Think triathlons are just for elite athletes? Think again! Team FeXY‘s Kristine Wooten (President of Team FeXY at time of taping in 2020) and Team FeXY member Dr. Dan Trexler joined Meg at Green Lizard to discuss their experiences training and competing in triathlons with Team FeXY.
Additional news: The NoVA Weekend Warriors podcast and community tv is excited to be back after a two year hiatus. We are starting out by dropping some lost episodes that stand the test of time. So thrilled to kick off the list episodes with the AMAZING Team FeXY.
Look for additional lost episodes weekly as we catch up! Then, we’ll move to monthly with our new episodes dropping in June.
Auto transcription by https://otter.ai
Recorded Tuesday 2/11/2020 5:00pm • 26:57
SPEAKERS
Dr. Dan Traxler and Kristine Wooten of Team FeXY Meg Donnelly, host of NoVA Weekend Warriors podcast and community TV show
Meg Donnelly 00:16
Hello Northern Virginia. This is Nova weekend warriors. I'm your host, Meg Donnelly, who focuses on weekend warriors. NoVA Weekend Warriors is for those runners, cyclists, athletes, outdoor enthusiast and fans of fitness in the Northern Virginia area. And I forgot to add something. It's also for triathletes. And that's the reason that we're here today. So before I get started and introduce my guests, I just want to say thank you, as always to Green Lizard. We are here at Green Lizard bike shop, and coffee and beer and all the wonderful things that we have to offer here. And we are recording today with my friend Kristine. And Dr. Dan, both with Team FeXY. Welcome.
Kristine Wooten 01:07
Thank you so much.
Dr. Dan Traxler 01:08
Thank you so much for having us.
Meg Donnelly 01:09
Absolutely. So I want to talk to you today, because Kristine, you are the president of Team FeXY. And so for our audience that doesn't know, tell me what is Team FeXY? How did it come about and, and then you know, after that we'll get a little bit into your rise to power.
Kristine Wooten 01:27
Okay. Team Fexy is a national amateur sports team. And so we focus on all endurance sports, mainly, whether it be swimming, running, we our main focus really is triathlons. So we swim bike run, we do a little bit of everything. And Team FeXY has been around for quite a while. It was created by a handful of like minded athletes that were looking for people to train with. And so that was kind of how team FeXY was born. We average probably about 100 to 120 members.
Meg Donnelly 02:06
So most of your runs and the things that you do are kind of local and around here.
Kristine Wooten 02:13
Definitely our weekends, whether it's long runs or long bikes, actually Green Lizard is a hotspot for where we usually take off from we have athletes that come from all over. So but this is kind of the Herndon/Reston area is where we're based out of so this is kind of our home. This is our home base.
Meg Donnelly 02:33
Awesome. So how How did team FeXY get its name?
Kristine Wooten 02:39
Team FeXY? Well, a bunch about it. Yes. Very smart individuals. And if you look at FeXY F E, for on the periodic table is iron. X Y chromosome for man. So it's Iron Man. Ah, so team FeXY is stands for Ironman. Awesome.
Meg Donnelly 03:02
And so. So Ironman is a triathlon, or actually the original triathlon, right? I learned from watching my tri movie. And, but so now like when when people become members, tell me a little bit about that, like, do you have to run an Iron Man first to become a member of Team FeXY? likeness? No. Okay, so the quick answer is no. So it sounds like what are what are the qualifications? How does How do you go about that?
Kristine Wooten 03:35
Dr. Dan, what do you have for us?
Dr. Dan Traxler 03:36
Yeah, so I joined FeXY last year, so the application is still pretty fresh. I, you know, you just reach out online, there's an application form where you fill out a little bit about yourself, and you know why you want to join FeXY why you're interested in triathlon, or endurance sport. And then people get back out to you pretty quickly. And I remember I went to a few of the Wednesday morning track sessions, just to, you know, as invited out, just come check it out. Did a couple of workouts there probably went for about a month, month and a half of Wednesday mornings. That's where I met Kristine. And then I decided to join and it's really been a great experience ever since.
Meg Donnelly 04:21
Awesome. Now, Dr. Dan, you have kind of some athleticism in your background. And so for somebody that may be is has strictly been a runner, and you know, doesn't have experience with triathlon, is Team FeXY a good fit for them? Or is it you know, are you really looking for somebody that's already at a certain level and taking it to the next level? who fits?
04:49
Yeah, that's a great question. So my background was I always played soccer, so I was definitely always a runner. And I'd actually only ridden my road bike, maybe handful of times and I've done I did one sprint triathlon, which is the shortest distance triathlon before inquiring about team FeXY. And like a lot of people, I was like, I have no idea what to expect. They seem pretty serious. I know, there's a lot of good athletes on there. So I was like, hey, this might not be the right fit for me. But since joining and meeting a lot of the members, there's members of all skill level, there's lots of beginners like I am lots of very, very high skilled and very fast racers as well. There's runners only there's people who swam, you know, predominantly swimmers, there's people who just cycle gravel cycle. So really, it's all across this board, like Kristine said, in endurance sports. And then I can also say, since joining, I've learned so much about triathlon, and so many of my friends, you know, in FeXY have helped me you know, learn the ropes, what gear I should look for how to, you know, navigate all the different races out there, put together training plans, all of that stuff has been hugely, you know, it's been so much fun to learn more about the sport.
Meg Donnelly 06:06
Yeah, absolutely. So, it's really interesting because, you know, I keep going back to try right triathlon, but it's not just triathlon. And I think that's one of the really important things is that if you want to kind of hone your skills in one of the other sports, Team FeXY is available for that. Am I on the right path, you are on
Kristine Wooten 06:25
the right path? And I think one of the things with Team FeXY is with triathlons. We are made up of three different sports. So as a triathlete, I will swim, bike and run. But if there is someone that is possibly there are many that are more skilled in swimming. So as a triathlete, I'm going to tap into them and what they have to offer for swimming advice, whether it's, you know, a cyclist. So really, while we, our main focus is triathlons, it really is any endurance sport and a lot of people because triathlons are three different sports, some may start out with triathlons, and then maybe go into one of those disciplines. So they may just stick to swimming and do more just endurance swimming events. Or maybe they start as an endurance swimmer, and then come into triathlons. So it really is there is a fluid motion between different sports, if that's what you'd like, because it is it's a lot training is a lot for three different disciplines. Yeah. And so, you know, that's one of the benefits, as Dr. Dan mentioned, with Team FeXY, is we, you know, compared to other triathlon teams around the DC metro area, is we're a smaller team. So, you know, about 100 to 125. Members. We're like that small town team. So where everybody knows your name, everybody knows your face. And I think that's one of the things that makes us different, because when you do have questions, you're not embarrassed or shy to ask, you know, and we're always looking to be better athletes. So not only do we train together, we race together, we love Team Racing, but we socialize together as well, whether it's, we have a yearly prom, FeXY prom is always a hit. Oh, my God. Yeah. To show pictures of that. We have our we had our first annual FeXY Friendsgiving. So we had, you know, probably 50 people at my house for Thanksgiving with all FXI members, we have an annual picnic. So not only do we train and race together, we're friends as well.
Dr. Dan Traxler 08:41
Yeah. And maybe if I could add to a lot of people, you know, one person will join FeXY. But we also get to know each other's families as well. My fiance, Dr. Ryan, isn't on Team FeXY, necessarily, but she comes to all the social events. Occasionally, she'll come and run with us and she's gotten to know everybody really well. And that's the same with a lot of families, too, I think. And so it's been really cool. Kind of seeing all these families get to know each other and spouses and friends and kids, two kids and dogs will be running around. Yes, yeah. It's definitely a family time, I would say
Meg Donnelly 09:18
well, and I think sometimes people like in Northern Virginia, we're in kind of, you know, not quite the suburbs, something that's you know, a little bit closer to the city. And so people sometimes will notice how it's harder to meet people and harder to make those relationships when you're in a little bit more of in that environment. And I don't really get that vibe here. And it's because of communities like Team FeXY and, and other local running clubs and try clubs and, and those sorts of things in the area. I love that we're talking about all of this outside of the training as well, because I think a lot of people I know My only knowledge of Team FeXY before we all met and sat down together was, you know, seeing the like, mean racing glasses? Right. And you guys typically, um, some people at the front of the pass. And so, you know, for me I always thought of it as like, oh those those guys that you know those guys are nope, that's not me that's not where I am. But there really is a range of people and in your group and a range of, of where people are. I'm just always noticing, you know, that
Dr. Dan Traxler 10:30
didn't wait really to come by a little bit farther?
Meg Donnelly 10:32
I don't think so. That brings up a good point. So I want to talk about each of you individually as well. So Kristine, you are now the President and President of Team FeXY. Yes, that is awesome. So honored to be How did that tell me about how that came about?
Kristine Wooten 10:54
So I came into triathlons. I was always a competitive person. And I mean, I still am a competitive person and in sports. I, when I originally grew up in New Hampshire, so when I moved down here and my husband and I did a couple of marathons, just nothing really serious, just kind of rookie marathoners. And then my younger sister did a sprint triathlon and I was not going to be outdone by my younger sister. So I had seen FeXY around and kind of inquired, you know, I had a hand me down bike. And you know, I had a running background. So I was okay there swimming, I grew up in swimming in a lake. So pool swimming, and flip, turning, and everything was new to me. But when I, I knew I wanted to do something, and I wanted to be competitive. And so when I came to Team FeXY you know, one of the things is, it is for everybody, I was a beginner, everybody is a rookie at it at one time or another. So even our Kona qualifiers, which is the big race in Hawaii, we're beginners at one time. So I think that's really one of the important things is we were all beginners once. And so I was a beginner once and I kind of worked my way up, I've done a couple of full Ironman distance races, I've done half distance races, I have two children that are very active in their own sport. So sometimes we had competing sports schedules. So I would have dropped down to more of what is considered a short course training plan. So Olympic and sprint, sprint distance, and I love it. I love the the three different disciplines and I think definitely from a chiropractor's point of view is I personally feel it's less damage on my body because I am incorporating the swimming and the running with biking. So it's not just always pounding the pavement or always swimming or always biking. So I really find that the three disciplines was just up my alley, it kept me busy. Yeah,
Meg Donnelly 12:55
and let's talk about that, Dr. Dan, because I think I agree with you, Kristine. And we'll see we'll see if Dr. Dan agrees with us as well. But I think like you know, what we know is we know that like movement is so important. And moving on different planes is really important, right? So it's like repetitive motions that can sometimes get us into, you know, an issue or get us into concerns. But if we're moving in different ways, wearing different shoes, when we're running wearing different, you know, like running in different ways, not always at the same pace, not always at the same swimming. All of those things. Would you agree with that? Or you know, what's your what's your take on
Dr. Dan Traxler 13:33
that? Yeah, absolutely. And I think another word that comes to mind is they're all very functional to you know, it's a racing is an age old competition, you know, we all have it's just been around us all this time. So, you know, running, swimming and biking is a little bit newer, but I think combining the three or doing one individual is a great way to take your health out for a test drive. You know, you work so hard to eat right and move well and do all these things. It's fun to it's fun to go you know, almost race against yourself, put your you know, put your best self out there and see how you do I know that's what I definitely enjoy about it and Kristine's right I think combining the three sports where it's not just pounding pavement all the time for you know as a super repetitive motion as you said to you're combining swimming which is very low impact and its whole body so you're putting on muscle there biking is very low impact on very cardiovascular as well so it's a great way to stay active. Push your fitness as well as you know stay healthy
Meg Donnelly 14:39
Yeah, you I love this you haven't talked me into getting into the pool yet but we're working on it. Yeah. Like the hardest for everyone right but for a lot of
Kristine Wooten 14:48
people well if you're in for non swimmers I would say right. But I do think you know one of the things as you look out and you see team fxcm we look all mean and things like that. Really come out And that's what I tried to tell people come out, inquire, you know, come join us for a workout come join us for a happy hour. Again, we were all new to the team at one at one point we were all new athletes. So come, you know, even with you know, when we think about our team workouts, you're always going to find somebody that is your pace that is going your distance. I love to chase Dan or try to chase Dan around the track, you know, because it's it's a motivation and and I think sometimes pushing your body like that, is it, you're able to achieve more than you actually think you might?
Meg Donnelly 15:35
Yes, absolutely. So I am definitely one that like tends to do things more solo, I'll hit a new PR, I'll do you know, things are faster, right? Or, or I slow down in order to stay with someone else. And that has its own benefits. Right? And helps me kind of learn about what pacing is. And like it's, there's so many benefits to running, cycling, swimming with other people. Yes. That I think we miss out when we you know, tend to do things just on our own. Yeah, yeah. And that if you go with the group, right, I hear there's like a signature. Dr. Dan, end of the session stretching session. Is
Kristine Wooten 16:15
that correct? Yes, we do. Right now, as we're in the winter season. So we have trail runs once a week. And we've had trail runs for a while and they get organized, and whoever can show up at different locations. And now with Dr. Dan on the team, I have found that everybody is stretching after these trail runs. We never used to scratch after the so Dr. Dan really does a great job. But again, that's I think the camaraderie that we have is we see a professional, you know, and so we're like, oh, well, he's doing it, we should probably be doing it as well. And I think that is one of the things as well as being around like minded people, you want to take care of your body. So I see Dan doing this, and all of a sudden we're all doing it, which sometimes can get into trouble because then you're together, you're like, oh my gosh, you're doing that. Sign up, and all of a sudden you're doing an Ironman before you know what to do or so. Yeah, I'm definitely trying to, you know,
Meg Donnelly 17:16
Monday in well, and I do feel like Kristine, you can talk people into it.
Kristine Wooten 17:22
You know, and that's one of the things it's it's always easier, I think to do it with somebody else, right? So it may be tough to come and meet us on a ride or come to meet us at a happy hour. But all of a sudden when we have that camaraderie and you're like, oh, Kristine is going to be at the ride. I'm going to go, Dan is going to be at track I got to go and get my workout in. So it is it's you. It's a unassuming peer pressure. Right that you're saying Come on. Let's I can do this.
Meg Donnelly 17:51
All right, and like part of Team FeXY. I see on your shirts, athleticism, plus work ethic. Yes, cool, sexy. And that makes sense to me, right? Because when you're a rat, surrounding yourself with other athletes, whatever level they're at, that's going to raise your work ethic is going to get you the NIC plus to I'm not going to want to come next week and say, I don't really do what I was supposed to do for my homework. So it's kind of keeps you on course, and keeps you going out to do what you need to do. Definitely. All right. Fabulous. So we talked a little bit about to Dr. Dan about how he got started. Um, but you know, we talked a little bit about that you're a chiropractor as well. So how does that did? You know, do you feel like that changes the way that you come to the sport of triathlon? Um, any any different than, you know, maybe some other people does that? Does that kind of affect the way that you train in any way, shape or form?
Dr. Dan Traxler 18:46
I think it does. I think kind of like what I mentioned before, personally, I love to test myself and see and put my best version of myself out there, I think, which is what a lot of people on the team are doing. You know, we're living, we as humans are living longer than we ever thought was possible before. So we want to continue doing the things we'd love for many, many years to come. So I kind of take that approach with my, with my training. And a lot of faculty members have helped me understand endurance type training, you know how to build a strong base so that you have a strong foundation of fitness before going into a season so you avoid injury. Things like taking care of your body like stretching, warming up properly. Incorporating all these things into not just the run or the bike or the swim so that you can be at your best for years and years to come. Yeah. And
Meg Donnelly 19:43
what I what I'm really excited about too is like we now know through studies that you know, we used to think like running rec to your knees. You used to always hear that right you hear you'd hear running gives you osteo arthritis and now through the studies we know it's actually not the case that when you're if you're running, if you're cycling, if you're swimming, if you're doing sport in general and moving your body, that's actually you're gonna get osteo arthritis, it's kind of just what happens through the natural process. But through those sports, you're strengthening everything. And you're actually going to have less pain that you would wear if you were not doing those things. Would you agree with that comment?
Dr. Dan Traxler 20:25
Yeah. And I would, I would also add, you know, the risk of injury or pain or soreness that comes along with training hard and pushing yourself is way less dangerous to your health than sitting on the couch eating junk food all day? You know, that's where some of the chronic disease stuff that our culture battles with all the time that's becoming so expensive, you know, I'll take this, you know, the pain and suffering from some long runs over over, you know, some chronic lifestyle disease stuff.
Meg Donnelly 20:55
Yeah, absolutely. Recovery is a different feeling than pain. To me anyway. Not that I have the kind of recovery that you guys have, but you know, teach the road. Yeah. Um, yeah. So I think that probably reverse happens as well, because you're doing a part of Team FeXY. Now, and because of your sport, that's probably helping you in your practice as well. Would you agree with that?
Dr. Dan Traxler 21:24
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I've seen, you know, to see a lot of high high level athletes, like there are some on FeXY, who are working their families, they have full time career, and then they want to perform at their best on race day as well. They need to get the most out of their training and their recovery. And so I take that approach, in my practice with patients as well, when I'm working with athletes, but also when I'm working with with athletes in whatever field, you know, that they're in. But really, they they need to make the most out of their recovery time. And that's, that's super important. Kristine knows that pretty well.
Kristine Wooten 22:00
And I think that's something again, that being part of a team like that, yeah, you you may not know, things that about recovery or movement, but those are things that you learn by talking with those like minded people. Those are, you know, the stretching, we do that, because we know Dr. Dan knows that we may, someone may have a really great recovery shake that they do. Someone makes you talk nutrition, which is a lot of of a successful race is, you know, I remember one of the first marathons I did I didn't even have any salt. And I needed that. So that's something that we learn through each other.
Meg Donnelly 22:40
Yeah, yeah, cuz it's not, there are some coaches on the team in different in the different sports that you have. And so, when we talk about the community, it's not just a community in terms of everyone getting along and meeting people, but it's really a compute community of support around training. Yeah, so we I think we've, we've hit on quite a few different subjects today. Um, is there anything that we miss talking about so far that you can think of?
Kristine Wooten 23:08
Well, I think one of the things with Team FeXY is I'm very passionate, obviously, to head up with the team as President, I'm a full time teacher, I'm a mom, I'm a wife. But you know, I really am dedicated to Team FeXY. And I love to see the success of the team, I love to see the success of the individuals. And so you know, not only are we competing as a team, at races, but also to see that individual success, and really to see people that are coming to check us out, you know, find out what team FeXY is, and you know, if they want to be a part of us, awesome. You know, I always say, if you're looking to inquire, you can go to our website, www dot Team fxi.org. And we'll
Meg Donnelly 23:52
put all of those links awesome at the end of the program as well. And then people can also look into the links that'll be on Nova weekend. warriors.com/podcast,
Kristine Wooten 24:03
perfect, because I love when people are inquiring like that, and then we can reach out to them to get them to come and check. I tell people, Team FeXY is Team FeXY. Come check us out and see if we're if we are right for you. And so I think you know, one of the things is Team FeXY. Again, as we've said, is every athlete, every level, from beginners to Kona qualifiers, you will find somebody that's, you know, possibly doing the race that you're doing this season or the races you're doing that this season, but it really is the camaraderie of the team, the push of the team. And, you know, I love team FeXY.
Dr. Dan Traxler 24:42
Yeah, and I would just add to, you know, my own personal experience when joining FeXY it's, it's not just come once to check it out, and then you have to decide, like I came to a couple of different happy hours I came to a couple of different track events. There was no pressure at all It took a little while it's like two months, I was like, Kristine, I want to join. Like, okay. Are you ready for the full commitment when she says Come check it out? Like, you know, a few times, you know,
Kristine Wooten 25:16
different aspects.
Dr. Dan Traxler 25:17
Yeah. Yeah.
Meg Donnelly 25:19
Well and why it's wonderful to because you are so open to talking and having conversation with people, and really making everybody feel comfortable and confident. So the next time I see the wiping sunglasses moving fast, I'm going to cheer Yeah. And then yeah, come out with that later. Oh, neat. Practice. Definitely. All right. Well, once again, I want to thank thank team president. Thanks, Kristine. And I want to thank team member, Dr. Dan, for having us. Absolutely. It's my pleasure. We'll make sure that everything's in the show notes so everybody can get in touch with you. Come and hang out with you and see Graham for them. All right. Thank you so much to the audience as well. This has been Nova weekend warriors. Until we meet next episode, you can check out prior episodes at hgtv.org. Or you can go to novaweekendwarriors.com/podcast. Until then, have fun with your fitness goals. And we'll see you soon. Thanks again to to Green Lizard for hosting us.
Kristine Wooten 26:24
Yes, thank you Green Lizard.