Simon Butterworth came to Ironman late and has been racing it for decades. He won his age group at the 2017 Ironman World Championships in Kona and 2022 in St. George, Utah describing his own training as a "manic obsession". He lives on the south coast of Ireland, where he was brought up, and in October he crossed the finish line at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in 16 hours 41 minutes, aged 79 and a few weeks short of his 80th birthday. He is one of the very few men over 80 to have finished there. I first met Simon when I was working with CompuTrainer and he was a CompuTrainer user, and we'd come out to support him on race day. It's been a long road back to Kona. His wife Ingrid, his long-term supporter, died in 2022. His knees had been crunching on the run for years, and he had both replaced in 2024 by a surgeon who didn't tell him to stop running. I chatted with Simon a few years ago about his Ironman history, and I'll put a link to it below. In this episode, we talk about what it takes to come back from two knee replacements, bereavement and a back that gave out on race day, and why Simon thinks running on artificial knees is worth the risk for the right person. Of course, always consult with your own doctor! In this episode: Why Simon decided he needed new knees after hearing them "crunch crunch crunch" on the run at the 2022 World Championship in St. George, and how he chose a surgeon who wouldn't tell him to stop running Losing Ingrid, moving back to Ireland, and the friends who put him up for two months after surgery Changes to training approach including run/walk, 14 day training cycles and why longer recovery matters more with age The huge strength training error and what it cost him in Copenhagen Shorter cranks, a blend of diet approaches, and cutting out alcohol (with a Guinness Zero test in Kona) What he'd tell anyone considering knee replacement who still wants to run Killer quote: Regarding strength training "To put it bluntly, I’ve been stupid. I was a coach, I know exactly what I should have been doing, but I wasn’t doing it religiously.” Connect with Simon Butterworth on Facebook Simon highly recommended the following book, especially because lots of triathlon events have a sea swim The Blue Machine - Helen Czerski - All of the Earth's ocean, from the equator to the poles, is a single engine powered by sunlight - a blue machine Also mentioned: Simon's first podcast with me, covering his earlier Ironman history Will you still be competing in ironman events at 74 Bobby McGee, whose Boulder clinics introduced Simon to run-walk, and who gave him the mental trick of placing people on the run course The smartest way to run faster Karlyn Pipes, who gave both of us refresher swim lessons in Kona ; Faster Freestyle for Open Water Swimming If what you heard today resonates and you want a training structure built around these principles, with individuality, recovery, strength and the long game at its centre, that is exactly what SWAT Inner Circle is designed around. New members join at £65 a month. No minimum term, cancel any time. Details at simonward.co.uk/swat-inner-circle FREE Download👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 Find out why some triathletes keep improving into their 60s while others plateau in their 50s. Why Some Triathletes Keep Improving Into Their 60s Connect with me HERE: https://linktr.ee/simonward You can find links for the following channels - Website, Facebook, podcast, Instagram, YouTube Email: Simon@thetriathloncoach.com Sign up for Simon’s weekly newsletter Got an awkward question for Simon? Send it to beth@thetriathloncoach.com and you might just hear it on a future episode!
