How old are you?
44
Where do you live?
Roswell, GA
Website
Strava
What is your history with sports and athletics?
I swam as a kid, but sports were not encouraged in my household growing up. I did not get into sports seriously until 2015 when I learned I was a carrier of the faulty BRCA1 gene and had to have a mastectomy. Later that year, a four-hour surgery followed by two additional surgeries. I wanted to get into the best shape possible for surgery.
Meanwhile, at work, I was writing a newsletter and one of the guys I was featuring happened to do IRONMAN which is how I learned about triathlons. While IRONMAN intrigued me at the time, it was more of an idea than something I thought I could do; I picked his brain about running injuries because at the time I was always getting shin splints. He told me about Newton Running Shoes, a minimal dropped shoe (the presenting sponsor of IRONMAN that year) and his running coach.
A week before my mastectomy, I ran the Atlanta 10 miler and returned to running two weeks post op, I was cleared to run but no weightlifting for several months. By week 11 I ran the Hot Chocolate 15K and almost to the date a year later, I had run a couple of half-marathons and quietly celebrated the year of surgeries alone doing the Rock N Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon followed by a massage.
Unfortunately, the celebration was short-lived as a series of unfortunate health events followed that subsequently led to a ministroke in 2017 and an eating disorder. I was so exhausted – I was consuming about 6 to 8 cups of coffee a day and was struggling with incredible amounts of inflammation.
I left corporate unexpectedly in 2018 and since then began overhauling my eating habits and life. I trained and finished my first full marathon in March 2019.
When COVID hit in 2020, I was divorced, on my own and my gym was closed. So I took out my old fitness bike which I rarely used and began cycling outdoors. I rode exactly 100 miles in April of 2020 and running about a 100 miles a month.
By June, the pool reopened at my gym and I went swimming for the first time since I was a kid. It was humbling at best. Took me 1.5 hours to swim 1.2 miles. I kept at it.
In September of 2021, I did my first triathlon ever, a 70.3 mile triathlon in Augusta and finished in 6:24. And I wanted to go further. Now 2 years post COVID, I have run nearly 3,800 miles, cycled 10,000 miles and have swum 486,000 yards as I train for IM California as an IRONMAN Foundation Athlete.
What do you enjoy most about being an athlete?
Have you experienced any challenges or obstacles?
Yes, just five weeks ago I was hit by a car in the midst of a 9-mile run. Despite hitting the ground hard, I was able to get up, brush myself off and finish my run home. Only when I changed clothes did I see what a mess my elbow was. I cleaned up, drove myself to ER, got some stitches and a splint. I returned to cycling the next day on my indoor trainer and running four days later.
Now 5 weeks post elbow break, with my elbow still splinted, I have run 152.9 miles, including two half-marathons, one at 8:45 pace! I have cycled over 800 miles on my WAHOO KICKR. I have returned to box jumps and 10lb lateral raises on both arms. I took exactly one over the counter pain pill and 4 ibuprofen since the accident. And because of the mobility I have from the hours of swimming, I was able to continue to be independent and take care of myself as I healed.
I attribute the strength of my bones to how much I train and my diet, which is dairy free outside of butter.