A Celebration of Fitness

An Iron Girl Triathlon Sherpa Report

The big decision in titling this post was to include or exclude the word "Women's" before fitness. Dee Dee mentioned to Katie this weekend that I didn't want to wear my Florida 70.3 finisher's hat to the race this weekend. I explained to her that I a) didn't want to brag, and b) felt like the focus for this weekend should be on the women athletes, and rightly so.

Then, the decision becomes easy. Fitness is fitness. The athletes demonstrated that this weekend, and I have NEVER seen so many smiles crossing the finish line. It totally rocked.

Being a good sherpa requires training. Besides the usual packing, taking care of details (to ease the athletes mind and nervousness), running back and forth to the car for forgotten stuff, etc... There is other things like drinking beer, being obnoxious at public gatherings, sleeping with ones mouth open to enhance the snoring and pre-race slumber (I'm not sure who did that, I was asleep!). These are all important things. True. One also has to rearrange one's own training schedule.

This sherpa was up early for his Saturday morning ride. Three hours on the Silver Comet in zones 1 and 2. That got me 58 miles, and I was SO excited about that!! Last time I hit 58 miles was like three weeks before the half IM, and I was working much harder then!! There had been some reports of robberies going on at the trail, but I didn't see anything unusual, and I'm happy to report that Cobb County Police was out on the trail on two motor cycles. Good stuff.

I get back from my ride, and Dee Dee is ready to go!! LOL!! She would have been quite happy to shuffle me off to the car with no shower and no food. I had some things I wanted to do, like a blog post, but I acquiesced to Dee Dee's need for speed and got the heck outta there :-) We dropped Matthew off at his sister's and headed out to Lake Lanier.

We arrived a bit earlier than planned, but it worked out wonderfully! We ran into Kevin in the parking lot at registration. He was off to get some food for himself and the other volunteers. Dee Dee was able to get her race packet and browse the expo a bit. While we were browsing, Dee Dee told me Steph was working the t-shirt table, and I ran over to give her a big hug. She was doing the 5K swim on Sunday but paused long enough to volunteer for Iron Girl. That was SO COOL! I got to meet her uber-cute daughter Anika too. Anika was not shy. She left her mother's side and came over to me few minutes later to show me her pet bug. That was so funny and so cute!!! :-)

We left packet picket to go by and drop Dee Dee's bike off at transition. In the parking lot, we ran into Kelleye and her friend Amy. I don't know how people do it, but Kelleye recognized me with my hat and sunglasses on. I am SO bad at recognizing peeps, but getting better. It was awesome to finally get the chance to meet Kelleye. We are practically neighbors but have never met.

We made it back to registration in time for the three o'clock meeting. This time, we ran into Robin, her husband Scott (who recognized us), and their friend Jackie. Little did I know I was absolutely striking the jack pot on meeting bloggers this weekend. Robin is just as super sweet in person as she is on her blog, and I could see why she is a great ultra runner! Her husband Scott was just super nice and also a beer connoisseur. Yea, he and I hit it off right away :-) Jim, over at Georgia Multisports, put on a great pre-race show. We hurried out of there when it was over and headed over to the hotel to get our room.

Katie, Wes, and Dee Dee "a.k.a. The Bug"

Before, during, and after the pre-race meeting, I had been texting with Katie. She and her friend Marni had driven up from Jacksonville for the race (Katie is actually a home bred Iowan). We met at the pool for a pre-dinner beer and hung out talking for about an hour. I feel very blessed to have gotten the opportunity to know Katie. She just adds another dimension to these races when she's there. What's the word I'm looking for here, Katie? Sassy? :-) Then to top it all off, she knows all of these really cool speedy peeps like Marni, who not only kicks ass in races, has a great personality, and stuff like that, but have really cool occupations like sports nutritionist! Love that!!

I was surrounded by HAWTNESS :-) Marni, Katie, and Dee Dee

After we spent about an hour with Kate Monster and Marni, we said our good byes and made our way over to Cumming for our pre-race blogger dinner. We were fashionably late, but weren't the last (thanks David and Mendy!! :-) Once they arrived, the gang was all here. In attendance for the Iron Girl blogfest was: myself and Dee Dee, Lauren, Robin and Scott, Kevin and Cathy, Denine, Jackie, David, and Mendy!

Stupid Camera!! (inside joke!)

We ended up having a very nice dinner. The food was plentiful. The beer was flowing. The conversation was fun and easy. Good times for all!! We were reluctant to leave, but the party wound down around 8 PM. We had tri-chicas that needed their rest!!

Left to right: Denine, Mendy, Dee Dee, Robin, Lauren, and Jackie

Dee Dee and I stopped off at the bar and grille on the way back to our room. Dee Dee wanted some more carbohydrates (she didn't care for her dinner), and I opted for a night cap, followed by a brownie with some ice cream :-) Hey! I did ride 58 miles that morning. I'm turning Iron ya know ;-) Dee Dee got a little tired of me exercising my sherpa skills and went back to the room without me. I didn't want to stress her, so I hurriedly finished up my brownie and cocktail, then headed up to the room. Dee Dee laid out her stuff and got ready for the morning. I think I passed out watching Shrek or something. This sherpa was one tired dude...

The alarms started going off at quarter to five AM. I laid in bed checking my eye lids for cracks while Dee Dee performed her morning rituals. After she was done, I hauled myself out of bed and got dressed. Once I woke up, I was feeling surprisingly refreshed. It was race day! I had my usual powder sugar donuts and apple juice for breakfast, then I trundled Dee Dee off to car. We made it to transition before daylight and got Dee Dee to setting up her stuff. We ran into Katie and Marni and got to give hugs and high fives all around. I wished them both luck and really hoped they did well.

Katie, Our Speedy Peep!!

While Dee Dee was setting transition, she realized she had left her sunglasses in the car and asked me to go get them. When I got back, she was standing in line to the bicycle mechanics from Roswell Bikes. She almost had tears in her eyes. Evidently, she was trying to fill up her back tire with air when she ripped the stem off.

I could tell she was under stress and immediately tried to calm her nerves. There really wasn't anything to worry about. It was an hour before race start, and we were like fourth in line. I did what any good sherpa would do and started working my way up the line, helping the tri-chicas fill their tires with air. Before you knew it, we were next in line :-)

The guy from Roswell Bikes started changing Dee Dee's tire, while I ran back to the car to get money to pay for a new tube. When I came back, he was trying to put the tire back on Dee Dee's bike and started beating the crap out of the back of the bike. I rolled my eyes in total dis-believement. Anyone could see the freakin tire wasn't sitting right and beating it wasn't going to help. I kept my mouth shut though, and eventually he figured it out and got the back tire on.

Dee Dee is finally getting settled down in transition.

Dee Dee finally got her transition all set up, and we headed down to the bathrooms. They take care of the chicas real well at Iron Girl. There was like no waiting, either for Dee Dee or for me later.

People starting to walk down to the swim start. The Iron Girl gate is the end of the swim.

Then it was off to the beach to wait for the race to start. The crowd on the beach was electric with athletes and spectators. They gave a pre-race speech then sang the national anthem. Then it was time. Dee Dee was going off in the third wave with the purple swim caps.

Dee Dee and Lauren warming up for the swim!

One by one, the leading waves took off on the swim. While I was waiting for Dee Dee to start, Scott came by and kept me company. Robin was in the second wave, and she did awesome!! I admit. I felt the rush of nervous excitement when Dee Dee's wave went off. I was really worried about all the athletes swimming in that open water. They basically started out into deep water, then made a right angle down the beach towards the swim exit. It really was the first hundred meters or so that was testy. Once I saw Dee Dee make it past the first two buoys, I relaxed a bit.

As I was walking down the beach following the swimmers, I saw a few yellow caps begin to make their way through Dee Dee's wave. Katie's wave had a yellow cap. I ran up the beach to the swim exit and tried to get a spot for a pic. I thought Katie might be one of the first ones in her wave to come out of the water, but she wasn't. I think she ended up being like fifth or sixth. I have such a hard time recognizing people from a distance, I didn't realize it was her until she was right on top of me. Just damn! I missed her. Fortunate for me, Dee Dee came out of the water right behind me, and I got some good pics of the spouse :-)

Dee Dee coming out of the water. Lake Lanier tastes bad!!

After Dee Dee ran by, I hurried up the path to the street. The athletes would be coming right by me on their bikes (and returning as well). I watched carefully, hoping to spot some of my peeps coming, but once again, I suck at being a race photog :-) I didn't even realize Katie was by me until I heard her yell, "On your left!" I almost missed Dee Dee too, but managed to get a blurry shot of her leaving and yell some encouragement.

When the last of the women had left transition, I went back to the car for a chair. While waiting for the chicas to return, I formulated my strategy. Katie had a disk wheel. I should be able to spot her at the top of the hill. No way I was gonna miss her this time. Dee Dee had a yellow helmet and a red tri suit. I should be able to spot her at the top of the hill as well. Nothing left to do but wait.

An hour later, the first triathlete came whizzing by. A few minutes later, athletes started to come in dribs and drabs, then this built up to droves. I spotted Katie at the top of the hill and got some good shots in. Unfortunately the closest one was blurry. Damn! Did I mention I stink at this :-)

Super Katie! :-)

Twenty to thirty minutes later, Dee Dee came cruising down the hill at thirty plus mph and I snapped some good picks and yelled.

Dee Dee whizzing down the hill!

Then it was a foot race for the run exit. Dee Dee is supa fast in transition.

Transition goddess on her way out on the run!!

I made it. Found a good spot to sit, and not a minute later Dee Dee comes down the hill. I snapped some good pics of her running through the sunlight, then it was off to the finish line to wait. I found a spot next to the Iron Girl finish and cheered the incoming runners. As I mentioned earlier, I have never seen so many smiling athletes cross the finish line. It was totally awesome to watch and cheer those runners in. Dee Dee came running up the chute a little more than half an hour later. I got some good pics of that, and she too cross the finish line with a smile. The announcer said her name and recognized her for raising over five hundred dollars for the Ulman Cancer Fund!!

One of the many, but certainly the best smile at the finish!

Dee Dee exited the finish line looking tired but happy. We made sure she was taken care of. We waited in line for the print out of her results and then for some food as well. The sun went behind the clouds while we were waiting for food. I ran over to the Iron Girl expo to get Dee Dee a shirt to wear. We forgot to bring one with us. While I was waiting, I noticed that Tri-chica Christian was standing in the line right next to me!! I had thought I had seen Christian cross the finish line, but to recognize and get to meet her at the end of my race day was just awesome!! Christian, we need to meet more often!!! LOL!

During the awards ceremony we hung out with David and Mendy a bit. Our legs started to get tired after a while. Off we went to sit and chat with Katie and Marni. While we were watching the awards, Sarah came by to give us all a hug. She had volunteered for the race that morning. Once the ceremonies were over, we said our good byes and gave hugs all around. We will miss seeing our friends for a time. Some of them, we'll get to see at future races at Acworth, Lake Logan, and South Carolina. Others, it might be months and even years before we get to meet again :-( but you never know!!

Dee Dee and I drove back home, stopping once to grab a quick bite to eat. Matthew was at home by himself, and neither of us like to be that far away from him when he's alone. We made it back in time to take a quick nap before the Euro 2008 finals. Then it was off to do hill repeats for an hour before getting chased back inside by a cracklin thunderstorm, but that is a story for another day.

I had such a good time at Iron Girl, I have inquired as to how to volunteer for the Acworth Women's Triathlon. I think Dee Dee may join me ( as a volunteer). I really want to be in the water to help out the chicas. We'll see how that works out.

Till next time!!

Wes