Young ironman competitor makes plans for future competitions

As kids growing up in Barrington, Henry Schultz and his brother were awestruck by their neighbor Vinu Malik, who trained for ironman competitions. “My brother and I would see him running down our street and we’d always think he was really cool. That’s what led me to being interested.”

That experience as a kid in the neighborhood led Henry to train for his first ironman competition in the summer of 2024. As a junior at Barrington High School, Henry began thinking about his senior project, a requirement for graduation. Senior projects are broad based and there are few restrictions. Some students coach Little League, others might build a guitar, while some pursue science-based or community relations projects. Students need to complete 20 field hours and have a mentor from the community.

For Henry, the challenge of completing an ironman, which includes running, swimming and biking, soon became his obsession during his junior year.

“When I first told my parents I wanted to do it they kind of laughed at me because they said, ‘There’s no way you can swim that far.’ ‘You’ve never run a marathon before.’ It was definitely a mental challenge I set for myself as well as physical.”

Henry had a background in competitive running and playing tennis, but the swimming and biking portion of the competition would take much longer to master.

“I have a running background. I have been running cross country and track. I used to bike around town with my friends. Swimming for me was a very big challenge. Back in January I could not even swim one full lap of the pool. So, every morning I would go and swim as far as I could and eventually, I kept getting farther and farther.”

As part of their senior project, students need  mentors from the community to guide them. For Henry, it was a simple choice, his neighbor, Vinu Malik, who “has done 36 Ironmans, [and] seven Kona World Championships.”

“Vinu really was the perfect mentor. He made a training schedule that coincided with my schoolwork because junior year is super busy. I guess it started out a little easier and then progressively it got to a little over 25 hours a week, up to maybe 30 hours.”

Vinu was all too happy to mentor Henry. He lives a few doors down from Henry and his family, and watched him grow up. “Henry used to ride his bike to the Middle School in all seasons. I could see he was motivated, and he is one of the best runners at Barrington High School. I also have a long history in triathlons and ironmans”

Training for a triathlon “is a big undertaking,” noted Vinu. “But Henry was motivated. You need to be at least 18 years old, and Henry was 17 at the time. My first competition was at the age of 17, some 40 years ago, so it was like looking in the mirror.”

One of Vinu’s first areas of focus was to design a training program for Henry. They worked backward, starting with the July date of the ironman competition. Many factors were taken into consideration such as schoolwork, final exams and the weather in New England in April, which can be cold and rainy. According to Vinu, “it was a periodization process. The first two months are base building, the mechanics of the sports, not mileage. Months three and four are about pacing, and then the final two months are the big miles and then taper off the week of the race.” Henry had roughly five months to train.

Early in the process, Henry had to stop after a few weeks into the first training cycle. His body did not have enough calories. The goal was to increase his caloric intake to 5,000-6,000 calories a day, about triple his normal intake.

His mother focused on his nutrition and smoothies became a focal point of his diet. Carbs became his main driver each day. He would wake up each morning, eat oatmeal, swim and then have a smoothie, eggs and toast. His smoothies were usually 1,000 calories. At school, he would snack and have lunch, which was usually the smallest meal of the day. Exercise would follow and then more food. For dinner, he would eat pasta with protein, since  pasta alone was not a sufficiently calorie dense meal.

According to Vinu, most young kids do not understand sports nutrition. He encouraged Henry to eat more protein and fewer processed foods, anything that would not hold him back from his highest performance training.

One of the biggest lessons learned during this process was time management. During the school year, Henry enrolled in six Advanced Placement classes so managing his class work with training became a key focus of his efforts. In the process, Henry leaned on  the emphasis in his Jewish upbringing on perseverance and never giving up, making it through the training and to race day.

“The hardest part for me was just training by myself for that long, because all my friends were doing track and cross country. I wasn’t used to training alone and it definitely tests your commitment and dedication, especially when you’re accustomed to having a coach and teammates.”

But Henry continued training and before long race day was here.

Lake Placid, New York, became the site of Henry’s first ironman. Vinu competed at Lake Placid 16 times and felt that this was the best fit for a first-time competitor like Henry.

According to Vinu, the original ironman company runs the Lake Placid event, so it is a well-managed event. “It had three things going for it. First, it has a good race set up. Second, it is the biggest race that is closest to New England. Third, I have raced it 16 times. It is an Olympic village town and a good experience, but a tough course.”

“I never doubted that I would be able to finish the race, but there was a time when I hurt my foot a month or two out from the race,” recalled Henry. “It turned out not to be anything too serious, and I was able to keep running, but that was slightly concerning for me. I was pretty upset when that happened because I had already put months of training into it. I rested for a week and thankfully I was able to keep running, and it went away by itself. “

“Going to the line I was super nervous…After putting in so much work I think that is what really made me nervous, because I wanted to be able to display all the work I put in, and I didn’t want anything to go wrong. It’s such a long race; there’s a lot of points for something to mess up your day.”

The night before the race, Henry was up much of the night as both nervousness and excitement kept him awake as he anticipated the following day.

Come race day, though, Henry was ready. For him, the course was beautiful. He swam in the lake and ran through the hills in town.

Throughout the day, he saw his parents on the course, which was a source of inspiration.

“They actually were cheering me on throughout the course. I saw them maybe three or four times, and whenever I saw them, I had a boost of energy. A lot of energy came from talking with other athletes who I was racing with on the course. And the fans on the course were amazing. Because it’s a long day.”

It was a long day, but soon enough, Henry could see the finish line.

“I was so tired. My legs were like…the last two or three miles, my legs were struggling to keep running, no matter what pace. I don’t think I had ever felt like that. It was an interesting feeling. It was still a lot of fun, even through the finish line. I was still having tons of fun. And seeing all the people around me, it was so much fun.”

“We got some food that night. I was so tired. I went straight to bed. Lights were still on, and I fell asleep.”

After savoring his accomplishment and having time to reflect, Henry concluded that he was, “happy but not satisfied. I want to improve my time in the future. I am not where I want to be.”

How would Vinu evaluate Henry in his first competition? “He did a fantastic job. He was the youngest competitor of 2,500 to 3,000 people competing. He had a respectable time with less than six months training. He felt that he left a lot on the table and had higher expectations. I would give him an A+ for effort and commitment.”

Henry sees this race and experience as a starting point for future competitions.

“I planned out a rough plan of what I want to do the next few years, because I really want to come back to that race and redeem myself. I know there’s a few mistakes I made in terms of pacing that would save me a lot of time. I’m not sure if I want to do it next year…maybe the year after and try to qualify for Kona.”

He plans to run in college, most likely at the University of Vermont. For Vinu, “running in college is a special opportunity. It will help build his cardiovascular system for later in life. Being in a Division I program will improve his fitness. He should try to be the best college runner he can be and fit in the biking and swimming when he can and maybe run shorter races the next few years.”

“Henry is a quiet, ambitious competitor and this experience will take him a long way. [Deciding to compete in an ironman] speaks volumes to his character and will pay off for the rest of his life.”

DOUGLAS STARK, of Barrington, is a writer, museum consultant, and sports historian.