For me the Mermaid was a personal victory considering what has happened in the last 8 months!  Last year I really wanted to do the Mermaid, but chickened out!  I have never done any race of any kind, a couple of my friends had done the Mermaid and the Danskin Tri in the last few years and they put it on my radar!  The distances seemed "doable" but the swim in the lake was what really detered me from even considering it.  I'm not a strong swimmer and have never been in open water in my life!  I sort of regretted not participating last year... but no matter, as the summer wore on I ended up with knee issues that took me off my feet and by fall I was only able to move on crutches.  So I reluctanctly "signed up" for my 3rd knee surgery in October 2006.  I had been a regular runner, putting in 5-10 miles a week for about 3-4 years.  But with the knee issues, I had to stop solely running and start crosstraining, so the idea of a triathlon was born.  After the surgery I religiously went to the Physical Theraphy Gym 3 times a week and started to work back the muscle tone I had lost thru the summer and post surgery by biking and doing the eliptical.  In December, I was not walking normally yet, and through a routine mammogram I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 42.  Just before Christmas I had a mastectomy.  But only took off 2 weeks from going to the gym.  Fourteen days after my mastectomy I was back in the gym, this time adding arm and shoulder excercises to the knee excercises!  I had to stretch out my chest skin and slowly work up the strength in my arm as they had to take lymph nodes.  Thankfully my cancer was in the early stages, my lymph nodes were clear, and I opted not to do Chemo.  Since Jan 1, I have worked out 3X/week and never skipped a day (I biked, did the eliptical and walked).  By April the Physical Therapist gave me the ok to try some running, only allowing me to add 1/4 mile per week!  In Mid-May, it was warm enough to try swimming in our pool, and I did 800m that day!  I had to cross a huge psychological barrier, as I did not have a breast reconstruction, so when I'm "el natural", I'm lob-sided!!!  Anyway, I was pleased that the arms and knee all worked well and w/o pain, by now I was able to run 2 miles!!!  So this triggered the possibility that I could finish the Mermaid Tri.  On May 17 I signed up and stepped up the training!  I am proud to say that it was one of the more challenging things I've done in my life, but I finished!  I'm indebted to my fellow Mermaid Triathlete Cathi Brown (#104) for staying with me in the water, constantly looking back, keeping me on track, and waiting while tredding water and getting me back on solid ground to finish the swim portion in 18+ minutes!!!  I'm grateful for a very supportive husband and my four children (ages 6, 9, 12, 14) for coming out early Sunday morning and cheering me on!

I hope to inspire others to do things they don't think they can, but have always wanted to!  Life is short, no one knows what tomorrow holds, I don't know if my cancer will come back, we hope not, but until then, I will live each day to the fullest.  I don't take my health for granted, and am thankful for each day all of my body parts "work" well!!!  I seize every opportunity because I don't know if it is my last chance at it!  I thank God for each new day!

Thanks for your efforts in putting together the race, it fulfilled one one my dreams, it is a day I will never forget!

Angela Yee (#259)