A few years ago, running a 5K was a pretty big deal for Larry Archer. But today he's an Ironman athlete - capable of running, swimming and biking more than 226 kilometers in a single day.
Archer was one of 2,390 athletes in November who took on and conquered Ironman Arizona, a grueling race that asks participants to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run a full marathon within a 17-hour time frame.
His decision to start running was instigated in 2006 when a colleague offered to help co-workers train for a 5K. Archer accepted the challenge.
Although he wrestled in high school and biked briefly in his 20s, Archer, now 52, never considered himself an athlete and always struggled with maintaining the motivation to exercise.
"I'd go to the gym, but I'd start and stop," he lamented.
He discovered committing to an event was, for him, the best way to accomplish a goal.
"Because you know on race day you are going to be there, and you don't want to look foolish," he said.
Although athletes don't have to qualify to participate in Ironman Arizona, they do have to be a bit savvy to get in. Volunteering can guarantee you a spot, so that's what Archer, with the help of his wife, Kathy, did.
"It's popular and it sells out in seconds," Archer said.
Preparing for the Ironman was a grueling endeavor.
"I did most of my training at 51 years old," he said. "It's listening to your body and distinguishing: Is this pain that will go away? Or is this pain that I've never felt before and doesn't seem right? If it's the former, you realize, "It's not permanent damage.' And you just accept it for what it is."
Archer's knees are his Achilles' heel.
"When I'm 15 to 17 miles in, I know I'm going to have sore, inflamed knees. And I was having some foot issues while I was biking. So I went to my doctor and he looked at my riding shoes. He was able to fashion some inserts to support the ball of the foot."
Archer has been blessedly free of blisters.
"But I have spent more for running shoes than I ever have in my life," he said. "I'm trying to take care of my 50-year-old knees."
His biggest investment was hiring Joe Company, a Columbia-based endurance coach. Archer worked with Company - who would mail him weekly workout plans - from June to October.
The exercise plan was progressive. Every week, Archer was asked to push himself a little farther and faster. And the workouts focused on interval training. Typically he would confine his workouts to once a day.
Although Archer is willing to run in the dark, he doesn't like riding his bike after nightfall. He often woke early in the morning to run on the city's streets. And he would use the Katy Trail to replicate the Ironman Arizona, refueling every two miles with a snack and drink.
"I would run out every two miles with whatever I could carry - a Payday candy bar - and return to my truck for the next refuel," he said. "I also used the trail a lot for my biking."
Archer credited a group of friends for helping him train, even when it didn't suit their own needs.
The worst part of the whole process came in the weeks right before the race. Archer hadn't seen any workouts posted on the calendar and he'd assumed his coach wanted him to taper off. But when he pushed him to continue, Archer mentally rebelled.
"Because I have faith in my coach, I did it," he said. "But I was complaining a lot that week."
After working with Company for six months of consistent training, Archer thought he would be able to finish the race in 14 to 15 hours, so he set that as a goal.
"I never had any illusions that I would win, that I would go on to Kona, or that I would even win my age group," he said. "But I did have some goals for myself. I wanted to finish, and I didn't want to come in 10 seconds before the end."
He crossed the finish line in 14 hours, seven minutes and 34 seconds - a gratifying accomplishment.
Held annually in mid-November in Tempe, Arizona, the race is grueling. Of the 268 men who registered in Archer's division, 199 finished. But the Ironman, with its three disciplines, is engaging, Archer said.
"The distances are extreme, but it's not all the same," he said. "It helps, mentally."
And all the exercise - six days a week for five months - helped Archer lose weight. A decade ago, he weighed 213 pounds. By the day of the event, he was 173 pounds.
For a long time Archer was annoyed he was not seeing results.
"When I finally moved from the 190s to the 180s, I thought, "Oh man! This is great!' Eventually my metabolism changed gears. It kicked in," he said. "So now it's "How to keep it off, without training for an Ironman?'"
When he started preparing for the Ironman, Archer viewed it as a bucket-list item he wanted to check off.
"It was always my belief I'd do it once and that was it," he said.
Now he's not so sure he's finished forever.
"Once you go to a race and feel the energy and the atmosphere, you want to do it again," he said. "It's addictive."