In each monthly issue, Runner Triathlete News will publish one chapter from the new book "Becoming an Ironman." This month's story begins in the March 2002 issue of RTN.

The swim was a wave start because we swam halfway up a canal to a turnaround and swam back. There were so many people in such tight quarters, the water was churning. Amid the high waves though, I could see a huge banner that said, "Katja, go!" My family was walking along the canal with this banner. It was a nice surprise.

A not-so-nice surprise was that I got seasick in the swim. It was so bad I had to stop and throw up. I felt horrible and didn't know why. I just assumed I had gotten off to a bad start -- I didn't attribute it to seasickness. But as soon as I got out of the water and stood on my feet, it was gone. I finished the swim in about 1:04.

My fans were waiting at my bike. It's a long transition area, and they were standing behind the fence. I yelled to them, "I just threw up on the swim!" My mom, of course, was concerned -- she probably thought I should have stopped right then and there. It poured rain all day. It was a terrible day, especially for spectators. But for me, the bike ride was perfect. There was nothing bothering me. I didn't care about the conditions because I couldn't change them. Everyone had to deal with them. I still feel that way when I race. In Hawaii it's the wind. So you have to ride in the wind -- it's windy for everybody.

I picked a great race for my first Ironman, though. I think going to Roth is the best first-time race because there are so many spectators and you're never on your own. There's something like a hundred thousand spectators around the course, and they are wild about the athletes. It's amazing.

I wrote down a timetable of when I thought I would be at specific points for my parents and my boyfriend. I had a range between this and that time to finish my swim, and then the bike between this and that time, and I was just way ahead of my predictions. My parents were waiting for me after the second bike loop and I didn't show up because I had already passed. My mother was really concerned. She heard an ambulance go by and was positive I was in it.

I felt great, but I still was somewhat anxious because I didn't know how I would feel on the run. But on the bike, I cruised. I didn't ever feel tired -- not even on the hills. There was one hill -- it's a famous hill in that race, called Solarer Berg -- there were about twenty thousand people along the road cheering. It's probably 1K uphill, and it's like riding in the Tour de France. There's a very tiny aisle to ride up, but having all those people cheering at me, I flew up that hill -- I didn't feel the hill at all. I got goose bumps there.

It's a three-loop bike course, so I got to experience that three times -- 50K, 100K, and 150K. I'm sure that's what helped me that day -- my bike split was at 5:30.

My family and friends were waiting for me in the transition. I think the day was as much fun for my parents as it was for me. My parents were not at all interested in sports before I started doing triathlons. At home the word sport didn't exist, and here they were cheering me on in the pouring rain. They were so excited to be a part of the race.

I started the run and was able to maintain the same pace the whole marathon, again without any problems. My stomach was okay, my legs were okay, and it was just so much fun with all the spectators. It was nice that my boyfriend and my parents didn't stay together, so every three or four kilometers one of them was there to cheer for me. It made it easier because I knew just 2K down the road I'd see them again.

Even though I came into the race just wanting to finish it, I knew I would do that and started to think about my time. I knew I was doing well -- much better than I could have anticipated -- and thought if I could finish feeling the way I had felt all day, my time was going to be around eleven hours. As the marathon went on, I did some more calculating and realized, 'Wow, if I keep up this pace, I'm going to finish in ten and a half or even faster.' And that's what happened.I began to cry the last five hundred meters. The end was so overwhelming -- the feelings that have been numbed by training and racing catch up to you. Ironman is such an effort, not only that day, but also the months before -- all the training and the studies and holding down a job. It's a big effort, and one where only two years before I thought, 'Wow, Ironman. That's something. I wonder if I could do it.' And then there I was, finishing an Ironman.

I placed second in my age group that day and qualified for Hawaii -- something I had never considered being able to do. I wasn't interested in my placing or anything. I wanted to finish and enjoy myself. I knew one day I wanted to race in Hawaii, but I didn't expect it to happen in the same year. Then I went to Hawaii and won my age group.

That's when I knew. After that finish I thought, 'That's it. I've found what I'm supposed to do.' I think everyone has something, but a lot of people don't ever find it or they don't even look for it. I'm so grateful to have found my passion. Katja finished her studies and graduated in 1995. She opted then to turn pro instead of taking a university teaching job. She has raced in Hawaii every year since except in 1999, when as she explains, "The whole year was bad luck." She sustained injuries from bike crashes in two consecutive races that resulted in hospital stays, preventing her from qualifying for Hawaii. Instead she went to the inaugural Ironman Florida 1999 -- which she would have never done otherwise -- and won. Good things can always come from bad situations.