Sloveig Lovseth is the new Ironman World Champion. She put on an incredible race in Kona, a model of being patient, sticking to the plan, and not getting dragged into someone else's battle. But, did you know that she almost never made it to triathlon?
It is the eve of the Ironman World Championship in Kona. The last - as far as we know - of the all women’s races. I have my tracker loaded with a few athletes I know, and a few I have yet to meet, and plan to check on them from time to time during my typically busy Saturday. This got me thinking about my challenges for next year, and my past experiences.
My last two long rides, each about fifty miles and lasting over five hours, finished with a high level of fatigue. On a scale of one to ten I would put it at seven, still able to drive home and clean up, and not collapse on the sofa, the next couple days were rough. I knew I was holding back on power, and for the Century Ride I wanted to go a bit harder, at what I hoped would be Ironman race pace. My rough draft plan then was to try to do a full one hundred miles at an average speed of 12 mph. Start time around 6am, finish between 2pm and 3pm.
Seems like just last week that I earned my Ironman U coaching certification. Now it seems that TriDot, the provider, has split from Ironman. More about this on Slowtwitch.
I was always bothered by TriDot's push to get us to switch from TrainingPeaks to their home built system. AI driven, at that. No, thank you.
This is a great discussion on a topic near and dear to me and, I hope, every senior athlete. Please give it a listen and drop your comments below. The link opens in YouTube. FastTalk podcasts are also available on your favorite podcast service, and on their excellent website.
Spend time with “real” swimmers and sooner or later you will hear someone complain about triathletes wearing watches in the pool. More than complain, more like belittle, disparage, and denigrate. “Use the pool clock,” is their advice. More like a commandment.
If you have been in the triathlon game very long you have undoubtedly heard about the importance of eating well. This has not always been the case. There are stories about athletes following up a tough swim or bike session with a big pile of french fries, or a couple of hamburgers and a big glass of beer. No serious athlete today would admit eating such stuff, and most will manage to avoid it altogether. Side note: a thoughtfully prepared hamburger and fries is not all that bad for you.
It was Joe Friel’s book Fast After 50 that inspired me to become a coach. The book begins with a convincing argument why remaining active is important to health – something echoed by my doctor at every annual physical – and more specifically how important it is for that activity to include a regular dose of high intensity work. I was already active, so that was covered. What inspired me were the numerous convincing arguments Friel presented on why staying active is in so many ways the fountain of youth.
No doubt everyone reading this has heard of or used an off the shelf, prefab, “canned” training plan. They are a big improvement over winging it, and a great time saver for athletes who know how to train but lack the time or incentive to write their own. One really big limitation of such plans is the lack of flexibility.
Long course triathlon is not a good spectator sport. For the first hour you watch a gaggle of swim caps navigating the course, then they all get on their bikes and ride off, out of sight. A few hours later they return, change into running gear, and disappear once again.