Have Bike, Will Travel: Pilot couple train for Ironman

Published May 8, 2008
By Staff Sgt. Tabitha Kuykendall
376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan -- One of the first things KC-135 Stratotanker pilots 1st Lts. Craig and Catherine Christ packed when coming here were their running shoes. The second were their stationary bikes.

While not everyone thinks of such things, the Christs knew from past experience - this is their third deployment to Manas Air Base, Kyrgyz Republic, in the past two years - that they would have a chance to take their physical fitness training to another level.

The Lieutenants, who are deployed from the 93rd Aerial Refueling Squadron, at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., started with their first marathon for cancer research in 2005. They didn't finish in record time, but they did succeed in getting hooked on the competition and training. Since then they've competed in four marathons.

Now they have their sights set on a larger challenge, an Ironman Triathlon - a 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 112- mile bike ride, and finally a 26.2- mile run.

"We're training for our first Ironman," said Lieutenant Catherine Christ. "We will be competing at the Ironman Coeur d'Alene in Idaho June 22."

The tougher challenge meant running shoes alone wouldn't cut it ... enter the stationary bikes. As veterans of the 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron they were familiar with the base. This meant that they knew they could ship - and use - their stationary bikes.

"It was nice because we knew exactly where we were going, the equipment that is available and the room size we would be working with," Lieutenant Craig Christ said. "Without that [knowledge] we wouldn't be able to bring our triathlon bikes and get the necessary training."

They either bike in their rooms or set them up outside in order to train together. The lieutenants average about 25 hours a week in the sky and 13 hours on the ground training - either biking or running.

"Training while deployed is a lot easier than back home," he said. "There aren't as many distractions here because back home our jobs usually consist of a lot of office work in addition to flying. Here, once you are done flying, you're done for the day and you have the rest of the day to train."

But there are still challenges with having the peak of their training out here.

"We can't do our swimming here," said Lieutenant Craig Christ, "Instead we do a lot of core training, such as the row machine and toning with light weights."