Last weekend, 23-year-old Schiller took part in the Ironman in Hawaii, an extreme triathlon in which athletes swim 3.8 kilometers, cycle 180 kilometers, and then run the approximately 42.2-kilometer marathon distance. Everything in one piece. The best in the world cover these distances in around seven and a half hours; Schiller needed just over nine. A good time that earned him a tenth place within his age group.
Nine hours is a very long time. A time when thoughts only revolve around moving forward. And reach the finish line upright. “When you run, you only think about the aid stations,” says Schiller. To the places where you can add carbohydrates, salts and fluids to the body. “When swimming, which doesn’t take that long, you’re very focused on the feet of the person in front of you,” he says. You don’t want to be left behind. And when cycling? “You think in stages.” Kilometers XY, Olympic distance, half of the route and so on.
It is a technical way of thinking that sees the body as a machine that needs to be refueled. A way of thinking that has absolutely nothing to do with most people’s everyday lives. Schiller himself says that as an extreme athlete you sometimes find yourself quite alone. For example, because as an Ironman athlete you have to train so much and take care of your body. Just go on vacation, that’s not possible.
Still, he says, it’s worth it. “The experience was unique.” And if you want to understand why, you should ask Schiller now. After Ironman Hawaii. After taking part in this competition, a long-cherished dream came true for him. After completing what, in the eyes of many extreme athletes, is very important, but also very challenging, in just over nine hours. But more on that in a moment.
It’s oppressively hot in Hawaii and you can’t really practice for it, says Schiller. (Photo: private)
Schiller can be reached on the phone shortly after he sets foot on German soil again. The journey to and from Hawaii, twelve time zones apart, is long. Schiller had to make a stopover in San Francisco and is noticeably happy to have finally arrived. He doesn’t sound tired, even when he says: “Unfortunately the return journey wasn’t that good, it was cold on the flight.” He was a little afraid of getting sick because he was so exhausted and might now have a weakened immune system.
“I’m happy with my placement,” he says, even though more could have been possible, he says. However, when running, the last of the three disciplines, he suffered from back pain, which, as he put it quite bluntly, was “not beneficial for his running form”. In the end it took him nine hours, twelve minutes and 23 seconds. Of these, 54:56 minutes were spent swimming, 4:49:26 hours cycling and 3:17:40 hours running the marathon. Last year he completed the “Roth Challenge”, in which virtually the same distances have to be covered, in under nine hours. However, the competitions in the Franconian city and in Hawaii are only comparable to a limited extent.
The athlete describes the landscape in Hawaii as monotonous
This is mainly due to the circumstances, says Schiller, the climatic conditions and the mental component. Hawaii, says Schiller, is hell on earth for doing sports. “It’s oppressively hot and very humid, you can’t really prepare for that.” Some would try wearing a thick jacket on an indoor trainer, but that only gets you so far. And then there is the head, which not only has to get used to the jet lag and the new environment, but also to the fact that everything looks the same. Schiller calls the route “boring”: “It’s all so monotonous.” The 23-year-old has been in Hawaii since October 7th, so he had about three weeks to get used to the environment. That was important for him.
“I never thought about giving up,” he says, neither during the race nor before. Not considering the distance he traveled and the price he paid. And especially not with what had to happen before Hawaii: The Ironman there has been taking place since 1978 and is considered a world championship. For this, you not only have to pay a participation fee, but you also have to qualify. Schiller achieved this last June in Klagenfurt, where he secured one of only two slots. This gave him his ticket to Hawaii.
Felix Schiller at the finish. (Photo: private)
Anyone who speaks to Schiller and is not an athlete, whether professional or amateur, must be prepared not to understand many things at first. An example: In the coming days he wants to do light sports sessions, after such a competition that only makes sense. What does he mean by that? Jogging, for example, a little slower than usual. But he doesn’t say it like that, instead he gives a so-called pace, an average speed: “Five minutes per kilometer.” The same thing with cycling, he doesn’t talk about distance or speed, but gives a wattage, a physical quantity. This is the world in which Schiller moves and the language in which he speaks.
None of this is surprising. Extreme athletes like him base their entire lives on their hobby, although hobby is almost the wrong word for it. Too small, too insignificant for the attitude to life that comes with running an Ironman. Sleep depends on it, the schedule and, above all, the diet. Athletes say “train your guts”, so steel your stomach, says Felix. Because you have to learn what to eat and when to achieve athletic performance.
The costs of taking part in the Ironman Hawaii are enormous
This lifestyle comes at a financial cost, especially when competing in Hawaii. The flight costs a lot, as does the holiday apartment and the cost of living during the stay is enormous. How did he finance that? “I had supporters in my family circle,” says Schiller. In addition, the economics student works 16 hours a week parallel to his studies and has some savings. But he also says: “I probably don’t get to do something like Hawaii very often.”
The family was also present in Hawaii. His brother, for example, on the side of the track, on the e-scooter. And his parents, Christian, the non-party mayor of Herrsching, and Eva Schiller, took photos. Friends and acquaintances at home were able to follow the experiences with the help of a Whatsapp group. “My supporters,” says Felix, “they were very, very important.” And he says: “If someone has the dream of doing the Ironman in Hawaii, then they should definitely do it.”
Schiller wants to compete again next year
But now the important thing is to arrive in reality, acclimatize, overcome jet lag. A real break, but that’s not possible. Neither in life nor in sport. So the day after the conversation it was his girlfriend’s birthday and he went to South Tyrol for her. At the beginning of November he starts an internship with a large auditor.
And sporty? He already has a goal. He wants to do sports for three weeks without a training plan, then in the winter he wants to run a lot. Next year he has his sights set on medium-distance competitions. To do this he has to build up speed. Long-distance runners like him have incredible stamina, but they pay less attention to speed. This doesn’t help much over shorter distances.
And then it gets tight again. If he wants to take part in the competitions mentioned, for which good friends of his have also qualified, he must take part in races in spring and early summer in order to qualify. “There aren’t that many anymore,” he says. But it doesn’t sound like he’s that worried.
