ZenTri 608 - The Ultrababy Part 1 with John Hirsch

Welcome to the self-supported Ultraman show, also known as "The Ultrababy!"

With the help of many friends and family, I went out and did a 6.2 mile swim, followed by a 93.6 mile bike ride, slept, then did a 176.5 mile bike ride, slept again, and then did a double marathon. All-in-all, I went 328.8 miles.  

The second half of the double marathon is where the heat finally hit me hard, but my spirits were boosted when Kai pulled up next to me on the bike with this sign he made all by himself -  

First male!

A photo posted by Brett Blankner (@zentriathlon) on Oct 11, 2015 at 8:07am PDT

This show is co-hosted (attacked?) by none other than Spartan Ultra Beast Masters champion and pro triathlete John Hirsch.  He adds lots of flair and insight, posing some really cool questions I wouldn't have thought of on my own. Thanks, man!

Back to the "race", below is the setup of my bike for the two bike rides.  I was going through about 2 liters of water and fuel per hour to try to keep cool.  It was crazy!

About ready to go! 172 miles!

A photo posted by Brett Blankner (@zentriathlon) on Oct 10, 2015 at 5:30am PDT

I picked the hilliest routes I could find here in College Station, but I couldn't quite match the part where they literally ride up a volcano.  But let me tell you, the HEAT.  Oh, the heat.  Holy crap.  Texas has that in spades. I went an extra 8.8 miles on the bike to try to make up for the elevation gain difference. (Keepin' it real out of respect.) And we had a high of 95 degrees, no clouds with full Sun, and powerful humidity during the double marathon.  Also, I found out after the fact that my run route had nearly twice the elevation gain of Hawaii's.  I didn't notice it too much because it was still relatively flattish, but I was just trying to keep moving forward at that point anyway.  

Met at the finish line by a real bad ass. Time to recover!

A photo posted by Brett Blankner (@zentriathlon) on Oct 9, 2015 at 2:51pm PDT

Brian Brode and Kai both helped out a ton.  I needed to get in a shot of them together at the lake before the swim started.

Ok, ready to go! 10k swim.

A photo posted by Brett Blankner (@zentriathlon) on Oct 9, 2015 at 5:20am PDT

About a dozen parents and kids ran parts of the run with me, marking the aid station driveway with chalk as we did loops around the neighborhood.  It's tradition!

As tradition, chalk marks in driveway to track everybody's laps. 6+ miles each!

A photo posted by Brett Blankner (@zentriathlon) on Oct 12, 2015 at 9:50am PDT

There is LOTS more about what this was like inside the show, so tune in!  And I will go over tips and tricks in Part 2 next episode so you can get some ideas on how to do your own epic event.

Thanks and stay safe!