aprilgellatly.com

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

it was always a process and in the beginning, i had no idea how long this road would be.  i was the one that set the goals, that kept raising the bar, daring to believe that i was capable of just a little more.  to that point, placid was my second pro ironman, my first semi-successful pro ironman, and my seventh ironman in total.  so numbers, yes, i guess, it all comes back to a bunch of numbers.  i always found i was more of a visual learner though SO we’ll sum the trip up in a tasteful pictorial. 

we landed in Canada, loaded up a couple carts, and headed back south to the New York border.  

i was a good little car rider (i tried not to complain about being thirsty too, too much.).  shelley navigated, aimee drove, and after awhile, i read my book.

we made to lake placid, NY.  i was immediately impressed.  it is beautiful.

we stayed at a pimp condo which i affectionately took to calling the playa house.

we did practice swimming, biking, and running.

here we are on a warm-up bike with the ski jumps in the background… Lake Placid, NY was home of the winter olympics in the 1930s and again in the 1980s.

mostly, pre race, i just read.

i finished one book during the week and had to start another to calm my nerves.  i am a geek.

skip to race morning…

in general, it was a really great day.  my best time, my first top 10 pro finish, i had to walk (hobble) away from the day happy.  the crowds were awesome, congratulating me all the way home, sharing beer, etc.  i had to sign autographs…crazy, right?

here i am with copper, my number one fan in lake placid.

i “recovered.”  still hobbling, and Shelley and i finished the day down at the finish line at midnight.  we watch Matt Long, who had been hit by a bus 4 years ago finish his first ironman since the accident.  he finished in 16:58.  it was by far the best race finish i have been in attendance to watch.  Matt helped me put air in my bike tires earlier that morning.  very inspiring.  i was very careful on to use the phrase “i feel like i got hit by a bus.” post race…

it was a great trip, a great experience, and i only expect improvement.  thanks to all for the support without everyone in my life, my dreams wouldn’t be possible.   

i will follow this post with a picture outline of the trip.  quite the little journey we have been on.  but race day, fantastic.  i learned, i grew, and i improved.  (and i am pumped to do it all again.)

the swim was the best ever.  the second half i got in a draft pack with girls a little faster than i was and i was able to push myself to stay on their feet.  the lake was crystal clear.  awesome.  

the bike, i got a little too excited and pushed way too hard.  i was riding hard, not riding smart.  i get anxious because i worry my running isn’t up to par (which it isn’t…yet.), but i can’t push beyond my limits to make up time the first half of the bike.  it isn’t rocket science.  i know this.  i’ve  repeated that same statement time and time again to athletes…why i don’t listen to my own good advice, i have no idea.  

i was worried i was going to feel like shit getting off the bike.  i didn’t.  my first mile was actually sub 7.  shocked the crap out of me, although that first mile is mostly down hill.  i felt great running until about the half way point when my quads started locking up.  i had to keep myself running.  i wanted top 10 and i had to keep moving to stay there.  overall result though, i dropped a minute off my ironman PR.  i placed 10th pro (got beat my 3 amatuers, but for me, that solidifies that this professional triathlon dream isn’t a waste of my time.)  on the bike in placid was actually the first time that i felt like i was chasing my dream.  i was doing excatly what i set out to do all those years ago.  i couldn’t do this without everyone along the way though.  it has been a long, hard road, but i finally feel like we are going somewhere.  my friends, family, and support system rock.  i am so grateful to you all.  

we are still in placid.  we fly home tomorrow.  i am excited to get home to ken.  but for now, girls gone wild ironman edition…it’s on!

look, victoria, you are an ironman!  it was her first. 

i am here.  it is beautiful.  i keep trying to get myself to sit down at the computer and get some thoughts together.  it hasn’t worked out so well.

so for race day, to follow online go to: www.ironman.com  i am number 39.  (39 is fine!)  or you can type in the last name, but shit, some days i am not sure how to spell my last name.

thanks for all those that helped me get here!  i have never felt so GOOD (in general) going into an ironman.  

easy taper workouts creates a bit of free time and without cable, i have taken to reading.  i read 2 books last week.  i’ll start a new one today.  i wanted to catch up with the computer, in general, first though, emails and facebooking.  the trouble with catching up is the outpour of response to the emails sent out which then require an additional response and then i find myself behind…again.

it seems odd for race week to be here.  i feel so balanced.  i look forward to life leading into ironman and life coming out of ironman regardless of what the day holds.  i’ll hope for the best, climb my ass off on the hills of Placid, and come away smiling.  at times like these, i always remind myself that i haven’t just been working towards this the last couple months.  i started swimming year around at the age of 8, we started swimming doubles at 12, and i missed out on a handful of normal kid things because we had training.  i’ve spent 20 years training.  it all counts.  on race day, i get to pull from all life experiences.  i get to use whatever keeps me moving forward.  i am currently fueled by jelly belly.  i found they are the lesser of all evils.  they seem to kick most of the sugar cravings without the calories of chocolate and ice cream.  

alright pretty uneventful day here in the metto, so i’ll leave you in peace before i start to ramble about dinner plans and coaching masters.  these are exciting times we live in kids, exciting times