Ironman Triathlon Training: Overcoming Obstacles

This is part of a series of articles on James’ Ironman Triathlon training. You can also follow our Instagram page for regular updates.

Introduction

I am less than four months away from participating in the Ottawa Ironman Triathlon on August 2. Through eight months of training so far I have learned a lot about both the sport and myself. Most of these things I intuitively knew beforehand to be true, but personally experiencing them through training has been eye-opening. Here are my insights related to overcoming obstacles one encounters when embarking on such a journey.

Lessons learned about overcoming obstacles

Setbacks

Let’s be real, in any endeavour worth doing, there will be setbacks. An obvious one in sports is injuries, which force one to pause training (or at least certain aspects of it) to recover, hindering progress. For me this has been the case for running, as the repeated impact on the joints takes a lot of getting used to. Fortunately till now I have only suffered minor lower-body aches that require only a modest amount of care and rest. The silver lining in triathlon is there are three sports, so barring a serious debilitating injury, putting one sport on pause means there are still two others to train for.

I have also experienced hitting the wall during marathon training, where my energy is depleted and I cannot run anymore. While it obviously sucks, I am glad this happens to me for the first time during training and not in the middle of an event, so that I learn how to better prepare to avoid future occurrences. The takeaway is that not every training session is going to go well, and it is important to pick oneself up and be prepared to try again the next day.

Self-doubt

Related to the previous point, a workout that does not go as well as planned leads to thoughts such “I am barely able to cover X km right now, so how the heck will I be able to cover 2X km on race day?” This can be a legitimate concern, and having a solid training plan ahead of time helps a lot. Start small, gradually build distance each week, and schedule for unforeseen interruptions and setbacks to progress.

An event like the Ironman Triathlon is supposed to push one’s limits, so feeling some self-doubt is a natural and even necessary part of the process. After all, if every workout came with complete certainty about how much distance one would cover and in what time, then that signals the workout was on the easy side, which is OK some but not all of the time in order to improve.

Solitude

Something one does not necessarily anticipate about triathlon training is that it is a very solitary experience, especially in the winter when there are no suitable outdoor group bicycle rides. There have been some weeks where the only people I talk to are work colleagues and grocery store cashiers. A triathlete’s solitude can be the butt of jokes, but at least it shows I am not alone (even though I technically am).

Joining a run club is always an alternative; I have tried one and it is enjoyable. But as my target running distance increases, my optimal pace becomes increasingly personalized, and is less well-suited for running in a group. For this reason I have been running alone, though I do get to wave at other runners going the opposite way.

Training for an Ironman Triathlon requires sacrifice and saying no to a lot of social events. That said, it is important to maintain social connections to counter the solitude and maintain mental health. Every now and then, one should not feel bad for forgoing a training session in order to meet a friend for coffee.

Upcoming events

Before closing, here is a reminder of the events I will be participating in leading up to the triathlon:

1. May 3: CN Cycle for CHEO hospital fundraiser bicycle ride (95 km);
2. May 24: Tamarack Homes Ottawa International Marathon (42.2 km);
3. June 6-7: Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour (356 km over two days);
4. July 11: Bring on the Bay open water swim (3 km).

Remember to have fun!

I will mention one more important lesson to keep in mind when working towards a challenging but worthwhile goal: be sure to have fun! While there will be individual moments that are anything but fun, if the experience as a whole stops being enjoyable then it is worth asking why you are doing it.

I am hopefully on track to reach my goals, but time will tell. And by the time this post goes live I hope to have taken my bicycle out for a ride or three. Stay tuned for further updates!