HOW TO GET READY
for Ironman
There are three options to prepare yourself for the “iron distance”.
The classic strategy, the most common in various sports disciplines, is training under the guidance of a professional coach. It’s not that difficult to find coaches for the three distinct disciplines that make up the Ironman complex: running, swimming, cycling. But, unfortunately, there are not many good coaches who specialize in Ironman, and in Russia they are few. I don’t believe in “remote coaching” when there is no direct contact between a coach and an athlete, there is no possibility for the coach to analyze and correct the athlete’s technique. And remote coaching is very expensive. In my opinion, it is not reasonable to spend serious money on any training programs that are not customized to you. You can find them for free.
The second option is to train for each of the three sports separately; in this case it is easier to find qualified trainers. But here there will be a problem of matching the schedules of the three types of training with your schedule, taking into account the times when the coaches and you are available for training. In
addition, this option will be very expensive. In addition, everyone who trains long enough knows: A good cyclist is no longer as fast after the swimming stage as a good runner after the cycling stage. This is exactly the complexity and exclusivity of the “iron distance”. In my amateur opinion, it makes sense to engage coaches in certain sports to learn the technique, if you have never swimming, cycling or running at all.
The third option is to make a program for yourself based on the literature you’ve studied and start training yourself. But I’ve already told you: in the process of self-study there may be many questions – maybe more than answers. After all, there are so many people, so many opinions, and everything has to be tested experimentally by yourself.
In this book, I made an attempt to combine the analysis of theoretical positions with practical training experience. By reading this guide and using this information in your own practice of training, you will be able to adjust and improve your results. And most importantly, it will increase each athlete’s chances of reaching the finish line in one piece.