Completing an Iron Man triathlon is a daunting enough feat. Swimming over two miles, cycling over 100 miles, and finishing that off with a marathon is an event not for the faint of heart, and it is certainly an athletic endeavor you want to train for, and not decide to do on a whim.
Unless, of course, you are Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas.
As we covered earlier this month, while other F1 drivers were using their three-week break to engage in a little rest and relaxation, Bottas decided to complete a triathlon at home. The F1 driver documented the entire journey on social media, which consisted of a swim in his pool followed by a long stint on an exercise bike, finished off with a marathon on his treadmill.
If that sounds incredible enough, just wait because Bottas saved the best part for the FIA Press Conference ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
He decided to attempt the at-home triathlon the night before, and did not have the most nutritious pre-triathlon meal.
“It’s a good question,” said Bottas Wednesday night when asked why he attempted the triathlon after deciding the night before. “I did regret it at times. I think it’s just sometimes I just decide to do something and kind of prove to myself that I can do it and really challenge myself. And also the friend who I was hanging with that week, he had done an Ironman… No, I’ve not heard of anyone actually who’s done it by himself in a small room. And just to give some details, there was like no preparation. I only had water and Coca-Cola, a bit of rice…”
Bottas described the at-home Iron Man, which took almost 11 hours, as a “cool experience” during Wednesday’s press conference.
“Eleven hours. Just under 11 hours, yeah. And the pacing… Pacing is easy because you can control yourself, but obviously I’ve never done that long of a distance or I kind of did it as a zone two, let’s say, Ironman, so managed to keep the heart rate pretty consistent and it was tough, especially the run in the end, lots of pain management, but I’m glad I did it,” said Bottas. “It’s pretty cool experience and Just you realise how much is just mental. If you don’t give up in your head, then you can do almost anything.”
Given what he put his body through in a single day, you might expect that Bottas took it easy in the following days.
You would be wrong.
“I was a little bit stiff the next day,” added Bottas. “I did manage to get up and play some pickleball the next morning. But I would say in a week or so, I felt strong again. So, yeah.”
F1 drivers are absolutely different.
