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IRONMAN Wales – A word from your coaching team
At last, race day is here after, for most of you, many months of very hard work. As official coaching partners to this iconic event we are delighted to provide you with some last minute thoughts. This year, we thought we would ask one of your peers for his thoughts on competing over this tough course.We spoke to Tim Bishop, a high performing age group athlete (21st overall last year and age group winner) and member of Team Freespeed Skechers Performance, who, like most of you, has a full time job.
What time would you get up on race day? I get up to eat 3 hours before the race start. My breakfast of choice would be porridge with banana and yoghurt plus a little scrambled egg on toast. After eating it’s back to bed for a bit, before heading to transition around 75 minutes before the start allowing time to change a tyre if necessary.
The start of IM Wales is a mass start from the beach, and includes an exit and re entry between lap 1 and lap 2. Any tips on how to handle this? Mass starts can seem very intimidating, but there’s plenty of space on the Tenby course and the field spreads out quickly. Take it easy when running between the laps – there’s no point risking cramp to gain a couple of seconds.
How would you personally set up your bike for this course? i.e, gearing Would this be the right sort of set up for say a first time triathlete too? Last year I used a standard 39/52 front chainset with 11/27 rear cassette. For a first time triathlete I would consider a bigger rear cassette as some of the toughest climbs come near the end when you may not be at your freshest!
What do you like to eat on the bike and how often would you eat or drink? I stick to a strict schedule. I eat three Clif Shot Bloks (~100 kCals) every 20 minutes with water and drink one bottle of energy drink per hour. IRONMAN Wales requires a more flexible approach though as my stomach doesn’t tolerate food too well when working harder up the hills. So I aim to eat whenever the course is flatter.
How do you monitor your pace on the bike? How do you know that you are not going too hard? For my first few IM’s I stuck to a strict heart rate cap, but these days I go more on feel, using my Garmin numbers as a safety check to avoid power or HR spikes or dips. The Tenby course has a real sting in its tail, with two steep climbs near the end and a final short climb up to T2, so it is essential to hold back a bit on the first loop.
Do you use any mental strategies to help you through the run? I do a lot of mental arithmetic, constantly recalculating my anticipated finish time. I also break the run into manageable segments: the four laps in Tenby are perfect for this and collecting each coloured lap wristband is a big mental boost. In the last 10k I con myself that it’s will be no harder than one of my regular training runs of the same distance.
Is there anything else that you think would be really useful to those taking part this weekend? Yes: the bike course is never too far from the coast, so be prepared for some changeable weather. Carrying an extra top won’t slow you down, but getting cold could ruin your day. Also, don’t get carried away on the hills early in the day (including the run up the cliff path to T1). Above all, be sure to enjoy the amazing crowd support in Tenby!
Good luck to you all and in particular to those athletes that have been following our training program. More information on our coaches, our IRONMAN Wales training packages can be found at www.thetrilife.com.
From Liz, Richard, Andrea, Bill, Dan, Mike, Thom, Dean, Duncan and Lou at thetrilife.com
