How do I prepare for the Ironman Hawaii?

To prepare for the Ironman World Championship, I annually follow a rigorous training scheme. In this blog, I will tell you about one of the biggest secrets of every athlete...his training plan. A normal preparation for Hawaii typically takes 10 to 11 weeks and consists of 3 main blocks.This year, I started on august 7 with a high-altitude camp of 3 weeks in Font-Remeu (Pyrenees, France). Going to Font-Remeu is also a little bit going “back to basics”. I stay in an excellent sports center with an outstanding sport accommodation... but with second-class housing facilities: small rooms of 2 meter by 6 meter (including the bathroom), a public toilet in the aisle and a “Spartan” cuisine. These first 3 weeks could thus be defined as “me, myself and triathlon”. Three weeks of hard work, hundreds of kilometers uphill and downhill biking in short and long laps. On top of that tens of kilometers of swimming and running, because all disciplines must be treated equally. The focus in Font-Remeu is on basic endurance training. The last two years I finish my high-altitude training by driving from Font-Remeu to Monaco, where I test the first training effects of my camp. From my yesterday’s blog, you already know what happened in Monaco.Immediately after Monaco, I returned home. For about 10 days I took it easy and awaited the “super compensation” of the high-altitude camp. For my second training block, I traditionally go to Club La Santa Sport in Lanzarote. A fantastic accommodation, combined with tough training conditions: the ideal place to hurt yourself a little on the fire mountains (uphill and against strong headwinds I can hardly manage to bike at 15km/hr). It is that wind and the tough biking conditions that I find attractive, two elements that also are abundantly available in Hawaii. The second block takes 10 days and is more specifically tailored towards Ironman Hawaii. After Lanzarote, I returned home and left for Hawaii 5 days later. After my arrival, I first give myself some 3 days to adapt to the local time and climate. Then I start with the specific preparation for the Ironman race: a new block of about 12 days of very specific labor but now under real race conditions, followed by 8 days of what we call relaxed training.Tomorrow I will reveal another athlete secret and will give you a detailed overview of my training schemes....well, on second thought, probably not…. ( a chef will not reveal his cooking secrets to his competitors either!!!).