5 Weeks to Go — Ironman Cairns: Australian Team Selection and a Shoe Lesson Learned

Five weeks to go. Thirty-five days until I'm standing on the beach in Cairns waiting for the cannon.

This week came off the back of the Moreton Bay Triathlon — a 2 km swim, 60 km bike, and 15 km run that took more out of me than expected. And on top of that, some rather exciting news dropped into my inbox.

The Big News — Australian Age Group Team

Monday brought an email from Triathlon Australia. The preliminary team for the Age Group World Championships in Spain was announced, and my name was on the list.

This wasn't even a goal for the season. It turns out I'd completed two qualifying races in the series without realising:

The final team is confirmed on May 25. My last selection for an Australian age group team was 2005 in Honolulu — so seeing my name on that list again 21 years later was a genuinely special moment.

But right now, the focus stays firmly on Ironman Cairns. One race at a time.

Day-by-Day Breakdown

Monday — 60min Zone 1 Recovery Ride

Still carrying significant fatigue from the Moreton Bay race, particularly in the legs. The run at Moreton Bay exposed my shoe choice — the ASICS MetaSpeed Sky Tokyo didn't provide enough cushioning for the distance, and my legs were paying for it.

This is exactly why we race before the main event. If I'd gone straight into Cairns with those shoes, by 20 km into the marathon I wouldn't have been able to walk. Race simulations don't just test fitness — they test equipment decisions.

Tuesday — 90min Zone 1 Ride + 2 Efforts

Still not fully recovered, but I wanted to add a little pressure to the legs without creating more fatigue. The session was a 90-minute Zone 1 ride with two efforts done purely on feel, with a generous 10-minute recovery between each. Felt like I'd done work without digging a deeper hole.

Wednesday — 90min Zone 2 Run + 3,000m Wetsuit Swim

This was supposed to be a 2-hour 15-minute long run. But waking up, the numbers told a different story:

Three red flags in one morning. The decision was straightforward — reduce the run from 2:15 to 90 minutes at Zone 2. I felt that deep muscular soreness in the legs that I haven't experienced for a long while. The weekend had clearly taken more out of me than the numbers alone suggested, and the shoe issue compounded it.

Listening to your body isn't optional at 57. The metrics are there to confirm what your body is already telling you.

Lunchtime swim: 3,000 metres in the wetsuit at the local indoor pool (28°C). Racing in Cairns will be a wetsuit swim — partly due to the water temperature (around 24°C) and partly as a precaution against box jellyfish. Swimming in a wetsuit in a warm pool doubles as heat acclimatisation work. Stayed controlled, nothing above Zone 2, and the 100-metre average pace was right where I want it.

Thursday — 90min Indoor Bike (3 × 18min @ 175W)

Starting to feel more recovered — HRV had shifted to the lower end of balanced, and sleep was better.

The session:

• 13-minute progressive warm-up (building to 175 watts)
• 2-minute recovery
• 3 × 18 minutes at 175 watts (3-minute recovery at 130 watts between sets)
• 15-minute progressive cool-down

That's roughly 54 minutes under load in a 90-minute session — exactly what I want at this stage. Felt noticeably better than Wednesday, which was a relief after how worried I'd been about the lingering fatigue.

Friday — 40min Speed Run + 2,500m Swim

Morning — New Shoes Test: After the Moreton Bay shoe disaster, I picked up the ASICS Magic Speed 5 — still an ASICS shoe but with more cushioning, better lateral stability, and more heel support than the MetaSpeed Sky.

First run in them: 10-minute warm-up, then 4 × 4 minutes at ~90% effort (HR 148–152 bpm), 10-minute cool-down. Total distance: 7.2 km in about 40 minutes.

The 4-minute reps are landing at 4:15/km pace now — a clear improvement from where they started 6–8 weeks ago. Dropping a few seconds each week at the same intensity is exactly the kind of progress you want to see this close to race day.

Lunchtime swim: 2,500 metres. One of those days where the water felt like concrete — 100s were rolling in at 1:43–1:45 when they're normally quicker. Didn't panic. Some days the swim just doesn't click, and the smart response is to maintain effort and move on.

The main set: 400m warm-up → 10 × 100m off 2:00 → 1-minute rest → 5 × 200m with paddles and pull buoy off 4:00. All Zone 2, all controlled. Swimming is my strongest discipline of the three, so two swims a week keeps it ticking over while I prioritise bike and run volume.

Saturday — 4-Hour Zone 2 Ride

The plan said 5 hours. The body said otherwise.

I run my morning metrics — HRV, sleep score, body battery — through ChatGPT each morning alongside the planned session. It's like having a sounding board that doesn't have an ego. The recommendation came back clear: reduce to 4 hours, Zone 2 only, no race-pace efforts.

So that's what I did. Let the ego walk out the door. We're still only 6 days out from a hard 2 km / 60 km / 15 km race, and the body was asking for more recovery while I still needed training volume with five weeks to go. The compromise was the right call — I felt worse at the start of the ride than at the end, which is always a good sign you've made the right decision.

Sunday — 60min Upper Zone 2 Run

The weekly upper Zone 2 run — almost bordering on tempo, but not quite crossing into Zone 3 or 4 territory. I've been running this session consistently on Sundays for months now, and the progress is clear:

That's a 50-second per kilometre improvement at the same heart rate. If I can hold 5:20/km pace for the Ironman marathon at that lower heart rate, I'll be very happy.

A lot of people call this approach 80/20 training. I call it 85/15 for Ironman — training overwhelmingly in Zone 2 is working, and the body is adapting beautifully.

Week Summary

Thirteen hours off the back of a race weekend — not bad at all. Two sessions were scaled back based on recovery markers, and that's not a sign of weakness. That's the process working exactly as it should.

Key Takeaways This Week

1. Race simulations expose equipment issues — The Moreton Bay shoe disaster saved my Ironman marathon. The new ASICS Magic Speed 5s felt immediately better with their extra cushioning and lateral stability.

2. Monitor, don't ignore — Elevated resting HR, poor HRV, and bad sleep meant scaling Wednesday's long run from 2:15 to 1:30. The body bounced back by Thursday because I respected the signals.

3. Ego has no place in Ironman training — Cutting Saturday's ride from 5 hours to 4 wasn't easy, but it was the right call. Feeling better at the end of the ride than the start confirmed it.

4. Zone 2 adaptation is real and measurable — 50 seconds per kilometre faster at the same heart rate over three months. That's the aerobic engine working.

5. Unexpected rewards — Making the preliminary Australian team for World Champs in Spain wasn't even on the radar this season. Sometimes consistent training delivers bonuses you didn't plan for.

What's Ahead

Week four to go brings the next block of training. The big build weeks are behind us now — it's about maintaining fitness, sharpening race-specific work, and starting to think about the taper. The body needs to arrive in Cairns fresh, not fatigued.

The countdown continues.

Watch the full video recap on YouTube: 5 Weeks to Go — Road to Ironman Cairns

Follow the daily countdown: 31 Days to Ironman Cairns

Race review: Moreton Bay Triathlon — Podium, Series Win, and a Shoe Wake-Up Call

Previous week: 6 Weeks to Go — Recovery Week, Podium, and Series Win

Zone 2 deep dive: Why Zone 2 Training Is the Foundation of Triathlon Success

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