Ironman Texas!

Yep, we did it again!

We headed back to Texas for another Ironman

 We arrived on a Wednesday - & checked in for the race (before the crowds came on Thursday)

Lots of stuff they give you...

 We did some small workouts on Wed & Thursday & relaxed.  Then it was Friday & time to drop off the bikes...

 and the Gear bags (in Ironman, you put your necessary bike helmet, running shoes, etc in bags, so the transition area stays clean)

 I got my food ready for the race day.  You get really tired of eating power bars, gels, and cliff shots...

 We woke up at 3:30 am, ate some breakfast (me, not so much; Chris has it down to a science).  At 5:00 we drove 5 minutes to a parking garage near the finish line.  Then we had to walk to the transition area - add our food & drinks to our bikes - and then walk a mile to the swim start.  The lake was cooler this year - only 71 degrees, so wet suits were allowed.  While we were waiting for the race to start, we saw our old coach who gave us some final pointers.  That was cool.  Then it was 7:00 & we were in the water & swimming for 2.4 miles.  You never know how long you are really in the water (unless you look at your watch).  I didn't know if I was going fast or slow - no real idea.   Turns out, Chris & I both had good swims.  Then it was onto the bike - 112 miles.  Chris passed me early (I only beat him out of the water by a couple minutes).  He was cruising along on his bike - I can never keep up.  I was in a good place though, amazingly enough (I'm not a strong rider).  There were very strong winds this year, but the temperature was much cooler (mid 80's versus 100 last year).  Even though we rode into the wind during the last part of the bike, I rode faster.  Wow - not sure how that happened!  I hope I can repeat that again some day...  Back to transition & out onto the run course - 3 loops of approx 9 miles = 26.2 total.   Chris & I met up at mile 14 & ran together for the next 4.  He wasn't feeling that great & i was definitely slowing too.  Chris told me to go ahead at mile 18.  So I finished about 30 minutes earlier.  We both finished in the daylight - yay!  Those last few miles were tough!  It was windy, but the crowd support was awesome.  We love this course!

Here we are picking up our bikes at 9:00 pm

 Day after photos :)  at the expo

 along the run course

 We went to the awards ceremony to hear Mike Reilly & the winners speak.

 The rest of the day, we took some nice walks, and relaxed.  That night, we walked over to the pavilion
where they have outside concerts.  Styx was playing - cool!  We didn't get tickets, but we hung outside & enjoyed the concert as much as those inside :)  It was a great way to end our day after Ironman :)