Tri It—You’ll Like It.

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

ax season is not the time to make big changes in computer systems. So when you’re a CPA who specializes in IT, the weeks between January 1 and April 15 are the slowest of the year.

Slow is hardly the word for CPA/CITP Roman Kepczyk, though. He spent tax season 2006 in a 13-week training program leading up to the Ironman Triathlon, held April 9 in Tempe, Ariz.

As his fellow CPAs put the finishing touches on clients’ tax returns, Kepczyk started the day at 7:00 a.m. with a 2.4-mile swim, spent the next six hours on a 112-mile bike ride and wound down into evening with a 26.2-mile marathon.

Kepczyk says entering the Ironman has been on his list of life goals since college, but it suddenly seemed attainable when the competition came to Arizona, giving him the opportunity to train close to home. Just as in business—where he’s president of accounting technology consultancy InfoTech Partners North America Inc.—he credits good backup and leading-edge technology with helping improve his performance and keep him in the game. His Garmin Forerunner GPS wristwatch monitored his heart rate, pace and distance, and physical therapy helped him overcome a hurt shoulder and two muscle pulls during training. Also important in both work and sports is a willingness to try new and better ways of doing things. “In January, I actually relearned to swim with a new technique called full immersion swimming,” he says. “That made me significantly more efficient and let me swim longer and stronger with much less energy.”

While Kepczyk wasn’t the first guy across the finish line, he’s proud of his final time of 13 hours, 32 minutes and 51 seconds. Next year, though, he’s likely to take it easy…and just run a marathon.

—Cheryl Rosen