Mary Kate Bowman Choat, Twin City Track Club member, local musician and music educator, recently competed in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. As with many athletes, her journey to this once-in-a-lifetime (maybe!) event wasn’t a straightforward one, but it’s definitely inspiring.
How long have you been doing Ironman Triathlons and how did you begin?
It’s kind of a long story … I did my first triathlon in 2008 (I think). It was a Ramblin’ Rose Super Sprint race, and I did fairly well. In 2010, I made the decision to train for my first half ironman. I had NO clue what I was doing, and it probably would have been a disaster. I ended up getting cat-scratch fever (yes, it’s real) in August of that year. I was bed-ridden for almost a month and by November I could barely run a mile. There is a much longer story that I could share but, if you are reading this, just ask me about it. It was a huge set-back in both my athletic pursuits and my professional (trombone/musical) pursuits.
Following that terrible episode, I got married, moved to Texas, ran my first marathon, and moved back to Winston. In 2013, I ran my first half ironman, the Raleigh 70.3. I did OK. I broke 6 hours which I was pleased with. Around that time I joined TCTC and my focus went back to running. Once I ran Boston in 2016 and 2017, however, I decided that it was time to go back to triathlon. Although qualifying for Boston was great, I had a feeling that I was still a stronger triathlete due to my swimming background as a kid.
That’s when I went all in on ironman and triathlon. I completed my first full in 2019 and was absolutely hooked to the triathlete lifestyle.
Why do you enjoy them?
I wasn’t the best athlete when I was a kid (I was heavy-set and just never fast). My mile time was like 12+ minutes in middle school! I swam competitively in high school and played golf in college at Appalachian State, but other than that, I wasn’t very good at sports. I WANTED to be good, but I wasn’t a standout athlete. I think a lot of my motivation to do triathlon and compete at a high level comes from that.
I really like to stay busy, and triathlon keeps me extremely busy. A typical ironman training day looks like this: Wake up at 4:45 (or earlier if I can convince myself), get in a swim or bike ride on the trainer, then teach middle school band from 7:10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., get in another workout (swim or run), go to golf practice or UNCG to teach more band, and then possibly another workout after that. Then I head to bed and prepare mentally to do it over again the next day. It’s tiring, but, at the end of the day, I love knowing that I CAN do all of those things. I love identifying as a triathlete. It’s my lifestyle and it is a big part of who I am.
What was the path that took you to the world championship in Hawaii?
In 2019 at Ironman Chattanooga (my first full), I finished 4th and made it to the podium. It was SUCH an amazing feeling. I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined that I could compete in anything at that level. mean, these are huge events. I’ve won small town races, but getting on the podium at an ironman event?!?! It really changed my perspective on how far I could go in this sport. That year at the roll-down ceremony (this is how they determine who gets a spot in Kona), they took the top 3 women in my age group and I missed it by only one spot. I finished in 11 hours and 35 minutes and the woman ahead of me was only a few minutes faster. So I knew it was possible.
After that, though, I was inspired but I was tired. And then COVID. Throughout COVID, I kept up my training, but when racing season resumed, I was only interested in the 70.3 distance. I kept telling myself, “An ironman is just too dang long.”
I raced the Blue Ridge 70.3 in Roanoke in 2021, finished 5th (another podium!) and qualified for the 70.3 world championships in St. George, Utah, that year. After St. George, I started feeling the ironman bug again. Although it still took me another two years, this past April I decided that I was ready to dial in and complete a full again. I raced Ironman Lake Placid in July of this year. When I started the race, I knew that there was a possibility of making it to Kona, but I tried not to get ahead of myself. Although I had a ROUGH final 6 miles, I finished in 11 hours and 16 minutes placing 5th. This secured my spot at the 2023 World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
Missing so much work to travel to Hawaii and continuing 100-mile rides followed by 6-10 mile runs weekly to prepare for ANOTHER full distance triathlon three months later was extremely intimidating; however, my husband Colin and I determined that this was potentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we couldn’t pass up. So when they called my name at the roll-down ceremony I said, “Aloha!” and accepted my spot.
Going to a different location for an event definitely offers challenges. How did you prepare for this?
Well, all ironman races are so different. It is SO hard to set time goals for these races because you never know what 10+ hours of racing could bring (temps, wind, road conditions, elevation, swim conditions, etc.). Placid had more than 7,000 feet of gain on the bike and Kona only had about 5,000 feet of gain, so I knew my bike legs were probably ready. Also, the marathon didn’t have too much elevation gain, so I just kept the same regimen of running one or two long runs a week. You can’t really prepare for an ocean swim around here either!
About the only thing that I did change was preparing my body for a super-hot race in mid-October. About a week and a half before heading to Hawaii, I started using sauna training after my workouts. I would complete a workout (swim, bike, run, or brick) and then hop in the sauna. I started with 15 minutes and worked my way up to 45 minutes. I read an entire book that week during that time. I’m not sure I would have made it through those dreadful sessions without something to distract me! The only challenging part was not getting the book completely soaked!
The other thing that I changed going into Kona was adding more salt into my overall race nutrition plan. I said it before, but the last 6 miles in Placid were rough. I like to drink plain water when I’m that far into a race and it unfortunately flushes out my system. I cramped non-stop for the last hour or so of the race. So I started adding SaltStick pills to my nutrition regimen since I knew Kona would be so hot and I would sweat out way more salt that I could take in.
It all paid off too. I completed my fastest EVER ironman and broke 11 hours. I finished in 10 hours and 58 minutes. I had a really bad moment of doubt out there around mile 17 on the run. Somehow, I was able to mentally overcome the pain and my last five mile splits were: 9:17, 8:56, 8:39, 8:49, and 7:56. The salt pills prevented me from cramping, and, once I realized that I had a shot a breaking 11 hours, something superhuman kicked in. Looking back, I’m still not sure how I did it! I’m extremely proud of that 7:56 per mile pace on my 140th mile of the race.
What’s next?
Rest … I guess? I’m in that downtime after a race (I’m three weeks post Kona right now) where I start questioning myself. It’s been 7 months of 10-20 hours of workouts a week, so NOT working out like that is a bit of a shock to the system right now. I feel like a lazy bum, but I know that letting my body have some downtime is good.
I am not sure what next year will bring. Probably only 50 competitors or less out of the 2,500 at Kona completed the race on a road bike. I was one of them. Getting a triathlon bike would definitely up my game (sorry Colin!). Also, now having broken down the 11 hour barrier, I think I could probably go quite a bit faster.
After the race I asked my husband Colin, “Do you think I could drop 30 minutes or more? Do you think I could one day be on the podium here?”
He replied, “For sure. You absolutely have that in you.” So, who knows? But I’m glad to have my No. 1 fan by my side supporting me in this endeavor.
