Runners: Lizzie Windsor
Editor's note: Want to recommend someone who should be featured in the Runners profile? Email eddiewooten@gmail.com.
Lizzie Windsor is an Ironman. The Rural Hall resident, following a plan set forth by E3 Endurance’s Matt Clancy, on Sept. 25 completed Ironman Chattanooga, swimming the 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles (actually 116, she says) and running 26.2 miles in 16 hours, seven minutes and 11 seconds. Lizzie, of course, is more than a runner, but she is the subject of today's Runners profile at RunningShorts.org.
The Warmup
Age
53
Residence
Rural Hall
Family
Husband, Kelly
Day job
Lead housekeeper and community team lead, Forsyth Court retirement living
Why I run, swim and cycle
"I ran my first 5K, which was the Susan G. Komen race, in 2009.
"I came from weighing 260 pounds (2008; she's nearly 100 pounds lighter now) to becoming just a basic triathlete doing sprints at the 36 North tri. After eight triathlons, I did my first half Ironman in Wilmington and continued doing the halfs.
"The year that I lost my dad (Dallas Anders, in 2015), I went to do my first full and I DNF'd. When my husband and I figured out what time it was, it was the time that the funeral home two weeks earlier had come to pick up my daddy's body. So that year was supposed to have ended that way.
"And the reason I called Chattanooga my first full is in 2016, I went to Wilmington when Ironman bought the race and turned it into an Ironman. Hurricane Matthew destroyed my bike course, and I only got 54 miles in. So I did the 2.4-mile, I did the 54-mile bike, and I did the 26-mile run. But I wanted my true full.
"Chattanooga was my dream race, and it was always because of the trains there. I love the trains. My trainer, Matthew Clancy with E3 Endurance, trained me from January till September and still is training me and told me that I had it. In November, I registered for my race.
"Hitting that red carpet was emotional. I totally loved it. I was coming down the chute high-fiving everybody. I saw my husband at the finish line and gave him a hug as I crossed. That was the most memorable day ever.
"I love what I do. To see my residents' faces last week when I went back to work was a joyful day. All of my residents walked up to me, gave me hugs, congratulated me, wanted to see my medal. Just to hear them say, 'Congratulations, Lizzie.' And them asking me, 'Was that all done in one day?' I said, 'Yes.' I had a 98-year-old walk up to me and say, 'Lizzie, I am so proud of you.'"
The Middle Miles
Training for a triathlon
"About three weeks prior to my race on a Saturday, I spent six hours and 40 minutes on a trainer inside the house. With me working, Matt had to make my long days on the weekends. Saturday would be six hours and 30 minutes on a bike. And then I'd have an eight- to a 10-mile run on Sundays. During the week, it was anywhere from 3 miles to 4 miles every other day running, and then an hour and a half to two hours a night on the bike. I trained in the evening because I could adjust to the heat being outside. We never could predict what Chattanooga would be."
A challenging workout
"The trainer rides. I hate being in the house. I hate being in a room with nothing to look at but my TV, because I do Zwift on my bike, and my husband bought me the Wahoo KICKR. So it's actually a more intense workout inside on that trainer, to look at a TV with no radio, nothing going, because you have to have complete silence in the race."
A workout I like
"My interval training. I get to go from a light pace to a stronger pace, a race pace. And you get to do it 20 or 30 seconds or maybe a minute. You're making yourself build your legs up to be able to run what we call the 'Ironman shuffle.' It's where you're running a couple of minutes at a time, and then you're walking a minute. But you're constantly moving. With my race in Chattanooga, I maintained a 15:30 pace doing that."
My biggest inspiration
"My biggest fan in Forsyth County is David Daggett. David has written three or four articles about me. David got to know me at the 36 North and the Angels Tri when it was here in Forsyth County. David has been my biggest fan club, besides my husband, since I started racing. I also volunteer for his Kids for Kids Triathlon. I've been doing that since they were at Wake Forest, moved to Brookberry Farm and now over at Clemmons West."
A favorite race
"The Smiley Sprint Triathlon. For beginners, that's a really good distance for everybody to try with a 300-yard swim in the pool and then the bike and the run because it gives you a little bit of strategy to learn how to build up."
My next race
Nat Greene's Revenge Triathlon, Saturday, Greensboro
"I'm part of the Triad Tri Team and E3 Endurance. I've raced Belews, High Point, and now Natty's will end my season of racing.”
The Cooldown
What my athletic pursuits mean to me
"It's made me so much happier. I don't let things get to me like they used to. I can go out here and run 5 miles and come home, and all of the stress will be off me. It's a good stress release for me. …
"The biggest accomplishments have been learning how to do what I've done. The triathlons and the exercise have made me such a light. My residents call me their Sunshine. Every day at work, they say, 'Where's my Sunshine?' They love to see me walk in with a smile on my face and ready to give hugs to everybody."
How Matt Clancy and E3 Endurance have helped
"Matt's awesome. He's brought me from learning everything that I need to know from nutrition to my strengths, where I need to be. I wouldn't have finished this Ironman without him teaching me everything that I needed to know and guiding me through it. If I had a question where I didn't understand something, he would automatically explain it to me."
Why I didn't sweat the 16:30:00 cutoff
"I maintained what I was taught to do and trained to do. And I knew by what I was doing that I was OK. Now with my husband, that was a different ballgame. He got confused with the timing. But I wore my Garmin Fenix, and I knew where I was at. Matt told me my nutrition was on cue. He and David both said they could tell when I hit the back side of Chattanooga on the bike course, because I started climbing that one big hill in the back. Matt said, 'You slowed down but you never went below your speed' so bad that I had any problem. When he was tracking me on my run, I was able to maintain a 15:30 to a 16-minute pace. He said I was right on cue with everything."
On being a part of team
"Being part of the Triad Tri Team, going to races in Greensboro, or going to races in Wilmington, going to some of our local races, there's a lot of us there. It's so touching that all of us stand there and we wait until the last one of our teammates comes across the finish lines, cheering them on and high-fiving them. That's part of being a part of a good team, and Triad Tri Team is an awesome team to be a part of.”
What I've learned about myself through running and triathlons
"I follow my one favorite Bible verse, Philippians 4:13. I can do it through Jesus Christ that gives me the strength. If He's going to give me the strength to wake up to race, I'm going to race and serve Him that day."
My words to the wise
"Never give up and don't let anybody discourage you."