November 2, 2009
Karen R.


Austin and the Longhorn Ironman 70.3 triathlon. Our A race, chosen many months ago and with many shorter races and rehearsals in between. Race organizers welcomed us, supported us, answered countless e-mails on topics special to us, wrote about TeamWILD in the athlete’s guide and most of all put on a great event. As the inaugural event for the team, Austin holds a special spot in this team member’s heart.


WILD Women do and they don’t regret it--from the song Wild Women Do and one which has played over, over, and over again in my head this year. We did this. Yes, Karen L., we did this. She kept repeating this to me at the end of the race between bites of fajitas and again later that night, each time with a huge smile on her face.

Endurance and energy—needed to complete the 70.3 miles. Our training plan and carbs provided what we’d need to complete this event. So did Energizer bunny aka Coach Yoli, everywhere on the course cheering us on.

Supporters—family, friends, Tony, Keith, Ken, Doug, Nicole, Celeste, Yoli, Marcey, and Dr. Matt were all there to cheer us on, build bikes, drive us and our bikes everywhere, fund our efforts and be there when we needed you the most. We love you all, not just our diabetes educator!

Outreach—on the bike, on the run, and sometimes in the swim corral, we were recognized as WILD team members and cheered for. WILD -- the word is out. To women reading this, lurking in cyberspace, wondering can I do what they did? Should I join this fabulous team? Absolutely, and yes, you should.

Mari—This team exists and we are on this team because of her infectious energy. This would not have come together without her. Her vision, commitment, passion, and dedication inspire me to work harder this next year to promote and compete for WILD.

Empowering—Walking somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd lap of the run, I was behind two women and heard one comment, “What a humbling experience today has been.” Humbling, I thought, was not the word I would use to describe the day. At that particular moment I felt so empowered by seeing all my teammates on the course and by remembering all the training and everything else we had accomplished to get to this wonderful day and race.

AWESOME--Countless times I’ve heard this word. We are an AWESOME team of women. Go TeamWILD.

November 1, 2009
Kathy Z.

Dear Friends and Family,

Team WILD ROCKED the Longhorn 70.3 Ironman! As for me, personally, I finished the race in 6 hours and 31 minutes, which is a personal best (easy to say as this was my first triathlon at this distance). For the past year, I’ve had my mind set on racing the Longhorn 70.3 Ironman. I fell asleep playing out the swim, bike, run and transitions in my mind nearly every night. I spent countless hours of training calculating how fast I was going and how fast I would be able to finish the race. All that anticipation and the big weekend did not disappoint!



It is impossible to really explain in words what it is like being a part of Team WILD. We truly were a team and we truly were inspiring life with diabetes along the way. This was not only a race to most of us, but as my teammate, Ramona, pointed out, Team WILD made having diabetes fun. We commiserated over lows and highs (blood sugars) throughout training and especially race day morning. We spend the last year preparing and learning how our individual bodies respond to endurance events along with the guidance of expert coaching from head coach Yoli Casas, swim coach Celeste St. Pierre, and bike coach Nicole Freedman, as well as diabetes management care from diabetes educator, Marcey Robinson and endocrinologist, Matt Corcoran. In the days leading up to the race, we spent time with our staff reviewing our race day strategy and how we would handle various scenarios.

Not only were we busy preparing ourselves as athletes; we were also busy promoting our cause. We held a Team WILD “launch” at the Longhorn Expo, took professional team pictures and spent time in front of the camera of our hired videographer to capture the essence of the team for both recruiting and fundraising purposes.

Race day started with the alarm sounding at 4:30 AM and didn’t end until after 10 PM, following a celebratory dinner and WILD awards ceremony. My particular swim wave started at 8:20 AM; myself along with four other teammates were in the “pearl purple” 30-34 age swim wave. The swim took me 45 minutes to complete. I felt strong, prepared and well coached for the swim. Following the wetsuit stripping (I just like a chance to say ‘wetsuit stripping’), I proceeded to the bike transition.

Overall, I felt good on the bike and completed the loop in just over three hours. Again, I felt well coached, especially with the training in how to climb hills for maximum efficiency. My blood sugar was aggressively climbing throughout the first half of the bike, likely from all the adrenaline of the race. I didn’t end up fueling as much as I should have and ended up bonking around mile 52. For me, bonking does not mean stopping, but just feeling very icky. Now I know to just give insulin and keep fueling despite my blood sugar, but live and learn.

My blood sugar did finally start coming down at the end of the bike route, and I knew it would be difficult to keep it high enough on the run. I decreased my insulin pump basal rate from 70% to 65 % at the transition to the run and basically drank Gatorade at almost every water station. Overall, I ingested about 300 grams of carbs during the race. My very favorite 15 grams of carbs came in the form of an ice-pop given out on the first loop of the run (Berta and my brother, Andy, know how important ice-pops are to me). The run took me 2 ½ hours (a bit longer that I hoped) and it was a three-loop course. The first loop felt the worst, probably due to my low energy at the end of the bike. During loops two and three I was able to keep jogging and focus on the finish…as evidenced by the vast majority of my race pictures where I was looking down and not smiling.

Here are some of the highlights of the entire event for me:

*Experiencing the calming energy of my two favorite doctors: a phone call to my brother, Andy, and standing next to Dr. Matt prior to the start

*Seeing Berta and cousin, Laura, sprinting along the swim-bike transition to capture pictures

*Hearing Yoli’s cow bell and booming voice above all the crowd

*Seeing Linda (Berta’s mom) cheering along side of bike coach, Nicole, just after getting on the bike

*Hearing Nicole yell, “FOCUS!” from the driver’s seat of an SUV along the bike course while videographer, Keith, taped from the passenger side. I believe she also yelled other encouraging things, but FOCUS really stuck out to me.

*Yelling, “Go WILD!” at my teammate along the coarse, at least when I had the energy to do so

*Running through the Team WILD tailgating area three times and hearing our rock star WILD fans

*Seeing my favorite shirt of nutritionist, Marcey – “I LOVE CARBS!” and “Love your diabetes educator” on the back while hearing her say, “EAT and DRINK!”

*Learning that Celeste (who also competed in the event) got third in her age group and qualified for Nationals

*Watching teammates cross the finish line…or even tap dance, in the case of Jennifer Smith

*Seeing pure joy on the face of team founder, Mari Ruddy, as she watched her dream come true before our very eyes…a team of 20 women, most of whom have diabetes, cross the 70.3 finish line

Mari and team, now we have indeed done something! WILD fans and friends, you were instrumental in helping us. Thanks a thousand times over for your support. The WILD adventure has just begun…

As always, Peace, Love and Insulin,
Kathy Ziegert