SWIM

PACE YOUR RACE

1 If you’re stepping up from Olympic-distance racing to Ironman 70.3, then the swim distance increase from 1.5km to 1.9km swim shouldn’t seem too daunting. However, the distances that follow on the bike and run might mean you want to adjust your swim pacing slightly. My key piece of advice for the 1.9km swim on race day is to get off to a strong start, find your space and then settle into your own rhythm. Aim for 2-3secs per 100m slower than your usual Olympic-distance event pacing.

adding 70.3 SPEED

2 Adding in high-intensity interval swim sessions to your programme, including repetitions of 200s, 100s and 50s, will help massively with increasing your middle-distance swim speed. Aim to do at least two swims a week where you’re working hard over the 1.9km. Break the distance down into shorter repeats – your target times should be at race pace or faster with short rest intervals of 10-20secs.

PRE-RACE NUTRITION

3 For breakfast before a middle-distance race, I have a bowl of porridge and two slices of white toast with peanut butter, and a black coffee. I recommend that you aim to drink at least 500ml of electrolyte mix before the start so you’re well hydrated before the gun goes.

BUILD SPEED

4 I perform this set in the build-up to a 70.3 race. Warm-up 400m steady + 30secs rest 2 x 200m build + 20secs rest 2 x 100m @ 1.9km target race pace + 30secs rest 4 x 50m building speed + 20secs rest 100m easy swim Main set 30 x 50m @ faster than 1.9km race pace + 30secs rest Cool-down 200m easy swim.

“Adding in high-intensity swim sessions will massively help your 1.9km swim speed”

world champion advice TRAIN HARD

5 Train harder than you race and then you’ll deal with it successfully in the race. When it comes to racing, stay in the moment and don’t try new things just because someone said you might be faster with it. DANIELA RYF, 2017 IRONMAN 70.3 WORLD CHAMPion