The Greg Bennett Show Jason West - Professional Triathlete
May 29, 2023
57:51
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"The Greg Bennett Show"
In this episode of One Moment Longer with Greg Bennett, Greg is joined by Jason West.
Jason is a rising star in the triathlon world. His 2023 season has kicked off with a bang, and he’s currently ranked 12th in the world.
Having started his journey as a 16-year-old, he steadily raced through his academic years and beyond, notching up victories and making a significant impact.
His journey has seen him climb the ranks steadily, on the Professional Triathletes ranking, from 76th in 2020, 41st in 2021, 23rd in 2022 to, as I said, currently 12th in 2023. If this progression keeps going at this rate keeps going, he’ll be 7th in 2024, 4th in 2025, 2nd in 2026 and 1st in 2027.
His focus shifted from short course to mid-long-course racing, and he is now setting his sights on winning the 70.3 World Championships. 2023 has been an incredible start with two major wins, a 2nd and a 5th at the PTO European championships.
Timestamps
2:32 - What an amazing year Jason has had. He describes how he has approached each event and how he feels about his performances.
I really do belong, racing with these top guys at the front
4:08 - When your mental confidence is strong as an athlete, it totally changes your intentions and your performance. Jason explains how he has worked hard on his mental skills so he can compete at the highest level.
When you line up on the start line and your intention is to race at the front. You wanna affect the race.
9:51 - With a stunning 1:07 at Oceanside off the bike, Jason describes how his confidence has grown with each event, and how relaxed he is in believing in the raceday magic.
If you're on the startline, and you don't believe you're gonna win ...
12:53 - Jason and Greg discuss his teams strategy to planning and managing his breaks between events to freshen his mind and body.
16:51 - Jason grew up in Pennsylvania just outside of Philadelphia. He played a lot of sports growing up but really focused on wrestling for most of his childhood. He was then introduced to endurance sports when he was 16, entering some 5k's and triathlons in his area. From there, he went on to race Triathlon at Penn State for four years. In 2015, he graduated with a B.S. in Kinesiology and also became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Upon graduation, he moved to Boulder to pursue his career in Triathlon.
The ITU forces you to become a complete athlete
26:12 - Greg & Jason discuss his journey through longcourse triathlon to ITU and the benefits to his own performance.
28:09 - Jason out-ran Kristian Blummenfelt at the PTO European Championship by a minute and a half. He is mitigating his weaknesses and turning them into 'weapons'. Jason explains some of the highlights and important successes he has had these past few years.
31:47 - Jason & Greg discuss some of the set-backs he has experienced through his triathlon career.
When COVID hit, I almost didnt come back to racing ...
37:41 - Jason keeps a pretty small team. He explains the different roles and who is helping and coaching him.
41:15 - Greg and Jason discuss their opinions on Performance Enhancing Drugs in the sport of triathlon.
Theres more incentive to cheat ...
46:12 - Who does Jason West consider the Greatest Triathlete of All Time?
48:41 - If you could go back in time, what advice would Jason West give his 16-year-old self just starting in triathlon?
52:24 - Greg and Jason finish with the traditional rapid fire questions ... with a twist from ChatGPT.
- Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or a hundred duck-sized horses?
- First job?
- You've been given an elephant. You can't give it away or sell it. What would you do with it?
- You have to sing karaoke; what song do you pick?
- Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?
- Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or always be 20 minutes early?
- If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, what would it be?
- If your bike could talk, what would it say about you?
- If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
- Which decade of music is best?