Roxy the dog's owner is Kaitlin Donner- Elite ITU Triathlete and her profile is here: http://www.usatriathlon.org/athletes/bios/kaitlin-donner.aspx
I met her through my sister at IMFL 2014. (Can't believe it hasn't even been 2 weeks since the race!!)
I was reading my USAT 40th Anniversary edition and came across her name! The race results list her as 8 minutes behind the winner, and Kaitlin was in 44th! What a whole different animal ITU racing is! I obviously know very little about it, but what I do know is they sometimes set up a pool in the middle of a Walmart parking lot and bike within the small radius they are allowed in the city. There were photos of this in the USAT magazine too. Crazy! Some of the rules are a little different too, and the ones I know are that they are allowed to draft on the bike and can only have a road bike set up (as opposed to tri bike geometry), but I believe they are allowed aero bars on their road bike setup. I'm sure there are way more rules than that.
Good luck on your races in 2015! We'll be following you and cheering for you from Colorado :)
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Ironman Florida 2014 Race Report [11/01/2014]
I was tossing and turning all night as is my usual routine the night before any race. I could hear the wind howling outside and knew this would impact the race if it kept going. I got out of bed at my alarm and began getting my tri suit on to go downstairs to check the temperature outside. Cold and windy. I ate breakfast and got my special needs and morning clothes ready to go. We walked to the start since our rental house was about a mile from the host hotel and transition area.
With our tires pumped up and our water and nutrition on our bike we all met up inside near the cafe to prep for the start! I took out my wetsuit and began to turn it right-side-out and noticed the stink coming from it. When I got close to turning the leg inside out the smell got worse. I looked down and saw what appeared to be seaweed. "EW! ITS A COCKROACH!!,"" I shrieked. I weaved my way through the women's bathroom line explaining I only needed the sink. I washed the neoprene with soap but it didn't get rid of the smell. I got back out to the cafe and put my cockroach-fossilized wetsuit on, trying not to gag on the stench.
We were greeted by Roxy, Kaitlin-a friend of my sister AND ITU Elite Triathlete, boxer mix before the start of the race with her sweatshirt on for warmth. We began the slow trek to the swim start and as we were about to step in the sand they announced the swim was cancelled due to rip currents and that there would be a time trial bike start beginning at 8. That gave us an hour to make our 'transition' from our swim attire to bike.
It was cold standing in line waiting for our bike row to start the race. My feet went numb and my muscles were cold, making the start of the race challenging in the cold headwind. The start wasn't as dramatic as the mass swim start, which took away from the whole experience. About 20 miles into the bike I was considering quitting since I could only hold a 10mph speed into the 25mph wind with 30mph gusts. I decided I would stop at the next aid station to warm up a little and get some motivation going. That was also around the time my sister passed me on the bike. I knew it was going to be a long day.
I stopped at the next aid station and with the extra motivation from the volunteers I put my head down and kept going. Around mile 50 I came across a guy on a custom made bike that held his friend who had cerebral palsy. I had nothing to complain about and this was the major turning point in my race. I am capable of doing this race and WILL finish because some can't without the help of able bodied friends.
I was so thankful to be getting off the bike and into my running shoes. I kept my bike clothes on since they provided enough warmth, which I would need when the sun went down. The run was fun- there were themed aid stations that kept it interesting. Towards the end of the run I tried the chicken broth and it was as amazing as the stories I have heard.
About 2 miles from the finish I came up next to this older man that started chatting with me. "What time did you start this morning, Love?", with a deep accent. It turns out he was the last person to start the race, which meant he had passed me either on the bike or the run since we were both on the same mile. I later discovered, as I had guessed, he was Lew Hollander, the 84-year old Ironman wonder. Inside after the finish I learned he is going to do another half Ironman the next weekend, and Ironman Cozumel this year as well. God willing I will still be as sharp and able to do these events when I am his age. Another age group celebrity I saw on the course was Sister Madonna- the nun who was recently inducted into the Ironman Hall of Fame. What an amazing race that brings so many diverse people together.
Once the soreness has subsided in my legs I will probably consider doing another...
With our tires pumped up and our water and nutrition on our bike we all met up inside near the cafe to prep for the start! I took out my wetsuit and began to turn it right-side-out and noticed the stink coming from it. When I got close to turning the leg inside out the smell got worse. I looked down and saw what appeared to be seaweed. "EW! ITS A COCKROACH!!,"" I shrieked. I weaved my way through the women's bathroom line explaining I only needed the sink. I washed the neoprene with soap but it didn't get rid of the smell. I got back out to the cafe and put my cockroach-fossilized wetsuit on, trying not to gag on the stench.
We were greeted by Roxy, Kaitlin-a friend of my sister AND ITU Elite Triathlete, boxer mix before the start of the race with her sweatshirt on for warmth. We began the slow trek to the swim start and as we were about to step in the sand they announced the swim was cancelled due to rip currents and that there would be a time trial bike start beginning at 8. That gave us an hour to make our 'transition' from our swim attire to bike.
It was cold standing in line waiting for our bike row to start the race. My feet went numb and my muscles were cold, making the start of the race challenging in the cold headwind. The start wasn't as dramatic as the mass swim start, which took away from the whole experience. About 20 miles into the bike I was considering quitting since I could only hold a 10mph speed into the 25mph wind with 30mph gusts. I decided I would stop at the next aid station to warm up a little and get some motivation going. That was also around the time my sister passed me on the bike. I knew it was going to be a long day.
I stopped at the next aid station and with the extra motivation from the volunteers I put my head down and kept going. Around mile 50 I came across a guy on a custom made bike that held his friend who had cerebral palsy. I had nothing to complain about and this was the major turning point in my race. I am capable of doing this race and WILL finish because some can't without the help of able bodied friends.
I was so thankful to be getting off the bike and into my running shoes. I kept my bike clothes on since they provided enough warmth, which I would need when the sun went down. The run was fun- there were themed aid stations that kept it interesting. Towards the end of the run I tried the chicken broth and it was as amazing as the stories I have heard.
About 2 miles from the finish I came up next to this older man that started chatting with me. "What time did you start this morning, Love?", with a deep accent. It turns out he was the last person to start the race, which meant he had passed me either on the bike or the run since we were both on the same mile. I later discovered, as I had guessed, he was Lew Hollander, the 84-year old Ironman wonder. Inside after the finish I learned he is going to do another half Ironman the next weekend, and Ironman Cozumel this year as well. God willing I will still be as sharp and able to do these events when I am his age. Another age group celebrity I saw on the course was Sister Madonna- the nun who was recently inducted into the Ironman Hall of Fame. What an amazing race that brings so many diverse people together.
Once the soreness has subsided in my legs I will probably consider doing another...
Ironman Preparation
The final week leading up to Ironman Florida most of my workouts were fairly easy and I was able to complete most of them with no problems. My neck was pretty stiff- from turning it so much on one of my bike rides, I think. I have also been told I wear my stress in my shoulders and neck. I had a nice massage to try and relieve some of the tension and it seemed to help.
I began packing for the trip on 2pm the day before our morning flight. Matt worked on his electronics until we met up with his mom to drop Henry off. We got back to the house around 10:30pm and continued packing until 2am. Let me rephrase that- Matt hadn't packed anything and was rushing around asking me what he needed to pack until 2am. He gingerly admitted he should have started packing when I did so it wouldn't be this stressful! With only a few hours of sleep we boarded our flight and headed to Panama City Beach, Florida!
We arrived in PCB and had Mellow Mushroom pizza- our favorite pizza joint- with my sister, her fiance, Matt, my mom, and my sister's future in-laws. We had a blast sharing stories and talking about the upcoming race. After Matt and I checked in the next day the anticipation got REAL! Everybody became stressed and some started getting terse with their answers, but we all knew it was just from obsessing over the weather and how it kept changing.
I began packing for the trip on 2pm the day before our morning flight. Matt worked on his electronics until we met up with his mom to drop Henry off. We got back to the house around 10:30pm and continued packing until 2am. Let me rephrase that- Matt hadn't packed anything and was rushing around asking me what he needed to pack until 2am. He gingerly admitted he should have started packing when I did so it wouldn't be this stressful! With only a few hours of sleep we boarded our flight and headed to Panama City Beach, Florida!
We arrived in PCB and had Mellow Mushroom pizza- our favorite pizza joint- with my sister, her fiance, Matt, my mom, and my sister's future in-laws. We had a blast sharing stories and talking about the upcoming race. After Matt and I checked in the next day the anticipation got REAL! Everybody became stressed and some started getting terse with their answers, but we all knew it was just from obsessing over the weather and how it kept changing.
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