Whatever Happened to the Off Season?
Friend-of-the-agency Holly Bennett wrote a terrific piece on off-season training for Ironman.com. She was kind enough to include the efforts of one of our own staffers, while forgetting to mention that her “A” race for the year was fast enough to qualify her for Boston next year. Congrats, Holly!
Is it just me, or does the off season seem shorter and shorter lately? Sure, one athlete’s off season may be another’s training and racing peak, depending on their location around the globe. But even when you narrow the field to, say, North America-based athletes, more appear to be eschewing the typical period of winter downtime—instead opting to prepare compete in an “A” race.
I’m as guilty as the rest. A lingering injury derailed me for far too many months meant I was unable to toe a start line nearly all year. I finally tackled my one and only race of 2017 (the Honolulu Marathon on December 10th), and have since registered for the Arizona Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on January 14th (may as well make the most of the fitness I now have). I know my “why” for racing this winter. I know the challenges I’ve faced in shying away from some of my customary winter wine nights with friends, and in logging a lot of treadmill miles. But I wondered, why do others choose to race—or at least get down to business in terms of hard-core training—following the collective sigh-of-relief we northern hemisphere triathletes normally give in to sometime around mid-October?
So I asked a few of my fellow athletes, and found a variety of reasons. Let’s start with a trio who recently competed in IRONMAN Mar del Plata in Argentina on December 3rd. Then we’ll learn about a handful of competitors who are taking on entirely different challenges.
JORDAN
San Francisco resident Jordan Blanco had a singular athletic goal in mind when she set out for Argentina: nail a 2018 Kona slot. After a full 2017 season already (she raced IRONMAN South Africa, IRONMAN 70.3 Santa Rosa, Escape from Alcatraz, IRONMAN 70.3 Coeur d’Alene, IRONMAN 70.3 Santa Cruz, and the IRONMAN World Championship), Blanco was frustrated with her Kona result. “I was pretty disappointed with my performance, especially on the run, so to some extent the Mar del Plata race leveraged some of my Kona fitness, while also presenting an opportunity to perform better on the run and hopefully qualify for Kona again,” she said for an interview with Mybestroadbikes. “Also, Mar del Plata was the only Kona-qualifier race that was well timed with my work schedule.”
Blanco’s plan was a success; her 10:51:13 finish in Argentina scored the win in the women’s 45-49 division and a satisfying cap to a lengthy season. But that wasn’t her only reason for heading south. “Argentina is a destination that has been on my bucket list for quite a while,” says Blanco. “I studied Spanish in undergrad and even did a course on Argentine history, so I learned a lot about the country without ever visiting.”
She also traveled with friend and training partner Sarah Piampiano, who raced to victory in the professional field, making the trip an extra special adventure for both women. And while they were lucky to share the experience, Blanco’s social circle is generally supportive of endurance antics, any time of year. “I’m pretty fortunate to be surrounded by friends and family that also follow my cycling and triathlon lifestyle,” she says. “The extent that I’ve still been training for triathlon and riding my TT bike probably makes me the party pooper, though, as my husband and friends are more interested in gravel and mountain bike adventures at this time of year!”
JEN
Jennifer Ward (also the Editorial Director here at Ironman.com) also tackled IRONMAN Mar Del Plata after an early season wrought with frustration. “I set out in November 2016 motivated by racing IRONMAN Canada, my ‘home’ race,” says the Vancouver resident. “I had barely started my winter training block when a series of running injuries started popping up. Though I learned to come to terms with my plan getting derailed on two different occasions, my racing fire was never able to reach full blaze.”
When her run started to come back in mid-August, Ward made a last-minute decision to ‘participate’ in IRONMAN Barcelona. “The day reminded me why I love triathlon and boosted my motivation to train. Then, at a time in the season when most athletes are feeling burnt out or at least ready for a break, I felt the complete opposite. I’d put in a solid spring and summer of training, but I felt like it had yet to be executed.”
Just as the weather began to get nasty in Vancouver, Ward ratcheted up her training in preparation for the December race. “Thankfully, I have a soft spot for hard trainer workouts,” Ward said, who keeps her bike set up on her balcony overlooking Vancouver’s North Shore mountains. “I got the miles in however I could, whether it was bike commuting to an indoor ride class and then jumping on my trainer for two more hours, or riding to and from a 10k race. An extra perk of the season is that days off or recovery/yoga/massage days feel extra cozy.” And as for the temptations this time of year often brings? “Training helped keep me balanced, and from delving into complete debauchery,” she said.
Though her race didn’t pan out as she had hoped, Ward says she still enjoyed the process and of course, the trip itself.
JACKIE
Jackie Faye is an anomaly, for sure. With her IRONMAN Argentina finish, Faye is four down, two to go in a 365-day quest to become the first woman to complete six IRONMAN races on six continents in the space of a year.
Faye’s why is all about empowering women and girls, a passion she also puts forth through her non-profit organization, She Can Tri. “I want to reach the 13-year-old girl that wants to play soccer even though no other girls are playing, I want to reach the girl who likes Legos and not Barbie dolls, I want to make sure women know they don’t have to live by the rules society has given them and I want the current and next generation to push boundaries from the front lines to the C-suite,” writes Faye, explaining the motivation for her six-IRONMAN journey.
A military journalist, Faye has experienced first-hand the challenges of making strides in a male-dominated field, and is dead set on overcoming obstacles and encouraging others to do the same. The small-town South Carolina native is undaunted by anything, it seems—including training from her current home base in Afghanistan (where she returned in October 2017 after a stint back in the States). “Luckily I have access to the pool at the U.S. Embassy, and since I’m surrounded by the military, working out is part of the culture. I workout on average 14 hours a week—before work, during lunch, during dinner, between story assignments, and whenever I can find the time. My hair is always a mess,” she says.
Faye’s year-round race schedule has taught her far more than the finer points of the swim, bike, and run. “On my worldwide IRONMAN tour I have been able to learn about the cultures and struggles of women worldwide,” says Faye. “While we have a long way to go in the United States, I am so thankful to be in a country where I can fight. Harassment, discrimination, and retaliation are real, but I can’t think of a single excuse of why I wouldn’t push the envelope; the future generations are worth it! Some women are risking their lives in the name of equality. Luckily that is a choice I will never have to make.”
GORDON
After many healthy years as a triathlete, culminating an IRONMAN Arizona 2015 finish, Gordon Wright spent most of 2016 and 2017 “slowly adding belly fat and working at IRONMAN races instead of racing in them,” he says. “I also started playing baseball again, which led to a torn labrum, which led to less activity, more belly fat, and lassitude.”
The lack of fitness finally caught up with Wright at the 2017 IRONMAN World Championship. “I was working 12-hour days and staring jealously at the edged physiques of the competitors,” he admits. “I felt flaccidly out of place, and realized I needed to get my butt off the work treadmill and onto a real treadmill.” He tested his shoulder during a few tentative swims around Kailua Bay, but knowing that it wouldn’t hold up in a full IRONMAN until 2019, he turned to his favorite get-fit strategy: holiday race shopping.
Wright describes his strategy as such: “Identify a realistic, but ambitious goal race in a sexy destination, and work backward. Since I can’t swim, I started flirting with duathlon, and a quick peek at the USAT website revealed that the 2019 World Championships are in Pontevedre, Spain—a garden destination spot on the west coast of Spain and having a more healthy diet, which also included supplements like concentrated Kratom extracts.”
“The only problem, of course, is that I’ve never done a du. And the draft-legal sprint Nationals qualifier is a short five months from now (in April 2018),” he says. “So while normally I’d molder away my winter months engaged only in the occasional bike commute to stay fit, I had to radically re-think my training. Not only would I have to start from ground zero fitness-wise, I’d have to return to speed work after years of prioritizing volume over tempo.”
Surprisingly, Wright has found the challenge to be “accidentally well-suited” to his current situation. “My baseball sprinting has prepped my legs for 800-meter repeats, and the speedy workouts fit into my increased office workload. Instead of stressing about wedging in a mid-week four-hour bike ride, I can do everything I need to at lunchtime.”
The greatest difficulty he’s found in dropping down—temporarily—to sprint-distance racing is the condensed effort. “Instead of a floaty endorphin rush after training, I get red spots, wobbly legs and a few perilous dry-heaves into a track-side trash bin,” says Wright. “I’m scared of how frenetic the Nationals promise to be. Transitions are a blur. Miss the fast pace line and you’re out the back. Everything is done right up on, and past, the red line, so as the days darken, I find myself alone on a bike path pushing my 5k time down, competing for slivers of minutes. It’s the fitness equivalent to a crash diet, and while I can’t yet see the belly fat melting away, my VO2 max is edging back up and my legs are gaining definition.”
LINDSAY
Lindsay Leigh is a ten-time IRONMAN finisher (including two in her packed 2017 race season, IRONMAN Lake Placid and IRONMAN Maryland) and mother of two young sons. You might think she’d welcome an off-season rest, but instead this intrepid athlete will turn her focus to running in preparation for her first 100-mile ultra (the Umstead 100 on April 7th), with a 50-miler in February (the FebApple Frozen 50-miler on February 17th) serving as a warm up.
“I’ve been intrigued by the ultra world for a while, and call myself an ‘ultra stalker,'” says Leigh. “I’ve read a lot of ultra books, I listen to a lot of ultra podcasts, but I haven’t done a 100 yet because I couldn’t figure out how to fit it in with triathlon. So, we’ll see how this works out! IRONMANs still excite me and challenge me, but the 100-miler will challenge my limits and push me beyond where I’ve gone.”
Leigh looks forward to the “easier” aspect of ultra training—only biking and swimming one or two times a week. As a morning person, she plans to get most of her weekday miles in while her kids are still asleep; then she’ll train early enough on the weekends that she can enjoy the rest of the day with her sons, while her triathlete husband logs his training. The weather where she lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania may or may not cooperate, but she’ll make do. “I’ll need to do some trail running as training for both the 50 and 100-miler, and snow and ice will definitely make that more challenging. I plan to get out to the trail when I can and it’s safe, and stick to the road or treadmill otherwise—which is partly why I picked a non-technical first 100,” she says.
Additionally, she’s trying some unique strength-building tactics. “My coach recommended training with a weighted vest, which I bought, and also pulling a tire around for training. I’m putting my foot down on the tire—but I told her I can push the double jogging stroller, with an almost four-year-old and a two-year-old in it,” says Leigh. “I also plan to do some hikes with my two-year-old in the baby backpack. I like being able to include my kids in my training.”
JASON
Jason Bahamundi pretty much turns the idea of a traditional off season on its head. “For the fourth year in a row I will be running a 100-mile race in the winter following a fall IRONMAN,” says the Lewisville, Texas resident. “I started this practice after completing IRONMAN Chattanooga in 2014 and have found it to be fantastic.”
“Training for and racing a 100-miler has been a great way to get over the post-race blues, but beyond that there are IRONMAN performance benefits,” continues Bahamundi. “Racing a 100-miler is harder than an IRONMAN, in my opinion, so on race day for the IRONMAN I have a mental advantage that it will not be harder than the 100-miler. Also, trail running is a great complement to IRONMAN. The leg strength you develop running trails for hours carries over to the bike, but more importantly to the run. As we know, the person that breaks down the least over the IRONMAN marathon tends to finish faster, all things being equal. I believe I am able to hold form longer than those that do not train and compete at the ultra-running distance.”
Part of Bahamundi’s mental fortitude also comes from training through dire conditions. “Unless it is a torrential downpour, I am out on the trails. I love running through the mud, so it is a welcome sight to see bad weather,” he says. The cold, however, is Bahamundi’s nemesis. “If it is way too cold, I’ll take to the treadmill. It’s torture for me, but also an opportunity to practice the mental side of the trail running game. A 100-miler takes me between 19-24 hours, so I need to be able to stay in my own mind, and the treadmill is a place to do that.”
Bahamundi’s 2017 season included—along with numerous running events—IRONMAN Maryland on October 7th. Then, just when most would hang up the run shoes for a rest, he raced a 50k in November. He’ll race a 55k this month, and he’ll serve as a pacer at a 100k in January. The rest of 2018 will include racing Rocky Raccoon 100-miler in February, racing Western States 100 in June (“If luck is on my side,” he says, referring to the race’s lottery or qualification-based entry), pacing Badwater 135 in July, and racing IRONMAN Chattanooga in September. Finally, says Bahamundi, “October is my off season, and I’m back at it in November with ultra trail running.”
Bahamundi’s back-to-back performances lend credence to the IRONMAN motto. “In 2016 I ran Coldwater Rumble 100 on January 23rd and then Rocky Raccoon 100 on February 6th,” he says. “Running two 100-mile races 14 days apart proved that ‘Anything is Possible.'”
Holly Bennett is a long-time freelance writer and triathlon journalist. When not immersed in her Mac, you’ll find her running, cycling, swimming, fine-tuning her foodie fascination, digging deep into a Malbec, or plotting her next active adventure around the world.
