The Road to Optimal Health

The IRONMAN Group Rolling Strong Stephen Kane

Wow!! What an incredible year this has been! I just completed my last race of the season being the Ironman 70.3 La Quinta CA!

I want to recognize all the people out there struggling with their health and trying to find their way back to being healthy or even being healthy for the first time. I hear so often “I can’t”. “My knees, my ankles, my weight and so on.” I know it’s tough and the idea of doing the things you may have been able to do years ago seems impossible. Well… I’m here to tell you it’s not. What I have done over the last 6 years “yes it took 6 years for me to unwind decades of poor health conditions and choices”, is an extreme example of what is possible. This is one of those, “don’t try this at home moments”, lol, but my journey is a dramatic example of what is in fact possible.

You're "what is Possible" may mean your first 5k, or reducing a few pant sizes or maybe getting off a certain medication. For me, I went all in and all the way!

In 2018 I had hit 286 lbs. I had severe hypertension, chronic gout, an array of muscular skeletal issues and my ejection fractures that measures my hearts ability to pump blood was 35% which is poor for someone my age. The heart issues questionably came from the cancer and chemotherapy I had survived in 2005 and long term back pain from 4 vertebra fractures and a traumatic head injury I suffered in a motorcycle accident in 1993.

My answer was to not give up! So I made the goal to run a 5k without stopping and lose some of my lunch muscle.. 6 months later I ran my first marathon and 9 months later I finished my first Triathlon taking 3rd place in my division.

This set me out on a mission to complete an Olympic Triathlon and then an Ironman. Later the next summer and during training for these events and in the middle of Covid, I had had a syncope episode on my bike due to ongoing arrhythmia issues and hit the back tire of another riders bike and wrecked. This caused me to tear my shoulder labrum and bicep. Post emergency surgery I developed covid 19 and struggled through it. This left me leaving 2020 and moving into 2021 discouraged as I felt like the odds were stacked against me.

Then while attending a boxing match in Florida with family including my brother from another mother Rick Smith, I went down again, slumped in my chair and began to convulse. Linda and Rick got me up and to safety which led to a week stay in the Orlando heart hospital where they implanted a temporary heart monitor. Sometime in January of 2021 I went for my first bike ride with friend Jason R. Happe. I came home feeling peaked and within minutes of sitting at my desk I had another syncope episode. This time the doctors caught the specifics with the monitor. Between my cardiac oncologist and the electrophysiologist, they determined I needed a pacemaker. I had this implanted in March of 2021. Once again the odds stacked against me, I was told that my dream or returning as an athlete was over. Just enjoy some healthy living and maybe some 5ks they said. What I did while in the hospital that night was sign up for the NYC Olympic, Ironman Augusta 70.3 and Ironman Florida Full which is 140 miles of endurance racing. My coach Leigh-Ann Godwin Mueller had her hands full as she had to approach this with caution, safety and experience. I signed releases with my doctors so Leigh Anne could get the official ok to train me and she agreed to train me for the Olympic but said we would wait to see how that went before committing to the half and that the full was probably out of reach. That became an incredible year because to do this my Linda agreed to sell everything, buy an RV and hit the road as I dedicated myself to training for Ironman while running my business. The RV lifestyle became the perfect solution as both my office and Triathlon training room was only 40’ from my bedroom. Yes, the RV lifestyle can be the most efficient combination of work/life/health balance of any scenario. Ill write more about this in a book I plan to publish late 2024.

My life became, family, work, train… rinse and repeat. At the end of 2021 I had the pleasure of bringing back medals for all three races (within 8 months of getting a pacemaker) including the full Ironman to the team that supported, encouraged and helped me get there including my Linda, coach Leigh-Anne, and strength and conditioning coach Bill Scibetta, and coaches from my Rolling Strong team! Yes, I surrounded myself with people that knew more and could provide the guidance I needed to succeed. "and I Listened" for the most part ;-)

I would not stop there. I continued on a mission to travel the US, meet other kind people and spread my enthusiasm for good health and use Ironman venues and my company Rolling Strong as vehicle's to communicate the mutually agreed upon message that “Anything is Possible!”

This journey brought us from Bar Harbor Main down the eastern states to Key West Florida, up the pan handle and through the middle of the US and back down to San Diego and up the 101 to north Washington. We used Ironman as our waypoints and added lots of other great local races along the way. Again, work, train, race, family, rinse repeat!

Now it is incredibly satisfying knowing I have accomplished 6 - 70.3 IMs, 1 full IM, 5 Olympics and handful of sprints, a spartan race and at least a dozen other half marathons, 10ks and 5ks in this short time and off the heels of such health obstacles.

However the real gift is my health!

In this time I lost 90 lbs, normalized blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, and almost completely eliminated muscular skeletal issues. My heart pump function per my stress echo earlier this year is 65% from the 35% they saw in 2018. In some circles including doctors they call it a miracle. I will cover this journey in detail my book later next year. I also want to specially thank my doctor Bob Driver for his incredible care and focus on my overall health.

This season comes to a finish with my last Ironman. Over a dozen races this year and qualified for nationals next season at the Olympic distance. I have my goal set on someday qualifying for world championships at the 70.3 IM distance. I also did it all on a fractured and torn ligament in my ankle that I sustained last November kickboxing. I get surgery next week to fix the issue. Maybe not the best approach but also not the first or last athlete to compete through injuries. I will add, I did confirm with my doctor that racing would not have a further impact on the injury. Either way, here I am! A very, very long way from the guy I was in 2018. Post Cancer, heart issues, lots of injuries and a defeated mental attitude. Now in 2023 feeling optimally healthy for me and my life. Grateful for the journey and humbled by the results! I truly believe this is just the beginning! 2024 here I come!

Ironman provides an incredible landscape for people of all sizes, shapes, ages and backgrounds to see what they are made of and get on the path to better health.

Please believe that progress is possible! Your - Anything is Possible!         

Go for it!!