12 weeks to Hawaii Ironman World Champs - Survival

One of the pleasures of my previous two races in Kona was writing my "12 weeks to Hawaii" blogs. The first focused mostly on the weekly training, volume, hours etc. Link here:
12 weeks to Hawaii - the first blog

The second, on my build up to the 2015 race was a lot more reflective of my thoughts and feelings about the build up to the race. Link here:

12 weeks to Hawaii - the return!

I guess this blog will be a combination of the two - my biggest view ever was my "Top tips for success in Ironman....for age group triathletes". So I guess that's the kind of thing people like to read (not that I think I'm much of an authority!)

So, where am I with my prep? And why the heading of this blog?

Physical state

Physically - I think I'm in a better place than ever before, regarding my swimming and cycling. I met with my coach, Xavier after IMNZ and he said he wanted to make sure my levels of enthusiasm for training (which were obviously pretty high, post race) didn't gradually decline all winter. So we planned to load up the bike kms while the weather was ok, and keep the running-induced fatigue low early on.

Training in Noosa

 I've been lucky enough to take a couple of trips to warmer climes too. We flew up to Cairns in June, coinciding with the Ironman up there, where some athletes were racing on our Wheelscience wheels and I did a big few days on the bike/swim, then I had a week up in Noosa in early July. What an incredible experience, to train like a pro! I have seen some huge improvements in my swimming, and fitness in general (eg resting heart rate) as a result of that week.
My running has a fair way to go (but hey, 12 weeks is a long time!) I've had some positive signs that it's on the improve, like a couple of my runs off the bike. But I gained a LOAD of weight after IMNZ, (which I raced at the heaviest of any of my Ironmans anyway). I refuse to starve myself though - I am very much focused on recovery and how I feel, rather than what I look like, and numbers on the scales. But, there's no denying that run performance is inversely correlated to weight, and unless you can do a lot of speed work to get those bigger legs firing, the excess kgs will cost. They are coming off slowly though, and while I know that I don't want to be racing in the heat of Kona carrying too much extra weight, my "ideal race weight" for the race that I want over there, may be very different from previous years, if my current swim and bike numbers are anything to go by.

Mental state

From the training perspective, I'm in a great place. I utterly detest riding indoors on the windtrainer, but we are having some really bad weather in Melbourne, and I am persuading myself that the indoor sessions in a heated room (it's often 30C by the time we've done the session and steamed it up!) will really help with our next race on 6th August (Cebu 70.3 in the Philippines) . Also, remember I am married to an Ironman athlete who would LOVE to get to Kona - that's a good reminder that I chose to take the slot, and I'm extremely fortunate to be having a third crack at it.


But the biggest risk to my training, recovery (and I believe weight loss) are the other stressors I allow to impact me. I have had a lot of stress at work the last year or so. I am on a fixed - term part time contract, and although there was an opportunity to apply for a full time permanent role, I chose not to, as I believe it would have severely limited other aspects of my job, and life in general. Of course this decision has left me having to fight to keep some kind of a job in teaching, and scrabbling to find research funding. I also had the culmination of a huge, 2-year research project at the end of June - a pretty stressful few weeks as I tried to write up the final report! But I love the work I do, and I still think the stress is worth it, when I find new answers in my research, or a student tells me I have inspired them (and I don't mean athletically!)

Larger-than-life Travis "happy" Tremayne with me in Kona in 2013

And now on to the "Survival" aspect of the blog title. In the past month, we have learned that 3 very close friends have had serious illnesses. This threw me into a huge turmoil, emotionally. I am talking about 3 healthy, fit people here, all in their 40s, all with life-threatening illnesses. It made me question a lot about my life, and my approach to it. Ambition in my career - why? Goals in triathlon - why? Being organised, and planning every day of our lives - why? I have seriously questioned the point of any of it. And yet, the ironic thing is that I believe all 3 of these amazing people would not for a second question those things. They are all ambitious, driven go-getters who grab life by the balls, and make every day count. Which makes it suck even more that they should be dealt these health blows. The other thing that really stands out when I read their stories or talk to them is the will to survive. And hence the word in the title, Survival. We talk about it flippantly as athletes "oh, by the last 5km, it was just survival". No it's not. What our friends are doing - having surgeries, radiotherapy, taking meds. THAT's survival. And I will remember that when times get tough in the coming months, and in Kona itself. They, and others struggling with their health will inspire me. And I don't want to sound like I'm complaining about the emotional stress their news has caused me. I'd happily take that on board if it meant I could in some way help their recovery.

The week's totals, for the numbers geeks! : 12 weeks to go