She is the OG!

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

As you can see there are as many paths to a WC slot as there are races.

Here are the tried and true methods that work almost every time no matter what your athletic background.

1. Consistent 14 - 18 hour per week training for 36-48 months.
2. Get a tri bike. Get fitted. Get as aero as possible.
3. Swim as much as you can with someone looking at your stroke.
4. Pick a race that historically is less competitive or is run just prior to the WC date
5. Be prepared to travel.

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"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz

I was always a runner but felt like triathlons were going to be in my future once I started battling injuries and my running deteriorated. I quit running in 2005 (26 yrs old with 5k PR of 14:57) when I moved and ballooned to 245 lbs (up from 165). In 2011, tired of being “fat”, I started the progress of weight loss and goal was to just get back to 185 lbs. once I got to just under 200 lbs, I was working out with a couple All American female runners coming off pregnancies. We did some races together and they wanted to do a marathon. Felt like a good chance to check Boston off the list (I went from 245 lbs to running 58:50 for 10 miles 12 months later and 2:55 18 months later). Kept getting faster and then started the injuries during 2018 (39 years old). I figured let’s do a triathlon as a way to motivate me. Started swimming, borrowed a bike, and did a spring. Rode over 23 mph with an old roadie and aero bars and everyone was saying I had a future. I kept it mainly as a summer thing and had my best running year in 2019 when I turned 40 running 8:51 for 3k, 15:01 for 5k on the track and 24:32 on the roads for 8k. Then the pandemic and the only races happening were triathlons (plus bad case of plantar for 6 months). So I decided to do a Maine 70.3 and a IMTX. Ended up going having a great 70.3 debut and crashed and burned at Texas. Swore I’d never do another one again. Then all my friends signed up for Maryland 2022 and so did I. Ended up going 9:05 which included me laying down for 20 mins bc I overcooked myself with the heat but still finished 2nd in the AG and getting my Kona spot.

Basketball and tennis in high school, one year of cross country done pretty poorly. Bought a road bike when I got to college and road a lot of slow miles for two years before my first half ironman in 2008 when I was 20. Zero swim background and started swimming fall of 2007. Did 6 years of 70.3's before my first full. Trained a lot, average 14/15 hours a week for the year (including any off weeks) in 2013, 2014, and most of 2015, then again in 2017 and 2018 before my first Kona at age 30 in 2018.
2008 longhorn 70.3 5:21
2008 Ironstar 70.3 4:57
2009 new orleans 70.3 4:57
2009 BSLT 4:47
2010 BSLT 4:42
2010 70.3 WC 4:23
2013 Kinetic 70.3 4:20
2013 BSLT4:33
2013 Harvest Moon 70.3 4:14
2014 Ironman Chatt 9:27
2015 Vineman Ironman 9:21
2017 Ironman Santa Rosa 9:10
2017 Santa Cruz 70.3 4:14
2017 Ironman Arizona 9:06
2018 Santa Rosa 70.3 4:07
2018 Santa Cruz 70.3 4:07
2018 Kona 8:54

It took me 6 Ironmans over 2 years before my first KQ.

2011 IM Switzerland 11:02
2011 Vineman 10:28
2011 Challenge Henley 10:18
2012 IMCdA 10:05
2012 IM Cozumel DNF
2013 IM Los Cabos 9:42 (KQ)

After that first one, it felt a lot easier to KQ: 9:11, 9:18, 8:59, basically lowish 9s was what it took in most races, with the exception of a 9:50 at IMSA in 2014 (3rd place). Rough training hours needed to be over 20h per week to be in KQ shape.

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Are you ready to do an Ultraman? | How I calculate Ironman race fueling | Strength Training for Athletes |

Ok I was really hoping to get to contribute to this thread...

Grew up swimming but only over the summers. Was a great summer swimmer, would have been demolished if I swam club until I was a jr/sr in high school. Swam in college, mid-level D3. Backstroke and butterfly. Graduated 2013.

2014
Ran my first 5km straight (as in, no walking; no exaggeration)

2015 - 2019
Mostly sprints, some olympic tris. Age group podiums to age group wins.

2020
Signed up for both Santa Rosa 70.3 and full, both deferred

2021
St. George 70.3 (5:40, walked 1/3 of the half marathon)

2022
Ironman St. George WC (13:36, I joke that I had a blast for 9.5 hours and then walked 13 miles; got into this WC via deferral, so I would hardly count it in terms of 'progression')
Lubbock 70.3 (5:05:59, 2nd AG / 7th female, 70.3 WC spot)
70.3 WC in St. George (6:00, double flat on the bike...)

2023
Ironman California (11:19, 9th AG, Nice WC spot)

2024
Nice WC!!

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KJ
Swim and Triathlon Coach
AllTerrainEndurance.com
KJ@allterrainendurance.com

My mom is still top of her AG at various running distances. I was born there too but the 3B coach was trying to wave me home and I was like "nah, I think I'll catch my breath". :)

Before checking in my bike at my first IM, I removed the bell from the handlebars and the reflectors from the spokes and seat post.

It was the first bike I owned, which I had purchased new for less than $500 over three years prior. Steel-framed road bike, 12 gears, no aero bars.

My leather cycle shoes had a wooden soles, and you strapped into the pedals by tightening a leather toe strap.

Ran about 3:38 to break 11 hours by a few seconds and earn a Kona spot.

The sport has changed a little since then.

Spent a couple of hours on a drip in medical after my last IM in May, so I'm not sure if I've changed that much.

I grew up with an athletic background, but not an endurance one. I played soccer growing up and through college. I did a bit of running for that, but nothing more than 4-5 miles to get ready for preseason. I got my first road bike at about 25 years old. I started swimming about a year after that. I did my first triathlon, a 70.3, in 2010 at the age of 27.

2010
Musselman 70.3 - 7:00:08 (it was bad)
70.3 Syracuse - It was worse

2011 - I figured a few things out with nutrition and got on a tri bike rather than a roadie.

70.3 Providence - 4:58

I also did my first Ironman.
IM Cozumel - 10:24

I continued to work and improve over the next couple of years at the 70.3 and full distances, racing regularly.

2013 - I won my first 70.3 age group title, among quite a few podiums that year.
70.3 Florida - 4:20
IM Florida - 9:31

2014 - I earned my pro card at 70.3 Puerto Rico.
70.3 Puerto Rico - 4:25 (third overall amateur)

I won a few more age groups titles that year before taking my card at the end of the year and racing IM Coz again.

I raced in the pro field through the end of 2021, embracing the challenge, pushing myself, and learning more about the sport and myself each year. I was working full time as a school administrator (high school assistant principal and then principal) during those years, so “pro” was only in title. I made a few podiums (7th at IM Mont Tremblant, 5th and 6th at 70.3 Eagleman) and had some other decent results… Several sub-4 and sub-9 races.

In 2022 I gave up the pro card because I had never raced Kona and knew I’d never make it in the pro field. I raced Arizona in 2022 and had GI issues, so I ended up missing by 2 minutes. Last month I raced IM Chattanooga, and despite another crappy run, was able to punch my ticket to the island for 2024.

The sport has given me some great experiences and taught me a lot. It’s been an adventure and a journey I wouldn’t trade for anything. Kona has its work cut out in trying to top Norseman, but I’m looking forward to experiencing the island and the tradition it brings.

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Instagram | Team Kiwami North America

Super inspiring to go from 7-flat to your pro card! Congrats on the KQ -- you basically need to score over the pro rating at most races anyways in the 30-34 & 35-39 AGs to get it.