All things Ironman

3 weeks to go and The Four Musketeers are on top of their game.  Last weekend the team head to Otford for the Coastal Classic, a 29km run through the bush trails from Otford to Bundeena. John (Athos) Mergler once again produced spectacular results winning his category for the day.

On the Sunday the Musketeers once again churned out a Wisemans Ferry loop, clocking some phenomenal speeds with a very quick 18km run off the bike.

As Kona draws near, the musketeers are putting their thoughts to all things Ironman.

John ‘Athos’ Mergler:

Three and a half weeks to go before the race on the big Island and we are all looking forward to start the acclimatisation in Hawaii. How good will it to wake up pull on your speedos and saunter down to the pier for a swim with the sun rising over the volcano and the water temp a balmy 26 degrees.

The last couple of weeks has seen the intensity of our workouts increase and with this the need for more recovery and management of our body maintenance. An easy trap to fall into during the last few weeks of ironman preparation is to con yourself into believing that you have not done enough training and start to over compensate by doing extra sessions or pushing to hard when you should be having a massage or a nap. We are all guilty of this, that's why having the other musketeers around to share the experience brings a collective responsibility to keep things in perspective and not dig a big hole for ourselves.

The image i carry with me in the last few weeks of preparation is that my body is being gradually wound up like a well maintained elastic band. if wound too tight it will form into knots and sometimes snap before race day. I visualise my body being nurtured to the correct tension, that when the gun goes all that speed and endurance i have worked on is unleashed across the pacific ocean and along the black roads of Hawaii.

Conversely my mental preparation at this point is the reverse process. The elastic band in your head that has been tightening, increasing stress levels in anticipation of the race and anxieties that some how the preparation is floored, now needs to be released. The work is almost done, the preparation and planning is well under control, life is good. Hey... the race is on one of the most beautiful Islands in the world with arguably 1800 of the fittest 18 to 85 year olds on the planet. You are in the company of your mates and loved ones about to participate the one of the greatest sporting carnivals ever staged.... no need to stress, no need to wind up that elastic band to fixate on things that are out of your control. Relax, soak it up, open your eyes and see what you have achieved in getting to this point, live the moment, start to embrace what a amazing moment in time Saturday 8th October will be for the Musketeers and all the other noble competitors in The 2011 Ironman World Championships.

Andy ‘Porthos’ Reynolds

Physically, I’m feeling really good, I’m very confident with my cycling and running and my body is holding up really well. Swimming still needs some last minute cramming! I’ve been feeling pretty tired after all the big training sessions so definitely looking forward to the taper and catching up on some sleep.

Mentally I feel pretty relaxed, some of the epic training sessions have given me a lot of confidence although Kona's reputation for the tough conditions, particularly the heat on the run make me a little nervous! Doing all our training in the pretty cold weather has me pretty keen to get acclimatized as quickly as possibly in Kona.

Training for Kona has been quite different for me, usually this time of year is the off season and I work on my running (which needs the most work!), maintain my cycling and do very little (if any!) swimming. Full on training through winter has been tough, so having the other Musketeers to train with has been awesome.

Training for my previous Ironman races I think I used to get a little more stressed and I felt the pressure a little more. I’ve always had pretty high expectations of myself and have been desperate to qualify for Kona.  Over time its become easier to relax and enjoy the process which definitely helps me perform better. So for Kona I figure I've already achieved a massive goal in getting there and I plan to soak up my first Kona experience and learn as much as I can!

Brenton ‘Amaris’ Yates

The 3-4 weeks before any race for me always means it’s time to start focusing on the little things which I know will be important come race day – things like concentrating on my run pacing during bike run offs and getting my race day gear and kit sorted are all things I like to have ‘dealt with in my mind’ around this time so that there are no surprises come race day.

Training has been going well - I’m now just starting to feel really comfortable on the new bike and set up. That’s been a massive confidence boost, and has resulted in some great running for me off the bike.

In these last few weeks I think it’s really important to make sure all sessions are completed well, so I’ve be spending extra time on recovery measures to make sure I’m ready to fire each time. For me it’s all about lining up race day and feeling comfortable and confident with your preparation. Once again John has got us ready to go, without making training actually feel like training. Being out there with the boys and tearing it up together is such a buzz..

Kona is different from other IM’s  in that I’m a whole lot more excited about getting to the venue and getting ready to race. Obviously the weather is going to be great (can’t wait for an early start without the cold!), but being able to get over there 8-9 days beforehand to settle in and get some decent training done without the usual day to day distractions is just going to be awesome. All the other races I’ve done have involved arriving 2 days before, registering, setting up a bike in a hurry and then racing... I’m really excited to finally get to race without thoughts of work or other pressures still pumping through my head. Obviously getting to race with the best of the best and being confident of producing a PB is also really exciting for me as a first timer.

Todd d'Artagnan Israel 

My body is feeling a little tied 3 weeks out from Kona, I think working full-time and trying to put quality sessions together have court up with the body. However, I know when we start to back the training off the body will come good. Mentally I am going well, and now that my injuries are coming good I am stating to feel confident about racing in Hawaii. 

As Kona will be my fourth Ironman in 3 years I am still learning new things about how to train and race. The preparation and feeling has been different for all. With the first I was very relaxed and only wanted to finish, in my second ironman race I was very nervous being it was Kona 2010.  For my third ironman I was more confident and had a great swim and bike leg. So I feel like I am ready to put it all together and have a great race, But as we know anything can happen on the day. 

Recovery and Injury Management for the Musketeers

There are a lot of queries around how The Four Musketeers manage to hold themselves together through all this intense training.  Whilst it sounds as though all they do is train, there are other aspects of this sport that are just as important as running riding or swimming.

When not training, the Musketeers ensure they maintain a well balanced nutritional diet. All the Musketeers lead busy lives and a lot of consideration goes into fuelling their bodies correctly. Todd specifically is a vegetarian, making it even harder to ensure what goes in, gives maximum performance.

There are certainly niggles that come up from time to time. A musketeer knows that if these aren’t jumped on quickly, what started out as a slight twinge, fast becomes a huge hurdle. They know when to rest, they know when to ice, and they also know when to leave it to the professionals.

One of these professionals (on speed dial) is Nick Torrence. Nick runs Balance in Motion Physiotherapy and he is a lower limb specialist with an interest in running injuries. He doesn’t use machines, just his hands and acupuncture needles. Nicks common point of difference is his ‘new school’ approach. Balance in Motion will identify the area that isn’t functioning well – whether it be the ribs, pelvis, hip or foot. He then corrects this region and the root cause of the problem, integrating the corrections into the swim, cycle or run.

A common injury Nick sees in triathletes is plantarfascia and/or big toe pain which is actually from overloading of the tibialis posterior and the toe flexor tendons. This has been caused by twisting of the pelvis. The twisting of the pelvis is common in cyclists and is caused by a muscle imbalance, accentuated on the long rides.  This causes a loss of deep pelvic stability.  The lack of stability increases the forces to the foot during the run.  Nick finds that addressing the root cause ins leading to no lost training time and improved running efficiency.

The Musketeers use Balance in Motion Physio for all their lower limb concerns. If you would like more info, visit www.balanceinmotion.com.au or contact Nick on 02 9365 6274.  

Until next time... All for one

Our new Mascot 'George'