Just another day of exercise – or was it? Published Nov. 17, 2005 By Jamie Haig 16th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs HURLBURT FLD, Fla. -- Imagine swimming in the ocean for two miles then hopping on a bike for a quick 112- mile race and finishing with a 26-mile run. And, completing all these events in less than 12 hours.Impossible? Not for two Hurlburt Field Airmen.Abby Ruscetta, 16th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and Spencer Cocanour, 720th Operations Support Squadron, were two of the Air Force’s representatives in this year’s IronMan Triathlon World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, Oct. 15. It was her first IronMan World Champion-ship and his third.“I went to St. Croix (Virgin Islands) in May with a friend of mine who was competing for a slot in the world championship,” said Ruscetta. “There were 30 slots available and I got the 30th slot. It was a dream come true.”Cocanour has been in six IronMan competitions and three World Championship events. “I did my first triathlon in college,” said Cocanour. “It’s tough. And qualifying for a world championship outright is really difficult.”Ruscetta and Cocanour were on the military team, where each service has four slots -- three for men, one for women. At the Kona event, the Air Force team placed second with a total time of 44 hours, 11 minutes, 10 seconds.Ruscetta placed second for the military women with a time of 11 hours, 36 minutes, 44 seconds and Cocanour’s time of 11 hours, 18 minutes, 40 seconds, earned him 11th place for the military men.Preparing for a triathlon is not taken lightly by either athlete. Both Airmen trained six or seven days a week, with the weekends consisting of 12-14 hours of training. They each had coaches that helped them train correctly.“I started my training for this IronMan back in January,” said Cocanour. “I don’t like swimming and Abby would have to drag me to the pool.”“I’ve been swimming all my life,” said Ruscetta. “It’s biking I didn’t care for. But at least I could call up Spence and ask if he wanted to join me in a 100-mile ride.”Cocanour would train until 9 p.m. during the week and would schedule the long bike rides or runs on the weekends. Ruscetta’s training was similar, with a mixture of biking, riding and swimming on the weekends. Both athletes understand the importance of keeping their focus on the game and keeping nutrition levels constant.Cocanour had an added bonus when he finished his competition. His wife, Amy, a lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard, was also in the same IronMan race. She finished 35 minutes after her husband and 17 minutes after Ruscetta -- placing third for the military women.When asked if at any point they felt like stopping, both athletes shook their heads.“No way,” said Ruscetta. “I wanted to finish with a smile, no matter what place I was in.”