IRONMAN Wisconsin

If you had told me one year ago that I would drive 6 hours to watch someone compete in an Ironman, I would have laughed in your face. In fact, I laughed in Dani's when she had told me last year that she had gone to watch Nick and had driven home at 1am. She told me that day on jabber that she had been so inspired that she was ready to tackle a full. One year later, that crazy friend was me, and she was out there competing.

To say that this was an experience would be an understatement. I was able to stay with Brittany's college roommate, Kaylee and her husband Mitch. I had only met them briefly 3 years ago. They were the sweetest, kindest, most gracious hosts. They took me to a local Chinese restaurant that had delicious home-made lo mein-----a-mazzziiinnggg. Kaylee left me this sweet note the next morning. I have been blessed with the kindest friends, who have the kindest friends.

I didn't want to impede on Kaylee and Mitch's entire day, so I roamed around the lake and downtown for a good 4 hours. The weather was amazing, and it was fun to explore a town that I knew nothing about, on my own. I would much rather have had Jordan along for the trip, but it was fun to be somewhere alone for the first time in about 5 years.

Lake Monona was gorgeous. There were several people out kayaking, paddle boarding, and sailing. Such a fun and active place to live...if not for the ridiculous winters, and living pretty far from just about every major city in the mid-west.

The closest I'll probably be to the Ironman finishing chute, ha!
 Watching the set-up was pretty crazy, it takes A LOT to put on a race of this size-amazing.

I got to Madison pretty early(they're an hour behind Indiana time) so I spent about 4 hours exploring the capital and State St. Their capital building is huge and beautiful, it puts Indiana's to shame.

The theme of the weekend. If nothing else, watching an Ironman
will show you that you are capable of much more than you think you are.

All of the shops were adorable, and I could have spent a fortune buying dumb knickknacks.
This magnet was my personal favorite.

The most amazing ice-cream. Scotch ale ice cream with a ribbon of caramel and chunks of heath bar.
It was so good, that I went back the next day and got a second.

 Sunday morning started early. The pros started swimming at 6:45...and so did the tears. I have literally never cried so much in one day. The emotions of seeing all of the athletes who have prepared, their families, and their supporters was too much. I heard the coolest stories, scary tri experiences, and met athletes of all levels. I spent a good hour talking to a man who was supposed to compete, and ended up being hit by a car 2 weeks before the race and broke his shoulder. I met some seriously intense coaches-so glad that Dani has a supportive normal coach.

The start of the swim. You could see the separation of the front swimmers pretty early on. I have never seen that many swimmers at one time-the sound was the most surprising part-that many hands hitting the water at once.

Dani made it out of the water in great time, and I was able to see her

come out of transition and grab her bike-so fun to watch and cheer.

I was able to stand super close to where Dani transitioned-so fun to cheer her on from that close.
The people standing next to me asked me if I was a cheerleader in a former life, proudly, I answered "Yep! Absolutely!"

This year marked 15 years since 9/11/2001. While Dani was on the bike, I went to the 9/11 remembrance ceremony held near the capital. It was very well done, really emotional, and the most beautiful morning.
I even met the mayor of Madison before the ceremony started-ha!

There were so many cute coffee shops around the square.
 This particular cup came from my favorite place, Colectivo. Their avocado BLT was delish, and this cup was my favorite. By the end of the day, I had ingested way too much caffeine-that mixed with nerves, I was about 2 beats away from an MI. 

 The bike portion took about 5 and a half hours. The run was by far the most fun to cheer for. I was able to see Dani a few times. She ROCKED a 3:30 marathon-so crazy fast.

I grabbed dinner at this Chicago food truck, Fib's. Jordan would have loved it.

Waiting for the finish was painful. By the end of the day, I had become so emotionally invested in the entire process, that I was crying every time someone came across the finish line. It hit me how much each of these people had invested over the past 6 months or more. To get to this point is such an amazing accomplishment, regardless of the time it takes you.

Dani finished in 10:25, as the 9th pro female. Ridiculous. Her first ironman, and she absolutely blew it out of the water.  To be there and cheer was such a full-circle moment. Triathlon has changed my life. It has brought out the best and the worst in me, but regardless has changed me for the good. I've met some of the kindest and most genuine people as well. So thankful that Brittany talked me into doing GoGirl.

This picture was a complete accident. I thought I was taking a video, but switched it to camera without me knowing, and I'm so so so glad that it did. That smile. That joy. Those tears. It made me so happy to see Dani so happy. The amount of work that she has put into preparing for this race, eating a strict diet, getting up crazy early-it all was so worth it in this moment.



So proud of this girl. So thankful for her friendship. Can't wait for many more races to come.