ASU triathlete preps for ultimate endurance contest

 by Gina Mizell
 published on Thursday, April 10, 2008

Bettina Hansen / THE STATE PRESS

140.6 MILES: Political science sophomore Gerrit Mack has a long road ahead of him on Sunday when he does his first Ironman.

When sophomore political science major Gerrit Mack first arrived at ASU, he was told he was too slow to be a member of the cross country team.

So instead of remaining limited to just distance running while in college, he added cycling and swimming to his list of athletic activities.

A lot of cycling and swimming.

Mack will be representing the ASU Cycling & Triathlon Club in Ironman Arizona this Sunday in Tempe.

Ironman is the ultimate test of conditioning and endurance; the triathlon race includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run.

"It takes a lot of training, a lot of commitment, but I think the biggest part is the mental game," Mack said. "You're going to want to quit the whole time, but you've just got to remember all the work that you put in and it's going to pay off."

While this will be his eighth triathlon, Mack said he still feels anxious in the days leading up to Sunday's race.

"I've been nervous for the past few weeks," he said. "[Then], I went over there and saw them putting everything out and I [was] like, 'I'm ready for this. This is going to be awesome.'"

Mack started training for Ironman Arizona in late November. He reached his "peak" performance four weeks ago when he went on a 120-mile bike ride that lasted seven hours, a 20-mile run that lasted three hours and a two-mile swim.

Since then, his workload has been on a downward slope leading up to the race, and it will come to a standstill on Saturday.

"Saturday, I'm not supposed to move," Mack said. "My coach is like, 'Yeah don't exercise. Sit on the couch.' That's the best training there is."

While preparing for Ironman Arizona, Mack has had to juggle his training schedule with his ASU class schedule.

"You've got to plan everything just right," he said. "There's not a lot of time in between, not a lot of free time."

Mack said that his original goal was just to finish the entire race, but now he has raised the bar and wants to break the 13-hour mark.

"I do have a running background, so I kind of feel confident that I can just slide through the swim, be pretty good on the bike and come to the run," he said. "There's not going to be any surprises for me."

In addition to racing against the clock, Mack will be competing against more experienced triathletes, which he said can be a bit intimidating.

"[There will be a lot of] pros with their big-time sponsors and their bikes," he said. "It's crazy."

Mack said he wants to transition back to distance running and sprints after the triathlon but could revisit the race in the future.

"Ironman is so long and requires so much endurance, [and] endurance comes with age," he said. "All the Ironman champions are in their 30s. There's no young people, so I'll get some age on me and then try it again."

As Mack's preparation for his first Ironman Arizona winds down, he said he's ready to go but is still unsure of how he'll react when the starter's gun sounds.

"I have no idea, but I'm excited for it," he said.

Reach the reporter at: gina.mizell@asu.edu.