01/08/10
Winner of the Marc Becker Award: ironguides Athlete Paul Duffy
ironguides athlete Paul Duffy is the first winner of the Marc Becker Award. Paul's journey is an inspiring account of hard work, positive thinking and strong family bonds. Here is his story, which you are sure to enjoy - if for no other reason than that Paul helped his in-laws set up the legendary Lava Java in Kona.
Category: Athlete in Focus
Posted by: editor
After graduating I soon got a job in London as a foreign exchange broker with a real keen interest in moving to Asia. After my two years of training I finally moved to Tokyo where I spent five years, before moving to New York for two years. I soon moved back to Asia, this time to Singapore for five years before going back to Tokyo for another five-year stint.
With all the excesses associated with entertaining clients I had the lifestyle that leads to being unfit and overweight. After all that partying and entertaining I needed to change my lifestyle. Whilst living in Japan my wife and I had visited the Big Island of Hawaii numerous times and helped my in-laws setting up Lava Java in Kona.
I had watched in great fascination the athletes training and competing in the Ironman World Championships in 2000 and 2001. Having been a decent middle-distance runner who had done a few half marathons in a reasonable time during my college years, I decided that I would complete an Ironman in 2002 with the aim of someday competing in Kona.
This was my lifestyle change or challenge. I was weighing in at 96kg. My friends just laughed at me when I struggled to swim 50m in a pool. So on January 2, 2002, I started my 6-month preparation for Ironman Utah in Tokyo. Not the ideal location to train for an Ironman but nothing is perfect and as with all aspects of life you just learn to adapt and take on the challenge. My weight plummeted to 80kg and I felt good and fit again. There was no turning back - I was hooked on triathlon.
My job as a foreign exchange options broker for TFS ICAP Options Ltd with whom I hold the position of Senior Vice President has a two major drawbacks when it comes to training for an Ironman race.
Firstly are the hours which start at 6:30am and end at 5:30pm, or later if markets are busy. Secondly is the entertainment which in Tokyo can be into the early hours of the morning. Coupled with being married and having a very young family, this makes for a very difficult act to juggle.
With training taking from anywhere from 15 to 24 hours per week it means getting up at 3:30am most mornings and spending a few nights a week at the pool and track. Even weekends are early as I have always tried to get my bulky workouts completed as early as possible to have as much time with my wife and kids as possible, as during the week a few moments is all I can spare. That is work’s fault, not triathlon I tell myself.
With the long work hours, heavy training regime and limited family time my stress levels peaked in 2003-2005. I had met my wife Celeste in Tokyo in 1990 who at the time was a dancer and choreographer. We now have three daughters Mikayla (10), Avery (6) and Ruby (almost 2).
My two eldest girls love horses and both ride. They are all great supporters of me and come to watch me in almost every race. I find it amazing that they understand how important triathlon is to me and that even though it’s not their hobby they get it. My wife is now a talented graphic designer being very creative and is going to do her first triathlon race in 2010 in Bintan. Very exciting.
It was early in 2005 after a yearly company medical that it was found that I had a brain tumor (oliodendroglioma) between my sensory and motor cortex - a bit of a shock to the system to say the least. It was a low-grade tumor but big (golf-ball size) so had to be dealt with due to its location.
Living in Tokyo and not that fluent in Japanese (typical lazy Brit - never learning the language of my host country), the prospect of dealing with this in Tokyo scared me immensely so I headed to Singapore and met with some great surgeons. I had also spoken to several other doctors and all had their different takes on sorting out my situation.
My choice was aggressive surgery to remove everything with a definite chance of some disability in my left arm or leg, or a more conservative approach of removing the bulk but leaving a margin around my sensory and motor cortex. I favored the latter being a strong believer that medical practices were only advancing and I could deal with any residual tumor later, whereas I found it unthinkable to accept disability so early on.
Anyway surgery happened at the end of Feb 2005 and things looked OK. I moved back to Tokyo and was back at work only having had two weeks off. Another two weeks later I was gently spinning and doing some light swims. My theory being that if I can do my workouts and function at work then there can’t be anything wrong with me. I didn’t go crazy but managed to do something most days.
It was a few months before I was able to run and ride on the road to avoid possible jarring injuries of the brain but all looked positive. I then spoke with another surgeon I had been advised to talk to and he said I needed to get everything removed because otherwise there was a good chance I wouldn’t live past seven years.
Major shock.
I had to prove him wrong so went with my brother Iain to Boston to see the authority on brain tumors. Luckily my wife and mother-in-law had put me on a diet that was in theory supposed to boost your immune system and when he diagnosed me he saw no residual tumor. A great sign and proof that a healthy lifestyle and positive thinking can be a powerful tool in medical prevention. Things were looking good.
Junk food was out as was heavy drinking and now a very healthy life was the way forward. To help my lifestyle and feel a bit more secure due to my desire to push myself physically post surgery and the constant threat of seizures from the scar tissue on my brain I relocated to Singapore to be closer to my surgeon.
One year after surgery I did my first of four Ironman Malaysia races, dubbed The Toughest show on Earth. The anniversary of my brain surgery, it was a race I came to love as it was a reminder of an obstacle my family and I had overcome as a team.
So the dream now was to get a Kona slot: for me to race and for my kids because they love a vacation in Hawaii. I had been missing out narrowly in all the years up to 2008 so decided to get a new coach for the 2009 season. I thought ironguides looked interesting so I signed up and spoke with Marc about my goals etc.
I was assigned Vinnie and began the Method approach which I immediately liked as it was a breath of fresh air from the usual training I had been doing. It finally made sense. I was happy to be training with people that could tell me how to improve. Confidence was restored. So the plan was to do IM Malaysia as it meant so much to me for personal reasons.
If I didn’t qualify there, which was doubtful due to the quality of guys in the 40-44 age group, then IM China was the race for my coveted slot. We also planned the Singapore 70.3 as a build-up race for China. So it was IM Malaysia at the end of February, Singapore 70.3 at the end of March and IM China at the end of April. A lot but I needed the slot bad.
The build-up went to plan and I was gaining in strength in preparation for IM China. As most people have probably read, IM China was horrific in terms of heat and humidity and basically came down to a run in the blazing sun without shade and was a crawl for most. I maybe lucked out having been back in Singapore now for three years so I was used to the heat and humidity. I just managed to keep a check on my age group opponents and paced my way to one of the slots.
Dream accomplished.
Just a half IM race in Desaru and I am off to Hawaii. An amazing feeling to think that I was finally going to race “the race” I had seen back in 2000 and 2001. Again it was just positive reinforcement for me that if I am going to Kona is there anything really wrong with me. This lifestyle change is working.
Kona was amazing. My wife kids and parents were all there to support me as was Vinnie, my coach. I got to represent Team GB in the Parade of Nations with my kids who both hold US passports but choosing to wave their Union Jack flags. Showing my parents around the Big Island and having some great times with my kids in the crystal-clear ocean was unforgettable.
So maybe a bit too much energy used up in pre-race family fun plus the natural nervous energy I had from being in the race led to it not being my best race, but just being there is truly a memory I will always have. Alii Drive was incredible with so much support from so many people whereas the Queen K was a lonely slog.
Now it’s 2010 and here we go again. I really want to get back to Kona as a non-rookie and use my acquired knowledge of the course to have a better race. So the plan is to build up with a preparation race in Geelong 70.3 followed by IM China for the Kona slot. I am in the 45-49 age group now, so not sure if that makes it easier as there are so many great athletes out there in all age groups but I will be giving it my all.
As far as the future holds I cannot see myself ever stop doing Ironman races. It is an obsession and way of life now. I need to do the training as part of my daily ritual. We hope to move to our farm just north of San Francisco in the near future which will allow me to spend a lot more time with my kids and their hobby of riding horses and get a bit more rest as will be finished with broking. Well that’s the plan.
My wife and I also started a triathlon lifestyle apparel company called Trix Gear in Oct 2009 starting with a range of T shirts we are planning to expand on, so again reinforcing our connection with triathlon. My wife’s creative flair has given a new fresh and unique look to the regular run-of-the-mill tri shirt you usually see. Check it out on www.trix-gear.com
Above: Paul Duffy after his Kona finish
Below: Paul in one of Trix Gear's designer tri T-shirts
With all the excesses associated with entertaining clients I had the lifestyle that leads to being unfit and overweight. After all that partying and entertaining I needed to change my lifestyle. Whilst living in Japan my wife and I had visited the Big Island of Hawaii numerous times and helped my in-laws setting up Lava Java in Kona.
I had watched in great fascination the athletes training and competing in the Ironman World Championships in 2000 and 2001. Having been a decent middle-distance runner who had done a few half marathons in a reasonable time during my college years, I decided that I would complete an Ironman in 2002 with the aim of someday competing in Kona.
This was my lifestyle change or challenge. I was weighing in at 96kg. My friends just laughed at me when I struggled to swim 50m in a pool. So on January 2, 2002, I started my 6-month preparation for Ironman Utah in Tokyo. Not the ideal location to train for an Ironman but nothing is perfect and as with all aspects of life you just learn to adapt and take on the challenge. My weight plummeted to 80kg and I felt good and fit again. There was no turning back - I was hooked on triathlon.
My job as a foreign exchange options broker for TFS ICAP Options Ltd with whom I hold the position of Senior Vice President has a two major drawbacks when it comes to training for an Ironman race.
Firstly are the hours which start at 6:30am and end at 5:30pm, or later if markets are busy. Secondly is the entertainment which in Tokyo can be into the early hours of the morning. Coupled with being married and having a very young family, this makes for a very difficult act to juggle.
With training taking from anywhere from 15 to 24 hours per week it means getting up at 3:30am most mornings and spending a few nights a week at the pool and track. Even weekends are early as I have always tried to get my bulky workouts completed as early as possible to have as much time with my wife and kids as possible, as during the week a few moments is all I can spare. That is work’s fault, not triathlon I tell myself.
With the long work hours, heavy training regime and limited family time my stress levels peaked in 2003-2005. I had met my wife Celeste in Tokyo in 1990 who at the time was a dancer and choreographer. We now have three daughters Mikayla (10), Avery (6) and Ruby (almost 2).
My two eldest girls love horses and both ride. They are all great supporters of me and come to watch me in almost every race. I find it amazing that they understand how important triathlon is to me and that even though it’s not their hobby they get it. My wife is now a talented graphic designer being very creative and is going to do her first triathlon race in 2010 in Bintan. Very exciting.
It was early in 2005 after a yearly company medical that it was found that I had a brain tumor (oliodendroglioma) between my sensory and motor cortex - a bit of a shock to the system to say the least. It was a low-grade tumor but big (golf-ball size) so had to be dealt with due to its location.
Living in Tokyo and not that fluent in Japanese (typical lazy Brit - never learning the language of my host country), the prospect of dealing with this in Tokyo scared me immensely so I headed to Singapore and met with some great surgeons. I had also spoken to several other doctors and all had their different takes on sorting out my situation.
My choice was aggressive surgery to remove everything with a definite chance of some disability in my left arm or leg, or a more conservative approach of removing the bulk but leaving a margin around my sensory and motor cortex. I favored the latter being a strong believer that medical practices were only advancing and I could deal with any residual tumor later, whereas I found it unthinkable to accept disability so early on.
Anyway surgery happened at the end of Feb 2005 and things looked OK. I moved back to Tokyo and was back at work only having had two weeks off. Another two weeks later I was gently spinning and doing some light swims. My theory being that if I can do my workouts and function at work then there can’t be anything wrong with me. I didn’t go crazy but managed to do something most days.
It was a few months before I was able to run and ride on the road to avoid possible jarring injuries of the brain but all looked positive. I then spoke with another surgeon I had been advised to talk to and he said I needed to get everything removed because otherwise there was a good chance I wouldn’t live past seven years.
Major shock.
I had to prove him wrong so went with my brother Iain to Boston to see the authority on brain tumors. Luckily my wife and mother-in-law had put me on a diet that was in theory supposed to boost your immune system and when he diagnosed me he saw no residual tumor. A great sign and proof that a healthy lifestyle and positive thinking can be a powerful tool in medical prevention. Things were looking good.
Junk food was out as was heavy drinking and now a very healthy life was the way forward. To help my lifestyle and feel a bit more secure due to my desire to push myself physically post surgery and the constant threat of seizures from the scar tissue on my brain I relocated to Singapore to be closer to my surgeon.
One year after surgery I did my first of four Ironman Malaysia races, dubbed The Toughest show on Earth. The anniversary of my brain surgery, it was a race I came to love as it was a reminder of an obstacle my family and I had overcome as a team.
So the dream now was to get a Kona slot: for me to race and for my kids because they love a vacation in Hawaii. I had been missing out narrowly in all the years up to 2008 so decided to get a new coach for the 2009 season. I thought ironguides looked interesting so I signed up and spoke with Marc about my goals etc.
I was assigned Vinnie and began the Method approach which I immediately liked as it was a breath of fresh air from the usual training I had been doing. It finally made sense. I was happy to be training with people that could tell me how to improve. Confidence was restored. So the plan was to do IM Malaysia as it meant so much to me for personal reasons.
If I didn’t qualify there, which was doubtful due to the quality of guys in the 40-44 age group, then IM China was the race for my coveted slot. We also planned the Singapore 70.3 as a build-up race for China. So it was IM Malaysia at the end of February, Singapore 70.3 at the end of March and IM China at the end of April. A lot but I needed the slot bad.
The build-up went to plan and I was gaining in strength in preparation for IM China. As most people have probably read, IM China was horrific in terms of heat and humidity and basically came down to a run in the blazing sun without shade and was a crawl for most. I maybe lucked out having been back in Singapore now for three years so I was used to the heat and humidity. I just managed to keep a check on my age group opponents and paced my way to one of the slots.
Dream accomplished.
Just a half IM race in Desaru and I am off to Hawaii. An amazing feeling to think that I was finally going to race “the race” I had seen back in 2000 and 2001. Again it was just positive reinforcement for me that if I am going to Kona is there anything really wrong with me. This lifestyle change is working.
Kona was amazing. My wife kids and parents were all there to support me as was Vinnie, my coach. I got to represent Team GB in the Parade of Nations with my kids who both hold US passports but choosing to wave their Union Jack flags. Showing my parents around the Big Island and having some great times with my kids in the crystal-clear ocean was unforgettable.
So maybe a bit too much energy used up in pre-race family fun plus the natural nervous energy I had from being in the race led to it not being my best race, but just being there is truly a memory I will always have. Alii Drive was incredible with so much support from so many people whereas the Queen K was a lonely slog.
Now it’s 2010 and here we go again. I really want to get back to Kona as a non-rookie and use my acquired knowledge of the course to have a better race. So the plan is to build up with a preparation race in Geelong 70.3 followed by IM China for the Kona slot. I am in the 45-49 age group now, so not sure if that makes it easier as there are so many great athletes out there in all age groups but I will be giving it my all.
As far as the future holds I cannot see myself ever stop doing Ironman races. It is an obsession and way of life now. I need to do the training as part of my daily ritual. We hope to move to our farm just north of San Francisco in the near future which will allow me to spend a lot more time with my kids and their hobby of riding horses and get a bit more rest as will be finished with broking. Well that’s the plan.
My wife and I also started a triathlon lifestyle apparel company called Trix Gear in Oct 2009 starting with a range of T shirts we are planning to expand on, so again reinforcing our connection with triathlon. My wife’s creative flair has given a new fresh and unique look to the regular run-of-the-mill tri shirt you usually see. Check it out on www.trix-gear.com
Above: Paul Duffy after his Kona finish
Below: Paul in one of Trix Gear's designer tri T-shirts