes well I'll start off by saying that I've been a swimmer my entire life so it's something that comes very natural to me and actually was my entrance into the world of triathlon but I learned very quickly that swimmer in triathlon are very unique so there's a small proportion of us that actually like and enjoy and feel like we're good at swimming and there's a big group where swimming is like oh my gosh it's so scary so for me personally in the beginning it's like this is fantastic but that was also at the same time made me feel like I kind of didn't fit in because people are always kind of talking down about the swim and it's oh my gosh we just have to survive it and get to the good stuff and I was like well what do you mean the swimming is the good stuff and it immediately just put me in a place where I was a little different which I am very comfortable with because I've been different my whole life and I also quickly aside from swimming just realized that a lot of people feel like they're different you know coming from I'm not very fast you know I have a larger body than a traditional athlete so for me personally I have all these little pieces that kind of should almost make me feel like I didn't fit in and in the beginning I was just oblivious to it because I have a way of just walking around like this getting my own little stuff together but when I started to realize that I was like oh well are they gonna think that I'm slow because I'm fat or are they going to think I don't know anything I don't have the right clothes or I don't have the right bike like there's so many rules and how do you follow there's a lot involved in travel on so as I kind of got more and more into the world of triathlon I was very excited about it and I'm pretty loud and I'm not shy and so I told people about it and people started asking me questions and they're like well I don't get it you know like I'm real nervous I don't know what to do and I was like at the beginning I kind of didn't realize that I was actually helping them because I was just telling them start answering questions and then little by little someone's like well well will you help me like get ready for the triathlon and I think that was when I started to realize that I had broken through something I didn't really know what it was at the time but this kind of barrier for what we perceive triathletes to be or how they should be and kind of just the regular everyday person who might still want to do something pretty epic like complete a triathlon so yeah so talk to us for a minute just stay right here for a minute yeah what are the misconceptions what are the barriers that you're breaking down and who is it that maybe you are encouraging or introducing to the sport that literally come to you and say I never even occurred to me well the first thing is the entry level triathlon is called a sprint and my favorite thing to tell people is that does not mean you have to go fast right you hear the word sprint you think you have to be fast because we've all taken gym class and they're like when you go fast they tell you to sprint but a sprint is just a distance of a triathlon it is it used to be the entry level now they have something called a super sprint which is not even faster it's even shorter so some of the terminology just gets a little confusing but a sprint is just a distance you know and people are like oh my gosh but how could I do a triathlon they're envisioning the Ironman triathlon because that is what's televised out in Kona Hawaii where they're swimming in you know the in Waikiki beach where there's waves and all kinds of Marie life and all those other stuff and it's 2.4 miles a sprint triathlon is 400 meters generally it can be anywhere from a quarter mile to a half mile but generally around 400 meters so you're talking 16 lengths of a traditional pool so that's that's a that's a big thing like oh the distance you know okay well and then after you swim you ride like 10 to 15 miles on your bike and then you run a 5k and yeah that is a lot but when you break those distances down and people wait a minute that's not that scary it's certainly not as scary as an Ironman which is much longer so that that's a big one and again like you don't have to be fast you know a lot of sprint triathlons don't have time cutoffs or they have generous time cutoffs because race directors understand this is an entry-level triathlon and that's where people are going to start so if you make it too hard to do a sprint triathlon as a local person you're not gonna get anybody else to come back and if you want if we want to grow the sport of triathlon you're not gonna get new people because think about people entering the sport on a relay oh my gosh that is that is I wouldn't say it's a misconception but it is an unknown it's becoming far more popular to find it for us yeah so a relay is when and that's actually my very first triathlon I did the swim of a relay read did her first triathlon the run of a relay so you break it down you've got swim bike run and you can have three different people doing the triathlon one in each discipline the first time I did the swim and my friend did the bike and the run so you can do the three disciplines you can have two or three people you break it down however you want and it gives you an entrance just to an inside view is what happens at a triathlon because then there's things like transitions and you know and just the whole environment you're like how do I do all this and get from one place to the other and I have three different you know sets of clothing and how do I manage all that so it's a way that you can get one foot in the door without jumping into the proverbial deep end nice yeah so but and it's a lot of fun because then it's also you you build camaraderie like we've done that with our team we get we get different relays together you can do it from sprint it's a great way to jump if you wanted if you've already done a sprint you want to go to the next distance you're like oh well I'm not sure if I could do that whole distance let me do part of it and share it with a team member I experience yeah can I tell you one of the biggest misconceptions not even misconception I have or had or I still have even though I've done several triathlons and or relays aqua bike yeah could I just tell you yeah okay it's not those little bikes you ride on the water no it means you do the swim and the bike of a triathlon and not the run right but I do enjoy the visual I get when I say aqua bike yeah so yeah so yeah so we like to say swim bike and done you know and that's actually becoming really popular because people are finding that they don't like to run as much or as people get older or if they have injuries that keep them from running and they like the multi sport world so that's another word that's used a lot with triathlon multi sport just because you're doing more than one sport so now they have that option but you also have the option for the people who don't like to swim a lot of triathlon events will offer a duathlon where you bike and run but the kicker is you also have to run first so you actually when you do a duathlon you run you bike and then you run again oh yeah and there are there is also an aquathlon which is you swim and run so I think we yeah so yeah the multi sport is it's becoming a little more diverse in its offerings triathlon is branching out I've seen triathlons where people now will paddle instead of swim or you know they'll do they'll do like X-terra does one where they mountain bike and trail run so it's it's it's growing to reaching out to different areas in a diverse community to hopefully shine a light on how anybody in any facet or any sport can possibly participate in a triathlon or a multi sport yeah so with your clients yeah it's like you earlier you know technology I'm sure has created a world in an environment that you maybe didn't envision when you started doing this because everybody was in person and seeing the benefit of your advice and you know your experience how has technology changed your business and how is it like as a swim coach how how do you help me if you're not sitting there in the pool like holding my swimies for me and you know with that what is it your clients are doing and how do they measure their success well the first thing I have to say about technology is another myth dispeller dispeller is at the word a lot of people think that triathlon coaches meet with you in person on a regular basis and they don't the majority of triathlon coaches are programming training plans so crafting a plan for the individual if you're looking for a triathlon coach they should be making the plan that you want them to make not there's some coaches out there there's like oh I have this plan here follow it that is not private triathlon coaching but the the triathlon coach does not often live near the athlete probably more time like that this is generally not a priority even to live near the athlete if you are starting out and you need help with run form and bike technique and swim form you might want to coach that lives closer to get that hands-on work but most triathlon coaches do not see their athletes ever what I trading for Ironman I my coach lives half an hour and for me I never saw because that's not what triathlon coaches generally do and how you just slip that right in there when you were training for iron on ironman we'll get to your accomplishments in a minute but go ahead it was it was casual it was totally casual I try athletes do like to like throw the the more experience you get the more that triathletes like to drop in there their thing so it's like a runner if you talk to a runner you're always going to be talking about Ryan yeah yeah yeah go ahead so so that being said though I have always used technology in my coaching because I have always been a an online coach and it's tricky to use the word virtual like I'm not a virtual coach I'm not AI I'm a real person but I am an online coach and I have I started an online group coaching with a previous company I was working with a multi-level marketing group and I've been doing online coaching sit for before the pandemic before it was a thing so it was fun and cool yeah like we were doing zoom meetings before people knew what zoom was and and that's some so that's something I'm real comfortable with it was not new for me we've adjusted certain things but that for me that wasn't a big change there's a lot more technology in triathlon because and that is another thing beginner triathletes think I need a garment yeah we're all wearing them like but I need a garment I need an aura ring I need a heart rate monitor I need a power I mean like you can have technology overload as we can in everyday life but you know they look is like oh my gosh well if I'm doing triathlon do I need all those things and which things are gonna help me more which things should I get first or later like I've been doing triathlon for over a decade I do not have a power meter and I do not use lift which is like online cycling game like you know chasing Pokemons and stuff or something like that oh there's that yeah but you know like there's so much technology you know and you can go overboard with it so it's nice to be able to know what kinds of things are going to help you and also to have someone say you don't need all of that technology as far as swimming is concerned the first time I started doing any online swim coaching was during the pandemic because we couldn't go into pools so that was a change for me and I was personally surprised how effective it could be so what I do with my swimmers is I instruct them how to get videos of themselves swimming so that way they get the right angles and I can see as much of their stroke as possible and then I can review the videos side note when I do in-person swim clinics and swim reviews I take videos and I review the videos so you're not having to do it not that much different and I have an underwater camera but iPhones are pretty great too you can get a lot of information from an iPhone and then we have a review we'll sit here on a zoom session kind of like you and I are talking right now and I can demonstrate the drills that I have prescribed for them and they can show me what they're doing right back we do a lot of that in the pool anyway like you have to be able to do the motions on land before you put them in the water so we practice we do that piece online the piece that's missing is the real time response I'm obviously not on zoom while they're in the pool so it's not an ideal situation but I know people who live in areas who don't have access to swim coaches you know if you live far enough if you don't have someone who can you know there are two types of swim coaches there's a type of swim coaches is just gonna lay out a workout for you and there's a swim coach you can analyze your stroke so if you have someone laying out a workout that's one piece but if you don't have someone analyzing your stroke an online analysis is gonna get you a lot farther than no analysis at all mm-hmm excellent so as your coaching for your swimmers your triathletes and everything else what is it they're looking to achieve what are the goals that they're setting you know you're coaching at the iron man level you're coaching at the sprint relay level what is what are the metrics or what are the goals that they're setting for themselves and how are you helping them achieve them well as I mentioned in the beginning my specialty is newer athletes but being you can be a new athlete at every level so I have coached people from super sprint all the way I'm coaching someone now for an iron man this is actually my first athlete who's he's doing his first iron man but it's it's his first iron man like I that that's kind of my sweet spot there's a and emphasis on the newer part I taught second grade for 10 years I know how to break things down you're like me personally when I don't understand something like oh tell me like I'm five years old like break it down make it simple so I can understand and I have a talent for that I built that talent up over 10 years teaching seven and eight year olds so when someone is doing something brand new there you look at it a little differently than someone who is okay I'm looking to improve upon this and I already have a base mm-hmm so I like to break out those have you heard of this do you know what this means it just all the pull out anything that I've picked up over the years and make sure that the athletes know what's going on mm-hmm and so yeah but every every distance I don't really have a favorite but my personal opinion is I love a first-time feeling like I'm a one in donor there are very few races that I will repeat as you know because you've been asking me for years to go back and do another Ragnar and I'm done that Ragnar is a great but I love the first-time feeling I like to go to the race I don't scope things out you know I scope things out more for my athletes than I do for myself I appreciate that because my AR with OCD I want to know everything and the turn and how many steps in the distance and you know absolutely everything that I'm doing yeah yeah all right talk to me about a couple of things one let's talk about your book okay it's forward is a pace forward is a pace book calm talk to me about what brought you to the point where you wanted to write a book other than you had a fabulous publisher and sort of what what is the who is the book for and then you know and what is it that it's going to teach them so I never thought I was gonna write a book I never thought I was gonna do a lot of things and I have learned actually that never never is a word I try not to use for the future I have changed that to if not on my radar because there were a lot of people who told me you should write a book you should write a book and I was like yeah whatever it's like I'm not writing a book you know and I'm not I'm not quite sure exactly where the turning point was if I had to guess it'd probably be my publisher saying hey write a book like you know someone I know told me to go run a 5k go run a 10k I am very I am very open to ideas like sometimes they don't come up with my own ideas I do I hear an idea and like okay let's try it right that's a horrible idea what time yeah this this one was a little different I think by the time the well up we wrote a one book already the connections book with the three other coaches and that was fun that that was fun right it was an anthology with a group of other coaches from different areas that had you know sort of talked about what it is that you know who you were in your journey to get to be a coach be a coach right and that book just kind of seemed fun I get to talk to me talk and tell my story and I've always been a big believer that the more you tell your story someone's gonna hear it and be like oh that that's just like me they have picked some piece out of your life that says oh that sounds like me well maybe I'll try that or something else there's some kind of connection ironically that of course was the name of the other book was connections yeah but so there's some kind of connection but that book was fun right and then I said okay I want to write a book I want to write my own book and I know that you keep reminding me this is my second book but on so many levels it feels like my first book because it's my book so my that's like anything that was a relay book and this is my first solo book so the exact moment I don't know but I I definitely liked the idea of doing something I'd never done before and something kind of big like writing the book is a big thing it took me well over a year and you know there's all I absolutely love it and excited about it and I know that you know there's things I didn't even say in this book you know but we wrote so forward as a pace was it is for you know all of the athletes who think that they don't fit in and it really it I think the overall concept came when I realized that you're not supposed to fit in you're supposed to stand out and that that's the subtitle right real athletes don't fit in they stand out and that was my biggest learning as an athlete that has helped me to be a coach is we're not trying to fit in we're being ourselves we're standing out as we are an on team be real not fitting in is almost kind of our superpower because if we fit in we wouldn't have found each other and be able to stand out on as our own individual person and actually that was one of the things I went back to my high school graduation speech over 35 years ago and that was like the topic of my speech was being an individual and being yourself which was like crazy foreshadowing but it's really the book is for everyday athletes people who are not even everyday athletes they don't know they're gonna be everyday athletes they don't know they're gonna be athlete at all they're just regular everyday people who maybe have an idea that they want to try something they want it doesn't have to be a big goal it can be it doesn't even have to be a goal there's like hey you know what like travel on some fun I wonder what that means to come free the book yeah or gee I always thought maybe I'd run a 5k or I've always liked to hike maybe I can do something else and and just it's a point of inspiration to just follow your own dream and you don't have to be going for an iron man yeah I was yeah sure we dropped I did an iron man it's a huge accomplishment when I started out I had no desire I said I'll never do an iron man and there we've got iron man but it's it's you don't have to have that dream you don't have to do it that big you can for the rest of your life do you know a sprint triathlon you can do a bike portion of a sprint travel who cares right whatever you want like you are the only one who was deciding what is right for you what's gonna make you happy what's like I'm getting excited just thinking about it because let's go sign up for something yeah but that's another misconception is like oh well if you're a triathlete you have to go do an iron man no you don't you have to reach for a podium no you don't all you have to do is decide what's gonna make you happy and do that and that's how your clients measure success so with team be real the real part of team be real is an acronym share with us what that acronym stands for realistic empowered attainable lifestyle and that's how I approach the team and all my private clients as well because if a client is coming to me and wants to get private coaching it's not about what my idea of coaching is it's about what their goal is and how they approach it do they want to get a podium do they want to just finish is this a building block to reach something else is this I have no idea what I'm doing I've never done you know it's like there are so many different factors and you know and that's like people will ask me for advice like oh well I'm doing this is it okay if I do this of that in my training as an I don't I was like I don't answer questions like that ever hmm even for people on the team who I know pretty well unless I know your training schedule I will not answer a question about your training schedule because it is particular to you and any coach is just gonna give you a blanket answer they don't know like you have to know what's going on so one question two answers in that whole you know be the person you needed when you were struggling sort of thing what is something that you wish you knew one as an athlete and two as a business owner well so anyone listening that maybe is thinking about a triathlon or is thinking about starting a business which is what you did you took your you know hobby essentially and turned it into a business you know because there was a call and a need for it obviously so what is it you wish you knew I think you I think I answer that differently at different times and right and I think that's anybody would answer like wherever you are in your life there's something very poignant that sticks out and right now what sticks out obviously is because I just finished the book but like just the idea of forward is a pace right like what that means is that you are moving forward at your pace for your goal for yourself and I did hear that in bowl I heard that more in business before I heard it as an athlete because there's a huge stigma about you know athletes being slow I think we're just as cool I mean we are getting the most benefit out of our race entry your buck at the back of that yes right and we're having the most fun we're not stressed and nervous about oh my gosh are we gonna meet the podium you know I was like we're just out there having a good time but but the idea of forward is a pace is that it's you're it's about you you are going at your pace you are going for your goal and there is no right or wrong way and once I figured that out for my business I got a lot more comfortable because there also is in the business culture this hustle culture and do all the things and oh my gosh I'm so busy I'm always so busy like now when people say oh you're so busy I don't like when people say that because it sounds it sounds like it's fake right because there is this oh make it look like you're busy like it actually heard people in business forums say that oh make it look like you're busy like I don't think that that's useful it never worked for me and if I went too fast and tried to keep up with people who are very fast movers I couldn't keep up with what they were doing it wasn't comfortable for me it made extra stress I couldn't do all the work that was like and when I kind of stopped and said alright well let me just kind of go at my own pace and get there when I get there things worked much better mm-hmm built your plan as an athlete and you built your plan as an entrepreneur yeah sort of at your own pace at your own pace yeah and and it's okay like give yourself permission to say oh I'm not doing it like somebody else that was that was that was a very important one for me I mean this for me I mean I that's like I know we've had this conversation before like the amount of things that you can get that we have just have different personalities right different skills but the amount like sometimes I like the amount of things that you can like turn out like - like well does she do all that and at the end of the day it doesn't like for me personally it doesn't matter because that's how you're managing your business and that works for you mm-hmm and I need to manage my business the way it works for me otherwise it doesn't work otherwise it doesn't work I'm not you so no and I'm sure many people are grateful so it's no secret that a dean and I have known each other for a hundred years and so let's tell the story I don't say it's one of my favorite stories because it's one of the worst stories because we've bit we've seen a lot and a lot of a lot um we can talk about how you know you need a coach as an athlete because of their there are things that happen sometimes that you need to be prepared for so let's talk about the time I thought you were dead it started out as a really good day it was a good day we got that picture that was in your marketing sure that was on the book we got the great picture and everything else we ended up at the Boston triathlon I was a Sherpa for the day yeah we show up every I think we had a delayed start a little bit but beautiful water beautiful wasn't too hot it was just it was fabulous we were in Dorchester you know right on the bay you know all of it and then things went south and because of the delayed start and where I was waiting for you and you took I don't know when you hit the water or anything else but I literally saw a man go into cardiac arrest in the water and have to be rescued and they took him out on the rocks I felt like they delayed getting to him and it was horrible and I saw them doing chest compressions and an ambulance and everything while looking for you and waiting for you to come out of the water and it's like we've been through you know many a race together many many a race and I have my Sherpa you know scripts that I you know sort of spit out and you know everything else yes I do I have my Sherpa mantras and then you saw you because now I know your gate I know how you run I know how you sit in the saddle when you're biking you know I know everything because I've watched you know eagle eye with my blindness you know so much looking for you getting pictures you know what you're hotfire man all of on and on and on and I see you come I see you come out of the water and out of my mouth ice cream root ears there's my strong swimmer I was so confused I know I was so confused I had no idea and I was just like yes you know like in my own but still like I said you're on yeah yeah there's my strong swimmer I had no idea I had sunglasses and a hat I mean everything because I was like do I tell her but I'm like well how does that help like I'm literally I'm I'm counseling myself this whole time because it's not something you see often but yes I knew you were a strong swimmer I knew you had coached yourself and prepared yourself and done everything you needed I mean I think he ended up having a site and you know I mean it is what it is and it can happen to anybody but I think that really sort of exemplifies why you need a coach can anyone go out and swim can anyone go and ride a bike can anyone go and do it yes absolutely but if you're not prepared and you don't have the benefit of someone else's experience to prepare you you could be setting yourself up for I don't want to say a disaster but injury if nothing else or whatever so speak on that for us so first of all your your point is a good one that in that case it was you know it was an accident it was it happens that people have accidents and tragic experiences that are unexpected that maybe could or could not be avoided that that's going to happen and and unfortunately it happens everywhere I mean you can walk out of your house and get hit by a car it's the same type of situation okay however when you're talking about triathlon and specifically a triathlon that takes place with an open water swim which the majority of triathlons are open water swims you can have a pool swim but the majority are open water swims and there are a disproportionate number of people as I mentioned earlier that the swim is not their strength a typical triathlete and I don't like to say typical because everyone's their own self but if we're making a generalization a tip of a not an a tip a typical triathlete is one who is stronger in the bike and run and they're surviving the swim for the most I mean because I was never a fast swimmer I showed up I was like oh my gosh you're amazing you're so fast I was like all right I like this cuz around swimmers I'm nothing special would you say that most people training for a triathlon if it's not something like an Ironman or something generally practice in the pool and not open water that's exactly the point that I was going to make many people show up never having been in the open water many people show up to ocean swims never having swim in an ocean like and there is a difference between swimming in an ocean and swimming in a lake yes lakes and ponds can be choppy they can even get white caps I've seen it happen like those tiny little waves that is that is a lot it's very different you can't get white caps I've never seen white caps but is swimming in an ocean is different from swimming in a lake and especially if you have open water ocean versus more of a protective like there's so many factors variables oceans also tend depending on where you are tend to be colder than lakes they're bigger bodies of water so they don't warm up as fast so if you have people that are coming to an event and have never swam in open water before that presents a danger for themselves but it for everybody else as well because if you have someone in the water who gets scared they their themselves are in danger and their natural instinct is to save themselves they don't care who they're gonna have to climb on top of to keep their breath for their mouth out of the water I mean you learn that in the most basic of life-guarding courses that I took back when I was 15 years old right so anyone listening that is preparing for a triathlon should have I think at a minimum a swim coach because it's different and the bike in this in the running I feel like we do naturally and everybody sort of grows up doing that riding your bike you know that sort of thing and then becoming skilled at it if you want to I don't know that people practice the skill of swimming and that's why with the technology today and the fact that most athletes are not sitting there in their swimmies with the coach in the pool it is absolute perfection that you're able to do this for people to prevent you know injury a tragedy or having them mentally prepared yeah I am on top of it then we're gonna put a wetsuit on oh yeah and then there's that's another level like there are things to know about putting on wetsuits and using what so people show up they've never put on a wetsuit they're at a triathlon trying to put on a wetsuit they don't put it on properly they get shaved they're uncovered they can't move their arms they can't breathe like there's those things are stifling happens absolutely so there's it's it's about being prepared and yes like we were just having this conversation last week this weekend is that the big difference my nephew is a collegiate swimmer and we said you know the big difference between swimming and every other sport is that you cannot breathe that will yeah no I wouldn't advise would advise against it or any water sport right yeah water sports you can't breathe that will and when you are frightened about getting your next breath weird things happen you're on bike you're like oh I'm going too fast let me slow down I can't go up the hill I mean like like you said you've been riding many people not everybody has a bite but many people are riding bikes since they were kids who the hills high I get off and walk my bike like it's instinctual right or you're running oh I'm tired my leg hurts is you walk it's instinctual and then people like well what do I do I'm swimming yeah it's like okay well you roll over and float like the number of times I've said that to people whoa it's like I just solved world peace I'm gonna treat me like you're five you know what I mean like that's what we teach infants to do isn't it before I forget before I forget take us through the progression of your accomplishments not that the Ironman is the pinnacle because who knows it could have been the relay that we just did a few weeks ago was the pinnacle because there's an award right back there but you know just take us through you are just so everybody knows sort of you know establish your credibility so people understand that you have been where they are regardless of almost where they are so I said my first triathlon experience was the swim and I did all those things that I just said I had I did wrong my very first swim I had never worn a wetsuit my very first swim I had never swam like competitively in the ocean like I I've been swimming riding waves since I was a baby but I had never sweat like I did all the things wrong mm-hmm so like I know there's a reason we're supposed to be doing them so I was like wow I'm really lucky now that I didn't so that was my my first experience I've done I don't know dozens of sprint triathlons a couple of Olympic distance which the as we're recording this the Olympics are coming up soon it's also called a standard distance triathlon but it's people refer to it as the Olympic distance because it's the same distance they do in the Olympics surprisingly not a very popular distance in Massachusetts there are there are not a lot of events like that some 5k runs 10k runs couple half marathons one Paris marathon one marathon I think that was a lot of that was a lot of running but it was it was also one of it was an amazing experience and nothing went wrong I'm sure something went wrong but like when I look back and I was like I had no regrets about it and I didn't have any unfinished business yeah I was like my only complaint at the end where my quads were tired you like it all on the street I had no but I had no chaping I had no nutrition issues I had no blisters I didn't lose any toenails you know so shout out to Mike yeah my brother step-per-step through the streets of Paris nice and you know that was it was just an epic day and it's like I can't sometimes when I watch a marathon I was like oh I want to go back and do another one I'm like no I don't that that was such a great experience as well leave it right there So and then so then I worked my way up to the one iron man of course my brother Mike was there again well Tom Blanc and it was the same thing you know that one I had a tiny blister on top of you know that that was it again I'll catch a half iron in Maine did a couple yeah a few half iron bands yeah shout out to the Patriot the Patriot half is the only race that I have done more than once I've done it three times no there you go Sun Sun multisports used to tag them in the show yes now Mark Walter he actually ran the Patriot half now that he's not putting it on anymore is a right to a race director this year people who do these love them just as much as they want everybody else - yeah absolutely all right so a bunch of swim races yes I know I like I talked you but like we can't not talk about ice swimming and marathon swimming yes if you want to get in a pool with ice in the middle of the Ozarks or wherever you were and swim around like a dolphin I can't stop you yeah and the fact that there's other people there and it's a sort of a an organized sport is still mind-blowing to me yeah yeah all right we'll see what I do next I don't know stay tuned y'all all right so before we get to your final thought what is your Monty so I like to ask everybody what is your Monty what is your you know your your mantra your word your phrase that our listeners can take away from our chat today and this could be something that you know is about self self-reflection inspired people or a reminder of a lesson learned so what is what is your Monty what is your mantra that you you carry with you I've got a bunch of them I believe we wrote a whole chapter in a book about it but I did actually yeah and the funny thing is the one I'm about to say I'm not even sure if I put in the book but it it just popped up in my mind again I said oh this this is actually really important one is you are exactly where you need to be amen amen and to me that means you know you're making your decisions and you're doing it for you on goes along with what we're talking about earlier is that you you're going at your pace and you're making your goals and that's where you are supposed to be it's about you like it's about you it's not selfish and being proud is not bragging it is about you and if you are finding joy and feeling excited and motivated and empowered then that is the place that is exactly where you're supposed to be that's exactly where you're supposed to be and if you're having a really rough day you're learning something like everything but life's a roller coaster and if you're down in that valley you're saying you're supposed to you're you're about to shoot up mm-hmm you're learning something in that valley that's kind of damn I've been in that valley and I'm glad I'm out of it and I may have another one coming you never know but you are exactly where you need to be all right rapid-fired questions I've been talking sort of about you and about triathlons your business and everything else let's spend just 30 seconds if that getting to know a Dina and what it is that a Dina likes so you ready just which everyone comes to you ready okay yeah all right early rise or a night owl oh early board games or video games board games city life or country life ocean life I think I'd have to I'd have to choose country over city I'm not a skiing or surfing oh neither really water if you had to if you had to all right well I don't know how to do either but I would be oh I have speed I did not like that so I guess I would we're gonna go with surfing I'd rather go try surfing than go skiing again well you can I was just fall off and start swimming there you go spontaneous or planned oh planned plan ask my family I'm the work in spontaneous scary movie or comedy comedy all right hot chocolate hot chocolate all right silent read with okay silent retreat or adventure holiday adventure holiday art or science oh oh what this wasn't very quick I guess science all right trainer plane plane glasses or contacts as we're both sitting here with glasses on glass I love glasses all right well fun I'm and I'm so afraid to like stick stuff in my eyes but well I mean I like my contacts don't get me wrong I mean all right one thing that I always like to do is I like to do a guest a guest question so I don't have a guest that has left a question for you since you are the premier so I'm gonna ask you a question and then you'll have an opportunity to leave a question for our next guest who will answer that on our show so if sometimes I have to say sometimes when you're slow you still get to be first just saying it happens I love right I like it's I was about to say wow I don't get to be first very often I'm not very fast but there are people some you just show up like sometimes you show up to a race and you still get you can get first if you show up you beat all the people didn't show up hey your age group or or other it's entirely possible absolutely all right let's let's do this answer this question riddle meet us what is one innovation or trend you believed will shape the future of your industry one innovation or trend that I believe will shape the future of my industry do you think that it's gonna open up to more people do you feel like it's gonna be you know AI is somehow gonna take over do you feel what is coming down the line for triathletes and you know in your industry and your specialty your niche what is it that's going to get maybe people who don't think they're triathletes to become triathletes well it's interesting the first thing that popped into my head when you said that was AI because it is so popular right now and it's very controversial in the world of triathlon oh at the USA triathlon exchange they're yearly summit retreat whatever they call it mm-hmm there was a there was a big discussion about AI and a lot of coaches are getting very nervous that AI is going to replace them oh I would argue that the coaches who are the most nervous are providing the least personal attention to their athletes mm-hmm I do not think AI is going to replace me because what I provide I mean let me step back from my understanding until they make AI more like a person it could be I don't know I'm I'm not that I'm not that smart in that way but AI is not empathetic it doesn't have a human touch can't have a conversation certainly can't give you a high-five until AI can give you a high-five like like a real high-five like a one you know I probably can give you a virtual high-five but that's not the same thing but it but they're it can in my usage and understanding of it so far and let me know if you've had a different experience it it does not have the personal touch it is not human that it's it does a lot like it can process and it can research faster than anything it could make you a training plan like that but I don't know that it has the capability yet and they may never say never to get that same human touch that you get from a human being you can't remove the human factor from a human experience yeah essentially yeah all right where can our listeners find out more about you and your work where can they get the book I know forward is a pace book.com where they can purchase it but where do they find you if they want to connect with you and maybe become a triathlete and or you know we're runner a swimmer or cyclist yeah well so my website is teambreal.com so team the letter B and the word real.com and you can find all my social media handles there I hang out the most on Instagram and Facebook I'm trying to make friends with threads and despite the fact I really like to write I have not gotten fancy with that yet I pop on there if you don't them but I like Instagram and Facebook I love pictures so you know those are those are platforms for pictures so I hang out there a lot and and I hang out a lot on it we have a private Facebook group for the team where I hang out the most and yeah and or you can always if you you can always just find me directly at hello at adena O'Neill.com nice well thank you Adina for sharing your stories and your insights with us today I appreciate your time it's extremely valuable and I hope I honored that here today oh absolutely to our listeners if you have a story to share visit tellusastorypodcast.com if you're an aspiring author a seasoned business owner or looking to elevate your personal brand visit bellmontsettypress.com for expert advice on writing your own success story trust the next chapter because you are the author now tell us a story (gentle music) (upbeat music)
