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00:00Triathlon is a very unpredictable sport like anything can happen in the race and you have to be on it. You have to be
00:06Really focused and in that moment and as soon as you're not that's that's when things start to happen that you're not aware of
00:20So I actually started as a Paralympic swimmer and after Rio I decided I wanted a little bit of a change
00:25I knew I still loved sport, but I wanted to do something different
00:28So came into the crazy world of endurance sport and triathlon
00:31So going from a one-minute race to suddenly an hour race was it was definitely a huge huge shock to the system
00:37But I knew I'd always loved running
00:38I knew obviously I had the swimming element and it was just bringing in the cycling element
00:42Which definitely was challenging trying to learn to ride a bike with one arm and it not just a mountain bike
00:47You know, you're on a TT bike, which is very twitchy. So that that was a huge challenge getting into the sport
00:53I started off as a swimmer in para sport
00:56actually
00:56I started off as a swimmer just as a kid keeping active and dad wanted me to learn how to swim because obviously he's safe
01:02in water then and ticks off one of the dangers then did
01:06Beijing as a swimmer but unfortunately missed out on London and was just kind of looking maybe for another sport or
01:12Maybe just to give up sport in total in general just looking for another path
01:16But fortunately it led me to triathlon. I just love the training and the lifestyle
01:21Obviously, it's different for different people
01:23But for me, I like the fact that you're training regularly every day like the routine of it and also like going away on training camp
01:29I love being involved in the sport and being around by the team
01:39Originally I found the fact that the endurance element of triathlon quite hard
01:43I remember in the pool when I used to think 400 meters was really far and I'd be like I don't want to do 400 meters
01:47That's too far anything below fine
01:50And you know then I went to swimming 750 meters in open water and then still another race
01:55Bike and run after that heart and lungs wise you've done a huge amount of endurance in swimming, you know
02:01I'd be swimming for 20 hours a week
02:02So it wasn't like I wasn't used to that but it was more the fact of racing for that duration of time
02:08I like to go out fast and I would go out like an absolute bullet and then
02:12Die quite quickly because the lactate would just completely flood my system
02:16You know
02:17I was very much a fast twitch athlete and having to train yourself to become more of a slow twitch
02:22actual endurance athlete was quite challenging and it definitely took a few years to
02:26Work out how to pace the event and how to get the best out of the race
02:31Yeah, I think to master an endurance sport. You do need consistency really
02:35It's like years of keep building on that foundations of a aerobic fitness and and I think age
02:41In a lot of sports obviously probably isn't your friend where in triathlon it does kind of help even though we need a sprint distance
02:47It's still an hour of racing
02:49So it's still pretty solid endurance event
02:51And I think even though I thought I'd got pretty good fitness when I first maybe like within the first few years and moving over
02:56Looking back now like 10 years later notice the difference of 10 years of solid endurance training
03:01I'm such a better athlete now than even I was in my mid 20s
03:11I
03:13Have actually changed my training quite a lot in the last in the last few years
03:16So I was doing like 20 to 25 hours a week
03:19I actually struggled with like a knee injury for two years
03:23So I reduced my training very much like 17 18 19 hours
03:27I actually started racing way better doing less and I think for me
03:32I have got the engine from the years and years, you know, I've been doing this for 20 plus years
03:37It's now about quality and not quantity which sometimes I find really hard to get my head around so like it's an endurance sport
03:43I need to be doing more more is more but actually I then wasn't getting the quality out of the the key sessions
03:48Generally, I'll train about 22 hours a week like 80k on the run
03:52Maybe 85 and then I'll do four swims that are about 90 minutes and they'll probably be between four and a half and 5k
03:59Each swim two of them
04:00I like hard swims to aerobic and then the bike can vary a little bit depending on if we're out on the tandem or
04:06If I'm doing quite a bit on the turbo
04:07Which it's obviously a bit easier to do more when you're outside
04:10The turbo is definitely a bit of a mental battle sometimes, but they'll probably be eight or nine hours on the bike
04:15Yeah
04:16it's like probably a one key session on the tandem so and then to
04:19Strength and conditioning sessions that are obviously vital because they just keep make sure you don't get injured or sort of work on any
04:26Weaknesses you've got physically that could cause you any issues
04:29There's quite a few of biomechanical potential issues you could have but yeah, I think doing a good strength and conditioning program really helps with that
04:36I think going into endurance sport as well. It was very much that shift of diet
04:41You know, you you have to make sure that you're getting in enough calories of what you cannot get through those training sessions
04:46And I suppose that was quite an educational piece for me because in swimming it's quite it's quite different
04:51You know, you wouldn't really during a swim session. You might have like a carb during a training session
04:55But you know, it's very much on the bike
04:57Making sure you're getting in those 60 grams of carbs every hour to make sure you're fueled for the next session and it's always
05:03Thinking forward protecting the next sessions and the sessions the next day
05:07So encouraging yourself to kind of get enough in it can be quite challenging at times
05:11You're like even when you're not hungry
05:13You're like right I know I need to get this food in to be at my best
05:16For that session and the next session weirdly as a swimmer
05:21I feel like I've got so much more life and I don't feel as tired
05:24I don't need to nap every day
05:25And I think it's because everything's slightly more of a low level and the intensity is never quite as hard
05:31So I actually feel like I have a lot more life in me than I did previously
05:39You're always going to go through good spells and bad spells in the race
05:42And I think that's what makes it so much more fun
05:44You're always going to go through good spells and bad spells in the race
05:50But I think as you get older you realise that it might be a bit of a bad spell for the next four or five minutes
05:55But I'll probably come round
06:00I'd say the thing of endurance sport is it is a lot more lonely
06:03You know you do a lot of training on your own
06:05So for example the bike and the run generally
06:07You're on your own in your own mind
06:09And that can be really hard at times
06:11But I think you've always got that goal in the back of your head
06:13You've always got the end goal
06:15And it's kind of breaking it down into smaller chunks of
06:18What can you do that day to make you better
06:21And to get you towards that bigger goal
06:24Triathlon has also taught me a massive amount of resilience
06:27I think there are times when it's really tough
06:29And the environment and the conditions outside are really hard
06:33And you don't want to do it
06:34But you've got to push yourself through that
06:36Or the race is where things aren't going your way
06:38And you've still got another 50 minutes of the race
06:40And you've got to push through that pain of things not going your way
06:43But then it's also giving you that resilience to say
06:46No this is not what I need
06:48That I need to be doing X, Y and Z
06:51Because that's not working for me
06:53That is really important to be able to understand yourself
06:55And be really self-aware
06:57And it kind of all ties in with resilience
06:59Because it's hard to say no
07:01And it's hard to kind of know when's the right thing to say no
07:04Or when you have to just push through and carry on
07:07I am Claire Cashmore
07:08I am Dave Ellis
07:09And you have just watched How To Train
07:11Like a Paralympian
07:12On Independent TV