Bia field tester Kelly Delgado knows the drill. 2 months ago, this rock star mother of 5 completed her first full Ironman (Florida). Coming to our Kickstarter campaign by way of Bia-love shared by Swim Bike Mom, Kelly did her homework, decided we were about to revolutionize the GPS watch industry, and signed on to be one of our early field testers. Not shy about her opinions and beliefs, Kelly doesn’t hesitate to challenge others in a debate or shy away from calling words of encouragement to those she meets in a race. She’s goal-oriented (Kona some day), content (loves what she’s doing), busy (5 energetic kids), and blessed with a husband who works hard so she can stay home and take care of their children and who still supports all of her “sometimes crazy” athletic endeavors.

“At the end of the day, I am racing against myself.”

Following her memorable Ironman experience of 2012, Kelly plans to spend 2013 drawing her teenage daughters into triathlon, fine tuning her own athletic training and efficiency, and participating in a number of races at various distances, all with an eye toward another full Ironman, perhaps Couer d’Alene or Cozumel, in 2014. Of course, she’s eager to have Bia along for the ride. She looks forward to field testing our watch during training, specifically in the ocean and under foggy California coastal conditions, and she can’t wait to try it out in an actual race.

In Her Own Words

What’s your athletic history? What brought you to your sport?
I started running Cross Country and Track in high school at the age of 14, and have been addicted ever since. I was the number 2 runner at Antelope Valley College, and then I won a partial scholarship to Cal State San Bernardino and ran there for two years while pursuing my Criminal Justice degree. After college when ‘real life’ took over, my athletic endeavors were put to the wayside. I still exercised regularly and found my stress outlet in running, but I did not compete again until after I was married and my children started school.

My first return to racing was the American Martyrs School 5K in Manhattan Beach, CA.  I went into it thinking that I would just take it easy and have fun, which I did for about the first mile but then the competitive bug bit and in a big way.  I took off and ended up finishing first in my age group. From there, my good friend who is a triathlete, somehow talked me into doing my very first triathlon with her in 2011. I was not a good swimmer, and in fact, was terrified of water in my face and I had not been on a bicycle in many years. But, the athlete in me likes a challenge. Terrified and excited at the same time, I signed up for The Oschner Ironman 70.3 New Orleans with a mere 4 months to learn to swim and bike. It was quite the learning experience and despite the swim portion being cancelled that year (a disappointment after all of the work I put in), I finished and have been hooked on triathlon ever since.

In what ways do you fit, defy, or break the mold of the “Female Athlete”?
I think I am a combination of the “typical” female athlete as well as a bit of a mold-breaker in other areas. I am constantly trying to balance being a good wife and mother, with training as efficiently as I can.  Like many other female athletes, I am driven, determined, and sometimes very lonely during training sessions. I am a stay-at-home mom of 5 kids dealing with 3 different schools, so time is very precious.

I break the mold of the typical “female athlete” in a different way.  I am fanatical about food and its part in health and athletic performance. We follow the Paleo diet, so I make sure that we have a constant supply of fresh grass-fed beef and wild-caught fish and fresh fruits and veggies from our own urban garden. I make our own butter, chicken-foot broth, bone broth, sauerkraut, and some fun adult things like wine, beer, Limoncello, and Grand Marnier –not so great for you, but hey, a mom needs a break once in awhile! I’ve found that the better I eat, the better I feel and perform as an athlete.

What personal transformation has most influenced you?
I think the most transformative experiences come from pain. That is where learning and growth comes from; there is no growth without first feeling the pain.  Like any other person, I am not unfamiliar with that. My personal transformations are a collection of all of my experiences and growth so far. The key is to acknowledge the pain, test the limit, and eventually, push through it. That is where true transformation takes place. A quote that I meditate upon on occasion: “Change will come when the pain of staying the same is worse than the pain of change.”

What was your biggest athletic accomplishment of 2012?
By far, my biggest accomplishment of 2012 was finishing Ironman Florida, November 3, 2012.  Before that I had competed in (in order) Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, Ironman 70.3 San Juan, Barb’s Race 70.3, and the Nautica Malibu International Distance. It was a huge deal for me since it was my first full Ironman and my fifth race ever. My goal was simply to finish, which I did in 16 hours and 15 minutes. I wanted to quit so many times. I hurt. I was hungry for real food. I was mentally and physically exhausted. My brain kept trying to bargain with me to stop and just quit. I have never been a quitter, but I honestly considered it several times. I had pretty bad stomach cramping, but I just kept pushing through. I had to keep moving, and so I did. I was not the fastest in Florida, but I did it and I was so proud of myself that I bawled like a baby crossing that finish line.

There were a number of things that helped me to the finish. I am grateful for Island Boost, which was the only thing that was palatable and that I was able to digest near the end. I am grateful for LA Tri Club’s Ocean 101 class and the amazing coaches they have for helping me get over my fear of the surf and swimming en masse. I am grateful for Adrian Valdivieso from LA Tri Club, because he provided me with a fantastic training plan that I tried to follow as best I could, even if he had me cursing most of the time. But at the end of the day, I owe my successful completion of that race to three people:

1. My amazing husband, Jerry, and the unconditional love and support that he has given me throughout my journey.  I love you, baby!
2. My unbelievable swim coach, Mallory Mead, without whom I would still be terrified of the water.
3. My good friend, Leslie Jordan, who got me into triathlon in the first place and pushed me to continue the race when I was begging her to let me quit.

For each of them, I am eternally thankful and truly blessed.

What’s your best piece advice for a busy person contemplating a new athletic goal?
If you can, join a group of people.  It makes training that much easier and makes you keep an appointment.  Also, stick to a training plan as much as possible, with a lot of variety so that you don’t get burned out.  If you are going solo, fit in sessions (no matter if it is only 30-45 minutes!) whenever you can- early morning, lunch breaks, early evening before dinner. Make the time and stick to it, otherwise there will always be an excuse to skip it.

Highlights

We got our first press coverage yesterday. The guys at GizMag got it spot on. It was a great first article, and even though they don’t have an enormous audience we generate a handful of new backers from it.

“GPS watches already come in all shapes and sizes (at least if you consider “heavy, square brick” and “massive discus” all shapes and sizes). Now they have a gender. “

We have been getting insanely positive feedback on the product. Lots of excitement from lots of women (and men) we don’t even know. We do have the raw material for a blockbuster success here. 

Additionally, a long lost friend stepped up today and is able to make a personal introduction to the most important product blogger and reviewer in the GPS-watch-universe. And we got our first inbound inquiry from a European Distributor.

Rough spots

I think we have a big understanding gap. Lots of folks who LOVE and want the watch don’t understand that if they don’t back the project the product won’t happen.

We’ve tried to address that in the project write up, but right now I think we just need to refilm the tail end of the video this weekend to get real explicit about it.

We also haven’t popped strongly with bloggers and press yet. I need to keep reminding myself that it takes a few days for things to settle in. It’s tough to try to make a blockbuster hit overnight, from a cold start, with no budget and no professional help.

We have 35 days and lots of untapped resources.

The Elephant in the Room

I would be lying to say I am not in a cold sweat panic. We need epic project growth to hit our end goal. Yesterday was a decent but we needed it to be double what it was.

Typically projects have an initial spike, a long period of slow steady growth and then a monster spike at the end. We have 3 X-factors in our project though:

• Weak customer knowledge of how Kickstarter works
• Press that will hit at a delay from our launch vs. at the start
• The psychological barrier of such a big goal.

The last one is vexing. If we had set our project goal at $100K like most other “big” projects, backers would be doing a happy dance right now. We’d look like a garenteed success and we’d probably be generating more native momentum off of that. People flock to winners.

However, with such a big goal, we need to make more progress before benefiting from that effect.

I will blog about the risks/rewards we balanced to determine our project goal later, because a number of folks have asked.

Now it’s back to hustling.

Add in Wine Country and we’ll combine it with a great afternoon of “re-fueling”

The SoCal Wine Country All Women’s Half-Marathon Trail Race takes place on June 23rd in Temecula CA It’s the only All Women’s 13.1mi Trail race anywhere. I am so excited. Thanks Tiffany Henness (@Running_Hutch) and @VanessaRuns for calling this race to my attention.

This is going to be *my* first trail race. Somehow I convinced myself that the “wine country” location made it the perfect warmup for Vineman 70.3 in Napa 3 weeks later.

Race director Paul Jesse has been awesome enough to give us one free entry to both the 5k and the half-marathon race to give away. We’ll give away  the half-marathon entry first. And we’ve made it so everyone wins. …no seriously, read on.

How to Enter: Blog/Twitter

Leave us a comment about your craziest dirt adventure, your most inspiring trail moment, or just why you think it kicks @ss to be a girl who drinks wine. You’ll be entered into our drawing for a FREE Half Marathon Entry.

Everytime you tweet about your inspiration or this contest and include a link to this post http://www.bia-sport.com/blog/?p=1315 and a cc: @biasport we’ll +1 your entry.

How to Enter: Facebook

Post your favorite outdoor adventure, trail run, or muddy sport photo on our wall and tag yourself in it. You’ll be entered into our drawing for a FREE Half Marathon Entry.

For every “Like” your photo gets, we’ll +1 your entry.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

• We’ll pick a winner at random on April 27th.
• The more +1′ing your entry gets the more chance you have to win. (…and yes, you can imagine us writing your name over and over again on little pieces of paper).
• Everyone who has entered will get a discount code for $10 off the race fee.

$10 just for entering – can’t beat that!

Can’t wait to see you all in Temecula.

If you haven’t done so already, make sure you are signed up for an early access invite to our training site and to get up to date info about our new GPS training watch for women. http://launch.bia-sport.com

Let’s do this!

Just like I ceremoniously relinquished my throne as the queen of the 10-minute mile I am about to pass The Queen of the Bonk crown to anyone who wants it!

It’s taken me two full seasons of long course racing, but I think this fall I finally figured out. Two races in a row without bonking!!!

After a half-dozen grumbling stomachs at mile 65 on the bike this season, an absolutely dangerous bonk situation on a 95 degree day on Mt. Palomar,  and a super disappointing bonk-induced miss of my target time at Vineman 70.3, I nailed it.

I rocked the Long Beach Half Marathon in solidly under 2-hours. I ran like XX-Elvis for 26.2 miles in Vegas. Both without a moment of bonk. I finally taught myself how to fuel properly (for races and workouts under 6 hours) AND learned what fuel would work with my stomach in heat and in cold.

I am dying to put this learning to test in my first half-ironman of the season in March.

Right now, here are my go-to products.  You can see them in all their prettiness on my Sports Food Pin Board.

Pre-race fueling in my car as I rush to the start line:
Justin’s Almond Butter w/Chocolate; White Chocolate Macadamia Luna Bars.

Pre-race fuel to share with those around me as we stand in line for the Port-a-Potties:
Blueberries

On the bike:
Honey Stinger Waffles; more Justin’s

Ok while I love Justin’s on the bike, can I tell you how covered in chocolate after-ooze all my stuff is now? The iPhone in my bento box became such a gooey mess that I started putting the used packets in my jersey pocket. Not my best idea. And word of warning: putting the jersey with the empty Justin’s packet in the pocket into the wash does NOT make the situation any better.

On the run:
Island Boost (I can’t stop talking about this stuff! We have two big boxes being shipping to Bia Headquarters – aka my kitchen – to load into our schwag bags! I am never using Gu again!); Natural Hydration Tangerine Ginger; Trident Gum (Blue)

Recovery:
Chai seeds, Otter pops and….Chocolate Milk!!! Give me more bunny!

And so begins my shameless campaign to be selected as an ambassador for @chocmilkrefuel. I talk about chocolate milk so much, I already have a Klout score on it! I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

In the meanwhile, I am stuffing stockings for all my swim/bike/run girlfriends with these products AND we are throwing a few into the schwag bags we are sending out to folks that register for an early invite to Bia Sport.

Click here to learn more and sign up  and then invite your friends. A bag of Bia schwag (including some of our favorite fueling) could be yours.

• My first 5K and 10K races with my 9 year old
• My first sub-2hr half-marathons
• My first marathon.

I think running started to grow on me because this year I’ve created run experiences for myself that have given me that feeling of gratitude that runners talk about.  I like @Jillwillrun guest blog’s post on Marathon Winer’s blog about how to put the joy back into running, because the whole point of running in my opinion is to feel joy. (Ironic, since I don’t like to run. I know.) Gratitude is as addictive as joy….and very closely related.

As a non-runner I have had to search harder for that gratitude and joy, because my body doesn’t feel in naturally, but are the three things that have changed my view of running this year, and have made me grateful for what it bring me.

Run in Nature. Leave the pavement behind. Run barefoot on the sand at low tide or hit the trails. Even though I am not a runner, my favorite days this year have started out with my toes in the sand and a track that looks like this:

Grateful for sand between my toes.

My birthday gift to myself was a long hilly hard trail run at dawn.  Need I say more. Here is me – all forty-onederful years at the top of world in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Forty-friggin'-onederful and on top of the world!

Run at Night: I might be biased here because I live on the beach and have miles of paved boardwalk a block from my house. But nothing beats the still ness and the moonlight, and sometimes a little chill in the air.

Run with your Girlfriends: I woke up at 5:30 am and drove 30 minutes across town every Thursday this season to run up a hill 10x with this amazing a group of women. It was the workout that defined my week.

Nothing beats Hills with Girls!

Some days I’ll run with a girlfriend that keeps that same pace and the miles seem to melt away. What I also discovered I love is running with my new runner girlfriend. I am not sure the right words to use to describe it, but it’s awesome. I know that because I am out there with her – either physically or cheering her on from the sidelines on text message – that she’s putting down miles that she wouldn’t be doing otherwise. She’s going to do her first half marathon in 2012 and accomplish something enormous (I remember mine – I was on top of the world for a week. Who had ever thunk it!). I can’t wait to cheer her on!

All of these things came together for me – along with my own HUGE first – at Rock n Roll Marathon in Las Vegas. Ok, it all of these things EXCEPT the barefoot/nature thing. That would have been gross. See my post here.

…maybe I’m a runner afterall?

– C2K

PS: Don’t think I would write a run post without including an update to my Pinterest board of gratuitous shoe porn. http://bit.ly/biashoeporn

Science aside, nothing brings a bigger smile to my face than 5 miles barefoot in the sand at low tide.