COUNTDOWN TO RACE DAY 3

WHAT ARE YOUR LIMITATIONS?

At the end of 2007 I realized I needed to change some things if I didn't want the scale to keep creeping up. I wasn't overweight but the scale was entering an area I had never seen before (except while I was pregnant). I didn't like it. The frustrating thing was I had been exercising 4-5 days a week for over a year. I knew I had to do something different but I wasn't sure I really wanted to. So I asked myself some crazy questions, "What would happen if you set a goal to do a "mini" triathlon by the time you're 40?" , "What would happen if you started running again?" and "What would it take to really get fit and would it really be worth it?"

Six months later I have answered two of those three questions. Number one - I love running. Number 2 - It's hard work to get fit but the results are definitely worth it. And just yesterday I think I've found my inspiration for the triathlon question. This is a picture of Sister Madonna. Yes, she's a nun, and yes, she has done a triathlon. But to say she's done a triathlon is a huge understatement. Here's her story - Sister Madonna Buder started running after the age of 50 and before long she was training for marathons. In seven years she finished 37 marathons! At the age of 52 she started training for triathlons and since then has finished over 300(!) including 34 full Ironmans (2.4 mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2 mile run). And she doesn't just finish these races - she sets records. In 1996 she set the world record for her age group in an Ironman. In 2005, at the age of 75, she became the oldest woman to complete the Hawaii Ironman.

So what are your limitations? What are some hard things you'd like to attempt but are afraid to. I think Sister Madonna is an inspiration to all of us who ever thought of ourselves as non-athletes or that it was too late to start getting fit.