Wednesday, Dec. 02, 2009

She took up racing, took off pounds

The moment Karen Crews crossed the finish line at the Beach2Battleship Triathlon in Wilmington on Nov. 6, her transformation was complete.

Crews was an Iron Woman, fulfilling a goal she had set years before.

Just over five years ago, Crews was 28 years old, overweight and mourning her father, who had died of heart disease at the age of 59.

"I was always overweight, all my life, and my father was overweight his whole life," she said.

Crews, now 34, recalled a camping trip she took with her sister, who was also struggling with her weight. Stuck in a tent overnight as the remnants of a hurricane blew past, they entertained each other by reading passages out of a book published by Curves, a national fitness franchise.

"That night in that tent in the middle of a hurricane, we promised each other we would lose weight and get healthy," she said.

Crews knew she had a hard road ahead. She was 5 foot 8 and weighed 305 pounds.

"I was a big girl," she admits.

She suffered on hikes with her husband, Rob. Flying in an airplane was rough.

"Oh, flying was uncomfortable," she said. "I was always worried the seat belt wouldn't fit."

Crews joined Curves, a program that combines a circuit exercise routine with nutritional advice and support, and started losing weight immediately.

"In the first two weeks, I was so pumped up. I lost 15 or 16 pounds," she said. But she was not prepared to plateau at week three.

"I was so disappointed, I almost quit," she said.

She survived the setback and started losing weight again, two or three pounds a week, until she shed 100 pounds.

Celebrating her weight loss, she joined the YMCA and bought a bike in 2005. She started biking and running in local road races, adding swimming to the mix, and in 2006, she raced in her first sprint triathlon.

"I finished second in my age group, and fourth overall among women," she said. Crews, then 30, set her sights on an Ironman Triathlon.

The Ironman is a grueling race, consisting of a 2.4-mile swim; a 112-mile bike race, and a 26.2-mile foot race. Athletes are given time limits for each leg of the race, and must meet them or risk being disqualified.

Two years ago, Crews hired a coach and started training for her Ironman, participating in triathlons of various distances, biking hundreds of miles, and running.

When she had two Half Ironman triathlons and a marathon under her belt, she was ready for Beach2Battleship.

"It was the best day of my life," she said.

She remembers that it was cold at the 7 a.m. start time. The first leg was the open-water swim.

"The swim was way faster than I imagined," she said. She crossed the timing mat in just under 57 minutes. Her 112-mile bike ride lasted 6 hours and 51 minutes. That left the marathon.

"I am not a strong runner," she said. "I had planned to run the first half of the marathon and walk most of the second half, but I was able to run the entire way. And it was fun."

She capped off her Ironman with a 5 hour, 56 minute marathon, and crossed the finish line in a combined 14 hours, 5 minutes.

"What I remember most is how happy I was the entire time I was racing," she said. "I kept thinking: Oh, this is so cool."

Racing has consumed an additional 30 pounds, and she now weighs in at a healthier 175.

"It's a huge difference, like night and day from where I was before," she said. "I have way more energy and I can go into any store and buy clothes."

Crews has started rock climbing and often bikes the 50-mile round trip commute from her house in Wakefield to her job at GlaxoSmithKline in Research Triangle Park.

And as for those tight airplane seats: "I have so much room now. I can even put my arms by my sides and still fit," she said. "I will never allow myself to get back to the way I was again."