Two years of training, two near-misses at nationals, and one 5 AM email that made April burst into tears. This week, she finally tells us what happened at XTERRA World Championships in Ruidoso, New Mexico.

In this episode of Girls Talk Tri, April gives us the full race recap — the stunning bike course, the wild horses at the aid station, the Mescalero Apache tribal blessing before the start, and the run that she can only describe as "wretched". We also talk about what it actually took to get to the start line of a world championship: the failed qualifications, the moment at Sleeping Giant when she thought she hadn’t made it, and why finishing in an Air Force kit with people cheering her name on the course made every single mile worth it. Oh, and she signed up for another race. Because of course she did. (Spoiler: it’s a qualifier for XTERRA Trail World Championships in Malta. Girls Talk Tri is going international)!

In this episode:

• April’s two-year road to qualifying for XTERRA Worlds — and the 5 AM email that changed everything
• What XTERRA World Championships in Ruidoso actually feels like: the western vibe, the Apache blessing, the belt buckle medal
• Swim, bike, and run breakdown — including the wild horses, the upside-down hydration pack, and that run
• Three race goals (she remembers two of them)
• Kate’s solo hiking saga, mountain lion probability charts, and why the soft girl life is not for her
• Our first podcast reviews — thank you, Sam and Sunny Girl Tri 🥹
• Kate’s trail run nutrition disaster and the saying “poop knows when it’s close to home”
• What’s next: Appalachian Trail Fest on Halloween, XTERRA Malta, XTERRA Austria, a fourteener, and an open water swim in Alaska

Are you off-road curious? Send us your questions about XTERRA and off-road triathlon — we’ll feature them in a future episode.

📱 @girlstalktri on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube
📩 girlstalktri@gmail.com

If this episode made you want to go sign up for the thing — good. Give it a tri. 🌿

Open water swimming is either the best part of triathlon — or the reason you haven’t signed up yet. This week, we’re talking about it.

In this bonus episode of Girls Talk Tri, April and Kate break down everything you need to know before your first open water swim: what to wear, what to bring, what to do when the washing machine start feels like actual chaos, and — most importantly — what to do if you panic. Spoiler: you’re not the only one. Kate’s first open water swim with goggles nearly ended her triathlon career before it started, and April grew up as what she calls a “sea witch” in Minnesota lakes (which, it turns out, is not the same as swimming in a race with 300 of your closest strangers). We’re sharing the tips we wish someone had handed us on the pool deck, and taking some hot takes on the sport’s most debated open water questions.

In this episode:

• Wetsuit 101 — when to wear one, which kind, and the calf cramp nobody warns you about
• Goggles, caps, and why you should always pack a backup pair
• The washing machine start: what it actually feels like and how to survive it
• Sighting — how to swim in a straight line when there’s no black line to follow
• What to do if you panic in the water (this one is important)
• April’s Ruidoso race recon that turned into a 7-hour unexpected adventure
• Our current reads and listens: Dungeon Crawler Carl and National Park After Dark
• Hot takes: Is skipping open water practice okay? Are wetsuits cheating? Should you always start at the back?

Find us on Instagram @girlstalktri and send your open water questions, horror stories, and wins to girlstalktri@gmail.com. If this episode helped calm the nerves even a little, leave us a rating and review — it means more than you know. 🌊

April got a call. There was a spot on the Department of the Air Force triathlon team for a 25-year-old Armed Forces competition at Point Mugu, California — draft legal, Olympic distance, racing against people with pro cards. She'd never done draft legal in her life. She said yes anyway.

This week April gives us the full breakdown: learning to ride in a paceline the day before the race, surviving an ocean swim with serious tide, biking the 40k with just one other athlete while everyone else was long gone, and finishing dead last by twenty minutes in the California heat with no water at the aid stations. She also cries on the run, gets rescued by an Army medic named Stephanie, and calls it one of the top five experiences of her life.

Meanwhile Kate is officially training for life — 10,000 steps a day, overnight camping with the doggos, and making peace with watching her fitness numbers drop. She checks in on how she's feeling after sharing her big news last episode. And Girl Dinner: Shift & Giggles gives us rapid-fire race day questions you won't see coming.

In this episode:

• What draft legal racing actually is — and why it's a completely different sport
• What it feels like to be dead last in a field of elites (and how to keep going anyway)
• The Army medic who ran April's final mile and changed everything
• April's 9-minute PR — and why she still felt completely out of her league
• Kate's slow fall: training for joy, solo camping adventures, and facing her fear of the trail
• Girl Dinner: Shift & Giggles — race thoughts, fails, and one very memorable answer about a post-race meal

New episodes out weekly. Follow us at @girlstalktri on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Have something to share? Email us at girlstalktri@gmail.com — you might get a shoutout on the pod.

Girls Talk Tri — two friends, three sports, zero gatekeeping.