I am no one special because I am a triathlete. I am still a mother, I am still a wife, I am still a nurse, I am still a coach and I am still a yoga teacher. The fact that I have had some athletic achievements does not overshadow the same athletic achievements of anyone else.

Just because I choose to wake up at 4am and train does not make me special. It's just a choice that I have chosen to make. It's just a goal that I have chosen to set. It's just a dream I have chosen to reach for.

I can't express enough how this lifestyle is a privilege, it is not a right, it does not make me something more than anyone else. If you perceive that I must give things up in order to do what I do, then you must understand that those things you think I "give up" are not things I do in the first place.

Just as equally as you love to shop, I love to be on my bike. I love to be on my bike for 6+ hours. The same "WOW" that you look at me with...... know that I look at you with.

This week began the eight week block that I am heading towards the Ironman 70.3 World Championships at the conclusion of. I stood at the tip of the week much like a child on Christmas Eve. Excited, nervous..... unable to sleep.

What is my goal on race day? Previously it would have been to win. Previously I would have googled every girl in my age group to see what I was up against. But this isn't the previous Mary. This is a new, older (okay 32, I am a jerk!), wiser and more mature Mary. My goal now...... to have the best possible race that I can have on November 11th. We all know how long of a year it has been, and we all know the story of my injury.

But what we don't all know, as I haven't spoken about it in a while, is why I am here in the first place. I am here in this sport because I almost died 12 years ago. And triathlon brought me back to life. I am 12 years recovered from Bulimia Nervosa and a frightening near death experience that caused me to turn my whole life around.

Triathlon gave me life, gave me breath, gave me recovery, gave me strength. Triathlon helped me find what I had spent my life running from....... the ability to connect, live, breathe and love. Triathlon gave birth to my family, literally.

See the pictures above? Those pictures are of my son and I at Marineland, touching a Beluga Whale. 12 years ago a doctor told me I would never be an athlete, I would never be able to have children, and I would likely not live to the age of 30.

12 years later, 2 Ironmans, 10 1/2 Ironmans, 2 marathons, 100's of triathlons many of which I won, a marriage and a child later I am here to tell you one thing. I chose to live. All that and I even managed to touch a rare Beluga Whale (okay, that cost me eight bucks......).

My point is that I have been told I wouldn't be able to do X, Y and Z my whole entire life. And my whole entire life I proved everyone wrong. Not because I grew a chip on my shoulder, not because I have lived a life of vengeance, but because I am living the way to choose to live. That is a life of moving and taking some chances. I am willing to fail, and I am willing to succeed. And I am willing to take the chance of falling on my face. I have fallen on my face a bunch of times. I will always get back up. Always.

As I head into preparations for the 70.3 Ironman World Championships, I think back to the beginning of the year, when I was told I wouldn't be competing this season. Oh yeah?

However, just because I choose to have this attitude, it does not make me special ( it might make me seem stupid). I learned from my father long ago. Life is about choices. Life is about chances. Life is actually the random collision of atoms.......

I choose to let those atoms crash against one another with a great big bang. Whatever happens from there..... happens.

:-) Mary Eggers