Back in 2008 I first heard of an event called Ironman.
I was astounded. Swim 2.4 miles. Cycle 112. Run a marathon. In that order. All on the same day!
It seemed so impossible that I thought it must be reserved for the physical freaks among us. Anomoloies in the human population. People that must be genetically predisposed to achieve something like this.
But when I started to think about what it would take, I began to formulate a plan taking me from running occasionally to completing an event that takes over 11 hours for most. I had to start small and work my way up. Firstly, I entered a sprint Tri. This posed a challenge because at that point I couldn't even swim four lengths without stopping. Nevertheless I splashed my way through Derby sprint tri in 2014 finishing in just over an hour.
I knew I had to keep adding pieces to the puzzle. Increasing the volume of my training and pushing myself to cover more distance in each respective discipline.
In 2017 I completed my first Olympic distance tri. 2018 I finished a half Ironman on a day when temperatures soared to 30 degrees!
The next step was obvious. I entered the Lakesman iron distance triathlon 2019. I sat down and drew the roadmap and the following seemed important:
I needed to become a better swimmer. Swimming is heavily dependant on technical efficiency and I needed somebody to guide my development. So I booked on to a 10-week training block at a local triathlon club, listened to the experts and saw my swim times fall.
Volume was (and still is) king. I had to spend more hours on the bike and running. Simple.
I also needed a strength programme that would support me throughout the 32 weeks of training. I will write about strength training for Triathlon in a future post. However, it was key for me to use exercises that complemented my triathlon training. On some weeks I was completing up to 18-hours of swim, bike and run; there's no way I could add huge amounts of strength volume and big lifts. Instead I needed to use movements that provided an appropriate strength stimulus and would improve my efficiency across the disciplines.
There were bumps along the way and I made adjustments as necessary. I had included exercises to help my body adapt to the relatively huge volume it was undertaking. My psoas became sore around week ten and I used isometric and eccentric hip flexion exercises to improve the soreness I had when running.
When there are bumps in the road, you need to know how to steer around them.
In June 2019 I complete the Lakesman long distance triathlon in 11 hours, 37 minutes and 54 seconds.
The point is, whatever seems impossible now, only needs a plan to make it happen. I couldn't swim so I found somebody that could improve me. I selected and trained with the correct strength exercises to support me through the high volume of work. The plan had to change at points so I used my knowledge and experience to deal with the physical consequences of training.
If you or anyone you know has a challenge that they want to face up to, share this post with them.
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