When all else fails, climb another mountain

So....most everyone already knows Jason and I didn't finish IM CDA. We both dropped out after 1 loop of the run/death march to mile 13.1 where we could turn in our chips. One thing I have learned about the IM distance is that is is humbling. You can go into a race 100% ready to go and something else totally unexpected can happen. We knew Jason had serious stomach problems and were both hoping that things would just remain calm on race day, which unfortunately, they did not. For me, my body was more ready than it ever has been, but I don't think my mind was in the right spot. I had burn out leading into the race and that is never a good thing. The last two months prior I had little interest in the race and even when Jason and I went to the pre-race meeting, which is meant to pump you up, did very little for either one of us. In our eyes, the IRONMAN almost seemed like a cult.

Jason had some cramps on the swim and then belly issues during the bike and he knew going into the run that it wasn't going to be pretty. For me, I felt great on the swim and then 5 minutes into the bike had a super strange feeling in my stomach that I haven't had. I was worried about going into the run and I remember our nutritionist telling me if I felt the onset of belly issues to back off the intensity and try and calm things down, which I did for the second loop of the bike. I actually felt fantastic coming off the bike for the first 7 miles of the run. I started off too fast, so purposefully slowed down and then all of the sudden, my upper back started cramping in spasms, which quickly went to the bottom of my feet. I started to walk around mile 8 or 9 and that was a huge mistake. Never start walking on an IM. From there resulted in the death march to finish the loop and making the decision to quit. I had no desire to finish an IM in 15 or 16 hours and walk 13.1 miles and neither did J. We did the race last year in respectable times, and I think once is enough.

Thanks for all the notes and concern...we are good. Things happen for a reason and today is a new day!

I am doing the most hyped up race in Alaska tomorrow, Mt. Marathon. It is a huge event and draws tens of thousands of people to Seward every 4th of July. It is a 3 mile running race to the top of Mt. Marathon (3022 ft) and back down. It is the single most difficult sprint race that must exist and I love it! I can not go fast, but I am so mesmerized by how quickly these people can go up and down the mountain. My goal is to just walk it slowly tomorrow, but regardless, it is gonna hurt. I don't think I have hiked a mountain since last 4th of July due to all this triathlon training. In order to participate in the race, you must win a slot (through a lottery, which is very competitive)and you have to do it every year for 10 years or you lose your spot. I am only on year 3, but I can't lose my spot!!! This is one of the races Elizabeth has been training hard for and she is always near the top- GO ELIZABETH!!!!

Let the fun begin!

Race day is tomorrow! Funny how our worries have changed in a week. First, I was freaked out by the cold water in the swim....then I was freaked out by the hilly bike....now I am freaked out by the warm temps. It literally warmed up 20-25 degrees since we have been here. The good news is that the water has warmed up and my worries on the bike have shifted to a very smokin hot run. All in all, we are excited! It will be fun....so no worrying about us, Moms! :)

To track us online, go to www.ironman.com. It will be active tomorrow morning when the race starts. You will select athlete tracker and either enter our race numbers, or just our last name (#542 & 2193). The race starts at 7 am.

Thanks to all our awesome family and friends for your support and encouraging words! Say lots of prayers for us and send us good thoughts tomorrow, we will sure use them all!

We have lots of cheerleaders this year, so it will be fun! Neil, Shannon, Hawk, Beaker & Brendan, and Jason's lifelong friend, Chris, surprised us and came in today from Oregon! My only hope is not to embarrass my coach tomorrow, hope we make you proud, Beaker!! ;)

Holy Hills

Today, Jason and I rode the most hilly section of the bike course of the race. It reminded me of how hard this bike course is.....at least in my opinion. It is absolutely beautiful and a very fun bike ride, but it is hard! The race advertises rolling hills, but even being from Alaska, I would not call it that. The heat also cranked up today, I think it was at least 81 degrees and felt mighty toasty. I'm not sure what is better, last year's frigid temps, or 80 degrees. I guess we'll just see what Sunday brings, there's nothing we can do to control the weather!

It will be fun to do this race for the second time, we are both hoping that it will be easier than it was for us last year....it couldn't get worse could it?!?! Somehow, I have a feeling they keep getting harder the faster and faster you try to race them! I am preparing for the worst, hoping for the best!

The most stressful part of an Ironman for me is the swim start. Once I am over the first 15-20 mins of the swim, I will be so glad and the nerves will settle! Jason said he doesn't get nervous, just excited. I wish I was Jason, ha! ;)

4 Days & Counting

Holy cow, time is going by so fast! I can't believe we are almost to race day. I forgot to bring the cord to upload photos, so the blog will be boring for awhile. We have been having lots of fun in WA/ID with Jason's family. Jeni and Aaron were here for the weekend and it was good to see them. The weather had been really rainy two days in a row, but the other 2 days were really nice. It is supposed to keep getting warmer....tomorrow reaching 80 degrees. That will be perfect lounging by the lake weather, but I hope that it cools down on Sunday. The water was so incredibly cold yesterday, but miraculously it warmed up significantly today with a bunch of sun. I was not sure I could swim in that cold of water, but it is getting better, so I am very glad.

We have had a few shorter workouts and I am feeling very sluggish and like a tubby tiger. All this being lazy and eating lots of food is probably not the best pre-race idea. Jason is feeling like a different person, he is finally better and back into he swing of things. I hope his belly can stay settled on race day. I am tired. I took naps two days in a row and I never ever take a nap.

Beaker and Brendan are coming from Anchorage to cheer us on this Thursday! They are one amazing couple and we are excited for them to get here. I bet that Beaker will be more nervous than we are on race morning/day. :) It's more difficult trying to watch someone race than it is doing it yourself!

This evening, Jason and I went to visit my Grandpa. He lives about an hour away and it was great to see him, he is the best!

Hope all is well with all of you. Thanks for the good thoughts and well wishes!

The Kerstens (Jason #542 & Kim #2193)

I forgot to mention race numbers are posted! I am totally superstitious about race numbers. If I have a good number, I feel good about the race before hand. I love Jason's number. I do not love my number, so be sure to send it some good vibes. Everyone thinks I am crazy....but I am not! ;)

Idaho/Washington Bound!

We fly to Spokane today! I was having heartburn over leaving my little blonde baby, so what better to do than take a new puppy to your in-laws house! That's one good way to never get invited back. :) Ha, ha....only kidding, I hope! Hopefully Stella will be on her best behavior and not make Jason and I look bad!

Jason's sister, Jeni, and her boyfriend, Aaron, are also flying to Spokane today from Denver. They were our cheerleaders last year on the race!

I am worried about Stella on the plane! At least the puppy makes me forget the entire reason I am flying and about to torture ourselves with 140.6 miles.

Did I mention how cold Lake Coeur D'Alene is? Hawk was supposed to give us water temperature reports, but all I get is that it is COLD. Today, I researched the water temps and it ranges from 57.7-61 degrees. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! That is super cold even for Alaskan kids!

Puppies are more fun than triathlons

We are 1 1/2 weeks away from our race. I hate the last two months leading up to an Ironman. The month of May was a monster. The month of June is when we started to taper for the race, so it should generally be fun. By this point, I am just sick of all of this and ready for it to be over. I am having much more fun playing with Stella. She is turning into a very good little dog, she has already learned to sit and shake hands and she is only 9 weeks old.

My motivation for doing much of anything is pretty low. Hopefully, I will get a spark in then next 10 days! Jason has been the one that is concerning me the most. He has had belly issues for the past month and has reduced his workouts in order to try and recover. We're not really sure what was wrong with him, but the good news is that he is slowly starting to feel better. I hope he feels 100% by race day. He has worked way too hard to go to a race not feeling good. He is the sole reason I signed up for this race and I would be really bummed if he didn't have the best race possible. He has been pretty frustrated and I can't blame him. Hopefully everything will fall into place for him! Send him good thoughts and prayers!

We leave on Friday for Spokane and are excited to see Jason's family! Hopefully I will be better at updating when I get more time.

Beaker qualifies for 70.3 World Championships!

Awesome job, Beaker! I know she is a bit bummed about her race, but she still ended up qualifying for the 1/2 Ironman World Championships in Florida! Her time was ~5 hrs 21 minutes. That is an incredible time on such a hard 1/2 Ironman course!! She had a smoking fast run (1 hr 45 minutes for 13.1 miles) after swimming 1.2 miles and biking 56 miles with a lot of hills! To put this in perspective, I think my fastest 1/2 marathon time alone (no bike or swim) was about 1 hr 43 minutes. Her goal was to qualify for IM Kona, but there are only a handful of slots awarded and the ladies that won her age group we INSANELY fast. NEXT YEAR BEAKER!!!! You will get there.

Arctic Terra, LLC

Jason's new business is official with a name and logo! He even had me shoveling dirt on my day off! ;)

Good Luck Coach B!!!

Coach B, aka Beaker, is doing her "A" race tomorrow in Hawaii, which is a 1/2 Ironman (Honu; 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run). She is on a journey for one of the coveted Ironman World Championship slots. She has been working hard for several years to meet her goal and each year she keeps getting faster. Remember, we eat wind sandwiches for breakfast! That's what Jason always tries to tell me when we are battling the Turnagain winds! The Honu is a brutal race due to the extreme heat and winds as well as a difficult swim, run and bike course.

Some of you might not know what it takes to qualify for the Ironman World Championships that are in Kona, Hawaii every year in October. For most people, they could train their entire life and not be within reach of getting to Kona. The people that get an IM slot are almost freaks of nature. You seriously have to be the best swimmer, best biker and finish that with a smokin fast run time. The people that win the IM slots could hands down compete with an athlete that solely focused on one of the three sports. The IM slots are given away in each age group (30-34,35-39, etc). The number given to each group depends upon how many people are in the age group and varies between men and women. Generally there are more male slots because there are more men racing. There is no way to plan a certain time that you need to race in order to win a slot. It all depends on who shows up to race that day; you need to be faster than your competitors! As the popularity of triathlon grows, so does the speed at which athletes are finishing these races.

There is one other way to get to Kona....and that is how I plan to make it there some day! There is a lottery in which 150 US residents are supposedly "randomly" selected to participate with all of the other athletes that earned their slot. I put in for it every year and every year I just know my name will get drawn out of the hat. So far, I am still waiting!

Good luck, Coach B! You won't need your name out of a hat, you will EARN your slot, which is way more awesome!!!

Meet Stella!

Our next exciting addition is a four legged terrorist named Stella. Her nickname is a bit harsh, it depends on the day and how frustrated I am. Today is a frustration day. There is nothing better than eating your breakfast at the table and getting a whiff of something not so pleasant. I look around and find a pile of pooh in the corner of our living room on white carpet. Not to mention, last night....she normally sits on our front lawn for hours just looking around and chewing on a bone (which is very amazing for a puppy and she mislead us on how good she was). Last night, she was no longer on the front lawn, so I searched all around our house for her, yelling her name nicely. I wandered to our neighbors and I see this little apricot dog head peeped over their bushes with her face caked with dirt and mud. It was actually really funny, but I couldn't let her know that. She had dug a hole in our neighbors empty flower bed. I frantically grab her and quickly use my hands to fill their hole back up with dirt. After, I begin to tell her how bad she is and spank her butt, within a minute she is wanting to play and has forgotten the entire thing just happened. I hope the neighbors didn't see me out their window! :)




To back up a bit, I have been searching for a Labradoodle or Goldendoodle for months. After a bit of convincing J that a Doodle dog would be a good choice, he agreed that we could get one after our race in June. We had planned to pick one up in Idaho or Washington. Many breeders that I found were very expensive! I had also been looking at the local listings just to see what was out there. In the past 3 months of daily searches, I had never seen a Doodle listed in Anchorage. To my surprise, about 2 weeks ago I saw a posting for apricot Labradoodles that would be ready on June 1st and their price was the cheapest I found anywhere. The timing of this puppy could not be worse for Jason and I as we are leading up to our major race of the year, but how could we refuse! We went to Big Lake to pick out our puppy (which took awhile, it was a toss up between her and a boy....but she won us over on how sweet and calm she is). The breeder said that the puppies were no longer feeding from their mom and that we could take Stella home with us immediately. It was a quick decision, but we went for it.

It has been a bit of a chore trying to balance a puppy and training, but we are lucky that she really is good for 95% of the time. She rides around with Jason all day and hasn't destroyed anything major YET. She's also pretty independent so she will sleep alone and go outside by herself. If we could just change her 4-5AM wake up time!!! And her pooping on the white floor!!!!!!!!!!

We love her though, she's wrapped around Jason's finger!

One of our new additions....

A lot of things have happened in the past couple weeks. I think it might be easier to do multiple postings.

Jason used to have a truck through his old job, but lost the truck when he was laid off. Since February, we were sharing my Volvo and it was turning into a very high-end, inefficient work truck. Since my dad is a good mechanic, I asked him what type of truck he recommended for Jason to buy. The next day, he graciously offered up his truck to help Jason and me out as Jason starts his new business. Dad really didn’t need a new truck, but he liked to convince us otherwise. My dad has a heart of gold and is always helping people when they are either down in luck or just because he thinks someone needs help with something.


A couple weeks ago, J and I made a fast trip to Fairbanks. We had lunch with Jason’s mom, Joan, and my parents. Afterwards, we went to my parent’s house and Jason was very shocked to see my Dad’s truck. I think he was expecting something much older and abused. I am completely spoiled. Not only did my mom scrub the truck inside/out and replaced the windshield, she made a batch of my favorite cookies (probably more for J than me) and loaded us up with homemade blueberry jam and pickled beets. Dad filled the truck with spare tires and all kinds of filters and goodies as well as a full tank of gas. And….to top it off, my brother gave us his old Toyo stove for our garage!!

After we left, Jason said he felt like he stole something and feels very fortunate for their kindness. After writing all this and looking back, I feel like I stole something too. All I can say is that I am one lucky kid. Thanks Mom & Dad!

Gold Nugget Triathlon

Last Sunday was the Gold Nugget Triathlon in Anchorage (500 yard swim, 13 mile bike, 3.1 mile run). I believe it is the largest women's triathlon in the nation. Every year, it sells out faster than the year prior. I think it sold all 1500 slots in 3 hours. Ladies talk about the race for weeks ahead of time and get all excited about it. The variety of women competing is inspiring. The ages start at 10 years old and probably work their way up in the 70's. There are all types of body shapes and sizes from the elite to women walking 500 yards of the swim.

I actually missed the sign up last year, so I haven't done the race since 2008 with Crystal. Crystal did the race with me two years in a row. She is now living in Indonesia with her family, so she wasn't there this year which didn't make it as fun! On the flip side, two friends from Fairbanks decided to come down and do it for the first time, Julie & Sarah. They were champs and both did really well! Sarah and Jon stayed with J and I, so we had a fun weekend hanging out with them.


My friends, Andi, Elizabeth and her daughter, Chasity (first triathlon ever) all had earlier start times than Sarah & Julie, so we warmed up for the race together and started roughly at the same time.

The ultimate goal of this race is to get one of the top 50 slots so that you are "seeded" the following year, which means you get to start early and don't have to share a swim lane with 2 other people. Then, once you are seeded, you have to remember to sign up on time or you lose your spot! No exceptions granted on this race, those ladies mean business!!! :)

I think everyone was satisfied with how they did for the most part. Elizabeth is still not 100% and she had recent blood work that shows she is still not getting better, but she has been working with a specialist that will hopefully get her fixed. I miss my training buddy, we normally spend hours on end together a week! :(




Coach B didn't really want me to do this race and I wasn't so sure I wanted to do it either. I came into the race totally exhausted physically. Thursday before the race, I ran 19.4 miles and the day before the race, I had about 3 hours of biking, with roughly an hour at a pretty decent effort. My expectations for myself were low since my volume of training for the last few weeks had been so high. Overall on the race, I felt like a million bucks. I don't think I have ever felt so good on a race before. I forgot to start my watch, so I was worried that I was taking it too easy since my level of effort never felt that high. The only major blunder of the day was that somehow my brake pad was stuck on my tire and when I went to start on the bike, so I could hardly pedal. I had to jump off and fix the tire and then when I went to get back on, I slipped off and hit the bar and ended up with a nasty bruise on my inner thigh.


I finished 15th overall and 3rd in my age group. I hope I feel this great at CDA, although putting it in perspective, CDA is about 9 times longer than the Nugget. Yikes.

6 Weeks

Holy toledo, thank goodness we only have 6 weeks left until CDA. The month of May is the largest load we have had so far and it put the hurt on. Jason's training plan is a lot more difficult than mine and the last two Thursdays he has ran 24 & 23 miles (I only did about 19 each time and that is a huge difference although it might not sound like it). This past Thursday, he had a really rough day and hasn't really bounced back. He is being really smart and took yesterday off and is trying to recover. He'll bounce back and feel even stronger!

The good news is that he came up with a name for his business, how does Arctic Terra, LLC sound? Terra is the Latin word for Earth & Land. Since he hasn't been working out, he spent the last couple days working on a bid for a project. We are slowly getting things set up for him and I think the list of projects is growing faster than what he might have time to get done.

We also have a new addition to our family until we leave for Idaho. We are renting an altitude machine from Coach B. Mom, don't worry....this machine hooked up to me doesn't mean I'm dying and everything is ok! ;) The idea is that it will help acclimate us to a higher elevation and then when we race (at a lower elevation), we will feel like a million bucks! I hope this thing works magic, because in order to use it you have to hold it to your mouth for 1 hour every other day. That means you are foreced to sit still and do nothing! It absolutely drives me crazy.

What a difference a week makes

It's amazing how quickly summer comes in Alaska. A week ago, we were freezing to death on our bike ride. This past weekend, I was overheated in similar clothing and even ended up riding in a t-shirt!

Our past week was filled with lots of swim/bike/run, but the most fun day is always on Sunday when we meet up with our friends and get outside. Beaker, Brendan, Kris, Joe, Jason and I biked on the Seward Highway again (63 miles for me, 70 for J), followed by a long run (10.5 for Beaker & me, 13.5 for J). The weather was fantastic and absolutely goregous outside. On a day like today, no one ever questions why they live in Alaska.





Between the swim/bike/run, Jason has been busy working on a screening plant to make topsoil with a friend. He has been busy trying to set up a company. We are trying to come up with a name, so if you have a great idea, let us know!


On Saturday, we reunited with some of our friends that had been in Hawaii, Bonnie & Alex. We hung out with them several times when we were in Kona and they came and cheered us on at the Lavaman race. Bonnie made Gavin and Nizoni "Team Kersten" shirts and they had signs as well. Super cute, and such a nice family!

Recovery

Coach B rewarded us with a recovery week after several weeks of hard work. Recovery weeks make you realize what it is like to be a normal person again. They are so nice that I understand why she does not give us very many....we might be on the permanent recovery training plan! ;)

The recovery week started with these.......and I decided they are the motivation to train; otherwise, I would probably weigh 500lbs.

Jason worked part time last week on a job pushing silt out of the port of Anchorage. He's also working on some other plans in the next month or so.


Yesterday marked the end of our recovery. I was supposed to do the Bike For Women race in Anchorage, but wasn't feeling like racing. Beaker, Brendan, Jim, Jason & I decided to bike on the Seward Highway from Indian. Jason and I train there a lot, it is one of the most beautiful rides in Alaska and one of our favorite. But, it also has some serious wind and can be incredibly cold off the water. It makes for perfect Ironman training since everything in your head tells you to quit, you must keep going- a total mental toughness check.

Only in Alaska is there an avalanche on May 2nd that blocks your bike path!!! Check out the photo, we had to walk our bikes over the slide.


Brendan's seat post broke, so they had to quit a bit early and was an adventure in itself. Jason biked about 65 miles and I probably did 55 miles or so (my odometer was broken) and it was a bit longer than I hoped but those winds!!! A brutal headwind the entire way home. I think it was a good idea I couldn't see how slow I was going, I'm pretty sure you could have walked faster. After the bike, Brendan & Jason ran (10 miles) and Beaker and I (9.5 miles).




Finally, time for a burger, fries and a beer! ;) I think we earned it today.....3000+ calories burnt in a single day.

Coach B is trying to murder me

Last week in summary:

Tuesday- Up at 5:25 am, Swim ~2700 yards.

Afternoon/Evening: Jason, Run 15 miles with 30 minutes hard effort; Kim, Run 13.1 miles with hill intervals.

Dinner at 9:15 pm and off to bed.

Wednesday- Bike ~2 hrs 20 minutes with hill climb intervals (very hard effort during climbs), dinner again at 8:30 pm and to bed we go.

Thursday- Swim at 6:30 am; Evening Run (Jason 19 miles with 55 minutes hard effort, Kim 13.2 miles with 40 minutes...gotta add the .2 miles because it felt like an extra 10 miles!) Also, I forgot to mention the blizzard like conditions on our run, it was snowing/raining and cold!! This was my worst run of the year, no injuries, just no gas in the tank and utter exhaustion. Attempt at sleep, but little luck, my body felt like I had been hit by a freight train.

We also met with Rikki, who is the bomb digity sports nutrition expert. She has worked with me a lot over the last couple years for our racing/training nutrition, but this is the first time Jason met with her. We reviewed everything we have been taking and she is helping us with our race nutrition for IM CDA. The photo above shows everything we are taking to make sure our bodies are properly fueled to their greatest potential.

Friday- Thank goodness I had today off from work, we slept in! We lifted weights at the gym and then biked ~2 hours of recovery spinning. This helped loosen things up and we were feeling better afterwards.

Saturday- Woke up at 6:25 am and headed to Master's Swimming, swam ~4000 yards.

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day in Anchorage, but we were confined indoors on our bike trainers for about 2 hrs 20 minutes (with 40-50 minutes of hard effort). Today we were both wondering why we had signed up for this race......

Sunday- Today our plan was to do another time trial (35k TT) race that was on the Seward Hwy, about 25 miles from Anchorage. We loaded the car and were all set to race; however, with the temperature dropping significantly (36-39 degrees) and pouring rain, we decided to scratch from the race. When we were training for IM Florida a couple years ago, we did a few rides on the Seward Hwy with rain and low temps and it was miserable. Our Plan B led us to ride from Anchorage where it wasn't raining. Our other friends that were also going to do the TT met us (Jim, Brendan & Coach B). After 1 1/2 hour ride, we did a good effort 50 minute brick run. Everything felt great! Today was fun, this is why we signed up for the race! ;)

Moose Run Time Trial

Alaskans are tough. The first bike race of the season continued despite getting a big dump of snow a few days prior. I was unsure that I would race since it was cold out and not very motivating with white all around. Plus, Jason had a minor mouth surgery and was told by the doctor that he couldn't exercise until this Wednesday (nothing serious, just a crown lengthening and he is doing fine, just a bit tired). When your training partner goes down, you have sympathy pains and can convince yourself that your tooth might be hurting too and it's a good excuse to think of anything and everything else to do but work out! ;)

Coach B and Brendan already signed up for the race, so I too decided to give it a shot. In bike racing, there are different categories of racers: Beginners, Masters (ages 40+), Sport (which I have always raced in the past) and Expert. Coach B told me that she was going to race in the Expert division and that I also needed to move up a level. The word Expert alone should have deterred me from that decision, but I went for it. Seldom did I get passed in the Sport division in prior years; however, in the Expert category, I not only had ladies flying past me, but the Expert men as well. It was a bit discouraging and something that has inspired me to improve. There were only 6 ladies in my category, 1 of which had a bike dysfunction; otherwise she would have been at the very top. Coach B also questioned our thought process and had a tough race day as well. She's an animal when it's 90 degrees, but freezes at anything below 80! ;) Brendan did awesome and had a great race! He'll soon be keeping up with Jason! J volunteered during the race and was a flagger for traffic, thank you Jason! He was bummed he couldn't race, but will be at the next one!

On Sunday, the weather was so awesome that I decided to take my road bike outside and do a 2 1/2 hour ride followed by a 65 minute run. Elizabeth met me for a portion of the day and it was really fun to have company and get some fresh air. It was also awesome to get off my TT (time trial) bike and onto my road bike, which is so much more comfortable and fun to ride!

Mondays are our days off from exercise! This is the only night where we eat dinner before 8 pm and I have a few minutes to actually get online. EEKS, we only have 10 weeks until race day!!! I hope all of this work comes together!