King's Trail Triathlon
At the end of my senior year, one of my basketball teammates came down with a type of Lymphoma cancer. She had to miss her final quarter of college and go home to start her treatment. I think she was treated for about a year before she finally became cancer free. She then was introduced to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society who raises money through events such as triathlons to raise money for cancer. After she invited me to join her to raise $5400 for the society in exchange to participate in the King's Trail Triathlon in Maui, I couldn't refuse.

I've always been so busy with basketball growing up, that I never had time for triathlons. Kings Trail became my first triathlon that I competed in and it sure was a doozy. The Olympic distance course started out with a 1.5K swim (0.9 miles). I remember being nervous at the start especially after the buzzer went off to begin and everyone ran into the water at once. I tried to get my own space to start my swimming, but every time I got settled I would get someone else knocking my head under water with their arm. I thought I was going to drown and have to give up! However, I stuck through it and had a great adrenaline rush by the time I finished. After the swim was the 40K bike (24.8 miles) ride. The ride consisted of a route on the road containing a very large hill. Finally the triathlon ended with at 10K run (6.2 miles) through the lava fields of Maui. The lava fields made the run feel much hotter, but the water stations throughout the course helped a lot. I remember thinking halfway through the race that I'm never going to finish if I don't pick up the pace. So I kept going and going and by the time I finished, it took me about 3 hours and 14 minutes to complete. Later I found out that I placed 2nd in my age group for my first triathlon ever!

One neat thing about doing a triathlon in Hawaii was the swim. The swim was amazing... I remember looking down and seeing sea turtles swimming underneath me... not to mention the ocean water being about 80 degrees.

Where did that take place... that sounds awesome!!!

In Maui!!!!!!

How does all the Team In Training stuff work, Tammy? Is there a minimum of workouts and/or fund raising to meet?

I did Team in Training about 5 years ago... wow, time flies! I feel like I just did that...

But anyway, for Team in Training you are part of a team usually in your area or city that works out together usually once a week. There is a coach given to you in which they provide you with workouts to do usually like 4 or 5 days a week on your own, while one of those workouts will be together as a group. And then yes, fundraising is involved. Depending on what event you are doing and where you are going, the amount you are required to raise will depend on that. The Maui event I did was one of the highest amounts you have to raise. I had to raise $5400.00 individually, but then they paid for my flight, hotel, and most of my food in Maui. I really did have a blast, and it was such a great feeling to be able to raise that much money for the cause. My friend had just gotten over having lymphoma and she asked me to join the team with her. We were part of the Tacoma triathlon Team in Training group.