Some students coach a Little League baseball team. Others learn how to play the guitar. 

For Henry Schultz, the Senior Project assignment at Barrington High School was an opportunity to compete in an Ironman Triathlon. 

Schultz, a rising senior at BHS, completed the 140-mile course in Lake Placid, NY, late last month. He swam 2.4 miles, biked 114 miles, and then ran a marathon. Schultz, who turned 18 two days before the event, completed the challenging course in 12 hours and 50 minutes. 

“It went about as good as it could have gone for my first triathlon ever,” Schultz said during a recent interview. “I had pretty high expectations for myself, but the second half of the marathon was pretty tough. I definitely would want to come back and get my redemption on that marathon.”

Reflecting on what he was able to accomplish at such a young age, Schultz added: “I’m definitely happy. And I’m proud. For me, the swimming was really a mental barrier, because for a long time I was not the best swimmer. That proved to me … that if you set your mind to it, you can definitely do it.”

• Interest grows: “Originally, it was actually my neighbor and my mentor for my senior project. My neighbor, Vinu Malik, he has done like 35 Ironmans, seven-time Kona World Championships. 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 originally being interested.”

• Very big challenge: “I have a running background. I’ve been running cross country and track. I used to bike around town with my friends. The swimming for me was a very big challenge. Back in January I couldn’t 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 further and further.”

• Early reaction: “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.”

• Training: “Vinu really was the perfect mentor. He made a training schedule that coincided with my school work, 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. 

• Hardest part? “The hardest part for me was really, because all my friends were doing track and cross country, I took those seasons off so I could train. So just being by myself for training for that long was definitely the hardest part.”

• Moments of doubt? “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. 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.”

• Starting line: “Going to the line I was super nervous… After putting in so much work I think that’s 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.”

• Boost of energy: “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.”

• Final stretch: “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.”

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

• What’s next? “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.”

• Other interests? “I love reading… science fiction. Right now I’m reading a book called ‘The Beginning After The End.’ That’s a pretty good series. I used to read so much.”

• College interests? “I’ve been visiting colleges, but I want to see how this cross country season goes to maybe determine if I’m going to be running in college. That’s really the only thing still up in the air. I’m preparing my college essays right now.”

• Favorite meal? “The classic meal I have in the morning is oatmeal, eggs (scrambled) and maybe some salami.”

• Best training food? “Oatmeal, for sure.”

• Losing weight: “Nutrition for me was the biggest hurdle, even more than swimming. I had to up my calories to 5 or 6,000 per day. I started training and I was losing weight pretty quickly.”

• What’s in the trunk of your car? “My swim gear, for sure. I always keep my swim gear in the car. Whenever I have free time I’ll go swim. I was swimming off the beach. Vinu let me use his wetsuit. It was super nice. At first it felt super tight, but it helps a lot.”

• Discomfort: “If you’re going to be training that much, you really have to enjoy that sensation, that pain and fatigue…If you’re going to be training that much, that’s what’s going to help you get through it.”

• Swim, bike, run. What’s your favorite? “Run, for sure. When you’re running you can talk to people. It’s easier to get nutrition. My least favorite would probably be the bike. The swim was really nice at Lake Placid. But the bike was very long. Lake Placid is one of the hardest on the bike courses.”

• Thanks: “I want to thank my parents and Vinu, but also my friends who helped me with my training in the summer, and the person I got my bike from, Todd Kenyon, TT Bike Fit. He actually helped me a lot as well, getting my bike set up for the race.”