Unless you wanted to be the subject of a very long ST thread, I'm not sure why you'd put yourself through it :-)

---

29 years and counting

Not something I could or would ever do! That’s why it’s so intriguing to me. He always seemed in excellent spirits during the Deca. Others went to a very dark, deep place at times.

---

http://www.goalicego.co.uk

I would be super impressed by someone pursuing one of these challenges if they had the humility to avoid the attendant publicity seeking.

Alice - Thanks for letting us know about this!!! I find it somewhat unusual that his Facebook video has so much time devoted to his generic gym work and so little about S, B, and R. I wonder if that is kinda sorta to appeal to gym rats who don't really do much SBR-ing??? I've done lots of weights, push-ups, pull-ups, etc, during my athletic "career" but I've never seen much payoff in the pool, on the bike, or on the run. It seems to me that "strength" is very, very sport specific, distance-specific within a given sport, and in swimming stroke-specific. :)

---

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

Yeah I’ve noticed he does a lot of gym work as routine too. I think he’s added a few lb’s too, which makes sense. I guess you have to build a resilient core to keep the injuries at bay, and with his aerobic base, I guess he’ll just get fit doing it, rather than going in super trained. I’m not sure though; I’m due to go on his podcast with him at some stage but I’ll be far more interested in picking his brains than any questions he has for me!

---

http://www.goalicego.co.uk

He’s not the one shouting about it - I am ;)

And if you’ve been to watch a Deca they have about two or three supporters and the odd passer-by looking really bewildered - hardly publicity seekers! He struck me as a very humble man indeed.

He’s doing it for a good cause too.

---

http://www.goalicego.co.uk

Swim,Bike,Run almost exclusively would surely help if he was "racing" one or two or maybe three back to back Ironmans.He isn't and he doesn't need any more SBR fitness to do what he plans to as he is already "Tri-fit".What he needs is to build a body strong enough to deal with the first ten or so days before his body either breaks down or starts getting stronger.
.
Historically to do the one a day iron events is much more difficult than doing the total distance in SBR order without the clock stopping.

Yes, that makes sense.

I just find it all fascinating. Because it’s so beyond me. Like the wonders of the Universe etc :D

---

http://www.goalicego.co.uk

To set the verified record he only needs to complete 42. http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/...onsecutive-days-male

Good luck...

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Hello Alice82 and All,

I suppose he is going for 365 Marathons each year??

Is there someone out there running a marathon each day in a different country each day (backwards)?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/...thon-every-day-work/

---

Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

I don't get why people do this in the middle of Summer when you are going to lose far more hydration due to heat.

Has someone notified the Iron Cowboy so that he has a chance to defend his record (pink)?

---

2x Deca-Ironman World Cup (10 Ironmans in 10 days), 2x Quintuple Ironman World Cup (5 Ironmans in 5 days), Ultraman, Ultra Marathoner, and I once did an Ironman.

It’s Ireland - not such an issue! ;)

---

http://www.goalicego.co.uk

60 days outside hopefully he gets a tan.

Understand what you're saying but I still say that "strength" is sport specific. He will only improve his swim-specific "strength" by swimming more, espec since he's swimming 2.4 mi/day, not the 50 free or 50 fly. I can see weight training for sprint events in swimming but not for 3860 m events. The girl who swam 80 hrs straight did not do any weight training but rather just swam 8 to 16 hrs/day, including a few overnight swims to get used to swimming OW in the dark. She was on ST for an "Ask Me Anything" thread a year or so ago.

---

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

Maybe he doesn't need to worry about the swim and any extra strength work he is doing is to help deal with the accumulated fatigue that he will go through during the entire event.I know you are a swim nut and like to focus on that here on ST but swim fitness for this guy won't be the issue every morning,it will be general accumulated fatigue and the cold creeping in as the days go by.He isn't swimming 144 miles straight so comparing his 2.4 miles a day,which is a fraction of his total days work to an pure ultra-marathon swim isn't fair. I am a swimmer and if it were me doing this particular challenge then swimming more would be the last thing on my mind to try and improve,I would be doing more plyometric stuff and hilly runs and ruck marches because it will be lower leg injuries and foot issues that will be his greatest challenge.
I think it is funny that just because that video was filmed in a gym with Gerard doing some cross training stuff that people here assume he isn't SBR training.These multi iron challenges are just so different to what is required for regular SBR events that you have to approach the training and the actual event so differently to what is "normal" for an Ironman.The guy won the Deca in 2017 and did 52 ironmans last year so I think we can assume he knows what he needs to do for this challenge.
.
Now swim specific training for next years Trans America Triathlon is a different story.

I agree. I also think being a deca ironman the guy might have a good idea of how his body handles the work load and knows that strength training is something that he needs to keep his body from breaking down too much. I know I need to maintain some level of strength training in season otherwise issues start to pop up. I can’t imagine doing 60 ironmans in 60 days

80hrs of straight swim doesn’t need strength. Your not using the multi plane movements that are occurring in SBR. But the pounding and stress from running just a marathon a day alone for an athlete is going to break down their body.

ETA: the “specificity” here is in the fact that your moving and pounding the body for 14 hours a day for 2+ months straight. That’s the specificity that is needed strength wise. Putting your body in a position to handle that stress. This event only works with a truly seasoned veteran multi sport athlete who can easily SBR the distance.

The Horner chick screwed up because she wasn’t efficient in anything and just swimming alone fatigued her far too much.

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I'm not sure it's a valid comparison.

I haven't read about the 80 hour swim, but I would rate that way harder to accomplish than a marathon a day. Both in training and execution.

The 2 arent even comparable so I'm not sure why the 80hr swimming came into the discussion when discussing the "strength" component that is most certainly necessary when doing an IM a day for 2+ months.

I'm not even saying 1 is harder than the other, as they are equally hard and thus the specifics of each dictate precisely why you would add strength training for the SBR event and not really worry about strength training for a 1 off swim event.

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I think the strength and resilience required to complete this comes primarily from running and cycling.

Yes, some imbalances may have to be addressed, though I would consider anything outside of run, bike and swim training as either largely supplementary or body maintenance.

Though given what Prendergast has achieved, he's obviously found a formula that works for him.

I believe the 50 or 60 IM in as many days is more achievable than most realise. Few have made a serious attempt, and IC came at it without too much of a running background and was on a very steep learning curve early on.

I have little doubt if such a race was held with 20 experienced ultra-triathletes, at least 4 or 5 would finish.

In 2013 there were 22 starters in the 30 Irons in 30 Days in Sicily.There were 8 finishers..
.
Here are some facts,figures and graphs because Slowtwitchers just love that shit.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...articles/PMC4161722/

I dont think it's that achievable. I think at some point you simply break down and if you dont recover, you end up completely broken. I also think for that simple fact it's not really that much of a goal/race that many even want to attempt even within the ultra community. I thought Ashley Horner giving it a try and her attitude prior to it was a joke. IC atleast was an endurance junkie, even though he fudged the execution. But he can say and claim whatever he wants to claim.

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

It's not necessarily that we are looking for sport specific "strength" per se, but to help our bodies be more resilient to the weaknesses caused by long-term specificity. Sport specificity has more potential to cause weaknesses and imbalance more that general fitness/strength will any day of the week.

My experience when I worked in a college S&C room is that strength training is inherently non-sport specific (even when doing "sport specific" movements) with regard to augmenting your chosen sport. Strength training is in fact so basic with regard to our muscular movements that is exactly why we should use it even if only on a low level. Strength training can be incredibly valuable in terms of injury prevention when you decide to push yourself during sport execution, even if you don't "see gains" in a sport that you would necessarily attribute directly to strength training.

Specificity i.e. swimming, biking, or running cause whole-system imbalance, even with the cross training benefits of doing all three. Any micro-imbalance we have muscularly, motor patterns, hand dominance, injury etc. is magnified a hundred thousand times a day every time we do our sport. Also, swimming and cycling movements are particularly vulnerable, as they are concentric-only contractions and imbalances there can aggravate running performance.

A more obvious example are baseball players, where nearly all movements except running are generally side-dominant based (and even then, they always lead-off the base with their right leg to watch the pitcher...). I don't see them doing deadlifts on the field, so do they need to lift more to throw a ball better or run faster? Probably not. But, these guys hit the weight room to maintain long-term muscular balance, improve active range of motion, pattern reinforcement, etc.

Just food for thought :)

---

Matt Leu, M.S. Kinesiology
San Pedro Fit Works, Los Angeles, CA
Endurance Athlete and Coach
Consistency/time=results