Trey Haik, New Iberia City attorney, and Tommy Bell, an engineer for EP Breaux Electrical, competed in the Ochsner Ironman 70.3, a grueling race consisting of swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles and running 13.1 miles, in New Orleans this month.

What drives a person to put their body through the tough training needed to compete in such a race?

For 41-year-old Haik, an injury keeping him from running would do the trick.

“It was a progression for me,” he said. “I took up swimming, once I was really good at that, I turned to biking.”

With the built-up skill and confidence in each sport, he competed in his first triathlon in September. After completing that race, he decided to begin training for the Ironman in December.

With the help of friend Jon Bourgeois, financial advisor for IberiaBank and two-time full Ironman — 146 miles — competitors, Haik began a seven- to 14-hour weekly cardio regiment.

“You have to be consistent,” Bourgeois said about training for such an event, “but you can’t let it interfere with family time.”

For Haik, thanks to the support of his wife and family, training began each day at 5 a.m., sometimes 4 a.m.

Unbeknownst to Haik, 50-year-old Bell also was in training. Bell, who competed in triathlons in college and returned to the sport four years ago, says consistency is key to training for Ironman.

“You’re either training, sleeping or working,” he said.

With the help of Ben Hawn, a Cleco retiree and a longtime triathlon competitor, Bell began training six days a week, twice a day four months before the competition.

After all the training and the competition itself, Haik doubted himself.

“My immediate reaction,” he said, “I’ll never do this again.”

But that quickly passed. Both men plan to compete in future competitions.

Haik finished with an overall average of 07:32:29 and Bell finished with a 07:12:17.

“This is not a race like a 3K or 10K, this is a race against yourself,” Bell said.

Although there were more than 1,200 athletes, Bell said it’s an “individual against individual” type of race, making you want to improve yourself each time.

“Your training is introverted because you train at your own pace, odd-ball hours, not organized,” Bell said. “But, it helps to have someone there to push you.”

Haik agrees. “I enjoy the company,” he said and plans to train more with Bell and Bourgeois.