'I don’t spend as much time in Boulder these days. More up in the mountains.'
Tim DeBoom, April 2020.
What do former Ironman World Championships do once they've called time on the careers? They fade away into obscurity of course. Well not quite. But in Tim DeBoom's case, he is quite happy with being out of the public eye. Twice winner of triathlon's Holy Grail that is Kona, Tim's racing career is well known. But rehashing old racing stories is not what I wanted to talk to him about. Rather, it is how the native of Iowa has transitioned into life after top-level sport, his family, and his return to university to take care of some unfinished business. And by the sounds of it, Tim seems to be doing pretty well.
Tim, how are things going for you and your family during this time of the COVID-19 crisis?
Just like everyone else, my world has definitely changed. However, probably not in the same way as most people. My daughter is in second grade, and I have taken on the homeschooling duties between my wife Nicole and I. I’m actually enjoying the process so far, but the days can get very long. I’ve realized that I was probably more “quarantined” before all this hit. My daughter was in school and my wife at work and I would have the day to myself. I’ve always really needed my “Tim time,” so the lack of that is the most challenging. We are still able to go outside here in Colorado, so that is my saving grace, but my activities have been upended for this time of year. The backcountry and cross-country ski seasons have pretty much been cut off during what is normally the best time of the year, so I’ve had to start running and riding trails again. The toughest thing is seeing my daughter miss the physical interaction with her friends. She’s a social person and being cut off from everyone but mom and dad is really hard to watch. Very first world problems compared to what others are going through, but we are all adjusting to the loss of something.
Looking back, I could have - should have - ended my career much sooner than I did. I think I was hanging in there racing because I enjoyed the aspects of training and pushing myself to new limits. I was definitely on the downward slide of the bell curve in my last few years, but I did not really know what was out there besides racing. I was an athlete for my entire life. It was my identity. I think it’s a tough transition for most athletes if they don’t have something specific to transition to. My wife was pregnant during my last year of racing, and I really thought I was going to continue for a little longer as I had found some new races and goals to test myself. The day my daughter was born that changed though. She popped out, and I think my competitive drive disappeared with her arrival. I did not want to be away from her. A professional athlete has to be selfish to reach their potential. That wasn’t an option any more as a father. I do think I ended up on a good note though. My last Iron-distance race was Norseman, and it was one of the best experiences of my life and one of my proudest victories. I’ll take it!
As mentioned above, I think the transition away from being a pro athlete is a tough one. I didn’t have a follow-up career in place. I’m not sure you can if you’re really giving your all to be the best. Having a bailout option just means you don’t believe you can accomplish what you want to do. So I didn’t give myself that option. I put everything I had into being the best I could. I chose this career over other options at a young age. Sometimes, I feel I gave everything I had into winning a few races over a few years of a career spanning twenty years. Luckily, I wasn’t in the sport for the money or fame. I started racing with the single question of “I wonder if I can do that...?” I continue to live that way now, just not as a pro athlete. Having my daughter helped the transition immensely. My wife was full-time working so I threw myself into being the best dad I could, and that has been more rewarding than anything I could have ever imagined. I don’t know many dads that get to spend the first 3-4 years with their kid like I did. I have struggled a bit with direction and finding a new identity for myself, but I don’t beat myself up about it. My flexibility has helped our family. I do some coaching, personal training, and consulting and those give me the freedom to live the life I want to now.
Going back to school was a little bit of all of those things. In college, I was on the fast track to medical school. I thought that was what I wanted. I was in my last semester of university with eight credit hours remaining. Then I had one of those moments when I saw the next 20-30-40 years of my life already planned for me. Something inside me was pulling on the old heart string. I had competed in Hawaii as an age-grouper twice while in school and had been a national and world age-group Olympic distance champion. Something was telling me there might be more out there for me. I wasn’t ready to settle for that planned future yet. I knew that school would always be there, but it was really against my nature to take such a risk. The pull must have been pretty strong, because I took it anyway. In all honesty, I thought I would last one semester out in the world and then be right back at college finishing my degree on my way to being a doctor. Little did I know, it would be twenty plus years before I went back. The key is, I did go back. Throughout my entire racing career, my mom, a lifelong teacher, always asked when I was going back to school. Even after winning Kona! I guess, when I was done racing, and my mom had passed away, I owed it to her. I did feel incomplete without that degree. I was always almost ashamed to admit that I didn’t finish college. I definitely did not offer up that fact to people. When I decided to go back, it was very fulfilling. I had been a constant student of life even during my racing career. I studied my body, sport science, psychology, and read tons of PubMed articles. I believe my traveling the world was a better education than I ever could have received in a classroom. All that being said though, it felt very good to finish that degree in Exercise Science. I know my mom would be happy.
Images courtesy of Tim DeBoom
