Jane told me she would ride her bike while I ran for the first time in 15 days. “August 20 was the initial step to renew my passion and conviction for Ironman. But, for me, the rivalry that had grown was fueled by my admiration for what Dave had shown was possible and simply wanting to see if I could match that-or even go one step beyond.” Dave Scott Yes, I wanted to win in Kona just as Dave did. So, instead of getting into verbal sparring matches ahead of time, we went to the neutral zone around each other. We both knew if October went the way we each wanted that we would be each other’s toughest competition. It was a dynamic that evolved out of respect. “This shared silence was not something that came out of animosity. Yes, we might acknowledge a recent race one of us had been in, but that was it. And when they did it was an unspoken pact that neither of us would bring up anything to do with how training was going or what was next on our schedule. As mentioned, he and I were in Boulder, Colorado, at the same time but our paths rarely crossed. At the time, I had been pretty sure Dave would be racing in Japan, but I didn’t know with 100 percent certainty. His race would be July 30, which if looked at through the lens of preparing for Kona, was a great time to do a test race in a faraway place to see if you were on track to be in peak shape for Kona in October. “I had heard that Dave Scott was going to be racing Ironman Japan exactly one week before Avignon. The race day was coming up quickly.” Mark Allen If I was going to be race ready it was ultimately up to me to get out the door. Despite their prodding, I had to turn on my internal switch. Mike and my sister Jane almost simultaneously sensed the urgency to kick me in the pants. “By August 20, two weeks past Ryan’s birth, I was restless, feeling fat, and out of shape. How did I know this? Because it didn’t matter if I talked to my wife or a counselor, the trigger to regain my “training order” was always initiated by me. I called it a weakness because I had 100 percent control over the spiraling cycle. Counseling through the first 10 years of my racing career had not resolved this psychological weakness. “Even though I was captivated and enthralled with Ryan, my mindset had always been “all or nothing.” When I trained, I was maniacal and when I took breaks there wasn’t a compromise of shortened or easier days-I just stopped. He wouldn’t allow this to happen this time around-knowing the stakes in Kona. Mike had witnessed these weight gains in previous summers when I’d had a lull in my training. As a result, within a 10-14 day period I could easily tack on eight to 10 pounds. Despite my enthusiasm for Ryan, when I replaced my training with long bouts of inactivity, the psychological gnawing left me uneasy, uncomfortable, and insecure. He knew when I took downtime from training that I had an uncanny ability to overeat and gain weight. “After the birth of my son Ryan, during my two-week hiatus from training, I got a call from my close friend Mike. In the run-up to Kona, they are posting one story a week on their website. In the excerpt below from their website, Scott and Allen talk about the personal struggles that almost thwarted the greatest showdown in Ironman history. Allen says: “For the first time, Dave and I are talking about events in our lives that in many ways almost derailed our races, even before we got to the start line.” Scott and Allen duked it out shoulder to shoulder for eight hours that day in 1989-and only now are they candidly revealing some of the details that led to that iconic clash. This year’s Ironman World Championship will mark the 30th anniversary of the classic battle between Dave Scott and Mark Allen-a battle that gained global media attention and went down in history as one of the greatest races ever. Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!įor the first time ever, they reveal why the Iron War almost never happened…
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