Talking to Sherri Eide creates this realization: She is not the kind of woman who complains.

On Thursday afternoon, with the sun high over Lake Nokomis, Eide waded past the pink buoy-lined beach area and dove into the water, thrusting herself closer to the other side with every stroke.

Her five kids, all of whom she home schools, were at a friend’s house, and had to be picked up in an hour. her husband, Peder — a Christian singer and songwriter — had left the day before for Life Fest, a Christian rock festival in Oshkosh, Wis., an event Sherri had planned as his manager. her right hip — which was surgically replaced in December of 2008 — contained old fractures beneath her black swim suit, track marks from years of injuries.

But while Eide, 44, is in the lake, purple swim cap bobbing across the warm Minnesota water, all of the bustle that is her life sinks below the surface. It is her final training session before Saturday’s Life Time Fitness Triathlon.

And this time is all her own.

"I think sometimes I just go off somewhere else, not thinking about anything, really, just praying, and thanking the Lord for life," said Eide, who has completed three triathlons. "everything does just kind of go on hold."

Everything really went on hold for Eide’s pastime two years ago, when, after pushing through a hip "soreness" for about a year, she nearly collapsed during a treadmill session. Eide, who seems bent on pushing through most things, actually finished the workout, and didn’t go to the doctor until the next week.

"I had to attend a big home schooling conference," she said. "I couldn’t miss it."

When she did go, she was told she needed arthroscopic surgery. Ten days after the procedure, Eide had more pain and went back. X-rays showed she had developed a blood infection during the last surgery, causing the cartilage to break around her hip, rendering it dysfunctional.

Then came the devastating news: She was told she would never run again.

"I went in thinking it was just a little setback," said Eide, though she couldn’t walk after the cartilage snapped. "When he told me, I just started sobbing."

When Eide swims — usually at Lake Marion near her Lakeville home — she lines up with some sort of target (a buoy, a boat) straight ahead. as she moves through the water, she peeks up at it every few strokes, to make sure she’s where she wants to be.

For Eide, who is a very spiritual person, her constant focus is analogous to life: as a Christian she stresses the necessity of "maintaining her relationship with God."

The concept, however, doesn’t escape her outlook on running, either. Eide decided to have her hip replaced, and she started the difficult rehab process — intent on proving the prognosis wrong and getting where she wanted to be.

"I was just excited and I thanked the Lord that I had two more things I could do [with biking and swimming]," said Eide, who first began training for triathlons in 2008.

Within six months, she was competing. the injured path Eide has taken seems like a lot to handle. but those roadblocks only scratch the surface.

Eide has five children — three biological and two adopted from Korea and Ethiopia — and plans all their home school lessons. for another 20 hours a week, she manages her husband’s event schedule from their home. She juggles her kids’ baseball games, lays out contracts, and figures out math problems — somehow still finding time to train for what she loves.

"I’ve got such a supportive family," Eide said. "It’s really a juggling act, but I fit it in."

On Wednesday morning, after fitting in another run the night before, Eide had a chiropractic appointment. It looked to the doctor as if something was wrong again. Eide, who said she had planned a get-together with friends visiting from Arkansas for that afternoon and had to attend her son’s baseball game that evening, made an appointment for an X-ray the next morning.

The pictures showed several past avulsions in her hip, where the muscle was pulling away from the bone. they had been there for weeks.

But Eide — who first started training for the Lake Nokomis triathlon in 2008 — was not discouraged.

"He said I could run, but I should take it easy," she said.

She might be a little slower than expected, but Eide is not complaining. in fact, to Eide, this is just another life lesson.

"I tell my kids this is what it’s all about," she said. "Persevering when it’s tough, through chronic fatigue. in spite of everything."