Callum Hughes
Iron Man Triathlete
A bit about me:
I have been riding bikes and competing against friends since I was 20 and 8 years ago I got challenged by a friend to do a triathlon. Both having never attempted one before I thought it would be healthy competition. My friend called me on the morning saying he had been called in to work so I competed in my first triathlon and was hooked. There was no crazier feeling than having jellied legs in transition 2 after the bike and heading out on to the run. Immediately after the race I looked for another triathlon to do and I loved it. You have so many different areas which you can improve on that triathlon is never boring and you can change training focus throughout the season.
After entering a couple of races I decided I would like to represent Great Britain and qualified for the 2011 European Sprint Championships in Spain, and then came away with 6th place. After several age group podiums I noticed that I fared better at the middle distance triathlons (1900m swim, 56mile bike, 13.1 mile run). This was before I had even tried the Iron distance which is double that. So then in 2012 I raced Challenge Henley and managed 2nd placed in Age Group, I came back in 2013 and won my Age Group.
In 2014 I wanted to qualify for the Half Ironman World Championship in Canada and did so at Wimbleball 70.3, the toughest half iron race in Europe. And after feeling like i didn’t have the best race in Canada I wanted to go again in 2015. In Canada I was racing with a fractured foot and finished 14th. After winning Wimbleball 70.3 in 2015 I thought I was ready for worlds but I had blood poisoning and didn’t have the race I wanted.
A theme for me is tough stuff, I enjoy knowing that everyone competing has to do the same tough swim bike and run. In the winter I usually go and race some off-road duathlons and had great success in the Human Race series winning two out of three races in 2015.
Nutrition:
For me I know that my stomach can normally manage most types of energy and the only repercussion was post-race. After speaking with Rupert he highlighted how much this could be losing me in recovery and therefore in fitness. Using the Morning Fuel and Extreme hour energy seems to eliminate this. I have done some racing and some very hard training using these now and had no post-race/training gut distress, therefore allowing my body to recover better. Having a 9 week old son it is sometimes very short notice that I get a chance to train and the Morning Fuel is perfect to get me out of the door without feeling hungry or lacking energy. I love making pancakes with the Morning Fuel actually, no need to feel guilty when they’re that good for your training.
Best achievements:
Becoming a father, obviously but sporting wise has to be my performance in 2015 at Wimbleball 70.3.
Goals:
More of-road duathlons and triathlons. Hopefully some of the Xterra races next year after a winter of duathlon racing.
- Successful weekend for Team Mountain Fuel athletesGreat weekend for #TeamMountainFuel racers Callum Hughes winning the TrailX Duathlon on Saturday and then smashing out a 25 mile TT in 56min 56sec on Sunday. Steven Gregory 1st in age ...
- Exploring running techniqueOn my day off last week I went to see someone about my running technique. I’ve seen Shane of https://runningreborncoaching.wordpress.com/ with his ViMove analysis kit a few times. Every time we meet ...
- Triathlon X – World's Toughest Iron ManSo the day was nearly upon me and one of my bucket list races was imminent, the Triathlon X which includes a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike with 3700m ...
- Full X Ultra Triathlon Training PlanWith just coming up to 13 weeks prior to the event and depending on how we have structured our training, we have now done all the long and slow (base) ...
