20 Things You Probably Never Knew About Andy Potts

8/13/2019 20 Things You Probably Never Knew About Andy Potts

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TRIATHLETE.CTRIATHLETE JULY 2013

You probably knowa great deal about

Andy Pottslikethe fact that

e grew up swimming,timately making theSA National Team andacing fourth at the 1996lympic Trials in the00 individual medley.

ou may know that aere 18 months into hisiathlon career Pottspresented Team USA

t the Athens Olympics2004, went on to win

he 2007 Ironman 70.3World Championship

nd three Ironman titles,nd openly states on hisebsite his goal to behe best triathlete in

he world. Youve likelyad that he cycle trains

rimarily indoors, triesomething new at everyace and spends hisee time with his son,oston (age 6), daughter,oane (3) and wife, Lisa,ho runs Cupcake Girls

akery near the couplesome in Coloradoprings, Colo. But there

re also a few things youont know about Pottsr example, that he sleptith a Star Wars pil-wcase in college or hashat he calls fat kidstincts.

BY HOLLY BENNETT Photographs by Rob Hammer

POTTSANDY

20 THINGS YOU PROBABLY NEVER KNEW ABOUT

As a kid, he wanted to bea coach someday.I hada lot of respect for mycoach growing up. He wasall about confidence. Hewould try to do somethingeach and every day to buildour confidence. So I wantedto be a coach. I dont knowif I want to be a coach goingforward, but I did then.

Hes not just a swim-

mer.When people say,Oh, youre the swim-mer, I usually let it roll.But sometimes when Imdefensive Ill say, No, Ima triathlete. I identifyas a triathlete more andmore. My background isin swimming, so I havea great knowledge basethere; I love running at mycore and in my heart; andcycling is my biggest areafor growth, and because ofthat Im very interested in

it and I want to learn more.He took datingadvice from Swingers.

Remember the movieSwingers? I met Lisa incollege standing arounda keg at a party. It wasHalloween, so I wasdressed as Braveheart andshe was dressed as a pirate.I wanted to learn moreabout her, but I waited five

your core, your hips, athen letting the energystem outward from th

In addition to off-

season, he also observ

cupcake season. AfterKona, Lisa will start briing home more and mocupcakes. Thanksgivinthrough Christmas andJanuarythats high sefor cupcakes. And afterIll tell her, OK, lets lihow many you bring hoBecause once theyre inhouse Im going to eat tSo it ebbs and flows wittriathlon season.

He works on his we

too. I think at heart I wto be a fat kid. But Iveslowly changed througout the years. Ive learnmore and more how itsboth about portion control and what you eat. Fmaybe seven years of m

triathlon career I was uthe delusion that it didnmatter what or how muI ate because of how mI trained, but that simpisnt true. When I was ring in the ITU scene, I wat least 10 pounds heavIm trying to slim downbe smart about my weiand I think its helping racingI really do.

days because in Swingersthey said you had to waitfive days before you calleda girl you met at a party.And then I realized I didnthave her phone number. Iended up getting a hold ofher neighbor. Lisa walkednext door and got on herneighbors phone and wefinally talked.

He applies his swim

technique to biking and

running.Whatever itis where your strengthliesswimming, cyclingor runningthose cuesand those keys are trans-ferable to another sportand another discipline. Inswimming, people talk a lotabout your hand placementin the water and keepingyour fingertips down. Butnow were talking abouthow your foot strikes theground and your release

in running. Technique is abig portion of cycling andrunning, just like it is inswimming. Its all aboutfinding the contact pointand how you propel your-self forward. In swimmingits with your hands andyour hips. With cyclingand running its with yourlegs and your core. The keycomponent in all three is


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college, I thought Id makean interesting participanton The Real World mainly because Im justopinionated. But then Istarted to get a little moreprivate with my life. Now Idont know if I would makean interesting subject or ifmy family would be inter-esting to follow. SometimesI think, Man, were prettyboring. But the closeryou are to something, theharder it is to analyze it.Last night my wife said,

If someone ever asks youto do Dancing With TheStars maybe you shoulddo it, just because it wouldbe cool to see you with twoleft feet.

His self-image goes

beyond looks. Sometimeswhen I go into a photo shootIll say, Listen, I couldstand to lose 10 pounds.Im pretty honest about it.

ANDYPOTTSBEATTHE-

CLOCK SWIM

WORKOUT

He reads magazines

on the CompuTrainer. Ilike magazines because I

can sweat on them. I readthem cover to cover and Ican tell when Im in reallygood shape by how well Imreading at above 300 watts.At 300 watts right now Ican read steadily and stillhave a good cadence andbe in tune with the work-out. The higher up it goesin 10-watt increments, itstarts to get a bit difficult.At 310 I get a little shaky. At320 its like, This better

be a really intriguing read,otherwise Im going to haveto put it down and buckledown. And at 330if I canread at 330 then I know myridings really good.

He plans to race an

XTERRA off-road triathlon.

I got a mountain bike thisyear! I will race XTERRAsometimeit will happen.And yes, I mountain bikeoutdoors.

Hes not afraid to take

on any challenge (or ask

for help). I naturally havea lot of confidence. I dontput limits on what I canand cant do. This maysound totally pompous andI dont mean it that way,but I believe in myself alot and I think I would begood at almost everything.Lisa and I talk about whatwe want our dream hometo be, and I said to her one

day, I can build our dreamhome. She was like, Youdont know how to do anyof that. I said, Yeah, butI can learn. I believe that Ican build it from the groundup, from nothing. Im surethat I would need help alongthe way, but Im not afraidto ask for help, either.

He wanted to be a real-

ity TV star. When I was in

When Im crunched for

time I try to have my

entire swim workout on a

certain interval. I can go

faster than the interval,

but I cant go any slower.

So for me, if I want toswim 4,000 long-course

meters but I only have an

hour, that gives me 1:30

per hundred, including

warm-up. Its a beat the

clock workout, the clock

being 1:30 per hundred.

The thing is, the time in

between the sets is gone

because you have to stay

on that 1:30 per hundred

interval. So lets say you

do an 800 warm-up at 12

minutes, then you have

to leave at 12 minutes, no

matter what your next set

is. If you take your time

and come in at 11:50, then

you have 10 seconds

rest. Adjust your clock

according to your own

ability, but whatever it is,

beat the clock. Heres a

4,000-meter example:

Warm-up:600 on 9

minutes

2x[200, 150, 100, 50

on :45 per 50]4x 600 on 8 minutes,

descend 14 (thats a 1:20

base, so you actually get

a minute back per 600)

Cool-down:Get in the

car and drive to that

meeting youre on

time for!

But Im not really embar-rassed or anything, evenwhen Im on the heaviersidelike if you catch mearound Christmas at theheight of cupcake season!Im really comfortable, but ithas less to do with how I lookthan just my whole image ofmyselfmy confidence inmy strength and training.

Hes humbled by parent-

hood. Before youre a par-ent you think youll teachyour kids this and showthem that. But its surpris-

ing how much of a two-waystreet it is. You dont realizehow much theyre goingto teach you. No. 1 on thatlist is patience. They alsoteach me that what you sayis important, but how yousay it is just as important.Like if I tell them, Eat yourcereal! the message isgoing to be lost because ofthe approach.

"I naturally have a lot of conidence. I don'tput limits on what I can and can't do. Thismay sound pompous and I don't mean it

that way, but I believe in myself a lot and Ithink I would be good at almost anything."

Continued on page 110


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Hes not afraid of dirty diapers. I was never one to shy awayfrom diaper changing. Sometimes its gross, but its really notthat big of a deal. I mean, poo happens during racing some-timesyou just have to deal with it.

Hes not superstitious. I know I subscribe to prepara-tion. I try to learn from my mistakes, however Im also thetype of person that needs to make mistakes often to con-tinue to relearn the same lesson. And I also do new thingsall the time during a race. Every race Ill try something

new. Thats the only way I know how to learn somethingif its really viableis to put it to the test in a race. Its acomplete fallacy, in my opinion, that you shouldnt trynew things. I know that goes against the grain, but I dothings the only way I know how: my way.

Hes kind of a big kid. Im a toy guy. Thats whats awe-some about having a sonhes starting to gravitate to thethings that I loved as a kid. My boy loves Star Wars. I had aStar Wars pillowcase in college! And lately hes really beeninto Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I loved Teenage MutantNinja Turtles! I dont prompt him to which guy to be whenwe role-play, but of the four he likes Raphael. When I playedwith my friends thats who I would always be.

Athletically, he married up. Lisas career is way bet-

ter than mine. She was a trapeze artist; she did morethan 2,000 shows with Cirque du Soleils O. Actuallythe skill that she performed hasnt been reproducedsince she left because nobody else can do it. She was ona T-shirt before I was ever on a T-shirt. Cirque du Soleilhas gift shops and all kinds of merchandise, so she was onT-shirts and mugs and key chains. We have a statue of herand martini glasses with her on them.

He identiies with his name. I really like my name. Thederivative of the name means strong and manly. And Ifeel like Im an Andy. Some people are Andy and some areAndrew. Only a few people call me Andrew and get awaywith it!

He appreciates well-timed shark talk. There are rules

about when to talk about sharks. Its totally OK to talkabout sharks now, for example, because were in a con-trolled environment. Youre not allowed to talk aboutsharks when youre standing on the beach getting ready togo into the water. Youre not allowed to talk about sharkswhen youre standing on the boat about to dive in atEscape from Alcatraz.

He gets a little help in the fashion department. Im aproduct of the 90s fashion faux pas of really big clothing.In high school and college our team gear was always XL orXXL. It just hung on you. Ive slowly caught up with thetrend that things are more form-fitting now, but for bet-ter or for worse Im not metrosexual. But I dont want tohave a poor presentation, because presentation matters.So Ill ask Lisa, Is this a good outfit? Shes my fashionconsultant.

He has a strong vision for growing our sport. To me itsabout exploring the boundaries of the sport. I like goingup and down in distances. And I think I need a really goodperformance in Kona this yearId like to perform up tomy potential and I feel like my potential is really high.And more and more I think that growing the sport is partof what it means to be a champion. You need to elevateyour sport as a whole and make it matter to people. Andhow do you make it matter? By racing fast and being greatat what you do, but also by helping others. So Ive gottenmore and more behind the education side and teaching

people about our sport.

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Continued from page 78

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20 Things You Probably Never Knew About Andy Potts