Camping for Success

LifeSport Coaching previews the Official Ford Ironman World Championship Preparation Camp

If someone told you that they could guarantee you a performance improvement at the Ford Ironman Word Championship in Kona, Hawaii (or any other race), you would probably look at them pretty sceptically or, possibly, conclude that they were offering you some form of ergogenic aid. However, being fit, economical and skilled isn't always enough to ensure that you produce your best possible performance on race day.

Every race course has its own quirks and peculiarities. Knowing the course that you are going to race on and having a plan for race execution can save you a huge amount of time and stress and allow you to pull out the performance that your training results would suggest. The Ford Ironman World Championship course at Kona is no exception and thoroughly knowing the course and understanding how to ride and run on it could save you a significant amount of time. That time saving could be the difference between finishing your day on the podium or just being tired.

You will learn about the famous landmarks of the course such as the Donkey Crossing, the docks and the climb to Hawi, not to mention the seemingly endless lava fields on the bike course. On the run course, you’ll find out about the Natural energy Lab, the slight climb back into Kona as well as the final turns from the Kuakini Highway, down Haulalai Road before making the final right turn on Alii Drive for the run to the finish chute. Come World Championship race day, there should be no surprises

LifeSport Coaching, as the Official Coaching Company of Ironman, offer a number of Ironman preparation camps. Our camp in Kona, held last year and scheduled for October 4-6 this year is a perfect opportunity to learn strategy, tactics and tips before attending the ‘big dance’.

Class-based lectures will cover swim bike and run tactics, mental strategies, fuelling strategies and last minute training tips. The practical sessions will take place at Dig-me beach (the swim start area), the Queen K Highway and Hawi for the bike sessions and the Natural Energy Lab for a run session.

There will be guest seminars from pro athletes who have excelled at the highest levels of Ironman racing who will pass on some of the secrets of their success and provide race stories and inspiration.

Through the lectures, practical sessions and social activities you will get training tips from some of the most experienced Ironman coaches around. These guys are dedicated to helping you to your best possible performance on race day

You will have the opportunity to practice on various parts the course and learn how use simple mental strategies to reinforce your physical preparation for the race.

One of the attractions of a preparation camp in a location like Kona in the week before the Ironman World Championship is that you have the opportunity to meet other athletes from around the world. The 2007 LifeSport Ironman World Championship Preparation camp was truly an international gathering with athletes attending from Canada, US, Germany, France, New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain. The pro athletes in attendance were Lisa Bentley, Chris Lieto, Kim Loeffler, Linsey Corbin and last year’s fastest amateur woman at the Ford Ironman World Championship, Bree Wee.

For more details on this year’s Ford Ironman World Championship Preparation Camp go to http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?EVENT_ID=1493424&CHECKSSO=0


LifeSport Coaching is group of international-caliber certified coaches, led by Olympic Gold Medal, 70.3 and Ironman Champion coach Lance Watson and Paul Regensburg. LifeSport Coaches are the official coaches of Ironman.

To find out more about how LifeSport Coaching can help triathletes of all levels and abilities realize their goals, email us at coach@LifeSport.ca