4 weeks ago!.... Seriously?!?!...

Four weeks ago seems like another lifetime ago! I cannot believe how in just 28 days my life can go from "full on" Ironmania to absolutely the complete opposite. September is always such a difficult month for me. I have wanted to sit at my computer and share all the details with everyone from Ironman Canada race day, but have been caught up in the re-organization of our lives to start the school year up. The timing of IMC is so close to the school year start up, it makes for a slightly anti-climactic end to a great year of training and racing. I have compared the build up to Ironman to, as a child, the build up to Christmas in the past. Anticipating the day to arrive and then it is all over but the clean up, faster than you can suck down another gel or guzzle another sport drink! Now, after doing it for my 4th time, I can now say, nothing compares to the let down of not having another Ironman to do again until next summer. Not even Christmas. It is way more depressing for me to say that I will not be doing another one till next year. I just love the experience every year. The race is always different. Different people, different weather, new stories, more experiences to share, new tips to use for next year. So much fun!

This year, we were in Penticton for almost 2.5 weeks, so this time I had a lot more time to adjust to the heat and settle into our routine prior to the race. This gave my mind a bit more space to enjoy other aspects of the Ironmania in Penticton that I had not enjoyed before. Feeling a bit more like a "Veteran", I decided to skip the "Pre-race" meeting/dinner on the Friday night and we went for the first time, down to the "Party in the Street" with Uncle Lawrence, the boys, and Rhonda. So much fun. I have always enjoyed going to the Dinner/Race meeting every year, but the family has to stay behind, and this time we decided to go dance in the streets instead. That is definitely something I will do again next year! Way too much fun. Takes your mind off the upcoming race. I also have included some photos from the one of our nights at the bowling alley! Another way to keep an athlete's mind off of the race and getting a few laughs in to ease the race jitters!

Shawn and his "pinky" finger style of bowling.

The men in my life!

My ride, all pimped out, and ready for race day! Have I mentioned that I LOVE MY BIKE!!! So much fun to ride.


Friday morning "Underpants Run"... Still have not ventured out to do this one. Not that I couldn't run in underwear, I just have yet to make it work in the plan of activities.

Nathan, Rhonda, Braydan, and Nick dancing in the streets Friday night!

The boys have got some moves!

This was hilarious! Little infant t-shirts and diaper shirts with great sayings on them. My pictures are not the greatest, but you get the idea.

This one was on a diaper shirt! Way too cute!

Loved this bike and Triathlete!

Looking for my peeps at the start line! They found me first, obviously...

OOOOOhhhhh there you guys are!!! Absolutely amazing how many people are at the swim start! I find the amount of spectators at the race more overwhelming than the race start itself! This year, I was so organized in transition, I had over an hour to just sit and people watch before doing my pre-race swim warm up and actually had time to chat with Rhonda and Shawn before entering the washing machine!!!!!...

So Cute!!!!!!!! Part of my cheering squad and race signs up at Yellow Lake!

In this photo, from left to right are Rhonda, Sarah, Jordan, Josh, Nick, Braydan, Nathan, and Gabe. Part of the cheering squad is missing in this photo. (Steve, Steve, Shawn, and Sophia) This is the infamous "Yellow Lake" climb! The part where you are absolutely dying from the last 150 km of cycling around the Okanagan, with yet another climb! But, you are also so totally exhilarated and emotional, when you see your family and friends that have spent the better part of a day, waiting for you, to cheer you on, for a mere 20 seconds, if that! I always get all choked up and teary at Yellow Lake. I am so thankful for all the support and love I get from my family and friends that keep following and supporting my passion for my sport.

This is my favorite part! Where I can actually make contact with my peeps!! Now you know why I wear dark glasses! Tears of joy are flowing down those cheeks!

We didn't get a good picture of Uncle Lawrence on our camera... He is in the unzipped orange jersey. Sorry Lawrence!

Now, this is where I had to dig deep and keep my game face on. I had a goal of coming across the finish line this year at around the 11 hour mark. Well, that goal was quickly erased when I developed my enormous blisters on my feet at mile 3!! of the the marathon. Yes, I would have another 23.2 miles to go with some serious open wounds on my feet. This would be where I would learn one of my lessons for the day. Practice running in your racing flats prior to race day, but also with pouring water in your shoes and then running! That is something I didn't do. With the heat in Penticton, I was pouring a lot of water over me in the first few aide stations, and the movement in my runners gave me some blisters that made my running more painful than childbirth! Seriously! That was so frustrating. The fitness was there, and I just wanted to go go go. But the pain was holding me back, and I was altering my running gait a bit to compensate for the blisters. Oh well! 11:30 was a new Personal Best! Not good enough for a Kona slot... But OMG!!!!!! Those women just keep getting faster and faster! I would have needed a sub 10:40 to get one of those coveted spots. I knew I was close to the 11:30 mark, so I had to dig deep to get to that finish line before the clock rolled over to 11:31!

The final run in through the finisher's chute! So amazing!!!!!!!! I could do this every weekend!

Sarah, one of the best spectators on the planet. Sarah brought Steve, Josh, and Gabe with her this year. Steve was a newbie watching Ironman, and was totally blown away from watching the event! Not that he was planning on signing up anytime soon, just thought it was so cool to see all shapes, sizes, ages, completing the journey!

This is my moment after the race when I was talking with my mom in Saskatchewan. One day I will have to get my Mom and Dad out to watch a race! I know they would be inspired! Just shortly after this pic was taken, I did take a trip to the "walking wounded" medical tent. I was starting to feel a little faint and Shawn was going to have no part of that this year. I spent some time in there swapping war stories with some of the athletes and then reunited with the family asap! We headed back to the trailer, showered, and then went right back down to the main drag to eat and watch the rest of the Ironman athletes coming in to finish. I found the best ever cheeseburger and sweet potato fries for my post Ironman dinner. We were waiting for my Uncle to come in and he did at 14:5o! It was a tough day out there for him, but he did it again! Congrats Lawrence!!!

I just kicked myself when I realized I forgot my camera back at the trailer when we went down to the finisher's chute to cheer in all the athletes till 16:59 (11:59pm) That was so inspiring!!! Sister Madona Buder came across at 16:50 as the oldest women in the WORLD to finish an Ironman. 79 years old!!! There were so many cool stories of people that finished. There was also a marriage proposal! If you can spend the evening watching people come in until midnight, it is such a trip! Those people are true Ironman athletes. Out there in the elements from sun up to sun down and beyond. Priceless! I am already getting so excited for next years race, as one of my bestest friends is finally going to make the journey to the finish line of IMC too! Rhonda has officially signed up and has asked me to coach her next year! I am so nervous, yet so excited for her. I have never "coached" an Ironman athlete before, so wish me luck! I want her to have the best experience of her life on race day.