The big day had finally arrived (or should I say, the big weekend). John and his friend Marc (whom he trained with) decided to drive down to Houston very early on Thursday morning so they could get checked in, get acquainted with the area, and attend a mandatory race meeting Thursday night. I wasn't scheduled to arrive until late Friday afternoon- the next day. The logistics on this event were mind boggling. I wish I had taken a picture of all of John's gear that he worked for about a week to organize and make sure it was ready. He had it all laid out in our dining room and would add things as he went along. It was a lot of stuff! From clothing to nutrition to tools. The next step was to organize where and when people in our group needed to be certain places. John had race meetings and gear check in, I had kids with schedules, and we had guests all flying in at different times. Plus John wanted to drive the course and participate in an open swim time in the lake. We had things pretty well outlined for how things should go.
Needless to say, everything did NOT go off without a hitch. The race wheels that John rented did not arrive in time for him to pick them up, so I had to do that for him and then make sure I got them to him down in Houston before gear check in was closed and the transition area was locked down. No sweat, right? Wrong. I left as early as possible and still arrived with only a half hour or so for John to test out the wheel set, which functioned properly, but the power tap wasn't reading. We were all a little stressed at that point, but it worked out okay.
John got his gear checked in just in time. After 3 o'clock this area is locked down for security purposes. It was pretty impressive seeing all those expensive bikes lined up in the transition area. Along with bike gear, John dropped off his transition bags and special needs bags. Each bag is assigned a different color, indicating it's purpose. These bags contained each individual athlete's gear, nutrition, etc that would be needed at different times during the event. Again, the logistics were impressive- making sure all the right stuff gets put in the right bags so that you have the stuff you need when you need it at the right places. It is all carefully planned out (which only means more spreadsheets for John).
Here he is in the yellow giving the final go over of his bike.
After that, it was time for an early dinner. By this point, John's dad and sisters had arrived and were in ready for a pre-race party! We all wore the "m-dot" headbands that I made for us and we sang a song that John's aunt wrote to the tune "Go Johnny, Go." It was very fun and we hoped a little embarassing for John!
We went to bed early at our hotel, but didn't sleep well, of course. The next morning started bright and early. I think John left around 4:30am and we followed about an hour or so later. We knew traffic was going to be horrible as it had been all weekend, so we decided to park at the mall and walk to the swim start. Time was tight and it was looking like we weren't going to make it in time, so I left my kids with John's sisters and took off running so that I could wish John luck and send him on his way (not to mention I needed to pick up his bike pump, wallet and cell phone). I couldn't stand the thought of not seeing him before he started his big day. I barely made it in time to snap a photo before they headed into the water. I don't know who was more nervous, John or ME!
Here is the calm before the storm. All the swimmers lined up ready to begin their journey of 140.6 miles.
I got a little emotional as they started out on the 2.4 mile swim. All that preparation and training would boil down to this. It was all out of my control. All I could do now was wait (and worry).
We saw John after the swim at transition 1. It was good to see that he had made it and was still smiling, but who wouldn't smile with these awesome kids cheering you on?
Here we are with all our stuff- signs, t-shirts, head bands, temporary tattoos, whistles, and cow bells. The boys were such good sports. This was a very long day- and it was HOT, but they were super excited to watch their Irondad (the boys' shirts said "daddy's transition team" and mine said "I heart my Ironman"). They were pretty cute! In hindsight, if I had to do it all over again, I probably wouldn't have brought the kids. It was a very long day and I felt torn between trying to support John and help him with the process and still be a mom. I was beyond grateful to have some of John's family there. They were very supportive of John and could step in and help out with the kids- plus, I always enjoy hanging out with them. They are so much fun.
The swim went well, considering the murky water and congestion from all the other swimmers. The bike went very well and John hit his goal pace. It was his strongest sport of the three and he said he loved it- riding fast and tactically. In fact, he came in sooner than I had anticipated and we totally missed seeing him on the bike or at transition 2, which I was bummed about. But it was okay because that meant that things were going well for him. I knew all his projected times for each checkpoint and I was happy that he was ahead of schedule.
We also knew that we would have a chance to see him a few times on the run since the run course did a couple loops. We found a spot in the shade and waited for him to come. By this point, I knew the run wasn't going as well as he had planned. When we finally did see him, we walked with him and chatted for a few minutes. He said that his stomach was starting to cramp and he was having to do a run/walk to keep it from cramping too badly.
The day was hot (in the mid 90's with full humidity) and he had a minor glitch with his nutrition plan which caused his stomach to spasm every time he started running, so half way through the marathon, he was mostly walking. I knew he was disappointed, but I had hoped that he would still feel good about finishing.
(here he is stopping to talk with us for a minute during the run)
And finish he did! It wasn't exactly how he had planned it to all go, but I think he was still happy to have accomplished the whole thing. He also told me later that he felt most successful about his training. He was consistent, careful, and strong in all of his training efforts and that was where the victory was for him. He didn't go into this wondering if he was strong enough to finish. He knew that had he not had the stomach problems, he would have finished at a competitive time. All his training had been strong and consistent and he had confidence in what he had accomplished there.
I'm so proud of John. He really did a fantastic job- he worked hard, learned a lot, and remained committed to his family during the entire process. He is a strong athlete and he was careful about his training. I was so proud to watch him push hard and attempt something that to someone like me, seems impossible. But I have to say, watching him finish felt like a huge accomplishment for both of us- and our kids too! It was fun to be a part of the whole process and to watch such an amazing event unfold from beginning to end.
So what's next? People always ask me if he's hooked and wants to do another one. The answer is yes and no. Our motto when it comes to Ironman is "too big to be fun." First you put almost an entire of year into training for one day. But that one day turns out to be an exhausting and stressful three day event (travel, gear check, race meetings, etc), and then if one small thing goes wrong (heavens forbid you should ingest 500 calories 30 minutes too early on the bike) then everything you've been working towards kind of gets flushed down the toilet. See what I mean? Too big to be fun. BUT on the other hand, he does feel like he has some unfinished business. He did learn a lot- experience is always the best teacher and he feels if he did it again he would be more prepared and more successful. So really he has no plans to attempt this again for a while (thankfully), but I do think he is itching for a fast half ironman or something along those lines. And to be honest, that sounds totally manageable after this.
It really was fun and inspiring. I loved watching the faces of the athletes as they crossed the finish line. What an accomplishment.
I am so proud of my Ironman.
I am so proud of my Ironman.
One last picture. While we were gone, I had some friends hang this banner and put these signs in the yard. He was very surprised when we got home.
