Team Hardcore does Penticton...again

Kelsey completed her third Ironman today. You can find all her results here. I still think she's a bit nuts, but wow, what a thing to accomplish! We weren't there this year, but we followed along from early this morning on the Ironman site.

Congratulations Kelsey!

Team Hardcore completes the Boston Marathon

She's done!

Congratulations Kelsey! Wish we could have been there to cheer for you too!

Team Hardcore goes to Boston

In our family, we have one person we affectionately refer to as Team Hardcore (that would be my sister Kelsey) and today Team Hardcore is running her heart out in Boston. Boston is a little further away than Penticton (where she had 20+ supporters when she completed her second IronMan (that's her, crossing the finish line)...

...but she has seven supporters out there today - our parents and sister Rebecca and my mom's cousin Susu and her family. And of course all her supporters cheering her on a continent away.

She's on pace for 3:36 which I'm pretty sure is faster than her qualifying time. You can follow her here if you're interested (just put her name in).

Go Kelsey!

Thanksgiving on the Island

We went to Vancouver Island for Thanksgiving to visit my super wonderful grandma, Mama. We had a great time and I'm just really slow at posting these!

We had our Thanksgiving dinner of lasagne and pumpkin-swirl brownies on Saturday night. Yum!

Dad, Kelsey, J, Alex and me...

J had a bath at Mama's (great-grandma's bath tubs are apparently very exciting...more exciting than the bath tub at home) and was just so excited to be there...Mama, my parents, and Kelsey are most certainly some of J's favourite people!

On Sunday morning, Kelsey ran the Victoria marathon...look at that smile!

And look at all these people!

While we waited for Kelsey to finish, J ran around beside the museum with her stroller...don't try this at home! Or at least, don't try this with a kid in your "lolo buggy"

We found a big spider...I thought it was cool, J ignored it, and Alex got as far away from it as he could!

J spent some time cheering hard for Auntie Kelsey from a special vantage point above the crowd.

There happened to be a cool tree to play under.

And J appreciated having some special one-on-one time with her daddy.

But she was on a mission...once the race was over, she had something in mind...

She was looking for her marathoning auntie. And she found her eventually and brought her back to see the rest of us.

We stayed in some little cabins a few minutes from Mama's house...there was a great view...

....even at the crack of dawn!

J learned about blowing dandelion fluff and making a wish (maybe she didn't quite understand the concept of a wish...)


Nice view huh?

We had a great weekend (scary stuff aside)....it was nice to come home though!

Same phone call, different loved one, same stomach in mouth nasty feeling

So, SHE'S OKAY.

I came home from the library with J on Saturday to a message on my answering machine. A message that had been left literally seconds before I walked in the door. A message virtually identical to a phone conversation I had with Alex earlier this year. It said something like, "Shannon, can you come and pick me up. I just had an accident."

Umm.

Heart stops.

Stomach flies into throat.

Breath catches.

It was my sister and I didn't even finish listening to the rest of the message before I called her back (if I had, I would have heard the part when she says SHE'S OKAY).

SHE'S OKAY.

Anyway, Kelsey was out for a bike ride and a group of teenagers thought it would be smart to cross the road against the light. Kelsey had already slowed down because she saw a woman with a stroller who looked like she might do the same thing. Unfortunately because it was a group of people and there was traffic on one side of Kelsey and parked cars on the other side, there was no where to go and she collided with one of the girls. The girl had a few scrapes and is probably very, very sore. Kelsey has some bruising, some whip lash, a small bit of road rash and one very cracked and banged up helmet (if you ever needed a reason to wear a helmet ... those cracks would have been in Kelsey's skull if she wasn't wearing a helmet and this story would not have SHE'S OKAY written all over it) and a slightly scuffed up bike.

A nice lady stayed with Kelsey and she and a security guard from the mall next to where it happened took Kelsey to the walk in clinic to make sure she didn't have a concussion. Which she didn't. Because she had her helmet on.

I didn't go get her because by the time I got the message, she had already called my aunt and uncle who live 15 minutes away (not 45 like me) and they were on their way. They took her to their house, made sure she really was okay and then took her home.

I saw her yesterday. SHE'S OKAY. She went for a run before coming to my house, so she's okay. She's a bit sore, but who wouldn't be.

Please pedestrians, obey the traffic signs and look before you walk into traffic. It only takes a split second for life to change. If you're going to change your life that quickly, make sure it's a positive change.

Oh, and go hug/call/email all those people who are important to you. Just so they know. And you know they know. And yeah.

SHE'S OKAY.

Kelsey's Ironman Race Report

This is Kelsey's race report from Ironman in Penticton a couple of weeks ago. I talked about it a bit here and here and of course here, but these are Kelsey's own words (edited a bit with her permission). There will be more pictures to come...maybe on the weekend. Kat and Mico are friends of Kelsey's from Australia who also completed the Ironman in Penticton. They are both professionals and it was Mico's first professional race. And when she refers to Busso, she's talking about her first Ironman in Busselton, Western Australia last December. You can read more about that in a whole bunch of previous posts.

Here's Kelsey:

Ironman Canada. In a word: Tough. I will say it three times, tough tough tough.

Early morning of course, we started at 7. Kat, Mico and I walked down to the race together, we were all staying at my friends who conveniently live just off the race course. With over 2600 people starting the race, warmup wasn't really an option. Somehow I found my best friend Vicki's sister in the crowd (probably cause Vic volunteers on the swim crew and told us both the best place to start). Both of us being decent swimmers we headed to the front of the line. O Canada was sung and we were off.

The first 500 meters can only be described as frightening. I was pretty nervous for the swim, with so many people, no seeding and a very shallow lake. Kat gave me some advice (fast arms and be aggressive) and I tried to remember that, but still freaked out a bit. It was unlike any thing else with so many bodies and so little room. It's a given that you'll end up knocking people around and being knocked around, however one guy beside me didn't take too kindly to my accidental elbowing and tried to drown me. No word of a lie, he stopped, took both his hands and pushed down on my shoulder with all his strength. I thought I was about to die. Got out of that mess and soon after it thinned out a bit. There were always bodies around but it was no longer the claustrophobic mayhem.

Out of the water in 1:03:34, good enough for 330 overall.

Onto the bike and off. There's a small climb about 20km into the ride, then it's pretty flat with just a few tiny hills up to the 70km mark. It was through this portion that things started to go wrong. I had a pretty bad headache, felt nauseous, had my hands going numb, blurred vision and lost feeling in my tongue. Didn't know what was going on, I was taking ibuprofen, drinking tons, but nothing seemed to work. When I described it to my sister the next day, she said this is exactly what happens to her when she has a migraine. Interesting.

So the ride proved challenging, as I was struggling to keep food down. Got through the first major climb, Richter's Pass, then you hit some rollers (apparently nicknamed the 7 b*tches, but I really didn't think they were so bad), then into an out and back. Pretty windy, especially on the out and back. Just before that section I got to go by my cheer squad, Team Mulvilove, in all their pink glory, with signs etc. It was awesome.

After the out and back, there is a gradual but constant uphill to the last climb, Yellow Lake. This comes at the 150k mark and that's when the headache went away. I guess with the headache I'd been riding a bit conservatively because I passed a ton of people on the climb. Training last year in Canberra with you all probably helped too. I had a ton of fun on this climb, got more Mulvilove (a bunch of my cousins were at the top of the hill with guitars and tambourines, apparently quite the crowd favourite). Then you do a wicked fast decent down the Penticton (I got over 70k per hour on the downhill).

6:54:19 1858 overall (I have to work on my cycling!!!!!!!)

Into town and out on the run. I really enjoyed the first 5 km, which is through town with lots of spectators. It had started to get real smoky from some forest fires and that pretty much killed my appetite. I was trying different foods at every station, things that had worked at Busso, but nothing seemed to want to stay down. I was already in a bit of a calorie deficit from the bike, so this was bad news. Started to walk a lot. And once you hit the 8km mark, there are no spectators...I started to really appreciate Busso's three laps for that. I started to talk myself out of the race, it was hot, the smoke was making it super hard to breath, I wasn't having any fun....

Finally made it to the turn around. My aunt and uncle were out there with my cousins, that was good and I got my special needs bag. In it, a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. Golden. It did take me 8km to eat the whole thing, in tiny tiny tiny bites, but once it was down I could pull myself out of the rut and ran the last 15km in.

The last 2km were mostly good, you're right downtown with tons of people. It does involve an out and back right before the finish. You come down by the lake, the finish line is to your right but you have to turn left and run another 800m down the road, turn around and run back. That seems to take forever. And ever and ever.

But I was done. Finally. I had my sea of pink shirts (about 25 at this point, not everyone made it to the finish) waiting for me and that was great. It was so awesome to have such a huge cheer squad, no one had a bigger or better one out there.

Run split was 4:30:36, 667th for that portion.

Total time 12:35:45, 1052 overall. 108th out of 693 women.

Sorry this is so whingey, I wish I could say it was awesome and I had so much fun but I really didn't. I'm happy enough with my finish time, I just wish it had been enjoyable like Busso was. I'll definitely do this race again, with better cycling skills and I am vowing to enjoy it the next go around!

It was awesome having Kat and Mico around, great to have some Aussies around again. Kat got in the money and Mico had a pretty impressive debut, especially his swim and bike. We made the most of Monday, hitting up a bunch of wineries in post race celebration.

Yay Kelsey! And somehow this report doesn't sound like it's coming from someone who has retired from Ironman...I guess we'll see! Oh, and being a migraine sufferer, I am even more amazed at Kelsey's incredible strength and abilities - there's no way you'd catch me taking a walk around the block, let alone doing a 180 km bike ride and a 40-whatever km run on a day when I had a migraine!

YAY Kelsey!

She did it! She finished in just over 12:30 and she had her group of groupies there to celebrate with her. More to come in the next little while.

Team Hardcore: Out of the water

She's on her bike and riding hard! Kelsey finished the swim in just over an hour and had a quick transition time of just under 4 minutes! Way to go Kelsey!


Note from Kelsey: If you're coming out to spectate today please do not enter the course to run or ride alongside her or she will be disqualified. But she'd love to hear you cheering for her!

Once again we can stalk track Team Hardcore

Kelsey is back at it...she's doing her second Ironman (she started about 45 minutes ago!) There likely won't be any times posted until sometime after she completes the swim - which should be sometime around 9:00 am. You can check her out on the Ironman.com site. Her bib number is 2097.


If you're in Penticton today, you can find her on the route. You can also find her cheering squad, all 25+ strong, who are all wearing Team Mulvilove t-shirts (like the one below) in brilliant pink.


We're still in Kelowna because Ironman day is a long day for people under the age of two (okay, for everyone, but especially people under the age of two, and maybe the athletes too), so I'll try to update until we leave sometime around 9:30 or 10:00.

TeamHardCore comes home

Yay! Kelsey came home today. Rebecca and I took Baby J to meet her at the airport and then indulge in a Las Margaritas lunch. I'm so glad we'll all be home in Kelowna next week so we can all hang out together some more!

Baby J at the airport in her special Auntie Kelsey outfit

the TeamHardCore sign

Kelsey gets her sign and meets Baby J...all at once

Kelsey shares her margarita with Baby J

Oh yeah, and congratulations again Iron(wo)man Kelsey!

TeamHardCore and her medal

Congratulations Kelsey

We're so proud of you for finishing your very first Ironman!

Look. Here she is:

Sorry, no real pictures yet.

And here are her times:



Yup, we're proud of you and amazed at what you did to get ready for and complete this event, but even still, we might, maybe, just a little bit, thing you're a bit crazy too! We love you lots and we can't wait to see you!

Shannon, Alex and Baby J who all cheered loud and hard from far away all day yesterday!

One last update before bed

Baby J is fed, settled and asleep for the night, so I'm off to bed too...At this point it appears that Team Hard Core is on track for 4.5 hours for the run. She's run the first 16.7 miles (of 26.2 miles) in 2:44:42.

We can't wait to hear the final results THC and see you in two weeks...YAY! she's coming home when this is over!

Goodnight.

That's all

I like to ride my bicycle!

Team Hard Core's bike time is in and she completed it in 6:34:48, just off the hoped for time of 6:30!

Swim Split

She wanted 1:00, she got 1:00:29! Way to go Kelsey!

And she's off

Kelsey should be in the water on her first leg of the Ironman!

Go Team Hard Core go!

How to stalk track Team Hard Core

You can track her on the Ironman website.

Click on the "Track an Althlete" link and put in her name (her real name, not Team Hard Core. Ironman International doesn't recognize Team Hard Core as a participant for some reason...)

If you need her race number, please email me and I'll send it to you.

GO TEAM HARDCORE! Baby J and I are cheering really hard. Maybe you can hear us if you listen hard enough!

Team Hard Core does an Ironman

Team Hard Core is crazy in Busselton, Western Australia and on Sunday will participate in her first Ironman. Team Parental Unit has joined her as her official cheering squad. You can follow her adventures (and those of the people she's trained with/will be racing with) on the Tridents Triathlon Club website. Click on the bussleton ironman updates tab.

The Across the Lake Swim, Part Eight

It's that time of year again.


Yesterday morning I got up nice and early to cheer Team Hardcore and Punk on as they once again swam with Ogopogo. This is the first year I didn't participate. I have never actually done the swim (I'm sure we all know how much I LOVE swimming), but every year that I was in town, I was in a spotter boat and last year I dragged Alex along with me.


Kelsey came across the finish line first and I almost missed her. She was easy to identify in her yellow swim cap, black bathing suit, and goggles. It was nice that no one else was dressed the same way.

Rebecca emerged from the water not long after and this time I was paying better attention.

Yay girlies!

Of course, after the swim, swimmers, boaters, and spectators all need some sustenance so off we went to the Bohemian for brunch.




mmm...blueberries

We gathered later for more food...the flames are deceiving - they're not burning anything, just making the bacon good and crispy.

And of course brunch and burgers just weren't enough so we had to go get ice cream...

along with half of Kelowna.

How do you end a good day? The same way you started it of course, in the lake...this time trying to cool off a little bit before bed.

Half marathon recovery brunch

Team Hardcore and soon-to-be-cousin Tom ran in the Half Marathon this morning. Kelsey says it was hot to begin with, but I woke up to a thunderstorm and Kelsey came home shivering, but with a personal best time. After some tea and a shower, Alex, Kelsey, and I went to meet Harmony and Tom at Tomato.


Tomato recently moved to Broadway from Cambie where it had lost all kind of business because of the Cambie line construction. Our waitress was still in slow mode - brunch took almost two hours. Kelsey and Tom celebrated their insanity with Cesars. And the sun came out.



And then it rained again...all over the people here for Greek Day. And then sun came out again. And then it rained again. And just now, Alex and I were sitting at the kitchen table watching ANOTHER thunderstorm...this weather is nuts!

Team Hardcore takes on Oliver...again

Bright and early this morning Kelsey got out of bed and started timing her food consumption.

It was beautiful and peaceful at 6:15...probably because smart people were still sleeping.




Just before 7:00, the part of Kelsey's entourage that had spent the night in Osoyoos, pulled into this parking lot to pick up some necessities before heading out to Oliver.

Timmy's for wake up fuel

Got our coffee...let's go!

Oliver bound

By 7:35 Kelsey was in the water, swimming hard. Her entourage was guzzling coffee and eating muffins, hoping to be awake soon. We were already a happier bunch than they had been the previous year...maybe something to do with the sun?

Rebecca in 2006...oh so happy!

Rebecca this year

Swimmers get set

swimming mayhem

Cheerleading parents

Go Kelsey!

out of the water (I think that's Kelsey)

Kelsey was too super fast on the transition and we barely made it up from the beach in time to see her fly by on her bike. It took us a while to find someone with a course map, but once we did, we set ourselves up on this corner to make some noise.

cheering for our home team!

Rebecca watching for Kelsey...where is she?

At 9:00 it was already sizzling hot and we were on the look out for as much shade as we could find and when there was no shade to be had, well, we made our own. Check out the umbrella!

Mom in the shade

Alex the cheerleader

We finally realized that super speed demon had already passed us, so we sought out some more shade on another part of the route. We met this puppy, Kody. He was four months old and very well behaved.

Kody helping us wait for Kelsey

Alex and Dad waiting for Kelsey (if you look carefully you might see Mom in the background)


Rebecca spying on the athletes...okay, she's actually watching for Team Hardcore who was wearing the same colour as 1093% of the other athletes, well, okay, maybe just 58%, but still!

And then...see that speck, off in the distance...it's Kelsey! Cameras ready everyone!

get your water gun ready, here she comes

Kelsey zooms past into the transition area, Rebecca, Dad, and Alex sprint up to catch her as she starts the run, but super speedy Team Hardcore is just too fast...and we miss her yet again. We'll catch her as she runs in!

INTERMISSION

Rebecca and I went up the hill to wait for Kelsey to come down to the finish line. Last year we found relatives on this hill.


We waited...in the sun...and Devon and Rachelle arrived, but Devon didn't recognize me right away. Might have been the big floppy hat disguise and the long sleeved shirt that was keeping the sun away.

aid station just above the finish line

Rebecca running in her "technical" flipflops beside Kelsey

cool down before the finish line

Run Kelsey, run!

see ya at the finish

And she did it again! Despite the heat, this crazy sister of mine took about 20 minutes off her 2006 time.

Gotta record that time for all eternity!

Yay Kelsey!!!

And this year's numbers:

2 km swim (32:18 with a negative split again! Watch out Rebecca...ATLS could belong to Kelsey this year!)
93 km cycle
21 km run
overall time of 6:20:51
20 minutes or so less than last year
7 spectators
2 long boards...Devon went to escort Kelsey, but couldn't find her
1 cute puppy
2 water guns
1 pair of binoculars to spy on other competitors locate Kelsey
at least 6 cameras capturing the insanity
37 degree heat

WAY TO GO KELSEY!!!