The Simple Routine Behind the World's Oldest Ironman Champion ft. Natalie Grabow

She just broke the world record as the oldest woman to complete the Ironman World Championship at 80. Natalie Grabo. But how did she go from learning how to swim at 59 to racing Ironmans just two years later? And what's her secret to staying this fit at 80? Today, she'll show us the simple routine, habits, and hacks that allow her to defy doctors and compete in one of the hardest endurance events in the world. Natalie, hello. So nice to meet you. Oh my gosh. What an honor to meet with an Ironman World Champion. How old are you again? I'm 80. I, oh my gosh. Would you want to swim? Yeah, let's do it. Okay. And just like that, Natalie challenged me to just 10 minutes of swimming. This is Natalie Grabo, mother, software developer, and Ironman triathlete. She didn't grow up as an elite athlete. Her competitive journey started later in life, after kids and a full-time career. But through consistency and discipline, she built world-class endurance, allowing her to compete at one of the highest levels on the planet. However, in order to perform during race season, everything is dialed in, starting with her typical swim workout. Oh, nice job. So how long would you do this for? Oh, about an hour and a half to a week. Oh my gosh, that's terrible. Come on, let's go. Okay, Natalie, let's go. Last three minutes. Honestly, incredible. 80 years old, I started getting winded after a few laps. I cannot imagine swimming for an hour and a half. That is absolutely next level. 10 minutes down, but I had to know. And what's your secret? How is it that you can keep doing this at 80 with such strength? It's years and years and years of consistency of doing the hard work, because I love it. How did you go from just learning to swim at 59 to at 61 doing full on Ironman triathlon? Well, I trained almost every day and trust the process of getting there and doing the work and you're then ready to go. And for anyone else who doubts themselves, what would you say to them? I'd say just start. Start little, start with something you really like, and you'll start to really enjoy the routine of doing something every day. And by routine, she means the first of several workouts Natalie does on a daily basis. The second one being just a little winter run. All right, what are we going to do? We're just going to go for a nice little run today. All right. Okay. Let's do it. Let's go. And by little run, she means a run that's at least one hour or more. Wait, so how much more? I don't know. Wait, an hour of running? Yeah, a little. Okay. Remind me again the order for the Ironman. First you swim. Okay. Then you bike. And then you do the running. And the run is how much again? 26.2 miles. Amazing. So how- You can do it. Thank you. Isn't that so hard to do a marathon after swimming? It takes a while to get your body used to the running, but then, you know, you walk through the aid stations and get your nutrition and then you get going again. Did you ever feel close to giving up? No, no. No? No. Never? Never. What about when like your heart is racing and you feel like you can't keep going? No. My heart is never racing. I get tired, but then you eat something and you're going again and you know that you're going to feel great having accomplished something hard. Is it the mind that gives out first or the body? For me, it would be the body. My mind never gives up. So I would keep going no matter what. So, and I've been fortunate. I've never had to stop because of my body. So it's just, you get tired, but you just keep going. I still can't get over this. It's not just her strength that's incredible, but it's her mindset. She just keeps it calm. She keeps it cool and she keeps it going. So your mind never stops. What are you telling yourself? Are you like beating yourself down or are you talking yourself up? No, no. What's happening? No, you're just saying, I can do it. You know, keep going. You've done this before and what a great feeling it is afterwards. You remind yourself of that. You just take it one mile at a time and it's such a good feeling to know that you're accomplishing this great goal. So it's just paying attention to what your body needs. You make it sound so simple. Isn't it incredible? So what is your workout split? What workouts do you do in a week? Well, generally I swim three times a week. The length of the swims, it gets longer the closer I get to my races. And then I run about four times a week, short runs and then a longer run on the weekend. And then I bike about four times a week with a long bike on the weekend. So you're doubling up some days. Yes. Oh my God. Those are my fun days when I double up. Incredible. So like a run and a bike. Right, right. Yes. And you have a coach. Yes. Your incredible coach, Michelle. Is coaching, has that been key for you to keep up? Oh yeah, it's great that I don't have to think about what I'm going to do. She just writes it all out for me. So I just follow what she puts out for me. That way, you know, I don't do too much or too little and she prepares me well for my races, yeah. I love that. Well, I'm starting to feel a little hungry. You want to eat some food? Me too, I'm always hungry. Okay, it's been a lot of working out. I'm ready to eat. Following Natalie's run, it was time to move on to some food. But before we do that, there's another piece that matters just as much as training. And if you miss it, it can quietly derail everything else. As women age, our hormones shift, sometimes dramatically. And even when you're doing everything right, eating well, moving your body, staying disciplined, you can still feel off, low energy, brain fog, skin changes, poor sleep, weight changes that just don't make sense. And a lot of women walk into a doctor's office hoping for answers and leave feeling unheard. That's why I want to thank MidiHealth for sponsoring this episode. MidiHealth is a virtual care clinic focused on compassionate, high-quality medical care for women, covered by insurance in all 50 states. You book a virtual visit, meet with a Midi clinician who actually takes the time to understand your symptoms. And if you need testing, they'll coordinate it locally and guide you through follow-ups until things are dialed in. What I appreciate most is that Midi works across all stages of life, perimenopause, menopause, weight changes, skin, longevity, because women like Natalie don't stop needing support just because they're strong. I actually did a Midi age-well longevity consultation myself. I'm 32, but a recent blood test showed higher DHEA. And despite trying diet and lifestyle tweaks, things still fell off. My Midi clinician flagged possible borderline PCOS and recommended a few options, including myo and dikyroinositol for hormone and fertility support. Within weeks, I noticed fewer breakouts and deeper sleep, confirmed by my WHOOP data. Strength, routines, discipline, Natalie shows us all of that next, but support matters too. If you're looking for personalized, compassionate care covered by insurance, click my link below to book your first Midi visit. Now, back to the story. Natalie typically wakes up between 5.30 and 6.30 a.m. as part of her training routine, especially during race season and when preparing for long workouts. But her breakfast was not what I expected. So what's for breakfast? Cheerios, you like Cheerios? Cheerios, Ingram, I do like Cheerios, okay. So walk me through your typical morning. I get up and I make the coffee and have my breakfast. Then I do my stretching and then I either run early or I get my husband up and get him organized. Okay. Look at this. Now I put a little sugar in mine. You're welcome to or not. So you just put it on top? Yeah. Oh my gosh, this is wild. Oh yeah. This is an orange thing? Yes. And what does the sugar do? It just gives a little flavor? Yeah, a little sweetness. A little sweetness. Get you going. A little sugar to get you going, okay. What is your diet actually like? Very typical, normal diet. I eat throughout the day. I have a couple workouts, I eat after each workout. I'll have some protein, I like peanut butter, tuna fish, eggs, and some bread or that type of thing. I like a lot of, I eat a lot of bread. Really? Uh-huh. Interesting. I find that after three hours, two and a half hours, I need to eat again. And then what about for dinner? For dinner, we sit down, my husband and I, and we have pork chops, lamb chops, steak, hamburgers, chicken a lot, some kind of potato, something like that, and try to include a salad or a vegetable. So you're not crazy about super strict macros, this, that? No, whatever my body craves, I kind of eat, yeah. Wow. Some ice cream, some cookies, some... Even during racing season? Sure, of course. Natalie Grabo was born August 3rd, 1945, before Title IX, which opened the doors of sport to girls everywhere. She was a cheerleader in high school, one of the few options available at the time. In college, Natalie focused on academics, not athletics. It wasn't until after raising her two daughters that she returned to the workforce as a software engineer at Bell Labs and began running in her 40s. Because I could do that quickly, I could do it after the long day or I could do it at lunchtime. Right. But injuries pushed her towards triathlon. For her first race, she didn't know how to swim, so her daughter Amy completed the swim leg for her. From there, Natalie's passion for triathlon took off. She went on to compete in 11 Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. I didn't really realize how much I needed that, something of my own. You're 61, it's your first Ironman. How are you feeling looking at some of the top athletes? Oh, I was so intimidated. The first time I'd watched people running and biking up a lead drive, I thought, oh, I don't know if I should be here. I am just really out of my element. And you just beat the world record as the oldest woman to ever finish Kona. So there's social media of you all over the internet. You are about to break the world record. You are running up to cross the finish line and you trip. Yes. Which is epic and incredible. Felt so strong the last couple miles. I really got a second wind and I was running really well, faster than I had been running. I just was so happy and I was running and then I was on the ground. I couldn't believe it. What the heck happened here? I just didn't pick up my feet, I guess. So I just wanted to be over with, get up, get up and move. So that's what I did. And just said, okay, that didn't happen. Yeah. You kind of like make this motion like, oh, it's okay. It's okay, you're right. And then right at the end, you hug. Yeah, Cherie was there. And so that was nice. She was so happy for me. She held the record prior to me, yeah. So this food is so delicious. Is there anything else that you like to enjoy throughout the day? Truth be told, I treat myself to some little miniature marshmallows and some chocolate. Yeah. Yeah, would you like some? Let's do it. Oh, good. I love that. So when would you eat this normally? Right after I have my thing, I might dig into some marshmallows. So right after you have your breakfast? Just to get me up the stairs, yeah. Yeah. So after your Cheerios, you're gonna have some? How many times a day will you have marshmallows? Oh, probably four, five. Four, five times? Sometimes, yeah. Makes me so happy. While Natalie's swim and running feats are incredible, the next workout is the one that most blew me away. Okay, wow, what do we got here? This is the bike that I train on for my races. So I spend a lot of time on this bike. How long would you be on it? Up to five and a half or six hours when I'm training for an Ironman, yeah. Wait, all? Five or six hours all on one bike? Yes, I have some food and I have some drinks and stuff, but yeah, and my music is very important, yeah. Okay, so show me how it's done. When you see this and it's only been two minutes and you know you're gonna bike for five hours here, like how mentally do you get yourself? There's a grander purpose. You're preparing for your race and you wanna feel good in your race, so you're motivated to work hard. I know you used to run a lot. You used to do marathons, but then you started to get a bit injured, right? So how has triathlons changed that for you? Well, it's so great because you can bike for so much longer than you could run. So for those of us who really like to have long workouts, you can bike a long time. Right, without getting injured. Without getting injured. You're going such far distances. You're doing this incredible physical feat and yet you seem almost chill about it. Yeah. Do you feel chill? I do feel chill. It's fun. How lucky am I that I get to do this? Really? Wow. That I get to wake up and say, well, I have a long bike. I'm so excited. Yes. Now it was time for Natalie to put me to the test. Wow. I just can't believe you do this for five hours. Okay. Let's give it a go. Oh my God. My power is so much less than yours. No. Oh yeah, it is. Power is like. It is a little. Like five, six, seven times more than. I cannot imagine doing this for five hours. But your power balance is good. Thank you. Learned it from the best. But before Natalie does any workout, first thing she'll do in the morning is stretch, which she says has been vital to her success and longevity. You get the blood moving a little bit. Oh my God. Natalie, what the heck? How are you so flexible? I've always been flexible. I really wanted to be a gymnast when I was young. She took me through a series of stretches and tools she uses daily to keep herself limber and ready for action. It's tighter that side. And then I like to do this just to test myself that I've got everything working properly. All right. Are we like in the gymnastic Olympics? Like what is happening here? Wild fun fact. For her five hour long bike rides, Natalie likes to have not a sports drink, not a fancy amino acid concoction, but instead just a bottle of bubbly Pellegrino water. But I like my Pellegrino. Yeah. It seems like having fun is really important to you. Yeah, it really is. Yeah. If it's not fun, why are you doing it? Yeah. Especially at my age. And do you feel like a confident person today? I do. I will credit triathlon for a lot of that, yeah. So I couldn't help but notice all of your incredible medals. You've done 11 Ironman, Kona. What makes you so disciplined? Gosh, I think I was raised to be disciplined, maybe. My parents were disciplined. I like being disciplined. It feels comfortable. You know, things work out for me if I'm disciplined and do what I need to do. I, you know, I have a list of things and if I accomplish them, then I never feel overwhelmed, you know, because I never feel behind. A lot of people at 80 are not doing this sort of thing. Why do you think that is? Well, they probably don't like it, you know? Okay. They might like bridge or gardening or so many things. And that's great because that's what makes them happy. And so the important thing is finding what makes you happy and makes you want to get up and face the world. So this is what makes me happy. Do you ever think about stopping? Like, oh, that's enough. That's too much. Like, let's cool it. No, no, never. Why would I want to? This is my joy. This is my love. This is what keeps me, this is what gets me up in the morning. Even on vacation, I just need to move. There's no doubt Natalie is one of the most focused, determined and impressive endurance athletes on the planet. But I was curious to know more. What is her life like outside of competing and how does she balance it all? So I've heard that you take care of everything in your house while you're also a triathlete. Is that true? Yes, but I don't have a full-time job doing anything else. So I do, I enjoy it. You mentioned caring for your husband as well. You've been married 56 years. 56 years. A long time. And so how is it for your husband seeing you be a triathlete? Oh, I think he's really proud of me. I've been an athlete for a long time, so he's used to that. He's a musician by hobby. So he's gone out to band jobs and so we've had two different kinds of passions. His has been music and mine has been the sports. And you support each other. And we support each other. Sounds like a lot of respect, loyalty and love. Yes. Beautiful. Then it was time for some tea and a cozy fire. Cheers. Thank you. So cozy, what? If you were to give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be? I think don't worry that much about what other people say or think about you. Just stay true to who you are. Have the confidence that you know what is good for you. And how much longer do you think you'll keep training for? Oh, until I don't exist anymore. We've shared this whole day together. Is there anything else that feels important to share? Your health is the most important thing, really. You realize that as you get older. If you don't have your health, there's nothing else that's important. So start as early as you can to be as healthy as you can. Incredible. You're 80 now and you have fabulous life ahead of you. Do you want to keep racing? Yes. Do you plan to keep racing? Yes.