When Apolo Ohno crossed the finish line at the IRONMAN® World Championship in Kailua-Kona, HI on October 11, his journey from an eight-time Olympic medalist in short-track speedskating to an IRONMAN finisher was complete. The 32-year-old finished in a remarkable 9 hours, 52 minutes, 27 seconds, shattering his goal of sub-10 hours. For Ohno, reaching the finish line was the culmination of six months of intense training and determination leading up to the biggest event in endurance sports. 

Throughout the Mission Apolo: BUILT WITH CHOCOLATE MILK journey, Ohno received training advice from three-time IRONMAN® World Champion Craig Alexander and six-time IRONMAN champion Luke McKenzie; both Team CHOCOLATE MILK athletes very familiar with the intensity of training for a 140.6 mile race. A big part of the journey was focused on Ohno’s recovery after intense sessions, something that McKenzie knew would be crucial to Ohno’s success. “He obviously has the athletic ability. No one wins eight Olympic medals without incredible talent and desire. I basically told him to apply this ability and desire to his IRONMAN training and racing,” McKenzie said. McKenzie trusts the  benefits of chocolate milk after years of drinking it post-workout to replace electrolytes and repair damaged muscles, and he shared his experience with Ohno while preparing him for this massive undertaking. “I have been in the sport for over 20 years now and as I get older I find that recovery has become more and more important. By recovering from each session through good nutrition, I find I am able to train more consistently day in and day out,” said McKenzie. 

Ohno also received recovery advice from Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD , a registered dietitian with an expertise in post-workout nutrition. Clark was impressed with Ohno’s adherence to good nutrition. “He’s very much into nutrition. He’s always been a chocolate milk drinker, since he was a kid. This is a real natural thing that he believes in,” said Clark. Clark recommended chocolate milk because of its high quality protein, and its ability to refuel muscles. Ohno would be burning upwards of 3000 calories a day, so a cold glass of lowfat chocolate milk would pay tremendous dividends in post workout recovery. “He’s pretty smart. He knows how to take care of his body and the importance of fueling up and refueling,” Clark said. 

Ohno’s willingness to focus on the fourth discipline in triathlon, recovery, contributed to his success in Kona. When McKenzie first started working with Ohno, he saw an athlete that was incredibly driven and physically gifted and not intimidated by the daunting task ahead. “Having the type of dedication he did during his speedskating training, I didn’t think the workload of endurance training was ever going to be an issue with Apolo. He built up to his longest workouts over a few months and was able to achieve all benchmarks along the way,” said McKenzie. As part of a dedicated training plan, some of Ohno’s time and focus  would be spent on recovery, which of course would prove invaluable throughout his journey. “Anyone can perform well for one workout, but to do it repeatedly is the difficult part. Recovery, with the help of chocolate milk, is what’s kept me in the game,” Ohno said prior to Kona. 

Ohno went all-in to try and accomplish his goal of completing the IRONMAN World Championship in less than 10 hours. By taking every phase of his training seriously, Ohno went from a rookie triathlete to an IRONMAN finisher with the help of lowfat chocolate milk, which helped replenish his depleted muscles after some of the most grueling training days of his life. McKenzie not only taught him patience and valuable training techniques, but he also instilled in him the importance of dedicating himself to the fourth discipline of the sport. “Apolo was very responsive to the tips I shared with him. I knew at that point that he was going to be great at triathlon because he had already mastered what I considered his biggest hurdle,” McKenzie said. 

Any athlete that wants to be at their best on race day can learn a lot from Ohno’s experience, and following his adherence to recovery is a great place to start. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to be an Olympic medalist either.

For more on Ohno’s journey and to go behind-the-scenes to learn what it took for him to cross the finish line in Kona, check out gotchocolatemilk.com.