Member Profile: Pip Decker

Pip, 36, is a solar and renewable energy consultant who came to The ANNEX for personal training to prepare for a half-Ironman triathlon.

How did training at The ANNEX shape your triathlon experience?

Last summer the goal was to do my first half-Ironman and the training involves longer distances, but one of the things I wanted to work on was high intensity training so that muscles could withstand longer duration exercise.

The half Ironman takes about 6 and half hours to complete, so one of the things I was working on with Mickey was working the weaknesses so that part could be more resilient and stronger so when it came to race day I could get it done.

How did this training translate during race day?

One of the thing the Annex trains is strength of muscle to handle all situations, including long distances. There is a belief that you should run this many miles a week to train for a marathon but people completely forget strength training.

And when you look at some of the books on how you go up to half ironman level is just putting lots of miles on the road, but you’re really losing a lot of muscle mass on the way to it. My training didn’t involve running, biking or swimming three times a week, it was more about high intensity lifting for short periods of time to make my muscles stronger for complete focus for once a week for running, once a week for riding and once a week for swimming

What were the biggest benefits to this style of training?

This really proved two things: You don’t really need that much time as a parent to get it done, and two your recovery will be better because your muscles are stronger and can withstand that physical exertion over an extended period of time.

My recovery wasn’t too bad. After the half-Ironman I was back on the bike in a week and I attribute that to training with Mickey.

I travel lot during the week so private training allowed me to without fail put in the training every Saturday and be present with my family for the rest of the day.

What weaknesses did you address?

I would say one would be rounding out form for upper body for swimming, making sure my form is right above my waist, working on scapular issues. I feel like I can swim all day and in my lower body we addressed the imbalance in my knees. It was good, for example, when doing split squats to have someone watch my form.

How is your overall fitness now?

I also play men’s league hockey, so I can tell my conditioning is incredible. I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life. We were at a club recently and all the jacked dads were wearing ANNEX T-shirts. There’s your walking billboard right there.