Big Kahuna/Malibu Triathlon

I decided not to write a race report because Big Kahuna did not turn out to be my best race. I will spare you the details and leave it at some tummy problems from swallowing too much sea water .Big Kahuna was supposed to be my last big race before my Ironman so I was a bit bummed out that it did not turn out to be the confidence booster I was hoping for. I was pretty upset about the race until this past weekend when I got to be a part of a very emotional, inspirational experience that I decided was more important to write about.

My friend Meghan joined a group called Team in Training that I am sure most of you are aware of. I have been a part of Team in Training for a long time starting out in marathons and slowly moving my way to triathlons. I have raised over $10k for the leukemia and lymphoma society over the past four years. Last year I was the captain of the west los angeles tnt group that Meghan joined. Meghan joined to get in shape, meet some friends and raise money for a good cause along the way. She knew little to nothing about the leukemia and lymphoma society. About 2 months after training began, I received shocking news that Meghan's routine biopsy of her lymph nodes did not come back benign, but that she had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Luckily for Meghan, her support through the difficult times came from the very team she had been training with. While we provided the emotional support she needed, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society guided Megan to the proper healthcare and treatment required to fight the cancer. She had to give up her immediate goal of training for the Malibu triathlon but she was in for a much bigger fight. In April, Meghan called me with the wonderful news that she was in remission. Meghan decided it was time to start training for the triathlon she had originally signed up for. This past Sunday Meghan completed the Malibu triathlon. Everything finally came full circle as she was able to do the triathlon she had to put on hold the year before in order to endure months of chemo and other various treatments. I ran with Meghan for part of the run portion of the race and was brought back to my negative thoughts of my race earlier in the week. I felt ashamed as I looked at this girl running next to me who had been through so much this year and was still pushing herself to get through this event and I was complaining that I had a bit of adversity in my silly race. It was a good reminder of how lucky I really am. This inspiration came at the perfect time as I am getting into the scary part of my Ironman training. I needed a little kick in the butt to remind me how lucky I am.