About Michele
Read my blog.
Though I am the less competitive of the two of us, I get the credit (blame?) for instigating these
crazy races. It started in 2002 when a friend told me about a marathon training group. I came
home that day and announced to Steve I was joining a marathon training group and his response
was "that's the stupidest idea I've ever heard! WHY would you want to do that?"
I diverge here to paint a picture of my athletic prowress, or lack thereof..... Whereas Steve can
post an "athletic achievements page", the achievements I can highlight are having a great time on
my high school swim team and tryouts for my high school tennis team after having picked up a
racket 3 weeks prior to tryouts. My biggest athletic achievement had been teaching aerobics at a
the YWCA in Salem, Oregon. I started running in 2000 and could not run a mile without stopping.
Wellness and health have always been part of my life, but to use the word "athlete" in the same
sentence as a pronoun describing myself seems like an abuse of the word.
Now you have a picture of my athletic highlights, which is to say, there aren't any. And I decide
I'm going to join a marathon training group. Note that I did not say "I'm training for a
marathon"; the most I'd run in my life at one time was 3.5 miles; I wasn't about to allow myself
to entertain running for <gulp> 26.1 miles. But.... I did. I joined that running group and it gave
me enough confidence to start saying the words "I'm training for a marathon" and so I did. My
goal: finish before dark. And I did. I finished in 5 hours and 45 minutes.
So, how did Steve come to do his first marathon? I brought home my training schedule and he
looked at it and said "Maybe I'll do the training." And he did. That was 4 months after he was
diagnosed with MS. And his result? 1st in his age group. In the 2nd running race he'd ever run in
his adult life.
And so we run a few more races, another marathon and I PR and am happy with PRs and
personal accomplishments. And then Connor decides he wants to do a triathlon in 2005. And I
watch. And I think "maybe I could do that" and I tell Steve "I'm going to train for a triathlon" and
he says "That is the stupidest idea I've ever heard. WHY would you want to do that?" And I train.
And I do my first triathlon and I have a great time. And I don't get an age group place, but I PR
at each subsequent one and I am happy with a sense of personal accomplishment.
And Steve watches me and this time it takes a little longer for him to join me. But a year later
(2007) Steve does his first triathon and he finishes 2nd in his age group. And he is hooked.
And it's become clear that I need a hobby or interest that Steve won't do. I'm thinking of taking
up ballet, or Irish Dancing....
Aside from training for marathons and triathlons, I am the wife of an MS patient. While Steve
deals with his pain and works on managing his disease, I wanted to do something to show my
support. That is where TriForMS was born. I want to help tell Steve's story and have him share
his struggles and successes with other MS patients; it's my desire that we can inspire others to
not let MS beat them. I am also a Director on the Board of Trustees for the Colorado chapter of
the National MS Society.
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