Patience and consistency are key in the sport of triathlon.
That is the word from Beaudesert triathlete Zac Cunningham, who earned a podium finish at the Hervey Bay 100 triathlon on November 17.
Cunningham finished a 2km ocean swim, 80km bike ride and 18km run in a total of 4 hours 18 minutes, winning third place in the 35 to 39-year-old age group.
Cunningham, who teaches at McAuley College, has been doing triathlons for seven years and his main annual event is Hell of the West at Goondiwindi.
This was his third time racing at Hervey Bay 100 and his first podium finish there.
It came off the back of a strong training regime.
“In the weeks leading up to this event I averaged 11 hours of training each week and my biggest week was 16 and a half hours across the swim, bike ride, run and gym,” he said.
“It’s not about high intensity like people might think. It’s often just low intensity, going for a long run, maybe 15km, a long bike ride, maybe 90km, but at an easy intensity.”
When asked how he fit that sort of training in around working full time and having family commitments including a busy toddler at home, Cunningham was quick to answer.
“You have a lovely wife* who accepts you for who you are – she’s the only reason I got this far, and you can quote me on that,” he said.
“The hardest part is the logistics’ of trying to fit all the training in and being patient and consistent – the race is the easy part.”
Despite all his training, Cunningham was surprised to make the podium at Hervey Bay.
“I just feel very lucky I got to experience that podium, because Hell of the West is coming up in March and I know I can improve and I’m still not at my fastest,” he said.
“There’s such a lovely community around here for sport in general. It’s great to be out training in our beautiful part of the world, to hear people cheering you on.”
*Note from the journalist/ wife: Zac won the race through his own hard work but yes, I suppose most sporting success are a team effort with us support people behind the scenes.
