If Jan Kehl hadn’t gone to buy running shoes and if Terry Wallensteen wasn’t turning 50, their lives for the past year might have been very different.

They would not have sacrificed precious family time to spend on training. They would not be putting themselves through one of the most physically and mentally demanding athletic challenges in the world. They would not have lined up a year ago in Penticton to sign up for the Subaru Ironman Canada, 2009.

At 7 a.m. this Sunday, Kehl and Wallensteen will begin what can be called an athletic odyssey. Their day will begin with a 3.8 km swim in Okanagan Lake, followed by a 180 km bike ride through Oliver, Osoyoos, Keremeos and back to Penticton. The third and last leg of the Ironman includes a 42.2 km run along Skaha Lake to Okanagan Falls and back. There is a 17 hour deadline: they have until midnight to pass the finish line.

It began for Kehl, a 40-year-old trades training instructor for BC Hydro, after he took stock of his life.

“I made a life-changing decision two years ago. I weighed 265 lbs and I drank way too much beer. I wasn’t feeling good about my health and the example I was giving my kids.”

His wife, Adrienne, who was into running, talked him into joining her.

“I decided to get a good pair of shoes and I went into the store and talked with Ray (Warner) at Cool Running. We chatted about me getting into shape. He’s a seasoned Ironman. Ray put the bug in my in ear.”

 Kehl says from being a couch potato he started training and entered the Kal-Rats Sports Tri. “It’s entry level to see if you like it. It sort of opened a door and I went from there. It was fun and I realized it was something I could put energy into.”

His wife encouraged him when it came to trying out for ultimate triathlon. “She was totally behind it, originally,” Kehl says.

But the time commitment used all his banked up overtime and took away his family time.

“It’s taken its toll,” he says candidly. “The Ironman is not something for the average working family. It’s difficult to make it work and not have it impact the family adversely.”

It is not only a time but a financial commitment as well. Besides the equipment, supplements and physio, Kehl hired a coach specifically for Ironman training and joined the Masters Swim Club.

“I knew I had to have a plan in place,” says Kehl about coach Ginny Sellars, whose speciality is training first-time triathletes for the Ironman. And the Masters Swim Club has prepared him well.

“I feel strong in swimming, it’s an excellent program, I’d recommend it to anybody.”

Kehl’s biggest challenge is the running portion. “I know I’m going to be in pain. I’m hoping it’s not going to be so much I can’t finish.”

The running portion is also Wallensteen’s biggest worry. However, unlike Kehl, the 50-year-old dental hygienist was no stranger to physical activity. She did local triathlons and was always involved in a number of sports. Her husband, David, broached the subject last August, just as the entry deadline was approaching.

“The origin was at the Roots and Blues. We were sitting in the beer garden. David mentioned, ‘you should – you’re turning 50 – celebrate it.”

The fact her children were leaving home and she was trying to fill the loneliness cemented her decision. Wallensteen put in her name. She wasn’t so intimidated because she had seen it once before when her husband did it 20 years ago. “You watch something like that, it’s very motivational. There was a 75-year-old woman. I saw men with big bellies and heavy women – all body types.”

Although Wallensteen was physically fit before, she joined the Masters Swim Club to help her with the one sport in which she wasn’t really strong.

“To me that’s been the most enjoyable part, the swimming.”

Wallensteen said before that she would have panic attacks about swimming in the lake.

Now she can swim for an hour and a half along the shoreline while her husband sits on the beach reading a book.  For the rest of the training, he was with her.

“We’ve been doing it all together, all my long bike rides.”

Training comes first and real life takes a back seat. Dinner time, says Wallensteen, would come about 8:30 or 9 at night.

More than the physical, the mental preparation has been challenging, says Wallensteen.

“It’s exhausting because it never leaves your mind. If you fall from your schedule, you instantly feel like a failure and start to worry.”

 It has taken self talk and calming to keep herself in check and stop her from panicking.

She is confident in the riding portion, but the run is another story.

“The run is going to be very challenging. I really, really want to finish and I’ll do everything to make it.”

Despite the fact her husband did a lot of training along with her, Wallensteen said it is hard on family relationships.

“I don’t like imbalance and it’s too all-consuming. It seems self-centred.”

Their year-long training will soon be put to the test. They’re both counting down the days: Kehl even has it down to the hours.

“I’m nervous and excited. I’m trying to keep it in perspective. It’s only a day in my life. I’ve put in a lot of work, I’m ready. I want to do it and get it done.”