I have the pleasure of being on one side of the debate and have a great mate, Jason Quigley on the other. It is a common discussion between the both of us. It is rare to find someone who is crazy enough to have had a crack at both of them.
An athlete that I coach now, Adam Kelsall, is the man to put the discussion to rest, after reading his interview on http://rossburrage.com/2012/05/17/adam-kelsall-24solo-enduro-mtber-v-ironman-triathlete/ I clearly didn't push him hard enough through training!!
Apart from the biased view from Ross (heheheh) I think the interview gives some good insight about what it takes mentally to complete both events.
Here are some details, I have only cut and pasted some of the article. For the full interview follow the above link:
RB: How many 24 Solos have you done to date?
Adz: I have done four i think mate.
RB: OK mate….let’s get stuck into the workload because that’s what we are here to find out. Describe your 8 week training lead up to a 24solo Worlds. i.e. km’s, hours, cross training etc
Adz: Not very scientific mate. A couple of short, maybe 3 or 4 try to go fast rides up to two hours during the week before or after work with the aim of adapting the body to high heart rates….with the idea then that the low intensity heart rates of 24hr racing will be a piece of piss for the body. Lots of six hour races and maybe a 12hour race to toughen up mentally and get the nutrition/support thing right. Weekends would consist of a long road ride on Saturday to really get the fatigue in the legs then a back up long mountain bike ride on Sunday to practice technical skills with lots of fatigue already in the body.
The Triathlon Stuff…….
RB: So where has this triathlon stuff come from Adz? One minute you’re a hard core Enduro bod and now an obsessed triathlete.
Adz: After Canberra Worlds I remember we were having some stupid conversation about which would be tougher, 24hrs or Ironman. I think I said something about maybe finding out. Then Kylie shouted me a trip to watch Lyndon Virgona have a crack at Ironman in Port Macquarie. We chatted a fair bit about it. It’s important to both of us that it’s a team effort and we are both on board. It’s too hard to do an event like this if one side of the team isn’t on board.
RB: Was it an athlete that initiated the challenge or simply the challenge itself?
Adz: ........But I think mostly it is the challenge
RB: Tell us a bit about your triathlon background. I’m not aware of any but maybe I may have missed something.
Adz: Nah nothing really.
RB: I’m generalising.……but can you describe the personality differences between an Enduro Rider and an Ironman athlete?
Adz: Ha ha. I think there are perceptions about Triathletes. Especially from Mountain Bikers. However I have found nothing but friendliness and overwhelming support in the triathlon community.
RB: Tell us a bit about who prepared you for Port Mac Ironman.
Adz: Xavier Coppock is an elite age grouper who I am very fortunate to receive coaching from. I followed his blog for ages and was super impressed with his attitude and knowledge of the sport. Rod Stormonth hooked us up and it’s been fantastic. I can ring/text anytime and he always is positive and supportive.
RB: Back in the 24solo days you seemed to prep yourself, why the need for a coach to prep for Ironman?
Adz: I just felt like with three sports it’s a bit more complex. With Cycling it’s not that hard an equation once you have years of volume in your legs – just ride lots. With the three sports I thought it might be easy to over train. In reflection I think I would have actually under trained. I am amazed at the volume . Especially the run volume.
RB: How far back did you start to prep for Port Mac?
Adz: 6months. That’s a long time for me to concentrate on one thing!!
RB: So let’s get to the race itself. Time?
Adz: 10:37. I like to say about 10:30J
RB: Ever want to quit?
Adz: Nope. There was no chance.
RB: Any plans to do another one and if so what are the plans?
Adz: Probably busso at the end of 2013.
So there are the brief details, Ross then went on to ask the questions we all want the answers to:
THE COMPARISON!
BTW, I love the answer to the first question!!
RB: Let’s start with the mental questions. I know the Port Mac is fresh in your mind but can I ask you to reflect back to your 24solo Worlds and tell us which event was the biggest head f@#$?
Adz: 24hrs for sure. Ironman is tough. But you have breakfast suffer through a swim ride run then go out for some dinner with your mates. Doing the same thing for 24hours is incredibly tough.
RB: Which event do you feel would be easier to front up to and complete with zero training preparation?
Adz: Probably 24. Because you can rock up and do two laps hang out in your pit and party with your support crew then finish. With Ironman you have to get from a to b. Without the training I think it would be really hard to do this in the 17hour cut off.
RB: As you know, I’m a grungy old Enduro rider and I will defend the 24solo riders every day of the week. After all, racing for 24 hours v 10 hours is surely a no brainer. I respect that the Ironman triathletes do it over three disciplines but surely racing one discipline 24solo non-stop is much harder? YES or NO and please explain!!!!
Adz: I think racing three disciplines is harder technically, Good endurance athletes have amazing efficiency of movement.
RB: One word answer Adz, which athlete is the tuffest mentally and physically?
Adz: 24hr.
So there we go, a man that has raced the World 24hr MTB race and completed an Ironman in a pretty handy time.
Your training won't be so easy in future!!
Great Interview!
X-Man
PS, please offer your opinion below about which is tougher... For the record, trying to be good at 3 separate disciplines and finishing within the time limit is definitely harder than racing a race with no criteria to be eligible to be a finisher.
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