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...

I still don't see myself as "grown-up" or an "adult." I know I am technically no longer a child and at least give the appearance of being grown-up (maybe), but I still don't always think of myself that way. This morning I had to leave mom at the hospital and come back to Houston to work. I had a very hard time leaving, and was surprised how hard it was to leave her and dad. I know I was helpful and that they were glad I was there to help, so I think that might have made it harder. I'm not ready to take care of my parents and don't see this as any sort of sign of getting older on mom's part - it was just her trying to outdo Elizabeth's and my 8-10 broken bones. I truly feel for anyone who has to take care of a parent, child, or other loved one for any extended period of time. This is totally temporary, and mom will be back to good before I know it, but even then I wish I could be around to help more and feel very torn being back here in...