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Jack’s journey to Ironman Frankfurt commenced in February 2023 and today, Sunday 18th August 2024, Jack realised his dream.
Jack’s sporting background in swim, bike and run was limited. Holiday swimming and leisure cycling, but he had completed a couple of Half Marathons.
After an initial video call, we met, and we agreed an approach. This was broken down into three key stages, an initial three-month prep period where the gym, static bike and treadmill were used. This created a routine and allowed the body and social life to adapt to the time it takes to train for a long course event. We also assessed Jack’s swimming and agreed to continue with breaststroke until his first event at Woking in September.
The second stage, four months, saw Jack’s training become more specific to the Woking Triathlon. Gym work reduced and outdoor running and cycling increased. Cycling confidence was low, so we spent time together developing the necessary skills and confidence, along with the fourth discipline, transition.
On 17th September 2023, after a bout of Covid, Jack became a Triathlete having successfully completed Woking.
Stage three of Jack’s training took us all the way to Frankfurt. Jack invested in a road bike and cleats (this took some getting used too) and confidence took a knock when he was forced off the road by a close passing coach. Luckily, he got away with just a sprained wrist, but this meant cycling and swimming had to take a back seat to allow recovery.
As winter approached Jack hired a turbo trainer as a cost effective way of training throughout the winter months and once Jack’s wrist had healed full training restarted.
We assessed the swim and agreed the best approach was to have local swim lessons, to save the travel to my local pool, and soon Jack was swimming freestyle. Bike and run fitness tests were carried out and training zones were set for the beginning of 2024.
As spring approached we met up and created a set of cycling skills development routines that Jack could then practice on his own.
Test events were agreed, starting with the spring version of the Woking Triathlon, but this time the Sprint distance. What a great confidence boosting result. Just what was needed and showed that all the winter training had paid off.
Next on the list of challenges was Open Water Swimming. We’d hoped to have ventured into the lake last September, but the cycling incident prevented this. In late May, having sorted out a rental on a wetsuit for the season, we met at The SHAC (nr. Reigate) and entered the water. We took it easy, with time to get familiarised with the water temp, swimming outside and swimming in a wetsuit. Once Jack was relaxed, we swam. A little at a time to start and we got out before getting cold. A great start to Jack becoming a confident OW swimmer.
Mid-June saw Jack complete his first OWS Triathlon, this time the Olympic Distance at Dorney Lakes. A great traffic free venue with clear water and unchallenging bike and run courses. All three elements went well, and Jack’s confidence continued to grow.
From June onwards it was time to build the distances further on all three disciplines. Cycling on the open roads continued to be unsettling, but Jack created a local route that could be extended as the miles increased. Swim distance and pace continued to develop nicely as did the running.
General nutrition was discussed, after a friend said to Jack that he’d lost weight. We started a food diary, calculated calorie intake and identified where the deficit was coming from. With this change, Jack put weight back on, which stabilised for the remainder of his training. A slight knee niggle developed in the last 6 weeks. The physio said it will be fine, but we took a cautious approach, as getting to the start line was more important.
For the summer months sessions became more event specific and an event nutrition plan was developed and put into practice.
Frankfurt did not quite go to plan, but once again Jack’s determination became his greatest strength. On the lead up to the event it became increasingly apparent that the swim would be non wetsuit (thankfully we had practiced this ahead of the event). This made the swim even more challenging, but Jack completed it within the cut-off time. He flew around the first lap of two on the bike to remove the worry of time cut-offs, despite a prolonged downpour and his chain coming off on the cobbles. The run finished the day without incident although some sores picked up on the bike made running not too comfortable.
Jack deserved today. Apart from a few days of sickness/injury he showed up for every session and completed every session as planned. During his journey he swam over 103 kms, rode over 4,500 kms and ran over 1,300kms, with a total training time of 420hrs and to top it all, he received his finishers medal from Kristian Blummenfelt, Norwegian pro triathlete and Olympic and World champion.
Congratulations Jack for achieving your goal.
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