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Life student Ben Cavaliere takes on the Ironman.
By Katie K. Bell

The Ironman race is a brutal test of endurance that requires participants to complete a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike race and 26.2-mile run … in one day. Life University student Ben Cavaliere certainly never imagined himself competing in an Ironman. When his wife of two years began training for a triathlon, "I told her she was nuts," he laughs. Then he watched her race. "The whole thing, it took her an hour and 20 minutes and as I watched the race unfold I kept thinking ‘man I want to do this!' Cavaliere signed up for a triathlon right away. "After my first race I got hooked. I was so intrigued by watching all these people push themselves to their limits."

Motivation to compete in the Ironman was to come along later, while living in Woodstock with his wife Cheryl and attending Life University. During his first class at Life (Rights and Responsibilities), president Dr. Guy Riekeman talked about self-perception. Cavaliere perceived himself to be an athlete, but he notes with a wince, "I realized I hadn't done much to label myself as an athlete. In fact I was a little overweight." It was at that moment that he determined to tackle an Ironman race. He admits to needing a fair bit of training, "I didn't even know proper swim mechanics."

Yet, he notes that all the training in the world never prepared him for the full experience. Cavaliere mainly concentrated on managing his transitions (between biking, swimming and running) and nutrition. "I'd do things such as a long bike ride and a short run to teach my body how to transition."

Mental preparation was also an essential ingredient in his training. "You have to go into the Ironman already finished in your mind, even during training you are thinking about what it will feel like when you cross the finish line," he says.

Race Day
Cavaliere characterizes the experience as epic. "I think of it as the hardest, toughest, most grueling single-day endurance event that you can put your body through." Despite the physical challenges, Cavaliere believes his mental fortitude and support from family were critical factors in his ability to finish the race.

As a participant in the Florida Ironman, Cavaliere's race began in the ocean. "I remember walking out to the beach after tending to my gear. A helicopter was flying low, dominating the scene and dozens of kayakers and boaters waited in the ocean."

The swim was one aspect of this event he could not fully prepare for. "I never trained or competed with such a large group … most of my starts were with 100 people (this would be 2,200) and all I did was swim in a pool, not the ocean. During the race he recalls being "kicked in the head, goggles getting knocked off and people swimming right over me. It was a struggle to keep my head above water, stay calm and breathe." His key ingredient? "My wetsuit. It just blew me away, I probably had the best swim of my life and ended up enjoying it the most in this race." The swim took him an hour and 20 minutes.

Naturally not every minute of an Ironman can go off without a hitch. Cavaliere's first panic occurred in the transition tent before the race even began. "I was in the tent tending to my bike, pumping up a tire when the tube exploded. My heart started going crazy. I only had 30 minutes to deal with it and get out on the beach." Again the struggle for mental control and calm plays a role in staying focused for the race, hence Cavaliere changed his tire (and sent his wife out for more tubes just in case) and got on with things.

Once on his bike, Cavaliere tried to focus on a steady pace and stick to his nutrition plan. Alternating between power gels, honey and peanut butter sandwiches and Cliff Bars he began to cramp up at about mile 75. "It was stressful because I didn't know what was going on. Was my pace too fast? Was I eating too much? Drinking too little?" He made the call to slow down and stop eating for about 10 miles. Fortunately, his cramping subsided and he finished. But, he notes, "You tell yourself you'll stick to this plan not expecting any changes and then you get surprised." I had some high and low moments on the bike that I knew would come, but I constantly had to tame my emotions because I knew I still had a marathon to run. The 112-mile journey took me six hours and 25 minutes, averaging 17.4 mph."

At the final leg of his tremendous journey Cavaliere enjoyed the payoff from his pace training. "Keeping my pace controlled enough put me in a position to run. As a result I felt fresh when I started the marathon. Just after he started the run he immediately saw his family. "That was a big boost for me. My family members ran next to me for a while and I told 'em I felt great."

Again, Cavaliere set goals and stuck to his plan, strategizing his race from beginning to end. During the run he focused "properly taking down my nutrition, one mile, one station at a time." The first 13 miles were great. "But the next 13 were tough; I was running on blistered feet, my toes were black." And that oh-so-critical mental edge was starting to wear away as well. He notes with a smile, "They say the last part of an Ironman is 20 miles of hope and six miles of reality. The entire event was that last six miles, all the training, visualizations and thoughts of the finish line—it was then that I had to dig in deep and get that last six miles of energy."

Around mile 16 Cavaliere began to have what he calls a mental fade. "I just did what everyone around me was doing, walking. I did a lot of thinking between mile 16 and 20, just telling myself, ‘you're gonna finish this race you know you are.'"

Under unimaginable exhaustion Cavaliere passed mile marker 20 where a timing chip also relayed messages from spectators. "A message came up from my family, it said ‘Cavaliere move your tree trunks," (a reference to his legs). That was all I needed. It was as if they were all right there cheering me on." He notes that from mile 20 to the finish his body turned off and his brain finished the race, he ran the entire six miles to the finish. "I ran that last six miles faster than I ran the first six miles. Hearing the announcer call him an Ironman at the finish was reward enough for almost 13 hours of competition. Cavaliere finished in 12:56:57.

Today, he notes with wry laugh, "I'm getting a bit overweight again now, it might be time to set another goal." He then adds, "I learned what I was made of that day … that I have the drive not just to live life, but to live it extraordinarily and with purpose. I am not done with Ironman; my experiences have really just begun." Cavaliere talks about climbing mountains in the future (starting with McKinley), all the better to have "cool stories" to tell his kids and grandchildren. "Ironman is who I want to be for my marriage and family life, my practice and professional life. There will be hard and trying times, but pushing through the challenges the best way possible makes us stronger."

Sounds like the plans of a winner.