Lionel Sanders has called on the services of his former coach Mikal Iden in a bid to once more challenge at the very top of the sport.
After struggling for a season with injuries and complications with the calorie-deficient condition, RED-S, the Canadian struggled in his first full IRONMAN of the season, as he was left in the wake of the star-studded field in Texas.
Admitting that he doesn’t simply want to ‘survive’ a full-distance triathlon but wants to be able to ‘race’ it from start to finish, he is hoping Iden and the much-heralded Norwegian method will help him to add a final flourish to what has been an impressive 14-year career.
Following the lead of Blummenfelt
A training system which has already seen the likes of Kristian Blummenfelt, Casper Stornes and Gustav Iden dominate in recent years is now the chosen path for Sanders as he admits that his body simply is not in the shape to be able to challenge for honours.
“This time, I come to Mikal with absolute humility. I don’t know f-all about anything,” he says on his latest YouTube video episode, which is embedded into this story below. “Yes, I am going to be doing the Norwegian method; it’s also what all these guys who are in the running are probably doing. And it is not what I’m doing.
“After IRONMAN Texas, I had to take a hard look at what I’m doing. A lot of what went wrong there wasn’t complicated. It was durability. It was preparation. And honestly, some of it was me trying to do everything myself when I shouldn’t have been.
“So I reached back out to my former coach Mikal. We worked together during one of the strongest stretches of my career, and when we spoke again, it felt like talking to an old friend. Nothing ended badly between us the first time. The problem wasn’t the training – it was how I was executing it.
‘Committed to doing things differently’
“This time I’m committed to doing things differently. Being open. Being disciplined. And actually following the process the way it’s supposed to be followed. Mikal said yes. Now it’s time to get to work.”
While he accepts there is a great deal of work still to be done, and that a push for success at Kona this year is probably beyond him, he still feels there is a chance for him to rekindle his best form and maybe even improve further as he looks to take on Big Blu et al.
“I am a person who has to be beaten down. And I have complete humility now in this game. I have complete humility,” he says. “The Norwegian method, you know, a chronic, fairly high-volume method with three double-threshold days a week, something like that. That’s the Norwegian method.
“I’m not going to kid myself that the game’s a lot higher now than it was. But I’ve shown signs that I still have the capacity to be competitive at the highest level. If you want to target the C races, then keep doing what you’re doing, pal. If you want to still try and be competitive, well, it’s a big commitment, a huge commitment now.
‘What are you doing? an idiot?’
“When I look back at myself in this Texas thing, I’m like, ‘What are you? an idiot?’ I don’t even know what to say. It’s an embarrassment. You need to have a coach or a network of people who really do understand what it takes to be the best.”
And he even feels that improvement could come as early as this season.
“I’m excited to work with Mikal because we had a great thing going. I think he’s a very knowledgeable guy. I went back, and I looked at that training. I can do that training so much better now with my experience.
“The mistakes I made, do not do those again; correct those and also execute the training, not from a place of insecurity but literally from a place of security, and stick to it for a long time.
“That doesn’t mean the season’s over, and I still can do well this season. I’m not going to kid myself like I’m a long way off the pace. And so this time, I’m going to do it like a real pro. And I’ll see my career out this way because I’m going to walk the walk here.
“The world title? That’s a real long shot. Have I given up? I won’t say it’s completely dead, but we would need some extreme change. So, I want to find out. If I fail, I want to fail having given it my all.”
