Inside Lucy Charles-Barclay’s Ironman comeback – 30-hour training weeks and her unusual pre-race breakfast

After DNF-ing last year’s championship race in Kona, Hawaii just nine miles from the finish line, 2023 Ironman World Champion Lucy Charles-Barclay is set to make her return to the flagship course this weekend for another shot at the title.

But before making it to the start line, Lucy, a Red Bull athlete, has spent months preparing for the race. And I got the chance to join her and her husband-trainer Reece at Club La Santa in Lanzarote, where much of her training is based, to get the inside scoop on what it really takes to compete at the top level in one of the world’s toughest endurance challenges.

You might think Lanzarote is just a destination for sun-seekers and holidaymakers. But for Lucy, Lanzarote offers an entirely different opportunity, and one which is essential if she’s to reclaim the world title. Kona is notorious in the Ironman race calendar as one of the most challenging and gruelling in the series with high temperatures, exposed lava fields and extreme crosswinds – similar to the conditions on the volcanic island of Lanzarote.

What became quickly apparent during my visit was that Lucy and Reece are taking no chances with this year’s race. When it comes to her training and fuelling strategy, to quote Lucy herself, ‘it’s all dialled in’. No aspect of her performance is being left unmeasured or unmonitored. Here’s the lowdown on her preparation.

‘We’re probably in the most intense block of training that I’ll do all year. I’m in Lanzarote because it’s hot, it’s windy, and it’s very similar to the conditions I’ll race in Hawaii. I’m training roughly 30 hours every week across swim, bike, run, strength and conditioning, and mobility. I’m also seeing the physios here at least once a week.’

‘The hard part is preparing yourself for the fact that every week you’ve got to try and hit that session, and it’s not always going to be easy. For the most part, it’s always going to be a challenge, but you know that on race day it pays off.’

‘It doesn’t always go well, and not every training session can be amazing. My husband is my coach and he’s here every day, so it’s easier to pivot if we’re not hitting a session. We don’t have to do it today – we can abandon the session, recover, get some good food in, and try again tomorrow or in a couple of days. I didn’t finish the World Championships last year, but four weeks later I was able to pick myself up and win a different world title. I used it as motivation to power the training, get back on the start line and show the world what I’m capable of.’

‘Health is almost more important than fitness at times, because if I haven’t got my health, there’s no way I can train at the level required. I make sure I have a healthy, balanced diet. I see my physio once a week and stay on top of my mobility, strength and conditioning.’

‘When I first stepped into triathlon, I was quite intimidated by the different elements. I knew swimming, but cycling was a completely new world to me, so I made sure I surrounded myself with really good people. For the running, I got my friends involved and got stuck into parkrun, which is amazing because people of all different abilities do it. Being able to make mistakes with my friends and feel silly together made it a lot more fun.’

‘I do a lot of racing in extreme environments. I’ve raced in Singapore and I race in Hawaii every year, which is incredibly hot and humid, so hydration is really important. I make sure I’ve always got a bottle of water with me and use electrolytes to keep my salts topped up. Going into a race, I have a dialled-in fuelling and hydration strategy. I know how many carbohydrates I need each hour and how many salts need to go in my bottle, based on my sweat rate.’

‘I remember why I’m training, what I’m training for and the goals I’m chasing. If I put the hard work in now, race day is going to be a lot more fun. It’s not always easy, and I definitely don’t always want to do it, but I eventually find a way to get myself going.’

‘The most positive diagnosis I got was finding out I was coeliac in 2024. It took quite a long time – almost an entire year – for my body to heal. I feel a difference in my energy levels and my ability to sustain training, and I’m not getting injured as much as I was before. It’s difficult managing what I eat, especially when I’m away from home. I have to be clear with the chefs and make sure there’s no cross-contamination, because gluten really wreaks havoc for me.’

‘I have a lot more confidence in my body and my ability to train, but I don’t panic anymore when I get sick. I make sure I take the time to recover, because there’s no point pushing your body to the limits. You might not come back from it, or it might take way longer if you just push through.’

‘It normally entails a swim session and a strength session, so that’s about as light as my training will get. The swim should be fairly easy, and the strength session is something I really enjoy.’

‘My pre-race breakfast is normally plain white rice and a boiled egg. I don’t always eat the yolk; I normally eat the white part. I’m usually eating it at 3 or 3.30 in the morning, so it’s really not appealing – but it does work.’

‘Be patient. When you’re a young athlete, you want everything now. You want to show the world how good you can be, but it takes time and you will eventually get there. I wish I’d been more patient and trusted that it would come.’

‘Knowing that everyone gets pre-race nerves makes you feel more at ease. Everyone on a big start line will be nervous because you’ve all put in so much work. Nerves mean that you care and that it’s important to you, so they’re not necessarily a bad thing. I’ll go and sit in a quiet space, put my music on and do a little bit of breathwork. I use an app on my phone to calm me down and warm up my lungs for the swim.’

‘I have my go-to workout playlist. It has some good tunes on there for getting me going. One of the songs I had on there today was a Britney Spears song, but I can’t remember exactly which one. Britney is quite big on the playlist, and I also have some Eminem and other rap music.’

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