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10 Ironman's in 10 days

  • 02-06-2011 12:09pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,553 ✭✭✭bryangiggsy


    Just listened to Ray Dary and he had Gerry duffy on who is starting his challenge of trying to complete a Deca Ironman 10 Ironmans in 10 days tomorrow in England i believe. The blog of the challenge is
    at

    http://www.32marathons.com/deca_blog.php

    Thats a 2.4 mile swim, 180k bike and 26.2 mile run each day for ten days in a row.

    Will he do it?

    Listening to him on the radio he hopes to come in around the 13 to 14 hour mark each day. Personally i think he has set his sights too high considering he has a 17 hr time limit per day.
    Will be interesting to follow and see how he gets on.
    Best of luck.


«13

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 4,748 ✭✭✭griffin100


    This I understand is the 'easy' way to do a Decca. Apparently the harder way is to swim 24 miles / bike 1,120 miles / run 262 miles in that order.

    I like the look of this one more as an ultra triathlon:).


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,436 ✭✭✭Izoard


    Jeez, now the Ironman is dumbed down.

    Where do I sign up for a double IM?


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,643 ✭✭✭ThePiedPiper


    I've absolutely full faith that Gerry will do this.

    I ran a marathon with Gerry last year when he was doing the 32 marathon challenge. The day I ran with him, it was his 27th or 28th marathon in as many days in searing heat. It hardly took a fidge out of him. Gerry is incredibly motivated and hard working and even though the 10 Ironman challenge is probably tougher than the 32 marathons, I've no doubts that he'll get it done.


  • Registered Users Posts: 930 ✭✭✭jeffontour


    I just bought his book yesterday and then coincidently heard him on the radio this morning. Fair play to him, hope it all goes well. Sounds like he has put the work in to deserve a succesful outcome.


  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 20,364 Mod ✭✭✭✭RacoonQueen


    Day 6 and seemingly still going strong. Think he's still leading the field.


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  • Subscribers Posts: 19,425 ✭✭✭✭Oryx


    An incredible thing to do. These kinds of event are getting more common, making an IM seem easy in comparison. So we're all just total pussies here :) Truly is amazing what the human body is capable of.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,553 ✭✭✭bryangiggsy


    Oryx wrote: »
    An incredible thing to do. These kinds of event are getting more common, making an IM seem easy in comparison. So we're all just total pussies here :) Truly is amazing what the human body is capable of.


    In comparison yes. But there's no such thing as an Easy Ironman.;)

    Check out gerry's progress on www.enduromanlive.com.

    Hes on no 7. think there is only 12 of the orginal 20 left.


  • Subscribers Posts: 19,425 ✭✭✭✭Oryx


    According to Ray Darcy there are only 5 left. And I was joking when I said IM was easy in comparison. :) My mind boggles thinking about what this guy is doing.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,553 ✭✭✭bryangiggsy


    Just got an update there only 6 of the original 20 made it to the start line at 6am this morning. Carnage


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,563 ✭✭✭connundrum


    5 at it now according to race director. One guy too cold to swim. Jeepers!

    @enduromanevents


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,553 ✭✭✭bryangiggsy


    According to the FB updates on 32 Marathon challenge..one guy at the Deca tripped on a tree root last night and cracked some ribs and is out.Another guy finished his 6th at 3.50am this morning but could not get back in the water at 6am as his core body temp was too low....and finally the guy above quit the swim after a few laps and got out of the water shaking. Mental stuff!


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,396 ✭✭✭ger664


    He was Interviewed on morning ireland today. Click on Sport News and select the 08:35 sports bulitin about 2 mins in.

    Morning Ireland Player


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,583 ✭✭✭✭tunney


    Oryx wrote: »
    An incredible thing to do. These kinds of event are getting more common, making an IM seem easy in comparison.

    Not really - 10 long long days in the office. I wouldnt' fancy it myself but its just plodding for 10 days.

    15:15 was the fast time on day two. In alot of IM races they've pulled you out of the race at 15 hours saying "Sorry dude too slow".

    Thats not to say its not an achievement. But its like equating 10 five hour marathons to a 2:59. Going longer does not mean going harder. I'd much prefer to do a 1:45 olympic distance than a 9:30IM.


  • Registered Users Posts: 83 ✭✭hootini


    tunney wrote: »
    Not really - 10 long long days in the office. I wouldnt' fancy it myself but its just plodding for 10 days.

    No offence Tunney (I had some respect for you) but dont be such an arse.

    The guy is doing it for charity ffs (http://www.mycharity.ie/event/gerry_duffys_event) and all you can do is throw a jealous / bitchy comment in?

    Before you even attempt to make a derisory comment like that , I'll ask the question - "Have you done one for charity?"

    If not then 'man up' and do it yourself for a charity of your choosing if you think its "just plodding for 10 days".

    Some people in here might even sponser you too ....


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,583 ✭✭✭✭tunney


    hootini wrote: »
    No offence Tunney (I had some respect for you) but dont be such an arse.

    The guy is doing it for charity ffs (http://www.mycharity.ie/event/gerry_duffys_event) and all you can do is throw a jealous / bitchy comment in?

    Before you even attempt to make a derisory comment like that , I'll ask the question - "Have you done one for charity?"

    If not then 'man up' and do it yourself for a charity of your choosing if you think its "just plodding for 10 days".

    Some people in here might even sponser you too ....

    Ah the charity defense. You win.

    The comment i replied to was a statement on how much harder this version of a deca is over an IM. Not the relative merits of charity events.


  • Subscribers Posts: 19,425 ✭✭✭✭Oryx


    From your standpoint tunney it might be a pointless plod. But the fact that those doing it are dropping like flies shows its not actually that easy. From where I'm standing its a massive achievement even if your level of fitness makes you consider speed to have more merit than endurance.


  • Registered Users Posts: 579 ✭✭✭Mad Benny


    tunney wrote: »
    Not really - 10 long long days in the office. I wouldnt' fancy it myself but its just plodding for 10 days.

    15:15 was the fast time on day two. In alot of IM races they've pulled you out of the race at 15 hours saying "Sorry dude too slow".

    Thats not to say its not an achievement. But its like equating 10 five hour marathons to a 2:59. Going longer does not mean going harder. I'd much prefer to do a 1:45 olympic distance than a 9:30IM.

    I have been in complete awe of Gerry Duffy since hearing him on the radio yesterday morning.

    Tunney, you are obviously an elite athlete at the top of your game to make comments like that. If you're not then ..... "there's always one".


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,598 ✭✭✭shels4ever


    Mad Benny wrote: »
    I have been in complete awe of Gerry Duffy since hearing him on the radio yesterday morning.

    Tunney, you are obviously an elite athlete at the top of your game to make comments like that. If you're not then ..... "there's always one".
    Yep its some going , wouldnt be something that i'd fancy doing myself,Have to say, I do see where Tunney is coming from on this, the main thing people tend to focus on these days is how far you can go and not how fast.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 27,834 ✭✭✭✭ThisRegard


    The man is doing 10 of them, 10 days in a row, who gives a **** how fast he does them (apart from Tunney of course), particularly taking into account the fitness base he's coming from.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,553 ✭✭✭bryangiggsy


    Lads if you read Gerry's blog the training he has put in is no different than the Iron athlete who follows his training plan. I think he would be the first to agree that he is no fitter than that athlete.This is not dummin down the challenge which is immense in itself am just putting it into perspective. This challenge i believe has more to do with mental endurance than physical fitness. You have to go slow enough to be able to do the same the next day but not go too slow to miss out on essential recovery time. It is a fine line and he and his team are managing it very well. Sleep deprivation would be a major obstacle in itself. It is an amazing conquest and one which i have been following avidly. Keep it lit Gerry!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,436 ✭✭✭Izoard


    As ever, this comes down to the "elite vs average punter" discussion.

    The vast majority of people are, rightly, in awe of what Gerry is doing, but there will always be elite types who see it as nothing more than plodding around for 10 days.
    Sure there is arguable merit in that view, but it is held by a small minority.

    A bit like climbing Everest - how may people really care how fast you did it?

    BTW, in terms of "elite" club, I'd suspect that the number of Deca Iron finishers is a lot smaller than those in the sub-9 IM club....


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,818 ✭✭✭nerraw1111


    I do detest the 'he's doing it for charity how dare you criticise' nonsense.

    Fair play to the guy, very impressive.

    That said, sigh, I do slightly agree with Tunney


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,583 ✭✭✭✭tunney


    Its not an elite versus plodder thing.
    For starters I am a plodder.

    My issue was with the "Deca makes an ironman look easy".
    I've said similar on "ironman makes half-ironman look easy threads." And similar on "stepping up to half ironman distance" threads.

    There is an obsession with distance on ART, I will be fair here and say its probably not limited to ART. Its viewed as longer equals harder, longer equals tougher, longer equals the ultimate challenge.

    When I started out in triathlon I joined a well known Dublin club. I was taken under the wing of one of the main lads there - not because I had any talent or potential but because I was persisant and enthusastic. He mentored me, thought me alot and I thought the sun shone out of his ar$e. These days I am no in that club anymore and myself and this lad hate each other with a vengance. One of the things he drilled into people in the club was "long distance is not the ultimate goal, in fact if you are any good at the sport we will try to stop you going long". I think the lad is a little loopy and most of the stuff he says is cr@p but this still rings true. Longer is not better. Anyone can go longer. Its easier to go longer. Its much much harder to go faster.

    Now I do see the irony in someone saying long distance isn't the ultimate goal being focused on long distance stuff. Read into that what you will however I believe it.

    A great story comes to mind. A club mate was in a long distance race. He was past by a girl we all know, the present female IM record holder. As she passed him she turned to him and said "At this stage its all about the mental game". She dropped him and put huge amounts of time into him.

    I digress.

    I believe longer is not harder, nor better. I believe that the ultimate goal should not be to go as long as possible. I believe the ultimate goal should be to pick a distance and do you very very best at that distance. Release your genetic potential at that distance taking into account your work/life restrictions. Work hard and long and be the best you can be. Then go longer, or shorter, and repeat. Its very easy to woddle, or plod around, an event and say "right, well thats that distance done, onto longer". But why not try and go as fast as you can at that distance?

    As for the charity aspect? Seriously what has that got to do with anything? Why say "Have you raised money for charity if not shut up?" What has charity got to do with distance racing? Why does doing something for charity make that venture uncriticisable? Why can someone not comment on something done for charity?

    There is an overwhelming perception that "longer is harder". That is what I am challenging.

    As an aside I prefer the original Deca format.


  • Registered Users Posts: 629 ✭✭✭Clum


    I was gonna stay out of this thread because I know Gerry and anything I say will probably seem biased but just to put the 'plodding' part in to context:

    (I don't have exact, down to the minute and second figures to hand, but from memory)

    Gerry's finished a few Ironman races in previous years somewhere around the 11.30 / 11.45 mark. He's a sub 3 marathoner and has completed a few Olympic Tris in around the 2.15 mark. He's by no means a slow athlete.

    He has a very big interest in endurance sports and knows what it takes to complete multiple long distance events in a row. Now nobody would try to run 32 sub 3 hour marathons in 32 days. Gerry didn't, but he did most of them at a pace which he which he would personally be happy with, and knowing Gerry he's not happy with a slow pace (I think he averaged most of them in the 4.xx mark but one or two were pretty quick - 3.20 or something being the fastest).

    Similarly, nobody is going to try and do 10 Ironman distance triathlons in a row in their Personal Best time. Even a sub 9 hour finisher would slow their times to about 11 hours each day for an event like this. His times this week might seem slow when compared to single Ironman races but I can assure you he's not going so slow that it's taking nothing out of him. He's performing at a level that hopefully ensures he'll avoid injury and finish with the best possible time he can get.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,208 ✭✭✭shotgunmcos


    Perspective

    Tunney you were once fat and thought a sprint triathlon was a feat... ;)

    Perspective

    My long PMP run would be Enduro's warm up :o

    IMO

    10 IMs in 10 days is epic

    I prefer the continuous deca format too, as in where a guy felt like he had to learn to walk again after 3 days non stop cycling.. but still, 10 IMs in a week and a half is still super impressive!

    Longer, harder, faster, stronger... is all "er so its all still 'more'. We all like more even if we have already eaten the whole cake :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,643 ✭✭✭ThePiedPiper


    I suppose Tunney considers Tony Mangan's run around the world as a slow plod as well? Or are you just being controversial to wind people up a bit? If you really want to take that point of view, how fantastic is a 2.59 marathon anyway? The top East Africans are running 2.04 so we're all completely rubbish in relation to them. Maybe you're a 2.05 marathoner Tunney?

    In any case, Gerry is a really decent guy who along with Ken last year managed to raise a bit over half a million for charity. And as another poster says, he's no slouch on the road on one-off shorter distance races.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,340 ✭✭✭TFBubendorfer


    Or are you just being controversial to wind people up a bit?

    Tunney? Never!


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭zico10


    The top East Africans are running 2.04 so we're all completely rubbish in relation to them.

    I don't know if rubbish is the correct word, but to me yes. I don't see any shame in it though.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,583 ✭✭✭✭tunney


    Tunney? Never!

    I'm actually not trying to be contraversial.

    Longer is not necessarily harder nor more of an achievement is the essence oft posts.

    I tried to use Google translate on my longer post but I can't find the English->Capper option.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 437 ✭✭The Rook


    Not going to comment on the "which is better blah blah blah " nature of this thread but I have to say I love this
    tunney wrote: »
    I tried to use Google translate on my longer post but I can't find the English->Capper option.


    Consider that phrase robbed Tunney!!


This discussion has been closed.
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