By Joaquin Duro

Sixteen months ago I was lying in a bed at Jackson Memorial Hospital after six hours of kidney transplant surgery. Surrounded by beeping machines, with a respirator and tubes coming out of my mouth and new organ, one of the thoughts that gave me strength was picturing myself crossing the finish line of a triathlon.

It was a strong dream, but at this hardest point in my life I needed to dream.

A month and a half later I began my journey into something that seemed really far away and was accomplished only by great athletes. I started slowly, walking around the block with my wife Larissa, but my competitive nature made me walk for 45 minutes the first day–30 more than the doctor had recommended. My headache was a symptom of dehydration and a sign of the reality that maybe triathlons were not going to be a part of my life.

It took a great amount of patience to add a mere 15 minutes per week to my daily walk. My 230 pounds did not help my confidence when I wondered if I really could do this, or if it was only for “8-percent body-fat people.”

Finally January came and my doctor gave me the green light to run and ride my bike. Eight months had passed from the transplant but I still could not swim because the incision was not closed yet. Yet two-thirds 0f my new adventure could finally begin.

I hopped on my mountain bike and headed to Oleta State Park in North Miami with the memory of my days in great shape five years earlier, when I played a lot of soccer. But reality again struck 10 minutes into my 12-mph pace: I could not continue because I was out of breath. I had to stop, and really thought of quitting. One of the toughest things for me after being in great shape all my life was not being able to accomplish a simple ride in the park or a 30-minute run.

In April 2005, I said, “I want to be a triathlete. My first step was to select the type of race I wanted to do. There are four distances in triathlons and each one of them is a challenge to the athlete. Due to my tight schedule I chose the sprint triathlon, which requires fewer hours of training.

For the next four months I trained hard. And it wasn’t easy. Sometimes the pain was unbearable.

Finally the day of attaining my dream arrived. It was Aug. 7 on Key Biscayne for the Huntington’s Disease Triathlon. I had already run a 5k race in May and did two duathlons in June and July. I was now down to 187 pounds, and was ready.

Surrounded by hundreds of other triathletes, I dove into the water, hopped on my bike, put on my running shoes, and 1 hour and 38 minutes later I saw the finish line. I was doing it! After a kidney transplant, I was running a triathlon!

As I neared the finish line I saw my wife, son, father, brother, sister and brother-in-law, and I have to admit that after crossing it I dropped a couple of tears. I could not believe that after all I went through I was finally accomplishing my dream.

Now we are preparing for the next race. Along the way, as I live my dream, I get to practice three fantastic sports in the awesome atmosphere of South Florida. Life could not be better.