RUTH PURBROOK
She works 70hr weeks as an executive assistant and won her age-group (25-29) at the 2018 Ironman Worlds. Here’s how…
PRACTISE RACE-DAY SPECIFICS
It’s very easy to train really hard and forget about the race-day specifics that can have a huge impact on your race, such as transition practice or nutrition.
HAVE A PACKING LIST
Particularly if you’re racing abroad. It’s inevitable that pre-race nerves combined with having to travel can lead to forgetting things.
HAVE SEVERAL GOALS
I like to have different goals depending on the race – e.g. for one race the overarching goal might be to win, but a more focussed goal would be to hold a certain power on the bike, or pace on the run. So many things can happen, so having a breakdown of goals can ensure you still get a sense of achievement even if the overall race doesn’t go to plan.
TRAINING TRUMPS KIT
Yes that shiny new bike or helmet might look super cool, but nothing beats good old fashioned hard work. There’s also nothing more satisfying than overtaking people on better kit than you!
LEAVE PLENTY OF TIME
There’s nothing worse than something not quite going to plan on race morning and being tight for time and having to rush around. I had a race where my disc wheel blew out as I was about to walk down to the swim start – fortunately I had left quite a lot of time but it was a stressful 10 minutes changing the tube!