Enter my bright idea: HELL WEEK!

Inspired by, but nowhere near as painful as, the Hell Week during US Navy SEALs recruitment, I wanted a week of challenges or ‘tests’ that would take me to distances I couldn’t even imagine completing, and beyond.

Test 1 – Conquer the Ocean (Well, Slowly)

Swim – 4300 m

My swimming has really improved since I started using Form Swim goggles. The compass feature was a huge safety upgrade, as I was terrible at sighting and maintaining a straight line during longer swims. I was saving energy, swimming faster, and feeling more confident in open water, which was a game changer. So, getting into the water, I set out to swim beyond the Ironman distance in one go, with no breaks. Test one involved goggles on, swim shorts, sunblock, and setting off from the local beach in Miami. Two hours and 20 minutes later, I stumbled out of the water, a little dizzy, but with hours of practising high-elbow catch and monitoring my heart rate throughout, I had locked in the distance and prepared my mind to tackle the 3800 m on race day.

SWIM – 2900 calories burned – 4300 m – 2.2 hours

Test 2- Ride Hard

Next up was the bike. This has been the most enjoyable part of the sport for me. Coming from powerlifting and then CrossFit, my legs have always been strong. Aside from running, they’ve never let me down—from 240 kg back squats to pistol squats in competition, I’ve never lost my legs. As the king in 300 says, it was time to put that name to the test.

The Ironman bike ride is 112 miles, so with some “gym bro” maths, I decided to go for 130 miles to ensure my legs and mind would push past what I’d need to do on race day. I was prepared: fuel, hydration, the route, and even a group of crazy cyclists to join me on the day. Setting off in the darkness at a nice and early 5:30 a.m., I learned a valuable lesson in being over prepared—which, it turns out, I wasn’t.

Cue the first gear change on the bike, and boom—my fancy electronic gears had no battery! So, all 130 miles would have to be done in one gear. Then, three hours in, I hit a nail in the road and faced my first ever attempt to change a bike tyre. You guessed it—I hadn’t thought to learn beforehand.

But the fuelling was spot on; I managed to stop only when absolutely necessary and hit the route, maintaining my target paces. This was mentally the most fun part, and it made me feel like Hell Week might be exactly what my mind needed and what my body could handle! I’ve been lucky to work with an incredible bike store here in Miami called Mack Cycle. They’ve spent a lot of time teaching me, building my dream perfectly-fitted bike, and showing me all the great cycling routes. This ride was for Mack!

BIKE – 5653 calories burned – 6 hours 57 mins – 130 miles

Test 3- The Long Run

Finally, the run was the real test. I knew a marathon wouldn’t be enough, so I went for a 30-mile run to truly push the limits of Hell Week. I hate running; I’ve always hated running, and it’s been the slowest and most painful aspect of the project. From my first 40-minute runs trying to maintain a zone 2 heart rate to completing 20 km runs in the South Florida heat, running has been a challenge. But this was the end of the week and my mission: to complete an ultramarathon distance after five days of challenges.

Starting at 5 a.m. in the dark, I set off at a “speedy” pace of 11 minutes per mile and held this for around nine miles. As the sun rose, my pace started to increase a little, but then my quads were hit with the biggest pump and pain I’d ever felt while running. Suddenly, I knew that 1) the remaining 21 miles would be a real test of pain management, and 2) I needed to build much more endurance in my legs.

I’m glad I chose the iconic Miami Beach for this run, as the changing views, hundreds of people, and incredible scenery made this 21 miles of pain bearable. With 10 miles left, I stopped to refuel, take some painkillers, and refocus. This turned out to be a mistake, as my legs immediately forgot how to run, requiring about 1 km of a gentle waddle. But as the traditional 26.2-mile marathon distance approached, I knew I was nearly there and found a second wind to carry me through to 30 miles. My legs were done, but my mind had finally realised I could tackle this big distance, albeit slowly.

RUN – 4950 calories burned – 30 miles – 5 hours 49 mins

The Outcome

The week was worth every hour of effort. It showed me that I could handle distances I’d previously doubted. The next step is completing these distances in the same day—it’s going to be a different ball game for the full Ironman. But with the Form Swim goggles in the ocean, a much better understanding of bike maintenance, and the mental endurance from this week, I feel I’ve got the best shot to make it as an Ironman.

WORKOUT

For the full hell week experience complete all 3 of these workouts back to back, or take on each one and double out the time or amounts to make an individual challenge!

Ski erg and GHD sit up

20 minute AMRAP

22 calorie Ski

10 sit ups (GHD or butterfly)

Add 2 calories and 2 reps every round

Bike and DB Squats

112 calorie bike

Every 10 calories complete 12 DB squats

Run and Sled Push

30 minute AMRAP

Every 3 minutes complete 20m Sled push and remaining time max distance run

With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.    

As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.   

Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.   

 You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.