94 Days to Ultraman Mexico: Discipline Over Time

Seeing the days count down makes the race feel increasingly real. Each day feels more precious and every choice carries more weight. In the back of my mind, there’s a pressure to stretch sessions further. The fear wants to turn a planned ten mile run into eleven or twelve. In a work out it is easy to think that moving the goal post will make all the difference. Outside of my workouts I rarely think to add an extra run of just a mile or two. If I’m going I’m going long. If I’m not going I’m not going at all. This tells me that the extra mile here and there is less about training and more about feeling afraid.

Sometimes discipline comes in holding myself back. Reminding myself that a mile here or there won’t solve everything. It’s the consistent effort, week after week, month after month, year after year, that makes the difference. Extra short term effort can push the body over the edge. The real work is gradual and steady. The difficult part is coming to terms with where I am now and slowly building toward where I imagine I need to be for the race.

I’m training in what feels like a short window. At the start of this year, Ultraman wasn’t on my radar. My original plan was to reach the Ultraman World Championship in 1,000 days. This countdown began 320 days ago. My plan was to do three Ironman races this year to gauge my endurance and then apply for my first Ultraman race in 2026, aiming to qualify for the 2027 World Championship.

Then I saw Ultraman Mexico added as a qualifier for the world championships. It was set to take place in October when I was planning to do my third Ironman of the season. I had to apply.

At that point, I’d only done one Ironman and had been in triathlon less than two years. I had zero expectations when filling out the application, but submitting it was still fun. That inner sense was lit up. I knew the odds were long but this was closest to Ultraman I had been since setting that 1000 day goal. When I was accepted that hope transformed into excitement and then fear.

My Ultraman training suddenly moved up a year.

I had already signed up for Ironman Texas, Ironman Lake Placid, and the USAT National Championships. Now Ultraman Mexico was on the schedule as well. That’s a lot of training, travel, and financial planning to manage. The months between that day and now flew by. Looking back, I wish I had trained more, but I also see that I’m in the healthiest, strongest endurance form yet. Looking back I always wish I had done more. I’ve learned that I just need to say yes and figure it out. When I do that things happen. It never looks or goes how I expect and it’s always more fun than thinking about it.

This was an unexpected and major change to my schedule. I can’t force massive training volume. I have to build slowly. I have to trust that a healthy body, a strong mind, and a steady increase in periodized training will carry me through. My only goal right now is to reach the starting line healthy.