- Triathlon can be quite a gruelling
and uncomfortable sport at times,
so we often look for ways in which we can prepare ourselves.
And sometimes, they can be a little bit weird.
So I've spoken to a few of the pros
about their triathlon hacks,
and lucky me, I get to try them out.
So you're probably wondering
why on earth I'm holding a jam sandwich.
Well, I've got Andy Potts aka The Muffin Man
to thank for this.
(upbeat music)
So Andy Potts told me that he used to eat a jam sandwich
as he'd head out for a run
to try and train his stomach to get used to taking food on
during an Ironman.
So here I am, with my jam sandwich.
Let's give this a go.
(twangy music)
So everything tells me, don't eat just before a run.
And here I am.
Thanks Andy.
So one thing I didn't check with Andy,
is did this work?
So we're about to find out.
Let's go.
(upbeat instrumental music)
(bleep)
Ooh, gosh, I'm sorry.
I'm fairly pleased this is just an easy run,
I'm not sure I could run any harder,
I mean, I literally feel the jam sandwich here.
Well, that was interesting to say the least,
and Andy, I've got to say
I'm not so sure on your choice of a jam sandwich.
But I guess if you're gonna pick a food
that's gonna test your stomach,
well, a jam sandwich is right up there.
Personally, I'm used to eating a couple hours
before most of my runs,
so that was pretty uncomfortable
but I guess it was testing my stomach,
and so I'm going to give this a three out of five.
Next up, we're going to give this hack
from Emma Pallant a go.
Okay, any weird pro hacks you can share with us?
- I would say quite a convenient one
is when we're travelling around the world,
and you know, you get to a hotel
and you're excited because it has a pool,
and then it's like seven metres long.
So now we travel with one of those surfboard straps.
- Like a leash?
- Yes, a leash.
So it attaches either on the side of the pool
or outside of the pool,
or a friend you don't mind falling in holding it,
and then you strap it to your ankle
and you've got an endless pool.
- That's an awesome idea.
I've honestly never come across this before,
so we've got our leash.
I'm going to give it a go,
but I am a little bit sceptical about it
maybe disrupting my stroke,
but let's get in, give it a go.
(steady, peaceful instrumental music)
Okay, so that is the surfboard leash tested,
and I've got to say,
I'm really quite impressed.
It didn't disrupt my swim stroke as much as I expected,
and as Emma said,
if you're travelling,
you're staying at hotels and they've got a 15 metre pool,
you're not going to get a great swim session in there,
so this is a really good option,
and it's small.
It doesn't take up much space in your suitcase,
so you could just have one in your suitcase
ready to go at all times.
So I am going to give that a solid four out of five.
And next up is from Daniela Sammler.
Are there any pro hacks that you've tried over the years?
- Yeah, for Kona for example,
I do to acclimatise faster,
I go after training sessions,
I would do a very hot bath for 20 minutes,
or also sauna.
- Okay, so like, straight off a run session into the bath?
- Yeah, yeah.
And two to three weeks before I leave,
and then you get, yeah.
- Sounds quite uncomfortable.
- Yes, it is. (laughs)
It's really kind of tiring also, yeah.
- Right, I guess that actually makes
quite a lot of sense,
and I have heard quite a few other pros
doing something similar.
Will Clark, for instance, said he did it
into the Ironman World Championships in Kona,
which is obviously very hot,
so I am just getting ready for a run session,
we're going to get nice and hot,
I'm going to come straight back in
and jump in the bath.
Off we go.
(steady, triumphant music)
Whew, that was tough.
Pretty hot.
Now, I've gotta jump in the bath,
which I'm not particularly looking forward to,
so if you don't mind,
just excuse me for a second.
(click)
(deep exhale)
This is utterly disgusting.
I think my heart rate's still going up.
Yeah, I wouldn't want to do this jump power
and I've got still like 10 or 20 minutes in here.
Yeah, I'm going to give this a five out of five.
(upbeat, triumphant music)
Okay, any pro hacks you've tried to get ready for race day?
- Yeah, so we do this thing called hero day,
which basically make an Ironman seem easier.
So we've done it spread over a weekend before
to make it easier.
So on the Saturday we do something ridiculous
like 100 one-hundreds in the pool to get the swim done,
and then on the following day
we'd go out and do like 250 kilometres on the bike,
and then you're so tired after that,
but you have to go and run 10k off,
so it's pretty mental,
but then when you've done that,
an Ironman seems fairly easy.
- Okay, I'd like to say I like the sound of this,
but I've also got to do this.
(laughs)
(alarm beeping)
(knock knock)
Yeah.
Oh, man.
7 a.m.
It's hero day, isn't it?
Thanks, Lucy.
Really not looking forward
to I've still got a long day ahead of me.
First up is a run.
Actually I was so nervous last night,
I'm already in my run gear
just to save a little bit of time.
(groans)
Okay.
I should probably get on with this.
Whew.
(upbeat, adventurous music)
Okay, before we go any further,
I'm not a full-time athlete anymore
so I don't have the time to head out
for a 200k ride and whatnot,
so I'm going to do slightly shorter, more realistic sessions
but still keep the intensity really high,
so I should be equally as pooped by the end of the day.
Right, let's keep going.
(adventurous music)
Okay, first session of the hero day done.
So far, so good, it's all right.
Now for my bike ride's about 100k,
I'm going to go fairly hard.
Let's go.
(adventurous music)
(exhales deeply)
Okay, I'm done.
That's 100k.
I am soaked through, that was really hard.
I couldn't think of anything worse
than having to jump in the swimming pool right now,
but this is hero day.
Off we go.
(steady, upbeat music)
Okay, that's a session finished.
That is hero day done.
I am absolutely shattered.
I'm really, really looking forward to dinner.
How do I rate this?
I can't really argue with Lucy,
she is the silver medalist at the Ironman World Champ,
so it's clearly working,
and I'm absolutely shattered,
so I've got to give this a five out of five.
Now we're off to see Andy Potts again.
- So, Andy Potts here.
I've done a lot of dumb things to get ready to races,
to try to see what works and what doesn't work.
Probably one of the dumbest things I've ever done
was I slapped my thighs really hard,
just started banging on them super hard,
thinking it will enhance blood flow.
Well, I'd seen sprinters do it before they race,
and I thought, "Ooh, that'd be great for a triathlete."
Yeah, not so much.
Terrible idea.
Literally, a minute into my bike ride,
both lets seized up,
couldn't pedal my bicycle for 15 minutes.
It was awful.
Made it through the day,
made the right decision to never do that again.
- Okay Andy, you are not filling me with confidence,
but I do understand the method to your madness.
I understand that slapping your legs
could help to activate and get the muscles firing.
So I'm kitted out,
I'm gonna give this a go.
Ready, here we go.
(slap, slap, slap)
(bleep) sucks.
Oh.
How many times did he say?
(slow, graceful instrumental music)
(hard slapping sounds)
(techno fade-out)
(laughs)
Okay, I'm starting to see where you're coming from
on this one, Andy.
Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have tried this after all.
(upbeat, adventurous music)
Yeah, that was pretty unpleasant.
I didn't get cramps though,
so I've no idea how long you were doing it for, Andy.
But as he did suggest,
I really wouldn't recommend this yourself,
I'm gonna give this a one out of five.
It's pretty stupid.
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