Reaching for the top

CEDAR RAPIDS - Finished in the top 5 percent at the Hy-Vee 5150 National Championship. Top American at World Championship in Spain. Ranked first nationally for 16-19 age group.

A cross country and track athlete for the Warriors, it's no secret Ian Hoover-Grinde - at the age of 16 - is a talented athlete.

Hoover-Grinde competes in triathlons and duathlons, races broken down into different parts in which the participant completes. For a triathlon it goes, in order, swim, bike, run, and duathlons go run-bike-run. The scale of these races can vary, going from mini kids tri's to the big and baddest Ironman distances.

Hoover-Grinde started swimming at the age of 3 and hasn't stopped since. When he was younger, he used to dream about going to the Olympics for swimming, a dream that hasn't necessarily gone away. He got inspired to do triathlons as a way to keep himself in the healthiest state possible. His driving force is making it to Ironman World Championships and become the second American to win it after Tim Deboon, a Washington graduate.

He definitely works hard to get there. An average day starts with waking up at 4 a.m. to swim or bike for 2-2.5 hours, followed by a 30-minute run. After school, he heads home for a double lunch and either studies or fits in another run, goes to cross country practice after school, a two-hour swim practice, homework and manages to be in bed between 9:30-10 p.m.

You'll find him managing his school load around training by doing things such as studying French while on the bike.

'I value training more than anything else (and) I'd rather be doing it all day instead of school,” he said.

He recently had a bump in the road when, this past May, he was hit by a suburban while in the bike portion of a race. He suffered numerous injuries, such as broken ribs and extreme road rash. This, however, didn't stop him from participating in the Duathlon World Championships in Spain only three weeks after an incident, finishing an incredible seventh in his age group and first American.

He hasn't stopped there, either, winning two other races and placing second in another. But it was his position at Hy-Vee 5150 National Championship in Des Moines that sent him past the next threshold.

Finishing in the top five percent, 15th out of 500, he qualified to go professional. Although he won't be able to get his pro card until next year when he meets the age restrictions, he said, 'it gives me a better mental edge and more motivation for early morning workouts, because waking up and knowing that you are still working for something, it's fun, but knowing that you already achieved it means you're working to just get that much better.”

Ian already has achieved so much for his age, but he describes his greatest achievement as something more personal.

'As a person and an athlete, all my training is done by myself,” he said. 'You don't have anyone else there like you would in cross country or swimming, so just still being able to get up that early knowing you have a long day ahead of you, that's probably one of the best things, cause I know that I always get my work done.”