Stepping up to 70.3 - David Conterra
Having just completed my first Ironman 70.3 last weekend in Melbourne as a total beginner (yes, I consider myself a beginner having only done one sprint triathlon back in March) has been one of the hardest and most challenging things that I have done thus far. Many people have asked me how I went, how did it feel, and any secrets on race day. Questions that I will try and answer later on.
To give some context to my achievement, I have played team sports all my life, in the past I could train 2-3 times per week, and in my younger days I would play back-to-back soccer games without missing a beat. In high school, I was part of the swimming team but have not swum since then. And about 10 years ago I got myself a decent roadie to ride, but it sat most of the time in the shed gathering dust.
Being new to the sport of triathlons, yes, of course I knew the basics, swim (don’t drown), cycle (don’t crash) and run (don’t gas out) but really I had no clue of what I was getting myself into.
Simple, right? Or so I thought. There is a lot of planning ahead of completing an Ironman 70.3.
Here are my thoughts:
Lesson 1 – The Training
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” - Benjamin Franklin
Having a training plan to get you to the level that require to compete in the event is imperative. Unless you are genetically gifted, you can’t just simply wake up one morning and decide to do a 70.3 that day. Following a fitness plan that builds you up to requirements of the effort that you will exposing yourself to race day is a must. If you have a weak leg, maybe work on that a little bit more.
Running is my worst leg, I trained over winter, entered a few running events to test myself and went from there. Have I become super fast? No, not really. But I can run for 2.5hrs at a good pace.
Do some strength and conditioning workouts, not just swim, cycle and run. Strengthen muscles that you thought you didn’t have. It my case, I must remember to work out my abductors for my next 70.3, I totally forgot that I tore my right abductor about 12 years ago, the main reason I gave up sports. My body had adjusted and ‘hid’ this weakness until the the cycle leg when it came back to haunt me. It started to feel tight on the last 15kms of the ride which eventually slowed down my running, specially on the last 5kms.
“Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return”
Lesson 2 – Show Up!
“Showing up is not all of life – but it counts for a lot! - Hillary Clinton
You have signed up and now you are so hipped that you are telling anybody and everybody that will listen, that you are doing an Ironman 70.3. You are now committed. The secret is to build the foundation slowly ie small swims, small cycles, small runs. Then build progressively. Before you know it, your training schedule is now a habit, it is part of you and you are part of it. You wake up every day thinking about what is in the training schedule today?
If you miss a day, you start to feel bad. There is a saying that a few of the FTC crew has said to me in the past – Never miss two days training in a row! How true is this!
The secret is to show up, no matter what – rain, hail or shine.
“Eighty percent of success is showing up” – Woody Allen
Lesson 3 – Consistency.
“We are what we consistently do. Excellence, then , is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle.
The training plan is loaded, and I mean LOADED! The volume of workouts and the time allocated is immense. Through in working fulltime, having as family, socializing (actually, not much of this to be honest). Consitency is key.
Do as much as you can, but don’t leave it until the weekend – you WILL burnout.
Do something everyday!
“Consistent hard work leads to success, Greatness will come!”
Lesson 4 – Fueling
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." - Hippocrates
Food is going to become your best friend. As your fitness improves and the training gets loaded, your appetite is going to go through the roof.
All I can say is: eat the right foods, up your protein, take the right supplements and plenty of water.
Consult a professional such a dietitian if required.
“Your diet is a bank account. Good food choices are good investments.” – Bethenny Frankel
Lesson 5 – REST
“Rest is a fine medicine. Let your stomachs rest, ye dyspeptics; let your brain rest, you wearied and worried men of business; let your limbs rest, ye children of toil!” – Thomas Carlyle
Listen to your body. Rest whenever your body feels like it needs rest. I know I said before never miss two days training in a row! (Lesson 2) Let me tell you a little secret, I have missed more than 2 days in a row. Simply because my body was aching and telling me to rest. Rets days will positively impact your body in the following ways:
· Muscle Recovery: To enable your body repair and rebuild microscopic tears in your muscles. This process can only occur when your body is at rest. Without rest, the body doesn’t get a chance to strengthen the muscles and so over time they just continue to break down.
· Injury Prevention: Rest is crucial when it comes to avoiding injuries, especially when training for a long distance event. Overuse injuries are commonplace. The only way to avoid these aches and pains is to take a day (or more) to rest.
· Mental Performance: From a psychological point of view, taking into account everything else you may have going in your life, rest days can help prevent mental burnout. Mental fatigue can be every bit as damaging physical fatigue. By taking a break, you will be able to mentally recharge.
· Running Performance: Your body needs rest to adapt to the stress of training on your body. Without rest, your body won’t be able to build stamina and strength. This along with the above three factors, will affect your overall performance in the long-run. An extra rest day is not going to affect your performance negatively.
· The key lesson is to learn to listen to your body. Successful long-term training comes from learning how to read your body and understanding what it needs to train at its highest potential.
“If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.” — Bansky
Lesson 6 – Tappering
“Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy!” – Saadi
It is so important to let your body have some form of recovery process leading up to Race Day Tapering is a crucial part of the training that involves gradually reducing the intensity and distance you swim, cycle/run in the weeks leading up to the race. It will help you:
· Recover from fatigue: Tapering helps you recover from fatigue from long runs.
· Repair damaged tissues: Tapering helps repair muscle damage and heal running-induced microdamage.
· Replenish fuel stores: Tapering helps replenish your muscle glycogen stores.
· Improve race-day performance: Tapering can help you reach your “peak” on race day, meaning you feel rested but still reap the physical benefits of your intense training.
· Reduce joint inflammation: Tapering can help reduce joint inflammation ahead of race day.
It is crucial that you eat well, sleep more and keep hydration up.
Rest and engage in light activity 2-3 days before the event.
Carb load by eating complex carbs to increase your glycogen stores.
Lesson 7 – Race Day
“To accomplish great things, we must first dream, then visualise, then plan…believe…act! – Alfred A. Montapert
Have a Race Plan. Go through it prior to the race day in your head. Visualise Race Day.
Set up your equipment and supplements the day before, checked it, triple check it! DO NOT leave until the morning of Race Day!
Leading up to race day try and get into your bed and waking up routine (tip- the earlier you get into these routines the better) By this I mean that if the race starts at 6:30AM, get into your routine of getting up with enough time to wake up, stretch, meditate, have breakfast well before race day.
Race your own race – don’t get carried away by everyone else around you.
It will be normal to have doubts about the race, will you finish? will you gas out? Hopefully you have not set yourself unrealistic goals and you are sticking to your guns.
You have put in all the work, no just finish it!
“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy” - Norman Vincent Peale
Last Thought - “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela
Love the journey! Enjoy the day and look forward to enjoying a massage and food after you cross the finish line. During the times when you question why you signed up and why am I doing this? I am stupid? What did I get myself into? Weeks and months later you will look back at what you have accomplished and feel so proud of that you did. and so will all of us!
You and only you will determine how successful you will be on the day.
One last thing - Smile across the finish line - for the photo of course!
Love to all and be safe. David