The Interview

38 THEheraldsun.com.au INTERVIEW HAMISH McLACHLAN one on one with CRAIG THE ALEXANDER The Ironman legend dubbed Alexander the great reveals the POWER, secrets to the mental strength needed to be at the top of the world THE human body has the capacity to considered some of the best in the be pushed to extraordinary limits. Not country. You mimic them, watch, and many of us have driven ourselves to learn, you see what they do, then try the very end of our physical capacities. and do it yourself. THE PAIN We stay comfortable, pain free, and safe. But Craig Alexander often pushed HM: You raced your first himself to the extremes. To win an professional triathlon at 20, then Ironman World Championship, you won a professional race later that need to be genetically gifted and year. The genetics must have been mentally impenetrable. You swim strong? 3.86km, then cycle for 180km, before CA: They were. To end up winning running a 42km marathon in up to world titles, you need a good platform AND THE 40C heat. It’s tiring just typing it. there to start with. Like in all sports, to Craig won three Hawaiian Ironman achieve a very high level you need that Triathlons, and five world natural talent, but you also need to championship titles in total. pair it with great work ethic, the right mindset, good experience and getting HM: Craig, why would you choose a lot of help from the right people. a sport that I assume has you in agony even in training? HM: In an odd way, did you like CA: It’s not everyone’s cup of tea! the pain? GLORY Sometimes you choose a sport, but CA: I liked the idea of pushing often a sport chooses you. I think I had myself to a new level, and that the right genetics for endurance events meant dealing with mental and like triathlons, and definitely the right physical pain. It’s a race against mindset for it. I was also passionate others, but for me, it was also a about the racing and training and just personal challenge, to see how challenging myself. much I could tolerate, how far I could push it and how quickly I HM: How did you fall in love with a could go. Even down the track sport that inflicts so much pain on when you’re racing for world you? championships, it was still a personal CA: I loved to watch the Ironman in challenge to go further into the red, Hawaii and The Coolangatta Gold and faster than I had ever before. once a year when they were on. I was intrigued by athletes who could really HM: How many of the eight hours push themselves, try and find their are you in agony? limit. With that comes discomfort, CA: You’re uncomfortable for most (Clockwise from main) Craig Alexander this week; but life isn’t always comfortable – of it, and for me, the real pain came winning the 2009 Ironman World Championship in sometimes you need to get at the end. It was physical, but you Hawaii; with wife Nerida, daughter Lucy and son comfortable with being uncomfortable. develop different mental strategies, Austin in 2012; winning his 12th Australian title at and I just didn’t want to succumb. the 2019 Australian Long Course Championships, in HM: You played cricket, water polo, I didn’t want to quit, I didn’t want Busselton, WA; during the marathon in the 2007 wold golf, tennis. What inspired you to go sto get to a point and not be able championship in Hawaii. Main picture: Toby Zerna from watching, to doing Ironman to surpass what I’d done the year events? before, or in previous races. That’s CA: I was at university and just started where the mental discomfort also the selfish athlete now to move forward?” I assume running for fun and to get back in comes in, and the internal battle that you needed to be? that has helped you in everyday life, shape after I finished playing soccer. you’re always fighting with yourself CA: It helped me, as particularly in the past 18 months For a few months, I’d been doing these about wanting to go further and faster it gave me where things have become less events we used to call biathlons, which becomes harder and harder to win. the temperature monitor at 45C in the perspective on a few things. We picked normal and more challenging. are now called aquathons – swim and Energy Lab. I thought it was crazy. up and travelled as a family and based CA: Day to day is hard for all of us. I run races. My best mate at university HM: What did you learn? When I got there to race … ourselves in Colorado for four months was a professional athlete for a quarter was a very good cyclist who used to do CA: I learnt to be OK with the physical of the year, and then Kona for a of a century, and sport teaches you a lot triathlons for cross training in his off discomfort. With experience, you learn HM: You realised it was … month. I was aware of what they’d that crosses over into real life. Big season. He knew I was interested, so that it’s temporary, and you come up CA: …you still think it’s crazy, but you sacrificed so that I could do it, so it was corporations often invite athletes in to he helped get me into the sport. When with different ways of dealing with it come up with ways to deal with it. It very easy for me to push myself when share their experiences because they Greg Welch won the Hawaiian and quietening your mind wanting was crazy, completely crazy, but as things got hard day to day in training, feel there are valuable lessons there. It’s Ironman in ’94, I was inspired. That you to stop. I learnt that the mind- humans we develop ways and means or in the race. I’d think to myself, “My not about telling other people how was really the start for me. body connection is strong but the of getting through it. Again: “What wife has put her career on hold so we to do their job, but there’s certainly mind needs to take control, take do I need to do right now? What do can do this, and my eldest daughter has lessons that you learn. It’s like being in HM: Where do you start? over in certain moments. I need to do right now to improve left all her mates behind, do it for them the stock market. There’s peaks and CA: I had to crawl before I could walk. my situation?” so they don’t resent what we are troughs, sometimes it’s about riding the I started with a lot of events that were HM: I’m fascinated that you can, doing”. We used to homeschool Lucy, wave and other times riding out the shorter – one and two-hour races. That four hours in, compartmentalise HM: What were they? and she struggled a bit with that. She storm. There’s no question that sport was my intro. As a kid, I had a lot more whatever it is that is hurting you pain CA: That was often around things like was very social, like my wife, she has helped me with other areas of my natural speed than endurance, so wise, and drive yourself for another my pacing, my technique, technical liked being in the classroom, so life. I love that my kids are right into training the endurance was much four hours. How do you do put the cues, nutrition, hydration. I was always homeschooling was hard for her, and sport because there’s a lot of lessons more of a challenge for me. The pain aside, mentally? in the moment. As funny as that may I saw that every day. I had to honour there. Winning, losing and effort. landscape in and around that sport CA: Two things. First, it’s what I call seem, the race went quickly. It’s not their sacrifice – so motivation was easy. was a lot different back then. Now, the logistics of racing. I think, “What like you’re looking at your watch HM: Leigh Matthews went to 12 there are organised pathways for kids, can I do right now?” and avoid thinking, “I have another four hours to HM: You were homeschooling grand finals and won eight of them, for juniors, and a lot more coaching is thinking, “Man, I’ve got another go here”. You hear about people being before it became fashionable! four as a player and four as a coach. available. I was just pulling training 60km to ride here and then I’ve got in the zone, and a lot of successful CA: (laughs) That’s right mate. We had He said, “Statistically I’m one of the sessions out of triathlon magazines, a marathon to run”. athletes can clear away a lot of the a lot of practice when the pandemic hit most successful footballers and speaking to other athletes, just trying white noise and focus on the one or last year! coaches that has ever played or to find out what they were doing. I HM: Just saying that is insane. two key things right now that you coached, and I lost every third week. must have had some decent genetics CA: It is! When I first saw the race in need to do to improve your situation.

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