Chasing the race...

On Sunday September 27th, my husband participated in Augusta's first IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon. He signed up for it only three and a half months before and those three and a half months were full of some dedicated hours of training! For those of you who don't know what the 70.3 is, it is made up of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike, and a 13.1 run. This past March we both ran in our first half marathon (which is 13.1 miles) at the Nashville County Music Marathon. I think after that race, Brandon thought "Ok, what's next?" and sure enough triathlons were next. He started out with a sprint triathlon in July, and olympic triathlon in August and the half IRONMAN in September. To say that I am proud of him is an understatement. He never ceases to amaze me. The best part about it is that he LOVES doing it.. it isn't just a workout or a long term goal.. it is fun for him. I am thrilled that he has found something he enjoys and that also has great health benefits. This man is in shape!! Along this journey he has also lost about 30 lbs! That in itself has been crazy to watch. I told him I feel like when I look at him it reminds me of when I first met him in college. Actually he's probably skinnier than that even. It isn't fair that at the point in his life when he is the skinniest.. I am getting fatter! Although his new look is more a new lifestyle than anything so, I know he'll be just as in shape after I have the baby.. then I'll have to kick it in gear to catch up with him! I don't see any triathlons for me in the future.. I can't say that I love to swim, but never say never. For now I will just enjoy running and we'll see what happens.
As for the title of this blog.. that is what I did that Sunday. What any loving, supportive wife would do.. I chased the race. Well I tried. My friend Alex (who was filming the race) and I tried our best to follow Brandon on his adventure. In the meantime, we had one of our own. We started out with the swim. Saw Brandon get in the water and swim to as far as we could see.. then hustled back through the crowds to our car so we could drive down to the swim finishing point which was also the transition site where he would get on his bike. Brandon told us it would probably take him 30 minutes but we were still trying to hurry. Let me also say that we had Kaitlyn and her little legs running along with us to try and make it. Well guess what? We didn't make it in time! Brandon was swimming faster than what he anticipated (good for him, bad for us) and he made it through in about 20 minutes. Looking back, we should have just walked the length of the swim distance and we probably would have got there faster, even with the crowd fighting us. Although for us it wasn't completely straight so it may have been a little longer, but still.. we should have just trucked it. Next, we made our way back to the car in hopes to find him on his bike. We decided to follow the bike map backwards so we would be sure not to miss him. We drove as far as we were aloud to go which was about the half way point. The police weren't letting cars by anymore so we just parked and waited for him. Thankfully we saw him round the corner and bike past us. We snapped a few pics, cheered him on, then jumped back in our car to find him at another spot. We took a back road that led us up to another point along the bike course and then had to sit at a red light while the bikers crossed. Little did we know that we would sit in this spot for over an HOUR! Insanity to say the least. I was so frustrated that we were not being let through that I got out of my car and walked to the intersection and said the the officer ever so politely.. "excuse me sir, are you going to let us through while there are breaks in the bike traffic?" He said yes, and I said "well, there have been plenty of breaks!" and he proceeds to tell me in his arrogant way (while chewing tobacco) I will let you through when I feel it is safe. Oh I was boiling. He was power tripping in the intersection chatting away with other volunteers that he wasn't even paying attention to the bikers and when there were large gaps between them. Meanwhile here comes Brandon on his bike while I was standing in front of the intersection. I was jumping up and down so surprised because I thought he had past that point already. I was thrilled that I got to see him again, but now even more I knew the importance of getting back to the transition spot so we could see him get off the bike and start the run. He was making great time. But no, we sat there at that intersection for about 25 more minutes.. then finally the cop let us go. Only because after getting to the front of the line I stuck my head out the window saying "officer, officer, can i go now?!" again he wasn't paying attention to traffic to know when to let me go. Wow. I think he needed to go back to traffic directing 101. Now let me remind you that the bike course was 56 miles long. We had to drive back the rest of the course, park the car, then walk/run to the transition spot. Needless to say, because of Brandon's great time, and the ridiculous cop, we missed him again! Seeing Brandon at the transition spot was one of my favorite times to cheer him on at the previous triathlons and I was so bummed to not see him there at this race. Well, at least the run was in a central location and the runners would be making a loop twice so we were able to see Brandon a bunch during the run. By this time, I was tired, sweaty and stressed out. I looked as though I had just worked out. Not to compare my running around with the capacity in which the competitors were racing but I did look rough. Brandon's family got to the race about half way through the run and joined us in holding signs and screaming his name making sure we were the loudest crowd of supporters. It was great. After 70.3 miles we watched Brandon cross the finish line with ease. I was worried that he'd want to pass out as soon as he crossed but surprisingly he was in good condition and still in a great mood! Don't get me wrong, he had definitely had the work out of his life but he was well trained. As for me, I need some training in spectating this sport.. it isn't the easiest thing to do. All in all it was a great day, and I was a very proud wife. I am trying to talk Brandon into waiting a while before he attempts to train and compete in a full ironman. We'll see how long he can wait. Here are some pictures from the day.. more are on my facebook page.