How to Do 3 Ironmans in 28 Days
Jun 8, 2017 Mad Fit Mag
Doing a single Ironman competition is tough. Doing several in a single year is tougher. But what if you did 3 in 28 days? Find out what it takes.
The Ironman circuit has offered Jack Nunn many opportunities to travel over the last eight years. Since 2008, Jack has competed and completed 8 international Full Ironman races and the Inaugural Ironman Vineman race this year in Sonoma, California. In 2013, he began racing shorter sprint triathlons, winning his age group in almost every single event racking up his total race count to over 100 events around the world.
He has also moved up in the ranks from a Bronze AWA medalist in 2014 this past year to a Silver AWA medalist in 2015 earning a little more respect along the way. Jack is also the 2015 Clydesdale 220lb+ National Champion and still holds the fastest time in the Olympic Distance Triathlon event in Grand Rapids Michigan.
The reason why Jack decided to attempt 3 Ironman’s in one calendar month was so that he could try and get to his goal of becoming an Ironman Legacy qualifier.
Jack is training for that elusive legacy spot in Kona, Hawaii as the Ironman Lottery was banned last year and the only way to get into the race is to either qualify with time or become an Ironman Legacy. You must complete 12 Full Ironman branded distance events and then you have a chance to be selected for a spot.
Jack also wants to educate people about the benefits of cross training, especially using the indoor rowing machines he utilizes at his business Roworx in Long Beach, California. Jack educates athletes during the year and encourages people to train during recovery blocks throughout the season.
His goal is to help swimmers, cyclists, and runners stay injury free and mentally fresh.
The key benefits of rowing for triathletes consists of maintaining a low impact and total body workout while enduring the pain and high caloric burn of rowing.
Ironman #1- Vineman, Sonoma
The original creator of the Vineman had always dreamed of having the full Ironman distance event with over 2,000 participants. There were 2,100 at this event, turning his dream into a reality after 28 years. Jack completed in 12:02:07, placing 60th in the M35-39 division and 397th overall.
Ironman #2- Kalmar, Sweden
Ironman Sweden, now in its fifth year, is a role model of how every major Ironman race should be modeled. Jack described it as a fun, historical, flat, and beautiful course.
The fan base consisted of thousands of spectators and a supporting community that offered incredibly positive energy towards all of the participating athletes along the course. Jack completed in 11:51:53, placing 196th in the AK M35-39 division and 1,132nd overall.
Ironman #3- Vichy, France
Ironman Vichy, France is now in its 2nd year of operation and offers a unique blend of history and beauty with a very professional and technical course. The Vichy Ironman and 70.3 are held on the same weekend but alternate days as they sold this race to the absolute max with more than 5,000 competitors.
Jack chose to participate in the Vichy Ironman mainly because of his very aggressive plan to complete 2 full Ironman’s in Europe that were only 8 days apart.
Coming off the Kalmar, Sweden Ironman he decided he would try and get his 9th overall Ironman checked off the list as he was very determined to get qualified for the elusive Ironman Legacy spot requiring 12 Full Ironman finishes.
This decision turned out to be the hardest series of race events that he had ever done in his life. Jack felt good mentally after the Kalmar Ironman but his body was broken and he found myself with barely a week to recover between races. Jack completed in 13:18:20 with an overall rank of 1,261.
Jack completed all three full Ironman’s in one month and had an average finish time of 12 hours flat. It was the hardest athletic challenge he had ever done in his entire life and does not recommend anyone try it unless they are in tremendous physical and mental health. It pushed Jack to the edge of injury and nearly broke him but he survived to tell the story to inspire others to use cross training with rowing and other unconventional training methods.
Jack created Roworx after winning numerous medals in various events on the international rowing stage. Jack started rowing in 1996 for Long Beach Juniors and made the 1997 Junior National Team Selection Camp. He went on to star for four years at UC Berkeley, winning four Pac-10 championships and three IRA National Championships. Jack was a member of the first ever undefeated Pac-10 and IRA National Champion Freshman 8 in 1998 and repeated the feat by going unbeaten in 1999. Jack helped his varsity 8 place second at the Henley Royal Regatta in 1999 in the Ladies Plate Challenge Cup in London, England. As a member of the US Rowing National Team from 2001-2004 he placed second at the 2003 Pan American Trials in double sculls and had an outstanding 2002 that saw him claim a gold medal in Senior 8 and a silver medal in the Elite Double at the US Nationals. LEARN MORE: WEBSITE