What we've anticipated for a year...becoming IRONMEN

Goal: To become ironmen
Strategy: To finish by midnight(within the allotted 17 hours) & stay together

Alarm went off at 4:15am. Since our sister, Kiara, doesn't own a toaster, we broiled the bread in the oven (our typical pre-race meal of peanut butter on toast). As you know (see past entries), things tend to not go so smoothly for us. Our sister's entire apartment was awakened by the smoke alarm...oops! We chugged coffee & we hit the road to Monona Terrace.

TIPS & insights:
#1 Grab everything from the car. Yep, Britt forgot her water bottles in the trunk.
#2 Bring the morning dry clothes race bag. Yep, Britt forgot it and thought sharing Kirstin's bag would work. It caused Kirstin's bag to break, cycling into a whole set of other issues.
#3 Body marking: No need to pull down your pants...just pull up the leg. A stud behind us said "you don't have to drop pants." Slightly embarrassed, we know he enjoyed a peak of our rears.
#4 Use inside women's bathroom. The men's line was slow-moving & long while we zipped through our line. Now, we know the root of porta-potty issues before races...BOYS.


SWIM:
While entering the water, we recognized and talked to "attempting ironman" (a DC triathlete whose blog we followed). We experienced the washing machine for the first 1000 yards. We not only tried to keep a swim pace but tried to stay above water. Next time, our preparation will include water defense classes. We made it out of the swim without black eyes and only minor bruising and scratches. It's all part of the ironman experience.

Swim Insights:
#1: Everyone wants to be front & center (regardless of swim speed & ability)
#2: Swim next to females. Men think they're faster and they're definitely more aggressive.

T1:
After a run up the helix, Kirstin waited for Britt at the transition. Off we went to get our bikes. We got some personal cheers from our family and a fellow CTCer.

Transition Learnings:
#1 Transitions are a free fall all. Volunteers are very helpful; however, we prefer to change ourselves. Read...AWKWARD!
#2 Watch where you look. Nudity is everywhere.



BIKE:
The bike course is tough. But, the volunteers & spectators were amazing. They powered us up hills by banging on pots/pans and yelling which helped distract our minds for a few moments. We heard comments such as "get up here, you paid for this" & "see you soon" (since we did the main loop twice). We easily spotted our family a couple times because of the HUGE, BRIGHT yellow flag our mom made. Despite us knowing, our grandma saw us on the bike course as well. Our dad picked her up and parked by the course so she could see us. How sweet! Our awesome tri club sponsored an aid station which had a pirate theme. It was great to see some familiar faces. At mile 56, we decided to pass up special needs bag. Kirstin regretted this after realizing they were handing out ham sandwiches. The next 14 miles were tougher than expected. Our butts, muscles and bladder need a break so we stopped at mile 70. We visited the porta-potties and chatted with fellow CTCers, participants and volunteers. At mile 85, Britt got busted with a red penalty. Her charge - DRAFTING. Because we didn't pass a penalty box for the remainder of the ride, she checked in at transition. Her consequence: watching a timer for 4 minutes & getting her beautiful bib marked. Once again, Kirstin (being the nice sister that she is) waited as Britt served her time.

Bike Insights:
#1 Fast bikers get Gatorade in fancy water bottles. We got the cheap, plastic bottles. No biggie, but we did pay $500. Yes, we do triathlons for the schwag.
#2 Penalties are committed regularly; however, not in front of officials.

T2:
Changed into our run outfits. This time we refused help and did it ourselves. Much more comfortable. And, off we went.


RUN:
As we made our way to the run course, we saw our dedicated Ironfans (our family). Feeling strong, we ran the first half only walking through the aid stations. Since the stations were less than a mile apart, we had ample breaks. Since we stuck to power bars/gels/blocks on the bike, it was nice to have coke, fruit, and broth on the run. The second half took us a bit longer as we began to walk up and down hills. As we came up on the capital, we knew we had accomplished what we had trained and prepared for over the past year. That feeling was awesome. As we neared the finish line, the crowd, bright lights, noise, and seeing the Team Francour flag was overwhelming. It was somewhat of a blur. We heard "Kirstin F. & Brittany F., sisters from Chicago, you are IRONMEN"

The funny things people asked us:
Question: How did you find each other on the course?
Answer: Luck. Kidding, we planned to stay together.
Question: How long was this Ironman?
Answer: Not all triathlons are Ironman distance.
Question: You went to Hawaii?
Answer: Madison, we're not that fast.

Final Thoughts:
The journey to the Ironman was extremely difficult, long, exhausting, emotionally draining, expensive, eye-opening and socially isolating. But, we learned a lot, had tons of great laughs, became quite flexible, got in shape and met new friends. The accomplishment is indescribable. Worth it? YES! Doing it next year? NO! But, we'll be there to volunteer and cheer on fellow athletes!

Thanks to our family for their cheering, Jaime for her support, Jenni for coming, Get a Grip, CTC, and all the folks on the course for volunteering and cheering!

Brian and Erik, we hope you enjoyed the post!

Next year...we will NOT be IMOO '09 participants!

Today was the final day to sign up for next year's Madison Ironman. We've agonized & debated about whether we should participate. It was an extremely difficult decision; however, we've decided to pursue other adventures and experiences. We'll keep you posted.

Brain, This weekend flew by! The recap will be posted soon...keep checking!

we are ironmen

Yes! Sunday, September 7, 2008 we became IRONMEN. The cannon shot off at 7 a.m. The Wisconsin Ironman (140.6 miles) took us 14:04:04. We crossed the finish line a few minutes after 9 p.m. and heard "Kirstin F. and Brittany F., sisters from Chicago, you are IRONMEN!"

Soon, we will post a race recap (after a little bit of recovering & processing)!

Saturday 09.06.08

This morning, we racked our bikes and dropped off T1 & T2 bags. That alone was stressful. But, add Kirstin's bike issues (brake alignments) & 45 minutes to complete everything because we were parked at a meter without anymore cash - craziness.

Now, we relax! Until, tomorrow morning!

FRIDAY 9/5/08

We left Chicago at 4:15 a.m. Submerged into Lake Monona by 8 a.m., along with tons of other athletes to swim one loop (1.2 miles). Then, we registered...which included lots of lines & frequent photo ID checks. We received 2 bibs - first name & last name. At 5:45 p.m., we returned to Monona Terrace for a typical carb-heavy dinner (too much garlic...repercussions to come!) We listened to several speakers and were inspired by music, personal stories and videos. One interesting statistic, this year the woman's field added 10 more athletes from last year's event totaling 658 woman. Go GIRLS!

It's 10 p.m. We're trying to pack our multiple bags! We've separated our gear into T1 (swim to bike) and T2 (bike to run) bags. Our obsession with weather.com has made us loopy. So, we keep questioning and rethinking our gear choices.

Thanks everyone! We appreciate your supportive calls, text messages, emails and posts.

Rain Delay

We postponed leaving due to the torrential downpour. Our new plan is a good night sleep in our own beds & leave tomorrow at 4 a.m. We're trying not to let nerves get the best of us. And, to be as flexible as possible.

To do: swim the course, drive the run & parts of the bike, pick up last minute things, visit our grandmother & have a BLAST.

Let the IMOO festivities begin!

Tonight (Thursday) we travel to Madison. Kiara is allowing us to INVADE her apartment...2 older sisters, 2 fancy road bikes, tons of expensive tri gear & one furry dog (Kiara - McKinley barked dibs to your bed). FUN TIMES!

How are we? That depends! Depends on the moment, the activity or our conversations. So far, we've felt a wide range of emotions. We fear far greater emotional swings over the next few days.

Our main concern is the weather. We've packed in preparation to whatever Mother Nature may throw at us (be kind!) According to weather.com, Sunday's forecast includes isolated storms, a high of 73 degrees and a low of 51 degrees. For the past week, Kirstin has dealt with Hurricane Gustav at work & now he's pestering her here in Chicago with the annoying RAIN! We're hoping to escaped him on our drive into Madison.

Dad...this one's for you! It's official - 'floating W' can take part in the m-dot logo. Mom, no need to worry about copyright issues!

wait (weight)...what?

Today we read one's man experience during Ironman Wisconsin 2005. We weren't nervous until we read you have to weigh in prior to & after the race. Yikes...now, we're especially nervous.

break time's over...lets go!

Today, we cycled part of the Ironman course. Two loops (80 miles total) through Verona - Mt. Horeb - Cross Plaines. It was a bit painful because we're still sore & recovering from the Dairyland Dare. After the first loop, we were taking a QUICK break (restroom, water bottle fill up & snacks). As we leisurely sat on picnic benches munching on trail mix, two triathletes rode by and yelled "Break time's over...let's go!" BUSTED...they totally called out on our lengthy rest. One thing we look forward to on the course is a cooler full of chilled water that this farmer puts out for cyclists. He doesn't request any money but rather wishes all cyclists a safe ride. What a sweet, encouraging, and refreshing gesture. We plan on sending a thank you card...hopefully, it makes it to him. We have become quite familiar with the farmlands of Southwestern Wisconsin. We are also all too familiar with the smell of road kill (chipmunks, mice, squirrels, deer, raccoons, snakes, and other unidentifiable animals). We're trying to convince McKinley to move; however, she's more urban than country.

We stayed true to our celebratory tradition...a large FROSTY & diet pop. Tomorrow, we volunteering at the world's largest triathlon - Chicago Accenture - with our Tri Club.

Our Triathlon Team

Pleasant Prairie Olympic Triathlon - Sunday, August 17 - Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin.

The swimmer! She was our team's first leg and swam .84 miles. Mom made some improvement from last year. This year, she didn't run into the water screaming, found her stroke quicker & kept conversations with the kayaking lifeguards to a minimum. Next year, with additional improvements, we think we have a shot at winning. Mom...We're proud of you & love having you as a teammate.


Kirstin - the biker! 24 miles, an impressive feat after yesterday's 130 mile HILLY ride outside of Madison.

Britt - the runner! 6.2 miles.


Our finishing photo. Look at those medals!

Next time, we're hoping to recruit our remaining family members. Kiara, Erik & Dad, you have one year. It's time to determine which portion of the triathlon you want to participate in, create a cute team name & train. We'll see you at the starting line!


Thanks Kiara! Your cheering helped us!

the dairyland dare

Saturday, we participated in The Dairyland Dare - a cycling challenge in Southwest Wisconsin. We took the dare and signed up for the 200K...124 miles. The ride took us 10 hours, not including the multiple rest stops & Kirstin's flat tire (at 112 miles). Along the way, we laughed with the other cyclists, lost our breath, and took in the beautiful scenery.

We met some cycling & training milestones:
*100 miles - a century
*112 miles - the ironman distance
*130 miles - the longest distance we've traveled on our bikes & the longest time we've been physically active
*3.9 mph incline (our slowest speed)
*42.2 mph descent down a "hill" (our fastest speed)

The course was 130 miles. Therefore, the total mileage we rode was 210K (yes 6 miles makes a difference). We thought we would be home by 8p.m. (latest). We didn't roll into the house until after midnight. Our 19 hour day was an unforgettable experience.

The Dairyland Dare aint't for the faint of heart! Like the website quotes: "we saddled up for one tough ride." It's probably one of the tougher things we've ever done. However, the event was well run & incredibly organized with incredible volunteers. We rank it one of the best we ever signed up for!!

good enough...

5 a.m. this morning, we drove to Verona (outside of Madison) to ride a portion of the Ironman course. Our triathlon club (CTC) & bike shop (Get a Grip) organized a 40 mile ride. Then, we did a 2nd lap. Total mileage - 80 miles - our longest ride to date. Oh my goodness...HILLS! We're pretty sure the first section is entirely uphill and had flashbacks to climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. The next section is nicknamed "the rollers." During one downhill descent, we reached 41.4 mphs. There were tons of triathletes riding & running alongside us. Beside tender knees, sunburnt skin and sore muscles we became familiar with the course...yeah! Then, we ran 45 minutes. While we thought we'd be home in the early afternoon, we didn't get back until 8 p.m. We celebrated with a large pop & a large chocolate frosty.

a flat tire sabotages our morning ride

Monday, we woke up at 4:30. We ran for 2 hours & 45 minutes. The word which best describes Monday's morning run - BUGGY! Tuesday, we woke up at 5:00 with a goal to ride 2 hours. After the night's severe storms, trash (primarily broken glass) was scattered all along Lakeshore Path. While riding, Britt's back tire was punctured by a shard of glass. We successfully changed Britt's tire (yeah), this was our 3rd flat of the season. Our concern in regard to changing a tire is the amount of time it takes us and the teamwork we use. During the ironman, we must be self sufficient and change our own tire...YIKES!

Our Learnings:
>>After a storm, let the clean up crews remove debris from streets & paths before riding.
>>Our hand pump is hard & Britt's tire was only partially filled for the rest of the ride.

Tonight (Tuesday): we're doing an open-water swim. Wetsuit versus Swimsuit? Lake Michigan is warm. Do we wear our wetsuit? Yes, we need the practice. No, we don't need the hassle.

MUDDY

Today we participated in Muddy Buddy. The course covered 7.2 miles with 4 obstacles and a mud pit. We switched between mountain biking & running. The highlight: seeing and catching up with friends. The lowlight: the STINKY mud pit (we're positive horse poop was added for extra fun) that left us dirty & smelly. While we hosed off at the end, Costco customers must have enjoyed our pre-shower shopping trip.

As for our ironman training...we're hoping for a better week! Monday morning = 2:45 run. We'll keep you posted!

Does this kind of stuff happen to other people?

Instead of riding in the burbs (due to Britt forgetting the bike rack in mom's car), we ventured out to find a new route. North Branch Trail - here we come...

The North Branch Trail is a 20 mile path located north of the city in a forest preserve. It took us 10 miles (45 minutes) through the streets of Chicago to reach the trail. For the most part we were moving along well, except for Britt having some minor chain issues. 29 miles into the ride, we stopped twice to fiddle with the chain. Over the next mile, Britt tried to make sure everything was working properly. The chain became a lesser issue when her entire PEDAL fell off. The first attempt to fix it, Kirstin put the pedals parallel to one another. The second attempt the pedal fell off after a couple rotations. 30 miles away from home, we knew we weren't cycling back. Unfortunately, we didn't know where we were either, nor did other cyclist from the area. And to top it off, we had limited cell service (GO SPRINT).

We walked & pedaled with one foot to the nearest metra station (over 3 miles). Waited over an hour and 1/2 for the metra train (of course train was late due to technical difficulty). 6 hours & 45 minutes later, we're finally home.

Bacteria-filled Saturday

Our alarms were set for 5 a.m. but we snoozed until 6 a.m. We spent 2 hours running along lakeshore path. We cycled down to Ohio Street Beach. It wasn't until we squeezed into our wetsuit that we were told the beach was closed. The reason: high levels of bacteria. The solution: we traveled 1/2 mile north to Oak Street Beach. Does a 1/2 mile make a difference...we'll let you know if we come down with any side effects. Our 2 mile swim was incredibly wavy - the conditions were more conducive to surfing than swimming.

Upon returning home, frustration set in. Our refrigerator wasn't working. We called the apartment's emergency number & our maintenance man. We were told nothing could happen until Tuesday. It takes so long for our apartment management to respond to emergencies. The solution: drink.

Well, we're off to grab a few drinks & carbo-load for tomorrows 4 hour bike & 1 hour run.

bib number 895

Kirstin is happy to report that she did not receive any penalties while racer 895 drafted off of her throughout the bike. Unfortunately, he received 2 penalties. USAT officials are tough!

Spirit of Racine - Race Recap

Alarms went off at 3:45am to wake us up. We drove over 60 miles to reach Racine. Mom met us at the transition at 6:30. Then, we walked over a mile to the swim start. Due to visibility issues, the race was postponed an hour until 8:00.

SWIM - 1.2 miles
Lake Michigan was 55 degrees (FREEZING). Our faces and feet felt like they were going to freeze off. But the wetsuit helped keep our core warm, and peeing in them beforehand didn't hurt either.

BIKE - 56 miles
We've never experienced an aid station on our bikes before; so, we rode past the first one. Volunteers hand out water, sport drinks & gel as cyclists ride by and grab what they need. At the second aid station, we successfully grabbed sport drinks and water. The last station, Brittany tried to grab a gel. After 2 failed attempts she rode on without any gel. A cyclist rode by and said "that didn't work out so well." The USAT officials were out in force. Racer #895 kept drafting off of Kirstin (even when the officials were right next to us on their motorcycles). We're still trying to figure if we got 4 minute penalties. Regardless, we shared tons of laughs and inappropriate comments on the bike.

RUN - 13 miles
The course was two 6.05 mile loops. It was hot & sunny! We saw the same people over & over. Kirstin "bonked" (as Jaime worded it) on the run. At no point did she feel strong. She couldn't get a pace and needed to walk part of it. Britt, on the other hand, felt great and strong. Being the sister and teammate she is, she waited for Kirstin in order to finish together. Her estimated time sacrifice...+20 minutes.

OUR TIME: 5:49.(and some milliseconds)

Our Learning's:
* Wear black spandex (& correct fitting)...or butt cracks show.

* Hydration system - the yellow netting must be properly placed. This keeps the fluid inside the bottle and not from splashing all over your face. Unfortunately, Brittany lost hers about 8 miles into the ride. Kirstin felt like she was in a pool.

* Most supporters (especially when drinking) think we're twins and will strongly debate us about it. While we do like similar since we're sisters, the matching oufits definitely confuse people.

70.3ers

We finished! We are officially 70.3ers. As for now, we're exhausted, sun burnt and grateful for no technical promblems & the massive support along the way! This entry will be followed by a more complete race recap, because we know you want to know & we also want to remember this accomplishment!

Sue L. - great seeing you! The pre-race laughts calmed our nerves.

We greatly appreciate:
Mom - for coming, watching, cheering & supporting us for the entire day. Your enthusiasm and nervousness are contagious. For making and debuting an amazingly, beautiful Ironman Wisconsin flag. We'll post a pic shortly.
Jaime & Kaylei - thanks for your fun sign, loud cheers & driving to multiple spots.
Attempting Ironman - your encouraging words!
CTCers (along the route) - for the thumbs ups, smiles, and waves along the way!
Volunteers - risking lost limbs to serve us drinks & gels.
Supporters - being there!

Post-race follow-up
After the 1/2 Ironman, we made a gas stop. Surprise! My car wouldn't start...of course. Kirstin asked a fellow triathlete (pumping gas) to jump us. Thankfully, he agreed to help but wasn't so excited to do so. He waited as we unloaded the car and took off the bikes in order to get the jumper cables. On a positive note, we had stalled at a gas station versus a random spot in Racine.

As we pulled out of the gas station, I stopped at the light. Kirstin yelled for me to keep revving my engine, but in my stress and frustration, I couldn't do it quick enough. My car died again. Several cars (full of men) offered to help push us into the parking lot across from the gas station. Nice...the "girl" card was blatant. Kirstin did help push for part of the way, and let's just say, it is not that difficult. In any event, it was nice for those guys to help.

Not sure what to do next, we shook our heads and laughed at the situation. Ugh...we just want to get out of the sun and into the shower. Another man approached us asking if we needed help. We thought...um...yeah...but we've had two other group of man already help us. Until he mentioned he was a mechanic. HELLO! He worked on my car for about 45 minutes claiming rotten cables and a dirty battery was to blame. His pointer "REV your engine all the way home." All the way home, all I heard was Kirstin yelling "REV!" We are so very thankful to him fixing the battery which allowed us to get home from a very long day.

It was a very long day, but we are now 70.3ers! :) And, our journey continues...

70.3 here we come!

Today begins the daunting task of packing up all our triathlon equipment & mentally preparing ourselves for 70.3 miles. In regard to the massive amount of tri gear, I think moving apartments may be less stressful. It's unreal the amount of equipment needed to participate in this multisport.

Our weekend plan -
Saturday: packet pickup & racking our bikes
Sunday: FINISH!!

Jaime (who is unable to join us because of a bike accident...that damn limo)...this one's for you!