As some of you might know, I am trying to train for an ironman triathlon whilst travelling. This consists of a 2.4 mile (3.8km) swim, 112 mile (180km) cycle, followed by a cheeky marathon (26.2 miles/42.2km) at the end. This is happening in September in Wales. I have an awesome team (#WiggleXHokaFlyers), wonderful coaches (Rob and @SusieCheetham) and Strength & Conditioning coaching from @CarlaMolinaro, physio support from performance team and amazing sponsors Wiggle, dhb, and Hoka.
Before the Pacific crossing, Will and I spent a week in the Galapagos on the boat and the "training" there consisted mostly of getting used to the immense heat, horribly high heart rate, and trying not to stop every 5 minutes to photograph the exotic fauna (sealions, enormous galapagos tortoises and marine iguanas).
Knowing that I was going to be coming on this adventure, I have tried to just draw a line under the 3-4 weeks of Pacific crossing and another couple without reliable bike access, and not get stressed about the training I should be doing. There’s nothing I can do about it, so why worry?
I was worried. This is a huge event, the first full ironman distance triathlon I have ever done, and I am on a boat letting all the training I have done until now go to waste! With atrophying muscles, I decided I would do nightly strength and conditioning and physio exercises during my night shifts during the Pacific crossing. For 24 days, apart from the nights where I was really feeling awfully seasick, I did an hour of what I could, given the cramped conditions, followed by at least an hour of standing at the helm. One of the great things about sailing is that you’re basically on a wobble board 24/7. This is pretty fabulous for core strength. It’s not great, however, for when you have socks on to slide from plank into downward dog and you face-plant into a cleat and land all your body weight onto your shoulder… (RSI - randomsailinginjuries)
As soon as I could when off the boat, I started running again. The first few days were pretty rough. It felt like I was starting from scratch. Not helped by the tropical temperatures and volcanic terrain (good for hill reps though!), also not helped by the fact that there were loads of Tikis just by the side of the road that HAD to be photographed.
Other running highlights have been hill reps to the main Tiki and a run/hike which necessitated clambering up to a 'view point' in Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, and running on the beach and through a farm in Anaho.
As we mentioned in our Nuku Hiva blog, we managed to rent ebikes one day on Nuku Hiva and did a 60km out-and-back to a bay in the North called Hatieu’hai. Having been really sad to only be able to rent ebikes and not proper road bikes, we quickly realised that the “e” could come in handy at some point. The hills here are brutal (I guess the clue is in the phrase ‘volcanic islands’). With a 25kg bike, we didn’t use the “e” for the 30km to our lunch spot and we arrived completely drenched in sweat. After a massive lunch of fish curry (for Lisa) and wild boar with rum sauce (for Will) with breadfruit, rice and cassava, we decided that some “e” was required for the return journey, with the extra ballast we were now carrying...
Swim training has been interesting. I’m generally not afraid of what could be beneath, however I did have a bit of a tight chest when we stopped for a dip while in the doldrums not far from the Galapagos. It’s just SO deep. Looking down (thanks to my new rhino horn snorkel that was a cause of much hilarity for Charlie, Roo and Kit), there were shafts of light that just disappeared into nothingness. I did some laps around the boat in glassy water but the current was fairly strong and I really didn’t want to lose the boat! I didn’t see life down there which I was really glad about. Out of the doldrums, there really wasn't much opportunity to swim. The ocean was too choppy for the most part. We did stop at the end of March for another couple of quick dips. On one of these occasions, Charlie reprimanded me for my shoddy bowline on a fender that we had chucked out as a line for the boys, so he re-did it giving me the exasperated rubbish-deck-hand look. When I was out of the water having done my swim, there was the fender, floating a hundred meters away. Back into the water I went and fetched it. The current meant it kept floating further and further and Will was fairly worried so made Charlie start the engine to come and get me. Thankfully it didn’t come to that.
Once we arrived in French Polynesia, I thought swim training would be easy as cake, however, it turns out there’s quite a lot of life in the waters out here. I persuaded Will to come out and paddleboard with me just in case... We saw turtles, manta rays and baby sharks (video in Nuku Hiva blog). My rhino horn snorkel wasn’t doing its job and my goggles kept letting in water. That, combined with chest tightness from all the wildlife, meant that it wasn’t quite as easy as I had hoped.
Realising that I’m not doing enough training is rather stressful. Susie, my coach, has been wonderful throughout. She has sent me texts calming me down and working out the weeks we have left and what I can reasonably do given my limitations. As soon as I’m off the boat, it’s all go. As I’m writing, we have 2 more days before a few nights in a hotel (with a pool) in Hiva Oa and then 10 days in Tahiti where I have contacted the local triathlon club who have very kindly said that I can join some of their sessions. Then it’s to Seattle where our bikes have safely arrived. I have no doubt that the 100 miles-a-day for 15 days in June will be a shock to the system but I’m very excited about that.
Before I go, here's a mash-up video of some of my training. A big thank you to Will for being my run and cycle buddy, and uncomplaining videographer. You have mad skillz.