Sub7/Sub8 Times Achieved – breaking the limits of human endurance
Throughout the centuries, scientists have poked and prodded the human body in order test the limits of these complex machines we inhabit. But today, in the Sub7/Sub8 project, four athletes were concerned with just one fundamental barrier of the human body – breaking the limits of human endurance.
The Sub7 and Sub8 aim was to create a new world standard of human performance through the engagement of four elite athletes in Kristian Blummenfelt, Joe Skipper, Kat Matthews and Nicola Spirig to achieve what was believed impossible; to break seven hours for a man, and eight hours for a woman, over the full distance of triathlon of 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon run.
Well, all four of them achieved it…and in some style.
(All athletes times to be found below)
When it comes to triathlon, we all know (or we think we know) how far and how fast one can go is determined by a number of physical factors, including your VO2 max (the volume of oxygen you can pump round your body) and your lactate threshold, which is the point at which your body produces more lactate than it can break down (a build-up of this chemical makes you race less efficiently).
Some of this is genetic; some of it comes from training. But the Sub7/8 race made us all recognise the importance of mental strength. The longer you race, the more important a well-thought-out mental strategy is. Yes, there were pacemakers to assist the athletes to break the 7-hour and 8-hour mark but they were not actually physically assisting the athletes.
Enduring conditions that tap into deleted energy sources is not easy. We need mental strength to persevere and whilst these athletes will have used common strategies for coping with the pain and discomfort like motivational self-talk and distraction techniques to help block negative thoughts to break this human endurance barrier, they will have had to access the darkest recesses of their minds.
Much discussion will be had on the athletes mind-boggling times in the coming weeks but what I think we can now agree on is an athlete’s performance is determined by a combination of both body and mind.
Kristian Blummenfelt
Joe Skipper
Kat Matthews
Nicola Spirig
