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.”