Top tips for Ironman success.....as an age group athlete

Elated with my first Ironman finish in 2008

I've been designing this post in my head for several weeks now. I recently chatted with another Ironman athlete, who felt that in his first (and only) Ironman, he lost all balance in his life, and ended up neglecting his family while training for it. He crossed the finish line proud, but rather hollow and relieved that it was over. He said he would love to read more blogs about how age group athletes manage to balance the training and the rest of their lives.

I felt absolutely gutted for him! I crossed the finish line of my first Ironman so elated. Yes, the pain of the race itself gives you that momentary feeling of "I'm NEVER doing that again"!! But like childbirth (so they tell me) you soon forget the pain and I was quickly looking forward to when I could do it again!

I too have had that slightly hollow feeling after races though. Even Ironman France, my first standout performance, I felt more relief than elation as I crossed the line. Fortunately, by qualifying for Hawaii, the excitement overcame that feeling. I know that I felt like that because I had destroyed myself in training for that race, leaving very little scope to actually enjoy the result.

So Tip number 1:

1. Define YOUR idea of success. 

I'm no great athlete, I'll be the first to admit that. But in my view I have been successful; and my list of perceived successful performances wouldn't necessarily be the best results, but more likely the races where I surprised myself with a better result than expected. 

If your definition of success is to squeeze every last drop out of yourself, then that's fine. But beware how long you can do that for. I realised after trying that route, that it is not all about a few amazing performances for me. The period of overtraining and fatigue that I went through in 2012, I NEVER want to repeat. I honestly want to be doing this sport (and enjoying it) when I am in my 70s. That might mean I only go to Kona once every 5-10 years. It might mean I never run the sub 3hr marathon that I think I might be capable of. But my current idea of success is to get to the start line of a big race healthy, having enjoyed the process (within reason, given my love/hate relationship with the bike!). But mostly, it's to cross the finish line knowing I want to do it all again.

2. Work on your weaknesses.......but don't neglect your strengths

Again, I've learned this the hard way. "I am a runner" is actually now a mantra for me. I started this sport with a 4k fun run in 2005. I expected to run about 24-25min, but in the day I shocked myself with 18.30! Over the years, my results in the run have pleasantly surprised me. 

But it's not "all about the run", right? We'll sort of. Obviously Ironman is 3 sports, and in terms of time in the race, the bike takes up the most. But I think we can become obsessed with working on our weaknesses, that we stop backing ourselves in our strongest leg. In the early days, I was a complete non-swimmer and pretty crap cyclist. I used to hit T2 thinking "finally I get to do MY leg!!" But I then got to the point where I was working so hard on the bike that I had way less enthusiasm for the run. (See mental chips below) I'm not advising against having goals; I have my own, but just make sure you are able to keep enjoying working on your strengths.

3. Make the training work for you

The "one-way epic" from Benalla station after catching the train

In the last 10 years, I've come full circle with my training. In the early days, it was just myself and Pete, with a few friends to train with at times. All my runs were solo. But that got lonely, and we joined Melbourne Tri Club in 2010 for company primarily. A massive bonus to that, alongside the amazing friends we made along the way, was being coached by Sean Foster of Fluid Movements. Sean got more out of me as an athlete than I ever thought I was capable of. But the squad environment led me to invariably push myself too hard, too often, even just to try to keep up on a Saturday ride, and I came to realise that being in tears because I was being dropped every week was worse than feeling lonely riding on my own! 

I backed away from the squad environment in the IM Malaysia prep. I discovered Spotify and blogs for my long rides - I took myself on "one-way epics" to keep the training exciting. 

I had planned to design my own program for this prep, but when several of my friends from TEAM qualified for Kona, I yearned to share the journey with them. And I didn't quite have the confidence in planning my own training. Additionally, Xavier came to Pete and proposed that he coach him for IM Japan. It all made sense for me to also join his squad. But after trying to ride with different members of the squad on 3 consecutive weekends, I realised I was still pushing too hard to keep up. (Please don't misinterpret any of this as these people "dropping" me; they would all wait for me, and regroup, but I was perpetually pushing beyond myself to keep up). I discussed some of this with Xavier, and my program became solely non-group based, until the last few weeks where I joined a few midweek squad run and ride sessions. I came to terms with the solo training. I always had my twice-weekly swim squad sessions with the Tri Fitness crew, and I relished the chance to catch up with them, and the MTC crew over coffee. I kept up with the TEAM girls at swims, and through Facebook.

I think for the Age Group athlete it is critical that the right training environment is found. Again, this could change with the stage of the prep. If a fast, group long ride takes 2 days to recover from in the off season, that's fine, but in the middle of an ironman prep, you need to back up day in and day out. I do think the ideal scenario is to find a few athletes of the same ability as you, and train together, and a squad is where you may be able to do that, but if that doesn't work out, don't be afraid to change things up. I have enjoyed this prep as much as any other; I've looked for positive feedback in my fitness improvements and race results, rather than how long it took before I got dropped!

4. BALANCE!

Possibly one of the most over-used words of the era? We don't have to be Ironman triathletes to suffer the torment of chasing the all-elusive balance!! 

I've come to the conclusion that balance does not mean trying to apportion equal time/energy to all the areas of our lives. It is a similar concept to success; you need to define your OWN idea of balance, and it is a changeable definition, depending on your stage of life and training cycle. During my first couple of Ironmans, breakfast with friends or the odd dinner out was enough balance. I certainly didn't spare much mental energy for my PhD during 2011. But then I kind of rebelled, and I tried to fit in too many other things alongside the final stages of an ironman prep. I didn't see why recovery should take the place of social events. 

Now I realise that balance ebbs and flows; in the off-season and early stages of a race prep, I have time/energy for other things (I have booked events for every weekend in November/December this year!) But in the final 6 weeks of the race prep, the balance shifted heavily towards work and training, and it felt right for that to be the case. Define your idea of that balance, and communicate with partners/family in advance so they understand your shift in focus. 

5. Save some mental chips for Raceday

I have talked about my "mental chips" theory before, and I've saved it for last, because I think for Age Group racing it is possibly the biggest factor in success. If you have spent your entire prep balancing work, family, social life AND squeezed every last drop out of yourself in training, you may find when you get to that start line, there are only a few mental chips left. When you need to dig deep in the last half of the marathon there may be very little left to draw on. At the upper level of the age group ranks, we have all done the training, we all have our nutrition and pacing sorted. We've figured out how to shave excess time off transitions, and we're as aero as we can be (anatomy permitting in my case!) 

So what does it come down to? The last 90min to 2hrs of the race. An incredible Ironman age grouper and friend, Vicky Wilkinson said to me in 2011 "At the halfway mark of the run, embrace the pain, it's what you've done all the training for". It's one of my mantras to this day. But it relies on those mental chips. So I believe you need to just save a little something in training and even in lead-up races. Just about 2-3% because on Ironman race day, that is the few % that will make all the difference. 

I am en-route to Hawaii as I write this. I cut my last ride in Melbourne short yesterday (2.5hrs instead of 4). Physically I could have done it, but I was stressed about packing to leave, getting a puncture, or God forbid being knocked off my bike. I struggled with the decision, but came home, packed and went to a meditation session before I left. 24hrs later as I write this, I am so pleased I did that. Maybe that 90min will be those mental chips saved for race day?

19 days to go