Both Graham and James have come to the end of their 2023 season.
Two different athletes, two very different seasons.
Let’s take a look at how they did.
Athlete Season Review: Graham
How about Graham’s 2023 season? Here’s a quick summary.
🏅 Liverpool Half Marathon (PB)
🏅 West Lancs Spring Triathlon (PB)
🏅 Spring 10k (PB)
🏅 Outlaw Half (PB)
🏅 Ullswater Olympic Distance (PB)
🏅 Ironman Wales
I started coaching Graham at the beginning of 2022. In that season, he had three key races. Liverpool Half Marathon, Southport Olympic Distance Triathlon and Ironman UK.
Graham performed really well in all three events, exceeding his goals and having a great season.
2023
This year, we’ve definitely built on that strong 2022 … and taken it up a few notches!
Three main races in 2022 became six in 2023 (so far!)
Graham started the year off with a massive half marathon PB, swiftly followed by a big 10k PB.
Strong start!
The West Lancs Spring Triathlon was the first triathlon of the season, which saw a great performance, finishing really strong. The Outlaw Half – a brilliant race with a big PB. Ullswater Olympic Distance was the last of the pre-Ironman races and we saw a real confidence boosting performance.
Five races, five great performances. All set for the big one.
Ironman Wales was slightly disappointing for Graham, despite his best ever bike split (30 minutes quicker than his last Ironman) and a run that was a few minutes slower than his last one. He just didn’t think he put in the performance he was capable of.
“It wasn’t the performance I was hoping for, but it was one of the best days I’ve had racing.”
Overall, five out of six races were super successful and exceeded expectations. Ironman Wales, whilst not the performance Graham is capable of, is still another Ironman finish – on an epic course – and one which he should be proud of.
A really strong 2023 season in the history books for Graham.
What Next?
Well, it was going to be a break from Ironman in 2024, a chance to focus on other races. We had a meeting, discussed training strategy and race planning. All set to go.
And then I received a message this week …
“Slight change of plan for my race season. I’m not doing Bolton (70.3) or Sandman. I’ve signed up for Wales again!”
2024 just got extra spicy!
Athlete Season Review: James
A season to remember for coached athlete and Swim Squad regular, James!
I’ve been working with James since 2020, and he gets better every season. This year, two of the major marathons, a half Ironman and the particularly brutal Ironman UK.
🏅 London Marathon – PB
🏅 Outlaw Half – PB
🏅 Ironman UK (fastest IM swim & run)
🏅 Chicago Marathon – PB
Pretty epic, eh?
This season followed a 2022 that included two half marathon personal best times (Las Vegas and then Liverpool), the Outlaw Half Ironman (PB), The Outlaw Full (his first Iron-distance race) and Ironman Barcelona (PB).
Two pretty incredible years there!
I wonder what adventures 2024 has in store for James?!
Exciting times.
Two busy and successful seasons for Graham and James.
2023 saw them both have seasons that built on their previous years’ progress – and to me really shows the benefit of working with athletes for multiple seasons.
Well done, boys. Roll on 2024!
Discover more from Triathlon Swim Squad
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.