Triathlete Live: Tim O’Donnell and Mirinda Carfrae Talk Motivation, Race Mistakes, and Future Plans
In this Triathlete Live sponsored by Tonal, Triathlon's favorite power couple chats about their hopeful race schedules for 2021, balancing training with a young family, their biggest race mistakes, and more.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Three-time Ironman world champion Mirinda “Rinny” Carfrae and multiple Kona podium finisher Tim O’Donnell joined us from their home in Boulder, Colorado to talk all things triathlon and family. O’Donnell will race in next month’s PTO Championship at Challenge Daytona, while Carfrae is preparing to welcome their second child later this year. This Triathlete Live is presented by Tonal, the smartest home gym.
1 minute in: Tim O’Donnell talks about his preparations for Challenge Daytona. It’s not easy preparing for a race in the Boulder winter!
5 minutes in: Tim talks about his hardest sessions.
6 minutes in: Rinny shares what her training looks like at this point in her pregnancy.
9 minutes in: Rinny talks about the best way to keep up on swim fitness without access to a pool.
10 minutes: Tim and Rinny talk about how their Tonal partnership came to be and how they use the system.
13 minutes in: “Do you do interval training and do you pay attention to heart-rate variability?”
15 minutes in: “How did you meet?”
17 minutes in: “How do you motivate each other?”
18 minutes in: Tim and Rinny talk about their sleep schedules and how they manage it with a toddler.
19 minutes in: “Do you do workouts together?”
20 minutes in: “Who has more fun in the off-season?”
21 minutes in: Tim and Rinny talk about their YouTube channel.
23 minutes in: “Do you watch any of the other pro triathletes’ YouTube channels?”
24 minutes in: “What do you do in your free time?”
25 minutes in: Tim and Rinny talk about their pain cave setup.
26 minutes in: “How many strength sessions per week do you do?”
29 minutes in: “The Tonal uses digital weights. What does that mean and how is it using them?”
30 minutes in: Tim talks through some of the other features of the Tonal (like changing the music!)
31 minutes in: “To strengthen your legs for bike and run, what are the best strength moves?”
31 minutes in: “Does Izzy have any interest in triathlon?”
32 minutes in: “How fast do you think you could run a standalone marathon? Will you ever make a marathon attempt?”
34 minutes in: “It’s hard to plan, but how do you hope your 2021 seasons play out?”
35 minutes in: Rinny talks about having her family in Australia and what it’s like to not be able to see them.
37 minutes in: “How does the mental strength from triathlon help you address everyday stressors?”
40 minutes in: “If you had to have a 9 to 5 job, which profession would you prefer?”
41 minutes in: “How do you stay motivated and what do you do when you’re not feeling it?”
43 minutes in: “What does your day-to-day nutrition look like?”
47 minutes in: “With the winter coming, ERG mode on the trainer mode or not?”
48 minutes in: Tim talks about his tough cycling workouts from coach Matt Bottrill.
49 minutes in: “What’s your favorite Kona qualifier race?”
51 minutes in: “What’s your all-time favorite race that you’ve done?”
51 minutes in: “What are your bucket-list races?”
53 minutes in: “Have you found yourselves getting stronger using Tonal this year?”
53 minutes in: “Do you run more frequently or longer when you’re trying to up your total mileage?”
54 minutes in: “What are the biggest mistakes you’ve made in a race?”
56 minutes in: “What would help more age groupers turn pro?”
58 minutes in: “If you could describe yourself as a cereal, which cereal would you be?”