Target: Ironman

Ryan Phillips feels like a rookie all over again.

Instead of 40-yard times, the former Idaho Vandal and five-year NFL linebacker is currently concerned with longer distances – 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running. Instead of chasing down Marshall Faulk or Emmitt Smith, Phillips is trying to tackle the Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene later this month.

The seed was planted a year ago when Phillips cheered on friend Bryan Ogle, who completed the grueling Ironman in 13 hours, 38 minutes and 14 seconds. Phillips saw competitors of all ages, shapes and sizes battle sweltering heat to cross the finish line.

“There are some people you would think are really out of shape,” said Phillips, who lives in Hayden with wife Angie and their four-year-old twin daughters Kate and Lauren. “There are people that are carrying extra baggage that were in 10-20 times better shape than I was at that point. I was like, ‘If they can do it, maybe I can give it a shot.’ “

Phillips, who skydived on occasion back in his college days, said there’s been something of a competitive void since he left the NFL in 2002. He’s not into softball and he quickly ruled out flag football.

“I started to notice I was kind of getting the doldrums,” said Phillips, one of six Vandals ever to be named first-team all-conference three times. “You do the 9-to-5 thing without the competition that I think has just been burned into me. I felt that need for adrenaline and it’s fun training with the guys.”

He took the requisite amount of ribbing from former teammates and friends. Angie was initially skeptical, but she also knew that when her husband of six years sets his mind on something, he usually follows through.

“I just thought, ‘Are you crazy?’ Angie recalled. “He missed that drive, that goal at the end. You don’t get that from running down to the gym and working out. I did ask him, ‘Why do you have to start with the Ironman?’ – but that’s how he’s mentally trained.”

Deciding to take on an Ironman was the easy part. Phillips, 33, had done little to stay in shape. He had no appreciable experience swimming or biking. As a linebacker, his job entailed running in 10-20 yard bursts and roughly 40 seconds of recovery time before the next snap. Post NFL, Phillips sometimes jogged, but rarely went beyond two miles.

“A lot of people assume there’s carryover if you’ve been an athlete before, but it’s not even close to being the same type of deal,” Phillips said. “I grew up using speed and power and fast-twitch muscle fiber and this uses none of those. It’s all slow-twitch muscle fiber and I don’t know if I have any of that.”

With the help of Ogle and others, Phillips began training roughly a month after the 2006 Ironman, regularly rising at 4:30 a.m. to put in his mileage. Curious about his swimming capabilities, Phillips remembers one early session when he barely made it 50 yards.

“It’s been a lot of learning of the dos and don’ts from my buddies,” said Phillips, who works in pharmaceutical sales.

Lingering knee pain has been the biggest hindrance to Phillips’ training. He suspects the years of pounding as a Vandal, Giant and Colt are at the root of his knee problems. Until recently, he’d been unable to run longer than 3-4 miles without experiencing pain.

There have been other obstacles. “Sometimes I’ll swim for 10 minutes and I feel like I’ve been on the ocean all day, so that’s been tricky,” he said. “I’m experimenting with different medicines that won’t hinder me for the rest of the race.”

And there was that one day in August he thought he was having a heart attack. He started feeling chest pains during a business meeting in Spokane. Fortunately, he was near Sacred Heart Medical Center at the time and he pulled up to the emergency entrance.

“Can’t breathe, chest hurts,” he told the person at the counter. Turns out he had pericarditis, an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart and major blood vessels. That set him back for about a month.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Phillips has dropped 25-30 pounds from his NFL days. He’s been told by some that he’s too big to be an Ironman, but he recalls seeing a variety of body types finish last year’s event. His training of late has been promising. His knees have been cooperative and he completed a 2.4-mile swim in Lake Coeur d’Alene last Tuesday. He recently finished the Onion Man Triathlon (1.5-kilometer swim, 40-K bike and 10-K run) in Walla Walla with no major problems.

“He did great,” said Ogle, who joined Phillips and others on a recent 100-mile bike ride. “His comment after Onion Man was, ‘I need to spend more time in open-water swimming.’ I think that’s a concern for a lot of people swimming with 2,300 of their closest friends (at Ironman).”

Phillips placed second in the Clydesdale Division (200 pounds or more) at Onion Man and pocketed $10. More importantly, he crossed the finish line to hear the race announcer say, “Ryan Phillips, you are an Onion Man.”

On June 24th in Coeur d’Alene, he’d love to hear, “Ryan Phillips, you are an Ironman.” He’s not worried about his time; he just wants to finish.

“My biggest concern is probably the first half-mile of the swim because it’s going to be chaos as far as people and nerves. There are some things I don’t have control over – like if it’s 100 degrees. During two-a-days, I used to lose 10-12 pounds in one practice,” he said.

“I’m definitely an underdog, but the one thing I do have is some confidence in my mental approach. It’s a big mental game. I’ve been through hard enough times, I know (Ironman) is different, but I’ve heard those voices telling me to quit many times and I know how to deal with it.”