Geelong Triathlete Nathan Taylor

As many of you know, Nathan Taylor has qualified for his 3rd IRONMAN 

World Championship this year in Hawaii, Kona. In May he won his 45-49
age group in 9hours 18min at IRONMAN Australia in Port Macquarie. 

Here is an interview with Nathan and his journey to Kona.
 

1. How do you do it…family, work, train and have the energy for
   anything else thrown at you in the day?
   
   Haha, it is a fine balancing act which has taken a bit of time to
   perfect (still not perfect). First of all, I have great support from my
   very caring wife - we work together to try and make things work.
   We share our calendars. From there we try and plan ahead to
   make sure all our plans (including kids'), events and appointments work and fit in. Even if this means I have to get up super earlier or start training late after work. I also put all of our events and appointments into my training calendar (Training Peaks) so Adam (my coach) can help plan around them. I do my most of my training early, so I can be home to help with breakfast and school drop offs. I like to get my evening sessions done straight after work so I can help out in the evenings. On weekends it is again very similar - I train early so I can be home to spend time with the family. I think it is really important when I am home to ensure my dad mode is on. I don’t waste family time sleeping or napping (...my IRONMAN journey would not last very long if I did).
   
   My one tip to new IRONMAN athletes - DO NOT neglect your family or work. It is very easy to get absorbed into your training / racing goals. If you are like me, with a family and career, IRONMAN is still just a sport, we do it for fun. Your family and employment is far more important, so make sure you can get a healthy balance and keep everyone happy. 
    

2. Swim…bike….run….What’s your preference starting with your favourite and how come? 
   
   My favourite is bike and run. They are equally my favourite. I love the freedom of just me in the elements doing what I love. I constantly find myself in a zone, deep in my own thoughts. The distances you can travel, the places and terrain you can experience in just one training session for me is very rewarding. I love the fact that the effort you put into training will be rewarded - but it does take time. My least favourite would be the swim (probably because I want to be faster – hahaha), but then again, it’s really not that bad. Squad swimming is generally fun when your not gasping for oxygen.   
    

3. What excites you most about Kona?
   
   For me Kona is a very sacred and spiritual place. It is the Mecca of IRONMAN. The history and origin of the sport, the environment in which you race in and of course the caliber of athletes you are against is very, very phenomenal. The lead up to the race on the island is amazing - the who's who of IRONMAN are there, all of them in one island, for one race. Amazing looking fit athletes from all over the world swimming, riding and running everywhere. The whole township of Kailua-Kona embraces this event with the locals so very welcoming. All the shops have event banners hanging from their roofs and the electric buzz around town is just out of this world. You know something big is about to happen. It's an IRONMAN event on steroids. The event itself is a BEAST - extreme heat, extreme winds, which makes for one of the hardest multisport events in the world. You gotta really experience it, words and photos cannot do this experience justice. I love it.
    

4. Do you have any pre-race superstitions?
   
   A little bit  – I only want to be around positive and supportive people. I will only wear a race suit if it is new or if I have had a good result in it previously. I only wear brand new socks for the run. I try to eat the same meals in the lead up for the two days prior and the morning of the race. If it works why change it. Finally, I like a bit of quiet time to myself as I line up with 1200 of my closest friends. I give myself a bit of a pep talk. Mainly key points to remember through out my big day. It is about relaxing and having extreme patience as it is going to be a long day. I have done the work to get there.
    

5. Do you prefer training in the AM or PM? 
   
   Haha, I like riding and swimming in the mornings. Running, I like evenings - definitely not the other way around.
    “Pro hours” would be nicer - do you want to sponsor me? :)