ISU student prepares for Ironman World Championship

From the time he was in middle school, ISU senior Kris Spoth
knew he wanted to compete in a triathlon. Now, after completing six
of them, he is headed to the Ford Ironman World Championship.

In 2008, Spoth competed in his first competition — the Hy-Vee
Triathlon — in Des Moines. Spoth later went on to compete in the
Omaha Triathlon and three National Collegiate triathlons before
entering his sixth one this past summer in Louisville.

One of Spoth’s friends and a fellow triathlon competitor
described a triathlon — which combines swimming, biking and running
— as the ultimate combination.

“Triathlon is just an accomplishment because if you swim in a
pool you can be a swimmer, if you ride a bike you can be a biker
and if you run you can be a runner,” said Chris Mann, senior in
dietetics and former ISU Triathlon Club president. “But if you want
to do them all, you can do a triathlon.”

Spoth had done a handful triathlons before he competed in
Ironman Louisville on Aug. 28, but Ironman competitions are even
more demanding, requiring competitors to complete a 2.4-mile swim,
112-mile bike ride and a full 26.2-mile marathon.

The preparation for this ultimate test took weeks for Spoth.

“A typical train week for me would be somewhere between 14 and
20 hours a week,” Spoth said. “That can be somewhere around 150 to
200-plus miles on the bike, 40 to 50 miles running and about 10,000
to 12,000 yards swimming.”

Nearly 2,400 people entered the Ironman Louisville competition
and while Spoth hoped to break the 10-hour mark, he entered with
just one simple goal: to finish.

“The goal was to finish, and if nothing else, I could have been
happy with finishing,” Spoth said. “But that wouldn’t have really
satisfied me; I was reaching for something much higher.”

Throughout that Sunday in Louisville, the excitement continued
to grow as Spoth went from the water to his bike and finally to his
feet with his parents looking on.

“As the race went on, there was this cascading excitement
because we were realizing how well he was doing and intermittently
we could see him on the course,” said Dick Spoth, Kris’ father.
“That progressed through the day and through the marathon where we
had the opportunity to be where he was on several occasions.”

And then came the finish.

As Spoth crossed the finish line, he was filled with excitement.
He had fulfilled

To read the whole story, visit here: http://www.iowastatedaily.com/sports/article_84e097c6-ee07-11e0-bded-001cc4c03286.html

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