What are your goals for Lake Placid and the coming months?
“If I finish in the top half in my age group in Lake Placid, that’ll be really good for me. If I could win one of these races [in his age group] I’d love to go to Kona [the Ironman championship in Hawaii]. I think when I’m 80-85, if I can find a race and outlast everyone, I’ll qualify.”
Do you have any tips for new athletes?
“You start with an Olympic triathlon — 0.9-mile swim, 25-mile bike ride and a 10K. Anybody could really do that with a little bit of training. Then you go up to the half Ironman. And then one time you decide to do an Ironman. And you talk to other people who have done it, and you realize that mortals can do this. I think I’ve conned more people into doing it than I’ll admit.”
How does your family handle your working out?
“My wife feels that this is a part of health. So after work, training comes. If I didn’t do it, she’d get upset. Our long runs, we’ll do together — 15-20 miles. And we go to all the races together. In most races, I’ll beat her.”
How do you work around your job?
“I get up at 3:30 or 4. You do the e-mails and stuff that came through the night. I try to do a half-hour to an hour workout in the morning. I have the bike up on rollers. I’ll run one day a week for 45 minutes to an hour. If I can get home in time, I try to do one swim a week.”
