Lucy Gossage in Hawaii with her prize a Kona wooden bowl.

Lucy Gossage is an exceptional athlete with successes under her belt ranging from winning the Outlaw Triathlon in a relay with her TFN teammates to an individual course record for the Vitruvian Triathlon. This season she trained harder than ever in preparation for the ultimate Ironman race: Kona, Hawaii. Tzero caught up with Lucy at the Cancer Research Institute in Cambridge where she is busy completing her Ph.D. and discovered how Lucy caught the Ironman bug, and what she would do in a parallel universe where triathlon doesn’t exist. She also shared some top advice for anyone undertaking an Ironman Triathlon.

When was your first race?

LG: 2005, The London Triathlon

Do you have a training philosophy?

LG: Train hard but clever.

What is your favourite diet component?

LG: Coffee and Chocolate

What music do you train to?

LG: Infinity by the Guru Josh Project is my number one motivating song.

If triathlon didn’t exist what would you do for kicks?

LG: I’d go walking in mountains or travel the world. Maybe some watersports too!

Following her relay team’s Outlaw Triathlon win last weekend, Tzero caught up with Lucy Gossage, an Ironman Triathlete who is currently gearing up for the Ironman Championships in Hawaii later this year.

We had just enough time to get the lowdown on the relay team who won the UK’s alternative to the official Ironman race and Lucy’s take on the race from an experienced competitor’s point of view.

Tzero: When and why did the TFN relay team come into being?

LG: TFN is an amazing triathlon club in Nottingham of which Helen, Lou and I are all members. We were invited to take part in the Outlaw as a relay team by the event sponsors, Total Fitness Nottingham, Bloc and CompresSport and obviously jumped at the chance! Both Lou and I are training for Hawaii so couldn’t really do the whole thing by ourselves. Instead we had a win-win situation – we all got some quality training in as well as having a really fun day and being part of Nottingham’s first ever Ironman! It’s great to have the opportunity to race with your friends rather than against them and being part of a team really makes you want to give 100%. Though none of us had tapered and we were all viewing it as a training day, I think when it came down to our bit, we all gave us much as we could – and that’s how Lou’s ‘jogging’ the marathon turned into a 2hr49 run. Just think what she could do if she was properly rested! One of the best bits of the day was seeing lots of TFN friends finish their first Ironman – it certainly made me realise what an amazing achievement it is to finish one!