What questions do you have? Ive never done the double anvil but have done Ultraman Florida, the quintuple ironman and deca ironman which are IUTA run like the anvils. I have a lot of friends that just did the double anvil this past weekend. Both races are pretty different, from price to format (point to point vs loops, non stop vs stages).

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2x Deca-Ironman World Cup (10 Ironmans in 10 days), 2x Quintuple Ironman World Cup (5 Ironmans in 5 days), Ultraman, Ultra Marathoner, and I once did an Ironman.

Chuy thanks for the reply, I don't think I have any specific questions I just cant decided and wanted knowledgeable opinions on the races.
Just looking for the next challenge and these both intrigue me. The cost pushes me towards Double Anvil, but having never done a single day event of that duration then I start to lean towards Ultraman. On the other hand, my weakness of the three disciplines is swimming so that pushes me back toward Double Anvil, I could keep going all day swaying in the wind like this, thinking of more and more reasons I should do one over the other.
Just hoping to get some inside perspective on the two events both seem awesome and pose their own unique challenges I am just too damn indecisive.

I see on the oduble anvil website they recommend sleep deprivation in training. This seems unnecessary to me. Depriving yourself of sleep is not very "trainable" and you'd be better off getting lots of sleep during your training block so that you can train better. And then on race day just suck it up, bring on the caffeine and stay awake. Would you agree?

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Are you ready to do an Ultraman? | How I calculate Ironman race fueling | Strength Training for Athletes |

First off you need to see if cost is a limiting factor, Ultraman is more expensive when you factor everything in.

Next you need to decide on format. Ultraman is a 3 day lets call it stage race which is point to point with your crew following you around. Its nice because you don't see the same sights 2 times and its an open course. The fact that its 3 days with a 12 hour cutoff every day means you have rest and sleep to look forward to at the end of everyday.

The double anvil will be a looped course, which means that you will be going round and round seeing your crew at the same point every loop. Its a non stop race, which means that when time starts you aren't finished until you've swum 4.8miles biked 224miles and ran 52 miles.

As far as the swim its 4.8miles vs 6.2miles, you will have to train for both regardless. As far as having never done a single day event of that duration no one has until they do a double anvil or 24 hour race usually.

If you want to send me an inbox we can chat on the phone or I can send you a more detailed email later if you have more questions or want more detailed info.

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2x Deca-Ironman World Cup (10 Ironmans in 10 days), 2x Quintuple Ironman World Cup (5 Ironmans in 5 days), Ultraman, Ultra Marathoner, and I once did an Ironman.

I agree that you don't need sleep deprivation training for the double anvil. With a 36 hour cutoff caffeine and adrenaline will power you through.

If this was a longer event such as RAAM or a continuous Deca/ double deca where you are planning on sleeping at most an hour or two a night for a week or more then you would need some training with not a lot of sleep to kind of experience what your body will go through. But even here different athletes have different approaches to this, ive known people who during training have blocks of very little sleep, others set an alarm every hour while sleeping to get used to waking up. Different people have different approaches.

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2x Deca-Ironman World Cup (10 Ironmans in 10 days), 2x Quintuple Ironman World Cup (5 Ironmans in 5 days), Ultraman, Ultra Marathoner, and I once did an Ironman.

I wouldn't recommend sleep deprivation training but I would absolutely suggest some kind of night training, especially on the run. Depending on which race you're planning to do, it can get pretty chilly at night and often feels colder than it is. If you're not prepared for the fatigue, lack of sleep and cold/damp/dark, that's a lot of folks' downfall. Even the hypnotic back and forth of a headlamp makes some people nauseous, dizzy or can make you feel more tired. Its good to know how these night-related phenomena affect you and how to push through them.

I have done a bunch of doubles, a triple and a quintuple. Depending on your pace, your race goals, some people choose to sleep for a few hours, some don't. For double and triples, I never have slept but for the triple, things get pretty interesting when it gets dark the 2nd night after pushing hard for that long.

yeah I can imagine! even on the little 24 hour mtb races I've done, there has been some degree of hallucination going on at night...

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Are you ready to do an Ultraman? | How I calculate Ironman race fueling | Strength Training for Athletes |