I Am An Ironman!!!

JILL AGRESTA..... 

YOU!  ARE! AN IRONMAN!!!!!

Oh yes, the Voice of Ironman has officially declared ME, yes ME, an Ironman after 13 hours and 6 minutes of one of the best days of my life!  Sunday was such a special experience that it is so hard to put into words.  It has been an entire year in the making.  Sacrifices, dreams, hard work are all wrapped up now.  It's surreal to say the least.  When I woke up Monday morning, despite my sore body, I actually questioned... Did I really do that yesterday?  Then I went on facebook and saw all the messages, the updates Simon posted throughout the day... and the photos.  Oh yes... the photos woke me up like a cold slap of water to the face.  I WAS AN IRONMAN!  I officially have bragging rights for the rest of my life!

When I started training for this I found other bloggers & websites where people were training for the same goal.  It made me feel great to know I could rely on people going through the same thing I was.  But it almost made it commonplace to be doing an Ironman.  After Sunday,  I know for sure as hell is not a normal thing for people to do!  I pulled off something very spectacular, in a spectacular fashion.  Let's just say mentally & physically overcoming not one, not two but THREE flats on my bike was a prime example of that.  But I won't get into that just yet.  I have to so much to write about and remember, that I'll split this up into different posts.  It might take me a while and they might be long winded, but I want to try and remember every detail so that when I think there is something I can't do... I'll look at this.

My day could never, ever, in a million years have gone on without the support of my family and friends. I mentioned sacrifice above and the ones I loved most were on the receiving end of it.  I sacrificed time & memories with them to achieve my dream.  I was the Queen of "No" when it came to weekends or even a night out to dinner.  But I wasn't really saying no to them.  I was saying YES to my dream. I think, after being eye witnesses to my success on Sunday, they now understand why.

So THANK YOU to the entire Team Jill Cheering Squad!!

Mom, Dad, my brother Todd, Simon my love, Kelly & Kelly (and Baby Brophy) my childhood besties, Brie & Iza my NYC besties, Paul, Melissa, Carrie, Carlos, Brendan, Debbie & Sung my lovely lovely NYC pals, Esther, James & Mike my triathlon buddies.  Mike Eng - YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!  It was very special to share this unbelievable day with you and I am so proud of you!  We did it!!

This crew of people went above and beyond to cheer for me.  

Waking up at the butt crack of dawn to see the manic swim start, creating gorgeous signs, taking photos, yelling til their their throats hurt, cowbelling and just being downright awesome!!

Looking at these photos, do I have the coolest family and friends or what?!?  When I was in a world of pain on the marathon, you genuinely made me smile each time I saw you on the run.  That was not forced, I swear on my Ironman medal!

I am the luckiest girl in the world to have such an amazing family and friends.  Again, words cannot express my gratitude to all of you, as well as my friends who were cheering for me on facebook and tracking my progress online.  I read every single one of your messages and they were unbelievable.  All I can say is I'm one lucky gal.  Thank you to Coach Jenn for taking me on and preparing me for this day.  All I need to say is three words.  I. Was. Ready.  I didn't have any doubts in my mind from the start and I physically ruled the course only because of your spectacular guidance.  Thank you!!

So official race reports will come this week but here's a look at my times.

Swim = 1:16:20

T1 = 6:42

Bike = 7:02:20

T2 = 4:40

Run = 4:36:19

TOTAL = 13:06:21

I am a feakin' Ironman!