Why Am I Doing This?

I get asked often: "why are you doing triathlons?" ...or "that's crazy man; a half-Ironman, really!" Well, here's how I got here. I basically had a moment in my life where things had become real; we'll get to that more in a moment, but here's the back story...I had a father (see pic) who had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer, a wife who had been diagnosed with breast cancer (non malignant but invasive), and meanwhile I had gained some significant weight while starting my own small animal veterinary clinic; all of this taking place in a matter of months. The stresses of life and the life-altering dianoses of people that I dearly loved had begun to make a significant impact on me.

Before (see pic), I was eating a high fat diet, drinking tons of sodas, using smokeless tobacco (Copenhagen snuff) not exercising much at all. I had already been diagnosed with high blood pressure and was taking medication for that. I needed a significant life insurance policy to cover my business liabilities and the agent that wrote my policy said to me, "that snuff's costing you a good bit extra on your insurance; you should quit and save that money; besides it's bad for you. What? .....I'm a doctor (veterinarian), and this guy is having to tell me about my unhealthy habits? Something's wrong here. I go in the room with my clients and lecture them about their obese pets and I'm overweight myself....what a hippocrit I've become!!! Well that was it, I decided that guy's right, I need to quit dipping! So I did; not cold-turkey mind you, but I weaned myself off of it and in a couple months I was tobacco-free and have been for over a year and a half now!

I then decided to take a good, hard look at the man in the mirror...wow! I've got to do something about myself, I said. I'm a hair under 6' tall and at that time I weighed 225 lbs. I've never allowed myself to be obese but I was very unhappy with myself for being so unhealthy. So, I had heard of this workout and I ordered P90X, the famous workout DVD's that claim to change people's lives. It came in the mail and I looked it over and frankly was a little intimidated by it and the program was a bit confusing to me at first, so it sat there in the box for several months. I began to run a little in the meantime while I wrapped my head around this workout program. Well, I got it figured out and got the gumption to start it and it was great. I learned alot about my body and the workouts were working, and I was enjoying it. I also learned alot about nutrition and how to eat a healthier diet. The P90X program is a good complete program with very good support with online forums and coaches, etc. I completed the 90 day program, well almost. I was 5 days shy of 90 days and hurt my back pretty bad. Had to take several months off of working out to allow it to heal. It was a stupid move on my part; improper lifting technique with too heavy of weight.

My back finally healed enough that I felt comfortable (okay, I was a little nervous about it) working out again. So here we go P90X for the second go-round; determined to complete it fully this time and be even stronger and healthier. Did that; so 2 rounds of P90X. Then there was another program by the same company, called Insanity; did that one too. They all helped but I still wasn't as healthy as I needed to be. I thought, there's got to be something more, some way to lose more of this weight. I had gained some muscle but hadn't removed much of the fat. Then, I asked myself, who are some of the fittest and healthiest people in the world?

Ironman triathletes!!!! That's it...I remembered when Jami and I had gone to Hawaii and saw the signs of the Ironman World Championships. I saw the Ironman tv special of it and how fit those people were and how incredible that event was. I then remembered that a friend of mine was a triathlete. He was doing Ironman and half-Ironman triathlons and he was in excellent shape. I messaged him and asked a few questions. I started looking at what it would take to do triathlons and what kind of training and so forth. It was a whole new world of fitness and training. I had never been a competitive swimmer; I had never been a competitive runner; I had never been a competitive cyclist. Is it even possible that I can do this??? Well, I had swam before but only far enought to climb back aboard the boat; I had ridden a bike when i was a kid and loved it; I had run while playing baseball and football. Okay, not very promising but yep, I'm motivated and I can do this!

(Keep scrolling down, there's more.......--->)


I Started emersing myself into the world of triathlon; again watching the tv special on the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. (click that link and you can see the full NBC special program) If that video doesn't inspire you, ...well, it inspires the heck outta me; makes me wanna be a better person. Some of the competitors at Kona are elite professionals and some are just regular people; man that is really cool, isn't it?! Where else do you see pros and regular guys competing against each other at the same time at the same venue. And to see what some of these people go through just to make it there, and the incredible day they have participating in an Ironman triathlon, and the elation and emotion they go through upon completing it...is just utterly amazing to me. To me triathlon, especially Ironman triathlon represents the strong will of a human being and the strength to perservere through so much pain, anguish, and exhaustion; much like battling cancer. So it is so much more than an intriguing fitness goal, so much more than just the pinnacle of endurance sport. It has a greater meaning to me. I do it for the struggle, the goal, the competition, the fitness, but mostly to honor those that I love that have struggled with cancer.

So last summer I bought a tri-bike and some gear, started swimming with a Master's swim team at the gym, and running; all part of a plan from a book my friend recommended, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Triathlon Training. Training went pretty well and after 3 months of training, in September I completed my first triathlon. But wait, I've only done one triathlon, a sprint (600 meter swim, 14 mile bike, 3.2 mile run). Now we're talking about a half-ironman. I have another sprint coming up soon, a half marathon, and this summer a couple of Olympic distance triathlons (1500m swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run), then my big race, Ironman Augusta 70.3 in September of this year. I've been training hard to reach my goal of a half-ironman race this year and I'm confident that I'll be ready for Ironman Augusta. My ultimate goal is to complete a full Ironman 140.6 mile race. Ironman Florida next year, perhaps?

Training for any half iron or iron-distance race takes discipline, dedication, hard work, and it takes time. Swimming 3+ hours a week, biking 3-5 hours a week, running 3-5 hours a week is typical for an age-grouper (non pro), like me. While I acknowledge the fact that this amount of training can be self-serving, it has become a very important part of my life. So in an effort to do more than just train for and participate in what will be one of the most epic events of my life, I would like to dedicate my training and my half-Ironman race to my father, who still struggles for his life with his cancer, and to my wife, who fought and won her battle with cancer, and also my children, whom I live for and strive to be a role model in their lives.

This blog will document my journey to Ironman Augusta 70.3 and help raise awareness about prostate cancer.