Iron will

Last month, the longtime Bend resident completed the Ironman World Championship triathlon — a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike and a 26.2-mile run — in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

That is an accomplishment in itself, but by no means is it a rare one. A total of 1,772 other participants also finished the race that day. And Hollander himself had completed the race on 21 previous occasions.

But in this year's field, only Hollander was as old as 81 years.

In fact, no one else in the history of the Ironman World Championship has completed the race at Hollander's age, making him unique among the thousands of finishers who have crossed the finish line at the event, staged annually since the late 1970s.

“I reflect a lot on it, and it means a lot because it means I'm still alive,” Hollander said last week of his achievement. “And I've never been the fastest around, but now I say, ‘Well, I'm the oldest. That's a good thing.' ”

To boot, Hollander, a physicist, repeated as world champion in his division, for men age 80 and older. In 2010 he won the title by default, being the only competitor in his age group.

This year, however, three other men, all 80, joined him in what Hollander said was dubbed the “Iron Gents War.”

Recounting the race, Hollander said he took over the division lead from Bob Scott during the bike leg. But during the marathon run, France Cokan, a Slovak whom Hollander described as his nemesis, passed him.

“Everybody can run faster than me, but I'm pretty steady,” Hollander explained.

That steadiness paid off, as Hollander maintained contact with and then overtook Cokan in the final two miles of the run to win the division in 16 hours, 45 minutes, 55 seconds.

Hollander's time was 14:05 faster than the race's 17-hour cutoff time, but well slower than the 15:48:40 he turned in at the 2010 race.

“Last year I had the race of my life,” noted Hollander, who contested his first Ironman world championship race in 1985. “It's going to be a long time (before) some 80-year-old beats that one. I just had a good day. I got there and everything went right.”

This year, though, a lot went wrong.

A couple of months before this year's world championship, Hollander developed a hernia on the right side of his abdomen. Swimming and cycling did not aggravate the hernia, he said, but he ran the marathon portion of the race holding his hand to his side.

And that day — “out of the blue,” as Hollander put it — a kidney stone began to bother him. That resulted in back pain and abdominal cramps, the latter of which prevented him from ingesting almost anything but water during the race, not an ideal situation for an endurance athlete.

The kidney stone was taken care of shortly after Hollander's return to Bend, and he underwent an operation to repair his hernia this past Friday.

Hollander, a Long Island native, does not expect either of those health challenges to deter him for long. He still has plans for the future.

“Life is really good for me,” he explained. “I just feel full of life, and I'm not done yet either.”

He said he has not ruled out competing in another Ironman, though he may not make a 23rd trip to the world championship.

“I'm not going to say I'm not going to do another Ironman, but it would take a lot to get me back to Kona,” Hollander said.

He does, however, plan to take part in some races on the mainland in the months ahead, including an Ironman 70.3 race (half the distance of a full Ironman) in Galveston, Texas, in April.

Whatever he does decide in the end, Hollander will probably keep trailblazing for the octogenarian set.

“I guess I have actually done some good,” he admitted. “People will see you can be active and be old.”

Energy Drinks Give You Wings...and Kidney Stones

In these current times, energy drinks are very common among people of all ages, especially teenagers.  We have personal experience with drinking energy drinks, Red Bull specifically, and we know that there can be serious side effects of drinking a lot of such drinks.  Lately, there have been more and more problems with the consumption of energy drinks; people passing out or committing crimes when exceeding the recommended amount of these drinks.  For example, read the back of any Monster Energy Drink can, and you will find the warning statement cautioning you to not exceed three cans a day.  Yet people ignore these warnings, and drink whatever they want, and however much they want of it.

Sarah Gurley, a phlebotomist at Mee Memorial Hospital, has had experience with teenagers coming into the hospital from consuming too many energy drinks.  Gurley says, “I’ve seen an increase in young kids with cases of kidney stones related to energy drinks as the main problem.”  Not only can you get painful kidney stones (which are like sharp grains of sand traveling through your body) as a side effect, but energy drinks also cause liver problems that are similar to those of alcoholics.

We drink Red Bull constantly, almost on a daily basis.  It tastes amazing, makes us feel better, and it even claims to “give you wings.”  But both of us have had issues with drinking too much of it and having too much caffeine in our bodies to be healthy.  But now we’re smarter about drinking Red Bull; yes, we still drink it a lot, probably too much, but we know if we need to stop because we are informed of the consequences.  So next time you drink Red Bull, or Rockstar or Monster, ask yourself this:  do you know how much is too

Prosthetic hands, legs don’t faze newlyweds

Like any other bride-to-be, Merlyna Adams worried about the usual things leading up to her wedding to longtime love, Tory Valentine. She had to decide on a date and a hall. She had to choose bridesmaids, find the perfect shade of purple for their dresses, decide on flowers and music.

But unlike most other brides, Adams had another important decision to make: Which set of prosthetic hands would she wear? Upon which silicone finger did she want Valentine to place her wedding ring?

There are the “passives,” the immovable set she wears most days. They’re prettier, she said, and she sends them to a local salon, which has promised her free manicures for life.

Then there are the newer, heavier myoelectric hands, which use tiny electrodes and her arm muscles to open and close, enabling her to grasp a bouquet or a champagne glass for a toast. But she’s still getting used to those -- and just might crush that glass if she’s not careful.

However, Adams is adept at adapting.

Nearly three years ago, her hands and feet had to be amputated because of complications after treatment for a kidney stone.

But with grace, hope, dignity and the unwavering love and devotion of a steadfast fiancé, the veteran educator last year achieved her first goal: returning to her job as principal at St. Rose Elementary School in St. Charles Parish.

On April 16, the 45-year-old Adams achieved her second: She walked down the aisle to marry the man of her dreams.

The most difficult part, Adams said, was keeping Valentine in the dark about the strapless ivory gown she planned to wear with long opera gloves.

Valentine was brought to tears when, at long last, he saw his bride make her way to him.

“The gown was incredible,” he said. “She fooled me on that one, it brought tears to my eyes, she was so beautiful.”

Few eyes were dry as they followed AdamLike any other bride-to-be, Merlyna Adams worried about the usual things leading up to her wedding to longtime love, Tory Valentine. She had to decide on a date and a hall. She had to choose bridesmaids, find the perfect shade of purple for their dresses, decide on flowers and music.
But unlike most other brides, Adams had another important decision to make: Which set of prosthetic hands would she wear? Upon which silicone finger did she want Valentine to place her wedding ring?
There are the “passives,” the immovable set she wears most days. They’re prettier, she said, and she sends them to a local salon, which has promised her free manicures for life.

Then there are the newer, heavier myoelectric hands, which use tiny electrodes and her arm muscles to open and close, enabling her to grasp a bouquet or a champagne glass for a toast. But she’s still getting used to those -- and just might crush that glass if she’s not careful.

However, Adams is adept at adapting.

Nearly three years ago, her hands and feet had to be amputated because of complications after treatment for a kidney stone.

But with grace, hope, dignity and the unwavering love and devotion of a steadfast fiancé, the veteran educator last year achieved her first goal: returning to her job as principal at St. Rose Elementary School in St. Charles Parish.

On April 16, the 45-year-old Adams achieved her second: She walked down the aisle to marry the man of her dreams.

The most difficult part, Adams said, was keeping Valentine in the dark about the strapless ivory gown she planned to wear with long opera gloves.

Valentine was brought to tears when, at long last, he saw his bride make her way to him.
“The gown was incredible,” he said. “She fooled me on that one, it brought tears to my eyes, she was so beautiful.”

Few eyes were dry as they followed Adams, the woman miraculously walking, her glide giving little hint to the hurdles she overcame to make the journey to the altar.

Not in the plan

“I remember hearing somebody say once, ‘You want to make God laugh? Plan something,’ ” Adams said recently.

Adams, who has spent more than 20 years in education, was planning on another great school year in August 2007 when she first felt the painful stitch in her side. When the discomfort got worse, she went to her doctor, who diagnosed a kidney stone.

But there was nothing routine about it. The 10-millimeter stone caused a blockage, which allowed infection to back into her bladder then spread to the rest of her body. She went into septic shock, which caused her body to systematically shut down.

s, the woman miraculously walking, her glide giving little hint to the hurdles she overcame to make the journey to the altar.

Not in the plan

“I remember hearing somebody say once, ‘You want to make God laugh? Plan something,’ ” Adams said recently.

Adams, who has spent more than 20 years in education, was planning on another great school year in August 2007 when she first felt the painful stitch in her side. When the discomfort got worse, she went to her doctor, who diagnosed a kidney stone.

But there was nothing routine about it. The 10-millimeter stone caused a blockage, which allowed infection to back into her bladder then spread to the rest of her body. She went into septic shock, which caused her body to systematically shut down.