A Wisconsin Wrap Up

Returning from a writing respite Pinkgurugal has been out of blog commission for the last few days resting from Sunday's ironman finish. I'm still processing the experience. And I have my head buried in work. Beer therapy has been in order for the last few days. Mucho beer in celebration of...ummm.. me. :) A HUGE Thanks to all my blog buddies out there for the congrats and well wishes. It means a lot.

A Race Repeat

It's official. Three days after my first ironman, the chelly has signed up...for Ironman Austria!Oh yeah. I peer pressured Ironbabe Jane to sign up. I also learned today that Sugar Daddy Philip and his girl Sugar Mama Natalie will also be going.

It will be an Ironman Affair. A soiree of sorts. A tri commune european vacation. All five of us, including TriRyGuy. We're all in. Now we need to figure out who's rooming with whom. We know the Chelly has to stay together...

Pre-Race Report Rundown I won't bore you with all the details, but allow me to share some of the more memorable moments and pictures from IMOO On the eve of the race, the Chelly and TriRyguy decided to carbo load by heading to Takara once again. This time for an entertaining Hibachi dinner. I got the scallops and chicken, Kelly got chicken and shrimp, and TriRyguy got the same. The Chelly was stuffed. In fact, we both felt like bloated whales for the last three days. We did nothing but eat and eat and eat more. See, we are not used to stuffing our faces at every meal. But we did. After dinner, we all headed back to the room for a final check of our stuff and a nappy poo. I managed to head to bed by 10:00, with a wake up call at 4:30am. I slept great. So did TriRyguy And surprisingly, all those nerves "those people" talk about on pre race night really didn't strike me. Pinkgurugal's IMOO Nutriton and Race report 4:30am: We got up. We ate. I had a half bagel with peanut butter and some grape jelly. Without TriRyguy I'm not sure if the Chelly would have awakened on time. Or gotten everything together without forgetting something@

Then at 5ish we headed to the sight to drop off our transition bags and check our bikes. I had a hiccup with a loose valve. Thankfully, a volunteer with inside out sports helped me fix it. I admit I was a little panicked. Oh and this photo appeared in the Ironman.com photo gallery. :)

6:20am pre swim. i had a 1/2 gu since kelly forgot her's. I shared Because sharing is caring. Because the Chelly and I share a lot. :) As small as I am, 1/2 was plenty. 7:00am: The gun goes off! I start swimming with the pack. I was slow, I got trampled, I was bashed in the face, I zigzagged, but never once did I panic. Aim for the bouy. Aim... 8:44am: I get out of the water and head to T1. I felt good. Refreshed. And I laughed. Shit, I can't believe I am here! 8:54am After a volunteer helped me with my helmut, shoes, and socks. I zipped onto my bike and off I went. Here's a shot of the Chelly fan club. 3:43pm: OMG! I'm finally off the bike. Official time: 6:50 minutes.

I ate 2 power bars, drank copious amounts of gatorade and water, and nibbled on 1/2 banana. Oh and I stopped once to pee. I took a chance and decided I didn't need anything in my special needs bag. I was right.

3:50pm: Time for the marathon! I stop at most water breaks. And switched back and forth from gatorade, water and coke. I felt a little tired but I've completed 6 marathons before, so I knew what to expect from my legs. 8:38pm: Done! It took 4:45 minutes of running to cross the finish line. And I had the biggest look of excitement you have ever seen. Here i am post race posing with Ironman athlete Jimmy Riccitello. Total race time: 13:38

And a big Pinkgurugal Congrats to the Chelly, who finished with a phenomenal 11:36 finish!

Post Race Partying So I can't tell you how many times friends said we'd all be pooped after the race. But we weren't and we all went for beers. I invited Eye Candy Casper. This handsome German finished with an incredibly respectable 10:22 time. Oh and it was his 8th ironman. Oh and that's Dr. Grim to you. Yep... great looking, a triathlete and a doctor. What are the chances. I found this of "McDreamy" online. Sorry Casper if I am embarassing you! We drank beer. Then, with minutes to spare at the midnight cutoff time, we went back to the finish line to watch 78 year old Frank Ferrar finish... he finished with three minutes to spare. How inspirational, since ten years ago he was diagnosed with cancer and had 3 months to live. Amazing. I was teary eyed. Net net, the race was simply everything I imagined and more. What a great time. God gave us PERFECT weather. Now if the race had happened the following day.... Not so good. It was cold and wet ALL DAY. Thank you God.

Cheers and happy training!

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone." – Ralph Waldo Emerson