What makes Ironmen tick?
<p>Professor Tony Pickering, right, and University of Idaho Regional Integrated Communications Officer Andrea Thomas man the University of Idaho tent outside of Ironman village Friday afternoon promoting a new course at the college in which students will train for and then participate in the Ironman triathlon. Professor Pickering also promoted a survey for Ironman participants which would help researchers to understand the inner workings of the triathletes.</p>
<p>Bryan Rhodes is the first pro to finish the 2.4 mile swim leg of the 2012 Ironman in Coeur d'Alene. A University of Idaho professor is studying the mental approach take by Ironman athletes.</p>
<p>Russ Brandt, of Phoenix, Arizona, reaches high speeds on U.S. 95 during the 112-mile bike leg of the 2012 Ironman in Coeur d'Alene.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Dr. Tony Pickering thinks there may be a link, some sort of shared trait.
Not that the two are completely compatible, but the University of Idaho professor suspects some characteristics between the two supposed opposites would be closely related upon deeper inspection.
Is the thought process of a soldier in a war zone similar to, say, an Ironman bicycling up a steep hill 85 miles into a race?
Different worlds, for sure, but Pickering's background with the U.S. Department of Defense and Ironman racing leads him to believe the two different minds may share an attribute or two when it comes to tackling mental roadblocks.
"Ironman is a mentally taxing endeavor," said Pickering, chair of the University of Idaho Department of Moving Sciences, in an interview this week. "I don't think anybody would argue with that."
But what those characteristics might be, Pickering isn't sharing.
Like a true professor, he won't boast about hunches if he doesn't have the data to support it.
But Pickering's work with United States solders for years as a performance psychologist taught him that mental preparedness does play a role when someone is confronted with a stressful situation.
So why not study Ironman? That 6 percent grade hill at mile 85 counts as stress. Not a war zone, but stress.
"We don't pretend the two are identical," said Pickering, who has completed Ironman Coeur d'Alene twice, of the two different scenarios. "But there is a certain underlying similarity."
A background blended with studying minds and competing in ultra marathon and Ironman races, Pickering's next step through the university is a combination of both. Beginning this fall, he'll begin teaching a course on how to train for the 140.6 mile ultimate triathlon.
Come autumn, Vandal students, for credit, can learn how to tackle Ironman.
"It's not something you have to change your life, give up everything in your life, to train for," he said. "A university student is very capable of doing it. I wish I'd done it when I was university age."
But the new college course - Pickering said it didn't receive any resistance when he pitched it - will be more than building endurance: The class will require students to write papers, listen to guest lectures and focus on other familiar academic learning methods, too.
"We're trying to tap into both dimensions," said Pickering, who was based out of West Point when he worked with solders before returning to the University of Idaho in January.
The students, though, won't be the 220-pound athletic teacher's guinea pigs. At least their minds won't be.
Those in Coeur d'Alene this weekend might be, however.
As part of the Ironman weekend, Pickering will be handing out surveys from a booth at Ironman Village in City Park that ask a variety of questions for people who are thinking about participating in Ironman or already have.
The survey will gauge their thinking patterns in relation to the race, and from that sample pool patterns - after follow up surveys - could emerge.
The goal is to classify whether successful Ironmen share similar thinking patterns. And successful means, "Did they finish the race, achieve their goal, and have fun doing it?"
For example, how does an athlete view ability? Is it something that's God given, or is it achieved by getting better over time? Do successful Ironman racers go into the race brimming with confidence, or is it OK to have doubts?
If one of those characteristics emerges as a pattern, then the second component of research down the line would be how to train the mind to achieve that mental makeup.
"I'm trying to dig down deeper, and find out what these physiological attributes are," Pickering said.
The professor has degrees from the University of Oregon and Idaho and, as a side note, hasn't missed a day of running at least one mile since May 16, 1981.
While the Ironman data is yet to play out, Pickering's background in mind study leads him to believe traits will emerge, shared characteristics will be revealed. It's just a matter, the professor said, of finding it.
"Let the empirical evidence shine through," he said, "and we will see."
Info: Visit the U of I booth in City Park today or call the Department of Moving Sciences at (208) 885-7921.