SOUVALIAN PRIMED FOR GRUELING TRIATHLON
Eric Benevides
Pawtucket Times
July 11 2008
Rhode Island
"Some of us hate being defeated, Once we are, we have to fight back."
— Andranik "Andy" Souvalian
This has been an exciting week for Andy Souvalian.
A product administrator at Amica Insurance in Lincoln, Souvalian, 33,
and four of his co-workers are counting down the days to Sunday’s
inaugural Amica Insurance Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island — a grueling
competition that plans to draw over 1,600 competitors from around
the world.
It’s a special event for Souvalian, not only because Andy is one
of close to 200 participants from the Ocean State, but also because
his employer is sponsoring the race and his co-workers, family, and
friends will be on hand to support him in his quest for a six-hour
and 30-minute finish.
Souvalian and his good friend and training partner, Roupen Bastajian,
have put several months of hard training and blood, sweat, and tears
into this triathlon, and they know the obstacles that await them.
A 1.2-mile swim at 6 a.m. in the cold waters of Roger Wheeler
State Beach in Narragansett. A 56-mile bike ride through Exeter,
West Greenwich, Coventry, North Scituate, Johnston, and downtown
Providence that features several challenging hills from miles 25-50.
And if the bike ride isn’t tough enough, the half marathon (13.1
miles) offers nothing but rolling hills through Providence and travels
through the historic East Side, continues through Brown University,
and finishes in the city’s downtown business district.
"It’s going to be tough," noted Souvalian. "I’ll do OK on the swim
and decent on the bike, but I’ll get killed on the run. I’ve always
loved swimming, but I always hated running. I guess I always will."
While the winner of the event is expected to complete it in less
than four hours and earn a nice payday, Souvalian just wants a
respectable finish. A 40-minute swim would be a great start, and if
he could average 16-17 mph on his bike ride, he could gut out the
half marathon in the neighborhood of 2:30 and hopefully nail down a
time in the 6:30s.
While this sounds like an ordinary finish by another average Joe, it
isn’t. Five years ago, Souvalian nearly lost his life in a cycling
accident in Burrillville while he and Bastajian were getting in an
easy Monday night ride.
A van sped through a red light at the intersection of Route
102 and Central Street while they were crossing and struck both
cyclists. Bastajian suffered several facial injuries and burns to
his arms, but Souvalian, who landed head-first on the pavement,
endured severe internal bleeding in his brain.
Rescue personnel did not think he would make it to the hospital, but
Souvalian pulled through the ordeal and went on to make the biggest
comeback of his life.
*** A NATIVE OF Armenia who immigrated to the United States in 1980,
Souvalian was raised in Cranston and graduated from Cranston West
High in 1993. After graduation, he spent time in the military and
attended CCRI, the University of Maryland, and Bryant College.
Souvalian never played any team sports in high school or college,
but he was involved in the martial arts and stayed fit by swimming
and — after serving in the military — running.
In the fall of 2001, his good friend Bastajian encouraged Souvalian to
run the Ocean State Marathon (from Warwick to Providence) with him,
and while Roupen finished the race in a 3:40:28 time, Souvalian was
far behind him in 4:29:46.
"After doing that, I figured if he’s going to make me run, I want
to make him swim," Souvalian added with a grin. "So the following
year, we did the "Save the Bay" swim in Narragansett, and after that,
we figured if we’re doing two of the three events (in a triathlon),
we might have well jump into a triathlon."
But they never got around to competing in one. After a return run in
the Ocean State Marathon that fall, they were going to take part in
the ASE "Try the Tri" Triathlon in the following July at Colt State
Park in Bristol, but because the fog was immense that day, the event
was modified into a duathlon, with two 3.1-mile runs sandwiched around
an 11-mile bike ride.
They were both disappointed, but they were back to the drawing board
and talked about plans for a triathlon. While they discussed their
next step, they continued to work out, and on a cool Monday night in
the middle of the following month, they decided to go on an easy bike
ride in Burrillville, one that they thought didn’t require helmets
for their protection.
"We were going down (Route) 102 and we were going pretty good,"
admitted Souvalian. "We had a pretty decent speed at the time, and all
of a sudden, a van ran a red light perpendicular (to us). He collided
directly into Roupen, took him under the van, and caused me to fly
several feet."
Bastajian was trapped underneath the van and wasn’t wedged from it
until a few people who noticed the accident quickly rushed to his
aide to lift the van and pull him out.
It appeared at the time that Bastajian endured the worse of the two
cyclists. He suffered 22 broken bones in his face and burns on his
right arm from the van’s radiator.
Souvalian, meanwhile, landed on the sidewalk, but while his body fell
on the grass and absorbed a few bruises and cuts, his head struck
the cement.
"I just remember a few different spots," he recalled. "I remember
waking up and seeing my friend in somebody’s lap and his face was
all blood, and I think I dozed off after that and then woke up in
the ambulance. Even to this day, I can’t remember a whole lot of it."
One thing Souvalian can’t remember is talking to a police officer
and telling him that his name was Khoren, who was his brother, but
fortunately, the officer was able to get Souvalian’s facts straight
and notified Khoren of the accident.
"I was sent to Rhode Island Hospital," said Souvalian. "The doctors
did several different CAT scans on me and they were planning on
drilling. They said, ‘If the last CAT scan we do doesn’t show that
the bleeding has stopped, then we’re going to have to drill in to
release the pressure or else you’re going to have permanent brain
damage and potentially die.’ "They were prepping me to drill,
but my brother convinced them to do one final CAT scan. They did,
and the bleeding stopped."
Souvalian spent the next two days in the hospital for observation
before returning home. He missed several months from his job at Cox
Communcations and spent more time that he wanted to indoors as he
tried to fully recuperate from his injury.
"A few months into my recovery time, I started using medical bands
to begin strengthening my muscles again," added Souvalian. "I had
muscular pain that kept me from doing many things during this time,
so I had to keep it very simple and light. I also made the basement
floor with no lights my refuge when my headaches were too severe,
which was quite often. And with all of the hospital visits I had,
it was almost like a full-time job by itself.
"I would say it was about eight months when I started really getting
back into everything," continued Souvalian, who still suffers from
migranes and headaches. "I remember the first time I came back on my
bike and went through that intersection. I was expecting another van
to come and run me over. It was difficult, but then after one or two
rides, I guess I got used to the whole feeling."
*** While Souvalian was slowly making his comeback, so was Bastajian,
and just 13 months after their accident, they found themselves taking
part in the FirmMan Half Ironman in Narragansett.
"I had to come back from this," noted Souvalian. "Some of us hate
being defeated, Once we are, we have to fight back."
They also competed in a handful of other events over the next three
years, and now they have their sights set on Sunday.
Physically, Souvalian admits that he’s in excellent shape, "but
Roupen’s shoulder is still messed up and he has welts all over his
arms from trying to save his face from the burning radiator," he added.
And mentally?
"I can’t say that we really have any fear now that we’re back on our
bikes," Souvalian said. "We’re much more cautious when we go through
intersections. And now we’re always wearing our helmets."
A big mental test for Souvalian on Sunday will be the bike ride and
revisiting Route 102 where the 2003 accident took place, but he was
quick to note that he won’t have any flashbacks of his accident.
"It’s amazing we’re going to be riding that way," he added, "but
I’ve been back on that intersection several times and I haven’t had
any problems."
After this weekend’s triathlon, Souvalian has no plans to slow
down. On July 26, he plans to return to Narragansett Bay and take
part in another "Save the Bay" swim, and he’s already registered for
the Amica Insurance Breakers Marathon on Oct. 18 in Newport.
He’s also looking into participating in an off-road triathlon, which
encompasses a swim in a lake, a mountain bike ride, and a trail run.
"I love hiking and camping, so I think that will be right up my alley,"
he added.
Within the next couple of years, his top goal is to compete in a
full triathlon (a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile
marathon), and he hopes to do it in Lake Placid, N.Y. because it’s
the closest qualifying event for the Hawaii Triathlon, considered by
many as "the Boston Marathon of triathlons."
"That’s a long-term goal of mine," he admitted. "But I just want to
see how I do this weekend. I just want to take things one at a time."