By By ADAM FISHER / Niles Daily Star
Doug Campbell has trained for eight months to prepare for his second Ironman Triathlon, which he will compete in July 25 in Lake Placid, N.Y. He has ran, swam and biked thousands of miles in that time.
Yet, next week, just days before he leaves for New York, he will use an unconventional training method.
The movie is about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal in an upset at Lake Placid. The Iron Man takes place in the same Olympic Village used in the 1980 games.
Campbell, a Niles-native who graduated from Niles High School in 1984, isn't dreaming of any gold medals or first place finishes, though. His goal is to finish the triathlon faster than the 11 hour five minutes it took him at the Panama City, Fla. Ironman in November.
He said finishing in less than 11 hours could prove difficult when running and biking in the Adriondack mountains of northern New York. The triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run.
Last year, leading up to Ironman Florida, Campbell trained nine hours a week -- three hours swimming, three hours running and three hours biking. For the past eight months, however, he has worked out 12 hours a week.
His training each week consists of two to three hours swimming, seven to nine hours riding his bike and two to four hours running. He trains six days a week, but his hardest workouts come on the weekends.
Campbell said he rides 80-100 miles and runs 12-18 miles a day on Saturdays and Sundays. Monday is his day off to recover from the weekend.
To help push him in his workouts, Campbell trains with a group of five triathletes. Campbell also has an online coach who emails him a training schedule, answers questions and provides motivation.
His coach, Marty Gaal, is a triathlete who finished third in the U.S. Amateur National Triathlon last year. Gaal, who works with 11 triathletes from his home in Orlando, Fla., said the Lake Placid Ironman is one of the toughest in the continental United States.
The course at Lake Placid includes 7,000 feet of climbing during the 26.2 mile run. Campbell competed in a half-Ironman, a triathlon that's half the distance, in the mountains of western North Carolina in May to help him prepare for New York.
Although Gaal believes his pupil can finish faster than he did in November, he said if Campbell can match his time, he will have done well.
Gaal said Campbell's time will depend heavily on the weather.
Two years ago the weather at the Lake Placid Ironman was extremely humid, and last year conditions resembled a monsoon, Gaal said.
While this is Campbell's second Ironman, he has participated in four or five triathlons a year since he started competing three years ago. He enjoys triathlons because they feed his competitive juices.
The workouts also keep him in shape. The 37-year-old Campbell said he is in much better shape now than he was when he played soccer at Western Michigan University from 1984-88. He also weighs the same as he did in college.
Covering a 140-mile course in 11 hours can be exhausting. Campbell said he has been in triathlons where he had to walk to the finish.
He said the fear of failure is a major motivation to keep going. The key, he said, is staying mentally focused.
Gaal said what's most impressive about Campbell is his ability to train so hard while continuing to make time for his business, Campbell Ford Lincoln Mercury, and his wife and two young children.