Experiencing Ironman success

Defining Success

As defined dictionary.com

1.

the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one's goals.

In order to judge if we have been successful at something, goals must be set prior. Now this is the tricky bit, but so important. Setting appropriate goals can totally change your mindset, productivity and ultimately the levels of success you achieve. Set the goals too low and you will most likely achieve success, but will you experience the true euphoria that comes with the personal satisfaction of such success? Set the goals too high and you may continually fail and continually deny yourself the opportunity to be happy about your achievements. (Don’t get me wrong we need to fail, and shouldn’t be scared of failure because ultimately that makes us better)

This weekend is Ironman Melbourne and I am so bloody excited about watching my wife, athletes I coach, friends, the pointy end of the field and people I don’t even know execute their Ironman race this Sunday. For most it has been a long build with massive commitment from themselves, families and friends.  How do you set goals to measure success beyond the objective?

I like to look at goals from two perspectives and I think both are important. I believe you should have a number of Objective and Subjective goals leading into an Ironman. Objective goals are things that can be measured or they either happen or they don’t there is no grey. Qualify for Kona, Sub 10, Sub 12, Goal average power on the bike, Goal run time, Too finish. These goals are important and are really why we are on the start line to begin with. But I am a big fan of the old Journey Vs Destination or Process Vs Outcome analogy. If you focus on subjective goals (goals which require you to look deep into yourself, which require you to make an honest assessment as to whether they have been achieved) you are much more likely to achieve the objective ones. Examples of subjective goals: Did I stick to my pacing and not got too hard at the start, Did I maintain mental focus all day (lapses in concentration cost time), Did I ease off when things got a little uncomfortable, Did I walk when I could have run, Did I stick with my tried and tested nutrition plan, Did I maintain an aerodynamic position on the bike when it got a little uncomfortable, Did I truly push when things got hard as I knew it would, etc.

So whether or not you can look back at your last three months prep and say you achieved what you wanted to, it is still worthwhile setting your realistic yet challenging Objective and Subjective goals now (If you haven’t already done so). I like to have a list of at least five or six for an Ironman and judge my success based upon how many of those goals I was able to achieve.  Write them out, and replay them in the head. If you concentrate on the subjective ones race day, requiring you to be completely honest with yourself the objective outcomes will take care of themselves.

Hopefully this will stop you reaching the finish line looking at the clock and judging your whole experience on one number! Sometimes circumstances beyond our control affect the objective outcome but if you can truly look deep into yourself and say you gave it your absolute best you can still experience success. I truly hope you experience the deep joy of hard earned success this weekend, good luck! Time to hurt.

Below is an example of an athlete I coach experiencing deep success beyond achieving a goal time despite not seeing at the time.

 

Last year, Mark experienced the joy of achieving a goal within his reach, a sub-10 time at Ironman Melbourne. Through determination, good planning, perseverance despite setback (injury) etc etc! As a coach I was so happy to see the exhilaration he felt from such success. The next part of our plan was to have a quick turn around and back up for Port Macquarie Ironman six weeks later. Riding on the high experienced in Melbourne, Mark was truly excited by what was possible. Perhaps a Kona qualification was in his grasps if not in Port Macquarie certainly in the future. This all come un-stuck about 15km into the 180km bike ride when he hit a big pothole. He went over the handle bars at 50km/h (downhill section at the bottom of Matthew Flinders dve) taking skin form his face, torso and legs. His bike was a mess also and deemed un-safe by the officials. Rear brake cable snapped, Front Derailleur bent beyond being fixable and only three gears to choose from on the rear cog. Now Mark could have easily walked off the course then and there. Obviously he was pissed off, but the voice in his head could have justified that he had broken 10hrs six weeks ago, the mechanic is telling me he can’t fix my bike and it’s unsafe, call it a day, head back to town get the wounds clean and go get some lunch. 

 Mark told that voice to piss off, he called on his negotiation skills from his day job and convinced the mechanic that his bike was safe with a front brake (utilising some of the laws of physics) and decided he would ride the entire Port Macquarie (bloody hilly) course in the big dog, with three gears and weeping wounds. Needless to say what was to follow was a long day of agony. Mark persevered and got to the finish-line in the dark of the night. Talking to him that evening he was mightily pissed off because he was feeling great and confident he could improve upon to sub-10 mark he had set six weeks earlier. He saw this as failure. To me this was one of the best moments in coaching I had experienced. (Not through any of my doing) Marks in-built reaction was to finish at all costs and an attitude that no obstacle is too great. What an experience for his pre-teen kids to watch their Dad struggle to the line battered and bruised. That lesson is one that I have no-doubt will teach them much more than any Kona ticket, super-fast time or any other audacious goal Mark has. To me this is great success!!  

Portarlington Long Course

Portarlington Long Course!

Last Sunday I had the chance to test my form after a solid four week ‘camp’ block of training at Supersprint’s famous Portarlington Triathlon. This event now also boasts a long course option (2, 80, 20), and is held over an honest yet spectacular course. Supersprint, as always run a great event. They have done a great job of creating an event which is run with the same professionalism as some of the bigger events around the globe but retained a ‘country’ feel. I highly recommend putting this one on your to-do list.  

Cold, wet and windy pretty much sums up the pre-match talk Sunday morning. (Post race many prided themselves on being ‘hard men’ after racing in the aforementioned conditions, however such thoughts seemed ridiculous after watching the Milan-San Remo highlights this morning)

 

                                                                                                                   

This race for me was a lead in event, for my main goal, Ironman Port Macquarie in seven weeks. It came at an opportune time for me with Ironman Melbourne next weekend, meaning a small field. This really gave me the confidence to execute my race without getting caught up in chasing others (which I should do anyway, but often don’t). There was also a nice little bit of pocket money up for grabs for the winner.

 

Despite the horrible conditions the renowned Portarlington swim course remained pristine as the wind was blowing off shore meaning most of the course remained relatively calm as it was protected by the land mass behind. The six of us starting in the Elite male category took off together and stayed in a tight pack for the entire 2km swim. Lead by Monty Frankish and Tom Rodgers (I think) I battled away on their feet and was quite uncomfortable for the whole swim but managed to hang on.

Into T1 I was hurting from the swim, but happy I was able to hold the pace of the leaders. This made for a tardy T1 by me and I slowly made my way out onto the bike. Tom took the race by the scruff of the neck and really hit the start of the ride hard. I wasn’t too stressed as I thought once I settled my HR down I would be able to slowly bridge up but this wasn’t the case. For some reason I was super tight in the Hamstrings and Quads, heading out into the rain and headwind I thought I was in trouble. After 20km of Head / Cross wind we were blessed with a very solid tail wind, and for some reason that tightness sorted itself out and I was able to work myself into a rhythm. By the end of the first lap I had lost a couple of minutes to Tom. My next two laps were much better, in terms of speed and power. I finished the ride having negative split the second half. For the data geeks (which I am becoming one of) I was able to finish with an average power IF of .94 (.94 of threshold power) and VI of 1.01 (Normalised Power / Average Power) meaning I maximised the amount of actual power put through the pedals for nearly the least metabolic cost. For those of you who have just switched off it means I basically rode as efficient as I ever have, conserving more energy but this also resulted in a personal best overall output and left me a lot fresher for the run.

Into T2 my wife Tarryn was there to tell me to get a move on and let me know Tom was 4min up the road. So basically he had just over a km on me. I knew Tom was a solid runner and it was going to take a good run to peg that time back. I found myself working into a good rhythm straight away and for the first few kilometres sub 3.30 pace felt quite comfortable. As I progressed the body was feeling better and better and I was able to even split the run, holding the same pace for each of the three laps. I caught Tom at the 16km mark and was able to put enough buffer in on the way home to enjoy the finish. Congrats also to age grouper and hard man ‘Dave Meade’ rounding out the podium with a solo effort starting a few minutes behind us.

 

 

It was great to get the win and collect some prize money, but I was most happy about getting my pacing and nutrition spot on and consequently producing personal best efforts for long course / half distance with power on the bike and pace on the run after a hard swim. This gives me good confidence leading into the next 6 weeks of training that I am on target to achieve my goals in Port Macquarie. Thanks again to my great sponsors Peak Cycles, Saucony and Ryders Eyewear.