LAKE COUNTY— After going to school, getting two doctorates and working as a school psychologist, a then 40-year-old Stephen Bratton decided he wanted to shed a few pounds, so he did what anyone would do – He started training for an Ironman competition.
Bratton, now 54, has completed multiple Ironman races including one in Tahoe and a race in Texas.
A typical day of training in Bratton’s life depends on how close to the date of a race he is. “A month after a race I try to not raise my heart rate,” he said.
If close to a race, the training regime gets much more intense. Bratton trains eight or nine days per week, whether that’s two 35-mile bike rides, a 90-mile bike ride, two eight-mile runs or even an 18-mile run.
Bratton said he usually shoots for somewhere between 10 to 20 hours of training per week.
However, while training for a 2020 Ironman finishing up some bike training, Bratton was hit in the back by a truck, which hurled him 30 feet in the air. This collision caused a separated right shoulder, broken ribs and a left hip femoral acetabular impingement/groin strain. “I was getting helped up and I felt my hip pop back into (its) socket,” Bratton said.
These injuries resulted in Bratton canceling his next Ironman competition.
Bratton’s employer, Mendocino County Office of Education (MCOE) partnered with a new telehealth company (Aware Health) so apart his family driving him to the emergency room for x-rays to rule out fractures, he was diagnosed and treated fully over video-calls without stepping foot in an in-person physical clinic.
While giving up was the easy option, Bratton refused. He took five months to rehab these injuries through telehealthcare, which was free to him through his employer.
“I never really thought about quitting,” Bratton said “I made it this far so I can do it again.”
“Steve Bratton started as a client but has become a good friend that has motivated me to take my own fitness to a higher level,” said Heidi Ojha, Aware Health’s current CEO. “So many are afraid of the risks that more demanding activity might have on our bodies but the minor aches and pains that come along with training are not life threatening. What really is life threatening is the chronic diseases like heart and respiratory diseases, so being sedentary and resting is the most dangerous. Steve is persistent, determined, and by overcoming this big barrier of recovering from his accident, he is getting back to his prior activity level-doing ironmans! If he can do it, we all can do it.”
Balancing coming back from injury, training and having a family is a tough line to walk. “Having five kids and a spouse that understands is very helpful,” Bratton said. “My kids will come on my runs or my bikes, you need to know how to balance the two.”
Bratton advises people who want to start training for an IronMan competition, “Just start, starting is the hardest thing.”
The whole triathlon community was also a big help. Even the best in the world who finish six or seven hours earlier than other people are out there handing out medals to the finishers, according to Bratton.
“The feeling of finishing is unparalleled, it’s better to not finish rather than not try,” Bratton said. “While racing you hit a wall during each of the three sports you have to participate in. In a normal marathon you hit a wall during mile 20, in a triathlon it’s mile six.”
Since he’s been recovering, Bratton is hoping to get back out and into the racing world as soon as he can. He needs to stay consistent with his training because he has no idea when he will be eligible to race again. Bratton is waiting for confirmation but said he will do the Ironman again sometime April to October of this year based on the slot he’s assigned, and added he is 100% sure he will do one of three possibilities based on what he is assigned. Bratton’s main goal is to make it to the worldwide Ironman, which is held in Hawaii.
“I want to give my wife a trip to Hawaii,” Bratton said jokingly.
To learn more about Ironman competitions visit, www.ironman.com .
