Ironman Todd

Todd couldn't handle having me dominate him so badly, so he had decided that he was going to train and do an half-Ironman, also known as a Tinman. That is 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run - pretty impressive. Especially since he didn't have the time he wanted to train like he needed.
He chose to do the Ironman Muncie in Indiana.

I really wanted to do the Ironman with Todd, but also felt that he had supported me so much that it was my turn to support him. Plus, he had never done a race that the kids were watching, so I wanted to give him that.

Todd's dad, Mike, came with us as well. It was nice to have some help with the boys, and he enjoyed seeing how amazing his son is.

The start/finish and transition area was all on this beach on the river. It was perfect. We set up our pop up beach tent and let the kids play in the sand and water, they loved it.

 

The race started in waves of age groups. Since Todd's was one of the last age groups, he had to wait around with us for awhile. I encouraged him to take advantage of this time by sitting down in the shade.

Then his wave started

I was so nervous for Todd. I remembered my first experience in swimming during a race, in open water. Turns out Todd's a more experienced swimmer than I am and doesn't get nervous like I do. It was smooth for him. 

I was expecting Todd to do the swim in about an hour, but decided to go near the swim exit just a little sooner in case he came out early. I was watching the boys swim in the water as I kept a loose eye on the emerging swimmers. One swimmer caught my eye and I was surprised to realize that it was Todd. He finished the swim in 50:55 minutes!!!!

 

I ran along the spectator side of the ramp, cheering him on and shouting out his time. I was so proud of him and he was looking so strong. He went through transition pretty quickly and was soon out on his bike. 

After cheering him on for his bike start, I went back down to the beach with the kids. They had a great time.

 

After playing for awhile, Mike and I decided that we should go to a spot on the bike course and cheer Todd on. I remembered my experience on both the half and full Ironmans, the bike can be a long time alone and seeing your family can give you such a boost. 

We went on a back country road and found somewhere near mile 35-40. We sat on the grass and waited. I gave the boys food and tried reading to them, but they had such a good time just watching and cheering for the athletes that they didn't need any entertainment.

Thankfully Todd was wearing a bright yellow shirt, or we may have missed him. We hurried and put our "GO" sign up and shouted for him. Again he looked great.

We got in the car and went back to the transition area. 

There wasn't anywhere near the transition area to park, so we had to walk a long way from the car. Mike was getting a little tired and decided to sit farther from the transition area. The boys and I went and sat right at the transition beginning. 

It was great seeing all of the athletes coming to the end of their bike portion. Some came in with wheels screeching, throwing themselves off of the bike and running it into their spots whereas some came in and paused for a second at the line and very laborously pulled their leg from the bike and blew a sigh of relief as they knew they were done with their bike.

Again Todd came in sooner than expected, and looking great. The kids perked up to see him and the older ones ran alongside the coralls, cheering him on.

 

Todd biked the 56 miles in 3:37 hours!!!

Here he is changing into his running shirt

 The boys and I anxiously waited for Todd by the transition exit to cheer him on. Once he came through, the boys went crazy. They were so excited, and Todd looked great.

 Again the older boys tried to run alongside, but Todd smoked past them. They were proud of their papa.

 There was no way for us to access any point of the run. I was sad by this, but decided that it would all be okay. We stayed on the beach and let the kids play and play.

Unfortunately it was starting to get really hot and the sun was starting to burn. The kids were getting tired out. I wasn't sure about what time I should bring the kids over to the finish line, since it wasn't too terribly close to the beach and Todd had totally killed each of our estimates on both the swim and bike.

Not wanting to miss Todd, I brought the boys up a little too early. They stood around for a bit, with the sun scorching them, as I tried to shade them all with an umberela. They were getting tired and frustrated as was I.

 At one moment I looked at my kids and thought, "I'd rather be racing".

 I did feel bad. It seemed that nothing I did would console them. They had had it. Fortunately, a racer that had finished awhile ago saw them and brought them each a popsicle, which really helped calm them down. The only problem was that he had only brought over 3 popsicles, realizing his mistake he handed out the three and went to get one more. I was very grateful for him and his help. I was also grateful for Mikey, who recieved one of the original popsicles and gave it to his brother so that Mikey was the one who had to wait.

After what seemed like forever, Todd came running through. He had gone out too fast on the run to only make him pay for it on the last half. But he was able to talk with some other people around him and have a great time. He finished the run in 3:10 hours.

 With a finishing time of 7:49:40
Way to go babe! I really am so proud of him. He really has not been able to train very much, yet he pushed himself hard.
Needless to say, this was him when we got home. A little worn out.