Becoming an Ironman: First Encounters with the Ultimate Endurance Event - Hardcover

Thom, Kara Douglass

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1891369245 ISBN 13: 9781891369247

Publisher: Breakaway Books, 2001

Synopsis

An inspirational collection of oral histories about the experience of competing in one's first full Ironman triathlon. This is the ultimate test of endurance: a 2.4-mile open-ocean swim, a 112-mile bike race, and a full 26.2-mile marathon, all raced end-to-end in one grueling day.

In the style of First Marathons, this book is not a how-to or a technical guide: it is pure, heartfelt human experience. Each person's story is compelling and dramatic in its own way. Collectively, the stories are both instructional and uplifting—for anyone even dreaming of attempting this forbidding challenge. As one triathlete said, trying to recount his first race, "I have searched for a way to describe the indescribable. I feel as though I climbed a huge mountain, saw an incredible vista, and now am back on the ground trying to relate what it looked like. It's like trying to describe childbirth or God or making love."

These stories come from men and women of all ages and abilities. Some are stories from the champions, and some from those who could not even finish. Together they testify to all the joy and agony of the race; and they provide priceless personal advice on nutrition, equipment, clothing, mental preparation, emotional fatigue, terrain, and weather. An unforgettable ode to our fastest-growing endurance sport.

Kara Douglass Thom has a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and currently is the editor of the Dallas Medical Journal. She is a freelance writer for Triathlete magazine and The Dallas Morning News. Her writing has appeared in Runner's World and Spirit magazine, among other publications.

About this title

About the Author

Kara Douglass Thom has a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and currently is the editor of the Dallas Medical Journal. She is a freelance writer with an interest in health and fitness topics and writes about triathlon in Triathlete magazine and on xtri.com. Her writing also has appeared in The Dallas Morning News, Runner’s World and Spirit magazine, among other publications.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

“Ironman is similar to having your first baby -- being in labor that long and dealing with all the pain.” --Susie Burgess

“I wasn’t scared. It wasn’t impending doom that kept me awake. It was more child-like excitement. The impatience of eager anticipation for Christmas morning.” --Kevin Jermyn

“I saw the marker for mile twenty-five. What a beautiful sign. Nothing could stop me. If every muscle in my legs cramped I could still drag myself on my elbows for 1.2 miles.” --Jane Fratesi

“All these people, with all these dreams, laying on the side of the road moaning. I could feel their pain too and there was nothing I could do about it. I saw someone vomiting and thought that could be me in a half hour, or five minutes.” --Rick Olson

“I began to cry the last five hundred meters. The end was so overwhelming -- the feelings that have been numbed by training and racing catch up to you.” --Katja Mayer

“My mother’s biggest fear when I told her we were doing the Ironman was that I’d go to the bathroom on myself on national television.” --Karen Smyers

“One of the things an athlete must do before attempting an ironman is to strengthen the body core. This won’t take a membership to a gym. You can’t get it in the weight room. I’m talking body core. You’ve got to get right with God because you’re going to pray out there.” --Elizabeth Johnson

“I was sure I was in Hell. All I needed was someone to drip water drops on my head and shine a bright light in my eyes. It was no fun.” --T. J. Murphy

“To tell the truth, it was not the exultant finish or peak experience I expected. It felt more akin to being beaten and left for dead, but somehow having survived, and not knowing if it was for better or for worse.” --Dakin Ferris

“At one point I could look -- as far as I could see -- not a soul, not a car, not a cyclist, not an aid station, not one damn sign of life and I turned around and looked back, and it was the same thing. I thought, “How barren and desolate is this experience?” --Scott Tinley

“When I finished it became very clear to me, right away, that I needed to go back. There was more to explore.” --Lyn Brooks

About this edition

• Publisher: Breakaway Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1891369245
• ISBN 13: 9781891369247
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320
• Editor: Kara Douglass Thom