A Beginner's Guide to IRONMAN – After the Sign Up

In the second of our three-part articles, coach Soraya talks us through the key steps to go through just before you have signed up for, just after signing up for and the final lead into to an IRONMAN race. Read on for the beginner’s guide to IRONMAN.

Now you’ve picked your race. It’s time to get busy! What do you do next?

1) Get a bike (fit)

If you don’t have a bike, it is time to go shopping. You know what race you’ll be doing now, so you can pick your bike with that in mind. Do you want a road bike or a TT bike? If you want a road bike, then consider a climbing bike if there is a lot of elevation, or an aero bike with clip-on bars if not. (If you haven’t got a bike, then you want a road bike!). Once you have your bike and decided on your setup, the first thing you need to do is get a bike fit. This is the most critical thing you will do before starting your training. Not only will it allow you to be set up in the most efficient way possible for you, but it will also avoid getting silly injuries from poor positioning. An aero position is less comfortable, and it takes practice to be able to hold it, so the more time you spend training in your race position, the better. It’s no use getting a bike fit in a really aero position a month before your race: you will end up spending most of the race sat upright. This is a fact.

2) Train smart

Make sure your training is periodised and that you are not suddenly doubling your load just because you have just entered the race. Build on your current fitness levels gradually and make sure you are giving your body time to recover adequately. Work with a coach if you can.

3) Do your strength training

Your training load is about to increase. You need to make sure you are strong enough to cope with it; otherwise, you will get injured. Go back to basics and do some bodyweight exercises regularly such as deadbugs, glute bridge, side planks…

4) Set yourself milestone goals

An IRONMAN can seem like an overwhelming goal. But break it down into smaller goals, and you’ll see that it’s not as crazy as it looks!

5) Eat to fuel

The quality of your nutrition will directly impact the quality of your training. If you can, work with a nutritionist to help you understand how to plan both your day to day nutrition around your training as well as your race nutrition strategy. If not, a coach will be an excellent place to start understanding your new needs.

6) Test everything out - prepare. Prepare. Prepare.

Don’t try anything new on race day - be it kit, nutrition, transition skills …etc. Train with the clothes you will wear as you want to make sure it is comfortable and doesn’t chafe or hurt you anywhere. Not just clothes, but also gear - don’t wear goggles you’ve never used before, or new bike wheels you haven’t tested, or a hydration system you haven’t used yet only to find out on race day that it splashes your sticky drink all over you or falls off at the slightest bump! Train with the nutrition and hydration you will be taking on race day to make sure your stomach can handle it. Test your pre-race meals before long training days to see what works best for you. Test everything out and don’t leave anything to chance.

7) Be specific with your training

Know your course and train for it: not just the obvious things like elevation, but also bike handling skills (if the bike course is technical); temperature (if your race is in a hot location, consider how you can prepare for racing in the heat).

8) Consistency

Consistency is the only thing that will get you results, so don’t bite off more than you can chew. Start training with your current load - one that feels sustainable, and gradually increase it so that you don’t end up having to rest for a week every time you train too hard and tire yourself out. Working with a coach will help avoid this problem.

9) Respect your body

If you’re tired, rest. If you have to pick between staying in bed or training, stay in bed. The decision should have been made the night before to go to bed earlier. Skip the session and next time go to bed earlier!

10) Run the long runs slowly

Don’t let the ego ruin this for you - the goal of a long run is to build your endurance and aerobic base. This goal will be achieved whether you run in zone 1 or zone 3. Why would you run in zone 3 and add more stress to your body which in turn requires more recovery - all for the same goal? It doesn’t make sense. Run the easy runs easy and the hard runs hard.

11) Join a club or find training buddies

It helps to have friends going through a similar experience to you, and especially with whom you can go for your long rides and runs. You can find such people in triathlon clubs. You can also get access to coached swimming sessions which will be useful.

12) Learn how to change a flat tyre & necessary bike mechanics skills

This is important for maintenance but also, wouldn’t it be a shame if after all that training you have to quit the race because you can’t fix a simple mechanical problem? Know your bike and take good care of it. Clean it regularly and ask your mechanic for advice on how to do things (cleaning it, changing the inner tube, fixing the breaks, indexing the gears…etc.).

Now you know what you need to do, let’s look at race week.

We’re here to help

Tri Training Harder are one of the leading Triathlon coaching providers in the UK, using our wealth of experience to unite scientific and technological research with already well-established and successful best practices, to create a formula for triathlon and endurance coaching that works.

The result is an honest, dynamic, yet simple new way of constructing an athlete’s training to allow them to reach their potential.

If you’re planning your next season, just starting out in the sport or are looking for extra guidance at the very top end of the field, we are here to help, and our coaches would be delighted to hear from you. You can contact us via the website, and one of the team will be in touch.

Soraya MerryleesSeptember 25, 2020Soraya Merrylees, Training, IRONMAN, Coaching, BiomechanicsComment

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