What does it take?

What does it take to complete an ironman? In short, I have no idea. As I've previously mentioned, my triathlon experience is a collection of a few Olympic distance events (.90 mile swim / 25 mile bike / 6.2 mile run) and 1 Half Ironman (1.2 mile swim / 56 mile bike / 13.1 mile run). If the Echo Half Ironman is any indication of how hard this event will be, then I'm in huge trouble. That event, which took me 7 hours to complete, was single-handedly the hardest physically demanding event I've ever undertaken. Of course, it didn't help that it was over 100 degrees and I ended up with heat stroke and 2nd degree burns on my shoulders (I'm sure skin cancer is in my future). Things were actually going pretty well at first. The swim and bike were challenging, but nothing too severe. However, by the time I got to the run, things started to fall apart.

Sidenote: One of the things I find funny when speaking with folks about triathlons, is how most people make a remark about how they could "do the bike and run, but not the swim" or some other combination. Many people have this false impression that 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. This is so very far from the truth. The triathlon challenge is not the swim, or the bike, or the run, it is the combination of all three. An experienced marathoner that can run 3 hour marathons, may take 4-5 hours to complete the 3rd leg of a triathlon. In triathlons, 1 + 1 + 1 = 5! And every increase in distance (Olympic --> Half Iron --> Full Iron) simply compounds this problem. That's what makes doing these so challenging and fun!

Which brings me back to that hot day in July 2005. I started out my run feeling tired but confident. I was able to run the first couple of miles with no problems and the next few with only minor stretches of walking. It was about the time I ran into my buddy, Greg Hoole, who had completed the halfway point turnaround and was looking pretty haggard on mile 8ish. I was still running fairly strong as I met him on mile 5ish. Greg made the comment that I would catch up to him soon and we could finish the race together. Suffice it to say that I ended up finishing 1 hour after Greg did. I hit more than the proverbial wall. I ended up walking more than 5 miles of the run. I simply had no energy left in me.

I actually have two friends that have completed ironmans (Jason Jones and Jim Moss). The two of them can be summed up in one word: fanatical. Both of them seem to eat, drink and sleep triathlons. It is a constant for them. Perhaps that is what it takes to compete (or even complete) at that level. I believe Jason has completed three ironmans (Florida) with a PR of 11 hours flat in 2007. He was recently featured in the Deseret News (article link below).

(https://secure.deseretnews.com/user/comments/1,5150,700230522,00.html)

Jim completed his first ironman last year in Coeur d' Alene where he finished 7th in his age group with a time of 12:21:27 (this is ironically almost identical to Jason's previous IFL time). Jim is scheduled to do Ironman Wisconsin in September as well as join us for ISG in May 2010. (I've also attached Jim's race report from ICDA on Slowtwitch forum below).

(http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=1851868;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25)

Both Jim and Jason make ironmans look easy. Okay, maybe not easy, but definitely a worthwhile pursuit. To a certain extent, they have fueled my desire to go after such an audacious goal. Congratulations, Jason and Jim! Keep it going! Here's hoping I can join you someday (that is - May 2010).