Thompson Completes First Ironman

High Performing Veteran Thompson Completes First Ironman By Derek Wiley On Saturday, Nov. 2, Dick Thompson, a 66-year old Watkinsville resident, woke up at 3 a.m. to the sound of waves crashing outside his hotel room. He ate a cup of oatmeal with cranberries and a banana, half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, two 15 oz. smoothies and a 12 oz. Nuun electrolyte drink. He then looked over his bike, making sure the tire pressure was just right, before lining up on the beach with 3,000 others for a 7 a.m. start to the most grueling race of his life. Over three years ago, at the recommendation of his son in law, Thompson did his first triathlon, a 400-yard swim, 12-mile bike ride and 3-mile run in Gainesville. Preparing for the run was easy. Thompson had done 5Ks and 10Ks with his wife on a regular basis. The bike and swim was a different story. The only bike riding I d done was as a kid, Thompson said. That was a big change, learning how to ride a bike in competition. That took a little while. Thompson had been scuba diving for most of his life so being in the water was nothing new. However, swimming above water competitively definitely was. Dick Thompson, who is the founder, president and CEO of High Performing Systems, Inc., in Watkinsville, completed Ironman Florida on Nov. 2. Photo by Derek Wiley 50...OCONEE THE MAGAZINE...Winter 2014

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Swimming freestyle on top of the water is very different, Thompson said. If you didn t learn the techniques and everything as a kid, it s a little more difficult when you start later on because it s mostly about technique rather than brute force. I had to try to make that transition from just powering my way through it to try and use the technique so I could go further and faster and not burn up so much energy. To learn the technique, Thompson mostly watched videos on YouTube and swam at the Georgia Aquatic Center in Watkinsville. I was still swimming with my head up so I had to put my head in the water and learn how to breathe, Thompson said. I ve come a long way from swimming across the pool one time and being out of breath to 3 miles, 4 miles. I think it was the hardest for me to learn. I picked the bike up pretty fast and I was already a runner. On May 19, 2012, Thompson competed Thompson finished the 112-mile bike ride in 7 hours. Submitted photo Let me help protect you before mayhem strikes. From a tree branch falling on your car during a windstorm to a GPS that sends you the wrong way down a one-way, mayhem can strike anytime. So get an Allstate Agent like me who knows how to help you make sure you re protected. Don t wait call me today! The Beaver Agency, Inc. (706) 769-7311 2410 Hog Mtn Rd., Ste. 101 Watkinsville scottbeaver@allstate.com One agency for all your insurance needs. Subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company 2013 Allstate Insurance Company. 59574 Dr. Stuart J. Thomas and Dr. Laura L. Hooper See the New Year Clearly. Buy one complete pair of glasses get $100 off second complete pair. * Call for your appointment today! *Some restrictions apply call Thomas Eye Center for details. 706-549-7757 1077 Baxter Street ThomasEyeCenter.com 52...OCONEE THE MAGAZINE...Winter 2014

in his first Olympic triathlon in Peachtree City. After conquering the nearly 1-mile swim, 25-mile bike and 6.2-mile run distance, Thompson signed up for his first half ironman in Augusta on Sept 30, 2012. And that s when the training really started. Thompson was swimming at Summer Hill when he met Harvey Gayer, a ninetime half ironman finisher, four-time ironman finisher and USATriathlon certified coach. We just happened to be there at the same time, Thompson said. I saw his Ironman tattoo and thought that was cool and then at some point, he told me he was a coach. We talked about things and eventually I joined up with him and told him I d like to do the half if he was willing to coach me. I could already see that was going to be a different ball game so I needed someone that knew what was going on. For the half ironman, Thompson had to swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 and run 13.1. Under Gayer s guidance, Thompson was doing something everyday. He d swim at least three days a week, bike at least three days a week with a short run after every bike ride and then run separately two or three more times per week. The work paid off as Thompson completed the world s largest half ironman race, Ironman 70.3 Augusta in 6 hours, 57 minutes and 40 seconds. He did his second half ironman last April in Charleston, S.C. and then returned to Augusta in September, where he shaved nearly 30 minutes off his previous time. Completing the half ironmans, Thompson also realized he could do a full. To train, he began running 40 to 60 miles, swimming 8 to 10 miles and biking more than 200 miles a week. Thompson was also working fulltime at High Performing Systems, Inc., where he is the founder, president and CEO. Thompson had to make sure he was getting enough sleep. His past military experience helped. I found that if I took power naps during the day [that helped], Thompson said. NASA did a study and found that a 26- minute power nap really helps restore your energy and cognitive ability. I d done a lot of work on sleep loss and stuff in the military so I just applied a lot of those techniques that I had learned there but still you have to be careful, if you re not moving and it gets quiet, you have to watch that. Thompson picked Ironman Florida in Panama City Beach for his first. Even registering took some work. Past participants and volunteers had first priority. After all those spots were filled, the event sold out in 40 seconds. Everybody is on their computer and Ken Copes, PT Claire Tallman, DPT SPINE DYNAMICS PHYSICAL THERAPY _ Arthropraxis Therapy _ Back Pain Specialist _ Orthopedic and Sports Injuries _ Recovery from pain or injury _ Manual Therapy _ Therapeutic and Aerobic Exercise _ Running Injuries _ Home Exercise Programs _ Home Care Management _ Maintaining Health and Wellness _ Injury Prevention 788 PRINCE AVENUE, SUITE C ATHENS, GA 30606 PHONE 706-543-2111 www.spinedynamics.net (L-R) DeAnna, Claire, Ken, Velda Winter 2014...OCONEE THE MAGAZINE...53

knows what time it starts so you re sitting there waiting and you start a minute or so before hitting send, trying to get in there, Thompson said. I got lucky and managed to sign up for it. The conditions for Ironman Florida weren t ideal. A storm had come through making the 2.4-mile swim even more difficult. But it definitely could have been worse. We do our family vacation down there [Panama City Beach] in the summer and part of the intent was I wanted to swim but it was so rough the whole week we were there, Thompson said. It was a red flag the whole time. I still swam some but I didn t go out that far because I was by myself. When Thompson arrived in Panama City Beach the Thursday before Saturday s race, the water was even rougher but that didn t keep him from getting a workout in. I went out and did a swim and it was really rough but I had a group of people so I went on out, Thompson said. That was good to kind of experience that and see that I could do that. The next day I went out again and it was really rough. In fact they made everybody get out of the water. They said it was too dangerous. You can t swim out here. It calmed down some on Saturday, back to how it was on Thursday probably. My room was right next to the water so you could hear the waves pounding all night. You d wake up and see that it s not calming down but that added to the experience. It was fun. At 7 a.m., all 3,000 participants hit the water for a mass start. That along with the strong waves made for a chaotic and difficult beginning. The biggest problem was just getting in the water because the waves were so high and so strong and it would knock you back and then you would get in the water and once you got out there swimming, you d go way up and you could see but when you d go on the other side of one of those swells, you couldn t see anything but water so you can t tell where you re going, Thompson said. The waves are still breaking even out in the water so you might turn to breathe and get hit by a wave that s breaking on top of you. It was a little rough. I d never done one that long in water that rough. Thompson finished the swim in 1 hour, 41 minutes and 11 seconds. I actually enjoyed the swim, Thompson said. I didn t think I was going to but I did. Probably the first 10 miles after the swim, I was so busy patting myself on the back, I wasn t focusing so much on the bike. I was very excited. This year resolve to Join the Fitness Area at Oconee Veterans Park $40 per person, per quarter or $120 per person, per year Fitness Hours: Monday - Friday 7a.m. - 9 p.m. Saturday 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. Sunday 1p.m. - 9 p.m. Free Wi-fi 3500A Hog Mountain Road Watkinsville, Georgia 30677 www.oconeecounty.com/ocprd 706.769.3965 54...OCONEE THE MAGAZINE...Winter 2014

Thompson served 21 years in the military, where he trained and led some of the most elite special operations teams in the world. He served as an officer with the U.S. Army Special Forces Group, Green Berets, in Vietnam and was decorated on several occasions for his heroism. His work for the military on high performing battle staffs and continuous operations was instrumental in the success of U.S. forces in the Gulf War. From what I d done in the military, my mindset is once I start, I m going to do it, We are proud to be locally owned and operated. Serving the Area Since 1989 Athens Bogart Crawford Danielsville Battling cramps, Thompson completed the final leg of Ironman Florida, a 26.2-mile run, in 6 hours, 15 minutes and 44 seconds. Submitted photo www.lordandstephens.com (706)546-1587 Winter 2014...OCONEE THE MAGAZINE...55

Thompson said. There s no stopping. I d done that enough in the military, that I knew I could push on through whatever. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. I could drive on and there wasn t anybody shooting at me so I figured out I could make it. That mindset was critical in Florida when Thompson started cramping about 30 miles into the bike ride. It slowed me down and took me longer to do the bike than it should have but I got through that, Thompson said. The cramps got worse when I started to run. You start out on 26 miles and you re already cramping so much it s hard to even walk, I thought it was going to be a long afternoon but I got through it. What it did was it caused me to not really be able to put out a lot of energy. All I had to do was endure the pain all day but from a physical standpoint, I didn t have to put out what I d normally put out. For others, the pain of swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles was too much, but not Thompson s Tri Georgia Coach teammate, Steve Smith, who crashed his bike but still finished the race in 12 hours, 12 minutes and 56 seconds. You saw people all along that way that had collapsed, that were being put in ambulances or cramping so bad that they couldn t get up or walk or had fallen on their bike and that can happen to anybody, Thompson said. The other guy who was with me [Smith], somebody hit him 10 minutes into the bike ride and just wiped one side of his whole body and took the meat off of it. It gets crowded, particularly at the beginning when people are jockeying for position and they don t see you coming and they move right into you. He got hit but he managed to get up and get back on his bike and finish. He s a hard dude. He was in pain but he did it. Thompson finished his first Ironman in 15 hours, 27 minutes and 4 seconds. Submitted photo 56...OCONEE THE MAGAZINE...Winter 2014

Despite cramping, Thompson finished the race in 15 hours, 27 minutes and 7 seconds. I was very frustrated because I knew I could ve had a lot faster time because I d been doing it in training, Thompson said. But I was very excited about finishing because I saw a lot of people that didn t. Thompson also knows he would never be an Ironman without the help and support of many people including his wife and coach Gayer. You end up really with a support team, Thompson said. I have a sports massage therapist who works on my legs. I have an orthopedic doctor who works on my knee. You end up with this team of people that all work on you to try and keep you moving. And then there s a group of us that all trained under Harvey, he said. You learn a lot from each other and encourage each After the race, Thompson, right, enjoyed a meal with his coach Harvey Gayer and teammate Reuben Adams. Submitted photo other. Ironman, even though it looks like an individual sport, like a racecar driver, you have a whole crew that keeps you moving and gets you there. Harvey is a great guy. He s awesome. It s... just unbelievable what he can do. Derek Wiley is the sports editor for The Oconee Enterprise newspaper in Watkinsville, Ga. Winter 2014...OCONEE THE MAGAZINE...57