Your Ultimate Guide to Ultra Triathlon

This article originally appeared on Triathlete

Does the thought of two days of continuous swim-bike-run sound appealing to you? How about five days, or better yet, ten or twenty? Ultra-distance triathlon, or races beyond the 140.6 miles of an iron-distance event, are growing in popularity as athletes find new and creative ways to put their endurance to the test. If the idea of racing for hundreds of miles over multiple days sounds a bit extreme, that's because it is. Unlike your local sprint triathlon, ultra-distance races aren't the type of events to enter on a whim.

Racing an ultra triathlon requires the athlete to adopt a different mindset and strategy to make it through back-to-back days of swim, bike, and run. Think of how you typically feel the day after a race of any distance: probably tired, sore, hungry, and dehydrated. Now imagine having to do your race all over again that day, and the next (and the next). Even Dede Greisbauer, a veteran triathlete, struggled during her world-record Ultraman win in 2020, famously snapping at her crew during the final stretch of the double marathon: "10 kilometers? Do you have any idea how [expletive] far that is?"

Looking for tips on how to prepare for an ultra triathlon? We tapped Maria Simone, winner of the 2015 and 2016 Florida Double Anvil (4.8-mile swim, 224-mile bike, and 52.4-mile run), and Laura Knoblach, who holds the women's world record for the Double Deca Continuous (48-mile swim, 2,240-mile bike, and 524-mile run--no that’s not a typo) for their insights.

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