Running out of endurance

Let’s face it an Ironman, a half Ironman, an Olympic Distance triathlon are all endurance events. If you take 2hrs 30min or more in an Olympic Distance race it’s a 95% endurance event. An Ironman is as much as 99% endurance, it’s not a strength event, being strong is important, but it’s endurance that gets you to the finish line.
Humans are natural endurance animals. We evolved travelling hundreds of kilometres a month tracking and hunting animals. We also ate those animals, and any fruits, berries, seeds and edible roots along the way. Very little grain and no refined sugar. Somewhere along the way some decided being vegetarian or even vegan made sense.
Young hunters gradually developed their endurance by accompanying the older, more experienced hunters. By time they were young adults they were “endurance athletes”, developed by living an endurance lifestyle.
The athletes in our squad who have recently done an Ironman and whether they’re happy with their result, or would like to have done a faster time, analysis of their race can reveal a moment when they “ran out of endurance”, a point where they could no longer continue the pace which they were holding and had to revert to “surviving”.
To continue developing the endurance which you will use in the future, you need to spend this winter, working on endurance. The best place to work on endurance development is running. Good marathoners quickly become proficient cyclists. Good cyclists struggle to become good marathoners, it can be done, but running is harder than cycling, it takes a committed athlete to make the transition from cyclist to marathoner. The Ironman is always decided in the run.
I suggest for those athletes who felt they ran out of endurance, and for those who have not yet attempted a race long enough to test their endurance, we set out to “become runners” over this winter.
Starting next Friday 19th May we will be commencing the “winter of endurance”, training sessions. Meeting at Qld Uni dirt track at 5.30am we’ll be starting out short and easy and building with the aim of hitting Gold Coast Marathon 1-7-17 – Brisbane Marathon 6-8-17, the Sunshine Coast 70.3 and Gold Coast 50km on 10-12-17. https://www.runningcalendar.com.au/organ…/gold-coast-ultras/
Each one to be done as a milestone/training exercise to develop both the mind and body. The actual race times of each of these events is far less important than the gains made in endurance development, and the confidence you will take into your next Ironman race.
Pencil these events into your calendar and be at Qld Uni every Friday morning at 5.30am whether it’s cold, raining or windy, make this your date with endurance each week. (All levels catered for – no cost for athlete’s on training plans – $10 per session for casuals) By biking to and from these sessions, you give yourself the opportunity to warm up the legs, cool them down and loosen them up on the way home, and fit another occasion of cycling into your week.