JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Leeanna Cass is all smiles as she prepares to compete in her first Ironman triathlon.
“I’m super excited,” said Cass. “It’ll be an awesome experience.”
However, she wasn’t all smiles a year ago.
“It was really tough, it was a lot of tears on my way to school, leaving school,” said Cass
Cass used to be a technology teacher in Jacksonville.
She knew she loved teaching and the school she was at, but wasn’t in love with that subject. She decided to take the year off and began coaching swimming for a club team and at the Providence School in Jacksonville.
“I swam since I was three years old. It’s basically not a job for me,” said Cass. “It’s awesome.”
During her time off, her friend asked her if she wanted to do an Ironman.
Cass said yes and got to work.
“Long hours of training every week,” said Cass. “Some days was double workouts, some days was triple workouts. It can be all the way up to an hour to three hours a day.”
Cass has spent the past 8 months in the pool, on the track, and on her bike training to compete in what is considered one of the world’s hardest endurance events. She says she wouldn’t trade it for the world.
“It really turned my life around. It opened new doors, meeting new people,” said Cass.
The inaugural Jacksonville Ironman kicks off at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday.
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