Ironman Envy!

Ironman Texas was this past weekend and now that the initial exhaustion is over, I can blog.  I'm telling you now, spectating Ironman is almost as hard as racing it.  Spectating is a sport and I am sore from my participation.

Tommy raced like a champ and I know we are all glad the race is over and behind us!  He didn't really want to race (he did not enjoy his experience in Cozumel) but signed up because I wanted him to...and then I got pregnant.  Ooops.  But he put in the long hours of training before Anna arrived and did what he could once she was here.  It wasn't the optimal training season, but it is what it is!

I dropped Tommy off in the Woodlands on Friday night so he could stay at the hotel and get a decent nights sleep before the race.  I came home and spent the evening packing for a day in the sun with a newborn.  Ha.

#915 Ready to Rock!!

In traditional triathlon fashion, we ran into just about everyone we know at bike check in.  I heart the tri community.

#160 will be using a stroller for the bike portion of the race.  Anna was not amused.

I wasn't sure Anna and I would make it for the swim in the morning, but we did!  We got there in time to see the 1st pro get out of the water and to see Tommy get his bike!  I had to wake up at 2AM to get there, but I am so glad we did.  She had this adorable UnderArmour outfit that my mom's BFF sent to me...she wore it for all of 20 seconds before she shat all over it.

Baby running gear.  OMG.

Heat makes baby comatose.

Tommy headed out for 112 beautiful miles!  

He gave us a kiss before rolling out.  It was then that I realized I was covered in poop.  So romantic. I didn't see many of my other friends get on their bikes because I spent the next 30 minutes cleaning poop off my hands, my camera, the Anna, the diaper bag and the carseat.  I stuck her in the Bjorn so the carseat could dry out a little and we watched the end of the swim.  And then I had to go to the port-a-potty.  With Anna in the Bjorn.  Triathlon is a nasty nasty sport.

After most of the people had left for the bike, Anna and I went to the hotel for snacks and naptime.  And air conditioning.  I love air conditioning.

The hardest part of the day was not actually toting a 5 week old baby around outside all day (alone), but the logistics of it all.  How do you pack enough cold breastmilk to last all day without breaking your back or tipping over your stroller?  How do you pump without having to go back to the hotel every 3 hours?  How do you pack enough food and drink for yourself?  How do you plan on enough diapers and clothes for blowouts?  What if the stroller gets too hot?  Don't forget the Bjorn.  Or the clip-on fan.  Or the mosquito netting.  Or your camera.  Or phone.  Or wallet.  Oh dear lord.  The logistics of it all were enough to essplode the brains of a small village of geniuses.  Let's be honest though, I LOVE logistics and I was kind of in hog heaven planning for all the possible risks and doing it all as minimalistically as possible. I even remembered toilet paper for port-a-potty trips and a small jar of dish soap so I could wash bottles.  I mean, if you ever need a logistics planner, I'm your gal.  That said, if I had to do it all over again, I would have packed her powdered formula for the day so I wouldn't have to worry about keeping breastmilk cold...but I didn't think of that genius idea until 2am when I was getting ready to leave, and I decided 2am was not the appropriate time to learn how to make a bottle of formula.  The milk thing worked out just fine though.  It was messy, but the Anna had food!

Anna and I spent the day wandering between groups of friends, tracking down Tommy and just enjoying the great outdoors. It was balls hot, but we were expecting WAY worse, so all in all, it was a gorgeous day.  the breeze on the canal made things very bearable.  And the heat kind of made Anna comatose (bonus!)...she was a champ all day long!

After naptime, our first stop was to hang out at the end of the bike course so we could see Tommy coming into T2.  He finished looking strong!!  Then we went to join our friends to hang out on the run course at about mile 0.5.  The run course was 3 loops - each about 8 miles long - so I was able to see Tommy at mile 0.5 and then cross the canal and see him again at about mile 5.

Mile 0.5ish.  Looking strong but says he feels like death.

 Anna and I crossed the canal and caught up with him around mile 5!

Looking good at Mile 5!

That's one good lookin' piece of ace right there.

A daddy and his girl.  She says, "Dad, this triathlon sh1t is hot.  Can we go home now?"

We spent the day wandering between groups of friends...I walked at LEAST 10 miles (if not 13-15), pushing a jogging stroller in flip flops.  The flops were not my smartest decision.  I had a blast seeing friends, watching the race and tracking down Tommy at various points on the course.  I may or may not have cried several times throughout the day - sometimes due to jealousy and sometimes just because I get so overcome by Ironman.  I just love it soooo much!

He loves the horsey dance.

My husband is hot.

We saw Tommy for the last time around mile 22 and walked with him for a mile or so.  He was really hurting but was almost done!!  I had realized earlier in the day that there was no way I was going to be able to get close to the finish line with my giant stroller so I jumped ship when we got close to transition and headed down to get his bike and gear bags so I could take them back to the hotel and he wouldn't have to worry about them when he was done.  Unfortunately, at this point, I was kind of done - Anna was chillin' in the Bjorn and my shoulders were hurting, my feet were hurting because I was an idiot and wore flip flops, and I kept picking the wrong side of transition to try to get into.  Pushing that stroller through sh1ttons of people is like trying to fit my post-partum ass in my pre-pregnancy jeans.  Unpleasant for everyone involved.

I ran into an old friend of mine from college, the lovely and wonderful Cayla (who gets her meat for free) and her mom and sister.  They asked if there was anything if they could do for me and offered to get Tommy's bike and gear bags for me.  I didn't realize exactly how tired I was until that moment.  I started crying out of gratitude.  They saved me another quarter mile of walking through transition and then Cayla helped me steer Tommy's bike back to the hotel.  These women pretty much saved my sanity that night.  I seriously had no idea how exhausted I was until they offered to help.  Apparently spectating Ironman with an infant on 3 hours of sleep is less than optimal.  Ha.  I seriously owe them big time.  THANKYOUGUYSSOMUCH.

I got back to the hotel and was planning on taking a quick shower and then packing up the Anna in the bjorn to try to brave the finish line, but Tommy called and said he was done and was heading back so I just packed up the room.

He didn't quite have the race he had hoped for, but he still did amazingly well considering the heat and his training hadn't been optimal at the end.  I am so proud of him for sticking it out and finishing despite not really wanting to.  He is so strong!

The finishers chute of Ironman Texas.  There is really nothing like it.  A.Maze.Ing.

Tommy, you are an Ironman!  

We realized when we got back that his morning clothes bag was not in the gear bags we got from transition so I had to trek back down to the finish line to find that bag...whoever decided not to put all the gear bags in the same place is a dumbass and I hate them.  But whatever.  We got packed up and headed out and finally got home around 11:30PM.  I bathed Anna and put her to bed and finally, after being awake for 24 hours, I crawled into bed around 2...and slept like I had just finished an Ironman.

I am so proud of Tommy for putting in the hours of training required to finish this race.  And not only that, he did it while being an amazing husband becoming a new father.  He is amazing and goes above and beyond in loving and taking care of Anna and I.  We are so lucky to have him.

And now we are all so lucky that it's over.  Haha.  It was a huge stress on all of us the last few months and I think we are all glad that it is finally over.  Tommy can relax, focus on work, us, and some Honey-dos that have been stressing him out...and I get to take advantage of his lack of exercising to focus on my own fitness and my race in August.  :)

Congrats to the most wonderful husband, bestest friend, and loving father in the whole world - you are an Ironman!  Again!