Belinda is one of the most energetic and fun athletes on the triathlon circuit.  Always quick with a great smile and great racing attitude, this “first off the bike” competitor is a regular on the Ironman podium and has chalked up 10 international victories at the Ironman distance.  Belinda also carries a large load of Ironman races as she has raced 3-4 Ironmans each year over the past 3-5 years.  In addition to her Ironman prowess, Belinda is a multiple 70.3 winner and an everyday threat at the Olympic distance.  Learn more about what makes Belinda tick!

You had a great Ironman at Lake Placid 2 years ago with a big win paced by a smoking bike split of 5:14 on a course with over 6000 feet of climbing.  What do you attribute your bike prowess to? 

I love to ride- I always have. When I first began in the sport of triathlon (too many years ago to remember) I seemed to pick up cycling skills incredibly quickly. I am from a gymnastics background and I think all of those years of tumbling has given me a lot of leg strength which is critical if you want to be a strong cyclist.

I also believe my old coach was able to to streamline my training to suit my strengths and he really worked on my cycling- he reduced my long garbage miles and replaced them with specific, high intensity sessions. I spend a good chunk of the year in the mountains and you cannot help but get super strong. Because we were based in the mountains, every session would end with a 17km climb up to our village- it did not matter whether we were doing a ride or running on the track- it would always finish with the 17km ride back up to our little town.

With the future of women’s Ironman racing looking like a 3 hour marathon is becoming more a norm than an exception, how does that effect your training and potential pressure to improve your run splits?

Mmmm good question and one that I am sure my response is going to cop a bit of criticism. I have been working on my run now for years. I have known for a while now that if I want any chance of making it to the podium in Hawaii then I have to be able to run a sub 3.10 marathon- something I am yet to do, not through lack of trying. But if you look at all of the true and honest Ironman courses out there- the ones where the women have to ride solo, where the is no drafting and no pacing off the men, then you see a completely different picture- all of a sudden those 3hr marathons are few and far between. I believe that we need to push for the old-style courses like Canada, where it is one loop of everything and where the women have a separate start- where it is a pure time trial for 180kms. Of course this is in an 'ideal world'. I have had to really work hard on my running and have had to sacrifice many sessions on the bike. My running has improved but is is still not where it needs to be in order to be competitive in Kona.

You’ve had an incredible privilege of training with some of the best athletes (yourself included) in the sport at Team TBB and will continue to do so under Cliff English.  What the biggest pros and cons in seeing your primary competition on the bike, in the lane or on the run right next to you everyday?

I think it is great. I am not one to back away from competition- I think you can see this by the amount of times I race throughout the year. As far as I am concerned if you want to be the best, you must train with the best. Of course this often means you must check your ego at the door as there will be many sessions where you get you backside kicked. Training with Chrissie has been amazing. When she first started with us you could tell she had something special and it wasn't long before she was killing us all on the bike and on the running track, but I love this as it makes me even more determined to improve and to fight. You have the benchmark right on your doorstep- you know exactly where you need to be in order to be the best. The only downside to this is seeing that benchmark(ie-Chrissie) get faster and stronger every day.

If there was one race you could go back and do again and change one thing, what race would it be and what would you change?

Now this is a tricky one. I can think of several races where I would change things but whether or not it would have changed the overall outcome, I am not sure. This year at Quelle Challenge Roth I had the swim of my life and in all of the excitement I did not put any warm clothing on even though I knew it was only 12 degrees. I paid dearly for this on the bike and especially on the run where my legs took a good 14kms to warm up and feel good. I trashed my legs on the bike as I needed to ride as hard as I could just to try and stay warm. I would love to have this race over to see how I would have fared if I had worn the correct clothing.

At the end of the day, no race is a failure as long as we can take something from that race and learn from it for the next one. Even Hawaii this year for me was not a failure- I made it to the finish line and I learnt a lot about myself and my weaknesses, both physical and mental, that I need to work on for next year.

You always seem to have a great attitude when you race and are first with a smile after every effort.  What do you think about on race day that might be different than on your training days?

To tell the truth I don't really treat them any differently. When I train I give 100% and I approach my racing with the same enthusiasm. I honestly love to train and I love to race. I always have. I started as an age-grouper in this sport and I have worked up to racing as a professional. Of course it is now my job to train and to race but I do not treat the sport any differently than when I first started. I still have so much fun at training and also when I go to races. I get so excited on race day. It is funny to think that I still get this same feeling when I race after all of these years. I never forget for a second how lucky I am to be able to do something I love, something that I am so passionate about. I do not ever take it for granted. It is easy to smile when you genuinely enjoy what you do.

Biggest racing mistake you’ve ever made and what did you learn from it?
           
My biggest mistake was made in my very first attempt at Ironman in 1999. It was at Ironman Australia. I went into that race thinking I was going to take on the world. I truly believed that I was going to nail it on my first attempt. It never even entered my mind that I may fail. Around 90kms into the ride I flatted and I just could not get the tire off my wheel. I must have sat on the side of the road for 20 minutes trying to remove it. Eventually I did and I spent the next 90kms trying to make up for all of the time I had lost- big mistake. By the 17km mark of the run I was toast. I could barely put one foot in front of the other. I DNF'd in my very first attempt at the ironman. It is a memory I will never forget. I hated that feeling of failure and swore form that day on that I would never experience it again. I learnt so much from that experience but the two most valuable things were that I needed to work on my patience and my preparation. Ironman is all about patience and control. It is long day out there for everyone- pros and age-groupers. Things are bound to go wrong throughout the day and we need to learn how to deal with these hiccups with patience and control. I think Chrissie last year in Hawaii when she flatted was the perfect example of patience, poise and control. Preparation- well we all need to make sure we are prepared for everything- including flat tires and how to change them. I now carry tire levers in all of my races. 

You have one of the heaviest racing/training schedules of anyone on the Ironman circuit, how does the REV3 race factor into your schedule for next year and what will your training or racing plans look like just before and just after this race?

As soon as I found out about the race I contacted Heather. I really wanted to race more Half- Ironman distance events this season and this race fits perfectly into my race schedule. I have always had great respect for Heather as an athlete and I know that she will do an amazing job with this race. I really love this distance and I find that I just do not get the chance to race it as much as I would like to. I plan on basing myself in the USA this year and will fly over after I race Ironman China at the end of April. I am going to do a few shorter distance races while I am in the States as a good build up for Quelle Challenge Roth in July. REV3 fits into this plan just perfectly.

When you are in the midst of excruciating pain in either training or competition, what motivates you to break through and keep on?

Well I have always been an incredibly competitive person- just ask my family!! I never quit and I hate failure so when it starts to get really tough I just think of how much stronger I am going to be at the end of the session. I think about how my next race is going to feel just that little bit easier because of it and that motivates me to keep going. In a race situation I always want to do the best I can do and normally that translates to trying to reach that podium. I always like to try and improve on my last performance so often I am able to squeeze that little bit extra out of myself to get that improvement. And it is amazing just how much you are able to push yourself when you are enjoying it so much- sounds a bit crazy I know.

After so many years of training and competing, you’ve probably tried or executed just about every kind of training regimen out there.  If you had to focus on one thing you are going to do differently to get better in 2009, what would it be?
    
Ahhh…the million dollar question. You are right I have been around a long time and I have seen many fads come and go. At the end of the day the only way to make it to the top is patience, determination, belief and bloody hard work- and this applies to the super-talented as well. But one thing I am really going to focus on this season is not so much what I am doing during training but what I am doing in between the training. When I was younger I was able to get away with so much. Now that I am, lets say more mature, I can't get away with it and I need to make sure that for each session I do I am in the best possible shape and frame of mind to do it. I want to make every single session that I do this year count.

Belinda Granger
Born: 1970 
Age: 38 years young!
First Triathlon: Ok now that is tough- 1988 (I was in my last year at school)
Turned Pro: 1999 
Family: Husband, Justin 
Lives: Noosa, Queensland Australia

Career at a glance

• (10) Ironman distance titles- including IM Korea (3), IM Malaysia, IM Canda (2), IM Lake Placid, Quelle Challenge Roth and Challenge Wanaka.
• (3) IM70.3 titles including Australia, Singapore, Antwerp - 1st Place
• (5) Top 10 finishes at Kona World IM Championship

Thanks for your gracious time and we wish you the best at the REV3 race!

Interview by Max Wunderle

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