Injury, frustration, doubt and resolution

An Ironman athlete once told me “completing an Ironman is not that hard; it’s doing the training that’s the real problem.”

Over the past few weeks, Alex Hinton has been finding out how true that is. Alex is signed up for Ironman France in June 2010. T-zero has been following his progress.

Firstly, Alex picked up an injury – tendonitis in one ankle – and has been unable to run for a fortnight. On top of that, he’s taken on new responsibilities at work (with added time commitments) and has a private building project to manage 200 miles away in Cornwall. Plus he came down with a cold.

“I reached a point where I began to wonder whether it was all worth the money and effort,” says Alex.

According to Alex’s coach, Fiona Ford of Triathlon Europe, it’s not uncommon for athletes to go through periods of self-doubt.

“It’s quite normal to expect most first-time Ironman athletes to have doubts, frustrations and worries, especially if they get ill or injured,” says Fiona. “We’re not machines and a race preparation rarely runs like clockwork for novice triathletes until they understand their individual adaptation to training and the importance of recovery, and until they’ve gained the experience to train at the optimal training intensities prescribed.”

Alex felt better after a good open discussion with Fiona. She pointed out that his training volume was relatively high, so even though he’d missed a few sessions he’d still put in a good number of hours. And while Alex’s running has stalled, he’s made good progress on with the other two disciplines, particularly swimming.

“I’m pleased with how my times have dropped, especially when I’m wearing a wetsuit,” says Alex, who tries to get in the water three times a week. “So far we’ve primarily been working on swimming technique, but from now on I’ll be adding some fitness sessions.” So far, Alex has knocked around 15 seconds per hundred meters of his swim time.

With cycling, Alex has increased his long rides by around 10 miles each week up to around 100 miles at a stretch, with a total weekly ride distance of about 200 miles.

One of the hardest changes Alex had to make for Ironman training was too slow down. “Typically I used to train at the maximum intensity I could handle – it didn’t feel like training otherwise – but then I’d need two or three days off to recover.”

He’s now learned to slow himself down on long rides or runs. “I’m still getting used to the idea, but I’ve noticed that I can train more consistently if I keep within the zones Fiona asks me to target.”

Finally, how’s he managing his Ironman ambitions alongside work and family?

“I think working relatively regular hours helps me define my training programme. I know I either have to work training into my commute and do it early and the morning and in the evening. I then just book the slots in.”

Alex is also very grateful to his wife Jenny who’s been “super supportive”. He tries to keep as much of the weekend free as possible to spend with her and their one-year old daughter.

“I start my long ride at 6am on a Saturday so that I’m back in time for lunch. On Sunday’s I swim at 7am. I’m back for breakfast and I take the rest of the day off.”

Training partner Martin convinces Alex he can ride 112 miles

Related posts:

1. Ironman training: Journey to Ironman France (Part 1) Alex Hinton decided he wanted a coach to help...
2. Ironman Training: Journey to Ironman France (Part 2) Aspiration meets actuality Tzero supported athlete Alex Hinton is preparing...
3. Journey to Ironman France (Part 5) – Mission Completed Over the last few months T-Zero has followed Alex Hinton’s...
4. Journey to Ironman France (Part 4) – The final countdown As we publish this, we already know how Alex fared...
5. Personal journeys: winning Ironman France Thinking about doing Ironman France? Fiona Ford won the women’s...