Repeat after me

[andygates]

I do not want to do the Norseman.  I do not want to do the Norseman.  I do not want to do the Norseman.

It's not just an Ironman, it's an Ironman that starts on a ferry in a fjord and finishes with a marathon up a mountain.  The winners - winners, mind you - finished in 11:25 and 13:00 this year. 

I don't want to do it, but if I did, I could die happy.  Probably about halfway through the run.

Comments

[ravenbait.livejournal.com]

But I DO want to do the Norseman!

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Ssh, so do I, but if I admit it, the Ironpeople will pounce.

[ravenbait.livejournal.com]

I've already discussed it with my dad.

My theory goes like this: my long-term plan is to complete one, just ONE full distance iron man. Just so I've done it. I'd actually quite like to do more, but I suspect the training requirements will be such that it will be impossible to manage with a non-triathlon other half. If we were both doing it that would be different because we could train together. As it is, I don't see him when I'm training. But that could change. This is just the interim.

As I'm only going to do the one, I'd like to make it a special one. And that really means Escape from Alcatraz or the Norseman. Alcataraz will probably be hot. The Norseman is less likely to be so. Alcatraz has sharks, which will make me swim faster. I haven't really decided yet. Ideally I'd like to do both. Not fast, just to complete. Then I can move into adventure racing.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Bear in mind that Alcatraz isn't iron-distance, not by a long chalk. It's a weird hybrid:

"A 1.5 mile swim through frigid waters from Alcatraz Island to shore, a grueling 18-mile bike race, and a demanding 8-mile run through the rugged trails of Golden Gate Recreation Area."

You also have to qualify, IIRC. But Alcatraz has mystique, not the same mystique as Kona (which is the blue riband Ironman, in Hawaii, which is ver' ver' hot) but mystique of its own. Mostly, it's the sharks, fog, cold water, currents... if you mooch around the Alcatraz site there are some swimmers' GPS tracks, and some of 'em end up doing double the distance. In cold water, with sharks...

The Norseman has reported temperatures from 3 to 30 Celsius, just to keep people guessing. It's a different kind of fish altogether:

"Swimming: 3,8 kilometers in the Hardangerfjord. Water-start after getting out of the boat. Cycling: 180 kilometers from Eidfjord, up Måbudalen, highway 7 over Hardangervidda to Geilo, highway 40 down Numedalen and over to Tessungdalen. Transition zone (T2) is in Austbygde. Running: 42,2 kilometers from Austbygde, via Rjukan and up to the top of Gaustatoppen. This means 25 kilometers fairly flat and 17,2 kilometers with an extreme climb up to 1.850 meters. Total distance: 226 kilometers. (140.4 miles)"

See, that's not a race, it's an expedition. You'd want a tea kit and everything! But on a scale of hard-as-nails to harder-than-hard-as-nails it has to be way up there.