I've got a few months to catch up on blog-wise (as usual!), but I decided to skip September and October for now since a BIG EVENT happened in November. Yep, I am the wife of an Ironman.
The first weekend in November was the Ironman Florida triathlon. On Wednesday before it, which happened to be Halloween, we drove to Panama City. (The whole costume thing at Halloween can be stressful, so I was off the hook this year. Unfortunately this also means there was no picking through the trick or treat bags for the good stuff. You didn't read that, kids.)
This weekend was the culmination of tons of hard work, dedication, and countless hours on foot, bicycle, and in the pool. It was a difficult fall for us as a family with the schedule demands of an athlete in training, who also happens to run a business. Tackling a feat like an Ironman is not for the faint of heart or the slack of dedication. James was up WAY before sunrise, and in spite of attempting to be in bed at a reasonable hour, was sometimes up too late because schedule demands caused him to have to get in a run or a training ride (in the basement, on the trainer) at night. He worked hard to figure out what his body needed calorie and nutrition-wise, and what kind of food or supplements he needed. There were bottles of every size it seemed in the dish drainer throughout the fall from water or drink supplements, and some kind of dry fit shirt or shorts hung over the shower door drying every day. I had mixed feelings of pride, frustration, awe, loneliness, and amazement throughout the months leading up to the race. The kids and I missed him, probably exacerbated by the timing of it being right after a busy summer of camp where we also saw too little of him. In spite of the reality of that part of it, the respect I had and have for his persistence and strength have continued to grow. In short, it's incredible. Okay, on with the story.
Here we are getting ready to roll.
On Halloween night we rolled in to Panama City Beach at bed time. After breakfast at Waffle House Thursday morning we headed to the race venue, a hotel about a mile from our condo. This is where the race would begin and end, and all transitions between sports happened there as well. It's the same place the half-Ironman distance triathlon he did a year and a half before used as its venue.
James had to check in and pick up some information. Shannon stayed with him to do the official stuff and the rest of the kids and I went to Walmart to pick up groceries. (I can't think of a single vacation I've been on in the past several years that hasn't included at least one Walmart run.)
He borrowed a set of wheels from a friend for the race. Although he had several adjustments made to his bike before departing for Florida, he still ended up with a wheel issue. The back wheel scrubbed the frame because of its size, so he had to rent a back wheel for the race.
This is a time trial bike, which he was able to cobble together for a reasonable price just a few weeks before the race. It pays to have good buddies who are willing to help out by giving a fair price on their used things or donating them to the cause, as well as a good mechanic friend. I don't have pictures of any of the folks James knows and rides or runs or swims with, but I got to finally meet several of them at the race.
Amelia took our picture. Hmm, not sure where Elizabeth was. I don't remember having to go look for her anywhere, so I guess she stepped out of the frame.
As an aside, may I just say that whatever earlier posts I've done where I mentioned my dissatisfaction with my camera's settings, and then I said I was happy that I figured out how to fix them, please disregard that latter part. I DID NOT figure out how to fix them, and my wonderful camera that takes awesome pictures on the automatic setting, the camera that I love, is truly screwed up. It was delivered to the camera fixing place just before Christmas, and I got a call that it was fixed and ready while I was in Texas for the holidays. So all of these pictures, as well as pictures of our Texas and Missouri trip, were taken with the crappy camera. (More on Texas and Missouri later. At this rate, much later. Like in 2016.)
At the hotel there was an expo with several vendors, as well as a tent where folks could make signs for their Iron People loved ones.
The kids and I walked back to the condo before James finished with his registration and such.
We stayed in the same set of condos we had been in before. Thanks to the Baumgardners, we had the routine down pretty well. This condo was right on the running part of the race course, so we could see him go by from the comfort of the front lawn of the building.
Blurry shot. Thanks, crappy camera.
We found some time that afternoon to visit the beach. The temperature was warm, the water was cold.
Here are some behind the scenes pictures. Above are the bicycles lined up for transition from the swim to the cycling phase of the race. Below are "special needs bags," which racers make up and check in ahead of time. They might have food in them, extra water, clothes, sunscreen, anything a race participant might need during transition.
Thursday evening we went to the condo his buddies were staying at, so I got to meet some of them. Friday they got together to ride and swim a little. Most of them had already done several Ironman races before, so James was the only new guy. While he was out and about the kids and I took advantage of the fact that we were in Florida enjoying warm weather after a few cold snaps in Georgia. Friday evening my folks and James' brother Jason arrived. It was so good to have the support! Race day also involved a lot of walking and waiting, so having more hands on deck to help with the kids was also invaluable.
Saturday morning James got up dark and early to head to the start. The race began at 7 AM, so we walked down the beach in time to see him off.
Before the swim. A proud moment for me!
Jason, James, and Chris B. It was a complete surprise when Chris showed up Friday evening to support James, and it was very meaningful. Chris had originally signed up to do the race with him, but his life was in a bit of transition at the time and he wasn't able to follow through with training like he needed to. James had no idea he was going to show up!
Us with Jason and Mom and Dad.
The start of the swim is madness. Everyone starts at one time, so it's just a mass of flailing arms and legs, headed out to swim almost further than the eye can see. I wasn't able to get a clear picture of how far the buoys went out, but it was REALLY A LONG WAY.
The beach was very crowded. The participants swam out, around all the buoys, then back to the beach, ran through an arch that electronically recorded their time, then out to do it again.
The ocean was not kind that day, either. Some swells were 4 and 5 feet high. The crappy camera cannot accurately record what it looked like out there.
Jason and I tried to weasel our way up to where we could see him come through the first time. The kids and my folks stayed in a clearer area of the beach since there wasn't a chance we'd get everyone close enough to see him.
Here you can see some of the first of the swimmers coming back around to get in the water for the second time.
Look at the mass exodus from the water! James did manage to hear us yelling and waved when he came by.
We moved so we could see him come up the alley and to the bike transition once he was out of the water. He swam faster than he thought he would so he was off to an excellent start.
Here's an avid Ironman supporter. :)
Jason and I got a front seat view of his swim exit by moving forward a half inch at a time when someone would move a little or vacate their spot. We missed getting over to the bike transition in time though, so I didn't get any pictures of him leaving on the bike.
The cool thing was a former staffer (during our second summer of camp), who also interned with us a little while, was at the race supporting a friend and her husband. We hadn't seen her in a few years but she knew we would be there. It was great to see Beth and her husband and son, and she was able to get a few pictures.
And he's off! Notice the cool disc wheel on the back end of the bike. It cuts down on wind resistance.
So we went back to the condo, ate lunch, and went to the beach and pool.
Thankfully one of the pools was heated.
The hot tub was heated too.
Elizabeth practiced her swimming. I didn't let her swim much without a float all summer because we were always in the lake. I don't like the way the lake doesn't let you see a kid who doesn't swim very well yet under the water.
Jason, catching some rays. We were able to check in on James' progress online. When he passed through certain points on the race course his timing chip checked in and they updated points he had been through.
We set up a pop-up tent thingy on the narrow front grassy strip in front of our condo, where we sat to watch James come by on the run. The way it was routed he would come by four different times. We saw him three of those times, and after the third pass we packed up to head down to the race venue to see him finish.
Beth took a few more pictures for us. Here he is heading down the main road between the start and the condo we were staying in. The end of a 112 mile bike ride, the beginning of a 26.2 mile run.
Here he is coming towards us, the first time we got to see him after the ride. I was anxious to know how he was doing since he had been at it for about 7 1/2 hours at this point.
I picked up running with him for about half a mile so we could chat. He said he had been cramping since about mile 80 on the bike ride, because of a salt imbalance. He was eating salt tablets to try to get things stabilized. (Mmm, salt during a run! Yum!) The day had turned out hotter than anyone had expected.
Here he is coming back by us. The interesting guy in red to the right was doing the robot for spectators. You never know what you'll see at a race.
Jason ran with him for a little while this time.
Amelia the phantom photographer got a picture of what I was doing. (That's Beth in the background.)
There was a good deal of waiting between running passes. A vendor had a t-shirt that read, "Ironman Wife: See him swim. Wait wait wait. See him bike. Wait wait wait. See him run. Wait wait wait."
Here he is, the third and final time we would see him, a little more than halfway through his run.
He left us saying, "It's gonna be awhile." Cramping hadn't improved, and he was forced to walk a good bit of it. We waved goodbye and went up to the condo for a little while longer for snacks and regrouping before walking down to the finish. We still had high hopes of him finishing in under 12 hours, his goal, though judging from the online updates it wasn't looking too good.
The finish was extremely crowded, and my folks and the kids found a decent parking/standing place just past the finish. Jason, Amelia, and I walked down the barricades a ways to see if we could watch him come in. We snaked our way to the front and Amelia spent the next several minutes high-fiving everyone who came through.
Finally, with just minutes to spare, we saw him coming in ,and he was running!
James, finishing in darkness no one can see through in a photo, courtesy of the crappy camera.
Yes, that's him! 11 hours, 58 minutes! Man, what a proud moment for me.
James, on the other hand, wasn't feeling his best.
He stood still while I went to find a medic with a wheelchair.
A few hours later he was looking better. He did it!!!
Here are a series of much better pictures than I was able to take. These are the photos the professionals took during the race.
Headed to the bike after the second lap.
I really like the cycling pictures.
This one's my favorite. He looks fast! He's so fast, in fact, that his helmet was actually melting and streaming backwards! Wow.
Transition to the run.
And he's running.
And running...
And suffering...
He picked up the pace and started running again for the last seven miles once he realized a sub 12 finish was within reach. This is sheer willpower.
Saturday night was a bit rough as he was in recovery mode, so it wasn't too restful. That weekend also coincided with the daylight savings time change, so kids were up about 5:15 local time. I just gave it up and went ahead and got out of bed to try to keep them quiet enough for everyone else to sleep. We should have just gone on down to the pool!
James and Jason went back down to the race venue that morning. There was a store open with Ironman gear for sale, a lot of it with the words "Finisher" on it. (Like the jacket above.) Three of the kids went down to the beach with the grandparents while Shannon and I walked down to find the guys.
Then we found a really big chair. So we sat in it.
It was a really big chair.
We found the guys and some of James' friends, who I again failed to get pictures of him with. Not too long after that we headed back to the condo so my folks and Jason could leave for home.
We stayed through Monday and enjoyed our extra day of play. Tuesday we headed home, back to reality and normal life. Many lessons have been learned through this journey, by both me and my Ironman. It's sort of like when you go on a mission trip or work at a camp for the summer and you go home and try to share with people how incredible it was, and most folks don't really get it because they didn't experience it for themselves. It was a big deal in our lives, one we won't soon forget. James has put it his own words here:
Ironman Life Lessons
Does he want to do it again? I'm afraid so...
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