Top 10 recommendations towards a successful Ironman –
1) Equipment –
Triathletes favorite! We race in a time where overcoming technology is no longer possible or wise. Indulging my 40th with all the top gear made a sizable difference and helped with those final minutes towards sub-10 (link). There’s a million links to what to prioritize but just don’t sacrifice if you’ve made the commitment and it’s within your ability.
Bike (Trek Speed concept with Zipp wheelset – full disk), updated monitors/data (Oura, Garmins (watch, bike computer)
2) Nutrition –
I got a lot of skepticism with this one but highly recommend checking out DIY nutrition (as long as you practice it). My recipe was a homemade concoction of maltodextrin, fructose and sodium citrate with some flavoring. The benefit of homemade is first of all cost at a small fraction of mainstream options that will allow you to fuel the same in every workout, and also that you can adjust the level of carbs and salt to find your unique formula, building up to what is sustainable on the course at race effort.
3) Practice –
As a follow up to Nutrition it is so important and beneficial to practice race day fueling and nutrition as often as possible. I ate the same breakfast and stuck to fueling protocols at least 10 weekends leading up to race day and am confident this was the biggest contribution to getting off the bike feeling fresh and ready to run a marathon (for the first time ever). Also make sure to stay in zones, in practice and on race day, as the right bpm is so critical to absorption.
4) Composure –
Having the composure, which comes only with knowledge and experience, to sacrifice seconds or minutes to save hours is key. For me this meant stretching in the water, both transitions and on the run, careful fueling at transition and special needs, changing clothes to be comfortable and specific to events (bike bibs and run gear). Stretching and peeing are two critical ones that may take a little time but will make the race enjoyable and faster.
5) The Right Course –
If your goal is a PR there’s no shame in finding something flat and fast. California is a prime example but Florida, Arizona or Texas are others. I’ve done those 7000ft bike courses or 100 degree days and while it may suffice for age group placement if you want a fast time there are better ways, particularly in marathons and Ironmans, and I do think 140.6 miles is 140.6 miles, regardless of terrain.
6) Banking miles/Positive splits –
So many coaches have told me “if you do it right you’ll even split or even negative split”. I don’t agree with this anymore. Ironman is too long! Plan to slow down and do it gracefully. Banking miles doesn’t mean going outside of your capabilities but I appreciated running 8 min miles so I could run 9’s eventually or even 10’s at the finish and still hit my goals or resting on the final leg of the bike to take in critical calories before the run. The difference in slowing down slightly is small but falling apart is huge.
7) Trusting the Process –
Last but most significant is trusting the process and yourself. The best up-front investment is in knowledge, getting the right coaches to educate, but I also believe the purpose of the best coaches is instilling the tools to let you out of the nest to be self-sufficient. It’s one of the hardest things trusting yourself when things get difficult, but also one of the greatest capabilities an athlete can possess.
8) A Group Effort –
Ironman is a solo endeavor which requires great sacrifice but perhaps near impossible to do effectively without a support network. I’ve done it solo so long and wouldn’t trade the fastest times for doing what you love with friends and family. Having my mom and GF in support and friends on the course or virtual to share in the accomplishment was beyond gratifying.
more.
9) Starting Fresh –
Taking several years off allowed me to regain that initial feeling of wonder with the sport (the right ratio of fear and excitement) vs always chasing “better”. Time creates perspective and limited time appreciation, knowing that racing is not ‘forever’ makes each minute count
10) Sunscreen –
I ran out of ideas so rounding out the list it never hurts to apply sunscreen before each workout and race. Protect your skin.
David Welby 