Ironman Wales, we're going to destroy you. Your sea swim, hilly bike and marathon run hold no fears. You, my friend, will be putty in our collective hands." That's the message from the Wiggle x HOKA Flyers, the team who won myriad HOKA and Wiggle gear through a competition at the end of 2021, including Ironman Wales entry.
Okay, that might not be the exact message as, understandably, each athletes' journey's presented numerous physical and mental hurdles.
"Ironman Wales, most humbly we're hoping that our commitment to the cause will pay dividends over your brutal course", might be a more accurate assessment.
But the team are doing well and most recently caught up for a training camp at the University of Birmingham. Out of the four competition winners, three attended - Lisa Stockdale was off galivanting around the world - plus Wiggle's Gabs Burden.
"The athletes at the HOKA weekend were all on a recovery week," explains coach Susie Cheetham. Cheetham's also a top Ironman athlete and recently finished fourth at Ironman Des Moines in June.
"They'd just had five easy days and cruelly we made them do a 400m time-trial in the pool." Beyond that sadism, our age-group army also 'enjoyed' an 80min run, a 90min strength-and-conditioning class, gait analysis, plus some massage.
Here, we catch up with the Wiggle x HOKA Flyers as they reflect on their training so far and how they're feeling ahead of Ironman Wales on 11 September...
SIM GILL
Bedfordshire's Sim was inspired to tri by watching the Ironman World Champs several years back and is making this the year he stops dreaming.
HOW ARE THINGS PROGRESSING?
Denne historien er fra August 2022-utgaven av 220 Triathlon.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra August 2022-utgaven av 220 Triathlon.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
How to Carb Load - Packing your working cells with carbohydrates in the build-up to your big race is a proven strategy to race stronger and faster...
Whichever distance triathlon you're racing, the intensity and duration of your activity will see your body tap into its stores of carbohydrates (in the form of glycogen) to power your effort. While it's possible to top up your tank on the go, it's better to start your event with your stores full to the brim.
The Olympic Champion - On 31 July, Great Britain's Alex Yee put together arguably the greatest one-day performance we have ever seen at an Olympic Games to win gold. And we were there at the finish line to speak to tri's new poster boy...
The opening line of the race report read how 20 years on from New Zealand’s first and only Olympic triathlon gold medal, Hayden Wilde had put in a careerbest performance to regain the title for his nation. Then Alex Yee comes around the corner.Yee’s charge, seemingly from nowhere on the final lap of the 10km run in Paris, didn’t just help him become the most decorated Olympic male triathlete of all time, and didn’t just cap a rivalry that has been building for six years, it left seasoned watchers of swim, bike, run in awe. It will go down as one of the greatest triathlon races; Yee, still just 26, as one of the greatest triathletes. His medals from Paris added to the two from Tokyo, leaving his haul at two gold, a silver and a bronze, and counting.
"I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO INFLUENCE THE GROWTH OF TRIATHLON"
British Triathlon CEO Ruth Daniels talks Paris, her plans to grow tri and her own personal goals... knees allowing
ZWIFT RIDE
£1,199.99 Zwift's new Ride is an indoor bike that might help you break your PB... but won't break the bank
PARIS SHOWED THE VALUE OF OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE
With the spotlight on triathlon like never before at these Games, debutant athletes talked about being overwhelmed by the unique environment
GAMES AT THE GAMES
After watching and enjoying the Olympic triathlon events, Brunt amused himself by playing the 'guess how far into each event I would die' game...
WHERE EAGLES DARE
With little heat prep, the wrong gear choice and a course-recce mistake, would experienced extreme triathlete Sean McFarlane soar like an eagle or drop like a stone in Italy?
HOW TO INCREASE RUN PACE WHEN FATIGUED
The ability to dig deep in the latter stages of a race helped Alex Yee achieve Olympic gold. Here Ben, a member of Team GB's coaching staff in Paris, explains how you too can find that extra gear...
BUYER'S GUIDE: BIKE COMPUTERS
Log your rides, find your way and monitor your multisport training with a quartet of impressive bike computers...
POLAR GRIT X2 PRO
\"You can't be anything other than impressed with the GPS, whose design is one of the significant changes to the V3\"
