AURORA, Ohio — At 4 a.m., Dr. Sara Whittingham's day begins.
"I get up and I do yoga, and that, you know, helps calm my mind and also helps me feel like I'm moving more normally," she says.
Next, she usually hops on the Peloton for a ride, or gets in a run. It's a daily routine that requires stamina, but this 49-year-old mother of two makes it look easy.
That's probably because she's used to the structure, entering the United States Air Force at the age of 18, serving her country in both Korea and Germany as a flight surgeon. Then, she was deployed to Afghanistan.
"After I was a flight doc, I went and did anesthesia residency at the University of Utah. And after that, I went back into Air Force as an anesthesiologist and spent six months at Bagram as an anesthesiologist there taking care of American casualties as well as local nationals for humanitarian and war injuries," Whittingham told us. "That was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do was to, you know, get on an airplane and go into a war zone away from my 3-year-old and 6-month-old."
Yet, no matter where Sara is in life, training has been at the center. Then, three years ago, a new journey began.
"I was sitting on the couch one night and I was like, 'My arm, why is my arm shaking? That's weird,'" she remembered. "And so I got up and I, like, walked around and shook it around, and then I sat down again and relaxed and it started shaking again."
At Cleveland Clinic's Marymount Hospital, where Whittingham works as an anesthesiologist, a colleague delivered the news.
"He pulled me aside into a private room, and I told him the story, and he did a neuro exam and confirmed that I had Parkinson's," she said. "My my initial thought when I heard the diagnosis was that, 'Oh my gosh, I'm going to be in a wheelchair and disabled in 10 years.'"
But as a health care hero, Whittingham had to quickly shift her thinking. She knew research for Parkinson's disease had advanced, so she enrolled in a study to determine if high-intensity aerobic exercise could slow the advancement of the illness.
"I quickly learned that the more I rode the bike, the better I felt," she noted. "And so I started to ride it more and more, and then I, you know, started running again."
Since 2001, Whittingham has competed in five Ironman competitions.
"So Ironman distance race is a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and then a marathon — so, 26.2 miles — all back-to-back," she explained. "Nonstop."
She didn't stop there, and a new goal was set.
"I watched the NBC broadcast every year of Ironman Hawaii in Kona," she said. "I always enjoy the stories of the inspirational athletes of people who, you know, with the help of triathlon and exercise, have overcome adversity. And I was watching it last year and [it] just kind of occurred to me. I was like, 'Huh, you know, I wonder if people might find my story inspiring?'"
The answer would come in August, when Sara got official word she'd be competing with thousands of other athletes on Oct. 14 in Kona, Hawaii.
"Nine weeks to get in shape for an Ironman was not very much time," she admitted, "but I couldn't say no."
While training, Whittingham has also been working with community-based group InMotion for those with Parkinson's disease. She wants others to know they're not alone, and hope is out there.
"Continuing to try to encourage other people to realize that, you know, just because you have a chronic disease — whether it's Parkinson's or anything, you know — that you can still live a full and active life," she said.
It's not lost on her that the Ironman is a lot like her disease, where time counts but pacing is more important. It's a long journey with ups and downs, so reaching the finish line is a moment she dreams about every day.
"Every time I think about it, I get super emotional, and I'm trying not to get emotional right now. But yeah, I will be probably bawling my eyes out if I make it that far, because it's going to be such an incredible experience. It's going to be amazing."
To follow Dr. Sara Whittingham's Ironman journey, click HERE.
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