All in Day’s work
Ironman welcomes brutal qualifier
IRONMAN Ali Day is the ultimate glass half full athlete.
While some at the weekend’s Summer of Surf round criticised the brutal multiround qualifying format used to cull an ironman field of more than 100 down for the final, Day could only see the bright side despite having to race three times to make the decider.
Some of the sport’s highest profile ironmen, including eventual final winner Shannon Eckstein and Summer of Surf series champion Kendrick Louis, won their opening heat to head directly to the final while others, like 2014-15 Nutri-Grain series champ Day and last year’s breakout star Matt Bevilacqua, had to complete a brutal three-race test.
But after a restricted Summer of Surf program this season following his fourth Coolangatta Gold win last October, Day was taking a bigpicture view, saying the racing could only help him ahead of the Nutri-Grain finals series later this month.
“It is really good practice for me for a few weeks’ time because those (Nutri-Grain series) races are going to be long and some are going to be quite testing as well, particularly that eliminator format on the last day,” he said.
“The way I see it, the more racing, the better. I haven’t done a heap of it this summer.
“It’s pleasing to know that I’m feeling good and all the things that I’ve been doing are in the right place.”
Day heads to Cronulla as the only man besides ninetime champion Eckstein to have won the elite Nutri-Grain crown.
And while he is gunning for a second title, he also knows the sport has to grow if it is to survive and so was thrilled to see so many entrants in the Summer of Surf finale.
“You want it to be like that,’’ he said.
“If the format goes your way (and you advance after one round), it’s unreal, it’s a beautiful thing. If it doesn’t, it’s still a win-win for everyone.
“Those young kids might get a couple of races against guys like Shannon (Eckstein) and Pooley (Matt Poole) and guys like that. I can only see it as a positive.”
Having had to sit out the 2013-14 series after being knocked flat following his 2013 Coolangatta Gold win, Day said he had become better at listening to his body and had recovered well after last October’s win in the marathon race.
“I think you get better every year you go on as an athlete and you get a little bit more experienced,” he said.
“I still make a lot of mistakes and every now and then I’m at the other end of the spectrum in wanting to do more and more and Zayne (Hamill), my coach, is just continuously trying to pull me back a little bit.
“It’s just that fine line, finding that balance between doing a 15-minute race to four hours and having that right amount of time off.”