Conquer Your Ironman Marathon

It’s one of the toughest challenges in triathlon. Here’s the essential training and pacing advice you need to succeed.

- Phil Mosley

If you're training for an Ironman or just harbouring the notion that you might do one in the future, the advice in this feature is essential reading. An Ironman run is like nothing else you'll ever encounter in triathlon.

The first thing to get your head around is just how tired you'll be before you even start, having swam and cycled for anything from five to 12 hours beforehand. Even if you paced the swim and bike sections sensibly, the best you can hope for is that you'll feel drained of energy by the time you start running.

The next thing to consider is how slowly youll be going – most likely slower than you'll ever run in training. Even if you're heading for a great Ironman run split by your own standards, you'll still be travelling at a relative snail's pace. Ironman success simply involves running slowly without stopping.

During an Ironman run you'll experience a lot, both physically and mentally. Even on a good day, you can expect your feet to hurt, your guts to feel bad and your skin to rub. Chances are that you'll want to laugh and cry at various points along the way.

Here, we'll arm you with all the information you need to perform at your best. Whether you've entered one already or it's just a distant pipe dream, you should cut out this feature and keep hold of it. It could bring you great success and save you a lot of suffering at some point in the future.

THE PERFECT IRONMAN RUN PACE