Hi Guys, hope you’ve all had a great month.
If like me, you stayed up to watch the men’s Ironman World Championships on Saturday night I’ve no doubt you will be feeling incredibly inspired this week. It was an amazing race that really came down to who paced it the best, unfortunately many of the pre-race favourites didn’t. They went way too hard on the bike, didn’t respect the conditions and then completely fell apart on the run. Chapeau to Patrick Lange for taking the win with what was one of the greatest performances we’ve ever seen on the island. His run was nothing short of extraordinary and to watch him is like witnessing one of the 7 wonders of the triathlon world. His running style/ technique is simply breathtaking. He’s now a 3-time winner and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy when so many people thought he was past his best.
Now the dust has settled in Kona, October is very much a transitionary month for many athletes and from a coaching perspective. Some will be taken a well-earned break from focussed training, whereas others will be coming back into training. What is crucial is that before you embark on your plan for 2025 you must make sure you have taken enough time out to get your body and mind back on full charge.
The amount of time you need to take out will be relative to what the 2024 season has taken out of you. With some only a needing a couple of weeks out before they need/want a structured routine again and others taking longer. Even just training at a lower level both from a volume and intensity perspective can be hugely beneficial.
I also wanted to give you all some food for thought for the season ahead. What I have written below forms the core beliefs that support the way I coach & support my athletes throughout a season. I spend every day with all the athletes I work with helping them to understand these principles so they can implement them into their training. It’s a long one! So, I hope you find something in there which will help you moving forwards.
1: Compounding interest is your best friend:
“Compound interest is when you earn interest on your savings – then go on to earn more interest on that total. This keeps happening, meaning the amount you’ve saved gets bigger and bigger.”
If you want to know the key to becoming a really good or exceptional endurance athlete, you have to understand the theory of compounding interest in relation to training accumulation. In a nutshell the more training you do over the longest period the greater the return on your investment. That’s why when you look at many of the athletes who get to the very top of the sport (not necessarily the most talented) they will also be the athletes who have done it for the longest. They will also be the athletes who show consistency not just from week to week but from month to month and year to year. 5 years is a short time in endurance sport for development (where you can still make great progress, especially in the first 3 years), but with many of the best athletes (and this includes pro’s) it will take closer to 10 years or longer to achieve your highest level of performance.
Think of it as building layers of training from season to the next. But also understand when you take extended periods of time away from training, are very inconsistent with your training, you get ill or injured, you reduce of stop training for extended periods of time this all impacts the rate at which your training interest compounds. This is the battle for every athlete at every level and it isn’t easy. But it can be achieved if you are patient, smart & sensible with your training. And remember, long-term gain always works over a short-term risky quick fix.
2: Set your training up so it works with your life, not against it:
A simple statement but where so many triathletes go wrong every year. If you are an age grouper you will have a life outside of your sport that has to be accounted for when you decide how much training you can do each week. More is not always better if it impacts those closest to you or leaves you completed depleted mentally for work. Achieving balance is never easy but if you make those closest to you part of the process you will have your own biggest cheerleader/s in the background providing a huge source of motivation for you. No athlete can achieve greatness alone, it’s always a team effort. So be sure to take care of and nurture the relationships you have around you, because if you do the positive energy you will get back from them will be priceless.
3: Listen to your body, be adaptable & don’t be a slave to the plan:
Your body is in a constant state of flux, you have to learn how to work with it and not against. By flux I mean different states of freshness & fatigue. How you feel and what you then decide to do on any training day will be impacted by all kinds of stressors that have to be accounted for. Some days it’s good to go hard, other times you will need to back off and do an easier recovery session, or even take a day off. Your body is a very smart tool that will tell you all you need to know. You just need to be honest with yourself and listen to the signs it is giving you. Training sessions can always be juggled or adapted to suit how you feel.
4: Rate of perceived effort trumps data metrics:
But ‘triangulation’ of these metrics is useful. By this I mean using RPE, heart rate, power, speed as the tools that help you define the right training intensity in any one moment. But realise that HR, speed and power can all be impacted by different variables that give them in certain circumstances a higher level of inaccuracy (don’t assume watch/ power data is 100% accurate because a lot of the time it isn’t, this goes for all tech).
This because:
- To swim at 2mins/ 100m in the pool does not feel the same each week
- To ride at 150 watts does not feel the same each week
- To run at 6min/km each does not feel the same each week
- To bike or run at the same HR each week does not feel the same.
You get the message.
This is because the level of lactate your body is producing is proportional to your level of fatigue or freshness at any given intensity. The more fatigued you are the more lactate you produce at faster rate, that’s why even sometimes your standard easy pace can feel a lot harder. It’s because you are producing lactate much quicker.
Think about these statements for a moment because if you don’t at first understand them, there is a chance you will already be going wrong in training. This is because you are assuming the body is in the same linear state each week. We already know freshness and fatigue fluctuate like a roller coaster so sometimes those specific metrics I’ve listed above can feel much harder or easier depending on your level of fatigue and freshness. What is clear is that training zones can fluctuate wildly from day to day. The guiding light in all of this to help you get the most out of your training is your RPE because it isn’t impacted with a level of inaccuracy like the other tech metrics. You don’t need data to tell you when you are feeling more tired or feeling really good. In each case the body will naturally slow you down or speed you up a bit to align with how its feeling for any targeted training zone. So be sure to work on developing a very close relationship to what you are feeling for each of the key training zones (usually Z1-Z5) and be honest! You aren’t helping yourself if you choose to ignore it and you work way harder for what should be an easier session because you assume data metrics are stable from week to week.
5: Everything comes back to the rule of thirds:
“A third of the time you’ll feel like rubbish when training,
A third of the time you’ll feel average,
A third of the time you’ll feel great,
If training follows this pattern, then you are very much on the right track”
Probably one of my favourite quotes of all time that came from an Olympic running Coach when speaking to his athlete. Never has a statement has rung true. What the Coach is actually saying is for most sessions you do you won’t feel particularly great in training. The reason for this is because will always be impacted by life stressors, accumulating training fatigue, hormones, sleep, nutrition, the list goes on. So, when you can’t hit your expected numbers, or you have a bad session don’t dwell on it! It’s wasted energy, it also just tells you your body wasn’t right for it on this day. But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t turn up for a session the following day and produce one of your best ever performances. That’s training for you there in a nutshell, one day you can be God damn awful and the next you could be setting a lifetime PB. Accept that and move on.
6: Reverse engineering is the key to race day success:
Make the most important thing the most important thing. Every part of your training must work back from your chosen ‘A’ race next year where you hope to achieve peak performance. What is crucial for finding this performance is understanding what the key components of fitness are, technique, nutrition & kit choices that you will need to factor in for race day success on that course in those conditions. So, if you choose a pancake flat race in hot conditions with a sea swim, one of the key areas you will need to develop is a good aero position on the bike and getting comfortable with it. The goal will be to optimise not just power but power whilst being as aero as possible. The earlier you do this the better as all these take time and effort to develop. You’ll also need to factor in how you do heat prep in the weeks leading int the race if you are coming from a cooler climate. You should also consider how you can get experience swimming in the sea which poses a myriad of challenges to most swimmers due to its unpredictable nature. You should also set your year up so you have the clearest possible diary in the 12 weeks before your ‘A’ race so you can focus on training and recovery with as few interruptions as possible. If you are smart, prepare early and focus on the key demands of the course in training you will only go into that race more confident than ever before. The worst thing to do is to think it will all just come together on race day.
7: Struggle reveals character & character will define performance
You can be physically strong but if you are mentally weak you will never achieve your potential in sport. Some athletes have this in spades, others can develop it over time through experience. The test of true character and mental toughness is how you respond when things aren’t going your way. This could be anything from wanting to give up during a tough race or session or to having to deal with an injury. Mentally toughness is born from experience and most importantly overcoming difficult moments. Rest assured it’s ok to fail repeatedly so long as you keep pulling yourself back up and you try to keep moving forwards. Many of the best athletes in the world have failed more times than anyone else, that’s why they ultimately have succeeded. So rather than avoid these moments see them as a test or opportunity that you can grow from. We all have fears and weaknesses but its’ how you choose to deal with them that defines the type of athlete you will become.
8: Sacrifice & discipline are key to a high performance
The degree to which you focus on the above directly correlates to how big your goals are. You must hold yourself accountable if you want to get to the very top. The question you should also ask yourself is am I doing enough compared to the level of the athletes you want to compete against? Because when you get to the pointy end of sport even age-groupers have become highly professional in the way they train & recover. With many leaving no stone unturned. The higher the ladder you want to climb the higher the level of sacrifice you have to display and a higher level of day-to-day discipline. The lengths some people are going to today to improve performance is astounding and I can only admire what I see in some of the very best age groupers I’ve worked with over the years. But even these athletes should never be complacent because there are always areas to keep improving.
9: Recovery is the 4th discipline, so treat it that way
By far and away is the area I see most triathletes falling short, with many seeing it as an afterthought. What is clear is at the highest level of sport athletes are focussing on this more than ever. If you ask any top coach or sport scientist, they believe the biggest improvements will be made over the next decade and beyond in terms of performance, they will tell you it’s understanding how to implement better training recovery protocols. Many triathletes just assume if they aren’t getting quicker, they just need to keeping working harder or going faster. When often they just aren’t getting enough sleep or rest to absorb the training they are putting in. Make your day off, your day off your legs! This alone will speed up recovery ten-fold. It’s not a time to walk the dog for several miles or spend a day working the garden. Lie down, have a nap, watch mindless tv or a movie, have a massage, have a long soak in the bath before bed, start to relax after 6pm in the evening and stay away from computer screens/ phones, go to bed early or at the same time each night, get up at the same time each day, avoid alcohol the list is endless. The range and variety of recovery protocols anyone has on hand are astounding. You just need to be creative and use that time however long or short wisely.
10: Be present in each & every workout
If you are an age grouper with a full-time job you will only have a limited time to train so you have to be able to squeeze every drop out of every training session if you want to achieve peak performance. Ask yourself am I being fully engaged with every training session, or do I often let my focus slide? It’s easily done, and no one gets it right all the time, but it’s very much a skill you can develop and become much better at. There are so many things you can dial into a during a workout that will give it a higher level of value. It could be controlling your breathing, staying relaxed, being aware of the right level of muscle tension or water feel, or holding good form & posture. You could also be really dialling into the right intensity from an RPE perspective, so you start to improve that mind-body connection. This is how you learn to control intensity better. A lot of this comes down to the visualisation of what you want to be thinking & feeling and how you want to execute the session. Make this a consideration before you start the session, then it just flows much more naturally when you get started.
Race results
Ironman Malaysia (Langkawi)
- Vicki Hill
- Splits: swim 1:14:44/ bike 6:13:39 / run 4:06:40
- Total Time: 11:42:26
- 2nd in the 50-54 category
Not sure what this girl has done to upset the weather Gods, but it seems like every time she does an Ironman it seems to coincide with some kind of tropical storm! This one in Malaysia was no exception which saw a torrential downpour on the bike that has water running down the road like a river, at points it was coming over her feet. To say Vicki has the biggest test of her Ironman racing career with this race would be an understatement. On a day where she felt terrible, the weather really did nothing to help aid her performance. At several points during the race, she decided she was going to quit at certain points but amazingly found something to help her keep going. She was also plagued by a hamstring injury this race so confidence had already taken a knock. This again flared up on the run where she decided to walk at certain points and again, she considered dropping out. After a few encouraging words from a Pro friend who was racing, she managed to dig deep and start putting one foot in front of the other once again. When you consider the female pro who win only ran 3:28 you will understand how good this run performance was from Vicki. She’s not used to finishing 2nd but if there was ever a race that taught Vicki something about herself it was this one, it was character defining and then some. It was also probably one of the most important races she has ever done because she had to find a way through when everything seemed against her. Never has she had to earn that Kona slot more. Huge congrats Vicki Hill, you did yourself proud. Now enjoy the down time now and get ready for a rip roaring 2025.
Greece 70.3
- James Daly
- Splits: swim 39:02/ bike 3:23:01 / run 1:59:05
- Total Time: 6:24:12
- 30-34 category
Huge congrats James on completing your first ever 70.3 race! You also managed to tick all the performance boxes you set out to achieve. What was even more impressive was a sub 2-hour run after the back of a badly sprained ankle in the weeks leading into the race. A superb all-round performance.
Triathlon World Champs – Olympic Distance (Spain)
- Toby Dean
- Splits: swim 24:34 / bike 1:06:06 / run 41:26
- Total Time: 2:17:21
- 22nd/ 107 in the 50-54 category
The goal for this race for Toby was top 25 in a stacked field of high-level age group athletes. Seems like the best of the best came out to play for this one so to achieve that goal with this performance was outstanding. Huge congrats Toby, yet again you rose to the challenge and produced your best on the day. The perfect finish to what has been an excellent season.
Triathlon World Champs – Sprint Distance (Spain)
- Louise Hutchinson
- Splits: swim 19:29/ bike 42:53 / run 26:09
- Total Time: 1:35:41
- 8th in the 65-69 category
Yet again a classy performance from a classy athlete. To make top 10 in a field of this standard is outstanding. Huge congrats Louise, one to be very proud of & one to tell your grandchildren about.
Greece to Turkey swim (18km)
- Rohan Crouse
- Total Time: 6:24:22
It was terrific to see Rohan back up his huge 28.5km swim in Spain with another 18km effort this month. The perfect way to finish and excellent session where both swim goals were achieved. Look forward to seeing you raising your game yet again for 2025.
Sant Josep de sa Talaia open water swim, Ibiza (10km that turned into 15.5km!)
- Sami Robertson
- Total Time: 4:11:54
The unpredictable nature of sea swimming really hit home for Sami with this Herculean effort in Ibiza. To say he was knocked for 6 with this one would be an understatement (and Sami has swum the English Channel!). When a 10k swim turns into a 15.5km swim due to really tough conditions you know you’ve been in a battle. Huge congrats on making it through to the other side Sami, a character defining swim for sure.
British Masters National Swimming Champs
- Bridget Trefgarne
- 200m Backstroke
- Total Time: 2:44:15
- 1st in the 55-59 category
- 200m Freestyle
- Total Time: 2:36:83
- 1st in the 55-59 category
Our Backstroke Queen (and now freestyle!) does it again! Winning 2 x golds at the National Swimming Champs. Huge congratulations Bridget on yet another outstanding performance. Absolutely brilliant.
What I’ve been watching this month…
Probably one of the best boxing documentaries I have ever watched. I felt in many ways I was reliving my youth watching this as I was a huge fan of all these amazing fighters at the time. It really was a golden period of British Boxing. You either loved or hated each one of them, they were incredible fighters with huge personalities to match. To see them now looking back and reflecting on their amazing careers was very special indeed.
With boxing being the theme this month I couldn’t help put this one in because as a Coach I found it totally riveting. This docu-series takes an inside look at the McGuigan’s stable of boxers. It charts the highs and lows that boxing experience and the day-to-day grind of the incredibly tough training they do. An amazing insight into what it takes to box at the highest level.
Team out & about
Well done ladies on yet another big swim ‘adventure’, you more than earned your lunch with this one!
It was terrific to see Nick “Biggles’ Betteridge back poolside this month for a swim analysis to kick off the start of his training. No chance of this super lean swimmer getting cold today
I thought they were all smiling at me for a moment, no such luck. This is what happens when Baby Rosie makes an appearance poolside