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- Goats on the course, Aquafor Mistakes, and Hot Carbs at the 2025 Women's IRONMAN World Championships
Goats on the course, Aquafor Mistakes, and Hot Carbs at the 2025 Women's IRONMAN World Championships
The stories I heard from Colleen, Natalie, and Savanah were representative of the splendor of the renowned IRONMAN Kona course. As such, they deserve their own space!
Nicole Falcaro
November 11, 2025
Savanah staying in aero despite the strong winds on the bike
Literal Goats at the Women’s IRONMAN World Championships in Kona
We’re not talking about Jan and Daniela, but rather actual goats that RTSx athlete Natalie Stewart had to stop for on the Queen K! “I would have hit them otherwise,” she says. She didn’t hit any goats, but she did hit some warm, carb-loaded water as hard as possible while the heat was beating down on her.
“I put aquafor on my underarms, but not even 500m into the swim the arm chafe was real. I considered stopping to pull off my swim skin and kit, but knew it would cause major drag/slow down. Just had to suffer through that one, but felt it every time I squirted water on myself during the bike and run.”
Natalie stayed as strong as the heat would allow on the bike. “The bike cost me more than I had planned. I did a century a few weeks ago with a NP 30W higher than I put out for the race. I needed to stay on my nutrition more and should have grabbed gels from the aid station.”
Natalie calls out her aquaforlorn mishap
Adjusting to the conditions paid off in the run, however. “Coming out of the energy lab, I passed many people beginning to walk or just letting up hard. While I would have loved to go faster, I had just gotten over a months long hip injury so wasn’t able to hit my beginning of the year goals on the run.”
Natalie runs a solid marathon to finish her 3rd Ironman ever!
Taking it back to the bike for a second; Natalie offered extra gels when a hard-charging Savanah Gibbs came by, who obliged. “What a gem! 💎”, Savanah extolled. Natalie reigned it in on the bike to have a strong run to cap off a race where she PR’d the swim(!) “This was my third full distance race, but since the swim was cancelled at Chatty last year, I only have my swim time from IM Texas.”
Nothing can reverse a launched bottle with 400g carbs in it 😭, even though battling strong winds and fearless descending from Hawi were high points for Savanah. “The strong winds were so brutal mentally but they also played to my advantage. A lot of athletes were out of their aero bars and I was able to stay in the majority of the ride. Getting out of your aero bars on that bike course will cause you to bleed time very quickly.”
Savanah is hair goals 😍
“Thoughts of not finishing were in and out starting on the bike,” but the run is where things really went sideways. “Around mile 5, my stomach started churning and I had my first porta potty stop at mile 6.” She proceeded to stop at 7 more porta potties amongst vomiting and getting the chills.
Being carried away from the finish line by volunteers wasn’t the ending she imagined, but it showed a deeper kind of strength - the reason we call her “Savage” in the first place: she finishes the races that try to break her.
“When I was about mile 22 my face and hands started to tingle, but I just kept thinking about the community around supporting me. My family/friends, the RTS squad, the EndureAll community back home, the athletes I coach, and the social media community I have created.”
Savanah in the BlueSeventy swimskin
Chicago is an unlikely place to train for Kona, which is why Colleen Krob née Baker “raced with logic.”
“Sitting in the hot tub/ sauna helped, but I do not think anything but spending time in Kona for a couple of weeks prior to race day would be the best way to go about it. The heat really affected my power on the bike and pacing on the run. No need to be a hero or try to break PRs- just keep it smart out there.”
Colleen with everyone’s triathlon uncle, Bob Babbitt
The heat and strong winds (being a smol person especially) led her to ride conservatively and keep it smart, which paid dividends during the run. Miss consistency passed “over 40 women” on the run and had a sub-11 hour finish.
It’s hard to believe that Colleen didn’t look at her watch once during the entire race! Why is that? She says, “1) because it was coated in sunscreen and 2) because I knew that looking at the time was irrelevant. I was out there to enjoy the experience and to see how well I could do while feeling good out there.”
Colleen passed over 40(!) women during the run!
“Seeing Nick Chase out there with a megaphone during the run was definitely a highlight! Then, I had my husband out there cheering, saying, "I love you Colleen!" Right after he said that, there was a group of guys partying on the other side of the street and they followed with that shouting, "Do it for the love, Colleen!" That was pretty memorable!”
Comparing carbs, lows, and post-race food:
Colleen | Natalie | Savanah | |
|---|---|---|---|
Carbs/hr? | 80/hr on bike; 65/hr on run (shoutout to Meghan Foley from Fuelin!) | 325g on the bike | Plan: 110/hr on bike; 90/hr on run Reality: ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ |
Lowest point in the day? | 1. The swim was super choppy and felt never ending. 2. The climb up Hawi was a bit demoralizing, as the crosswinds and headwinds were strong. 3. The climb out of the energy lab | Hawi was demoralizing. At that point I was getting behind on my nutrition. My average power was 20W low. I decided to let it fly on the descents versus pedaling to try to keep my power high. | The run is where it all started to get really loud. Especially after my second porta stop as I could tell this wasn’t going to stop happening. I wasn’t able to keep nutrition in. |
How’d you get through the lows? | I just told myself that they will pass, I will make it through and to just keep moving forward. I decided to just go off of RPE [instead of power] to keep my headspace in a better place for the day. | My mindset shifted to just enjoy the scenery and only pedal downhills if the wind was blowing me off the bike. | I kept repeating to myself 4 words: “Strength, Power, Peace, Love”, sent to me by my best friend pre race. These were something I could hold on to. I also had a social media friend who was entering the energy lab as I was exiting. She stopped, grabbed my hand, and gave me the best pep talk to keep going and make it to the finish. |
What was the most ridiculous gear problem you had? | No flat tires or bloody noses on this course, but I did drop my chain 2x while coming out of Hawi - Hey, I'll take it! | I put aquafor on my underarms, but not even 500m into the swim the arm chafe was real. I considered stopping to pull off my swim skin and kit, but knew it would cause major drag. I felt it every time I squirted water on myself during the bike and run. | I could have won an award for most bottles launched. |
What was the first non-”race food” you enjoyed post-race? | I could not wait to eat pizza! I had to wait to have that until I got home (Kona is not known for their pizza!). | Raspberry lemonade icees at the family waiting tent | The doctors gave me broth to rehydrate me. Then Lisa and Nick got me some McDonald’s chicken nuggies and fries |
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