In this collage:
J packing up his stuff...it was quite the ordeal.
1 of my 8 support signs...the runners on the course loved this one. :)
J the morning he left for the Woodlands.
P and I drove down to the Woodlands with J's parents on Friday afternoon. P was rockin' the shades and the paci.
When we arrived, we all put on our "race ninja" t-shirts for J (for those of you who aren't familiar with that term, we coined it a long while ago in reference to J's parents' ability as spectators at a race to pop up unexpectedly along the course...and it stuck!). It was definitely a group effort to get these designed and made, and they turned out great! As a bonus, I think J was actually surprised. :)
Our little family. :)
Sweet P loved looking at the canal out our window.
Ironman Ninja in training.
My sweet boys at a pre-race dinner.
Early morning wake up call...4:00 AM! Why so early? J had to down his 1,000 calorie breakfast 3 hours before the race start, of course. :) Thank goodness J's parents let P sleep in their room! Ironically, thank goodness P failed to take a nap on Friday in the car because he was able to fall asleep within minutes and stay asleep through the night!
We walked to the transition area around 5:30 so J could drop off his bags at his bike.
Thankfully with the humidity there was at least a little breeze...
All the bikes at the transition area...
J after he checked his bike...ready to go down to the swim start.
Some pre-race pics. :)
Poor P was SO tired. He was sobbing during the national anthem for some unknown reason. :(
J and his parents.
Taking care of some last minute details.
Group shot.
And they're off!
This is what 2,000 people swimming together in a lake looks like.
P checking out the swim with Uncle B.
The gang during the swim.
Can you spot J? Yeah. Me neither.
While J swam for 1 hour and 35 minutes, we had a picnic breakfast and strolled over to the transition area. Doesn't seem quite fair, does it?
Waiting for J at the end of the swim.
Judy waiting for J.
P waiting for his dad with Uncle B.
B and KiKi saved the day on Saturday morning. There was LOTS of waiting...and they made it much more bearable for P.
All J's stuff he needed for the bike was in a bag like this with his number on it.
Here he comes! J made it out of the water in 1 hour and 35 minutes...even better, Mike Reilly (the voice of Ironman) announced J's name as he came out of the water - something that happened for probably only 1 out of every 10 or 15 athletes. So cool! And so nice to have the heads up to look for him! :)
Wiping some of that crystal clear canal water out of his eyes. :/
Making his way to his bag.
Waiting with Uncle B for dad on his bike.
J's the blue jersey at the back of the pic.
Getting clipped in to his bike.
And he's off...we'll see him 6 hours and 37 minutes later. In the meantime, I will head out to see a dear college friend and her family and hang out for a couple hours, make it back to the hotel, eat lunch, and hang out and let P get acquainted with a sweet family friend from church who now lives in Houston and was there to take care of P until the end of the race...and J was riding his bike the entire time...unbelievable.
He made it! When J saw this picture, he commented that his face looked really red...I told him his face was really red, which shouldn't be so surprising, considering it was a balmy 91 degrees with 70ish% humidity.
The infamous "acknowledgment wave."
Included this picture to show how brutal the sun was...barely a cloud in the sky.
One of 5 encounters with J on the run course...not exactly sure why it looks like he's just hanging out. :) He wasn't.
P was able to be there to cheer on his dad during the first lap of the run.
Lap 2, Mile 15. I was able to walk for about .2 of a mile with him. It was so nice to be next to him for more than 1 second, which had been the case for the rest of the day!
J's dad giving him some encouragement while shooting some video - he's multi-talented. :)
When we saw J again at mile 18.5 or so, he went zooming past us without even a wave. As we would later find out, it wasn't until mile 18 that he felt like he finally caught up with his nutrition and felt like he had some energy...hence the zooming!
We made our way over to the finish line to wait for J. The energy from the crowd was truly electrifying...I had never experienced anything like it. To watch all these people come running across the finish line after completing a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and then run a marathon was inspiring.
It's hard to see, but beyond the crowd is J coming in for the final 200 yards! We knew that a blister on his foot (from burning it on the asphalt while transitioning from the bike to the run) had popped at mile 22 and that he couldn't run anymore because it hurt too much. I just prayed (and asked other people to, too!) that he would be able to run across the finish line. K saw him approaching, and when we first saw him, he was hobbling towards the chute. Then out of no where he started running - I swear we needed Chariots of Fire music playing in the background! (Fun fact: he ended up crossing the finish line to a Kei$ha song. :)) K and I both started crying and cheered him on across the finish line. It was fantastic!
Here's J right after he crossed the finish line at 15 hours, 38 minutes, and 39 seconds. The BEST part was that as he approached the finish line he was high-fiving people and then crossed the finish line with his fists in the air. It was pure JOY! (Another answered prayer!) :) It was so awesome to witness him complete this race!
Here's our Ironman after he emerged from the medical tent where he was getting his blister tended to. :) After giving him hugs of congratulations, he spilled the beans - he fell off his bike around mile 20! :/
Here's a close up of his war-wound from the bike accident...we realized after we got home that his helmet had cracked! Another answered prayer: God certainly protected him out on that course!
Here's his bandaged up foot...made it a little hard to walk through the streets and back to our hotel, but he was a good sport about it. :)
Me and my IRONMAN! I couldn't be prouder! :)
The whole gang of race ninjas!
After the race, we went to the finish line to watch the very last athletes cross the finish line and become Ironmen...the last person who crossed under the 17 hour mark came in around 16 hours and 59 minutes - the crowd went wild (the Icona Pop song, I Love It will ever be singed in my mind because of this experience)!
We made our way back to the hotel a little after midnight, got ready for bed - which was fun with his bum foot :), and then more or less collapsed.
I still can't believe that the day has come and gone. I've told people that I kind of equate it to your wedding day. You spend so much time preparing for it, and then the day comes, and you are so excited, and you enjoy every moment, and then all of a sudden it's over...and you're so glad that it happened, but now you have to learn how to live life after the wedding...and so that's where we are. Trying to figure out life after the Ironman. I told J that I didn't know what to do with myself when he came home from work a little after 4:00 on Friday and then was here to hang out with us this (Saturday) morning. :) I can definitely get used to this. :)
So THANK YOU for supporting us on this incredible journey! :) Your thoughts and prayers were felt all the way down in muggy, hotter than Hades Houston :) and made SUCH a difference! We hope you enjoy the next few posts about some details of the day and can get a better feel for these crazy 16 hours...until the next post... :)
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