Putting his best foot forward: How a Hanover Ironman overcame injury and returned to form
In life, adversity can strike at any given moment, even when you least expect it. That holds true for athletes.
When adversity strikes, how will you respond?
A Hanover triathlete faced with an injury, and the rehab doctor who helped him, both learned and grew from his experience with adversity.
Dwayne Smith, 49, has participated in triathlons for about 20 years. Throughout his career, Smith has suffered minor injuries, but what happened to him towards the end of 2018 was a turning point for the triathlete.
A triathlon is composed of swimming, cycling and running, in which you have to go a certain distance for each section during the event. In an Ironman triathlon, participants will compete in a series of long distance races, consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon — a 26.2-mile run.
Throughout his career as a triathlete, Smith had one goal he wanted to accomplish.
“I have always wanted to make it to the Ironman World Championships,” he said. “That’s like the Super Bowl for triathletes.”
The Ironman World Championship is held in Kona, Hawaii, every October. Every year more than 80,000 athletes take quest, eyeing to secure a spot to qualify for the world championship, but only around 2,000 make it to the big stage.
Smith’s dream came true of qualifying and participating in the Ironman World Championship in 2017. “That feeling was indescribable,” Smith said on making it to Kona for the first time in his career.
One wasn’t enough for the former Hanover Borough Chief of Police. He qualified for the 2019 Ironman World Championships back in 2018 and he was just as excited as he was when he first qualified.
Then, at the end of 2018, an injury occurred that had Smith worried about his plans to go back to Kona.
'Wear and tear caught up to me'
Smith suffered a foot injury that sidelined him at a very bad time. He was restricted from working and training for about seven weeks.
“I was a little frightened at the time because I was in a boot and it was the worst injury I had suffered throughout my career,” he said. “It was a terrible pain; I couldn’t feel it except when I walked or ran on it.”
A doctor diagnosed Smith with Posterior tibial tendonitis.
The posterior tibial tendon is one of the most important tendons in the leg. This tendon attaches the calf muscle to the bones on the inside of the foot, and the main function of the tendon is to hold up the arch and support the foot when walking.
An injury like this can result from repetitive use in a sport or activity.
“I believe the injury came from overuse,” Smith said. “I compete in many triathlons across the country and I guess the wear and tear caught up to me.
With the world championships looming in the months ahead, every day that went by left Smith anxious to get back out there and do what he loved to do.
“Here I am sitting in my house with a boot on my leg and the clock in my mind was running out, I couldn’t sit still,” Smith said. “I was worried that I would not be able to compete in the world championship.”
Smith feared losing muscle strength, endurance, and lung capacity from not training on a consistent basis.
Faced with adversity, Smith had to make a decision if he wanted to compete in Hawaii for a second time.
“I made the decision to go to rehab and even though I was a little hesitant about it, I felt that is was the best decision to help me get back to where I needed to be,” he said.
Tony Smith, Clinical Supervisor at the WellSpan Rehab Clinic, helped Dewayne through the recovery process.
“My job was to give Dwayne the necessary information to help him recover during this process,” Tony said.
Tony, who is also a certified athletic trainer and a physical therapy assistant, has dealt with many patients with similar injuries and knows it can be tough for someone in Dwayne’s position.
“When he first came in, he did not beat around the bush, he made it aware that he wanted to be able to participate in the Ironman World Championship and we were going to help him that best way we could with that,” he said.
Trusting the rehab process
October 2019 was the main focus for Dwayne at the beginning of the year. He knew that if he went about this rehab process the right way, he would be good to go for the world championship.
The rehab process with Tony and WellSpan lasted 11 weeks, Dwayne said.
“I had to trust the system,” Dwayne said about the rehab. “I was able to work with a team of people during my rehab and they helped me develop that step by step approach to getting my strength back."
Dwayne and Tony’s relationship started before rehab. Tony, who competed in triathlons, would participate in training groups with Dwayne and always saw the hard work and dedication in Dwayne’s eyes.
“He was always focused and put his best foot forward at all times,” Tony said.
Desperately wanting to get back to competing, Dwayne had to develop patience and listen to his body during the rehab stage.
Not only did it help that Dwayne and Tony knew each other before Dwayne suffered the injury, but the relationship between the two grew throughout Dwayne’s rehab.
“Throughout the whole process Dwayne challenged me as a therapist to be a motivator and to be there for him,” Tony said. “We developed a bond over that period.”
“A patient wants a relationship with the people they’re working with,” Dwayne said.
He didn’t just have a relationship with Tony, but the entire staff, too.
“I believe the staff here values relationships with their patients and I was able to experience that firsthand,” Dwayne said.
During his rehab, Dwayne only spent about 45 minutes to an hour a few days out of the week with Tony, so each day was crucial to his recovery.
The work that Dwayne put outside of rehab is what impressed Tony.
“Since we did not have that much time together during rehab, I would give him homework and I can tell he was putting in the work based off his performance as the weeks progressed,” Tony said.
From numerous stretches with resistant bands, to workouts that involved light weights, Dwayne was starting to see results overtime.
“The workouts that I went through really proved to be beneficial towards my recovery process,” he said.
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Injury 'fueled him to work harder'
Even with the pain still looming, Dwayne still competed in triathlons leading up to the Ironman World Championship.
He was in a boot from the beginning of February up until the end of March. In April, he was back out competing in a half-Ironman, still battling the pain.
“Being the competitor that I am, I wanted to push myself, but not to where I would cause more pain,” Dwayne said. “I wanted to see where I was at and get ready for the big stage.”
Communication was an important part for Dwayne during the recovery process. He made sure that Tony knew if something didn’t feel right and he would consult with Tony about participating in a triathlon.
Tony was supportive of Dwayne’s decision to do triathlons during his rehab.
“No one knows their body like themselves and I told Dwayne that if you feel up to competing, go right ahead but be aware of how your body reacts to certain things,” he said.
From March to June, Dwayne did physical therapy and also competed in competitions.
Even after he was done with rehab, he continued to do strengthening exercises and arranged a few follow up appointments with Tony
Dwayne’s wife, Julie Smith, saw the determination in her husband’s eyes when he suffered his injury.
“He has always put his best foot forward in whatever he does and when he suffered the injury, his mood was different because it wasn’t expected, but the way he overcame the injury just speaks volumes to who he is,” she said.
When October came, Dwayne didn’t think about the injury he suffered, he was focused on competing and finishing at the Ironman World Championship.
“This meant so much more the second time because with my injury, I really did not know if I would be able to make to Kona,” Dwayne said. “What made it even better was that my family was able to make the trip too.”
Dwayne was joined by his wife and two sons, Curtis and Aaron.
Growing up watching his father compete in triathlons, this one meant the most to Curtis so far.
“To see my dad perform at the biggest stage with all that he’s been through over the year really means a lot,” Curtis said. “He didn’t let the injury hold him back, it only fueled him to work harder.”
After Dwayne competed in the world championship, a month later he was in another competition, but what happened at the end of this competition is the most important part.
“I walked away from doing that race, without any pain and that’s coming after I did the world championships in October,” he said. “There was no pain in my leg.”
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How does Smith balance triathlon training with everyday life?
On top of being a triathlete training 20-25 hours a week. Dwayne has a full-time job working as an officer at multiple Penn State University campuses.
How does someone find the time to train, go to work and be a family man? A question that even his two sons still doesn’t understand.
“I still don’t know how he does it,” his son Curtis said on being able to manage everything. “I applaud him for knowing how to handle things with such a busy schedule.”
Aaron Smith, oldest of the two, knows that his father is one of the hardest working people around.
"The fact that he never gets tired of doing all of this really shows how dedicated he is and he's still a great father at the same time," Aaron said. "He has been this way since we were kids and to see his hard work paying off is a great thing to see and be a part of."
Julie knows how tough it can be having a busy schedule, but she knows her husband does his best to make things work.
“Everything is important to him and he does a great job at finding that happy medium ground,” she said.
Dwayne comes across a lot of young people at his job and always finds time to talk and offer them advice.
“The biggest part of my job is interacting with the students and telling them my story,” he said. “They are so supportive of my journey and it brings a smile to my face.”
Earlier this month, Dwayne competed in his last race of the year in California.
“This year was a long and successful one,” Dwayne said. “I believe that what I went through this year not only made me a better triathlete, but a better man overall.”
Now in the offseason, the Hanover triathlete will get his rest and get ready to have another successful year in 2020.
"I plan on doing triathlons for as long as I possibly can and the goal is to make it back to Kona every year," he said. "If you’re not pushing yourself to the edge, you’re not testing yourself enough in my opinion."
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