The importance of playing the long game and finding the successes in races which may appear a ‘failure’ as an age grouper

Triathlon Coaching Success: Rob Payne

Outlaw Nottingham

Rob competed at Outlaw Nottingham (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run) last weekend. At face value, people may look at the published result of a DNF as a failure. Having worked with Rob for multiple years now, I could immediately look at the big picture from the build up through to the race data and know it actually showed multiple successes, thankfully Rob has a great attitude and can see the same. During this blog we’ll dive into what the successes are from the preparation/performance standpoint, and why drawing these from what could appear to be a ‘bad result’ is ever important for age group athletes.

In Triathlon, consistency in training year on year has a compounding effect. If you’re looking to reach your potential you have to think long term, as you won’t reach your peak in a 6-12 month period. Rob and I have been working together for 3 years now. In my opinion, longer term coach/athlete relationships like this are when you get the most out of having a coach. You learn how people respond to training, what works and what doesn’t, what their true motivations are (not what they tell you they are), you become more in tune with their daily life, how each and every aspect of their life influences training, and lastly you build trust. 

Having these longer term coach/athlete relationships also means the athlete can set long term goals, not only for the current season, but looking 1-2 years in advance. This means that year on year consistency and progression we mentioned before can form the overall goal, not just chasing short term wins. 

Long term progression > Short term wins 

Rob is what I’d describe as a ‘time crunched’ athlete. He has young kids and an intense job. This means he only has around 8-10 hours per week to train for his upcoming events. Bearing this in mind, this is where we can identify the first successes in the build into the race. 

1. Consistency. Rob didn’t miss a single session during the build to Outlaw. No matter if it was an easy run with time on feet being the only focus, or a hard threshold bike session, he ticked every box possible (minus a few swims). In a program it’s not just the big shiny hard sessions that are important, the easy, monotonous, aerobic sessions deserve the same focus. Having executed a build like this is something that should be celebrated. 

   
   

You need to love the process

2. Getting dialled in. We (Henry - Proven Performance Coaching) handle the training and racing side of things, but the nutrition aspect needed dialling in too. As a coach you need to know your limitations, I’m fully aware I’m not a nutritionist, so I referred Rob to local nutritionist Jenny from PDT Coaching (https://www.instagram.com/pdtsandc?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==) to work on weight management, day to day nutrition, and race nutrition. Personally I think the training is the easy part, getting on top of these things is additional work most don’t want to have to think about, and is no easy task. The benefits of the work Rob/Jenny have put in have been huge, from energy management allowing him to nail every session, to a diet plan which has enabled sustainable weight loss. 

   
   

Nutrition is the fourth discipline 

3. Trusting the process. On a previous training program Rob had been completing some long sessions on weekday evenings, finishing with some rather late nights. Unfortunately I said this couldn’t keep happening, or had to be kept to a minimum, as you only realise the gains from the training you can recover from. Often with time constraints on the weekend as well, he couldn’t complete a 3+ hour long ride, so we had to use some other strategies on midweek rides to promote the same benefits. The previous plan was also set up around the occasional big day, surrounded by very minimal training. We flattened this volume distribution for the majority of the training weeks, spreading the load more evenly, promoting consistent stimulus. It’s often difficult to fully commit and have belief in new methods, but he bought in and nailed the sessions. Don’t think the classic weekend long rides didn’t make an appearance, they did in the latter stages of the build (final 12 weeks). I wouldn't recommend doing an Ironman without them. 

   
   

Buy into the training

Next we’ll touch on the long term progression. It’s easy to get caught up on your most recent result, however zooming out and looking at the big picture is very important. Over the last 3 years we’ve steadily progressed things with Robs running. He is running the fastest he’s ever done this year, and it’s no coincidence. Looking at his mileage stats below you can see this progression in total volume with the year on year average. The majority of this is easy running, with specific sessions focussed on upcoming events.

2023 = 29km. 2024 = 34km. 2025 = 40km. 

When we first started in 2023 Rob completed a 5km time trial in 23:48 (4:43/km), his 70.3 race pace is now around the 4:30/km mark. That’s 4 times the distance, after a hard 90km ride, 15s per km faster. His target marathon pace for Outlaw was 5:00/km, of which he was right on track for until some dehydration issues.

As mentioned earlier, we approached the bike with a more even volume distribution, using very focussed sessions that have led to big gains. Rob is now riding at higher speeds, with lower heart rates, pushing the same power even with the weight loss. He doesn’t have power on his bike, however using speed as a metric he did the bike leg at Outlaw at well over 32km/h, where previously the speeds he’d maintain on a 70.3 would be around the 30km/h mark. There are big equipment gains left to come, so coming off the bike in 3rd position in his age group riding a road bike with a normal helmet is extremely impressive. 

Chatting to Rob post race we dived into these successes, affirming the fact the progress made has been huge. For many a DNF would be a hit to their motivation, believing the effort put in had been a waste. In this instance, it did the opposite. From this performance we can clearly see the upward trajectory and have used this to set some great goals for next year! At the end of the day, as an age grouper Triathlon is not the be all and end all. Training should be enjoyable, sustainable, and working towards the goals you set yourself should be rewarding. I hope this blog has drawn to your attention the importance of finding the successes in what may appear to be a ‘failure’ and how playing the long game in Triathlon is the best outlook.