“For most people, fun is something you do that produces maximum pleasure with minimum pain.For Bainbridge residents Kathy Cole and Lisa Lund, along with former islander Laurie Leonetti, fun was competing in the Isuzu Ironman Florida Triathlon on Nov. 4. The Ironman began as a bar bet some years ago, to serve as a means of pushing human endurance to the limits. It became famous soon afterward when TV cameras captured the stark image of the woman who had led throughout the entire race collapsing within sight of the finish and crawling agonizingly on her hands and knees as another woman passed her. The race has expanded from its original setting in Hawaii to a number of sites worldwide, and the distances have become standardized and as carefully calibrated as any Immunex researcher’s experimental data:l 2.4-mile open water swim;l 112-mile bike ride;l 26.2-mile marathon run.Lund finished in 12 hours and 18 minutes, Cole in 12:26, and Leonetti – hampered by a flat tire on her bike – in 13:58.Lund took an hour and 14 minutes for the swim, 6:17 for the bike, and 4:29 for the marathon. Cole’s splits were 1:18, 6:35, and 4:14, while Leonetti’s were 1:18, 7:41 and 4:35. The overall figure includes time spent in swim-bike and bike-run transition areas in addition to the actual splits.To hear Lund and Cole talk about it, the decision to compete in this awesome endurance exercise began almost casually in January. The two women had met four years earlier in BHS cross-country and track coach Richard Christopher’s early-morning masters running program, and quickly become friends and training partners.Seeking something to do as a joint effort, they were motivated in part by the 49-year-old Cole’s determination to do something hard, hard but fun before she turned 50, Dec. 28.As doing an Ironman emerged as a possibility, they began surfing the Internet and found that many were already full. In addition, entry into the most famous Ironman, the October event in Hawaii, is based on a qualifying and lottery system. No way, they agreed. If we’re going to invest all that training time, we want a sure thing.Then they ran across the one in Florida, which still had space available.In those innocent days, phrases like hanging chads, undervotes, butterfly ballots and Katherine Harris hadn’t yet colored the concept of Florida, and the women nodded at each other with perhaps the same glee as Ponce de Leon when he thought he’d discovered the Fountain of Youth there several centuries earlier. It was ‘click, send, and committed,’ Cole laughs. They quickly enlisted Leonetti, who had always talked about doing an Ironman. They felt confident about the biking and marathon portions. Both were experienced, longtime cyclists; Cole and her husband Greg had crossed the country in 1996 in a six-week, 5,200-mile odyssey. The 43-year-old Lund, a former gymnast, had long been an avid rider with numerous Seattle-to-Portlands to her credit. Both were also marathon veterans; Lund’s four include Boston, while Cole had 21 to her credit over a 17-year period – including a three-hour, 11-minute personal best. The swimming portion, however, gave them some pause. Though each had completed several triathlons, until recently their swimming skills had been sub-par. Indeed, Cole had long taken the attitude that I can’t do a triathlon because I can’t swim.But when she and her husband served as volunteers at a triathlon in California in the summer of 1998, she became inspired enough to enter a mini-triathlon – half-mile swim, 18-mile bike and four-mile run – in Sacramento a month later. Three more would follow, including a half-Ironman this summer.Lund began triathlons a little earlier, with her first effort at Seattle’s Danskin in 1997, where she finished seventh in her age group. She improved enough to finish third in her age group the next two years. And in 1998 she did her first half-Ironman.Both are quick to credit Lynn Wells’ masters swim program – Lund has belonged for three years and Cole for about a year – with improving their swimming skills to the point where the full Ironman became a realistic expectation.Over the next 10 months, the two spent a lot of time together.We kept each other honest, says Cole.We didn’t dare fudge, adds Lund. We found a great training program on the Internet, Cole says. It helped us stay injury-free.They typically swam 6,000-8,000 yards weekly, ran 30 miles, and biked in excess of 100 miles. In addition, they lifted weights at least once or twice weekly.While trying to take a day off each week to rest and recover, they admit that that almost never happened. We’re a little compulsive, Cole jokes.What passed for a recovery day would usually be one when all they did was spend an hour in the pool.Training required careful timing and forethought for Lund, who has a part-time job as a physical therapist, plus a 14-year-daughter and 11-year-old son involved in select soccer as well as normal school activities.Most of my rides are very early, around 5:30 a.m. she says. It’s a little easier in the summer when they sleep in.I also have a Very Supportive husband who’s extremely encouraging of what I do – and be sure you capitalize the ‘V’ and the ‘S.’Cole nods agreement for the domestic support.My story’s boring, she says. My daughter is grown, and I have nothing but time.Day of the raceTime finally brought them to the Ironman starting line. The 1,800 starters splashed into the salt water at 7 a.m. in temperatures that quickly reached 84 degrees with high humidity.But Lund says it wasn’t until the marathon started that she even noticed the heat. And not long afterward, the sun went down and they finished in the relative coolness of the early evening.The women made no effort to stay together during the race. Cole walked with Lund to the start – saying, Now we’ll see how our training went – then headed for the rear of the pack of swimmers where she felt more comfortable. Though it would have been cool if we’d finished together, she says.The course itself – at Panama City in the Florida panhandle, in an area known locally as Baja Alabama – was virtually flat, with the bike course twisting over an occasional freeway overpass and a climb over a parking garage the sole elevation change during the marathon.The only problem Lund encountered on the course was a slow leak in a tire that required her to pull over several times and put air into it, while Cole had a malfunctioning cycling computer. Both remained well-hydrated and finished comfortably. I felt great, Cole says. I actually felt better than I do after finishing a marathon. I was just bouncing up and down.Lund felt the same for about 20 minutes.But then I ended up on an IV because my guts went crazy, she says.I looked over at her – she was very pale and I told her she looked like death, Cole recalls.The discomfort was only temporary, and Lund felt fine the following day.Both were pleased with their respective times.I would have been satisfied with anything under 15 hours, Cole says. And I thought I’d do about 13:30 if nothing happened.Lund agrees: My time was way way better than I thought I would do.Apart from the IV – which Lund says contributed to her quick recovery – the only bad note was the disparity between male and female entrants, with about 1,500 of the former and just 258 of the latter. With the Ironman under their respective belts, both are moving on to fresh challenges. Lund has joined Team Aurora, a bike racing group, with her first race scheduled for March 1. Cole will begin competing in ultras – defined as any distance beyond a marathon – with her first effort coming in March at Bellingham’s Chuckanut 50-kilometer run (31.4 miles). But both plan to continue cross training.I’ll still run and swim and stay trained for triathlons, Lund says. I’ll just have a cycling emphasis. She plans on doing another half-Ironman this summer. And Cole, the former virtual non-swimmer, isn’t about to abandon the pool either. It’s something you can do forever, so I want to get better at it, she says.To that end, she’s already entered a few masters meets and plans on swimming in the Queen City meet, an all-day affair, next month.It’s fun, being around all those old people, she says. “