Pictures to be seen

(I did NOT take this picture, but it was a motivating(?) sight for athletes on the bike course. Sorry to say I neve got to see this firsthand. Darn.)

I know you've all be waiting for the Ironman recap. School has started so, I've been held up a bit. I do have two sets of photos posted at my Shutterfly. Thanks to the folks-in-law for photos in the second album. I do have a video, but you'll have to visit us to see it... no YouTube here.

The weather leading up the event was a bit daunting. High 90s with heat index over 100. We spent most of the days leading up the race in our hotel room. I didn't feel too bad about it because it was so wicked hot. Chris' parents showed up on Friday afternoon.

In the meantime, we did venture out to the Zappos.com outlet. Wow. Lots of shoes for girls. It was buy one, get one 1/2 off, unfortunately, after close to 2 hours in the store (I think), I could only find 1 pair that I loved. (I've conceded to the rule of buy it only if you love it.) We also drove the run course, which we had done last spring also. We met up with a co-worker of Chris' from the office in Louisville. We also drove part of the bike course and rode a little part of it as well. I brought my bike along and I'm glad it didn't just sit in the car. But, I was pretty beat after the little ride on the course that I did do. It was up and down like I've never seen before, or at least up and down that doesn't exist around here that I've ridden. I can truly appreciate the effort each and every Ironman put forth in this race. Wow.

On race day, we were up at 4am and out the door by 5am. After a trip to the transition area, we saw Chris off and wished him luck. We'll see you tonight. Chris headed down the 3/4 mile walk to the swim start and the rest of us walked back towards the hotel to board the Belle of Louisville, a paddle boat that would serve as our front row seat for the 2.4mi swim. It was an interesting perspective, but you definitely didn't get the same emotional start as the being right there are at line. The start was quite different that Ironmans that we've seen. It was a time trial start, so everyone lined up and dove off the pier at 1 second intervals. We weren't sure when Chris started and definitely couldn't see him in the water. The swim was in the Ohio River, no wetsuits - water temperature 85 degrees. Swimming pool with bateria.

After the IronCrew arrived back on shore, we waited a short while to head out to the town of LaGrange where there was a nice little festival to cheer on the bike racers. Riders would come through on miles 38 and 68. It would've been tough to make it out there by Chris' first lap through, so we made it for the second. The weather was shaping up to be quite nice. High 70s, low 80s, much lower humidity. Perfect weather. The IronCrew had a few setbacks on our return back to Louisville. A lost key, a friendly family, and much time lost. Enough said.

We made it out to the run course to see Chris at mile 8ish. Mile 11 yielded the comment, "I want to curl up in the fetal position." Not for 15 more miles, please. Chris made it to the end. YAHOO!! His finishing comment, "I've wanted to puke for the last 3 hours." Geez, last year, it was "I never want to do this again."

After a long day, finishing in 12:43: 33 (I think), I am amazed at the effort Chris put forth. He rocked the bike, and psyched himself up to finish the run in a great time. I'm extremely proud of my Ironman.

Until next year, Lake Placid, here we come. Oh, and Wisconsin, if registration goes as planned. Two in one summer...nuts.