IRONMAN 70.3 Augusta

Augusta, Georgia or bust...here we come!

Tried out our new wet suits to make sure they fit :D

We stopped for the night and just pulled into the first hotel we saw. The address number was 224. I knew right then the rest of the trip and race was going to be awesome. My heart flutters just thinking about it.

Sister was passed out hard but once we got into the hotel room she was bouncing from bed to bed...

Did my nails blue for the race...it matched my tri suit and it's my favorite color..My lucky feel good color.

This sign made me feel like a bad ass.. and the fact that they let me check in at the pro desk. LOL Guess they thought I looked the part...(and also may have been because there was a long line and were trying to speed things along) But whatever.

Pure excitement in this place. It was just radiating with good energy. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. All the athletes had huge smiles on their faces. These are my people..this was so awesome to be here..knowing how hard we all trained and knowing what was to come the next day.. 

Together, we make a full Ironman. Together, we can do anything.

We left the kiddos with my parents and went to rack our bikes. We needed a warm up so we jogged back to town which was a little over a mile away. I was sweating profusely about 3 minutes in. It was so hot. I can't even explain the heat. We were running about the same time I knew I'd be running the next day and I couldn't believe how hard it was..and I had only run 1 mile. I quickly stopped thinking about it because it was psyching me out.   

Found these shirts at the EXPO and needed them in our lives..

Morning is here...we're at the transition area getting marked with our numbers...my heart starts beating at an irregular rate..it's about 5:30am. Pros take off in the water at 7 but I know I'm not due in the water till closer to 9am. 

That's all my stuff. Swim cap, goggles, socks, bike shoes, bike gloves, running shoes, race bib and nutrition. Check! My bike tires were pumped and water bottles installed. This is the area I would come to after I swam and biked so everything needed to be organized.

Below is my most favorite picture of the race. Besides the one at the finish line. My father in law captured this shot of me. He said I stood out so well because of my cap and blue nails. LOL I was so scared about the swim. But I jumped in the water and did it. I never hung on any buoy or stopped. I swam the entire distance!!! I did flip on my back a couple times when I would feel winded but that was it. I finished the 1.2 mile swim in 38 minutes. 

Look at my face! :) I was so happy to be out of the water knowing how well I did. I couldn't believe it. 

Here's Justin, Jake and Jinny exiting the water. I nabbed these from their website. The watermark sucks but not as much as paying $50 an image for the real deal. 

Now for the 56 mile bike ride through Georgia and into South Carolina for just a bit..

I had never rode 56 miles straight before..without dismounting for at least a few minutes. It took about 3 hours and 30 minutes to finish..longer than I planned but it was okay. My watch died at mile 35-37 so I was on my own. I didn't really know what mile I was on. Stupid apple watch. I should've turned off blue tooth. Anyways, I caught up with Justin and passed him around mile 46 or so. He told me to and knew he wasn't going to be far behind. I was okay the entire bike portion, felt great...tried to fuel every 15 minutes but started to taper off towards the last hour because my stomach started hurting. I knew that was bad because I needed all the calories I could get in before the run but I just couldn't get anything else down. 

One of the best feelings of my life was crossing that finish line. I did abruptly throw up mere seconds after this photo but I finished the race and made it to a trash can just in time. Thank you to my sweet momma for being there rubbing my sweaty back as I hurled up red bull and coca cola shots. 

This race was amazing. It tested me to the fullest mentally and physically. I never thought I could do something like this. Now I know I can and that's an incredible feeling. I got to race alongside the best of the best people, my family. My inspiration. My everything! My parents, in laws and babies were there for us the entire time. Not only did they travel across country on this day but they were there all the months leading up. The days of playing tag team were over. 

We finished. We did it. We were half Ironmen and we felt like it. 
Until next time Georgia...