Endeavour teacher proves her "metal" in Ironman

Endeavour fifth-grade teacher Malia Greening wakes up at 4 a.m. daily to swim. Then she runs and bikes after school. She saves the "big" workouts-biking 100 miles and running 16 miles-for the weekend.

The hard work's paid off. After qualifying in a race in Lake Stevens this summer, Malia placed 28th out of 1,800 competitors in her age category in the Ironman World Championship 70.3 in Clearwater, Florida, in November.

While any one leg might prove too strenuous for most athletes, Greening tackled the 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride, and 13.1-mile run with speed and flexibility in the unfamiliar terrain.

"The bike and run courses were flat, so I wasn't used to it," Greening said. "The swim was tough. We had to swim in the Gulf of Mexico. They held Gatorade-sponsored swims the first few days before the race, and the waves were so bad there were whitecaps. Race day was fairly calm, though, so it wasn't too bad-though I've never swam 1.2 miles in an ocean before!"

Greening has been a competitive runner since high school, but she decided to try triathlons after fracturing her back from overtraining while running three years ago.

Her students have been her biggest supporters, Greening said. One girl recently told her that she wants to start competing in triathlons, too.

Greening hopes her Ironman involvement teaches her students an important lesson: "That we all need balance in our lives. Kids and adults alike should be able to balance family, school, activities, and friends without compromising any of the four."

Greening wants to qualify for the Canadian Ironman championship in a race in Victoria in June. Hundreds of athletes-men and women-will compete for only 25 spots. Greening thinks her chances are good.

In the meantime, she'll come up with some creative solutions so she won't repeat one mistake she made in Florida.

"I should have thought of something original to do when crossing the line," Greening said. "Some people roll, some people jump, some cry, some carry their kids across…"