By Mark Fulford

A little while back I presented a seminar at an "Ironvirgins" meeting. The last question I was asked was, "What's the most important piece of advice you would give someone doing Ironman for the first time?" A very good question and one which took me about a nanosecond to come up with an answer. In my opinion there are two pieces of advice which everyone should take on board. Firstly, get a coach, and secondly get your bike set up correctly for Ironman. This advice not only applies to Ironman distance events, but to all distance triathlons.

In this article I will elaborate on the previous mentioned advice as well as offer you a bonus eight more!

1) Get a coach

Find a coach and a program that you believe in.

After a six year break from Ironman, including a couple of years overseas doing precious little, I decided to get a coach and stick to a programme written by someone other than myself for probably the first time ever at the end of 2002. I felt this would take the pressure off myself to get me back in shape. I also felt I needed new ideas. I literally bumped into Brendon Downey at a sports expo and my coach finding problem was solved. Why did I choose him? Firstly, because I knew him and I like and respect the guy (we went to Otago University together). Secondly, he is educated (he has a degree in Physiology and has other qualifications to boot ). Thirdly, he has been there and done it (sub 9 hour Ironman when he was 23 years old), and finally, he has years (at least 14) of coaching experience and was/is currently involved in coaching and is up to the play with the latest coaching methods and research.

So there we have the four qualities I would look for in a coach. Once you have a coach in mind, sit down and hear what their coaching philosophy is. Are they a `smash yourself silly until you break through the barrier' type of coach or are they a calculating type of coach who finds the best/easiest method to get the results? I know which type of coach and which type of approach I prefer, and for that matter which one hurts less!

2) Bike set-up

The majority of your race day and your training time is probably spent on the bike. It is all very well having your bike setup so you can put out huge amounts of power and/or setup so you are extremely aerodynamic, but if you can't ride comfortably in your chosen position for the full distance then the benefits of that position are lost. At the end of the day, if you're doing Ironman and are at the 140km mark, you should be feeling comfortable enough to be riding at race pace on your aerobars into a head wind if there is one. If you can't, then chances are your bike setup is wrong.

Bike position is a factor of comfort, power and aerodynamics. In my opinion, for Ironman comfort is the primary variable. If you are comfortable (on your aerobars) then you are likely to be producing good power. I believe aerodynamics is the least important variable.

I have met only one person who I trust to position an athlete correctly on a triathlon bike. That person is Paul Allen. He even built bikes to accommodate this position. Before every Ironman I get Paul to check my position (alterations to bike components and body weight affect position). The one time I didn`t get him to check it, I ended up having my worst Ironman ride. I won`t make the same mistake twice.

3) Nutrition

This is a huge one. Pre training, training, post training, pre race, race, post race and any other time, nutrition is a key component to performance. As athletes doing exercise outside the boundaries considered normal, we must have nutrition plans outside what is considered normal. This includes taking supplements, increased amounts of protein and a good amount of carbohydrates.

Prior to NZ IM 2004 I attended a seminar presented by Gordo Byrn and Scott Molina. One of the messages I got from this seminar was that nutrition was probably the key component to improving an athletes performance. Good nutrition allows good quality training, good recovery and good race day performance. Sitting down with someone with Ironman nutrition experience well before the big day could prove to be the best thing you could do. EnduranceCoach.com offers Race Nutrition packages for athletes - visit our Nutrition page here for more information.

4) Recovery
This seems to be the part of triathletes training program which is neglected. Too often it is either not scheduled, ignored, or done incorrectly (recovery days are different for everyone but may consist of a 3km swim, a 60 min ride, 60 mins of pilates or a game of squash... or a combination of these things).

Your body adapts following stress, so give it a period of time when it is not stressed.

Often you read how much training the big guns do, and it's impressive. Very rarely do you read about the rest weeks/periods they have. Sure sometimes you have to train when you are fatigued but a good program will have regular periods of rest and recovery. This allows adaptation, you come back bigger, stronger and faster. It also allows a chance for you to recover mentally (and perhaps learn the name of family members once again). DON'T BE AFRAID TO REST.

Also under recovery, I would include things such as standing in the lake (cold water) after pounding your legs, icing sore muscles (doing the hot and cold regime for the keen ones), protein recovery drinks, afternoon naps, plenty of sleep, nutrition, massage, stretching, rehab exercises if you have an injury, fluids, running on soft surfaces. All, or a combination of the above can help keep you on track and performing to your potential.

5) Choose your training partners well

Just because you perform the same as another athlete doesn't mean they will make a good training partner. How a person trains and their psychology are important factors when choosing training partners.

Run and cycle training in particular require you to train at an intensity and duration specific to you and what you are trying to achieve in a particular session and training block. Be careful not to be sucked into training at someone else's intensity or duration. Do what you need to do from your program.

Try to avoid training with people who can't help but try and prove they are fitter than you. There is nothing more frustrating than training with someone who `half-wheels' you on the bike or runs a step in front of you all day. Also watch for people who surge on every hill then expect you to keep up or catch up.

If you use a heart-rate monitor you will know how hard you should be training. Don't let anyone interfere with what you are trying to achieve.

6) Listen to your body

Unfortunately your body isn't a machine. A good training program will include sessions of duration and intensity which you should be able to achieve. However, sometimes sessions need to be changed due to how you feel. This could be due to tiredness, illness, stress, lack of sleep and so on. You may notice your heart rate is elevated or you can't raise it to the required level when training, your legs may feel heavy or sore, or you may just feel extremely tired. So if you are physically unable to complete a session in your programme as it is written then you need to be prepared to alter the session or abandon it. Generally the first thing you change in a session is the intensity. You may need to back off a bit to complete the session. The second thing you look at changing is the duration. Cut the session short. The final thing you change is the frequency. Skipping the session is usually your third alternative.

Modifying the activity, perhaps substituting a swim for a run or bike, is also an option. Often it is a good idea to consult your coach before making too many modifications. Coach Brendon has written a full article called "Thinking on Your Feet" on this point only - read it here.

7) Winter Focus

Winter is a good time to work on any weaknesses. This may be improving your weakest discipline and/or it could be time for a bit of body maintenance, development or rehabilitation.

After a summer of swimming, biking and running, winter is a good time to develop core stability, flexibility, muscle strength and muscle balance. Many top athletes do some form of strength work year round. So maybe joining a gym or a pilates class and working on your muscular skeletal system three times a week could do more for improving next seasons performance than spending that time training your cardiovascular system.

This is also a time to mentally freshen up. So a bit of mountain biking, tramping or a few rounds of golf could all be in order during the off-season.

8) Become a Runner

If this is your weakest discipline or even if it is your strongest, becoming a runner for a period of time each year can be of real benefit to you later. So for perhaps three months of the year train like a runner. Run five or more times a week, do some intensity and teach yourself to run a bit faster than you currently do. Compete in running events such as fun runs, road races, relays, cross countries and track races. At the end of the block of run training you should have a focus event or goal. This could be a fast 10km, or a ½ or full marathon. This period of running can be used to increase your run endurance and your speed.

By doing a period of run training you can back off your other training which allows you to improve the quality of your run sessions because you won't have the extra fatigue. So you may only do a couple of easy technique swims and perhaps a couple of short spins on the bike. Hopefully by working on your running specifically it will be easier to run train during the summer when you are also doing more biking and swimming. It will also mean that your in-season run training can focus on maintaining what you have already developed. You can also just focus on specifics such as running off the bike, pace judgement and efficiency.

9) Become a Cyclist

Similar to becoming a runner. Do a 3 month period or block of training aimed at improving your cycling. Train with cyclists and not only will you improve physically but also technically. Learn to corner, descend, climb, spin and change gears more efficiently. Develop power through attacking, chasing down breaks and powering over small climbs.

Be aware that if you do get into bike training/racing you may have to alter your set up so it is more user friendly in bunches. So rip off your aero bars, put your seat back and become a roadie for a while. Once again, have a goal or focus event in mind. This could be a fun ride, club open race or mini-tour.

10) Become a Swimmer

As with becoming a runner or cyclist, spend 3 months turning into a fish. Swimming is very technical, so this is probably best done in a squad with a good coach. It doesn't mean however that every swim must be done with a squad. There is nothing wrong with doing a few easy sessions on your own. Squads are usually fairly competitive so use these sessions to develop your fitness and use the solo ones as recovery/easy endurance sessions. Because swimming is the easiest on the body of the three triathlon disciplines swimming twice a day is not a bad option. Learn also how to use swim toys such as pull bouys, fins and paddles. A focus event may be a little harder to find but a masters swim meet, open water swim or a time trial should help keep you motivated.

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