Martin Kokoszka, a former college basketball player, recalled one his toughest practices during his playing days at Eastern Connecticut State University.
“One time, three guys showed up late and we had to run 30 suicides in 30 minutes,” Kokoszka said. “And then, we had to practice for three hours.”
The 33-year-old Oak Park resident, who now teaches physical education, remembered that hellish practice because it was one of the few experiences that compared to competing in his first major race, the Bigfoot Olympic Triathlon six years ago in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He said the roughly mile-long swim of the three-leg event, which includes a nearly 25-mile bike and a roughly 6-mile run, was the toughest part.
“I felt very similar to that practice and I hadn’t really trained for the swim,” Kokoszka said. “My goggles got [clouded] and I had to toss them. A dead fish hit my face while I was swimming.”
If getting across Lake Geneva was hard for Kokoszka, it must’ve been particularly exhausting for his wife, Takyrica, 34, who competed in the triathlon with him — about two months after teaching herself how to swim in earnest.
“I taught myself to swim on YouTube,” Takyrica said. “A co-worker of mine who swam in college came to the pool with me a few times and gave me some tips on which drills to do. I just did them myself. When I was a kid, I learned how to float, but I never learned any strokes. I could jump in and not drown but that was about it.”
A registered nurse, Takyrica grew up on the West Side of Chicago. She’s been doing the unexpected and running toward challenges her whole life. A mother at 16, she went on to DePaul University, where she graduated with a double major in computer science and math before obtaining her nurse’s license.
“It’s just her personality,” said Martin. “If something challenging comes her way, she’s going to persevere and get through it. I don’t know how you teach that.”
That Bigfoot Triathlon took place in 2010, the year Martin and Takyrica met while in Las Vegas. They’ve been training for, and competing together in, various races ever since — including two Chicago Marathons.
“We met in Vegas doing something totally unrelated to the race, but it’s probably what kept him coming back here,” Takyrica said of her husband, a native of Connecticut.
“When we met in Vegas and I came out to Chicago, she was training for Big Foot and was like, ‘Do you mind working out with me?'” Martin recalled.
“I love being physically active, so when I came out here, we were working out together every day,” he said. “We also went to a White Sox game, since we both like going to sporting events. It was Elvis night. Athletics really solidified a bond that’s hard to describe. It’s like hanging out with my best friend.”
The couple said having three children, including two toddlers, has complicated their training regimen, but it hasn’t stopped what’s become something of a ritual.
Last Friday, the two were headed, again, to Elvis Night at a White Sox game. On Saturday, they dined on Italian food to take in the carbs needed to get through Sunday’s Chicago Triathlon — what would be Takyrica’s 13th since learning to swim six years ago.
“I’m still excited about the Olympics,” she said, as if thinking up another challenge she’d like to take on in the future. “I watched the woman’s triathlon from start to finish and it was amazing.”
CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com