Who's Doing the TRY and Why: Mary Ann Newman

Shared with permission from the VINCENNES SUN COMMERCIAL
Published:
Thursday, May 13, 2010 3:59 PM EDT
Mary Ann Newman says that she is an unlikely candidate for doing an athletic event. So even she is a little surprised that she did the SIS Women’s TRYathlon last year and just signed up to do it again this year, both times as part of a team.

She only decided to do the TRY last year after she found out that she could participate on a team. Kim Keyes, at the YMCA, found a swimmer for her, and then she rode her bike and ran-walked the other two segments.

Her son and daughter-in-law, Eric and Holly Newman, have helped her to enjoy walking at the Y and encouraged her efforts in biking.

She works at Good Samaritan Hospital and many of her coworkers also do the TRY. Newman appreciates that they keep her motivated. She continues to train on her bike. Her son is a very serious rider. “He has so much patience with me. I never rode a bike with gears in my life. Now I’m riding one.” She will do the bike portion of the TRY with her team, which she joined only after being assured that they were not trying to win.
Even though her husband, Francis, does not ride or participate in any sport, she finds him very supportive. She says he was there for her first TRY last year and then bought her first bike.

Family support seems to a strong characteristic in the Newman family. Last year, her daughter-in-law loaned her a bike so she could learn to ride and took her to buy that first bike this year. Newman says, “I had no idea what was involved or what I was doing, but Holly guided me through it with a little phone consultation from Eric.” She also says it has taken a lot of encouraging to get her started and to keep her going.

Newman says, “I feel much better about myself when I exercise and eat healthy.”

Since last year’s TRY, she has taken swimming lessons from Tiffany Petts, the Y’s aquatics director. She adds in amazement, “I can’t believe I am finally doing this. I was never an athlete and will never be one, but I do this for me and really enjoy it.”

Newman prefers to train by herself or with a few friends or family. She enjoys lap swimming with Sarah Griggs and Griggs’ sister, Mary Hazleman. She thinks they have really made a difference to help keep her going. At first, Newman I thought, “I will never swim a lap,” but now admits that she is finally able to do a few laps.

Her goal was to do the entire TRY by herself this year, but she doesn’t feel she’s a strong enough swimmer yet. She plans to continue her swim training and says “Hopefully, next year,” she will be ready to include swimming in her TRY experience.

Newman’s real inspiration, besides her family and the friends she’s met at the Y, is the mother of her daughter-in-law. Terri Angermeier passed away two years ago after a courageous battle with breast cancer. Angermeier really encouraged exercise and eating healthy. She walked every day that she could during the battle she fought. She walked in Evansville at Race for the Cure. Newman’s daughter, Cheri Seiler, and her baby also walked at Race for the Cure along with other family members.

She’s happy to find a couple of ladies that want to work as a team. Jen Holscher at the YMCA hooked Newman up with her mom, Sandra Holscher, who will do the swim segment and Cindy Helton who will do the run/walk segment. Newman will bike. Newman is excited to do the TRY again this year. She says, “I can’t wait!”