This was my husband's race and I am his Sherpa-extraodinaire.
He was training for the Ironman Chattanooga and this race fell right in line with his training plan so he was going to use it as a test race to see where he was in preparation for the 140.6. He'd been working extremely hard with his training and - in my opinion - was very prepared.
Saturday, July 27th: We left bright and early in the morning to drive to Delaware, OH. My husband wanted to get a lay of the land, drive some of the course and see where we would be parking race morning. We got VERY lucky with regard to parking. On the race website there was a note about the Knights of Columbus selling parking sports in their lot. They only had 60 spots available and the time frame to purchase them was during a period when neither my husband nor I would have been near a computer. Special thanks for our friend Autumn who was home that morning and was able to snag one of these for us. It WAS right by the finish line.
We parked at a near by lot and then walked over the Athlete Village to get his race packet.
The town was decked out for this event!
The next thing we did was drive to the swim and BIKE OUT area. The athletes need to rack their bikes here today and then tomorrow morning will be bused up.
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| Even Sherpas need to stay hydrated! |
We found an Olive Garden for dinner and it was my first time having zoodles (I know, I know...I'm late to the party) and this "discriminating eater" liked them!
Sunday, July 28th: Race Morning!
After dropping off some items in the stadium we made the short walk to the bus loading area. There were 2 different lines: Athletes were allowed on the bus first and then if there was room a spectator could get on. My husband got on fairly quickly but I had to wait for about 30 minutes before there was room for me.
Once I arrived at the lake I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to find him. There are so many athletes and they aren't as recognizable since they aren't wearing street clothes. And obviously he doesn't have his cell phone with him!
Scenes from the morning!
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| Sunrise |
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| The number on an athlete's calf is their age. This guy is 82!!! |
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| Look closely, there is a banana in her back pocket. I doubt is made it through the swim :) |
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| So serious & nervous before the start...NOT! |
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| This literally made me chuckle A "swimming prohibited" sign at the swim start. |
I caught him coming out of the swim and he didn't look happy. His finish time was slower than what he wanted it to be (I don't remember now by how much) and I would later learn that someone grabbed his leg in the water which caused a cramp and he had to pause and try to massage it out. No wonder he didn't have a happy face on!
Once he was off on the bike, it was time to stand in line for the buses back into town. Some people didn't pay attention the signs and were not in the correct bus line. Thankfully I got on one of the first buses out.
After I was dropped off in town, I went to the car to regroup. I took a loop around the area - first off looking for coffee - and then checked out all the farmer's market booths. Eventually I made my way back to the car again to have the lunch that I packed and sit in the shade.
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| Funny that many people thought this was a real horse but it was a statue I saw when walking to the car. |
When I got the last timing notification of the bike course, I got ready to walk back over to the stadium to see him ride in. If I remember correctly his bike time was faster than he thought it would be. I was hoping that would help his mindset.
The run course has a section in the middle where the athletes make 2 loops so I knew that I could walk out there and see him once he completed the first loop and then have enough time while he was on the 2nd loop to get back into the stadium to see him finish.
HE CRUSHED IT!
He rested for a bit under a shade tree and then we went back to the hotel so he could shower. Since check out would be before he finished the race, we opted to reserve an extra night's stay - even though we planned on leaving soon after he showered. While he was still getting some things ready I went down to the front desk to turn in our keys and let them know we were going to go ahead and leave and NOT spend the night. They were very kind and only charged us for 1/2 day! I'm so glad I went down there to let them know.
