Longhorn Ironman 70.3 - October 25, 2009
Longhorn Ironman 70.3 - Austin, TX
Rob and I planned for a pretty intense and rather insane last two weeks of October. But within a split second, everything changed. I’m alive and walking after being taken to the hospital in a Life Flight helicopter and that is what really matters.
First, let me share how the story was supposed to go and then I’ll explain how it really unfolded. Our plan was to drive to Chicago Wednesday afternoon, unload the trailer full of equipment for our 12 new videos to be filmed at the Aqua downtown Chicago, skip over to Well-Fit, load the trailer back up with 10 athletes’ bikes, and make the trek to Austin, TX for the race. A quick stay in Austin, we’d race Longhorn Ironman 70.3 Sunday, quickly change, load the bikes back in the trailer after the awards ceremony and start a very long drive to Cincinnati, pick up my two new Custom Fit CEEPO bikes, drive to Chicago and film 12 new videos over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Unloading at the Aqua went smoothly, the bike loading went well also, we even had time for our favorite Chicago Pizza and then drove a couple hours, arriving in Southern, IL at 2:30a.m. After a decent night’s sleep we awoke, went for a quick run, showered and were back on the road. It was a treacherous drive late Wednesday night and all day Thursday driving in the torrential rain and wind through Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas and into Texas. Arriving around 2:30a.m. in northern TX, we slept a couple hours and finished the drive to Austin Friday morning with beautiful blue skies and warm temperatures. Things were looking up! 
The bikes arrived safely in the bright blue EFC logo trailer. 
Once in Austin, we met up with several athletes, registered and picked up our race packets. We then checked out the Whole Foods for dinner after battling traffic all afternoon. We stayed downtown with our athlete Robert and had a great time catching up, laughing and checking out Austin. After a good night’s sleep, we awoke early Saturday, did our pre-race bike and run and dropped our bikes and gear off at T1 and T2. The weather was awesome, very windy, but beautiful. I felt great! I was a little worried about Rob and his lack of sleep and all the driving seemed to be affecting him, but we really were excited to race. After a fun afternoon with our good friend Cherri, homemade Pasta dinner and race gear, nutrition and hydration all in place, it seemed all systems were a go for a great race on Sunday!
After 4 different alarms blared, we awoke race morning. Rob brewed up some Starbucks and cooked up some oatmeal and we were off. Rob was the first in our group to go off and I was the last being in the second to last wave of the day. Rob and Robert battled through the long swim, windy and hilly bike and the tough run to finish strong yet concerned. Robert did awesome with a 3 minute improvement in his bike time and 5 minute improvement on the run, continuing to PR every race this year! Well-Fit athletes rocked out a great day with several podium age group finishes and big smiles on their faces! Rob’s lack of sleep and fatigue surely affected his performance and he struggled on the run. He was also very concerned as to why he didn’t see me out there. So, this is where the plan goes astray… 
The meticulous plan I laid all came crumbling down in an instant. After making sure Rob and Robert were good to go race morning, I relaxed watching the pros run up from the swim and off on their bikes. Finally it was my turn. I felt great in the water. My stroke felt smooth and my catch and hip snap felt powerful! The pull-ups and the Vasa seemed to be working! I stayed with the lead girls for a while, which is really good for me and as they slowly pulled a way, I continued to stay steady and swam through different waves as I passed guys with green and white caps on. Through the seaweed I swam and finally onto shore, I looked at my watch- 35:39- not bad- I’ll take it. As I started up the shoot, I hit a huge muddy patch that had worn away from the 2500 other athletes climbing through it, and down I went. I hit the mud and covered my hands and legs with mud. What a mess! After the struggle to get out of the mud puddle, I scrambled on to the wetsuit strippers, which was another interesting site. Bumped by a crazy male athlete going for the peeler, down I went again. Finally, the wetsuit was off and I was making my way up the slippery slope and into T2. Wow, that whole mess wasted nearly 4 minutes! 
Into T1, I put on my number belt, sunglasses, helmet, tried to wipe the mud from my feet, slipped on my shoes, packed the bag back up with the muddy debris and grabbed the bike. Once on the course, I was in control (at least I thought so) and I attacked the ride. Pedaling strong, staying aero, fighting through the wind, handling the tight turns and rough roads, I passed everyone in sight. The Zipp 404s were the perfect selection for this course and the cross winds. I came through mile 20 in 50 minutes and was psyched for the day that was unfolding. Speeding along, I felt the best I have this season. No stomach issues, no lactic acid in my legs, just picking off cyclist nonstop. In an instant, everything changed. I may have been in control of my actions, but I was not in control of others.
As I descended a little hill, I picked up speed and was cruising about 25 to 26 mph approaching a rider who was casually cruising in the middle of the road. As I had done all morning, I yelled out continuously..."ON YOUR LEFT, ON YOUR LEFT..." After about the 3rd roar and my bike now only about 3 bike lengths behind, the rider turned, looked at me, looked back and picked up his cadence but failed to pull over to the right. A car was several hundred feet down in the oncoming traffic lane, so I knew I needed to stay inside the yellow line. I cruised up quickly upon the rider who was about 2 feet inside the yellow centerline and I rode up right next to him. Either he freaked out or just had poor bike handling skills, because suddenly, while in aero, relaxed and driving through my pedal stroke, I saw his bike wheel and handle bars come right into mine. That’s all I remember.
We believe my wheel and aerobars then entangled with his and caused me to do a high side flip into oncoming traffic. My Louis Garneau aero helmet did its job and saved my life! We think my handle bars hit first as my left handle bar smashed in, the aerobars sheared apart and then I think my head slammed the road, followed by my upper back, shoulder, then left elbow and leg. Perhaps then I rolled and nicked up the other side of my body? I have no idea what happened for sure, but the next thing I remember, I was holding my bike by the handle bars, trying to mount it to ride but in a fog like tunnel vision, I saw the cracked bar with handle bar tape hanging loosely and I was totally confused. I looked up and saw the guy who hit me. He asked if I was okay, I think I said yeah and he said he was going to continue on and race. Then it all went black again.
I was told that I tried to mount the bike and ride, but fell to the road. I was also told the oncoming car swerved to avoid us and I was told the rider behind me was hurt very badly. The next thing I remember was lying strapped to a stretcher with a neck brace on. The first thing I did was wiggle my toes and fingers and Thank God I was not paralyzed. I then remember asking if my bike was okay and if my Rudy Project Sunglasses made it. I was told the bike was damaged but was picked up by race support and the sunglasses were okay. Then the medical crew began questioning me. They asked if I knew where I was and I could not remember. After straining to think, I did remember I was in Texas and I was with my husband Rob and my athlete Robert. I thought it was August 2008 and that is when they loaded me into the ambulance. They asked me my name, age and my address and I was able to rattle that off quickly. I even through in there that I have nieces Olivia and Lilly that I needed to get home to. After putting it all together, I said..."No it’s October 25, 2009 and I’m really sorry that George Bush is no longer president." I couldn’t remember Obama’s name at the time, but I think I entertained the medical team. 
While in the ambulance, I gathered my thoughts and started discussing what was really happening. I was aware enough to think through the next plan. The EMT wanted to life flight me to the hospital because it would take them 25 minutes to drive me there but it would be a 6 minute plane ride. After discussing the incident, sharing my concerns on not wanting to rack up medical bills but learning I was unconscious for 20 minutes I too agreed it was not worth messing around. Next thing I remember, I was in the helicopter and I was talking to my medic about how my husband would like to be here flying this baby. Very sore but calm, I had a little conversation about how great my husband is and how he flies anything he can get his hands on. I think I provided some entrainment once again. 
My memory faded in and out for the next several hours. While in the ER, I was rolled to the side and experienced an awful bout of vertigo that was very scary to me after my 3 weeks of vertigo last year. Dr. Davis and the whole Austin hospital medical team were amazing. I quickly had a CT scan of the bran, X-rays of the shoulders, neck, back and hips. I was very thirsty and needed to use the restroom but was not cleared to stand or drink, so I patiently waited. Carol, the social worker came and I told her I did want them to find Rob, but wished for him to be notified after his race as I wanted him to finish and not worry about me. She worked diligently for the next several hours to try to contact EndorFun and the race director but was unsuccessful. While she made calls, the team continued to check on me and the CT scans and X-rays came back negative - so things were looking up. I was then wheeled to the restroom but attempted to stand and crashed back onto the bed. I grew very scared. Did I fracture my pelvis? Did I break my hips? Wheeled back to the ER room, Dr. Davis ordered a CT of my pelvis and hips. She offered pain meds but I denied them. I was worried and wanted to really feel what was going on.
Around 3p.m. Carol came back in and said she had called every number, emailed everyone listed on the race site and even sent friends down there to try to find the director and notify Rob, but still had no results. So we left a message on my cell phone that was in our car at the race. Soon after Rob called the hospital. He was so worried when he didn’t see me out on the course. He cheered Robert along and cheered on all the Well-Fit athletes but knew something was wrong if no one saw me out there. Once Rob found out what had happened, he called his family and told all the athletes, the prayer chain began. Everyone was amazing- all over the world, I had people praying for me!
While laying in the hospital bed, I learned the athlete behind me that crashed was life-flighted first as his collar bone snapped and popped out of his skin. He was in emergency surgery. I prayed for him and thanked God once again that I was okay.
After several hours, finally the results came back. Our prayers were answered the way we requested them. No broken bones and no fractures! God is good to me! We are SO BLESSED to be supported by such great family and friends.I was discharged that evening. Once back at the hotel, I suffered through a very painful shower, Rob patched me up with all the stuff he bought at the pharmacy and we enjoyed some yummy Pizza watching the Yankees win!
Thankful for being alive, for being able to at least stumble around and for all the prayers and support, I lay in bed Sunday night and thoughts bounced through my head. I was grateful; however, I was also devastated. I had ruined everything. No way would I be able to make the 25 hour drive from Austin, to Cincinnati to Chicago and film 12 new videos this week. Everyone worked so hard to make this work and in an instant, it was all put on hold. I spent all this time and money to make it to this race and hoped for top finish in my age group and instead I didn’t even cross the line. As I sobbed to sleep, I slowly switched my attitude and focused on moving ahead.
Rob emailed everyone Sunday night to let them know. And of course, everyone has been absolutely amazing and totally understanding. After staying with Robert and extra night, we made the trek back to Chicago over Monday and Tuesday. Mark and Mark from Well-Fit met us late Tuesday night and we unloaded the bikes. Rob pushed on and we made it home at 5a.m. Wednesday morning and we are now recovering. With planned rest and recovery, we will continue on and are re-planning the video shoots for November. I’m still very distraught about my bike and messing the plans up, but when I step back, I’m taking the time to learn from all of this. I will be more cautious on the bike. I will not pass so close to other riders. I will rest and not come back too quickly! Now that I think back, maybe I came back too quickly from my concussion at IM CDA 2008. Maybe that is what brought on the vertigo and added to the lesions that we found on the MRI’s last summer? I may never know for sure, but I will control the "controllables", take precautions and count my blessings!
Thank you all for your prayers and support! Much love and hugs!
-Coach Kel
Posted by on 10/28 at 06:02 PM
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