YogiTriathlete (00:00)
Welcome to the Yogi Triathlete podcast. I'm Jess and I'm here with my co-host, BJ. And today on the podcast, we are celebrating an athlete who has been woven into the fabric of this community for nearly a decade. We met Claire Bruce back in 2016 during the early scrappy, live on the road days of Yogi Triathlete, long before she became one of our VIP one-on-one athletes. She has watched us grow and we have had the privilege of watching her grow just as powerfully.
Claire is the embodiment of what happens when dedication becomes a lifestyle. She's consistent, heart forward, endlessly willing, for sure. Yeah, that I love. And she's learned how to keep the sport fun, even as she continues leveling up in ways that most athletes will only dream of. Her mindset over the past year has transformed into something extraordinary. Claire has stepped into clarity, clarity about what she wants, how she's going to get there.
and how she moves through the inevitable challenges along the way. She navigates training in life now with a grounded confidence that wasn't always present. And witnessing that evolution has been one of the great honors of having her on the team. And then there are the performance markers, the unmistakable signals of her growth, the gap, a climb that once humbled her has now become one of her strongest, fastest efforts of the summer. Her run.
getting closer and closer to breaking that sub two hour half marathon in the 70.3 and more importantly, truly believing that she can and her courage, giving herself a chance every single time, refusing to quit before she begins and redefining failure as not taking the shot. And most exciting of all, and why we have Claire on the podcast today is that she just completed her second Ironman 70.3 World Championship.
and she delivered her most complete, powerful race of the year, fastest run of her season, training, translating seamlessly into her swim, feeling strong the entire ride, and she nailed her race day nutrition, one of the very first things we ever worked on together. This is what long-term commitment looks like. This is what belief builds. This is the lifestyle lived fully, courageously, and wholeheartedly. Claire Bruce, welcome to the show.
Claire Bruce (02:28)
My gosh, that's a nice way to start the Thanksgiving long weekend, buttering me up like that.
YogiTriathlete (02:35)
Well,
it's all true. You know, you've been with us for a long time. You met us on the road. Really when Yogi Trap, it was yeah, we were so scrappy. We were so in the hustle. We were so like, what the heck did we just do? We blew up our life. And you've really seen the whole thing and
And you've had some time away from us and you came back and it's just such an honor to have you. mean, how many times that BJ and I are like more Claire's more Claire's. But with that said, I'm going to hand it over to your coach because I know he wants to jump in here with our first question. Yeah, Claire. Well, welcome back. Because I think we did do a short session in one of our communities, maybe on Facebook a couple of years ago.
Claire Bruce (03:14)
Yeah, the OG Facebook community for Iron, I believe that was recapping Iron Man Lake Placid in 2018. Let's throwback.
YogiTriathlete (03:22)
⁓
my gosh. Yeah, it's way back. Well, let's go way, way back. Let's start at the beginning. Do you remember that time when we first met each other on the High Vibe Tour in Lake Placid almost 10 years ago? What stands out from you from that time and what drew you into this lifestyle?
Claire Bruce (03:39)
Are you kidding? I remember that like it was yesterday. I remember that so clearly. Like the mini tries, just everything that you guys did throwing everything you had of your lifestyle as you knew it out the window and like living at the campground in Wilmington and showing up at the mini try every Monday and Clark, baby Clark babysitting at the post and having him just soak it up all the love just like he does now. Like
YogiTriathlete (03:42)
Aww.
Claire Bruce (04:08)
Yes, I remember it like it was yesterday and just the energy that you both had is just infectious for anybody that meets you and I'm sure they would all agree. And who wouldn't want to be a part of that? Like that was early days. think you had even like Jeremiah was one of the workers that worked with Colin at High Peak Cyclery and he had just raved about the entire experience of working with you. And I had just been injured for a long time.
and volunteered at Iron Man Lake Placid that year and was like, you, I mean, everyone listening to this knows this. Once you watch an Iron Man, you're gonna do one. There's not a chance that that passes by and you're not like, all right, caught the bug. So it was like such a smooth, it just felt like it was meant to be from the very beginning, like that. I remember it so clearly and
The path to get here has not been what you would normally expect or could ever plan for, but it was the path that needed to happen to get to this place. So yeah, it was like yesterday.
YogiTriathlete (05:20)
And you had, I love that you mentioned that because I remember that you were really struggling with the run, like staying healthy on the run. And I remember so diligently, we were just slowly, slowly building you back up and you were extremely patient with the process, which has everything to do with where you are 10 years later now.
Claire Bruce (05:45)
exactly. It's hilarious when you look back at where it all started, which was back in college when I decided like, I grew up playing sports forever was competitive in soccer, ran track and field was always a sprinter. So it's kind of funny that here we are in the endurance space, farthest thing from sprinting, but got to a place where I felt too comfortable. I don't know, actually, I may have never told you this, but
This is how I found my way into endurance sports was in college, I had had, it was like my junior year. And I was just, I was starting to go to some run groups with this Nike thing in Chicago. Just felt like I needed something like everything just seemed to status quo, like I needed something to challenge me and like push it. So I signed up for a half marathon a week in advance having never run anything long other than just
you know, training for soccer, doing my thing. And, woo, it kicked my butt, but I finished it and then immediately was like, what does it take to get into the Chicago Marathon? And like, that was the spark that started it. So then, back then, you could just register for the Chicago Marathon. There was no lottery system. People didn't care this much. So I had registered for it, had kept playing soccer, got injured.
didn't train for the entire summer, showed up, went, ran the marathon, destroyed my knees. They just didn't get along for quite a while. And then Colin and I moved to Lake Placid. my God, the mountains, it's beautiful. There's so much opportunity for outdoor adventure. Like everything we want to do is on your feet. It's exploring. It's outdoor sport, trail running. This is beautiful. This is awesome. Drove right into it.
tried running up the mountains there, well, tried, did, ran myself straight into compartment syndrome in both of my legs. And that put a big halt on everything for a solid year. And I was coming out of that when I met you. And so that's like how we even got to that point. But it's this constant need to be challenged and see what's next and know that there's more that.
YogiTriathlete (07:52)
Hmm.
you
Claire Bruce (08:03)
was like, okay, these are the people that can see where you are and see the opportunity and the potential and work with you to get there. And it's not, it's not a prescriptive, you're not going to get there by following the basic plan that every single person does and not looking at so many things, but looking at your mindset, looking at what you need to be successful and like getting that run back after I had that injury took so long.
But in the time that we spent doing it, those are the best years of running I had ever had and the most consistent years of running I ever had. And when we took our little break, things were still going well, but I had another run injury, came back from that myself. We reconnected at 2021 St. George Worlds. That kind of sparked things. Yeah, this, this.
this is reigniting here a little bit and it took a little bit more time after COVID happened and those pieces of the pie. But when we started this round again, it was I like the run, the run and I are we just like to challenge each other. It's never there's always I mean, there's always more to give and everything but the run in particular and I have never run as consistently as I did with you in the beginning. And now I can say we're doing it again.
because this is going on a year and a half and I don't need to knock on wood because we are in a great spot and it just keeps getting better. Did the hill run on the treadmill today? It felt easy. It felt easy and I was running faster than I ever ran them before. So it just gets better.
YogiTriathlete (09:49)
Yeah, I mean, I know nobody will believe that this is without bias, but like, BJ is like an insane coach. mean, like, as far as like coming back and starting you, and it's always about holding back. mean, even this morning, and I'm like chugging down my, this is an endurance sports podcast, so nobody will mind that I'm drinking my recovery shake right now, because I squeezed my bike in, of course, but I was like.
I want threshold like more threshold like VO2 and he was like, you're not getting any of that today. And it's like, ⁓ thank God. And it was the right what I got was exactly what I needed. And so yeah, it's been so cool to see. Because BJ shares with me, you know, your messages sometimes just like the joy that comes through your voice after workouts. It's and it really is that like you're consistent. So it's not it's you guys as a team, you have the athlete has to show up and do the work.
Claire Bruce (10:22)
Mm-hmm.
YogiTriathlete (10:40)
And you do that and that really allows him to really coach to his potential. And I think you're such a perfect ongoing product of what that looks like. Joy, consistency, healthy body, healthy mind. Yeah. And before we, totally a hundred percent, like it was just like, it fills me up to get to work with you each day and to...
to be along on this journey, the second go around with you, which has been incredible. And so we're so grateful you reached out. I think we met up in Massachusetts and we had a little conversation and then we actually met up at Plastic last year where it all began and had a little conversation and decided to move forward. So before we get into your amazing world championship and your amazing season this past year, what in these past 18 months or so since we've
you know, reintegrated, what has been a growth point for you or something that you can reflect upon that has really shifted or changed in the way that you train or navigate work or life or travel? Is there anything that stands out to you?
Claire Bruce (11:52)
BJ, is there anything that stands out? Yes. There's a lot of things that stand out. I think the biggest...
YogiTriathlete (11:55)
You
Claire Bruce (12:01)
One of the biggest pieces is the consistency and all in partner. Like this works because I'm all in and you're all in and having somebody that is there and believes in you, even if you have a moment where you feel like you don't have it yourself, if you show up and try, that's all that it takes. And that can unlock so much for anybody.
that you just don't get when you're on your own and you don't get without having somebody that can see you for where you are, can see where you want to go, both where I envision and I'm sure you have this other vision that I haven't even seen yet and be able to meet each other where we are and push to that next level. And I feel like that's something that makes you thrive in sport and it makes you thrive at work. Like I lead a team of creatives every day at work and that's a huge
YogiTriathlete (12:46)
huh.
Claire Bruce (12:59)
piece that I carry over to them too is like everything that we do that challenges us gives us an opportunity to grow. just because it may not go the way that you think it should right off the bat, that doesn't define you. It's how you turn around and how you show up the next day. It's like even I can even talk yesterday, yesterday, supposed to be a light week.
BJ, it's gonna be a light week at work. It's short week. Should have never said that. Busy, busy day, lots going on. It got to be, I think, seven o'clock, eight o'clock. Had been going since six o'clock in the morning. Hadn't done my bike ride, did my swim first thing in the morning. I'm like, ⁓ there's nothing I want to do more than like check out and be a vegetable on the couch and not do anything. I'm tired.
this is it. But that that that sounds great, but I got bigger goals than that. And so I got to at least try. And 90 % of the workout was great. Did I crash and burn in the last interval? Sure did. But you know what, I showed up and I got in more than if I had just said, No, this has been a busy day, a long day, I'm just going to call it where it is. And I came out the other side today better because of that. And
YogiTriathlete (14:11)
you
Claire Bruce (14:23)
showed up and work better because of that too. So that's kind of a balanced answer, bits and pieces of both, but it's also the mindset piece is something that you all do that nobody does better than you, truly. And it's something that I think has changed and upleveled just the way that
YogiTriathlete (14:42)
.
Claire Bruce (14:46)
I'm able to show up every single day for myself and see and believe in what's possible and recognize thoughts that serve us and thoughts that don't and more importantly, how to move through them. And that's just like a day to day life thing that you I'd say you can't teach, but you can teach it and you make it possible. But without showing up and doing the work, it's not just going to happen for you. If you can say, Hey, I don't, I want to be able to see something.
recognize it and move past it, but I'm not willing to sit with myself and I'm not willing to do the work to do it. I just want it to happen. It's not gonna happen.
YogiTriathlete (15:23)
Yeah, that's a powerful, thank you for sharing that. think that that's at the essence of, of what Yogi Triathlete is about. It's, getting that ability to be in the moment when all you want to do is lay on the couch and be tired, but you match that in that you get in the gap there and you say, well, I bigger goals and sitting on the couch is, is probably moving me further away from the goal that I want to achieve. Why don't I just try to get on the bike and see how that
feels even if I fail, at least I know for sure that I gave it a try and I can tick the box and move on. You've demonstrated that many, many times starting way back when we did bike camp last year. I know you were struggling in many of those sessions, but the notes kept saying, the comments kept saying, I just decided to go into one more minute or one more pedal stroke, or let's just try the next set and see what happens. And I would say again, 90 % of the time you were successful.
It wasn't easy. doesn't mean that you decided to do it. And it's like, great, this is awesome. I feel amazing. I'm crushing it. You had to work for it. And I think that's where athletes sometimes get a little, it gets a little murky in the belief system because it's like, if I believe it, then it should happen. Well, it's going to take time. It's going to take reps. It's going to take a few failures, but you're going to have a lot of success. The key is like, you need to, you need to be there for that decision.
in each and every moment. Would you agree? Yeah, absolutely. it's like, and without the belief, forget it, it's never gonna happen. And so the belief paired with patience and trust and showing up for the work, that's the recipe that equals what I desire in life and what I want to achieve. So it's that symphony, but without the belief, forget it. And thank you very much for what you said about the mindset. As I think you know, we live it.
We're not immune to challenges. I'm not immune to freaking out. I freak out sometimes. I lose it. I lose my shit sometimes. And the tools are always right there. And if I lost it nine out of 10 times before, I'm losing it now 0.25 out of 10 times, right? Because that's self-regulation and being. You used some words when you were talking about it. You said like, recognize, believe.
awareness, these are all the mindset tools that we want to cultivate so that we can navigate life with a little more ease. And if you're thinking about ease and you're thinking about being an endurance athlete, ease is going to be way less of a hit on your nervous system. Your immune system is going to be stronger. every, think we underestimate, well, I know we underestimate the power of the mind and I think we underestimate the hits.
that our system takes within a day. And if we're not engaging in practices that nurture the nervous system and train the mind, like we can have all the goals we want, but they're always gonna be harder to reach. I'm not saying you can't reach them, they will always be more difficult to reach. Yeah. All right, moving 15 gears to Marbella. Let's get to the meat of this. And I think...
Maybe this is a piggybacking what we just talked about, but you set yourself up for success, I believe, by getting into Marbella days ahead of the race. And maybe that wasn't something you always did, or maybe it is, but can you talk about how important that decision was, especially with the energies that were anticipated would be there at a world championship?
Claire Bruce (18:56)
Yes, for sure. mean,
so that goes back to St. George in 2021 because I did the exact same thing for that race. came in a week ahead of time. And that's largely because I have traveled a lot for work and I have experienced a lot of different travel challenges. And it's been nine years since we've been overseas.
So for me, I wanted to give myself the space to have whatever experience travel lays out for me and have the space to come down, relax, find my rhythm in a new place, in a new culture, in a new area before everything really picks up and before the energy of the race picks up, before everybody's coming in and
my bike didn't make it. my God, I got delayed on this. Did you do this? And you just start to hear those kind of conversations happening around you on the street. You see them on social media. You hear about them at the venue. So it's really nice for me to be able to get there and find kind of my calm and my zone and then be able to bring that to other people too. And I think that's something with Marbella that was a little bit of a more unique experience compared to previous ones.
There were a lot of challenges for folks getting out there and bikes didn't make it and people had a lot of delays and you work so hard building up to this one moment of the year. That's a lot to carry and I'll admit too that I had my freak out moment. It's not perfect. My bike didn't show up.
YogiTriathlete (20:37)
Hmm
Claire Bruce (20:47)
I had the time and the space though to have that moment to let it, okay, you see it, you feel it, let it out. And then how do we move forward? And I had the time to call the airline, have things sorted out and to say, okay, it's made it, it's on its way, it's sitting here. I have talked to the people at the airport and if it doesn't start moving by X time, I can go pick it up.
Now I go do my swim and we'll see where things are at when I'm back. And sure enough, my bike was on its way to me. So it's by doing that, I set myself up to have the space to experience travel and what comes with it, settle, get myself sorted, and then be able to enjoy everything that followed and see the town come to life with all of the athletes and see
the venue, which was spectacular, come to life and just be able to be there in every single second and not spending all of my time and energy on, I should have done this, I could have done this, how am I gonna get this?
being able to redirect and help other people through those situations too. I was a part of a massive WhatsApp group of women that was like a hundred people deep. And I told BJ it was mostly the older age groups, but I found it to be a very pleasant place to be. But I was also able to help them navigate some of those challenges and share experiences I had already been through to help them see, okay, we can figure this out. And the
For me, that's part of what I love about any race, but worlds in particular, because everybody's been working towards that moment. Everyone is so excited to be there. It has an energy that you just, you do not get at a regular Ironman event and being able to connect with like-minded people, the best in the world and say, we can have this collective experience and we can help each other through it too when times get tough so we can all show up.
to the race day and have the best experience possible. And that makes it worth coming in a week early. Highly recommend. And I would do it again a hundred times over.
YogiTriathlete (23:11)
Yeah, to have that space and I do that leading into trips and leading like it's time to land and then I do it, you know, even if it's just a day, but I typically try and stretch it as long as I can. And after. Yeah, and after to integrate, to integrate, to integrate the experience. And what that to me is a reflection of, it's like this reflection of you just having more space.
like in your inner house to even consider that because a lot of people will be like, well, I only have these many days and I have to, but everything is figure outable. And especially when we're talking about a world championship, know, we want to respect the race. want to respect the distance. We want to respect the training. Also respect the experience. Like you qualify for a world championship. Like give yourself a wide berth to really land race.
and integrate and leave with again, back to that nervous system, you know, the time that you had, you know, as opposed to flying in the day before and not having a bike. BJ told me today, it's not like your bike was, you know, in another city in Spain. I heard it was like on its way to New Zealand.
Claire Bruce (24:22)
Yeah, it was in
Zurich and I got the update that they had found it and that they were sending it to New Zealand on a flight that happened October 25th. It was an outstandingly interesting situation and thus caused my moment of panic. And we figured this out. A few tears were shed. But like I said, once I had done everything I could do,
There's no reason to continue to beat yourself into the ground about it. You have to let it go at some point. So we looked at, we looked at rental houses that were two hours away. We were looking for options. So there was something and then it was, it should be here tomorrow. We go to sleep and we see where things are at in the morning and everything worked out the way that it should. And
A previous me would have continued to freak out for the entire day and take a while to come down after. But I think now I am in that place because of all the work that we've done to say, hey, this isn't serving me anymore. And that's the type of mentality you can get into that is real hard to come back from and come out of in a short period of time. And you don't want your experience to be clouded because of something like that.
you could miss out on one of the best experiences of your life, potentially a once in a lifetime experience, all because of one mishap. And that's a shame.
YogiTriathlete (25:58)
I'm so glad you shared that. I'm so glad you reached out so quickly and we were in solution mode of even like the guys are racing after you. So you could potentially find someone your height and you've got a wonderful partner there in Collin who can adjust the bike and get it into your dimensions pretty quickly. So there were solutions happening in the background, but what I love about all of that or even more is that you still continue to go do your workout and didn't allow.
The energy of what could potentially spiral, you know, detract from what needs to happen, which is these final few sessions that get in the water, feel what things are like. So getting into the water, those first days were not what you experienced on race day. The conditions were, and I heard this from other athletes too, they were quite challenging. Like it had been calm in the days leading in to before you arrived and then you athletes were arriving and there was.
some texture on the water. What was that experience like without getting too caught up in like, is this going to be race day? Coming from someone who hasn't swam open water in quite a while.
Claire Bruce (27:03)
Yes, and only a handful of ocean swims too. It's funny that you bring this up because the swim was memorable in so many ways all week long. Walking down, so we stayed in Marbella proper. The race was in Puerto Banos, so it was like 20 minutes away. The conditions in Marbella and the conditions in Puerto Banos were very different, which is interesting, but it's the coast, so anything can happen in small...
changes affect the way that the current moves and the way the waves are. I went down on the first day and it was white caps. It was choppy. There was a lot of swell. And you have that moment of do I do I want to go in there? The answer is mostly no. If you lean into your just what's comfortable and what makes sense. But if the race is choppy, I need to be ready for that.
And I'm going to have to do it then. So you might as well make peace with mother ocean now, which is exactly what I did. So I'm like, it doesn't need to be long. doesn't need to be this big thing. I think a lot of athletes are set and this is the exact plan and I need to swim the course before the race and I need to do X, Y, Z. I went in there with make it through the break. Take a second.
take in the surround, like it was amazing to get out there and to turn around and just float. I mean, I love to float. That's a whole other thing. I just feel like it's so peaceful. But doing that and looking back and seeing old town Marbella and seeing the climb in the mountain that we're going to ascend on race day in the background, it's like, this is what it's all about. And that, that
holes away any anything that you could get caught up in with how rough the water is. Who cares? We're here and it's a beautiful place and there's nothing we can do about it. So figure it out. And I think I spent maybe 15 minutes in there doing some strokes back and forth in and out of the break, getting used to it, called it good. The next day we swam I think was a day or two later. It was even worse.
It was much bigger swell. There was a little bit of an undertow to the current too, which, you know, always gives you a little bit of the heebie-jeebies when you're not used to swimming in the ocean and feeling what that feels like. But it was the same thing. It was like, this is the last time we're getting in the water before the race. Just do it now. Nothing can possibly be worse. Really? Like it's, it's just get in there, make it happen.
I went down early in the morning to try and line it up with when my start time was going to be so I could get used to what does it feel like at this time of day, have the experience. And I had it, I actually swam for I think 25 or 30 minutes that day. And it was great. It was, I got through it. Yeah, there was some pole. Big deal. I went back and forth. I was the only athlete that morning out there, which seems super strange, but
It was also, I came down and that wind was ripping. There was a storm coming. Like, should I be getting in here? It doesn't matter. I'm just going to do it and we're going to move on with the day after. And that's exactly what I did. And it was exactly what I needed for the race day because Puerto Banos from most of the videos I had seen from athletes had actually been pretty calm in the Bay all week. Race day was not calm.
race day had a solid swell like you really needed to time your sighting with the crest of the wave to be able to see the buoys that were ahead of you. And to get the break wasn't bad, it wasn't white caps, but it's a solid swell and there was a solid current heading the opposite direction of where you want to go because that's the way it always works. It's like the wind. But that was nothing compared to what I had done earlier that week. So it was just another swim. It's like
Let's go. Let's do this thing. We've been waiting for this for a year. It's here. It's going to serve up what it serves up. It's not like we're not ready for it. So.
YogiTriathlete (31:23)
I love what you said, like
I'm gonna go make friends with mother, mother ocean or mother nature. Because she's gonna win every time. She's gonna win every time. And, you know, as you know, we swim in the ocean down here and man, some days it's like, woo, and you just gotta, you know, ask for safe passage and don't fight her. And you know, she might whip you around like a little rag doll, like relax and.
Claire Bruce (31:30)
Yes.
YogiTriathlete (31:48)
Yeah, just keep at it and you'll get through that break. And once you have the confidence of knowing like how to get through a break, there's really no break that you can't get through. When you start to get that undertow and like really strong white water, that gets a little dicey, but you just keep getting at it. And once you get past the break, it's like, it's just, there's so much empowerment there, but there's so much beauty to even, you know, being...
50 yards offshore, there's a lot of people that wouldn't go that far. Like you're looking at a view that a lot of people will never see in their whole life and they might even live in that town. And so making friends with nature and understanding her unpredictability is, you I think it helps with our mindset to just go with it. Like, okay, how's she showing up today? All right, how am I gonna show up? Knowing that, yeah, she's gonna win every time.
Claire Bruce (32:37)
Yeah, it's funny that you say how far you go out to because the second day when it was really rough I was standing there and I looked at Colin who came just as You know support emotional support make it happen Standing on shore in case something Emergency happens, whatever you want to say, but I'm standing there looking at it and I go I'm gonna get through the break and then I'm gonna swim in like this area I'm not gonna go out past the the jetty like where the jetty went
And afterwards, after I had come back in, was like, that wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Like there was definitely an undertow that made me a little anxious when I was down there, but it was, it ended up being really good. And he goes, you went so far past the jetty. Like way, way out there. So you never know unless you try.
YogiTriathlete (33:21)
Yeah, yeah. And that's what will happen. All of sudden you look and you're like, I am really far offshore. I am really far offshore. Keep it calm. it calm. Yeah, I love that you got into the ocean too, because you have to take the action steps. Doing all the mindset work, doing all the training. Yeah, that's great. But you still need to be diligent about getting yourself as best prepared.
Claire Bruce (33:24)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
YogiTriathlete (33:46)
in the days
leading up to the race as possible. And if that means getting in the water every day for a few minutes to just sort of acclimate yourself to what are the conditions to form a relationship with it, you still need to do those things. Like those are so important. And yes, athletes do get overly attached to how it has to be. Like I have a 45 minute swim, I got to get out there and thrash myself and you end up doing more harm than good. And that experience for your mind. Like you want to create a good relationship every time you get in the water.
Claire Bruce (34:08)
Mm-hmm.
YogiTriathlete (34:14)
And so you leave it with like, okay, that was a good feeling. That was a good feeling. So when you get there on race day, you're ready for the worst conditions. Most often it won't, it won't be like that. It'll have some elements of it. And that's what it actually, actually did for that, for the women's race. but yeah, yeah. I mean, you mastered that, that beautifully and having Colin on the shore, of course, perfect. There's your support system. He could take some photos of you from far away.
Claire Bruce (34:39)
Yeah, exactly.
My siding, my shore siding buoy.
YogiTriathlete (34:42)
Yeah.
Perfect. All right. The bike. You chose to take a road bike. Well, first of all, the bike was delivered and all in one piece. Yay. And he chose the road bike and on such, such an amazing, incredible course. had so much FOMO watching the coverage of the overhead view of the
Claire Bruce (35:06)
you do.
YogiTriathlete (35:08)
The road's just so beautiful. So you chose a road bike, amazing course. How did that decision play out?
Claire Bruce (35:15)
fantastic, exactly the way that it needed to be and should be. think it's for me, my road bike is a lot lighter than my tri bike. It's the one that I am the most comfortable climbing on and descending if there are technical descents, which this course didn't really have that piece of it. But all in all, it's, there's some, there's some work that needs to be done on my tri bike. And we knew that kind of coming in.
This bike I've ridden for a long time, comfortable, trained on it, raced on it as a test race in Maine, best bike of the season. I think there's a lot to be said for trusting your instinct on something. And this was one where I really just felt like that was the right choice. And it's funny too, because I think at a world championship, people would be hesitant to make that decision.
largely out of the ego taking over and saying, well, all these people are doing it on a tri bike and one by setup, then I need to be showing up with a tri bike and a one by setup. And if you look at the, would love to know what the number is just out of curiosity, but looking at all of the women that were racking their bikes when we were checking in that day, I've never seen more road bikes at a race in my life. And I think it's
It's, it doesn't matter what bike you're on. doesn't matter if it's a road bike. doesn't matter if it's a tri bike. That's arbitrary. It's how comfortable are, are you on the bike? How much training have you put in to make that bike the best that it can be for you? And that's what matters most. And we did that. We trained every single weekend. I was taking that bike out. That was what we were climbing on. That's what we were descending on. That's what we were dialing in that position was.
exactly what I needed for this race and it came to fruition on the day too. But I think it's really easy. You see, mean, you see it in so many of the conversations of, this a tri bike race or is this a road bike race? And it's ultimately, what are you most comfortable on and what's going to be successful for you? And only you can answer that. And it doesn't matter what Tom is doing and what Betty has chosen. It's, you got to make the decision for yourself.
and forget about what everyone else says. ⁓
YogiTriathlete (37:41)
Yeah. Put the blinders on. It's like, couldn't be more obvious that you train your mind because the way you're talking is like somebody who has clarity, right? And most people don't, most people just want you to tell them what to do because the decision fatigue, is really fueled by a mistrust, right? So anytime we're like double thinking, I should have done this. It's showing yourself like, my God, I don't trust myself. I don't trust my decision. I don't trust. So yeah, just the way, like if anybody wants to know what somebody who does mindset work.
how they speak, what you just said. It's just like, yeah, it doesn't matter what anybody else is doing. It matters what feels good to you. Because yeah, that's the most important thing. You're the one on the bike and you got to let go of the rest. And I think ⁓ we lose sight of our minds in this community because we're all working on our minds. And so the way that we talk is...
so spacious and so confident, even though we have moments where we're like, okay, like, let me just, I gotta sit with this before I make the decision. Because once I make the decision, I gotta let my SBS and all those other things. And so it's, yeah, it's really beautiful to hear it being reflected in just the way that you speak and how that translates to your performance. Because there were so many opportunities for you to just.
Let go of a lot of like vital life force energy by worrying about things, the water, the bike going to, you know, last year's world championship in New Zealand. you know, what bike to ride and yeah, I mean, all that energy you can use on race day instead of using it, ⁓ because you're not training your mind. And that's, that's the, that's the reason why those things are happening because you're not training the mind. That's the only reason. So it's for everyone.
It's for everyone. And the cool thing about training the mind is like, it doesn't discriminate. I've worked with a lot of different levels of athletes, Olympic hopefuls, professionals. People are like, I just want to run a 5K and like lose my postpartum weight. And it's so funny because it doesn't discriminate. It's like those who show up and are disciplined, like it works. It doesn't matter what your CV says or what your athletes say. You can be as impressive as you want. I'm telling you, I've seen it more than once. People at a very high level of
Claire Bruce (39:42)
Mm-hmm.
YogiTriathlete (39:51)
not being able to stay with this type of mindset work. And I think the trickiest thing is the very thing that we are training, the only thing we have to train it is the thing that needs to be trained.
Oh, that's so cool to me because there's like no end. That's so exciting. And then you pair endurance sports with it. It's a fast track. It's a fast track. Endurance sports, which takes a very long time is the fast track to train. Yes, it is. It is. I love that. How did you feel finishing up the bike care? How did you feel the training that you did in the weeks leading into it matched?
how you were able to perform on race day. you feel like you were adequately sufficiently strong on the climbs and able to descend as quickly as possible and navigate your way around all the other, all the other athletes? Yeah.
Claire Bruce (40:44)
yeah. Yeah. I could not, I could not possibly be happier with how the entire bike went. Everything that we did leading up to this race, the amount of climbing we went and sought, the routes that I chose, everything we did felt harder than the day of the race. And I think that says a lot for the preparation that we put into that and being able to have.
the nutrition dialed to a point where I know exactly what I need to be taking when how much I should have left at X point in time. What works from in what sort I'm looking for.
what works from a pacing strategy on something like this, where you do have, you know, you've got a 5k lead in and then you are going uphill for an hour. And what does that look like when you have to turn around and do it again on the way back? And being able to prepare in the way that we did, you know, we have, we're really lucky to have the gaps that we have in Vermont. And I went up and over the Middlebury gap four times.
one of the training sessions we did and that was a near exact replica on the day of the race. So I have my Wahoo and you know it pops up bling you're climbing and shows you here's the climb here's how much elevation. I have the ones in Vermont burned into my brain at this point we have ridden them so many times when it popped up in Marbella.
It was exactly what I had trained. I'm like, there's nothing better in a race than showing up feeling like you have done what you need to do, knowing you've done what you need to do. And then you see it in the moment and it's like, I got this. We've been doing this every single weekend. Find your groove, find your strength, find your power and just hold and just keep spinning. The amount of times I have told myself that
when things start to feel hard, just keep spinning. That's all you have to do. And going up that first climb, had, there was one woman that I passed and she was like, where, where's Ohan? What, when is the turn for Ohan? I don't know, but just keep spinning. Like that's not, it's not worth starting to ask yourself, when is the turn? When do we get to the top? Because that just,
YogiTriathlete (43:04)
you
no.
Claire Bruce (43:14)
It's a spiral that as soon as you indulge, it's so hard to come back from if you have not put in the work to move past something like that. And everything that we did every single weekend challenged that for me. I mean, the gaps, I have ridden all of the gaps in Vermont on my fat bike when we first moved here is this random little challenge I made up for myself because climbing has always been something that's really hard for me.
And I'm like, the only way I'm going to get better is if I do it. And I really want to be able to say that I've done these. So I did this absurd challenge in the winter to be able to do the rides that we have done leading into this race. That's something that I only dreamed about doing. That's the kind of stuff that I see people on social media. You watch the tour, you see all of these different
opportunities to ride in these unbelievable places and it usually comes with a whole lot of climbing alongside it and I'm like I want to be able to do that someday and this was the first year that I realized a huge part of that dream and it was like we did it and I can climb it's not that I can't do it anymore it's not that I was never able to do it I just needed to put in the consistent work to be able to get there.
And the fact that we did it in the time that we did too. That's a, that's amazing. That's, you know, I qualified at Oceanside. We did a big racing block. got sick during the big racing block. It was a thing in the summer. And then we went heads down in the fall leading up to it. And you can do anything that you set your mind to. And this is a great example of that. And I felt amazing on the day of the race. And you know what? We had a lot of wind going down the backside of the mountain.
There is a mantra I made up for myself all the way back when I was working with you in 2018 leading into Lake Placid. And once again, climbing and descending was where I struggled the most. And I made this mantra of I control the bike, the bike doesn't control me. And that is what I have leaned on for, gosh, how long is 2018 from now? Close enough to 10 years that I'm going to say 10 years, even though we're not there yet.
I went straight back to that on the day of the race of like when the gusts really came, I control the bike, the bike doesn't control me. And that immediately just gives you the, and you forget you were even thinking about it. And climbing back, back up, same thing. Here it comes. Climb six. I have in my head that it was six miles and 900 feet.
I'm pretty sure that that's what it was. I'm like that drop in the bucket. We got this like find the zone, find my power, just keep spinning. And I got up and over that sucker. And then it was show time. I'm like, we got 10 miles. Most of this is downhill. And if there's one thing I can do real well now, it is descend mid technical stuff at a good clip, especially on this bike. And I passed.
I kid you not, like 20 to 30 people in that stretch. And I felt great and just hauled as fast as I could back to transition. And then it was showtime.
YogiTriathlete (46:38)
This is the great thing about becoming a climber is you're forced to descend and you can't climb unless you can't go up without coming down. you have you're kind of forced. ⁓
Claire Bruce (46:47)
I mean, you can. did in the fat gaps when I did that
in the winter, I rode up and then Colin picked me up. Like, granted, I didn't want to have a major wipeout in the snow. A little bit different, but it is very true.
YogiTriathlete (46:52)
You
That's smart decision.
yeah, that's, mean, what a skill to have, to have that confidence in climbing and then to have the confidence in descending. Now it's like, you're invincible. You're invincible. And it doesn't mean you're going to take risks. It means that you're confident in the terrain that's presented to you. Whether you know it before, like that person was asking you, whether you know it or not know it, you pull yourself into the moment with a confidence that you're going to get up and you're going to get down.
You're to get up, you're going to get down because you've practiced it over and over again. wearing those grooves in the mind that this is okay, that this is okay. I'm no longer the person who is trying to be a climber or has not been a good climber in the past. I am a climber. Like I embody this now. And I've seen that, that growth and progress over the course of the past year, especially getting into those big, long elevation goal sessions that I give you where you're like,
Claire Bruce (47:41)
Mm-hmm.
And when it really
picks up, oh man, like, Vermont is just a nightmare. And the last mile, they'd go vertical and it's so steep and it could be 16, 17, 18%. And it gets so hard. But then it's just like, I love climbing. I love climbing. I love climbing. And you just keep telling yourself that and you make it to the top.
YogiTriathlete (48:17)
And then you really do love climbing because you're like, dang, like I just rode an 18 % grade. That's no joke. So now no more climbing because you off the bike and it is probably the flattest run that we have done probably in racing this year. It was pretty flat. Yeah. No climbing.
Claire Bruce (48:20)
Uh-huh.
Exactly.
Yeah, it's similar. It's funny because it doesn't look like much on paper, but they're actually, it felt like more. I would say it felt similar to Muscle Man. It's not a lot, but where it hits, it's all together. So you definitely feel it, but we were ready for that.
YogiTriathlete (48:55)
So thank
Yeah, you were ready. Of course you're ready. You're waking ready. What, because you always bump up against something on the run. There's always this moment of like, I don't know, truth. There's like, even no matter how fit you are, prepared you are, did you have one of those moments? And then how did you, if you did, how did you pull yourself out of it and through it?
Claire Bruce (49:21)
Heck yeah. If any, the run is always going to eat you up and spit you out in some fashion. It's, it just happens that way. Coming out, heading out on the run. I was so stoked. I was like, I, I had the bike of my life. could have, couldn't ask for better. The swim was great. I'm like this day rocks. And you come out of that parking garage and are immediately in the thick of this crazy like roundabout.
zone in Puerto Banas where the expo is. It's where pretty much every spectator that has come with their athlete is. It's the easiest place to get to on the course. And there are thousands of people, just tons of noise, a ton of music. I was so happy. I was on cloud nine coming out of transition. I'm like, this is the best thing ever. And you got to you come out of transition and
There's actually a moment on the course that I think is really similar to Oceanside when you go up the steep, what do you call them? Yes, those inclines that go up to the pier. We go up and over a bridge that they built over the road. And so it's a steep up, flat, and then steep back down. And you go flying up that thing coming out of transition. You're like this, that.
YogiTriathlete (50:24)
here.
Claire Bruce (50:42)
You're just consumed by everything. You come on down straight into an aid station. I think it was precision that was there just doing. They had a wild setup and tons of music and people out there with like the clapper hands and amazing. And I come around the corner and there's Colin taking pictures. I'm BJ and Jess can attest to this because you've seen me at Oceanside. I like don't interact with the crowd.
all when when I'm racing it's tunnel vision dead ahead for 90 % of it. So you can be yelling at me I can maybe see you maybe not but I'm like full steam ahead. I saw Colin I gave like beaming smiles gave him a high five and was just so happy and even he called it out after the fact of you have never seen that happy going out on to a
And I took off and then you make it around the corner and you start going down the promenade and then everything fades away. There's not as much crowd. There's not a bunch of music. The surfaces are you're running on sand. You go over a suspension wood suspension bridge. There's pavers. There's construction. It's a mix of everything.
And my Achilles and my calves were so tight and you could just feel the aching in every single step that you took. I'm like, no. But this is the first time I think I've had in a race where I felt something like that, acknowledged that it was there and moved past it. I'm like, that's not, this is not stopping me and this is not going to slow me down.
YogiTriathlete (52:28)
you
Claire Bruce (52:34)
And I can tell like it hurts, but it is not like it hurts. Kat Matthews hurts. I can, I can get past this. I just have to keep going. And I told myself that for the entire, almost the entire run, I just kept coming back to be here now, let the miles come to you, be here now, let the miles come to you. I talked to myself the entire run saying that.
and I'd look down at my watch more than I usually do. And it was like 930, 815, 11 when I go up the steep part, 830, 915, 945. I'm like, hell yeah, this is what we've been training and it's finally happening. And by the second lap, there was no pain. There was no nothing. It was just...
we're doing this thing, it's happening. And it's great. And it's awesome. And this is what it's all about. And I had some nutrition, I did have a little bit of a nutrition challenge too, in the first lap where just mother body didn't really want anything and was feeling a little pukey. So we didn't feed her anything but water. Second loop, we were able to start taking things in a little bit too. Everything came together and
I was so happy the entire time. I don't think I have ever had a run that has passed so fast. The time spent on the course felt like 10 minutes. It went by in the blink of an eye and being able to move through the pain at the beginning and the nutrition at the beginning, that's something I haven't been able to do before.
And this time it was a blip on the radar. And I came around, you're coming back into town. You can start to hear all the energy again. Spectators are starting to line the streets and the energy is just palpable. And you can hear the finish line. You're like, my God, I'm almost there. And this has been like the best day possible. had such a good day across the board, looking at my watch and like, I am going to just miss my PR, which is so funny, but
Whatever. Like this, this is all I could ask for. I finally have had a run that I feel like I'm running to my capability, which I have not had this year. I'm like, I know it's there. I've seen it in training and I've done it, but I haven't executed it yet. And seeing all of that come to fruition, you head out on the jetty for the last like two miles. That jetty is there's nobody out there, but you can hear town and you're like, I'm so close. Like,
YogiTriathlete (55:17)
you
Claire Bruce (55:24)
just keep going, just keep moving forward. Look at it. Like I look at the watch one more time and I think my pace at that point was like 845 and nine minute floating. I'm like, this is, this is awesome. It has taken so much and so long to get to this point. I like, this is it. This is what it's all about. And I come around the corner of the lighthouse and I'm looking at, can see town. You can see the main roundabout.
with all of the people and you can see the finish line down down the way and it's like instant moment of clarity of like, I want to be a niece next year. That's it. I have not known exactly what next year was gonna be. And I haven't been able to like put a finger on it. And I just like knew it instantly. It was like, yes, this is it. This is what I want to do. We have like, we're scratching. We're scratching at the like
the little board that has the rainbow underneath and we're finally seeing the rainbow start to show. I'm like, this is the moment. Like this is, this is what I have been waiting for and working for and it's finally happening. And I came through that last chunk in the finish line and it was just glorious. It was everything that I could have imagined and then some. And I think one of the things that stands out to me from the race as a whole,
and world championships as a whole is there is again, a vocalized stigma that exists in the triathlon community, or at least I have felt that way about roll down slots and people taking those. I got to Oceanside on a roll down slot or I got my, I got to Marbella from a roll down slot in Oceanside. I was so happy.
to get that slot in Oceanside. And I just, will never forget BJ's like loud cheer as soon as they said the name and said, that's what's happening. And I walked up there and I took that slot, take the fricking slot. It doesn't matter how you get there. It doesn't matter what it looks like. It doesn't matter what type A Bob thinks about the way world should be.
for me, the energy and the experience that you get at these events, that makes people keep coming back. That makes you want to do more when you have your best with the best in the world. You belong there just as much as anybody else, but you don't know that without taking the slot and putting yourself in a place where you're surrounded by the best. And that's where you're going to learn the most. And that's where you're going to come away hungry for what's next. So
That's the piece that I keep coming back to with this too, is it's really easy to say, do I deserve this? I, you know, I didn't win my age group to get this slot. There are people that are going to go hours faster than me here. Should I really be here? Hell yeah. The answer is yes. Absolutely. Like that by doing that, you're going to be the next person that wins their age group and gets a slot. Like that's what paves the way to those opportunities. So.
Yeah, I took the slot. so happy about it. I had the best race of my entire season. I had the best race I've probably had in years and every single discipline in one way or another. And Nice is going to happen. I just know it. It's there. The clarity is there.
YogiTriathlete (58:58)
Well, congratulations. You prepared like a champ and you raced like a champ. And it's your experience that matters. it's just, I know how hard you've worked and just being with us for so many years. And yeah, congratulations. Like you earned every bit of that joy and showing up, you know, and...
when the Achilles and your calves, it's just like sometimes we have to have those moments where we're like, uh-uh, not today. Like, uh-uh, nope, not today. That is not happening today. But then what you have is you have the skill that you've developed that says, I'm going to focus on something else. And so it's all the things. It's relaxing. It's making space. It's also saying like, uh-uh, not today. I'm the boss. I control this bike.
I'm in charge of where my mind is and your physical training along with your mental training really led you into that beautiful day and you never know what the day is going to be, but always give yourself a shot. So congratulations and yeah, I can't wait to see how the path to Nice continues to unfold. Yeah. So I'll echo all that you said and Claire, you're just, you're incredible.
just want to say thank you for being a part of our community and really stepping into the unknown like never before. I obviously believe in you wholeheartedly and but I can't I can't put that belief inside of you. You've got to have that that connection as well with what really lights you up and and once once the how you want to bring yourself forward. So thank you. First of all, congratulations.
I'm not surprised. And I'm not surprised you already booked a place for Nice, even though the evidence has yet to show itself. that is where that's like, that's the point where we all, most of us will turn away, but not the yogi traffic community. This is where things begin. It's that moment where we believe in something is possible and we take the steps necessary moving forward, even though we don't have evidence, only to see it.
deliver something for us that's so miraculous in our growth as endurance athletes and, you know, mindful beings. So thank you for coming along this journey. I'm so grateful to work with you. I hope I get to race with you at some point this year. We shall see. We've got some things in the, in the, in the cooker for 2026, but, you know, to wrap this up, maybe you can look at this past year and in the evolution of Claire.
Is there anything that has really stood out that you're proud of in a way that maybe you unexpectedly have experienced? you
Claire Bruce (1:01:47)
I mean, everything I just said around worlds in general, especially with how much attention has been on the world's space as a whole, the Kona qualifying space, I think it's had
a necessary and unnecessary spotlight on it that everybody has to work through in their own way. I think looking at the year as a whole, you can never predict where you are going to be.
YogiTriathlete (1:02:02)
you
Claire Bruce (1:02:17)
six months from now, eight months from now, a year from now, but what you can do is put yourself in the best possible position to get to those places in every way you can. And I think that we did that and I did that more this year than I ever have before. This is the year that I've raced more than I ever have before. We've climbed more than I ever have before. Like any ceiling that's set in your mind or preconceived does not exist.
And this year is a great proof of that. And also a reminder too, that you can have a lot of shitty experiences and you can choose to think, you know, I was sick for two of the three races we did in the summer. And one of them was a bust by all accounts. If you look at the paper, but had I not.
done all of all of those things and had those experiences, I wouldn't be able to work through the challenges that we ran through in training leading up and on the race day, like everything serves you for a reason even when you feel like it's not. And this year was a great reminder of that and ending on the note that we ended on. I was so excited. I came back and like, I want to race again. Like, is there anything else this year that I could possibly slide into? No.
YogiTriathlete (1:03:29)
right.
Claire Bruce (1:03:37)
No, we end on a high note and we look towards 2026 with just as much enthusiasm. And yeah, I booked a place for Nice. I'm manifesting it. We're putting everything out there. If you don't, if you don't prepare like you're going, you're not going. So that's the place that we're in. And this year has proven it for me. And it's a reminder. And it's something that I'm going to keep coming back to next year too of
The best is yet to come and you never know when it's gonna happen. Usually it happens when you least expect it. Would I have expected the best race to be at the hardest race I've ever done? No, and it did. And that also happened for me at 2021 Worlds. And it's what made me want to get back to this place. And we did it. So that is how I look back on the year and get real excited about what's coming next.
YogiTriathlete (1:04:32)
Awesome. All right. Anything else? No. Thanks so much for Yeah, that was beautiful. That was a beautiful share. Keep it up. You're really living the demonstration for everyone, mind and body. yeah, keep showing everyone what this lifestyle is about because at the end of the day, that's what Yogi Traphy is. It's endurance training, it's mindset, it's a lifestyle.
of health and wellness and longevity and joy and challenge and empowerment and confidence and trust. And you're living all of it. So thank you for doing that. You do it really, really well. And we're so honored to have you on this team and can't wait to, yeah, see what's next and how this next year unfolds.
Claire Bruce (1:05:15)
and celebrate 10 years of yogi triathlete in Oceanside. Can't look past that.
YogiTriathlete (1:05:19)
Yes, we will be racing together.
Oceanside. Yup. Yup. Are you staying a few days later so we can go climb Palomar Mountain? Okay. I like it. Because I know, there's the race, but then there's the ridiculous things. The race of Palomar. Yeah. There's the ridiculous things we do after.
Claire Bruce (1:05:30)
I'm working on that, that's the goal.
Well,
I did tell, I did tell Fallon
the other night when we were looking at just setting some PTO in place, because I've already requested two weeks for Nice next year too. Just getting ahead of the game. But talked about Oceanside and I'm like, I really want to ride Palomar. Like we need, I need to do the, have this experience. I'm so jealous after everybody did it last year.
YogiTriathlete (1:06:04)
Yeah. All right. Well, manifest that too. Yeah. It's in the bank, manifestation bank. Awesome, Clara. Thank you so much. Thanks for being a part of our community and let's go after 2026.
Claire Bruce (1:06:10)
Yep.
Yeah.
