Ironman Mallorca: The Game has changed - it's all in the detail

I made the decision this August to defer my Kona place to 2022 before the race officially got cancelled. I knew looking at the situation in Hawaii there was absolutely no chance the World Championships would take place this year. I also made this call because I knew I had to race an Ironman in 2021. My last full was in Barcelona 2019 and I couldn’t go another season without racing one. I was very confident that we would be able to race in Europe as normal so I took the decision to enter Ironman Mallorca as it was only a week later than when Kona was originally scheduled for, so I could continue with my training plan that I’d laid out.

My 2021 season had been pretty mixed. A bad crash in my first race inflicted a lot of damage that took a long time to recover from and really knocked my confidence. I then got pretty ill (thankfully not Covid) ahead of British Champs which resulted in a very lacklustre performance. However, things started to turn around and I was getting some good training in, particularly on the run. The solid weeks of training started to build some confidence ahead of Mallorca and I knew I could produce a good performance if I maintained good consistency.

Another key benefit of racing Mallorca was that I wanted to create some sort of template that I could mirror for Kona next year and then tweak what didn’t work so well. One of my main goals for Mallorca was to run a solid marathon time and I tried some new training techniques to help maximise the chances of this. I also knew it would be hot, nothing even close to Kona conditions, but I wanted to practice my heat preparation strategy that I will use next year.

The Race:

Ironman Mallorca is a beautiful race and a challenging course. It’s a fast swim course but it’s a shallow water entry and exit (which includes an Australian exit at half-way) so that slows the times down as you have to wade through a lot of water. The bike course is mixed as it includes a big mountain climb up through Lluc with a very technical descent off it and then goes on to a two-loop section over very undulating terrain on rough roads. The run course is pan-flat but has multiple U-turns each loop and also involves running over bridges and quite a bit of sand – hardly the most conducive course for a fast run time. To top it off, the transition is absolutely massive and there’s a long run up from the swim exit. Taking all this into account, I had no expectations about even getting close to my Ironman PB of 8hours and 42minutes.

Being out in Mallorca for the Ironman was incredible -a very strong Professional field was assembled and some of the best age-group athletes in the world were racing. It was set out to be one of the biggest and strongest Ironman races of 2021.

I could go through the race in detail but that’s not the purpose of this article. I want to provide some context on where Ironman racing is right now and the level it’s got to. The racing is changing and hopefully the following insights will be interesting.

The Stats:

Swim Time: 54:38 – included Australian exit and long runs in and out of shallow water. 5th fastest 30-34 swim and 27th fastest AG time.

Bike Time: 5:05:42 – Normalised Power was 240w’s - included 30minutes averaging over 270w’s up first major climb. 3.4w/kg (weighing 70kg’s). 19th fastest 30-34 bike and 106th fastest AG time.

Run Time: 2:54:28 – average pace on watch was 4:07min/km as course was slightly long. Fastest 30-34 time and 2nd fastest AG run.

Total Time: 9:02:40, 5th in 30-34 AG (9secs behind 4th and 5mins from 1st), 13th overall AG and 44th overall with Pro field. Long transitions accounted for nearly 8mins of time.

I didn’t think I would get anywhere near sub 9 hours on such a demanding course in hot conditions. If I had simply descended better off the first mountain, I would’ve easily gone sub 9. This is frustrating but I was incredibly pleased with the overall performance. What shocked me is that the time was only good enough for 5th in my AG and 13th overall AG.

After having a bit more time to reflect on the race, I’m simply astounded by how far the racing has come on in the last few years and the level at which it has been taken to. While I could’ve saved some time on the bike with better skills, I still rode 240NP after a very a fast swim and then ran a sub 2:55 marathon! Some people train for years to just run a sub 3-hour marathon alone. Not only was the real temp feel around 25+ degrees on the run, the course was very slow with all the twists, terrain and amount of people on the course. I did leave a bit in the tank by being too conservative with my pacing but it’s still crazy that running that sort of time after a very solid swim and bike is only good enough to take you into 5th.

Reece Barclay made a similar conclusion following Outlaw Holkham this season. Stating that the time which was good enough for a win a couple of seasons ago was only good enough for 7th place and the sport has accelerated to a new level. While not every race is quite like this, and some are much more competitive than others, the level of performance is phenomenal these days and the game has moved on!

Why is this case?

Well more people are doing the sport than ever and the amount of information available is greater than it’s ever been. Top athletes are all following very scientific training plans, executing perfect nutrition strategies, doing high-volumes of training, looking at all technology advancements (like custom tri-bars) and more people simply want to be the best. This means the times are going to continue to get faster and it’s going to get harder and harder to get to Kona.

If you’re not following a long-term plan, looking at all aspects of equipment, nailing all the details around training like sleep and nutrition, you’re going to get left behind. In addition to that, you’ve got to pay significant attention to the conditions you’re going to be racing in and prepare adequately for that. For example, if I hadn’t had followed a specific heat prep plan for Mallorca, I wouldn’t have been anything like as competitive. The devil really is in the detail and you can’t leave any stone un-turned.

I suppose the big problem with this is, how can you do all this and not be a professional? Well in my opinion it’s an absolute joke that there’s not some sort of tiered system for highly competitive age-group athletes in long distance racing and something needs to change. Not only are amateurs beating pros, there’s former pros racing as amateur. The sport will continue to get faster but many top athletes will drop out because they simply can’t afford to race and continue to dedicate so much time with no financial assistance or reward.

What can be done?

I’m not saying for one second that we should all be earning money, but surely there could some sort of reward for finishing in a certain position, like getting an entry of choice to an Ironman the following season that’s paid for. Creating some sort of structure like this would enable athletes to race more, continue to make the races faster and help grow the sport.

My voice won’t be heard alone but hopefully more fellow athletes can raise this point and we can create some change. It’s fantastic that the PTO are developing the sport and giving a lot of Pros what they deserve, but it would be great to see some of that support filter down. I think for long-distance triathlon to become what it can, the PTO need to make different levels, a bit like tours or divisions in other sports.

Hopefully that provides some insight into what it takes to finish at the top of your AG in an Ironman these days. If you have ambitions of getting to Kona and finishing in a fast time, you need to dedicate a lot of time and effort to the goal. When I refer to time, I don’t necessarily mean just weekly training time, I mean investing months, if not years of time. Producing a top-class performance in an Ironman now potentially takes 2-3 years of solid work. You also need an amazing team around you that supports you through thick and thin.