Excel jockeys in Investment Banking, usually M&A can pull 16hr days for long periods of time.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

I don't know about any of that, but I spent 120 days in the field in the first 270 days I was stationed at Ft Bliss. And my body was run ragged.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Not replying to anyone in particular. Having followed the effort and this thread for over a month now my disappointment with this whole exercise - and yes it's impressive the dude has the mental game of an ox - but where it falls short for me is that as a triathlon/endurance sport community we're not actually able to learn anything from it. As soon as he introduced drafting on the bike it changed the energy balance - it changed the energy equation of what makes an ironman an ironman. Those sub 100w rides are ~50w shy of a solo effort, and that 150cal/hr saved takes it into the space where he can fuel enough as he goes rather than starting the run each day with a calorie deficit (and which again is done at a pace not to deplete reserves).

Contrast that with the sub7/8 attempt - which again is a crock from a rules/racing perspective - but at least from that we'll get a data point about the sport we don't currently have. At the moment elite IM performance is ~4500kj bike and 2.40 run. They simply won't get through that amount of work on the bike in the split they'll do so we'll get to see where the tradeoff lands. Does it become a 4000kj bike / 2.34 run, or do you target a 3700kj bike / 2.30 run. Whilst the decision will be unique to each athlete based on where their run 'asymptote' is at least we'll get a data point further out on the curve than what we currently have.

Back to ironcowboy - given what he's doing doesn't actually resemble 'our sport' and I can't see we stand to learn anything from it as it applies to 'our sport' (or endurance sport in general) then I've lost all interest and will be checking out. Sorry ironcowboy.

Day 31:
Swim time: 1:25:51
Bike time: 6:28:30
Run time: 6:59:17

Total time: 16:09:29

Day 32:
Swim time: 1:25:48
Bike time: 6:29:55
Run time: 7:07:52

Total time: 16:10:04

Day 33:
Swim time: 1:25:48
Bike time: 6:03:05
Run time: 6:55:34

Total time: 15:36:06

Day 34:
Swim time: 1:25:47
Bike time: 5:46:55
Run time: 6:45:31

Total time: 15:01:02

Day 35:
Swim time: 1:25:56
Bike time: 5:51:37
Run time: 6:46:33

Total time: 15:18:00

Day 36:
Swim time: 1:25:53
Bike time: 6:06:24
Run time: 6:30:45

Total time: 15:21:10

Day 37:
Swim time: 1:25:45
Bike time: 6:46:33
Run time: 6:48:02

Total time: 16:02:02

Day 38:
Swim time: 1:25:53
Bike time: 6:22:32
Run time: 6:52:35

Total time: 15:54:08

Man his swim times are strangely consistent.

I was also surprised that all his swim times are within 1’, sounds strange to me!

I believe he does them on a 2:00 interval with rests

It's because he does 42x100 with same rest for every single swim.

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Blog: https://davidkoppeltriathlon.blogspot.com/
Coaching: https://dkendurance.com/

You must not really be following along, it has been posted about earlier. He drafts off another swimmer in the pool and they do 100 yds on 2:00. The only difference is the time on his last 100.

There's some pretty epic solo adventures happening. Here are 2 of them in the news recently besides IC's 100/100.

#1. Dave Proctor - run across Alberta Canada (537km in < 72 hours sometime over the next month)
Note: he does most of his stuff for "OutrunRare", which is a non-profit to raise money and awareness for the 1000s of rare diseases that plague us. He planned to run across Canada last year (postponed due to COVID) and again this year (postponed again). He chose to do something that he can do given the restrictions.
https://runningmagazine.ca/...erta-record-attempt/

#2. Don Muchow - run from Disneyland to Disneyworld ("Mouse to Mouse" challenge)
Note: he's a Type 1 diabetic. Great stuff! (he started pre-COVID, and finished earlier this week after a few months off)
https://www.14news.com/...3wiavYtFAqSGc6j9pLoY

Side note... I love the work that Dave Proctor does to raise awareness regarding rare diseases. My 2 sons both have extremely rare genetic disorders (only 6 families known in the world that share the same gene mutation). The work he's doing is noteworthy.
2nd side note... as a MODY diabetic (often classified as something most similar to type 1 but onset as an adult), I am passionate about doing epic things like Don did.

Be inspired to keep doing stuff like IC does, or Dave, or Don.
Do what you can do!
Get out and do great stuff, even if it doesn't get the attention it deserves.
Get out and do great stuff, even if you get more attention that you deserve.
Cheers,
CanUSA

Same thought

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

And why doesn't it resemble triathlon?

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

The skillbase and technique makes it a triathlon - at the end of the day he's still swimming cycling and running. But ironman/full distance races are primarily about balancing technical proficiency and energy expenditure across the three disciplines.

As others have suggested the IC attempt is a similar physiological cost/benefit to using an e-bike or pedal assist bike which fundamentally changes the energy equation. That doesn't connect it to the crux of the sport in the same way that a 16hr IM finisher is connected to a sub8hr finisher - both are making their own decisions and tradeoffs how best to get around a course optimizing their own technical proficiency and using their own energy reserves in the best way for them.

As a standalone event however yes it's a triathlon. Just not one that recognizes the essence of the full distance sport as much as I had hoped.

Haha....its just a longer slower version of ITU. Draft your swim buddies, sit in a peloton and let your hair dry, and then get ready to actually cover the land segment exclusively on your own power without being towed around by others :-). Or what did Lance call it, "shower + blow dry + 10k" (in the case of IC, its a longer shower, a longer blowdry and then a 26.2)

The "essence" of triathlon does not hinge on whether there's drafting happening. There's plenty of drafting in triathlon. Much of it is legal even.

The essence of triathlon is swimming, biking and running; the essence of full distance triathlon is doing so for 140.6 miles. Those are the parameters that define the sport, not drafting.

And the notion that IC somehow isn't engaged in "balancing technical proficiency and energy expenditure across the three disciplines" is head-scratching. That's exactly what he's doing, just over a crazy-long time horizon.

If he had packaged it as 400*100 ITU challenge (4/day) then he could draft all day long and get a warm reception from the (Olympic) triathlon crowd and likely be revered for generations to come. But that would be swimming 2.2km more per day...always a catch

If I did an Olympic tri for 100 days, that would be about 300 hrs of exercise in the next 100 days. Its in the range of doable and I would not even be drafting, so I would one up Vidal, Brownlee and crew LOL. But 400x....not a chance.

I may aim for a month of Olympic tris as soon as open water swimming starts though.

I've been thinking about this a lot. For me, it's when the outside assistance is so great. In other words: sure, there's drafting in triathlon in the swim -- from other competitors. Sure, in triathlon, there's drafting on the bike, either legal (ITU), or illegal (lead moto or <20m draft distance or giant packs in IMTX or whatever). On the run you can pace with someone, sure -- but in IC's case, all of it is outside assistance. So then the problem is, how far can you take outside assistance before it just becomes maudlin? Why not draft behind a truck, for example? It'd be safer, right? That's where it breaks down for me. Do it with a peloton, sure, but if they didn't swim and won't run? Kinda ruins it right there.

Anyway, it's still an incredible feat of strength, I get that. I wouldn't diminish that part of it.

-Eric

Drinks, gels and other support is found on IM courses, I think it's fair for him to take that.

Yeah, totally agree. I mean, it's the human support squad. The armada of drafters, the flotilla of run companions, PT sessions in transition, all of this kinda gets me.

-Eric

All I know of what he is doing, is that at Festivus Time sitting around the pole, he is going to have one hell of a feats of strength story to tell..Glad to see the paces inching down, perhaps towards the end we will see if he acclimated fitness, or just fatigue...

Day 31:
Swim time: 1:25:51
Bike time: 6:28:30
Run time: 6:59:17

Total time: 16:09:29

Day 32:
Swim time: 1:25:48
Bike time: 6:29:55
Run time: 7:07:52

Total time: 16:10:04

Day 33:
Swim time: 1:25:48
Bike time: 6:03:05
Run time: 6:55:34

Total time: 15:36:06

Day 34:
Swim time: 1:25:47
Bike time: 5:46:55
Run time: 6:45:31

Total time: 15:01:02

Day 35:
Swim time: 1:25:56
Bike time: 5:51:37
Run time: 6:46:33

Total time: 15:18:00

Day 36:
Swim time: 1:25:53
Bike time: 6:06:24
Run time: 6:30:45

Total time: 15:21:10

Day 37:
Swim time: 1:25:45
Bike time: 6:46:33
Run time: 6:48:02

Total time: 16:02:02

Day 38:
Swim time: 1:25:53
Bike time: 6:22:32
Run time: 6:52:35

Total time: 15:54:08

Day 39:
Swim time: 1:25:46
Bike time: 6:14:55
Run time: 6:35:54

Total time: 15:20:03

Day 40:
Swim time: 1:25:50
Bike time: 6:17:28
Run time: 6:36:14

Total time: 15:37:23

Day 41:
Swim time: 1:25:45
Bike time: 5:59:45
Run time: 6:31:36

Total time: 14:54:27

No argument on the drafting/pacing, but at least back in the day (Kona, Penticton) there were plenty of race supplied massage therapists, chiros, ART practitioners etc. with tables in transition, and even halfway through the marathon. Even the sunscreen appliers would spend a little time on your quads or shoulders or calves. Wetsuit strippers...eyeglass concierges, people handing you your bags, tying your shoes if you were cramping and then putting your shit away as you shuffled off. Aid stations every mile on the run with kids handing you cold sponges. Human support was ubiquitous, and still is depending on the race.

Three days in a row sub 16 hrs....heck he's down in the territory of the workday of those leaches of society excel jockey investment bankers now who claim to do useful things during their so called 16 hrs days....at least IC is looping around in circles but he's not causing anyone to be laid off while collecting his fat paycheque (sorry to my investment banker friends lol) !!!!