On August 10, 1994 my second child (daughter Morgan) was born. The surprise
was that ultra sounds told us that she was a boy and it left my wife and
I at au when the doctor held her up and said "It's a Girl". Subsequently,
I was at a healthy 242 pounds weighing in at 5'10 and enjoying rice and
gravy regularly with a three can of Skoal a day habit. The bottom line
was I was a fat guy with a bad nicotine habit and now I had daddies little
girl to take of. After kicking the Skoal I took three months to really
beef up eating lots of fried chicken and Soul Food (Laura's Cafe in Lafayette)
until I realized that I had to tackle my second major goal and that was
to lose the gut. After several months of walking I completed my first 5k
race in August of 1995 with a respectable 23:10. Only respectable because
I still weighed in at 195.
Since then I learned how much distance running can refresh the body
and soul and I recently completed my 5th marathon being the New Orleans
Mardi Gras Marathon 1998. During the spring of 1997 several of my running
friends started this thing called triathlon training. I completed a couple
of duathlons and stayed at the back of the pack on the rides while I used
one of the guys bikes until I convinced my wife that I really needed a
$400.00 used bike. Well the bug bit me and I got the fever. I completed
3 Bare Bones Races, Elephant Walk and Cajunman. This year I plan to compete
in several Triathlons including Gulf Coast Half Ironman in May of 1998
and my biggest race to date The Great Flordian Ironman in October of 1998.
Charles Brenke
(Emailed to Louisiana TRI 4-2-98)