Six Months to IRONMAN: The Dark Art of Recovery (and Why Most Athletes Get This Wrong) | Ep 573
Oxygenaddict Triathlon Podcast
Recovery capacity determines training ceiling
Rob contrasts pros' recovery opportunities with busy athletes and advises carving time for sleep, fuelling and naps.
In this episode of the Oxygenaddict Triathlon Podcast, Coach Rob continues the Six Months to Ironman series with what may be the most important (and most misunderstood) principle in Ironman training.
Recovery.
Most athletes believe fitness is built by doing more. More sessions. More intensity. More volume.
And this scuppers so many Ironman performances.
You’ll learn:
Why fitness adaptations happen during recovery, not training
How poor recovery suppresses immunity, motivation, and performance
What a proper recovery week actually looks like (and why most people get it wrong)
How illness, fatigue, and burnout are often self-inflicted through overtraining
Why resting when you want to train most is a hallmark of a mature Ironman athlete
How to structure recovery so you arrive at race day feeling strong, fresh, and ready
Rob also shares real-world coaching insights from working with hundreds of Ironman and 70.3 athletes, including why winter illness spikes are often a red flag for excessive training stress.
This episode is essential listening if:
You’re training for your first Ironman or 70.3
You constantly feel tired, run-down, or “flat” in training
You struggle emotionally with rest days or recovery weeks
You want to maximise results without increasing training hours
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SPONSORS
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Thinking about your first Ironman or 70.3 in 2026? At Team Oxygenaddict, we specialise in helping busy professionals fit high-quality training around demanding jobs and family life.
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