The trouble with triathletes

I should start by pointing out the trouble is with me, not you…

Whilst giving cycling coaching presentations, I’ve often been posed questions by triathletes about their training that I’ve not felt fully qualified to answer - particularly in relation to ultra or Ironman distances. I’m entirely comfortable coaching somebody to ride a 112 or 200 mile bike race, and I’ve coached a rider to complete the route of the Tour de France. However, that’s not after a swim and before running a marathon. I don’t know enough about the bio-mechanical, physiological and psychological demands of the non-cycling events or how they interact with each other in a triathlon sequence to comment with any real authority. I can swim a bit, but I run like Phoebe from 'Friends'.  

To plug some gaps in my knowledge, I took the chance to sit down with a few Ironman distance triathletes in Mallorca recently to try to understand a little more about how they fit training around their everyday responsibilities of life, family, work etc.  

A few anecdotes I picked up… 

• Something is going to have to give. An Ironman is a life changing challenge and requires massive commitment. Sometimes this can mean deliberately reducing how much you sleep. This is worrying.
• The bike leg is where you will make or lose the most time.
• ‘Swim with your arms, ride with your legs then use a run/walk strategy - how hard is that to understand?’
• Think Fink, many triathletes do.
• In training, almost everybody does a long ride on Saturday and a long run on Sunday and fits in what they can during the week.
• Nutrition, hydration and a fuelling strategy for training and racing is vital but sometimes overlooked.
• You're going to be tired and you'll have to deal with injuries. 'Dealing with injuries' is code for ignoring them for some. 

From this I’ve observed
​

• The training is part of the challenge and therefore part of the motivation for taking an Ironman on. You’re not going to be doing a couple of Ironmans a week so the psychology behind training for 6 months for a single day challenge is different and requires a different mental approach.
• The challenge is huge, of 'pilgrimage' proportions, and so are the mental and physical risks that come with it. 
• It requires unshakeable self-efficacy. A fulsome belief in your own ability to complete the challenge is essential.
• The name Fink kept coming up, so I bought the book and read it. Interesting and informative and I understand why so many prospective Ironman athletes use the training plans therein. Partly because it makes sense and partly because there doesn’t seem to be any alternative to the suggested framework if you work normal hours.  
• The physiological approach to training for Ironman and ultra-distance events must be different from shorter, more intense ones. You can’t build a base by doing twice the distance at half the speed in training for obvious reasons. You must use other approaches but the chronic training load is still massive.
• In cycling, power measurement is everything and using one (carefully and thoughtfully) for training sessions will likely help you get most bang for your training time buck. However, for long distance triathlons, heart rate monitoring is probably more important for all but professional athletes. During the bike leg, if you find yourself three hours in and unable to hold 65-75% FTP, what do you do? You’re unlikely to pack it in, so you must go to survival mode and hold what you can. I’ve been there myself on a 100 mile time trial so I know what this feels like. Power is an output measure, heart rate an input – and we've all only got so much input. Secondly, during training, you're going to be constantly battered and consequently your heart rate is likely to be elevated for much of the time even when 'resting'. Even so, it could give you an early indication of illness or fatigue. Your power meter will not be so generous. 
• Psychologically, unless you’ve done one before, the race will be the first time you’ve done the components in sequence at the required distance. There’s a big element of unknown. Can you complete it and, if you can, how quickly?
• Fink reckons you need to commit 10 to 20 hours per week depending on what program you choose to follow and what phase you are in. Adult endurance cyclists on the British Cycling programs and pro riders are looking at 18 - 24 hours a week training but it’s a full time job for them. Plus, no running, swimming or even walking if they can get away with it. So, the demands on amateur long distance triathletes are huge. Quell surprise.

In conclusion

I'm beginning to understand why I get asked so many questions but triathletes – anything that’s going to make training more effective means you save time and energy. However, there’s only so much cycling you can fit to a program that involves two other sports and you don’t need me to tell you to do a couple of 45 min spins on the turbo at Z2 in the week and a long ride at 65-75% of FTP because you already know that.  Conversely you could probably save yourself a chunk of time on the bike leg by concentrating on technique and getting more aero – there I really could help but, have you got the time?  

Comments and observations very welcome