Cherie Gruenfeld: Grandmaster Triathlete Racing Her 20th Ironman World Championship Race This Year; Hear Her Story and Tips for Longevity in Sport
October 4, 2014
In today’s podcast, Tawnee chats with Cherie Gruenfeld, 70, legendary triathlete who will race the Ironman World Championships for the 20th time this year.
She has 16 Ironman titles, and 11 of those are at Kona. She’s the founder and director of Exceeding Expectations, a program that uses the sport of triathlon to positively re-direct the lives of at-risk, inner city kids; and she’s also a long-time triathlon coach.
It all began when Cherie and her husband, Lee, made the decision to leave their corporate jobs and pursue their passions — for Cherie that was sport. After that decision she was made, Cherie never looked back.
On this show we discuss:
- The support of her husband, a non-athlete, over the years and secrets to a successful marriage with an athlete in the household.
- Cherie’s evolving expectations of herself over the years
- Secrets and tips to success for the aging athlete
- Kona performances, going sub 12 at Kona in 55-59 (the first woman to achieve that), etc.
- Cherie’s training and her current format for a ‘big’ Ironman training week and recovery:Week 1
Mon -Recovery*
Tue – Hard day
Wed – Recovery*
Thu – Hard day
Fri – Recovery*
Sat/Sun – Long/hard days
*recovery days are usually swims vs. no training at allWeek 2
Mon – Recovery
Tue – Recovery/easy
Wed – Moderately hard run
Thu – Semi-hard day
Fri – Recovery
Sat/Sun – Moderately hard daysWeek 3
Repeat! - Her thoughts on taper and dedicated recovery days/recovery weeks, plus her go-to recovery protocols (ice baths + compression!), sleep, diet and more
- How her training now differs from her younger days
- Cross training and strength training
- Experiencing hard days, tough races, DNFs, injuries, hard seasons…
- Coach or self-coached, and why?
- Nutrition and diet: Her fuels of choice and has that changed over the years
- Supplements she takes, including Master Amino Acid Pattern (MAP)
- Post Kona…and a proper offseason…
- Tips on planning a race season for a master’s athlete.
- Tips for a master’s athlete looking to PR and continue to improve
…and more!
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