Andrew Talansky Knows a Thing or Two About Pain

Andrew Talansky knows a thing or two about pain. He’s been inflicting it on himself and others for over a decade as one of the USA’s most heralded cycling talents. Talansky started cycling at 17 and ticked off things that would have been a dream goal for many as if they were items on his shopping list: Collegiate National Champion, check. Get a pro contract, check. Race in Europe, check. Race the Tour de France, check.

But, after years of feeling a burning desire to be better, last year Talansky decided that he was content with what he’d already done on his bike. “In that last year the thought of continuing didn’t light a fire inside of me and when you are dedicating that much of your time and energy to something you need to be 100% passionate about it. I love the process, the journey, the training but I didn’t love bike racing any more.”

Instead, he decided to follow a new passion. Talansky grew up around triathlon in Miami, Florida. He’d always thought that one day, when he retired from bike racing and needed to stay fit, he’d give Ironman triathlons a go. Now, with his willingness to make the huge sacrifices he was making as a cyclist waning, he decided to accelerate that schedule a little. “I thought it would be interesting to see what I could do at my peak, not when I am 45 and retired.”

Talansky knew it would be hard transitioning from one sport to three, so he set himself a three-year plan. Even still, “patience has been the biggest hurdle; we know that the aerobic engine is in there and it is this neat experiment to see if we can apply it to these other sorts. Running is the one where the aerobic engine lets you feel good, you recover aerobically but your bones and tendons and ligaments don’t.”

Running is what led Talansky to CBD. Today, Talansky incorporates CBD softgels and balms into his daily routine and feels that he sleeps and recovers, and therefore trains, better as a result.

This year he hopes to take that improvement to Kona and the IRONMAN World Championship. “Last year it was a dream, this year I still need some luck and you have to have some consistency but think it is a more realistic goal. I would like to get there and put out the best performance possible.” We’ll be following Andrew through his journey, but if you want to know more about the transition from cycling to multisport you can follow along on Instagram and Twitter.