Well I did it!!  I finished the Ford Ironman Wisconsin on September 7, 2008 with a time of 15 hours and 43 minutes 24 seconds.  The day was grueling but worth all the time, training, and suffering.  Let me sum up the day for you.

It is official, I’m in, Ironman 2008 here I come!!  Registration closed in 20 minutes and I was one of the last ones to get in whew!  So now I’m a little scared, what was I thinking?? What am I thinking?  Okay I am doing this for all of us survivors and I will represent us well.  So now as I continue my road to the Ironman I will update you on the latest in my journey.

 

Well it’s time for an update on my road to the Iron man and what an interesting journey it is turning out to be.  To begin with I did not know much about training for one just enough to complete sprint distance triathlons like the Danskin so I needed to educate myself.  I have read several books now on the how to and how not to train for this event it’s quite overwhelming actually.  There is so much that goes into it way beyond the actual running, swimming, and biking, it’s the whole nutrition aspect of it too.  So I went online and purchased a training program to help me along the way or at least get me started but first I needed the proper equipment….

 

My name is Leslie Biernat and I am a SURVIVOR.  In April of 2003 I was diagnosed with Stage III Invasive Ductal Carcinoma at age 33. My tumor was 6.5 cm and I had 1 of 3 lymph nodes positive.  No family history, no medical problems, no risk factors except the fact that I am a woman and 1 out of 7 women will be diagnosed in their lifetime with this disease. My cancer journey started with 6 rounds of chemotherapy, followed by lumpectomy, radiation, tamoxifen, mastectomy with immediate reconstruction, and top it off with complete hysterectomy. I am currently taking Aromasin.  Cancer has made me look death in the face and fight, but most importantly it taught me to live!  No one is guaranteed tomorrow, whether you have cancer or not, we must all live in the moment and enjoy each precious day that we are given; it is truly a gift from God.