IM Moo: What a Weekend!

The weekend flew by. We are home now and trying to get back into the normal routine.

*snort*

I just used the word "normal" to describe our lives. Seriously?

Anyway, the 2014 Ironman Wisconsin is best recapped in pictures. So let's take a look.

View of Lake Monona from our hotel room.

View of Starbucks. Well, it's hidden behind trees but yum.

Speaking of Starbucks...it's where we went first
after checking into the hotel. We had some
rain on Thursday, but not much.
And that's a pumpkin spice latte.
Yum.

 

Angela, Mike, and George, looking cute.

George trying out the swim course on Thursday.
He did this again on Friday.

Mike and Angela on Saturday in front of the Wisconsin
State Capitol Building. It was a gorgeous day!

Mike and Kenny hit it off. Kenny is the son of David and Debbie.

Here's David (Ang and I are in the background). 
Debbie is standing just off camera.

Saturday Lunch at the Old Fashioned: George, Mike, Angela, David,
Debbie, and Kenny.

Nicole and I met years ago via the wonderful
world wide web. It's become a tradition at IM Moo to meet her
in person for coffee and conversation. This year, we spent over three
hours Saturday afternoon chatting. Love her!!!

Angela and I outside Tutto Pasta. George is very superstitious
about eating only at this restaurant the night before the race.

After dinner, we went to the roof of Monona Terrace
to check out the swim course. The moon was
almost full, and I was amazed my little iPhone 4
got such a great shot.

George and I take a selfie.
It's about 5:30 AM on race day. We're not this yellow in real life.

I took this shot as we walked down the helix to the swim start.
Ang and Mike looked so cute walking side by side!

David, George, and Mike are suited up and ready to swim.

Sunrise over Lake Monona. Conditions were perfect.

The swim start. Only a wide-angle camera would capture the true scope and
insanity of nearly 3,000 people starting to swim all at once.

Another angle of the start. There are boats, paddle boards, and kayaks
to spot trouble and keep racers on the course.

I don't have any pictures of the bike, but George and David both did well. Mike, however, had multiple flat tire issues, and ran out of CO2 cartridges and inner tubes, so his race ended early. He and George are already registered for next year's IM Mont Tremblant in Canada, so he's looking forward to a better race in 2015!

I caught some video with my phone of George starting the marathon.



David near the start of the marathon,
stopping on the run to give is number-one fan a hug.

This is how I do an Ironman...drinking a delightful zinfandel at
Brocach Irish Pub. I trained for months to look this relaxed.

David, halfway through the marathon.

George, halfway through the marathon, about to give me five.
He was seriously hurting at this point, and had almost given up
between miles 3 and 4, but he ate a bunch of potato chips
and recovered. Who knew chips could save a race? 

Here's some video, this time of the encounter halfway through the marathon.

David and George at the finish.

David and George, you are Ironmen!




P.S. Many thanks to the following for adding weight I didn't want: Brocach Irish Pub, the Great Dane, the Tipsy Cow, Cooper's Tavern, the Old Fashioned, Tutto Pasta, and Starbucks. Special thanks to Starbucks for opening at 3:30 AM on race day. We ate our way through the weekend, and it was all delicious.