Mike (00:01.09)
Hi, Coach Mike Ricci here with the D3 Multisport podcast, and I'm joined today by Mia Keller. Thank you for joining us, Mia.

Mia Keller (00:08.031)
Thank you for having me.

Mike (00:09.906)
Mia is a two-time Kona qualifier, and she just mentioned to me that she is the course record holder for 18 to 24 for Ironman Indiana, which was a one-time race. So that's a pretty cool accolade there. So what have you been up to lately? I know you just did Ironman Florida, and you said you're kinda getting back into training, and you got a half marathon on your radar, right?

So let's go back, I mean, I know some things about your past and you didn't start at the top of the charts. And what was your background growing up in terms of sports?

Mia Keller (00:45.703)
Yeah, so I did sports when I was younger, like elementary school. I played soccer for a lot of years. I played volleyball, I played a little bit of softball, and then come middle school, I decided I didn't really wanna exercise anymore. I went to an art school, we didn't have gym. Then by the time I got to high school, I decided taking gym was super scary, so I joined the swim team.

Mike (01:15.254)
Nice, and then did you feel like you did pretty good in swimming right away? Definitely not.

Mia Keller (01:19.199)
Definitely not. I learned to swim when I was 14, when I was a freshman in high school. My mom put me in some swim lessons to learn the basics, which was a 200 without stopping, and a 25 of every stroke. I remember that first season, our coaches put me in the 500 free. And if you've ever been to a high school swim meet, you have the dive break right before the 500 free. And I spent the whole dive break in tears.

because I was absolutely terrified that I would not be able to swim a 500.

Mike (01:53.846)
Right, so let's back up a second. So I would say as a 14 year old, freshman, high school, wearing a bathing suit, going to the pool, what is worse than that, right? Like everybody's looking at you and, you know, obviously you get to dive in and not lose your goggles and all this stuff, right? So my daughter joined the swim team as a freshman, didn't really swim club a couple summers, but nothing serious. Same thing, last year, she's a sophomore, came to me like at three o'clock, she had to swim at five o'clock.

She was like, dad, they put me in the 500. I'm like, yeah, go swim it. So what? And she hated it. Absolute tears. I don't want to do it. I said, just do it. It'll make you a stronger, better person and all this stuff. And she actually had a PR on the hundred at the end of the year. And I said, that was part of that, right? That's overcoming the challenge of like, this absolutely sucks. And, you know, even as an adult, if someone said, you know, do a couple of 500, you're kind of like, that's kind of long. So.

It's never fun that stuff. That's great, that's great you overcame it. And then did you continue all the way through high school with the swimming?

Mia Keller (02:57.191)
I did, I continued, I swam all four years. I swam over the summer. I was able to get fast enough to be an alternate at state my senior year. And then...

Mike (03:08.15)
What kind of time was that? Did you had to get to like a 5.30?

Mia Keller (03:12.451)
Not in the 500, actually in the 4x100 relay. But right, it was, I think I was going about a 102 at that point. And then right before that state meet, I was a big skier as well growing up. I actually crashed, tore my ACL, tore my MCL, couldn't race at state.

Mike (03:16.002)
Nice. That's still a fast time.

Mike (03:23.031)
Yeah, awesome.

Mike (03:33.26)
Go.

Mia Keller (03:38.991)
I think, you know, I was a senior in high school and I was skipping school. So maybe the universe punished me a little bit for that decision. But I don't think without that happening, I would have discovered triathlon because a lot of the rehab was biking, relearning how to run. And then I went, wait, I can do these three sports. Let's put them together.

Mike (03:53.686)
Wow.

Mike (04:03.246)
That's awesome. So did you do a triathlon before you went to college or first year of college?

Mia Keller (04:08.095)
Mm-hmm, I did. I did try for the cure, which used to happen at a Cherry Creek reservoir in Denver.

Mike (04:13.366)
Yeah. And then you got to see you. And then did you join the team right away or did you wait a couple of years?

Mia Keller (04:16.802)
Okay.

Mia Keller (04:20.707)
I didn't, I joined a sorority right out of the gate. Didn't love it, but at the same time, I had a high school friend who was on the triathlon team. So I figured, let's try this. I know at least one person.

Mike (04:23.296)
Oh, nice.

Mike (04:34.066)
Awesome. And then, so tell me what happened in your first race, your very first Trathlon going out to, it was in Vegas, right? Or like Mead was a swim. It's Boulder City, I think, yeah.

Mia Keller (04:43.976)
Lake Mead, yeah. So that was my first Olympic. It was, yep, it was at Lake Mead. That was my third try ever. And it was an awesome experience. I had a great time racing with the team. We drove out to Lake Mead, which is like a 14, 15 hour drive. So you get a lot of bonding experience with your teammates. And it was, it's a really challenging course. The swim is in Lake Mead, which is pretty cold.

Mike (05:02.894)
Thank you.

Mia Keller (05:10.427)
And then the bike, it's a split transition. So the bike is pretty much uphill. You get a big climb and then the 10K run, you go downhill and then back up. And I'm pretty sure I was dead last at that race. Like I got the pity clap.

Mike (05:15.74)
Mm-hmm.

Mike (05:32.398)
So I guess my, I mean, I've had athletes and friends finish races when they were breaking down the finish area, like, right? So that's just one of those things. But you know, hey, you can go back to that swim meet, that first swim meet and say, if I can do that, I can do this, right? So just that mental toughness. Did you, so did that motivate you to train more? And then the next year you're like, heck that, you know, the heck with that, I'm going to get better and see what I can do and help the team, right? Yeah.

Mia Keller (05:38.751)
Maybe.

Mia Keller (05:46.835)
Okay.

Mia Keller (05:58.515)
Definitely. I think I've always had a really strong work ethic. I don't make excuses for myself. I definitely don't quit for better or for worse. You know, even when I probably should have when I'm feeling a little sick and I get the work done and I put my head down and I don't really think it was, I think it was years of kind of being extremely consistent that I've been able to see.

some really fantastic progress. Yeah, really overcoming those things and being last, I know that at the end of the day, I'm gonna bet on myself because I know that I have a lot of heart.

Mike (06:31.406)
That's awesome.

Mike (06:40.779)
Love it.

Right? Do you have a moment like maybe not in a swim workout, but like a run with the team or a group ride where you thought I can hang with these people? Like you kind of saw the door open to like, these are the fast people on the team. And I'm right here. It might be at the tail end of the group, but I can hang in here. Did you ever feel like that? Yeah.

Mia Keller (07:03.327)
Definitely, definitely. And I think I still have those moments where some days I do still feel like that person who is at the back of the pack, who is one of the last finishers. And I think it's still motivating to be like, oh yeah, I'm here because I deserve to be here because I put in the work.

Mike (07:10.274)
Hmm.

Mike (07:22.506)
You know, I probably started in the same position you did, or back of the pack and all that stuff, and was a ball sport kid growing up and all that. But I know that I can feel what you're talking about because I've been in that situation where you're on the start line, and you look around and you're like, these guys have never been next to last. Like I've been next to last in regional cross-country in college. And like, okay, how do I get better at this, right? I can just quit, which is easy.

Or I could say, I'll work my ass off and then let's see what I can do. Right. And so that that's motivating. And you look around the start line, you're like, nobody here has had to go through what I went through. Right. So that's what's in your mind. And then you're like, I'm going to kick 98% of this fields, but today, right? Like that's how you feel. Right. So that's awesome. Do you, um, so when did you kind of make a mark on the team and you started moving up, was that your junior year or?

Mia Keller (08:17.707)
Um, a little bit. You know, I think I definitely got better on the team. I don't think there was ever, you know, a breakthrough race. I never did particularly well in the collegiate field. I just don't think I had quite enough years to really be in the collegiate race. But I think when I started racing longer distances,

Mike (08:23.042)
Mm-hmm.

Mike (08:35.614)
Right. And you're dealing with the best kids in the country on your team. Right. So.

Mia Keller (08:46.775)
and really focusing on my bike and run, because I did have the swim background, I think, to hang on even when I was racing collegiate. I began to see myself finishing towards that front group. And after my first Ironman, I thought, what if I go for Kona? I think I can do it.

Mike (09:06.93)
Yeah. What was, so what was your first race? Arizona? Okay. And how did that go? Like, what were your times?

Mia Keller (09:11.167)
First one's Arizona. Yes. I had so much fun. I wanna say I went like 12.45 or something.

Mike (09:20.682)
Yeah, yeah, I mean, not terrible, but you know, obviously not with the idea that you can go a sub 11 or close to a Kona time, right? I mean, that's just

Mia Keller (09:29.383)
Yeah, but like I had so much fun and I think that's kind of how I knew. I was working with a different coach at the time and she told me, he's like, well this isn't meant to be fun. You're not going to have fun. That's not what it's supposed to be. And I didn't like that. Like I get to do this. This is my hobby. This is my choice. And ultimately when you're happier, you're going to race better.

Mike (09:55.786)
No, I agree. I agree. I, you know, I always just go back to this. I have a Ben and Jerry's cycling shirt that says if you're having fun, why are you doing it? Right. So, you know, the process has to be fun. The intervals on the track have to be fun. The interval, the reps in the pool, the grind to Jamestown, the grind to ward where you're like in the wind, your hands are, you know, all of it. And you're just like, it's still fun. Like I'm challenging myself. Can I get through this? And I can't wait to go home and have whatever, like my favorite food or hot chocolate, whatever it is. I mean, you know how it is, you know, even in

Mia Keller (10:01.211)
You need it? Alright.

Mike (10:24.946)
April riding up to the ward sometimes. You get back and you're just frozen, right? But it's fun. Like you talk about it, like that was fun. And I can't wait to do it again. Hopefully better weather, right? I think that, yeah, that's great. It's a great mindset. And then, so did you do that first Ironman while you're still in college or had you graduated? Okay.

Mia Keller (10:34.311)
Yeah, exactly.

Mia Keller (10:44.555)
I was still in college and then I went for my second when I was in law school and that was in Indiana. That was a lot. That was Indiana. But I think it helped me in a way get through law school. That's obviously both are a lot of work. Something else to focus on, having kind of a set routine outside of school.

Mike (10:49.13)
Got it. And that must've been hard to balance. Yeah. So was that Indiana?

Mike (11:02.102)
something else to focus on.

Mia Keller (11:08.907)
getting excited about something outside of school, because especially your second year, you're really in the thick of it. It feels like, you know, it's only harder. Yes, yes. And sort of having this other big goal really kind of helped put things in perspective and keep me grounded.

Mike (11:15.894)
Well, they're trying to weed you out, right? At that point.

Mike (11:26.434)
Right, love it. And then, so was that 10 months later that you did that, or was that a year plus later?

Mia Keller (11:33.415)
I feel like COVID really affected my timeline. That was 2021. So that was a year. Yeah.

Mike (11:35.198)
Yeah, it's just messed up. Wasn't in. Okay. Indiana was 21, I think. Right. Yeah. Okay. And so then you had a good, you know, almost, almost two years, right. To, to improve. And so what were your, what were your times at Indiana?

Mia Keller (11:48.275)
Mm-hmm. Why is it so big? I went 11.09 at Indiana, and I had probably as close to a perfect day as I've ever had in a race. I mean, I had a solid swim, a solid bike, and I negative split the run by about 30 seconds. So I had, yeah, really a model day. I think that I haven't quite been able to.

Mike (11:54.92)
Wow.

Mike (12:04.866)
Wow.

Mia Keller (12:14.879)
to get to even though I went faster at Florida very slightly, which I think is a cool sign of improvement. I didn't have my best day at Florida and I still went faster than my so-called perfect day.

Mike (12:19.79)
Mm-mm.

Mike (12:27.422)
Right, plus an ocean swim is, you know, a little bit too, it's not as fast, obviously. And I'm sure there are more people in Florida, right? So in the race itself, yeah. And that's, you know, I've talked to athletes before about that and there's just, there's something to that piece of the drafting where it just plays with you mentally that, okay, this group went by me, do I go, do I stay, do I stay at the back, am I gonna get drafting? I mean, there's so much that goes into it. And I think mentally you have to be prepared for that. And even obviously you've done Kona, so you know.

Mia Keller (12:35.711)
Definitely.

Mike (12:56.746)
that you get out of the water. And there's 200 people that bike the same speed as you. And you're not used to that in a regular race. Like you go to a small race, you bike off the front or you do really well. And even in a, you know, even a half 70.3, they're not that many people that are gonna ride with you, right? Like it's just like, wow, this is crazy. Like this, I'm not going anywhere. Like I'm just staying with these 15 people the entire day, which is just wild, right? So.

Mia Keller (13:20.304)
And a little humbling, I think, in a good way. Ha ha.

Mike (13:23.451)
I think that's right. And you think about it like, okay, I'm going to get in the weight room more. I'm going to get stronger on the bike and put more miles in. Yeah. And you make those incremental improvements. So yeah, so take me through Florida. It sounds like it was a pretty exciting day.

Mia Keller (13:34.471)
Yeah, it was a really fun day. The swim was, like you said, it was an ocean swim, which this was the first race I've done, I guess besides Kona that was an ocean swim. A lot of jellyfish, it was a two loop course, but honestly beautiful. It's something really amazing about being able to see where your hand is in the water, which we don't always have here in Colorado, Boulder Res.

Mike (13:57.262)
Mm-hmm. Right.

Mia Keller (14:03.123)
But yeah, so beautiful. You go around the pier, it's two loops. When you get out of the water, there's a ton of crowd support. I really liked the bike. The roads were pretty newly paved, so it was a fast course. It was flat. You could stay aero for probably 98% of it. And this was the first full where I was really, I was so dialed, I was able to stay in that aero position for all of it.

Mike (14:30.314)
Yeah, you had a great nice pick like 517 or 523, 523. Yeah, that's fine.

Mia Keller (14:33.515)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, this was about a 20 to 30 minute PR on the bike over in Indiana, which was huge. I felt so strong. And then the run is pretty much two out and backs along that frontage road that they have there. So there's stuff to look at. There's people to see. And the first lap went really well. I did the whole thing by feel, by heart rate, just stayed within my zone.

Mike (14:38.87)
Yeah, huge, huge.

Mia Keller (15:04.343)
And then the second lap is where things get tough, which they always do in an Ironman. But I had some stomach issues creep up around 15 or 16 and I stopped at the bathroom and nothing really helped. And so it was a split second decision of, do I try to make myself throw up maybe, or do I just keep making forward progress until it calms down?

Mike (15:09.623)
Right.

Mike (15:32.558)
So what did you decide to do?

Mia Keller (15:34.267)
I decided forward is a pace. Just kept walking, trying to get my stomach to calm down. And I reached that last turnaround and I saw my boyfriend, which, you know, it's always a boost to see someone you know, but he's like, you're in sixth, the girl in front of you is maybe, is five minutes ahead of you. And I think you can catch her.

Mike (15:38.753)
Yeah.

Mike (15:48.534)
Mm-hmm.

Mia Keller (16:02.999)
And by that point, things were sort of starting to calm down. And that's where that resilience comes in, that same, I know I can do this, I'm gonna bet on myself. And I was like, okay, I gotta go. I want this slot to niece. And I ran it in and I ran the last five or six miles at the same pace I ran the first 15. I was able to catch her and I got that fifth place podium spot by...

Mike (16:26.346)
Wow, awesome.

Mia Keller (16:33.243)
I think 90 seconds, maybe less.

Mike (16:36.158)
It's a minute per mile over a 10, you know, it's six and a half miles, but a minute per mile, that's pretty substantial. And then, you know, the quads are burning and the whole thing and your mind's telling you to stop and you're like, no, I'm gonna keep going. I'm gonna keep going. That's awesome. So talk a little bit about your stomach issues. I know it's a bigger thing and it's been going on for a long time.

Mia Keller (16:40.338)
Yeah.

Mia Keller (16:45.532)
It's nothing.

Mia Keller (16:54.219)
Yeah, yeah. So in 2020, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, which is pretty similar to Crohn's disease, if you're familiar. Basically, your body mistakes the good bacteria in your colon for an infection and it fights it. So a lot of, you know, normal stomach upset systems, symptoms are amplified.

When you have it, I call it UC for short.

Mia Keller (17:28.135)
And I think when I was diagnosed, I didn't know any other triathletes who had it. And I think now three, almost four years later, I still only know one other person, maybe two. And it's hard, it can be debilitating at times. There's some days where I feel normal and there's other days where.

You know, I'm in the courtroom, I'm an attorney, and I have to ask the judge if I can do direct examination while seated because it hurts me to stand up.

Mike (18:04.314)
Do you have, I'm sure you've knocked out different foods that have probably caused it. You're still probably figuring this part out, right? Yeah. And you had no indication of this growing up, right? Like you got to be 20 something years old with no issue, right? Which is really strange.

Mia Keller (18:13.79)
Very much still learning.

Mia Keller (18:23.649)
Nothing. Yeah, I thought I had food poisoning. Didn't go away. Went to the hospital and

Mike (18:31.51)
get diagnosed. So is there any medication you can take that helps or is it just kind of throw everything out?

Mia Keller (18:32.584)
I'll take note.

Mia Keller (18:37.379)
Yep, so I self inject with a biologic which helps every other week, which Dave has been really great about is kind of knowing that this might affect my workouts and we have to plan around it a little bit. But I think there is a lot of stigma still around irritable bowel diseases.

Mike (18:43.606)
Mm-hmm.

Mike (19:03.566)
Mm-hmm.

Mia Keller (19:04.267)
talking about our guts. I think it's better in endurance sports. I think people are willing to talk about it a little bit more, but I wanna be the person who's sharing my story and then hopefully other people who have this or similar conditions can look at me and go, I can do this too. This doesn't have to hold me back.

Mike (19:10.294)
Right.

Mike (19:26.258)
Right. And maybe that's the reason why you haven't met any of the triathletes, because it is a stigma that like, I don't want people to know I deal with this. I just have bad stomach issue or something like that. Right. So yeah, it's, it's a bodily function though. And, you know, at this point, we should be okay to say, I've got a problem. Do you, do you, so do you cut out gluten or dairy or anything like that, or just?

Mia Keller (19:30.78)
Thank you.

Mia Keller (19:35.467)
Sometimes it's gross, it's embarrassing, but I mean, it is what it is. Yeah, for sure.

Mia Keller (19:49.415)
What there is a no, I can't do a lot of raw veggies. Most raw veggies, skin on things is difficult. I think so, things that are a little bit harder to digest, I try to eliminate as much as possible. And even now I'm still learning, you know, things, a lot of ingredients in sports nutrition are fairly artificial and those can trigger it. So.

Mike (19:54.457)
Interesting.

Is it just the fiber, you think?

Mia Keller (20:18.975)
Did I make a nutrition mistake at Florida? I'm still trying to kind of process of elimination, figure that out. I think, you know, I could have eaten something my gut didn't like, or it could have just been, you know, kind of a fluke thing, we all. Even people who don't have IBD have bad stomach days, so.

Mike (20:37.762)
Right? So do you think, do you, so do you have like a pretty much all non-processed nutrition plan for race day or in normal day, in every day basically, or are there some process things you can take in?

Mia Keller (20:53.739)
There's some process things I can take in. I do really well with Bobo bars. I think because they're vegan and they're processed, but not to the point of being unrecognizable. The Morton gels have been good, scratch products have been good. But like I said, I'm still, I still don't think I've hit that perfect nutrition plan yet. And so that's definitely a goal I have for niece is.

Mike (21:17.611)
Yeah.

Mia Keller (21:21.791)
getting that dialed as much as possible.

Mike (21:24.53)
What about day-to-day? Does it affect you day-to-day if you, like you said, obviously in the courtroom, things can go wrong. So like if you go out to eat and stuff like that, like at a restaurant, you have to really be careful of what you order, what restaurant you go to. Yeah. Okay. And then if I said to you, okay, three days of just eating at home and just preparing all your meals, do you think you could avoid it? Or do you think sometimes it still pops

Mia Keller (21:29.512)
Yeah.

Mia Keller (21:49.063)
Now I think it still pops up. It's very...

Mike (21:50.606)
I don't know. Well, okay.

Mia Keller (21:56.099)
It has a mind of its own sometimes. I know a lot of people that I've read on forums, and I was in a support group for a while for people with Crohn's in UC. And there's still so much they don't know, especially when we're talking about an illness that doesn't have a cure.

Mike (22:23.327)
Right.

Mia Keller (22:23.483)
is I think that everybody who has it is still undergoing some sort of trial and error for their own body.

Mike (22:29.338)
Right. And it's like you said, there's a stigma attached to it. And, you know, maybe there's not enough funding and it could go faster if there was actually funding to help people, right? It's not like, you know, cancer people are going to go after. And it's always the thing. But this is, you know, it's an everyday thing. I mean, this is not obviously not as bad as cancer, but still, I mean, disrupts your whole life. I mean, in a different way, right? So, well, that's thanks for sharing that story. I mean, that's some. That's a hard one, right? And it's.

Mia Keller (22:32.905)
Mm-hmm.

Mia Keller (22:49.427)
Absolutely.

Mia Keller (22:54.131)
Hmm.

Mike (22:58.09)
I hope you can keep narrowing down what the things are that really bug you. And we check back and you're like, yeah, I've got it at 99%. Right. Like just if you, if you had to put it at a percentage, like, you know, if you have 30 days in a month, how many days are good ones and how many bad days would you have typically?

Mia Keller (23:18.079)
I would say it's a 30 day month.

10 to 15 are tougher days depending on the month.

Mike (23:26.226)
So wow, it's almost a third to a half. Wow. So if I'm coaching master sometimes and you have to get out of the water, I know that you're having a little problem in topping too.

Mia Keller (23:28.947)
third to a half. Yeah.

Mia Keller (23:37.964)
Yes, I mean, and some workouts are great. I had, although some are harder, like I had a tempo on Tuesday where I had to stop during the warmup and the cool down to get it figured out.

Mike (23:51.277)
Yeah.

Mia Keller (23:56.311)
Like I said, I think it comes back to that adversity piece. And it was really challenging in the beginning as someone who doesn't like excuses for myself is to realize that, no, this is not an excuse. This is a very real limitation that I have to work through with my body. And that's okay. You know, I think I would have been a lot harder on myself at Florida, you know.

Mike (24:05.847)
Mm-hmm.

Mike (24:18.37)
Totally okay.

Mia Keller (24:24.999)
a couple years ago with or without a diagnosis, but that's just, you know, I think growing up and learning about yourself and realizing like, this is okay, I gave the day everything I had and sometimes you can't fully control what your body does, but you gotta celebrate the victories, whatever they are.

Mike (24:42.51)
Totally. You know, I heard something a few weeks ago and it's just like, give yourself the grace to be okay with it, right? Like just be like, this is the best I have. And I have no excuses. I did everything I can here. So that's, that's really important. And I will say for, um, being 24, is that right? 24? You're very, 25? Very mature. It's just, it's amazing that, you know, uh, I mean, you know, you're a couple years out of college and you're putting all this stuff together, dealing with a major issue.

Mia Keller (24:46.955)
Thank you.

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Mia Keller (24:59.667)
25. Thank you.

Mike (25:11.602)
But you know, obviously succeeding in life and then succeeding in your hobby, but you know, just doing really well Yeah, I mean thanks so much for coming on and you know Most importantly, I hope you get this figured out and please stay in touch with me on it I'd love to hear the progress of it and Obviously good luck and nice and I'm sure I will see you along the race circuit this summer and hopefully add some practices too. So Thanks so much You bet

Mia Keller (25:29.547)
Thank you.

Mia Keller (25:36.403)
Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

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