Member Profile: Angie Feser
Angie on the bike Chelan Man 2010
On Team Blaze Angie is known for her brilliant smile and generous helpful spirit. And for being an Ironman. She suggested that we start and agreed to coordinate the new Team Blaze mentor program and is an active member of the Mount Spokane Ski Patrol. Besides triathlon she mountain bikes, does cyclocross and skis and mentors people in those endeavors as well. I had the pleasure to chat with Angie about her journey within the sport of triathlon.
Angie started her story 4 years ago 80 pounds heavier and recently divorced. Determined to make a fresh start she began Weight Watchers and lost 40 pounds. A move from Montana to Spokane and a new desk job threw a glitch in her progress however and she found herself looking for ways to become more active. She started by walking on her lunch breaks, then she joined the YMCA which led her to their Bloomsday training program. At the YMCA she met John and Kelly Martinek and began cycling with them. She went on to do the Seattle to Portland bike ride and signed up to do the cycling portion of a relay team in the Wunder Woman Triathlon.
As the day of that first triathlon got closer her team still had no swimmer. Her runner friend suggested that Angie do the whole race as a solo competitor instead. As a non- swimmer this was a bit intimidating but she was familiar with the buoyancy provided by wetsuits and figured that she could fake her way through the swim with the help of one. Unfortunately that year was very hot and the race director had to make the call to prohibit wetsuits. She started the swim but had to be pulled from the water. Undaunted she wanted to finish the race and was frustrated that she had been disqualified (she did do the bike and run even knowing that it wouldn’t “count”). Monday morning she was at the pool and she has successfully completed Wunder Woman every year since.
She told herself she would do one triathlon and then quit the sport. The next season she successfully completed Valley Girl with her trademark Angie smile very much in evidence. Two years later she did Ironman Couer D’Alene.
Angie had some memorable triathlon moments along the way, one of which happened during Chelanman 2010. Angie had never done 1500m in open water before and arrived at the lake race morning to see that though clear, the water was very choppy. In true Angie spirit she decided to confront it head on and got in the water to warm up. Rather than let it overwhelm her she found herself timing her breathing in a way that let her ride the waves. She found the fun in this challenging new experience and did a phenomenal job in the race overall.
One of the most meaningful triathlon experiences came later that season at Titanium Man. She had trained for and completed her first half iron distance (Troika) earlier that summer and was happy to be doing a “fun” end of the season wrap up. The
swim and the bike went really well and Angie found herself on the run “leapfrogging” with a woman in her age group. The pace they were running at was way beyond her previous ability level and she had never hurt so much in race before. As the two women left the park and turned up the hill toward the finish Angie acknowledged a determination to finish ahead of her fellow competitor. Crossing the finish line in
front she realized the exhilaration of overcoming her mental limits and pushing
her physical abilities to a higher level. This gave her a huge confidence boost.
In 2011 Angie finished Ironman Coeur D’Alene in 15:02:09
again sporting a huge smile. Looking to the future her next big race is Boise
70.3 and she hopes to do IM Canada in 2013. As an avid mountain biker she is also looking forward to doing some off road triathlons.
Throughout Angie’s triathlon journey she has always been open to advice and gracious about asking for and accepting help. There is a pretty big knowledge base out there in the sport of triathlon, lots of things that make it easier, more comfortable and more achievable. From the things that people don’t really talk about such as “don’t wear underwear with your bike shorts” to features you should look for in a swimsuit. Angie’s idea with the mentoring program is to match up people who are fairly (or completely) new to triathlon with those who have been doing the sport for a while. This gives the newbies a “real live person” to ask their questions of and the veterans a chance to realize how much they’ve learned and give back a bit in a sport that enriches our lives.
