For most people, a good workout means 40 minutes at the Campus Recreation Center and maybe, if they’re feeling adventurous, a jog around campus or perhaps a spinning class. For Debra Zahay, an assistant professor in marketing, it means a bit more.

Zahay has been an active cyclist and amateur athlete since high school.

“I would consider myself an amateur athlete,” Zahay said. “There are not many people out there with resting heart rates in the 50s and you get that through exercise.”

So far, Zahay’s greatest achievement was the completion of her first triathlon.

Over summer break, Zahay participated in a Reebok sponsored triathlon to raise money and awareness for ovarian cancer. She began training for the event in January, which meant waking up in the wee hours of the morning to train for six months.

“I trained six days a week: two days biking, two days jogging and two days swimming,” Zahay said. “You just don’t get up and do this sort of thing. I live in Fox Valley but I trained a lot at NIU, at the pool and at campus recreation.”

The triathlon proved to be quite a challenge for Zahay. Even though she admits swimming, cycling and jogging/walking are her three sports, completing a triathlon is quite a different experience.

“Running was the hardest,” Zahay said. “I am not a natural jogger and that was the last [part of the race] so it is a lot harder at the end. The swimming was also scary because there are so many people in the water. There were 1,800 women in the triathlon.”

Zahay had some personal connections to the cause the race was promoting. Both her college roommate and a dear friend have been affected by ovarian cancer, so they served as her inspiration to keep going. As part of her participation in the race, Zahay was able to raise $500 toward a cure by getting friends and family to sponsor her.

She sent out an e-mail and people were happy to help. The race also gave her some personal glory as well.

“I survived and it was a lot of fun being cheered on by the crowd – and I got a medal,” Zahay said. “They give people a recognition medal for completing the race.”

The race Zahay completed included a half-mile swim, 15-mile bike ride and three-mile jog. Considering the sizable distance, Zahay finished with a relatively good time; crossing the finish line in two hours, three minutes and 35 seconds.

“I would like to do it in [less than] two hours, but this was my first [triathlon],” she said. “A lot of what you do is in the transition areas; there are a lot of opportunities for improvement.”

Zahay plans to do more triathlons and plans to continue cycling. She has begun to try and recruit other people to join her.

“I think I have talked one person into [doing the next triathlon] with me, it’s not an easy sell as you can gather.” Zahay said. “I am having a little trouble with my knees but I expect to be back training and do another triathlon next spring. I never stop cycling. Two weekends ago I did 80 miles over the weekend. Love that cycling.”

While Zahay may enjoy the thrill of the race and the sense of achievement after finishing a triathlon, cycling is still one of her favorite pastimes.

As soon as she completed the triathlon, Zahay was back on her bike. This time, she was cycling around Europe. While some people’s ideal vacation might not include any physical activity, Zahay decided to spend her summer cycling around Germany’s Rhine Valley.

“I really wanted to do it,” Zahay said. “It was so beautiful there. I went five years ago and thought it was just so beautiful that I wanted to bicycle there, and then I did it.”

Zahay went on the trip with several friends and booked the whole thing through a tour company. The trip involved biking through about 270 miles of countryside in the Rhine and Mosel river valleys. The group spent its days sightseeing, wine drinking and having fun but still having a good work out, Zahay said.

“We all lost five pounds,” she said.