Upper Keys resident Holly Smith reminisces about the moment she crossed the finish line in her first ironman competition five years ago.
“I thought I would never do this again,” she said. “It was just so hard.”
A day passed, however, as she looked back on what was an exhilarating, yet challenging feat she accomplished. The thrill of it all kept her going, and it developed into something she became passionate about.
Just recently, Smith completed her ninth ironman triathlon competition that included a 112-mile bike ride, 26.2-mile run and 2.4-mile swim. It was a special moment for Smith, having finished first in her age group among competitors from around the world who came to Panama City, Florida to compete.
Smith has come out on top in smaller races in Michigan, where she grew up, and South Carolina, where she last lived before venturing to the Keys with her boyfriend in March. The competition in November, however, was a little more rewarding.
“When you get to the end of a lot of these races, you kind of just want to stop. But when you think about it, it’s a really cool accomplishment to cross the finish line,” she said.
Smith is a Michigan State graduate who went to medical school and completed her residency in Garden City, which is not far from Detroit. Following graduation, she moved to South Carolina, where she lived for a few years, and then to the Keys on March 5 as the coronavirus pandemic was unfolding.
“We (my boyfriend and I) work remotely, so we could live wherever we wanted. And we just really like warm weather,” she said. “I’m doing telemedicine right now, so I can move around wherever I want. I’m licensed in eight states, so I just see people online right now.”
Work for Smith picked up in April and May as more people were using telemedicine for their health issues, including COVID-19. Smith said people were waiting on their computers for hours waiting to be seen by a “teledoc.”
“It’s now kind of slowed because more physicians started to do their own telemedicine practices,” Smith said. “With COVID, it really picked up during the spring and summer.”
Keeping busy tending to patients, Smith would head outside to bike some 80 to 100 miles and run 20 miles once a week in lead-up to the ironman competition. She’d also get in the pool to swim three to four times a week. Strength and resistance training, core work and lots of stretching were also in the routine.
Smith said she really didn’t get into triathlons until about five years ago. She said it’s a fun way to stay in shape and compete.
“I have been more of a runner my whole life,” she said. “But I tried to find something because I kept getting foot and ankle injuries. I also wanted to incorporate biking. So I started biking a little and ended up swimming eventually and just got hooked on doing these triathlons.”
Taking interest in triathlons during her residency in medical school, Smith said she never thought she would qualify for big races. But her passion and competitiveness have taken her to a new level. Smith was supposed to travel to New Zealand this year for a half-ironman competition before the pandemic canceled it.
Now, she’ll be making the trek to Utah in September to compete in the half-ironman. A month later, she’ll fly to Kona, Hawaii to partake in the Ironman World Championship.
“Both of those races will be really big, but the one in Kona is the biggest,” Smith said.
So, what’s in store for Smith in 2021? A few more races, a half distance ironman and full ironman as a practice race in leadup to her two big races next fall.
“That’ll probably be in May or June, which is halfway between now and Kona,” she said. “I’ll definitely be doing races just because I love them and they’re a great way to get ready for competition like that.”
