Kathleen's Adventures

Today I am thankful for my nieces. They are awesome. I look forward to seeing them for days and weeks before every visit. I am excited to see Kate in her first Nutcracker at Christmas, and Molly as Chip, the Teacup, in her school's production of Beauty and the Beast in February. Here are the girls trying on their new cold weather accessories in preparation for a cooold Turkey Trot.

Today I am thankful for the power of prayer. I'm certain it helps me every day, and it also just happened to save the life of my friend's mom . Read the story - it is quite amazing and I know I was praying as hard as I know how as this was all going on. Another note on prayer - Mrs. Clark asked me what I do on such long bike rides, especially since we are not allowed to listen to music in races. I did not really have much of an answer for her, but during IMFL I remembered immediately - I pray. A lot. I pray every time I see a biker on the side of the road with an issue, I pray prayers of thanks for me being able to be there racing in the first place, I pray that everyone will stay safe, and the list goes on and on.

Today I am thankful for Dad. Just 'cause. Too many reasons to list, but one of the most notable would be the fact that he is doing a darn good job of making 77 look young. And I expect him to do a good job of making 87 look young when the time come as well.

Today I am thankful for trails, specifically the Memorial Park Hike and Bike Trails . No, not the 2.9 mile jogging path that we run circles on over and over (thankful for that too, it sure isn't Town Lake, but it is the best Houston's got), but the the ones on the south side of the park. A short 2 minute ride or run past the trail head, and you'd have no idea you are right in the middle of one of the nation's biggest cities. On my run there today I saw two other people total - granted the trails were technically closed because of Saturday's rain - but you can usually completely escape "life" back there as the trails twist and turn, up and down, across creeks, and through the woods. Hundreds of us use the main loop at the park on a daily basis, yet most never venture back on the other side to one of Houston's best hidden treasures. Trail running (or biking, or even just going for a walk) is just such a nice change in pace from the concrete jungles most ...

Today I am thankful for my ability to run. I know that may sound similar to being thankful for my legs, but I feel that when I finally "learned how to" run, I also started to learn that there was not much I cannot do. Learning to run the first three miles was the hardest part of any of this endurance stuff that I have done, and it took nearly 10 years to get there. I started "trying to run" in probably 7th or 8th grade. I would set up a plan, and stick to it for about a week, and probably never got to running more than 1/4 mile or so at a time without walking. It was not until I was 22 that I finally ran my first mile ever, and then it took two more months from there to be able to run three miles consistently at a time. I grew up swimming, and anyone can ride a bike, so running was the missing link when it came to me and triathlon. My first 5k ever came after a 1/2 mile swim and 12.5 mile bike. My first marathon came right about a year after I ran my first mile, and...

Today I am thankful for the Houston Racing Triathlon Club . I went to my first meeting several years ago, only after Jill dragged me there. I had been a member for over a year, but too afraid to go to a meeting by myself. Just a few years later, I found myself on the board as membership coordinator in 2008, and as president in 2009. My days on the board are quickly coming to an end, and while I will enjoy having a few more Monday evenings to do what I wish, I think I am going to miss it more than I originally envisioned. We as a board had a good year and somehow managed to get more people involved than in the past. We had several meeting with over 100 people, growing out of every meeting venue we had used in the past. I have met some of my closest friends through Houston Racing, and was also first inspired to do an Ironman after reading someone's race report in the newsletter.

Today I am thankful for my legs. While I doubt they will be asked to model the latest running skirt or shoes, they have taken me to some wonderful places. They have not always been 100%, but they have gone way above and beyond what I have asked of them at times. I am thankful I have two legs that can take me anywhere at all. Yes, there have been times I have said I wanted a cheetah leg for my right one because it seems to always have something wrong with it, but I feel bad even joking about it. Many people have legs that don't work, or don't even have legs at all...yet mine have taken me over the course of 8 marathons, 4 ironmans, 7 half ironmans, 3 50ks, 4 MS150s, and countless other races, rides, etc. (I'm thankful for pink running skirts too!!!! (and pink shoes, and pink socks, and pink calf sleeves))

Today I am thankful for my job. My boss is wonderful, the culture is great, and our company president and his son ran 20 miles of the Houston marathon with my best friend last year (until Kelly dropped them like a bad habit). This year he and his son are on a quest to break 4 hours (no problem...they did 4:08 in their first last year) after he promised the company he was going to do so. I get to play with glitter. I am rarely bored and somehow my boss manages to keep my challenged even in the cool "internal audit" role that I have. So, yes, the real estate industry isn't in the best shape right now, and no one at the company got a raise last year, but I know they would have given them to us if they could have and left it at that, instead of feeling disgruntled, unappreciated, or overworked. I value and appreciate my co-workers and know that they do the same for me. I fear the day that my boss leaves and/or the day I have to get a job elsewhere.

Today I am thankful for Jon. I have no idea what the future holds for us, but I do know I have thoroughly enjoyed the time I have spent with him and cannot imagine him not being a part of my life now. Each night for the past 13 months I have asked God to help us continue to grow together and also thanked God for bringing him into my life. Jon has challenged me to become a better person, and I hope I have done the same for him.

Today I am thankful for great friends like Melissa and Stephanie. Melissa and I went out to a long overdue dinner and talked for over an hour and half. Stephanie forwarded along some awesome advice, and gave me a new perspective on something I thought I was familiar with, but gave me a completely different way to look at it. I have something to work on for myself and I'm excited about it.

Today I am thankful for my sister, Elizabeth. When we were little, I always looked up to her and wanted to do everything she did. Well, nothing has changed now that we are older. I still want to be just like her. I kind of missed the boat on the whole husband and kids thing, but I can still hope maybe one day I'll have a family like hers with a wonderful husband and beautiful, awesome kids.

(a little more on my race is here ) If you have read my blog any time over the 7 weeks leading up to Ironman Florida, you know that just a few days after Kristi McCarthy's death on September 19, this race took on an entirely new meaning. I was Racing Against Drunk Driving in her memory and honor. My initial goal was to raise $1,000, then $5,000, then $7,500, then $10,000, then...well, you get the idea. All in all, we ended up raising $15,000. I thought I was the third highest fundraiser when I arrived in Florida, which would have qualified me for an additional $6,000 donation from Janus to MADD . I was crushed on Thursday when I found out I was in fifth at best (qualifies for a $2,000 donation from Janus) because a few people had been raising money entirely offline so the information I had was not complete. That news ruined my day that day. I was completely bummed and felt like I had let a lot of people down. I woke up Friday though and decided it was time to get over it and tha...

Today I am thankful for the Monsignor Kelly High School class of 1999. We had some good times together, many of us going to school together from preschool through college. We're having our 10 year reunion this weekend. I'm not thrilled at the idea of going solo tonight but I will try to make the best of it. I just spent 4 hours baking so I hope everyone likes the dessert. I think this is the first time I've baked for this many people - 80!

Today I am thankful for my best friend in the whole wide world, Kelly. We've known each other since we were in diapers. We grew up across the street from each other in Beaumont where our parents still live and where our moms walk together in the neighborhood each morning. I'm thankful she called last night and we probably talked for a good hour - I needed it. I'm thankful she will always be there.

So, people on facebook have been starting a thing where you say something that you are thankful for each day between now and Thanksgiving. The more days you go, the harder it will get apparently. There are fifteen days left between now and then, so we will see if I run out of things to be thankful for not (I don't think I will, but we will see). So for Day 1, I am thankful for my mom. She's pretty awesome. I didn't necessarily always think so, but now I do.

Anne must be one of the luckiest girls around . How awesome!

(as in ran through my weekend, the weekend before IMFL). Jon and I went to New Braunfels/Gruene/San Antonio the weekend before IMFL for Tour de Gruene and Halloween at my sister's house. It was an awesome weekend - action packed and tiring, but awesome. I did the "recreational tour" ride Saturday morning and it was the prettiest ride I have ever done. It was only 30 miles too, which made it that much more awesome! We rode from Gruene Hall out to River Road which runs along the Guadalupe river. We did an out-and-back along the river, with about 20 miles being right on the shoreline. We crossed all four river crossings twice which just added to the gloriousness of the ride. I wish I would have taken pictures, but I was by myself and just not motivated to do so. There were places along River Rd where I thought to myself that someone has had to have ridden into the river at some point during Tour de Gruene's history. The banks of the river came right up to the road in som...

Since when did my age group get so tough? It may not be very big, but gees, there are some fast ones. Looking at the FL results, you had to go 10:22 in my age group to qualify for Kona (darn, I was only off by a few minutes...), which is the fastest qualifying time of any female age group. Also I didn't even crack the top half in my age group with my little 12:47. My time in any other age group would have been top half no problem. Oh well - good thing I am not anywhere near trying to qualify for Kona , or placing, or anything other than just improving my own time - it could get pretty frustrating! I guess all the age groups just change with time. M35-39 used to be by far the biggest group in the first ironmans I did, but at IMFL M40-44 had 402 men while M35-39 had 385.

A full IMFL race report will be coming soon, but I always like to wait to get all the pictures first so I can put them together with the report. I probably should start on it soon though because I may forget everything. I have, of course, run a few numbers though that I think are pretty neat. Here is a comparison of my finish times for my ironmans and how I finished compared to the rest of the field: IMAZ 2007, finish time 15:31, 79th percentile IMAZ 2008, finish time 14:40, 58th percentile IMCDA 2009, finish time 13:29, 61st percentile IMFL 2009, finish time 12:47, 54th percentile So, obviously finish time/placement can vary greatly from race to race. IMAZ '07 was my first and I was happy to finish, regardless, but looking back at it now, I realize that race still had some pretty rough conditions (winds 20-25mph with gusts over 35mph). For comparison, the 79th percentile at IMFL this year was around a 14:25 finish. IMAZ '08 was the year of the awful heat - as in 97 degrees. Th...

The big day is almost here! Long it will be, but have no fear. You have put in miles and miles And will finish amidst numerous smiles. The hard work is over and done. Now is the time for nothing but fun. May your spirits be high throughout the day, And may nothing come along to stand in your way. Ironman is as much about the journey as the destination, And you will be rewarded for all of your determination. At 7am the cannon will blast But be sure not to go out too fast. Before you know it, you are diving in, Barely believing this race is about to begin. The cool water will run over your face, As you are now committed to the race. Those turn buoys will seem so far away But keep those negative thoughts at bay. 2.4 miles will be over before you know it, And you will start to realize your thoughts of Iron are truly legit. On to the bike, for the ride of you life you go, Be sure to give your friends a very loud “Yo!” Your legs will get tired and your body will get hot, But think of giving ...

I have swam, biked, and run more over the last 10 months than I ever have in my life. But then again, there are a lot of people who will be toeing the line on Saturday who can say the exact same thing. I guess for me I can say my base heading into IMFL is probably twice as big as it has been for any of my prior three ironman races. I guess I will know come race day how much, if anything, that is worth. I have ridden three century rides during the 8 weeks leading up to this race, and for me, I think that is about the perfect number. I know people do more and people do less. Any more and I'd go insane. One less and I'd still be okay, two less and I may start to doubt myself a little bit. My last century was three weeks out, right where I wanted it. My longest runs were awesome this time around, with my 21 mile run being four weeks out and an 18 mile run five weeks out (the day after the awful Lufkin ride from hell). If I can run anywhere near the pace I ran those training runs fo...

Jon and I took a quick trip to the Nike outlet in San Marcos on Saturday. As usual, I didn't find anything for myself, but as I walked towards the men's side, on the way down the women's clearance sizes, I spotted them. Nike Lunartrainers in a women's size 5. Do you know how tiny a size 5 is? They looked like "model shoes" that I should put on my bulletin board or something. They are precious...and the perfect size for my niece Molly who started running cross country this year. They were also a very good price too, so Molly is the new proud owner. She is going to tear up the Beaumont Turkey Trot - watch out! Jon got a matching pair too. I was soooooo excited to give them to her - her first pair of " real" running shoes. She was a little more preoccupied with finding her friends to trick-or-treat, but I think she still liked them. Now, not to forget Kate, I needed to pick up a pair of shoes for her too because I couldn't leave her out of the s...