This month, three members of the ragtag mob that is Team Triathlon Plus were put through their paces at a running training day hosted by Saucony UK coach, and co-founder of runningwithus.com, Nick Anderson. The session focused on how to develop the correct running technique and the integral part it plays in performance. Here’s what we learned.

Drills 

Few would deny that if you want to be a faster swimmer then you have to make correct freestyle technique a priority but, as Anderson pointed out, not everyone applies that same principle to running. “Unfortunately, many athletes overlook the technical aspect of the sport, preferring instead to just bash out miles on the road with no regard to their form,” he said. “Cracking your running technique is crucial if you want to become a better athlete, and the best way to do this is through drills.”

According to Anderson, those who incorporate drills into their training programme are able to teach their body to recruit muscles in the right way for running, making them more efficient, faster and less injury-prone in the process. The best drills for triathletes are those that concentrate on high knees and fast feet. He proposed that the team complete these exercises at least once a week, with a focus on landing on their mid/forefoot, staying tall and leaning forward slightly.

Strength and conditioning 

Elite triathletes consider strength and conditioning work a vital part of their training and injury-prevention programme. Mere mortals – including most of Team Triathlon Plus – tend to underestimate its value, so we often end up nursing preventable injuries after a few hard sessions. “Consistent training is key to making improvements,” said Anderson. “Athletes who neglect strength training tend to have disrupted training since they’re often injured. A strong core is essential for maintaining good form and is what allows athletes like Alistair Brownlee to look like they’re floating with ease across the ground right up to the finish line.” He explained how core exercises such as the plank, one-legged squats and press-ups target key muscles needed for running and ought to be included in every triathlete’s daily routine.

Nutrition 

Getting your nutrition right is essential for optimal performance and recovery. However, the plethora of advice and choices can sometimes be bewildering, especially to newcomers like Aimee. Anderson explained: “An athlete’s diet should include plenty of carbs to fuel training sessions, and lots of protein, fruit and vegetables. The body is like an engine and it needs the right fuel to perform at its best. The biggest mistake athletes make is they don’t appreciate the volume of food they need to consume to train hard and consistently, so end up injured, frustrated and unable to achieve their potential. Snacking on nuts, fruit, malt loaf, oatcakes and other similar foods is imperative in order to keep blood sugar and energy levels high.” His golden rule is this: never let yourself get hungry but never eat so much that you hit the point where you need to take an impromptu lie-down for a couple of hours.

Running forward 

Team Triathlon Plus returned to HQ with a treasure trove of valuable information and mulled over the most important lesson of the day: smashing PBs and achieving faster run splits isn’t simply down to upping miles on the road. Granted, incorporating drills and strength exercises into our training schedules and ditching the junk food isn’t going to transform us into Chris McCormack or Chrissie Wellington overnight, but with some hard graft we can all make big improvements. Over the coming months, John will be focusing on his conditioning and teaching his body to recruit muscles for running and not just for cycling. Aimee will be desperately trying to let go of what she’s been told at Slimming World and fuel her system with the right nutrients rather than counting calories. And Jek will be learning to do the right type of training and staying injury-free so she can achieve her full potential in time for London.

NICK ANDERSON’S TOP RACE-DAY TIPS

1 Have a plan and stick to it. Be prepared to be flexible though, if the conditions aren’t what you were expecting.

2 Race at the pace you’ve practised in training. Don’t attempt a sub-30-minute 10km if you’ve never run at this speed before.

3 Be patient. Most people start too fast, so ease into the pace in the early kilometres and then stick to it. The best athletes are as strong in the second half of the race as they are in the first.

TEAM UPDATE

Aimee Hopkins
Age: 29
Ability: Beginner

I haven’t properly got into the swing of things with my triathlon training yet but that’s set to change now all the gear has arrived.

Swim: I still can’t front crawl for more than a length (25m) without needing a rest.

Bike: I haven’t ridden a bike since school and have no idea how to use the gears.

Run: Fairly average for an asthmatic.

Jek Bradley
Age: 25
Ability: Intermediate

I’ve clocked up plenty of hours on the bike and in the pool. Sadly, plantar fasciitis (pain under the arch of the foot) is still stopping me running.

Swim: I’m still a frantic water thrasher who has yet to nail the smooth gliding technique.

Bike: Endless hours on the turbo have paid off and I’m no longer hanging on for dear life at the back on weekend club rides.

Run: Plantar fasciitis put a stop to my running in November.

John Whitney
Age: 29
Ability: Intermediate/beginner

Never have I been more motivated to get out and train for a triathlon. It’s a cruel irony, then, that thanks to a knee injury that won’t shift, I’ve never been so incapable.

Swim: I surprised myself at being able to manage 3km without too much trouble.

Bike: My strongest discipline by far – the only one I’m confident in.

Run: A knee problem has stopped me making any progress.

Rich Sage
Age: 38
Ability: Advanced

Training is going really well and my swim technique is much improved. It’s still a bit cold for the bike but I’ve been doing plenty of running and spinning.

Swim: I have sound technique but want to get faster this season.

Bike: I train four to five times a week and love hills.

Run: I ran my first half marathon in March in one hour and 28 minutes.

Triradar.com is the online home of Triathlon Plus – the best source of triathlon training advice, triathlon gear reviews and triathlon news.

Log your training for free at the TriRadar.com Training Zone.

Have every issue delivered to your digital device by getting Triathlon Plus through Apple Newsstand, Google Play or Zinio. Subscribe to the print edition with massive savings at MyFavouriteMagazines.

Join the conversation on the Triathlon Plus Facebook page, follow us on Twitter @TriathlonPlus.



Triathlon Plus issue 54 focuses on how to improve your swimming; our main feature explains the importance of incorporating drills into your workouts and the value of investing a swim coach. We’ve also got a group test of the best wetsuits for triathlon as well as a expert advice from performance nutritionist Dr Kevin Currell on the popular paleo diet.

You’ll find Triathlon Plus issue 54 at all good newsagents and supermarkets or Save time and money by having every issue delivered to your door or digital device by subscribing to the print edition or buying digitally through Zinio or Apple Newsstand.

Scroll down for the full contents.

ON THE COVER

FIVE NEW SWIM SPOTS YOU’LL LOVE

Be inspired to hit the open water in This is Your World

10 ENERGY GELS REVIEWED

What you need to know about the energy gels on the market

YOUR BEST SWIM

Think you’ll always be a bad swimmer? Let these athletes and coaches prove you wrong

“ONE SIMPLE CHANGE SAVED MY LIFE – AND MY RACING”

How Jack Billingham stayed positive through serious illness

THREE QUICK WAYS TO SWIM BETTER

Swimming expert Andy Bullock explores the benefits of the other three strokes

NAIL YOUR BIKE LEG IN 30 MINUTES

Unlock your pain gate so you can ride faster than ever, says coaching editor Phil Mosley

FIVE HARD RUN TIPS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Inject some speed into your run before the summer

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE PALEO DIET

Performance nutritionist Dr Kevin Currell critically analyses this popular dieting regime

GET READY TO RACE YOUR BEST IRONMAN IN 12 WEEKS

We’ve put together a training plan to get you to the start line in your best shape yet

14 TOP WETSUITS

We get wet to tell you about the best wetsuits out there

FOUR IRONMAN BIKES

We test-ride four bikes ideal for the full Ironman distance

EVERY MONTH

UP TO SPEED

News, know-how and inspiration

MAILBOX

We hear your views on the sport you love

SUBSCRIBE AND RIDE!

Get a free pair of Adidas Adilibria Halfrim II sunglasses worth £135 when you subscribe

RACE REPORTS

The first ITU World Triathlon Series event from Auckland, IM Melbourne and Oulton Park duathlon

RACE LISTINGS

Find your next multisport event with our exhaustive directory

COMEBACK TALES

Rich Allen describes how he overcame his swimming struggles

TREW STORIES

Steve Trew on the lengths some athletes go to to boost performance

GEAR

BRAND NEW KIT

The hottest new tri gear including the Giro Selector Aero helmet and Bont’s new oven-mouldable shoes
TRAINING ADVICE

TRIATHLON AND RELATIONSHIPS

Dr Matthew Tatum on how to balance the demands of triathlon and personal relationships

SOLVED!

Our experts answer the questions your want answered

Triradar.com is the online home of Triathlon Plus – the best source of triathlon training advice, triathlon gear reviews and triathlon news.

Log your training for free at the TriRadar.com Training Zone.

Have every issue delivered to your digital device by getting Triathlon Plus through Apple Newsstand, Google Play or Zinio. Subscribe to the print edition with massive savings at MyFavouriteMagazines.

Join the conversation on the Triathlon Plus Facebook page, follow us on Twitter @TriathlonPlus.



Triathlon Plus issue 53 focuses on how to improve your running and our main feature explains how achieving faster run splits is more down to nailing the technique rather than increasing mileage on the roads. We’ve also got a group test of the best cycling shoes as well as expert advice from the Brownlee’s physio, Emma Deakin, on how to stave off the dreaded cramp.

You’ll find Triathlon Plus issue 51 at all good newsagents and supermarkets or Save time and money by having every issue delivered to your door or digital device by subscribing to the print edition or buying digitally through Zinio or Apple Newsstand.

Scroll down for the full contents.

Triathlon Plus Issue 53

ON THE COVER

THIS IS YOUR WORLD

How the sport has been formed by spectacular running performances

GET READY FOR LONDON TRIATHLON

Follow Team Triathlon Plus’s training for the London Triathlon

7 RECOVERY BARS

We give you the verdict on seven protein-packed post-training snacks

15 SMART RUN MOVES

How to boost your running to be as fast as you can be

“I DITCHED THE EXCUSES AND LOST FIVE STONE”

Get in shape for tri

3 NEW WAYS TO SWIM FASTER

With these pool-friendly tips

6 PRO PACING TRICKS

Spencer Smith shows you how to manage your speed for faster splits

4 STEPS TO BETTER BIKING

Hook up a power meter to get the best from your bike training

FIND YOUR RUN LEGS – FAST

How Richard Horton beat the world on one hour’s running per week

RACE FOR GB

Your 8-week plans for sprint and standard-distance glory

9 EXPERT WAYS TO BEAT CRAMP

Stave off cramps with the help of the Brownlees’ physio

IRONMAN 70.3: GET YOUR RACE FUEL RIGHT

Pick the right nutrition to get to though middle-distance racing

15 TRI-BIKE SHOES

Find your perfect pair in our exhaustive group test

4 ULTRA AERO BIKES

Cervélo, Wilier, Isaac and BMC go head to head in our test of aerodynamic superiority

 EVERY MONTH

UP TO SPEED

All the latest news and tech plus our preview of the 2013 ITU WTS

MAILBOX

Shout about the sport you love!

SUBSCRIBE AND SHADE!

Get a free pair of Adidas Adilibria Halfrim II sunglasses worth £135 when you subscribe

RACE REPORTS

2013 racing begins with sizzling action from Abu Dhabi, Escape from Alcatraz and Ironman New Zealand

RACE LISTINGS

Find your next multisport event with our exhaustive directory

COMEBACK TALES

Rich Allen on how to maintain form at the end of a long run

TREW STORIES

There’s no I in team, says Steve Trew

GEAR

BRAND NEW KIT

The best new tri gear including Magura’s hydraulic brakes and Bontrager’s adjustable TT saddle

TRAINING ADVICE

IS SUGAR BAD FOR YOU?

We investigate whether sugar is the root of all evil for triathletes?

Triradar.com is the online home of Triathlon Plus – the best source of triathlon training advice, triathlon gear reviews and triathlon news.

Log your training for free at the TriRadar.com Training Zone.

Have every issue delivered to your digital device by getting Triathlon Plus through Apple Newsstand, Google Play or Zinio. Subscribe to the print edition with massive savings at MyFavouriteMagazines.

Join the conversation on the Triathlon Plus Facebook page, follow us on Twitter @TriathlonPlus.



At Triathlon Plus, we’re always giving out advice about how to be better at our sport. It’s all tried and tested stuff, from coaches, professional athletes, age-groupers, triathlete friends and dozens of other experts plus a fair bit of personal experience.

Ironically, practising what we preach doesn’t always come easy to team Triathlon Plus. When the going gets tough, we bury our heads in KFC buckets. Weeks go by where the only thing we do that could be described as a “long session” is an impromptu night in the pub after getting the magazine to press. All the things we tell our readers to do – training consistently, eating well, monitoring life and work stress, staying on top of physio – go out of the window.

There’s nothing unusual about this. All of you have jobs, families, stresses of your own. We can all think of simple changes we could make, following the proven routines that work for the best triathletes in the world, to race better in future. But how easy is it to put those things into practice? For triathletes racing at a high level from a young age, sacrifice doesn’t even come into it. “I was quite lucky that when I was young I was exposed to good athletes,” says Olympian and double world champion Helen Jenkins. “When I was 16 or 17 years old I was training with Marc [now her husband and coach] who was an Olympian, I trained with Leanda Cave. You learn how to live.”

With a few weeks to go before the race season starts, this is the time to take a look at your lifestyle and work out which changes will make the biggest differences to you. Our editor Elizabeth Hufton analysed her own training and lifestyle for a month; asked Jenkins how she does it; and coach Rob Griffiths of Training Bible UK (www.trainingbible.co.uk) tells you how to strike a balance yourself.

Listening to your body will be key to your triathlon success

• TRAIN LIKE A PRO

The pro says:

“It’s important [to be relaxed] because you can make as many plans as you want but things go wrong. It’s about taking every day as it comes but having a goal in mind. You have to have that goal but also be flexible enough to move things around,” says Helen Jenkins.

The age-grouper says:

“My tri training is characterised by periods of intense focus followed by long droughts. It’s worse when I have no immediate goal, so in January I set myself the task of following coach Phil Mosley’s plan from Issue 50 [find it on triradar.com], and monitoring my training at training.triradar.com. I didn’t always complete the full sessions but it did get me back into the habit of training four to six times each week, and noting down what stopped me training (like working late or bad planning) helped identify things I can improve,” says editor Elizabeth Hufton.

The expert says:

“Because Jenkins is training full time she can be flexible about how she feels and her training. For age-groupers it’s more challenging; you’re doing loads of intense stuff and then nothing, and that dictates recovery. Consistency is one of the most important things. If you have an hour session planned and can’t do it, you’re better off doing 20 minutes than doing nothing, or forcing yourself into a routine that doesn’t work for you.

You need to be realistic in your goals. A guy I coached a couple of years ago, who was a busy lawyer with a young family, told me he wanted to qualify for Great Britain and finish top five in his age group at Olympic distance. I asked how much time he could commit to training and he said eight hours a week. So we focused on the sprint instead. He did an average of seven hours training per week and won his age group at the European Championships,” says coach Rob Griffiths.

• RECOVER LIKE A PRO

The pro says:

“From years of training, we know how well I’ll recover. Marc always goes with how I’m feeling and it’s easy for him to see how I am. Leading into a big event like the Olympics, you don’t know how much more pressure you’ll be under and how that will affect you.”

The age-grouper says:

“My approach to recovery is as erratic as my training – I’m either pushing myself harder than I need to, or I’m binning off a planned session out of laziness and using recovery as an excuse. Monitoring my training properly through my four-week plan helped with this. For the first week I stuck doggedly to the eight sessions prescribed in the plan and felt shattered and grumpy. It took a look through my training notes, plus a few comments from friends, to realise I should calm down, vary my intensity and shorten my sessions.”

The expert says:

“Professional athletes spend their lives being conscious of what their bodies are telling them, but age-groupers need other clues. Some people are really good at it and just know when they need a day off. Other people need their friends to tell them they’re being cranky. You can use methods like monitoring your heart rate. Take your heart rate lying down, when you first wake up, then get up and dressed, sit down and take it again. There’s usually a range of five to eight beats per minute between the two. If it rises far above that range then you’re fatigued. You need to take the intensity or the volume of your training down.”

• SLEEP LIKE A PRO

The pro says:

“I love sleep. I don’t always get enough. We swim from 5:30 to 7am so I’m in bed at 8:30 and asleep at 9pm. I have to have a nap if I don’t get [that time at night]. You do have to adapt your lifestyle though – no-one wants to be in bed at 9 o’ clock.”

The age-grouper says:

“Everyone loves sleep but I failed at getting into a night-time routine that would give me more of it, and a better quality. I downloaded the SleepCycle app for my iPhone a few months ago but had barely used it. I tried again, this time using the sleep notes function to work out what was keeping my average sleep quality below 60% (a measure the app works out using time in bed and depth of sleep). Working late and eating late were to the two biggest factors affecting sleep. I haven’t managed to get to bed earlier but have stopped working late nights (after 10pm) and now take evening meals to work so I’m not eating at midnight.”

The expert says:

“Often when people have busy jobs and young families, it’s their sleep that becomes impaired. That’s really dangerous because when you lack sleep, your ability to fight bugs is impaired. It’s a downward spiral. It’s hard to find that balance and it’s completely individual, because you have to decide what to give up – it’s so easy to get sucked into watching TV at night, but if your goal is to race faster you need that time for sleep.”

• EAT LIKE A PRO

The pro says:

“You have to have the odd treat,” says Jenkins, who has recently signed up with Science in Sport. “You’re never that happy if you’re denying yourself food. We work with a nutritionist, making sure we’re getting the right stuff.”

The age-grouper says:

“I generally eat well, but the months leading up to Christmas were particularly bad with long work hours and socialising playing havoc with my diet. I’d monitored my nutrition using www.weightlossresources.co.uk, to go from 64kg in 2010 to 52kg by early 2012. That had a positive impact on my performance last summer, but I’ve since regained four kilos so used our Issue 50 food and training plan to try to get into good habits. It helped me break out of a sugar addiction, but I’ve still got some weight to shift and bad habits to break so for me it’s back to closely monitoring meals and training fuel.”

The expert says:

“For Jenkins, racing on the ITU circuit, an extra kilo can determine the outcome of a 10km run; whereas if you’ve got an athlete who wants to get round, there’s less emphasis on weight. Whether weight is important also depends on the event you’re racing; with pro athletes, the Ironman guys tend to be heavier and more muscular, whereas with ITU athletes racing Olympic distance like Alistair Brownlee, there’s nothing to them. Mindset is an issue for age-groupers – I’m careful what advice I give, especially to female athletes, because people read it in the wrong way. I’d rather an athlete was a bit heavier but strong than have them missing meals.”

• REHAB LIKE A PRO

The pro says:

“I do two sessions in the gym and do my physio stuff daily. I use a foam roller and do core stuff. After my first Achilles injury, I came back too quick. You realise how important all the recovery and stretching is when you get injured over and over again. When I meet young athletes and say how important it is they say ‘yeah, yeah, yeah,’ – I know they’re not doing it!”

The age-grouper says:

“I got into triathlon because of a running injury and it’s never fully gone away. In the last three months I’ve combined physio with changing my run technique at The Running School. My Running School coach Chris is also a physio and strength and conditioning (S&C) plays a big part: I do about half an hour of exercises before every run. I’ve got into the habit of doing single-leg squats any time I’m waiting for something. This approach has really helped and through January I went from running 20 minutes up to an hour.”

The expert says:

“Most age-groupers would like to do some S&C work but find it hard to fit in. The older an athlete gets, the more important S&C becomes because they lose muscle mass. I get most of the athletes I train to do functional movement work as you can get a great session in 20 minutes, including core work, press-ups, sit-ups and good body-weight exercises. When I travel I always take a small bag with things like rubber hosing – you can use it to get a great 20-minute workout in.”

• THINK LIKE A PRO

The pro says:

“I work with a sports psychologist who’s a friend, so it’s more like a chat really. It’s helped me dealing with injury. The power of positive thinking has been important. I’m happy when I’ve got friends and family around me, and training is going well. If one thing goes out of balance, I’m not happy.”

The age-grouper says:

“Like Jenkins, I’ve used mental techniques to cope with injury rehab. My physio has helped me think of my rehab training in a positive light. In the absence of having a sport psychologist, I’ve found reviewing my training log to be helpful, putting bad sessions into perspective and congratulating myself on progress.”

The expert says:

“People talk about motivation; I think you should remind yourself of the commitment you’ve made. When you get up in the morning, sometimes you’re motivated, sometimes not, but when you’ve committed to doing something it makes the daily motivation much easier. Remind yourself with little notes or your log. Jenkins is talking about looking at the positives. There’s no downside to anything you’re doing for triathlon, so think about all the positive things you’re getting from it. It’s also important to remember you don’t have to do what your feelings tell you. Sometimes when we’re feeling low, it’s because we’re focusing on one thing that’s not going well. When you look at your training log, you put it in context and say ‘I’m not doing bad’”

Triradar.com is the online home of Triathlon Plus – the best source of triathlon training advice, triathlon gear reviews and triathlon news.

Log your training for free at the TriRadar.com Training Zone.

Have every issue delivered to your digital device by getting Triathlon Plus through Apple Newsstand, Google Play or Zinio. Subscribe to the print edition with massive savings at MyFavouriteMagazines.

Join the conversation on the Triathlon Plus Facebook page, follow us on Twitter @TriathlonPlus.



Why not train in the sun this winter?

• KINETIC PB
  

With facilities including a 1,500m swimming lake, a 2,600m running track, a 25m indoor pool, video analysis and a gym, not to mention resident and visiting expert coaches such as Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Romero, the baffling thing about Kinetic PB is how they keep it so cheap.

Part of the answer is that different packages cost different amounts. Options include coaching, guided cycling, self-catering or full board and more.

The other part of the answer is that the accommodation is in dormitories and is, while comfortable, fairly no-frills. This means your money goes on the important stuff: the training. And with national triathlon squads, including Team GB, among the regular visitors, the facilities are excellent.

The whole set-up was originally built for the rowing and canoeing events for the 2005 Mediterranean Games and cost €14.5m. While the lake is the most eye-catching feature, the surrounding hills are popular with pro cycling teams due to their Hors Categorie climbs. They are also ideal for building up your running endurance. During your stay you may be tempted to enter a local race; you may not want to win though – Kinetic PB’s resident pro cyclist’s recent triumph was rewarded with a live pig.

• GIRONA CYCLING
  

While Girona Cycling do offer a budget option of self-catered and self-guided camps from their base at Mas Pelegri, it is for their luxury bespoke training that they are famous. For €3,000 (single occupancy of a double/twin room and one-on-one coaching, €2,000 for double occupancy) you get the best sports-science-based training week you could want.

“We find out exactly what each individual is after including their goals for 2013,” says Fiona Smart, who has a PhD in molecular biology and runs the camps with her husband, Gareth Speechley. “We go through everything from breathing techniques, to muscle balance, to neurophysiology, to bike set-up and technique, running technique, swim technique, transitions, nutrition and hydration, different ways to train, to different body strength and conditioning exercises. We use video analysis,look at efficiency, technique, fitness and power. We also include sports massages.”

Fiona and Gareth are both experienced triathlon coaches, having worked with everyone from professionals to complete beginners. Erin Densham, who won triathlon bronze at London 2012, chose to prepare for the Games there, as did members of the UK and US triathlon teams.

3. MALLORCAMAN

For good-value accommodation with expert coaching and small groups, a Mallorcaman holiday is hard to beat. Nick Kinsey runs breaks from two flats just 100m from the beach in Puerto Pollensa, perfectly located for swim training in the sea followed by running and cycling among the hills of northern Majorca (or Mallorca to Catalan speakers). Once you have been driven to your limits up the winding hairpins, you can freewheel back down to the seafront to enjoy a jug or two of sangria at the world-famous cyclists’ restaurant, Tolo’s.

Your coach Kinsey is a fountain of triathlon training wisdom and enthusiasm. He first raced in 1984 and has since completed more than 25 Ironman races, including four finishes at the world championships in Kona. “Nick’s a very knowledgeable and experienced coach,” says Alison Butterworth, whose group enjoyed their Mallorcaman experience last year so much that they have already booked again for this May. “He’s very encouraging and he knows the area very well. Whatever we wanted to do he would tailor a programme to suit us and he’s great fun to work with.”

Accommodation is in groups of four in a flat. Transfers and coaching are included but food is not.

• TRI-TOPIA 

Lee and Sam Thomas know just how hard it can be to fit in training with looking after young children, so they set up Tri-Topia in the Loire Valley. Here you can train as hard as you like, choosing the right level of coaching for you, while safe in the knowledge that your kids are having a great time enjoying the activities on offer.

There are children’s swimming lessons, mini-triathlons and bike rides on the quiet country tracks, and once the little darlings have tired of copying mum and dad, there’s face-painting, inflatable toys in the pool, kids’ area with swing, tree house and Wendy house, gardening activities, collecting eggs from the chickens, feeding the animals, catching tadpoles and baking.

Bored already? Then how about a trip to the nearby monkey reserve or the zoo? For the week of 27 July to 4 August, there’s even the chance to take the children along for free.

With the kids occupied, the grown-ups can enjoy the chance of some serious training and, situated as it is among the Mille Etang, or thousand lakes, of the Brenne National Park, it is no surprise that Tri-Topia is one of the best open-water training venues in Europe. The cycling and running options certainly won’t leave you disappointed, either.

• CHALET365

With a choice of a dedicated training week from 9 June, run by GB triathlete Mark Tickner, or a self-guided break taking advantage of the lakes, Tour de France cols and both hilly and flat running trails on its doorstep, Chalet365 has all the facilities you need. What this 15-berth chalet in the Alps also has that its rivals lack is its setting, in what has been officially recognised as one of the prettiest villages in France. Samoens has been designated a “ville fleurie” on account of its beguiling good looks – all timber-fronted patisseries, medieval squares and balconies festooned with flowers – and it is also the only French Alpine resort to be listed as a historical and artistic monument.

So you will easily be distracted from any post-training muscle soreness as you sip an evening aperitif outside a town-centre brasserie before walking the 15 minutes back to the chalet for dinner.

Accommodation can be B&B or half-board, or a mixture of the two, and the £650 price above is for the June coach4Tri week, which includes guided cycling and other training to suit your needs.

For self-guided holidays, Chris Hodgson, who owns the chalet with his wife, Allie, is happy to use his local knowledge to help you get the most out of your stay.

• BREVET

Location: Three bases in Switzerland
Dates: April to September
Price: From £800 (CHF 1,195) for four nights
Camps on offer: Bespoke for groups of 4-12
Visit: www.brevet.cc

If the prospect of cycling among the beautiful scenery of the Swiss Alps, swimming in mountain lakes and running through pine forests doesn’t get your juices flowing, then hopefully the luxury accommodation and full board, including a chance to try Swiss wines, will do.

Training camps are run from hotels in three locations – Les Diablerets, Meiringen and Andermatt – and all have running trails and open-water swimming nearby, along with cycling routes that regularly feature in the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse. Triathletes can join one of Brevet’s organised cycling breaks (such as the Tour du Lac Leman in May) and the organisers will be happy to help you add runs and open-water swims, or you can take the bespoke option for your training plans while you are there.

Trips are guided by Tom Eeles, a keen triathlete and British Cycling coach, and he is happy to tailor the perfect training schedule to meet your group’s needs. A typical bespoke schedule would take in an open-water session focusing on breathing and sighting, a cycle round Lac Leman, cycle time trialling, speed drills in the open-air pool and transition training. All sessions are followed, of course, by a delicious meal prepared with local, fresh ingredients.

Triradar.com is the online home of Triathlon Plus – the best source of triathlon training advice, triathlon gear reviews and triathlon news.

Log your training for free at the TriRadar.com Training Zone.

Have every issue delivered to your digital device by getting Triathlon Plus through Apple Newsstand, Google Play or Zinio. Subscribe to the print edition with massive savings at MyFavouriteMagazines.

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Bohdan’s bike was a wreck after his crash but his body scraped through

As he dragged himself up off the roadside in Carlisle last May and assessed the injuries that spread from his ankles to the tips of his fingers, via a damaged spine, Bohdan Dawyd could have been forgiven for taking the hint and accepting that being hit by a car spelled the end of his second attempt to cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats. But in the context of what the 24-year-old from Nottingham had been through the previous year, when he had spent three months unable to walk and periodically in agony thanks to an attack of reactive arthritis, a prang was not going to stop him.

“I thought ‘This is pretty rubbish’,” says Bohdan, with characteristic understatement, “but that it would be good if I could finish it off even after being hit by a car and with everything that had happened the year before. It just motivated me. The morning after I was hit I felt terrible. I had soft tissue damage to my Achilles and my spine, nerve damage to my right wrist and problems with the joints in my fingers.

“But my team had a spare bike, although it was a bit too small for me. So, because I’d already done about 500 miles, I thought ‘I can’t be bothered to do it again next year – I’d rather do it on a smaller bike in pain’. Being hit by a car just motivated me to get it done against the odds.” The team finished the 900-odd miles in four and a half days.

The first time Bohdan and his team-mates from No Limits Triathlon and Running Club had tried to cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats was in May 2011 and day three of the planned five-day ride proved fateful that time, too, with the attempt being abandoned near Dumfries thanks to high winds.

The disappointment of failing to complete the ride was forgotten when food poisoning laid Bohdan low for a few days the following week. Initially, it appeared to have been no worse than any other bout of vomiting and diarrhoea but its implications soon became more serious. “About a week later I woke up one morning and my left knee was huge,” says Bohdan. “It happened overnight. I initially thought it must be an injury from all the long-distance cycling but I went to the doctor and he diagnosed it as reactive arthritis from the food poisoning. I’d never even heard of it before.

“Within a few days it started to affect my other joints including my wrists, knuckles and ankles and within a couple of weeks I was bedridden. Eventually I was in hospital having my knee drained but I’d been put on medication – non-steroidal anti-inflammatories – before that to try to dampen it down but it wasn’t working.”

Bohdan’s experiences spurred him on to new challenges – now he just wants to race

Bohdan had been doing Wing Chun Kung Fu since he was eight years old and began competing in half-marathons in 2009, soon moving on to triathlons, so there was never any doubting his fighting spirit. But spending three months, from June to September 2011, bedridden with a condition more often associated with old age than with a phenomenally fit man in his early 20s, tested his self-belief to the limit. “I’m very active so it was like my whole world just fell apart,” he says. “I had to ask myself if I wanted to be active again. It was heartbreaking. There was one morning when the pain was particularly horrific, so bad I wouldn’t have been bothered if I had died. I had fluid building on my neck and was admitted to hospital. On the ward the rheumatologist told me to forget doing anything physical for at least two years, and I would have to count myself lucky if I ever returned to triathlon.”

A theme Bohdan returns to time and again when discussing the setbacks and miserable luck he has suffered is that of motivation, and he used this to turn his lowest point to his advantage. “I was on the hospital ward and I thought ‘I’ve just got to get out of here’. It was being on the rheumatology ward with old people and sick people. I didn’t want to accept it because I’m a young man and I love training. That was when I decided to do whatever it takes to get back into racing.”

A change of drugs in September 2011 proved the first step towards the recovery that would eventually see Bohdan complete Land’s End to John O’Groats, a long-distance triathlon, the Three Peaks Challenge and a Nottingham to Monaco cycle ride all within three months last summer, in a year in which he took part in 14 events in total. “They put me on a high dose of oral steroids and within hours the swelling had gone,” he explains. “It was amazing. I was on the steroids until the Sulfasalazine kicked in, which took a couple of weeks.”

After months of steroid injections and joint draining, the relief at a treatment that seemed to be working so well was immense, even if Bohdan was initially told he would be on the Sulfasalazine, an anti-rheumatic drug, for life. His plans soon moved beyond simple recovery: “When the steroids started working, there was always a thought in the back of my mind that I could return to racing, and that was a big motivator.”

The first step, though, was intensive physio just to begin walking again after the muscle wastage that three months of immobility brings. “I was only doing very short distances, but then I soon started running short distances as well,” he says. “It was a matter of starting right at the beginning and getting back up there. I’d lost about a stone in weight and I had no fitness. I was focused on getting active again. Doing Wing Chun had instilled the fighting spirit. It’s all about not going down without a fight and never giving up. I was motivated as soon as I started training – it was like a hunger.”

With his arthritis under control thanks to the medication, Bohdan’s back in training

His doctors backed his decision to train. “My rheumatologist said that as long as there was no pain when I was training, he had no problem with me being active again,” he says. So within eight months of lying in bed wondering whether he would ever walk again, let alone swim, bike and run, Bohdan was lying on the roadside in Carlisle having been hit by that car on the third day of his second attempt to ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats. Having dusted himself down and completed that challenge, he enjoyed a three-week rest before the long-distance Outlaw triathlon in Nottingham, completing it in an impressive 11 hours 53 minutes 18 seconds. “I’ve never really been that good at swimming so I put a lot of hours into the pool early on. I did the swim in about 1:15, which is not great, but I knew that if I could get out of the water fresh there would be a chance of finishing it off. I was delighted to finish it.”

After that, the Three Peaks Challenge was a comparative doddle – “but still very draining; the lack of sleep was the hardest part”. Then, finally, came the gentle cycle from Nottingham to Monaco, in aid of the armed forces charity Help for Heroes. “A friend’s son was killed in action,” Bohdan explains. “So the ride was dedicated to his memory. The reason we chose Monaco was to cycle through France and the Alps with the beautiful scenery.”

Quite why someone would choose to have such a challenging few months so soon after suffering a debilitating illness may seem curious at first, but it goes back to that theme of motivation Bohdan draws on time and again – what many would see as setbacks, he sees as reasons to push ever harder. “What happened to me in 2011 was a big motivator for what I did in 2012,” he explains, “but now it’s just a case of getting on with it and enjoying it.

“I still have to take four tablets a day but I have no symptoms from the arthritis. I’ll be on the medication for another year, then hopefully I’ll remain free of it. I’ve got 18 events planned for 2013 – mainly sprint and Olympic-distance duathlons and triathlons. No Ironman, though. Maybe when I have a midlife crisis I’ll go back to that.”

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Unless you’ve practised all three triathlon sports from an early age, it’s likely you can order your swim, bike and run by strength and know your weakest discipline without thinking twice. Take solace from the fact that even some of the best professional triathletes in the world wrack their brains and brawn around the same issues you do. In this months issue, we’ve gathered three top pros who have each addressed problems with one discipline – so whether you need to change your swimming approach like Michael Weiss, get the perfect race-day ride like Pete Jacobs or stay injury free and fresh for the run like Caroline Steffen, you’re in good company.

Even pros know their weakness, so what’s yours?

Triradar.com is the online home of Triathlon Plus – the best source of triathlon training advice, triathlon gear reviews and triathlon news.

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Triathlon Plus issue 51 focuses on improving your tri weakness. Our main feature, smash you weakness, is full of top tips from the pros to help you overcome yours. We’ve also got a group test of the best energy bars as well as expert advice from Dr. Tamsin Lewis on how to boost your immune system and stave off those dreaded winter colds that can throw your training off track.

You’ll find Triathlon Plus issue 51 at all good newsagents and supermarkets or Save time and money by having every issue delivered to your door or digital device by subscribing to the print edition or buying digitally through Zinio or Apple Newsstand.

Scroll down for the full contents.

ON THE COVER

EIGHT HELMETS RATED

Light road lids for under £100 to see you safe to the new season

FIX YOUR WEAKNESS

Swim, bike and run better than ever with three world-beating athletes

“I’D DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO RACE AGAIN”

How Bohdan Dawyd fought back from illness and injury to race tri

BIG NAMES BACK IN ACTION AT CHALLENGE WANAKA

Plus action from Ironman 70.3 South Africa in this month’s Race Reports

SWIM STRENGTH: 5 WAYS TO UP YOUR POWER

A coach’s guide to the strength moves you need to swim better

25 WAYS TO STAY STRONG TILL SPRING

Dr Tamsin Lewis on avoiding colds so you can keep training all winter

ULTIMATE BIKE-RUN SETS FOR WINTER

Coaching editor Phil Mosley on how to hone your bike-run speed

RACE YOUR BEST IRONMAN 70.3 IN 12 WEEKS

Part two of coach Richard Smith’s guide to training for middle distance

15 ENERGY BARS

Cranking up the miles this winter? Get your teeth into our big bar test

FOUR GREAT 2K BIKES

Get serious about your biking with one of these four mile-munchers

106 SPRING EVENTS TO GET YOU BACK UP TO SPEED

Plan your season with our race listings to early June

EVERY MONTH

THIS IS YOUR WORLD

Single-discipline events to help you tackle your weak spots this year

UP TO SPEED

News, reviews and tips including a unique adjustable triathlon saddle

MAILBOX

Your chance to have your say on the world of triathlon

SUBSCRIBE AND RIDE!

Bag your top-quality Lezyne alloy track pump and get Triathlon Plus delivered to your door!

COMEBACK TALES

Rich Allen thinks the way to man’s results are through his stomach

TREW STORIES

Take yourself back to the heat of battle with Steve Trew

GEAR

BRAND NEW KIT

The latest tri-related gear, including deep-rim wheels from Novotec and Altura women’s bike gear

TRAINING ADVICE

BEAT THE BONK

Ride hard every session with coach Phil Mosley’s guide to avoiding energy crashes

SOLVED!

Our experts answer your questions, including how to break away from a performance plateau

Triradar.com is the online home of Triathlon Plus – the best source of triathlon training advice, triathlon gear reviews and triathlon news.

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Have every issue delivered to your digital device by getting Triathlon Plus through Apple Newsstand, Google Play or Zinio. Subscribe to the print edition with massive savings at MyFavouriteMagazines.

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Photo Credit: MACCALIVE

When Alistair and Jonny Brownlee won gold and bronze at the Olympics last August, rather than feeling proud perhaps they should have reflected that their efforts amounted to no more than “a shampoo, blow-dry, and 10k foot race”. That, at least, is the opinion of now-disgraced triathlete and cyclist Lance Armstrong on the subject of draft-legal triathlons, where athletes are allowed to sit in others’ slipstreams to conserve energy.

Armstrong is far from the first person to question whether drafting has somehow undermined triathlon’s integrity since the International Triathlon Union (ITU) first permitted it ahead of the sport’s Olympic debut at the Sydney Games back in 2000.

Today’s Olympic-distance triathletes take exception to the idea that drafting diminishes their event. “It doesn’t necessarily make racing easier because it’s still very hard,” says Alistair Brownlee. “We were in a time trial for the first part of the [Olympic] race and then the jumps [of pace on the bike] make it very, very hard.”

Stuart Hayes, the Brownlees’ Olympic teammate, agrees with them. “I’ve done non-drafting events and found it easier to come up to the front in those than it is in drafting events,” he says. “In non-drafting you get in your own zone and you can only go as fast as you can go. Whereas in drafting races people are setting the pace for you, especially if there’s a hill and someone’s trying to attack and you get dropped. It’s just as hard.”

• An unfair advantage?

The advantage you gain by riding in the pocket of low-pressure air created by the rider in front can be enormous. The energy saving made by latching onto someone’s rear wheel is estimated to be as much as 40 per cent when compared to cycling at the same speed alone.

Interestingly, there’s also a small benefit if you’re the cyclist being drafted, as having someone riding in your slipstream reduces the destabilising effect of the disturbed air flowing off you.

Drafting on the swim has always been permitted and is thought to save you up to 25 per cent of the energy you’re expending. So by slotting into someone’s draft in the water and then on the bike, you stand to be a lot fresher when you reach the run. Letting your opponents do the lion’s share of the work leaves you with more in the tank to skip away to an easy victory. That’s the theory, at least.

In practice, according to Hayes, it’s rather different: “It depends what you do in the race. If you’re just going to sit in the bunch and wait for the run then, yeah, it is easy. But I like to race hard, the Brownlees like to race hard and there’s a bunch of guys out there who like to race hard.”

• Adding interest?

Until triathlon was accepted into the Olympics, the ITU didn’t allow drafting, making the races essentially a time-trial. But as the sport sought a berth at the Games, there was a concern that long, strung-out fields wouldn’t make for much of a spectacle, so drafting was introduced as part of the ITU’s sales pitch.

Not all triathlons allow drafting, of course. Many Ironman athletes recoil at the idea of their sport being infected by the practice and there are many shorter races (particularly in the US) where drafting remains illegal. But, with the exception of long-distance events, drafting is here to stay at elite-level ITU races.

“You couldn’t possibly have a non-drafting race now,” says Jonathan Brownlee. “Before, when people were spread out in the swim over 200-300m, you could do it. But now everyone comes out so close together it’s physically impossible – the poor bloke at the back would have to stand and wait for about half an hour. It’s also far more interesting, I think, to have drafting because it turns the bike leg into proper tactical cycle racing: people attacking off the front, groups appearing and time
gaps changing.”

Whether or not turning the bike leg into “tactical cycle racing” is an improvement is a moot point. Perhaps Bradley Wiggins’s victory in the time trial at the London Olympics was more satisfying than Alexandre Vinokourov’s in the road race because it wasn’t tainted by arguments over which teams were or weren’t pulling their weight.

The same can be said for the men’s triathlon, as the Brownlees’ achievements were blighted by the criticism levelled at British Triathlon for selecting Hayes as a domestique.

Hayes’s training for the Olympics was based around the two draft-legal disciplines where he could hope to control the pace and set the brothers up for the run. “It was planned to the absolute tee,” Hayes says. “I was doing no running whatsoever. I was just swimming and cycling to make sure I would be at the front. It’s a tactic and no one else really used it. I think if some other countries had used it they could have done a bit better.”

• Spectacle at the expense of spirit?

Hayes’s selection as the Brownlees’ domestique was controversial, but perhaps it shouldn’t have been. Triathlon is theoretically an individual sport, but drafting allows for team tactics, and not to use them seems naive.

“You’re not breaking the rules because drafting’s in the rules,” says Dr Victor Thompson, a psychologist who has competed at the ITU World Age Group Championships.

“People struggled at first, around 1998 and 1999, as the format was clarified ahead of the Sydney Olympics. So for some there was the feeling that it was cheating or that it wasn’t the ‘pure’ race that triathlon was before.”

Lance Armstrong was, of course, a triathlete before he focused on cycling, and it’s to this pre-Sydney ‘golden age’ that he looks when disparaging the sport in its current form. However, the disgraced Texan’s conversion to cycling shows where he felt his strengths lay, and the introduction of drafting arguably diminished the value of the bike leg. But he’s not the only big name who believes it fundamentally changed the sport.

“When drafting was first introduced I wasn’t a big fan. Why would I be? I was a strong cyclist,” says Spencer Smith, ITU world champion in 1993 and 1994 who later rode as a professional cyclist. “They were taking away an element that made it an individual sport and turning it into a collective sport, so you have to look at it differently. I don’t think drafting’s dishonest – it’s just makes a triathlon a different sort of race. It’s not better, it’s not worse, it’s just different.”

• The evolution of a sport

Amid the talk of whether drafting has compromised the sport’s soul, it shouldn’t be forgotten that triathlon, as a formalised swim-bike-run race, is a young event. The first Ironman was run in 1978 and the ITU wasn’t set up until 1989. “Triathlon is such a new sport that any definition of purity over its 35-year history is different to looking back over the 100 years of development in soccer or rugby,” says Steve Trew, a leading commentator and Triathlon Plus’s columnist.

“In terms of crowd friendliness and TV coverage, which, as we know, is all-important, I think it’s fascinating when you’ve got pack racing.”

Pack racing can indeed be a fascinating spectacle, but another development that goes hand in hand with drafting is arguably less than thrilling. To keep as much of the pack within reach of the TV cameras and spectators for as long as possible, bike legs now tend to be multiple laps of a short course.

“The ITU has let people down a bit by taking a lot of the races on tough, hilly courses out of the circuit,” says Leanda Cave, the current Ironman and Ironman 70.3 world champion, and 2002 ITU world champion. “That’s again down to wanting to have a lot of laps to make it more spectator-friendly. But actually it’s really boring watching people go round and round a loop for eight laps.”

Alistair Brownlee agrees. “I’m all for making courses harder, more technical and hillier because that will make it more interesting and make it better all-round for the athletes. There are still some countries and coaches who advocate doing as little as you can – really sitting on and doing nothing. It’s a great tactic if you’re the fastest runner, but if you’re not the fastest runner then God knows why you’d want to do that.”

Things are different in Ironman events where drafting remains illegal, with age-group competitors having to stay seven metres behind the bike in front and pros 10 metres behind. But savvy racers know how to get an advantage while staying within the rules. “The rule is that it’s non-drafting but, honestly, at 10 metres you can get a draft and every athlete out there knows that,” says Cave. “So if you can ‘draft’ legally, that seems to be the common thing these days.

Common but not unnoticed: Cave, along with Caroline Steffen and Mary Beth Ellis, each received a four-minute drafting penalty during 2012’s Ironman World Championships.

But drafting isn’t a problem confined to the professional ranks. A common complaint among female Ironman pros is that age-groupers have a habit of sitting in behind them and benefiting from their hard work. And it’s a habit that’s not always rigorously penalised. This doesn’t bother Cave, but a related phenomenon does.

“[Age-groupers drafting] isn’t a problem for me as long as they’re not interfering with my race,” she says. What infuriates her is “if they’re coming through the field with other female pros drafting off them – and that happens. The advantage is huge and it’s your living so if someone’s cheating, they’re really cheating.”

Whatever the rights and wrongs of drafting in Ironman are, in ITU races it’s here to stay and whether the sport’s integrity has been diminished seems, to Trew, to miss the point. “I don’t think it’s a moral call – no one has sold their soul like some of the stuff Lance Armstrong was saying,” he says. “You might not like the rules but if you don’t, you should get your own football and play your own game.”

John’s brother-in-law saved his life by donating a kidney and are now training partners again.

I did Ironman UK in June 2011 in a personal best of 14 hours 47 minutes, which I was really chuffed with. I felt really good. I had entered my first triathlon in 1999, and I remember it well: I could barely swim two strokes of front crawl, and my bike was a Raleigh Banana with the saddle on the top tube due to its size and my lack of leg length. I wore Speedos for the swim, and had a battle to put on my vest in transition. It must have been a right sight. However, I loved it and caught the triathlon bug.

I did my first Ironman in 2005, just after I’d returned from my honeymoon. Two weeks in the Maldives may not have been the best preparation – the only training I could do was swimming – but I finished in 15 hours 52 minutes. After that I couldn’t get enough, and at one point I was competing in 13 races a year, from sprints to Half Ironmans.

I turned 40 in December 2011, and two days later I went to collect the results of a blood test. I knew that I had protein in my water, but I had no idea how bad it was – I had put it down to drinking a lot of protein shakes while I trained.

The doctor asked me to sit down, and told me that I had kidney failure. I was down to 16 per cent of normal function and I needed a transplant. I later found out that when I did the Ironman my kidney function had been just 24 per cent. That night, I searched the internet for information on kidney failure – a big mistake. It convinced me I was going to die in the near future.

Before the diagnosis, I had been having tests every six months since I’d changed doctor in 2003, because of the protein in my urine. I had a biopsy in 2005 and they said there was slight damage to my kidneys but that it was nothing to worry about and wouldn’t affect me until I was 80. As it turned out, I got halfway there.

In the family we do a Secret Santa, so I sent a text out to everyone saying: “If anybody gets me, I’ll have a new kidney.” That’s how I broke the news to them. My brother-in-law Andy, who I’d done Ironman UK with just six months previously, came back straight away and said “I’ll give you one”. He was fantastic.

John post transplant operation, has since gone on to make a full recovery.

Andy spent six months being prodded and poked, and had all sorts of blood tests. I was taking 13 tablets a day, and in May I went to hospital to have a catheter fitted to my stomach so I could start dialysis. I was allowed to pick what type of dialysis I wanted, and I chose to have it at home overnight so it didn’t encroach on my personal life too much. I had only had the tube fitted for three weeks before I got an infection, so I had that tube taken out under general anaesthetic and another one put in on the other side.

That one lasted a couple of months. Normally the tube should be in your pelvic area, but this one had moved up to near my heart. I had keyhole surgery to correct it, but that didn’t work so they ended up putting a haemodialysis line in my neck and out of my chest. I had to go in for haemodialysis three times a week, which wasn’t pleasant. Then I was booked in for a transplant on
11 September.

Andy and I went into hospital together, and he was first to be taken up to have his kidney removed. When it was my turn, I was wheeled past his recovery room on the way to the theatre. As I went past, I got the nurse to stop. “Andy, I’ve changed my mind now,” I said. “It doesn’t matter.” He replied with some sign language.

I got the new kidney and straight away I started feeling much better. Andy, however, went from feeling perfectly fit to feeling bad. He was out of hospital within two days, and I came out after six. It was an amazing thing he did.

Three weeks later, I started training with some light cycling in the gym; I wasn’t going to let it get the better of me. I then progressed to cycling the 15 miles to work, and I now cycle to work and back twice a week. I’ve started doing some stretching too, and have built up to some core stability work. I hope to do the time trial and road race at the British Transplant Games in August 2013. For my first triathlon back I want to do the sprint distance Scissett Triathlon this June; that’s my aim for healing and getting fit.

I’m getting there slowly – I did a bleep test in December and got to level nine. I’m a policeman and, who knows, I may compete in the Olympic-distance triathlon at the World Police and Fire Games in Belfast this August. It feels like a long journey from that first triathlon at Ilkley, on my Raleigh Banana.

John is now back on the bike and working towards completing another Ironman in the next few years.

Reading the story of Diccon Driver’s battle with kidney disease in Triathlon Plus (March 2012) helped inspire me to keep going, and my doctors are right behind my triathlon and fitness plans. They said it will help, because steady exercise will get more blood flowing. The new kidney is in my groin rather than in the usual spot, so it’s linked directly to the main artery. This means that when I train I get more blood volume going through the kidney, and it cleans my blood more efficiently. I go for tests every two weeks, and my kidney function is now up to 70% of normal levels for someone with two kidneys.

My wife Michelle has been fantastic – she’s chuffed that I’m making such a good recovery but she does tell me to take it easy. My two children, Martha and Billy, have also been amazing. I’ve done a couple of talks for the transplant team to publicise donor cards, because I’ve gone from being fit all my life to being dragged down by kidney disease, and I’ve brought myself back up again.

It would be great to finish a full Ironman again, but that won’t be for the next couple of years. I’ll have to sweet- talk my wife as she’s not too happy about the idea, but she will come round to my way of thinking eventually…