Where to begin?…

Let’s go with the basic stats: Kelly is a physical therapist living in the wonderful city of Austin, TX.  She’s married and the proud mother of two loving (often spoiled) pups: Bon-Bon and Mr. Champ.  I don’t think she’s sensitive with her age, but just in case we’ll keep in general and say that she competes in the 25-29 category.

Not too long ago I asked Kelly to define/describe herself using only one word.  If I had known I was going to be writing about this I would stored the word we finally agreed upon in my memory banks; but, alas, I didn’t.  What I can say is that some of the words tossed into the mix were: driven, motivated, acheiving, etc. (I think you can see the common theme).  Kelly, whether in her professional life, her personal life, or her athletic life, sets many lofty goals for herself, and she never fails to reach them.  Knowing this about her personality I wasn’t the least bit surprised when she let me know that one day she would complete an Ironman Triathlon.  She’s not a talker, she’s a doer.  So again, when she sent out the email that she had registered for the 2009 Ironman in Coeur d’Alene, I can’t say I was surprised.  Keep in mind, just to register for an Ironman event you have to do so a year in advance.

In my mind, an Ironman sounds like torture (and you’ll never be able to convince me otherwise), but it’s also the ultimate athletic achievement.  It’s a testament to just how amazing the body is, when properly trained of course.  I would love to know the amount of money that the Ironman-branded schwag brings in yearly – how could you not want to tattoo your body, wear the gear, hell even paint the logo on your house if you were able to complete such an event??  So what has to happen in life to get a person to do such a thing?  I’m not quite sure, but first you start with a motivated personality.  In Kelly’s case, you also start off with a huge background in swimming.  I’m not afraid to brag on her behalf – she was the state champion in the 100 butterfly when living in Oregon.  It’s actually impossible for me to smell chlorine and not think of my sister and all the swim meets I happily sat through (read: begruddingly forced by parents to attend).  In my unbiased opinion she was on the fast track to the Olympics when her shoulders decided a different fate for her and forced her into early retirement.  She tried her hand at a few other hobbies to fill the void that swimming left, and in college marathons started to appeal to her.

So…. we’ve got the personality, the swimming (three shoulder surgeries later)… what about the biking?  Kelly jetted off to University of Evansville (in Indiana) to fast-track her master’s degree in Physical Therapy.  I’m sure you’ve heard of  Little 500 right?…  No?…. Well then I’m sure you’ve heard of Breaking Away, the classic movie where the ‘Cutters’ beat the big bad Indiana bike team in their own race?…. no?…. c’mon!  Well, Kelly participated on her sorority’s bike race team in an event similar to the Little 500 – I’m pretty sure they won a few years, but I’ll have to double check on that.  Regardless, now we have all the key ingredients, and a love for all things triathlon began.  She began competing in triathlons while at Evansville and hasn’t stopped since.

That catches us up to the present and Kelly has fully committed herself to training for the Ironman.  She trains daily and is part of an Austin training club called Texas Iron.  So follow along as the date approaches and don’t be afraid to share your support on behalf of Team Preddy.