In the winter of 1989, when Mary Houbolt was 32, she found a lump in her breast. Tests revealed it was malignant and the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. Mary’s chances of survival were bleak.

Hearing that diagnosis, she remembers, was “life-shattering.”

“It wasn’t just fear about losing my own life,” says the software engineer, “but leaving the lives of my children [then 4 and 6 years old] and husband in the lurch.” Against the odds, Mary’s breast cancer went into full remission after aggressive treatment. But she never forgot just how close she’d come to dying.

In 2010, the year Mary was to turn 60, she decided to do something “monumental” to celebrate surviving cancer. The idea she settled on: competing in an Ironman triathlon. She had no expectation to win the famously grueling endurance race that combines a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and 26.2-mile run.

The number of hours Mary spends preparing for the next triathlon can be overwhelming, she acknowledges. Social invitations and house chores are often sacrificed to give her enough time to train. (She jokingly calls her neglected front lawn a “triathlon yard.”) Mary’s also had to contend with a variety of physical injuries, most recently a fractured pelvis. But the benefits far outweigh any pain and inconvenience

Amazing woman , felt i had to share this story , i can relate to the triathlon yard 😂

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