Ironman Florida, November 7, 2009: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run: Final time: 12:06
Q: When was 1st Tri and how many have you completed?
My
first triathlon was a sprint in October of last year. Since then, I've
completed 5 others: 1 sprints, 1 olympic distance, 2 half ironmans and
one full ironman.
Q: How many people (experienced and not) told you It wasn't a good idea, foolish, wouldn't be ready? How many encouraged?
Only
2-3 people told me directly that I should not or could not do it, but
plenty others were negative and skeptical. A lot of people told me I
could finish, but I wouldn’t do well or would have to walk the run.
That said, many of my friends and training partners were very
supportive.
Q: Once you made the decision, did you have any doubt along the way, or significant obstacles?
Deep
down, I always knew I could do it but there were plenty of times I
questioned myself. I think my biggest doubt was my ability to actually
run the marathon at the end. Particularly, since I had some injuries
during the year that made it pretty hard to do any run training. In
fact, I only did 2 13 mile runs (both were in races) to prepare for the
race, which made me pretty nervous going into the race. I am still
shocked I was able to run 25 miles of the run, albeit pretty slowly.
As
for obstacles, aside from the running injuries, time was a big one. A
typical Ironman training plan calls for anywhere from 12-20 hours of
training per week, plus extra sleep, which is pretty difficult to
balance with work, life etc. I didn’t get to train nearly as much as I
wanted to, but I tried to make the most of the training time that I
had.
Also, the last month of hard training was really rough,
both mentally and physically. I spent countless hours every weekend
alone on my bike, which required a tremendous amount of
self-discipline, focus and motivation.
Q: How did it feel to cross the finish line?
There
is popular quote about Ironman that sums it up pretty well: "At the end
of the swim, I thought I was dead; At the end of the bike, I wished I
was dead; During the run, I knew I was dead; At the Finish Line, I
realized nothing could kill me!"
Seriously though, it was one of
the most amazing moments in my life. There were thousands of people
cheering for me as I came down the finisher chute and as I crossed the
finish line, the race announcer said: "Lisa Gallagher, you are an
Ironman." Ill never forget it.
Q: How did you place.
I
was in the top half of my age group. For a race of this caliber, I was
pretty pleased. I got to race along side some of the top pros in the
world, along with top international competitors, which was great
experience. My goal was to finish in under 13:30 and I blew that away
with a time of 12:06.
Q: Do you have any advice directed to people who wish to take on an intimidating goal that others may discourage?
Just do it! Don’t let others bring you down or dictate how you should live your life!
PS-
I signed up for Ironman Florida 2010! I plan to make it to the Ironman
World Championship in Hawaii someday, so watch for me!
