Self-Selected Pacing During a World Record Attempt in 40 Ironman-Distance Triathlons in 40 Days

Case Report: Differences in self-selected pacing in 20, 40, and 60 ironman-distance triathlons: a case study

Background

Triathletes are pushing their limits in multi-stage Ironman-distance triathlons. In the present case study, we investigated the pacing during 20, 40, and 60 Ironman-distance triathlons in 20, 40, and 60 days, respectively, of one professional IRONMAN® triathlete.

Case study

Event 1 (20 Ironman-distance triathlons in 20 days), Event 2 (40 Ironman-distance triathlons in 40 days), and Event 3 (60 Ironman-distance triathlons in 60 days) were analyzed by discipline (swimming, cycling, running, and overall event time), by Deca intervals (10 days of consecutive Ironman-distance triathlons) and additional data (sleep duration, body mass, heart rate in cycling and running). To test differences between Events and Deca intervals within the same discipline, T-tests (2 groups) or one-way ANOVAs (3 or more groups) were used.

Results

Swimming splits were fastest in Event 1, (ii) cycling and running splits were fastest in both Event 2 and 3, (iii) overall speed was fastest in Event 3, (iv) sleep duration increased during Event 2 but decreased in Event 3, (v) body mass decreased in Event 2, but increased in Event 3 and (vi) heart rate during cycling was similar in both Event 2 and 3. In contrast, heart rate during running was greater in Event 3.

Conclusion

In a professional IRONMAN® triathlete finishing 20, 40, and 60 Ironman-distance triathlons in 20, 40, and 60 days, respectively, split performances and both anthropometrical and physiological changes such as body mass and heart rate differed depending upon the duration of the events.

Ultra-Cycling- Past, Present, Future: A Narrative Review

BACKGROUND

Ultra-endurance events are gaining popularity in multiple exercise disciplines, including cycling. With increasing numbers of ultra-cycling events, aspects influencing participation and performance are of interest to the cycling community.

MAIN BODY

The aim of this narrative review was, therefore, to assess the types of races offered, the characteristics of the cyclists, the fluid and energy balance during the race, the body mass changes after the race, and the parameters that may enhance performance based on existing literature. A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar using the search terms 'ultracycling', 'ultra cycling', 'ultra-cycling', 'ultra-endurance biking', 'ultra-bikers' and 'prolonged cycling'. The search yielded 948 results, of which 111 were relevant for this review. The studies were classified according to their research focus and the results were summarized. The results demonstrated changes in physiological parameters, immunological and oxidative processes, as well as in fluid and energy balance. While the individual race with the most published studies was the Race Across America, most races were conducted in Europe, and a trend for an increase in European participants in international races was observed. Performance seems to be affected by characteristics such as age and sex but not by anthropometric parameters such as skin fold thickness. The optimum age for the top performance was around 40 years. Most participants in ultra-cycling events were male, but the number of female athletes has been increasing over the past years. Female athletes are understudied due to their later entry and less prominent participation in ultra-cycling races. A post-race energy deficit after ultra-cycling events was observed.

CONCLUSION

Future studies need to investigate the causes for the observed optimum race age around 40 years of age as well as the optimum nutritional supply to close the observed energy gap under consideration of the individual race lengths and conditions. Another research gap to be filled by future studies is the development of strategies to tackle inflammatory processes during the race that may persist in the post-race period.

Pacing strategy of a wheelchair athlete in a 5x and 10x Ironman ultra triathlon: a case study

OBJECTIVE

For disabled athletes such as wheelchair athletes, there is no knowledge about competing and pacing during a long-distance triathlon such as an Ironman triathlon. This study aimed to investigate the pacing strategy of a paraplegic wheelchair athlete competing and finishing a Quintuple Iron ultra-triathlon (i.e., five times 3.8 km swimming, 180 km handbike cycling and 42.195 km wheelchair racing in five days) and a Deca Iron ultra-triathlon (10 times the same distance in 10 days).

METHODS

Data from an ultra-distance triathlon race (Swissultra) covering 5x and 10x Ironman distance were collected. Official performance data were acquired from the race organizer's website and athlete's personal information from the athlete through online interviews. The athlete is a man born in 1962, the races analysed in this study were held in the summer of 2017 (5x) and 2019 (10x). The split times for swimming, cycling and running, the overall race times for each Ironman and the lap times in cycling (handbike) and running (wheelchair) were analysed.

RESULTS

The athlete finished the Quintuple Iron ultra-triathlon in an overall race time of 66:28:31 h:min:s and the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon in 137:03:20 h:min:s. He adopted an even pacing in both races in split disciplines and for overall race time.

CONCLUSION

The paraplegic wheelchair athlete was able to finish both a Quintuple and a Deca Iron ultra-triathlon by adopting an even pacing in all split disciplines and for overall race time.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONTriathlon is a growing sport among athletes with spinal cord injury.Ultra-triathlons are ultra-endurance events and pacing is a key aspect to a successful race regardless the athlete's category.An athlete with a spinal cord injury finished a 5x and 10x Ironman ultra-triathlon applying an even pacing strategy.

The Reciprocal Association between Fitness Indicators and Sleep Quality in the Context of Recent Sport Injury

The purpose of the study is to investigate whether the oxygen uptake and heart rate at rest, in Greek professional soccer players, are affected by recent injuries, as well as how sleep quality is affected. Forty-two male professional soccer players were included in the study and divided into two groups: injury_group (n = 22, age: 21.6 ± 5.4 years, body fat: 11.0 ± 3.9%, total body water: 64.0 ± 2.5%) and no-injury_group (n = 20, age: 24.2 ± 5.6 years, body fat: 10.1 ± 2.8%, total body water: 64.3 ± 1.8%). The oxygen uptake at rest (VO_2resting, mL/min/kg) and heart rate (HR, bpm) were recorded in the upright position for 3 min, and the predicted values were calculated. One hour before, the athletes answered the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire. The results showed a difference between groups (injury_group vs. no-injury_group) in VO_2resting (7.5 ± 1.4 vs. 5.5 ± 1.2 mL/min/kg, p < 0.001) and percent of predicted values (92.5 ± 17.2 vs. 68.3 ± 14.6%, p < 0.001) and HR, such as beats per min (100.6 ± 12.8 vs. 93.1 ± 4.6 bpm, p = 0.001), percent of predicted values (50.7 ± 6.4 vs. 47.6 ± 2.8%, p = 0.003) and sleep quality score (PSQI: 4.9 ± 2.2 vs. 3.1 ± 0.9, p = 0.005). Anthropometric characteristics were not different between groups. Oxygen consumption and heart rate at rest are affected by the systemic adaptations due to injury. These pathophysiological changes probably relate to increased blood flow in an attempt to restore the injury area.