Ironman Johan Borg Interview: By Michelle Downs

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A few weeks ago at Ironman New Zealand , Johan Borg crushed his first Ironman in a time of 9.13. An outstanding achievement and when you consider he is only twenty-one years of age, the future can only get brighter for the Swedish born physiotherapy student.

The good news for Aussie tri fans is that Johan recently became an Australian citizen after six years in the country, so when he is tearing up the international triathlon world we can claim him as fair dinkum aussie!

TT: You recently had a blinder of a race at Ironman New Zealand.......9.13, 13^th overall and winning your 18-24 age group, all in your very first attempt at the distance! Tell us about your race. What were the highlights for you?

I was stoked with my race, everything worked out as good as I could have hoped for. I had some time goals for the race. For the swim I just wanted to go under an hour, hopefully closer to 55. For the ride I wanted to go under 5 hours and then run about 3.15. So with transitions I was hoping to do 9.15-20 overall. I beat my goals in the swim and run and went a little bit slower on the bike. So one of the highlights were definitely coming out of the swim and realising I had gone 2 or so minutes quicker than I had been hoping for. It always feels good to have a good start. Another highlight was coming off the bike and starting the run. I felt so much better than I had expected and I managed to overtake some of the people that passed me in the swim and on the bike. I was expecting to hit a wall sometime during the run but I didn’t really. The last 10 km really hurt and I was constantly on the border of cramping. But at the same time I thought I had made up enough time to go under 3:10 for the marathon and 9:15 overall so it made the legs seem to hurt a bit less!

TT: You have raced plenty of Half Ironman and 70.3 events in the last few years. How many Half IM’s did you actually complete before taking on the full distance? Do you think these experiences in the Half IM events provided a good base for you to take into the Ironman and how different was your preparation for the IM compared to the Half IM events?

I did my first half in Busso in 07 and since then I’ve done 9 more so I’ve done 2 or 3 every year. I think that’s given me a good base and it’s kept me training all year round. Without doing an Ironman I think doing a half is the closest you can come to the experiencing a full so that makes them good practice. My preparation for Ironman started quite early when I started running more during the winter and spring. But the real difference started about 15 or so weeks before the race when all the long runs and rides started to get longer and longer and towards the end my legs were pretty much permanently sore. Another difference is that I’ve never been so focused on just one race. Because New Zealand is in the beginning of March, it also gave me the whole summer uni break to train.

TT: What made you decide to do Ironman, has it always been part of the long term plan? Why Ironman New Zealand?

Yeah Ironman has been part of my plan for the last few years. I had planned to do it in another one or two years but then a number of people from my squad and my girlfriend decided to do New Zealand. Taking place in March, just after the uni break, it was good timing so I just thought why not?

TT: You didn’t accept your Hawaii Ironman slot for October as you intend to now apply to race with a professional licence. What are the racing plans and goals for the rest of the year and was it hard to say no to Hawaii? 

I’m in the process of applying for my professional licence and hopefully I can race Busselton 70.3 as a professional. This year I also want to do Busselton Ironman in December and then New Zealand again in March next year. I also want to do a half or two before December so I’d like to do Gold Coast and maybe something else. As far as goals go I just want to improve on my previous results and maybe get a top 5 in a half and top 10 in Ironman.

Saying no to Hawaii was hard but it will always be there, and I hope I can get another chance in the future.

TT: Prior to the race in New Zealand you had some exceptional results, particularly last year. Tell us about some of your tri achievements to date. When did you start thinking of racing as a professional?

I first started thinking about racing as a professional after Busselton Half last year. I finished 9^th overall and was the first age grouper. After that I decided I wanted to try to race in the open category. So I did in Yeppoon Half Ironman and I came 10^th overall and I think 8th in Open so it seemed to be the right thing to do. Later In the year I did Canberra Half Ironman which got turned into a duathlon which really suited me and I came 5^th overall. It’s thanks to that race and Ironman New Zealand that I should be able to get my pro licence.

TT: Tell us a little bit about your development as an athlete. How long have you been competing in triathlons for and how have you progressed through the ranks?

I started triathlon when I first moved to Australia almost 6 years ago. Before that I had just done some running and cycling. I did some of the shorter races and I was close to last out of the water but was ok in the ride and run. After the first year I started training more and my swimming was slowly getting better. At the end of my second year I did my first half in Busso. I had a good race and did 4:23, which placed me 5^th in my age group. From then on I have been trying to better my training and have slowly improved.

TT: When you arrived in Australia five years ago, swimming was an obvious weakness; however in New Zealand you swam 54minutes, nothing wrong with that!! What type of work have you done over the years to improve your swimming?

Yeah I had a great swim in New Zealand and my time surprised both my coach and me. Since I started I’ve been swimming about 3-4 times a week, a little more during summer and less during winter. Our swim sets are usually 3-4 km and overtime my times have slowly started coming down. I think the key have been to be consistent, and try to never go more than a few days without swimming.

TT: As a beginning professional, have you tried to look for sponsors yet? How tough has this been and do you have anyone on board supporting you as yet?

I haven’t really been looking for sponsors but I work for Apollo Bicycles and they have helped me out with equipment and I recently got an Apollo Elite C road bike. There is also a time trial bike in the works that I’ll hopefully get to ride before Busso 70.3.  I also get some help from Attadale cycles that helps me with bike services and some good deals on other equipment.

TT: Ironman New Zealand was also the first-time Ironman of your girlfriend, Helen. Was it a big support also having your partner competing? Did the two of you train together often in the lead-up to the race?

Yeah it was great also having her race. It makes the experience so much more enjoyable to have someone to share it with. She had a great race and did 10:46 and came 2^nd in the 18-24 age group. Helen was one of the reasons that I did New Zealand because it was her idea to do the race in the first place.  We both train with Eclipse Fitness in Perth; so much of our training was similar. We rarely ran together although we often ran at the same time so that helped our motivation. Whereas for riding we did some parts together and some with other training mates or by ourselves

TT: As a recent first-time Ironman finisher, any advice for those about to take on the challenge of Ironman for the first time?

During the weeks leading up to the race I did two long runs and two long rides a week and I think that helped. Also make sure to practice your nutrition plan during these sessions.

Listen to your body, if you are feeling stuffed before sessions just make it a bit slower or shorter instead. Have a good taper and don’t be afraid of losing, fitness you will feel better come race day.

 

Thanks Johan, we look forward to watching as your triathlon career progresses!