Meet Antoine, a sophomore in the Grande Ecole Engineering Programme. A competitive athlete, he has always been an avid runner. More recently, he has taken up cycling and swimming, and was training for a few trail races before deciding early this year to sign up forthe Ironman, organized by the city of Aix-en-Provence last May.
How did your athletic training go?
Once I made the decision to participate in the Ironman, my training became much more intense, with an average of 200 km of cycling, 40 km of running, and 6 km of swimming per week, not to mention strength training (an average of 20 hours of exercise per week and a total of more than 2,000 km of cycling and 700 km of running and 70 km of swimming). I also completed the Paris Marathon in April (my first marathon) to prepare for this Ironman.
A few words about the race?
Preparing for this race requires tremendous determination, which must be sustained throughout the entire training period, but the main motivation remains enjoyment, despite some mentally challenging sessions. The training had to be varied in order to work on endurance, speed, and strength in all three disciplines, and it couldn't become a boring routine.
I prepared the entire schedule myself so that I could train with friends when I could and maintain that sense of enjoyment while making progress.
I also had to prepare a very comprehensive nutrition strategy. Fueling a body in full exertion was not easy. It was important to never run out of carbohydrates, sodium, magnesium, etc. for more than 10 hours, and I even had to adapt to slight digestive problems during the marathon to continue to eat properly.
The race went wonderfully. The training paid off because I didn't suffer and I even finished in 11 hours and 37 minutes (I was aiming for between 12 and 14 hours), which put me in 147th place out of 480 entrants, with a fairly fast marathon time of 3 hours and 38 minutes. The atmosphere was incredible and seeing all these landscapes and people in one day was amazing.
My main motivation remains enjoyment.
How did you combine sports and high-level studies?
I would add that I am also treasurer of the Gala organizing committee and that I taught math classes at the same time. To juggle all these activities, you need good organizational skills. There isn't a single day that isn't busy. I use my days off to work on my classes and associations, plan my weekly workouts, and adapt to the weather when it's bad, sometimes even agreeing to go running on a weeknight from 10 to 11 p.m. in February.
How Arts et Métiers help Arts et Métiers achieve your goals?
I received a lot of support from many of my classmates (from the 2020 and 2021 graduating classes) who followed the project closely and helped me enormously financially. I also had the support of one of my professors who encouraged me to apply.
Photo credits: Mathieu Boulanger
