When one
thinks of a professional Ironman triathlete's daily schedule, it is easy to
envisage a lifestyle centered on endless training camps. An early morning
swimming session followed by five hours on the bike and a late afternoon ten
mile run is standard fare. Add in gym work, an afternoon nap and plenty of refueling
and you have an eight hour day.
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| Photo courtesy: Petr Vabrousek |
To Petr Vabrousek, nothing could be further from the truth.
"I am
at home with my family for most of the day, which I see as the greatest
advantage of being a professional triathlete," explains the 39 year old
Czech. "My family gets top priority. I know that most of my fellow
professionals use their time for endless training camps, but for me to go
somewhere without my family in order to eat, sleep and train means missing out
on real life."
In a sport
where professionals and amateurs alike are obsessed with weekly mileage totals,
power outputs and caloric intake, Petr Vabrousek could very well be dismissed
as just a freak of nature with incredible talent. But if one considers his
daily routine, an extremely well balanced individual emerges. After waking up
in the morning, Petr prepares a cooked breakfast for his family before taking
his son to school. He then spends most of the morning with his wife and baby
daughter before embarking on his first training session of day. Lunchtime is spent as a family before a
second training session is completed in the late afternoon!
Vabrousek
believes that the key to sustaining a long career in an “all-consuming” sport
like triathlon is to have a distinct life outside of swim-bike-run. He goes
further to explain that he detaches himself from the sport when not training or
racing. "If you let yourself concentrate solely on triathlon and stop
thinking about the other things in your life, you will burn out sooner or
later."
Racing to Train
Even more
astounding is his racing schedule, which at first glance borders on the absurd.
By the end of 2011, Vabrousek had completed 108 Ironman distance races and was
victorious in 20 of them. "My focus is on Ironman races approximately
every three to four weeks and I just train through the remaining
events." Vabrousek races almost
every weekend, often up to three times a week. "As long as there is some
sort of swimming, cycling, running or triathlon competition in my area, I
compete. Races are the key building blocks of my fitness."
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| Photo courtesy: Petr Vabrousek |
To put
this approach into further perspective, Vabrousek reveals that his frequent
racing means that he rarely hits the “red-line”, saving his supreme efforts for
championship events. “I think that by racing so often means that I rarely go
all out. I take it pretty easy between hard races and reward myself with at
least three days of total rest in addition to my usual pre-race taper. Fatigue
is the best thing for me after those races as I have to rest and in turn spend
quality time with my family.”
East meets West
Apart from
the sheer number of races on Vabrousek's annual calendar, his “globe-trotting”
is noteworthy, something of which can be attributed to his growing up in
Eastern Europe. “In 1989 I was at a secondary grammar school right in the
middle of student protests. It was exciting time and full of promise! Prior to
this, we would hardly have believed the level of freedom we enjoy today.
International travel was definitely a key motivator for me early on in my
triathlon career. As a kid growing up in a communist country, life was OK so
long as you were able to ignore the propaganda prevalent in our society. I was
very lucky that my triathlon career began one month before the revolution.”
A knock-on
effect of the fall of communism in the late 1980s was the sudden appearance of
“Eastern-bloc” athletes in Western Europe. Tales of Eastern European cyclists
and triathletes arriving in France and Italy oblivious to the local dialect and
with little more than a contact address as a source of reference are
“dime-a-dozen.” The Czech national triathlon team was no different and
immediately made its presence felt in the early 1990s. Pooling prize-money to
fund its passage around the French triathlon circuit, these hardy individuals
acted as trailblazers for the next generation and instilled a culture of
resilience and “street-smarts”, which are characteristic of the Eastern
European athletes of today.
Consummate Pro
Vabrousek
exemplifies these qualities and is completely self-managed; something which he
admits has its pros and cons. “Having an agent would definitely create more
chances to get decent sponsorship. But on the other hand, I have total freedom
when selecting my race equipment and schedule.”
Despite
his hectic race schedule, Vabrousek is a perennial competitor at the Ironman
World Championships in Hawaii. With thirteen consecutive pro-starts on the
"Big Island," Petr feels duty-bound to be there as a professional
triathlete, even though the event does not necessarily suit his strengths.
“I am
definitely not suited to racing in Kona. You have to be at least a 53min
swimmer to have a real chance to ride in the front group. With my 58-60min
swim, I am pretty much out of the race from the beginning. I realize that Kona
is the “mother of all triathlons” though, and keep coming back to break that
rule. It is still one of my priority races".
While the
Hawaii Ironman signals the end of the season for most professionals, Vabrousek
is unique in that he continues to compete until December. After finishing the
2010 edition of the sport's "holy grail", Petr competed in a standard
marathon at home in the Czech Republic before finishing seventh in Ironman
Mexico and Florida! Does he ever fear burnout or damage to his body?
"Everyone
is individual and I am no exception. I just love to race and almost hate to
train. Many people have indicated that this will be my final season before
total mental and physical breakdown occurs, but they have been saying that for
twelve years. Racing all the way through November means that I have a complete
break in December and enjoy a peaceful Christmas with my family."
Out of Africa
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| Photo courtesy: Petr Vabrousek |
"After
DNFing at Kona '99, I trained through the Czech winter and arrived in Cape Town
two weeks prior to the race in order to acclimatize. Fellow Czech and Olympian
Filip Ospaly accompanied me as my training partner, which obviously worked as I
arrived at the start line in great shape!
"After
finishing the swim with the lead group, I battled with cramp in the opening
stages of the bike leg but managed to maintain a top five placing until T2.
Starting the marathon behind the likes of Yves Cordier, Stefan Holzner and the
South African Jan Van Rooyen, I pushed hard to grab the lead but could not seem
to close the gap. Van Rooyen was matching my pace about 90 seconds in front of
me throughout run leg – he was looking behind at every kilometre marker
checking the gap. Aware of his Comrades Marathon credentials, I knew that this
guy was no slouch on foot.
"This
carried on until the 39km where I sprinted as fast as possible to try and break
his spirit. When he looked back 1km later and saw how close I was, he began
walking within a few hundred metres. I must admit that I was pretty close to
breaking point myself but managed to hold on for my first ever Ironman victory."
