Ironman Lanzarote. A 3.8km swim in the Atlantic Ocean made up of two laps. A 180.2km bike around the hilly island, while being battered by the persistent winds that the island’s renowned for. With a barren, black volcanic moonscape all around, it is like nowhere else. A 42.2km run comprising three laps along the beachfront, with crowds of supporters cheering athletes along while the sun beats down.
I’m Ben Goodfellow, a 28-year-old athlete from the UK. I took on my first triathlon in 2017 and since then have been hooked on the sport. In 2022 I secured the 2529 male age-group win at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Then last year I started racing in the pro category despite holding down a full-time job. This was my sixth time taking on the full distance… but it’s still a distance that scares me every time.
STARING AND SINKING
We stand together beneath the starting arch and stare out toward the sea, its iridescent turquoise turned an ominous grey by the clouds above. Its sense of foreboding reflects our grim determination to complete what is ahead. My heart is pounding while my feet gradually sink into the sand as we stand, waiting for the clock to strike 7am.
My day started at 4am. I’m not one for feeling rushed so it’s always an early start for me on race day. Jumping out of bed, I fuelled up with breakfast, undertook a final kit check and then flew out the door. As a perk of rising early, I was able to finish in transition and be organised before many others had even arrived, giving me time to relax upon the famed Lanzarote beaches. Trying to focus, I did some breathing work and thought over how the day could play out, mentally moving through the course and thinking through transition. Then suddenly it’s only 30 minutes before the start and I’m back on my feet, performing some warm-up moves to get my body firing.
Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av 220 Triathlon.
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Denne historien er fra July 2024-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.
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After watching and enjoying the Olympic triathlon events, Brunt amused himself by playing the 'guess how far into each event I would die' game...
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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...
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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\"
