Growing up in ballet, gymnastics, and competitive cheerleading, Kellye was always active as a child. Born August 8, 1978 as what would be the 4th of 5 children, she had a need to keep up!

Kellye continued to stay active into high school until an ACL knee injury benched her for the remaining year and a half.

While attending college at Auburn University for a degree in Elementary Education, her lack of an active lifestyle finally caught up with her and the standard college 15lbs turned into more like 40+ pounds!

With an upcoming wedding to her high-school boyfriend looming, she made the decision to live a healthier lifestyle and began an exercise program. Through some hard work, patience, and a few misled mistakes, Kellye went from a 160lb unhappy college student to a 118lb new woman just in time for her wedding day!Throughout the next several years, she continued to focus on a lifestyle surrounding her with healthy food and exercise choices. Discovering running as her most passionate past-time, she participated on a non-competitive level while going through 2 back-to-back pregnancies with her two children Cooper and Gracie.

As the children became more independent toddlers, Kellye found a much-needed outlet at a local gym that provided day-care to attendees while they worked out. She decided to try something she'd always wanted to... Spin class! Immediately becoming addicted, she took it one step further and pursued a certification in indoor-cycling.

Through her connections and friends she made at the gym, she discovered a new love of cycling and made the decision to purchase her first road bike. She had several friends who were participating in this sport of triathlon and thought she'd give it a try!

Labor Day weekend of 2006, Kellye participated in her first triathlon and her first ever real competitive race. Expecting nothing but fun... she barely swam, and road biked her way to a 2nd Age Group finish and a 13th place Overall! Immediately, she was hooked! She went on to participate in an Olympic Distance triathlon a few weeks later and realized just how much she had to learn and knew she needed to seek some help!

Several private swim lessons later, and after hiring a coach in January of 2007, she made the decision to go for the Ironman. After competing in the Florida 70.3 race, she signed on for Ironman Florida and spent the rest of the year preparing for the biggest athletic event of her life so far. With her extremely supportive husband, friends, and family by her side, Kellye was able to finish Ironman Florida 2007 in 11:17 to claim 12th in her age group! It was a much greater end to her hopeful sub 12:00 performance!

Continuing to work on mastering a balanced life of full-time stay at home mother of a 4 year old and 5 year old, a supportive wife of a hard-working husband, a part-time employee at various positions, and all of the other many roles in her life, she, with the help of her amazing sponsor and one of her employers PT Solutions, took the trip to New Mexico to become certified in coaching triathlon through USAT. Kellye had always loved to share her love and experience through weight-loss and athletic endeavours with others, and wanted to further her educational background in order to better help others. In 2008, she became a certified USAT coach as well as a NASM certified personal trainer. She also competed in the Hawaii 70.3 Ironman in May of 2008 in which she was awarded a spot to the Ironman 70.3 World Championships! She wrapped her 2008 season up with a 5:10 finish at the World Championships 70.3 event!

Kellye wishes to continue developing her skills in 2009 as a coach and athlete. She has plans of participating in both the Ironman Wisconsin and Ironman Florida 2009 events and hopes to complete both successfully while continuing to train as well as being a dedicated and loving mother, wife, coach, and person!

Follow along on her journey as she blogs about her experiences with her Iron Challenges!