Skip to content
Six years ago, mother of four Melissa Kahn had a choice: get busy living or get busy dying. Morbidly obese, sedentary and on the doorstep of multiple health crises, Melissa decided to get busy living. After losing 110 pounds, she took up running, finished her first triathlon and found her inner-athlete. She writes about her journey and connects with her global community at Run, Heifer, Run.
We are thrilled to sponsor athlete and ShokzStar Melissa Kahn in the Himalayan Rush Triathlon. You can learn more about Melissa in her first guest blog post here and in her interview. Plus, find out how Melissa's training is progressing in her update below.
HELLO and HOWDY from my little corner of the world here in Phoenix, where training is all but wrapped up for the big day. I'm staring down at next Sunday's departure date wondering where all the time went. It feels like yesterday I was just beginning to train, learning to swim, and learning how to go down a hill on my mountain bike. Now, I'm learning which immunizations are necessary, what trail shoes work best, and which Malaria pills go best with white wine and chicken.
The triathlon is March 31st and I'm feeling pretty excited, nervous, and scared, to be honest. This is the biggest adventure I've ever taken on, and my whole hope in completing the triathlon is to inspire even one person to not give up, to look at themselves in the mirror and think, "if this crazy heifer can do it... #iKahn try to get healthy, too!"
Final prep for my departure so far has included 23 frenzied trips to the travel bins at Target for Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, and Imodium. :-) When you're traveling to a third world country, the warnings are enough to make you crazy. I've been given immunizations, mosquito spray, mosquito cream, mosquito repellant, mosquito get-to-know-you-guides, and water purification tablets. I've been briefed on swimming in lake water, riding down rocky mountains, and running back up those same mountains. And it's all overwhelming, scary, and exciting! As the saying goes, "Do something every day that scares you!" Well.... this one should get me credit for at least a few months!
If this story inspired you, we’d love to hear about it! Feel free to leave some love on Twitter or Facebook so we know who's been following along on the journey. I'd like to give a HUGE shoutout to AfterShokz for sponsoring me, for believing in me, and for helping me spread the message of hope and inspiration. I'm grateful for my headphones because without them, all those hours of training would have been dreadfully boring.
My playlist is loaded up, and I'm Nepal-bound, y'all! Here goes nothing!
Want to learn more? Follow Melissa Kahn's journey by searching #iKahn on Twitter, Instagram, or on the AfterShokz blog. Ask a question, participate in conversations, and/or leave words of encouragement for Melissa by using the hashtag #iKahn in your tweets.
