THE FRONT ROW with BRUCE BOURQUIN, June 27, 2014

By all intents and purposes, Shane Niemeyer has come as close to having nine lives as a human being can really have, going from former drug addict to four-time Ironman finisher and he is working on his fifth.

THE 38-year-old who lives in Boulder, Colo., is an author of a new book, "The Hurt Artist", which was released on May 20 by Thomas Dunne Books. He wrote it with Gary Brozek, who has collaborated on more than 20 books, including five that became New York Times bestsellers.

"It's been warmly received," Niemeyer said recently, in a phone interview from Boulder. "It's pretty well done. I had a lot of help from a really good writer. The word is just now starting to get out and I've had a lot of positive feedback and particularly when you lay everything out. I was a little train wreck, worse than anyone else I've ever knew. I wrote it with the hopes that maybe it would help or maybe connect with someone who needs it. There's a lot of methamphetamine in Idaho and there's problems everywhere, but to lay it out like that you'll connect with people who can use it."

NIEMEYER WAS in a dark place and said he hit rock bottom in September 2003, at age 28, when he attempted to commit suicide.

"Inside Ada County Jail (in Boise), I was tired of it and in a moment of crisis, in one of the saddest moments I'd ever had, I decided I was going to hang myself," Niemeyer said. "You don't have any access to any razors or anything. It was a bad scene, it was a horrible day for me.

"I was in jail awaiting sentencing. I had been arrested 26 times. I was a complete and utter failure, in every way. I'd been in and out of rehab and in and out of jail. I just couldn't seem to put it together. So I didn't want to live a life where I felt like I was out of control.

"I couldn't believe this was my life and I couldn't seem to get out of it. I was coming off of heroin and cocaine and I wasn't thinking and you're not yourself, you're not a high-functioning human being, you're under the influence and your emotions are erratic and I really didn't want to do it any more, I didn't want to get out of jail and I didn't want to do that for however long I was going to live. I thought one of the drug dealers I had robbed was going to kill me. I'd gotten shot at, stabbed, I'd OD'd (overdosed), but I never died."

IN HIS suicide attempt, the cord snapped and Niemeyer's foot was broken from the fall, and he wound up in the medical unit of the jail. But a simple gift from a prison guard helped change his outlook and life.

"The way that I remember it is as soon as I tried to hang myself, as soon as the cord snapped, I remember when I regained my awareness, I was in this medical unit," Niemeyer said. "I was in this cell with these huge bright lights, 24/7, just you and this video camera. There was this Bible there and I didn't want to really read the Bible, I needed something entertaining, something to occupy my mind. I was kicking the door at random intervals and I was just asking for something to read. Deputy Freeman slid that magazine (Outside Magazine) under the door," Niemeyer said. "That's all I read, over and over, because that's all I had. In that magazine, there was an article about triathlons and this ultradistance triathlon, the Ironman, how it was this (2.4)-mile swim and an 112-mile ride and you get off the bike, and these guys run a marathon (26.2 miles) and it seems so crazy to me that, it was at a time where I needed to formulate an idea for myself. I needed something to grab onto and occupy my time. It seemed to me at a lot of levels, just following a process would teach me discipline and I would get in shape and it'd help me repair some emotional damage and it would keep my head straight. Those were the seeds that were sown."

SO WITH some humble beginnings - Niemeyer worked as a dishwasher, among some other odd jobs right out of prison.

"I couldn't drive, so I rode a bike everywhere," Niemeyer said. "I begged these guys for a membership at Gold's Gym (in Boise) in exchange for custodial work. I started mopping floors and bootstrapped myself with the goal of finishing an Ironman and becoming a strength and conditioning coach and I got faster. I didn't have anywhere to live. So an old defense attorney of mine named Brett Fox, he let me sleep on his couch. Everywhere I turned, someone gave me a leg up. I knew I needed a gym membership, I knew I needed a bike, so it all came together. Things changed and here I am."

Currently, Niemeyer writes aerobic workouts online for business professionals and he is a motivational speaker, doing between eight and 15 speeches per year, where he shares his stories from his past and behavioral changes.

"No matter how far you fall in your life, you can always change your circumstances," Niemeyer said.

NIEMEYER'S PROBLEMS began almost from the get-go when he began attending college.

"I was running from some problems I had at Colorado State University," Niemeyer said. "I got suspended for two years. The charges were inciting a riot and assaulting a police officer. I was really drunk and acting like a total idiot. It got me in a bit of hot water. So I kind of randomly picked Boise on the map and went to school at Boise State University. I got in a lot of trouble in Boise. I was drinking every day and using heroin and cocaine every day. I had a lot of drug-related charges, like retail theft, and possession charges.

After a stint in rehab, in 2002, Niemeyer graduated from Southern Miss with a degree in history and literature, then moved back to Boise.

IN MARCH 2004, Niemeyer, born and raised in Loveland, Colo., was released from a prison drug program in Boise, and he competed in his first triathlon just six months later.

"I probably raced two Ironmans per year and 17 Ironmans and another 60 half-Ironmans," he said.

Niemeyer will attempt to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in October in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, by trying to finish among the top 50 racers in Sunday's race. He's qualified each of the last three years.

He's attempted Ironman Coeur d'Alene three previous times.

In 2011, Niemeyer finished 33rd overall, with a time of 9 hours, 42 minutes and 2 seconds, out of roughly 2,400 competitors from around the world. In 2009, he finished 29th (9:38.26) and in 2010, he did not start.

"It's so pretty up there, it's such a great place to race," he said. "The run is one of the prettiest in the world."

SOON AFTER he returns from Coeur d'Alene, Niemeyer and his wife of nearly two years, Mandy, have to move their personal belongings into a new home a few miles from his current one in Boulder. His wife, who is from Orlando, Fla., is a triathlete who has known him for nearly six years and is a personal speech pathologist.

"She came here to Boulder to training camp," Niemeyer said of Mandy. "She trained with my coach, Joanna Zeiger, who's a former Olympian. I fell head over heels for her, she's pretty and was clearly out of my league. But somehow I sealed the deal over persistence."

At the World Championship in Hawaii, Niemeyer's best overall finish was in 2012. He finished 146th in 9 hours, 36 minutes, 20 seconds. He competed in the swim but did not finish in 2013, was 585th in 2011 (10:13.12) and was 512nd in his world championship debut in 2010 (10:07.08).

NATURALLY, NIEMEYER says he feels pretty fortunate to be not only alive and drug-free, but thriving and excelling in one triathlete after another.

"A lot of my (former) friends and a lot of guys I was in prison with, have either died or are back in prison," Niemeyer said. "It's a sad state of affairs. I've been lucky, man. A lot of my friends who've done a fraction of the things I did have passed away. That's how it goes."

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013, or via email at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @bourq25