Hannah came to me just over three months out from IRONMAN New Zealand, coming back from a bone stress injury and still building up her walk/run sessions. Three months later she raced Taupō to an age-group podium, in her second-fastest IRONMAN time.
At a glance
- Goal race: IRONMAN New Zealand, Taupō
- Starting point: back from a bone stress injury, still on walk/runs
- Build length: just over three months
- Result: age-group podium, her second-fastest IRONMAN
Where she started
Hannah had a decent base. But she’d just spent a couple of months fully off to rehab, and she reckons her fitness was probably the lowest it had been in years.
She was still building up walk/run sessions when she got in touch.
And she told me she wanted to race well.
For a sense of scale, my Ironman training plans run 16 to 24 weeks. Hannah had just over three months, and her run was starting from walk/runs.
What we changed
We built her run back up from small walk/runs. Communication stayed open the whole build, and sessions changed based on her feedback. The aim was to keep her healthy and avoid a re-injury.
Strength training was the other big piece. We both wanted it in the plan.
And it stuck. Between April 2025 and March 2026, Hannah logged 102 strength sessions. That’s two a week on average, and no month had fewer than seven. The goal I wrote at the top of her main gym session was max strength for running economy.
Hannah says the gym work has made a huge difference to her ability to keep training consistently.
Race day
Hannah raced IRONMAN New Zealand in Taupō just over three months after she first got in touch.
She finished on the age-group podium, in her second-fastest IRONMAN time. In her words, she was super happy and surprised by that after such a short build.
In Hannah’s words
What stood out most was how carefully he managed my return from injury. Communication was always open, and he adapted sessions based on my feedback to ensure I stayed healthy and avoided re-injury.
If you’re coming back from an injury with IRONMAN New Zealand on the calendar, here’s how I coach for it. Coaching options and prices are on the services page.
