I was looking around on the internet and found these race reports by people who have finished double and triple ironman triathlons. These events consist of a 4.8 mile swim, 224 mile bike, and 52.4 mile run for the double ironman. The triple ironman consists of a 7.8 mile swim, 332 mile bike, and a 78.6 mile run. These athletes do these enormous distances continuuously- for however long it takes them. Thhey don't even stop to sleep.
I have always been intresed in what it takes to do ultra distance races, but these distances sound insane. In the race report I read for one of the people doing the triple, she was hallucinating, falling asleep on her feet, and towards the end she needed to have somebody help her sit down and stand up.
I don't think I would ever do an event of this magnitude unless someone was holding a gun to my head and threatened to shoot me if I didn't participate. The stress on the body after an event like this seems unbelievable.
I do admire, however, the level of mental toughness it would take to complete an event such as this. I would get SO bored doing nothing but swimming, riding my bike, and running for 2-3 days nonstop. I also would never be able to cope with the lack of sleep and there would be SO many times that I would want to quit.
It must feel like such a huge accomplishment crossing the finish line after an event such as this. I'm still unsure, though, the reasons for competing in an event such as this. Why would you want to do all those things to your body?
I can see why you might want to for an ironman or something. The event is over within the same day, and you would feel such a strong feeling of accomplishment; but to keep going and foing for over 2 days straight? I just can't imagine!
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