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Windy Marks
34, Phoenix, adventure racer Marks found triathlons weren’t exciting enough. A friend introduced her to an adventure race and she’s been hooked since 1999. Marks placed third at the United States Adventure Racing Association Nationals in 2005. She suggests varying your training workouts. “If you always stick to the road, go to the trail and vice versa,” she says. “You can get bored and you can plateau. If you mix it up, it makes things interesting and entertaining.”
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Heidi Pahl
36, Scottsdale, triathlete When Pahl was 12, her mother took her to a cross-country meet. Pahl ran 3 miles and came in first. “I had my polyester blue jogging suit and my funky hair,” she says. “I think my shoes were at least 2 years old.” Pahl has been cycling for five years. She also runs marathons and was the third female finisher at the Surf City USA Marathon in Huntington Beach, Calif., this past Superbowl Sunday. “If you’re a cyclist and you ride a lot, your saddle really matters,” Pahl says. “If you don’t have a saddle that fits you well, you can really chafe and have pretty serious discomfort in an area that matters.” Along with a good saddle, Pahl recommends Chamois Butter, known as “butt butter,” to relieve discomfort from long rides.
42, Flagstaff, master runner: Painter brought home many blue ribbons after she started running at age 10. She ran track in high school, got serious about it in her junior year and ran collegiately and professionally. Armed with a master’s degree in health promotion and fitness, Painter coaches crosscountry at Flagstaff High School. She has been in four different Olympic trials and is a former American record holder for the 20k with a time of 1:07:06 in September 1995. To stick to an exercise program, Painter recommends buddying up with a friend. “If you wake up early in the morning and you know your friend is meeting you at 6 a.m., then you’re more likely to get up and meet her because you don’t want to let her down.”
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Jodie Bostrom
50, Phoenix, rock climber A divorce set Bostrom on a new path in the outdoors. After a basic rock climbing class, an anchors class and a lead climbing class with the Arizona Mountaineering Club, she found her passion for dangling around. She says that her greatest achievement was climbing Zoraster Temple, a formation in the middle of the Grand Canyon. Her party hiked to the bottom of the canyon and then ascended Zoraster in a multi-pitch climb, where they were level with the South Rim of the canyon. “You have to have a lot of confidence in yourself and have trust in the person you are climbing with because they have your life in their hands,” Bostrom says. “Don’t let your ego get in the way and don’t follow people blindly.”
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24, Phoenix, pro triathlete Raised in a very active family, Ellis did her first triathlon at age 10 as an IronKid. She came in third in her age group in Ironman Arizona in 2005. In 2006 she won her age group and qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii where she came in third in her age group. “It’s better to be 5 percent undertrained than 1 percent overtrained,” Ellis says. “If you’re over trained, you’re broken down. If you go in undertrained, you’ll be fresher and have fewer injuries. Focus on your training quality instead of quantity.”
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April 09
Katie Ellis
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Windy marks
Christie Altman
59, Tempe, master swimmer Swimming was a childhood sport for Altman who started at age 9 and continued through her freshman year at Indiana University. Work and raising small children kept her from the water until she turned 47. A water aerobics class was the catalyst that led Altman back into the swim of things. Now with the Sun Devil Masters, Altman swims six days a week and has been competing 12 years. She ranks in the top 10 nationally in a variety of events and distances in United States Masters Swimming. Altman advises that when you swim, you must add weight bearing exercise. Altman stays competitive with weightlifting and Pilates. “It doesn’t matter what level your swimming ability is, anybody can do it with coaching,” she says.
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Jeff McDermott
Trina Painter
Butch Nelson
against the clock. She’s been racing eight years now and won the state time trial for Arizona four years in a row from 2004 to 2007. “The biggest thing is consistency in your training,” Dickson says. “I enjoy training and I make time for it. I am one of those people who can stay on the stationary bike for hours.”
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