Next year...we will NOT be IMOO '09 participants!

Today was the final day to sign up for next year's Madison Ironman. We've agonized & debated about whether we should participate. It was an extremely difficult decision; however, we've decided to pursue other adventures and experiences. We'll keep you posted.

Brain, This weekend flew by! The recap will be posted soon...keep checking!

we are ironmen

Yes! Sunday, September 7, 2008 we became IRONMEN. The cannon shot off at 7 a.m. The Wisconsin Ironman (140.6 miles) took us 14:04:04. We crossed the finish line a few minutes after 9 p.m. and heard "Kirstin F. and Brittany F., sisters from Chicago, you are IRONMEN!"

Soon, we will post a race recap (after a little bit of recovering & processing)!

Saturday 09.06.08

This morning, we racked our bikes and dropped off T1 & T2 bags. That alone was stressful. But, add Kirstin's bike issues (brake alignments) & 45 minutes to complete everything because we were parked at a meter without anymore cash - craziness.

Now, we relax! Until, tomorrow morning!

FRIDAY 9/5/08

We left Chicago at 4:15 a.m. Submerged into Lake Monona by 8 a.m., along with tons of other athletes to swim one loop (1.2 miles). Then, we registered...which included lots of lines & frequent photo ID checks. We received 2 bibs - first name & last name. At 5:45 p.m., we returned to Monona Terrace for a typical carb-heavy dinner (too much garlic...repercussions to come!) We listened to several speakers and were inspired by music, personal stories and videos. One interesting statistic, this year the woman's field added 10 more athletes from last year's event totaling 658 woman. Go GIRLS!

It's 10 p.m. We're trying to pack our multiple bags! We've separated our gear into T1 (swim to bike) and T2 (bike to run) bags. Our obsession with weather.com has made us loopy. So, we keep questioning and rethinking our gear choices.

Thanks everyone! We appreciate your supportive calls, text messages, emails and posts.

Rain Delay

We postponed leaving due to the torrential downpour. Our new plan is a good night sleep in our own beds & leave tomorrow at 4 a.m. We're trying not to let nerves get the best of us. And, to be as flexible as possible.

To do: swim the course, drive the run & parts of the bike, pick up last minute things, visit our grandmother & have a BLAST.

Let the IMOO festivities begin!

Tonight (Thursday) we travel to Madison. Kiara is allowing us to INVADE her apartment...2 older sisters, 2 fancy road bikes, tons of expensive tri gear & one furry dog (Kiara - McKinley barked dibs to your bed). FUN TIMES!

How are we? That depends! Depends on the moment, the activity or our conversations. So far, we've felt a wide range of emotions. We fear far greater emotional swings over the next few days.

Our main concern is the weather. We've packed in preparation to whatever Mother Nature may throw at us (be kind!) According to weather.com, Sunday's forecast includes isolated storms, a high of 73 degrees and a low of 51 degrees. For the past week, Kirstin has dealt with Hurricane Gustav at work & now he's pestering her here in Chicago with the annoying RAIN! We're hoping to escaped him on our drive into Madison.

Dad...this one's for you! It's official - 'floating W' can take part in the m-dot logo. Mom, no need to worry about copyright issues!

wait (weight)...what?

Today we read one's man experience during Ironman Wisconsin 2005. We weren't nervous until we read you have to weigh in prior to & after the race. Yikes...now, we're especially nervous.