aprilgellatly.com
this is not about me.

  • lucky in kentucky.

    10
    scissors
    August 31st, 2009adminironman, news, race report, racing

    although in all reality, luck had very little to do with it, and it has much more to do with the commitment i have made to triathlon but blah blah blah.  i just wanted a catch phrase of a title.  

    i won money at an ironman yesterday :)  not enough to support myself or cover the cost of the trip, but that’s not the point.  it makes me feel like this is legit, all the ironman racing.  i was 8th pro female, and i had an 18 minute PR.  we had great conditions though.  i had hoped for hotter, but i’ll take the PR on a mild day also.

    so swimming, yeah, i didn’t think i did that well.  i came out of the water with fernanda keller and another guy and i just hung on to their feet for dear life.  i lost my swim cap along the way.  the stupid thing wouldn’t stay put on my head and in the end, it came right off and i swam in the last 400 yards without it.  swim was just under an hour…i have room for improvement, but we’ll take it.

    tough bike and i spent my day controlling my effort.  i kept reminding myself of the lessons i learned in Placid and i’d repeat over and over in my head…ride smarter, not harder.  i was 5th and in lala land for the first half or so of the bike….just rolling along, mostly by myself.  i got more aggressive when i got caught and tried to hold the girls in sight for as long as i could, but by then we were mixed in with age group athletes.  crowded loop!  i know the age group athlete didn’t mean to block, but oh my!  i took to having to ask individuals to move over because yelling on ‘your left’ wasn’t working…especially with the males.  i about wrecked.  a guy cut left onto a dirt road for no real reason without looking over his shoulder.  i sat up, slammed the brakes to keep from side swiping him, and cussed.  i am still angry with him even having no idea who he was, but you look…on a very crowded bike course, you look before you cut left.  there had been a dozen pros or so ahead of me that would have passed him already.  i saw my whole triathlon season flash before my eyes.  most of the bike course, i felt good, strong, in control.

    i knew coming off the bike, i had set myself up well, and that i should PR so with that, i took off running.  loving the flat course vs the hills of placid that killed my already tired legs specifically quads.  no real stand out pace, but god i was consistent.  mostly all 8:30 plus or minus a bit in the beginning and in the end.  my over developed quads held on a little longer and i made it to mile 20 before i was in any real pain.  steady was the name of the day.  i saw the clock as i finished and tired to sprint in to be 10:19.50-something, but just missed it and finished in 10:20.00.  it was an 18 minute PR.

    i am happy.  it shows improvement.  i have a long way to come yet, but i am moving forward.  major props to ken, who has been the ideal supportive boyfriend throughout this whole thing.  it has been exhausting for both of us (not just this trip, but all of it).  i am glad he is here with me.  to my buddy tom, who spent probably the same 10 hours getting the bike ready to go, and made the trip up here…he and ken were on the run course yelling for me the whole time.  good times :)


10 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

Search

Latest Tweets

Fetching latest tweets...

Powered by AIS Solutions Group