Kathleen's Adventures

I flew into Phoenix Friday morning with several other Houston area athletes doing the race. It was fun to already have IMAZ'ers all around. Robin and me on the plane Robin greeted me with a pink goody bag complete with pink flashing lights, a pink lei, and a bracelet that said "Believe" on it. She had a matching bracelet and said she'd be wearing it during the race, so I decided I would wear it as well. After some waiting at the airport in Phoenix, we met up with Laurie and headed to the race site for lunch and registration. Laurie, Angy, Sissy, Randy, Robin, Shellie, and Me entering the Ironman Village We met up with more of the group and explored Ironman Village together. This year I was able to buy Ironman merchandise before the race, whereas last year I was afraid I'd jinx myself if I bought anything that said Ironman on it before I deserved it. Shellie, Me, Trent, Robin, Laurie, and Fred I tried to get Robin to buy herself some stuff because all the good ...

The alarm was set for 4:45 but I was definitely awake long before that. I got out of bed when the alarm went off and started drinking my yummy slim fast and packing the rest of my bags. Elizabeth braided my hair and I felt like I was in first grade again because she always used to do my hair when I was little. Ok, maybe not first grade, because I still had a bowl cut in first grade and not enough hair to braid, so maybe like third grade or something. Anyway, you get the idea. I ceremoniously dawned my Team W shirt, grabbed my stuff, and headed out the door. Our hotel was awesome and had a shuttle to take athletes to the race so our lovely family members didn't have to leave with the rental cars quite as early. I met Robin, Josh, Randy, Shellie, and Laurie downstairs before we left. Robin, Laurie, and I hopped on the hotel shuttle and I was pleasantly surprised to learn the person sitting next to me was Michael Lovato - a pro. He wasn't racing, but was there working and Robin ta...

Sucked. Plain and simple! I must have told 50 people that AZ has the easiest ironman swim there is and that I only had problems for about 1/3 of the way last year and then I had water all to myself. Not this year. I did not find 2 feet of free water the entire time. I was kicked, punched, groped, hit, knocked upside the head, swam over, under...you name it, it happened. Over and over and over again. For 72 minutes to be exact. I did not let myself look at my watch until I knew I was well over half way through. It looked and it was 0:42, so I wasn't doing too bad, but I still did not have much of a gauge as to how I was really doing. I didn't look again until I made the last left turn for home and my watch said 1:10. I didn't know if I had 1 or 7 minutes left to get to the stairs, but I knew I would most likely be faster than last year. I reached the stairs and made my way out without much trouble. I saw 1:12 on my watch and was very pleased with that time. At least the beat...

As soon as I got on my bike I knew the weathermen had lied. They were so far off on their wind predictions it wasn't even funny. There was an instant wall of wind as soon as the bike course started, and I knew I was in for a long day. The bike course is three out-and-backs. The out rises 400 feet over ~18 miles and the down comes back down those 400 feet on the way back into town. This meant we would have the wind in our face while going uphill and the wind at our back while going downhill. I watched my average speed slowly drop on the first out from around 17mph to just above 13mph. I was not thrilled because there wasn't much way I could have a 7 hour bike split with that kind of speed, or lack thereof. Then I turned around. My only thought was "there is a God." I averaged 23mph on the way back into town. I was going 32mph at times without even pedaling. It was awesome. I learned that I really suck going into the wind and am really good with the wind at my back. ...

I'm going to try this one again and hopefully it doesn't get erased when I'm almost through writing it! The run started off pretty hot, but it was to be expected. I was surprised my legs were running so fast, around 9 minute/mile pace, but that quickly ended. The first mile was fine, but even by mile 2 I started walking more than I should have. I took iced sponges at each station and put one in the back of my visor and one in my top. I had infinit in my small handheld bottler and just supplemented that with water at the first few stations. I was covered in sunscreen, so I wasn't too worried about burning. Somewhere between mile 2 and 3 my spirits were getting very low and I was facing the prospect of walking the rest of the marathon and I just wasn't happy about that. I felt like I had nothing left and had no motivation to be out there any longer. I knew I would finish, but didn't think I'd so much enjoy any of that. Right about then Trent from Houston came...

Shellie and I were posing for a finish picture right when my family came up. Thank goodness they did because they got the pic below. In the professional one, my eyes are closed! Chad, Randy, Laurie, Josh, and Robin were all in the finishers area and it was great to see all of them. I talked to my family for a little while as well and they were just fabulous. Doug and Linda were beyond impressed and excited to go back to their small home town and tell people about what I had done over the weekend. Greg got a picture of Team W and it is a great pic. I'm glad we were able to get one of all of us together. They had just been so wonderful the entire weekend and I was so happy and blessed to have them there. After a while they headed off to the brewery they had found at lunch. Apparently the beer was so good they had to go back for more at dinner! Randy, Josh, and I went in search of food and sat down to some good pizza. Randy was amazed I could eat so soon as he was just eating aft...

10 days to go...last countdown day of double digits. I'm nearing the "ready for this to be over state" then I realize I have done absolutely nothing to get prepared for the trip, so 10 days sounds good, or maybe like even not enough time. I'm having some weird body issues right now and don't totally know what is going on. I'm super sluggish and don't want to do much of anything. I feel like I'm not getting enough to eat but I'm counting my calories and am actually eating more than normal. I think I'm also retaining tons of water but am still feeling a bit dehydrated even after drinking my usual gallon+ of water a day. None of these issues are major, just a bit weird. I'm sure my body will sort itself out soon enough, especially with the decrease in workouts. At least I hope so! I'm still up 1-2 lbs from last week which just isn't cool, but I'm relating it to all this weirdness. I just hope it isn't permanent. We work so har...

I got home yesterday and when I checked the mail I had my first good luck card for IMAZ !! I knew immediately who it was from because I recognized the handwriting - Mrs. Clark. She has been my second mother growing up. They moved in across the street from us when I was a baby and their daughter Kelly and I have been best friends ever since. I spent so much time with the Clarks , people used to get Mrs. Clark and my mom mixed up. It was pretty funny. Kelly ran the last 6 miles of my first 3 marathons with me and has since moved to San Diego so I no longer get to look forward to seeing her at mile 20. She did recently start running herself though and we are going to run a half marathon in San Diego together in August. I can't wait! (in case you can't tell, good luck cards make me very excited!! hint hint...:-))

11 days until IMAZ , round 2. I'm still wanting to eat everything in sight and still not happy with my recent weight gain. Sigh... Now to business. Some of you may have read my Cancer Sucks post back in February. Well, it still sucks. Not too long ago I had the pleasure of enjoying dinner at Greg and Stephanie Johnson's house to help plan out the 2 nd Annual Stephanie Johnson Tri . I couldn't stop looking at Stephanie and their whole family thinking how healthy and normal she looked and how normal their household was. They don't really know how much more time she has, but if anyone were to see her, they would guess 30, 40, 50 years. I am in total awe of their ability to live life to the fullest, while still continuing to be a normal, every day family. I've said it before, but I do not think there is any way I would ever be strong enough to continue on the way that they have. It is just amazing and inspiring. I pray for them each night, along with several others. I ...

Today is exactly 12 days from Ironman Arizona. On each of the 12 days of Ironman I'm going to write about a different topic, but don't expect me to exactly stay "on topic" for each of these posts! Today's topic is: FOOD! Today begins 12 days of healthy eating for me. Ok , well maybe about 10 days of healthy eating, but it is a start. I'm going to try to stay away from sweets and cokes, but am not sure I'm going to say I absolutely can't have any. I'm not in to deprivation right now, just moderation. I got a phone call from a source to remain nameless after lunch yesterday when I revealed I had really only had a bagel and popcorn to eat. " Prrroooottein " and "FIBER" were shouted over the phone. Yes, I know these things and I'm sure the chocolate chip cookies I had around 4pm were full of both protein and fiber. Today I have done better though. Orange juice, pineapple, a banana, and a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter wa...

That, my friends, is my new ironman goal. It is as simple as it sounds...I want to finish without regret. I don't want to look back and say I should have gone easier on the bike, or say I should not have walked so much on the run. I want to leave it all out there and race smart enough to finish without regret. I will train for the things I do have control over and try not to dwell on the things that I do not have control over. As far as training is going, I'm exhausted, which is where I should be on a Thursday night as Fridays are my sacred off days. After running my stellar half marathon on Sunday, I took a spin class Monday night at Tri On The Run from Steve Quick that nearly killed me. My heart rate averaged higher than it ever has in a spin class and I was in a full sweat about 2 minutes into the class. I took the class on my own bike and a trainer and that makes a world of difference. You can get away with a lot more on a spin bike. Not on my bike - I had to be honest, an...

The months before I do not remember the exact date that I signed up for IMAZ 07, but I know it was towards the end of April. There was a delay in registration opening up and I checked the site hourly for about 2 weeks after the 2006 race to see when the 2007 date was and when registration would open up. I was half hoping it would be after my first half ironman in mid-May, but when it opened in late April, I signed up that day because most American Ironmans fill up the same day the registration opens, a year before the race. It turns out the race did not fill up until the end of summer, but I did not want to risk not getting in. Pushing the “submit payment” button was one of the scariest things I had ever done, but it began just over 11 months of the most amazing journey I have been on. I went on to do my first half ironman in Panama City in May and finished knowing I had a lot of work to do, but I was ready, not scared, to take on the challenge ahead of me. I did one more half ironman ...