A survey was published in a popular UK triathlon magazine which stated that 88% of triathletes thought that the swim section of a race was a necessary evil which they disliked and they did as little swim training as possible in order to finish it.

As a general rule, in elite draft-legal races, if you aren't out of the wet stuff in the lead group then you don't stand a chance of winning the race, regardless of how fast you can cycle and run as you will never be able to catch a group of drafting cyclists.

The answer: Everything about the swim being first is wrong. The swim specialist triathlete needs to be challenged so let's get him or her tired before they start the swim, and the triathlete that falls into the 80% described above needs to work for his dinner and train for the swim as if triathlon actual had 3 separate disciplines.

The facts: The Bike
Once that necessary evil is over, triathletes can recover and begin their longest stage of the day.   Its the discipline that most people put the most training time into.  I don't blame them considering how long they have to stay in the saddle compared with swimming and running. 

Without doubt, it is the 'easiest' of the 3 sports.  I use this term loosely, and mean to cause no offence to the cycling specialists or those that struggle in this area.  Maybe the most 'comfortable' would be more appropriate.  But let's face it, we are sat down.  Certainly in Ironman races, its all now about the bike.  The race can be won or lost in this area.  

The Germans prove this point.  Even though they are much weaker runners than their piers, they can mange to put enough distance between them and their competitors during the bike stage to make sure that they can never be caught (ignoring a blow-out of course!)

The answer: We need to make the bike more proportionate in duration to the other disciplines.  But to make the thing challenging and less 'easy', we need to make sure the athlete is 'really tired' before he jumps on his trusty steed. The bike needs to be last on this list.

The facts: The Run:
Most of us love running, its the cheapest, most convenient and less time consuming of the 3 sports.  It is still very much the case, that most long distance triathletes were originally runners.  

The run specialists rarely gets the opportunity to excel as it is the last of the 3 disciplines.  Once he has finished the swim (which he has done very little training for), and the bike (which has gone on for far too bloody long), he realises his once muscular runner's legs have turned to jelly. For once, triathlon has got it right.  The time spent running during the various distance events is spot on however,  the run specialist is the only one out of the 3 that doesn't get the change to prove his worth.

The Enduroman Solution:

How can we challenge the swimmer, the cyclist and the runner?  Here's how.....

We run first.  This gives the run specialist his chance to excel but he can't push it too hard.  He still has a long swim and bike ahead of him.  This will bring all the athletes to a more level plane.

We swim next, but make the swim bigger.  The swim specialist will be challenged, as he will be fatigued from the run.  The 80% above are going to have to do some swim training also!

We bike last, and reduce the distance to make the race more proportionate.  The bike specialist will be challenged, having already completed the long run and swim.  Even though we are sitting down, everybody will get on their bike feeling tired.

In terms of distance, the bike stage may look too short, but please take it from me, or anybody else who has completed the A2A or the Lanzarote Ultra that after the long run, swim and missing one or two night's sleep, every pedal stroke once you get on your bike feels ultra distance.

With the UK's first Deca Ironman just around the corner, I am very tempted to change the format of this race.  Even for a Deca, athletes will concentrate on the run and bike and do as little as possible in order to finish the swim.

They will be totally fresh when they start the swim and they only have to go through one day of pain.. right?

262 mile run, 24 mile swim, 1120 mile bike.  Now there's a challenge!!

Most people think that the Enduroman Arch to arc is all about swimming the channel.  Those that think this will fail.  The race is all about arriving in Dover, after having run 87 miles, in a suitable physical condition and state of mind to then swim the English Channel.  

You can see from the picture of what Tom Beaver looked like when finishing his swim, that the thought then cycling 187 miles proves that to finish this race, you must be as mad as a box of frogs.

During my challenge, I fell off the bike 3 times after I fell asleep through exhaustion.  As soon as I got on the bike, I struggled to get up the hills as I couldn't pull up on my bars due to the extreme pain that I had in my shoulders after 16 hours of swimming through pooh and sanitary towels.  I couldn't pull up with my legs as my hip flexors were ripped from doing the 'ultra shuffle' for 18 hours then kicking my legs across the channel.

Run.... swim... bike....    Its the new swim, bike, run you know!


Yours in Ultra Sport

Steve  Haywood
Enduroman No 4