Then and now: EV alum pursuing active lifestyle for the fun of it

When you meet Jeana Boisen Paventy you wonder why she wasn’t the best athlete in her high school.

Tall, fit and focused, in the gym Paventy, 36, cuts an all-conference history. She could be the poster child for what high school sports should be: Life lessons that trump blue ribbons and trophies.

“I was an OK high school athlete that had fun,” she explained. “Knowing what I know now … I regret not applying myself.”

Paventy liked being on a volleyball team – though good height never translated into being a ferocious hitter – and part of a track team – though her long limbs never unleashed a state-qualifying javelin throw.

More importantly, sports taught her “being active is fun, if you make it fun or want it to be fun.”

The fun side emerges after she finishes wringing every ounce of sweat possible out of a dozen or so envious wannabes in a spin class at MUV Fitness in Spokane Valley. Paventy laughs often, usually at herself, or the image others have of her.

“I was always involved in sports growing,” she said. “I was either – you were working or playing a sport in my family. I was always choosing to play sports.”

In the years since graduating from East Valley in 2000 with no athletic honors, Paventy has run a handful of marathons, completed an Ironman and become a personal trainer and a spin class instructor.

Her first passion was volleyball, and then softball, which she gave up for track when she got to high school, influenced by an older sister, Necielle, who threw the javelin in college.

“I loved track,” Paventy said. “It was a way different flow and feeling than volleyball was. I loved the coach, I loved the people in it. I certainly goofed off more than I should have.”

After graduation she went to BYU Idaho in Rexburg, played intramural volleyball and majored in psychology. Her first summer home she met Joe Paventy, a former pitcher at Central Valley, Class of 1998, who also went to BYU Idaho, although he was on his LDS mission during her freshman year.

Soon they married, started a family, graduated, moved to Las Vegas for dental school and then went to the University of Oklahoma for specialty training in orthodontics. And she continued running, which was her personal time.

Once settled back in Spokane, Paventy’s interest in physical fitness took a sharp turn.

“We were in Hawaii vacationing and my husband was talking to a lady that had done the Ironman in Kona,” she said. “Listening to her talk, I thought, ‘I can do that,’ so I decided I was going to do one and when we got home I signed up.”

But there was no triathlon club or close-knit group of friends to workout with to help this busy mother prepare for the 2015 Ironman Coeur d’Alene.

“It was just me. I literally was the complete amateur out there,” she said. “I didn’t have a watch…. I had good cardio.”

And? That was it. She couldn’t even remember if she had a bike before her husband bought her a tri bike.

Paventy eased the scary stories of the 2.4-mile swim by watching You Tube videos and went to the YMCA for practice.

“I’m sure I was awful but I made it,” she said, with another laugh. “It was my sheer will to get it done.”

The bike was different.

“The bike, I found, actually was my strong suit,” she said. “My running translated well.”

Mostly she’d ride the Centennial Trail for hours. She didn’t put aero bars on her bike the day before the race. But when she finished the 112 miles she threw her bike down with the hopes she would never see it again.

“The bike was horrible. It was really, really awful. It was so hot, and there is no shade on that course. If and when I do one again, I need more time in the saddle,” Paventy said, admitting she never rode more than 90 miles on training rides. “I should have done a couple of hundreds.”

Then she got in her zone and ran the marathon.

Despite the heat and her unorthodox preparation, Paventy barely missed her second goal – the first is always finishing – of finishing in less than 14 hours.

“If I can do it, anyone can do it. That’s what I would say,” Paventy said. “Like I said, I wasn’t a special athlete. I’m nothing special, I’m just consistent. That’s what I tell people … it’s just consistency.”

But every Ironman finisher is special and as she recounts her story that becomes obvious.

“It was amazing,” she said, choking up. “I was so proud of myself. During it you wonder why I am doing this. Afterward you want to do it again, you’re euphoric. And they make it special.”

Shortly after that she got pregnant with their fourth child, Wesley, now 1, joining Gabrielle, 13, Hayden, 12, and Olivia, 9.

Looking for a challenge, she became a personal trainer – though she just focuses on friends and their recommendations. After the birth, she started spinning.

“I just loved it. I thought I could make it fun,” she said of her decision to get a teaching certificate. And she does, if you don’t equate fun to easy.

But she’s not all-in on her training, training others or spinning. She coaches her oldest in volleyball and is guiding her children to an active lifestyle.

“Now I use my kids,” she said, quickly adding she’s not one of those parents. “I definitely see myself wanting them to be what I think I could have been. So there are regrets but it all worked out.

Not that there is anything wrong with what she did.