My name is Tim Hackbardt and the year was 2013.  We had decided to take the family on a 10 day Caribbean cruise.  I rarely have the time to actually read a book, but thought there would be a reasonable amount of poolside time as we floated across the ocean.  I love biographies and had been intrigued by sort of a dual biography.  My plane ride, poolside, killin’ time pick for the trip was “Iron War:  Dave Scott, Mark Allen, and The Greatest Race Ever Run.”

I found that it was more than a story about their epic race in 1989 at the Ironman Championship, it was really a fantastic chronological historical recounting of the history of the Ironman triathlon up to that point.  Like many, I remember watching the dramatic ending of the 1982 Ironman on ABC Wild World of Sports where Julie Moss was crawling toward the finish line only to be passed in the last few seconds by Kathleen McCartney.  Little did I know that I would meet her 35 years later in a pot luck line getting a burger at a Tri-Club San Diego event.

However, that is where my knowledge more or less stopped other than meeting Scott Tinley in a recording studio once and noticing that the guy was kind of overly intense just walking around.

I couldn’t put the book down.  The history of the sport combined with insights into how each of these superhuman athletes approached training for the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run completely differently was fascinating.  It also spoke to my adventurous side even though I was nowhere near able to do anything like that at that time in my life.

By the end of the book, I was starting to work out a plan in my head to convince my head it was possible.  There would be many hurdles that I would need to overcome, but I thought if I could bite off a few of the sports individually I might just be able to get to a place where it might be something the brain could comprehend.  I wasn’t sure if the body would agree with the brain, but taking one step at a time would surely force the issue for the two.

First, I focused on the run.  Could I do a marathon?  I had run a half marathon 24 years ago back in 1989.  It wasn’t all that pretty, but I got it done.  I signed up for the San Dieguito Half Marathon and finished.  Then, I signed up for the Santa Barbara International Marathon and finished.  Neither was pleasurable.  Then, two more half marathons.  One I completed just under 2 hours.  Ok, this is better.

However, I was still not deterred.  Maybe the bike would be better.  The first step was a mountain bike.  I remember the first 100 yards the first day on the mountain bike my legs locked up.  It was so painful.  Again, I stuck with it and it got better.  That led to races like 50 mile 8,000 feet of climbing Julian Death March.  And, the 45 mile 5,000 feet of climbing Catalina Grand Fondo.  This was better and funerer.

Maybe this bike thing could work for me?  I came to the conclusion that I needed a big test that would give me the confidence for that 112 mile distance.  In January of 2016, I bought a road bike and signed up for a trip to France with Trek Travel for their “Climbs of The Tour” trip.  8 days of climbing through France traversing the Tour de France classics like Col du Tourmalet, Mont Ventoux, and Alpe d’Huez.  In other words, I spent a whole bunch of money and since I am cheap I would push myself to meet the challenge on time.

I trained like a mad man in the mountains of San Diego for six months straight, rode 3,353 miles, climbed 313,207 feet, flew to France, and checked the box.  I was a back of the pack guy in our group of 12, but I always finished the day and many days others didn’t.  I even climbed Alpe d’Huez twice in the same day.  >>Click here to view the blog of my quest to ride the classics in France

Marathon…check!

Massive cycling endeavor climbing the major mountains of the Tour de France…check!

That left the swim thing.  Small issue on this one.  I was 53 years old and I didn’t know how to swim.  I could only get to the other side of the pool on a good day.  I could not swim back.  Most efforts only resulted in halfway across the pool as I gasped for air and mostly swallowed a lot of water.  With the absence of peer pressure to push me to take the plunge, I created my own.  I signed up for the 70.3 Canada Half Ironman in Whistler, BC to take place on July 30th, 2017.

Following that financial investment, I found an Ironman certified swim coach.  I got a little better and then got worse.  So bad, my coach dropped me.  I got another coach.  A better coach.  She had me swimming on day one.  It was an amazing moment.

Unfortunately, I suffered an injury to my outer Sesamoid Bone in my left foot that took me out of cycling and running training from April through the beginning of July which made me miss Ironman 70.3 Canada.  A blessing in disguise as all I could do was learn how to swim better.

I was not deterred from the goal though.  Gotta get back up on that horse!  The new target was Ironman 70.3 Austin on October, 29th, 2017!

Success was achieved in Austin on a day that featured the morning swim with an ambient temperature of 39 degrees.  Completing of that half Ironman gave me the confidence, and initial experience, to go all in toward a full Ironman race.

I invested more into that coach and she delivered.  Training schedule, nutrition plan, etc.  On May 12th, 2018 in Santa Rosa, California a little more than 5 years after a chubby hubby was reading Iron Wars next to the pool, the goal was achieved.  The words even came out of the mouth of the famous Mike Rielly who was announcing the race.  At 54 years old, I was finally an Ironman!

This blog is dedicated to other old guys and gals who are or want to, tri.  It is a never-ending learning experience.  I am constantly searching for the next answer or clue on how to do this triathlon thing.  Hopefully, somewhere in all the entries is something other old guys and gals can use or relate to in their quest to keep on tri-ing.

Sincerely,

Tim Hackbardt A.K.A. @oldguywhotris