Deep loss spurs 50-year-old to a life change, triathlons

Deneé Madamba, a dedicated Honolulu triathlete, will tell you it’s never too late to start something new. She was 50 when she embraced the swim-bike-run, and it wasn’t under the best of circumstances: Her mother had just died at 69, suffering from a brain aneurysm.

Mother and daughter had just returned from a trip to Chichén Itzá to see the pyramids in Mexico. They parted company in Los Angeles with a tight hug. “I never saw her again after that,” Madamba said.

The loss of her mother was the wake-up call that put her on a healthy path.

“I got scared,” Madamba said. “I needed to change things … have a new outlook on life.”

So the hairdresser started running, only to discover that she needed to walk first. It was harder than she expected.

“At first, I’d literally walk around the block. I’d do the same thing the next day and built up to two blocks,” said Madamba, now 55.

Eventually, she began walking longer distances, up to 10 miles at a time, and that led to running a few months later. “And I just kept running,” she said. Madamba did her first triathlon in 2013.

“I’ve never been a couch potato,” she said. “But I’ve also never done this kind of training. I’m in the best shape of my life.”

It wasn’t that she was lazy before she began. She was on her feet all day, every day. But that’s not fitness, she said.

“I was so busy partying and focused on making a living when I was younger. I didn’t realize the importance of fitness, but I want to live a long life,” she said. “I want to see the world.”

Madamba ran track and swam in high school, but that all ended with graduation. She decided to work with training groups to learn more about how to better accomplish her goals.

She recently began training with BOCA Hawaii, a company offering multi-sport and outdoor training programs, and currently has workouts geared to help her finish the Honolulu Marathon in December.

“I couldn’t do it without them,” Madamba said. “They are so supportive and know what they are doing. Every time I’m with the group, I learn a lot. They’re so inspiring.”

Madamba trains six days a week, running, biking or swimming. When preparing for a triathlon she does at least two to three activities, training around four hours a day — and booking clients around her workout schedule.

“It’s a really rigorous schedule,” she said.

She’s completed several difficult events, including the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the Honolulu and Tinman triathlons, the Hapalua half marathon and the Honolulu Century Ride. Her proudest accomplishment was completing the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, a popular Big Island race dubbed the Honu by competitors.

“Besides getting married, it was the happiest moment of my life,” she said.

Besides incorporating exercise into her life, Madamba changed her eating habits. She even stopped drinking beer — for a while.

“Even though I was running, I’d eat whatever I wanted and drank lots of beer,” she said. “When I stopped drinking beer, the food was less satisfying. Something just hit me and I cleaned up my act.”

Madamba follows a vegetarian diet and doesn’t eat animal products except for the eggs she collects from her backyard chickens.

“I’ve learned to be a creative cook. I can make anything using fresh food,” she said. “And I’m very picky when I go out.”

Nowadays, everything revolves around her fitness.

“Before , I’d want a sports car, but now I look for cars that will fit my bike,” she said. “I’d always buy designer clothes, but now if I can’t swim in it, I don’t buy it.”

Aside from being healthier, Madamba says that the races have created many opportunities for her. “I’ve met so many people and have been able to incorporate fitness into my travel,” she said.

Whenever she books a trip, she finds out what type of race is happening in the area or finds some other fitness-related activities to do. “I love doing destination races,” she said.

Madamba finished a 10-kilometer road race in Switzerland. She rode her bike around San Francisco. She hiked 42 miles at Machu Picchu, a 7,972-foot peak in Peru. And Madamba is planning a trip to Spain; she said she’ll bring her own bike so she can explore the countryside.

Her longest bike ride was the Ride to End AIDS, a seven-day trek from San Francisco to Los Angeles that was 545 miles long. She also completed a 300-mile bike ride around the Big Island.

Although she’s serious about the races she enters, Madamba is more in competition with herself. Her main goal is to always beat her own personal records.

“It’s not how fast you finish, it’s how you feel afterwards,” she said. “It’s amazing what it does for my adrenaline. I talk to other people my age and they are tired. I’m full of energy. It keeps me going. I feel so alive.”

“Good Fit” spotlights inspiring fitness stories of change, self-discovery and challenge, and other fitness-related topics. Tell us what motivates you and how you stay fit and healthy by calling 529-4803 or emailing features@staradvertiser.com.