Ironman Jarrett
Rick Devereux
If one factors in a healthy eight hours’ sleep a night, there are 112
waking hours in a week.
Tick-tock.
Someone with a full-time job spends at least 40 hours at work,
leaving 72 hours of free time.
Tick-tock.
Most watch TV. Some read. Others go to the gym or try to stay
active.
Tick-tock.
Someone very much in tune with the power of time is Chad Jarrett.
The Costa Mesa resident spends about 25 hours a week staying
active.
The physical therapist can start a Saturday morning with a
400-yard swim, then move to a seven-hour bike ride -- finished off
with a 30-minute run.
Jarrett’s extreme Saturdays have helped the 33-year old finish the
Ironman Triathlon on the island of Kona, Hawaii on Oct. 16 in 10
hours, 47 minutes for the top time recorded by an Orange County
resident.
“Triathlons are something I picked up awhile ago when I was
training for a marathon with some friends,” Jarrett said. “[The
marathon] lost its sponsor, so we entered the Big Bear Triathlon.”
That was over nine years ago, and Jarrett has been hooked on
triathlons ever since.
Jarrett was a three-sport athlete for Saddleback High, where he
played football, basketball and baseball. He also played two years of
baseball for Santa Ana College.
He received his degree in physical therapy from Long Beach State
and has worked with professional athletes in a number of sports. He
and his wife, Jasmene, own and operate Jarrett Orthopaedic
Rehabilitation, Inc., in Costa Mesa.
After he finished the Big Bear Triathlon -- which includes a
half-mile swim, 15-mile bike and four-mile run -- Jarrett set a goal
to qualify and participate in the Ironman championships on Kona.
“It’s probably the most difficult and it’s the original,” Jarrett
said. “It’s known for the humidity and the heat. That’s what makes it
so difficult. When I did it last year, there was a 25- to 30-mile per
hour cross wind on the bike trail and 80- to 90-degree humidity.
That’s what stinks because you can’t train for that humidity.”
In order to qualify for Kona, which includes a 2.4 mile swim, a
112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon, Jarrett needed to finish
in the top 10 in his age group at the New Zealand Ironman last March.
His time of 9:49:04 was the 47th fastest time out of 1,200 racers and the 10th for 30- to 34-year-olds.
“I think triathlons are tough physically, but the mental aspect of
it too is important because your mind can wonder on you out there,”
Jarrett said. “I look at it as wasted energy. I try to keep my mind
quiet.”
Jarrett has done well in triathlons because he gets stronger as
the race continues. Triathlons start with the swim, move to the bike
and end with the run.
“My strongest point is the run,” he said. “I’m above average on
the bike. I pass a couple people on the bike and a lot on the run.
But I have to work from behind because the swim is my most difficult
suit.”
Jarrett is currently training for the New Zealand Ironman on March
5 with the hopes of returning to Kona in October. He is also raising
money for Cystic Fibrosis Association of New Zealand because a fellow
racer and her two children are suffering from the disease, which
shortens life expectancies because it affects the ability of the
lungs to function.
As a racer, Jarrett is aware of the importance of time.
Tick-tock.
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