Local Ironman Running Down a Dream

New Lenox resident Mike Boyle was never very interested in sports; he didn’t play on teams as a kid and skateboarding was more his thing. But flipping through TV channels one day when he was 19, he came upon an athletic even that would change his life.

The Homewood native watched the Ironman world championships in Hawaii with intensity as a long-time competitor struggled to finish the daunting race, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run. Boyle was so moved by the spectacle that he decided he wanted to get there someday.

But the real world kicked in, and starting a new job deterred that dream. Unlike so many dreams that can be pushed off before never being realized, though, Boyle’s aspirations were rejuvenated with the birth of his first child, and now he hopes to make it to those same world championships in Hawaii as he continues his own career as a triathlete.

Barely Staying Above Water

The first step toward the world championships for Boyle was running a marathon, which he trained for and completed the year he was inspired at age 19. He bought a pair of running shoes for the race, but they were seldom worn again after that.

Boyle started a job in construction in his early 20s, working on testing materials and quality control. Adapting to long hours and a new job put exercise and training on the back burner, and he fell into a familiar rut.

“I was doing things that people in their 20s do,” Boyle said.

That included smoking cigarettes, drinking a bit too much sometimes and not working out. By the time he was 28, Boyle weighed about 210 pounds, which he said was overweight given his smallish frame. He said he used to sleep all the time and still feel tired all day, whereas now he trains a bunch, sleeps six hours and feels great.

Boyle said he never forgot about his original goal, even when he continued to delay the required work for it over a decade. What he needed was a push in the right direction, and that happened four years ago when he started a family with his wife, Taylor.

"This has shown me to not ever give up on yourself," Mike said. "I can feel and relate to the rut that many people are in. But there is a way out, and you just need to start today."

A New Cycle Begins

In 2007, Mike and Taylor Boyle had a son, Liam, who is now four. Mike quit smoking in 2004, but when his son was born he decided to make more healthy lifestyle choices, put on his running shoes again and signed up for his first half-length Iron Man competition.

“I wanted to be a positive role model for my child,” said Boyle, who also has a step-child Emerson, 10, and Moya, 2. "So I remembered my goal, my bucket list."

Taylor said the whole family enjoys living a healthy lifestyle. The kids are still young, but the house rule will be that they must participate in an activity. Mike said a lot of people think he’ll try to steer his kids toward cycling, but he’s happy with whatever they choose as long as they’re happy with the activity.

“They can’t just be sitting around,” he said.

And he’s noticed that the kids don’t slack off. The family’s Wii video game system doesn’t get much use, and Mike said his son is more mechanically inclined and interested in things like building Legos or working on his bicycle.

Mike believes that teaching children about healthy habits is important, but he believes there’s a lot more they can learn by seeing a parent participate in the Iron Man competitions. He said it can teach them to dream big and set goals.

“I’ve seen the effect in my own kids,” Mike said. “They talk about doing big things. It’s teaching kids to have big goals and have goals people might even laugh at, at first. But if you’re committed to something you can achieve it.”

Running Down a Dream

Mike, 33, is ranked No. 213 nationally in his age group in the USA Triathlon rankings after completing three races, and now he’s preparing for two more this year.

In his first race, Ironman Florida, he placed 45th in his age group. Then he finished 25th in his age group in a Madison, Wisc., triathlon and 18th in his age group in Florida once again. He’ll race again in Florida this November, but up first is Ironman Louisville on Aug. 28. Mike believes that if he finishes in the top nine in his age group in Louisville, he could be one of about 1,500 people who qualify for the October world championship in Hawaii.

He’s performed well but knows he can keep improving; for example, he was working to complete a triathlon in under 10 hours, and most recently finished in nine hours and 50 minutes.

Training for a triathlon begins about 10 months before the race. Mike said the first several months are intensity-based training, involving running, swimming and cycling harder and faster than he’s ever done. The months leading up to the race is where he adds more distance to his practices, increasing the weekly amount of time he puts in.

He goes from six to nine hours of weekly training in the winter to as many as 16 hours per week when a race nears. Having Old Plank Trail in New Lenox is a luxury and where Mike does most of his running and cycling. He swims in Lemont with other members of a triathlon club there.

As for his diet, Mike isn’t too hard on himself. He said nothing is off limits, but instead preaches moderation. “If I have a beer and a cheeseburger on a Friday night, it’s not going to kill me,” he said.

The months of training and the strict routine is all worth it for the freeing momeny when the gun goes off, signaling the start of a race, Mike said.

“It’s just a very satisfying feeling,” he said. “You work at something all year, and then you have a day where you get to cash in on all that hard work and have fun. The last nine months, you’ve lived a very regimented lifestyle and then boom, you start.”

More Info

Mike's triathlon club, Team Tri Smart, have an upcoming charity bicycle ride that will raise money for the Breast Cancer Fund. The ride begins at 7 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 18, at .

For more information about this charity ride or how to get involved with the triathlon club, email Mike at meboyle77@hotmail.com or go to Team Tri Smart's website.