This may be of interest to some of you, both former swimmers and tri-guys. In this one hour interview, MP talks about his life from age 11 onward. The words he uses the most are “preparation” and “prepare”. He firmly believes that you must prepare exhaustively if you want a chance at success. This guy grinded through 5-6 hr/day of training, 360 days/yr, for 20 yrs to win 28 Oly medals, 23 of them gold. Now obv most of us are never going to make it to the Oly and most do not have the ability to even absorb this much training but still, I think Phelps’s mindset is instructive. He never thought of himself as “making sacrifices” b/c he could not go to parties, etc, but rather thought he was doing something that he was passionate about. In any case, watch it if you are curious about high level swim training. Cheers, Eric.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-WwtG625sI
Thanks for sharing. I don’t think Phelps gets the recognition/appreciation for what he’s accomplished. The guy has arguably put in the most work of any athlete. What does an 80km week in the pool translate to cycling or running?
I don’t think Phelps gets the recognition/appreciation for what he’s accomplished.
Huh? ðŸ˜
Thanks for sharing. I don’t think Phelps gets the recognition/appreciation for what he’s accomplished. The guy has arguably put in the most work of any athlete. What does an 80km week in the pool translate to cycling or running?
STRI - Thanks for recognizing this and indeed I think MP has indeed put in more work than any other athlete. Not sure where you got 80 km/wk b/c really he averaged around 100 km/wk or about 62.5 mi/wk. Using the exer phys textbook ratio of 1 mi swim = 4 mi run, he was doing the equivalent of 250 mi/wk of running, 52 wk/yr. Obv no runner could do this but if we allot half to cycling at the standard 4 mi bike = 1 mi run, 1/4 to actual running, and 1/4 to actual swimming, then that would be 500 mi/wk bike, 62.5 mi/wk run, and 15.5 mi/wk swim. These would be 52 wk/yr averages and I doubt any tri-guy has ever even approximated these totals for 1 yr, let alone 20 yrs as MP did. Also, the standard 4:1 swim/run ratio assumes all freestyle but since MP was a great 200/400 IM swimmer, we know he had to have done large amounts of time swimming the other strokes. He was doing sets like 20 x 200 m fly in long course. Similarly, he was swimming hard breaststroke sets which take a lot out of a swimmer. In sum, he basically just swam, ate, and slept for 20 yrs. As he described in this interview, he was basically just shoveling food in his mouth whenever he was not swimming or sleeping. 
that would be 500 mi/wk bike, 62.5 mi/wk run, and 15.5 mi/wk swim. These would be 52 wk/yr averages and I doubt any tri-guy has ever even approximated these totals for 1 yr,//
That was a normal week for Wolfgang Diettrick, doing a bit more on his big weeks. I was with him when he did his 700 riding, 90 running, and 6 days of 4k meters swimming. Well I was with him for about a 1/3 of it, he was just a training machine, much like MP was. And there were others too back then that put in 45+ hour weeks, and a lot of germans who just followed in the wake that guys like Wolfgang blazed. And he did this for well over 10 years.
Of course we have figured out that you can actually race a lot faster on much less mileage now, but let us not forget those that pushed the limits and showed us the ceiling on mega milage…Those super rare folks that can do this kind of mileage, and still perform at a world class level too…
I don’t think Phelps gets the recognition/appreciation for what he’s accomplished.
I consider him to be the greatest athlete of all time. But that’s just my 2 Cents 
That feeling when people wanna change history retroactively. MP is definitely the greatest Olympian of all times, the best swimmer etc, but he did not follow that routine year in, year out. I remember seing a documentary about him with regards to the 2016 Olympics and his coach telling about how he had never really worked out properly ahead of the London Olympics. Dont have the time to find the documentary now, but a quick google search yields this
from the article:
“Behind Phelps’ success in London was a man who didn’t want to be swimming, but didn’t know what else to do with his life. He skipped workouts so frequently that his coach resorted to organizing Friend Fridays, inviting Phelps’ non-swimming friends to a pool workout in hopes that he would show up, too.”
I fucking hate it when people change the past to make it seem impossible for youngsters to repeat what they did. Be honest, call it what it is and if you made one 40+h week during a build up, do not talk about that as the bread and butter week. I have not seen the interview but either MP is lying or EM is lying here. MP did NOT follow any rergimen year in and year out ahead of London.
Rant over
I have always liked that perspective of it isn’t a sacrifice, it is an opportunity to pursue passion. The female sprinter from AUS - her sis is a sprinter too, blanking on names - was featured in an Amazon prime documentary last Olympics cycle - said the same thing in her documentary
I agree. If you get something back personally, it’s an investment; if you don’t it’s a sacrifice.
I don’t think Phelps gets the recognition/appreciation for what he’s accomplished.
I consider him to be the greatest athlete of all time. But that’s just my 2 Cents
That’s why I posted the “Huh?†above.
Saying Phelps doesn’t get the recognition/appreciation for what he’s accomplished is like saying The Beatles don’t get enough recognition/appreciation for their influence on rock and roll.
That feeling when people wanna change history retroactively. MP is definitely the greatest Olympian of all times, the best swimmer etc, but he did not follow that routine year in, year out. I remember seing a documentary about him with regards to the 2016 Olympics and his coach telling about how he had never really worked out properly ahead of the London Olympics. Dont have the time to find the documentary now, but a quick google search yields this
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Olympics/2016/0814/Michael-Phelps-and-US-swimming-s-remarkable-comeback-story
from the article:
“Behind Phelps’ success in London was a man who didn’t want to be swimming, but didn’t know what else to do with his life. He skipped workouts so frequently that his coach resorted to organizing Friend Fridays, inviting Phelps’ non-swimming friends to a pool workout in hopes that he would show up, too.”
I fucking hate it when people change the past to make it seem impossible for youngsters to repeat what they did. Be honest, call it what it is and if you made one 40+h week during a build up, do not talk about that as the bread and butter week. I have not seen the interview but either MP is lying or EM is lying here. MP did NOT follow any rergimen year in and year out ahead of London.
Rant over
You’re right and I could have written a more detailed description of his training in the 2009-10 years when he did skip a bunch of practices. Acc to the Whoop interview, he got his head back on the grind in late 2010-12. I did not go into more detail b/c it seems a lot of forum readers don’t have the patience or time to read more than a 5-6 line paragraph. I think it is valid to say that for about 12 years, from age 11 to 23 (1996-2008), he was training very, very hard, then less so from 2009-16. As I mentioned before, he uses the words prepare and preparation over and over in the video, and he realizes that he was not fully prepared in the 2012 and '16 Games.
I have always liked that perspective of it isn’t a sacrifice, it is an opportunity to pursue passion. The female sprinter from AUS - her sis is a sprinter too, blanking on names - was featured in an Amazon prime documentary last Olympics cycle - said the same thing in her documentary
Cate and Bronte Campbell. I agree 100% that it isn’t a sacrifice but rather an opportunity.
Didn’t watch the interview but he struggled with depression as well contemplating suicide after the 2012 Olympics. His path was a tough path that few could handle. He’s an amazing human.
Didn’t watch the interview but he struggled with depression as well contemplating suicide after the 2012 Olympics. His path was a tough path that few could handle. He’s an amazing human.
True and his mental health struggles are discussed at length in the interview.
I’d like to add this about MP: he did all that training and racing over all those years, that we know. But let’s stop for a second to consider what that means, psychologically. It means that he had to willfully submit to all those training bouts and races, knowing perhaps better than anyone what he was going to feel during those efforts. In short, he had to “go back to the well” repeatedly and maintain an ever-growing sense of the pain and effort it was going to take. I think that many people are capable of the physical requirements of training and competition long after they have retired, but retire because they are no longer willing to “go back to the well.” Consider crediting him for that kind of fortitude.
I am definitely a much-less accomplished athlete than MP. I swam in college, and I still swim masters. I did three full IM races, and two half IM races. I did 9 stand-along marathons outside of IM races, and even qualified for Boston twice. But the thought process is in part what made me slow down, and I imagine that many or most people go through the exact same thing. I remember distinctly that prior to the 1650y freestyle race at USMS Nationals in 2021, that I questioned WHY I was going to submit to this race. I had done that race maybe 100+ times in USA Swimming, NCAA competition, and Masters. I knew EXACTLY how much an honest effort would HURT, and when it was going to HURT. WTF was I doing lining up to do this race? I thought of MP going through those millions of training meters and then stepping up to the blocks and swimming some of the hardest races in the sport. And he did it for almost 20 years. It’s the same reason I have backed down from IM and marathon and competing masters again, though I’d like to get back to it at some level (as soon as the medicine from my recent heart stent placement is no longer required).
Credit MP (and now Katie Ledecky) for staying with it. The physicality of the training and racing is one thing, but the mental fortitude to keep at it is truly the amazing thing to consider.
Thank you from the perspective from a much much higher level of competition than I ever have or will attain
Serious question. Did/do you look forward to the pain you experienced in training?
Thanks for the kind words. I don’t think of myself as too accomplished. I just persevere in training and in events. I used to look forward to pain and soreness in training, but more to the point, the feeling after a training set or bout or a competition after I accomplished something. That didn’t always work out, though: my last college race, also a 1650y freestyle, was an exercise in the wheels coming all the way off and one of my friends chasing me down and beating me. It hurt so bad, both physically and emotionally, but honestly, I think I was burnt out and looking to move on.
Subsequently, I think I’m motivated by trying to beat others but knowing my own level and not overreaching. In one of my IM races, I just wanted to chase down those loudmouths that had joined a training group for a day and who’d spent the entire course prep (IM Louisville) a month before the race bragging about their equipment and how they were going to follow up the 90m ride with a 10m+ brick because “I’m a bad-ass like that.†I got passed on race day on my $1500 cervelo by these people on their $8500 rigs. I just thought I had the whole rest of the day to reel them back. My mantra was “relentless,†and when I saw them shuffling along and visibly crying at mile 10, I felt justified in my approach of slightly under-training and keeping my mouth shut. I don’t remember my time from that race in 2009 or 2010, I just know that I finished running and kept my mouth shut.
That said, my last IM was in 2010, bc I just couldn’t imagine going back to the well again for all that training and discomfort.
Thanks for the kind words. I don’t think of myself as too accomplished. I just persevere in training and in events. I used to look forward to pain and soreness in training, but more to the point, the feeling after a training set or bout or a competition after I accomplished something. That didn’t always work out, though: my last college race, also a 1650y freestyle, was an exercise in the wheels coming all the way off and one of my friends chasing me down and beating me. It hurt so bad, both physically and emotionally, but honestly, I think I was burnt out and looking to move on.
Subsequently, I think I’m motivated by trying to beat others but knowing my own level and not overreaching. In one of my IM races, I just wanted to chase down those loudmouths that had joined a training group for a day and who’d spent the entire course prep (IM Louisville) a month before the race bragging about their equipment and how they were going to follow up the 90m ride with a 10m+ brick because “I’m a bad-ass like that.†I got passed on race day on my $1500 cervelo by these people on their $8500 rigs. I just thought I had the whole rest of the day to reel them back. My mantra was “relentless,†and when I saw them shuffling along and visibly crying at mile 10, I felt justified in my approach of slightly under-training and keeping my mouth shut. I don’t remember my time from that race in 2009 or 2010, I just know that I finished running and kept my mouth shut.
That said, my last IM was in 2010, bc I just couldn’t imagine going back to the well again for all that training and discomfort.
Great story. Thank you for sharing
I too have lost some of my passion for beating others
What is nice is I have found the passion for training. And see the results come even without wanting to beat others
I fucking hate it when people change the past to make it seem impossible for youngsters to repeat what they did. Be honest, call it what it is and if you made one 40+h week during a build up, do not talk about that as the bread and butter week.
.
Sadly this sort of thing happens all the time these days not just here on ST but everywhere in all kinds of situations away from triathlon. Somebody reads or hears that an athlete did a four x35 hours weeks in a early season build block or as final race prep before taper and suddenly that becomes “they training are 35hrs a week all year” It is stupid and Joe Skipper pokes fun at the triathletes who do the “Day in the life videos” and seem to always make it a mega week, causing so many to think that is normal.
Here he is in his "Not a day in the life " videos.
There’s lots to be said for being slightly undertrained for a very long endurance event like a full Ironman. There’s less physical breakdown in the build phase, less worry about injury, better mindset. I know there are lots of people who get lost in the mindset of crazy training as an event in itself, along with the social media posting. The training itself takes on a life of its own.