by Laura Johnston

The Imposter complex is a feeling of not belonging, of being a fraud, undeserving of success or attributing your successes as fluke or luck, with the fear that your peers will find out how inadequate you really are. I’m sure most of us may have felt this way before, whether it be in sport or work; standing on the start line of a big race, or wondering how you got that promotion. A little bit of the imposter complex can push us to our best, but turn it up a notch and it can be detrimental to our well being.

This is how I felt when I first joined a triathlon community, having NEVER done a triathlon before. I obviously don’t belong and I’m not good enough to do an actual triathlon, despite having swam, biked and ran separate events before. Thankfully the Pho3nix Club community do not judge and are full of encouragement and advice for everyone, no matter how far along you are on your journey. From new beginners, to accomplished athletes winning races, I hope you all feel welcome here. If you do anything swim, bike, run related then you are a triathlete; it doesn’t matter what the distance.

Being thrown into the world of triathlon, I suddenly found my social media feeds full of amazing and inspiring athletes who seem to have everything together. They have a good job, a family, do well at triathlon and have a social life too! We all know how deceptive social media can be and its important to filter out that information for yourself. Ask questions, learn from those who seem super organised and fit, share your experiences (good and bad) and realise that the fire of self-doubt rages in all of us. Will it ignite your dreams, or burn you down?

The imposter complex has impacted me negatively for years and the constant feeling of not being enough, or that I don’t deserve what I have lead me down a pretty dark hole. But I want to focus on how it impacted my sport and my progress. Imposter syndrome is essentially a series of lies we tell ourselves, to justify our feelings or ‘poor’ performance when the evidence is often contradictory. Here are some lies I’ve told myself in the last year. Believing them the has hampered my progress and performance, which has only reinforced my feelings of not being good enough. What lies have you told yourself that have had a negative impact on your performance?

I’m not a ‘proper’ triathlete so can’t do Ironman events.
I’m not good enough to use gels/sports nutrition or hydration.
I don’t need running shoes, I’m not a real runner.
I’m not a good enough swimmer to have pull buoy and hand paddles etc..
If I race my local club XC races, everyone will see how slow I really am.
I don’t need new clothes, I’ll probably get fat again soon.
So telling myself I’m not an athlete enough to have a coach, means that I don’t progress as quickly as I could, there fore fulfilling the idea of not being good enough. Makes sense, right?

These thoughts are ridiculous and if I take a step back I can see that. I have become better at quietening the inner voice, as it has been fairly loud at times! It may all sound very confusing, but if I can feel like this, I guarantee that someone else does too. You need to remember that YOU earned those medals hanging up though YOUR hard work and determination. YOU are better than you think you are and YOU deserve it.

by Tim Ford

We all wish we had more time to train. How often have you heard someone say “If I didn’t need to work I could definitely go pro!” it seems to be one of the biggest issue that age group athletes face, finding the time to fit their training in with the demands of work and family. So how do different people manage to do it? Whether you are a single parent with children, a stay at home mother or work a 80 hour week, how do you manage to dedicate so much time to this sport that requires so much effort? I want to know. So I have started to interview a range of  members from all over the globe to understand how they manage to fit it all in.

First up is Singaporean member Craig Toh. Craig works as long-haul flight crew for Singapore Airlines. He is on the road for work anywhere from 1-11 days at a time working across multiple time zones and climates. While doing this, Craig has managed to maintain his Iron Man training load. So how does he manage to train, stay healthy and excel at his job?

Craig eats a diet full of anti-oxidant rich foods and also takes a colostrum supplement with his post-workout nutrition to maintain his immunity. He also acknowledges the importance of wearing appropriate clothing for the conditions in which he is training. To tackle the impact on his body clock he tries to remain on Singapore time as much as he can but when in one location for a few days tries to adapt quickly by never sleeping with the curtains closed so the sun wakes him up. In the US where there is the biggest time difference it can become necessary to force himself to train

“In the States (US) I pretty much have to ‘force’ myself to get the workout done because of the huge time difference. I mostly try to stay close to Singapore time, I find myself waking up in the middle of the night a lot.”

As far as his training is concerned he manages to make the most of the facilities if many hotel gyms and is able to tell you which hotel in which city has the best training facilities. He also tries to fit in as much of his quality work while he is at home in Singapore. Craig acknowledges that the biggest issue he faces as a result of his work schedule is that he isn’t able to spend more time on the bike outside for longer rides.

His job means that he is on his feet, sometimes for more than 12 hours at a time. This can be directly after a hard session. The biggest impact that this has on him is that sometimes he is unable to have the same recovery as other age group athletes

“I do a workout, go for a long flight (say 12 hours overnight), and by the time I reach my destination I would’ve been awake for more than 24 hours usually, whereas one who is working office hours would’ve had time to sleep and recover well from the workout before embarking on the next day. When I reach my destination I sleep for (3-4 hours), then do my workout for that day. And depending on the flight I could check out on the next day. So sometimes I do feel drained but that is just part of the job and my training.”

Despite his crazy work schedule. Craig is able to maintain his motivation by trying to go faster and competing with his friends. Most of whom he has met through the sport itself

“Friendly competition with friends and wanting to beat my personal best are probably my major motivations. I’ve made many friends through this community and at the camp in Phuket, and meeting up some of these people when I travel to their cities is fun and always good to have something to look forward to while I work.”

There are many people (myself included) who struggle to manage the training load without adding the crazy work schedule. The fact that Craig manages to train efficiently and remain injury free while travelling the globe is impressive. He is aiming towards a new PB at Bahrain 70.3 this year where he will be racing with a large number of fellow members. But you don’t need to work for an airline to learn from Craig’s experiences.

Tips for travelling athletes:

·      Maintain a healthy diet which will help to boost your immunity – different weather can lead to sickness and the changes to your body clock may lower your immunity

·      Pack gear for all weather. The secret to training in colder weather is to use layers of clothing. This way when you travel you will have gear to wear no matter how warm or cold it is.

·      If you can, try and maintain a time zone. If you can’t, attempt to adjust your body clock by sleeping with the curtains open and using your alarm

·      Make the most of the facilities available. If it is snowing outside, use a treadmill at your hotel. Avoid taking risks that could lead to injury

·      Listen to your body.

by Tim Ford

When I look at the number of incredible performances in recent years including Frodo’s domination in Kona or his incredible 2018 70.3 World Championship win, I started to wonder what as a spectator do I want to see?

One of the first stories you hear when you enter this sport is the Iron War. The epic 1989 Kona battle between Dave Scott and Mark Allen. They had been facing off for years and finally Mark Allen was able to beat the man who had bested him so many times before. It is the stuff of triathlon legend. Fast-forward to 2010 and we have the closest race since 1989 between Andreas Raelert and Chris McCormack. There is even video footage of Macca exclaiming “Its like Iron War!”  These are the stories we learn about as we become more involved in the sport, the stuff of legend. A battle between two people that is not short but last for 8 hours in some of the toughest conditions on the planet.

There are the other stories we know, the great rivalries of triathlon. Macca and Crowie, Brownlee and Gomez, Rinny and Chrissie, Allen and Scott. These rivalries often split the fans of the sport. Most triathletes will have taken a side for no particular reason other than they maybe started to follow a particular pro first. I for one really got into triathlon after I read Macca’s book. While I really like Crowie as well I would still like to see Macca beat him in a race. This isn’t a bad thing though. This is the closest thing triathlon has to the fanfare of many team sports. In football (whether a round ball or oval) you have a team and you want them to beat the other teams. So to have the fans picking sides is only natural. But imagine if the 2010 battle between Macca and Raelert was in fact between Macca and Crowie. While I know the two have raced each other a number of times I feel like we never got to see a real battle between them. Perhaps this is the reason why the 89 race between Scott and Allen is considered the benchmark.

Dave Scott and Mark Allen had faced off against each other 6 times before the Iron War. Allen was dominating races around the world but couldn’t beat Dave Scott in Hawaii. Then in 1989 Allen was finally able to beat Scott and the race is considered the greatest race in the history of the sport. They gave us both the long-standing war between the two of them with the great final battle. In other words they gave us both the battle and the war.

Macca is considered one of the most controversial characters in the sport and he has had his share of wars between athletes. He recounts his issues with Normann Staddler and Faris Al-Sultan in his book “I’m Here To Win” and of course his rivalry with Crowie is well known. However his greatest performance is often considered the 2010 Iron Man. I believe this is because the race was a true battle between Raelert and Macca. So it would seem that the most remembered races are those great battles.

Lets move it to more recent times. Last years women’s race in Kona was more exciting than any in recent memory because it turned into a battle. Not even for first place in the end but between Sarah Crowley and Lucy Charles-Barclay for the second position on the podium. In the men’s race we saw a Frodeno masterclass, arguably the most perfect Ironman performance ever, but I still held out hope to see Lange and Frodeno duke it out.

Instead we saw the field destroyed by the definition of a professional athlete with the most controversial moment of the day happening when Brownlee bumped into Frodo post-race. My spider-senses tingled, is this the start of a rivalry?

I am obsessed with the 2018 70.3 World Championship. It was a battle between three athletes who have raced each other for years (admittidely mostly at short course). Three of the greatest triathletes of history absolutely leaving it all out there. The moment when Gomez started walking was just about the most exiciting thing I have seen watching an IM branded event. Frodeno literally pushed so hard to win that he got injured and had to miss Kona later that year. It was a true triathlon slugfest and I loved every second of it.

Unfortunately, in the world of long course triathlon, it is all about one race. This means that no matter how good a field, or how strong a rivalry, we will only see the true battle of the best in Kona.

This year we are going to see one of the most exciting pro races at Kona in both the male and female races. With Brownlee and Gomez already securing their spot and the improvements we have seen Wurf make, it could be a truly epic race. With Ryf falterring last year other female athleted might approach this race truly believing that they can bear her. It changes the dynamic of the race entirely.

But let’s get hypothetical, imagine we see Frodeno beat Brownlee but this time he comes second, then next year it happens again. After three or four years of this we see the two of them in an epic showdown where Brownlee finally bests Frodeno. Would that be a more dramatic event? Would it be a race to rival the status of the Iron War? Would it become the Iron War for a new generation of triathlon fans? Who knows? What I do know is that these rivalries are what make the sport exciting. I mean, imagine if Lange had been running shoulder to shoulder with Frodo last year at the 40km mark in Kona!

I don’t think it matters necessarily if they are friends or not friends when not racing. I just want to see faster, close races between the biggest names in our sport. Characters like these who are able to perform at such a high level on triathlons biggest stage might be what is needed. Not just to help keep existing fans interested, but to also help long course triathlon win the battle of becoming a mainstream, popular sport something that not only athletes follow but people enjoy watching in front of their television.

Training for a triathlon takes up a large portion of time and requires the athlete to perform a calculated juggle to squeeze training in with work and family time. A training plan needs to deliver all the fitness requirements and eliminate wasted sessions or fillers, which restrict improvement and lead to a plateau in performance.

From past experience we have discovered that many age group triathletes spend all of their training sessions at the same intensity and effort. Sessions flow into one another and actually serve no other purpose than to just maintain fitness. The important measure for triathletes – aerobic threshold, stays the same when all training is performed at the same pace and the end result is no improvement and disappointment.

Every training program we have developed focuses on “pace change”. Adding training sessions into a plan that force pace change is key. This method develops broader ranges throughout all of the athletes fitness zones and creates a more complete athlete that can maintain greater effort over longer durations.

Another key component to build every endurance athletes repertoire is through Strength Endurance (SE) workouts. Half distance and Full distance (IM) events require athletes to endure massive amounts of muscle fatigue over long durations. The athletes that can maintain form and pace whilst under such fatigue will always have greater success in distance events. SE training improves athletes ability to cope with muscle fatigue and ensures that one can last longer at race paced effort. Triathlon specific SE sessions are functional and time smart for the busy and time poor age group triathlete. So performing a bike workout that is SE targeted is the best way to include this type of training into our plans.

Plan structure is the final piece of the puzzle. The structure of a training plan needs to flow and be 3 sport specific (not single sport orientated). It also needs to be enjoyable and challenging whilst increasing in volume and intensity over periods or blocks. There needs to be a degree of athlete accountably added to a plan and test sessions are how we achieve this. Rest and recovery is an essential part to ensure that the best quality is reached in as many sessions as possible week after week. The amount of essential rest and recovery does vary greatly from athlete to athlete, so it is difficult to accurately establish the right requirement for everyone. Our plans include rest days but  we stress that every athlete needs to become very aware of their own requirements and heed warning signs well before putting themselves into a deep hole of fatigue.

Following a training plan is the most effective way to improve. A good plan will challenge and reward you at the same time. Our plans have been thought out and developed from our vast experience training ourselves and with others over the last 25 years. We hope that you enjoy them.

by Tim Ford

In general, most endurance athletes believe they need to train hard and feel either tired or “wasted” from most workouts (i.e. more is better). It is now well in to the triathlon season and a lot of athletes continue or are beginning to have feelings of fatigue characterized by a general decrease in performance.

We are so motivated at the beginning of the year; we forget the season can last up to 10 months. The long season, combined with family, work and other daily activities can take its toll rather quickly.

How we get there

Fatigue can come about through a combination of many factors, making it very difficult to pinpoint at times. Beyond off training issues, the common ingredient is too much training intensity. Intensity itself can be difficult to quantify, as it is a dynamic combination of volume (frequency, duration) of training along with actual effort level.

In addition, the level of training recovery also affects overall “intensity” of training. This is why paying attention to proper intensity (Easy means Easy!!), along with training diaries, becomes crucial.

When aiming for e peak fitness, where you lead your training stimulus beyond your current capacity, followed by a period of the body adapting to and super-compensating to the workload, there are three important points to understand about athletic fatigue:

Acute overload is a good thing. It’s the means by which we make improvements, in which limited physical stress allows us to improve our physiological performance. View acute overload as doing some type of lactate tolerance or lactate power workout on a given day, followed by recovery the next day.

Over-reaching is also a good thing where we over stress the body longer than we do with acute overload. An example of overreaching may be how you feel during a  successive days of intense training. It is usually characterized as having lower heart rates, while at the same time still being able to produce just as much power as when you are fresh.

Overtraining, however, is not a good thing. We’ve gone far past overreaching and our performance has declined significantly. We can’t get our heart rates to rise up to normal levels; we don’t have the same power or motivation to train or race. Our legs usually feel heavy.

An interesting and far too common occurrence that usually results in overtraining (and eventually fatigue) is when the athlete’s performance starts to decrease; their first thought is that they are not fit enough. They then decide they need to train harder. The hole has already begun and by going back and training with more intensity and volume, the hole grows deeper and deeper.

If you begin to go through a period of persistent tiredness, back off and get some rest. Trying to identify what type of fatigue you have

It is very important to understand that there are many forms and causes of fatigue. The first step is to identify specific characteristics of fatigue:

Subjective factors include: appetite and weight loss (or gain), sleeplessness, irritability, lack of motivation and possible depression.

Nervous system factors — Younger athletes can experience fatigue that affects the sympathetic nervous system, including: higher resting heart rates and blood pressure, sleeping disturbances and elevated basal metabolic rate. Older athletes can experience the symptoms that affect the parasympathetic nervous system. Some examples are: lower resting heart rate and decreased blood pressure as well as early fatigue in your workouts.

Other signs of fatigue include more sickness (i.e. colds), aching leg muscles that are sore to the touch and lack of quality sleep.

How to get out of over train state

First and most importantly, you should seek help from a qualified coach and/or medical doctor. Describe the situation in detail and have a blood test done to check for a variety of markers that could be contributing to, or are a result of, fatigue. For example, iron deficiency anemia is a common problem that can be identified with a common blood test.

In addition, have your ferritin levels checked. Ferritin is a protein in the body that binds to iron. Most of the iron stored in the body is attached to ferritin. The amount of ferritin in the blood may help indicate the amount of iron stored in your body.

Consult a sports psychologist to talk with about performance issues and dealing with the daily stresses of life, while also trying to be an elite level athlete. Probably even more importantly, talk to your partner and support network!

Rest, rest and more rest and/or a reduction in training volume and intensity is a sure treatment, but not a final solution. You and your team have to determine the cause of the fatigue, how long to reduce training, and then make the necessary adjustments to prevent the problem in the future. Your training logs can also help in this process.

How to prevent

In closing, prevention is the best cure. The optimal solution is not to get to the point of being fatigued. In terms of a training program, remember that it is better to be over-rested than over-trained. If you begin to go through a period of persistent tiredness, back off and get some rest. A customized training program and good communication with your coach can prevent a chronic problem before it begins.

Having routine checkups from your physician which include blood work can also identify signs before they happen. Consulting with a good sports nutritionist can help give you a diet that meets your athletic needs, a vital component. Think of the long haul and what stresses you are putting onto your body.

by Tim Ford

The idea that more is always better is probably one of the most dangerous ideas in endurance sports!

One of the easiest ways to tell an experienced, knowledgeable athlete or coach is what sort of priority they give recovery. Forget the bravado of how tough you are or ignore the Strava graphics showing you all the days you train on. The truth of the matter is that if you do not make rest and recovery a priority you are playing a game of chicken with yourself that will either end up in sickness, injury or the end of your time as a triathlete.

While people will undoubtedly disagree, the fact of the matter is that if you continue to punish yourself, eventually your body will fail you. Now of course there are some injuries that are not caused by extended periods of training like breaks or scratches from a bike crash or falling over when running. You might also argue that getting attacked by a shark while swimming was because you spent too long in the water so I will admit there is a grey zone.

The more common injuries people experience are those caused by too much repetition. Stress fractures, tendonitis, tendinopathy. While there is most likely a biomechanical issue at play as well, these issues present themselves when people overdo it.

Forget injuries, look at sickness. When you get really fit and ready for a race it is so easy to get sick. How many times after a big block of training have you gotten the sniffles, have you always managed to fend it off? Or when you have gotten sick, have you rushed back to training only to make it worse?

Even from a performance angle, by pushing too hard you are limiting your ability to improve as well. While it isn’t sexy, recovery is actually where you improve. You break down your body and allow it to heal stronger than before, you repeat this process over and over again. But lots of athletes are impatient, they want to see big improvements quickly and yes, training hard is probably going to lead to the biggest improvements but at what cost?

Have you ever heard the expression “it’s a marathon not a sprint”? It is literally talking about endurance sports and it is true, the biggest gains you will make as an athlete are from long term, consistent, high quality training AND recovery!

Forcing yourself to train when you are exhausted isn’t going to make you fitter or faster, sleeping in will on those days you need it. Taking a couple of weeks off after a big year aren’t going to make you slow and fat, they will set you up for the next hard year of training.

The simple problem is that taking it easy and recovering are not sexy, they do not look good on social media and they do not add to your total training hours on Strava. Measures like TSB or TSS have been able to help people see the value of recovery but even those metrics are now used to brag as people will proudly show how hard they trained by how big their TSB is!

One of the unique aspects of triathlon is the access we have to the professionals. We get to see up close what they do. Have a look at what your favourite athletes are doing, chances are they take time off, they make recovery a priority and they do not get caught up in the social media bravado of trying to show they train harder than anyone else (or most of them at least.)

Whether you have a coach, self-coach or have no idea what you are doing, you need to accept that pushing yourself all the time will not actually make you a better athlete in the long run. If someone is telling you that it will, chances are they shouldn’t be giving you advice.

To really improve, to be a longterm and successful triathlete, you need to train consistently for a long time. The easiest way to do that is to recover well, avoid sickness and injury and be patient. You might not pb at every race but you will continue to head in the right direction.

Next time your alarm goes off and you are too exhasted to train, don’t feel too bad if you roll over and go back to sleep. But also don’t use this as an excuse. Training is hard and being an endurance athlete means you will be tired a lot of the time. That is why having a coach or a group of athletes who you can lean on for answers can be so valuable.

by Noelle De Guzman

How do you pick which race to build your season around?

While some of us may have already gotten a jump on registering for races in 2020, many wait until the first month of the year post-holiday season to commit to their big race. For those with greater capacity – whether financial, time, and/or athletic ability – there may be two or three major races, but there is always that Big One that determines how you (or your coach) plan your training throughout the season.

So, how do you choose your “A” Race? If you don’t already have one in mind, here are three important things to consider.

The Challenge

For something to be the “A” race in your mind, it has to be a big enough challenge. “Big enough” will depend on your current ability as well as your capacity for improvement in the given time period.

A beginner’s “A” race might be their local sprint triathlon happening in six months’ time which could also be their first triathlon ever. The challenge there will be to cross the finish line happy and looking for the next race to do.

A more experienced athlete might have their sights set on getting a new 70.3 personal best under their belt, and the challenge there will be to hit the training targets so that on race day they can push themselves to go faster.

Consulting with a coach or an athlete whose opinion you trust can help you determine if you could potentially be biting off more than you can chew. The important thing is to give yourself enough time to make the necessary improvements in fitness and performance so you can do your best on race day.

The Course and Location

Some races become people’s “A” race because of their courses. Destination races give opportunity to race exotic locales or set new personal records.

For instance, the Alpe d’Huez Triathlon offers a chance to take on the 21-bend climb used on the Tour de France. The Laguna Phuket Triathlon lets you race in a tropical paradise with a saltwater/freshwater swim, a bike course with near-vertical climbs as well as fast flat smooth tracks, and a steaming hot run. Ironman Arizona is one of the flattest courses in the world over the Ironman distance, while if you’re looking for a 70.3 PB then Ironman 70.3 Bahrain might be your best bet.

Meanwhile, races close to home mean you can train on the course you will race on. “Home-court advantage” allows you to perform at your best because you are acclimated to the temperature and humidity, know where to push and back off on the course and how to approach any technical descents, even know how the currents run on the swim course.

The Commitment

Once you’ve identified potential “A” race candidates, it’s a matter of how committed you can be to see yourself through the training you will need to undertake to be successful at the race. Do you have the time, the energy, the motivation, the resources, the support for what the “A” race requires?

For this reason, one might race closer to home if travel cost is a consideration. Triathlon can be a money sink, and unless you’re minted you need to make wise decisions about spending. Additionally, one might choose a shorter race if their weekly training time is limited. Training for an Ironman takes considerably more time than training for an Olympic distance, and if you have work and family commitments then for an Ironman you’ll need your family’s support and sacrifice for the duration of training leading into the race.

These three considerations should help you narrow down your “A” race for the year. With the global reach of our community, we hope to race alongside you one of these days!

by Tim Ford

Tim Ford lost over 50kgs through triathlon and shares how to balance your weight loss and performance training to maximise your results.

If you are carrying a few extra kgs (or pounds for our less civilised readers), triathlon can be a great way to help get in shape, drop some extra weight and lower all those fancy acronyms like BMI. However, there might come a point where simply losing weight is no longer enough. Instead you want to go faster and start to improve your performance. You know what? You might even be a triathlete who has taken a few weeks (years) off and are now looking to make a return to your skin-tight lycra-clad days.

The main point is that while you can train and both lose weight and improve your performance at the same time, until you focus on each individually, you will never really have proper success at either.

So how can you have your cake and eat it too (brilliant pun, Tim)? How can you make sure you lose weight and then when the time comes, improve your performance?

The first thing to really wrap your head around is that just because you are training hard does not mean you can eat whatever you want. (Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it is probably a good idea to get the bad news out of the way.) Go and watch a race. There are athletes of all shapes and sizes. If triathlon was the secret that solved obesity there would only be lean, skinny triathletes on the race course.

The next thing to accept is that motivation is finite. You are not going to be motivated by weight loss or by performance forever. Eventually, you are going to get bored and that is what quite often leads to people falling off their plans and undoing all of their hard work. If you expect to be motivated by the number on the scale dropping every week then you will literally have to waste away to nothing. You will plateau – but that doesn’t have to be the end of it.

If you are looking to lose some weight through triathlon, or to be honest any sport, that should be your number one goal. LOSING WEIGHT. Say goodbye to Strava segments, ignore your FTP (at this point you probably don’t even know what that is) and leave your ego at the door when you do a parkrun with your friends.

Once you start to lay down good consistent training and make healthy, permanent changes to your diet, your weight WILL start to drop. The best way to make sure this is done properly is to talk to a dietitian like our dietitian, Chloe McLeod. Your training will probably be quite boring at this stage. Lots of run/walks, easy aerobic rides and longer pool intervals.

This weight loss phase can also be a great time to build strength. Use the extra weight you are carrying to make yourself stronger as well. If you can lay a good strength foundation, you will be even stronger once your weight goes down. Plus, increasing your muscle mass will also improve your metabolism so you will be burning more calories as well.

It’s amazing how motivating seeing the number on the scale go down can be. Once that number starts dropping you want to see it go down even more. It can become a bit of an obsession. You might not even need to step on a scale: your clothes might fit better or soon become too big for you. You might even start to feel comfortable enough to wear the skin-tight lycra. When things are going well it is easy to stay motivated and keep going.

The problem is, it will not keep going. The human body is incredibly adaptive and soon your body will adjust to your new normal. Your weight loss will slow down, and as previously stated your motivation might drop off too.

This is where performance training can save the day. If you have been focusing on your weight going down and have had success, then you will also have improved. If you have run 5km with 10 or 20 extra kgs it is very likely that you will run faster without the excess weight. But now you can really start to focus on your performance.

Your training will change. There will be more of a focus on improving specific areas of performance. You might want to get your 100m pace in the pool to drop. You might want to see your run pace decrease by 10 seconds per km and you might finally be curious about what FTP means and how you can make yours as big as possible.

Once you start specifically training for performance, the improvements in these performance metrics will become your source of motivation – just like seeing the number on the scale drop was. Do not worry, you aren’t suddenly going to put all of your weight back on because you are focusing on performance. Your weight might just stay the same. But seeing your 1-mile time drop or your 40km TT effort improve will fill that motivational need for you to keep going.

Training for performance and training for weight loss at their core involve a lot of the same things. The point of this article isn’t to say that you can’t have them both. You can! But rather than get frustrated and fed up because you have gone stagnant trying to achieve both at the same time, if you really give each the focus they deserve at different phases in your season, you are more likely to have more success at weight loss AND performance.

That is another one of the reasons why triathlon is a great way to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This cycle can be repeated year in and year out. Too many athletes feel like they need to be at their peak all the time. Realistically, this is not possible. Every year, you should give your body a chance to recover and chances are, your weight might creep up a bit. But instead of that being a source of stress, it can be a building block to an everlasting source of motivation.

Jarrad Hubbard used to be well over 150kg and last year he took on Ironman Western Australia and lived to tell the tale.

IMWA. This race, this prep, anything to do with getting this far, WAS BRUTAL. No doubting how draining and life devouring this experience was. Would I change it? Possibly, but I’ll keep the what’s and why’s to myself.

Day Zero. Straight off the back of a three-week hiatus post-Busso 70.3 mostly due to illness, I started working yet again under the guidance of Tim. Cue a demoralising week of threshold testing and I was certainly back to being “one of them”: an out-of-shape dad dreaming of the IM red carpet.

Not long after this I re-applied myself and ground out day-by-day, only occasionally losing my shit which unfortunately happens to me. This happens when alcohol is re-introduced into my life. I thought I was not worthy, or even able to continue ironman training. This was in July and race day was in December, but I had already quit several times over.

Fast-forward several months, I flew over to Sydney to have a few days with Tim and Dez (I’ll always be grateful to both of these beautiful people). This was also to catch up with Terry and Elechia Jones and the MX crew and have a training weekend in Newcastle. This went for me better than expected and gave me a very false sense of my fitness, even after the coach had me spewing behind a tree during some one-kilometer run efforts.

I returned home near on straight into taper and a bit of urgency for the start line to come. I felt although I had a three-week taper of which the coach will probably disagree and tell me it was a whole 10 days, a taper into an Ironman is something I had not experienced and was not expecting the sickness that followed. I was extremely irritable, always hungry and felt like I had a hangover.

The last few days of race week and I started to feel good. I was reasonably excited yet conscious about staying off my feet and resting. I was extremely eager to ride again with Terry and Elechia and we did. These two gave me the final few pieces mentally that I was craving!

Pre-Race

Race eve, my family all let me be as I had asked. I made my own food, drank my drink, relaxed in Norm and chilled out watching cricket.

Race morning, I rose at 3:30am after an uncharacteristic great night of sleep, had a strong breakfast with coffee… and the always important but less spoken about pre-race poo!

I wandered along the run track to transition a little emotional. Peta (my wife) came with me as she does, carrying my bag. I got set up, sorting my bike and had the usual pre-race banter, I then found the Joneses, donned my wetsuit and made way to the start line.

Now, something for me was amiss, and I still don’t really know what it was but I had no anxiety. This was extremely unusual; I didn’t let it bother me but in the past I’ve had nerves even for a sprint event.

The Swim

The rolling start got underway and before long I had navigated off course by making a simple error of not sighting myself and following the feet of someone else. This was easily corrected and I then decided to swim my own race and tow anyone that may have wanted it. The swim passed quickly and I exited the water in 1:01. Considering I’d had only seven weeks’ swim training I was pretty elated and jogged my way to T1.

T1 – I jogged through, grabbed my transition bag and removed the sole contents of a Clif bar, started munching, threw my wetsuit at a very happy volunteer and proceeded to make way to my bike alongside Brad Martens where banter ensued. Leaving T1 feeling in control and pretty happy, I made an effort to run well past the crowded mount line and get going. My feet slipped into my shoes, at this stage my entire family and entourage had got trackside and seeing my Mum wearing one of the kids’ Shark heads gave me a seemingly endless smile.

The Bike

Onto the ride, I got moving and started to implement my nutrition plan. I had worked tirelessly on this with Chloe. I emptied my front bottle rather quick, too quick. I reached around to grab my other bottle to refill… it was gone. I got some water and filled the front hydration and then noticed it all pissing out the bottom (it was cracked). I had now lost all of my electrolytes (rookie f’n rookie). I was only about 30 kilometers in. I continued to drink solely water.

I came back into town for the first 90-kilometer loop in 2:20 and well below target power. I grabbed my special needs which had one electrolyte tablet in it, I drank it and continued with water and my food. I was now also completely solo on the bike and had no one to chase or work with (I had no one on the first lap to really work with anyway). At around 160 kilometers I could feel myself starting to cramp, tried to eat more, and then never let it enter my mind again.

Rolling into town I caught Mike Robinson, we exchanged a few dramatic excuses and then ran through T2 together.

The Run

Exiting T2 I grabbed a cup of electrolyte hoping it would help, and walked my way out as I had planned with my bag full of nutrition and a bottle of water.

I jogged on easy with a smile on my face though the first 10-kilometer lap. I must have had heat stroke or some other disorder as I thought I had this ironman thing in the bag. I had come off the bike in well inside the top 10 for my AG and actually thought I might hang onto it.

The next lap things started to get uneasy, pace was good, heart rate was climbing. I started to feel sic, and I stopped eating.

KaBOOM. Twenty kilometers in, I was at a standstill. Barely able to jog, I started spewing, I started cramping. Cramping for me is something I seldom experience, I can only recall it happening once during training and never whilst racing. These cramps were everywhere: my legs, my stomach, m arms, even my back. No worries, I’ll just jog on slowly…

I was then making very poor choices. While I was never going to stop, I refused to eat, refused to drink, refused to listen to good solid advice. I completed the first half marathon in approx. 1:50 without working too hard. The back half took over three hours.

I was and am still shattered by this. I never got a second wind, I never got the magical boost at the last lap band collection everyone told me about, nothing. The last kilometer took me forever, still spewing, walking and crying slightly.

The Finish

I walked the finish chute. I recall stopping, hugging my Dad and staring blindly toward the line. I embraced the line and respected ironman for what it is and what it has meant for my life, I hugged me wife, my kids and my Mum.

I got carried into recovery and pretty much started sulking to myself and being even until now very hard on myself. I have in the past few weeks thought of selling my bike, not trained, drank too much and am only now after calling it quits, being brought around by a great mate that I am seeing what I have achieved.

The Aftermath

Let’s start with what I did wrong, then I will get to what I did right.

Wrong:

• Didn’t consider salt tablets
• Never tried crampfix (or bought any)
• Didn’t eat enough on the bike – my gel bottle was still half full post race, this should have been empty
• Didn’t pack more backup nutrition in my SN bike bag
• Flushed myself out with water – both bike and run (I didn’t need to run with a bottle)
• Didn’t eat on the run when my HR started to rise – I only finished one of 4 gel flasks
• I refused coke, I refused food, I refused the on-course hydration; I should have trained with what was offered on course
• I refused HELP! This…. Is a huge rookie error, and even very uncharacteristic for me.

Right:

• I had a perfect build, I trained well (even my coach will attest to this)
• I listened to those with experience and sought advice actively
• I was methodical in my pre-race lead up – I ate clean, I hydrated well, I stayed relaxed
• I put on a smile from start… to halfway through the marathon
• My swim was stellar for me
• I rode under target bike power, which may be the only reason I could even walk to the finish
• I started my run and stuck to my plan until the piano fell on me
• I hugged my family post-finish line
• I had a beer post-race.
• Dedicated my Finishers medal to my entire family over a bottle of bubbly during a very short speech.

I understand some athletes could only dream of an 11 hour finish. I genuinely walked to 11 hours, and this will always haunt me. Call me an egotistical elitist if you want; I’m allowed to be disappointed.

Will I do Another IM? I’m doubtful I want to put my family through the months of training again.

A few words to my Coach, Tim… What you’ve done for me I can’t put into words my feeling of gratitude. We’ve worked together for 18 months and I have achieved results I truly believe I could not have achieved without your guidance. You put up with my bitching and sooking but always have a way to wheel me around and get me back on course. We will achieve great things!