Dec.18th Kona Coverage!

December 18th, 4-6 EST on NBC

Read more here.

Craig Alexander - Racing to Win!

"Every time I race I want to win or put out a great performance," says 2x defending Ford World Ironman Champion Craig Alexander. It's been a good year so far, with five wins, two thirds and one unfortunate crash (cracked his bike frame) out of his last eight races. Alexander races Ironman 70.3 Racine on Sunday.

Alexander (nicknamed Crowie) spoke last night at All Season Runner in Janesville, Wis. Thanks to a facebook link from SBR Coaching I was able to meet Alexander and learn more about him, his family and his preparation for Kona. Kitty Cole, marketing director at All Season Runner, led the Q&A session.

What an evening! I was expecting a short Q&A and a rushed photo opp, instead Cole led Alexander through a well-crafted series of questions, allowing us to get to know this talented and charming defending World Champion. Alexander also autographed posters and posed for pictures with each guest. He was polite, friendly and kept us laughing throughout the session.

For example, when asked about any problems he's had when racing, he laughed and said, "I crashed, I guess that's a problem." And while the bike frame was toast, fortunately Alexander "just lost a bit of skin," he says.

Alexander says his form is on par with previous years. "I want to fulfill my potential and do the best I can do right now and make the most of what's still to come," he says.

During races Alexander thinks of the sacrifices his wife, children, extended family and friends have made while asking himself, "am I doing everything I can right now to improve my position?"

Race day is about you, he says, "getting from point a to point b as efficiently as you can while fueling the right way."

Alexander begins his Kona training next week and will log 40-45 hours a week for a four-week block. Before the Big One he'll work through several more specific training blocks, ending with a two-week Kona prep followed by a taper.

As one of only four athletes to win back-to-back titles at the Ford Ironman World Championships (Dave Scott, Mark Allen & Tim DeBoom fill out the club), Alexander promises to put out a great title defense. Once you win, he says, you'll risk more rather than being conservative and playing it safe.

He calls the Kona field stacked, naming multiple top competitors and adding that on race day, there's always people who step up. This year's men's field should know Crowie is all in and he's never short on motivation.

See my photo opp with Craig Alexander here. Silly me, I was nervous!

Questions for You:

- What triathlete would you like to meet?

- Who will win Kona this year?

Photos by me! My autographed poster is up in our office.

Meeting 2x Ford Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander!!!

What a night! Craig Alexander is so nice!!



Thanks All Season Runner for putting together this wonderful opportunity to meet Craig and to learn more about him!



More to come!

*Thanks to the lady behind me for taking the photo with my camera! I actually froze up a bit! Silly me, I was nervous!

Meet an Athlete Escort & √ Out the Bike Count @ Ford Ironman World Championships

Thanks Jessi Stensland for your updates from the Ford Ironman World Championships! Stensland is a professional endurance athlete, movement specialist and active.com expert. Tune in this Saturday for NBC's broadcast of the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championships 4:30-6 EST. 96-second teaser preview here.

As triathletes we LOVE numbers! So of course it makes perfect sense to find The Bike Count at the Ford Ironman World Championships! Triathlete Magazine sponsors the count and many industry volunteers make the annual event possible.

#1 - Cervelo crushed the count again (462 up from 415 in 2008). My hubby's bike made top 4, mine top 12. In the Kona Count you'll also find tallies on wheels, helmets, saddles, aerobars, components, power meters, compression socks, footwear, speedsuits, apparel shorts, apparel tops and apparel suits. Find the list of top bike brands here.

The Bike Count takes place at bike check-in the day before raceday. I'd love to be a counter! And my hubby's CPA skills are top-notch! But until we land on the Big Island I'll follow active.com reporter Jessi Stensland and Alice, an athlete escort, as they take us through the check-in process here in this short video.

link here



On Topic:
Turn to p.146 of the Jan 2010 issue of Triathlete Magazine for the Kona Count.

In this series:
Getting the Story @ Ford Ironman World Championships
On Site @ Ford Ironman World Championships with Jessi Stensland
Rudy! @ Ford Ironman World Championships with Jessi Stensland

Learn more about Stensland's day-long MovementU workshops here. Read @TriBoomer's MovementU report! He calls MovementU the "best day-long triathlon training clinic evah!" My hubby Ken and I are super excited for MovementU's Madison area class in 2010, dates to be announced soon!

Questions for You:
- How do you feel about numbers?
- Where does your bike brand fall in the count?

photo credit by me: I saw many sea turtles when I was on the Big Island. But I met this turtle in the Grand Cayman Islands.

Say My Name! @ Ford Ironman World Championships with Jessi Stensland (#3 in Series)

Thanks Jessi Stensland for your updates from the Ford Ironman World Championships! Stensland is a professional endurance athlete, movement specialist and active.com expert. In anticipation of the Dec. 19th airing of the NBC Ford Ironman World Championships broadcast, I'll feature several of Stensland's active.com features with bonus info from Stensland. This is #3 in a series.

The Voice of Ironman Mike Reilly

As a Cinderella Ironman Finisher I (Sara) heard The Voice of Ironman Mike Reilly call out my name welcoming me to "the club." Two years earlier my hubby Ken didn't hear The Voice when Ken crossed at Ironman Wisconsin. Reilly was there, and speaking, but my husband Ken was so focused that he tuned out his surroundings.

Ken's not alone. For many Ironman triathletes Reilly's famous words "YOU are an Ironman," obsessively call out to them during their long months of training. The words echo in and out during race day, waiting. So what happens when Reilly doesn't say "it"?

Find out by watching Active.com reporter Jessi Stensland's detailed interview with Mike Reilly from this year's Ford Ironman World Championships. You'll also learn:

- Something about race day Reilly will never grow tired of.

- Where's the hot corner for Ironspectators?

- What it's like up in the tower in Race Central.

- What's Reilly's biggest fear?

Stensland says Reilly's never called her name and she doesn't hear that happening in the future. "I've never had the desire to do an Ironman," says Stensland. "I like to train and race short, hard, often and now ... off-road."

I admire Stensland's confidence. She knows as an athlete what she's passionate about. Without passion, training and racing at any distance comes up empty. For me the most-moving post-finishline moments have more to do with what I gave to get there than simply the distance covered.
Link here

On Topic:

Find out how Reilly coined his famous phrase in this excellent profile of Reilly from ironman.com.

In this series:
Getting the Story @ Ford Ironman World Championships
On Site @ Ford Ironman World Championships with Jessi Stensland
Rudy! @ Ford Ironman World Championships with Jessi Stensland

Questions for You:
- What distance/sport are you passionate about?
- What makes the finish line magic?

photo credit by me: I saw many sea turtles when I was on the Big Island. But I met this turtle in the Grand Cayman Islands.

♥ Rudy! @ Ford Ironman World Championships with Jessi Stensland

Thanks Jessi Stensland for your updates from the Ford Ironman World Championships! Stensland is a professional endurance athlete, movement specialist and active.com expert.

In anticipation of the Dec. 19th airing of the NBC Ford Ironman World Championships broadcast, I'll feature several of Stensland's active.com video features from Kona with bonus info from Stensland. She'll answer what it's like to be on site covering THE IRONMAN, what stories touched her most, what race day is like and more!

Rudy Garcia-Tolson
Two weeks before competing in the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championships double-above-the-knee amputee Rudy Garcia-Tolson got an infection in one of his stumps. He took the prescribed antibiotics and stayed off his feet--no running until race day for this 21-year-old triathlete. So Garcia-Tolson absorbed his latest challenge and continued prepping for 140.6 miles of Big Island decisions.

On the Thursday before race day Active.com reporter Jessi Stensland caught up with Garcia-Tolson to chat about his Kona experience and the BIG race! "I've always been a Rudy fan," says Stensland.

Click on Jessi's active.com Ironblog interview with Garcia-Tolson below:


video link

And watch NBC's Ford Ironman World Championships feature Dec. 19th from 4:30-6 EST. Preview here!

Questions for You:
- What's your top logistical challenge as a triathlete?
- Rudy calls swimming his passion, what is your favorite tri discipline?

On Topic:
Challenged Athletes Foundation: Rudy's story
Athlete: Lee Gruenfeld profiles the amazing Rudy Garcia-Tolson "the Torpedo."
Ossur: make Rudy's prosthetics
Scott Rigsby: first double below-the-knee amputee to finish the Ironman on prosthetic legs. Read more about Rigsby here.
Sarah Reinertsen: first single above-the-knee amputee to finish the Ironman (DNF in 2004, came back to finish strong and to win hearts in 2005).
Cheers also go to: Bob Babbit, Cherie Gruenfeld, Paul Huddle, PowerBar, David Bailey and Terry Martin for supporting Garcia-Tolson!

In this series:
Getting the Story @ Ford Ironman World Championships
On Site @ Ford Ironman World Championships with Jessi Stensland

Learn more about Stensland's day-long MovementU workshops here. Read @TriBoomer 's report from MovementU! He calls MovementU the "best day-long triathlon training clinic, evah!" My hubby & I are super excited for MovementU's Madison-area class in 2010! Details to come!

photo credit by me: I saw many sea turtles when I was on the Big Island. But I met this turtle in the Grand Cayman islands.

Getting the Story @ Ford Ironman World Championships with Jessi Stensland

Thanks Jessi Stensland, for your updates from the Ford Ironman World Championships! Stensland is a professional endurance athlete, movement specialist and active.com expert.
In anticipation of the Dec. 19th airing of the NBC Ford Ironman World Championships broadcast, I'll feature several of Stenland's video features from Kona with bonus info from Stensland. She'll answer what it's like to be on site covering THE IRONMAN, what stories touched her most, what race day is like and more!

Jessi Stensland is a storyteller.
"I like to capture life and stories," she says. "Those that are simply fun, that spread joy to the world and/or are inspirational and/or educational."

As part of her role at active.com Stensland has the pleasure of reporting from the Ford Ironman World Championships. "This year Kona was a lot of work but also a blast," she says. "Over the years I've realized how much more intricate of a process it is to really do it well, more efficiently and easily."

To produce each video feature Stensland needs: a vision for her topic, excellent supporting footage and the ability to engage her subject and to put him or her at ease. Stensland loves bringing out her subject's natural self while getting the story. She stays flexible too, giving the interviewee freedom to tell his or her story and letting the interview go where it needs to.

"I enjoy having a hand in all aspects of production: being on-camera, filming and editing," she says. "It's very helpful to know all three. While I'm on camera I'm also thinking ahead as to how useful the time I'm spending is, in relation to how I'll have to edit it later."

Creating a simple two-minute video from start to finish can take 90 minutes to produce. In addition to the actual interview time, Stensland must digitalize the video from tape to computer, make cuts and adjustments to the footage and audio, and insert pre-roll and title screens. Then the final piece is compressed, outputted and uploaded to the web site. More integrated features combining interviews, quotes, footage and music, can take 3-4 hours start to finish.

It's all a perfect fit for Stensland who loves sharing stories with the world. Video production takes her to new places where new faces wait to share their adventures with her. Keep up the good work Jessi!

Stay tuned for Stensland's features on: bike check-in, the Voice of Ironman Mike Reilly, Dig Me beach, Rudy Garcia-Tolson and race day!

Learn more about Stensland's day-long MovementU workshops here. Read @TriBoomer 's report from MovementU! He calls MovementU the "best day-long triathlon training clinic, evah!" My hubby & I are super excited for MovementU's Madison-area class in 2010!

Question for You:
- What's your dream job?

Also Read:
On Site @ Ford Ironman World Championships with Jessi Stensland

photo credit by me: I saw many sea turtles when I was on the Big Island. But I met this turtle in the Grand Cayman Islands.

On Site @ Ford Ironman World Championships with Jessi Stensland

Ten years ago I flew to the Big Island to report on the conference my employer was holding. I stayed at The Hilton Waikola Village. My favorite part was snorkeling daily in the 4-acre ocean fed lagoon - sea turtles!

Of course as a triathlete Kona means something more than an incredible vacation. My husband wants to enter the Ford Ironman World Championships lottery--I'd like to report from it! Until then, I'm happy to soak up Kona's splendid warmth via active.com's on site updates.

Thanks to Jessi Stensland, professional endurance athlete, movement specialist and active.com expert, we can get a taste of the fascinating lives, traditions and radiant energy abundant at the Ford Ironman World Championships.

In anticipation of NBC's coverage of the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championships, I'll feature several of Jessi's Kona video features with bonus material Jessi has graciously added in response to my questions! Thanks Jessi! First topic coming soon!

For now catch the 96-second video preview here and tune in Dec. 19th at 4:30-6 EST for NBC's feature!

Questions for you:

- Have you been to Kona as an athlete, spectator or lucky person on vacation?

- Have you or would you apply for a lottery spot?
- Does the TV coverage make you tear up?

- Aren't turtles the cutest?

photo credit: picture by me, but of a turtle in the Grand Cayman islands, not the Big Island!

Congrats Local Finishers @ Ford Ironman World Championships!

I was surprised how many times I heard "from Madison, Wisconsin..." while watching athletes finishing this year's Ford Ironman World Championships. (Search 2009 results.)

Looking closer now at the results, I'm also impressed how many local athletes placed in their agegroups. Congratulations!

Athletes/finish time/placement include:
- Thomas Brunold - 9:27:09 3/248
- Mike Lavery - 9:36:35 5/35
- Michael Meteyer - 9:48:52 3/104
- Mike Gotzler - 9:59:35 56/206
- Joe Kurian - 10:02:03 56/143
- Jackie Arendt -10:17:58 4/51
- Jim Brusketwitz -10:52:05 5/57
- Cindi Bannick -11:11:37 27/67
- Tom Shepard -11:25:38 25/35
- Scott Johnson -11:26:30 102/183
- John Birkelo -11:37:29 109/183
- Colleen Capper -11:42:47 10/54
- Kristin Korevec -11:44:04 31/51
- Jeff Boldt -11:46:10 62/104
- Justin Hart -13:44:22 85/92



I hope I've included everyone. Again, congratulations!



Question for you:
Was your state/city represented at this year's Ford Ironman World Championships?



More Kona Coverage:
http://ironmakeover.blogspot.com/2009/10/hat-trick-for-chrissie-3x-ford-ironman.html
Wellington Sets a New Standard
Women's press conference
An incredible day in Kona



photo credit: Chrissie Wellington Wins! http://ironman.com/mediacenter/downloads

A Hat Trick for Chrissie! 3x Ford Ironman World Champion

It's a hat trick for Great Britain's Chrissie Wellington! The superstar triathlete defended her title at yesterday's Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, while also breaking the course record!

Wellington's overall time of 8:54:02 broke the course record set in 1992 by Ironman icon and eight-time Ironman World Champion Paula Newby-Fraser.

Wellington's never lost an Ironman event. At a shorter triathlon, Wellington took second to pro Julie Dibens at the 5430 longcourse triathlon in Boulder, Colo. At the women's press conference Wellington referred to that loss and quoted her former coach's advice, "Brett used to tell me that “some sessions are stones and some are stars, but they're all rocks that we build on.” I say, rock on Chrissie!

In Kailua-Kona Wellington held the lead by approximately 15 minutes throughout the 140.6-mile course, ranking 22nd among the entire field of male and female professional athletes.

The top five professional women’s results:
1. Chrissie Wellington, GBR 8:54:02
2. Mirinda Carfrae, AUS 9:13:59
3. Virginia Berasategui, SPA 9:15:28
4. Tereza Macel CZH 9:23:43
5. Samantha McGlone, CAN 9:30:28

With Ironman, "Anything is Possible" and everyone has a story. In addition to Wellington, two inspiring athletes included:

- Kyle Garlett, a 4-time cancer survivor who missed the swim cutoff by seconds. Race day marked the third anniversary of his heart transplant.

- Rudy Garcia-Tolson, the amazing double above-knee amputee, finished the swim in 1:14 and nearly made the bike cutoff. This 21-year-old athlete has no quads or hamstrings, for him riding a bike is like cycling on stilts!

For more inspiration catch the Emmy Award-winning Ford Ironman World Championship broadcast Dec. 19, 2009, from 4:30 – 6 p.m. EST.

More articles:

Wellington Sets a New Standard

Women's press conference

An incredible day in Kona

photo credit: http://ironman.com/mediacenter/downloads

Her World Famous Finish

Back in 1981 Julie Moss couldn't come up with a topic for her senior year project (PE major) at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. And so, one rainy afternoon she turned on the tv and caught part of ABC's Wide World of Sports' Ironman Triathlon broadcast. Moss found her topic and would go on to compete in the Ironman in 1982.

It's funny how things work:

• Moss found inspiration for her college project watching the Ironman broadcast.


• A year later, her mesmerizing crawl to the finish would capture hearts worldwide and go on to become one of Ironman's defining moments.

If you haven't seen highlights of her race click here. Read Moss' race report here.

This year marks the 30th anniversary for the Ford Ironman World Championships. Follow 1,800 athletes as they swim, bike and run to the finish.

Catch live coverage Oct. 11th, 2008 at http://ironman.com/ . Tune in for NBC's feature Dec. 13 from 2:30-4 p.m.

Here are some of the stories they are tracking for this year's coverage.
http://ironman.com/events/ironman/worldchampionship/kona2008/kevin-mackinnon-reports-on-some-of-the-inspiring-stories-well-be-keeping-track-of-on-saturday

Tell me:

• What goes through your mind watching Julie Moss struggle to the finish line?
• What is your most memorable race experience?