aprilgellatly.com

ughh!  my 2 week ‘break’ flew by!!

not only was i busy with triathlon consults, i love helping new triathletes ease into the sport, but hosted a clinic, announced a race, hosted 2 open water swims.  I haven’t had a weekend or full day ‘off’ since mid-july!

in addition, I spent time moving into ken’s house.  it isn’t a home until the floors are clean and we have a couple pink rugs.

final task of the last couple weeks, welcoming my brother, his girlfriend, and his two daughters to georgia!  i am an aunt!

I love having the family together and being able to spend time with the girls.  madison will turn 3 in october and ellie, the baby, is 5 months old.

BUT the time is upon us, after 2 weeks of un-focused, training peaks free training, it is time to get back in the pool, on the bike, and running strong.  Rev3 cedar point is right around the corner.  I am excited to race at a place I have called home.  I graduated high school just 45 minutes south of Sandusky in Bowling Green, OH.  go bobcats!

in the ironman double digits, lake placid was number 10. wahoo.

(add 10 minutes to time – 10:28.50.  10:18 was AG clock.)

it was a great trip to placid this year and i am happy enough with my race… always want more, but i am still making forward progress and stuck true to pre-race plan.  biggest success of the weekend – ken and i have finally struck a balance in my triathlon race prep, his triathlon training, and travel.  we had a great trip and more than any ironman prior, we enjoyed really enjoyed ourselves.

not much to report of race week, i was a shut in.  quit answering my phone and emails a couple days out, and my most frequently trip was from the bed to the bathroom – very well hydrated!  i quit cheating on my diet race week and i have vowed to come home and continue that behavior.  i felt so much better eating right.

i knew swim would be 55 minutes to an hour.  no wetsuit this year so swim time was a little slower.  i did a great job hanging on to a group that was WAY too fast for me the first lap and came out of the water in 28 minutes on the first loop.  lost them on the second, but settled into my own rhythm, knowing i would be a couple minutes slower, 1:01.  didn’t win me the race, but came out in 5th.

my main focus on the bike was staying inside myself so that i wouldn’t give it all away on the run.  in the future, i think the bike will be one of my biggest areas of opportunity.  it was on odd flip to feel more confident in my run.  it was pearl’s first ironman (new CD 0.1 QR), felt super aero and the bike did her job!  maybe even a little too aero down some of the descents… huge thanks to quintana roo for such a fast ride.

first time racing with an aero helmet – finishing up the bike course

i ran a steady marathon.  until the last 10k, when the wheels started to come off a bit.  those hills eat my quads up!  3:40 is the fastest ironman marathon to date, and i anxiously anticipate my first sub-330 ironman marathon so that i can crush my stand alone marathon PR!

(home stretch – really thought i was smiling…)

great trip, great city, course PR, all good things.  Placid was my ’shot’ to qualify for Kona, and i missed it by much more than a mile…maybe more like 4 miles… i set a real ambitious goal, and i failed.  okay.  i will still keep plucking away @ my consistent bike power, my run speed, and eventually may even put some focus into my swimming.  i am so grateful to have this opportunity in my life to really chase these dreams.  huge thanks to ken, sponsors (TRI – PTC, ais computers, www.all3sports.com, QR, splish), athletes, friends, and family.

i am a once a month blogger.  grrrr.  i don’t mean for that to be the case, but it’s always crazy, and been trying, trying to put free time into updating the site in general.  i finally wrote 1/2 a bio, the latter 1/2 still to come…

still yet to race more than a 5k for the season, i have been itching to race as i read all the race reviews and reports.  knowing full well that it is not yet my time and that my fitness is not there yet.  i think i’ve had coach wondering why i was a professional triathlete for the past 2 months.  after a series of slow runs, very unimpressive ride results on the road bike, we had some break through workouts last week in both departments.

loving my new QR CD 0.1!  here she is in all her glory -

all smiles on the new ride.  big thanks to Morgan and all3sports.com for helping me get on PEARL (she has been named).

to save 15% @ all3sports.com, use discount code – aprilref.

may has been a month of marriage.  2 weddings and Ken and i have set a date for our own wedding!!  we’re going to get married in Kona in October whether i qualify or not.  I think it’ll be a great way to share an important island with him.

off on manic monday.  happy training all!

it’s been a good month.  it’s been a crazy month, but crazy is good.  crazy means i have work.  while i may complain that i am too busy, i will never complain about having too much work!  keep it coming ya’ll!  (i have a wedding to pay for…)

i picked up some new triathlon consulting work with CNN fit nation.  (http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/category/2010-fit-nation-challenge/)

everyone in the family is born in april (besides myself…ironic, eh?).  so we celebrated ange’s birthday the 15th (little sister turned 24.), momma’s 50th the 19th, and my little brothers birthday the 25th.  pat turned old this year  ;)

we flew my brother in from AZ to surprise my momma on her birthday.  i figured what better way to celebrate than to have the whole family together!

the video surprise was beautiful, but i am not sure i can upload video onto website yet…  (JOE?!?  w/  http://www.aissolutionsgroup.com/)  everyone @ the table was crying.  momma was shocked.  it took her 5 seconds to realize her son was standing in front of her.  beautiful.

i hired a triathlon coach, matt russ with the (http://www.thesportfactory.com/site/index.shtml) the sports factory.   so now i just listen to the boss and do as i am told.  the boss changed the race schedule slightly.  check it out under tab marked 2010.

all3sports.com has stepped up as a sponsor and i will be riding a NEW QR CD 0.1 for 2010.

save 15% @ www.all3sports.com.  use the discount code - aprilref.  in advance, appreciate your support and support of the sponsors that aid my efforts within the sport.

ken and i have yet to set a date for the wedding.  (i wish people would quit asking, but i guess that is the natural progression.)  we are enjoying the present, our time together, and trying to take steps to merge our lives together.  tough under the circumstances, my silly pursuit of a triathlon career, our current residence an 1.5 hour apparent WITHOUT traffic, NO MONEY, no family support on my end, not really ideal wedding planning conditions…

in conclusion, the end of april finds me busy, happy, working within an industry i enjoy and believe strongly in…  i feel like i have taken myself outside of the little box i kept myself trapped in for so long.  i am creating different kind of opportunities for myself, and i can reach my definition of success even without a ‘normal’ job.

erik is the only blind man that has climbed mt everest.  he was our keynote this morning at the USA triathlon coaches symposium.  his speech was inspiring beyond words.  he did a great job kicking off the morning, and bigger picture, he has helped to clear “my pathway.”  one of the things erik spoke on today was finding a way to grow due to adversity.

i won’t lie, i am angry.  my biggest issue being lack of funds (at the moment in triathlon (which is the largest focus in my life)).  i see my “finish line,” but i have lacked the forethought to think of my “pathway” as anything but cluttered.  here, i just listened to a man who climbed mt everest without one of the 5 senses.  amazing!  monetary issues seem silly.  the loss of my father seems much less of a limiter in this moment.  to compound on that, the loss of my father has provided the pathway for my life.  the road to kona, the road less travelled, the road as a survivor, specifically suicide survivor, i have been given a pathway of challenges to overcome.  mine is a story of hope.  upon my fathers death, i was given the opportunities, but also because of my fathers death, i deal with more than my fair share of  internal struggle.

another mental technique erik spoke to was what he calls ‘the finish line game.’  he suggested seeing the summit, the finish line, and take a step forward.  simple in concept, see the finish, and move forward regardless of your current reality.  i’ve known all along that my finish line was there on alli drive.  i “practiced finishing in Kona” towards the end of my first 10 mile run the day of my fathers funeral.  i moved forward despite my bleak current reality, and any limiters, i’ve created along the way or otherwise are as simple to overcome as a change in my perspective.  they have been opportunities to grow.

looking for motivation today, i recommend taking a look:  http://www.touchthetop.com/

’seeing is not believing, believing is believing…’

hello new decade.

just checking in.

here we go, for better or worse…

oregon coast 2009.

this one’s for you daddy…

i shut down a couple weeks ago and haven’t been very active in my blogging.  it was all the same stuff, new day.  i didn’t feel like i was getting to train enough.  it all seemed like travel, vacation, travel, flu…blah, blah, blah.  my anxiety can be stifling SO best form of action seems to shut myself down.  so it’s been a few weeks.  missed ya’ll.  i missed myself to be real honest.

the past week was the worst of it.  i read the pro interviews on ironman.com and got myself all freaked at the talent i would be racing against.  my dog, bella, is actually named after bella bayliss, and it would be my first time racing her.  i tried to stay quiet, stay focused on the small tasks, and just fake it through the week.  i know i am as fit as i have ever been, but more importantly, i have gained experience this year.  i still have a long way to go, but i made steady progress, and i feel like i know myself and the steps i need to take towards continued improvement with a more realistic view.

Cozumel was a beautiful island.  the mexican culture is different than ours and in the tourist island of Cozumel, i understand they have to be more aggressive to make money.  however, i find the aggression off putting and i spent more time than i should have looking towards the comforts of home, starbucks, chicken, ron jons, the list continues…SO i am sure i missed many of the great aspects of the island, but it was just so exhausted walking by shops and being hustled in.  i had to be equally as pushy and borderline rude to get my point across, but when in mexico…

i wanted to go sub-10, but i counted on being about to bike somewhere around 5 hours – 5:15.  yeah this bike course wasn’t near as fast as i hoped.  the winds on the east side of the island were so strong.

the swim was fast…strong current or short.  relatively, not a great swim for me, i was a little too fast for the draft pack i ended up in.  i like to be the slowest in the pack and hanging on for dear life.  not the case…we broke down to a group of 3, and i was too strong to just sit on feet, the 50 minute swim time, however, awesome!  i don’t have a bike computer when the power meter comes off to race SO i have far less numbers than the typical triathlete would prefer, but it doesn’t bother me so much.  it was a lonely ride for me.  i passed one girl, got passed once, and got passed by handful of the age group men.  if the race turned into a draft feast, i missed it.  i did almost get hit by a bus though…towards the end of the first lap when the public transit systems hadn’t caught up with the correct traffic flow.  i had to serve into the oncoming traffic lane while the bus rode down past me…good times.  Ken got a new camera for the trip…and for our other future adventures.  he was VERY protective of his camera.  he was pissing me off worrying about whether the damn camera was in the safe or if the safe was working… one time we left the room, he actually took the camera bag with just one of the “lenses” in it and left the camera in the room unprotected.  i should have been tipped off at this point.  BUT he took great race photos…some of his work:

my bike in transition.  these have been voted the BEST PRO RACKS of my 2009 season.

t1.

steady on the bike…

running my solid 8:30s.

the face of relief.  2009 ENDS!

i put a lot into the bike, but you can always run, and really no 3rd option here.  i needed another result this year..for myself more than anything.  it felt shitty in the beginning…real shitty.  not running sounded so much better than finishing a marathon, but i ran steady on…8:00, snuck up into the 8:30s at some point, but held it steady there most of the run.  there were 2 tbb girls behind me and chasing hard, my spirits were low, but i just kept steady on it.  of the races, i have done this year, this was probably my favorite pro field.  the girls were nice and rooting for each other in a way that was healthy and positive, but didn’t take away from their day either.  major props to all the ladies.  it was a pleasure…even if it hurt pretty badly.  i have to give it to our hosts also.  they embraced ironman race day like nothing i have ever seen.  they were so excited about the race and they were cheering for everyone the whole time.  this is so commonly lacking at ironman…but the crowds were there, lining the streets the whole bike, all 3 loops of the run.  there were some draw backs to cozumel, but the race support and the fan fair was my favorite of the year.  props to Amy Kloner, our race announcer, she did a great job, and i felt commonly went ABOVE and beyond on behalf of the race organization.

the 2009 race is over!!  and as Ken eloquently on the empty beach, under the almost full moon, we’re starting a new chapter… so in the camera bag, that i ragged on him about all week was the ring that he was waiting for the right moment to give me, so that final night in Cozumel, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  i said yes…or well more shook my head a little bit speechless and my eyes got a little watery.  we are engaged!

bring on 2010 bitches…    (i’ll be a better blogger in 2010…follow along…i am sort of a big deal  )

i need to update, but this is going to be a short version…

the weight loss challenge is over.  i didn’t win, but i have held my weight at 145.

Ken finished his first ironman!  so proud of him!

we leave for Mexico in a week and a half.  very exciting.  life is good.  just living the dream…

but getting back on REAL quick and i have great excuses.  

here are 2 of them:

madison kaye.  i keep wishing a handful of french fries put that kind of smile on my face.

and…

miss lily janke, my cousins daughter, who is holding up a “poison apple”  (it was really a trix ceral that i was trying to get madison to eat for snack.)  we were in the middle of watching enchanted and playing fancy nancy.  it was quite the afternoon.  

okay in continuing my excuses…

it was the first time (i believe since my fathers death) that we have all been together SO in the past 6 years.  my brother purposely put green shit in his teeth to be funny.  little did he know that it would be the family photo i posted on the internet.  you have to forgive my mother also.  she is very pretty, but she is very bad a taking photos.  gotta love quality gellatly family time.

okay final excuse, i think…

the beautiful Oregon coast…how could i not relax a little bit?!?!

however, i gained 3 pounds last week  i am home now though and surrounded by good, healthy food and workout equipment.  i was scared to weigh in yesterday and of course disappointed with the result, but i would have been silly to expect any different.  i ate salt water taffy AND chocolate!  i have a real aggressive goal for this week.   plus, i start working out full time again so hopefully with the mixed combo of the 2, i will be back on top after weigh in on Tuesday. 

in conclusion, great family vacation, but it is good to be home and moving again.  Cozumel is a short 8 weeks away…time to do work!

the wedding is tonight on NBC!