What! The Zero2Hero plan started as a discussion in the pub, was it possible to get someone who wasn't actively participating in sport in a position to qualify for Kona within a year. Obviously that answer depends on who.
Why! As the beers flowed the four of us gathered started to lament the fact that none of us had competed since pre-lockdown, so 2019, and three of us had not done anything that would constitute training for 12 months or more.
Who! Of the three of us not training we had one previous Kona Qualifier (AG35-39), one serial Team GB AG'er over Standard Distance (AG40-44, 45-49, 50-54) and another who had trained consistently for triathlon from 2009 until 2019. I would add in at this stage that each of the guys in question are 10-20kg over their preferred racing weight.
When! The Challenge from zero to World Championship Qualification Shape inside 12months! For my part I've chosen France on 25th June 2023, another is choosing UK a week later, and our previous qualifier is going back to Copenhagen, where he previously qualified.
How! Well even for the fittest qualification is no certainty, you're not in control of who else terms up with there often there being only 1-5 slots available per AG, secondly, training for multi-sport is hazardous, stuff can go wrong, and life just isn't that simple to just consider training for most of us.
BUT!!! What if? For my part I'm 18kg over weight and I've not exercised for 12months consider also that I'll be moving into the 55-59 AG just before France my target race. So like many of you I cant just ramp to 10+ hours a week of training, this is going to require a slow easy and steady progression and then some science and artistry to blend the right things together at the right time to give myself a shot. This schedule is for YOU and ME, why not give yourself a shot.
Clive Boulton is an endurance coach with more than 20 years of experience working with runners and triathletes across a wide performance spectrum.
A former elite middle-distance athlete, Clive ran 3:46 for 1500m, 1:50 for 800m and 14:10 for 5km, winning a national 1500m title, UK Universities medals and multiple county cross-country championships. More recently he competed internationally in long-distance triathlon, recording a top-10 finish at the European Long-Distance Triathlon Championships.