Best Practices – Athlete: Words from Alumni

Current & future athletes:  If you’d like to chat w/an alumni about the experience, preparations, what one might expect during the event, etc. , there are several athletes who would be happy to chat with you including 2014 EPIC5 Athlete, Christopher Brennan – christopher@epic5.com

Question posed to former EPIC5 athletes – if you could give one piece of advice to new EPIC5 athletes, what would it be?

Christopher Brennan, 2014  “Trust your training!  Use the first day to ease your body into the event and “blow out” the negative energy generated by nervousness and self-doubt.  As the days pass recognize and appreciate that overall you are getting STRONGER and more in-tune with your body.  As you finish the third day, allow yourself to believe that you can and will finish this event—you’ve EARNED this belief.  Some or all aspects of the fourth and fifth days will be ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL and feel like your very essence is being PULLED THROUGH YOUR EYE SOCKETS — know this NOW and discuss what this may look like with your crew NOW, not when it happens!  When you hit these low points, first and foremost, breathe, breathe, breathe—seriously you should have a 2-minute breathing routine as part of your arsenal.  Trust your GUT. You know what you need to do to work through these low points—so LISTEN TO YOUR SOUL.  If you need to cry, THEN CRY.  If you need to scream, THEN SCREAM.  If you need to close your eyes for 20 minutes, THEN CLOSE YOUR EYES.  If you need to call your husband, wife, rabbi, priest, dog, cat, or kindergarten teacher, THEN MAKE THE FREAKIN’ CALL. If you need to be left alone with your miserable self, then TELL YOUR CREW CHIEF TO ENSURE YOU HAVE YOUR SPACE. Most of all, unless you are physically injured, ONLY decide to quit when you are on the course and moving forward in some manner—IT IS TOO EASY to decide to quit when you are in a POSTURE OF DEFEAT of lying, sitting, or standing removed from the course.  You worked too hard to make a decision this important while in a posture of defeat.”

Chris Solarz, 2014 “You are capable of much more than you realize and the emotional experiences I encountered in my EPIC5 week provides me with a constant source of inner strength.”

Chad Esker, 2017 – “Trust your crew!   Make sure your crew knows you better than you know yourself.   Eat when they tell you to eat, drink when they tell you to drink, go slower or faster and do what the crew chief says.    Don’t try to play the hero.  This is a challenge not a race.   It’s going to get really tough out there, remember why you took on this challenge.  If you feel broken and think you have to quit, think again.  Pain is temporary, results last forever.”

Michael Flartey, 2011, 2012 “You will get tired, but make sure you charge your lights nightly and brush your teeth – simple things like that tend to get low priorities when you are napping in airports between islands and can’t think anymore – keep your bike box/luggage simple because it makes it easy for others to help you along the journey. Keep your head up and just do your thing. Make it past day 3 and you’ll be good.”

Juan Craveri, 2011, 2017 “(1) It’s a challenge not a race. Relax and finish the distance every day.   (2) Ironman slogan is “Anything is possible”, during EPIC5 this will happen exponentially. Be ready and with an open mind.”

Melissa Urie, 2017 –  “Everything you do needs to be focused on day 5.  Eat for day 5. Conserve energy for day 5. Sleep as much as you can for day 5. Stay as calm and relaxed as you can. Each day is a long day so you need to be aware that everyone around you is also as tired and stress as you are so be polite. Respectful. Enjoy the experience. For me, it was a once in a lifetime race so have fun, look around and soak it all in!!”