Training to become an Ironman
After doing my first Triathlon in 2014 I quickly became addicted and within a few weeks I had set myself a goal "I am going to complete an Ironman by the time I'm 30".
16 months later in 2016 I did my first 70.3 distance race at the Tweed Enduro. In July I completed my first Marathon at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon, in my opinion this was a harder race than the 70.3 in Tweed. These are great accomplishments. But they were all leading up to my first Ironman which I was planning on doing in 2017.
The choice was then between IM New Zealand and IM Australia. I asked for opinions to help me make this choice.
New Zealand (Taupo)
My home course
I've driven along those streets
I would have my family and friends there to support me
Not a chance of it being to hot or humid.
Australia (Port Macquarie)
I would have my coach and squad mates there
a little longer to train
it would be slightly cheaper to get to, without needing flights or a rental car
Ironman Australia would be my first long course triathlon.
The biggest reasons behind this choice were my coach, my squad and the other people that have been with me on this journey understand how much its taken for me to get there. Yes it would be great to have a bigger family presence there cheering me along. But having the people who have been through the highs and lows with me on the journey will make it that little more special, and most importantly Sapphire will still be there (albeit asleep by the time I am going to finish) with my mum.
Time to start training
Training started in December and really started to pick up during the Christmas holidays. This included some longer runs during the heat of the day to simulate race conditions and running while tired. Wind trainer sets. Lots of hill repeats and longer rides including one which was my longest ride to date at 150km.
To give you a comparison, in the prior 3 months I had only recorded a maximum of 26 hours training in a month whereas December included a total of 44 hours which was made up of 515km of cycling, 116km of running and 7300m of swimming.
All was going well, my base fitness was improving, I was starting to get comfortably down to an average of 2:10/100m in the pool and I was happily doing 10+ hours of training per week, until the accident. . .
I was bodysurfing at Burleigh Heads where the waves were great and the water was amazing. Everything was going along swimmingly (pun intended) until I took the wrong wave and got slammed into the sand bar. Sore and potentially concussed I staggered out of the water holding my left arm. I went straight to the life guards to get ice on my shoulder and have somebody keep an eye over me. No need to go to the hospital as nothing felt broken. Just keep my arm in a sling so it doesn't move and I'll take ibuprofen with codeine to relive the swelling and pain, it should only be a few days right?
I was wrong! Note to self next time anything like this happens go straight to the emergency room and get scans. This Injury gave me a full month off normal training with me only able to jump on the wind trainer with my arm either in the sling or just resting on the handlebars, I was able to walk although the slight movement was still painful and swimming was just a no go as it turns out I had done some soft tissue damage to my wrist.
The wind trainer really was the only way I could get any real training in, and keep the fitness I had gained at Christmas. With sets ranging from 2 - 5 hours. No matter what your circumstances, if you set your mind to something you will find a way of doing it.
I had approximately 2 proper weeks of training before completing my second 70.3 distance at Tweed again, this wasn't an easy race (I've done a race report if you are wanting to know more)
March was when things started to get back to normal, I was able to swim, however there were still limits to what I could do with my wrist still being sore. I got some decent time in the saddle but again most of this had to be done on the wind trainer; most people when training for these kind of events do at least one long ride on the weekend, however as I have my daughter every weekend I cant do this kind of training;
But whats life without curveballs. The last week of March Sapphire had a fall which sent us into hospital for a few days. I can guarantee, as a parent this is one of the most traumatic experiences of your life. She was unresponsive to the catheter being inserted into her wrist, she had a lumbar puncture and was moved into an isolation room for 2 nights, being unable to leave her room just incase there was more to it. This took out a full week of training, as when we finally were able to leave, everyone was so exhausted and needed a few extra days rest.
Okay, April is gong to be my month. There are 5 weeks to go, 4 of training and 1 of taper. I am going to get there.
Week one included a decent total of 6,600m of swimming, but not too much running or riding as the Luke Harrop triathlon was on that weekend, this was a fast course with me able to keep my average heart rate over 196 BPM for the ride and 201 BPM for the run.
Week two however was a different story. My first 30km run since the marathon in July and my longest ride to date at 180km including 1,300m of elevation to simulate the course at Port Macquarie and finally a 15km stroller run with tired legs the day after the ride to help simulate how my legs will feel on race day.
Week 3 included my longest swim to date of 3,200m in the pool, a few other sessions and finishing off the week with a high intensity brick session at the Moreton Bay Triathlon.
Week 4 and its speed training before I start tapering, but before the speed work on ANZAC day I finally have the chance to do a real open water swim practice. Out at the Enogerra Dam I was able to notch up 3,800m in my wetsuit, this was only my second ever wetsuit swim and my longest swim to date. It was slower than I had expected but now gives me a good expectation for what time I will be able to achieve on race day. On the same day I had one last 23km run in the afternoon in the heat of the day. Speed work now, starting with a quick swim squad on Wednesday, then on Thursday a 20km TT at QUT (I am participating in an experiment in relation to what impacts the performance of amateur cyclist performances from race to race) and finally a quicker swing pace run on Friday, one last brick session on the Sunday and now its time to taper.
Now its taper time, My preparation has been far from perfect, but at the time of writing this, I know that in 6 days time I will be on the final leg of the race. More training wont make a difference. I just need to keep moving and I will run if anyone sniffles, coughs or groans around me. I will not let anybody get me sick.
I have set my target race split times
Swim, 3,800m at 2:30/100m pace. total time of 1:35
T1, Split time 5 mins
Ride, 180km at 27km/h. Split time of 6:40. Total time of 8:20
T2, Split time 5 mins
Run 42.2KM at 7:40/km. Split time of 5:35 Total time of 14:00
To get me here I have done the below training since the start of December
Cycling 92:44:15 in the saddle, covering a distance of 2,410km
Running 55:18:44 in my shoes, covering a distance of 479km
Swimming 20:14:03 in the water, covering a distance of 54,069m
There have been a few thoughts that have gone through my head during this training that I want to make known:
I believe that everyone can complete an Ironman in their lifetime, however
Ironman training is very selfish and lonely
it will make a happily married man single (I guess I am lucky I started single)
you need to dedicate your life to it
you need to spend hours at a time focusing on each discipline and to do well you need to train to your plan meaning that group scenarios aren't necessarily the best environment for this
When you ask people if they want to go for a run with you and you say its 10km, they say sure. When you say 30km they just laugh
There is a big difference between couldn't train and wouldn't train
If you are injured, make sure your training wont affect your recovery
If you are sick, you shouldn't train so you can recover
If you cant go out to train on a weekend, train from home
I am lucky to have an amazing support network the whole journey
it is very lonely when you do most of your training alone
if you have people to when your unsure about your training, a few words from your coach can go a long way
tips on your technique will make you more efficient which over a long distance is necessary
talking to people that have been there been there before is a better place to get information than Google
seeing your supporters on race day will really lift you
knowing that there are conversations on Facebook about your progress through the day will also lift you further
When Robert Downey Jnr became Ironman, he had it easy. Everyone knew what Ironman meant, he made a lot of money and a lot of women wanted to be with him. When I train to become one, I firstly need to explain what Ironman is, spend all of my money, and time meaning theres no time to spend with any women.
You will spend a lot of money.
New consumable gear including shoes, tyres, tubes etc due to the extra milage
Pool entry as you will spend more time at the pool than previously
New watch, your current one might not last the entire day (I just bought the Garmin 935XT)
Extra food due to the extra training (also often after training, you don't want to cook) and second breakfasts and even third breakfasts become a real thing
Gels, sports drinks and other forms of nutrition for during your long runs and rides
The race entry alone costs close to $1,000
Accomodation, travel, finishers gear, time off for race day and recovery afterwards
I am number 391 and cant wait to give my full race report
