Radio interview with Jason Sawyer

This interview may be heard (if you have a soundcard in your PC) via www.enduranceradio.com
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EnduranceRadio.com
Jason Sawyer - 10-19-2004

<>: “This is Tim Bourquin with www.enduranceradio.com Thanks for joining us for another interview today.

We’re speaking with all different types of endurance athletes and triathletes, marathoners, adventure racers, and we’re going to be speaking with Jason Sawyer today, He is actually training for a ten times Iron Man distance, so races just seem to keep getting longer and longer. We’re going to be talking to Jason about how he’s training and preparing for that, both physically and mentally.

<>: “Jason thanks very much for joining us today. I appreciate your time.”

<>: “Thank you.”

<>: “Well, when I got your e-mail talking about how you were training for this ultra, ultra long distance race, when did this event start?”

<>: “What, the actual history of the event?”

<>: “Yes, exactly.”

<>: “Yes, the event has been going for quite a few years now. It is done bi-annually, and it’s always been running in Mexico, in Monterey, in Mexico.”

<>: “OK.”

<>: “It’s been the Ultra-Triathlon World Championships, but it’s just, this year, moved for the first time to Oahu in Hawaii….”

<>: “OK.”

<>: “…so that’s the sort of background of the race.”

<>: “Now, people who even think about doing an Ironman, I mean that almost seems like something that is almost nearly unobtainable, certainly you have to work a long time to get to that point, but we’re talking about a ten times Ironman distance. How long does that typically take the winner to run this race?”

<>: “The current record is just under eight days, seven and a half days.”

<>: “Goodness gracious. Alright, you’re doing ten times the run, or swim, ten times the biking and ten times the run as well?”

<>: “Exactly, yes, it’s run exactly like a triathlon, 24 miles swim, into the bike, and then on to the ten times the marathon run.”

<>: “OK. Have you done this race before?”

<>: “No. It’s going to be the first time.”

<>: “Wow. Now you’ve run in triathlons for Britain in the past though?”

<>: “Yes. I’ve raced long distance in Ibiza last year for Great Britain, and I’ve also raced some, finished Ironman races five times, four have been some of the hardest around the world.”

<>: “OK. So tell us how you are training for this ultra-distance, because there is obviously some different technique and things you’ve got to be thinking about when you’re going this long of a distance.”

<>: “Yes, it’s about training the mind to get away from the race mind-set of going as fast as you at each discipline, and teaching yourself to pace. A lot of training is based around long, steady distance. Pace, training, and also if I race as part of my training, I will then, say, ride home 60 miles from the race venue to add that little bit of extra to the race I’m doing.”

<>: “Right, and how many hours a day, or actually a week are you training right now?”

<>: “In this final build-up week I’ve been, in the last few weeks leading up to the race, I’ve been doing up to 40 hours, 40 – 45 hours per week.”

<>: “OK. So you’re a full-time, professional athlete then?”

<>: “No, I work full-time as well.”

<>: “OK. So you’re schedule is pretty busy then?”

<>: “Yes, and two little children to look after!”

<>: “OK. Well, now, so are you actually swimming this, you know, is it 20 plus miles at one time?”

<>: “In training, I’ve been basing everything working around one kilometer, or sort of three quarters of a mile effort….”

<>: “OK.”

<>: “….quick head-up, take a sip of drink and carry on, so, will give me a 12½ to 13 hour swim time, and hopefully make me one of the first out of the water, because I’ve got quite a strong swim.”

<>: “So, you’re able to obviously stop, but are you able to touch a boat or anything at this time, or do you have to stay on your own the entire time of the swim?”

<>: “The swim is in the pool, a 50 meter swimming pool.”

<>: “Oh, it is? OK, I got it. I’m thinking open water here.”

<>: “Yes, sure. Because of safety, one of the things with the Decker and a lot of the endurance, and I’ve raced two Double Iron Man races this year already, they’re done on circuits to keep everything safe really because of athletes falling sleeping on bikes, and because of them not being as aware as they would normally be in a race….”

<>: “Right.”

<>: “…it’s done on smaller circuits and usually swimming pools.”

<>: “Now, when you’re biking over 1,000 miles, how often do you plan to stop and take a break, if at all?”

<>: “On completion of the swim, my race plan is to race five hours on, one hour off for the whole length of the race.”

<>: “OK; and so what do you think will be the longest distance you’ll bike to prepare to do this?”

<>: “Only about 250 miles. In a Double Iron Man I obviously race 224. I’ve done two of those this year.”

<>: “OK.”

<>: “But, I think once you’re at a certain level with your cycling, you can’t really practice to cycle a 1,000 miles. If you can cycle 250 you can cycle 1,000 as long as your brain stays strong, and your head is strong.”

<>: “Jason, when you first started, or decided to do this, you didn’t find the Ironmans quite challenging enough?”

<>: “Well, the main reason was that it’s very hard to qualify for Hawaii, and you’ve got to be quite fast and dedicate a lot of time. I’m a good, strong athlete, and I’m a good Ironman, but I’m not the fastest. I’m very strong on the bike and I’m a strong swimmer, but I don’t have the fastest run, and I stepped up this year to do a Double Ironman in June at the European Championships and had fantastic results for my first attempt, and that was it then – I was hooked on ultra-triathlons.”

<>: “Now, what kind of nutrition and diet, and hydration plan do you have for this ultra-race?”

<>: “For the Deca, throughout the swim, I’m going to use your normal, what I would say, normal sports products, energy bars, high-five electrolyte type drinks, high-energy through the swim, so every 20 minutes, 30 minutes cycle I can be taking that in. Once you get out onto the bike and the run, it’s very important to be eating what you would normally eat. A lot of the high complex carbohydrate foods, pastas, spaghetti, but normal, good quality food, rather than trying to stick on the complex carbohydrate sports product because they can mess up your stomach quite quickly.”

<>: “Right. Now, I imagine to have the energy to do this, in the days leading up, are you doing a lot of carbo-loading?”

<>: “Yes, I’m even now on a regimen where normally when you train you get hungry, you eat, but you still remain tired. I’m trying to stay now where I’m eating 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day, but not putting on weight, but just storing glycogen. Even now, three weeks before race, really starting to load up my body.”

<>: “Now, how will you sleep? I mean that’s got to be an issue. What do you plan to do, and how often will you sleep, and for how long?”

<>: “Yes. Like I’m going to race, my intention, my race plan is to race five hours, one off, so I’m racing 20 hours in every 24, and I’m planning, whether my head stays strong enough or not, do it, and my body survives, I’m planning to do that for the entire duration of the race; to only have four sleep in any 24.”

<>: “Is there a way you can kind of prepare for that sleep deprivation?”

<>: “I’ve been practicing now. I work full-time, and I have to travel, I have to leave home at 5.30 a.m. in the morning, to get to work and to be able to swim before work, and I make sure I don’t go to bed much before midnight, 1.00 a.m. in the morning, so I’m only sleeping four to five hours per night.”

<>: “OK.”

<>: “Already now, on a normal working basis, so its building me up ready to get used to not having that sleep.”

<>: “Sure. How many athletes will you be participating in this race with?”

<>: “There’s 30 of us.”

<>: “30, ok, and, you know, it seems that at races everybody is kind of trying to race directly, trying to one-up each other, and then go longer and longer, do you see a kind of an end-game to this where it’ll just be, you know, how far out do you see this going in terms of now its ten times, will it even go further?”

<>: “It has gone, I think once or twice, its gone, Chep Blanton, Chep, they call him ‘Chep the Jep” Blanton, from Hawaii, who’s a bit of a famous ultra-triathlete, he’s done Double-Deca. He’s done 20 times in just under a month. So I think, I can’t see it getting much longer, but he’s done that.”

<>: “So the athletes that are like you said, by yourself, that are not necessarily fast but can just do this for a long time and have that tremendous endurance, have an advantage and are ones that succeed in races like this.”

<>: “Yes. I mean some of the guys that I’ve met already, they’re absolutely phenomenal athletes. They’re probably quite fast Ironmen as well but, I mean, recently the World Champion, they run seven hour double marathons off the bike, but they’re just so steady and solid….”

<>: “Right.”

<>: “…..and show amazing ability to deal with pain and high-endurance.”

<>: “What kind of pace do you hope to achieve during the run per minute, per mile rather?”

<>: “It’s hard to say at the minute. I’d love to be able to do between 10 and 12 minute miling, which obviously sounds quite slow compared to your average, normal run. I mean I’m racing tomorrow and hoping to go sub-six mile, sub-six minute miles for ten miles, but realistic 10 to 12 minute miles would be great to maintain.”

<>: “Right, and what do you do to kind of help prevent injury on such long distances?”

<>: “If, always, one thing I always try and do is to think about my running style. Even if I’m really slow, is try not to pound on flat feet, still try and maintain a good, efficient running style to keep the knees and everything working correctly. Blisters, feet wise, there’s not a great deal you can do to avoid it.”

<>: “Is the entire run on the road?”

<>: “It is, yes.”

<>: “OK, well Jason, we’d love to hear how this goes. Maybe we can do another interview with you after your race, some time next month?”

<>: “Yes, I would love to. Yes, the race is the 13th to the 27th of November."

<>: “Jason thanks very much, best of luck in your race.”

<>: “Thanks very much, great talking to you Tim, thank you.”

(end)