About Me

Although I named this blog Bluegrass Tri Chick I am not originally from the Bluegrass.  I have done time in Northeastern Indiana ('70-'85), some hard time in the western Chicago burbs (aka High School at Naperville North & then trying to figure out what the heck I wanted to do for the rest of my life, '85-'92) followed by an easier time in Chicago proper ('92-'03) & since 2003 I have been having a fine time in Lexington, KY.

1998 - Me & Dad at my Graduation Dinner

After several attempts at community college trying out different degrees I finally earned my bachelor's at the University of Illinois Chicago in Electrical Engineering in 1998.  I am pretty sure if my Dad didn't tell me I couldn't do it because it was too hard I would not be an EE today.  That's pretty much how I roll....I tell you I want to try something, then you tell me I can't, then I say 'challenge accepted'. 

 I have never been a stellar athlete.  My athletic career involved a pity pick from the coach to be on the 7th grade basketball team where I scored a whopping season total of 2 points!  Actually, if you knew the amount of time I was actually on the court (maybe 10 minutes all season) the court time to points scored ratio probably wasn't that bad.   I also did track & cross country in 8th grade where I had limited success.  We moved to Naperville my freshman year of high school where I did join the cross country team the first year then promptly found the mall & boys to be much more interesting than team sports.
 
I got my first bike when I was in kindergarten.  I remember it was  blue with a banana seat.  This picture is what I have in my memory.  I have asked Mom if she can dig up any pictures of the bike to see if I remembered it correctly. 

1978 - Shelter Island, NY

My swim opportunities were very limited in Indiana.  I did spend a couple months each summer in Long Island New York with each set of grandparents.  My mom's parents lived in Levittown where they had an above ground pool.  My Dad's parents lived in Shelter Island.  It was there that I had my first swim lessons with Mr. Wroble. (That's me trying to follow the instructor exactly while all the other kids just started at him.)   Basically, I learned the dead man's float & the doggie paddle.  I was forced again to swim in high school PE class for 4 weeks which was also a dismal failure.  I didn't make any further attempts at learning to swim for close to 20 years.

1983 - South Bend Halloween 5K

Although I did give up on team sports in high school I did go on to be a member of countless gyms over the years.  From age 15 until present there have been very few periods of time when I didn't belong to one gym or another.  Thanks to Jane Fonda, my interest in exercise classes began in the early '80s when my mom signed us all up for aerobics.  We also started running during this time.  Some of my fondest memories are the few 5K's I ran with my parents.  It was different back then, you had to search to find a race. Not like now when there is a 5K nearly every weekend all year around.  The picture at the left was a destination 5K for us.  It was an evening 5K around Halloween in South Bend.  Nice glasses huh?

I lost my Dad to multiple myeloma in 2006.  In 2009 I received the Team in Training flyer & knew immediately that I was going to join & train for a triathlon.  Never mind that I didn't know how to swim or that I didn't bike or run!  It was how I was going to put all those choked up feelings into something meaningful.  In a mere 14 weeks I went from swimming 3 strokes to swimming 800m without stopping.  I went from 0 miles on the bike to riding 18+ miles.  I went from 0 running miles to 4 walk/run miles.  OK, so I didn't quite get the running down in 14 weeks but on September 13, 2009 I became a triathlete & have been hooked ever since!

I am a mid to back of the packer & quite frankly I love it!  I challenge myself do things I never thought I could ever do.  Through this blog I will share my stories of training, racing & general endurance related items.  Along the way I hope to motivate & inspire someone to go beyond there wildest dreams.  

To quote Stephanie E, 'who knew being in the back of the pack could be so addicting!'