Why I Tri.

Think about it. I have.

A little over five years ago I experienced a tremendous amount of health problems. Those problems led to five surgeries in a two year span. First... it was just an ovarian cyst that was out of control. Really.. that was supposed to be no big deal. But after rupturing twice and reappearing, the doc decided to open me up and take my right ovary. Once inside, she found a mess. The diagnosis: endometriosis. Certainly something I could live with but something that would probably cause me problems down the line (i.e., more cysts!).

Four months later I went back to my doctor. I was having some significant "pulling" in my lower right groin area... just above my pubic bone. She did a pap smear and immediately found a tumor. This one was a little different. It was large.. and my doctor said she was scared. I could also see it in her eyes. Now... I was scared. That appointment was at 4:30 on a tuesday afternoon. The next morning, she had me in the O-R at 6am to remove the tumor. She told us to prepare for the worst. She told us she had only seen vaginal turmors like this in med school - in pictures - and that her instructors had informed the students they'd "probably" never see anything like this in their practice. But she had. And I was scared.

After surgery my doc came to my room to see how I was doing... and she informed me the problem was bigger than she thought. She urged me to have a full hystorectomy... and we scheduled it for two weeks later (enough time for me to heal a little).

After that... another bump in the left groin led to another surgery.. and the gall bladder was removed a few months after that.

I was a mess. Did I mention that during all this I also had my thyroid nuked... because my family doc (not my ob-gyn) said my heart was going too fast and I had "graves disease". Wonder why.

So now...here I am... five years later...

Yesterday Barrie, a friend, asked me why I do triathlons. The only answer I have is "because I can."

This sport is about my health. It has been my salvation. Deep inside I am still scared to death about what might be growing inside of me. I have not gone to the doctor for three years because of it. Triathlon training makes me feel healthy... and the aches and pains I get I can attribute to the training.

Sure... I know I'm stupid... that I should go back to my doc... but for now, I'm feeling good... and healthy.

I TRI because I CAN.

Next week I'm headed to the Longhorn Ironman 70.3 in Austin. I'm not as "in shape" as I was for Florida. There's also that "pressure" to beat my time... to get an award like I did in Florida... blah blah blah. I HATE that pressure.

I want to just remember why I'm there in the first place.