Challenge Wanaka New Zealand February 17th 2018

I met with this old friend of ours last year when she came over on holiday to visit friends and family in the UK and she mentioned then that she would like to get back in shape and enter another Ironman race. Like me she has not raced at that distance for a number of years and knew without me saying that she should start by getting a bit of weight off since training when slightly overweight can end up with an unnecessary injury before you really get going.

She has started training, going out on her bike several times a week and that is a good start but I feel that Ironman is every bit a mental challenge too and the head must be on straight, firm and focused before further action.

Steve and I have spoken at length about her and he says she should consider these things before diving in to the entry page on the website. We do not want to sound off putting but need to point out that you must be prepared for an Ironman. There are a lot of events that can be done for a laugh but Ironman or full distance Challenge races are not in that list. 

Challenge Wanaka is a tough course.

The swim is in a beautifully clear stretch of water but can be cold.

The bike course is on poor road compared to Christchurch and is quite undulating with some reasonably tough climbs.

It is known for being windy.

The run course is also undulating and has one quite hard climb.

A lot of the run is on trails with gravel and shingle underfoot.

It is nowhere near as easy a course as Roth which is a race she has competed in a long time ago.

On the plus side it is probably the most scenic and beautiful Iron distance race.

There is also a half distance.

Before you commit to doing the full Ironman,

Ask yourself if you are able to do the following:

A very minimum, of two swims per week, of at least 2000 each.

Four bike rides a week of 30 miles each.

Or, one of 60 miles, and two thirty milers.

Run four runs a week of 10km per run.

Or two 15 km and a 10km

We think this would be the minimum required to get through that race in under cut off time.

Let us know asap what you think of these comments.

This is giving you the bare distance required.

If you cannot dedicate the time for at least this amount of training.

Then you should not enter.

Maybe the half option would be better.

If you do decide to go for the full distance we will give you as much help as we possibly can with email advice.

Ironman is not something to take on because you quite like the idea of doing it. You must be totally committed to the idea that Ironman does not come cheap, you have to pay the price and the price is hard work.

It can also mean a temporary abandonment of your standard social life as well as a restructuring of your eating habits and a serious look at a number of other areas of your life for at least the period between filling in the entry form and standing on the start line.

Ironman is a great thing to dream about doing and a special thing to make you stand back and look at all the things you could do to regain your old full fitness.

Just dreaming about doing it however, will not cut it.

In my own season plan I have Ironman 70.3 Elsinore in mid June and even though I am very much older than this person I have written about, yet I know that I already have a head start on her because my swim is already in place because I swim four times per week as always. I have turbo trained all winter because I am too long in the tooth to got out and deliberately get wet and cold because that invites aches pains and other problems. The biking will have the mileage upped and I have a two week bike training holiday booked in exactly a month before the race when I will be biking daily. Then I know the run will be very hard for me since I have not done more than 10m runs for a number of years however they are perfectly sound.

Steve listens to Ironman Talk on the radio which is mainly two guys discussing every aspect of Ironman between themselves and with guests.

She will need to get at least as serious as this by next February which ever distance she opts for in her final decision.