Yes, I finally attained my triathlon dream of becoming an Ironman in 2009. In my wildest of triathlon dreams I wished and hoped for this day to come, trained diligently and many times tirelessly over the last three and a half years, and with a effort like I’ve never put out before on a tremendous day to race in Tempe, Arizona on November 22, 2009, I truly became an Ironman! I couldn’t be happier!

My path to becoming an Ironman really starts back in early 2006:

I became a triathlete on April 23, 2006 when I officially finished the Lake Las Vegas Sprint Triathlon in Las Vegas, Nevada. My path to becoming a triathlete certainly took a circuitous route as it took me just about 40 years to reach my destination.

If you would have told me that I would be participating and racing in triathlons in July of 2005 -- starting in the Spring of 2006 at the young and tender age of 40 years -- I would have laughed at you, and laughed hard. Of course, that would have been pretty rude, but it probably would have been the truth.

If you would have seen the shape I was in back in the summer of 2005 before embracing the triathlon lifestyle, you would have had a laugh or three at my expense as well.

Back in the Fall of 2004 I was very heavy as I tipped the scale at 325 pounds. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed of myself that it was difficult to look at the scale when I went to weigh myself. I was just coming off of a very taxing position of Senior Associate Editor at a national home theater magazine. In the 10 months I worked at the magazine I pretty much worked 7 days a week with many of those weeks being 100+ hour weeks.

Before working at the magazine I would usually work out 5-6 days a week. Because of the hours I worked, I think I worked out only 4 times in 10 months. My workouts went completely out the window and I started to pile on the pounds.

Safe to say, with working all those hours, my diet suffered a great deal.

For lunch and dinner I would consistently eat at Claim Jumper and Chili’s. If I was too busy to leave the office, and I almost always was, I’d either have my wife get my food or someone from the office would go grab it for me. For breakfast I always stopped in at Starbucks -- and although I didn’t drink coffee at the time, I would order a caffeinated hot tea or a very sugared up Iced Tea along with a danish or two. Every single day. Now, I still go to Starbucks and get my coffee (I love ‘em!) but the danishes, donuts, and pastries are now pretty much a no-no.

Before I took the position at the magazine I weighed a pretty healthy 245 pounds. When I left the magazine, 10 months later, I weighed in at a very unhealthy 325 pounds.

After leaving the magazine in October 2004, Mary and I moved to Highlands Ranch, Colorado (about 20 minutes south of Denver, Colorado) and I started to workout again. Some of my 325 pounds started to come off slowly and in a few months I had dropped about 25-30 pounds. It felt great to get moving again, but something seemed to be missing. My workouts started to become boring, dull, and without purpose other than just going thru the motions to do my workouts. I was now 39 1/2 years old -- looking directly at 40 coming up quickly -- and I was physically and mentally at a crossroads.

In the summer of 2005 I had an epiphany.

My wife and I had returned from our usual Saturday morning workouts and started to get ourselves together to go out and run some errands that day. As I was waiting for my wife to get ready I turned on the TV and started flipping around the channels. I got to NBC and saw they were broadcasting the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I watched, and watched, and watched, and I was mesmerized by what I was witnessing on my TV screen. As the very fit triathletes were doing their swim/bike/run thing my eyes and mind started to focus on these athlete’s phenomenal fitness levels as almost every athlete seemed to be in great physical shape. It was amazing to behold.

Then it hit me.

I suddenly thought if these people could look like this then why couldn’t I? My mind was racing. Then I remembered I was going to be 40 in a few months. Then it occurred to me, if I trained and raced in a “triathlon” then I could possibly look as good and as fit as these people!

It was like the heavens opened up and the angels started to sing. Without exaggeration, this is how I pretty much felt. When my wife finally came downstairs I looked my wife directly in her eyes, with as confident a tone as I’ve ever used, and proclaimed to her that I would be doing a triathlon as a 40th birthday fitness gift to myself.

It was now time to train, and not just workout. I had purpose again in my life and I loved it!

Yes, it would take a new level of dedication, desire, and determination from myself to not only train for one of these races, but to actually race in one as well. I was no stranger to these ideals and I welcomed the challenge. Up until that point I hadn’t ever learned to properly swim (just doggy paddle), I hadn’t been on a bike since I was 10 years old, and I could barely run a quarter of a mile.

I made the commitment, cherished the opportunity to reach high for something and try to achieve a very lofty goal, and, as a result, I became an official triathlete just a few months into my 40th year.

At my first-ever triathlon in Las Vegas I also won my Age Group (M40-44) and I was hooked. Later that year I moved up in distance and finished an Olympic Distance triathlon in Chicago. In 2007, I moved up to do my first-ever Half Ironman race in Boulder, Colorado. I absolutely loved doing the longer distance triathlons and changed my focus to mainly competing at the Half Ironman and Ironman distances. In 2008, I attempted to complete two Ironman races at Ironman Arizona and Ironman Louisville but came up a little short of my goal and didn’t finish either event. 

On November 22, 2009, I finished Ironman Arizona and officially became an Ironman! What an amazing feeling of accomplishment and attaining something truly significant in the sport I dearly love.

As with any serious Ironman competitor, my dream is to race in the Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii -- not just once, but often. I know I’ll get there; it’s just a matter of time.

Triathlon is now a serious part of my being and has helped me work toward, and enjoy living, a very active and very healthy lifestyle. I feel like I’m in my mid-to-late 20’s and not in my 40’s.

In triathlon, I found a zest for life that was missing from my life for many years.