THE VILLAGE PEOPLE PART 7.......FRIENDS

I was going to say training partners but they are much more than that.  They truly are friends.  And wonderful ones at that.  10 years ago a little article in the Salem News about a new triathlon training program sparked interest in 6 households on the North Shore (me, Kerry, Patty, Cindy, Bonnie and Deb). For various reasons all six of us signed up and over the next four months we became training partners.  After our first successful tri we kept on training for different races...road, tri, swimming etc.  As the events came and went we became friends.  10 years later we still train together but we also go to dinner, go to events, travel for races, hang out at each other's houses, laugh, vent and cry together.  We have seen babies born, kids graduate from high school and college, divorce, jobs lost and jobs found.

Kerry, Patty, Deb, Bonnie and me at my
house for pizza night.  Cindy couldn't make it.  Her boss doesn't understand we are far more important than her job!!!!!

Me, Cindy and her husband Steve before the Chicago Marathon.










We have had so many adventures over the years...Let's see....Kerry and I got shit-faced after a 10k in the pouring rain that featured free beer.  That was all well and good till we realized she had to drive us home.  We spent quite a while under the tent in the rain sobering up. Running in a white-out blizzard with snow up to mid calf.  Then there was that epic ride that Patty, Deb and I were on that was awesome until the skies opened up and the thunder and lightening and gusty winds started.  Oh yeah...that happened to Kerry and I too.  Can't forget our stay at the Haunted Mansion when we went to Lake Placid to cheer on Bonnie and Patty.  Or our stay at the "Raj Mahal" for our relay across Massachusetts.  So many good times. Each of these women is an athlete in their own right.  Every one of us has done a half-ironman.  Patty is a 4 time Ironman.  Bonnie  is a 2 time Ironman and has done the Escape from Alcatraz tri.  We have completed marathons in Boston, Bermuda, Chicago, Maine, Lowell, Ipswich and probably a few other places. We have been each other's biggest cheerleaders and biggest motivators.  We are like our own version of the Marines.  We leave no man behind.  If one of us is struggling with a workout someone will go back and get them.  And for all of you sitting on your couch thinking this is for "young" people.  UMMM  NO.  Kerry is the baby at 40.  I am the next youngest at 45.  Patty comes in at 48, Cindy over 50, Deb and Bonnie over 60 so no matter your age!!!!! 
Speaking of leaving no man behind.....Kerry and I spent quality training time together this weekend.  Saturday we knocked out 60 miles on the bike and followed it up with a 1 hour run.  The bike was scenic featuring a deer, two turkeys and a turtle.  There was also a swarm of gnats or something that we rode through twice in Ipswich.  You couldn't see them but could feel them pelting you everywhere.  I was covered in those things.  They don't call them no-seeums for nothing.  I turned around and went back a few times for Kerry and we ended pretty much at the same time at our respective houses which was the plan.  After a quick change we were going to run towards each other and do our run.  Whether I went too hard on the bike or it was the heat and humidity I don't know but I cound NOT have possibly felt worse on this run.  Having Kerry there helped for a bit but I was struggling.  In the meantime Kerry was running like a Kenyan at Boston making it look easy.  She said it felt like running in an oven but she looked slightly misty while I looked washed up and discarded.  I kept telling her to go ahead...don't worry about me....I will be fine....no really ...it's is ok.  NOPE.  She would run ahead a bit then circle back and make sure I was still breathing.  She did this to the end of my street then turned around and went home.  When I thanked her she simply said "It's What We DO".  She is right.  It is what we do for training partners and friends.