A: The answer is so cliché; but I was the guy sitting at home watching the Ironman World Championships on TV in 2002 and immediately said to myself, “I want to do that!” I participated in local triathlons every summer, but the dream remained a dream for years as I focused more on school, coaching soccer, and working until last spring when the World Triathlon Corporation announced it would be staging a full Ironman (140.6 miles) in Boulder. I jumped at the chance to participate. Having newborn twins at home was never going to be an ideal time to train for such a big event, but I went all in, not really knowing what I was getting myself into.

 

A: My training consisted of workouts 6-7 days a week, logging 15-40 hours of training. I mainly focused on skill building during the fall and winter months with shorter workouts and began to pile on the miles after school let out in the summer months leading up to the August 3 race day.

 

A: From the moment I signed up, the goal for race day was to simply FINISH. Everyone talks about trying to get a Kona spot (in the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon) and keeping my competitive drive at bay was very difficult. Yet, I was able to stay focused in training by taking small steps and setting realistic goals.

 

A: I made some rookie mistakes on the course, but I did finish inside the 17-hour time limit. I felt great the morning of the race and surprisingly had little to no anxiety as I entered the water. My swim was fantastic, and that feeling carried me on the bike until I hit mile 70 and became very dehydrated. I was going way too fast and not consuming enough liquid, nor was I consuming enough calories and my body began to rapidly fatigue. I was not able to get things going again until about 5-6 miles into the marathon. At mile 12 of the marathon, I changed into my compression socks and removed my timing chip and ran off without it. My family and friends became increasingly worried about where I was on the course, because I was running without my chip and they couldn’t track my progress. I talked to several Ironman employees days after the race and it was determined my official time was 13:45:27.

 

A: While I have already signed up for the 2015 Ironman Boulder, I have several “bucket list” Ironman events I would like to participate in: Ironman New Zealand, Ironman Lake Placid and Ironman Europe. My focus for the next two years is to qualify for the 70.3 (half Ironman distance) world championships in Austria.

 

A: If had to take away one thing from my Ironman experience, it is the importance of being organized. Having a disciplined approach to training, adhering to intensity levels and carefully listening to my body made the whole experience quite compelling. I have certainly applied some of the same tactics in my teaching.

 

A: What surprised me were how many mental battles a participant must fight. There were numerous occasions during the race when my mind and body wanted to simply stop. My legs were cramping, my stomach was upset, and I was getting sunburned. I did have to take two “shade” breaks along the bike course to steady my nerves, calm my thoughts, and get re-focused.

 

A: Finishing an Ironman put a lot of different things into perspective for me. Only 11% of the world’s population has completed an Ironman Triathlon and doing so has made other things in life seem very manageable. I have been more diligent about staying organized and keeping to a schedule, while setting realistic and manageable goals related to teaching, coaching, and training.

A: One mantra I really like is “the body will achieve what the mind believes,” and I also think about my twin girls. They are a constant source of motivation on race day. I taped their names to the top of my handlebars and wrote their initials on my wrist the morning of the race to remind myself who I am racing for, and hopefully how proud of their dad they will be when they are old enough to understand the significance of finishing an Ironman.