This week's random age grouper Megan Rocker resides in Oakdale, Minnesota and she actually had something to say. No answers had to be wrung out of her, they just came naturally, and yes, they came.

Slowtwitch: Do you feel very random?

Megan: I like cheese.

ST: Well, we are glad you are playing along.

Megan: Only if I can be the Scottie Dog or the Shoe. If I have to be the Wheelbarrow, I’m out of here.

ST: Let me think about that, but for now let us talk about triathlon. Your first triathlon was apparently in 2003, but how long have you been hanging around on slowtwitch?

Megan: I started lurking in 2004, maybe? First registered and posted in 2005. What I have contributed of value in the last almost seven years, I am not sure…but here I am!

ST: Like many others, injuries have brought you to triathlon. Any regrets?

Megan: Ah, trick question. Yes and no. I had an injury as a kid that left me with what they call post-traumatic osteoarthritis.

I grew up in a running family, and have been running for as long as I could walk. And I had that “runner’s mentality”—the ‘it’s only a flesh wound sort of thing,’ the ‘I will die if I can’t run for more than 48 hours. Die, I tell you.’ I was certainly used to dealing with pain in my knee—I ran all through high school and college that way—but for while, as a younger adult in my early 20s, I did a lot of stuff that made my knee issues worse. It was going to degenerate eventually, but some stuff I did was just stupid.

So, in a sense, I regret that I hastened my own running demise, as it were. But, on the other hand…all of the knee surgeries and heartache, and all of the compounding issues have really given me a perspective on stuff I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Knowing how to handle injury and long layoffs (and the possibility of never doing something again), especially for us amateur folks for whom this is really just a hobby, with some degree of aplomb is something you really have to learn for yourself. You can tell people to relax; that they need to be smart in their recovery; that 3, 4, 8, even 52 weeks off isn’t the end of the world…but it’s going to fall on deaf ears until you live it, sometimes repeatedly. I’ve become a much smarter athlete from it all. Isn’t that how it always works? You have all the physical abilities as a youth, but the intelligence of an addled wombat. You get the smarts as a grown up—and your body goes to shit.

I also discovered that, in fact, I didn’t die from not running. And while it is a huge part of who I am…it isn’t me in my entirety. I run very little now. That saddens me a bit, and I wish I could do more. But I know that some day, if I couldn’t run, or cycle or whatever at all, I will find something that I can take on. And, of course, I found out that I’m a better natural cyclist than I was a runner.

All of that is a very long-winded way of saying, ‘No. I don’t have any true regrets, because I think I am a better, smarter, and stronger person because of it.’ I have only one or two true regrets in my life, and neither of them has to do with any of all that jazz.

ST: Last year you had to take time off from triathlon due to some injuries. Is all well now?

Megan: I was out at the end of the 2009 season (October) and all of the 2010 season. I had a knee scope in October (another debridement and chondroplasty, and they took out the last bit left of my meniscus); followed by another scope and a distal femoral osteotomy to realign my leg in January 2010. Let me know if you want a few more details on what that is—basically, I have no lateral meniscus, and have lost almost all the cartilage on my lateral femoral condyle, and the bulk of it on the tib plateau, so they cut my leg in half, gave me a bone graft to lengthen one side, and plated her up, so that it unloads that degenerated joint compartment.

I complicated that procedure by suffering a femoral shaft fracture putting on a sock. That meant I was basically on bed rest for a few months. Went back to work in April, got off crutches and switched to a cane in May. Cleared to ride outside again (easily) in July 2010. Did my first real (albeit short) run in March of 2011.

ST: Is that it?

Megan: I’ve never been the ideal Slowtwitcher with all the gewgaws and toys and power meters and data crunching, but I still found it amazing how easy it is to forget the simple joy of just moving for the sake of moving. Being active because we can.

At any rate…the season turned out well. If I had set goals, I would have far exceeded anything I could have anticipated. I set a nice PR at Chequamegon 40 Fat Tire, like 20 minutes or so—even with a mechanical failure…riding the last 10 miles out of the saddle. Some OA and AG placings at the duathlons I did and 1st or 2nd overall female on the bike in those, as well, which is all I really care about. I am a slowtwitcher deep down, you know; ditto for a few running races. Ever done a Dances With Dirt? Awesome race, highly recommend, great fun, tough going, and stellar post-race party. Ran my best Bix 7, a hellishly horrid race in well over a decade. I even actually was the female winner at the WhistleStop 10k in Ashland, WI. I am guessing only elderly women and 6-year old children were entered, but still.

So yeah, I was happy with my year.

ST: How is Oakdale, MN treating you?

Megan: Not bad! I’m lucky enough to live in a far eastern suburb of the Twin Cities, so there’s great running and riding right outside my door. I can go 100 miles on country roads with wide-open six-foot shoulders, hit hills, flats, you name it. Three great mountain bike trails in riding distance. Beautiful bike paths and trail running opportunities. The multisport scene here is just packed. You could race three times every weekend, were you so inclined. Lots of great talent, too. Humbling to get your butt handed to you all the time…but good competition.

There are a lot of driving forces behind the success of triathlon here, I think, but one of them is definitely Kevin O’ Connor (owner of Gear West), whom I met not long after I moved here and bought my very first tri bike from him. His work for the sport, the Midwest Multisport Series, all that, it’s great. Kevin, and other folks like him are the reason why I stayed in the sport. The tri/du community here is fun, quirky, and super welcoming.

You know, people call this fly-over land. And when other metro areas in the country get talked about, they always get actual city names Chicago, New York, San Diego, hell…even Des Moines. But we’re always just Minnesota. That’s okay though—this is an awesome place to live. If you are into sports (either participating, or weeping in frustration as you watch people who are paid to play them), I can’t imagine a better place to be. I never thought I’d end up here, but I am glad I did.

ST: Is that where you grew up?

Megan: Nope…I will never officially be “one of us”, as the joke goes here. I was born in Iowa, Quad Cities. Went to the University of Iowa, then moved to Madison for graduate school at Wisconsin. Met my husband there…we were in running club together. He’s a White Bear native, everybody now, in your best Fargo accent ‘Go Bears!’ and suckered me back here. I’ve lived here 10 years now, this year. This state recruits people. I swear. That, and its natives never leave.

ST: Have you started to hibernate yet or do you switch to other sports during the winter?

Megan: I run outdoors year round. That’s how I was raised, and I really enjoy it, anyway. Best time of the year, in my opinion…put the watch away, forget about pace, and just go out and enjoy it. I’ll get back on the trainer again in January.

I don’t downhill ski or board…and if I even think about trying, everyone who knows me screams in terror. I am a bit clumsy and accident-prone. I’m pretty sure every day my husband sees me off to work with the admonition ‘please don’t get hurt today.’

I do have cross-country skis, and maybe this year I’ll learn to use them. I also got skates for Christmas last year, so I hope to give that a whirl, too.

ST: Any big plans for 2012?

Megan: No official goals yet—last season seemed to work out that way, so we’ll see. I enjoyed not having to swim last year, so I think I might stick to duathlons entirely again this year. If the leg can handle the volume, I’d like to get one more half marathon in in my life. Go back to Chequamegon 40 and if I can, get my time down to about 3:10. I f I have one goal, that would be it.

I am also planning on going to go back up to the Velodrome again. I had a couple of bad crashes a while back that left me with labral tears in my hip and a concussion and whatnot that made me sort of gun shy—which you most definitely can not be at the track. The Velodrome is not the place to get the Yips. But I’d like to start over again. I’m terrible at it—I can pull at the front the whole way for the 30-lap races, and will do so happily, but I am just NOT a sprinter. I suck so bad. But it’s an absolute blast.

ST: Five bikes? Is that correct and what are they?

Megan: Yep. I have five. My husband is down to two and he was the one who encouraged me to start riding. Now he says he’s being forced out of house and home. I have a Schwinn Moab 26er; Gary Fisher Paragon 29er, Giant TCR Comp1, Specialized Transition, and a Fuji Track.

ST: Word has it that you have a full house.

Megan: Hey now, I keep most of those bikes in the garage. In terms of things with a heartbeat - we appeal to both halves of the Lavender room pet devotees. Two dogs: an Akita mix named Sampson, and a German shepherd/sheltie/something tenacious and squirrel hating mix called Sadie, and three cats, Maxxie, a brown tabby; Frank an orange classic; and everyone’s favorite…our gentle sartorialist, Momo, he’s a BBB lad).

I really would like a pet rat, but the husband says no, although, oddly enough Maxxie is all about it.

ST: We have to ask you, who wears the pants in your house, your husband, you or Momo?

Megan: Definitely Momo. No one I know can rock a pair of ass-less chaps like that cat. Or a Paris Hilton wig, or a turtleneck ski sweater, or a bumblebee outfit, or a yellow corduroy and with satin trim pea coat, or…

ST: Anything else we should know?

Megan: My seat is too high, of course.