LOS CABOS, Mexico — Chiseled into the southern-most tip of the Baja California Peninsula is a winding stretch of smoothly paved, sporadically hilly highway dividing a sprawling desert and a vast sea. For the average vacationer, the picturesque backdrop, three-century-old adobe houses and pristine beaches offer an escape from reality.

Eddie Cournoyer is no ordinary tourist and he is certainly not escaping anything. Rather, the Trans-peninsular highway and Sea of Cortez are obstacles in the way of his ultimate goal of completing yet another grueling Ironman Triathlon.

“To me, running by itself, terribly boring, cycling by itself, boring, swimming, boring,” Cournoyer said. “But when you combine the three of them, that’s what interests me. That’s what makes it fun for me.

“People ask me if I’m going on vacation — yeah, kinda sorta. It’s going to be a lot of work, but then we’re going to enjoy a couple of days after the race.”

Cournoyer, a 52-year-old anesthesiologist at Vidant Beaufort Hospital and father of two, has spent the last eight months following a specific training regimen tailored for the 140-mile race. A 2,800-mile trip from Washington, participants will have to swim 2.4 miles through a choppy sea, bike 112 miles of highway and run 26.2 miles of road, all in under 17 hours. It’s one of the most physically demanding competitions on the planet.

Cournoyer may specialize in sedation, but his body will be put to the test, different muscles activating during different portions of the race. Ten years ago, Cournoyer began training, working his way up from a sprint triathlon to a full Ironman Triathlon, races that have brought him all over North America — from Raleigh to Louisville, Ky., to Cozumel, Mexico.

“A lot of it is mental,” he said. “You start the swim and say, ‘I’m a swimmer.’ You get out of the water, take your wet suit off and say, ‘Now I’m a cyclist.’ You get off that bike and you’re a runner. That’s kind of the mindset because you can’t think about the distance you completed, you’re more focused on the distance you have to go. They’re probably the best athletes in the world. You have a lot of different sports, but this type of thing, you have to have endurance. And there’s strategy to it — there’s fueling and you have to race smart.”

Preparation is key, the day of the race and in advance. In the months leading up to the competition, Cournoyer has monitored his diet and made sure to address at least one of the three events each day. With a house on the water, he’ll commonly swim across the Pamlico River or spend a half hour doing laps in a pool. A 25-mile bike is also nothing out of the ordinary, though as the race date gets closer, he’s gradually shortening the distances to save his body for the Los Cabos Ironman Triathlon, which will take place next Sunday, Oct. 25.

“Training for a triathlon is probably one of the loneliest things you can do,” Cournoyer said reluctantly. “You can ride from here to Plymouth or Swan Quarter and no one is going to ride with you. Sure it consumes a lot of my time, but there are worse habits to have than this.”

Cournoyer admits that, at his age, achieving a professional time is likely unrealistic. After recording times of 13 hours and 12:30 at previous Ironman Triathlons, he’s shooting for 12 hours even. He’s also hoping for a safe race, especially considering past experiences.

Four years ago, during the cycling portion of an Ironman race in Cozumel, Cournoyer collided with an Argentine competitor and both cyclists crashed to the ground. Cournoyer’s bike was in pieces, the Argentine knocked out cold. After months of preparation and one of his best showings on the swim course, Cournoyer was distraught, to say the least, but that didn’t stop him from finishing the run course.

“That was probably the most unfortunate highlight in my reel,” he said. “My front carbon wheel was in about a million pieces. I got all cleaned up, walked back and got to run.”

Along with his naturally competitive nature, Cournoyer says the crowds, which are particularly strong in triathlons based in Mexico, and the support from his two children, Noah and Jackson, are what drives him.