I’ve heard about this phenomenon for 25yrs. When I first came back from Hawaii in 86, one of my brother’s mates asked him, how I was going with “post Ironman depression”. When my brother told me, I thought “what in the hell is that?” Since then the subject has come up over the years.
Seriously, when I came back from Kona in 86, I had two businesses to run, a family to raise. I didn’t have time for “post Ironman depression”. I was too busy.
Being busy with other things in your …

How many people do you ever meet who are truly happy? Did you ever sit at a table in a busy shopping centre and watch the people’s faces as they walk by? Most of the people walking by have a look on their face like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders.
Happy looking people are becoming a rare sight. You have to be careful, wearing a frown all the time will print that look into your face. People’s faces are a reflection of the life they’ve lived. …

Often young athletes are discouraged by the few Hawaii qualifying spots available to each category. It’s got to be hard to get in, otherwise people wouldn’t value the chance to race there. Racing in Hawaii is a privelage and a hard earned right. It’s harder to get into an Australian swimming team for the World Champs.
One of the guys pointed out that at the Australian Ironman this year in the 30-34 mens category, there are only 7  Hawaii spots to cover 195 competitors. He was a bit discouraged.
It’s my job …

Every athlete is different. We all have different abilities to recover. We all have different strengths and weaknesses. Something that won’t mean a thing to one athlete will offend another. The sort of feedback which will motivate one athlete may look like rubbish to another.
The coach’s job is to get to know each athlete as well as possible to learn what buttons to push to get the best outcome from that athlete. A good dog or a good horse is easy to train. That just means that that particular dog or …

Whether you’re training for New Zealand Ironman or Ironman Australia, there’s just one day in March when you need to be on top of your game.
About this time of year I answer lots of e-mails adressing lots of fears and doubts. It seems at this time, lots of guys are reading what others are doing. Comparing themselves to others, comparing their training records to others.
When any of us put a post on a triathlon forum, we don’t tell the readers about our disappointing workouts, or the really tired weeks when …