029: Jessica Deree races and wins Ultraman Florida

Ultraman Florida is a 3 day Ultra triathlon comprised of a 6.2 mile swim, a 263 mile bike and a 54.2 mile run and this year the female winner of the race was Jessica Deree. This is an amazing race and she is a fantastic age-group athlete and I just had to hear this story.

We talk about how she discovered Ultraman. Before she attempted Ultraman she did 5 Ironman races including Ironman Florida in 2012, Texas and Arizona 2013 Chattanooga and Arizona in 2014 and then Ironman Arizona in 2015.

We talk about training for a large event like this. Jessica was coached by Chuck Kemeny who is the race director for Ultraman Florida and the current World Record Holder for Ultraman. www.lifesportcoaching.com . We also talk about what an average training week looked like for her getting ready for this event.

Crew: Jessica's husband, Jennifer Hyton, Joan Kim, Jay, Rachel Wills of Moment Cycle Sports in San Diego.

Ultraman is a small race filling up at 40 racers.

Jessica grew up a swimmer so she loves the swim. We talk about the course and also her nutrition. She used Gatorade and Gu dissolved in water during the swim. A 6.2 mile swim in 3:05.

Immediately following the swim the racers get right on the bike for the first portion of the 263 mile bike ride. We talk about how she handled her nutrition during the ride and also each night of the race.

Ultraman follows a different rhythm than some other races and the participants all get to rest at night and restart each day at the same time. Day 2 is all bike riding. 171 miles of biking which includes 5000 feet of climbing in Central Florida.

We talk about how they time a 3 day event like Ultraman.

Day 3 is a double marathon 54.2 mile run.  We talk about how your legs feel at the start of this run and how Jessica and her coach employ a walk-run strategy for this mega long event. The run is a point-to-point course that incorporates the Clermont Clay Roads.

We talk about what you get when you finish Ultraman Florida.

We talk about what's next for Jessica which is Challenge Roth. Which happens the day before this podcast goes live. Amazing. Yes.

Thank you to Jessica Deree for being a guest on the Mile after Mile podcast and sharing this amazing story.

Thank you to TriVillage for sponsoring the Mile after Mile Podcast. Be sure to visit them and to use code MileafterMile18 for an 18% discount on your multiport needs. If what you need is already on sale never fear simply use MileafterMile5 for a 5 % discount.