January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
World class triathletes share their wisdom
McCormack was on the island this week along with Xterra off-road triathlon ace Melanie McQuaid to give a series of clinics and talks to local athletes and youngsters.
Aussie McCormack finally achieved his dream of winning the 2.4mile swim, 112 mile bike and marathon at Kona last year, after six years of trying, completing the course in eight hours, 15 minutes and 34 seconds
If it's possible to imagine anything more extreme than that. Then Xterra triathlon is it.
It's not as far. A breezy Olympic distance (1.5k/40k/10k) triathlon. The catch is it's all off-road - ocean swimming, mountain biking and trail running.
The Hawaii event - held on Maui - features more than 3,000 feet of climbing on the bike and run up the lava strewn slopes of the dormant Haleakala Volcano.
McQuaid, a former pro mountain biker from British Columbia, has won it three times.
The pair sat down with James Whittaker this week to share some of the wisdom that helped make them champions.
BDA Sun: Tell us a little bit about your training schedules
Melanie McQuaid: It depends on how much travel I need to do. If I'm at home I do 20-30 hours a week, biking, running, time in the weight room, yoga, stretching.
About 65 per cent of the work I do is on the bike. It's not all in the mountains, I do about 60 per cent of that on the road. You push bigger gears on a road bike.
Mountain biking is really hard on your body so it takes more time to recover.
Chris McCormack: As you get older you get smarter. I used to be a quantative person. So many athletes think there is this magic number of miles you have got to do. In my biggest career week I swam 35k, rode 1,000k and ran 110k. I was very much caught up in this belief that you have to do more, more, more. Over the years I've finessed what works for me and now I do more like 15-20k in the pool, 600k on the bike and 80k running each week.
BDA Sun: Any training tips for amateur athletes?
MM: You want to focus on maximizing your strengths and minimizing your weaknesses,
If you focus on that you'll maintain your strengths and chip away at your weaknesses. I don't know anyone who ever achieves their full potential. There are three sports to improve in.
In an eight hour race, even in a three hour race, there's so many things can happen. Even if you win there's always something you could have done better
CM: That's the addiction. It's the battle that keeps you in it. Every time you race, you ask yourself - 'what could I have done better?"
When you stop asking yourself that question it's time to hang up your boots.
Every failure you can take and use it and say I need to do this or that better next year.
Every athlete is striving for that perfect race and I don't think it ever happens. I don't even know how to define it.
BDA Sun: Chris, have you ever tried the off-road triathlons?
CM: I did it one year in Hawaii and I lost 30 minutes on the bike from my normal Olympic distance time.
MM: I think I overtook you
CM: The descent on the bike is called the plunge. It's a vertical drop, plus the people in-front of you kicked up so much dust you could hardly see where you were going and the rocks are razor sharp. If you drop the bike it's going to hurt.
You see these people coming back and saying 'that was unreal' and they're covered in cuts and bruises. They're ripped to shreds.
I'd love to switch but I'm not talented enough on a mountain bike.
BDA Sun: What's the appeal, Melanie, can you explain that?
MM: It's different and there is risk involved. That's what's interesting about Xterra (off road triathlons). Every race is not a set distance. In Hawaii you're basically racing on lava. It's rocky and you have to have good bike handling skills. Other times you can be racing in mud.
There is some risk to it. That's what makes the sport exciting. There's no reward without risk.
Everybody's got good bike handling skills, so it becomes very tactical. How much do you let it go on the descent?
BDA Sun: How did you get into it?
MM: I raced the World Cup as a mountain biker so I already had those skills. I was good at racing mountain bikes and thought I'd be a good triathlete too - it's a sport that rewards a good cyclist.
I also like the fact that you get to see a lot of nature - going to different places where you can really get a good feel for the environment.
BDA Sun: You are also here to talk about nutrition. What's the key to eating right for an athlete?
MM: I think it's basically 80-20. If 80 per cent of everything you're eating is the right thing. Breakfast is good, lunch is good, dinner is good. It allows some room in your diet for the things you enjoy. You can't just swing from junk food one week to a boring diet the next, there has to be balance.
More vegetables and less sugar is one of my main themes.
BDA Sun: What about you Chris. What gets you through an Ironman?
CM: Red Bull. That stuff gives you wings, man. I had worked with all these scientists and nutritionists and they had designed this plan for the race. They told me no caffeine.
I ran the worst race of my life. I almost gave up on the run, till one of the other guys told me to grab a coke.
After that it was caffeine at every stop. Now for the last seven miles all I drink is Red Bull.
BDA Sun: You don't often hear people recommending Red Bull. What does the caffeine do?
CM: In a race that long it's neurological. You start to drift with your mind but you need to stay focused. You want to disassociate a little bit because you want the time to go quickly. But it's when you go over to the dark side of the force that it becomes a problem.
You need to stay alert mentally and focus on the little things, caffeine helps with that.
BDA Sun: How do you stay focused Melanie?
MM: The terrain is so rocky you can't take your mind off it. You have to pay attention the whole time or you'll fall over.
It's maximum gas the whole way through.
The best race is when you're completely focused, nothing else comes into your mind.
With XTerra you break it up into a swim, bike and run and you do each at full pace - as fast as you can. I race at about 195bpm,
You swim, 1500m at your top speed. On the bike, the whole race in Hawaii is to the top of the hill - then the descent into the finish line.
You can't take a drink on the descent.
Then you have to go and run the fastest 12k you can. You have to think I haven't swam, I haven't biked, it's all about the run.
BDA Sun: There's obviously a lot of mind games involved. In what situations do you go over to the 'dark side'?
CM: If you're a front-runner, like I used to be, that's a demon that can affect your race.
You don't know what's behind you. You are the hunted.
The anguish of being in front is you don't know what's going on in the race. If I'm hunting someone, I'm getting the splits, I'm constantly being fed information, I know what I have to do.
If you're in front you only have to let the doubts creep in for a second and it can upset your whole race.
Norman Stadler (one of McCormack's biggest Ironman rivals) is a front runner and one of the biggest weapons I have against him is to try and make him doubt himself. I play the mind games, I feed it through the press, on my website. People think it's arrogance but this is real for me. If you create a doubt that can give you a tiny advantage on the course then it's worth it.
MM: When you're racing that hard. Everybody's got the years of experience - everybody's got good technical skills, everybody's put in the training.
If you have a mental advantage it can make a difference. Even if it's one per cent it can make a difference.
Anyone who's been on a treadmill and tried to run just one kilometre knows it's never your body that's stopping you. It's in your mind.
Any sport - Ironman, Xterra, tennis... It comes down to how strong your mind is.
BDA Sun: Any final words of wisdom?
MM: I would say it's important to set goals and to constantly re-assess them as that will keep you motivated and focused.
CM: Be Patient. Sport makes you deal with failures a lot more than success but there's really no such thing as failure just learning experiences that you can reflect on to help you improve the next time.
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