Courtesy: Endless Pools, a SwimSwam Partner
We previously posted about the inspiring weight loss journey of Marcus Cook. November 12th, Marcus was in New York City for the world premiere of NBC’s IRONMAN broadcast. It was a gala fundraiser for the IRONMAN Foundation, for which Marcus has personally raised $100,000.
Making Everything Better
Marcus has lost almost 300 pounds. He started simply, by walking and making better eating decisions. After some progress, he turned to triathlon and then to IRONMAN events.
Marcus initially tried triathlon training in a public pool and found it incompatible with his goals. “Whenever you’re doing an IRONMAN event,” he told us, “you’re going to tie up a swim lane for an hour and a half. When you’re doing those kinds of workouts, people are going to try to come in on the lane, and your whole rhythm gets off.
“The other option is you go to a lake. In Houston, I have to drive across town to get to open water,” he recalled. “I’ve got four kids; I’ve got a wife. It just became a scheduling issue.
“As I started losing weight,” he recalls thinking, “I needed to take advantage of the water in my backyard, and what a perfect product I found with the Fastlane. It’s been tremendous.
“It is the best investment you can do for your backyard, because it makes your pool usable for a variety of different things, and one of those things is the investment in you. The Fastlane makes you become better, and when you become better, everything in your life becomes better.”
Getting Serious About Training
As Marcus recalls his first experience of the Endless Pools Fastlane®, “I said, ‘Man, that’s incredibly bad to the bone.'” He’d researched his options to transform his traditional pool with a current for in-place swimming, and “I thought you guys had the best product out there.”
With the Fastlane, Marcus says, “I can run, and then jump in the pool immediately, do my swim workout, and then jump on the bike.” By training at home in all three disciplines, Marcus can also do transition training. “It’s the coolest freakin’ way to work out!”
Marcus uses an Endless Pools underwater mirror to observe his stroke. Made of highly polished stainless steel, the mirror allows results-oriented swimmers like Marcus to observe their technique and make real-time adjustments. The results are a faster, more efficient stroke.
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The Big Day in Kona
Marcus raced to support the IRONMAN Foundation, an offshoot of the iconic IRONMAN triathlon. The Foundation encourages philanthropy and volunteerism in IRONMAN race communities. It continues IRONMAN’s legacy of charitable giveback programs that have donated more than $50,000,000 since 2003.
Endless Pools has been honored to participate during the IRONMAN World Championship in past years. The highlight has always been talking with the triathletes from around the world to hear their unique journeys to the event.
At this year’s event, Marcus completed the grueling 140.6-mile swim/bike/run in Kona, Hawaii. Competitors are allowed 17 hours to complete the race and be counted as official “Finishers.” Against enormous odds, Marcus crossed the finish line in 16 hours, 51 minutes!
Set Your DVR
Can’t be in NYC tonight? You can share the excitement later this month. The same special presentation of the 2018 IRONMAN World Championship will be broadcast on Saturday, November 24, 2:30-4:00 pm Eastern, on NBC.
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