FORT BELVOIR, Va. -- Back in 2008, CERDEC employee Colin Reese completed his first Ironman Competition with a very respectable time: just over 11 hours.
All Reese's training for Ironman Competitions since then has paid off, and he's been selected to participate in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii Oct. 8.
An Ironman consists of a 2.4 mile open-water swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a full marathon (26.2 miles) tacked on at the end of the race. That's about 140.6 miles and approximately 14 hours of nonstop physical exertion or burning off about 16,000 calories. To give you perspective, that's about eight large cheese pizzas.
Reese, a program manager in CERDEC Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate's Science and Technology Division, will be one of 1,800 competitors who were invited because they qualified at another Ironman or half Ironman event that year, were invited by a major sponsor, received one of the Armed Forces slots or won the Kona Lottery.
The Kona Lottery started in 1983 to give the "everyday Joe" a chance to participate. They pick 200 names out of a pool of several thousand entries worldwide. Reese tried the lottery for four years, and this year he won one of the "Golden Tickets."
"I guess you have to be careful what you ask for because sometimes you get it -- with the whole world watching. It will be interesting to race with the best of the best," Reese said.
While Reese feels like he will be hanging out with the "slow old folks" all day, it will be a great experience and a once in a lifetime chance for this self-proclaimed, former "couch potato."
So far, Reese has completed three Ironman Competitions: Ironman Lake Placid 2008 and 2010, and Ironman Wisconsin 2009. Each has been a "character building experience," Reese said.
During Reese's training for 2009, he had a bike accident that required surgery on his hand. Reese surprised the doctor, who had cleared him to bike and run with a cast and pins in his hand, when he told him he biked 1,100 miles while training. The doctor's response was something like, "that wasn't exactly what I meant when I said you could bike and run," said Reese.
In 2010 at Lake Placid, Reese learned an important lesson: when you make a plan, keep it. He ran a little too fast, got off his race day nutrition and hit a tough spell. Fortunately, he was able to keep his momentum going and complete the Ironman.
This year, he let his wife pick his race schedule as she was sick of all their vacations being race destinations. She picked a half Ironman race in Boise, Idaho and Ironman Canada in Penticton, BC.
Even though Reese is looking forward to the other races and is most excited by Ironman Kona, he and his wife are wisely turning it into a vacation as well.
"I am definitely hitting the rainy day accounts - leave, airline miles and hotel points - for this trip and will also turn it into a vacation. I plan to go out a week early to acclimate to the time change and the heat and to see and do some of the unique Ironman Hawaii activities. Post race, we have planned several recovery days (no workouts) to just enjoy Hawaii," he said.
Tune into the Ironman World Championship competition October 8, 2011 to cheer on CERDEC employee Colin Reese!
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