Australian Triathlete – July-August 2017

AustrAliAn triAthlete | 65

Training TOOLBOX

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uncomfortable race. I was fine with the
triathlon part, but the heat stress all day
was really hard and highlighted that I
wasn’t heat acclimatised to the level I
needed to be.
Legh - Hawaii 1997 stands out as an
extreme, but that was an issue of dealing
with a bad pain, something I definitely
learned from. I think a four-day adventure
race in Malaysia in 2001 beat me up the
most. The first of the four-day race
included a run from sea level up to and
then down a 14,000-foot mountain.
On the way down my quads absolutely
seized up. How I made it through the rest
of the event I have no idea - it took
months to recover.

How do you mentally prepare
for suffering?
McShane - I’ve been encouraged to try
and make my training more challenging
than what any race situation would be so

that I’m prepared for anything come race

day. So, I guess this makes suffering in

training a little easier to bear. Race-wise, I

think suffering is always 1,000 times worse

when I’m thinking about the suffering

itself, so simple distractions like technique

cues or reminding myself that I do the

exact same thing every day in training can

make a huge difference.

Carfrae - It’s just all part of it, it’s not

something I think about too much. I set my

goals and go through whatever suffering is

necessary to achieve them. Lots of

visualisation - if you go into a race or

training session with the right mindset

then you can overcome, or more easily

deal with, and push through the pain.

If your attitude sucks, then it’s much

harder to get through when things start

to get tough.

Luxford - I try and reserve judgement of

how I’m feeling in a race - that’s not

helpful. I also remind myself that everyone

else is suffering too. In regards to suffering

in training, I see it as preparing myself to

suffer in a race. On a higher level (certainly

I don’t think you would get very far

as an athlete if you didn’t have the ability

and distinct willingness to suffer.

— Charlotte McShane

BroTherS IN ArMS: One of the most recent displays of suffering came from Jonathon Brownlee at the 2016 iTU world triathlon grand final in cozumel,
when leading the race he emphatically blew up around the final corner. losing the lead, he was to be guided across the line by big brother Alistair.