Tuesday
Loaded up my bike and my carefully packed gear bag and
headed to Elevation Cycles to meet Wesley and ProBike Express. Beth was nice enough to ride with me as I
handed over everything that I would need to race day. Wesley was awesome. Walking me through the process, talking me
through the course, providing excellent insight. I stood there, pretty quiet. Not sure why I was frozen there. Just weird to see everything that you need
head out on a truck. Wesley sensed it,
assured me he would take care of it all and off we went. PS – Wesley texted updates the whole way and announced his
arrival in Choo! Relief!
Thursday
Let the whirlwind weekend begin. 3 a.m. wake-up to be out the door for a 6
a.m. flight. Not surprisingly I was
awake before the alarm so opted to shower before heading out. Arrived at the airport, checked in, security
and off to the gate. I managed to
squeeze into the train as the doors were closing not realizing that Mike didn’t
get in behind me. I was on the departing
train and he was still at the station. I
waited for him at the other end and sent my apologies as he arrived. Sought out the best breakfast ever from the
Italian food booth in the concourse. (It
had the shortest line!) We had an
uneventful flight. A little sleep, read
a book and browsed the airline magazine. Arrived in Nashville. Waited forever for our bags fascinated by the
sensor on the carousel that only allowed a new bag in if there was appropriate
space. 
We met Rob and Christena on the curb. They graciously offered us a ride to CHOO so
we didn’t have to get a car. Arrived in
Chattanooga a few hours later, relieved to see the bike trailer as soon as we
pulled in, and went immediately to the race expo. Found our TeamEdith family, checked in for
the race and gathered our first round of Little Debbie Oatmeal Crème Pies! Attended the athlete briefing, which
according to Rob was” Africa hot” – he managed to squeeze himself in the little
strip of shade up against the wall of the seat.
After visiting for a bit, we headed to find our hotel. We met up again for a great dinner and headed
to bed.
Friday
Up and at ‘em with bike gear in tow. Off to meet some of the team to drive the
bike course. I missed the shuttle by
seconds so started to walk assuming that the next shuttle would catch me
eventually. I made it to the expo
without seeing another shuttle and then continued on to where we were meeting
which was about a mile in to the bike course.
(guess I don’t need to run today after a 3 mile walk) As I passed bike transition on my walk, I
took lots of mental pictures. Looking to
where my bike would be racked, where the bike exit is, and what the mount and
first few pedals would look like. 
Met up with Lance, Chris and Nycol. Lance lives in Chattanooga and has been
training on the course. He provided
great insight - Warning us to not gather too much speed as we worked through
the city streets due to road hazards, train tracks and turns, providing
landmarks and distances between them, pointing out different things to watch
for. We enjoyed the opportunity to get
to know each other and received excellent insight on the course. Thanks Lance!
Arrived back at the expo area. Grabbed my bike from Wesley, met Gretchen
from Utah and Rob and headed out to spin out the legs a bit. The course that we were directed to ended up
with a bit of off-roading and steps but we eventually connected to the trail
and ended up being on a section of the run course and passing the swim
start. More mental pictures added to the
collection. Checked the bike back into
Wesley and headed to lunch then back to the hotel for a while. Back down to the expo area for the opening
ceremony – good inspiration and a bit emotional. Quick dinner and home to bed.
Saturday
Met up with Rob, Christena and Cat to head to the Team practice
swim. Buddied up and jumped in. Amazing how warm the water was. Rob and I opted to push out toward the center
of the river and play in the current a bit.
700 yards. Quick time. Felt doable.
TeamEdith provided a fun breakfast and an opportunity to get
to know more of the team members. I was
awarded as one of the top five fundraisers!
Pretty cool! 
After breakfast, we headed to bike check-in. Dropped Transition bags and racked my bike in
its spot. More mental pictures. To the hotel and then out for coffee, back
out for a fantastic lunch, stopped at the MoonPie store to get my race day
PB&J and home for a nap and college football. Dinner downstairs in the hotel turned into a
huge debacle but eventually we got some food and headed off to bed.
Sunday
It’s Race Day!
4 a.m. wake-up.
The Type A personality had laid out everything needed in
nice organized piles so it was just working through the pile to get ready to
head out the door. Heart rate monitor,
tri kit, tri-tats applied, sunscreen.
Load the last items into the bags to be checked in – most important of
all the peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the special needs bag (thanks to
the MoonPie store clerk that made a killer sandwich!)
4:45 a.m. out the door to the curb to wait for Rob,
Christena and Cat to swing by and pick us up.5:00 a.m. arrive at transition. Pictures with some of the TeamEdith gang. Checked the A,B,Cs on the bike, put my hydration and nutrition on board. Checked my spot once again and the landmarks in transition so I knew where to find my bike after the swim. Met back up with Mike, Rob and Rob’s two friends and headed to the shuttle.
Packed in the buses and driving toward the swim start. We arrived.
Opted to jump in the line for the porta potties right away which was
good because they got really long as time went on. By the time we got out of that line the swim
start line on the sidewalk had reached us so we set up camp. Made quick friends with our neighbors and
settled in. One of those times that you
would love to be able to sleep but too much going on so we sat. Thad and Brandon arrived with the comfy pink
TeamEdith chairs which were fantastic to lounge in. I ate my usual pre-race/pre-train banana mash
about 6:30 anticipating the 7:30 start.
It started to get light. I was
able to connect with Colorado friends and then suddenly the line started to
move. We were far enough away from the
swim start that we did not hear the pre-race announcements or the National
Anthem. The race was underway when we
arrived. Mike grabbed our bags of
morning gear, we said our goodbyes and we were off. I never really had an opportunity to stop and
think about what was happening, just kept moving with the line which eventually
moved right into the water. I do
remember the look on Mike’s face which caused me to tear up. 
Welcome to the swim.
I sat down on the dock and lowered myself into the water, in lieu of
jumping in feet first in hopes of not knocking my goggles off and controlling
my environment. It worked well and I was
off. Rob and I planned to move towards
the middle of the river. I didn’t do
great with that. I found myself coming
up close to the buoys and each time I diverted away I managed to work my way
back. I could see Rob for the beginning
part – at least 5 or 6 buoys and then I lost track of him, based on our times,
we stayed pretty close together! The
water was unbelievably warm. They
announced race day official temp was 83 - a lot warmer than the pond! With only my speed suit – no wetsuit – I was
hot.
I had heard someone say that the buoys changed color halfway
through the course. I had heard someone
else say that they thought there were 28 buoys on the swim course. The buoys changed color after the 8th buoy (I wasn’t counting, they are labeled and
then the numbers start again). I glanced
at my watch – it said 33 minutes. Could
this really be half way? I decided to
not rely on the buoy colors and press on.
Turned out it was halfway. As we
got closer to the swim finish, the water became more congested as everyone that
was spread across the river merged together.
We swam under three bridges and you had to be between the pillars. I did my best to keep my line, not get plowed
over and not run into anyone. I arrived
at the steps! Fortunately there were
volunteers on every step because the first few steps the legs didn’t do what
the mind asked them too. I made it to
the top. Thank you volunteers! Swim leg done!! 1:12:28.
I had played a couple different scenarios in my head – worst case time
1:50, expected 1:30. This time
ecstatic! 
I found Mike in the crowd right away, gave him a kiss and
headed on. Heading up the hill to
transition I saw the TeamEdith crew. Big
smiles and cheers. Grabbed my gear bag
and into the transition tent. It was
humid, hot, stinky and packed in the tent.
There were some volunteers but all occupied. I worked through my bag, took too long
getting my arm coolers on (helps when they are not upside down!) drank a bottle
of water and headed out.
Time to bike! I grabbed my bike. Put my shoes on just before the mount line. Walked out passed the mount line moved to the side and got on. Safety first! 116 miles to go!
The bike course starts out winding out of the city on city
streets before connecting to rural highways in Northern Georgia. Lance had warned to not worry about speed and
to focus on safety until you reach the Georgia line. This was great advice. Several rough railroad crossings, bumpy beat
up roads and lots of hazards. At the
second set of railroad tracks one of my bottles went flying – there was a huge
pile of bottles on the ground as people had had similar problems prior to
me. I slowed and pulled to the side. A nice lady behind me cautioned me about
bikes coming up behind. I realized it
was one of my electrolyte bottles but knew it would be dangerous to try and get
it and since it wasn’t my flat kit, I opted to press on. I also came to the realization that I didn’t
know what bottle it was because I used my “throw away” bottles so I wouldn’t
have known which one was mine. I
continued on – down one bottle – re-planning my stops as needed for fluid. I did have dry electrolytes that I could add
to a bottle so would be fine.
The rest of the way out of town, I checked on my flat kit to
make sure it didn’t jiggle loose and reached St. Elmo where the roads
improved. Though the neighborhood, the
tight turn on 45th Street and then onto the main drag. I reached the state line – gas station and
State Farm landmark that Lance had pointed out.
He said from there 8 miles of good rolling climbs and to not push
it. I worked my way through did not push
the gas and was thrilled to see how my splits were coming in as I felt really
good. I reached the next landmark and
knew I had some good spin time ahead and I enjoyed it. It was fun.
I enjoyed seeing the spectator at the end of her driveway in the red
rocking chair (even more fun to see her post the day after about how much she
enjoyed being out there). At one point
we passed a fire station where all of the trucks and crew were out of the
garage watching. The life flight
helicopter was landed just down from the station sitting with all the doors
open. Made you wonder if they knew
something we didn’t. I was getting
passed by many men but hadn’t seen many ladies passing me. I came across a few TeamEdith friends and we
cat and moused for the rest of the day.
I stopped a few times for more water.
Made sure to keep myself and my arm coolers wet and continued on. Reached the furthest point on the loop and
headed back in – lots of fast downhills through there and fun scenery. I remembered the rumble strips from our
pre-race tour. Logged them in my head for
a reminder for loop two. The stop sign
and then 5 miles before arriving at Chickamauga. People everywhere. Lots of excitement. Rounded the corner and arrived at Special
Needs. Time for the MoonPie
PB&J. I grabbed my bag. Parked my bike, found a nice curb in the
shade and sat down for lunch. Liz from
TeamEdith was in at the same time. We
talked briefly. There was a nice older
gentlemen who I talked to while I ate and then Rob arrived , we finished eating,
restocked bottles and supplies on the bike and headed out together. I was glad Mike’s caution about the “what if
your Special Needs is not there?” didn’t play out because my sandwich was
awesome! 
Rob and I decided to conserve a bit on the second loop as it
was getting hotter and we planned to stay together. We separated a bit on a
downhill while getting blown away by a pro who was finishing his second
loop. I stopped at the next aid station
for a bathroom break and additional water.
I came out and saw that Rob was there too. We headed back out. Shortly after leaving we came across Rob’s
friend who was struggling. He pulled
back to stay with him and since there wasn’t room for three of us I kept
rolling. There were times where I was
riding with Liz and a few other TeamEdith ladies. I stopped and gathered more water often and
made sure to keep my head and arm coolers wet.
I did lose one bottle off my bike on the second loop at a time when my
other two bottles on board were empty so had about 5-8 miles with no
water. Big refuel at the next stop. Getting closer. The wind had picked up and times had
definitely slowed but I was progressing.
One pedal at a time. As I hit the
mental landmarks I knew the finish was approaching. Slowed as I came back into the city streets,
took time to breathe. Bike leg success! 6:54:54.
I had told several people before race day that if there was a 6 in my
bike time I was having a good day. Even
if it was 6:59:59. Mission
accomplished!! 
The transition tent was more disgusting than it had been in the morning. Very hot, very muggy and very stinky. I took a few minutes to sit down while I changed out my shoes and packed up my bike gear. I had brought a bottle of water off my bike with me so finished that off and headed out. Another round of spray sunscreen as I passed through the transition exit. The chaffed spot on my neck from my swim speed suit did not love that! (Hopefully I re-read this report before using my speed suit again and remember to put extra glide there!)
Time to run. Checked
off the swim. Checked off the bike. Milestones achieved. No mechanicals, no issues, now I just had to
get 26.2 miles using me and I had plenty of time to work with. I spent the time leaving transition scanning
the crowd looking for Mike and the TeamEdith crew. As I rounded the corner onto the path by the
river, they were all there! I stopped
and said hi, told them I was having a great day and headed out. I had developed a pretty bad headache toward
the end of the bike. I wasn’t sure of
its cause – helmet too tight, glasses too tight, dehydrated… I decided that I would get some Coke at the
first aid station and see if that helped it out. My plan from there was to get my salt levels
replenished and stay as cool as possible as I moved. I walked a fair amount of the first two
miles. Got the Coke and got the salt and
starting to perk up a bit. Liz from
TeamEdith and I crossed paths – she said her plan was to run between the aid
stations and walk the aid. I committed
to do that with her. We stayed together
off and on and I ended up running with her and with Kristen from TeamEdith most
of the way.
The run seemed pretty uneventful. I was moving along, my splits were decent and
things seemed to be going pretty well. I
enjoyed the opportunity to talk to many people on the course. One had wrecked on her bike with less than 10
miles to go. She was scraped up pretty
good but vowed that she would finish. I
saw that her picture made the IRONMAN video - so happy to know that she made
it! I talked to volunteers. I thanked as many people as I could and I
kept moving forward. I reached the end
of the first loop (mile 9) and crossed the bridge over the river to the second
loop. The course did each loop
twice. My mind had it broken down into
each loop as a milestone.
Time for the hills that everyone had talked about. It was a hill. A long hill.
There were spectators everywhere.
People dancing and partying in their yards and all cheering us on as we
trudged up the hill. It false flatted
near the top, one more pitch – encouragement from everyone that we were almost
there. Finally the top! I jogged down the back side. At the bottom, we turned left and began to
climb again. This time weaving through a
beautiful neighborhood with spectacular homes.
It was nice to have things to look at and people out because progress
had slowed a bit. At the top of the back
hill was a big army truck that the people kept blowing the horn. It was loud and definitely encouraging. I ran as much as I could and kept moving in
the spots where I couldn’t run. The aid
station at the end of the back little loop was a luau. They were all dressed in Hawaiian clothes and
there were many handicapped people working there. They were all so excited to help us. I enjoyed the attention! Back up the backside of the big hill and a
jog down to the aid station at the bottom.
I met a lady that was working at the Red Bull tent. She said she would meet me the next time and
celebrate that I would be turning to the finish. Something to look forward to!
On the pedestrian bridge as we crossed the river again
approaching mile 13, I was back with Kristen again. And then we ran into Mike. He was very supportive of both of us and
excited at how well we were progressing.
Kristen encouraged us to stop for a picture which she stopped and took
for us and then told me as we approached the professional photographer that she
was going to jump for the camera. I
stayed behind so I wouldn’t ruin her pictures and we had fun. She ran ahead and Mike stayed with me for a
bit through Special Needs. He opted to
take my bag since I wasn’t going to use anything from it! I headed out again – back on the original
loop. He told me he would see me about
mile 19-20. Something to look forward
to. I ran into Thad, Brandon and Nichole
from Music that Moves & Team Edith.
They were on their bikes checking in.
Thad rode beside me for a bit and we chatted. He was very encouraging with how well things
were going for me. I kept cruising
along. I was doing well with the run
between the stations plan.
About 18 , the sun went down. Not sure why, but at that point was the first
time that the heat really got to me. I
had been cooling at every aid station by dumping ice into both of my arm
coolers and the front of my kit and putting iced sponges down my back and water
over my head. All of the sudden my head
was really hot and the water that I was dumping on it was not cooling it
down. And with that also came a message
from my stomach that the chicken broth may not have been my best choice. I walked for a while and ran when I could –
knowing with eight miles to go there was no way I was stopping and also knowing
that I had made all cutoffs so finishing was the only option. I slowed down on my intake at the aid
stations. Stopped my coke, water
alternating and stuck with just a bit of water for the time being. I met up with Kristen again and shortly after
we met up with her fanclub and with Mike.
We walked with them a bit and they sent us off over the bridge to the
back loop again. Kristen had a sudden
wind and took off. I focused on moving
knowing the hill ahead and that I needed to get through the last six
miles. I made it to the top of the hill
again. The party and spectators were
even more encouraging than the last time.
Ran down the back side and ran as much as I could through the back
little loop. I visited the Hawaiian aid
station again and stopped at the restroom there. The big hill, the pedestrian bridge and the
finish to go.
Back up the hill. I
ran down the backside again was excited to catch up with my friend at the aid
station. She was otherwise occupied with
a medical emergency when I got there. I
was grateful that she had given me something to look forward to and I pushed
on. Coming up to the pedestrian bridge
there were lots of people out all celebrating with me that I had made it. I turned off my headlamp and tucked it
away. Everyone said to make sure it was
out for the finish pictures. I started
to picture the finish now. 1 mile to
go. Crossing the bridge back into the
city the emotions welled up. Some moments
crying, some moments smiling. All
feeling excited. I rounded the turn to
the finish, coming down the hill there were people everywhere and you could
hear the sounds of the finish. The
TeamEdith tent was on the carpet – everyone there cheering for me. The carpet became a step of tears and a step
of celebration. I heard the words – “Kim
Welk from Highlands Ranch, Colorado – You are an IRONMAN!!” It was amazing! So much more than I had imagined and so many
emotions. Mike was there as close as he
could be smiling ear to ear and snapping pictures. I worked through the finish process with my
assigned volunteer who was a little disappointed that I didn’t need any help
other than her holding my things for my picture. I got my finisher picture done and then
pulled the bib out of my pants that I had carried all day for one of our Edith
Teammates who did not get to race after a training wreck and had my picture
taken with her bib too. Run time –
5:37:32 (my second best marathon time and well ahead of the 6-6:30 time I had
planned in my head!) Total Time:
14:03:34 46 out of 170 in my age group!
(This time was better than every scenario that I had laid out for myself
by a lot and I was thrilled – to think how much I stressed over the 16:15 cut
off – it was a true stress)
I felt great! I was
so excited for how the day had gone. It
was overwhelming. And I continued to be
overwhelmed as the messages started rolling in.
Mike had done an amazing job of updating everyone all day long. I enjoyed getting to see all of the posts
that he made throughout the day and hearing from people about how he had called
them. He did tell me that racing is a
lot easier. I definitely understand
that! Support crew is hard! And he was unbelievable.
I am so thankful to everyone that followed me every step of
the way that sent messages in the days and weeks before the race, during the
race and after the race. You promised to
support without being there and I definitely carried you with me every step of
the way. So thank you!! Truly overwhelming.
Also, a huge shout out to everyone that contributed to
TeamEdith and the Edith Sanford Foundation.
I truly believe this is an awesome organization. Christina and Helen were amazing and I am
proud to say that I have so many new friends who I will stay connected
with. I exceeded my fundraising goal
with all of your support and I truly appreciate it!
After a whirl wind Sunday late night, Monday and Tuesday, we
arrived home in Denver. I was greeted at
our house by an IRONMAN finish mat and replica finish (with the correct race
time on the clock) and a pumpkin carved with a swimmer, a biker and a
runner. Thanks to my budding triathlete
and one of my absolute biggest supporters – my Gator!! I didn’t get to see her for a few days after
I got home but it was fun when I picked her up as she just stared at me. Another moment that made Mom cry.
I cannot begin to thank everyone that has been with me on
this journey. Mike, Katelyn, Abby Kay,
and Abby Lynn with me every step of the way, my family, my friends, my training
partners that went hundreds of miles with me, my coaches and mentors, my
TeamEdith donors, my KTT/TTT families, my eNRG family, my BNI family, my M1
family. I know there are some missing
from this list and it is not intentional just hard to convey the amount of
support that I received. So please
accept my thank you! I could not have
done it without the support that I received from each and every one of you.
I set out on this journey on October 23, 2015 when I pressed
send on my registration to join TeamEdith.
Every day since then I wrote the following: “Courage to Start, Strength to Endure,
Resolve to Finish.” and “One Day…One
Step.” These two phases have become my
life. They will stay with me as it is
now my philosophy on how I approach every day.
So I continue on – one day…one step. There will be new goals and new milestones in
the journey so stay tuned!!
