Ironman Lanzarote Training

Okay guys I have done the triathlon thing, I have done adventure racing and next on my list is to do an Ironman Triathlon and honestly I am scared out of my mind.

You see I have never been the worlds strongest swimmer and the Ironman swim is a pretty long way, especially when you factor in the choppy sea and around 1000 other athletes all thrashing about in their triathlon wetsuits. Yeah it doesn’t make for a nice dip in the sea and it’s about a million miles away from swimming in your local pool where the only danger is some old dear cutting across you (or overtaking you).

So what have I been doing to get my swimming back on track and boost my confidence in the water? Well I have joined the local masters swimming club, I have bought myself a new orca wetsuit and have a new mantra; to be a quick swimmer you need to swim with swimmers, to ride fast you need to train with cyclists and to run like a cheater you need to train with runners.

Already I am noticing an improvement in my swim, where as the tri club swimming was a lot of plodding, the swimmers seem to have focused sets working on endurance, power and technique and I am really impressed by them. last night we were doing 20 * 100m on 1:45 and expecting to come in on sub 1:20 needless to say I am having to work hard to lift my arms to be able to type today. The big question is will I be back to train with them again? Well of course I will. If I can knock 10 – 20 minutes off my predicted Ironman time and still fly on the bike and the run then it’s really worth killing myself once a week in the swimming pool.