The Preparation

A major change I noticed post-Ironman was that my current prep didn’t require the same carb-loading as ultra-endurance training. I needed more protein and fats to prepare my joints and help my muscles recover.

I also reintroduced one supplement I had avoided for six months: creatine. I knew my muscles needed stored energy to handle the workload, but I wanted to avoid the bloating and water retention I had experienced in the past with powdered creatine. So, I tried something called ‘liposomal creatine’.

Liposomal is a type of nutrient delivery system that encapsulates substances in tiny, spherical vesicles made of lipids (fatty acids). In theory, this protects the nutrients from degradation and improves their absorption and bioavailability.

I used a brand called RHO Creatine and took it daily. Within a month, I had gained 1.5 kg, was squatting 95% of my previous max, and – most importantly – felt no bloating when running. Over two months of preparation, I added 2.5 kg of muscle while running more than 30 km per week.

Before the big event, my teammates Aaron and Gabe and I trained with CrossFit elites like Noah Ohlsen, Chandler Smith, and Travis Mayer. We drilled transitions, worm cleans, and competition-level lifts to prepare our bodies for the intense demands ahead.

Fast forward to Miami Beach, where we checked into our Airbnb, stocked up on food, and finalised our game plan – only to face the coldest temperatures in Miami’s recorded history. On day one, we were warming up on the beach in four layers of clothing.

Then, disaster struck.

Due to a technical issue with the speaker system, we missed our heat call for the first event. Sprinting to the competition floor, we were told we couldn’t start – last place, zero points. In seven years of competing, I had never missed a heat, and now I stood on the sidelines, fuming.

There was no time to dwell on it. Event two, a brutal overhead squat workout (30-20-10 reps, increasing weight), was up next. Despite the cold, I hit 16 reps at 85 kg and 13 reps at 102 kg, proving my legs could still handle the load.

That evening, we received an unexpected call: Wodapalooza officials offered us a chance to redo our missed event – at 7 am the next morning. That meant a three-workout day, starting with a 5 am wake-up call to fuel up, stretch, and hit the beach for worm clean and jerks and Echo Bike sprints.

Day two was electric. Under the Miami lights, we pulled sleds in the sand, nailed muscle-ups, and climbed the leaderboard. Day three ended with one of the toughest workouts I’ve ever done in competition: The 3/3/3/4.

Every three minutes, as a team, we completed:

• 400m run / 500m row / 60 heavy double-unders
• In the remaining time: dumbbell thrusters, snatches, and devil’s presses with a 32 kg dumbbell

I pushed my 400m splits under 1:40 and battled through heavy dumbbell work in the sand, collapsing at the finish. Mid-table finish at one of the world’s hardest CrossFit competitions – mission accomplished.

On Monday, I felt surprisingly okay, managing a light shakeout run. But by Tuesday, I was sick – a full-blown cold, dizziness, and coughing fits.

Here’s where I learned the biggest lesson of this entire challenge: even with the best preparation, you can’t control everything. I went for an 8-mile run, hoping to clear my lungs – bad idea. It made me worse and got in my head. Months of training, nutrition, and focus felt wasted.

So, I switched to operation survival mode:

• Vitamin C and extra sleep (including a 20-40-minute nap each day)
• Sauna, ice baths, and increased food intake
• Avoiding public places to prevent further illness

The real battle wasn’t physical, it was mental. Could I still push through? Could I let go of expectations and focus on simply finishing?

Come race day I could finally breathe properly, and the dizziness had subsided. Along with 19,000 other runners, I lined up at Bayfront Park, questioning whether my legs would hold up.

The first challenge? The sheer number of people overtaking me. But as I settled into my pace, I started catching them back, finding my rhythm.

At mile eight, my lungs felt normal. At mile 16, the bridge climbs slowed me down, but I allowed myself two miles to recover before building toward a strong finish.

Then came something I’d been dreading: bladder pain. I’d encountered it previously due to dehydration and should have learned from my Ironman. In 25-degree heat, I sweat excessively. At each aid station, I doubled my water intake and, after 40 minutes, luckily, the pain subsided.

The final two miles I got into pure CrossFit mentality. I wanted a PB. I wanted to finish strong. I cranked up my playlist – hitting the pavement hard to the Architects and Bring Me the Horizon – ignored the pain, and pushed my mile splits.

I sprinted across the finish line in 4.41, securing a 19-minute PB.

Did I win Wodapalooza? No. Did I set the running world alight with my marathon time? No.

But I learned something invaluable: by fully committing and refusing to sacrifice one goal for another, I could successfully complete two vastly different challenges.

It wasn’t easy. It required careful planning, adaptability, and an environment that supported both disciplines. But it also proved that I can exist in multiple worlds – and so can you.

Can you be a parent and a business owner? Hell yes. Can you work full-time and coach a rugby team? Absolutely. Can you shift your fitness goals to accomplish something deeply personal? The question isn’t can you; it’s why aren’t you?‘

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With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.    

As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.   

Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.   

 You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.