For Apolo Ohno to accomplish his goal of finishing the IRONMAN® World Championship in less than 10 hours, he had to go to a place that he had never been. While all the physical training had been completed by the time he stepped to the starting line on October 11th, Ohno wasn’t fully prepared for the mental challenge that layahead. 

 

The eight-time Olympic medalist in short-track speedskating was used to pushing his body to the limit, but only for the 40 seconds needed to complete his preferred 500m distance on the ice. For him to conquer the monstrous task of 140.6 miles in the Kona heat, Ohno would have to push his mind and body to a primal state, where he would find a sort of instinct that he never knew he had. Facing an excruciating final 10 miles, Ohno found himself completely aware of his surroundings, and able to summon his true inner strength. 

 

“You hear people talk about energy vortexes, this is one of them,” Ohno said, speaking of the brutal Hawaiian terrain. “Part delirious, part believing it, it didn’t matter, that’s the place I had to go.” Allowing the desolate landscape to serve as his arena, Ohno responded like any fighter would. “On my grandmother’s side we have samurai blood. In my head I’m thinking, ‘you are a samurai warrior, nothing can defeat you. You will fight until you die.’” 

 

Ohno needed every bit of that samurai fight to cross the line in 9:52:27. His training with IRONMAN World Champions Craig “Crowie” Alexander and Luke McKenzie as part of Team CHOCOLATE MILK had allowed him to transition from a sprint-based skater to an aerobic powerhouse, but it was that toughness that he found in the most challenging part of the IRONMAN that allowed Ohno to keep going. His mind never wandered from his goal, even when his body told him to give up. 

 

“If I had taken it a lot easier, gone 10:30, 10:45, 11 hours, it would have been awesome, but deep down the place that I had to go in order to endure those last 10 miles, I would have never gone to that place,” Ohno said, referring to the 10 hour barrier. “To me that’s one of the most significant things of this entire experience, it’s the place you have to go mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. You can’t replicate it. Your body is pushed to the absolute limit.” 

 

Reaching that level of harmony in a moment of indescribable pain was made possible because of the opportunities provided by Team CHOCOLATE MILK. While Ohno may not have been fully aware of the fight he had inside him until the going got tough in Kona, in reality he had been building his inner samurai since the day he decided to take on the Mission Apolo: BUILT WITH CHOCOLATE MILK journey. The grueling workouts, the attention to recovery, and his determination to accomplish this goal were all building a warrior that wouldn’t truly arrive until the final miles in Kona. His legs screamed when they became cramped with fatigue, but that’s exactly when his biggest strength would arrive.

 

Apolo Ohno took on the challenge of Kona because he was encouraged by Team Chocolate Milk. They believed that a short track speed skater could become an Ironman with the right combination of coaching and consistency in refueling. The Olympian knew the importance of refueling from his years of tough sessions on the track but the message didn’t truly hit home until he found himself exhausted from his workload in the buildup to Kona. 

That’s where good recovery nutrition made the biggest difference. Drinking low-fat chocolate milk, with the right combination of carbs and protein, after each session helped replenish and rebuild tired muscles so he was ready for the next grueling workout. The fourth discipline of triathlon- recovery, played an important  role in keeping Ohno healthy and brought him to the starting line on October 11th ready to accomplish his goal.

For more on Ohno’s journey and to go behind-the-scenes to learn what it took for him to cross the finish line in Kona, check out gotchocolatemilk.com.