Ironman

*Author's note. Athletes who run triathlons often refer to doing so as 'tri-ing' while some use the spelling 'trying'. I prefer the former, but it's a lot easier to use the latter, so I'll be using that version in the story.

Also, the timing of the actual race in Hawaii doesn't work with the story, so I'm 'fudging' it a little. But unless you're a huge fan of the sport, you probably won't even notice. But just in case...

*****

"Tenth place is nothing to scoff at, bro."

"I'm not complaining. Not at all. It's just that I thought this would mean so much more to me than it does. That's all."

"Look. You're just reaching your prime, man. Every winner at Kona has been between 26 and 36. So finishing 10th at 27 is pretty amazing. Just keep training like you have been, and you can win this thing. If not next year then soon."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," he told his older brother and faithful supporter who'd stopped by to congratulate him the day after his race and his return home to Oregon.

What he didn't feel like telling him was the shift in attitude that had gradually come over him during the course of the last year or so.

Just twelve months ago, running triathlons, or 'trying' as he called it, had been his sole focus in life. He had a full-time job, but training and eating right were everything to him. But as the year wore on and his times got better and better, the satisfaction the improvements brought him seemed to lessen in direct proportion to his success. He won two lesser events and finished second in another, but each victory left him feeling more and more hollow.

For the first few months that was happening, it made no sense to him at all. But at some point, the puzzle pieces fell into place and the light came on.

And now, after having just finished a very respectable tenth place in the biggest event in the sport, The Ironman main event, held in Kona, Hawaii, it really hit him hard. He was sick and tired of living alone.

Being just 27 years old, he knew his brother, who was 32, who'd never had so much as a thought of settling down, would never understand. He'd not only not be sympathetic, he'd do everything in his power to dissuade his 'little bro' from getting too involved with anyone, because getting involved meant dividing his attention, and if he really wanted to win, his attention had to be focused like the proverbial laser beam.

The problem was that his brother, Jason, had been a superb athlete in his own right. But he'd given it all up, or as he often put it, thrown it all away—'for a girl'. A girl who sucked the life out of him for four years then left with their only child he was now lucky to see twice a year.

"Love 'em and leave, man," was his brother's mantra, and for Luke Kennerly, who still looked up to his big brother, that had always been the name of the game, too.

But lately, this overpowering need to find someone he could love, someone who would love him back and make his life complete, was demanding its day in court. In fact, the demands were becoming so loud and so constant that the energy he was expending almost constantly to fight off this growing urge was so draining it was affecting every aspect of his life. And while he couldn't know for sure, it may have been the reason he finished tenth instead of one or two places higher.

That should have not only made him angry, it should have infuriated him. But he couldn't muster two cents to give a shit with, and he knew the reason why. Granted, the winner had set a new world record, so beating him, at least at this point in his 'career', was an impossibility. But he might have shaved off another couple of minutes somewhere to take ninth place had he not been so distracted.

Or maybe, just maybe, he'd never win because the competition at that level was so unbelievably fierce it was ludicrous to think he could get there no matter how hard he trained. After all, not everyone was cut out to be a Mark Allen, the man who'd won the Ironman an unbelievable six times between 1989 and 1995.

The big question in his mind was whether he was telling himself things like that as an excuse to quit so he could focus on 'finding his soul mate', or if it was possibly his body's best way of honestly saying, "Be honest. You're never gonna get there so don't waste anymore years trying to. By...trying."

Luke not only found himself routinely obsessing about a wife and maybe even kids, he was distracted by nearly every attractive woman he saw.

The latter part of that wasn't new, because he'd always looked. After all, he was a healthy, young male who was well above average in the looks department, so that wasn't unusual. Nor was it odd that many, if not most of those women, at least looked back, with many them offering a warm (and sometimes inviting) smile or occasionally even a phone number. But for the last couple of months he'd not only been obsessively looking but wondering if virtually every reasonably-attractive woman he saw might be his future wife.

It was getting to the point where it reminded him of an episode of the original Star Trek series in which Mr. Spock had to return to his home world of Vulcan. Because of a biological drive called 'Pon Farr' that was so strong he would die if he didn't return to find a mate, Spock was ready to do anything to get there to include lying to his best friend, the captain, or taking control of the Enterprise via mutiny.

Like Spock, who refused to talk about this drive unique to Vulcan men, Luke had no desire to speak about his own internal needs for obvious reasons—not even to his brother who was still his best friend in the world. Luke was a man, and even mentioning something like that to any other man—even Jason—was something he wouldn't even consider doing. It made him feel weak and vulnerable, because guys just didn't talk about stuff like that; at least not guys like him or anyone he knew.

"So stop beating yourself up and let's go celebrate," his brother said, snapping him out of his short-lived daydream. "Tenth place in something that competitive is huge, bro."

Before Luke could answer, Jason said, "Oh. I uh, I kinda met someone, and I was wondering if you'd mind if she tags along. With me."

Luke sighed but didn't say anything. He knew Jason well enough to know that whoever this new girl was, she was almost certainly young, not real smart, and hot as hell. But it was his brother's life, and as long as he wasn't trying to set him up with another bimbo, it didn't much matter who was on his arm.

"Yeah, she uh, she kind of looked me up a few days ago," Jason said after several seconds of silence.

"Okay. I'll bite. What's the connection?"

"Hey! Don't be so cynical, dude. She's a nice girl. Her dad died a couple of years ago, and I guess her mom started running. Well—again. She said her mom used to run track in college so it's more like she went back to it. Anyway, she knew someone who knew someone who knew me from back in the day when I was trying, and she asked if I could maybe talk to her mom. You know, to go over her training routine."

"Okay. And?" Luke asked.

"Well, it isn't just running. She's started swimming, bought a reasonably decent bike and plans to enter her first triathlon in a few months. It sounds like she's really gettin' into it. Anyway, I kept blowin' this girl off until she came by the shop yesterday."

"Ah, okay. So once you saw she was a hottie, you suddenly got all interested. Yeah, now it's all starting to make sense," Luke said, only half kidding.

"So I kinda told her about my almost-famous little brother who just finished tenth at Ironman, and she uh, she seemed really interested. In you."

"No worries there, bro. As in 'bro code'. If you're interested in her she's off limits, but I'm happy to talk with her. Trying is my life, and there's nothing I'd rather talk about. Besides, if I'm talking with her, I don't have to listen to you, right?"

Jason made a 'grrr' noise then said, "Okay. Point taken. Just talk to her, will you?"

"Yeah. Sure. What time and where?" Luke asked, already feeling bad about saying triathlons were his life when all he could think about was finding...a wife.

"Gypsy Blues at 8 o'clock," his brother told him. "Oh, and my new friend's name is Kendra. Sorry, but I don't remember her mom's name. You know me. Anyone over 25 is..."

Luke shook his head, sighed, and gave in. He agreed to go out and share some tips with this new girl of Jason's so she could pass them on to her mother and have a beer with him—but only one. He'd then take the rest of his normal five days off after a grueling triathlon event then get back in the saddle like he'd always done and go at it again 'anvil and tong'. Or at least that's what he hoped would happen.

It had been nearly three years since Luke had been to Gypsy's. Having grown up and lived his entire life in Medford, Oregon, less the four years he spent in Eugene attending the University of Oregon where he ran track all four years.

There were very few places he hadn't been to or at least passed by in Medford, and because fitness was his lifeblood, Luke had little interest in spending time in bars. In the past, he'd spent his fair share of time in them looking for hookups, but that, too, no longer held his interest.

Even so, his brother still loved the city's modest night life, so Luke got ready and headed out with 'getting ready' being a relative term. For him, that meant a pair of decent pants in the cooler months or some nice shorts in the summer and either a button-down shirt or maybe a short-sleeved Henley.

The weather had been unseasonably warm for the first week of September, making it great for training, so a dark-green Henley and some khaki shorts with sandals was good enough.

Like his older brother, Luke had been blessed with good looks starting with great hair. It was a dark brown and thick as well as straight meaning it looked good dry or with a little gel in it. He kept it short and wasn't big on putting anything in his hair so a few seconds with the blower dryer was all he needed.

Both he and Jason had inherited their father's good looks along with their mother's eyes making both of them oft-sought after commodities in the town of some 80,000 people. Both had been star athletes in high school, and both had been Homecoming Kings. Luke was the quieter, more reserved of the two, but most unbiased observers would give him a slight edge in terms of looks with both brothers standing a shade over six-feet tall.

Being triathletes, both of them had lean builds, but neither of them looked 'skinny'. Jason had put on a few pounds since giving up the sport while Luke didn't have an ounce of fat on him.

Satisfied with his appearance to sit at a bar and talk, he grabbed his keys and headed out knowing Jason would be there waiting for him.

Gypsy Blues was located on 8th Street which was across town from Luke's apartment, but traffic was rarely bad meaning he should be able to get there within 15 minutes regardless of the time of day.

September was normally beautiful in Medford with daily high temps averaging around 80 degrees with overnight lows running near 45. It was, at least in Luke's opinion, a nearly ideal place to train because of the weather that allowed him to get outside all but a handful of days year after year.

The sun was setting as he left his apartment, and the air was dry and warm without being hot. He rode with the windows down after having had to use the AC nearly all summer. He pulled into the parking lot right at 8pm and headed inside knowing all he need to do was follow the loudest voice in the bar to find his brother.

True to form, Luke no sooner got three steps inside before he heard Jason boom out, "Yo! Over here, Ironman!"

As usual, Jason had a 'posse' around and he was 'holding court' wherein he did nearly all of the talking while the other 'extras' nodded or occasionally asked questions. Luke was used to it, of course, but he couldn't ever imagine that for himself.

Jason was an extrovert while Luke was an introvert. Not shy. Not stoic. He just didn't need other people. Luke preferred talking to one person at a time, and then, only when he felt like talking. It wasn't that he was antisocial, he just preferred peace and quiet which explained another reason he loved trying as it allowed him to spend hours each day in the solitude of his own mind while pushing his body to do things it didn't think were possible.

Luke waved and smiled the best he could as he headed toward the small group of people gathered around the center of attention, one Jason Kennerly, who stood up to give his brother a 'man hug' before introducing him.

Luke knew all but three of the people sitting with his brother, so even before Jason started telling him who they were, he immediately knew which one had to be Kendra. He dutifully shook hands with the two men then smiled at Kendra before sitting down across from her as she sat next to Jason.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you," she told him as he took a seat. "Jason's been talking about you non-stop."

"Don't believe anything my brother tells you," Luke joked as he quickly gave her the once-over.

Kendra was very pretty, and that was no surprise. Pretty women still flocked to his brother all the time. What struck him as unusual was the way this young woman carried herself. And as they talked, Luke was even more impressed. She listened carefully, asked thoughtful questions, and when she spoke, it was obvious she was well-educated and able to pick up on things very quickly. In a word, she was not his brother's type. She was his type, and that made things all the more confusing.

Kendra let Jason do most of the talking, but whenever the moment was right, she would ask a question or make a comment that was right on point as well as being clearly thought out.

As Luke sipped his one and only beer, Kendra brought up her mother—the reason she was there.

"Hey! I thought you were here because you wanted to ride the J-Train," Jason said in his usual boisterous way.

Kendra smiled politely then said, "I'll get back to you on that, okay?" drawing a few comments from the charter members of the 'J-Train posse' like, "Ouch!" or "Day-um!"

Clearly, Kendra could hold her own.

"Jason? Do you mind if I steal your brother for a few minutes?" she asked at one point.

Luke was more than a little surprised when his brother said, "Yeah. Sure. That's why he's here, right?"

She and Luke stood up as he grabbed his drink along with and hers while she picked up her purse. They found a quieter place a few tables away then Luke waited for her to sit down.

"So you're the gentleman in the family, I see," Kendra said with a warm smile.

"Jason's a great guy. He just takes a little getting used to," Luke told her as he sat across from her.

"I agree," she told him. "He's kind of the um...wild bronc type. He just needs someone to tame him a little."

Luke chuckled then said, "Good luck with that."

Kendra smiled again then got down to business.

"I'm not a triathlete," she began. "I do run, but since high school, I haven't done so competitively. My mom, on the other hand, was a very solid runner in college, and since my father passed away, she's gone back to it with a vengeance."

"Jason mentioned that. I'm so sorry to hear you lost your dad. I can't even imagine. It was hard enough when my parents retired to Florida a couple of years ago."

"Thank you, and I wouldn't want you to. It was a drunk driver, and that's the primary reason I couldn't get my mom to come with me tonight. She's not anti-alcohol, but she's, well...death...on drinking and driving."

"No. I get it. I think I would be, too," Luke told her.

"Running has been her solace. Or at least it was. She still runs, of course, but she started cycling and wanted to enter a biathlon, so she did some research and bought a very expensive bike, and started training on that, too. She competed in two of them and got the bug—bad. And as of a couple of months ago, she added swimming to the routine, and now she's obsessed. So when I told her I knew that someone from Medford had done quite well at this year's Ironman, she had to know who it was."

"I guess that would be little old me," Luke replied with a smile.

"I believe you're right," she said back. "So as it turns out, I have a friend at school who knew your brother from his own days of trying, and he agreed to introduce me."

"Ah. Okay. Now the pieces of the puzzle are falling together."

"It was a little odd to say the least to tell Jason I only really wanted to meet you, but he was really good about it, and well, here we are."

"Oh, so you're not...interested in my brother?" Luke asked without judgment.

"I don't know. I mean, he's a lot older than me, but he is pretty cute," she said as she looked Jason's way. "In that bad-boy kind of way."

Luke chuckled again then said, "You hit the nail on the head about him having a wild side, and I'm not sure he's tamable. You know, in case you were thinking he might be."

"All men are tamable, Luke," she said with a smile. "But I'll be starting my senior year—soon—and I'm not sure I want to take on a project...that big."

Luke laughed again then told her she'd definitely have her hands full before asking Kendra a question.

"So tell me about your mom. What is it specifically she's interested in knowing about trying."

"I just happen to have a short list of questions right here," Kendra told him as she pulled her phone out. "And while I'm looking, I'll tell you a little about her, starting with her being my best friend in the whole world."

"That's Jason for me, with our mom and dad a close second behind him."

"I was a daddy's girl all my life, but evidently 'Life' had other plans," she said without any hint of sadness.

"Anyway, my mom's name is Ashton—Michaels. She's 41, and..."

"I'm sorry. Your mom is 41?"

Kendra smiled then explained.

"Uh-huh. She had me when she was 19 years old, and she and my dad beat the odds. They got married at 18, and were happily married until the day his life was cut short."

"I...I didn't mean to sound rude, I was just trying to understand. I'm 27 and my mom is 57 and my dad is 59, so..."

"We don't choose our parents, right?" she said very politely and with a smile.

"No. No, we don't, but sometimes we get lucky," Luke told her.

"I couldn't agree more," Kendra replied.

She spent another ten minutes or so talking about her mom and asking her questions while jotting down answers on her phone.

"I hope that helps," Luke told her when Kendra said she thought was about it.

"You've been extremely helpful, Luke. I can't thank you enough."

"It was my pleasure, and I uh, I wish you the best of luck with my brother should you decide to um...take up the challenge."

"I've believed for some time now that opposite's attract. You're a lot like me, Luke. I'm an introvert, too, and even though you didn't mention that, it's pretty obvious. But I'm attracted to the more...vocal kind of guys...and the challenge that comes with them. That's odd, because my mom is a believer in 'birds of a feather', and would be looking for someone more like you than your brother."

Luke laughed yet again then told her she was a brave woman.

"Thank you. I get that from my mom who's fearless. And for what it's worth, she's a lot like you. Quiet, smart, dignified, and...very attractive."

Very quickly she added, "I'm not hitting on you. Just in case you might be thinking I was."

"I wasn't. I'd be flattered if you were, but if you were, I wouldn't be interested. At least not as long as my brother is."

Luke paused then said, "And from what I can tell—he is. And as you rightly said, you are very different from him, and quite possibly the first girl with a brain he's ever taken an interest in. So..."