When I suggest to David McNamee that he’s made of different stuff to the majority of the population, he barely takes a breath before wholeheartedly agreeing.
It’s no wonder there’s something different between the likes of McNamee and mere mortals; as one of the world’s best Ironman athletes he does, after all, subject himself to one of the most gruelling physical tests on the entire planet on a regular basis. And the toughest test of them all is, once again, upon him.
Today, McNamee will line up in Kona in Hawaii for the Ironman World Championships.
A two-and-a-half-mile swim, a 112-mile cycle and then a marathon – 26.2 miles – run typically taking the best men between eight and nine hours is something only a select few would even contemplate inflicting on themselves.
“I think we probably are just wired a bit differently,” the 34-year-old says of Ironman competitors. “In endurance sports, when you’re training so much, it becomes pretty selfish and your whole day has to revolve around your sport.
“When you’re doing two or three sessions a day like I am, your mind is always switched on and I do find it hard to mentally switch off.
“And then racing Hawaii is just a different challenge to anything else. The climate is so tough – it’s 29, 30 degrees, or more, the whole day with 60, 70-per-cent humidity and that brings with it a whole set of challenges and it’s a lot of the reason why it’s just so testing.
“And then you have the very fittest men and women there fighting to become world champion so it’s just a very special race.”
McNamee knows exactly what it takes to challenge for the world title in Kona.
Twice he has been a bronze medallist at the event, in 2017 and 2018, but this is the first time it has been held since 2019 due to the disruption caused by the pandemic. Experience is a valuable commodity in every sport, but rarely more so than when it comes to the Kona Ironman.
“Experience is massively important in this race,” McNamee, who hails from Ayrshire but is now based in Girona, says. “Anyone who’s raced in Hawaii knows that you’re never going to have a perfect race – you’re always going to have ups and downs.
“In any Ironman, when things are tough, it’s hard to stay mentally positive but when it’s 29 degrees and extremely humid it’s even harder – you always end up dehydrated and mentally fatigued and that’s where experience helps.
“I know that even the times I’ve been on the podium, I’ve gone through really difficult spells in the race but I’ve managed to keep it together mentally well enough to get through it whereas someone who’s new to racing in Kona might find that very challenging.
“It doesn’t matter how level-headed you are as a person when you’re feeling fine – when you’re in the middle of a race for the world title, and the conditions are so difficult, it’s a massive test.”
Predictions for this event are notoriously tricky given the taxing nature of the race but McNamee is confident he is in the shape required to challenge for not only a podium place but also the win, which would see him become the first British man ever to win the event.
“I think there’s about 10, 15 guys who can get on the podium and so who ends up on there comes down, in a lot of ways, to the mental side of it even more than the physical side of things,” he says.
“Everyone, at some point in the race, will face difficult times, so it’s how you cope with it. Before the race, you have to be aware that you’ll have to battle through these hard periods. I feel like I’m slightly stronger than I was when I made the podium – I feel like my preparation this year has been very good.
“I feel in better shape than in previous years but there’s a lot of unknowns because there’s guys who I’ve never raced in Hawaii before. I feel like I’m in the kind of shape I need to be to challenge for a place on the podium, or even win the event, so that’s a nice feeling.”
