HMS Teacher Completes Iron Man; Shares Life Lessons

On September 7, Hinsdale Middle School 8th grade science teacher Jane Fetty achieved a goal nearly two years in the making – she completed the Iron Man with a smile on her face.

The Iron Man is a triathlon, with a 2.4-mile swim in open water, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run (equivalent to a full marathon). The event, held in Madison, Wisconsin, was Fetty’s first, though she has completed several smaller scale triathlon races in preparation – a sprint triathlon, Olympic triathlon, and two half-Iron Man events – all within the last 18 months. The start of this journey, though, began with a single step more than two years ago.

“I wasn’t fit. I didn’t feel healthy,” Fetty says of herself then. “I decided it was time to make a change.” That change began in June 2012 by walking “no matter what the weather was” for 70 minutes a day. She set her sights on completing the Downers Grove Turkey Trot in November 2012 and completed the event, walking and running her way to the finish line. Fetty’s success in completing the Thanksgiving Day 5K helped encourage her to set a new goal. In January 2013, the idea of finishing an Iron Man felt possible. “I had watched an Iron Man event ten years ago, and I thought it was the coolest thing. I had it scratching in the back of my mind for years, but I always thought I didn’t have the time, or I wasn’t fit enough.”

It was at that time HMS Principal Ruben Peña had suggested Fetty connect with an HMS family which owns Endure It!, a company out of Westmont that specializes in preparation for triathlons, Iron Man competitions, and other such events. “They took me under their wing, and for the next 20 months, their shop became a second home.” Fortunately for Fetty, their shop is only two miles from her home.

In the mornings, after school, and on weekends, Fetty committed herself to training, which included participating in a run club, joining a bike class, swimming lessons, weight lifting, and working with a nutritionist. She and her coaches developed a plan and stuck with it. By the time of the event in September 2014, Fetty was ready.

The first component of the Iron Man competition involved 2,400 athletes jumping into a lake together for a swim that lasted nearly 90 minutes. Despite getting kicked and elbowed as the group started, Fetty says the lake did not bother her. “I am very comfortable in water. As I swim, I really can’t see that well in the water, so it’s easy not to worry about how deep the water is beneath you. I just make sure to breath and stay relaxed.“

The group then moved to the convention center for a change of clothes and the start of the bike portion. Fetty describes the course as “hilly” but said that was the part of the race she was most looking forward to completing. “I knew my family and friends and my HMS family would all be on the same hill where the Endure It! team gathers. I kept thinking that if I could get to the hill, I would see everyone I knew,” she recalls with fondness. More than 40 supporters came out to cheer as she biked past.

Fetty says that running was the most challenging part of the Iron Man competition. She completed the Chicago Marathon in October 2013 to make sure that she could handle the 26.2-mile distance, though says she has experienced running-induced injuries during training, including stress fractures. “I did a lot of water running in training because ground running was too much impact,” she notes.

The Iron Man event requires that in order to finish, the run must be completed before midnight. Continually monitoring her time, Fetty knew she would have to push and forced herself to go faster. After starting at 7:00 a.m., she finished at 11:08 p.m. “I knew I might be last to cross, and I was 100% okay with it. I knew what my pace would be. My goal was to finish with a smile on my face and just feel good, without pressure.” She was not last and did indeed have a smile as she crossed the finish line. Thanks to her well-crafted nutrition and hydration planning, Fetty says she experienced no cramping or “bonking” – the loss of all energy, a common issue among endurance athletes.

Fetty is intent on next qualifying for the 2017 Boston Marathon with a friend who was diagnosed with Mesothelioma in 2013 and had his left lung removed as part of his treatment. She is also planning on participating in another Iron Man event. “I wouldn’t do it every year, but maybe every other year. I can get faster,” she says. Fetty laughs that when she’s 80 years old, she would have a great chance of winning in her age group and earning a spot in the World Championship held in Kona, Hawaii. She plans to complete two half-Iron Man events this summer and a marathon next year.

When asked what advice she would give to someone with a big goal, Fetty says to start small, do the work, enjoy it, and find a group to join. “You can’t do it alone; it’s too hard to do by yourself.” For Fetty, her family and District 181 friends were her champions. “My colleagues are like family. They have been so supportive, so phenomenal - I couldn’t have done this without them. I told them, ‘You have no idea how helpful it was to know you’d be there physically or in spirit.’”

She has passed on the inspiration that helped her to the HMS students she teaches. “I use my story as motivation for my students. I tell them that I knew my best was not going to win me the prize, but it was my best. It’s all about trying and finishing.” Fetty’s personal guiding principles can be seen hanging on her classroom wall. “I tell my students, if you have something you want to do, don’t be afraid to try it. I did everything I could to get to my goal, but I also knew that failure would not be a bad thing either, because that means I tried. You never know what you can do until you try.”