This week’s guest is the bubbly and very fun Lou Bates. If you’ve been in triathlon for some time, you might know her better as Louise Collins. She was an awesome age grouper who turned pro about a decade ago, at a similar time to Lucy Gossage. Things unravelled somewhat though and she took time away from triathlon. More recently she’s been national hill climbing champion, she's become a yoga teacher and she raced in the UCI E-Sports World Championships. It’s a fascinating story about burning out and learning to find balance, with so much stuff that we can all relate to You'll hear: 21:30 Lou talks about trying to combine 20 hours of training with 60-70 hour work weeks "there is only one way that is going to go eventually" 26:50 When Lou decided to step back from triathlon and how she dealt with the emotions and mental struggles that came with the decision. 33.35 We talk about yoga, why it has helped Lou, why it took her time to get into it and why she decided to become a yoga teacher. 45:15 We talk about hill climbing on a bicycle - 'crazy' events that draw big crowds. It's a TT on a short hill and you go up as fast as you can. Lou won the National Hill Climbing Championships after a number of attempts. Find out more about this week's guests Lou Bates https://www.instagram.com/loubatesyoga (Instagram) Like what you heard? Let me know! Connect with Inside Tri Show across Social Media, just search Inside Tri Show or click on the icons below https://www.patreon.com/insidetrishow (GET YOUR HANDS ON AN EXCLUSIVE EPISODE!) Sign up to be a vino buddy or a training buddy on Patreon and get your hands on the latest patrons-only exclusive episode, including a full interview with Luke Grenfell Shaw and a blast from the past - the first ever interview I did with Chrissie Wellington back in 2009! You can still support me and support the show by clicking https://www.patreon.com/insidetrishow (here) to buy me a coffee every so often by https://www.patreon.com/insidetrishow (becoming a Patron of the Inside Tri Show). Sponsors of the show https://resilientnutrition.com/discount/insidetri10 (Long Range Fuel) are phenomenally tasty nut butters from Resilient Nutrition, enhanced by cutting edge science, to boost your stamina, keep you calm and alert and bolster your resilience. Get 10% off by using the code insidetri10 or go direct https://resilientnutrition.com/discount/insidetri10 (via this link). Supporters of the show https://www.33fuel.com/ (33 Fuel) – natural and very yummy sports nutrition. For your chance to win 3 months supply of award winning 33 Fuel Ultimate Daily Greens, enter the draw by https://bit.ly/31lR3I1 (clicking on this link). And as always, use the code INSIDETRI33 for a discount at checkout at https://www.33fuel.com/ (www.33fuel.com). https://www.insidetrishow.com/episode/www.komfuel.co.uk (Komfuel) - Like a pic' n mix of sports nutrition through your letterbox! Listeners can get 20% off all orders or advance sweat tests using the code: INSIDETRI at https://komfuel.co.uk/ (www.komfuel.co.uk) Chrissie Wellington's children's books Head over to the website https://www.thejoyinsimple.com/ (The Joy in Simple) Find out more about Helen Head over to https://www.helenmurray.net/ (Helen's website) to find out more about her This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy