Lebanese dentist Ali Khoder trained for 6 months to challenge his endurance and compete at an international race, the ‘Ironman 70.3’ hosted in Turkey.
“The Ironman is an endurance race that requires both mental and physical strength,” he told The961. It consists of a 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike ride, and 21.1 km run that should be completed under 8 hours and 30 minutes, “or else the athlete gets disqualified.”
“It’s challenging and requires discipline,” he said.
Khoder revealed that he had no previous experience in sports. “I never swam or ran in my life,” he said. “I used to cycle from time to time.”
During quarantine, he made use of his time to gain new skills and put his body to the challenge. He followed a strict diet and a 6-month training program where he worked out 14 hours/week!
His brother Bachir Khoder, who is the Governor of Baalbek and Hermel, expressed how proud he was of him for participating in the global race as the only Lebanese among 1,300 athletes.
While he might not have won the race, he won the personal challenges he set on himself to push himself to the limits and take part in that very difficult race.
He also got to raise the Lebanese flag in the global race while his country struggles with tragedies and crises, which denoted the Lebanese people’s stubborn desire to live and overcome all challenges to make it through.
