Lauren Henzler, Debra Cully and Kim Schwabenbauer plan to travel to Hawaii next month for a little swimming, biking and even some running.

OK, a lot of swimming, biking and running.

The three North suburban residents have qualified to compete Oct. 11 in the 2008 Ironman Triathlon Championships in Kailua, Kona, Hawaii. The event pits them into competition against 1,800 other athletes who will vie for various age group championships in the most prestigious triathlon championship in the world.

Each will have to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and complete the race by running a 26.2 mile-marathon. It is the sixth trip to the Ironman Championships for Cully, the third for Henzler and the first for Schwabenbauer.

"I think all three of us really like a challenge," said Cully, 55, of Pine. "There are not too many things out there that you can do that involve all three sports like this."

Cully began her career as a triathlete in 1982, getting started simply by seeing the event on television and deciding to give it a try. She since has competed in numerous similar events throughout the country. Her personal best in an Ironman competition was 11 hours, 3 minutes in her first event. Her personal best at Kona in the world championships is 11 hours, 16 minutes.

"A friend of mine and I were watching on TV and we decided to try," Cully said. "She's not doing it anymore but I'm still going. I just thought it would be something neat to try. I never thought I would stay with it for this long."

Cully said no single part of the triathlon gives her any particular trouble. She says she usually finishes in the top 10 of her age group -- having competed in 11 Ironman triathlons in her career -- and has set a goal of finishing that well again.

"All three parts are challenging," she said. "I can't say that one part is harder or easier for me. I just kind of got into it and it all fell into place for me. I think it's a great challenge and I really enjoy being part of it."

Henzler says the bike race is the toughest part for her, not because of the distance but because of her relative inexperience on a bicycle. She always was an avid runner and swimmer and knew how to ride a bike from the time she was a youngster. But when her husband bought her a bicycle for Christmas several years ago, she began to learn more about riding in competition.

"I grew up swimming and running and ran in the Great Race when I was a kid," said Henzler, 35, of Hampton. "I competed in track in high school [at Shaler]. After I got the bike, I thought it was time to put up or shut up about doing triathlons. It's been hard for me to learn how to pace myself on the bike. It's the longest part of the race, time-wise, and I have had to train myself to eat and drink on the bike and do everything I can to finish strong."

Henzler competed in her first Ironman event in 2000 and says she has finished in the top five of her age group in each of the six Ironman events in which she has participated. She is hoping to make it seven-for-seven in Kona.

Her Ironman personal best is 10 hours, 20 minutes.

"One of my goals is to set a good example for my daughter (5-year old Bella)," Henzler said. "I want her to know that if you set your mind to something, you can achieve it. Anything is possible if you work hard for it."

Henzler and Cully often train together. Henzler said in the weeks before the Ironman, she was swimming about four miles per week, biking about 200 miles and running about 45 miles. Cully was running about 40 miles, biking between 150 and 200 miles and "swim a couple miles" each week.

"Lauren and I have been training together for years," Cully said. "She's like a coach to me. We try to help each other, but I know I can't run with her. She's a real good athlete. She's too fast."

Schwabenbauer is the youngest of the three, at 29. A Cranberry resident, she learned to swim as an adult and said the swimming leg of the triathlon is thus the hardest part of the event for her.

"The toughest part is when you get in there, everyone is hitting into you," she said. "I haven't been swimming all that long and I'm not used to that. But I guess I better get used to it since I'll be swimming with 1,800 of my closest friends."

One friend who won't be with her is Steelers' Hall of Famer Franco Harris, Schwabenbauer's boss. She works as a dietitian for Super Bakery, a business operated by Harris.

"He's been really supportive," Schwabenbauer said. "He's been a real positive influence for me."

Schwabenbauer was an avid runner as a youth but got to a point with running where she tired of it.

She was looking for something more challenging to push her athletically and settled on the triathlon once she learned to swim in 2005. In her first triathlon, she swam the breaststroke just to stay afloat.

"That's not the way you want to swim in a race," she said with a laugh. "But it was the best way for me when I got started. I'm a lot better now, but swimming is still the hardest part for me."

Since this is her first Ironman competition, she has no personal best to try to improve upon and has set no hard goals for what she would like to accomplish.

"I'm trying not to focus on a goal for a time to finish," she said. "I know there are a lot of things that can happen to throw you off. You can have mechanical problems with the bike or something like that, and once that happens, that throws you off your goal. So I'm just going to try and finish and do the best I can."

The women plan to head to Kona for about a week before the event to complete their training and get acclimated to the weather. All have sponsors helping to defray the costs and plan to spend at least a couple of days vacationing after the race.

"I think that might be the best part," Henzler said. "You have to take a few days and enjoy being there."