WITH Robbie Balenger
Double Ergathlon
A World Record Attempt
The greatest athletes are those who compete against themselves. They’re their own biggest rivals, and they don’t need to be pushed by others. Instead, these phenomenal competitors are motivated by their own self image, by their own mind, and by their own desire to achieve the seemingly impossible goals they set for themselves.
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The Why
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The Prep
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The Challengecoming soon
The Why
Seven ultramarathons in four months. A 75 day, 3,200 mile transcontinental run. As a self-described “plant-based alternative endurance athlete,” Robbie is no stranger to extreme endurance events. This month, he’ll try to add one more to his already impressive resume - break the Central Park Loop Fastest Known Time (FKT).
The Central Park Loop Challenge is renowned in the distance community. Its premise is simple: run as many standard 6.1 mile loops of Central Park as possible during the park’s opening hours, between 6:05am and 12:55am the next morning. The current record is daunting enough: 11 loops for 67.1 miles in 14 hours and 5 minutes. Robbie is setting out to try to crush this.
“Once I put forth this level of accountability, then I have to see it through. My word is my bond.”
The Prep
Robbie Balenger is a study in modesty. He isn’t setting out to break the Fastest Known Time of the Central Park Loop Challenge out of a desire to be the best, set a world record, or do something nobody else has done before. His impetus is much simpler: Robbie is taking on this feat – and returning to Central Park – to end one chapter and start a new one.
Despite never living there, New York is one of the most important places in Robbie’s life. While he was born in rural Georgia and now lives in Denver, New York has come to embody the crucial changes he’s made in his life.
The Challenge
Highly structured training. An exacting diet for the months leading up to the run. A precise weekly mileage target. Robbie Balenger eschewed all of these. Rather than approach his effort with scientific precision as he had his previous endurance events, Robbie took a completely different tact with the Central Park Loop Challenge: relying on his body and mind to guide his training, and moving away from any sort of formal strategy,
While Robbie has stared down grueling distance events before, this challenge is different. Rather than the sustained daily efforts that underpinned his transcontinental run, this effort is about laying it all on the line, for one day. That requires a completely different approach to training.
“With the Central Park Loop Challenge, I don’t have to be as reserved in my effort – but I do in my training. It's a one day thing. It's one big push, whereas with the transcontinental run, I had to be calm and I had to hold on because I needed more for the next day.”
That’s what makes preparing for this so challenging for Robbie. He can’t simply run 100 miles straight every day, let alone every week or even month leading up to his FKT attempt. Instead, he’s settled into a routine by listening – and adapting – to his body, changing up his schedule a bit every day of every week. There’s no set mileage or days on – it’s all about consistency and feeling good.
With that approach, Robbie’s settled into a routine. He’s run at least 10 miles a day every day for the last 50 days, increasing or tapering his mileage and his cadence at any given moment – including mid-run. While this has included some longer efforts – including a recent 32 mile cruiser – no effort will even come close to the mileage he’s planning to crush in Central Park. This decision to focus on consistency over insane mileage totals is intentional.
“With the Central Park Loop Challenge, I don’t have to be as reserved in my effort – but I do in my training. It's a one day thing. It's one big push, whereas with the transcontinental run, I had to be calm and I had to hold on because I needed more for the next day.”
Read on...
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