So first of all congratulations on 31 Tri’s in 31 days! With a few weeks of recovery under your belt, how do you feel now?Firstly, thank you for your support, it really did help motivate me on those cold wet days to get out and get through each day knowing that what I was doing was generating so much interest.
As you say a few weeks have now passed and I’m fully recovered it was nice to get to the last day and know it was over, not that I was able to take it easy as it was pretty much straight into training for the upcoming Tri season.
It’s quite an amazing feat to have achieved. What gave you the idea for 31/31?
Basically I had come back from Australia late October where I had been representing Great Britain at the age group Duathlon World Championships and really did have some down time for the remainder of the year to recharge my batteries and try and get over a niggle I had with my left heel. The reason I decided to set myself the challenge was twofold really, firstly to give my motivation a boost and force me back into training and not to miss any sessions after the layoff I, secondly it was also creating a good foundation that I would be able to build on for the season ahead.
What distances were you doing each day?
I didn’t want to commit to a set distance for each day, the only real rule I set on myself was that it had to be a minimum of a sprint distance Tri each day, which as you know would be a 750 meter Swim, 20 km Bike and 5 km run, and as long as I achieved that I would be happy.
In reality my Swims where anything between 750 mt and 2km, the Bike distance averaged out for the month to be about 50km a day with a couple of days up around the 100km, the Runs ranged from 5km to 15km but in all honestly the 5km was the go to distance as I was still a little cautious after struggling with my heel the latter part of last year, but it really held up well which was a big boost to confidence also.
Were you doing the tri’s in the same place each day, or were you changing routes / locations?
Each day really was different, I work odd shifts so it all had to be squeezed in around them, even having to find a different pool on a couple of occasions as my usual pool was closed, I also work about 30km from home so use the Bike to commute quite a lot which helped no end and thankfully does keep me off the turbo, and the Runs could happen anywhere from, running to and from the pool, running at lunch time in work or even running home after being out visiting.
I am a firm believer that if you really want to do something you will find a way to do it, if you don’t you will find an excuse.
Your body must have gone through a lot over the 31 days. How do you train for something like this? How long before Jan 1st, did you start training?
In all honesty I had a very easy couple of months in the run up to it which was the reason behind it really.
I have however been a racing cyclist pretty much all my life and swam competitively at a very young age, in 2010 decided to give Triathlon a go, and as you do I went straight for the big one entering Ironman France and have pretty much been on an Ironman – Triathlon roll since so am always doing something really
It must be quite a hit on the body, both physical and mental. How did you prepare physically for this?
Having had a niggle with my heel in the run up to it I visited a Sports Therapist a couple of times in the run up to it and weekly through it which really helped then it just a case of trying to get as much rest as I could through it and obviously trying to maintain a good clean diet with an increase in the amount of protein I consumed to help with muscle repair.
And what about mentally? There must have been some times where you wanted a break? Where did you go (mentally) to dig deep and keep going?
When taking on any kind of challenge there is always going to be times when you wish it was all over and these are the times you need to remind yourself of why you started in the first place and focus on that. I also important to have the support of your family and friends without that things like that would be so much more difficult.
Did you have a training partner?
I don’t have a set training partner as such, but am a member of Liverpool Century CC and Mossley Hill AC and have been for many years now, both clubs have regular training nights and events and am able to dip in and out of sessions that fit with the training I am doing.
How valuable was this?
It really is important to have people you can train with, on your long slow rides and runs it’s great to have some company and when the intensity gets turned up and you have to push yourself hard its equally as important to have people around you to push you through the session, I always think it’s good to have someone there who is just that little bit better than you as it really does help you dig deeper to chase someone.
And what about whilst you were doing the tri’s. Was there someone helping give encouragement along the way?
Obviously my family where there for me all the way through it with encouragement which really was invaluable, what I also did was to turn to my Facebook and Twitter accounts and try to document the journey on there and I was surprised at the amount of interest the challenge generated which in return helped to keep me pushing on.
Keeping your body functioning with the right diet must be critical? Can you give us an example of what you ate each day to help with recovery and give you the right nutrition for the next day?
A typical daily menu would have looked a little like,
Breakfast – Muesli, Almond milk, Blueberries and Greek yoghurt
Lunch – Couple of pieces of Rye bread toasted topped with Avocado and Boiled egg
Tea – Fish or Chicken with veg or salad and maybe a Sweet potato
Typically I probably drink a little too much coffee through the day so it was important to try and stay hydrated drinking water or juice of some description with most meals. And fruit / nuts between meals if needing something, (the occasional chocolate biscuit always goes down well too)
And during your sessions, what was your go to “snack” to keep you going?
Daft as it may sound but I also wanted to use this challenge to drop a little unwanted weigh so didn’t really eat during sessions which did make a couple of the days that bit harder
Recovering from an achievement like this typically doesn’t call for sitting down for a week! What was your recovery week like?
Day 1 of recovery week was a 12km run, felt great to only have to find the time for the one discipline, I then had a complete day’s rest, for the rest of the week it was just one discipline per day but really just coasting through the week.
And… what’s next for you?
Already I’m back to full training for the upcoming season which for me kicks off on the 10th April at the West Lancashire Sprint Tri with my major target being Southport Tri later in May which is a qualifying event for the GB age group team to go to the World Championships which will be in Mexico in September.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank?
Huge thanks have to go to my Wife Michelle and daughters Sarah and Gemma who really do put up with a lot, not just through this challenge but in general J. Everyone at both cycling and running clubs along with those that have followed my exploits on both twitter and facebook also like to mention Gina Riccio of Sport Injury UK who was able to keep me running.
Thanks Ian, really appreciate you taking the time and best of luck for the rest of 2016!
If you’d like to follow Ian (and he posts some great motivational pics!) check out his Facebook and Twitter.
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