Unprepared Ultraman Attempt

Jesse Itzler shares a story about attempting an extreme endurance race called Ultraman with almost no preparation.

"I did a race called Ultraman which is a 6.2 mile open water swim, a 275 mile bike, and a 52 mile run. I was going to defer to the following year 2 weeks before the race because I hadn't swam at all. I didn't have a wetsuit and the water was 57 degrees.

So I called my friend who's a coach and said 'Listen, I haven't been training at all - zero - and I don't think I can do this. I'm thinking about deferring.' I was thinking he's gonna say 'Of course defer, train so you don't get hurt.'

Instead he said 'Absolutely not. The challenge is going to be - if you train for a year, you're gonna be able to do it. You have no idea if you're gonna do it now.'

I showed up at the event and jumped into the water the day before. When my face hit the water, it was like getting punched in the nose. I was like 'I'm done.'"