Valtteri Bottas recalls how he randomly decided to do Ironman in his hotel room to wind down and shaking off the tiredness then after.
Since leaving Mercedes, Bottas has been living a far more free life as seen on his social media channels. He has likened Australia and taken up the country’s lifestyle as much. Off-late, he has increased his cycling regime, which he showcases all on his social media. He is living a life outside F1, doing things to add more to his fitness regime.
Last year, Bottas undertook the Ironman challenge ahead of the Las Vegas F1 weekend in his hotel room. A Ironman triathlon event asks athletes to undertake three challenges i.e swimming, cycling and marathon. The Finn did all of the three in his hotel room which was documented on the social media.
Having now moved to Mercedes as a F1 test driver, Bottas recalls what went behind the self Ironman challenge. It took a week to shake off the tiredness on the whole but the overall experience was exhilarating for him. “I’ve raced all my life, since I was six, five, six years old and I still love it,” he said. “So I’ll be always driving something.
“I just sometimes like to challenge myself. I just decided on the evening before that tomorrow I want to be an Ironman. And I just did it in a small pool and indoor bike and treadmill. I’d actually never done a marathon before, so now that’s done as well. So, yeah, things sometimes just happen. I did regret it at times.
“I think it’s just sometimes I just decide to do something and kind of prove to myself that I can do it and really challenge myself. And also the friend who I was hanging with that week, he had done an Ironman. I’ve not heard of anyone actually who’s done it by himself in a small room. And just to give some details, there was like no preparation.
“I only had water and Coca-Cola, a bit of rice. It took just under 11 hours, yeah. Pacing is easy because you can control yourself, but obviously I’ve never done that long of a distance or I kind of did it as a zone two, let’s say, Ironman, so managed to keep the heart rate pretty consistent and it was tough, especially the run in the end, lots of pain management, but I’m glad I did it.
“It’s pretty cool experience and Just you realise how much is just mental. If you don’t give up in your head, then you can do almost anything. I was a little bit stiff the next day. I did manage to get up and play some pickleball the next morning. But I would say in a week or so, I felt strong again. So, yeah,” summed up Bottas.
Here’s video summary: https://www.instagram.com/p/DCIWUfCsdU2/?hl=en
Here’s Valtteri Bottas on Sauber stint, Williams option
Here’s news on Valtteri Bottas re-joining Mercedes
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact