I did it!

I did it! I'm officially an Ironman!!!

My race report will hopefully be up in the next day or so!

Thanks to everyone's support, thoughts, words of encouragement, etc. You all are amazing and literally kept me going during the race. I knew I had a big group of friends/family cheering me on and it kept me moving. THANKS EVERYONE!!!

Track My Progress on Sunday...

My bib # is 2067 and I think you should be able to track me at: http://ironman.com/

I will let you know how it went/goes next week!

IEEEEE.....

It's Here...

I can't even begin to describe the thoughts and emotions that have been raging through me these last few days. I'm nervous, I'm scared beyond imagining, and I'm excited. This all reminds me of my first half Ironman race. I remember that race morning I had a mixture of emotions too. I wanted to cry and throw up all at the same time, but once I got in the water and began my swim, I felt good and the butterflies went away. Then I just focused on enjoying my race, and that is what I need to focus on for Sunday: enjoying my race.

Thankfully this year I'm not sick!!! At least I have that going for me!!! (I raced last year's half Ironman sick. It sucked big time.)

The Beast is here. There is nothing else I can do to prepare. I don't know if I'm ready, but I can't change that fact between now and race day, so I might as well enjoy the adventure that I'm on. And yes, it will be painful. I can't even imagine the mental toughness and games I will need to play with myself to keep myself going on Sunday. But I want to keep going. I so BADLY want to reach that finish line!! And the SCARIEST part of this whole race is the not knowing. I don't know if I will finish. I don't know if I will get there. I believe I have a chance and can do it, but ANYTHING can happen.

And it's amazing the nervousness I feel. I know I did not train as I should have done for this race. I'm not in peak physical condition. I haven't gone the full distances in the bike or run this whole season, and I am basically a fool. Life got in the way of training, but here I am. I am days away from the BIGGEST challenge of my life to date, and there is nothing I can do about it. SO I might as well laugh, smile, and have tons of fun. I can cheer other people on and I can keep moving one step at a time. It's just a long workout Kelly. Sure you may not be ready, but just have fun anyways.

I went into Race for the Roses with that kind of a spirit and I had a BLAST AND my fastest half marathon time. So, maybe there is something to be said about that kind of an attitude?

I really have no idea how this race will test me. What do I have in me? Do I have what it takes to keep going? Do I have what it takes to reach the finish line in time? I don't know, but I want to find out. Actually, I have no choice. I WILL find out because this race is coming whether I want it to or not.

It's weird how this race is consuming. I couldn't focus at work today AT ALL and I'm sure that tomorrow will be worse since I'm leaving on Friday! I've even been dreaming about Ironman. At least in each of my dreams, I actually do get to the finish line (awesome!). Last night's dream was odd. I was in the transition from swim to bike but it was at night. My bike was missing (my friends were supposed to get it to me in time but it was still on it's way), so instead, I had to hop on a little kids bike and start riding. I was like, "man I hope my friends come soon with my bike because 112 miles on a single speed kids bike is going to be rough," but off I peddled anyway. It was weird.

I guess I just have to believe, right?! UGH!!! I don't even know what to say/write/think/feel/etc. Oh man, Ironman Coeur d'Alene, ready or not, here I come!

Ironman Handbook

I recently received the 2009 CDA Ironman Athlete's guide (or whatever it is called). It's a 32 page document describing the race weekend, rules, schedule, etc. I read through it and probably will read through it several more times as I develop my plan for the race, but let me tell you...last night was the first read through and I ended up dreaming about the Ironman race ALL night! Ugh, can I really handle 2.5 more weeks of the suspense?!?!?!! Seriously! I'm totally excited, and I am practicing my positive thinking and visualizing (picturing me at the finish line with tears of joy/pride/astonishment/exhaustion running down my cheeks with my fist in the air saying "I did it!").

Slow and steady - my race motto. One step at a time. Continual forward progress (or whatever Seth says - I need to learn that quote).

I'm nervous and excited and am working on just being excited.

Hey Ironmen...any words of wisdom, advice, tips, things to know, etc??

I think I'm taking Roo to the Ironman race

Yesterday I was supposed to do an 80 plus mile ride. And like most mornings when it's my day off and I don't have anyone I'm meeting, I slept in and procrastinated getting on my bike. I even toyed with the idea of skipping the bike ride and going for a long run or swim instead. But eventually I talked myself into going, which meant I wasn't on the road until about 12:17 pm.

On to my usual route: East on Marine Drive to Troutdale, then up the Old Columbia Gorge Hwy and onward to Women's Forum, from which I decided to once again take on Larch Mountain (I am really starting to LOVE that ride!!). I was running out of time, so I only went up to the 8 mile marker, but I was seriously debating continuing to the top. I love that climb and how beautiful it is! If I had started earlier in the day, to the top of Larch I would have gone. I am definitely feeling stronger and officially decided on this ride that Roo will be my companion during the bike portion of the race. I am going to leave the Serotta at home.

A couple of things I realized on this ride:

+ The Quintana Roo SCREAMS down hill in comparison to the Serotta (so much fun!).

+ Paying attention 100% of the time on the bike is critical, especially when flying down hill (there were two points that I almost lost control and flew off my bike or hit the shoulder - kind of scary but it didn't really slow me down).

+ I'm addicted to Facebook (at some point on my ride, I was stopped and decided to take some of the pictures below, when I saw the little "Facebook" icon on my phone and decided to check it out, only to realize that I was facebooking while biking!! So wrong! Don't worry, I was stopped w/ both feet on the ground when I was doing this, but still).

+ I'm getting stronger on the bike (I wasn't as tired or fatigued and today I feel minimal soreness - AWESOME)!!

I wish I had another month of training though! I think then I'd be a bit better prepared for this crazy race that's in 3 weeks!! YIKES! I'm getting excited though. I was on the Ironman CDA website last night to look at the weekend schedule of events! I can't believe that I'm actually going to race in an Ironman!! And I think there is a chance I will finish even though training didn't go as it should have!! Oh, I hope, I hope, I hope!!!

Below are some pictures I took with my phone on the ride (I need to remember to bring my real camera next time):