A Man of Iron Will

Strap on the heart monitor, lace up the running shoes, get yourself a bottle of electrolyte drink and some energy bars and enter the world of athletes. My husband, Tom, has always been very athletic. He has competed in many races and triathlons over the past seventeen years. So it didn't come as a huge surprise last January that he had put his name into a lottery for the Ironman competition in Hawaii. But, in April, it did come as a shock to realize that out of 4000 entrants in the lottery, Tom's name was one of the 150 applicants drawn from the United States!

I personally loved the idea of a trip to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, but a part of me was resistant to the intense training I realized Tom would be engaged in on a daily basis. Yet, we have always supported each other in our endeavors, and this was another opportunity to bless him in his dreams. My husband is 53 years young, and needed to lose about thirty pounds during the training to successfully compete. He did! There were weeks that he logged more than forty miles running, 200 miles biking and five miles of swimming. Triathletes are another breed. They have the motivation and determination of peak performers. It's a different level of fitness. These athletes have to enjoy time alone, as most training takes place in isolation. I know that Tom uses this time to go within. He does his problem solving and resolves personal issues.

The Ironman's Triathlon World Championship, recently held on October 6, is very prestigious. The Ironman field is made up of 1,300 "top-finishing" competitors around the globe. There are twenty-one Ironman qualifying competitions in the world. Two hundred others are chosen by a lottery system, one hundred fifty from the United States. The Ironman, particularly in Hawaii, is considered one of the most grueling athletic events in the world, consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run in often extreme conditions. This year the conditions were some of the most challenging. The winds on the bike portion were over 50 m.p.h., as bikers climbed 4000 feet in elevation. Temperatures reached one hundred degrees in the lava fields with high humidity. What pushes these athletes to exhaustion?! Tom sees his body as a well- tuned machine, appreciating it for what it can accomplish. He challenges himself to stay acutely aware of his physical status, wondering how much more he can achieve!

Tom felt this experience was a dream fulfilled, despite the fact that it took him 15 ½ hours to finish rather than the 13 he intended. Realizing that he couldn't compete with professional athletes, Tom wasn't looking to break any records. He was just determined to accomplish his goal of finishing. Despite the immense struggle with the heat and the wind, he completed the swimming and the biking only to find that he had developed blisters on his feet, "hot spots" from the biking. It was so difficult to watch him begin the run, knowing the pain of twenty-six miles ahead of him. I knew if he had to, he would drag himself on his elbows to finish! That's mental toughness.

It was definitely a spiritual experience as well as a physical one. It was the first significant sporting event since the terrorist attack on September 11. Yet, here were athletes from all over the globe in a collective camaraderie. We were all overwhelmed with emotion as we acknowledged the connection, the oneness. At least one of the participants was lost in the New York tragedy. Others were called into military service and unable to fulfill their commitment. Those able to be present were even more determined to do their personal best.

Whether it's extreme heat, wind, physical or mechanical problems, one must definitely stay in the moment to do an Ironman. There's a lot of self-talk. How are you going to talk yourself through this experience when everything seems to be falling apart? Your muscles are tight. Your feet hurt. You feel totally broken. You tell yourself to put one foot in front of the other. Each step becomes a victory, each mile a triumph.

I witnessed this spectacular event from the sidelines with our daughter, Laurie, and two wonderful friends, Roger and Tess Marshall. We felt honored to participate in this occasion, and enthusiastically shouted our encouragement to each participant during the run. The athletes were hurting, but grateful for our thunderous support. It was 10:30 at night when Tom managed to come up Main Street, completely exhausted at all levels. I could see his adrenaline kick in as he noted the spectators lining the home stretch. People screamed enthusiastically for each athlete. It was starting to rain, but the crowds seemed to realize how important a task it was to cheer each one to that final victory. We all got caught up in the excitement as we collectively observed the transcendence of the human spirit over physical limitations. Each contestant seemed to have an incredibly intimate and personal experience crossing the finish line.

Life is too short and precious not to devote energy to chase your dreams. What moves me most about the Ironman experience are the forces that inspire anyone to undertake this tremendous challenge, and all that transpires as a part of that process. Self-knowledge is the ripest fruit of the journey. Upon return from Hawaii, because of the economy, Tom learned that he lost his job at Haworth where he had been an engineer for seventeen years. I see it as a part of his personal expansion, and I know that it is really not an ending but a new beginning. The perfect job will find him. He has reached new heights in his personal journey, and this ending to his current career only reflects the expansion he has earned through his endurance.