Josh McMahon Geelong Triathlete

As many of you know, we had two athletes (Nathan Taylor and Joshua

McMahon) qualify to race in the IRONMAN World Championship this

October in Hawaii, Kona. Here's our interview with Josh McMahon and

his journey to Kona.
 

1. How do you do it…family, work, train and have energy

for anything else thrown at you in the day?

 

Yeah it’s definitely a difficult jigsaw every day to get the balance as close
to right as you can! I’m very lucky to have such a supportive wife, and

family who help me out when I need, but I think it’s very important not to
push the friendship too much with it! You have to know when to pull it in,
in regards to shuffling around training if it doesn’t work with life...
That’s the beauty / difficultly of being an age-grouper! We must

remember we are not getting paid to do this, and we do it coz we love it!

 

When the partners and family are getting over you never being around and work not being able to count on you as much as they should, the sport becomes a negative thing, therefore it’s not substantial. It’s a great sport and it takes a lot of time and effort but it’s definitely not worth breaking a family / marriage, or losing a job over. But yes, you are tired and fatigued a lot of the time too. You do just learn to push through it and get on with life!

2. Swim…bike….run….What’s your preference starting with your favourite, and how come? 

I thought I was a good runner, but it’s a different thing trying to run 42km off a 180km bike, so I have really been enjoying the swimming lately thanks to Adam! I never thought I would see the day I say that but it’s been good. The bike is always good, especially now with the likes of ‘Zwift.’ It helps make the indoor sessions go a bit quicker, especially this time of year in the cold! In order of preference probably run, bike, swim - but they are all pretty even. I have had enough of all of them by the end of the day ha.

3. What excites you most about Kona?

Probably to race the best in the world! I definitely think I’m a little out of my league, and most definitely will get my ass handed to me, which is fine, but I love the fact that you get a chance to compete against the best, and that is what you want when competing in sport. I would rather come dead last against the best, rather then 1st against a D grade field if that makes sense. Also going to Hawaii to get some good hot weather, am I right?

4. Do you have any pre-race superstitions?

No, not really. Just to probably make sure I’m up super early in the morning because I do like to potter about (so my wife says haha) and get to the race early to give me time to relax as much as possible.

5. Do you prefer training in the AM or PM?

Probably AM as you feel better during the day for having done something before work and it works in better with my family as my wife works in the afternoons. I do think you have to be kidding yourself if you are not training morning and nights. Usually there are 2 sessions a day of training during the week! I think the key is that you have to be adaptable! It doesn’t always go to plan...so early mornings and late nights and little sleep, that’s Ironman for ya. If it was easy, everyone would do it! 

A massive thank you to Josh for taking the time to do this interview, we can't wait to cheer you on in October!