Narre Warren South triathlete Scott Mitchell is taking on the sport’s greatest challenge next month – the Hawaiian Ironman. 22378 Picture: Luke Plummer.By Marc McGowan
TALK about packing a lot into your weekend.
Narre Warren South triathlete Scott Mitchell, 37, starts training at 5am every Saturday in the lead-up to a major event.
He may not be a lone ranger there, but not many of those athletes are still going at 12pm.
Mitchell trains up to 20 hours a week on top of full-time work as a national sales and marketing manager at Futuretronics, a video game accessories manufacturer.
All this from a guy who describes himself as a “lazy” trainer.
Mitchell will compete in next month’s Hawaiian Ironman, which is regarded as the toughest triathlon event on the globe owing to its length and extreme conditions.
The Hawaiian Ironman comprises a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike ride and a 42.2km- run.
He came seventh out of 82 triathletes in the male 35-39-year-old category at the Ironman China in April to qualify for Hawaii.
The first six placegetters were offered spots, but one competitor failed to accept in the allocated time – opening the door for Mitchell.
“I sometimes look at it as a cheap slot, but you’ve still got to put yourself in position to go out and get it,” said Mitchell.
“I wouldn’t be in the position I am if I hadn’t dropped the hammer in the last 6km (and passed one of my rivals).
“On my scale of achievements, it’s definitely up there with marriage and kids – no question.”
Mitchell, who finished his first triathlon as a 15-year-old, dealt with 40-degree heat and 90 per cent humidity as he completed the gruelling race in 10 hours, 55 minutes and 53 seconds.
“No-one went really fast on the day and I didn’t have my fastest day, but if you look at my overall result it was my best race and I’d had my best build-up,” he said.
“I can go to Hawaii now without the pressure of having to pull out my best time or performance in an effort to qualify (in another Hawaiian Ironman lead-up event) for the biggest day in the sport.”
Mitchell believes the Ironman China has given him a perfect preparation for Hawaii.
“I’d like to go somewhere between 10 and 10-and-a-half hours in Hawaii, but the conditions will determine that,” he said.
“They can vary from year to year and if it’s windy it will probably be a slow day, but I at least know I can cope with the heat based on my performance in China.”
While Mitchell knows it is the hard yards he has done before most people are awake that have got him to this stage, he also credits his wife Averil’s support as a major factor.
They have been married for six years and have a two-and-a-half-month-old daughter, Ally.
“Averil is amazing with it all. To be training 20 hours a week, I need to be away from home a bit,” he said.
“Most of my training midweek is at 4.30am or 5am before work, but on the weekends I’m still getting on the road at 5am and I’m on there for 7 hours, so it means Av has to cover a lot of things that perhaps I should be doing.
“We also have another on the way that’s due in December, so that amplifies things at the moment,” he said.
