Ironman's New CEO Signals a Shift in Focus

Good morning everyone,

After a week back in Canada visiting family and friends and trudging through the snow, I’ve returned home to Boulder, and an incredible contrast in weather. It’s been sunny skies for the past few days, so of course I’ve been squeezing in as many outdoor miles as possible.

Over the years I’ve learned the best way to take advantage of these nice winter spells.

• Don’t change much with running - no need to risk injury.

• Dial things back in the pool, it’ll be there when the weather turns again…

• Crank up the bike miles - because you never know when you’ll be outdoors again. Could be next week, or could be next June! 🤷

In today’s edition: 

• 🧭 Could Ironman’s new CEO signal a shift in focus?

• 🎻 Odd, but proven ways to speed up recovery.

• And, the most effective - and simple - ways to improve performance!

Thanks for being here,

-Matt Sharpe, newsletter editor

Have a triathlete in your life who can't stop swimming, biking, or running? Fire this off to them. Forwarded from a friend? Sign-up for free. 

ONE BIG THING

Ironman Hires New CEO - Signals a Shift in Focus

What is it: As reported in Triathlon Magazine Canada, Ironman has officially named who will replace its long-running CEO, Andrew Messick.

• Scott Derue, who until recently was the President of luxury fitness brand Equinox, will be taking the helm of the iconic triathlon brand.

• His background also includes a long stint in academia, with 14 years spent at the University of Michigan, first as a professor, and then serving as Dean of the Ross School of Business.

• He is also a co-founder and managing partner at Rabun Group, a private equity firm.

Endurance background: Although he has yet to compete in a triathlon, Derue has a robust endurance sport background which includes scaling six of the seven highest mountains in the world, including Everest.

• He also recently completed the Gobi March - a 250km Ultramarathon.

Executive chops: He became President of Equinox during the COVID pandemic, a time of incredible difficulty for the fitness industry. In a conversation with Triathlete Magazine, he mentioned the pivotal decisions he made to have all employees and members be vaccinated for the virus (with certain exceptions).

• Derue noted this decision brought stability to the business and returned a sense of community.

Tempo’s take: It’s been a long time coming, but after 12 years of Messick, it’s now time for Ironman to enter its Derue era. On the surface, it appears to be a fairly similar hire; a fitness executive with experience managing global operations.

• But digging a little deeper reveals some interesting aspects (and pure Tempo speculation) that could point to what the organization will focus on in the future:

🏃 Ultra exposure - Derue appears to be an avid trail and ultrarunner and that may have given him an edge in landing the gig. Ironman is heavily associated with triathlon, but the corporation has seriously diversified from its multisport roots with acquisitions of Rock and Roll Running events, Haute Route cycling races, and leading trail running event host UTMB.

• And with trail runnig growing at over 231% in the past ten years, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Derue eschew transition for the trail.

⚒️ Working the data mines - Ironman has a retention problem. Many athletes see their events as one-and-done endeavors. In an interview with Sportico, Derue stated, “endurance athletes don’t show up just on race day, right? They’re training year-round. And we think there are many opportunities for Ironman Group to serve our community, certainly on race day, but throughout their entire journey.”

• Surely there must be an opportunity to monetize the journey? 🤣 But seriously this could mean many things. We’re thinking that they’ll be collecting more data in the hopes of better understanding their customers and motivations.

🤑 Equinox experience - We don’t have a membership at Equinox, but looking at what they are offering, we wish we did! This article points out that at Equinox there are different tiers of pricing for increasingly impressive levels of service.

• Although Ironman already has its extremely spendy Exclusive Challenge, we may be seeing a tiered system within races that come with premium perks (like no-line porta potties!).

🧭 Bold moves - There are grumblings about how he isn’t a triathlete, but that may turn out to be a blessing. Having an outside perspective that may or may not care if the World Championships is at a given location every year could allow for decisions to be made in the interest of wider participation and further growth and development of the sport.

• And given his experience in making aggressive decisions, it won’t be long till we find out where he wants to take Ironman, and the sport as a whole.

FAVOURITES

🎻 Speed up recovery: Want to kick-start your recovery immediately after a big workout? Besides the usual suspects (refueling, rehydrating, etc.) you might want to expose yourself to slower music, and relaxation breathing. [Huberman Lab]

🥇 Olympics incoming: The qualification for this year’s Olympic Games in Paris is about to heat up with the final qualification races incoming. See who’s in, who’s out, and who’s fighting for the few remaining spots on the start line. [World Triathlon]

📈 Effective performance improvement: Improving your performance as a beginner (or advanced!) triathlete can sometimes seem daunting. Thankfully folks on Reddit are willing to share their hard-earned wisdom on what changes can make the biggest performance improvements. Increasing training volume is especially critical! [Reddit]

🦵 Nail your kick: In swimming it’s easy to focus on the arms, but your kick is critical in stabilizing your body and helping with body position. Check out this video to learn the importance of keeping a consistent kick rhythm! [Natashavdm81]

GIVEAWAY

Win a Pair of High-Performance Rudy Project Sunglasses

Do you need a new pair of sunglasses this season?

From now until Feb 6, every person you refer to the newsletter enters you to win a new pair of racing glasses from Rudy Project.

• Entering is easy. Use this URL to refer your friends: https://www.thetemponews.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER

What about a new helmet? Tempo subscribers can use this link to access 35% off everything!

REEL TIME

This is especially tough when the pool is cold! 🥶🤣

steveablake

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QUICK NEWS

PTO London: The Professional Triathletes Organization has announced that they have purchased the long-running London Triathlon and the event will be incorporated into their soon-to-be-revealed global pro series. [Professional Triathletes Organization]

Winter Triathlon: Winter Triathlon hits Harbin, China this weekend to kickstart run-bike-ski action for 2024. [World Triathlon]

Luisa update: We’re heartened to hear that Brazilian Olympian and pro triathlete Luisa Baptista is on the road to recovery following her near death after being hit by a car. [Professional Triathletes Organization]

Iconic race for sale: BBQ, beers, and and plenty of memories. The Memphis in May Triathlon is for sale, and the lucky buyer will own a coveted piece of triathlon history. [Memphis Flyer]

YOU SAID

Tempo readers had some great insight into whether they thought that the Professional Triathletes Organization could cut into Ironman’s age group racing monopoly!

TEMPO EXCLUSIVE ARCHIVE

• Simple strength training for a breakthrough race!

• Spirulina, and other legal performance enhancers that work!

• How this athlete balances start-up life and triathlon training.

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