Category: Ironman Adventure

Racing an Ironman without food

by Michael Lantz (Big Papa)

If you’d have asked me six months ago if it was humanly possible to race a 10 to 14 hour endurance race without fuel, specifically carbohydrates, only consuming water, I’d say it might be impossible.

Yet that is what I will do this November when I race the 140.6 mile Ironman Arizona. An Ironman consists of swimming 2.4 miles, followed by a 112 mile bike race and then the final leg running a 26.2 mile marathon. To be an official finisher I have to complete the total in 17 hours or less. The pros run in about 8 hours. My fastest time ever was 13:51 at this race in 2010.

I’ve discovered that I can actually race this long without the need to consume any carbohydrate while I race. At my pace intensity

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Ironman; An Act of Faith to Go the Distance

by Michael Lantz (Big Papa)

Recently I’ve given several public speeches and intertwined lessons and stories from my Ironman triathlon experiences. I’ve been getting asked at almost every presentation if I have a blog about it. I’ve never thought it was a topic that would interest anyone so I’ve never written about it. Perhaps they’ve inquired because of the stories I’ve shared that personally connect with them.

With your permission I thought I’d start to share some of the stories of Ironman. If you’d rather not have them, just shoot me an email and if I get several “don’t write about that” messages, I’ll stop.

One reaction that I almost always receive when someone discovers that I’ve finished 15 Ironman’s after the age of 50 is look of disbelief. Everyone is always supportive though and I appreciate that.

I suppose like you, there was that first thought of doing something you’d never done before too and it grew and grew until you actually did it. It was that way with me too, I had only heard about the Ironman mostly from watching the replay of the race in Hawaii on NBC Sports. For you doing something special grew out of

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