Anyone who is Facebook friends with me saw that our friend Dan competed in a triathlon today out at Kiawah Island (and I also mentioned it here yesterday). It was really awesome to see bits and pieces of the race. We were able to see him finish the swim portion (within the top swimmers to come out of the water), we saw him during the run for a quick second, and saw him cross the finish line. Dan placed 2nd in his age group, and he had the 8th fastest swim overall.
There were participants in all age brackets and physical abilities. Dan finished the race in about 2 hours and 20 minutes, and I saw a woman crossing the finish line at 3 hours and 44 minutes. I almost teared up seeing her cross the finish line because it was obvious that she had put so much work into the race and was very proud of her accomplishment. She smiled the entire time she was nearing the finish line.
All of the participants tested their physical and mental strength out on that course, both the person who finished first and the person who finished last, and I am so glad that we got to see it. Seeing something like this really does demonstrate that physical feats like a a triathlon can be a reality for a lot of people. I always envisioned triathlons for ultra elite athletes, but today showed me otherwise. Don't get me wrong, there were some crazy fit people doing this race, our friend included. The first woman across the finish line was solid muscle, but there really were all shapes and sizes out there.
It was a very inspirational day!
On another note, a while ago, I mentioned that I talked to a reporter at the Wall Street Journal about the influence of social media on cancer patients' treatment decisions. It is my understanding that the reporter interviewed men with prostate cancer and woman with breast cancer to see how men/women utilize social media to make decisions. Apparently, I am very male-like in my decision-making process. Yes, I consulted my social network regarding my surgery (mastectomy vs. lumpectomy), but I also talked to 3 doctors and read a ton of research on the subject before making my final decision. I ended up going with the recommendations of my doctors (lumpectomy/breast conservation surgery) instead of a bilateral mastectomy. Anyway, the article will go into greater detail, and they may even be running a picture of me. It should be in Tuesday's Personal Journal section (unless a more pressing story needs to run) so keep an eye out if you subscribe. I'll also post the link to the online story once I find it.
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