The Iron Man Triathlon has proven one of the most grueling, vigorous displays of human agility in modern athletics.
Indeed a feat in itself, just attempting the monstrous tribulation is the life-long dream of many athletes: Some train for years, spend tens of thousands of dollars and travel across the globe to practice in perfect conditions.
Yet to qualify as a finisher in the physically demanding 17-hour race, which spans from Higgins Point on Lake Coeur d’Alene to Liberty Lake, Wash., participants must cross the finish line by midnight of race day.
For student Tony Parks, a Coeur d’Alene resident registered in this year’s Iron Man, one year is all he took to prepare for the race.
“I was inspired by the late-night finishers last year,” said the 26-year-old Parks, who witnessed the racers struggling to make the midnight deadline. “Then I registered the day after it ended, the very first day you could.”
And so began the oftentimes torturous training of an Iron Man.
With the help and support of his loving wife, Tiffany, as well as his son Logan and daughter Hailey, Parks invested in a brand new wetsuit, a specialized bike and initiated a healthy, nutritious diet to prepare for the world-famous event next month.
However, training sometimes takes a backburner to the rest of Park’s life: He is the Dockmaster of the Boardwalk Marina for the Coeur d’Alene Resort, requiring 50 hours of his time a week, he is taking 14 credits at both North Idaho College and Lewis-Clark State College, and he teaches portions of communication classes at NIC, not to mention, having two young children and a wife taking up the rest of his time.
“It’s go-time from the second I wake up until the time I go to bed,” Parks said. “Some days I don’t even get to see my kids they’re asleep when I leave for work, and they’re asleep when I get home.”
Because of the hectic schedule, he sometimes trains partly before work or school and then trains partly afterward.
Consequently, Parks was recently diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left tibia near the ankle. So far, the doctor has required Parks to stay immobilized for six to eight weeks, although he has been cleared for bicycling and swim-training.
“The doctor says I shouldn’t run at all,” Parks said. “But I have a brace on it now, and I’ll leave it on until I have to run in the race. That will be the first time I run since the doctor told me I couldn’t.”
Because of the nature of his injury, his training regime will now consist of only biking and swimming. Although, it does give him the opportunity to emphasize heavily in both of those areas.
“I’m hoping to finish the swim and bike portions in a fast time,” Parks said. “That way, I’ll have a lot more time for the 26-mile run. I just don’t want to look like the guy in the Gatorade Iron Man commercial.”
In that commercial, Gatorade reveals footage of an Iron Man competitor losing complete and total control of his entire body, crumbling to the ground in the final home stretch of the race.
But Parks has a different prediction for his race.
“I’m going to do whatever I need to do so I can cross the finish line before midnight,” Parks said.
