It’s been a year of meeting challenges for Nahant native Puleo

Nahant native Roz Puleo already knows something about endurance and sacrifice as she gears up for Sunday’s Timberman Half Iron Man triathlon in Guilford, N.H. But perhaps her greatest lessons in those areas came not in an athletic event, but in a hospital room.In January, Puleo learned that her father, Andrew Puleo of Nahant, needed a kidney after suffering from end-stage renal disease. His options were a donation or dialysis. His daughter donated a kidney in a procedure at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.”It was a very simple decision on my behalf,” Roz Puleo said. “Watch my dad’s health continue to decline, watch him on dialysis or step up and donate a kidney. It was a short-term disruption in my life that would lead to a long-term positive outcome for him. It wasn’t a difficult decision.”Roz and Andrew Puleo seem to have enjoyed smooth progress on their respective roads to recovery. On Sunday, Roz Puleo will test her prowess on a different set of routes – the biking, running and swimming routes near Lake Winnipesaukee, totaling 70.3 miles.A challenge and a responseRoz Puleo said that her father has a healthy constitution and that because of this, his decline was slow when he had end-stage renal disease. Yet his kidneys were failing. He felt tired and cold, and the recommended diet lacked nutrients such as potassium. Despite the fact that her father would eventually face dialysis if no donor came forward, Roz Puleo said that she almost had to force him into her decision.”At first he didn’t even want to ask,” she said. “I don’t think it even hit reality until we were in our gowns for surgery.”Perhaps it helped in Roz Puleo’s decision that she has a medical background. She is a nurse at the Lynn Community Health Center who is studying to become a nurse practitioner at Mass. General Hospital. She is also a public health faculty member at Tufts Medical School. (Puleo, 35, a Somerville resident, also went to Tufts for graduate school; she went to high school at Swampscott and to college at Hofstra.)”With me as a medical professional, I was like, ‘Nope, we’re doing this, Dad,'” Puleo said. “‘We’re going to go through with this.'”Her decision carried some risks.”A surgeon clearly does not want an adverse reaction or ill effects,” she said. “Yes, there are risks associated with it, but from my perspective, every day I leave the house, get on my bike, go in my car, there are risks associated.”(The risks) are not nearly as great as the rewards of surgery, the rewards I get from the small risk of surgery. It’s proven very effective treatment. The risk is so minimal compared to the benefits. It never really crossed my mind.”Andrew Puleo is now “doing great,” his daughter said, back on his bike and working full-time. In fact, Roz Puleo said, “recovery for me was harder than my dad’s recovery. My dad was up, walking around, getting color. For me, it was much more painful.”Still, after two weeks, she was back on her own bike ? and eventually she started to think about Sunday, Aug. 22, when she was scheduled to compete in the Timberman triathlon.Honoring a commitmentPuleo had signed up for the triathlon in November of last year. It was to be her first 70.3-mile event, but she was no stranger to what she described as “adrenaline-charged sports.” In her career as a mountain bike racer, she won two national titles at Mount Snow in 2007-08. She has also done ski racing.”I think I’ve always liked speed, always enjoyed a challenge,” she said. “I’ve never been one to just be satisfied with the status quo ? I’m a pure adrenaline junkie.”She has transitioned to triathlons in the past couple of years, doing several sprints and shorter events. However, in the wake of her kidney transplant, she considered deferring her participation in the Timberman.Then, she said, “You know what? I’m not going to give up. It was a last-minute decision. My surgeon’s only restriction was on lifting weights, stretching too much. I could do as much cardio a