I started running in physical therapy in 1979 after a bad ski accident resulted in breaking my leg in five places. Once I ditched the crutches, then the cane, I realized I loved running. Content with 5ks and 10 ks for the next 20 years as I raised my four children, I decided to run my first marathon in 2000. I was quickly hooked: I run slow and steady so the distance was the challenge. As one friend put it: "when you have three teens and a two year old, running for two hours by yourself on a Sunday afternoon is like heaven"

My marathon running came to a screeching halt the year I turned fifty. I had an asthma attack one mile into a fall marathon. I decided, since I blew that marathon that I would train for another in six weeks...my feet did not stand up to the challenge and I ended up with a boot for six weeks and an order to give up marathons for two years and do tris instead. I signed up for a tri with team in training, raised the money, did the training, then a week before the triathalon, broke my knuckle while covering a baseball game as a sportswriter.(hardball hits hand: bones shatter.) Team in Training signed me up for another tri, eight weeks later. That one was cancelled because a hurricane was due to hit the morning of the race. Finally., two weeks later,I competed in my first tri and I was hooked. I was slow, but loved it.

This year I decided to up my game and try for my first half ironman. The TriDot training so far has been awesome. As I am rapidly approaching sixty, I am training without any aches or pains for the first time!