By Stuart Anderson on 28/05/2009 17:43

The motto says it all. "Normal limits do not apply." and Its billed as "The toughest Ironman in the World". It's hard to say what makes the Ironman Lanzarote course so tough. There's heat, high winds, and a challenging bike course that winds its way up and down two mountains. A swim is a swim, and the 2-loop ocean swim is a great way to start the long day. The bike course is where things get really tough for roughly 1300 competitors. By the time all is said and done, we will have climbed more than 2,600 meters (that's 9,000 feet!). Oh, lest we forget, there is still the run. The out-and-back run course is relatively flat. What makes it so tough are the winds, and the heat ... and the fact that it's a marathon

I had a great race with everything more or less going to plan. We had typical Lanzarote weather with a head wind from Yaiza all the way to Mirador del Rio; we even had 10 mins of rain!!!

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By Stuart Anderson on 09/01/2008 23:05

The Hawaii Ironman started with a journey almost a year a go. I made the decision I was going to step up from 70.3 and try my hand at Ironman. Hawaii would be my goal, and just a 140.6 mile race would stand in my way. I wanted to qualify for my fourth World Championship and I needed to choose a course somewhere in the world which played to my strengths. I knew I would lose time on the swim, but in the past my bike and run strength has been the leveller.

 

I chose Brazil, a little exotic perhaps, but I believed this to be my best opportunity. The rolling bike course meant there would be less chance of me picking up a bunch of drafters, like Vince and I did at the World 70.3 Champs last year. The run had four steep, short sharp 20% hills which I knew would slow down the powerfully built swim/bikers; but would be perfect for a little skinny dude like me! My gamble...

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By Stuart Anderson on 29/09/2007 00:00

So there I was talking to Dan Grey the other day and he asked me if I would consider racing in the London Duathlon in the Elite drafting race.

Although flattered, I said to him to be honest it isn't really what I've been training for over the last 9 months. Anyone, who knows me, knows that Ironman has been my only goal this year. I entered Brazil with a view to using it as stepping stone for Hawaii in October, and all the races I have done this year have just been sharpeners to keep my motivation levels up.

I haven't done any track sessions and consequently have lost all the top end speed that good quality track yields.... but it didn't take much time for me to dwell over this decision and re-consider. I've never been one to shy away from a challenge. But the fact was.... I could end up  coming in last and that really scared me!! The guys that specialise in these sorts of races are really fast and I had no right to be racing along side them. Especially considering the Ironman distance I’ve been conditioning...

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