What we've anticipated for a year...becoming IRONMEN

Goal: To become ironmen
Strategy: To finish by midnight(within the allotted 17 hours) & stay together

Alarm went off at 4:15am. Since our sister, Kiara, doesn't own a toaster, we broiled the bread in the oven (our typical pre-race meal of peanut butter on toast). As you know (see past entries), things tend to not go so smoothly for us. Our sister's entire apartment was awakened by the smoke alarm...oops! We chugged coffee & we hit the road to Monona Terrace.

TIPS & insights:
#1 Grab everything from the car. Yep, Britt forgot her water bottles in the trunk.
#2 Bring the morning dry clothes race bag. Yep, Britt forgot it and thought sharing Kirstin's bag would work. It caused Kirstin's bag to break, cycling into a whole set of other issues.
#3 Body marking: No need to pull down your pants...just pull up the leg. A stud behind us said "you don't have to drop pants." Slightly embarrassed, we know he enjoyed a peak of our rears.
#4 Use inside women's bathroom. The men's line was slow-moving & long while we zipped through our line. Now, we know the root of porta-potty issues before races...BOYS.


SWIM:
While entering the water, we recognized and talked to "attempting ironman" (a DC triathlete whose blog we followed). We experienced the washing machine for the first 1000 yards. We not only tried to keep a swim pace but tried to stay above water. Next time, our preparation will include water defense classes. We made it out of the swim without black eyes and only minor bruising and scratches. It's all part of the ironman experience.

Swim Insights:
#1: Everyone wants to be front & center (regardless of swim speed & ability)
#2: Swim next to females. Men think they're faster and they're definitely more aggressive.

T1:
After a run up the helix, Kirstin waited for Britt at the transition. Off we went to get our bikes. We got some personal cheers from our family and a fellow CTCer.

Transition Learnings:
#1 Transitions are a free fall all. Volunteers are very helpful; however, we prefer to change ourselves. Read...AWKWARD!
#2 Watch where you look. Nudity is everywhere.



BIKE:
The bike course is tough. But, the volunteers & spectators were amazing. They powered us up hills by banging on pots/pans and yelling which helped distract our minds for a few moments. We heard comments such as "get up here, you paid for this" & "see you soon" (since we did the main loop twice). We easily spotted our family a couple times because of the HUGE, BRIGHT yellow flag our mom made. Despite us knowing, our grandma saw us on the bike course as well. Our dad picked her up and parked by the course so she could see us. How sweet! Our awesome tri club sponsored an aid station which had a pirate theme. It was great to see some familiar faces. At mile 56, we decided to pass up special needs bag. Kirstin regretted this after realizing they were handing out ham sandwiches. The next 14 miles were tougher than expected. Our butts, muscles and bladder need a break so we stopped at mile 70. We visited the porta-potties and chatted with fellow CTCers, participants and volunteers. At mile 85, Britt got busted with a red penalty. Her charge - DRAFTING. Because we didn't pass a penalty box for the remainder of the ride, she checked in at transition. Her consequence: watching a timer for 4 minutes & getting her beautiful bib marked. Once again, Kirstin (being the nice sister that she is) waited as Britt served her time.

Bike Insights:
#1 Fast bikers get Gatorade in fancy water bottles. We got the cheap, plastic bottles. No biggie, but we did pay $500. Yes, we do triathlons for the schwag.
#2 Penalties are committed regularly; however, not in front of officials.

T2:
Changed into our run outfits. This time we refused help and did it ourselves. Much more comfortable. And, off we went.


RUN:
As we made our way to the run course, we saw our dedicated Ironfans (our family). Feeling strong, we ran the first half only walking through the aid stations. Since the stations were less than a mile apart, we had ample breaks. Since we stuck to power bars/gels/blocks on the bike, it was nice to have coke, fruit, and broth on the run. The second half took us a bit longer as we began to walk up and down hills. As we came up on the capital, we knew we had accomplished what we had trained and prepared for over the past year. That feeling was awesome. As we neared the finish line, the crowd, bright lights, noise, and seeing the Team Francour flag was overwhelming. It was somewhat of a blur. We heard "Kirstin F. & Brittany F., sisters from Chicago, you are IRONMEN"

The funny things people asked us:
Question: How did you find each other on the course?
Answer: Luck. Kidding, we planned to stay together.
Question: How long was this Ironman?
Answer: Not all triathlons are Ironman distance.
Question: You went to Hawaii?
Answer: Madison, we're not that fast.

Final Thoughts:
The journey to the Ironman was extremely difficult, long, exhausting, emotionally draining, expensive, eye-opening and socially isolating. But, we learned a lot, had tons of great laughs, became quite flexible, got in shape and met new friends. The accomplishment is indescribable. Worth it? YES! Doing it next year? NO! But, we'll be there to volunteer and cheer on fellow athletes!

Thanks to our family for their cheering, Jaime for her support, Jenni for coming, Get a Grip, CTC, and all the folks on the course for volunteering and cheering!

Brian and Erik, we hope you enjoyed the post!