Episode 194 - Smashing PBs & Chasing Kona Dreams with Samantha Zeps

Smashing PBs & Chasing Kona Dreams with Samantha Zeps

 

What does it take to go from consistent age-group triathlete to Ironman podium finisher and Kona qualifier? In this inspiring episode, Samantha Zeps shares how she’s levelled up her performance with smarter fuelling strategies, better recovery habits, and a fresh mindset around nutrition.

From a 14-minute PB at Geelong 70.3 to winning her age group at Busselton Ironman, Sam opens up about the real changes that moved the needle — like ditching fasted training, nailing her carb loading, and fuelling properly to perform and parent. If you're dreaming of Kona or chasing your own next PB, this episode is packed with practical takeaways and serious motivation.

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Episode Transcription

Episode 194: Smashing PBs & Chasing Kona Dreams with Samantha Zeps

Welcome to the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. The show designed to serve you up evidence-based sports nutrition advice from the experts. Hi, I'm your host Taryn, Accredited Practicing Dietitian, Advanced Sports Dietitian and founder of Dietitian Approved. Listen as I break down the latest evidence to give you practical, easy-to-digest strategies to train hard, recover faster and perform at your best. You have so much potential, and I want to help you unlock that with the power of nutrition. Let's get into it.

Taryn Richardson (00:00)
Welcome back to the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. Today, I've got an absolute powerhouse on the show for you, Samantha Zeps. She recently graduated from the TNA program. She's all the way from Melbourne, and she's been just smashing goals left, right and centre, really. She took out first place at Busselton Ironman back in December, followed it up with another gold medal and a massive 14-minute PB at Geelong 70.3.

And is now in deep preparation for the biggest race of her life, the Ironman World Championships in Kona later this year. In today's episode, Sam's going to share what it really takes to level up, how she's changed her fuelling strategy and what she's learned about nutrition, and some of the key things that she believes have helped her go from strong athlete already to serious contender and sitting right there at the top of the podium.

So if you're chasing PBs, maybe you're dreaming about Kona, or you just want to hear what's possible when you get your nutrition sorted, then this episode is for you. Let's get into it.

Welcome to the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. The secret weapon in your ears for triathletes who want to get fitter, faster, stronger and healthier with evidence-based nutrition.

Welcome to the podcast, Sam.
Thank you. So for those who don't know you, can you give us a quick little intro — who you are, what you do maybe, and how you got into triathlon?

Samantha Zeps (01:32)
Okay, I'm a 50-year-old age grouper. I do work full-time. I work for a traffic engineering consultancy company. I'm lucky that it's a very flexible job, which allows me to sometimes go out for midday runs and stuff like that to fit all my training in. I got into triathlon shortly after having kids. Someone at work did a women's course, and she just seemed to have so much fun. And I thought, you know what?

To try something different. I'm sick of aerobics classes and doing step all the time. So I thought, I'll try this course that she did. And I just loved it. I just loved the people, the environment, and just something else to think about other than trying to burn calories. So I was trying to develop skills. I could swim, but not very well. So there was the focus on getting better at my swim technique,

and improving running and, yeah, just doing something different.

Taryn Richardson (02:31)
There's always something to get better at with triathlon, isn't there? So what's your training set-up like? Do you coach yourself? Do you have a coach that does your program for you? How do you like to train?

Samantha Zeps (02:40)
Yeah, I do have a coach. I've had a coach, John Brazil, ever since I moved to Melbourne, really. And then the last two years have become a little bit more serious. And I think having the same coach for this period of time, he knows me, I know him, and so we work really well together. Yeah, I really enjoy having a coach. It gives me someone to be accountable to, not just myself.

It's just a structure thing, so I don't have to think about it too much. Like, what should I be doing? He knows what I should be doing, so I just follow the plan, and yeah, I've reaped the rewards from doing that.

Taryn Richardson (03:18)
It's nice to have somebody do that so that you just have to front up each day and go, all right, tell me what to do and I'll do it. And was Kona always on the radar for you? Was it always part of the big plan, or was it never a goal and it was just accidental?

Samantha Zeps (03:31)
I never thought it would be possible. I absolutely didn’t. I thought there's no way I would ever get on the podium for an Ironman event. I was wrapped when I actually got it on for a 2XU event a few years back, but I just never thought I would for an Ironman. I had a very good supportive friend who said, “No, I know you've got it in you.” And so, in the back of my head, it was there, and she got to Kona and I thought, maybe, maybe.

In the lead-up to Basso, I thought, I've just got to put the dream in front of me, right? It might be crazy, might not happen. So I put my screen — same old — it was set to the background of Kona so I could see it every day. And I thought, I'll just give it a crack. But I thought I'd probably have to get into the age group of like 60–65 or 70–75 before I'd ever make it. So, absolutely stoked that I got there for this year.

Taryn Richardson (04:29)
And have you done that faster than you thought you would?

Samantha Zeps (04:32)
Most definitely. And I guess I didn't realise the impact that nutrition was going to play. I kept hearing, like I kept seeing your ads going, "The fourth leg, the missing link." I'm there, because I've been so consistent with my training. And I thought, what could take me to the next level? Is this possible? And I was having an RE and I missed the first round. And then I got a video from you saying, "Hey, Sam," and I'm there—

Okay. All right. She's invested in her clients, and I thought, I'm going to give it everything I've got. Yeah. I just can't believe the change and how much better I feel in general, actually. I just don't get the slumps in the afternoon. I used to get really tired at 3:00, 3:30, even when I wasn't doing the peak of my training. I was just so tired. And now I just feel more level and sustained throughout the whole day. And the focus is just on making sure I get the right protein in and then enough calcium in, rather than keeping the calories to this amount, which can really mess with your head, I think.

Taryn Richardson (05:39)
Yes.

And it's the way a lot of us do eat because we've come from a different background to triathlon too. It doesn't necessarily serve us in our sport. What were some of those maybe mindset shifts or some of the changes that you made with your nutrition over the last year or two?

Samantha Zeps (05:55)
One was eating before I trained in the morning. I was trying to always do everything faster. And then just eating beforehand and changing—like obviously before swimming, I can't eat a big bowl of porridge, but I could have those three dates and that was enough to get me through. And yeah, so that was the big change: eating before, and eating properly before training. And then in the evening, I used to get really slack and go, "Oh, just skip that because I'll be burning more." And now I'm just refuelling and then I'm better the next day to get going again.

Taryn Richardson (06:26)
So it's even just like flipping your mindset altogether, like fuelling is going to help you get the results that you want rather than starving yourself. And is there anything that surprised you as you were going through the program? Maybe something that you thought you were doing really well, but you actually weren't?

Samantha Zeps (06:42)
Carb loading — I thought I knew how to carb load. I did not know how to carb load. I liked your advice to practise — not just leave it to race day, not just say, "This is a carb load," and you do it the day before — really practising and knowing what foods work for you and what don't. Because some things make you feel not so great, like more bloated. And so that practising and getting used to the feeling in the lead-up just meant the day before the race, it was a no-brainer. You knew what to do. You knew how you were going to feel.

Yeah, so that really surprised me — and how much you do need to fuel yourself in the days leading up, especially to an Ironman.

Taryn Richardson (07:20)
I've not met anyone that has known how to carbohydrate load properly, actually, in my entire career. I'm like, spanning two decades — not one athlete.

Samantha Zeps (07:29)
I believe that. Everyone, it just comes up faster than I thought before, and it's like — so much more than that.

Taryn Richardson (07:34)
Yep, it's so much more than that — way more strategic. So, you recently did a 14-minute PB at Geelong 70.3 and came first in your age group in that race. You've done that same course, what, three times now? I had a look at your results — went digging. So you did a 14-minute PB and last year you came sixth. It's the exact same course. What do you think made the difference this time around compared to last year?

Samantha Zeps (07:49)
Three or four times, actually.

Absolutely the fuelling. Some might say my new bike, but I think it was definitely the fuelling because I just knew how much to put in. I used to eat okay on the bike, but not as well as I do now. And then on the run, it was always like, "It doesn't matter for the last hour." This time I was like, "Just keep putting it in every half an hour, just keep putting it in."

The lady who's coming second was just behind me. I had the power to really put it down in the last two Ks. "Don't let her catch you, don't let her catch you!" But I had that extra juice to know, "Okay, last three Ks, just hammer her home." I wasn't totally wiped out, whereas before, I'd be slowing down towards the end.

Taryn Richardson (08:44)
Yeah, amazing. Nothing like a bit of fear to give you that last little push through the finish line. Having that in the tank to go is so valuable.

Samantha Zeps (08:53)
And just not feeling completely sick and wiped out later in the day. I think that I've found that even with training, I used to — after my long rides — just feel terrible for the rest of the day. And then you've got to try and do everything with your kids or with your family. And you just go, am I doing this to myself? Now I find that, yeah, I come home, have my recovery breakfast, maybe have a chill for an hour, and then I'm ready to go and get on with my day. It doesn't affect my family life.

Like, the kids don't go, "Mum can't do anything because she's wiped out on the couch."

Taryn Richardson (09:27)
Can still parent after long rides — it should be a key marketing message! Like a key KPI once you've got your nutrition right: that you can parent after training. We've got quite a lot of parents in the program that are like, "Oh my gosh, I used to waste my entire day, and now I can actually go and do all of the parenting things that I couldn't do before." So now you've got your ticket to Kona, which is amazing. How are you feeling heading into that?

Samantha Zeps (09:52)
I'm pretty excited — a little bit nervous too — because it's going to be just so amazing. Just being there with so many incredible athletes. Obviously I want to do well, but I know the competition this time around is going to be incredibly hard. I guess my biggest nervousness is training through winter in Melbourne and only having a week to try and adjust to the temperature. I'll try and do some heat work at home — stuff set up in my living room so I can pump the heating up. But yeah, I'm excited about being able to do something I never dreamt was possible.

Taryn Richardson (10:30)
What is your focus in your training and nutrition as you prepare for World Champs?

Samantha Zeps (10:35)
I want to work on increasing the amount of carbs I take per hour. That is my biggest focus. I think I've got the recovery and the day-to-day eating pretty well down pat now. It's just trying to push those boundaries of getting more carbs in, which I think is going to be a challenge. I've started back at 60 and that didn't feel too great the first day I went back into it. So it's going to have to be a gradual increase.

Taryn Richardson (11:02)
What advice would you give to any other age grouper that is chasing big goals like you?

Samantha Zeps (11:08)
Definitely get onto your nutrition. Join TNA, absolutely. You just have no idea how much that can change things for you — not just on race day, but in general for your training and day-to-day living. If you haven't got it right, it's amazing the difference you feel when you do get it right.

Taryn Richardson (11:29)
What are some of those things that are different for you now? Have you got a list of things that you can go, "Yep, I was struggling with this before and now I can do this," or "I feel so different"?

Samantha Zeps (11:40)
I think it's the feel, which is what you want — you want to feel good each day. Like I said, having those 3:30 moments when I felt really sleepy and then I'd just go for the really high-sugar products thinking that's going to make me feel better. It just never did. It just took me on a rollercoaster. I just feel more level throughout the day. So I've got the energy to do more things at home, and my training is more enjoyable because I'm not going, "I'm so, so whacked from this morning. How am I going to do this now and do it half-assed?"

Taryn Richardson (12:13)
You're a bit of a weapon out there. You're very much a silent achiever. Like, I'm not sure if you've picked it up, but Sam is very modest with her achievements. But you rival some of Troy's training — and he's a bit of a weapon too.

Samantha Zeps (12:26)
It was so great to make him edge along. That was so cool.

Taryn Richardson (12:30)
Can you share what a typical training day looked like before versus what it looks like after TNA from a fuelling perspective?

Samantha Zeps (12:39)
I would do a lot of my morning sessions fasted, which I don't do any more. I just feel so much better eating before. I know you can do it fasted, but I've just realised that it's not for me. And I've accepted that. I don't feel like I'm doing the wrong thing by not doing fasted training. It's okay — and that's what feels good for me. I've benefited from that so much.

I also make sure I have enough carbs now at lunchtime to back up for the evening session, whereas before I would just have the salad and try to minimise carbs. Now, carbs are in there — half the plate is carbs, especially on my heavy days. I wasn't getting enough protein throughout the day. And similarly with calcium — I think my calcium was lacking, which I've realised is very important, especially now in perimenopause.

Taryn Richardson (13:35)
Are there any specific nutrition strategies that you're testing or fine-tuning specifically for Kona that you wish you had done years ago — way earlier than you're doing it now?

Samantha Zeps (13:46)
Oh, it definitely wasn't periodising my nutrition throughout the week. Like, I was pretty much doing the same thing every day and not... I didn't even think about what I ate, actually. I think I just thought I could eat anything and realise that you can't out-train a bad diet — even when you're training for Ironman.

Taryn Richardson (14:03)
And just putting the right fuel in on a daily basis is a big shift that you've made, I think.

Samantha Zeps (14:08)
It is a big shift. Now, I just try to vary the foods in my diet too — as in the good foods, the fruit and the veg — and the more variety, the better. And I'm always seeking, "What vegetables haven't I had this week? What should I be having that's different?" I'm just trying to be more diverse and I barely got sick in the last year either. When I think about it, I used to have this greens powder thinking that that was saving me from being sick — and I just had to eat properly.

Taryn Richardson (14:38)
Yes. A lot of people are in the exact same boat as you there. They take multivitamins or those expensive green powder subscriptions thinking that they're doing a good safety blanket of all their nutrients — when really, we need to get it from food. Food, if you want to get the benefit.

Your partner also does triathlon too — and not short course-type racing, like long course as well. Plus you work full-time. Plus you're a parent. How on earth do you fit it all in, Sam? Do you have any tips you can share?

Samantha Zeps (15:05)
Just super organised. I have a very supportive partner, which of course, that always helps. But yeah, I just have to be organised, and I block out periods of time. And I do have the benefit of a flexible work environment. Like I said, sometimes I can get my run in at lunchtime rather than waiting for the end of the day.

Just having the energy — better energy levels — I was part-time initially. And now I'm there, I feel so much better. I can work more. So I know I've had these days with a lot of sitting down as well, but my energy levels have just increased tenfold, a hundredfold.

Taryn Richardson (15:46)
Yeah. And have you noticed that benefit outside of sport? You just said that, you know, you can work more productively.

Samantha Zeps (15:52)
Typically...
Yeah, I'm not on that rollercoaster — that sugar rollercoaster — that I used to be on. And initially it was a little bit hard, but now my body just wants good food. It doesn't crave the biscuits and the chocolate that I used to take because I needed energy — and I don't need to do that now.

Taryn Richardson (16:13)
Yeah, amazing. I didn't know that — that you only worked part-time before. What a good benefit to getting your nutrition sorted: you can then work more if you want to work more.

Samantha Zeps (16:24)
I do sometimes think, it’d be nice not to, because then I could have more time for training and not have the training go into the night. But it's good to be well-rounded.

Taryn Richardson (16:35)
Sometimes when you're busy, you're way more efficient and more productive because you have to fit a lot into a short space of time. Whereas if you have the luxury of all this time, I find that we tend to put stuff off — you put training off and then you don't do it, or it's hard to get your head around it.

Like, I just find that highly functional people are better with less time, because there's no time for procrastination, no time to second-guess yourself. So it's probably a good thing that you've got not a lot of spare time — because you do manage to fit a lot into the short space of time in the day.

Is there anything that you're doing, mindset-wise, to prepare mentally for Kona?

Samantha Zeps (17:14)
There's a video that Ironman puts out and it's got the Hall of Fame song in the background. I watch that a couple of times and that usually fires me up — I love that advertising clip.

Other than that, mindset-wise, I'm just looking at it positively. I'm just going to love this experience. I'm blessed that I've got my entire family basically coming. My kids are coming, my mum's coming, and then my auntie said they're going to come too. So we've got like three apartments.

It's really good because obviously, the kids are going to want to do stuff when we first get there and I'm going to be so focused on the course and eating properly. But my family are going to be able to take the kids out to do stuff. So we’ll just focus on that, and I'll have the most amazing support crew. I feel so spoiled that I'm going to have such a big group there with me.

It's so special. I've got them there to share this dream that I never thought I'd be able to achieve. So — just get to the start line.

Taryn Richardson (18:20)
I'm so excited to watch that. Are you guys going to have a big family holiday afterwards after the stress of the race is over so you can actually relax and enjoy the scenery?

Samantha Zeps (18:28)
We've only actually got a few days afterwards, like two or three days. ⁓ We opted for having more days before so could try and acclimatise to the weather a bit more. And when we initially arrive, we're going to stay in Honolulu at the back of the island where it's quieter, just so to de-stress a bit. We had a limited amount of time we could be away, so. But I don't know what I'm going to do afterwards, so.

Taryn Richardson (18:54)
This revel in the glory of being an Ironman World Championship finisher? Yeah. Walk around in your t-shirt and your medal, never take it off. Get an M.Dot tattoo on your butt.

Samantha Zeps (19:04)
I do have one on my ankle from my first Iron Man, which yeah, it doesn't look so good, anyway, now at least I feel like I've earned it now.

Taryn Richardson (19:16)
The Kona one, I've seen some beautiful designs in the last few years, so you could get it elaborated on if you wanted to, some additions. All right, Sam, we're going to finish with a rapid fire question round. Are you ready? OK. What is your favourite pre-race breakfast of choice? Nice. What has been your favourite race location so far?

Samantha Zeps (19:32)
Courage with Honey.

Bintan, actually. I really enjoyed Bintan.

Taryn Richardson (19:42)
Okay, maybe Kona would be top of the list, but for now, what's your go-to recovery meal?

Samantha Zeps (19:46)
But no. ⁓ are usually one of the rockabee smoothies followed by a chicken and salad roll.

Taryn Richardson (19:55)
Making me hungry talking about that. What's one nutrition myth that you think triathletes need to let go of?

Samantha Zeps (20:02)
That they know how to carb load.

Taryn Richardson (20:04)
Good one. And final question, what's one word to describe how you want to feel when you cross that finish line at Kona?

Samantha Zeps (20:12)
Elated.

Taryn Richardson (20:13)
Think you will. You go down that chute, and you're on the red carpet, and you hear the guy on the microphone like, Samantha Zepes, you are an Iron Man. You're going to be like,

Samantha Zeps (20:23)
Yeah, it's best way that the

Taryn Richardson (20:25)
so fast and your form is so good because everyone's watching and cheering but that finish line feel at Kona is going to be amazing.

Samantha Zeps (20:33)
Already visualizing it.

Taryn Richardson (20:35)
Yeah, amazing. Well, what an incredible journey. Thank you so much, Sam, for coming on the show and sharing so openly about your experience both in the Triathlon Nutrition Academy program and out there on the race course as you head towards Kona. Watching you win at Busso and the surprise of you winning was very amazing to watch. And then do a 14 minute PB at Geelong 17.3 to back that up was so good.

And it's clear that when you do work on your nutrition and you dial that in, that was your missing link and some big things can happen. Some magic can happen when you get it right for yourself. So if Samantha's story has lit a fire under you and you're to start feeling smarter too, make sure you check out the Triathlon Nutrition Academy program. It is the perfect next step if you want to learn how to fuel properly for triathlons. So no guessing, no thinking, you know how to carb load when in fact you're nowhere near.

What it's meant to be. You don't have to worry about Googling and following advice from well-meaning, but maybe misaligned training buddies or coaches. We just have evidence-based nutrition strategies that work. So come and register your interest for our next cohort at dietitianapproved.com forward slash academy. Thank you so much for listening and joining me, Sam. If you enjoyed this episode, then please leave it a review, share it with a training buddy, because all of those things help to get.

The evidence-based nutrition message in as many triathletes' hands as possible. I'll see you Power Hour soon, Sam, and I'll catch everyone else next week.

Samantha Zeps (22:11)
Bye!

 

Thanks for joining me for this episode of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. I would love to hear from you. If you have any questions or want to share with me what you've learned, email me at [email protected]. You can also spread the word by leaving me a review and taking a screenshot of you listening to the show. Don't forget to tag me on social media, @dietitian.approved, so I can give you a shout out, too. If you want to learn more about what we do, head to dietitianapproved.com. And if you want to learn more about the Triathlon Nutrition Academy program, head to dietitianapproved.com/academy. Thanks for joining me and I look forward to helping you smashed in the fourth leg - nutrition!