Bodyboarding and Ironman- what’s the connection?

This thought comes up sometimes when I’m 40 or 50 miles into a long Saturday bike ride, missing good waves.   I just completed my 55th triathlon this past Saturday, April 4th.  Here’s a pic of my finish:

When my pro bodyboarding career ended and we started eBodyboarding.com in 1999, I started surfing less.  Granted, I was still out there every day, but not for hours on end like before. I was slowly becoming a middle-aged desk jockey.  Even though I was bodyboarding/surfing every day, it wasn’t enough exercise for me, and the spare tire started to appear.  After watching Vicki train for and complete the LA Marathon in 2005, I was inspired to get off my ever-fattening ass.  I was up to nearly 180lbs, which was A LOT heavier than I wanted to be at 5’8″ tall, so I decided that I’d do something I’d always wanted to do- a triathlon.

So, I started training in March for a May “sprint distance” race. I used a surfing wetsuit and a mountain bike and though pretty beat at the end of that race, it was enough of a buzz just finishing, that I did my second race just two weeks later and by the end of that summer, I raced my first 1/2 Ironman. I lost 25 pounds in 3 months.

Fast forward to 2009, I have done a lot of racing and have completed 3 full Ironman distance races, as well as dozens of 1/2 Ironman, Olympic, and sprint distance races and still love it.

Triathlon forces you to find your limits and see if you can go beyond them.  You learn what kind of person you are 10 hours into an Ironman, when you’ve already swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles and are 10 miles into a 26.2 mile marathon, and your body wants to do nothing more than lay down and go to sleep, but you know there are still 16 more miles of running to go.  You push beyond what you thought you were capable of.  When you finally reach that finish line and collect that medal, the feeling of accomplishment is indescribeable.  Despite the pain and suffering you did in the race, you want to do it again!

What does this all have to do with bodyboarding?  During my pro career, I paddled out on days and did things on waves that I didn’t think I was capable of.  Early in my bodyboarding days, the thought of riding Second Reef Pipeline would give me nightmares, but I pushed myself to do it, and eventually succeeded.  It’s all about believing  you can pull it off, and then doing what it takes to make it happen.  The triathlon connection that makes the biggest difference?  You’ll be in the best shape of your life, so when the waves DO get good, you’ll be out there for hours and not get tired!