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Competitions international level have long been turned into an all-around event. Being a champion in only one sport is, of course, prestigious, but it is more prestigious to be a champion in two or even three sports. This is how biathlon appeared, and later triathlon and ironman triathlon. The first competition (similar to a modern triathlon), when the same athletes first ran three kilometers, then cycled twelve kilometers and also swam across a canal, took place in France in 1920. And although the first official triathlon club had already been created in the United States in 1974, the first truly serious competitions were held only in 1978.

One day, John Collins, a US Air Force commander, and his wife Judy decided to find out which sport could be the most resilient. On February 18, 1978, an ironman race was held in Hawaii, in which 15 people started, but only 12 were able to reach the finish line. The winner, former US Navy soldier Gordon Haller, was awarded the title of “Iron Man” for the first time with a time of 11 hours 46 minutes 58 seconds . So, since 1983, the ironman triathlon began to rapidly gain popularity.

Ironman triathlon (which translates as “ iron Man") is a whole series of long-distance competitions held by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). Each series consists of three non-stop events: a 3.86-kilometer (2.4-mile) swim, a 180.25-kilometer (112-mile) road bike ride, and a 42.195-kilometer (26.2-mile) marathon run. All stages fit into one day, so this type of triathlon is considered one of the most difficult in the world.

Like now?

Almost 40 years have passed since 1978, but the rules laid down by John Collins remain unchanged:

competitions take place in Hawaii;
participation in official competitions costs $600;
the race starts at 7 am and ends at midnight (when they finish last participants);
any triathlete who finishes on the same day can confidently call himself an ironman;
responsibility for their lives and their own health lies with the participants themselves (they even write a receipt that in case of problems with overcoming the distance there will be no claims against the organizers).

When the motto of the first Ironman triathlon competition became the slogan: “Go the distance and be proud of it for the rest of your life.” Participants firmly believe in these words, because people who decide to enter this race demonstrate miracles of endurance: they compete not so much with their rivals, but with themselves, with their body.

Is it possible to prepare for an iron race?

Only professionals can prepare for this type of competition. Real athletes spend 15 to 20 hours a week training. 10-15 kilometers of daily running, about 30 kilometers a day on a bike and long swims in the pool every other day - this is an approximate training scheme. Most likely, only a very motivated person will cope with such a load. True, there are examples, even in Russia, when the race was won ordinary people. But an unprepared person will not withstand such a load, so sports training is needed, at least minimal.

The race limit is more than 12 hours, but modern triathletes manage to cover the distance even in 8 hours. It's all about constant long hours of training. To swim 3.8 kilometers, you need to spend at least an hour and a half. In this case, 100 meters must be covered in at least 2 minutes. To achieve this result, it is better to use a proven scheme: warm-up - four times 100 m, then 600 m (alternating 100 and 200 meters), observing intervals of 30 seconds. There is no need to work to the limit of effort - it is better to use two-thirds of your capabilities.

Having warmed up after 5 minutes of pedaling the bicycle, you should switch to a monotonous mode (about an hour), accelerating from time to time. Additionally, you need to develop the pedaling speed, reaching 90 revolutions per minute. Speaking about running training, it is worth noting that you need to train in at a slow pace- jogging. Firstly, after intense cycling training and swimming, the body needs rest. Secondly, this pace will allow the athlete to regain strength with the help of energy drinks and nutrition. After all, as you know, the first marathon runner, having run a distance of more than 40 kilometers, simply fell dead from exhaustion of physical strength.

Useful tips for those who decide to participate in the ironman triathlon

It will not be difficult for a professional athlete to switch to a more intense training regimen if he decides to become an ironman. The situation is much more serious with amateurs.

So, advice for those who are far from sports, but decided to participate in the “iron” race:

Hire a trainer: Without professional help, training can lead to injury and will discourage you from becoming an athlete for a long time. Only a trainer can calculate the optimal training regimen.
Real preparation should take at least a year. At the same time, it is important to set specific goals and objectives for yourself: for example, swim 4 km in one hour by November 16th.
At first, you should not combine training: devote one day entirely to running, another to swimming, and on the third day of training, do your best on the cycling track. Having already become a more experienced athlete, you can begin combining different types sports, but first at short distances.
No need to speed up right away - It's better to start at a calm pace, gradually increasing the intensity of movement. This applies to both running and cycling.
Consistently work on muscular and anaerobic endurance: muscles must be prepared first, and then breathing. In swimming, the crawl is the most effective, so first of all, you need to master this style of swimming.
It is important to develop (preferably also under the guidance of a specialist) a nutrition system that will allow you to lose weight, increase physical endurance, and also contribute to the formation of correct eating habits. For example, many triathletes completely avoid salt and sugar.

You might be interested in a video where an athlete shares his experience of preparing for Ironman:

If you are interested in triathlon, then you either former athlete who does not want to part with sports, or a person with ambitions;)

In general, there are two main types of triathlon - the Olympic distance (1500 swim - 40 km bike race - 10 km run) and the Ironman distance (3800 swim, 180 km bike race and marathon). Accordingly, based on your level of preparedness, you can actually choose a start “for yourself”! In Russia, unfortunately, only 3–4 starts per year are held at the Olympic triathlon distance and about a dozen at the sprint triathlon distance (half the Olympic distance). This good opportunity check and understand whether this sport is interesting for you. Fortunately, the costs there are low - you can do without a wetsuit, a very simple bicycle is enough (and at the KK triathlon they generally get by with a mountain bike), and the entry fee is identical to the generally accepted one - no more than 500 rubles. It’s also quite easy to prepare for such a start, because... Not much training time is needed, provided you already know how to swim and ride a bike.

If we are talking about such an “aristocratic” type of triathlon as Ironman, then unfortunately for Russians, here we run into two problems - time and money... To prepare for the Ironman distance, you need to imagine that the minimum volume for finishing the distance in a manageable time (and this is about 12–13 hours) you need a lot of free time for training. After all, at a minimum, you need to swim 2-3 times a week, ride a bike at least 200-300 km and run about 60-90 km (taking into account the cyclicity, the numbers may differ by 20%), which turns into about 15-20 hours of pure training .

Otherwise, a collapse is possible, which is well described in the article by Ivan Zhitenev, thanks to him for his frankness, by the way. Next, the second significant point is the cost of traveling to the launch site. In Russia there is only one half Ironman start in Vyborg (Vyborgman), which is largely due to the FTR policy and the peculiarities of the legislation on road closures, so in order to participate in the start itself you have to travel abroad. Here again there are two alternatives - cheaper, i.e. starts at a distance similar to Ironman, but does not have a WTC license (the company that owns the Ironman brand), where the entry fee is 100-150 euros; and more expensive - the official start of Ironman (certified by WTC, there are about 25 of them around the world with the final competitions in Hawaii) - the fee there is the same and amounts to $600. Next, you need to take into account the cost of moving to the starting place and living there. Naturally, after spending so much time on training and a substantial amount on entry fees and tickets, you have to think about equipment. You need an Orca type wetsuit, 2XU (another $200-600 depending on the steepness of the model, although sometimes due to the heat you can swim in swimming trunks), a bicycle (there are options here, but it still seems logical to go not on the cheapest bicycle with such an entry fee - the price for a used bicycle of a decent level will be about 1200-2500 US dollars, but you can rent it) and running shoes (branded sneakers, it’s problematic to run a marathon without them - that’s another 100 dollars). According to our experience, the total travel budget for the European Ironman start, including the contribution, is 1000 euros. But in this case, you can safely call yourself an Ironman, because only official WTC starts can call themselves that (the rest are Iron-distance starts). But for true triathletes this is not so important - what is more important is the feeling of overcoming oneself and revealing new facets of one’s character.

Let's touch on the Ironman distance in more detail. There is an opinion that Ironman is a distance where the very fact of finishing is an achievement. Let's be clear - undoubtedly, any person who musters the courage and goes to the start of a triathlon (and especially Ironman) deserves respect. It is only important to identify the line beyond which triathlon turns into an adventure, the price for which is often considerable.

Let's start with the finishing time - the start in which time is controlled already implies a comparison of participants according to the criterion, in in this case- time. Otherwise, the competition itself turns into a hiking trip, where the only goal is to conquer the peak. But such a competition with yourself can be organized at any time and anywhere - put on sneakers, or get on a bike and ride along a certain route, first 100, then 200 km; this is accessible to anyone and the pride from the achieved result will be no less for the athlete - he will win the competition with himself, raising his self-esteem. But for amateurs, even if they are not far from sports, at first even the word “marathon” evokes trepidation, but still, after the marathon is completed, runners have a desire to run the same distance, albeit a little, at their level, but faster.

Secondly, in the case of forcing preparation, quite often (again using the example of a marathon) running the distance turns into such agony that after this the athlete does not want to hear anything about running at all, the blow to the psyche is so strong. The same situation with the Ironman triathlon, only multiplied by three, i.e. the blow is much stronger - you can't NOT finish, because there is a lot at stake - competition fees, flights, accommodation - so finishing is really the goal here.

Another question is - what is the achieved result then? Received the title of finisher, but at the same time last hours distances cause trembling in the knees and persistent disgust. Thank God if the athlete overcomes this condition and returns to training, but often the return does not occur.

At the same time, athletes watching such competitions from the outside get the impression that, indeed, finishing an Ironman itself is an incredible achievement. Despite the fact that we don’t talk much about Ironman and its results, there’s really nothing to compare it with... Well, unless, of course, you’re too lazy to look at the protocols

What do we see in the competition reports? Most finishers fit within the 12-13 hour limit. What does this limit consist of:

3800 swimming time 1:30 + transit zone 5 minutes. This result is quite capable of being shown by advanced athletes who learned to swim about six months ago and achieved a stable speed of 2 min/100 meters; for swimmers, such a result is possible and incomprehensible, but as experience shows, this is quite achievable provided swimming skills and 2-3 months of training;

180 km bike race time 6:30 hours + transit zone 5 minutes. As we can see, the average speed is 30 km/h, and provided NOT strong mountainous terrain maintaining this speed is again not a problem. The only thing is that usually after 150 km in case of a violation of the diet, “starvation” may occur, but to prevent this, nutrition issues at a distance are worked out individually;

marathon time 3:50 hours. The pace is slightly faster than jogging (according to Lydiard’s definition, 6 min/km, which he no longer equated to running, but not yet walking). Of course, such a result is only achievable if after a cycling race the athlete has previous running experience at a low heart rate, because after a cycling race the body does not perceive shock running loads well, and what comes first is nutrition and the body’s perception of energy drinks. In this regard, in training process necessary a large number of aerobic work at low heart rate to have a basic level of for finishing.

Total: total time 12 hours.

A deviation from the given finishing time by more than an hour indicates that mistakes, forcing or overestimation were made in the training process own strength. Unfortunately, it would not be so sad if it were not for the consequences of such finishes for the body and psyche of the athlete. Let's think about whether it's worth it, because the main goal of triathlon fans is to enjoy overcoming three elements, and not to race for a medal!

In the beginning there was a rocking chair - for a pile of muscles. Then yoga - so that my back stops hurting. After yoga, everyone started running. Tired of running, we discovered CrossFit. And here is the apotheosis of fitness - Ironman. Nobody goes to the gym just like that anymore - everyone is preparing for a masochistic festival, during which they have to swim, drive and run somewhere. But if everyone is swimming somewhere, driving and running, then we will try too! Let's try to figure it out!

The goal (also the slogan) of the Ironman triathlon is simple and clear: “Be able to swim 3.8 kilometers, drive 180, run 42. Be proud for the rest of your life.” The record is less than 8 hours, you need to do it in 17. Despite the length of the distance (even too lazy to drive a car), every year 400 thousand athletes of varying degrees of fitness take to the start of the Ironman Triathlon world series. Yesterday's hedonists and top managers have abandoned fishing rods, football and nightclubs, working like hell for six months in order to one day fly far, far away, experience terrible torment and prove something to someone. The scale and style of this madness is such that Ironman is being called the new golf. Indeed, not counting the professionals, it is not young men at all who take to the start line, and equipment, preparation and participation cost tens or two thousand dollars.

For what? We asked a regular Ironman participant - coach and top amateur athlete Stepan Vakhmin, 37 years old (4th place in the ranking of the Russian site Tristats.ru) to answer this question.

“There are several answers to this question. Firstly, excess free time. For example, several people came to me after graduating from an MBA and were looking for new point application of forces. Secondly, of course, they come for health, but not just to work out in the gym, but to have a goal. Thirdly, it's fashionable. You can find many new useful acquaintances. At fashion parties, people are now discussing not nightclubs, but marathons and triathlons. Some people just need to get away from their family for a couple of hours a day. Well, just crazy!” Crazy or just gambling. Here is a man running around the square, then he took part in a city race. I didn’t like the result, I finished significantly ahead more people, than behind my back, it hurt me, I started looking for a coach. The next time I ran the top ten much better, I got excited, and started thinking about the marathon. And having completed the marathon, then the second, third, such an amateur asks the question: “If I survived this, then where is my limit?” This is where Ironman comes in.

“There is a certain point that you strive for,” Stepan explains the superiority of triathlon over the rocking chair. - If you decide to pump up your biceps, then it is completely unclear how big it should become. And here you have a date, and you must be ready for it. Exercises, regimen, training - everything should converge at one point. It's like reaching the top."

A word to the victims

We asked permanent participants Ironman to tell why they treat themselves this way.

Viktor Vitorganov, 34 years old
(Internet project manager)

Ironman is such a great way to give yourself a good kick in the butt. Actually, this is a marathon for those who have nowhere to put their crap. The format of challenging yourself - both physical and moral, since the body may not give up and move until it dies, but moral endurance can reverse much earlier.

Sergey Lisnevsky, 41 years old
(top manager)

It's interesting to solve impossible problems. This is a purely managerial drive: you break an unrealistic task into stages, plan time, resources and achieve implementation. Most of my triathlete friends are... family people, and that's much better than words motivates children to play sports. And most importantly, this should not be considered a waste of time, it is an investment in your own health and active longevity.

Swimming, pedaling and running in this mode is not cheap, which is why triathlon is popular among successful people, business owners, financiers who retired at 35 years old. They decided to while away the time that appeared along with passive income not in cigar clubs or on the golf course, where they drive an electric car even 100 meters to the next hole. They chose a load similar to a commando forced march. In the UK, according to The newspapers Guardian, over the past ten years, about 700 thousand amateur athletes have swapped a hockey stick for a bicycle.

In general, nothing new. The good old search for the meaning of life, the rapture of the process of achieving a rather conventional goal. And the result is a feeling of superiority, victory over oneself, joining an elite community, and all this is accompanied by a feeling of something deeply healthy and correct.

Iron Man. Start

In 1977, a serious controversy broke out in Hawaii. At the finish line of the Oahu Perimeter Relay amateur race, they discussed who was the toughest - a runner, swimmer or cyclist. Most of those gathered turned out to be marines, so instead of massacres and stabbings, they decided to defend the honor of their favorite sport in the race, combining the long distances of each into one continuous one.

On February 18, 1978, the first official race took place. 15 people took part in the race, 12 completed it, and the marathon was won by a retired military man who was working as a taxi driver at that time. His result is 11 hours 46 minutes 58 seconds.

They decided to repeat the celebration of life every year, and already in 1980, 106 men and two women took to the start line, and the record improved to 9 hours 24 minutes: professional athletes began to flock to the competition. That same year, ABC broadcast it, and half the US population learned about Ironman.

Iron doesn't mean strong

“A weightlifter is strong, a sprinter is fast, and an Ironman is a triathlete... The first thing that comes to mind is, of course, endurance. But, probably, we can choose a more appropriate term: one who knows how to endure,” Alexey Nemtsov, vice-champion of Russia in CrossFit, coach of the professional group at CrossFit Idol, explains the athletes.

He argues that despite the monstrous pressures, triathlon is not the path to strength or a muscular physique. Even if the athlete devotes great attention developing basic strength between competitions (as strongly recommended by Joe Friel in The Triathlete's Bible), then as you approach the race stage, all these exercises are removed from training. “Ironman is a very long race. This means that no one covers such a distance using high-threshold muscle fibers. And the generally accepted perception of strength or power is work done in a very short time,” summarizes Alexey. After all, unused muscles are also excess weight, so the body will diligently get rid of them. As, indeed, from all other unnecessary factions. Aerobic cycling sports are still the most effective for burning fat.

Further - as in a marketing textbook. In 1990, the brand was bought by triathlete Jill Giles, who founded the federation and managed the brand. World company Triathlon Corporation. Ironman begins to develop as a popular amateur brand, wheelchair users compete in the distance, shortened distances appear - Ironman 70.3 (half) and Ironman 5150 (analogous to the Olympic one). It is expected that by the end of 2017, at least a million athletes will compete in all races under the auspices of the WTF.

By the end of the 2000s, Ironman Triathlon had become a successful franchise, the product of which was of most interest to the mayors of small cities. Competition in big city, rather, it’s a rarity - you need to close a 100-kilometer road for a day. And for small coastal cities around the world, hosting such a competition has proven to be a goldmine. While the athletes are sweating at the distance, the town is experiencing a kind of carnival: entertainment points are set up along the route, restaurants are open outside, dozens of orchestras are playing, and spectators are cheering on the participants. Those, as a rule, are wealthy people, traveling with friends and families, and some with a whole retinue of trainers, physiologists and massage therapists.

The town of St. George in Utah reported that it welcomed 12,000 guests to the race and earned $7 million. The town of Staffordshire in England boasts a figure of £3 million to taxpayers, comparing triathlon to the regular golf tournaments popular in Northern England and Scotland.

In 2015, the Ironman brand was bought for $650 million by the Chinese investment holding Dalian Wanda Group, which had previously been mainly involved in real estate. Over the past four years, he has consistently bought branded marathons, swims and bike races, and with great success launched them in mainland China. We can expect that in the coming years, several million Chinese will join those who like to swim, ride and run all day long, and the number of international starts will increase several times more.

How to become iron without iron

Triathlon, as already noted, costs a hefty investment. For fitness it is abnormally expensive. Most super popular sports grow out of accessibility, especially for children: running is sneakers and long road; football - a ball, a small playground and a dozen friends; boxing is just one friend who is no longer a friend. Triathlons, especially Ironman, require a lot of equipment and are expensive.

Beginners are scared by the cost of a bicycle, citing a figure of about 10 thousand euros. Although average brands are cheaper, and the price of a used bike is several times less. The bike still needs shoes and periodic maintenance. But this is only one of three sports; you also need equipment for running and swimming. In addition, you will have to fork out for periodic doctor’s examinations, blood tests, visits to the gym, swimming pool, trainer’s fees, and literature. In total, this is an order of magnitude more expensive than a subscription to the most premium-exclusive rocking chair.

ESTIMATED

The minimum physical requirements for a beginner are simple: you need to be able to walk, swim and pedal. The trainer will still greatly adjust the technique of these types of activities.

“First, let’s determine whether a person is healthy or not. And it’s not me who will do this, but the doctor,” Stepan takes a strict position. First, you will need to undergo an extensive blood screening, and periodically undergo fitness testing, blood gas and lactate testing along the way. At the same time, the results are not so bad that you completely abandon the idea. Stepan talks about an athlete who did not stop training during cancer chemotherapy. According to the attending physicians, even minimal exercise stress allowed him to better cope with difficult therapy.

The next step is to outline current results and set goals for the near future. Training for a triathlon is not like training for... gym. An athlete may not see a coach for months, and all data exchange occurs through Garmin or Strava services.

The differences between an amateur and a professional among triathletes are formalized. Professionals start at separate group, the rules are stricter for them, and the result depends not on the number of likes on a photo on Instagram, but on the extension of the athlete’s sponsorship contract. In training, the differences are rather conceptual: a professional trains as much as necessary, an amateur trains as much as he can. If a beginner's goal is to complete an Ironman in the allotted 17 hours, then this is possible even with 2-3 training sessions per week.

You can also prepare in an urban environment. You will have to swim in the pool, run in the park or on a path, and ride on a bike station. Coaches advise getting out into nature a couple of times during the entire training cycle and trying your hand at conditions as close as possible to the race. But even among professional athletes there are those who, due to circumstances, train without leaving the city. It’s better not to complete an entire Ironman in your first year of training. It's better to start with the Olympic distance or half a full Ironman. A dozen books-memoirs have been published about the difficult path of a beginner to the full distance. Each contains a story about the psychological oppression of an athlete who spends many hours in a race. 10–12 hours of exercise is also an incredible stress for the neuroendocrine system and metabolism. If you complete an Ironman without extensive preparation, you may find yourself with surprises such as an autoimmune reaction or type 2 diabetes, Stepan warns.

Eat, pray, swim, spin, run

A race is, although small, a completely different life, with its own culture, rituals and laws. Some athletes shave their bodies for better aerodynamics (this can save about a minute), fertilize sensitive areas (groin and nipples) with Vaseline - the friction force in this life is not at all as gentle as in normal life. Before the start, you can and should load up on carbohydrates: the diet includes huge plates of spaghetti. Last medical examination, registration...

“It’s a mixture of adrenaline and fear. Even my hands are shaking. You probably won’t get this kind of jitters anywhere else. And it continues until the starting whistle,” Stepan shares his feelings. The races begin early in the morning, with athletes starting neck-deep in water. Previously, a mass start was practiced, when thousands of athletes simultaneously ran into the water, but now, in order to avoid injuries and crushes, a rolling start (4-5 people at an interval of 5-6 seconds) is more often used. After the swim, participants shed their wetsuits and jump into the saddle. Take energy bars, water and isotonic drinks with you to the cycling stage. (Rare but statistically inevitable deaths in marathons occur not only from overload of the heart muscle, but also from salt leaching during heavy consumption ordinary water.) Already in the second half of the cycling stage, when the body is unable to digest solid food, gels are used. At the running stage along the distance there are food stations with water, cola and bananas, as well as toilets. Although sometimes in the heat of battle there is no time for them...

“This is a sport where pain and even blood are inevitable,” Stepan prepares for the race. “But if you know that it will hurt, then it’s not so scary.” If you did everything correctly, then the pain should appear in the second half of the running marathon. And such trifles as bloody blisters are usually discovered after the finish. The rules officially prohibit the use of any electronic devices, so it will not be possible to brighten up a dozen hours on the road with the discography of the Lyube group. Although experienced athletes claim that after hundreds of hours of training, the race itself is the least boring event in your life.

The swimming stage must be completed in two hours, the cycling stage in eight, and the entire race in seventeen. If you manage to meet these cutoffs, then you will receive a medal and status in any case. At the finish line, the commentator loudly announces your name and declares that from now on you are Iron Man.

Is there anything more difficult than Ironman?

They finish Ironman with smiles, sometimes jumping for joy. Triathletes call the last 200–300 meters the “magic carpet”: pain, fatigue, and heaviness in the legs completely disappear. And then a shower, a massage, a longed-for sip of beer - all this is included in the participant’s package. Tears, hugs with family and coach and a well-deserved dinner with a medal around the neck among the same heroes of the city, which will be empty the next day.

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