Race Day Pics

A Dream Come True

Qualifying for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii has been an elusive dream of mine since being first introduced to Ironman as a young girl while watching live coverage of the race on TV with my dad.

Many of you know I started young. A competitive swimmer since my early youth, at age 10 I found a brochure at our local YMCA for the Lake Keesus triathlon, and begged my parents to let me register. It was a family affair, with my dad and younger brother also competing in their first triathlon, and a day I will never forget. Since then, I’ve completed many triathlons, and attempted my first Ironman in 2002 as a member of the UW Triathlon Team. My parents thought I was insane, and given my tendency at the time towards running injuries, they were scared I would not be able to finish. I, too, had my doubts, and although the marathon was tough and I walked a great deal of it, I ended up finishing in 12:47. From then I was hooked.

While I’ve always tried not to make such a big deal of it, deep down it’s always been my dream to qualify for Hawaii. But it’s hard to get wrapped up in a dream that at times seems so unattainable. And so I knew in my heart that my time would come eventually (even if it took me until I was a card-holding member of AARP). Unfortunately, the goal of qualifying for the Ironman World Championships is not quite as intrinsic or clear-cut as qualifying for the Boston marathon, for example. Essentially, there are a set number of qualifying spots for each Ironman race that are divided among the age divisions based on the number of competitors in that division. This year, there were 90 women in my age division, which equated to 3 qualifying spots. The past two years, I’ve placed 5th and 6th in my race division, respectively, so I knew that there was always a chance this time. But really, you just don’t know who is going to show up to the race, and how you or they will perform. And I think if you get too focused on qualifying for Hawaii, you can quickly loose perspective. So it’s always been a dream, but somewhat of a “stretch goal.”

Amazingly, the stars aligned for me on Sunday. I woke up at 4:45am and quickly took down a cup of coffee, a banana, and half of a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter. At 5:15, I drove with Karen and her family to the race site. We dropped off our special needs bags at the appointed spot near the capitol, before heading into the transition area to pump up our bike tires, get body markings, and zip into our wet suits. Luckily, I saw my parents while I was heading down to the race start, and gave final hugs before wading into the water and taking a position near the front. At 7am, the cannon blew, and we were off. The swim was relatively uneventful, although I did find myself in a few bottle necks, with bodies violently crashing all around and over me. For the most part, I was able to get into a comfortable rhythm, and completed the swim in 58:41.

From there, I ran up the Monona Terrace helix into the transition area, where I threw on my bike gear and arm warmers, since the temperature was still a little cool. I had trouble getting into a rhythm on my bike. I was being passed left and right, which is pretty typical but still discouraging, and I had to remind myself to stick with my pace and ride my own race. I started feeling much better 20-30 miles into the bike, and continued to concentrate on getting in much needed calories. Throughout the bike I consumed lots of Gatorade, 4 cliff shots, a vanilla power bar, an oatmeal raisin cliff bar, 4 cliff blocks, and 6 electrolyte tablets. On the second loop, a considerable head wind made things a little more challenging, and I definitely felt myself tiring on the last set of hills. On one of the final climbs, I felt a severe cramp in my legs, but quickly downed Gatorade and two salt tablets, which alleviated the pain almost immediately. On the way back into town, I was encouraged by a few friendly male competitors who shouted that I was riding smart and very well. I was also very pumped to see my parents at many points along the course. My mom was sporting a cow print skirt during the bike portion, which definitely made me chuckle. I ended up finishing the bike in 6:12, which even at an 18.1 mph pace is certainly my weakest link.

When I arrived back to the transition area, I was thrilled to be off the bike. Just being able to get out of the saddle after 6 hours is enough for me to want to run a marathon. I was able to get into a rhythm pretty quickly. The spectators and support are phenomenal, and I just love how the run course winds through campus and downtown. Definitely feels like home. The run went really well, except for a short funk between miles 13-18. During the last quarter of the race, I felt great and was so pumped and excited to be close to the end, that I kicked it into high gear. I knew that I was probably in the top 5 in my age group, and just wanted to finish strong. The last mile and a half I started to cramp up, which was very scary. I though maybe I would be forced to cross the finish line on my hands and knees, Julie Moss style. I quickly took down a couple cups of Gatorade at the closest aide station and was somehow able to keep it together and cruise into the finish line. Once I rounded the capitol, a huge smile spread across my face, and I broke through the finish line in 11:15.

Afterwards, I found out that I had passed the 3rd place woman in my age group just 2 miles out from the finish. I ended up with a 3rd place finish in my age group, and secured the third Kona spot by a very close 2 minutes. I was also so much on target with my goal times that my friends found it comical (My friend Brodie is already asking me to predict his finish time for next year!). I celebrated with my family and friends at the finish line, and also had the opportunity to speak with my brother over the phone, who had been obsessively tracking my progress online from Austin, TX, all day.

On Monday morning, I claimed my Hawaii spot, and am officially registered for the 2009 World Championships. It feels surreal, and although I'm still in a lot of pain from the race, I feel more excited and motivated than ever to start training again. Qualifying for this race is the culmination of so many dreams and hours of hard work and dedication. And I am thrilled that Karen, and possibly my entire family, is planning to share the experience with me next October.

Thank you so much to all of you who cheered from the sidelines or followed my progress online. Your support and words of encouragement definitely helped make my dream a reality. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Iron Time!

Ironman Wisconsin
Sunday, September 7

Kristin's Bib Number: #103
Division: W25-29

Projected Split Times
Swim: 59 minutes (7-7:59am)
T1: 6 minutes (7:59-8:05am)
Bike: 6:10 (8:05am-2:15pm)
T2: 4 minutes (2:15-2:19pm)
Run: 3:54 (2:19-6:13pm)
Total: 11:15

Online Athlete Tracking
http://ironman.com/ironmanlive
On Sunday morning, you will see a link for the Live Athlete Tracker on the home page of Ironman.com. You can also access the coverage by navigating to Events and clicking on Ironman Wisconsin. You will be able to follow progress throughout the course with split times, pace, transition, and position information. Text updates, photos, and video coverage will also be available during the day.

Spectator Shirts

The last three years, Karen and I have created spectator shirts for our amazing family and friends who come out to cheer us on during race day. Here's our design for this year's shirts. I love the orange and the COWS! We're really happy and proud of how they came out.

Play-by-Play

As of this morning, I'm all checked in for Sunday's Wisconsin Ironman Triathlon. The expo runs this morning through Sunday, with race registration taking place today and tomorrow. As you can see from the picture, left, it was a little rainy and wet at Ironman Village, putting a damper on the overall atmosphere and spirit, but hopefully we'll see improvements throughout the weekend and for race day.

Karen and I arrived at the Monona Terrace at 10:30am. We caught the morning rush, as the line was long and extremely slow. We waited over 30 minutes to get through the first check-point, which was purchasing a one-day USAT membership. USAT (the USA triathlon governing body) definitely needs to get their act together and have more staff on hand to speed the process. The rest of the process (run by Ironman North America, including the weigh-in, info check, materials pick-up, and timing chip check) moved quickly and efficiently.

Afterwards we did a bit of shopping at the expo. Having already purchased enough Ironman crap in previous years to last me a while, I only purchased a new yellow Ironman visor.

Tonight, I'll begin packing my transition and special needs bags, and preparing final details. Last night, I went on my final bike ride, and tomorrow and Saturday I'll likely get in a couple quick swims. I also hope to watch some of the past year's videos to start getting pumped and excited. It's almost Ironman time!!

Just Say No to the Float in a Bottle

My Walgreens connection recently supplied me with a new and exciting product just released by A&W. Described as the "ultimate one-pour A&W ice cream float experience," it's creamy, it's frothy, and was created for our "busy lives and need for simple indulgence." The float is also available in Sunkist Soda Orange flavor. So far, so good, right?

I was ecstatic to have been connected with such a promising new product. Especially since I've enjoyed a root beer float almost every night for the past month ;) Instead of having to strain my muscles scooping vanilla ice cream, and carefully pour just the right amount of root beer, so as not to overflow the glass with foam, the prospect of a simpler and perhaps more delicious experience was enticing.

Unfortunately, my tasting experience left much to be desired. The "float" tasted oddly sweet, and the ice cream flavor seemed fake. Perhaps the orange float tastes better, so I can't rule that one out yet, but I certainly would not recommend the root beer float. It's an interesting and exciting concept, but I'm afraid this attempt has failed. I'd take a real float over the "float in a bottle" any day.

Farewell, Fun Island

I had a great long weekend at Green Lake with Karen's family this past weekend, but it was, of course, bittersweet as Labor Day tends to be. Not only was it time to put away my white pants for another season, it was also time to take fun island out of the lake. After three full days of jumping and basking in the sun on our private little island, and putting off the inevitable as long as possible, we were finally forced to say our goodbyes on Monday. We gently pulled fun island out of the lake, carefully washed and deflated her, before rolling up our treasure island in the garage for the cold, cold winter ahead. It was a very sad day. Farewell, fun island. May you rest in peace for the winter. I will think of you every day you are gone and long for your return.