Warren & Eden Lusk
For Warren and Eden Lusk, the path to IRONMAN began with a goal of becoming more active for their two young sons. They quickly realized that training and competing for an IRONMAN race together could show their kids that anything you put your mind to is possible and that hard work pays off.
CS: What has the sport taught you?
EL: People think that if you do IRONMAN, you are this bionic being. But it’s not that. It’s just about discipline, trusting your training plan, and getting in that low endurance heart rate zone.
WL: IRONMAN’s tagline is, “Anything is possible,” which is so true. There are so many really normal people just like us that end up doing it. You, of course, have those amazing athletes that fit the mold, but there are a lot more like us that think this is just a good way to stay active and have fun. It really gives people hope to try something out of their comfort zone and accomplish it.
CS: Are there any stories that
really stick out?
EL: Something is always going to go wrong [laughs]. The day before one of our races, our son Pearce had a football game. We should’ve just taken the day off to get prepared, but we didn’t, so we were rushing around when it was time to take our bikes to the check-in. There’s only a four-hour window to get them in, so we’re stressed. Warren ends up backing our car into a tree in our own driveway while our bikes are strapped to the back. Fortunately, our neighbor works for American Bicycle Group and was able to help us out, but it was ridiculous. We totaled the car.
WL: Believe it or not, I wasn’t accelerating [laughs]. But it was just one of those things where you’re like, surely that didn’t just happen…
CS: What did your training
schedule look like?
EL: It was six days a week, pretty intense. You’d have ramp-up weeks, where your mileage and intensity pick up, then relief weeks. Sometimes you’re out there for eight or nine hours with those bike rides, so there was a lot of training and coordination.
WL: We had a great group of friends that we trained with too. It makes it better because everyone is sticking together through the pain, the sunburn – we’d go into convenience stores and stand in the cooler to get our body temperatures down after a long run or bike ride!
CS: How has this activity brought you closer as a couple?
EL: We’ve always enjoyed doing things together, and I think just knowing that we can do something so stressful but keep our cool and love each other throughout the process is a huge testament to our marriage, our friendship, everything.
WL: A lot of friends that also race are like, y’all are crazy. But I think it’s made our relationship stronger. We’re able to pick each other up when the going gets tough.