Karin Gardner hadn’t gone to the Danskin this year with the goal of competing, it was more just to keep her streak alive. But there she was, climbing out of the water in first place, transitioning to the bike and riding first behind the pace motorcycle. She made it all the way through the turn-around and almost to the start of the run before she was passed – by the pro would go on to win the whole thing.
Karin – the 1st out of the water in the 2009 Danskin Triathlon
Not that she didn’t want to be. Earlier that year she faced the supreme disappointment of stepping down from her second Ironman attempt. She was going to do it that summer with a group of other women friends many, like her, “aging up” – being the youngest age in a category and therefore owning the best shot at placing well. For Karin Gardner, it wasn’t just any bump up the age scale – this one was the big 4 – 0. Forty years old and ready to avenge her disappointment from 2005.
That was the Ironman Canada, a race for which she had trained on average 20 hours each week. A half-time job added to her already time and a half position as Communications Manager for the Oppenheimer Group (international marketers of fresh produce).
She started the race that morning – a 2.4 mile open water swim in
The swim ended well, as most do for Karin, who came to the sport of triathlon as a swimmer. There were volunteers on the beach to help her and the other racers out of their wetsuits – the full rock star treatment. On to her bike with an adrenalin rush until at mile 16, within a pack of riders, she heard the awful sound of a puncture and looked around to see which poor soul had been struck.
It was her tire, losing air fast.
She pulled over to fix the flat and found, of all things, a tack poking through. After the repair, she was back on the bike, hoping to gain back some time, when she heard that dreaded sound again. Another tack. All those bikes with all those tires she got nailed, twice. Seeing her
By now, her goal had shifted from Kona to finishing in daylight. She biked hard, finding small relief in counting the racers she passed, stopping only when she reached 1,000. She figured the prank someone played of throwing tacks onto the roadway cost her an hour and twenty minutes, not to mention the aspiration of a year of training.
2009 was going to be the year to avenge that experience. But then came the knee problem that no one, not the best specialists in
You could imagine that by this time in the interview, Karin’s face would be flush with anger or tears, but no. Curled up comfortably in her arm chair, fingers wrapped around a coffee mug, Karin calmly drew a picture of the silver lining hidden in those clouds of frustration.
“This was the year to focus on swimming.”
Unable to run, she entered the La Jolla Rough Water swim – a three-mile race that, with 2000 entrants, bills itself as the largest rough water swim in the
All those morning rising by 5 a.m. to be in Lake Washington or the
During our conversation, Karin used the word “spiritual” on more than one occasion. There is a zen-like calmness in her descriptions of early morning lake swims – a “bliss and communion with the water” as she describes in her own blog. Terms that seem in juxtaposition with the flailing of arms and legs when the gun goes off and the hundreds that were vertical at once become horizontal, and waterbound. But the photos she shares with me all convey an inner stillness that matches her outward persona. Competition seems to be a glue that brings the parts together.
Karin leaves no doubt that her most important asset in her endeavors is Mike, her husband, “my rock and my rudder. I cannot tell you adequately how important it is to have my best friend nurture my competitive nature and let me off the hook for a more normal life.”
They work at finding the time to be together despite Karin’s demanding schedule. She does her morning swim before he wakes up, he’s there on the sidelines cheering her through her races, and every now and then, they put the training aside and enjoy a vacation together. Fortunately, Mike grew up around the sport of triathlon – his father competed for years and he himself has entered a number of races himself -- so he understands better than most what drives her.
“I think of the book – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, where it talks about organizing life demands in four quadrants. I try to focus on what lives in that quadrant of both urgent and important. Often that’s work or training, but sometimes what’s in that box is five chapters of Twilight on the couch.”
When I asked her what doesn’t make it in the box, she responds somewhat wistfully, “being a good cook” (Mike wears the apron in the house), “more time, and being good at everyday things,” like sending birthday cards and gardening.
But before that can happen, there’s a knee to mend fully and more races to contemplate. She’s looking at 2011 for another shot at an Ironman race. Let’s hope the roads are clear for her that day.
Karin’s (not so) secrets for how she does it:
- find a like-minded community of athletes who understand, encourage and inspire you.
- use training resources – Karin connects with www.weraisethebar.com through which you can hook up with training partners, follow coaching programs and learn the tools of the trade
- If you’re considering the Danskin Triathlon,
- Don’t miss the registration – start watching the web site in February. Registration fills in just about a day;
- Practice swimming in the
- Rent a wetsuit from Speedy Reedy and practice in it;
- The
- Just Do It
What book has Karin read recently?
- The Young Woman and the Sea, How Gertrude Ederle Conquered the
- Breaking Dawn, by Stephanie Meyer (Twilight Series)
- Super Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt
Whom does Karin want me to interview next?
- Livia – the Doyenne of swimming in
- Her friend Meaghan, who is parenting an autistic child while managing all of the rest of life with grace.
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