Becoming an Ironman world champion means covering a lot of ground in preparation – athletes grind through 226km of swimming, riding, and running in the race alone.
“Boulder Creek, in the heart of Boulder, is really cool even
in summer.” Images: Delly Carr
One man who knows a thing or two about the phrase “hard yards in training” is last year’s Hawaiian Ironman winner Craig “Crowie” Alexander. Alexander, while schooled in Ironman by Aussie great Greg Welch and American stalwart Dave Scott, actually cut his triathlon teeth racing the best short course athletes – Brad Beven, Miles Stewart, Greg Bennett and Craig Walton – in the late ’90s. While he made a strong fist of this with relatively low kilometres on the corporeal odometer, it was at the turn of the millennium when Alexander really dropped the clutch.He claimed the “triple crown” in the US by winning short course classics in Boston, Chicago and LA and won $286,000 and an SUV at the Life Time Fitness Triathlon in 2005. Then, spurred by memories of watching Hawaii champ Welch interviewed on the old Wide World Of Sports, Ironman beckoned.Bar Welch’s victory in 1994, the Yanks and Euros had dominated in Hawaii since the sport’s inception. That all changed when Chris McCormack won in 2007 on his sixth attempt, with Alexander second behind him on debut. Alexander, 35, continued the new era of antipodean occupation by returning to the Big Island to win in 2008, leading to a WWOS interview of his own with Channel Nine’s Ken Sutcliffe as Hawaii champion. Now the show’s over and Alexander is descending back into his fitness furrow for another tilt at the title
THE MENTORS
“My main point of contact was people who’d done well in Kona in the past. I spoke to Welchy, who won Hawaii in ’94, and having six-time champ Dave Scott in Boulder, Colorado where I train every Australian winter was helpful, too. Dave said I should err on the side of doing more mileage because I came from a short course background. For that reason I do two big-volume blocks of training per year where I train every day for a month and complete close to 20km of swimming, 720km of biking and 125km of running. The one thing Greg and Dave both said to me was that they could only give me a general framework; I would have to figure the rest out myself because every athlete is different.”
LIKE LANCE
“I developed my training program myself, but within the framework of my cycling I always try to get the feedback of Lance Armstrong’s coach, Chris Carmichael. There’s a big difference between 40km pack rides in Olympic distance racing and a 180km individual time trial in Ironman. I thought if anyone had the expertise on the bike and could suggest the things I needed to do in training, then Lance’s coach would be the guy. Aside from looking at my bike programs, he also suggested a bike fit test for my riding position.”
Swim Gear. Images: Delly Carr
RARE AIR
“I think the altitude of my US training base in Boulder helps. Boulder’s 1600m above sea level, so the height is pretty good for a sport like Ironman because you don’t have to do a lot of really intense work like in Olympic distance triathlon. I do pretty much the same program as at sea level; it’s just that you need a little more recovery. Sometimes when I want to get some variety in the altitude I jump in the car and drive to 8000 feet and run up above Boulder. At that height you don’t want to be doing anything too intense, though.”
MOTOR BIKING
“I try to do motor pacing behind a motorbike, but it’s hard to find someone capable of riding the bike for you. Sometimes I go to Colorado Springs and motor pace with a specialist rider for a couple of hours at up to 60km/h. The effect you get from motor pacing is pretty important because you’re putting in
a sustained effort at high pace. It’s a neuromuscular drill in that you’re turning a big gear over fast, but not getting totally trashed the next day from doing such a fast time trial.”
LOVE THE TUNNEL
“Just before I did my big block before Kona in August last year I went over to Charlotte, North Carolina to test in the same wind tunnel a lot of the NASCARs use. It was an enlightening experience. We tried different helmets and bike positions to see which was the most efficient aerodynamically. Your chest is the main thing that catches wind, so we moved my elbow position on the aerobars by 5mm to block that. And I put a different type of arm extension on because it lowered the frontal profile of my hands. Those changes made quite a few Watts of difference in the tests.”
I try to do motor pacing behind a motorbike, Images: Delly Carr
BRICK ATTACK
“There are no secrets. If you spoke to anyone in any triathlon discipline whatever the length, there are going to be a lot of similarities between their training programs. Obviously you need to do long rides and long runs. You also need to do your brick sessions, which is one triathlon discipline followed closely by another. The brick session is a staple in every triathlon training program. I have this key session just before Kona when I come off the volume and I’m starting to freshen up a bit. I’ll ride four hours really hard and then run for an hour hard either negative splitting the run or by doing intervals at the track.”
THE LONE STRANGER
“I get asked a lot of the time what I think about out there during the eight hours of the Ironman. All those long rides, a lot of which I do by myself, train you mentally. You learn to distract your mind and concentrate on the things you need to think about out there, like hydrating and taking calories on board. You also learn how to zone in and out. Long rides train your mind as well as your body. I’ve always been a big believer in training the way you race. You have to train your mind with what is going to happen to it on race day. And what happens in Ironman is that you’re out there a long time and you have to rely on yourself.”
MILKSHAKE A DAY
“I eat your regular healthy diet. The good thing about a healthy diet for a normal person or an active person is that it covers everything you need to eat. I eat red meat once or twice a week, fish and chicken. Also for protein I make up shakes with protein powder and take 1000mg of vitamin C per day. The thing about being up at altitude is that you lose weight, because at five and a half thousand feet your heart rate is about ten beats higher than it would be at sea level. You’re burning more calories on a day-to-day basis, and that’s without all the training. I’ve found both years that I’ve done my big block for Hawaii that I’ve lost weight really quickly. So the problem is keeping it on. For this reason I get a one litre 7-Eleven Big Gulp cup, fill it with chocolate milk and skol it every day.”
Swiss Ball Gym Sessions. Image: Delly Carr
JUMP IN THE CREEK
“Boulder Creek, in the heart of Boulder, is really cool even in summer. When I’m doing my big Kona block of training in August, I’d say the water temperature is about 12 degrees, maybe even less. It’s so cold it hurts to get in. I’ll just sit in there from the shoulders down. Normally I do one dip for five to eight minutes every day. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, when I run first, I’ll go straight to the creek afterwards. And on Wednesdays and Saturdays, when I do a long ride and run off the bike, I’ll have a sleep, then go for a dip in the creek in the afternoon. But you get most benefit if you do it straight after the session.”
GYM WITH DAVE
“When I’m in Boulder I meet Dave at the gym and we do a core stability strength session. I try to do it two days a week and it’s a 30-minute routine which focuses on deep abdominals and gluteals. Each session is comprised of seven or eight Swiss ball or body weight exercises, and we normally do two sets of each of them. We do a step up, down, and out to the side on each leg for the gluts. The plank position for the lower back (alternating each leg off the ground) I hold for one minute. We also do leg raises and leg holds, hip bridging on the Swiss ball and some push-ups with wide and narrow arms to finish.”
– Chris Hill