THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF MONDAY AT 10:00PM-WEDNESDAY 5:00PM......(tick....tick....tick....)
What started as an ordinary evening in a quiet household in suburbia -Atlanta suddenly changed to a could be Ironman disaster!!
A young girl finally lay down in bed after a LONG 10 days of school-vacation for her two energy-filled toddlers!! She had just hours before written a blog of her MUCH needed and MUCH anticipated Tuesday morning. A morning meant to be all about relaxation. Quiet moments... Mental and physical recovery for this hard-working, always on the GO, GO, GO girl!!
However, that classic mistake had been made! When a moment is designated as to be a relaxing moment... DOOM is definitely on it's way!! :)
Well, while quietly unwinding at approximately 10pm looking over just a few quick things on the internet before lights out in an effort to be the good triathlete girl she strives to be....
CATASTROPHE STRIKES!!
While randomly confirming some dates and times for the Florida 70.3 that she has based the entire beginning part of her year around, rented houses in Disney, made plans for her children to take a Disney vacation during the race weekend and beyond.....she comes across information that completely SHOCKS HER!!
Somehow.... Someway.... Ironman Florida 70.3 IS SOLD OUT!!! AS OF FEB. 8TH!!!!
WHAT?????
THAT CAN'T BE?????
She did this race last year and didn't sign up until April. How can it be that the race is full already, so soon!! She had MEANT to sign up. Just didn't think it would be too much of a concern based off of her experiences from last.
No Email from the race giving me a heads up that they were approaching their capacity!!
No warning sign whatsoever that her plans, her family's plans... ALL OUT THE WINDOW!!
She lay there in complete shock with a serious anxiety attack swelling up in her chest and tears forming in her eyes!!
OK..Let's pull this together. This can't be THAT bad!!
First... email Coach Jen!! "S**T Jen!! My A-Race!! I'm not in!! Help!"
Second... Ok, ironman.com!........ What other races are open???? Uh... NOT MANY!!
And thus... the saga unfolds.....
Monday night was not restful... tossing in bed wondering... WHAT TO DO????
The most NEEDED, most WANTED restful Tuesday morning was consumed flipping through the newest edition of "The Road to Kona" featuring all of the Ironman races and on the internet communicating with Coach Jen (bless her heart... like 10 emails!!), ironman.com, and instant messaging Adam, the support team, while at his NEW position at work.
Ok... what are the options... Florida was chosen because it's close. It could be combined with a family vacation. However, the other races require travel..
I'm thinking... if I'm going to travel to a 70.3 race, maybe I should do a double qualifier. What are the options?
St. Croix..... OH.... So nice!! BUT... expensive, TOUGH, and my chances... um, I don't know.
Buffalo Springs, TX... um.. maybe... call Delta... it's going to cost $750/person to fly to Lubbock TX. AND it's a 9 hour drive from Houston (the closest airport) to Lubbock... UH.. I'm thinking NOT. Again, expensive believe it or not, TOUGH, and my chances...um, pretty tough. 1 Kona slot, MAYBE 2 70.3 slots with some SUPER crazy fast girls!! Thinking its not worth it
Hawaii 70.3... OHHHH... Now we're talking!! BUT... EXPENSIVE, TOUGH, and who knows what the chances would be!! BUT... could hang out with Bree!! She even offered to put me up in a place!! (She's so sweet)! Ok.. thinking, this is a maybe...
BUT, let's think about this.... Adam and I are scheduled to go skiing in 2 weeks! We've already planned a trip to Disney with the kids, PLUS... we're travelling in April to St. Petersburg.. Not really an expensive trip, but still!!
So... after MUCH discussion through Tuesday... I went to bed Tuesday night thinking, I'll skip the 70.3 races this year, do Gulf Coast, and sign up for a community fund slot for IM AZ in Nov.
But... something just wasn't seeming right! It just didn't seem settled.. you know deep down!!
Being the girl that claims..."If I want something... I WILL find a way to make it happen!!" I got to work today..
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD!!
Ok... St. Petersburg... not that far from Disney. We don't HAVE to go to Disney that particular weekend because guess what... NOT racing then. So... we could combine the trips.... shorten the Disney trip and SAVE, SAVE, SAVE$$$$ :)
Next... Chicago Marathon I'd saved money for... NOT doing it! Mainly because Coach says not a good idea. BUT... that's $$ set aside that is suddenly "up for travelling grabs!"
Community fund slot into IM AZ, $1k smackers!! Once all things are considered... suddenly became clear that maybe THE DREAM, HAWAII wasn't that far off!!
PLUS... with some help from my sponsor, the wonderful PT Solutions helping with entry fees and whatnot.. OK... Suddenly beautiful, sunny HAWAII doesn't seem to crazy!!
Not to mention my wonderful new friend Bree who is willing to help me find a decent place to stay we hope that won't cost us a gazillion dollars! :)
TWISTED, CRAZY, WHIRLWIND, FRUSTRATED, UP AND DOWN... 43 HOURS LATER....
After running numbers for the 10th time, re organizing the schedule to be JUST right...
at 5pm on Wed.. Kellye Mills signed up for Hawaii 70.3!!
ALOHA!! Here I come!!
Overall thinking Ironman Calamity turned Ironman Dream!!
Thanks for reading!
K :)
10 comments:
Whooopeeee. While we all thought you were off laying on the couch, shoes off, Rocky snoozing with you---you were back at the drawing board and planning away.
I am really glad this worked out in the end for you. Sometimes the silver lining is better than what you started with too!
It will be fun to follow along with your Hawaii adventure!
UMMMMM Let me think about this FLORIDA ummmmm HAWAII ummmmmm FLORIDA ummmmmm HAWAII....HECK YA HAWAII BABY :) That is great Kellye and way to trick Adam...you knew Florida was going to fill up (JK)....and what is the next best thing Hawaii OF COURSE :)
EVEN tho..It would have been GREAT if you would have picked St.Croix...then you could be with me and Bree :)
GREAT CHOICE! Things happen for a reason...maybe it's to get you back there in Ocotber???
Breathe deep, you can relax now...you'll be swimming in the ocean and seeing Bree soon!
wow! how fun - i think you made a great decision!!! i think the course in hawaii is a million times better than the florida one - you'll have a blast! i'm so jealous!!!! hmmmmm, maybe i can find a way to come up with some $$ to travel...
Awwww man!! I thought you'd already signed up for Florida 70.3. I guess I can take it easy on the training now ;-)
If I had to have a fall back, Hawaii would be it :-)
Awesome Kellye!! Way to make it work for yourself and not panic (not that much anyway! :) Hawaii will be so awesome!! Yeah for nice warm races in beautiful places!
I am so excited about you coming to Hawaii! I told Brooke and she is going to help with looking for a friends place for you to stay. We so have your back! Today I rode most of the Honu course and I was thinking about you... I even took photos (I am such a nerd, I will email them to you). I know you are going to love it and you will have a GREAT race. Our friends are your friends out here so you will have a BIG cheering crowd for you too!
WAY to go Kel, great choice!
So you found me out!
Yes, I moonlight as a lingerie model.
I tried it in college and it really pays well . . . . I needed the money!
Look at you, traveling around the world to race. You should look at IM China, only 50 people signed up so far with a full number of kona slots.
I'm thinking of IM kansas 70.3 this summer for the same reason, new race, low numbers, full number of slots.
Now, where exactly is kansas?
I thought this was going to end badly...
...but Hawaii?!? SWEET!!!
Wow, that will be a great race and an awesome vacation! As you can see, I'm behind on my blog reading.
What kind of juicer did you get? Is it the kind where you can throw in the whole veggie or fruit without peeling/cutting/seeding?
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