Eagleman Ironman 70.3 Triathlon

2010 Eagleman Ironman 70.3 triathlon was Team Inspiration’s Super Girl race! I love triathlon because it always presents a challenge for body, mind, and spirit, and you must find your Inspiration. I am very fortunate because Inspiration seems to find me! For this race Inspiration came in the form of what I now call Super Girl Spirit!

Our newest member to Team Inspiration is Cathy Tucker. This was her first 70.3 Ironman race and she wanted to do something special in honor of our Cancer Warriors so she decided to wear 13 LiveStrong bracelets on the run with the name of a Cancer Warrior on each one. I did the same and we carried 25 very special Cancer Warriors. The math is very basic, so it would seem that we would have a total of 26.

However, we had 25 because both Cathy and I carried a bracelet with the name of Jessica Hensley who is my newest patient and future triathlete for Iron Girl 2011!

She has resolved to meet her leukemia diagnosis with absolute positive energy and take a warrior stance of courage, strength, faith, and love to overcome this illness and move forward in her life with her beautiful and loving family and friends. She has already been a source of Inspiration to me and many others. Please visit her blog at http://notesfromsupergirl.com/ and you will very quickly see the power of the Super Girl Spirit!

So back to race day! The challenge of Eagleman70.3 is the headwinds on the 56 mile bike and the relentless heat on the run. This year was no exception and while no one likes the heat, I really hate it; my body hates it! The forecast for the day was temps in the low 90’s and I was worried if I would “bonk” on the run from the heat, but at the same time I knew this would be a good training race for Kona! The swim went slower for me and probably just about everyone else since we weren’t allowed to wear wetsuits. Once I got on the bike I felt pretty good, and although I was worried about the run I was thinking I might have a chance at one of the Ironman World Championship 70.3 slots.

Visualization is a big part of my triathlon training and life training. When Cathy and I met the night before the race to get our bracelets ready, she asked about my plans to qualify for the IM 70.3 Championship. This sparked a little flame, and I thought “Anything is Possible” so I’ll go for it!

I also had another source of Inspiration to qualify for the IM 70.3 Championship: My most awesome, super triathlete, super training partner, super friend, super nurse, and super person, Julie Caprio, aka FASTGIRL! Julie had already qualified at a previous race and I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for us to do a World Championship together!

Julie is completely hardcore and when we do training rides together, it’s pretty much all I can do to hang in there. She certainly got me ready for Ironman Arizona last year. I know without our many training rides I would not have been as strong race day, and so she was instrumental in my success at getting a Kona slot along with my many Cancer Warriors!

I believe I was about 45 miles or so into the bike leg of the race when I heard someone from behind shout in utter disgust, “Roseann, what are you doing? You’re not even focused! Pull up on that back pedal stroke!” It was my dear friend Julie, and she was not kidding! So I put it in gear and jumped about 15 beats on my HR monitor for the rest of the ride.

I hit T2 and things were looking pretty good because of Julie’s Inspiration on the bike. So I’m thinking I might have a shot.

I hit the heat of the run and although it was brutal, I knew the most important thing was to stay positive! So while tucking ice under my hat and down my race top at every aid station, I chanted to myself “I feel great, I can do this!”

And so it was with the support of so many (the list of wonderful people in my life who are my Inspiration is just too long for me to put in one race report!) that I’m on my way to the Ironman World Championship 70.3 with FASTGIRL!

The most important part of this journey is the realization that “Anything is Possible” and we are all here to Inspire and support one another through life’s challenges and find JOY along the way!

And never forget you have Super Girl Powers!

Columbia Triathlon Post Race Report

Columbia Triathlon 2010 got off to a very soggy start! I woke up at 4:00 a.m. race morning to the sound of pouring rain. But then I remembered what a wonderful event this is rain or shine! The rain didn’t dampen anyone’s spirit for the race, especially Natasha!

Most of all I was very excited because our honored teammate from the 2009 Columbia triathlon was now our teammate racing on one of our relay teams! Dan Alderman was a cyclist on one of our relay teams and my son, Ben, was also a cyclist for Team Inspiration. Last year Ben rode in honor of Dan who was one of my patients receiving chemotherapy.

Dan is a lacrosse player at McDaniel’s College and Ben played lacrosse at University of Denver. Although they were in touch throughout this past year via Facebook, it wasn’t until the day before the race at packet pickup that they met. It must be their background as team players that they decided to do the race together as teammates rather than as competitors. It was an excellent racing strategy as they both had an awesome race time averaging 18.2 mph!

I was at work the Friday before the race and one of my patients asked if Team Inspiration was going to wear the Livestrong bracelets again for this race. He also knew that Dan was going to be riding in the race and asked if Dan would carry the bracelet with his name.This was an extremely wonderful request that deeply touched all of us  and we decided that each team member would wear a bracelet with the name of a very special Cancer Warrior.



For all of us racing with Team Inspiration, we recognize that we are very fortunate to have this opportunity to be a part of the triathlon community and we are tremendously grateful to be able to share that experience with our Cancer Warrior friends and teammates.   Thank you!