Triathlete Amy Marsh has officially returned back to her passion after battling with cancer. She has raced as a professional triathlete for many years participating and getting victories in the United States, Brazil and China as well.
Around five years ago, Marsh was sable to place herself in the top-10 in the women’s category at the Ironman World Championships held in Kona, Hawaii. That race consisted in a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile ride and a full marathon distance.
Both, Marsh and her husband are professional triathletes. It was only when they did a routine blood workup when her test results diagnosed her with acute myeloid leukemia.
Marsh saw the fight against her condition like she was fighting to get the victory in an elite triathlon competition by embracing the “let’s beat this” attitude. In June 2015, she received a stem cell transplant in order to restore her bone marrow.
“The physicians were shocked that someone in my condition would get AML,” Marsh said, “but being fit enabled me to handle the higher doses (of chemotherapy). My two year ‘re-birthday’ — that’s what they call the stem cell transplant — is coming up in a few days. I’ve come a long way.
“Right now I’m trying to stay fit — maybe eight hours a week of working out. I swim two days a week, bike once or twice a week, run three times. I also get in some workouts in the gym. I’ve lost some strength, but other than that, I feel pretty fit.” – said Marsh.
Not an early retirement
The biggest fear Marsh had after the first cancer diagnosis was that her condition would probably force her to go into an early retirement as a professional triathlete. But, it seems her passion was the one thing to give her strength and prepare her both mentally and physical to be able to return back to her old life and a promising career.
Around three weeks ago, triathlete Marsh competed in the 14th annual Rokie Triathlon even at Lake Walter E. Long. She was able to be placed third in the women’s category in the beginner-style event. That race consisted of a 300-meter swim, an 11-mile ride and a two-mile run.
This achievement made her decide to enter the Life Time Tri CapTex which starts this Monday.
Marsh added: “If I spent more time training, I could get back to a high level,” said Marsh, who works as a swim coach for Longhorn Aquatics. “I’m happy where I am right now, though. The goal for CapTex on Monday is to have fun and enjoy being out racing again.”
It seems Marsh will be extremely happy even if she can meet a modest goal: finishing in the top-10 in the sprint-distance race. That race will offer up a 0.46 mile swim, a 12.3 mile ride and a 3.1 mile run.
