How I prepared for Ironman Texas

There’re so many topics that I could write about every day. It is impossible to mention everyone who has reached out to me in the last few months. But here is an “average” day of my life how I prepare for an ironman. Ok, not so average, but a good one!

I started the morning at the DC Ranch Village with a tempo run session on the treadmill. It is a challenging workout but sometimes I like to watch TV to distract myself and relax between the sets. I recently realized that it’s a good way to improve my running form as I raise my head to look up (TVs are on the wall) instead of constantly looking down in front of me. And I have the suspicion that it was not the first time that I run next to someone who looked/run like Alan Webb. Maybe it’s not him but still, inspiring.

After I got home I had a quick shower and headed to Cyclologic’s fitting studio. I have spent a couple hours last week with Paraic McGlynn, owner of Cyclologic to analyze my position on the bike. I had to admit that it was the very first time I was professionally fitted on a bike. I had been quite happy with my position for a long time but as I was getting older, muscles have changed and it was time for a change. Although my bike set up was similar than last year, I have changed some parts that made the ride uncomfortable in the last few months. It is amazing how some minor changes can affect your position on the bike. I might write some details about it later, but right now I just want to thank Paraic and Stephen for helping me to find the ideal position and bike set up.

When my bike was all dialed up I visited Wolfgang Oswald at Endurance Rehab. Last week I had some issues with one of my calf’s muscle and Wolfgang was kind enough to offer his help to loosen it up. It makes all the difference in the World to be able to run pain-free and injury-free. Endurance Rehab in Arizona is one of the most popular performance center/PT Therapy among athletes and especially triathletes. They do a great job and I’m very thankful to Wolfgang for his professional care.

Since I was there I made an appointment with their chiropractor, Eric Marcotte. I’ve heard lots of great thing about him and was glad that finally I had the chance to go see him.

Little bit later it was time for another training session. I went to one of my favorite places, Sole Swim Solutions Studio to have a one-on-one technique swim session with Frank Sole. Frank is one of the most knowledgeable technique swim coaches I know; he is working with athletes from beginners to professionals, and very well recognized in the Valley. Working with him in the endless pool made me more relaxed and more self-conscious in the water, and being consistent with dry-land training also made me a stronger athlete.

The fifty minutes workout at Frank’s wore me out and I needed to refuel right away! I went to my favorite restaurant, Pita Jungle, where I ate a big Mediterranean Chicken Salad with lots of chicken. It is the best! The right fueling is one of the most important things in ironman training. So after lunch I stopped by Destination Kona Triathlon Store and picked up some nutrition for my upcoming training and racing. Since I was there I bought a rear bottle cage for my bike while I was exchanging some words with Chris at the store. It’s always fun to hang out at DK!

The day has not finished yet, and I paid a short visit to Bicycle Ranch. The guys have helped me so much in the last couple weeks with my SwiftCarbon Neurogen. There’s always been some little thing that I wanted to check out, clean, replace etc. Markus and Chris were really great in helping me out. Once my bike was ready I felt happy!

Lucy and I finished the day at the ONE monthly meeting. We both really enjoy being part of ONE Multisport. Everyone is friendly and encouraging. There’s always some social program where we can meet and chat and Lucy can win the raffle. J I’m really happy to represent one of the greatest Arizonan tri clubs this year! Thanks John and Cyndi Dean and all the members that make it happen!

Although Ironman Triathlon is an individual sport, as you can see it takes a Professional Team to prepare and perform at my best. I couldn’t do it on my own and I’m especially thankful for my friends, my family and my supporters who help me to reach my goals. It’s really cool to be a professional triathlete, most of the time. But like everybody else we have highs and lows too. Without the amazing people around me I couldn’t get over the lows, the injuries, bad times, the stress, and the pressure of my mostly unstable, performance-related income etc. I really would like to thank everyone who reached out to me in the last few months (you know who you are!) in many different ways and reminded me to follow my dreams and never ever give up!

Also would like to give a big shout out to my sponsors and the team behind my sponsors and partners:

Pita Jungle

SwiftCarbon

Zoot Sports

Destination Kona Triathlon Store

Southwest Realty and Property Management-Arizona

3T Cycling

Ignite Naturals

&

Shimano Cycling
SPIUK

XTERRA WETSUITS

ISM SEAT
Continental

DC Ranch Village and Spa

Sergio Borges X Training

Sole Swim Solutions

Fitletic

Powered By Pita Jungle

I’m very excited to announce my new partnership with Pita Jungle. When I came to Arizona, Pita Jungle was one of the first restaurants that caught my attention. Mediterranean food has always been very close to me, and I like the fun and welcoming environment along with Pita Jungle’s vey unique and creative style. My wife, Lucy and I didn’t go out very often before Pita Jungle, but with Pita Jungle it has been different! We love the selection of healthy foods. The meals are always fresh and nutritious. As a professional triathlete I have to watch what I eat  and make sure I take in enough calories with a fair amount of protein and carbohydrates. Every time I go to Pita Jungle I find it very comforting to know that I can always find a fresh green salad with chicken or salmon in it, or having a cold wrap, or any kind of gyros after a large plate of hummus or any other delicious dish. Most of the meals have the perfect balance of nutritional sources whether I have to recover after a 6-hour bike ride, have to grab something before an afternoon swim session, or go on a run... It was a natural and logical choice when I decided to ask Pita Jungle for a partnership. I couldn’t imagine a better sponsor than my most favorite restaurant in town! Of course, I am so very proud to have Pita Jungle as one of my leading sponsors.

About me:

Jozsef Major is a multiple time Ironman Champion, and a local professional triathlete who specializes in half and full distance Ironman events.

He has twenty-one recent top five finishes in iron distance events out of his thirty eight ironman finishes overall.  He is the 2008 Ironman Arizona Champion and has eight other iron distance wins. Jozsef has qualified for the Ironman World Championship in Kona seven times.

Splash & Dash Spring Series

The local Splash and Dash races are a great way to kick off the triathlon season, gain some experience in the open water and get together with friends and fellow triathletes. Jeremy and 4 Peaks Racing put on a great event where you can chose between different distances and also can chose between just splashing, or splashing and dashing.

This year I'm planning to participate 3 races to get some speed and more and more race experience before the "A" races of the season. It's always nice to see everyone and represent my sponsors. Big thanks to my local sponsors, Destination Kona Triathlon Store, Southwest Realty and Property Management, DC Ranch Village Health Club and Spa and my club, One Multisport!  

Race #1
Had a great time at IRONCARE SPLASH & DASH by 4 PEAKS RACING. It was good to test my speed again. I'm always surprised that after many Ironman, a 40 min race can still wear me out! It was a great turnout! Looking forward to the next one!

Everything is set up in the transition zone.

XTERRA Wetsuits speedsuits are the best choice for a warmer race like this!

Zoot Ultra Race 4.0 are the ultimate racing shoes. Very light & comfortable!

Race #2
Another great Splash and Dash by 4 PEAKS RACING. 2000m open water swim went smooth, 5k run was short... and fast as always. It was good to see everyone out there! I finished the Saturday morning with a 50 mile ride and saw lots of cyclists on the Beeline! Hope everyone had a great training or just a fun day!

Hanging out with good friend, Joe Courtney from Sonic Fitness!

First place overall!

Looking forward to the next one in May 1st!

The importance of good nutrition - My nutrition history

It has been 25 years since I started to do sports, and up to this day it takes conscious effort on my part to take the best care of my body so my body can serve me the best. At the beginning of my career I was not terribly concerned about nutrition, I just wanted to do sports and it felt good that way.

The first difficulties started to occur when I moved from my parents to the (college) dorm and became self-sufficient during my college years. In those years contrary to my fellow classmates whose biggest concern was how to study while partying all the time, I was trying to fit in all my hard training sessions between classes and studying.

The biggest challenge was that I had a really busy schedule; swim in the morning, then school, running and biking after that, then school again and in the evening studying and homework. I simply did not have time to have a decent meal between the training sessions and school. Most of the times I quickly had some pastries or sandwiches for breakfast, I ate a cooked meal at the school cafeteria for lunch and I had some food that was easy to make for dinner, like eggs or sausages. Besides that I had quite a bit of snacks and cookies between these meals to refuel fast.

I was 18 that time and I was not aware that the nutrition would affect my training. When I was more tired I though that it could have been because I slept only 4-5 hours at nights.

Training Nutrition

In those years I was not concerned about sports nutrition either, simply because I could only use that was available in the Hungarian market. We did not have a big choice of energy drinks and bars. During training and racing I used the drinks, gels and bars that was available at the time. Of course I ate other simple nutrition, like bananas and one of my favorites; Snickers bars, because it contained lots of energy.

First Signs

The first signs that something was wrong appeared about ten years ago. Right after I finished my workouts I often had stomach cramps and couldn’t eat for a long time, only drink. I realized that the only thing that would help was drinking soda (Fanta). I craved it especially after long training hours and it helped with the cramping. Another strange thing happened that time: I started to feel some pain in my foot usually at night or right after I woke up. First it was not too bad but later the pain started to increase. Around the same time I found a foot masseur and the massages somewhat eased the pain. But I received instructions that I had to pay special attention to my nutrition since I have symptoms that indicate potential problems with kidney and intestinal function. This bad news left me helpless and lost and for a while I could not come up with anything helpful or effective. I did start preparing my own food at all times and since I was finished with my college years my sports career was my only focus.

First Ironman

In 2002 my swimming was not at the level of racing Olympic distance triathlons, so besides duathlon events, I specifically trained for long distance races and I entered my first - ever ironman. The race started really well, although in spite of the useful advices and warnings I did not take enough calories. Since I did not feel like eating I only had 1 or 2 energy bars all day long, yet I pushed it as hard as I could. Of course it did not end well. At six miles I was leading on the run when I suddenly completely bonked, collapsed and the ambulance took me to the hospital.

First ironman victory in 2005

After this rough start at the long distance scene I was training for years until in 2005 I finally won my first ironman distance race in Hungary. I gained lots of experience and worked out a very simple nutrition plan for the race day; on the bike I ate 4-5 energy bars (200ca/each) and after 60 miles I had some “cookies”. It might sound weird but I found a certain type of Hungarian cookies were the easiest to digest. On the run I ate 4-6 energy gels. As for fluids, I drank mostly water and had some energy drink that was provided by the race organizers. This method worked pretty well for me and I managed to win 9 ironman distance titles and finished several times on the podium at international races. And this nutrition plan even got me through Kona where I finished 19^th overall.

The Diagnosis

In the meantime I noticed more and more signs of my intestinal issues. Roughly around 2007 I had serious stomach and digestive problems that very much affected my training and racing. There were times when it was better, but when it was worse I found some blood in my stool, which scared me a lot. Despite of these symptoms it took me several years to find out what was the problem. In 2009, only three month after I was hit by a car on my bike, I decided to race Ironman Arizona. During the run I had really painful stomach cramps and I had to take several bathroom breaks finding blood again. I dropped out of the race and was taken to the hospital where I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. Then I went through a thorough examination and my physician was shocked that I was even able to train and race with this condition in the past 6-7 years.

I was trying to determine when the symptoms started and what could have caused the Ulcerative Colitis. The best answer that I could find was that it was a combination of several things: a stressful life, bad nutrition and probably genetic reasons for sensitive intestinal functions as well. I was diagnosed more than four years ago; and since then I managed to deal with my colitis with more or less success. However it is a chronic disease and I have to live with it for the rest of my life.

Nutrition Nowadays

Every day I have to eat with careful consideration and take only the food that is good for me and won’t interfere with my digestion either. So I start my day with the Ignite Extreme Energy drink, then I eat a toasted sandwich with ham, cheese and salami, or an omelette with mushroom or whole grain cereal with almond milk, etc.

Most of the times I have a cooked meal for lunch: brown rice, or potato, or pasta with meat or fish. I like all kind of meats but I prefer poultry, and one of my favorite meals is the grilled salmon with zucchini.

Nowadays I eat vegetables more regularly, like celery, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, tomato, pepper and all kind of green salads. But sometimes when I don’t have time to cook I just have a pizza, which I really like.

Hungarian Paprikas Csirke

We still like to cook Hungarian meals at home, especially my favorite meals, like layered potato (casserole), or the well-known chicken paprikas.

There are certain foods that I can’t have because they upset my stomach and cause difficulties during workouts. In addition, if I eat right I feel much better and I can focus on my program and my recovery is faster as well. It is a long process to experiment how these foods affect my body and how I can take the right nutrition without causing any trouble.

Besides eating healthy, sometimes I’m tempted to eat a little dessert, or snack, like cookies or Oreos. But these days I try to alternate them with peanut/almond butter, fresh fruit, cottage cheese, wholewheat crackers, cream chees, dark chocolate etc. They taste like a good dessert and are more healthy.

It is also really important to take the right amount of good quality fluids. I drink lots of water especially because I live in Arizona year around. Time-to-time I have some green tea or light lemonade, or even some coke during or after long workouts. I am very careful with these beverages and sodas because they have too much sugar but sometimes I just crave them too much.

Race - day Nutrition

They say triathlon is about swimming, biking and running, however there is a fourth discipline which is one of the most important: nutrition. You can be as strong as possible both physically and mentally, but without the right nutrition plan, you are not going to succeed.

I think my first ironman experiment is a good example what happens when you are not taking enough calories. My energy level dropped significantly because of the poor nutrition. However bad nutrition doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t take enough; it could also mean that you take too much or just not the right kind for you. It is a long journey to find out what works best for each individual. A good nutrition is a real game changer during an ironman race. A good nutrition helps to boost your performance, increase your energy and to reduce muscle fatigue while pushing yourself over your limits. You know your nutrition was good when you run an 8+ hours race and when you approach the finish you still have enough in the tank to nail a sprint finish.

You can choose of a large variety of Nutrition Products at Destination Kona Triathlon Store.
Use DISCOUNT CODE: JM15 for 15% off.

Last May I started to work with Ignite Naturals and tried the GSH Ignite Pro Series along with the IN Refresh Electrolytes. I liked them from the very beginning. I train 5-6 hours continuously every day. It's very important to fuel with the best to produce more energy. The GSH Pro Series provides fast absorbing carbs from 100% real food that help me maximize my performance. All in all, it tastes good and helps me to get my training and racing to the next level. The IN products enable me to work hard without stomach pain, cramps or any symptoms of my Ulcerative Colitis disease.

You can order any Ignite Naturals product online and receive a 10% off with the
DISCOUNT CODE: IN0630

When people ask me for nutrition advice I can tell them what works the best for me but I believe everyone has to find out what kind of nutrition work the best for them.

Recently I started to work with FUEL to the Finish Endurance Nutrition Coaching - Brooke Schohl, MS, RD. It really makes a different to talk to a professional nutritionist. Even in my case; I don't need to lose weight or gain muscles but I really have to fuel with healthy and quality food to increase my energy level.

Reload energy gels are made with real food like brown rice or figs. Very, very tasty. My favorite is the Blackberry Blueberry gel which tastes like the best jam I ever ate. You can order any Ignite Naturals product online and receive a 10% off with the
DISCOUNT CODE: IN0630