Okay, I am:
1) Older than the hills and the rest of the Team
2) an RN at UNC Hospitals busy, busy Main OR PACU (recovery room)
3) presently working on fixing biomechanical/injury issues (again...a yearly acute and chronic event)
I grew up in California and was surrounded by the birth of triathlon (went to same school when Julie Moss did her inspiring Kona-Crawl), even did some early run & swim gear modeling on the side while becoming an NCAA Div. II All-American in T & F. After moving around and ending on the East Coast, while going back to get a second degree, I worked part-time at a bike shop. There I got inspired by DeRosas and Pinarellos and Greg LeMond...started riding more and entered a large Du (they called them Biathlons then) in NYC and was 2nd overall. I flew down to Florida to race my first Tri, a Bud Light Sprint Series race, 800-900 people, MASS START, with the SWIM AT THE END. I was 1st female out of T1 after the run, but as you can imagine, all those males and wimpy-swimmer-me, jumping off a pier into a nasty mud-water pond at the end of the bike, bodies everywhere...my life almost ended that day. That experience scared me to dry land for over a decade.
I re-entered the local running scene and then duathlons around '99 and found I could still win or place highly in them. Made my first Team USA for SC Duathlon that year, and have raced yearly on the Team and all over the country since. Have accumulated a few World medals, a few National titles, been top-dog in USAT Overall rankings, a few USAT Athlete of the Year awards, and in '05, my best year, an Overall Amateur Long Course Duathlon World title. The biggest irony about that is that I consider myself a sprinter and prefer the sprint/short courses. Considered racing Pro, but didn't because of # 1 and # 3 above.
After year of "fun" destination events in '06, including Overall wins at Powerman Zofingen SC, Pacific Crest Olympic Du, and the Charoltte 1/2 marathon, I started '07 fairly on fire again, winning the first two Du SC World qualifiers in Austin and Phoenix, was wining P'man Alabama by several minutes until my hammy seized in the last run. I then raced Short Course Du Worlds in Hungary in May, still injured with that hammy, and somehow ended up 10th OA, first American, and another gold in my AG. I slogged through a less than stellar performance at Du Nationals in 4th OA and another Du Masters title. But been injured since.
I am grateful and excited, tentatively so, to try Tri's again. I gave it a go a few years ago, but found old issues of almost panic attacks and poor bike/runs after such inefficient swims... took the gusto, and more importantly, fun, out of my game. I hope to improve and get over my swim issues, as I have taken duathlon about as far as I can, and because of #1 and #3 above, I need to make a change to keep running without so many injuries!
I am truly thankful for the ride I've had in the sport so far, ESPECIALLY because of #1, and am so grateful to be part of a group with so much talent and enthusiasm to help me grow into triathlons!
And who says duathletes can't try TRIs?
The ETTT is thrilled to grab one of the biggest names in duathlon and have her race with the team again this year, doing both du's and tri's. One google search will show you her many years of podium race results, gold medals at World Championship Duathlon events, National Masters Duathlon and USAT Athlete of the Year titles, and splits faster than some pro duathlete women could only dream of.
So far this year Kristin beat her open water demons two times, both at Belew's Lake Tri and also at White Lake Sprint. In both instances, she fought through her panic, held on to kayaks but refused to quit. To the the avid swimmers on the team, hers is the face of determination and inspiration. We can't take swimming for granted anymore. This amazing duathlete is showing us all how it's REALLY done.
And we all agree that she should be carded before continuing on the the Masters Open category.
Kristin will try some local triathlons this year in the NCTS if her long-term Achilles and plantar injuries leave her alone. Make sure to cheer for her as she exits the water, facing down her open-water fears at each race and having a small time gap to make up on the bike. If you've ever watched her ride, you know that she's more than capable of reeling in an entire field once she's on her bike.
