Endurance can be measured in so many different ways.

A person can endure physical pain, emotional anguish and psychological torture to achieve a particular goal.

But what if that goal meant enduring all three?

For Piedmont High teacher Taylor Morgan, enduring all of this is what comes with the territory in the world of being a triathlete.

Running has always come easy for Morgan. In fact, running has become a thing of natural progression for him.

He ran the 100, 200 and 400 for Hokes Bluff and while studying at Auburn, began running with a partner that would begin to push him more that ever.

"My last year at Auburn, I started running distance with a guy on the Cross Country team," Morgan said. "Then my cousin had done some triathlons and he got me to do a sprint triathlon in Guntersville."

In a sprint triathlon, an athlete must go through an 800-meter swim, a 25-mile bike ride and a 3-mile run.

Morgan found that, since he was a great runner, his ability to come off the bike and into the run helped him win some of the sprint marathons he entered. After victories in a few sprint triathlons, including one in Guntersville, and three appearances in the annual Cheaha Challenge, Morgan built on his success and began working towards the ultimate in physical challenges, the Ironman.

"It's really the first thing since high school that's given me that adrenaline rush," Morgan said of the sprint triathlons.

Before Morgan would take on the actual Ironman event, he would compete in a handful of Half Ironman races that consisted of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run (commonly known as a 5k.)

While the Half Ironman would be enough to send the average person directly to the morgue, Morgan continued to push himself.

In August, Morgan competed in the Ford Ironman Louisville.

While Morgan's sprint marathons only carried him a short distance on each discipline, the Ironman would force him to swim 2.4 miles, then ride a bike for 112 more, then finish his day with a full-fledged 26.2 mile marathon.

Each discipline posed a different challenge for the competitors.

Part of the swim, done in the Ohio River, was into the current. The bike course featured a great deal of climbing and the marathon at the end was just 26.2 miles of punishment after the other two stages.

"That's a long marathon after that bike ride," Morgan said. "It's a long day."

In the end, Morgan completed the course in 11 hours and 23 minutes, just under his personal goal of 12 hours and finished 402 out of the 3000 in the event.

While the event itself was taxing, Morgan said that training posed a problem over the summer, especially on the bike. Morgan could easily wake up early in the morning and get a run or a swim done in a few hours, but Morgan says that a couple of hours on the bike are just a warm-up.

"On Saturday's, I'd get in a good 6-hour ride," Morgan said. "During the week, getting in a 2-3 hour bike ride got tough."

Morgan and his wife, Erin, had a baby shortly before the Ironman in Louisville, so he couldn't devote a great deal of time to training.

"I don't know when I'll be able to do another one," Morgan said. "It's a big commitment when you have a family. She's been really supportive. You can't do it unless the wife supports you completely. There's no way I could have done it without her."

Completing the Ironman has also helped Morgan in his work as coach of Piedmont's Cross Country team and their training this year. Morgan says that the team's runs have been getting more demanding.

While there are no immediate plans to compete in another Ironman, Morgan will continue to compete in century bike rides and sprint marathons. He hopes to compete in the Ironman Lake Placid (NY) in a few years and eventually qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.