"Chelsea Krohe you are an Ironman!" You are also the November athlete of the month. Chelsea battled the year with a nagging knee injury and raced at Ironman Wisconsin. Not only did she finish, she clocked an impressive 12:18 on an incredibly tough course. Congratulations on your outstanding finish.
Name: Chelsea Krohe
Hometown: Davenport, IA
Years in KC: 3
Occupation: Speed Racer (a.k.a. Marketing Account Executive for Zillner)
First race: Quad Cities Triathlon, June 2007. I was hooked on tris before I finished the race.
Worst race experience: Shawnee Mission Park 2008. I had been sick the entire week but decided I was too busy to see the doc and raced anyway. The swim and bike went great - but the run. Oh, the run. Massive quad and hamstring cramps set in even before the Dam hill. I'd try to stretch my quad, and my hamstring would cramp. I'd try to stretch my hamstring, and my quads would cramp. I ended up running a half mile, stopping to stretch out the cramps, walking a half mile, running a half mile, stopping to stretch... a pattern that repeated itself the whole race. I finished, though! Of course, I went to the doctor the next day and found out I raced with bronchitis.
Best race experience: Ironman Wisconsin. My first Ironman. Amazing. Indescribably tough at some points. By far one of the best experiences of my life. I got out of the water not realizing I swam 20 minutes faster than planned, fought through some pretty low points on the bike only to have the IMOO Race Crew or crazy-fun Wisconsin spectators pick me right back up, and ran happy. To have everything come together at the right time and place on race day was simply incredible - one of those races everyone dreams of. That race is only second to Heritage Park 2008. The gods of triathlon decided to rack my bike across from a this guy and the rest, as they say, is history. (I was paid to write that!)
Race day tradition: I have to have my Game Day playlist. "Headstrong" by Trapt and "Lose Yourself" by Eminem have a permanent , til-death-do-we-part place on that list. 
Post workout guilty pleasure: Rehydrating with wine. Preferably red (just an FYI, if anyone needs Christmas gift ideas!)
What do you think about when the race gets tough? It will always get better. You can't have a downside without an upside.
Activities when not training: In no particular order... friends, wine, convincing Tim the dishes in the sink do not need to stay there overnight, trips to the dog park.
Role models: In triathlon, the obvious: Chrissie Wellington. She's insanely talented, a star of the sport, and yet she stays at the finish line almost every race to be able to greet competitors and age-groupers alike. It's pretty hard not to admire that. Life in general: my friends and family. They're all wonderful people and each of them has something I admire and aspire to.
Advice for first timers: Don't let the swim intimidate you. It's a mental game - you can psych yourself out like most people and be afraid of it, or you can relax and roll with the punches (literally). Chances are, the more at ease you are coming out of the water, the better race you'll have.
Goals for 2010? Get my knee healthy, enjoy the local races (KC Tri, KS 70.3, SMP, Ultramax) and focus my training on getting ready for Ironman Couer D'Alene in 2011. Signing up for Ironman Louisville 2010 was soooo tempting though!
What was your most memorable race experience, why was it memorable? The humongous grin on my face the last 1/2 mile of Ironman. I still can't tell you if I was closer to laughter or tears, but the feeling of flying around the capital as the sky started to get dark, seeing the lights of the finish chute getting closer and hearing Mike Reilly's voice proclaiming finishers as Ironmen... I still get chills thinking about it. The only phrase running through my head was "I'm going to finish... I'm going to finish... I did it... I'm an Ironman..." And then it was my turn to come down the finisher's chute, see my family cheering and going crazy for me, and hear that long-awaited sentence, "Chelsea Krohe, You Are An Ironman!" See, I told you - chills!
What is your athletic background? I played soccer through college and even a couple years after. After I got hurt in a pick up game, I took up spinning since I couldn't run for a while. Spinning led to biking and making the leap to combine my enjoyment of running and biking into triathlon wasn't a stretch. I still hate to swim though.
What is your favorite triathlon discipline? NOT THE SWIM. Does all capital letters emphasize that enough?
How would you advise a person considering an Iron distance triathlon? Just do it. Then brag for the rest of your life. But, go into it with open eyes. Realize the training is the hard part. If you do it right, the race ends up being a celebration of all the hard work and dedication you've put in up to that point. (Keep in mind this is coming from a first timer.) 
Do you take time off during the off-season? What's off season?
Do you enjoy any other physical activities outside of swimming, biking and running? I don't know if any of them would be appropriate to mention here.
Do you have a favorite motivational quote you'd like to share? There are a ton of great quotes out there but I'll share the one I found about a week before Ironman Wisconsin that helped me switch from being a nervous, twitchy mess to being excited and focused. Compliments of pro-triathlete Andy Potts: "If you want a true barometer of your race, let your smile be your guide."
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