This event has been months in the making. (Probably years is the more accurate term, but the training for this specific race has taken place over the past 11 months or so.)
Some people have really fancy cars and bikes.
The athlete dinner.
The local Lulu Lemon store had all of the athlete's names posted on their windows.
Shawn was really trained and prepared for this race. Here he is for his practice swim the day before the race. (I have to say that getting to Texas a few days before the race was so nice. It was a vacation for me, and a lot less stressful for Shawn, too.)
Bike set up in the transition area. It's a thing of beauty,
We had time to go to the Huston Temple.
I love visiting different temples when we travel.
Finally, race day arrived. He was ready.
Getting ready to line up at the start.
It is a mass start - always interesting to watch.
The kayakers working hard to keep everyone behind the line before the start.
The swim set up was pretty cool because you could watch them along the way. Here he is in the canal.
2.4 Mile swim finished in just 1 hour. He rocked it.
Although, I watched him leave the transition area, I didn't get any photos, but I caught him on his way in from the bike.
He was looking strong.
112 mile bike ride done.
And now for the marathon. It was 3 loops so I could watch him come around multiple times. He paced himself slowly to start with the plan to negative split his loops, which he did. His last 6 miles were the fastest. He did puke a couple of times along the way, but kept going.
The finish line was awesome. It was surreal. I was so proud of him. It was pretty emotional to watch him come across the finish line.
26.2 mile run done.
Shawn Stringham, you are an Ironman!!!
What an amazing accomplishment. He worked so hard to achieve this goal and it has been a dream for such a long time. I am so proud of him. (I think we're both glad to have the race over with, though. It has been a huge time commitment and emotional commitment as well. He's earned a little down time.)
After going back to the hotel to get changed, we headed back to the finish line and stayed until after the midnight deadline. It was so awesome to be there watching all of those people coming across the finish line.
(My shirt says, "Earn the sweaty hug". Every time he comes home from a workout all sweaty and gross, he asks, "who wants a sweaty hug?" and all the kids scream and run, but I promised him I would take a sweaty hug when he finished his ironman, so he made me the t-shirt to wear. It was kind of his mantra through training. He definitely earned the sweaty hug.
Mike Reilly - the voice of Ironman.
Some of the Salt Lake Tri Club Members who were also racing.
It was a fantastic experience. I don't think it will be his last Ironman, but I'm still glad it's over for now.
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