We’re so lucky to call Morzine home and have one of the most fun playgrounds to train in! It can however present complications, it can be really rewarding and frustratingly difficult to someone who is training for a big event like an Ironman. Anyone who regularly cycles, swims and runs fully knows how these sports can take a toll on your body. Add all three together and enter an Iron man and you’re fully setting yourself up for a challenge!
Massage throughout training is such a powerful tool to keep your body feeling 10/10. Regular massage will help with range of motion, injury recovery and flexibility just to name a few benefits!
After absolutely smashing the Passy Half Ironman in August 2019, then getting herself on to the podium at the Montriond Triathlon in September 2019, Amy Bezant decided to set her goal to what was her biggest race yet – the Nice full Ironman. Oh, and 6 weeks later she completed a Half Iron Man in Portugal – KUDOS!
I’ve caught up with Amy to find out what it was like training for these events in the mountains.
The Main Event – Nice Iron Man
3.8KM Swim – 180KM Cycle – 42.2KM Run.
Before Amy moved to Morzine, she hadn’t heard of Ironman and had not even really looked into triathlon. She has therefore only known training in Morzine and at altitude. With everything that’s happened over the past 2 years (sadly her original race date being cancelled just 8 weeks before the event) it’s safe to say Amy’s training has been on a journey!
Due to the race date changing, she in total trained for her event for just over 2 years and throughout all 4 seasons. Throughout the 2 years, Amy had a mix of more intense 12 week training blocks & more chilled months keeping her body ticking over. Of all the seasons, Amy’s favourite time to train was the summer. ‘The outdoor pool opens up here in Morzine, the lake becomes warm enough to swim in and you have full access to cycling and running around the mountains’.
Living and training in Morzine, Les Gets and Avoriaz means there’s more variety of training ground, keeping things interesting. ‘The views from the mountain tops often help ease the time spent in the pain cave’. Winter months are definitely harder to get motivated for sport (other than Skiing and Snowboarding of course!). I think we can all agree with Amy here… ‘It is definitely quite hard to drag yourself out on some of the cold winter mornings in -10 but you never regret getting out for that run or ski tour – the cold winter months definitely toughen you up. Running in the snow is hard work but always so rewarding’.
That reminds me – this winter I’ll be starting up my Trail Fun Run Club again! Keep an eye on socials and on my blog, I’ll be posting nearer to winter with the dates. If you’d like to be the first to know about it, sign up to my mailing list just below!
All Ironman locations offer different races. Some are more hilly whilst some are flatter with a sea swim. Amy’s Nice Ironman was a hilly cycle, a flat run and a sea swim. ‘Having only really started road cycling since moving out to Morzine 4 years ago, hills are all I know so this now plays to my strengths on the bike… climbing is so great for building strength in the legs which can only then benefit onto the run as well.’
During the interseason, the pool in Morzine closes, this means a 40 minute drive down the mountain for a 40 minute swim, plus ‘lakes become too cold to swim in’. The bonus however of training in lakes, then having a sea swim is that ‘calm sea swimming is easier than lake swimming as the water is typically clearer and salt water is more buoyant’. I think we can all agree, we’d love the Morzine Swimming Pool to be open year round!
Martha always manages to loosen off my tight muscles with her deep sports massages! She is extremely knowledgable and really goes that extra mile beyond just a massage – giving me extra advice on stretching and mobility work.
Amy Bezant
Training for an event this big means sacrifices. Other sports that Amy loves such as mountain biking had to take a back seat during training. But, Amy did feel super rewarded when she set an early alarm and had training done before Morzine woke up. It feels so good to get something achieved before breakfast! Mountain biking and your other sports will always be there, so it’s ok to take a break from them whilst concentrating on something else.
Amy felt ‘I’m lucky that I really didn’t mind training inside, sitting on the turbo trainer or running on a treadmill when I needed to was ok!’ A mix of indoor and outdoor training kept Amy peak fit during the two years and allowed her some truly epic training days. ‘My favorite training day was riding from Morzine down and around Lac Leman and back up to Morzine’ – HUGE!!
Amy’s very healthy, understanding what fuel her body needs and when. Amy is able to not only maintain her energy but also excel with the balance of healthy eating, intense training and self care she takes.
Her favourite pocket snack: ‘PBJ Sandwiches. ALWAYS’!
THANK YOU so much Amy for giving us all an insight into your experience training in Morzine. It’s so interesting to hear about your training and your event! You’ve definitely inspired me and I’m sure those reading, to go and find an event for 2022 and get training in our little mountain town!!
If you’d like more information on any of the information in this blog, please click the button below, pop me a message on my contact form and I’ll put you in touch with Amy!