i wonder if the RV has detoured at all from the driving routes? I'm surprised people aren't complaining about that. I mean, hell, if he planned a driving route, he MUST follow that exact route.

i think one reason he might be more sensitive to rain is that he went through a few days of trenchfoot in AZ (3-4 days ago?) and i think he is very cautious about having 5-6 hours of wet feet again.

I wouldn't be surprised if that's a big part of it why he's indoors today. It would suck to be stopped by foot fungus.
I think the rain has mostly left his area, but the humidity is horrible in east Texas, and I'm sure it is in Shreveport, too.


I'd rather be on the road than the trainer any day.

That was not written. It seems like he may be shirking fatherhood responsibilities though. With that said, some may think that I am too child-centric in my own parenting with the amount of time which I spend with them.

Stephen J

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I believe my local reality has been violated.
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Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2

Would be nice if he could find an indoor venue that has an indoor track, instead of the treadmill. Could at least move back and forth between the track and machine, for some variation.

You didn't right those exact words, but you said the data made you believe he was not being a good parent. And you have no idea if he is neglecting his children or wife. FYI, if you look through his facebook, it is clear he isn't.

I've asked you 3x for proof that he is indeed not being a good father, yet you ignore them each time. If you don't understand why what you said is wrong, then you're dumber than I thought.

That is about the only thing you have written.

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Rock Chalk!

Unfortunately, I feel pretty confident in saying that the IC has had zero time to read ST since he started this endeavor. Maybe he'll skim through this thread when he's recovering:)

Actually, I'm kinda sorta serious about the need for the rule set though, as some people really might want to try to exceed the 50 irons in 50 days. Specifically, the indoor/outdoor thing needs to be decided. In theory, it may be physically easier inside but mentally it may be harder to stare at 4 walls for 15-16 hr/day. ST needs to come together and decide these weighty questions:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

This x a lot.

Maybe 10 years from now he'll regret being such a wuss, because his 50/50/50 included indoor portions, while the multitudes of others who did it after him only did it outdoors.

Or....he'll be the first to even think up such a thing, and that will never be outdone.

There are no rules. He's making the rules. The next guy to do this either does it all faster or with more strict parameters. For this attempt, anything goes. I love it.

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Chris Harris

I can't fathom another human attempting this...but time will probably prove me wrong.

Why can he not swim across those flooded rivers with a bike on his back?

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Adrian in Vancouver

Exactly.

I doubt someone is sitting at home and thinking that just because of a handful of indoor days, this whole thing is now easily achievable.

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Chris Harris

Of course!

If you allow riding on a trainer and running on a treadmill, logistics become enormously easier. You could just put your trainer and and treadmill in your RV and "race" while travelling between states. :)

Now if you could find room to install an endless pool as well, you are golden!

Updated splits (no T1 or T2 times are included in the overall total)

from Garmin and/or comments:
Day 1 - Hawaii - 1:07/6:21/5:23 = 12:51
Day 2 - Alaska - 1:08/6:33/5:23 = 13:05
Day 3 - Washington - 1:23*/7:12/5:33 = 14:08 (Swim: 1:15:23 + 7:49 = 1:23:12. He swim an additional 400 yds between B and R due to him swimming yards when he thought he was swimming meters.)
Day 4 - Oregon - 1:23/6:30/5:04 = 12:58
Day 5 - California - 1:26/6:46/5:30 = 13:43
Day 6 - Nevada - 1:34/7:31/6:19 = 15:24
Day 7 - Arizona - 1:44/7:39/6:39 = 15:02
Day 8 - New Mexico - 1:33/9:17 (6:20 moving)/ ~6:30 = ~17:30
Day 9 - Colorado - 1:38/7:38/6:23 = 15:39
Day 10 - Kansas - 1:32/7:37/6:38 = 15:48
Day 11 - Oklahoma - 1:35/7:30/7:17 = 16:22
Day 12 - Texas (indoors) - 1:21/6:26/5:55 = 13:43

Poor guy for having to spend that much time in Oklahoma.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I agree with ericmulk and some other posters that a set of rules would be ideal. In the sense that without any rules, any future challenger can just make up a lot of things as they go along and point to this as a precedent.
This is a great athletic attempt, with a lot of history behind it (Few people thought that the 1x30 IUTA record would be challenged). If he succeeds, and the 1x50 is actually noticed by a significant number of people (think 50/50 by Dean Karnazes, despite several people having bettered his feat), has significant public news presence or is acknowledged by a significant organization (IUTA, Guinness world record, etc) I believe there will be several attempts to surpass it. Most likely majority as you describe: indoor pool, trainer and treadmill. And no "50 states" involved. They will just be shooting for the most consecutive iron distance days, and may or may not do any "interrupted" swims, IV fluids etc. It will be the hour record all over again.
I'm sure most of the 1x30 finishers are looking at this closely.

FWIW, I take no stand as to its legitimacy. I do think the new parameters makes the 1x50 much, much more achievable than we thought when he started.

Based on comments by IC's team on FB, they are planning on being inside again tomorrow in Arkansas due to bad weather.

I'll second the "grandma" comment! Geez...in reality anyone over 40 could be a grandma but in our sport it's really awesome to see the 50+ women kicking butt. I can say that because I'm right there with you!

I continue to be absolutely amazed the IC is doing so well, day after day. He did say today that he was tired but he's plugging along.

Logistics challenges aside, it seems clear that they have settled in a bit from that first week and the distances they travel as they crisscross the county get less between states. Those western states and Alaska/Hawaii were a bitch to try and manage so I'm really glad that it seems to be smoother for transport, even though the weather is making it tougher.

The fact that every day is an organic experience is really awesome. As one who tends to plan everything out to the smallest details and contingencies I really love to see this. As a race director I tend to plan things out to the extreme and hope it all goes as planned (never does), as an athlete I try to nail about 80% of it and wing the other 20%. These guys have taken everything the weather has thrown at them and while others would have given up they have adjusted and moved forward. Definitely awesome in my book.

I was talking to guys at my swim workout, a lot of Ironman finishers, and we all agreed that we were toast after one. Can't even imagine doing it day after day even if there are not imposed time cut-offs. More kudos to James...he's amazing for being able to do this much.

And oh by the way...someone from the crew left a bottle of water and a Hylete zippered hoody on the hood of our truck last week when IC was in Santa Cruz. We asked everyrone at the swim and T2 if it belonged to them but no takers. You lose...I'm wearing it and loving it even though it is two sizes too big! It's become my favorite go-to sweats for swim coaching and going to the gym.

13:43.

That's his fastest time since a week ago and about a 2 hour improvement on recent times.

More recovery time and significantly less demanding on the crew and family.

This could be a real game changer. If the indoors becomes a regular option it will make completion much more likely.

Given the comparability of indoor results, regular or even occasional indoor days would also give those of us following an interesting indication of how is fairing.

We need proof that he owns land and cattle on that land, or he gets dunked in a horse trough. Because keyboard warriors of slowtwitch say so! lol.

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Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

could be that he's "all hat and no cattle" as some in Texas say (but not me).

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

People keep saying this, but when we all read 50 IMs in 50 days, we had a set of "rules" in mind. 140.6 a day every day.

I'll join the few that thinks that the indoor days kind of cheapens it a bit. Yes it's still an achievement that I'll never match.

Indoors is much easier....physically..
And totally able to switch the brain off.
That alone should save significant energy ;-)

I really don't get what people want with the rules. The goal of it seems pretty obvious to me: cover the distance of an Ironman every day for 50 days in every state. It's not an event put on by an organization; they're a small crew and things are not going to go according to plan, and it seems that they're doing well in adjusting for that, especially with different courses daily. The meters vs. yards deal on the swim early on is something that's bound to happen, and he made sure to cover the missing distance to stick with the original plan. Yesterday's issue of being forced indoors doesn't seem as if it would have been any easier to me, nor did it seem to be preventable based on the flash flooding; it was still 13 hours of exercise indoors, which is tortuous enough in itself, likely scrambling to come up with a contingency plan and the logistics of that when the weather was off, and still having the travel there and the associated exhaustion that comes with it.

I guess I just don't understand the armchair quarterbacking going on with this. I'd perhaps feel differently if it were a licensed, organized event or even touted as something official. But it's not that, and is instead quite simply a challenge to complete the iron distance daily, which has been done.

I've said this multiple times, even called it the Calvin Ball of triathlon in that the rules can be whatever he says they are and he can change them when he wants. But I do think the indoor days do seem to cheapen it. The logistics of 50 states is part of what made this so much more daunting than a triple deca. I wouldn't expect him to ride outside in a hurricane/tropical storm but I did think he'd be braving regular style heat, wind and rain.

I think we'll only be able to judge how impressive or not this is after he is done or quits. If he goes on a streak of 20 days outside all within a calendar day to end it I don't think we'll be debating whether riding inside in Texas and Arkansas back in the second week negates that.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Ok I will bite/start the rules list.

Official ST 50/50/50 (DRAFT) Rule Set
1. You must start each successive IM distance in successive days.
2. You can not start more than one event an any give day (0000-2400).
3. You must complete all IM events in no more that 51 days (this allows for a late start on the last day)
4. You must complete 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run per IM event.
5. No more than 10% can be accomplished indoors
6. Must be verifiable

Those are few off the top of my head!

Larry