Not content with finishing a 515km Ultraman race, Richard Thompson plans to carve a massive 90 minutes from his own world record.
The Kiel Mountain 37-year-old is poised to shatter his old mark at Noosa Ultraman, to be held from Saturday until Monday.
Thompson has been working with his team to develop a strategy to win the title in less than 20 hours.
He admitted it was an enormous task but he was confident he could do it.
“All the hard training is in the bank and we have no more time to improve,” he said.
“So much time, effort, blood, sweat and tears has gone into this preparation since I won the world title in Hawaii in December last year and now is the time to deliver.
“The plan I developed with my team has been based around stripping everything back and reverse engineering our goal by making significant critical decisions about my training, equipment, our team and the journey to ensure I can go as fast as I can in front of my family and friends in Noosa this weekend.
“There is no doubt that I am in great physical shape, but there has been a real shift in my mindset over the past six months. My mental training has gone to a whole new level.
“I’m not sure I had that when I won in Hawaii last year but I am now full of confidence in myself and my team to achieve something truly remarkable.
“I won’t be looking at the clock to see how I am performing, we are process driven and we simply focus on every moment and extracting the most we can out of it.
“We know that if we do that and put together a fun, determined and ruthless process, the outcome will take of itself in spades.
“This is the race of my life and I can’t wait to let it unfold – it is going to be beautiful.”
Ultraman Noosa is an annual three-day, 515km endurance race.
The event is divided into four stages over three days, and each day has a 12 hour cut-off.
Day one consists of a 10km swim and 140km bike ride.
Competitors then saddle up for day two, which consists of a torturous 281.1km bike ride and the event concludes on day three with what is essentially two consecutive marathons (84.3km).
Thompson’s journey is also being filmed for a documentary set to be released later this year.
Limitless is a fly-on-the-wall look at his physical and mental training as well as his nutrition intake to ensure he is working at his peak capacity.
“I’m really excited by the documentary,” he said.
“There’s a great crew behind the camera and it’s a real warts-and-all story of my pursuit to continue to be the very best athlete I can be.
“There were many times that I didn’t want the camera rolling but it’s raw and honest and hopefully it also helps lift the profile of our sport.”
To follow Richard’s journey or to book him for a speaking engagement, visit Richard Thompson.
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