The idea for the original Ironman Triathlon came during the Oahu Perimeter Relay Awards (a 5-person team walk). Participants included numerous representatives from both the Pacific Road Runners and representatives of the Waikiki Swimming Club, whose members had long debated that athletes were “better” if swimmers or runners. During the conversation Commander John Collines of the US Navy pointed out that in a recent article in Sports Illustrated magazine it was said that Eddy Merch, the great Belgian cyclist, had the highest value of “oxygen consumption” of any an athlete who had never been measured, so the cyclists were actually the “best” and most complete athletes.
Beginner’s Guide to the Iron-Man
Commander Collins, along with his wife Judy Collins, who had already participated in triathlons developed in San Diego, proposed to resolve the doubt with a race that developed on the Island: swimming in Waikiki Rough water Swim (2.4 mi./3.86 km) , The Around-Oahu Bike Race (115 mi./185.07 km) and the Honolulu Marathon race (26.219 mi./42.195 km).
Before starting the race, each participant received three sheets of paper listing some rules and description of the course, with a nod to a local rider who was known for his workouts until exhaustion, the Commander said: “Whoever arrives first, Let’s call it Iron Man “.
If we had to establish three “maxims” in order to complete the course of an Ironman we would say that nutrition, patience and efficiency are three “maxims” that we must not forget and that we should not neglect.
One of the problems that beginners usually have is that they download the initial nervousness there; they use a valuable energy that they would miss in the final part of the test. The swimming test should be labeled “relaxed and efficient”.
Once in the water we will watch carefully the navigation, our objective constantly focuses on the energy saving, for this, we will try to perfect in the training the orientation in the water, to avoid having to raise constantly the head, when we raise the head We spend energy in the movement and we spend energy to recover the lost rhythm.
Four keys to the bike: Cadence, efficiency, heart rate (effort control) and feeding. The cadence and the heart rate help us to stay within our limits and to be efficient, that is, to maximize the effort within a test that demands the maximum. We have 180 km ahead that can leave our back battered, so we will take care of the position of the back, without forcing it unnecessarily in order to find a constant aerodynamic posture. Especially at the beginning of the swim test we will combine higher and lower postures to condition our back to the most extreme position. Rehydration and maintenance of blood glucose levels, that is our goal and that will delay the onset of fatigue and improve our performance.
If you are a beginner, or is the first time you participate in an Ironman probably the fact of running is already going to be tough enough, so we do not talk about running fast. Again as in swimming we again label this part of the Ironman with “efficiency”. Do not try to accelerate on the slopes, remember that every minute you go too fast in the first part of the race will become 2 minutes slower in the second part of the race.
