Truly a stunning part of the world! Only been once but Iceland feels like a different planet.

Not heard of this race before, thanks for the write up and congrats on the finish!!

Thank you so much - we were just in Grundarfjörður on vacation in June - didn't hear of the triathlon. I told my wife and kids that it would be a great (hard) place for an IM. That's for sharing. The conditions there can be more than brutal, so I guess it goes on the list :-)! Congratulations!!

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Well done, massive achievement!

Thanks guys! You should go for it next year!

such a cool race i'm sure !! thanks for posting, and giving the rest of us a heads up !

Finally got my race report (really more a story of the whole experience) posted here for anyone interested.

https://www.extremetris.com/...report-eric-davidson

Fixed the link for you:
https://www.extremetris.com/...-davidson?rq=eric%20

Nice job, sounds like an epic race! Enjoyed your write up, especially, " hurry Daddy, all those people are leaving you behind! You're going to lose!"

My wife and daughter are currently in Iceland and from their experience and your write up, I am seriously considering this event for next year. Anything in your preparation/training that you didn't do that in hindsight you wish you did? Anything you did that you considered critical to prep for the conditions?
Thanks,
Tim

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Blog: https://swimbikerunrinserepeat.wordpress.com

Thanks Tim! You should go for it!

My coach and I talked about him squirting me with a firehouse hose while throwing dead chickens at me with a fan running on a frozen day while I rode rollers in the aero position, but I think that probably would have been overkill. Then again, maybe not.

For prep, I think it depends what your goals are. If you want to be in contention for the podium, I think the key is to have some awesome mountain running legs. The winner this year was a local from Reykjavik who runs that mountain regularly. I saw him running back up that 30% incline like a beast while I was still headed to the halfway turnaround. Not sure what the best way to develop that kind of strength would be if a mountain isn’t readily available, but he who cracks the code will be at a big advantage.

For normal folk like me who are content to walk the steep inclines and consider finishing an accomplishment, I think the next most important thing for this race is to be prepared (gear, clothing, physical strength reserve, bike handling skills and mental fortitude) for wild weather contingencies. The weather was tough at times during the race, but it could have been much worse. Two days afterwards the winds were 60 mph. They say that snow/sleet in July are not unheard of. Get really comfortable with your setups and abilities in all sorts of windy/cool/cold/wet condition combos.

A not-obvious unique feature is that you and your support team need to have a pretty good plan on where to have pit stops. You’re not allowed to just pull off to the side of the road in Iceland, so you need to find turn offs, parking lots, etc. I used google earth imagery and mostly picked spots that were at the top of hills. Two support cars got high-centered trying to pull off the road or turnaround in bad places.

Join the ISLXTRI athlete Facebook group and you’ll get better sampling of opinions.

Let us know how it goes!

Thanks for the suggestions Ice789. It would definitely not be a race for me. Rather, a day to enjoy the scenery, battle Mother Nature, and test my mental fortitude to survive such conditions.

I live in western NC where there is mountainous trail running, rainy 40-55 degree weather in Feb-April and we have a neighborhood lake where I do all my OWS. I usually wait until it hits low 60s in mid April, but I can always get going in March when it will be in low-mid 50s!

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Blog: https://swimbikerunrinserepeat.wordpress.com

That should be a perfect training ground! Good luck!
-Eric Davidson