It Takes a Village to Raise An Ironman

This won’t be an exciting post, but I need to give credit to those who helped me not only break the tape just over 2 weeks ago, but also those who helped get me to the starting line. Then I’ll stop talking about Ironman and move on with my life. I promise.

Matt, Steph, and Jon, our cheering crew
It was GREAT having you 3 out there. The vast majority of the photos of Pharmie and I from Ironman were taken by Matt - he clicked photo after photo! They made signs and cheered like mad-men at the sight of us. Steph offered to buy me food after I finished. Jon offered to give me a piggy-back ride back to the hotel room. I will always be grateful.

Matt, Pharmie, and Steph


Jon and I waiting for Pharmie at the finish

Kara and Margi, my 2 physical therapists, from Tria
I couldn’t have done this without them. Or the 3 dozen leg and ass strengthening exercises they gave me.

All of you, my fellow bloggers
I’m not addicted to comments. Really, I’m not. But by knowing that there are people out there willing to offer advice, console a beat up runner, and prod a fella to keep on going really helps. To see that I had 4 times the normal number of hits on my site the day after Ironman makes me know that there are people out there cheering for me, and to all of you, I say “thank you.”

All the volunteers at IM WI
SIMPLY AMAZING. Great people. They all deserve a straight path to unimaginable bliss. If I can help by paving that path, just let me know. Nothing expensive. Or sexual.

XT4 and Robby B.
I could thank ALL KINDS of bloggers specifically, but these 2 donated to my IM Community Fund. I missed IM sign up last year because I had to get back to St. Paul to teach, and I couldn’t sign up online for the same reason. After class, registration was closed. So I signed up through the Community Fund, which meant I donated an extra large chunk of money to support athletics in Madison. XT4 and Robby helped me defer some of that cost. They were also both extraordinary volunteers this year at IM WI. Thanks fellas.

The 6 names on my shoes
Before Ironman, I knew that I might need outside help to get through the run. I wrote 6 names of people that would help carry me through. Phil, my Grandpa who died when I was 12, was on my shoes. So was Aggie, Pharmie’s Grandma who past away before we got married. I never got to know Phil or Aggie that well, and I know they were both amazing people. Kara and Margi, my above-mentioned P.T.s, were on my shoes. So was Wil, fellow blogger and wonderful human being. I don’t think she knew that I wrote her name, even though we were competing in IM WI side-by-side. And last, but most definitely not least, Pharmie’s real name, Sarah, was written on my shoes. These people helped me get through those last 4 hours and 58 minutes.

My amazing wife, Pharmie
During the heart of training, I kept telling her “I blame YOU for this!” It was all in jest. I LOVED the fact that she got me into all of this. She’s the best person I could ever share my life with. She puts up with my craziness, even if she’s not always happy about what I post (if it were up to her, I would have never posted my previous post, so don’t look at it). And, for the record, she’s not happy with the quick regrowth of my body hair. I think her long-term plan from 3 years ago was to get me started with triathlons so that I would decide to shave my body at some point. She would like me to be hair-free forever. She’s the best. I love her so much. Even if she does love me more with less body hair. When I flex in front of the mirror, even though it’s only been 2 weeks since my final shave, I now look like this:

She has to put up with this every day

Thank you, everyone.