The Story of Gerard Donnelly, Part 1: The Racing Years

Get Fast Podcast, Ep 100 (Part 1), with Gerard and Jordan Donnelly

Gerard Donnelly started triathlon in 1981 with no training and no bike of his own. Seven years later he was Australian Ironman champion. Along the way he quit teaching to turn professional, came fourth at the 1986 world long course championships in Hawaii, raced Kona, and represented Australia at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland. For the podcast's 100th episode, his son Jordan asked him to tell the whole story, mistakes included.

How did Gerard get into triathlon?

He grew up running. His dad coached a junior running group, and Gerard won a national 800 m title as a boy. The program was simple and hard: an 800, a 600, three 400s and three 200s on Mondays, six 400s on Wednesdays, eight 200s on Thursdays, a race on Saturday and a long run in the hills on Sunday. He still bases his running coaching on a lot of those principles.

He became a phys ed teacher because, in his words, he just wanted to play sport. He played team sports at a good level but often felt let down by teammates, and wanted a sport where the result was down to him alone.

His first triathlon was the Nautilus triathlon in Melbourne in 1981, from Frankston to the city. He borrowed a bike from a student, came out of the water, rode about 10 km on the wrong bike and had to go back and swap. He wasn't one of the good guys that day, but he finished thinking he could do better next time.

How did he turn professional?

Through the early 80s he trained around a full-time teaching job, commuting by bike and coaching the school's cross country and swimming squads. From 1986 he kept a handwritten journal of every session and every race, long before training software existed.

On his honeymoon in 1986 he decided to see how far he could go. He set four goals: become a full-time professional athlete, represent Australia, win a national title, and finish on his own terms. His wife, also a phys ed teacher, backed him and kept working full time.

The turning point came later that year at the world long course championships in Hawaii. He went hoping for a top 20 finish and came fourth. The newspaper headline called him the dark horse who stunned the field. He resigned from teaching and turned full time the following year.

What did he change as a new professional?

At first he trained too hard. A full-time professional he trained with laughed at his program: all intervals and no endurance work, in an endurance sport. Gerard ran well over a half marathon but faded badly in the marathon.

So he and his wife moved to the Dandenongs, east of Melbourne, so he could train in the hills of Sherbrooke Forest. His running settled into one interval session, hill repeats and a long endurance run, and within six months he was running far better. He still calls that mix the bread and butter of what works.

He also joined running, swimming and riding groups, then kept only the one session from each that he thought would help him most. The lesson he took was to leave his ego at home and learn from people who were better than him.

He came seventh at the Japan Ironman and finished his first Kona, where his only goal was to experience the race.

How did he win the 1988 Australian Ironman?

Nobody rated him, and he told only his wife and his mentor that he wanted to win. On training runs in Sherbrooke Forest he finished each loop by passing through a set of bollards with his hands in the air, rehearsing the finish.

Nutrition was part of the plan. He took part in a nutrition study run by sports nutritionist Dr Louise Burke, riding the same long indoor session on two Saturdays without knowing which drink he had. After the first ride he had to be carried to the car. On the second he finished 20 minutes quicker. He used her drink on race day.

In the race he caught the leading swimmer early on the bike and led from there. Off the bike, his closest rival was a training partner who was the better runner. Gerard held the pace he knew he could sustain, felt at home on the hills, and his rival eventually conceded.

Crossing the line, with his wife and baby son Liam waiting, still brings him to tears. "I pride myself in performing when it counts," he says. He won the Australian duathlon title straight after. The next year he lined up as favourite and came second.

What went wrong at Kona?

He went back to Kona to race it properly. He came out of the swim high in the field and was riding within himself until that same training partner came past and urged him on. Gerard went with him. They got off the bike around fourth to sixth, with Mark Allen, Dave Scott and Scott Tinley among the few ahead. Then his partner sat down: he had an Achilles injury and wasn't running. Gerard had raced someone else's race.

He was running seventh, the leading Australian, with about 2 km to go when cramp took both legs. He got going again and finished 23rd, then spent two hours in the medical tent on a drip. He never went back.

He lists the mistakes plainly: riding too hard, which led to dehydration and cramp, not enough nutrition, and no heat training after a Melbourne winter. That day is the reason execution became one of his founding coaching principles.

How did he make the Commonwealth Games team?

When triathlon was added for Auckland 1990, representing Australia became his last goal. He went back to speed work and hill repeats for the shorter distance and raced a selection series of five races, aiming for consistent top placings across all of them.

At Noosa he tore his calf with 1 km to go and kept running. He raced the next round at Geelong injured, and the team was read out after that race. He couldn't walk to the car. Making that team was the proudest thing he had done.

What happened after the Commonwealth Games?

He never did another triathlon. A chronic back injury and repeated calf tears followed. He rested and iced but never did the rehab, so the weak spot kept breaking down. That is why he now insists athletes do their rehab and build back slowly. He still ran several marathons, and the year before this episode he raced an aquabike, because he still couldn't run.

His message from it all is that the goal doesn't have to be a green and gold jersey: "being a better version of yourself is as big a goal as being a representative of your country."

Part 2 covers how he turned the same drive into coaching, a masters cycling career and TriVelo Coaching.

Related

• The Story of Gerard Donnelly, Part 2
• About Gerard Donnelly
• Ironman coaching
• How we coach triathletes