SECTION HEADING
MACCA X Coach Justin Granger
with his wife Belinda.
W
hen you sign up for a full
distance triathlon, you
understand it could be one of
the toughest things you could
ever willingly put yourself through.
Four-time triathlon world champion
Chris McCormack famously said, “You
don’t play triathlon. You play soccer.
You play baseball. Triathlon, when you
focusing on a full distance event, is work
that can leave you crumpled in a heap,
puking by the roadside. It’s the physical
brutality of climbing Mount Everest
without the great view from the top of the
world. What kind of person keeps coming
back for more of that?”
Well, there’s no question if you are
reading this, you’re that kind of person
- the kind willing to put in the work and
the sacrifice to conquer the distance of a
3.8-kilometer swim, 180-kilometer cycle,
and a marathon at the end of it.
“I believe that anyone that has at
least one full triathlon season (short
distance and half distance) under their
belt would have the ability to prepare
themselves for a full distance event,” says
Justin Granger, who has coached his wife
Australian Ironman Hall of Fame legend
Belinda Granger toward completing
50 full distance races and 10 titles. He
has also coached countless age group
athletes across varying fitness levels to
unleash their triathlon potential. He adds,
“However you will need plenty of time on
your hands, and the full support of your
family and work would also help.”
So the question is: how are you going to
get ready?
You can get away with making mistakes
in pacing, strategy, and nutrition over a
sprint, an Olympic, or even half distance.
A full distance is a different sort of beast
altogether; it’s not as simple as doubling
what you do over a half. When you’re
toeing the starting line, you’ll want to know
you did everything you could to prepare
to push yourself to your limits.
That’s where