I am an Ironman!!!

First of all I have so many people to thank for supporting me through this endeavor and coming out to watch me race on Saturday! The best part of the day was seeing my family and friends along the course and at the finish line. I was overwhelmed at the number of phone calls, text messages, emails and facebook messages I received wishing me good luck and praying for me.

On Friday I made my way to The Woodlands to meet Tobey, my brother, Slade and Mark. We turned in our bikes and transition bags and made ourselves familiar with the transition area. Next up was lunch, checking in at the hotel and a nap before dinner with some of our tri4Him teammates. To my surprise I still was not nervous at dinner. We sat at talked about what we were expecting from Ironman, how the Houston team was going to beat up on the other tri4Him teams in Waco () and what our next plans with look like with our coach Jeff as some of us are racing in Augusta 70.3 in September. At 7:00 we left for the hotel and it was time for bed. Lights out at about 9:00 and I actually got a good night sleep. The alarm went off at 4:00 AM but it was not needed, my brother and I were already up getting dressed at that point. We were laughing as we filled water bottles, checked our bags for goggles, swim caps, etc. Again I was surprised at the calmness in me. We headed out for transition about 5 AM and there was a quiet nervousness everywhere. People were airing up tires and checking bikes one last time in the dark. Then we headed to the swim start where we met up with our family, friends and teammates for prayer at the tri4Him tent. I was in awe at the number of people in tri4Him jersey’s and the amount of people surrounding our banner to pray. At the moment that Cindy gave the devotional and Jeff did the prayer everything else was still. I couldn’t hear the crowd, the announcer, nothing but God speaking to me.

Tobey, Rik and I headed to the swim start about 6:40 and stood in the massive crowd trying to get into the water. At most races this is where I get nervous. Anyone that knows me knows I do not care for the swim portion of triathlon. Still to my amazement no anxiety, even as I walked into the water I felt at peace about the whole day. I was very thankful that Tobey stayed right by my side and kept talking to me as we treaded water. It didn’t take long for that clock to wind down and the gun to go off. It was like a washing machine was turned on high out there. Even though I was in the back and took my time taking off I got trampled on. This is the time my nerves got the best of me. I started to panic about 200 meters into the swim as my googles were being ripped off and I was being run over again by another swimmer. I kept thinking to myself I can’t do this for 2.4 miles, I will never make it. I had a slight panic attack and thought to myself I was going to have to drop out. Then I started praying and decided to get to the inside, turn over and start back stroking. If I had to back stroke the whole race so be it…I was not giving up now. Once I turned over my heart rate went down and I got a steady rhythm going. I was then able to go back to my free style swim and start making some good progress. Once I made the first turn I felt good, breathing was perfect. As we made the last turn into the canal towards the swim out I could hear the cheers and I was so excited to know I was about to be out of the water and onto the bike, which is by far my favorite part!

As I headed towards my bike in transition I heard the cheers of my friends and was so excited to see all of them! As I headed towards my bike I guess I was a little caught up in the moment and I’m still laughing at my crazy mistake. My number was 222, but for some reason in T1 I had 522 in my head. When I got there I didn’t see my bike and told the volunteer my bike was gone. I even looked at coach Boo and told him my bike was missing. As the poor volunteer was in panic mode looking for my bike another lady reminded me I was number 222 and my bike was 3 rows up…OOPS Now onto the bike course. I have trained on this course 2 times previously and to be honest it kicked by butt both times. The hills and the wind out there can be brutal so I had been mentally preparing for it. To my surprise that course felt easy on Saturday. I felt like something was pushing me up those hills at times, my heart rate stayed in check and my nutrition was going according to plan. I tried to encourage everyone out there on the course and thanked all the volunteers which made my day go by much faster. I also prayed for everyone while I was out on the course. I received many prayer requests so I spent the time having those conversations with God. I also spent much of the 7 hours singing the same Casting Crowns song over and over. “I’ll go but I cannot go alone because I know I’m nothing on my own. The power of Christ in me makes me strong” “When I’m weak You make me strong, when I’m blind You shine your light on me because I’ll never get by living on my own ability”. I wore an ipod in one ear for many of my long training rides and on Saturday I didn’t miss it at all as this song was the only one I needed to get me through the day. There are two things I was very thankful for during the bike ride. One was the overcast skies the second was the light wind. When I came off of the bike in 7 hours I knew I was going to finish this thing up with plenty of time. As I headed into transition I could see a group of my friends there cheering me on with signs and nothing could wipe the smile off of my face. The bike handlers took my bike and I ran into T2 where I changed into my run gear and talked to Erika and we headed out to run.

When I hit the run course I saw John and Theo cheering me on and also notified me that my brother had to stop the race, he was in the medical tent but would be ok. Now it was up to me to finish this strong for both of us. My first thought was concern for him, what could have possibly taken him out? He was more prepared than anyone for this race. I had to get settled into the run but it was very hot at that point and my heart rate was spiking. I was already having to walk at mile two when Tommy passed and assured me it was in hot for everyone and just to take my time and keep moving, so that’s what I did. At about mile 4 I heard Todd calling my name from behind, he had hurt his ankle on the first lap and was having to walk. He too told me just to keep moving and I would get there. As I got to mile 5 and back onto the canal area my heart rate was settling in and I was able to keep my run going. When I got to the Landry’s where the tri4Him team was stationed I was hit with a wall of cheers and it was AWESOME! Everyone was there cheering and of course Cindy was on the mega phone! I was also relieved to see my brother out there cheering everyone on. These are the moments I run for during a triathlon. That is by far my favorite part of racing! As I headed out on the second lap I again see my Wolfpack gang and read their very funny shirts and have a quick laugh before continuing on. I ran and walked with many people, had many different conversations with them and tried to stay positive the entire time, even when it felt like my legs were about to fall off. On the last lap of the run darkness had fallen on us and my knees and hip were killing me. I had to walk way more than I wanted but I knew I had plenty of time so I just kept telling myself to put one foot in front of the other. At about mile 22 I ran into Tommy’s sister Lynne and we both decided we would NEVER do this again. One Ironman was enough for us, I think I have since changed my mind. The last time I hit Landry’s I saw my very best girlfriends standing there with their signs and Kim running alongside me, this is the first time all day that I started to get emotional. The tears hit my eyes and I again felt so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. From there I ran on into the chute towards the finish line. As I hit that chute everything stopped hurting, my adrenaline kicked in and my pace picked up as I rounded the corner and saw the finish line I could feel my smile getting bigger and bigger and the tears started to hit. I could hear my friends screaming and cheering and in one brief second everything stood still as the announcer said “Kelly Ryan you are an IRONMAN”. That is one of the best feelings I have ever had. I looked over and had people running down the sides and my handler said “I think you have some people that want to see you pretty bad” I told her I was just as excited to see them. It was a great celebration at the finish line.

There is so much that went into getting to the finish line, race day is just a small portion of the journey to be an Ironman. I do believe that race day is where you can shine the most. This competition can break you, make you question yourself and God. I am proud of the way my friends raced out there supporting each other, helping others and encouraging others. I am especially proud of my brother for taking a disappointing circumstance and having a good attitude about it. For showing others that God had another plan for him and accepting it with grace.

Tobey reminded me a few weeks ago that I was about to do something that most people would never attempt to do, that this was going to be very special and to take it all in. I did just that, I enjoyed every single moment of it. You all have inspired me so much along the way and I hope that I can do the same for some of you.

Congratulations to all of the finishers, it’s very exciting to see so many new people we can call an Ironman! Thanks again for all of your support and for following me through this journey. I look forward to cheering many of you along your Ironman journey this next year.
God Bless,
Kelly