Cronin Competes In His 12th Ironman Competition At 59 (cont.)

Many successful businessmen compete in major sports and swear it gives them an upper hand in their industry. Do you think your competitive accomplishments help you in treating clients?
I think being able to complete endurance events gives you an edge in business because there are so many people in life who are good starters but not good finishers. To be able to start a 13-hour endurance event and know that you’re going to have times when you feel bad, you feel good, you have aches, you have pains…your head’s talking to you. And to persevere through that…it’s the same thing that occurs in business…and life. Like when it’s cold and rainy out and you don’t want to get outta bed, but you do. Or get lazy and don’t want to complete something, but you do. Just to get to the finish line.

As you work with the MLS and the NHL, does being a competitor yourself help in dealing with addiction issues in other athletes?
I think it helps the athlete more than it helps me because when you work in the recovery field in general, people are always looking for the differences rather than the similarities. So whether someone is telling you, you don’t know what it’s like to be an athlete…or you don’t know what it like to be a doctor, you don’t know what it’s like to be white or black or green…it’s just one less obstacle that you have to overcome when you’re dealing with elite athletes. (smiling) One of the things Dr. Lewis tells people going into treatment is you’ll be able to get out when your VO2max meets Dan Cronin’s.

What is that?
It’s a test of endurance.

Really…that’s incentive.
He was kidding, but I’ve had my test done and it’s higher than many of the athletes I work with.

Even the Hockey players?
Oh yeah, way above them. Remember they’re straight anaerobic. They play for an average of 57 seconds. So they just blast it for a minute and then stop. Blast it, then stop. For someone that goes distance like I do, it’s a whole different muscle set.

And VO2max is what specifically?
It’s when your red blood cells stop producing oxygen. They start to break down and subsequently you get fatigued. What’s funny is I got my VO2max test done a while back with this other guy and it was like 196. A couple years later, my strength trainer Bobby Collezzi, whose trained many elite athletes, told me we needed to do a VO2max test and I said “Well it’s about 196.” He says “Bullshit. No way. Not at your age…’ I said ‘Bobby, I’m telling you.’ and he says ‘Yeah, well, we’ll see, won’t we?’ So I did it with him?

And?
198! He was blown away.

Why do you think you sought out the toughest of tough races to compete in? Is there a correlation between people in recovery who have been used to wanting more and more, and your desire to seek out the major competitions?

I think one of the things you learn about yourself after being in recovery …if one was good, more was better. And I know it sounds like a cliché but once I started doing it, I found that I was just better built for long distances. My obsessive-compulsive nature has a tendency to kick in the longer I’m out there.

And that’s to your advantage?
Yeah, and I think it’s the same in everything I’ve done, I do to excess.

And that is what we do. Thanks Dan. It’s been a true pleasure.

Thank YOU.