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.