Ironman, Holidays and More

Well it's been a long two weeks since my last entry. Kristi and I went to Ironman Canada, and then off to Hawaii where we lay on the beach away from phone calls and computers. Sounds relaxing hey... well kinda... A lot happened in the past two weeks but I'll try to keep it short :).

So on August 25th we headed off to watch Ironman Canada, to cheer on our friends taking on the race this year, and to sign up for the grueling task next year. I can't really explain what it is like in Penticton the day before the race. You are constantly overhearing conversations about strategy, race day nutrition, and course conditions. The little, quiet town is full of triathletes who have come from all over the world to compete in the race. This year, 2350 people would jump into the water for the mass start.

On Sunday we got up early and drove from my parents house where we were staying (and eating way to much good home-cooked food) to the race start in Penticton. Watching the swim start was something else. Seeing over 2300 people dive into the water all at once was inspiring. Next year, we'll be in that mess of people. After the swim started we I headed into the water, standing almost waist deep to watch the competitors come in. I was able to snap a few pics of some of our friends coming out.

After all of the swimmers were out of the water, we headed out for breakfast and then decided to drive the bike course and cheer everyone on along the way. It was also a good chance to see what we would be up against next year. Well it's not going to be an easy bike.... It was pretty cool driving along beside all the bikers. I felt like we were watching the Tour de France from a team car, zooming from cyclist to cyclist along the way.

For the run, we headed back to Penticton and got a bite to eat with some friends at a patio along the course. The food was pretty bad but the view was pretty good, so I guess it was a good trade off. We saw a bunch of people we knew starting the marathon and Kristi started to cry. She was getting quite emotional taking it all in. The day really is quite amazing, and watching people you know struggle through it is even more inspiring.

After eating, we drove out to the run turnaround and then went back to Pentiction where we got a spot at finish line and cheered people on as they finished over the next 4 hours.

Watching the race was incredibly inspiring. Seeing so many people out there searching for their limits and testing what's possible really opens your eyes. After watching the race, I now understand why people go back and do this over and over again. We left Pentiction excited to start our journey next year to the finish line. Next year we'll take on the race and, hopefully, inspire someone else to redifine what is possible, just as we felt watching all of the amazing people out there that day.

As for the holiday which has caused this long delay in updating our blog, lets just say that Kristi and I both got sick pretty sick, we saw a sea turtle swiming in the ocean (very cool), and our car was rear ended on the way back to Victoria from my parents place.