It was a big move for us. Not just in terms of the costs involved but in terms of acceptance by a professional coach. Having completed only one half ironman race and a couple of shorter distances, we began contemplating our long-term vision.. What were the missing elements in our attempt to be the best in this sport we love? We were investing resources like time, money, energy for training, nutrition, travel, racing, logistics, equipment. The pivotal question emerged: Is the investment worth it? Are we on the right path to achieve our goals?
We want to race competitively and currently the country has many coaches. But most have gained success in completing races and getting their athletes to do the same. We felt we were missing a very important aspect called DIRECTION. That’s when we realised we need to get a coach with competitive racing experience and a track record of training athletes for competitive racing.
It had to be done now, before we had made more mistakes that couldn’t be undone. Being in the mid 20’s, time was a luxury we couldn’t afford to squander on experimentation. Especially considering, we didn’t want to just be age groupers all along.
It felt a bit intimidating in the beginning. Doesn’t every transition feel like that? We were told, professional coaches may not be ready to accept amateur athletes. They may not give enough time to your goals. Their philosophy may be too different and they may not understand an Indian training environment. Following our intuition, we had conversations with several coaches across the world. We tried to ascertain who’s philosophy would work best for us. Infact, all the coaches we reached out to were extremely welcoming. This felt very comforting.
We chose to go ahead with a Scottish coach from the Endure IQ team. We had been observing their journey for a long time. We started with the program 2 weeks before the Ironman goa 70.3 race. It did feel quite new and we were onboard with experiencing a new challenge. Our swimming volumes were higher than usual and we learnt about many new perspectives. One interesting perspective was about the consumption of a gel before starting a race. Interestingly, we always did that as we were told we needed to. But as an age group athlete who didnt have to do a sprint to get the lead pack, do we really need the glucose spike? Well it may come at the cost of a potential crash.
Two months in, we are still at the early stages and it is hard to predict the outcomes of this decision. However, within the first month, three key experiences stood out for us.
We reevaluated our sugar intake during workouts, particularly low-intensity sessions, opting for better carb sources throughout the day to prevent unnecessary blood sugar spikes. After a reduction in quantities, I closely monitored my blood glucose levels using a CGM to assess for any crashes or negative trends during workouts. This monitoring served as an indicator of whether I was optimally fueled. While we still use performance-based fuels for intense sessions, brick sessions, race-specific sessions, and actual races, our main focus is on looking out for the long-term health of our gut.
We underwent the INSYNCD tests to determine our optimal training zones. Our coach provided us with a comprehensive 20-page report, analyzing our zones and various fitness parameters such as Vo2max and Vlamax. Below is a brief glimpse of my INSYNCD report. According to the findings, some of the workouts we had been doing previously were negatively impacting our long-term performance factors. It was exciting for me to read the report and to see many new aspects of training. My faith in the program increased. I still haven’t attempted understanding every element of it. I would like to leave that to the coach at this moment while focusing on executing the plans assigned. I want to be ‘an athlete’ and know as much as I need to, to execute and stay consistent.
I figured ‘How easy is easy’. In the past, I engaged in a considerable amount of what I perceived as “easy” work, yet it never felt genuinely effortless. However, I’ve noticed a significant shift — what I now classify as easy truly feels undemanding. This adjustment has contributed to enhanced training consistency and frequency, all while maintaining lower intensities for the most part. Particularly during the base block of building aerobic fitness. Keeps me less fatigued and almost close to no tightness in my muscles.
We are still yet to figure out how this journey is going to pan out. But overall we love the immersive experience. I feel I should be racing more next year. It may put me out of my comfort zones more often and give me some racing experience. It is possible that my POV towards training and coaching may change in the future. But for now I am super happy to have taken this decision.
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