Kathleen's Adventures

I have not had time yet to sit down and write about IMTX.  I hope to do so very soon.  In the meantime, this picture tells quite a story of an incredible day, and the reasons it was so incredible.  It also helps explain why, after saying I had no real interest to do an ironman in 2012, I signed up to do IMTX again next year.

I'm starting to get a little excited - finally able to refocus my mind from moving to Ironman. 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. Hand-in-hand we will all head in, Eagerly treading water as we wait to begin. At 7am the cannon will blast But be sure not to go out too fast. The water will run over your face, As you are now committed to the race. Town Green Park 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 112 miles you go, Be sure to give your friends a very loud ...

A month late, and quite a random assortment, but here are a few fun pics from the weekend: Dinner Saturday Night Race morning in transition with Bridget B One highly motivated-looking crew getting ready to race (...or waiting over an hour for our waves to start) Photo by John Chung Don't put you knee through a bike wheel...the wheel won't bend but your knee will Awesome sunburn Cure for a bum knee Post Race stretching - a definite must! A few days later  The official race photos are here .

I found it hard to believe it was already time to race, and to race long when this race approached.  I had only been in the water for 3-4 weeks by that time and that just felt weird.  I had to take 10 days off swimming after my Lasik surgery in early March, but the truth is I hadn't been in the pool more than a handful of times before that.  I did do a 2.4 mile open water swim race the weekend before Lonestar, which helped the half not seem so long. I packed up my car Saturday morning and headed to Galveston.  It was smooth sailing until I hit I-45.  Surprise, surprise.  Once I exited on the island traffic was awful too.  All I wanted to do was get there and sit by the pool with Kim.  I got checked in and registered and finally made it to the pool, by which time the clouds had come out.  Oh well.  We went to dinner with several of my Austin friends and had a good time.  Kim and I were at the Moody Gardens hotel and Alisa, Mel...

Six weeks and six days to the big day.  I feel like my training is coming along nicely, but the next four weeks will be the hardest yet.  I'm somewhat banged up, but not necessarily any more than I'd expect to be at this point.  At one point my right shoulder, hip, knee, and foot were all messed up.  That was pretty awesome.  Now I'm about down to two of those bothering me at a time - that is much better than four!  I'm in PT twice a week and have been a while now for my right shoulder/neck/scapula area.  Its messed up from sitting at a desk all day long but it gives me trouble on the bike - big time.  It feels like I have a small child riding around with me stabbing me in the back and twisting the knife around while they are at it.  Its lovely.  I think we are finally making a little progress there though, so that is good. Getting a little loopy at 9:45pm/mile 17 of a Thu night long run My long runs are building back up from m...

On Sunday, September 20, 2009, I woke up to find countless missed calls and text messages on my cell phone. I was in Oklahoma City for a race Saturday and had apparently slept harder than I had in ages. Those calls and texts were from my best friend Mike. His sisters Katie and Kristi had been in a bad car accident in Houston the night before. A drunk driver rear-ended them and Kristi died at the scene. Katie walked away relatively uninjured, but it almost seems silly to say that now, looking back over the past 18 months since Kristi's death. Katie and the rest of their family are anything but "uninjured." They will never be the same. A few days after the accident, feeling more helpless than I ever had before, the idea for a "Race Against Drunk Driving" came into my head. Six weeks later, I crossed the finish line at Ironman Florida having raised over $15,000 for the SE Texas chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Kristi's memory. My donation was by far ...

So, this is about a month late, but oh well.  My marathon race report in song was a fairly comprehensive report in itself, and fun to write.  I may do more that way. At my last track practice the Tuesday before the marathon, Shawn told me he thought I had the physical ability and fitness to run well in the marathon. He said I just had to get right in my head about it; that he was worried all the crap that had gone on in the few weeks before that could leave my head in another place and less than confident. I walked away thinking (overreacting of course) "ugh! he thinks I'm too much of a head case to run well this weekend?!" But then I also realized that may have been the best thing he could have said. It almost seemed like a challenge - I felt like I had to prove that my head would be in the right place and that I would make it happen. I had to prove it to myself more than him, but it was certainly good food for thought. It was really weird driving to Houston and sta...