The Training

10 km swimming, 423 km biking and 84,4 km running. These are the distances of the Ultraman, a triathlon with gigantic proportions. Untill 2010 it didn´t even cross my mind to try one of these. I thought that the Ironman was the limit to anyone who has to work or study at least part time. Little by little I started reseaching the profiles of these ultra athletes and started openning my mind to new concepts. The question "Who knows maybe somebody "normal" could get to the finish line?" started to cross my mind.

After almost 4 years trying to get used to this idea, I started to change the answer to that question. There were many hours reading books, studying, visiting blogs of athletes and coaches. All this effort made me figure out a way to sketch a plan that had the slightest probability of success of overcoming such a big challenge.

Time to change this old armour.

On october 2013 I started to execute the plan. I re-started the bike and run training very slow. My main goal was to lose weight and get some physical conditioning. With 1,72m (5'7") and 95 kg (207 pounds) it´s not so easy to run 10 km, can ou imagine an Ultraman? No way! The bike averages wouldn´t go above 27 km/h (17 mph) and I wouldn´t get even close to a 10'40"/mi pace in a 5 km run!

The only requirement to be accepted in the Ultraman is to have completed an Ironman (3,8 k swim/180k bike/42,2k run) in 14:30' or less 18 months prior to the race.

From october/13 to march/14 I dedicated myself to all the training and improved a lot my results.

In march 2014 I raced the "HITS Ocala", an Ironman distance race, by then I was 16 pounds lighter. I finished the race in 12:01, a pretty good time considering the tornado that passed pretty close to the race site, more than half of the field DNF. I ranked 1st on my age group. Now I had the minimum requirement to be invited to Ultraman.

Invited? How´s that? To race an Ultraman it´s not as simple as just to pay an entry fee or as hard as getting a qualifying time. You have to be invited. You send your resumee and if they think you are good enough they send you the invitation.

Finish line picture at the Hits Ocala after 12:01'

On the beginning of April 2014 I filled all the forms and answered all the questions. For some reason every time I´d press the "send" button I always thought: "I´ll read it again and maybe make it better." On the last day I sent the forms to the race directors. There were questions like: "What drives you as an endurance athlete?" that don´t have a "right" or "wrong" answer. 10 days later there was the answer in my inbox: "You are officially invited to participate in Ultraman Florida 2015!!" Now things started to get serious!

On the end of April I had the oportunity to work as a crew to to "Ultra-Márcio", a super athlete from the Amazonas State that came all the way to compete in the UltraBrasil 515, the only triathlon with Ultraman distances in Brazil. This was an excelent experience to see what is necessary for a crew team to help the athlete the best way possible. Dr. Caio, Márcio´s son, and I spent 3 days in the car crewing for him from the starting line in Paraty till the finish line in the "Praia do Pepê" in Rio. Whenever we met other teams or race directors I´d take special attention to see what would be mostly necessary to my journey. Words of extreme wisdom were spoken from the masters Alexandre Ribeiro, Sérgio Cordeiro, Cory Foulk and Alexandre Luna.

Crewing for UltraMárcio Soares

The future team captain was also a volunteer in UB515.

The training phase specific to the Ultraman would start in August. Untill then I´d have to increase the volume of my total training sessions and burn a lot of bacon!

In August I had 2 races that were keys to how I should set the specific training. One was Audax Rio 300, with 300km (186 mi) biking from Rio das Ostras to Barra do Furado and back. The other one was the Ultramarathon 24 hours, organized by the Marines. In this race I aimed to finish the double marathon. Both goals were achieved. I was able to nourish my body well for more than 10 hours on each race without pains or muscle cramps and keeping up the pace as expected.

Crossing the plains through the night on  Audax 300.

With the crew on the last refuel CP.

Racing the Marine´s 24h.

From August on, the training became much more specific, aiming the Ultraman. The weekends started to concentrate most of the training volume. All that with a progression based on the periodization concepts that I learned from the Great Master Serginho Winalda, back in the late 90´s. I´m "old school" all the way!

The plan was simple: a "small long ride" on friday (from 70 to 110km/ 44 to 68 mi), a "really long ride" on saturday (from 100 to 200km/ 62 - 124 mi), a long run on sunday (from 15 to 42 km/ 10 to 26 mi) and a shorter run on monday (from 10 to 15 km/6 to 10 mi). On tuesday I took the day off, on wednesday and thursday I´d do shorter distances.

Having the run as my weakest discipline in triathlon I figured this plan would make me fit enough to run on heavy legs, simulating exactly what would happen on the race: a long run after two heavy days riding. In order not to go by as "normal" training days I decided to call them "Power Weekends".

During the "Power Weekends" I experimented a lot with nutrition. Nutrition is the fourth discipline of triathlon and the athletes often neglect it. I didn´t have the luxury to take chances with my nutrition. Having a 517 km (321 mi) race in front of me it was also necessary to train my body to absorb the maximum of calories and liquid possible. I tested many brands of sports drinks, bars and other foods like nuts, peanuts and bananas. With all the support from Fernanda, my cousin, nutritionist and athlete, it was a lot easier to experiment with all the foods and options I had.

By the end of august I had lost more than 10 kg (20 pounds) and with all this weight off I was already getting better results and better recovery between the most demanding training sessions.

95% of all the training was made in "zone 1", a heart rate zone ridiculously low - in my case 128 - 143 bpm. The main goal of this low heart rate training is to transform your body in a machine that performs like a diesel engine, with precise movements, high torque, low rpm and low fuel consumptions, or if you will: low consumption of carbohydrates, high fat consumption, low generation of lactic acid and a very high durability. I´d only raise my heart rate from "zone 1" if it was to scape from some wreckless driver or whenever I couldn´t take it anymore and had to put my body in "high gear mode" and climb the uphills of Tapera.

The days off were even more important than before. This lesson I learned the hard way during the training for my first two Ironman races. When I was only crawling as a triathlete one of the best coaches I´ve ever met, Tiago Matias, started to call me "Monster" because I didn´t rest enough. Tiagão taught me that: "Training harms the body, you improve only when eating well and resting. Training is only a tool used to make your body improve." I´m happy I learned this lesson half way during my 22 years in triathlon. 

In October I fullfilled a dream. Since the first time I watched the Tour de France I wanted to race on a Time Trial. I was lucky that the Rio State Championship was held in Macaé, half a mile from my doorstep. It was a race that had absolutely nothing to do with my Ultraman training but it was a good opportunity to make that dream come true! It was a super short race and I had to shift to high gear mode. It was only 18 minutes at 177 bpm and almost 40 km/h (25mph) of avg speed, all that with a lot of headwind! It was an excelent result that showed that even though that was not my type of race I had my "engine" in very good conditions..

Crossing the finish lines at the TT State Championship.

Final result: 2nd place on the Open Class

In november I had the XC Búzios, a very nice race and very difficult too. I raced on the quartet class with Bruno, Waldir and André. I inserted the race in one of the "Power Weekends" plan. I biked from Macaé to Cabo Frio and Búzios on the day before and raced a half marathon on the following day. The uphills were (literally) breathtaking. By then, the power weekends were very demanding but my body was reacting well to all that increase in the training volume.

Racing the XC at one of Búzios´ beaches.

After the finish line with the "Até o Fim" (Till the end) team
Waldir, Bruno, myself and André

December 2014 came and I restarted to swim. This was a strategy that I used in the Ironman Brazil 2002 and worked fine. The idea behind it was to dedicate myself to cycling and running up to 2 months before the Ultraman. The time spent biking and running in the Ultraman is much more than the time spent swimming. Of course that meant that I´d have very little evolution in the water but if you have the stamina to run 2 marathons back to back, for sure you have enough endurance to swim 10 km, you only have to pace yourself in the swim.

During the holidays the training had to go on. I went back to Brasilia to celebrate it with the family but took my running shoes and my bike with me. I really missed "Lago Norte" neighbourhood, where I started training back in 1993, taking my first steps into this fantastic world that Triathlon is. During the holidays I had 2 long rides and 1 marathon run. The marathon run was very special because it rained a lot on the second half and I love to run on the rain. The holidays were very good to change the environment of training and also to meet those people I missed so much.

January was a month that required a very special focus. The high volume demanded high commitment with the training regime. The high temperatures in Rio made hell look like a freezer. In order to take advantage of the adverse conditions I made a lot of runs during lunch time, I´d take 2 hours at lunch time and I´d run 15 - 20 km (9 - 13 mi) on the beach. Those were some very hard and wearing training sessions but I could feel myself getting better whenever I´d run in the early morning. My weight was below 80 kg (174 pounds) and that allowed me to push even more during training.

The cycling part of the Ultraman Florida is considerably flat untill km 200 (mile 120) of the second day, after that we hit hills that last till the end of the 275 km (171 mi). Since I live close to the mountais I took benefit from that. On January, one of the best training sessions was with a friend and Super Randonneur João Pimenta, a true ultra-distance-warrior. João was passing close by and decided to visit durig his vacation and suffer with me on the uphills to Tapera and back.

João Pimenta hitting the pedals hard all the way up to Tapera.

All the commitment with the training ended up in a "relationship corrosion" in the family. All the time dedicated to swimming, biking and running took it´s toll. My routine was narrowed to working, training, eating, resting and repeating it over and over again. Carol, my wife, was a real supporter. Understanding the great challenge I´d be facing soon she stood by me all the time. The role she played was primary so that I could have enough emotional stability to dedicate myself with all my heart and mind to the preparation to the toughest race I´d ever race.

February came and the last training sessions were made full throtle. I got my weight down 75 kg (163 pounds), 20 kg less than when I started training, I was training much more comfortable than before. I had some good oportunities to run with my first training partner, my brother, Guilherme, that would be the crew captain in Florida. Our runs were full of good chat and Gatorade.

And came the time to pack everything and head north, to Florida!