It’s been an interesting and inspiring few weeks. The first Sunday in October has long been a date standing large in the diary, being the culmination of Sarah’s training journey, leading to Ironman Barcelona.
Far be it from me to report on or review someone else’s massive day, but suffice to say that seeing Sarah move through her training and ultimately complete the race in a phenomenal time was incredible. One of the great things about endurance sport is the linear relationship between hard work, commitment and the eventual result – the more you put in, the more you get out. This relationship was demonstrated perfectly on the waves, roads and beach paths around Calella in Catalunya, where IM Barcelona is held, for Sarah to achieve what she did.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the run-up to Sarah’s race was being on the fringes of the Ironman bubble. The whole event really takes over the entire town with flights, restaurants and streets dominated by triathletes from all over the world. When walking among such a prevalent crowd – all identified by IM branded backpacks, caps and jerseys – it’s really hard not to feel inspired and an urge to be a part of the community, especially as a hobby triathlete.
I like to think that I give multisport events a good go and that I do alright from time to time, but I’m nowhere near the sharp end of big races like this – there are so many things I would need to do in order to raise my game sufficiently. By completely submerging yourself in the atmosphere and culture of a race like Ironman, it becomes a natural step to want to commit more and get the most of the experience.
Long distance triathlon almost seems to have its own identity and culture, distinct from the broader swim-bike-run or multisport scene; perhaps it’s an understanding of the time, energy and passion needed for all the training, but long-course competitors seem to be a different breed to others – and an even larger step removed from runners, cyclists or swimmers.
I’ve read and heard many things said about CrossFit and, by definition, CrossFitters in the past, with the training pursuit seeming like something of a cult to outsiders – you could easily say the same thing about Ironman, with competitors existing in their own universe, while also sharing a definite bond.
Those that know, know.
For the trip to Catalunya, I took my own road bike and squeezed in three rides, racking up ten categorised climbs. I’m not really built for climbing, weighing in at around 78kgs and standing 181cm tall, but I love going uphill on a bike. In particular, making my first ‘beyond category’ climb was an amazing experience, riding the 25km ascent from Sant Celoni to Turo de l’Home in the Montseny Massif range. When we arrived at our accommodation in Calella, I was chatting with our accommodation host, Yolanda, and mentioned that I was planning to make the climb – she knew of the mountain and made it clear that I was brave!
I’d come across the climb after some research before the trip and not really considered just how tough it might be – a realisation which suddenly struck me on the proposed morning of the ride, which almost put me off taking it on.
It took me just under two hours to complete the climb, reaching 1,700 metres above sea level at the top – my previous highest summit can only be in the region of 900 metres, so taking on the Turo was indeed ambitious.
It’s a strange experience to ride a bike to the top of a climb and then be in a position to look down on the tops of other mountains – it was an incredibly peaceful, eerie and somewhat lonely place to complete an achievement like that, but well worth the effort.
On returning to Britain, both Sarah and I experienced something of an ‘after-the-lord-mayor’s-show’ feeling; Ironman Barcelona has been such a major milestone that it’s hard for her to know what’s coming next.
For me, the next step was logical – and, actually, had already been booked and paid for about a month earlier – Ironman Hamburg in July 2019.
Once the dust had settled and our bags were unpacked, I then found my IM addiction fed by the build-up to the corporation’s world championship event in Kona, Hawaii, which took place this Saturday passed. I’ve completely immersed myself in content surrounding the event, including interviews, podcasts and videos, looking into the approaches and lifestyles of the best, both in terms of professionals and amateur age groupers.
I like to think that I’m fairly committed to my sport and the training involved, but I do have some poor habits – I probably train too much and I definitely train too hard, which means I don’t recover well. I also have issues with my diet – not so much in terms of what I eat, but more in regards to how much and when. I flit between the lifestyle of a dieter and then over-eating, especially tucking into breads and cereals late at night when I think I’m low on calories for the next day’s training and need to top up my carbs (I probably don’t).
Having lost weight like I did, I think I’m constantly in a cycle of either burning calories to earn rewards or as a punishment for previous over-indulgence – the more I burn, the more I treat. As much as I like to think I know a bit about fuelling training and racing, I’m probably proof that a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.
There’s also a number of improvements I could make to my training – without going into the boring detail, I’d love to address the parts of my programme that I don’t do well or simply avoid because they’re not so fun (or they don’t burn so many calories). I do practically zero strength training because I struggle to see the benefits – in order to get better at swimming, cycling and running, I need to swim, cycle and run more, so anything beyond that falls by the wayside.
However, everything I read tells me that it’s not all about the calorie-burning cardio and that in order to get fitter, you need to get stronger. There’s also the aesthetic side of things – watching the race in Calella, and also seeing who lines up on start lines alongside me generally, most people look thinner, leaner and more ‘in-shape’ than I do, so there must be something I could do better. I don’t normally ‘allow’ myself a rest day in a usual week – in fact, I habitually ‘train’ twice most days, which is probably what leaves me in a bit of a hole in terms of calories, leading to a fourth or fifth mug of Shreddies.
So with that in mind, now seems like a good time of year to concentrate less on volume and more on the supplementary stuff – control the diet a bit better, do stuff other than chasing calorie consumption and generally be a bit healthier. In my mind, the training for Hamburg starts now, so anything I can do to reduce my body fat, increase my lean mass and generally improve all-round as early as possible can only be a good thing.