We are just 2 weeks away from the 2018 Ultraman World Champs... this is going to be an interesting year!
The course has changed due to the lava flows earlier this year:
- Day 1 is an out and back from Kona to Ocean View and back, should be about 30-40 mins faster
- Day 2 is totally new, Kona to Waikoloa then up over Saddle Rd, topping out at 6700ft before descending to Hilo. Up the coast, over to Waimea and then back down to the Queen K before climbing to Hawi. 13k+ ft elevation over 171 miles, probably at least 30-40 mins slower than before.
- Day 3 is the same
The level of competition is very high this year!
- I'm in better shape than ever, but so are the other guys!
- Richard Thompson won UM Australia and set the world record when he did so. As an athlete I feel he's potentially faster than me across all 3 disciplines. The question is whether or not I can "out-optimize" him. Most people know that I pay a lot of attention to my gear, and this year is no exception. Most of my gear (other than the actual bike) is different to last year. Over the distance of the two bike legs, that optimization can add up to many minutes.
- Petr Vabrousek needs no introduction to the endurance world. Winner UM Florida 2018, 180+ professional Ironmans? Many pro Kona races. Winner of crazy races like the Antarctica marathon. There is no doubt that he has as strong a mindset as anyone in the endurance community. And mindset is one of the most important factors in this race.
- David Hainish: Winner UM Florida 2017 with new bike course record. He spent last year focused on breaking the Canadian hour record on the track.
- Possibly some others that I don't yet know much about?
- There are 8 women taking part this year. That's more than some previous years, but I'd really like to see more women doing Ultraman, in general they do really well at these long races.
So my strategy of out-biking people, to start day 3 with a big lead is probably not going to work this year. Also, the fact that I'm the only one with previous course experience doesn't matter, since the course is mostly new. It's highly likely that we get to day 3 and I'm not starting in first place. That's going to make the run exciting and decisive. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all pans out!
They will post FB updates that will be pulled through on ultramanworlds.com. My crew will be doing a bunch of Facebook live stuff on my Ultraman FB page, hopefully making it easier for you to follow what's going on at the front of the race. If there is anything you'd like to see behind the scenes (before, during, after) let me know and we'll try to make it happen!
____________________________________
Are you ready to do an Ultraman? | How I calculate Ironman race fueling | Strength Training for Athletes |
The course has changed due to the lava flows earlier this year:
- Day 1 is an out and back from Kona to Ocean View and back, should be about 30-40 mins faster
- Day 2 is totally new, Kona to Waikoloa then up over Saddle Rd, topping out at 6700ft before descending to Hilo. Up the coast, over to Waimea and then back down to the Queen K before climbing to Hawi. 13k+ ft elevation over 171 miles, probably at least 30-40 mins slower than before.
- Day 3 is the same
The level of competition is very high this year!
- I'm in better shape than ever, but so are the other guys!
- Richard Thompson won UM Australia and set the world record when he did so. As an athlete I feel he's potentially faster than me across all 3 disciplines. The question is whether or not I can "out-optimize" him. Most people know that I pay a lot of attention to my gear, and this year is no exception. Most of my gear (other than the actual bike) is different to last year. Over the distance of the two bike legs, that optimization can add up to many minutes.
- Petr Vabrousek needs no introduction to the endurance world. Winner UM Florida 2018, 180+ professional Ironmans? Many pro Kona races. Winner of crazy races like the Antarctica marathon. There is no doubt that he has as strong a mindset as anyone in the endurance community. And mindset is one of the most important factors in this race.
- David Hainish: Winner UM Florida 2017 with new bike course record. He spent last year focused on breaking the Canadian hour record on the track.
- Possibly some others that I don't yet know much about?
- There are 8 women taking part this year. That's more than some previous years, but I'd really like to see more women doing Ultraman, in general they do really well at these long races.
So my strategy of out-biking people, to start day 3 with a big lead is probably not going to work this year. Also, the fact that I'm the only one with previous course experience doesn't matter, since the course is mostly new. It's highly likely that we get to day 3 and I'm not starting in first place. That's going to make the run exciting and decisive. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all pans out!
They will post FB updates that will be pulled through on ultramanworlds.com. My crew will be doing a bunch of Facebook live stuff on my Ultraman FB page, hopefully making it easier for you to follow what's going on at the front of the race. If there is anything you'd like to see behind the scenes (before, during, after) let me know and we'll try to make it happen!
____________________________________
Are you ready to do an Ultraman? | How I calculate Ironman race fueling | Strength Training for Athletes |