Tim Reed

70.3 World Champion & Professional Triathlete

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Running Shoe Reviews

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PREFACE: You’re welcome to skip to the shoes..

This is not the sort of blog you would read start to finish. Life is too short. Simply scroll until you find a shoe you’re curious about and then move on with your life. I’ll continually add shoes as I get to round to it and/or try new releases eventually enabling a search function so you don’t have to scroll endlessly.

If you came here to witness me tear to shreds the brilliant minds behind the multitude of shoe designs out there I feel you’ll be disappointed. Like a fine French wine connoisseur, I’m not interested in trying shoes that I’m quite certain won’t work for me or are not high performance footwear. I’m comparing really good running shoes with really good running shoes. If you’re chasing advice on heavy duty, long lasting trainers, reading anything beyond this point will be precious minutes of your life lost, never to be reclaimed. Even if you read on, that could still be the case. 

Running shoes are like aero helmets in that what works for one person might test poorly for another. So just because an overly opinionated vertically challenged pro triathlete states shoe opinions like it’s gospel on the shoes below, they are just that, opinions. The total opposite of what I look for in a shoe might be better for you. 

To help you decide whether my palate is akin to yours, I’m 170cm tall on a warm day and range from 62 to 68kgs depending on whether I’m in a zero or high beer consumption phase of my training program. I’m a high arched, neutral runner with very little pronation. Probably too little pronation leading to quite a high impact on foot strike. If I could opt for some biological changes, I would add a little to my ankle pronation, although that would be way further down the list after an extra 20cm of height and a less manic brain. 

My running shoe obsession has plagued me as long as I can remember. My childhood was spent cutting apart my worn out basketball and running shoes to see how they were all put together. The passion continued (shoes, not cutting stuff up) through university as I worked in a running shoe shop to pay my way through life. That worked out terribly work as I would trade in my weekly pay for another pair of shoes to run in. This consistent cash splashing on shoes resulted in several years surviving exclusively on baked beans toasted sangers and necessitated taking on a second job washing dishes at night to pay my rent. The only upside of hours of gait analysis and personally trialling hundreds of shoes was that now as a 35 year old I can waste a few hours of my life writing shoe reviews to avoid doing other tasks that actually need to be completed.  

Three important points. 

  1. I’m not currently aligned with any shoe companies. Sometimes I get sent freebies to try but in no way does that influence my opinion on them. Perhaps this is foolish as this could end the free shoe deliveries. Perhaps clever because now people will understand I won’t be sponsored by a shoe company unless they’re really bloody awesome shoes. If I do become partner up with a brand, I’ll stop adding to this blog.
  2. My shoe efficiency testing methods involve the standard but less preferable heart rate for pace treadmill testing. I say less preferable because shoes that really bounce you up in the air like the Nike Next % will always test very well on a treadmill as it allows more time for the treadmill belt to run underneath you but in the real world these vertical hang time moments do not necessarily result in a faster forward motion. The other testing is of course out in the big bad real world involving 1-5km looped flat or undulating repeats with the pace ranging from goal middle distance triathlon to Ironman pace as per the treadmill testing, comparing heart rate or doing the intervals at a set heart rate to compare pace. I keep an eye on weight loss, temperature, wind speed and other variables while cycling through the shoes several times in a testing session, so that heart rate creep and other potential factors can be somewhat excluded. What I’ve found interesting is that shoes that are really efficient at 3.15/km pace are not always the fastest at 4 min/km pace. Also, what works best in the first 5kms may not be as good 15-20kms into the testing as run form changes with fatigue. For those that want to pick apart the lack of controls with the testing you’ll get no argument from me. It’s far from perfect. Your personal results could be different so get out there and do hundreds of kilometres of testing, and swapping shoes every 1-5 kms while controlling more variables. You have my full support.
  3. Glossary of terms at the bottom of the blog. 
  4. Also included is a list of shoes that will be reviewed soon. Shoot me a message on FB or Insta of a shoe that you would like reviewed. If enough people ask, it will give me an excuse to buy more shoes for testing.

Nike Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT%- Purchased

Nike Alphafly Next % 9.5/10

Nike have tamed the wild brumby while keeping, if not improving, the speed inherited from it’s royal ancestors but if you’re looking for a shoe that will last beyond a 2-3 races. Look elsewhere.


This shoe took longer than other shoe to review. I think because deep down, I really wanted to dislike it. It’s hard to disregard subconscious bias but I think I’ve managed when I say, dammit, I love this shoe. 

Finally Nike have included some more meat on the medial side of the shoe to halt the hectic over-pronation of their previous top racing shoes. Coupled with the air pods in the forefoot of the shoe the stability is a drastic improvement from the Vaporfly Next %. volume. That’s not to say they’re stable in the way the Saucony Endorphin Pro or Sketchers Speed Elite are. Far from it but definitely many times safer on the achilles, knees and hips than it’s predecessors.

Like all carbon-plated shoes, correct sizing is critical and these trampoline shoes fit very much on the large side; unusually I had to sell my first pair and and purchase another to go down to a size 9 US. For context, I often run in a size 10. Given the cost (currently $370 AUD) I would try before you buy. Like a new car out of the show room, you’ll lose a bucket load trying to sell the pair that doesn’t fit.

On the treadmill these shoes are faster than any other non-Nike shoe by quite a lot. However, treadmill tests in any of the ‘Zoom X’ foam shoes will be very misleading as the shoes hurtle you towards orbiting the moon allowing much more treadmill belt to run underneath you. Take them out on the road and you soon see that an increase in vertical oscillation doesn’t necessarily translate to horizontal speed. However, learning how to use the spring to your advantage by training in the foam and making subtle changes to run technique can help the runner recruit the bounce to a more forward moving advantage.

Is it faster than the Saucony Endorphin Pro? Perhaps but if so, not by much. In objective tests they’re much closer than they feel.

As I’ve often reported, the Zoom X exaggerates great running but also exaggerates sloppy ‘falling apart’ running when the monkey jumps on your back. If you can hold your form together well, I think the biggest perk is how cushioned the shoe is for it’s crazy light mass. This cushioning will lead to fresh muscles late in a marathon where you can really start laying the sword into the competitors around you who are dealing with the ‘glass in quads’ sensation that typically befriends runners from the 25km mark onwards.

Decent width, great loop holes front and back for quick transitions ( I would still wear socks, my feet are in tatters from Husky Tri) and excellent grip in all conditions. Nike have hit this one out of the park.

Longer term additional comment on durability. The durability is offensively bad. The Zoom X foam turns to smoosh a long time before the air pockets on the front so the 4mm drop quickly becomes 2-3mm and you feel like you’re sinking into the back seat of these babies after as little as 100kms of wear. Still, if a single race performance is all you’re chasing, it’s very difficult to look past this creation.

Image- @koruptvision

Saucony Endorphin Pro- 9.5/10 Purchased.

Finally, a traditional feeling carbon plated shoe that performs very nearly as efficiently as the best I’ve tested with durability that far exceeds the Nike Alphafly.

Incredible stability, the right balance between cushioning and responsiveness at 213-220 grams (ish). Finally a shoe where no overhaul of run technique is needed to make this shoe fast and for the runner to stay injury free, unlike some other super fast carbon plated offerings. 

Stability matters as you will tell from my Next % review. For years when runners have talked to me with knee pain or hip pain, I’ve recommended a switch to Saucony Kinvara (See hall of fame posted shortly) OR Saucony Zealot because the stability these shoes offered with their wide platform, natural heel to toe drop shakes off the aches and pains with a longer lasting effect than most physiotherapy sessions. 

I’m quite sure the ‘PEBA’ foam that the Endorphin Pro, much like the ‘Everlast’ foam in previous Saucony models,  is borrowed from Adidas for a tidy commission as it’s far too similar to not be breaching some form of patent. However, who really cares who owns the tech, this foam is the business!  

Unusually for such light shoes, you don’t have to pass these on to your unsuspecting, shoe illiterate friends you compete against once the foam has turned to smoosh (5) for the wonderful reason that the foam doesn’t turn to smoosh! The Endorphin Pros dying day will be because the minimal use of the outer sole rubber has worn through. I don’t see any way of making a lightweight racer without a minimal outer sole so when that day comes, shed a tear, but don’t get angry. Either way, unless you run like the heel scuffing line dancing top American pro, Sam Appleton or the bizarrely fast wounded soldier Lionel Sanders, you should get at least 350 kms of running banked before the outer sole has been ground to invisibility. Along with the full length carbon plate, an 8mm drop that seems to work superbly especially for those running off the bike. Combined with the Endorphin Pro’s ’Rocker (1), these features genuinely help this shoe fly. 

The one improvement Saucony needs to make is around the heel cup design. It’s not atrocious but there is a lot of room for improvement to prevent heel slippage, rubbing, and to further improve the shoe’s efficiency. 

Lace very tightly at the top of the shoe if you want to go sockless while racing without donating some skin to the race course.

Shoe comes in a pleasant design as per image above and in a vomit inducing high vis orange. I would not argue against the death penalty for whoever decided the latter colour design was a good option.

Saucony, if you’re reading, please also add a loop to the rear of your fastest shoes. My fellow triathletes and I would be greatly appreciative in transition 2. In fact, any shoe company reading this, please do this! It adds almost no weight but makes life so much easier for compression sock wearing, garmin gazing Triathlon dorks like myself to get them on in a hurry. 

Adidas Adizero Prime X- 9.2/10 Purchased.

Real fast but real weird.

First steps and I felt like a drunk in heels. I miss those days. Anyway, this is some damn tall footwear!

The latest World Athletics rules banned shoes with soles thicker than 40mm making sure that their close buddies at Nike were just under the limit with current designs. 

So this design is well and truly illegal for regulated athletic events not only due to it’s 50mm foam stack height but also for it’s highly illicit multiple carbon infused carbon blades instead of the permitted singular use of ‘rigid plate or similar device’. 

Instead of ditching this shoe, Adidas likely thought, ‘ahhh there’s still triathlon events where nothing ever seems to get ruled out except 20m drafting rules for pros. Roll out the space boots!’

This shoe is blistering fast. As fast as anything I’ve tested in both treadmill and field tests. However,  before you go out and throw a cheeky 4 hundy at the Adidas website.. Adidas have ignored basic physics in the design that even my 3 year old understands when he makes tall towers out of blocks. If you make something higher you need to make the base wider or the structure will fracture and the tower will tumble. 

In this case, your legs are the structure that will fracture and you will be the tower that tumbles.

In short, they’re bloody unstable. Not wreck your achilles with an over-pronation effect like the Nike Next % but more in the way they encourage lateral ankle rolls if the runner loses concentration at any moment.  If you’re running a race with lots of turns, you’re going to lose time in every turn navigating these running shoe cruise ships around the corners. 

Interestingly, where the poor stability seems less of a concern when you’re really up and moving at tempo to threshold intensities. 

Tri doggies, you wouldn’t want this upper on your skin without socks. In fact, even with socks the laces dig in a little uncomfortably. On the upper upside, it doesn’t hold much water at all when wet so you can keep throwing that water over your head on the run. 

The Continental rubber outsole and ridges really shines in the dry or wet and while I haven’t yet done enough kms to really evaluate the shoes durability I’m seeing already seeing signs that they are going to be much longer lasting than Nike Alphaflys. 

The cushioning is obviously next level for the weight and would be amazing for anyone who hasn’t been able to do adequate milage for a running event or tri needing as much quad protection as possible to keep running fast in the latter stages of an event.  Provided you never lose foot placement concentration..

Would I race these shoes in certain events without many turns despite the risk of snapping my legs in two? Yeah probably.

Asics EvoRide 9.2/10 Sent to test.

No outstanding weapons but absolutely zero weaknesses at a brilliant price point. 

I put in months of training in this shoe without considering how wonderful it was. If you’re not thinking about the shoes that’s a good sign the all is well between foot and shoe is on track and in time the trust builds into a truly beautiful relationship.

The Asics ‘Flight Foam’ is firm but stays cushioned even after hundreds of pavement smacks. The shoe just wants to roll forward with a very pronounced rocker while the 6mm drop blends perfectly with almost all run paces. Because there is no carbon plate and the weight is not crazy light (260 grams) I never really considered it for racing. Only after cycling through shoes in a very long 10 x 3km run test of several shoes was I awakened to how fast the shoe is especially after 15kms when other shoes start to conspire against you in a mutinous fashion as form fades.

Only a few heart rate beats slower the the various carbon offerings. ‘Feel’, while being utterly unscientific, really matters in the later stages of an Ironman when from 20kms you’re in the torture chamber.

Mid level durability as the outer-sole of the shoe will wear out before the brilliant ‘Flight foam’ loses its ‘popability’ (4). 

A very high rating for the EvoRide because while it has no outstanding features, the fact it has zero weaknesses, is in itself, outstanding. Factor in that it’s easily $100-$200 cheaper than most other brands top of the line racers and you could bang out a tonne of training runs AND use for race day if you’re not worried about a few saved heart rate beats that a carbon plate can provide often at less comfort. It’s a genuine winner.


Brooks Hyperion Elite 2- 9.1/10 Sent to test.

Like all carbon plated footwear, I had to a very snug pair to make the fit right but once I dialled in the size, I was instantly fond of the ride on offer.

They’re light. 210 grams light (Mens U.S 9) and the 8mm drop is not unnatural in the way other 8-10mm drops can be. I suspect this is because of the way the heel is cut out so you’re not forced into a heel strike like you may be with strong heel extrusion. Very responsive while still feeling cushioned. Not Alphafly cushioned but still a nice level of pushin cushion. I’m quite sure the Nitrogen-infused EVA is the same compound used in Skechers Speed Elite below only there is a lot more of it and that is a good thing. In fact, everything about this shoe reminds me of an improved version of the Skechers below except the wet surface grip has far less traction.

The stability of the wide platform is more than pleasant. The upper is satisfactory but you wouldn’t the upper on your skin without socks acting as the smooth middle man.

Expensive but at least that expense comes with a shoe and base foam that appears to last really well.

The big question is whether the shoe is fast enough to justify the cataract causing fluro base. Most reviewers go for a run and declare the shoe fast or slow based off feel. A woeful speed indicator as ‘feel’ and reality can be very far apart. I thought this shoe was Muhammad Ali pre Vietnam fast based off feel until I did some objective testing and the numbers didn’t lie. It’s certainly very quick but you’re getting comeback Ali. Still winning but because of durability more than outrageous speed.

I would buy because I love the ride, they’re fast without being blazingly fast but most importantly they seem to last and last with my first run a few months ago feeling exactly the same as my run after several hundred kilometres.

Skechers Gorun Speed Elite 9/10. Purchased. 

Light, responsive, grip you could hike glaciers with and carbon plate functionality that actually works but the nitrogen infused DNA foam simply doesn’t propel your take off like a few of the other super shoes.

If you slow-mo most people running in carbon plated shoes, what you’ll often see is the carbon plate flexing which simply moves the heel cup up and down while the heel just cops unpleasant heel cup massage. This obviously minimises the carbon plate benefit, which is why I’m so fond of the Sketchers forefoot carbon plate design. The heel stays in place in the shoe while you still get some good carbon plated propulsive goodness as the toes flex and drive at the latter stage of each run stride. 


The Good Year grip is a real sticking point in the best possible way. I think the best outer rubber I’ve run in. You plant, grip and rip through every stride without the slightest sign of slippage on all surfaces ranging from a wet triathlon aid station to the greasy cement of a McDonalds drive through.

The foam is a nitrogen infused EVA. It doesn’t rebound like some of the other top end brands foams out there but sometimes I think a shoe can give too much rebound especially at slower speeds where a ‘double bounce effect’ occurs when you’re dying not flying. This foam simply provides nice cushioning on impact and allows a very responsive natural take off, while encouraging a high cadence and delicious run form.


At 160grams for a size 9, the Speed Elite should not be at all durable but defies all expectations showing resilience similar to most shoes tipping the scales at 260 grams. 


Only potential downside for some athletes is the 4mm drop. It feels like a 3mm and for those that are used to running in 6-10mm shoes I would ease into this light weight baby rather slowly to ensure the achilles and calves can elongate gradually to get accustomed to it. OR, you can do as I did and simply cut in half an inner sole and glue into the back half of the shoe to make the shoe into a 6mm drop. This may put the heel cup too low on the heel but for myself, it worked fine. 

Note – I haven’t done any efficiency testing of this shoe apart from dreamily observing a really good pace for heart rate on runs but I will update when I do so down the track. 

Asics Glide Ride 8.9/10 Sent to test.

A truly unique ride. My ‘go-to’ shoe for lots of training especially when the legs are a little Slim Dusty.

The sole is packed with oodles of the Asics ‘Flight foam’, a foam I have so much affection for. At first sight I was sceptical the strange sole design would work but not only does it work, it really seems to really create an amazing running experience… unless rocks get caught in the big sole wedge cut out. Not really a problem unless you run mainly gravel roads.

An epic rocker combined with this level of cushioning, gel insert in the heel and a 6mm drop make this strange but wonderful beast worthy of including ‘Glide’ into it’s name as you genuinely get that running vibe until offseason kicks off, weight piles on and no amount of shoe super power can ever make you feel like you’re gliding.

Only negative is that the weight of 290 grams, while not heavy for a trainer still makes it a bit too heavy to race in. Perhaps we could see an ‘Asics Glide Ride Light’ version coming in the near future please Asics? High score mainly in regards to a trainer not racer rating and being way cheaper than most of the other shoes reviewed here.

Hoka Carbon X 8.7/10 Gifted (not from Hoka)

Stable and fast due to rocker and great foam tech. Not convinced on how functional the carbon plate is but all in all, Hoka have a shoe that’s a pleasure to run in.

The shoe tests well. Not amongst my top 3 for outright insane free speed but still right up there near the best. Most importantly, I feel good in them after 15kms of fast running unlike some of the shoes that test superbly but feel like you’re doing damage with the unnatural hard to control bounce. Big thumbs up to the wide stable platform that allows this shoe even in a 4mm drop to feel both natural while also kind towards tight calf muscles and achilles tendons.

I suspect the very pronounced ‘rocker’ shape and way the shoes outer-sole isn’t overly cushioned in the forefoot is the big driver of the Carbon X’s efficiency. I’m not convinced the carbon plate design flexes much for forward propulsion however the rigidity of the plate would certainly help the rocker action roll the runner forward.

The carbon X looks like it should be super durable but by 200kms I was pretty much down to the carbon plate in the forefoot, so I would save them for race day or key sessions leading up to that day. 

A lot of athletes I know who couldn’t make Nike options work for them were really happy in the Hoka Carbon X and I can see why.

Nike Zoom X Vaporfly Next% 8.2 /10 Purchased

Impure passionate lust soon subsides into the reality that you’re incompatible and true love will never be possible.

I wanted to love these shoes and I’ll be first to admit this is one such shoe that could very well be a case of it’s me not the shoe. Regardless, I just could never really make them flow for me after 10-12 kms of running. 

Even when I didn’t like them in training and had already run terribly in them for a couple of races, the efficiency of it at very fast paces during testing which absolutely was incredibly fast and the marketing hype around the shoes convinced me to keep wearing them in races. Ultimately, the continued pattern of falling apart on the run once my pace was slowing led to a dramatic break up and I hid these shoes deep in the cupboard to stop temping me back to the dark side .

In saying that, would I still use this shoe in a fresh 5-10km running race, or an ITU event and didn’t care about getting injured? Absolutely yes. They’re so fast but that speed comes at a high risk of injury for a lot of runners.

Contrary to most people who spring up and down on the ultra spongy Zoom X foam for 30 seconds and pronounce to one and all that the shoe the fastest shoe they’ve ever used, I’ve never been a huge fan of the foam. Primarily from an injury prevention perspective. I’ve seen too many athletes biomechanics turn into a fast moving horror movie. It’s fast but asking for trouble and eventually a lot of athletes come unstuck. This is partly due to the super squishy Nike X foam and partly because Nike seems to be really into making an overly exaggerated banana shape of the inside edge of the sole. This wouldn’t be such a problem with a less compressive foam, but with the current shaping and foam combined, over pronation gets a little cray cray. As the shoe wears quickly, this becomes more of a problem, not less of a problem, unlike most other shoes who tend to wear the outside of the shoe faster than the medial aspect.

The passion for the shoe is so strong in people pre-race and often even post-race until about a week after their goal marathon where an achilles, knee or hip injury has mysteriously appeared and they’re out of running action for a month or five. The foam can also cause a double bounce effect for lighter runners at slower paces than 3.40/km, reverberating through their legs and leaving the quads pretty wrecked by the end of a marathon. Not such a problem for heavier runners and certainly not a problem if you can keep the pace really high like all the runners Nike sponsor. Athletes who have the cash to train in the shoes and cycle through pair after pair, and can learn how to run in their shoes would be wise to do so as it does require technique changes from the traditional race shoe in order to make it really work for the runner. 

With this shoe Nike fixed the slippery outer sole issue of the Nike 4% and older Zoom Fly models superbly. The heel cup ridge design is cool and works well if the shoe fits very well length wise. Not so well if the shoe is even slightly too big. The tongue and lacing design is not particularly friendly for running and straight up cruel towards triathletes. The Next % does not work well with elastic laces. 

This shoe still gets a high score mainly because it does test so freaking fast at high speeds and some pro triathletes I know run beautifully in this shoe without the implosion of run form that others experience.

Asics Metaracer- 7.8/10 Sent to test

A light weight, responsive and comfortable traditional racing flat but the design seemingly ignores all the technology breakthroughs of the last few years that make the top crop of marathon shoes so fast.

Yeah I know Jan Frodeno lay utter smack down in these shoes in Kona 19 but Jan could run fast in a set of your Uncle’s Dunlop Volleys that he saves for Sunday mowing sessions.

Interestingly, at least for the way I run, other Asics shoe models tested faster that aren’t suppose to be their premium racer. This is not really that much of an insult towards the Metaracer because as I’ve mentioned before some of their new affordable models like the Evoride test damn fast.

There is nothing to dislike about the shoe. 6-7 years ago this would have been a cream of the crop racing flat. It’s just that this shoe ignores what is making some of the most efficient marathon racers so efficient. The foam is cushioned yet very minimal. So minimal that you’re going to feel muscle break down a lot sooner than a lot of the shoes listed above.  You would really want to have the training mileage overflowing from under your belt or the legs are going to feel like they’ve been taken to with a baseball bat at 35kms. 

In all my testing, cadence naturally went up for race pace compared to the above listed carbon plated shoes. Perhaps with a lower carry, really high cadence runner (think classic Japanese marathoner) this shoe could really work.  

The carbon plate didn’t seem carbon in my prototype version but maybe it’s changed to carbon in the now publicly available models. 

I could train in these shoes a lot as I like minimal shoes, especially for long slower training, but I don’t enjoy it when doing tempo or faster running. 



If Asics want to truly compete in the carbon plate market they need to scrap this shoe and work with the NovaBlast design (review coming soon) OR use the same materials of the Metaracer but with all the shaping and sole size of the EvoRide. 

My promise to readers is to keep these reviews as honest and as objective as possible. This inevitably leads to less shoes being sent from shoe companies. To help me test the latest running shoes being released please consider a small donation. The more donated, the more shoes that will be tested and the more time I can spend testing. Also, tag me in social media posts of shoes you would like me to test or message direct. Thank you!

A Guide For Lost Athletes…

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Many aspects of sport suddenly seem very trivial at a time like this. Winning, championships, debates over rules, professional prize money and pay disputes fade into nothingness when compared to  mass unemployment, overwhelmed hospitals and the horrific numbers of deaths. And yet the fundamental elements of our sports, exercising and training, takes on a new importance in mitigating what is likely to become an overwhelming mental health crisis.

I’m certainly not pretending to be a self-help guru.  There are some pretty lost moments every day as I adjust to a life based around homeschooling my kids, far less training endorphins and a significant reduction in income. I’m also very aware that especially as athletes go, I’m in the lucky few who have some base income and a partner still employed. I can only start to imagine the reality of many other people’s situations. However, regardless of how good or dire somebody’s situation is, take away their sense of purpose and it can turn into a rapid downward spiral.

Given the vast majority of readers of this blog will be or were actively involved in endurance sport, perhaps partly to enjoy that daily sense of simple purpose that training provides, I’ve put forward some suggestions to help your planning on how to go about this lull in racing.

For the super fit, It’s okay to lose some fitness. In fact, it’s probably wise. 

By super fit, I’m referring to the athletes that train multiple times per day and truly push their body to serious levels of fatigue for their chosen sport. In other words serious triathletes, cyclists and runners. For most people who are relatively young, fit and healthy, statistics are in your favour that you should be able to fight off COVID-19 without serious complications and hospitalisation.

Being fit and healthy certainly involves training but there is a tipping point where training a lot compromises your immune system, making you susceptible to medical conditions that could put you at far greater risk if you become infected with COVID-19. Taking myself as an example, a flare up of my asthma is the first sign I’m overreaching in training and pushing the body too hard with too little recovery. Now, more than ever, is a time to avoid coming down with a chest infection or other ailment that could put you at much greater risk of complications should you contract this wretched virus.

Image Credit- @koruptvision. 

Make a plan and get back your sense of purpose 

As I mentioned, many people are going through absolute hell right now and offering some guidance around finding some purpose in training might seem really poorly timed, but I’ve hung out with endurance athletes for 15 years and know that many people are drawn to these sports as part of controlling and managing mental health issues. So the motivation is primarily for that reason rather than because I care about how you will perform once events are back in full swing. In fact, to be brutally honest, while people close to you care about your health and happiness, it’s unlikely anyone except your coach and yourself care about the current status of your athletic fitness. Perhaps that’s why your friends always seem distracted while you’re detailing how amazing you were in your last training session.

It’s tricky to make a plan when you’re not sure when the next race will be, but this break in racing also offers a very unique window of time that most of us who compete a lot ordinarily wouldn’t have. Ironically, at a time when affording a coach might be tough, it could also be the most important time to have that guidance and support. Even if the plan involves greatly reduced training and creating a conservative to do list you want ticked off each day or week, this can provide goal orientated athletes that much needed feeling of daily accomplishment we’re accustomed to. How to maximise the time ahead is obviously hugely individual depending on the athlete, but below are a couple of very general examples to give you some ideas of potential directions you could head in.

The developing athlete…

Whether you’re a younger aspiring pro or amateur athlete in the first 5-10 years of endurance training, keep on building that aerobic base! Yes, I know 5 to 10 years is a big training time range, but there is a strong argument that you could never have too much of an aerobic training foundation. A time without racing means you can move more away from higher intensity sessions necessary to build to peak race fitness and instead lay down several months of very consistent predominantly aerobic intensity training. Behind every great athlete in endurance sports is typically a decade or more of consistent aerobic conditioning.

An important lesson I learnt from my time working under Matt Dixon is that aerobic base training doesn’t have to be crazy long, super easy sessions. It’s about putting together a very consistent block of predominantly aerobic training where days build into solid weeks and weeks build into solid months of work that pay huge dividends when you start your progression to peak race fitness.

In short, you’re chasing an aerobic training load that is very absorbable and doesn’t hit a peak and plateau like when you’re doing many more race specific and higher intensity sessions.  I won’t go into the many physiological benefits of this lower intensity type of training but here is a good article by Iñigo San Millián, PhD that summarises it well.

Another potential inclusion to your non-racing plan ahead could be to focus on improving your fat burning ability and reducing your reliance on glycogen stores at sub threshold intensities. Becoming more metabolically flexible is considered very important by many coaches for athletes competing in events over 2-3 hours.  I won’t go into the various ways an athlete could stimulate an improvement in their ability to use fat for fuel but regardless of the method/s the adaption process can be quite stressful on the body for the more carb dependent athlete and very tricky to incorporate during a race specific build. Now could be the perfect time to reduce the weekly training stress, focus on lower intensity sessions and work on teaching your body to use fat for fuel more effectively.

The very experienced pro or veteran amateur.. 

For those that have trained and raced themselves ragged over many years, the months ahead offer a time to really refresh, wind back the aerobic volume significantly and let the body truly recuperate. Perhaps a window of opportunity to focus on aspects of their performance that might otherwise fall by the wayside. Wind down the discipline or aspect of your sport that is already a great asset, that you know you can get back to full strength quickly once events are officially back on and spend more time focused on your athletic weaknesses.

For triathletes a prime example is backing off the run to a much reduced load to allow greater focus and recovery from your bike sessions or vice versa. When reflecting on great performances at the Ironman World Championships there are many examples in the pro ranks where athletes who’ve had extended breaks or drastically reduced volume on the run come out in incredible cycling form and get on the podium and even take the win.

Getting creative with sessions at home. Driveway strength repeat with child in tow.  Image Credit- @koruptvision

Strength work

While important for all athletes, using this time to integrate some strength training should be a real focus for older athletes where strength maintenance and gains becomes more challenging as the body’s natural production of hormones are not what they once were. There is definitely no shortage of strength workouts you can do at home being thrown up on the web with a minimal amount of equipment so the excuse of closed gyms is not a convincing one. 

Technique

Taking out some of the high intensity sessions while also spending much more time at home can mean short technique focused sessions where you really focus on correcting bad habits and greatly improve your efficiency or maybe reduce your chance of injury. Band exercises for the swim if you don’t have access to real swimming, a dash of minimalist footwear running (high risk for injury, proceed with caution and get good advice on how to progress this safely)  or perhaps honing in your bike position,  I’m sure fitters will be keen on conducting video fits if you contact them. Just a few of the many ideas of how to use the time ahead to work on form, technique and efficiency. 

Time for something different

Of course, this blog focuses on training but for athletes like myself who’ve had to be quite selfish at times or travel extensively for work and to reach athletic goals, this could be the time to reel that in and be of much greater support at home and spend a lot more time with family. I won’t divert down this path too much in case my wonderful wife reads this and starts raising her expectations to even higher levels. There is now also the breathing space from impending races to maybe take on another hobby you’ve thought would be cool to try for some time but never found the time. Or use some of the reduced training time to help other people in need during this strange and difficult time.

Being present in your sessions

Here comes the Byron Bay hippy dribble but perhaps that dribble might be of more use than ever. I’ll admit it can be a struggle to quieten the mind when laying still or seated as the zen gurus instruct. Perhaps this is meditation blasphemy, but try practicing mindfulness techniques including focused diaphragmatic breathing while doing a very easy ride, jog or walk. Then try and transfer that skill to when you’re lying or seated. I find the calming monotony and simplicity of the above exercises allows my mind to settle and then I can really zone in on very little.

Image Credit- @koruptvision

Stay well and help others stay well

One of the most bizarre aspects of this pandemic is that a time when people need more emotional support than ever we are robbed of our innate tools for comforting others. However, while we can’t throw around hugs we can all take the time to make a phone call to someone who has had their life drastically changed in recent weeks or who might really struggling with this new level of social isolation. Personally, I’ve been blown away by people reaching out to check in and have a chat and it’s inspired me to do the same for others. Thankfully we can still be more connected than ever, despite physical isolation.

We don’t know when, but racing will return so in the meantime, sport and your training can still play a crucial role in staying mentally healthy. Make a plan and get back your sense of direction.

 

Image- Ironman 7o.3 Vietnam

 

 

 

 

Ironman Australia and More…

By

2019 kick off..

It’s a common theme for pros to dramatise the very first world pro athlete woes to make solid performances seem more remarkable and inspire the enthusiastic endurance sports fans that they can overcome any obstacles, that anything is possible and that there are, hashtag, no limits. I enjoy being the antithesis to this nonsense and let people know that we all have limits whether that be time constraints, the amount of physical talent, the reality of other responsibilities life throws your way and your personality traits. That’s not to say we aren’t all capable of achieving excellent outcomes within our constraints, just that setting realistic goals and identifying our limits will lead to better outcomes then dillusional ambitions. Plus as an Australian, we don’t really do the Tony Robbins shenanigans.

So yeah, my form had been rather crap since September last year largely due to my asthma, that has been an intermittent source of annoyance my whole life, remaining flared up for a much longer period of time then I’m used to. However ultimately, asthma is simply an inflammatory condition and like someone with an achilles injury who won’t stop running, it was my refusal to take a decent break from training or lower the intensity in training that I’ve always loved that was not letting it settle. When you strip back most problems to their bare core, it’s often our own  personal decisions that lead to many of our problems. At least when I reflect on the majority of my own challenges and problems, that’s been typically the case.

Ironman New Zealand 

Image- @koruptvision

I cracked open the 2019 race season with Ironman New Zealand. A questionable choice by all those close to me as quite frankly I hadn’t done the work to truly be competitive over an 8hr event and it would have made more sense to chase dollars over the middle distance. However with Ironman Australia as my primary goal for the first half of the season, I had a strong desire to do an Ironman before my ‘A’ race to sort out some persistent issues I was having over the Ironman distance. Those issues to be resolved being cramping, race day nutrition and quad carnage that was killing my marathon. I’m also a big believer in the ‘central governor’ theory based around the premise that we need to expand what our brain considers an acceptable risk to our survival, to truly get the most out of our capabilities on race day. I had strong suspicions of how to resolve the issues I was having and thankfully they’ve seemed to have proven correct so far and I had none of these issues in either Ironman events. Asthma had me breathing through a straw for part of the NZ bike but it was not too debilitating on the run. With a very low risk race strategy in place I had told Monica, who is the only real person who hears my sometimes overly ambitious dribble, that I would go somewhere between 8hr 20- 8hr 30 depending on the conditions and went 8.22 so was very pleased with the outcome even if that was only good enough for 5th place. 

I learnt a lot from my own race but also Mike Phillip’s winning performance. I have a lot of respect for all the Kiwi long course triathletes. I’m not sure whether it’s the weather in NZ or the no nonsense down to earth Kiwi culture but they generally appear to be similar in that they’re tough bastards, don’t complain about much and simply get on with the job. Mike was very generous to answer all my questions about his preparation during drug testing. Some of his answers influencing how I prepared for Ironman Australia. 

One of the big risks of doing an Ironman so soon after resuming proper training was that it could have a big mental toll which would take away from how deep I could go in Ironman Australia. I was quite convinced that I wouldn’t have the fitness to engage in an ‘Ironwar’ on course and that proved very much the case. Every Ironman is mentally draining, no-one can escape the toll but as I wasn’t going toe to toe with anyone for a podium or having to push through an entire marathon with torn quads like Ironman Oz in 2017 or Kona 2018, that mental cost was limited. Normally when I finish an Ironman all I can think about it all the non-triathlon activities I can do but without the prolonged Ironman build I was super motivated to resume training, and was planning my Ironman Australia build within hours of finishing the race while the lessons learnt were fresh in my mind. In what turned out to be bizarrely accurate, I even told Monica and emailed a coaching advisor that I was confident I would go 8hrs 10 in Ironman Australia, 5 minutes under the previous course record. 

   

NZ finish- @koruptvision

 

Ironman 70.3 Davao

After an awesome week of chilling in New Zealand with the family I had Ironman 70.3 Davao in the Phillipines 2 weeks later. I actually felt pretty sprightly one week after Ironman New Zealand and then terrible two weeks after. An important lesson for what would became a post Ironman Oz gamble with Ironman 70.3 Vietnam. I suspect two to three weeks after an Ironman it’s a combination of the fatigue still very much in the body from the Ironman but also a loss in fitness due to several weeks of reduced training with the taper and then post Ironman recovery weeks to shake the fatigue while 7-10 days post race the muscle fatigue is high but fitness is still strong.  I returned to Ironman 70.3 Davao and really struggled despite an awesome race atmosphere that Philippines events are becoming famous. The passionate crowds were unable to kick my body into gear. I guess you have to pay the price of an Ironman effort at some stage but I was still very disappointed given Alaska Milk in the Philippines have been such an important sponsor of mine the past few years and I love battling out races with friends like Tim Berkel and Craig (Crowie) Alexander. Markis Rolli took it up the road and held on for a stellar win, Crowie was strong all day for 2nd and Berks raced well despite being a little fatigued with training for Ironman South Africa finishing 3rd. I was 4th but way back pretty frustrated with a body that just wouldn’t go fast enough to even be slightly involved with the race up front. 

  

Images- @asiatrilive / @marv.sportsphotog

IM 70.3 Oceanside DNS

As is typical post racing and travel I got to Boulder in the U.S to race the iconic Ironman 70.3 California in Oceanside and my asthma was very angry with me not allowing me to train with any quality and I was struggling to sleep through the endless coughing. I’m a gambler at heart and rarely pull out of starting races even when sick. However it’s never once worked out for me and I finally had the maturity to pull out of Oceanside. I didn’t feel I had raced near my potential since September and finally accepted I had to change my approach and get fully healthy or this asthmatic cycle would continue and Ironman Oz, the major target of the first half of this year would be a failed mission. 

I needed a training camp not necessarily to do the extra training but to get the much needed recovery time between sessions that I simply don’t get parenting at home. I took advice from Crowie and eliminated intensity from my training for the first 10 days I was in Boulder. I also had an appointment with Joanna Zeiger, Olympian, Ironman 70.3 World Champ, coach, author, asthmatic and much more who really opened my eyes to changing the way I breathe and the importance of not letting the inflammation build up. It was interesting to reflect on how all my good races had come with a reasonably degree of humidity. I realised I would have to be a little smarter with the races I chose to focus on. Even more interesting to realise how completely rubbish I was at breathing properly and the way my body had been compensating for this. 

 I spent the next few weeks training in Boulder hanging with my beloved U.S family, Warren and Pam Shuckies who reduce my homesickness to a bearable level so I can last the training camp distance and get the job done. By the time I left Boulder, I was breathing better than I had in a long time and my fitness, particularly my aerobic endurance and efficiency was very strong. Perhaps the altitude plays a role, but I’ve always come out of any training camp, even at sea level, in far superior form to starting out so I believe it’s more the ‘camp effect’ and the fact Boulder has such incredible bike riding that I enjoy every second of the 5-6 hour bike rides. 

The ‘balance’ fallacy..

It was a relief to get back to Monica and the kids for the final run into Ironman Australia however I’m not sure they would have been loving having me back given the way I was acting. I was uptight, on edge and straight up selfish. Despite hating the way I was behaving I struggled to reign it back as I was so nervous about getting sick and or asthmatic again and ruining the good racing form I knew I was in. The self induced building pressure of feeling like I wasn’t racing to my potential over the 8hr format (or even 70.3 events of late) of the sport had me displaying characteristics of some very successful pro triathletes that I detest. The characteristics, not the athletes. I was obsessive about diet, sleep, recovery and getting my training in and everyone in the family was paying the price for my temporary neurotic ways. 

While pro athletes like to put out there that balance is essential to success in sport I would argue that their perception of balance is highly warped and it would be very difficult to be in the top percent of any sport if your life was genuinely well balanced. As a parent and pro athlete I have to accept this conundrum and find a solution or change occupations. I love racing and don’t necessarily want to reduce the amount of races I do but at the same time I can’t put the family through my periods of intense athletic focus too often so I try and settle on being a total self absorbed tool for two training builds a year and the rest of year accept that a better degree of balance will likely reduce my level of performance but keep the rest of my life from not going off the rails and in turn make me and my family a lot happier. 

Ironman Australia

All images- @koruptvision

Of the contenders for the title Cam Wurf was the obvious favourite after a bike course record and top 10 at the World Championships in addition to a continual  consistent improvement across all three disciplines. Cam had been doing some rather hectic work on his running consistently knocking out 100km run weeks on top of a some pretty epic swim and bike sessions. Cam would say he did a lot less riding and swimming which is true but that’s compared to Cam standards. Still a lot more than most other pros are able to get through. Cam has the uncanny ability, similar at least from what is reported, to both Jan Frodeno and Lionel Sanders to get through a huge amount of volume and intensity while still absorbing and adapting while many of the rest of us would be buried by the physical workload even if our brains were willing. The other bloke that didn’t get quite as much attention but I was well aware of was Denis Chevrot from France who doesn’t really seem to have a weakness and could definitely produce a winning performance.

The buzz the morning of the race was awesome. Some races you can really feel it. Unlike the days leading in where I’m nervous as hell, I didn’t feel any nerves the morning of the race, only pure excitement to see how far I could push the mind and body. 

The swim is a tricky one to navigate on your own as I found out in 2016 and it seemed that the majority of the pro field assembled were all superior swimmers to me. Staying with the group was going to be crucial to a fast swim and getting dropped at the first buoy turn was not in the pre race plan but Denis and I found ourselves in that situation. I had to bury myself early in the swim to chase the group and get back on, again, not what I really wanted given every sprint surge you do over this distance comes back to bite you later in the race. We managed to get back in contact and the energy saved for the speed gained over 3.8kms likely make the sprint effort very worth it.

I had two predominant race strategies in mind. If Cam was with us out of the swim, I knew I was going to have to sacrifice some time off my run and simply ride harder as there was a good chance he could have an embarrassingly large gap off the bike similar to Starky’s gap in Ironman New Zealand if I didn’t. If Cam wasn’t with us I would just ride a relatively steady effort until I knew where he was and what the likely scenario was starting the run. My thought process was that given the draining nature of the bike course, combined with the predicted wind on race day that run times would not be super fast and that if I could get off the bike within 8-10 minutes to Cam I would have a chance for the win provided he blew up in the back half of the marathon and I didn’t. Not the most proactive strategy but one that has proven quite effective in Ironman racing over the past several decades. Most importantly for me though was not winning the race but laying down an Ironman performance that I was proud of and knew represented the amount of work and sacrifices both my family and I had put into that race. 

Despite a 4+ minute deficit out of the swim, it was obvious all Cam’s run milage hadn’t hurt his bike riding in the slightest as he went flying past us on the return portion of the first lap. The speed he went past was insane and I figured that was simply to ensure the gap was established as that power could not be sustained and still leave legs ok for running. Mark Bowstead made the interesting decision to try and ride with Cam which lasted a short while before Cam decided to unleash a little more fury leaving Mark reeling from the effort and quickly left Cam on his own to start accumulating time on the field. The gap didn’t build at a crazy rate so I committed to sticking to my set power and banking on the run based off the splits and the time left to ride. 

Off the bike and onto the run Cam was 8.5 minutes up the road, Mark 40 seconds up and Denis and Clayton Fettel with me. I had mentally rehearsed shutting my brain down into hibernation during some of my really tough brick sessions in Boulder and found a calm, neutral mental space straight away where internal voices of common sense couldn’t pester me. I didn’t panic about the gap to Cam, settled into pace that I felt would not necessarily make up any time on Cam in the first 15kms but after that would allow me to run well and start bringing him back from there.

Below- Ironman warm up. Ironkids with Big Artie

I don’t think there is a portion of the run course that is not lined with very vocal supporters. A marathon after 180kms of cycling is always going to be a painful experience but having that much support on course makes it a strangely very enjoyable painful experience. At 10kms the gap remained exactly the same to Cam and I had put a little time into Denis. 15kms the gap to Cam was still the same. At this point I was not surprised at all. Cam had out run Tim Don at the Cannes Triathlon a few weeks prior so I knew he was running well over shorter distances. 21kms in, still the gap remained the same and I was starting to get a little bit more perplexed given the pace we were holding was very solid. I settled into the war of attrition, knowing that anything can happen in the final 10kms and then had a bad patch, more in terms of how I was feeling but not so much with my pace dropping too badly, from about 22kms through to about 28kms. In the past I would have put up the white flag but Ironman experience has now taught me to hang in there fighting for each kilometre because things can definitely turn around. The kilometres didn’t feel as difficult after that point, perhaps simply because I was getting closer to the finish and finally I was starting to see the gap to Cam slowly coming down. Small gains but at least it was something. With only 8kms to go he still had a 6 minute gap but I pressed on regardless, eliminating thoughts of what the gap to Cam was doing and was simply just excited that I was running better than I had in the final portion of an Ironman marathon. 

In almost exactly the same place that I had lost several minutes off my lead to Dave Dellow in 2017 when I couldn’t’ stop cramping, Cam pulled up stationary and started emptying the contents of his stomach for the live coverage that was beamed around the world. I was soon getting excited reports from runners coming my way that Cam was walking and did everything I could to try and hang onto a decent pace without bringing on my cramp demons. The minutes came down quickly but Cam, gathered himself and finished off the job in a cracking course record time of 8:06:17. I came across the line absolutely stoked with my best Ironman performance to date in 8:09:50 and gaining qualification to the Ironman World Champs in Kona. 

Some were surprised at how happy I was at the finish given it was a second place finish. While victories are awesome my primary analysis is based off the objective data and I can’t control other people’s performances. My performance was my best to date over this distance, nearly 7 minutes quicker than when I won in 2016 on an easier day so of course I was ecstatic.  I was also very happy for Cam. I’ve witnessed his total and absolute dedication to improving in this sport. To be perfectly honest, it’s not a level of dedication I can emulate too often to given the phase of my life and four more important priorities but it’s been seriously impressive and motivating to witness. It doesn’t always happen but it’s fitting when the guy who has worked the hardest gets the most rewarded as is proving to be the case with Cam’s rapid rise towards the top. The affable Frenchman, Denis Chevrot, rounded out the podium with a 2.50 marathon and 8.16:00. 

I’m really pleased to see a shift amongst both age group participants, pros and the powers at Ironman in recognising that tough Ironman courses provide fair races and overall a more fulfilling experience. If you’re in Ironman racing to truly test yourself or find out where you genuinely stack up in your age group while experiencing a race with an atmosphere that is really only rivalled in my experience with races like IM 70.3 Philippines then Ironman Australia is a race you should be looking at for 2020.

 

Ironman 70.3 Vietnam- Asia Pacific Championships

I had booked flexible fares to Vietnam on the chance Ironman Australia ended up being a terrible performance or the small chance that my legs and brain would feel up to racing 7 days post Ironman. Based off the awareness that I could do things I couldn’t’ normally do after an Ironman, like walk and sit down to go to the toilet without my quads screaming at me in protest, I made the decision on Tuesday I was going to roll the dice and race. I love Vietnam and the event organisers always do a fantastic job of making it a spectacular event. I also figured that with the large pro field that was assembling to contest the Asia Pac Championship, even if I couldn’t’ hang with them in the race there were a lot guys I liked hanging out with outside of racing. 

I set about establishing expectations amongst the male pro field that I was going to run terribly reminding most who would listen that last time I raced a week after an Ironman, I blew to smithereens and was barely jogging in the final 10kms. I knew that I was going to need a lead off the bike to have any chance of a top finish and that establishing low expectations for my run would greatly increase my chance of being able to get away on the fast bike course as guys would be less willing to close the gap and drag better runners with them. 

 I didn’t feel great in the swim but still made the front group without too much stress. Onto the bike, I was surprised at how easy I found it to move to the front of the pack and close the small gap to Patrick Lange who was leading the early stages of the bike ride. As the current Ironman World Champion and being his first race of the year, there was no way Patrick would have given anything less than 100% to the build up to this race so I knew he was probably the main man to watch. Aerobically I felt great and the ache in my legs was manageable. The second major attempt to get clear of the guys was mildly successful gaining a few hundred metres on the group but was eventually brought back by Mike Phillips and the group with him. Mike had raced a week prior in Busselton showing that his bike was on song was going to be very tough to get away from.

With about 22kms to go I hit the climb up the bridge for a sustained effort of around 6.5w/kg (little guys always talk in watts per kg instead of absolute numbers) and went hard down the other side, relieved to look back and see I had some breathing space. I later found out Mike and Terenzo both decided to chase at one point or another but with the field not letting them go and everyone saving precious watts with the permitted 10m gap between bikes for the very hot run ahead, decided it wasn’t in their interest to help so many fast athletes and threw me a bone to chew on to see if I could get through it. Sometimes it pays to have friends in the group. 

Image- @asiatrilive/@marv.sportsphotog

I got off the bike in 2:04 a little off my bike course record from 2015 which I only mention because my ego hates being pigeonholed as just a fast runner. I had a 2.5 minute lead on the chase group and decided to use the lead as an opportunity to run the first half easy and protect the legs to try and make it through the 2nd half of the run still able to move. Even leading at 8kms I still believed my best hopes were maybe a 5-8th place given my quads were already giving me hell and given the quality field. Hey, given the circumstances I was pretty happy with that prospect and braced myself to dig as deep as I could over the final 10kms to try and secure that 5-8th. The boys were flying behind with Berkel first to catch me around 10kms in, Patrick soon to follow and Crowie also within 20 metres of making the pass. At the turn around, I stuck to the negotiated agreement with my brain and locked into suffering more than I ever have before and moved as fast my legs would take me from aid station to aid station. The thought of running beyond the next aid station was not something my brain could contemplate so I made the goals mentally manageable. 

Thankfully, the easier 10km and my pre race PREPD hydration protocol seemed to start paying huge dividends as many of the guys behind had dropped off and apart from the pain in my legs, the Vietnam heat and humidity was not bothering me at all. I wasn’t the only athlete to race a week prior and I think Crowie, Mike Philips and others were all really feeling it in the back half of the run.

Patrick ripped through the run to take the win in clinical domination, Tim Berkel had an awesome race showing just how good he is, particularly  in the heat to take 2nd and somehow I had bluffed my way into 3rd place, frankly very shocked with how well my gamble had paid off.                                                         Image- @IronmanAsia

Huge shout out to the team behind this race they did such a great job in hosting a championship event. In particular, it’s been really cool to watch the massive increase of popularity of triathlon in Vietnam. 

Schedule..

From here, next stop is back to the Philippines for IM 70.3 Subic Bay. I return to Australia for a leisurely 24 hours to pick up the family then we all fly to the U.S for American summer hitting IM 70.3 CDA, IM 70.3 Santa Rosa before everyone’s favourite race,  IM 70.3 Philippines in Cebu!

Thank you

My amazing wife Monica and our extended families for all helping out when I’m away.

To Evan Gallagher for keeping the ship sailing.

To my sponsors for their unwavering support:

Trek

Bontrager

Alaska Milk

Allen Sports

Santini 

Oakley

Flight Centre Sports and Events

PREPD 

Roka

Budgy Smuggler

Sex Drive Guided Training?

By

The last 10 years of my life I’ve spent countless hours riding in the company of predominantly young to middle aged men. Given the average male allegedly thinks about sex 19 times per day the conversation occasionally turns to discussing sex in a direct or more obscure way depending on how comfortable we are with each other.

What might be surprising to readers who are not so familiar with elite endurance athletes, is how often I hear guys say that they’re not interested in sex, that it’s a chore they sometimes bear for their non-training partner or they’re actually having issues maintaining an erection, or reaching orgasm.

Some guys with the latter issue blame extended time on the bike which in the past was certainly an issue. However, in the age of better bike fits and the vast array of saddles that eliminate pressure on the perineal area this really shouldn’t be happening to men or women anymore and if it is, get off your penny farthing and get it sorted!

Based off consistent feedback, a new Trek Bike is associated with increases in sex drive. Pic- James Mitchell

In contrast, when I speak to an athlete who has given the sport away or is taking an extended break from training the comments almost universally include shock at how their sex drive is back, alive and well. In my own experience the change in sex drive when I’m on a break is so drastic I have to wonder whether the body is making up for lost time or whether this is the normal state of affairs if I wasn’t training all the time. If it is, I’ll have to continue some training post triathlon retirement to avoid annoying my wife too much. 

I don’t regularly ask women how their sex-life is going so I can’t speak with great anecdotal authority that females training hard experience the same issues. However from some very shallow research and applying common-sense, women consistently overtraining will experience exactly the same drop in sex drive. 

Based off consistent feedback, watching me compete in Budgy Smugglers has never been  associated with increases in sex drive. Pic- AsiaTri.com

WHAT IS HAPPENING? 

Cortisol, the temperamental hormonal beast that it is, is the body’s major stress hormone. It’s released from adrenal glands in response to stress. Whether that stress be the day to day more benign events happening in your life, the more acute emotional stress or exercise induced stress and much more. Cortisol regulates energy helping selecting the right type and amount of carbohydrate, fat or protein that the body needs.

A natural variation in cortisol levels throughout the day is very normal and healthy. When you wake, it’s normally quite high, then it might start to drop late morning, bump back up in response to a hard training session or to help you meet a tight work deadline, then drop right back down towards the end of the day to allow rest and sleep.

We love Cortisol, we have to have it. It only becomes an issue when levels are chronically high. Similar to insulin resistance in diabetics, if high cortisol levels are present too often, the whole system can become dysfunctional. The body might start pumping high levels of cortisol at times when you really don’t want it, or stop producing adequate amounts when you really need it.

When cortisol is high, other hormones, specifically sex hormone production for the purposes of this article is very low. For men, the predominant sex hormone is testosterone and for women oestrogen and progesterone. When cortisol production levels are high, inversely the above sex hormones will be low. So if you are working too hard, or have a level of work stress that you can’t switch off from OR are training really hard for too long a period the body is at risk of chronically high cortisol and chronically low testosterone, oestrogen, progesterone and other hormones. 

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Diet

I wouldn’t Google this space as you’ll read so much marketing spin on supplements that will lower cortisol and boost sex hormones that it will likely add more stress to compound any sex issues. A healthy, predominantly whole food diet that gives your body all the appropriate nutrients to thrive should be sufficient nutritionally for most people to keep their libido at an appropriate level for their age range.

Sleep

The most effective way to give your body a hormonal boost is get enough rest and sleep. During sleep the body pumps out hormones to restore, rebuild and in turn, reload your sex drive. Prioritise sleep if you want to bring back your sexual mojo.  

‘Healthy’ Training

Chronic exercise equals chronic cortisol levels so stop the chronic training. Use a coach or take the time to plan out an appropriate training program that is a somewhat ‘healthy’ training program. By healthy I mean factor in all the other causes of stress of your life and ensure you have the time to absorb and recover from the training you’re doing. By all means, train incredibly hard but realise that the hard work is wasted if you don’t give yourself the rest time to absorb it.

To maximise high performance over the long term in your chosen sport, incorporate a weekly rest day or days and take time after key events to really refresh. It’s easy to flick through Instagram and see the incredible sessions the sports elite are posting and thinking that they are at the top because of their ability to suffer. That would certainly be partly true but the flip side of their schedule that doesn’t get broadcast is them lying down for as much time outside of training as is possible would probably not garner many likes but is likely just as big a part of their success.

Pic- Korupt Vision

Be Flexible

Flexibility within your training program is incredibly important to preventing a chronic overload of cortisol and to keep your sex drive knocking on desire’s door. If you haven’t slept the much the night before due to a crying baby or a high level of work stress that day then don’t go ahead and complete your most intense training session as planned. Re-work the training schedule and do a recovery or easy aerobic session so that the total stress for that day is not over the top. Reschedule the session for another time or even let the session go. Skipping a session is not a soft move if it keeps you healthy and allows longer term consistency.

There is a massive difference between not feeling like doing a session because you’re a little tired and genuinely knowing you’re wrecked and that doing the session would have little benefit. Deep down I think most people know but if you’re unsure I like the Craig Alexander method of starting the session and at least completing the warm up. Often starting is the hardest part and from there you know whether you’re truly fatigued or whether you are good to go. 

Reduce Stimulants 

Caffeine, likely the most beneficial legal performance enhancing drug also helps bump up cortisol levels. Chronic caffeine intake can contribute to chronic cortisol levels so be wise with how much and how often you have caffeine. Similar to training, try and find days of the week or periods through the year where caffeine intake is heavily reduced.

Find proven alternatives to caffeine that can boost performance without the adrenal toll. 

Save yourself

Serious overtraining syndrome can take months or even years to escape. Save yourself the pain of going too far down the overtraining route. Don’t ignore your sex drive and allow it to help guide smart training and recovery.

Ironman Cairns

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It’s reportedly difficult to do live coverage for Ironman Cairns. That sucks for the hardcore fans out there wanting to watch such stars as Javier Gomez and Braden Currie battle it out for the Ironman Asia Pacific title but it is very beneficial for my race reporting as I can embellish as I please and noone, beyond those that raced, can argue with my version of events. 

For the most part, Cairns, the Northern QLD tourist magnet, was rather generous with the conditions she delivered on race day. The heat was relatively cool (still bloody warm), the wind relatively calm (still bloody windy) and croc sightings were either non existent or kept well under wraps. Perhaps the trickiest conditions faced by athletes on the day were during the swim. Above the surface Palm Cove was whipped into a decent chop while beneath the surface a strong current prevailed. I took note of the both the rapid drop off from the sand line to beyond waist deep water and the strong undertow pulling from right to left and used both factors to a distinct advantage as the gun went off. I nailed the beach start and my tactical positioning on the start line allowed me to use the current to my advantage and was soon positioned well above my swimming ability level a few hundred metres into the race. I was slightly uncomfortably nestled well within the front group. A second pack was already being left behind. Seeya suckers! I assumed most of the the major players were aboard this Javier Gomez express aquatic taxi and dug very deep to ensure I remained in the draft. 

Approaching 1.9kms and the far turn buoys, all was well. Javier Gomez for the non-triathletes out there is well known for his horse sized heart and among his athletic arsenal possesses a 1500m swim time that I’m told could qualify him for the Olympics. It appeared he was conserving energy to some degree to save everything he could for the long day ahead. I relaxed momentarily to congratulate myself on making it this far in the wake of greatness. At that very moment my supposed friend and Trek Factory Racing teammate Tim O’Donnell made the very clever decision to take the lead and hammer the pace around the buoy turns to shake off any free-loading riff raff. Unfortunately for me I was the riff raff and soon dislodged from my hiding space. Much like cycling, the draft of the pack makes the effort for speed much easier on the guys behind in a straight line but out of corners it’s a massive sprint effort to stay with the group. By the second buoy turn I had lost 4-5 metres and had to decide whether I turn myself inside out to get back into the draft or minimise Ironman destroying heart rate spikes and wait for the second group. My biggest concern was that Terenzo Bozzone was in the front group who when firing has one of the best first 40km bike power outputs in the game and I didn’t want him to be out of sight, out of mind early in the race . So I dug as deep as I could for 300m. The gap didn’t close but rather lengthened out to a heartbreaking 10-12 metres and finally I had to cut my losses and back off my effort a lot before I ruined my whole day. I rolled onto my back, swam some backstroke and sucked in much needed oxygen to get my heart rate back under control.  

The other complicating factor of the Ironman Cairns swim is that it’s wetsuit legal due to the risk of jelly fish stings despite the water temperature being warm. The result is that even those who swim comfortably are likely starting the bike ride already somewhat dehydrated. Swimming at or above threshold as I did for the first 2-2.5kms compounds this problem and while post race I looked at the sky cursing my race nutrition on the run for a somewhat disappointing result, in retrospect there were quite a few factors, nearly all entirely down to my decision making during the race that could have attributed to my problems on the run.

I enjoyed some easier swim time as the second group gradually approached and enveloped me into their cosy embrace. I was pleasantly surprised to note that there was some real horse power back here including Bozzone, Tim Berkel, Kyle Buckingham and Luke McKenzie just to name a few. 

Onto the bike and I was relieved to see my heart rate very responsive and my legs feeling very ready to play. A sign I’m well tapered for the event. I can’t deny that at times I found it difficult following my new coach for 2018, Alan Couzen’s plan. I like to race a lot but the only way to stay on track for an Ironman build and race a lot is to train through some races which I found tough to swallow. Ironman 70.3 St George in particular. Racing a field of that quality, I really needed a two week taper after a big block of work in Boulder to get the most out of myself come race day. Alan, thankfully recognised my weakness for wanting to do really well in every single race kept me on track with some minimal tapers in the races building up to Cairns. The result is solid races but often struggling to hold a high heart rate due to accumulated training training fatigue. It’s a price I’ve realised I have to pay if I want to get onto an Ironman start line with the adequate training behind me.  

The only downside of feeling superbly tapered combined with the truly magnificent Ironman Cairns bike course and excitement of racing so many top quality racers is that my froth level was a little too high. I needed to be at a smooth Aussie flat white froth level. Minimal froth, calm and calculated with a strong finishing flavour. Instead I was bucking away on my supremely aero Trek Speed Concept at an American Cappuccino froth level. Way too much froth! The front swim group that included Gomez, Braden Currie and Tim O’Donnell were not putting in any time so we could have slowly chipped away at their lead but instead I was loving the ride way too much and putting in unnecessary big surges along with with McKenzie, young Lachy Kieran and Kyle Buckingham. We steadily reeled in the front few guys by 50-60kms and one very large group formed. 

I remained in the front few guys and over 180kms the group gradually whittled down to a select few. In the final 60kms both O Donnell, Buckingham, Currie and I all seemed pretty keen to get some distance on Gomez, who’s marathon was likely to be very fast. A gap opened up at one stage but then I took a wrong turn mistaking a volunteer’s arm signal as a turn signal leading the aggressors astray. A quick U-turn to make ammends but it brought the group back together and with the strong head wind it was going to be difficult to get another opportunity to split the small group. Terenzo didn’t follow the rest of us down the wrong street used the opportunity to bridge across to Denis Chevrot who had ridden carefully minimising surges until it counted pushing off the front with no-one countering the move late into the ride.

I felt great thought the  entire 180kms, getting off in 4 hours and 22 mins well in the mix; Terenzo and Chevrot were slightly ahead while Currie, Gomez, O’Donnell and Buckingham all in transition alongside me. 

Despite a kit change from my Santini ‘Redux’ sleeved suit to a Santini Crop top and Budgy Smugglers I was out of transition pretty much as quick as the other guys clearly demonstrating my talent for rapidly getting my gear off.   Unlike my bike ride which included a few too many HR spikes I was very determined to ignore what the other guys were doing and simply run my own marathon pace. Braden and Gomez were off at what must have been 3.15-3.20/km pace. ‘Suicidal pacing’, I told myself. However I had forgotten one of my favourite Sebastian Kienle quotes- “there are other advantages to being out in front.. like being a legend” and the legend factor can never be ignored as it can gift an athlete an extra 5% of psychological will power. Ironman wins have come from both an even paced marathon split or ‘make hay while the sun is shining’ style pacing. Prime example- Patrick Lange for an even paced and Craig Alexander for a positive but still smoking fast marathon pacing.

You can’t help but give Braden Currie truck loads of respect. After the disappointment of getting sick from his kids and not being able to defend his Ironman New Zealand title, losing it to fellow Kiwi top dog  and rival Terenzo Bozzone would have been a real punch to the guts. To lock down and focus on Cairns at the expense of ignoring a lot of other races where he could have made money along the way takes true belief and courage. In addition, a countless number of people would have told him that his pacing strategy in races is a little mental but he just keeps on being Braden, charging from the front with a crazy first 5kms in every race and in this instance cracking out a 2.40 marathon. To not only win but break the great Javier Gomez late in the marathon to clinch the championship title is a very special way to take victory. Javier held it together for an extremely admirable Ironman debut taking 2nd and Terenzo Bozzone 3rd, Tim O’Donnell 4th with a strong all round days.

One of the positive effects of having a break from training and spending more time with ‘normal’ people is my all consuming disappointment in the back half of my marathon starts to take some perspective and isn’t quite the disaster for all humanity that I felt post race. The day prior to the race I decided to integrate into my fairly standard running nutrition plan a new product that uses a special technology preventing the carbohydrates from being broken down in the stomach, delivering it straight to the intestines and supposedly decreasing the chance of GI distress.  I had tried the product in training and it went down ok, but in retrospect it was late into a simulation session and I should have tried it many more times.  I consumed it during the first half of the second lap of the run and from there nothing I consumed on the run would stay down and was burped or vomited back up. I still think the technology behind the product could be sound but for a sensitive new age stomach like my own, I potentially couldn’t handle the fructose component with my guts under Ironman duress. As the run proceeded and I knew I wasn’t getting in my much relied upon SOS for hydration I knew that eventually the electrolyte imbalance would likely lead to cramping and my suspicions came to fruition. In front of a large crowd I was at a standstill putting on a marvellous display of cramping contortions. Despite no longer having a sponsorship relationship with HOTSHOT I still swear that it’s the most effective anti-cramp formula out there once you’ve started getting twitchy or worse. I made the mistake of putting it in my special needs bag instead of carrying it with me which was several kms away so I had to stop/start my way until I was able to down the precious chilli flavoured nectar that seems to rapidly relax my neuromuscular fireworks. I got back to a sluggish pace but the back half of my marathon had gradually let me slip from 5th to 8th place. I crossed the line in quite a disorientated state in a mixture of disappointment, nausea and pride that I got it done.

In the days that followed, I took the usual but mistaken path of vowing sweet revenge on Ironman and planning another Ironman event as soon as I possibly could to utilise my current fitness and avoid another entire Ironman build. I even announced that plan on ‘Narcissistgram’. Soon after, both my manager, Evan Gallagher and coach talked me down from that ledge and logic prevailed. Firstly, I’m having a baby shortly and if the baby arrived early while I was off doing an Ironman I would never forgive myself. Secondly, one of my major objectives for the year and favourite events, Ironman 70.3 Philippines which is the Ironman 70.3 Asia Pacific Championships for 2018 is not far away and throwing another Ironman into the mix would almost certainly diminish a performance there. This race is incredibly important to me for numerous reasons one major reason being that Fred Uytengsu, Alaska Milk and the Sunrise Events team have been integral in their support of my career the past few years. A great performance in Cebu is a small way I can say thank you. The attempt on the Cebu title this year presents some unique challenges besides the terrific field I’ll be racing. With the arrival of bub number 3 I won’t be doing my usual training camp environment going into that event which has fared me so well in the past. Instead I’ll be dodging my boy’s snot rockets and dealing with the really quite pleasant winter climate of Byron Bay.  

2 weeks later I’m going to head back to the heat and humidity of Asia to jump into a race I’ve eyed off with interest for a number of years, Ironman 70.3 Bintan. All roads still lead to the Ironman World Championships in Kona this year and Bintan will be my final chance to really test out my Kona race plans in similar heat and humidity. 

I want to say an enormous thank you to my amazing wife, her family, my family and my sponsors. Trek Bicycles, Alaska Milk, Allen Sports, Santini, Bontrager, Roka, Oakley, SOS Rehydrate, Budgy Smuggler and Flight Centre Sports and Events. 

 

All photos courtesy of @KoruptVision

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tim@timreed.com.au