Endicott’s Misner takes on Coeur D’ Alene Ironman

Jamie Misner runs in her first Ironman race in Florida in 2008.

When Jamie Misner was 10 years old, she was watching the Hawaiian Ironman race on television when she had a thought: “I want to do that. It inspired me.”

Jamie then set a goal to participate in an Ironman by the time she was 29.

“I had no idea even what an Ironman was when I made that goal,” said Misner, an Endicott resident. “It was a far-fetched goal for me to even think about doing that.”

An Ironman triathlon race includes 2.4 swim miles, 112 biking miles and 26.2 running miles.

As Misner entered her teenage years, she became more involved with sports and eventually competed in cross-country skiing throughout college and post-college.

As she became more and more involved in athletics, the dream of an Ironman went from being far-fetched to a reality.

At 18 Misner ran her first marathon and has since competed in more than 10 marathons and several other triathlon races across the United States. She ran a marathon after the birth of each of her three children: Kaylynn 8, John 5 and Anders 2.

She accomplished her goal to participate in an Ironman before she was 29, completing one in Florida in 2008, just two years after the birth of Kaylynn. She finished that race in 11 hours and 30 minutes.

Ironman competitions have an 18-hour time limit.

Last June she ran the Liberty Lake Marathon to kick off her training for her next Ironman venture.

Now 35, she is set to compete in the Coeur d’Alene Ironman June 28. Misner has three goals when she competes in the Coeur d’Alene Ironman.

“The first goal is to finish,” she said. Her next goal is a time of about 12 hours and 15 minutes to 30 minutes, a time she believes would mark a really good race day. Her third goal will be a more realistic finish in 13 hours.

Misner said preparing and training for the competition is “a lot of working out.” She drives from Endicott to Pullman twice a week to swim at the Pullman Aquatic Center, and she runs and bikes, building up the miles each week as she continues to train. On the weekends she alternates her long run days, which total about 21 miles, and her long bike ride days, totaling about 110 miles, every other weekend.

“I probably spend 15 to 20 hours a week working out with just basic training,” she said.

Even without the training, Misner’s life would be rated busy.

With three kids under 10, she works part-time and is also a primary leader and chaperone for a church youth trip, for which she is also organizing a $10,000 fundraiser.

She is a member of the board of trustees in the St. John/Endicott Foundation, which presents scholarships to SJE graduates, and frequently watches neighborhood kids. Even with all that, she still manages to regularly get in six hours of sleep per night.

“I love to sleep! I make it my goal to get at least six hours of sleep a night,” she said. “I know if you don’t get enough sleep, you won’t be healthy.”

She said she could not do everything without the support around her.

“I have a ton of support. I have the most amazing, supportive husband in the world,” she said.

Her husband, Philip Misner, 34, is the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Endicott and Peace Lutheran Church in Colfax. He encourages her through her training and busy schedule.

Misner said he watches the children while she trains and helps to motivate her to get in her runs, rides or swims even on the hard days.

“He really encourages me to get in that training I have to do, but in such a gentle way,” she said.

In addition to the support of her husband and children, family members and friends plan to travel from Alaska, California and Minnesota to watch her compete June 28.

They will join several local residents who will also make the drive to Coeur d’Alene to cheer her on.

“It’s also a motivation to go out and train knowing that all these people are coming,” said Misner.

Another way Misner has felt blessed as she has trained for the last year is her health. She so far has had no injuries or illnesses that have gotten in the way of her training.

“I’ve been really lucky,” she said.

Through all of her training and her past successes, Misner wants people to know that even if a goal seems far-fetched, it can be a reality.

“Sign up. The hardest part is usually signing up,” she said. “If you sign up, it’s the first step to achieving it.”

Once the signing up is done, it’s all about being dedicated to the goal and wanting to achieve it, Misner said.

“You don’t have to be a stereotypical runner to do it,” she said. “You just have to put your mind to it and get out there.”