Recounts how the author, after realizing the daunting state of his health at age forty, overcame physical challenges and alcoholism over the course of two years while training for Hawaii's elite Ultraman competition.

"Susan and Carlos were unlikely friends. She was a young, overweight college professor and a bit of a trainwreck--juggling a divorce, a pack-a-day habit, and hiding empty bottles under her bed. He was her boss, an Ironman triathlete, with life figured out. She was a whiner, he was a hard-ass. He had his shit together, she most assuredly did not. Trash-talking workouts, breakdowns, a devastating diagnosis--this heartwarming story of training buddies...

In 1982, Julie Moss ran the Ironman triathlon for her college senior research project. Her idea was quirky, even crazy; only a handful of hardcore, highly trained enthusiasts competed in the little-known, 140.6-mile combination of swimming, cycling, and running. Julie brought no experience or appreciable training beyond running two marathons. She did bring a latent willpower that, the world soon found out, wouldn't be denied. What happened next changed...