Trevor Bayne: 'The beaches are closed for Lion's mane jellyfish'
The fitness craze among NASCAR drivers keeps getting, well, crazier.
Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth recently went on a 130-mile bike ride to raise awareness for cyclists, and Danica Patrick famously has posted some amazing Instagram photos of her yoga workouts.
Then there was the time last year when Landon Cassill drove in the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race, then ran 14 miles on foot to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Now, add Trevor Bayne's name to the list.
Bayne went to Ireland with his wife during the NASCAR off-week to compete in an "Ironman 70.3," an endurance event that features a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run. And, as it turns out, deadly jellyfish.
"We're going out into this harbor to swim in Ireland and they had this report that the beaches are closed for Lion's mane jellyfish, which are the largest and fifth-most venomous jellyfish in the world," said Bayne.
"So I was pretty thankful we were gonna have wetsuits on, but there are a lot of factors you don't really think about when you're going to do another form of racing," he said.
Yeah, you can't really train for giant, venomous jellyfish.
Fortunately, Bayne did not get stung, but about halfway through the run he had a heart-to-heart with himself about the wisdom of the endeavor.
"I was arguing with myself. 'How was this a good idea for my off weekend?'" Bayne said. "How in the world is this considered fun at all?'"
Of course, that brief moment of clarity soon faded.
"Two days later I was already thinking about when I'm gonna do my next one," said Bayne. "So you forget fast how bad things like that hurt when you're pushing yourself, but it was really fun for me."
