Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Kelly Hutsell
Jen Dziuvenis, Olathe first-year law student, swims the butterfly stroke as part of her training for the Ironman competition, which includes a 112-mile bike ride, a marathon and a 2.4 mile swim. This June’s competition will be the fourth Ironman that Jen has participated in.
Editor’s note: This is a regular series that profiles recreational activities in which students take part. If you hunt, fish, climb rocks, canoe or spelunk, The University Daily Kansan would like to share your story. Please contact Caleb Regan by calling the Kansan sports desk at 864-4858 or by e-mailing him at cregan@kansan.com.
Most people probably wouldn’t be interested in a hobby that takes the body and mind to utmost exhaustion. But Jen Dziuvenis, a first-year law student from Olathe, isn’t most people.
Dziuvenis participates in Ironman competitions, an event with three legs: the first is a 2.4-mile swim; the second is a 112-mile passage traveled by bike; lastly, participants run a marathon, 26.2 miles.
Ironman competitions take anywhere from 10 to 15 hours to complete. The training is rigorous but athletes like Dziuvenis still enjoy it.
“It’s a crazy kind of enjoyment, both fun and painful,” she said. “There would be no motivation for me to train if it weren’t so hard.”
The swimming portion of the race takes people about one hour, and is considered the warm-up leg. Dziuvenis said the first part was the craziest part because 2,000 people jump into the water at the same time, which means kicking, hitting, and nearly drowning — basically getting pummeled while trying to swim.
Cycling 112 miles takes about seven hours.
“The cycling is hard because you’re on the bike for what seems like an endless amount of time, just beating yourself up, basically,” Dziuvenis said.
The running is the worst part, Dziuvenis said, not because of the distance, but because you’re so beat up from cycling.
“You get off the bike and it’s like, all right, now all I’ve got to do is run a marathon,” she said.
Dziuvenis said athletes got a bag for each leg of the race, and usually it takes a person eight or nine minutes to change clothing and resume the race. Bags also have food, water and spare bike tires in them.
She said the best part was crossing the finishing line. Athletes stay out at the finish line to cheer their peers on. Exhausted athletes are greeted by a spotlight, loud music and shouts of encouragement, she said.
“By the end of the run, you’re miserable, feet hurting, legs hurting, feeling sick and starved,” she said. “Then you see the finish line and it’s the best feeling in the world. The camaraderie between competitors is something special. The first time I crossed the finish line I was addicted.”
It takes about a week for her muscles to recover, Dziuvenis said, and anywhere from a month to two months for her joints to. The day after a race she’ll wake up at 6 a.m. because her body and mind are still racing and she feels as if she has to sleep every two hours, she said.
She said once she can walk again, the worst part is over.
Dziuvenis trains for the competitions twice a day on weekdays, then on weekends she does a long ride, usually 70-80 miles, on her bike. Not the typical recreational activity for students, but the natural high she gets from finishing these races is enough to endure the pounding she imposes on her body.
“It’s all about the challenge,” she said. “I’d never ran four-plus miles in my life before I took Ironman up. I did it to prove something to myself. To be able to say, ‘hey, you can do that.’”
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