One last blog......

What a race! I couldn't have hoped for it to have gone any better. I'd say that was one of my favorite races ever. Right up there with the NYC Marathon. Here's the play-by-play since the Friday blog. 

I was pretty tired by six on Friday night. I hadn't been sleeping well and I hadn't napped that day. Before bed Annabelle and I set seven alarm clocks for four in the morning. I figured that would be one less thing I had to worry about and hopefully one less worry to keep me awake, knowing that at least one in seven alarms would work. I was in bed by 6:45pm and sound asleep by 7pm. I slept straight through until one am, then I was basically up after that. I managed to fall asleep at 3:30, but at four the cacophony of alarms began. 

I woke up, fed the dogs, and then made myself a bagel with cream cheese and a protein smoothie. I was able to eat most of the bagel and most of the smoothie. I was still very, very tired, and started to get really apprehensive about the whole thing. I turned on the tv to find something to distract my negative thoughts. There is absolutely nothing on tv at four on a Sunday morning. Only infomercials. And I Love Lucy. So I had Lucy on in the background. The weather was predicted to be in the low 90s with medium humidity, and overcast skies with a chance of thunderstorms. 

The plan was to leave the hotel at 5:15. I spent 4:30-5:15 changing into my outfit, and clogging the toilet. At 5:15 we left the room. I said goodbye to the pups and pulled the door shut. As soon as I turned the corner towards the elevator I started to cry. I was so scared about the race. I was so nervous about the pain. Every negative thing I could have told myself came bubbling to the surface. But it was more than just negative thoughts. It was a visceral reaction. I felt nauseous. I didn't want to do the race. But I knew that I really did want to do it. Chris and Annabelle did their best to make me feel better. 

On the walk over to transition I tried to get into a zen state. I pumped up my tires and filled my water bottles. Then I had to use the bathroom again. I clogged up a second toilet. Then we made our way to the swim start. The swim start was about a mile from the bike transition area. It was a nice walk-I tried to keep calm and not let my emotions get the best of me. I dried my eyes by the time I got to the body-markers. I was hoping we'd get the official stamp looking numbers like they do in Kona, but no luck. Just a plain old permanent marker. Which quickly came off when Chris put my sunscreen on a few minutes later. 

I dropped my special needs bag off in the boxes and then hit the porto potty line. 

It took me about 25 minutes to get to the front of the line and I was one of the last people in before the race started. 

I tried to eat a power bar, but it was just too gross.

When I came out of the porto potty they were announcing for everyone to get in the water, that the horn was going to go off in two minutes. I still had to put my wetsuit on! Chris and Annabelle helped get me dressed and sent me off to the water. I told Chris I didn't want to do the race. He said, "Ok, well just do the swim, and see how you feel. If you're not having fun, you can be done. If you're doing ok, go for the bike ride, and if you're still having fun, then go for the run." It was the best thing he could have ever said at that exact moment. He's pretty awesome like that.

I set off for the water and luckily saw Kristi as she was heading towards the non-wetsuit entry. I got a quick hug and told her I was scared. She said that I was going to do great and that I was ready for the race. As I was making my way down the entry ramp the horn sounded! The race had started! As soon as my feet were in the water, I wiped the last of my tears, put on my goggles and told myself-"OK mind, time to shut up and let the body take over now." And just like that I switched gears from being all emotional and apprehensive, to actually enjoying the race. 

The swim start was just as crazy as I thought it would be, but not as difficult to navigate as I thought it would be. All the hardcore swimmers were way in front, so I was at the back with all the other people who wanted to be at the back with the slow swimmers. Almost everytime I got hit or kicked, there was a "Sorry" that followed. Most people near me just did the side stroke, doggie paddle, or the breaststroke without putting their heads in the water for the first little bit until the crowd dispersed. It was about a minute into the swim that I heard, "HELP"! And suddenly a bunch of people were all yelling it and pointing down. The kayak lifeguard came over in a split second and saved the swimmer with the kayak paddle. I was caught up in the mass of swimmers, so I didn't see what happened after that. I can only imagine that he/she had been pushed under the water by accident and maybe panicked. I hope he/she was able to continue the race. 

The swim was incredible. It was the best and most fun swim I've ever had. I quickly got into my rhythm. I looked for the buoy that was next in line, and just swam to it. Then I looked for the next buoy and swam to that one. It was a technique that I had read about....to take the race little by little, and to not focus on the entire race and how long the race would be. It really helped me to relax and just enjoy the swim. It was a beautiful lake. No wake or waves. Very calm considering there were 2500 of us swimming in it! The lake is set in the middle of a very affluent community, so it was nice to see all the mansions and people watching from the shores. After about 2/3 of the swim, the course turns into a canal. It was a small bottleneck, but we didn't have to slow down too much. It did get a little choppy in there and I managed to take in a full mouthful of lake water. I flipped on my back and coughed it out in about five seconds, then flipped back over and kept breaststroking. 

I got hit in the head pretty hard a couple of times in the canal area. It was tight quarters. The sides of the canal were so shallow, that at one time, after I got hit and I stopped to tread water while the person moved away from me, and I touched the bottom with my feet and it was only about three feet deep! 

Before I knew it I was at the ladder to get out of the water! I thought I heard the announcer say that the time was 1:38. I thought, "Oh cool, I beat my Lake Travis swim by a minute!" And then I realized that they said  1:28! I had beaten it by 11 minutes! I was so excited because I really thought the swim would take me 1:45-2:00. That was certainly an encouraging moment in the race! 

I climbed up the ladder and was surprised to find that I wasn't dizzy at all. 

I'd been reading that it's normal to feel dizzy after the swim, and I had felt that after the Lake Travis swim. So that was another encouraging thing! And then I saw Chris and Annabelle! Things were looking good!  Chris and Annabelle said they were happy to see me smiling after the swim. They were both pretty worried about me when I headed out for the swim and hour and a half earlier! 

Out of the water, I went to the wetsuit strippers. Always fun! Then the chute leads you to your transition bag. A volunteer called out my number and another volunteer handed me my bag. I went into the changing tent and was immediately greeted by yet another volunteer. This volunteer opened my bag and organized everything for me! Helped me put on my bike outfit, put sunscreen on my legs, shoulders, and face while I ate an accel gel and drank water. When I was done with all my stuff, she put it back in the bag and walked me to the exit. I went to the porto potty again there before getting my bike. The chute takes you past volunteers who were there to apply sunscreen to the athletes! What first class treatment! I didn't need any though since I put some on in the tent. I got my bike and headed out. 

(I'm on the far left side of this pic-in the black and blue top. You can see my head, arm, and shoulder.)

Annabelle made some new friends out on the course!

The bike ride was so great. I loved the course. I'm so glad we didn't go down earlier in April as we had planned for two reasons. One, the roads are really busy with traffic and most of the roads have very small shoulders. And two, it was fun not knowing what to expect. I liked taking all the turns and jut not knowing what was going to be there. The course was so exhilarating! Early on I made a plan. Just like the buoy technique worked on the swim, I decided to take the bike course ten miles at a time. There were water stops every ten miles. So I decided that I would just tell myself I had to bike ten miles. 

My plan was to drink one bottle of water every ten miles. Every ten miles, on the 5, (so 15, 25, 35, etc.), I planned to sit up on my bike, drink a lot of water, and stretch my back and shoulders. Then every 20 miles I would try to eat. That plan helped to break the 112 miles into smaller, more manageable chunks. My water plan worked great. My stretching plan worked pretty well. My nutrition plan didn't work at all. I tried to eat at mile 15. No luck. I just couldn't stomach anything that I had packed with me. And it was all food that I had practiced with on the training rides. The only thing that I could stomach were the accel gels. They were great because they have protein, carbs, and calories. 

The highlight of the bike ride, besides the course itself, were all the signs that spectators were holding up.  Here were some of my favorite:

"Excuse me for saying so, but that bike makes your butt look fast."

"Hurry up and finish before the Apocalypse!"

"Welcome to the Ironman-now you are broke!"

"112 miles, because 110 would be wimpy"

You always hear stories about bikers during Ironman races who pee on the bike without getting off. Well, I had the honor of seeing it happen first hand. And no, it wasn't me. A dude right in front of me stood up on his bike and we weren't climbing a hill, so I moved out of his way, just to be safe. And sure enough, he peed. Then he rinsed himself off with some water. All par for the course in an Ironman!

At one point a lady came up behind me and said, "I was impressed with your skills back there!" I said, "What skills?" Then she told me that she saw me stretching and drinking without my hands on the handlebars and she said that she can't let go like that. I told her that I had to stretch my back a lot. Later on during the ride, I was stopped at my special needs bag and she stopped next to me. The volunteer asked her how her race was going and she said, "Oh, this is just a training day for me, I don't have a time goal." I said, "An Ironman is a training day for you? What are you training for?" She said that she has two more Ironman races in the next eight weeks. Wow! She must have been a professional! And she was impressed with my skills! Whoop! Whoop!

The ride was going along great. I hit the halfway point at 3 hours and 1 minute. 18.5 average. Then we turned around into the headwind. The wind was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. It seemed to shift around a lot, and there were enough turns in the course that it was never directly in your face for very long. We sure trained well, with some really open, hilly, and windy conditions. Our training rides were so much more difficult than the actual course. 

Around mile 70 I started to get pretty sore in my neck and shoulders. I switched positions a lot, but nothing helped. By mile 90 I was really hurting. And my saddle sores were coming back. So at mile 95 I stopped to stretch and take some more aleve. I had read that taking a few extra minutes on the bike, and stopping on the bike, can save you a lot of time on the run. I stopped for about four minutes. I went to the bathroom, applied vaseline where it needed to go, and really stretched my back. When I got back on the bike, I got a second wind and felt great. I can't remember exactly what mile it was, but there was about a mile or two stretch where there was crazy chipseal pavement. The kind that jars every part of your body. That was by far the most painful stretch of the entire ride. 

By mile 106, I was just ready to get off the bike. But the end was in sight, so I just tried to enjoy the surroundings, lots of people waiting in lines of cars were cheering us on-"Girl Power!" and "You're such an inspiration!" helped me get through the last few miles. And then before I knew it, I was at the transition area! 

The transition volunteers treat you like royalty! You get a personal assistant when you enter and they take your bike for you. They say, "Whenever you're ready, I'll take your helmet, gloves, and shoes." Then they hold on to you while you bend over to take your shoes off. Then they rack your bike for you while you continue on to the changing tent. They handed me my run transition bag and I went into the tent, where yet another personal assistant volunteer came over to help. She had two cups of ice water for me, and opened my bag while I sat down and drank. She helped me get changed and then I went to the sunscreen volunteers and got covered with spf. Then headed out to the run course.

I made a plan in my head that I would try to run in between each rest stop and then walk the rest stops. There were rest stops every mile. The plan worked pretty well and I felt great! It took me about two miles to get my running legs on completely, but then it was smooth sailing. There were some great signs on the run course too.

"You survived the Raptrue, now you can survive the Ironman!"

"Toenails are for sissies!"

"Marathon-Ironman lingo for cool-down."

"The End Is Near."

I still hadn't eaten much the entire day, except the accel gels. I felt pretty good though. I did try to eat some cookies and pretzels at the water stops. The pretzels just wouldn't go down. I managed to eat a few cookies along the course.  It was a really fun run. The three-loop course was great-it takes you through a lot of shaded trails and then along the riverwalk area where there are bars and restaurants. All the patrons were clearly enjoying the race! I could tell on each of my three loops that they were getting drunker and drunker each time I passed them! Hahahaha! 

There were so many spectators on the course that you never really felt alone. I kept playing leap frog with a few different runners so we'd walk and talk together for a little while and then get back to our own individual paces. This one guy asked me if it was my first Ironman and I said yes. He asked me what I thought of the race and I told him I was loving it. I said that it was great weather. He said, "You must be from here!"  It was in the 90s with 70% humidity and I was loving it. He said he was from West Virginia and that they'd had a cool Spring and that he wasn't used to the heat at all. We talked for a few minutes and then we set off running again. 

One of the best parts of the run was seeing Chris and Annabelle every eight miles. I got to see them twice at that point because the course does a big u-turn. 

From about mile 15-18 I was tanked. I walked a lot more than I ran. It was a weird feeling-one that's hard to explain. Like hitting the wall in a marathon, it's hard to put into words.

I stopped to change my socks at mile 16. That really helped. I had an extra pair in my special needs bag.  Again, a personal assistant volunteer to help!

The volunteers are truly amazing. They made the race so much easier and more fun. They were so kind and tentative to every athlete's need. 

Mentally I was fine during the rough spot, but I felt really nauseous. I told myself, "If you're going to throw up, then just do it and then get back to running. If you're not going to throw up, then keep running." That seemed to help, because I didn't throw up, and I got back to running. At mile 20, I realized that I was going to finish feeling strong-one of my main goals for the race. I was so excited that I picked up the pace a little bit. The crowd was saying, "Great pace! You look strong!" and that helped to motivate me. I ran the last two miles in a nine minute pace per mile! Pretty good for ol' Grannie legs! 

The finisher's chute is about a quarter mile long, and it's jam packed with spectators three and four deep. When I entered that, I felt like I was flying! It was such a feeling to see all the people cheering you on-it was an incredible feeling knowing that the finish line was just around the next corner! I have goose bumps even as I type this...it was certainly a once in a lifetime experience. 

 The finish line was exhilarating! My one word of advice to anyone who is going to ever do an Ironman is, make sure you look at the camera at the finish line! I’m looking at the ground in my finish photo. As soon as you cross, you get a personal assistant volunteer who holds you up and asks if you how you feel and if you need the medical tent. I said, “I feel amazing! No medical tent for me!” She walked me over to get my finishers shirt and cap, and then escorted me to the end of the chute where you had to navigate your own way to the food. 

I wasn’t hungry at all, so I just made my way to some steps and sat down. I put my head in my hands and started to sob. Tears of joy! I can’t describe the feelings. Relief, pride, excitement, accomplishment, success, it was all rolled up into those tears of joy! I waited on the steps, knowing that Chris and Annabelle would find me, and sure enough, a few minutes later-there they were! They helped me stand up and it was hugs all around! After some photos we made a plan.

Chris was tracking Kristi and Wayne on the athlete tracker. Bonnie had already finished and was back at her hotel feeling too sick to get up. We knew we had enough time before Kristi finished that I could go and shower, change, and get back to see her cross the finish line. So that’s what we did. It felt wonderful to shower. Nice clean, dry clothes helped me feel better too. I still didn’t have an appetite, but I figured I should eat something. I think I had a pack of sharkies, but I can’t remember. We had perfect timing to see Kristi take the corner on the last quarter mile chute before the finish line! She finished strong and we were able to find her right away at the end.

We tried to find some food, but everything was closed, so we just sat down on the sidewalk and waited for Wayne. Wayne came across a little bit later and had a great finish line photo! Then we took our own photos before heading over to get our bikes and transition bags. 

We were all a little out of it, and Chris and Annabelle were so tired too from such a long day. We somehow made it back to the hotel safe and sound with all our belongings.  Back at the hotel I tried to eat a yogurt but could only eat half of it before I felt sick. I went to bed hungry, but pleasantly satiated!

What an amazing experience. Here's a close-up of the medal and my extra bib.

The next day Chris drove Annabelle back to the airport while Kristi, Wayne, and I made our way over to the finishers tent for some items. Apparently you can’t buy the Ironman Finisher stuff on-line. You have to get it in person. I got a nice pull-over for colder days and air-conditioned restuarants.

I managed to eat a bowl of cereal before we headed out of town. I think the nutrition piece of the race was one of my biggest surprises. Nothing I had trained with worked on race day. I wasn’t hungry at all. I didn’t get my appetite back for 72 hours after the race, and even now it’s not quite back to normal. I don’t even know what I would have done differently. Probably nothing. I think the amount of water I drank on the course, and the accel gels saved me nutrition-wise.

Wow, what a blog. What a six month journey. What a relief it's over!

I think the things that will stick with me the most are:

1. My friends and family

2. The course

3. The weather

4. Putting all my special needs stuff in an extra garbage bag the night before, because it did rain-and all my stuff stayed dry!

5. The spectators

6. The volunteers 

7. The fun signs

8. The hotel location-walking distance to everything-worth every penny!

9. Getting hit on the head a bunch during the swim

10. My sense of accomplishment

I can't say enough what an incredible journey this has been. I had so much fun. I met my three goals. They were to beat the cut-off times, to enjoy the day, and to finish feeling good. Check, check, and check! I wouldn't change a thing!

 Official times

Mary 

Swim-1:28:58

T1-12:34

Bike-6:31:01

T2-11:54

Run-5:15:32

Total-13:40:58

Kristi

Swim-1:21:15

T1-10:54

Bike-7:04:49

T2-21:15

Run-6:13:31

Total-15:11:41

Wayne

Swim-1:13:29

T1-11:24

Bike-7:14:17

T2-32:08

Run-7:04:32

Total-16:15:47

Bonnie

Swim-1:20:04

T1-6:05

Bike-5:51:23

T2-6:08

Run-5:04:54

Total-12:28:31

We did it!!!

Check back tomorrow night for blog report from the race. Sorry everybody....I'm too plum exhausted to give the blog the attention it needs. I'm also uploading photos and trying to remember everything that happened. But in a nutshell, we all finished!!!!

M :)

It's really happening!

Today's workout:
Off

Annabelle arrived from New Jersey last night around 11pm. We took a toll road to pick her up and there was no traffic at all. Easy peasy. We chatted for a while when we got back to the hotel and then fell asleep around 12:30. I slept like a rock until 3 am, when I got up to use the restroom. I couldn't really fall asleep after that-tossed and turned. But I stayed in bed until seven which was nice. Then we woke up and went downstairs for breakfast.

This was my breakfast this morning. Potatoes and a waffle with strawberry sauce, chocolate chips, and whipped cream.

Just kidding! That was Chris's breakfast!

Annabelle had a waffle with just maple syrup.

I had some orange juice, some oatmeal, some fruit, a cinnamon roll, and a bowl of fruit loops.

Annabelle!

After breakfast we went for a walk. Kristi reported in about the practice swim. Kristi and Bonnie are not wearing wet suits, Wayne is going to wear his, but he says he got hot after twenty minutes. Kristi said that water is really murky and that you can't see the person swimming right next to you. And when she changed out of her swimsuit/unitard, there was lake scum on her. Yuck. Here's a picture from their swim this morning.

I'm glad I didn't go swimming. We walked over there and saw everyone practicing. I feel like I may have gotten more anxious if I had swam.

We left the hotel and walked through Market Street on our way to the swim start. They were setting up what looked like the finish line. Here are some pics from our journey over to the swim start.

I think I'm going to petition the USAT to see if I can ride this donkey instead of my bike tomorrow. Oh no wait, I think Kristi already did that.

Looks like they have the finishers tent all set up for me. I will be crawling across the finish line anyway, so they have the tent at the perfect height! Hahaha!

Those crazy pro triathletes were out again today, they almost took out Chris just like Wayne yesterday!

piggie99?

Here's the Ironman Support Crew!

This picture was taken on the bridge over the swim start.

After we explored the swim start area we walked over to the transition area.  We saw the swim exit again and figured out the path that we'll follow from the water to the changing tent. Then we went to the expo so Chris and Annabelle could look around. I found some Ironman coffee (Kona coffee in an Ironman package) that I got for my dad for his birthday. By the time we got to the expo the pups were hot and tired! We were walking for about two hours, and they were ready for some air conditioning!

So we went back to the hotel where I finished packing my gear bags. I made tons of bagels with the almond spread, baggies of goldfish, and baggies of cookies. I tried on my bike shirt to see just how much I could fit in there. Annabelle was laughing at my new big butt!

There are four bagels, five accel gels, and a big ziplocky filled with goldfish in there! I hope I don't fall over backwards on the bike from the weight on my back! Hahahaha!

At noon we met up with the crew and headed over to drop off our bikes and gear bags. I double bagged my gear bags because we're supposed to get thunderstorms tonight. I also put plastic bags over my handlebars and seat, just in case.

This is my designated row. My number is 370, so my bike is at the very end of this row. Right next to a huge speaker that is right at ear level. They decided to throw me my very own party in transition! 

This is where we dropped off our swim gear bags. In the morning we'll come running (or walking) up this ramps from the far side of the photo, past the bags, grab the bag with our number on it, and head into the changing tent. I feel like it took a whole lot of faith to just leave my stuff there! I asked what happens if someone grabs the wrong bag, and the volunteer says they do their best to make sure that doesn't happen! I'm still not sure if we have to find it ourselves, or if a volunteer will have it ready for us. 

This is the bike transition area. The tent at the far side is the changing tent. After changing we grab our bike and run in the direction of where I'm standing for the pic, out to the road, and then start the bike ride. 

I have a small world story from today...while I was setting up my bike I was talking to the lady who was setting her bike up two away from mine. We were talking about the wind this past spring and she asked where I was from. I told her Austin and she said she was from Longview. I told her I had a friend from Longview, and that her name was Paula. She finished my sentence and said, "McKinney? That's my good friend!" What a coincidence! Paula had texted me to let me know she had a friend doing the race, but I never in a million years expected to bump into her-especially since I didn't know who she was! So we took a picture and I sent it to Paula!

As I was just typing the blog, Lisa called me and we talked for about 15 minutes. She is super friendly! She said that she has two friends that are going to be on the bike course on a motorcycle and that they're going to take photos, so she called to get my race number and my bike outfit details so they could see if they can find me and take photos! She plans on doing the swim in about 1:40-1:50, so she and I may end up at the bike transition at the same time! It was nice to talk to her, she's got a great attitude about the race and it was contagious! I'm even more excited after talking to her!

Here's me and Lisa. My bike is right behind me to my left. 

After dropping off the bikes and gear bags we went out to eat. Chris, Annabelle, and I ate at La Madeline and everyone else ate at Potbelly's. I didn't want to eat there because I never have eaten there before and I don't want to try anything new today.

Here's what the police look like in the Woodlands. They wear red uniforms and they all ride around on horses. Pretty cool!

For the last couple hours since lunch we've just been chilling in the hotel room. Caribia and Cheyenne are still pooped out from this morning's adventure. Annabelle and Chris have both been sleeping too. I had to take a bath when we got back from lunch because I was so hot. The humidity is in full force today! Welcome to Houston! But now I am relaxed and cozy in sweats. I don't think I could nap right now, but maybe I should try.

Here's my plan for the rest of the evening and for tomorrow morning. Kristi and Wayne are going to come over at five pm and we're going to cook pasta. Then I'm going to try to be in bed by eight. Even if I don't fall asleep right away, it'll be good to lie down. Oh yea, I'll set four alarms before I hit the sack. Then tomorrow morning my alarms will go off at four. I'll make my bagel and my smoothie and eat first thing. That will give me enough time to use the facilities a bunch of times before we head out. After I eat I'll double check my special needs bags. We're going to leave the hotel at 5:15 and walk to the bike transition area. I have my last minute list of things not to forget. I'll pump up the bike tires, get my number written on me, and put my special needs bag where they need to go. Hopefully we'll find out if it's wetsuit legal at that point. If it's not, I have to change into my one-piece swimsuit because the shirt I want to wear has a big pocket on the back (the blue one pictured earlier in this blog) and I don't need any extra drag! I want to leave transition at 6 am and walk over to the swim start, which is about a 20 minute walk. I want to have a good 30-40 minutes at the swim start before the swim starts so I can stand in the porto-potty line. Just like my magnet! Hahahaha!

Chris and Annabelle are all set up with where to go to watch and will do their best to make it to as many spots as possible. I hope I get to see them a lot!!!

Everyone has been calling/texting to send good wishes! My new co-workers all called me on speaker phone yesterday and Jenni just called me now. It's really motivating me to know that people will be sending me energy tomorrow! I'm getting more and more excited and less and less nervous! Yeah!!!


One of my biggest challenges for tomorrow will be remembering everything that happens so I can blog all about it on Sunday! One final blog! I can't believe it's here. I'm going to do my best to remember all the fun details, the horrible details, the emotions, the pain, and the triumph of crossing the finish line, so that I can have a really good final blog.


So how am I feeling? I can't believe the event is tomorrow. I feel like it's all very surreal. I'm very excited to get out there and just enjoy the day and everything that comes with it. I'm going to plan for the worst, but hope for the best. I'm going to keep my pace and nutrition in check. I'm going to try and enjoy the scenery of the bike route and the crowds on the run.  When it's gets tough out there I will just remember how many people I have supporting me. I will try to relax and get through the mental and/or physical wall at that time. I've re-read the article about mental preparation and I feel like I've got a good plan in my mind. I'm not 100% confident that I will finish, but I am 100% confident that I will have fun trying!!!!!

M :)

All checked in!

Today's workout:
Bike-26 minutes (4 miles)

Yup! We biked 4 miles in 26 minutes this morning! My favorite workout of the entire training!!!! Heeehee! I decided to blog now, but there may be another blog entry later today. I have so much to blog about and so many photos to post, this may be a two-blog day!!!

I couldn't sleep last night. I didn't fall asleep until after midnight and I was up at 4:45 this morning. I managed to stay in bed until 5:30. Then I got up and took the pups for a walk, ate breakfast, and went to HEB. Breakfast is included at the hotel and they have those yummy hotel waffles that you make yourself. I had half of one of those with a quarter of it with chocolate chips in the waffle syrup holder pockety things. Yummy!

After HEB Chris woke up and we took the pups for a walk over to Town Green Park where the bike transition area is. We also saw the exit from the swim. Then we walked back through Market Street which is kind of like The Domain in Austin. At 8 am Kristi, Wayne, and Bonnie, and I met up and biked back over to the swim exit and then to the swim start. Here are some pics.

Bonnie, Wayne, Kristi, and the HEB delivery guy.

Here is the spot where my bike will be in transition! Number 370!

This should be the swim exit. Looks like there are ladders that we have to climb up to get out of the water! That should be interesting! 

This is the view of the "boardwalk" area that's near the swim exit. We bumped into Todd running out there. 

After we saw the transition area and the swim exit we made our way over to the swim start. Here are some pictures from that area. That area is called North Shore Park.

I think this is where we actually get in the water. Looks like it's going to be one of those starts where they have us all in the water treading water before the start.  

This is the area that we will swim out towards.

This is the sign that says when the practice swim is. Friday morning at 8am. Kristi, Wayne, and Bonnie are going to do it. I'm going to just get a report from them. Chris, Annabelle, and I will walk over there with the pups, but I'm not going to get in the water. 

This is a good photo from the bridge over the swim start. We swim a long ways down this stretch. 

It's really overcast today, which is actually pretty nice because it's hot! The Woodlands is a nice planned community. There's everything you could ever need here, but you'd never know it because all the stores are hidden behind trees and there are no big signs anywhere. It reminds me of the Bee Caves area a little in Austin. Very swanky.

Our hotel is awesome! Here are some photos of our room. There is a full kitchen with everything you could need. And there is a nice desk area where Chris is able to work from. We have an amazing king sized bed too. Last night Chris had three-quarters of the bed and the dogs decided to share the other quarter with me, leaving me with about an eighth of the king sized bed. What does that equal in regal bed terms? Maybe a peasant sized bed?

The pups are settling in nicely. I know it's helped them since we all slept here last night. Our smell is taking over the room now and they must feel more at home. We were able to go out to eat lunch today and they stayed in the room without destroying anything, and we haven't heard from any of our neighbors complaining that they were barking, so that's good news!

After the bike ride this morning we went to the Expo to sign in and to check out the shop with all the Ironman stuff in it. We waited about 10 minutes to sign-in. It was well organized and not too hot at that point. We got into the shop pretty early, so it wasn't too busy.  I spent about 30 minutes looking around and trying things on. When I noticed the check-out line was getting longer and longer, I jumped in line and got out of there! I don't do well with long lines and crowds!

While Kristi and Wayne kept looking around the shop, I walked around the expo and signed up for all the raffles! Here's a shirt that I liked, but I didn't get it. I thought it fit a little funny. Not ha-ha funny, but ill-fit funny. It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but there are three people made of brass swimming, morphing into biking, morphing into running. There's a cool quote under it, but I can't remember what it said now.

Bonnie and Todd had Murphy at the Expo. Murphy was a hit, as always! Bonnie and Murphy even got interviewed to be on the Texas Ironman Highlights Show!

They had some fun things at the expo. Here's a place that was trying to sell trainers. They had a trainer hooked up to a blender. You could get on the bike, pedal, and mix a smoothie with your own pedal power!  The lady has her hand on top of the blender.

And another place was selling "Compression Chairs". You sit in a air filled chair and put these plastic material leggings one. Once you're all hooked up, they turn on the machine and the chair and the leggings fill with air, which then compresses your body! Hahahaha! They'll try to sell you anything!

Here's a picture of the stuff I got at the expo. I got a visor, two water bottles, (one for home, one for work), an m-dot sticker, the purple biking outfit (there's an m-dot on both the top and bottom), and an m-dot necklace that you can barely see in this picture. 

AND....Kristi gave us all an Ironman Motivation Kit last night at dinner! It was so awesome! Here's a picture of the stuff she gave us. A re-usable grocery bag, a bumper sticker, cozy socks, a magnet, and a running shirt!

Each person got a different magnet. Bonnie's said, "I am tri", Todd's said, "Got PR?" and mine has a swimmer, a biker, a runner, and a porto-potty! Hahahahahaha! Kristi also got us all temporary tattoos, which didn't arrive yet, so we'll be sporting those next week if all goes well! And everyone got the same shirt, so now we can look like a team! Sometimes when we're doing boot camp workouts people will ask us what group we're with. Well, now The Jiggly Middles have an official shirt to represent! Yeehaww!

After the expo, I came back to the hotel and met up with Chris, who had been working all morning. We met up with everyone over at Panera for lunch. Yummy! Then after lunch I went through the bag that we got when we signed in today. I was so excited when I saw the free lip balm, courtesy of the Waste Management program. Yup, lip balm from waste management. I put it on my lips and could taste dirt, banana peels, and tires. No, not really, but it sure was strange to have lip balm from the waste management company! Here's a photo.

It's actually mint flavored and 30 spf! Not too shabby for the garbage company!


While I spent the afternoon lounging on the bed with the pups working on the blog, K, W, B, and T were out on the town. Wayne got a haircut. This is the front view.

And here's the back view.

Wayne has always talked about getting an m-dot tattoo! I wonder how he found a tattoo shop in The Woodlands! He's so resourceful like that.


And apparently Kristi wanted to petition the USAT to see if she could ride this donkey instead of her bike on Saturday.

Wayne was almost knocked over as two of the professional triathletes zoomed by him on their bikes this afternoon. Good thing for his quick reflexes!

Boy, what an exciting afternoon! They also found a huge poster with all the names of the people who entered the race on it! Luckily they were in alphabetical, so they weren't too hard to find.

Once they got back to their rooms, I asked them to send me their swag pics. Here's Bonnie's stuff from her shopping spree. The big m-dot shirt on the bottom right is made up of all the participants names, and her name is listed very first at the top of the dot! Very cool!

And here's Kristi and Wayne's swag. Look how organized Monica made everything for the photo. It looks like she measured the space in between each item!

I just saw on the Texas Ironman website that the Expo and shop won't be open tomorrow. They reported that the vendors have run out of gear. I can't imagine why....


So here we are, less than 48 hours from the official start. I'm enjoying a nice chill afternoon with buggy, she won't leave my side, sweet thing. I'm going to take them for a walk in a little bit here.

Annabelle arrives tonight! Yeehawww! I'm so excited that she's coming down to cheer us on! Ok, I'm gonna make her bed now and then walk the pups.

We'll see how tired I am later and if anything else blog-worthy happens tonight. Otherwise, hasta manana!

M :)