Bernie Dooley is 65 and he’s probably healthier than a lot of people half his age.

That’s because Dooley is a triathlete and works out at least two hours every day, seven days a week. He’s training for the Ironman Arizona, a triathlon where participants must complete a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. He leaves today for the event in Tempe on Sunday.

Dooley, who didn’t compete in his first triathlon until his early 40s, started to exercise after a trip to the doctor.

“I went in for a physical and my doctor read me the riot act because I was smoking and drinking,” Dooley said. “He said given my high cholesterol and high triglyceride count, I’d be lucky to make it to 60. A couple days later there was an article in the Wall Street Journal about how running reduces the triglyceride count in your blood so I started running.”

A few years later, Dooley, who is 5’11” and weighs 155 pounds, moved to California from Texas and learned how to swim and started riding bike as cross training, when a friend suggested he try a triathlon.

He entered his first triathlon in Clovis in the early 1980s and enjoyed it and he’s been doing them ever since.

“I did an Ironman triathlon five years ago when I was 60 and I told myself that I wanted to do another one when I was 65,” Dooley said, who does three or four international-distance triathlons (1-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer bike, 10-kilometer run) every year.

Completing an Ironman is not an easy task for anyone, let along a 65-year-old man. Dooley enjoys the swimming the best and said he can finish the 2.4-mile swim comfortably in about an hour and 15 minutes. The biking is his least favorite of the three events.

Dooley trains for at least two hours a day during the week, combining two of the three events into his daily workout, either running and swimming or swimming and biking. He also does weight training and a lot of core work and carefully watches what he eats.

On the weekends he increases his routine. Just two weekends ago in preparation for the Ironman, Dooley completed a 105-mile bike ride and a 2-mile run on Saturday and followed that up on Sunday with a 20-mile run. Despite the heavy training and busy work schedule, Dooley relishes tackling the increased exercise routine on the weekend.

“If I I’m tired during the week, I’ll cut the exercise early because getting rest is important,” Dooley said. “But I’m always sure I’m well rested for the weekend workouts.”

Dooley’s goal for Sunday’s event is the finish within 15 hours. Fourteen hours and 30 minutes would be good and finishing even closer to 14 hours would be an extremely good day, Dooley said.

So why does he put himself through all this?

“For the Ironman distance it’s the challenge,” Dooley said. “The day is so long that you always have problems to deal with. Once you work through the pain and discomfort during the event, you feel OK.

“I also participate in triathlons for health reasons,” Dooley continued. “I realize what I do is probably a little over the top, but I think the 30-minutes a day of exercise that is often recommended is low. I think people should exercise at least an hour a day, five days a week. It’s amazing of how much better one feels when they’re healthy and when they exercise.”

Dooley’s wife, Muriel, is very proud of her husband.

“I think he’s an inspiration to other people,” Muriel said. “Between his work and exercise, it takes a lot of time away from us, but he’s in good shape and I couldn’t be prouder of him.”

The Dooley File

Name: Bernie Dooley

Age: 65

Resides: Folsom for 19 years

Occupation: Accountant, Dooley Tax and Financial Services, Sacramento

Family: Wife, Muriel; 5 kids and 6 grandkids between them

triathlons completed: More than 100

Training schedule: Two hours every weekday, even longer on weekends

Message to kids: If they get the sense of well-being and physical fitness at an early age, it’s something that they will continue.