Everyone knows that running a marathon is a challenging thing to do. Many people can’t even run a few miles without stopping. Now imagine not only running a whole marathon, but also swimming and biking another long distance on top of all that in one day. That is what an Ironman race is. It is one of the most physically demanding events and pushes people to their furthest limits.

An Ironman race is a long-distance triathlon that includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a marathon (26.2-mile run). This totals up to be 140.6 miles and can take up to 17 hours to finish. This year, 170 races will take place all around the world with 10 of them in the United States.

Senior Luke Glasgow has been preparing for the Ironman Lake Placid. This race will take place this July in Lake Placid, New York. This course will take the athletes through various parts of the village with a swim across Mirror Lake, a bike ride through the Adirondack Mountains, and a marathon through the mountains and downtown.

“I’m excited to go open swim in Lake Placid because that lake is supposed to be really pretty and all the things around it,” Glasgow said.

This triathlon requires months of intense and consistent training. Many people follow structured plans that include physical training, nutrition, and more that help them prepare for this difficult event.

“It is a huge time commitment if you’re really going to train and really race it. It’s about 20-25 hours a week just for training. You’re swimming 10,000-15,000 yards per week. You’re biking 300-350 miles a week and you’re running 50ish miles a week,” assistant track and cross country coach Brian Yueill said.

Training since October, Glasgow has had a strict schedule and trains nearly every day at the gym and around 15-20 hours per week.

“I have a Google Doc right now that I made. I used a little bit of AI to help do my training program. I have a regimen for every single day leading up until that,” Glasgow said.

Along with physical training, it is also important to be prepared mentally. One of the biggest parts of an Ironman is the mental challenge.

“You have to overcome that physical drain. You’ve got to figure out mentally how to do it. You’re like I hurt, I’m hungry, I’m thirsty, I’m tired, I want to be done, but you have to figure out how to keep going because everything in your body is saying stop. That is the mental challenge,” Yueill said.

Yueill has had lots of success with these races. He has been a competitive runner his whole life but had started doing triathlons when he was 35 years old. He has now completed 5 Ironmans around the country including Ironman Wisconsin, Arizona, Louisville and more.

Before tackling an Ironman, many people tend to build up to it by running several long-distance events and half-Ironmans.

“Most people start with what’s called a sprint triathlon or Olympic distance and work their way up because it takes a lot to just build the overall endurance to be able to cover that distance,” Yueill said.

For Glasgow, he is jumping right in and taking on the full.

“There are 70.3-mile Ironmans, which are half-Ironmans. People usually do half ones and then go to the full, but I’m just doing the full. The only thing I’ve ever run before is a half marathon, so it’s kind of ridiculous, but I think that’s the whole point, because I want it to be ridiculous and to do something great,” Glasgow said.

This event is a lot to take on. All the rigorous training and hours take discipline to keep going strong to get to that finish line.

“It’s a lifestyle. You have to give up a lot of things. You can’t be staying up late and your nutrition, you have food truly as a fuel. It’s not, oh, I feel like having this chocolate cake, that will ruin your training,” Yueill said.

Along with that, having motivation and determination to push through and reach your goals is important for success.

“It’s that physical feat that I’m probably never going to be able to do as easily in my life. I want to do it now. I want to be able to say that I’ve done it. I want to be able to do it and prove to myself that I can do something like that,” Glasgow said.

Completing this race is a rewarding experience and a huge accomplishment.

“When I finished all of them, I was literally crying, it was such an emotional experience. It’s six months of training for the race, and then that you’ve completed it and you’ve reached your goal,” Yueill said.

For Glasgow, he is pumped to finally fulfill this goal and complete the race.

“I think the after part of it, going through that finish line and being delirious, will feel like it was all worth it,” Glasgow said.

With 3 months left until the big race, Glasgow will continue training and working hard toward this accomplishment.