High stakes: Lucy Charles-Barclay on IM 70.3 World preparation

Lucy Charles-Barclay is leaving no stone unturned in her bid to finally win the big one in the pro ranks at Saturday’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in St George.

Lucy, who turns 28 today (September 15), jetted out to the United States soon after the Collins Cup in Samorin at the end of August. She has been training at altitude in Utah to ensure she is in peak condition to take on the best middle-distance women on the planet this weekend.

The great Daniela Ryf and U.S. prodigy Taylor Knibb are just two of the many stars who will be lying in wait when Charles-Barclay tries to make it to the top of the podium. A formidable field indeed (the full start list is here).

Lucy detailed her preparations so far in a YouTube video which talked about her first week in Utah, and also updated on the health problems which affected her at the Collins Cup (she still won her race of course).

Lucy on altitude training

Saturday’s course at St George is 1000m above sea level, and training in week one was split between her base, Cedar Mountain at 2600m, and Cedar City at 1900m. The hope is if she feels good at 1900m, she’ll feel “superhuman” on race day at 1000m.

“So the biggest focus for this first week is obviously off the back of the Collins Cup, where I’d had a bit of a gastrointestinal flu, so it was about getting over that and easing myself into training at altitude,” she explained.

“I’ve never done it before so it makes training more difficult. We’ve done most of our easy training up here at 2600m, and then we’ve been able to add a little bit of intensity down at Cedar City which is at 1900m.

“I’ve been able to do intensity in the pool which is good, and I’ve been able to do some intensity on the run down there as well.

“I’ve done most of my easy riding up here on the turbo, but we’ve also explored on the road as well. We’ve actually started around 2000m and then climbed all the way up to nearly 3000m.

Running at 3000m – not just yet

“We also tried to run at 3000m, which probably would have been fine, but my stomach just still wasn’t happy from the GI stress I put through it, so hoping to be able to do that again in the second week and hopefully I’ll be able to cope a lot better.”

Now the final week leading up to race day is well under way, and we will find out soon whether that meticulous preparation and attention to detail delivers the end result for Lucy. That IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship victory she so desires.