On September 8, 2013 around 10:30 p.m. (Central Time), Danny became an Ironman. As I work to process everything, I think that a categorical and long, brain dump is in order. Hey, it was quite a day!
Here goes -
Pre-Race
...Danny and I arrived in Madison on Thursday, at which time I went to work and he went exploring. I had the opportunity to roam around Madison on Friday and Saturday.
...On the news that was on right before the start of FOOTBALL on Thursday night was an interview with the Pease brothers who were competing together in their first full Ironman. As a pair, Brent, age 30, and Kyle, age 28, have had great success competing in 10Ks, marathons and 70.3’s, but they aren't the ordinary racing duo. Kyle was born with cerebral palsy, relegating him to a wheel chair, and the two compete together as one unit. In Madison, Brent will pull Kyle in a kayak for the 2.4-mile swim in Lake Monona, bike the hilly 112-mile course known for its tough climbs with a seat designed specifically for Kyle and push him in a wheelchair for the run course.
I was able to see them (top left corner) cross the finish line while we were waiting for Danny - I had tears in my eyes. Brent truly was a beast as the Ironman is no easy feat - let alone having to pull a kayak, ride a special bike, and push a wheel chair!
...Going to the athletes' banquet on Friday evening brought about the only real heated moment of the whole trip as we tried to navigate complicated one way streets, bike lanes, and infernal 25 minute parking meters. I have never seen a 25 minute parking meter let alone the 30 or so we saw that evening.
...The athlete's banquet was kind of a bust - awful food and terrible sound equipment. At the buffet that included pasta that tasted like paste, bread sticks, fried vegetables, and baked potatoes was a sign that said - "eat like you deserve it!" What about those of us who are not going to burn around 10,000 calories on Sunday?
- ...At the banquet I did really like the story of The Cookie Project. A local female Ironman participant contacted the triathlete and cycling community in the Madison area to help bake home made cookies for all 357 residences on the Ironman Wisconsin bike loop. I drove the bike loop with Danny - it was a pretty wild ride in the car let alone on a bike. There were some beautiful homes and views of exactly what I think of when I hear Wisconsin (rolling hills, cows, blue skies). Apparently the people in those homes come out in droves to watch the race.
- ...Also at the banquet, I got to hear the story of Fireman Rob, a firefighter in Madison, who has done multiple Ironman races, including Kona, but what makes him unique is that he does the marathon in full fire fighter's gear (except for the shoes and an empty tank on his back). He is pictured above near the top-left.
...The hotel Danny and I stayed in, while apparently was the Ritz compared to where my parents and Steph spent the night, was less than enjoyable. I only want to focus on the positive experiences, but let's just say that Jenni of Traveler for Good could do wonders for the unpleasant, unhelpful staff.
...On the VERY HOT Saturday afternoon, we all went miniature golfing (Danny won, which is still amazing to me), and ate dinner at Vintage Brewing Company - the significance of that dinner, Danny only had one beer.
Day Of
...Thankfully Sunday came with clouds and temperatures in the mid-70s. Unfortunately there was wind; while not ideal, still beat the humid, high temperatures of Saturday and Monday in Madison.
...The morning started when Danny woke up around 3:30 a.m. to catch the athletes' shuttle from the hotel at 4:30. I ventured out a little after 5:00 to stake out a spot to watch the start, which I hope will explain this "glorious" blond moment: Danny had given me his cell phone to hold for the day, and update Facebook on his account since I apparently do not have any friends. Anyway, when the shuttle arrived at our destination the driver told us where to pick up the bus when we were ready to go back. So that I would not forget what she said, I sent a text to my phone from Danny's. Next thing I know my phone gets a text message, and I wondered for a split second how Danny could be texting me from the race site. Yep, one of my finer moments.
... I staked my claim to a spot on the rooftop of the Monona Terrace, the sight of the bike and run transitions, and waited for my parents and Stephanie to find me. The picture above with the cowbell gives you a sense of my vantage point as I stood on a ledge.
- ...An interesting (to me) aside on the building: Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center opened its doors after nearly 60 years of debate on July 18, 1997. It was first designed by Wisconsin native and internationally-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1938 as a cultural, governmental and recreational building. Wright reworked the design several times between 1938 and 1958 before signing off on the final plans seven weeks before his death in 1959.
I asked three different people before someone could actually tell me where the swim started as there were a lot of buoys and other items in the water. I figured with the crowd that we could not all be wrong, but I wanted a little reassurance that I was in a good place to view the mass start.
- ... Joining me on the ledge was a woman, her in-laws, and her oldest of three daughters who is seven. They all lived in Madison, so her parents were staying with her other two daughters who did not want to get up that early. The little girl reminded me a lot of me at that age watching my Dad doing triathlons. She was very anxious for it start so she could see her Dad go, go go!
The Swim
...Ironman Wisconsin is the one of the only Ironman branded races besides Kona that involves a mass start. The professionally sponsored athletes go off first (about 6:45 a.m.), and then all the age groupers, which included Danny (about 2,800 of them) all start at the sound of the gun pop.
... After the start, which was pretty wild to watch, we waited for the swarm (that is what it looked like) go past us - at which time I announced that Danny was that green cap right there (and pointed) as all the men were in green caps, the ladies in pink. We then moved over to the area where all the swimmers were coming out of the water. Even with the giant screen and the announcer calling out some of the athletes' names, this was our first use of the athlete tracker on the Ironman website that told us that Danny had already come out of the water without us realizing it. So we made a hasty move to another area to try to catch him on the way down the ramp (under ordinary circumstances it is the ramp for the parking garage).
The Bike
... As we were looking for a spot I was asked what Danny was wearing. My response, a white jersey and black shorts. My Dad laughed thinking that Danny must have been trying not to stand out. Well white did make him easier to spot amidst the various colored, more wild jerseys. Soon we found a spot to try to see the bike riders coming down, but there was a fairly high wall that was going to make it impossible for a short person like me to see at all. So my Dad helped hoist Stepherz up on to the wall, and then he did the same for me. Probably not more than three minutes later, we spotted Danny - this is where I got the picture of him waving. I was so glad to have seen him, and know that he saw us. Now, I had to figure out how to get down... Fortunately Stephanie went first and told me what to do (shift to crawl on my stomach then my parents caught me). I broke my arm when I was about two years old doing something probably pretty similar, thankfully this adventure with a wall was incident free.
...The bike route was a 56 mile course shaped like a lollipop with the riders doing the "lollipop loop" twice before coming back down the stick portion to return to the Monona Terrace (for a total of 112 miles) to transition to the run. Most of the course was through a community called Verona. Shuttle buses going back and forth were offered for spectators. Danny had told me not to bother, but we decided to go anyway. This was one of the (many) times I was grateful to not be going it alone as this was one of the longer portions of the day, plus I have a terrible sense of time.
- ...While waiting in line for a shuttle bus, we overheard some of the volunteers talking about the swim experience. One of them was helping people come out of the water, and he was sharing how some athletes did not make the required 2 hour, 20 minute cut-off time. They were devastated, and it broke my heart to think of those people. Imagine training for a whole year just to have your day end after one segment.
- ....Upon arriving in Verona, we found a spot near the announcers with blaring music and waited. While there we saw the professional who won the whole race go flying by, a good five minutes or so ahead of his next closest opponent.
- ...The opposite side of the street looked less crowded so we made a mad dash across the street with the help of a volunteer. It was kind of strange to try so hard to avoid getting hit by a bike rider rather than a vehicle, but those riders were flying as this was a straight part of the course.
- ...At one point Steph and I were sitting on the outside of the gate, but were told to get behind the gate mostly to protect us from flying water bottles as the riders would just toss them aside when they were done.
- ...Of course just as I turned to get something out of my bag, my Mom saw Danny go by. It was too late to get a picture by the time I saw him. We called to him, but he was really in a zone. That was okay because we knew that we had seen him, which gave me more comfort than I would have thought beforehand.
- ...After seeing him, we made that dash again back to the other side of the street, and then waited in a line for the shuttle. When the bus arrived it pulled so far forward that the end of the line suddenly became the front. Fortunately, those people were nice (civilized) enough to wait for those of us who had already been waiting. It was a neat moment - all the spectators were there for the same reason, not the usual madness that often ensues at an athletic event.
- ...We made it back to our hotel in time to catch most of the second half of the Bears game. It was fun to see the Bears opener against Cincinnati especially since they won! The Bears have started 2-0, and Jay Cutler looks like a completely different person. Or as my Dad said, the Bears look like a real, professional offense! Another aside, throughout my trip I wore my Bears bag with pride (yes even though I was in enemy territory). A guy in our hotel parking lot one night declared it was the greatest thing he had seen since he arrived!
- ...Once again my inability to tell time was problematic as I was kind of jumping out of my skin. I also had a hard time not eating the junk we had one hand. I kept thinking we had to leave to try to see Danny on the run. Eventually it was time to go.
The Run
...The Ironman spectator experience is really a good one with the main exception being the map of the run course. It was very poorly done as none of us could make heads or tails of it. So we found a spot near one of the aid stations, and rang our cowbells. We all rang them extra hard when a guy wearing a Bears hat went by... He knew the Bears had won because someone along the course had a sign with scores from the day posted on it.
...When we saw Danny the first time it was about four miles in to the run. He came over to kiss me, and shared that he had shin splints. In spite of that he was still upbeat although it looked painful for him to move.
...This aid station spot was not the greatest although I did enjoy the young volunteer (probably 8 or 10) who was running along side some of the athletes giving them encouragement in Spanish.
...We crossed the street, which was less of an adventure since the runners were moving at a more normal pace, and found a grassy hill to sit on. Stephanie enjoyed pointing out the "Ironman Shuffle". This is also where I walked over to the University of Wisconsin sign to take that picture near the bottom of the collage. I started to try to snap the picture from where I was sitting, but convinced myself that now was not the time for laziness considering what the athletes around me were doing. I also saw a great sign, if you run slow, the baby will cry, and a woman wearing a spectacular crown!
...When Danny came around this loop, it was about the 11 mile mark. He was still hobbling a bit, but the shin splints were no longer the issue. Instead it was blisters - big ones - I got to be the nurse who dealt with them, trust me.
...After seeing him this time we made our way downtown to be a part of the Finish Line festivities and get some dinner. The dinner was excellent, and our waiter was a Bears fan disguised as a Packers fan because he shared that he got better tips that way. He is a student at the University of Wisconsin studying to work in the non-profit sector. Steph and I both told him it was over-rated. I am sure he loved us.
...Post-race I found out Danny had talked to a woman that I would like to hug. She was running near him, and they started chatting on topics such as how did you get into this? Danny explained that he had signed up for this event the week of our wedding! Her response, are you serious? Danny, yes. Her next response, and then you spent the whole first year of marriage training? Danny, a sheepish yes. Her glorious response, you need to keep that woman! FINALLY SOMEONE IN "THIS TRIATHLON WORLD" GOT MY SIDE!
The Finish
...Throughout the evening we had been tracking Danny's progress on the run. There were definitely times where he would really pick up the pace, which I found out later usually involved going down hill. I was unaware ahead of time just how many hills comprised the run course. From our spectator point of view, the hardest part of the whole day was between the last check point (around mile 23) and the finish (26.2). There were times that I found myself willing some random person to be Danny (I am pretty sure I thought more than one woman was him). I was definitely getting anxious, so Steph graciously moved me closer to the finish. My Dad went down to an area ahead of the curve that led to the straightway that took the runners to the finish. He waved at my Mom who then sent out a text to a few people, including Steph and me when he was coming. My parents then made a mad dash for the finish line. Danny was looking for us as he was getting closer, so Steph and I yelled our heads' off until he saw us.
- ...Let me explain my anxiety as it was two-fold. First, Danny told me the only way I could "screw up the spectator thing" was to miss his finish. There was one part of the day that the athlete tracker had been a good hour off, so I had this terrible fear that we had missed him somehow. Plus, Danny can share a story of a friend of his who missed his wife's first Ironman finish! She has now qualified for Kona, and Danny told me if I missed his finish, he definitely gets to do another race! Ahead of time, I was not sure I was not in favor of such an idea.
...We did not get a good vantage point of him crossing the finish line, but we got to see him in the post-race area. Fortunately Danny had told me what to expect. Once he crossed the finish line he was greeted by two volunteers who asked him a number of questions to be sure he was okay. He was then given a heat wrap (think a jacket for a hot-pocket), gave him his medal, finisher shirt, hat, and took his picture. After that he found us. I asked permission to hug him because I was terrified I would break him! After our moment, he hugged my family then they had to leave as it was pretty late, and they had to work in the morning. I was so glad they made such an effort to be with me!
...As Danny and I went to get his stuff he said he did not want to do another one. I asked him to reserve judgement as it was too soon to tell. Not terribly surprising by the next day he was already planning his next Ironman, a flatter course next time. I asked him to give me a break in between.
Phew! I think I covered everything I can remember. It was an incredible spectator experience. Be on the look out for Danny's experience in the form of his guest blog post next week. Still for now, this is from my perspective, so I am especially grateful to everyone for the support for both Danny and me through words, hugs, watching him online, not judging my frustration, but even if you did judge (even a little bit) that's okay too. I now have a very different perspective on an Ironman event, and am all in favor of him doing another one. I think I could even make it through the whole year of training without saying, this damn Ironman! Now THAT is real progress!
