This Time, I'm Doing It with the TEAM by Pam Wiener

Pam Wiener after finishing the 2010 Ironman Lake Placid.

I never thought the words "I'm going to do an Ironman" would ever come out of my mouth. In fact, up until about six years ago I didn't even know what a triathlon consisted of. A friend of mine did the St Anthony's Olympic distance triathlon with Team In Training in April of 2004. She told me about this triathlon thing and I thought she was NUTS! She told me I should do one. Yeah right like I'm going to exercise for fun! The following year another friend did the NYC Triathlon also with TNT. This time I at least knew what a triathlon was. I donated, I asked about her training, I thought she was a whack job for doing this and I watched her race. It wasn't until I saw these amazing athletes, and by athletes I mean people like you and me, that I was truly hooked. There were physically challenged athletes, 80 year old athletes, athletes raising money for a cause, all who brought tears to my eyes. My first thought after the tears, "I'm doing one of these bad boys!" My second thought was, "Hell no, you're not! You're way too lazy!" A year later, I completed my first triathlon and raised over $5,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Four years and over $20,000 later, I'm now doing the Ironman 70.3 Augusta, my seventh event with TNT and soon the new Ironteam will make it eight.

In July, I completed my first Ironman in Lake Placid. It was such an incredible experience and I can't believe I actually did it. But there was something missing, I did it solo. No Team In Training, no fundraising, just me, myself and I. I really thought I was one and done when it came to an Ironman. However, when I heard TNT was doing an Ironteam, there was no way I wasn't doing it with the TEAM. I will be raising money and racing in honor of an amazing man, coach, husband, father & Leukemia survivor, Andrew Johnston. I am so excited for this upcoming year and I can’t wait to be a part of it!

Pam Wiener first joined TNT with the NYC Chapter in the summer of 2006. Two years later, she moved to Atlanta and rejoined TNT with the Georgia Chapter. She is currently training for her seventh event with the TEAM and has also joined the 2011 IronTeam Georgia. Pam maintains her own blog at http://pamelawiener.blogspot.com/.