Justin Abernathy enjoys a training edge most triathletes will never experience: his twin brother Jason.
“We’re constantly pushing each other,” Justin says. “There’s a supportive competitiveness in the sense of seeing what we can both get out of each other.”
The 35-year-old D.C. residents competed in Saturday’s Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, a half-Ironman triathlon, and hope to finish a full Ironman event later this summer. The race consists of a 1.2-mile ocean swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile run.
The Arkansas natives moved to the Washington area in 1995 and run an online marketing company they founded together in 2000. Although they often travel for work, they train twice daily, seven days a week.
Morning workouts begin as early as 5 a.m., and sometimes they train until 11 p.m. Leading up to Saturday’s event, an average week included 150 miles on the bike, more than three miles swimming and two to three hours running.
“We’re there to support each other if one of us is having a bad week,” Justin says.
Longtime distance runners, the brothers were inspired to try triathlons after meeting a man in his 60s who had trained for the Hawaii Ironman 70.3 after never having swum or biked before.
That was last summer. Over the fall, the brothers completed four triathlons in four consecutive weeks, including one at the half-Ironman distance.
“We just kind of threw ourselves into it,” Justin says. “If we have a goal like this, it really allows us to focus and gives us the discipline to do the training.”
After years of running — both brothers have completed several marathons — they enjoy the variety of triathlon training.
“We both love it,” Justin says. “The ability to cross-train and have three different sports is great.”
The brothers’ next goal is completing their first full-Ironman event, the Ironman Canada triathlon in Penticton, British Columbia, on Aug. 30. The Ironman features a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and a 26.2-mile marathon run.
In the fall, they don’t plan to rest. Justin says the brothers are tentatively scheduled for the Chesapeakeman Ultra Triathlon — another full-Ironman-length race — in late September.
They also plan to race in the 2009 Longhorn 70.3 in Austin, Texas, at the end of October. At a recent meeting of entrepreneurs in Boston, where they were first inspired to compete in triathlons last year, they convinced more than 30 fellow members to commit to the race.
Their company, SureClick, is entering a team in July’s Bike to the Beach, an annual ride from the District to Bethany Beach, Del., to raise money for autism.
“We’re looking for things that are good for us athletically and also help people around us,” Justin says.
