Ask Mike Bernico and he’ll tell you completing an Ironman triathlon is so much more than a test of endurance. It’s a test of will and soul.few would know better than him. just four years ago, just walking down the block was almost impossible for the former Ottawan, let alone completing a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run like he did on Sept. 10 in Madison, Wisc.Back in 2007, Bernico, who is a 1995 graduate of Ottawa Township High School and now lives in Bloomington, weighed over 400 pounds. he wasn’t sure of an exact weight considering the fact his scale didn’t quite go that high.but he was sure of a few things — his blood pressure and cholesterol were off the charts, his jean size was 52 and, most importantly, he was going to die if something didn’t change.”My weight has been a struggle for just about my entire life,” Bernico said. “I was always a big kid. I think I was closing in on 100 pounds by the time I was in second grade. I’ve always struggled with my weight, but the thing is it finally got to a point where I knew I was going to die. Things were bad. My health was in bad shape.”His weight was so out of control that when he slipped on an icy sidewalk in 2005, the impact tore the tendons connecting his quadriceps to his kneecap off, requiring surgery that left him with arthritis in the knee. a typical Friday night for the 30-yard-old included an entire stuffed crust Meat Lover’s Pizza from Pizza Hut.Bernico knew he needed a change, but he was highly skeptical. after all, it’s not as if he hadn’t tried to lose weight before.He’d tried just about every diet known. he gave the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet shots. he worked with the Subway diet and counted calories like Weight Watchers. At one point, he even tried to become a vegeterian and considered not eating at all.They offered results, although very minimal.That’s when Bernico went with a different approach, deciding that it was better to read and learn about nutrition instead of reading about trendy diets.he made small changes and learned portion control. Instead of eating the whole pizza, Bernico had just a few pieces. he would go with a sweet potato instead of french fries, or a chicken sandwich instead of a cheeseburger.all the while he started simple strength training with a Bowflex 30 minutes a day two or three times a week, this before purchasing a recumbent bike and working indoors.”I learned how food works,” Bernico said. “I just started applying a real scientific approach to my eating and my nutrition. As I was doing that I was exercising, and I’m like, ‘Here’s the thing about exercising. I need to do it, so I can either go be a hamster on a wheel and go run on a treadmill, or I can make it fun and enjoy it.’ I decided it was much better to enjoy it. I could use these goals to push myself forward.” the cardiovascular workouts were a struggle at first for Bernico. he said he would do whatever he could, most of the time as little as 15 minutes each day.It was tough for Bernico, no doubt. but he finally had the breakthrough he was looking for when he was able to move outdoors on a bike.”That was when I really started making progress,” Bernico said. “It’s when I took exercise from hard work and started making it fun and a hobby.”That first outdoor bike ride was an adventure for sure. in fact, he got to a small hill in his neighborhood and had to get off his bike and walk up the hill.”By the end I thought I was going to die,” he said. “There’s no way I’m going to do that again, but I guess I just did.”With that, Bernico began exercising even more, steadily increasing his tolerance while decreasing his weight. he even took to some kayaking on a new Perception Carolina 145 and established a blog where he wrote about his progress at iron-path.blogspot.com, a blog he still maintains today. It was as much to motivate others to follow his example as it was to motivate himself.”If there’s anything I can do with this experience, it’s maybe help other people that were in the same situation I was and (let them) know that anything is possible,” Bernico said.by September of 2008, Bernico already had dropped 115 pounds. Not only did he have little desire to stop, he knew he still was over 110 pounds heavier than what is recommended for an individual who stands 5 feet, 10 inches tall.One month later, he completed what he considered to be his first fitness goal, which was to complete the Ottawa Pumpkin Pie ride — a 68-mile ride through Ottawa, Utica, Streator and Marseilles with some difficult hills.That’s when Bernico was approached with the idea of trying a triathlon. As an individual who doesn’t consider running a strong suit, he was more than skeptical and at first dismissed the idea. However, he already had come this far, why not push the boundaries even further?”I thought I could do that,” Bernico said. “I could ride 20 miles. I didn’t know about running. I hadn’t run a mile in my life, but I thought, ‘Who knows?’ I started training for that, and I did OK. As it turned out, I kind of liked it. Things just kind of spun out of control from there.”While he was an accomplished cycler, running didn’t necessarily come easy.”When I first started running and was trying to do my first mile, it was terrible,” Bernico said. “There were times when I sat down and said, ‘I don’t want to do this. This is awful. What am I doing?’ “He began working with the “Couch-to-5K” running plan, a training regimen designed to steadily increase the running abilities of those not used to running over a specific timeframe.With a current pace of 11-minute, 20-second miles, Bernico drove himself crazy through the winter months, spending much time on a treadmill, which he considered “crazy boring.” However, halting his training was never an option, as he so eloquently blogged during December of 2008.”Some days it’s hard though,” he stated. “I’ll always do it, but sometimes I just want to phone it in and not push as hard as I should. for those days I remember where I’ve come from, and how easily I could fall back into those habits if I give myself the smallest chance. I remember my friends and their unending support, encouragement and inspiration. I remember all the people that for some reason find me inspiring. Lastly, I remember the people that are waiting for me to fail.”By the end of the month, Bernico’s weight loss was up to an amazing 150 pounds, and he “graduated” from the Couch-to-5K program. he kept pushing, and by April he was set to compete in his first triathlon in Sullivan.in the week leading up to the event, Bernico said he was tested mentally, emotionally and physically, likely moreso than in the event itself. but considering everything he already had overcome and the support line he had including his wife Lana who also is a triathlete, he wasn’t about to stop.he finished with a skinned up knee and a sock with a bloody heel that put Curt Schilling’s to shame — but the main thing was he finished. his time was 1 hour, 29 minutes, 12.60 seconds, not bad for an individual who just two years earlier couldn’t run on a treadmill for 30 minutes without a break.Bernico did several more triathlon and sprint triathlons, including the Chicago Triathlon in September of 2009, and then extended that to the Whirlpool Ironman 70.3 Steelhead triathlon in July of 2010. that event included a 1.2-mile open water swim in Lake Michigan, a 56-mile time trial on the bike and a half marathon. he finished in an incredible 5:44:34, beating his personal goal of six hours.that set him up for the most daunting task of all, Ironman Wisconsin, an event twice as long as the Whirl Pool Ironman 70.3 Steelhead and much more difficult.Bernico said everything he had done was a matter of building up toward this one event. “When it comes to Ironman Wisconsin, it’s known to be a difficult bike course, and that’s probably why I chose it because I’m a strong cyclist,” Bernico said. “Running is definitely more a challenge to me. It doesn’t come naturally or easy to me. That’s OK. Swimming is kind of in the middle.”Bernico’s training was up to 15-20 hours a week, and he ran two triathlons (one Olympic), a half marathon and a 5K in the months leading up to the event.”Ironman is so much more than just completing the race that day,” Bernico said. “Like you said, it is the training and it’s getting to the finish line healthy. if anything, it’s sitting in six-hour bike rides and taking care of your kids and leading a normal life and doing everything else that you need to do. I’d have to say it was tricky getting to the starting line. I knew I could do that. I wasn’t so sure I could complete the distance on that day.”But he did — quite amazingly at that with a time of 14:18:09. he went through suffering a cold the day of the event to being short a powerpar bottle after a worker at an aid station didn’t screw the lid on properly, allowing the fluid to leak out. he also experienced two flat tires on the cycling portion, which normally is his strength. that nearly derailed his quest to become an Ironman.but overcoming a couple of flat tires was child’s play considering all the obstacles he already had accomplished in his life.As he approached huge crowds of fans in the final few miles, Bernico began to realize exactly what he was about to do. An individual who once weighed over 400 pounds — now well below 200 pounds — was about to finish the most intense physical and mental challenge any individual can face in the athletic world.At the completion of that event, Bernico won’t soon forget hearing Mike Reilly, who is considered the “voice of Ironman,” calling out his name as he approached the finish line with a time of 14:18:09. At that point you just can’t help but smile,” Bernico said. “I’ve been working toward this going on three years, and to have that kind of come to end, it was a big deal.”This is the same guy that calls out Craig Alexander’s name when he wins, and Chris McCormick’s name and Chrissy Wellington and all of these huge professional triathletes that maybe nobody else has heard of besides me. As I’m running down the carpet and he’s calling my name, it’s a huge deal. That’s what we’re all out to hear.”At this point, with more than 220 pounds lost, Bernico isn’t about to stop his fight against obesity. he knows how easily a lot of that weight can return.That’s why he already has plans for additional shorter events before possibly taking on another Ironman in 2013.”I talked about this at work, and I closed with a slide of a runner that cast a long shadow behind him,” Bernico said. “And that’s kind of how I feel. I’m running, but the old me is right behind me all the time trying to catch me and pull me back to where I was. It feels like I’m just one brownie away from being a 400-pound guy again. I know that sounds probably ridiculous, but that’s always in the back of my mind.”As long as Bernico keeps running — and biking and swimming — like he is, it’s going to be tough for that shadow to catch him.
DO OR DIE-T: Will to live turns obese Ottawan into Ironman finisher – MyWebTimes.com
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