The car was packed to the gills; I'm not sure why we didn't take a picture... With Jason's help the night before we loaded up Kelly's VW wagon with 2 bikes, all of our gear, nutrition, road snacks, the bike trainer (because you never know...) and a host of other miscellaneous stuff required for a trip across the country and a 144.6 mile Ironman. Lets do this!
Our first stop was somewhere in Kansas. We were driving along the Purple Heart Trail, apparently.
We had lunch at a really nice brewery in Hays, KS - salads and sweet potato fries, thank you, and sometime around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, this happened:
There may have been a donut or two consumed. Between the two of us. Besides, we needed the energy to get to St. Louis! Come on, people, we have a race in just 5 days. We aren't gluttons! That will come later.
Random things we saw along the highway.
New way to transport a ladder? Interesting.
We arrived in St. Louis around 8, starving and ready to get out of the car after 850 miles on the road. Thank you to Liz for hosting us for the night in your adorable apartment! And that pub was just what we needed!
We were up somewhat bright and early the next morning. We stopped in a local coffee shop for some java and noshed on Paleo banana muffins on the road heading out of town.
Old school diesel pump somewhere in middle America.
Crossing the OH River.
Lunch with Kelly's parents in Nashville!
First glimpses of the Tennessee River
There is a Cracker Barrel restaurant off of every. Single. Exit. Amazing. No, we didn't stop. Not at one.
At last, Chattanooga! We had arrived.
Sign atop the famous Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel.
Let the fun begin!
Ah, Little Debbie. Our fearless sponsor! Oatmeal Creme Pies for everyone! Literally. You should have seen how much free stuff they gave out.
Yup. That's all for us! All of it! Yes, that's the merchandise tent. And our credit card bills will show that we bought our fair share.
Even Danny Abshire and his wife Jennifer made the trip from Boulder, CO. I have bought shoes from them at the Newton Running Lab in Boulder. I chatted with him in the tent on Saturday. I don't think he remembered me. Oh, well.
Ross's Landing at sunset. Ironman Village would open in the morning.
The calm before the event. Notice the Little Debbie trailer in the distance.
All checked in! Time to shop.
Kelly getting the kinks worked out.
Bike course recon.
Carb-loading... Friday night dinner with our parents.
Our support crew. Kelly's parents drove in from NY; mine from Arizona.
It was amazing having them there!
Thanks, Jason, for the great signs! What a cool surprise!
Post spin-out-the-legs ride around the neighborhood.
The origin of Ironman.
Athlete briefing with Mike Reilly
Athlete panel
At the Athlete Banquet, where the food was actually really good. The man in the yellow was the oldest competitor at 78 years young. The kid in the black was the youngest male at 20, I think. He wants to turn pro;
this was his 3rd Ironman event.
The oldest female was 64 and doing her first Ironman. Inspiring!
CEO of McKee Foods, AKA Little Debbie.
Yes, he cracked a joke about the irony of it all.
Yup. There was cake. And pie. I had some cake. It was chocolate...
Time to pack!!!
Saturday morning gear drop:
See you tomorrow, Sea Breeze. Sleep well under the stars.
Still smiling!
Ramp up the hill into T1
Warm up swim. Lets see what this river is all about.
Well, it's all about the current, apparently! Wow!
No wetsuit? No problem!
One more sleep. See you tomorrow, Finish Line!
Feet up!! Dinner at the house and early to bed.
You can read my race report here: http://myimchoojourney.blogspot.com/2014/10/ironman-chattanooga-1446-race-report.html
After an unforgettable day on Sunday, we awoke early to hit the merchandise tent yet again, for our finisher's gear. After a 45 minute wait in line, we shopped! And I ran into, none other than, Swim Bike Heather!!! Yay! So great to see you and so sorry I took off last night without a good-bye!
After the shopping, there were donuts. Yup. Really good donuts. Best I've ever had, I would venture to say.
Boston creme, of course, with a variety of donut holes... Mmm...
Modelling the finisher's jacket.
Ice and compression for recovery. Then brunch with the folks and home for more rest for everyone before our evening out to celebrate.
Views from the pedestrian bridge at sunset. Tonight we get to enjoy it.
We thought the visors complimented our dresses very nicely.
Then for some ice cream at the famous Clumpies...
Where I ran into my friend, Yvonne!
Meanwhile at home in Denver, a new countdown had commenced:
One more day in Chattanooga then we are heading for home.
On Tuesday, we visited Ruby Falls, Rock City, Chattanooga Choo Choo Historic Hotel (for goodies for the kiddos) and the Terminal for lunch:
The Terminal Brew House
Rock City:
Lover's Leap
There were lots of Gnomes
And a few bridges.
Then some cupcakes... For the long drive home to Colorado.
And one last stop Wednesday morning. Breakfast at Aretha Frankenstein's.
The Ms. Pac-Man table!
Best. Waffle. Ever.
Thursday... Finally. Almost home.
Then this happened:
Yup. It hurt. But I was very brave. Notice the expression.
Kelly's turn! This is nothing compared to running with a torn calf, ie: gun shot wound.
Nice ink job!
And finally....
Thank you to all my readers. I appreciate your support and interest in my journey this year. It is one I will never forget. Now on to the next adventure... The Big Sur Marathon in April and the Boulder 70.3 in June. And another 140.6 in the future. Not the near future, but the future none-the-less. Until next time. Keep on keepin' on!
A few numbers for my books:
Total training volume in miles in 31 week training program:
| Swim (yards) | Bike | Run | |
| Sept | 15000 | 165 | 67.22 |
| Aug | 32800 | 491 | 80.85 |
| July | 24850 | 264 | 70 |
| June | 20400 | 303 | 40.4 |
| May | 17400 | 253 | 58.2 |
| April | 22000 | 195 | 43.2 |
| March | 28400 | 160 | 54.5 |
| Feb | 4200 | 25 | 10.25 |
| 165050 | 1856 | 424.62 | |
| Training mileage: | |||
| Swim: | 94 | ||
| Bike: | 1,856 | ||
| Run: | 424.6 | ||
| Including Race Day: | |||
| Swim: | 96.2 | ||
| Bike: | 1972 | ||
| Run: | 450.8 | ||
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