Eileen Steil has already gone before... if I recall...

ahh, why?

couldn't they come up with a more interesting course?? crazy...

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�The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.� -Michelangelo

MoodBoost Drink : Mood Support + Energy.

It is not really the distance that amazes me, but the mental toughness it would take from the sheer boredome of the looped times. Now, a 560 mile bike ride from point A to B and the 260 mile run would be a little more enjoyable (if you could call it that).

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

did she do it in this format though?

Even more nuts is the course... 25 yard pool, 4 mile out and back bike, and 1 mile out and back run. That would be mind numbing for one race, let along 10.

Did you see the course? I would go bananas after the first day.

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"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country" JFK - Replace 'country' with the company you work for, friends, family, and strangers and the world will be a much better place.

What is even "tougher" is that it set up like this:

The event is set up as a “short course” for safety and monitoring.

* 25 Yard Lap Pool.
* 4 Mile Out and Back Bike.
* 1 Mile Out and Back Run.

The more I stare at that page, I can only summon one word:

ridonkulous

I may drive down on the last day just to see if someone finishes.

So is it 1 Ironman a day for 10 days or 10 days to do 10 Ironmans however you want to space them?

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Portside Athletics Blog

i was able to get her on the phone for a couple...she is going IM distance each day...10 days in a row.

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Train hard...race well.
www.jimmishler.com
"Jim, I happen to agree with you" DougStern

This sounds like the equivalent of, "If a tree fell in the forest..."

If a woman swam, rode, and swam around in circles in a small town in Michigan for 10 days straight.......

With all due respect to her efforts, Cal Ripken's endurance record still take the cake!

Check this out....

http://www.multisport-mx.com/FramEn.htm

and some records....

http://www.iutasport.com/...ort_World_Record.asp

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Dan
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póg mo thóin

What do they think they accomplish by having the prize purses? I can't imagine that $100 for an AG win is motivating for a 10 day, $1,500 epic...and wouldn't you technically need to be a pro to take the $?

Yikes, I am pretty hard core, but this takes the cake.

I can't help but think that each one of these Ironmans that we do takes something out of our bodies permanently. We are this big huge lab filled with Ironman finishing lab rats. In 30-50 years, maybe we'll know about the impact these events have on our health. I enjoy doing them (OK, maybe not at mile 20 in the run...but you get the picture), but one in one day is enough. I can't imagine doing two Ironmans over two days forget about 10 in 10 days.

Years ago I remember Mark Allen saying that 1 Ironman per year was enough. I think he had a few 2 Ironman years when he did Ironman Japan. Same with Dave Scott. When Mark and Dave say that one per year is more than enough, I take their advice. I actually turned down my 2 Kona qual slots in 1991 and 1992 because I did not want to do 2 in year. I have regretted that since, but nonetheless, I took their advice to heart and I have had a great run in endurance sport over 25 years.

It is funny, but at one time in my life when I was younger and had much more raw speed I was obsessed with going long. Now that I have less speed I actually prefer going short and as fast as my body will allow me. Long stuff is cool, but I'd go bonkers late in day 1 (as I do in every Ironman...)

Dev

Eileen completed the deca-Iron. That's where each discipline is still completed in order, but the distance is 10x. (24 mile swim, 1120 mile bike, 262 mile run). I believe they had two weeks to complete. The course was also a short loop, and they lived out of tents when they needed to rest for a few hours.

Crazy stuff!!

Dev--it takes more out of you than I am willing to discuss. But it also gives back to myself more than any other arena in my life--and apparently many of those close to me too, I think they get more out of it than I do. Going bonkers around the tight circuit is the easy part--its everything else. I have measures in place for this season that I did not have access to in the past, and I think the biggest measure I have is experience (that is what keeps me up at night).

As to who asked about money--we are ranked under IUTA--we are goverened by their rules, I have taken plenty of money from the organizations, I am not a pro, but I do represent the USA.

Mexico will be doing the deca a day in November (little history--they are the ones that started the deca and has been held 8 times officially sanctioned by IUTA number 9 will be in France in June - traditional style all swim/all bike/ all run 14 day cutoff, and number 10 will be back in Mexico in November with the new format 10 irons 10 days)

God willing I will be at both France in June and Mexico in November. I have given great thought into the abuse that I sustained in Hawaii when I finished the traditional deca, and those memories are keeping me awake at night. I am VERY concerned about the physical AND mental abuse, but know that Christophe in France has medical squared away, and it goes without saying Mexico is very responsible when it comes to the athlete.

I know Kathy will have a great race in Michigan, and she does care about her health so I am sure proper measures are in place. She is fit and strong, so there is no question in my head she can do it. If it was sanctioned by IUTA I have a feeling more of the Europeans that got closed out of France would come over.

I am looking forward to the new event of deca a day in Mexico. In many ways it will be a completely different race. I don't even know if I can pull it off this season, and have already given great thought to the abuse of going to bed to get back up the next day. I have a feeling sticking days will be day 4, day 8. I know it will be a different sensation instead of blowing out my shoulders for those hours on end in the pool (that is the WORST!!). It will favor the faster athlete, which is where my concern is for myself. I am slow, and am stubborn, that is what gets me through.

and for the record--yes it is stupid, but that is not why we do it.

Here's the records for the 15 times Ironman distance race:

15 x Ironman Triathlon - Men 312:22:45 Jaroslav Pavelka (Czr) Monterrey (Mex) 1995
15 x Ironman Triathlon - Women 403:01:54 Sylvia Andonie (Mex) Monterrey (Mex) 1995

Here's the records for the 20 times Ironman distance race:

20 x Ironman Triathlon - Men 437:21:40 Vidmantas Urbonas(LIT) Monterrey (Mex) 1998
20 x Ironman Triathlon - Women 643:01:49 Sylvia Andonie (Mex) Monterrey (Mex) 1998

http://www.angelfire.com/...amentor/records.html
http://www.triathlonweb.nl/dutch/records.htm
http://www.triathlonweb.nl/dutch/recordwm.htm

Brent--thanks for those links!! I have been building out my website with my webmistress and we were looking for those records.

I know you joke about do I hear 25....but Sylvia almost caused my heart to stop mid deca when I asked her if it was ever to be held again (double deca--not that I have ANY desire to do that--serious not sarcastic) and she said the triple instead which I know she was joking, but it made my task seem simple. In many ways I am glad Sylvia is taking these races for fun now, and even happier that they still RD them, for who knows where the line would end. Personally, I think the quintuple is ideal for my body, I think. Thia season is it for multiple long abuse...I think.

I'm sitting here worried I'm undertrained for Arizona in 4 weeks. I could never imagine doing what you do.

Brent--you are ready, you will do fine..just be smart and if entails slowing down to make room for a strong run, slow down. Have a great race at IMAZ :-)
If it's your first, the feeling you have is normal, if it's not your first, the feeling you have is normal (not a typo intentionally the same). Trust your instincts and go with the moment and keep the emotions in check until the final 10k. Time for me to get to sleep--long weekend ahead.

Eileen, Thanks for the encouragement.

I've done IMC a couple times. The undertraining is due to being too busy at work and the fact that I live in Canada where the roads are covered in ice and the lakes are frozen over right now.

I'll be fine. It actually could be a great race for me since I'm well rested and the mental side of it building up nicely in preparation for the race.

One of the guys I run with got into the Badwater ultramarathon this year. Another race where people like you do things humbling to those of us that only do single day races.

Hi Eileen. You and others continue to amaze me. I have had this discussing about long course tri and health with my other middle age tri friends, and the general consensus is that although we have hammered our bodies pretty good, to a person, we are all fitter and healthier than our brothers, sisters, and cousins who are our age or younger. I still worry about what all this means if and when I get to 70 or so and if I will be able to walk down stairs or need an elevator :-(.

One observation that I have made is that a straight our marathon takes more out of me for several weeks than an Ironman. I think it has a lot to do with the higher forces that your body is absorbing. I suspect in a deca the same holds true, alrough the organs must take a beating, metabolizing stuff at a much higher rate than sitting around a desk :-).

Anyway, all the best to you ultra folks. I'd like to be on the crew for a team one year at the relatively "lame" ultraman hawaii just to witness the fun!

Dev

"and for the record--yes it is stupid, but that is not why we do it."

Love that line, Eileen. Just love it.