Pam Giese: Ironman

Some people aspire to be physically fit. Some work really hard at it. Few people actually embody total fitness. Pam Giese is one of those few. Anybody who knows Pam will agree, and not just because she’s a personal trainer by profession but because she gets joy and satisfaction out of training and encouraging others to be fit and healthy.

Pam has been a personal trainer and group fitness instructor for 26 years but it was only eight years ago that she took up running as a sport. And in those eight years, she’s accomplished many extraordinary feats, including 13 half Ironmans, 12 marathons, and numerous shorter distance triathlons.

Recently, Pam earned the esteemed distinction of becoming an Ironman.

The Ironman is a grueling triathlon in which athletes swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26 miles. Pam completed the Florida Ironman, held November 7th in Panama City, in 13 hours,15 minutes and 59 seconds.  “It was really bazaar to begin the swim of the Ironman at sunrise and still be running at sunset,” said Pam. “Running a marathon is something you have to be patient with. My approach for the Ironman was to take each event and break it into segments .”

The water conditions were a bit choppy on race day when 2,500 athletes ascended into the Gulf of Mexico; For Pam, the 2.4 mile swim was the best part of her day.

After the swim, she faced 112 miles of biking. At mile 63, Pam got a flat tire. After changing the tire, she realized she didn’t have the right equipment to blow it up and had to walk with her bike for the next 45 minutes, waiting for a bike tech to reach her area of the course. “When I realized I wouldn’t be able to fix my tire I first got angry, then wanted to cry and then I asked myself, ‘Are you going to hold it together or fall apart?’ and I chose to hold it together.”

After finishing the bike leg without any further setbacks, she embarked on her final segment of the Ironman. “All I have to do now is run a marathon,” she thought to herself.  That sounds so nonchalant to the average Joe but remember, this is an Ironman speaking.

Pam trained for one year in preparation for the Florida Ironman and as she ran across the finish line the voice over the sound system exclaimed, “Pam Giese, you are an Ironman.” Every athlete is celebrated as they cross the finish line.

For Pam, race day felt more like a victory lap than a grueling endurance sport—a celebration of her training and accomplishments. Most rewarding for Pam was being able to share the experience with a group of her closest friends who cheered and supported her throughout the course. Friends who competed in the half Ironman the day after, and who all committed to a full Ironman with Pam in 2011. “The Ironman is not any harder than a half Ironman, just a lot longer.”

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